Torah Jews - Peace

We want to coexist in peace! - TTJ Publishes Arabic Ad

TTJ — Thu, 26 Nov 2015 23:02:49 +0000

In light of the tensions surrounding the Temple Mount question and the increasing terror attacks, the True Torah Jews organization has embarked on a massive campaign in the Palestinian media to differentiate between Judaism and Zionism, while issuing a call for peace.

True Torah Jews published the following message of peace as a full-page ad in the Tuesday, November 24, 2015 print edition of Al Quds, the largest Palestinian newspaper, based in East Jerusalem. A banner was also placed on the Al Quds website, linking to the full ad.

Declaration and Call for Peace

To our Palestinian Neighbors – Peace be upon you and G-d's mercy and blessings be upon you

With the founding of the State of Israel came the widespread misconception that there is a connection between nationalistic Zionism and the Jewish People. As the torch-bearers of uncompromised Jewish heritage and tradition, we find it opportune to reach out to you and clarify the following matters.

A. As one of the foundations of Judaism, Jews are obliged to be loyal to the governments under which they find shelter, and to live peacefully with their neighbors in every country where they may be dispersed.

The Torah teaches us to live peacefully, “The ways of the Torah are pleasant and all its paths [call for] peace.” Accordingly, for close to two thousand years, Jews have lived this way in every country in the Diaspora.

B. Therefore, the relationship between the Arab and Jewish nations has always been one of peace and fraternity; friendship reigned between both nations at all times. In fact, for hundreds of years, hundreds of thousands of Jews lived in almost every Arab country with mutual respect and honor.

Even the Jews who continued to reside in the Holy Land for generations lived with friendship and brotherliness with the Palestinians. They engaged in business together, they helped each other, and they even attended each other’s celebrations.

C. About one hundred years ago, the idea of Zionism was tragically conceived. Its malicious intent: to turn authentic Torah Judaism into a new-fangled culture of nationalism and rebellion, directly contradicting the Torah. Immediately upon its founding, Jewish leaders and rabbis protested forcefully against its ideas.

D. With incredible chutzpah, Zionists added insult to injury by effectively “stealing” the identity of the Jewish People. They continually declared themselves as representatives of the Jewish Nation, when the opposite is true. Judaism is a religion which is guided by the Torah, as opposed to Zionism which is a political movement that contradicts the Torah.

Leaders and/or supporters of Zionism do not represent Judaism and/or the Jewish People under any circumstance.

E. Zionism is the greatest tragedy that has struck the Jewish People. We have suffered most from Zionism because it exploits innocent Jews as cannon-fodder to advance its agendas. Zionist groups and organizations even neglected to rescue Jews during the Holocaust in their hopes of promoting the country’s independence through increased Jewish holocaust fatalities.

Unfortunately, the confusion between “Judaism” and “Zionism” resulted in the loss of lives and livelihoods of so many Jews who had prospered in Arabic countries for generations. And the Holy Land, where Jews and Arabs had lived so peacefully that they would babysit each other's children, has turned into a minefield of hatred and conflict.

F. Orthodox Jewry has declared, and continues to declare, that Zionists do not represent the Jewish People. Therefore, the statements of Zionist leaders and spokespeople, their declarations, and their actions do not have any connection to the Jewish People. Unfortunately, we hardly have a platform from which to voice the truth, as it is strangled and silenced by the Zionist leadership.

G. Recently, the Temple Mount issue has created quite a storm. We wish to clarify as follows:

a. Since the destruction of the Temple, Jews have been forbidden to set foot on the Temple Mount. The status quo of Judaism for the past two thousand years has been to completely prohibit ascending the Temple Mount. This prohibition was reiterated this year by every authentic Jewish Rabbi and Rabbinical Court without exception.

b. Specifically in these times, when ascending the Temple Mount results in conflict, we are forbidden from setting foot on the Temple Mount per another commandment of the Torah, which obliges us to behave in pleasant, peaceful ways.

H. Orthodox Jews have recently exerted much effort in holding back individuals who planned to ascend the Temple Mount. To a great extent, they were successful, and many Jews who visited the Temple Mount in the past have ceased this practice. The hope is to continue keeping people away from the Temple Mount as much as possible.

I. We stretch our hands out to you in peace, and we once again declare that we wish to live with friendship and fraternity with our Arabic neighbors and the Palestinians as we did in the past. We pray to G-d that we may reach a peaceful agreement with mutual understanding, without any loss of human lives – neither Palestinian or Jewish – at all. Every human casualty is a tragedy. Every human being was created by G-d, and the Torah commands us to treat him or her with respect, without regard to his or her nationality, type, or background.

We hope and pray for the day when the entire world will recognize G-d’s Kingdom. This conflict will end. When the dust settles, peace will reign. At that time, whoever had promoted peace and friendship will be rewarded by G-d. “G-d has not found another vessel for blessing but peace.”

True Torah Jews
For more information about Jews opposing Zionism: truetorahjews.com

Click here to view the ad in Arabic on Al Quds website.
Click here to view a scan of the actual newspaper.
Click here to read the ad in Hebrew translation.
Click here to read the ad in Spanish.
קרא את הפרסום בלשון הקודש

The ad campaign was initiated after a special request from the Rabbinical Court of the Eidah Chareidis of Jerusalem to the heads of the TTJ organization, asking that just as they often publicize the position of Torah Jewry in America, they should use their writers and their connections in the field to advertise in East Jerusalem and the West Bank. The Eidah letter read:

“We are writing to you regarding the important work you do in publicizing to the world the position of faithful Jewry: that as observant Jews, we are commanded not to provoke the nations of the world and not to attain sovereignty before the time of the redemption of the messiah.

The issue at hand right now is the need to publicize in all places that religious Jews have no interest or reason to enter the Temple Mount (Haram el-Sharif), and on the contrary, it is a severe prohibition to do so. Already in 1867 the greatest rabbis of the time placed a severe ban on entrance, and in 1967 our rabbinical court published the prohibition. We today have reiterated this ruling many times.

How much greater is the need to speak out today, when people wearing religious garb, who pretend to be observant Jews, enter the Temple Mount. This has been a cause for violence, as non-Jews erroneously think that religious Jews are part of this offense. Therefore it must be especially publicized today, and the strong winds of false nationalism blowing today must be stopped. Perhaps in this way there will be an end to the bloodshed, which has increased lately, to our great sorrow. If only peace could be restored to the Holy City and the Holy Land, this would be your reward.

Click here to view the Eidah letter.

According to an activist behind the project, “There is a need to explain to Arabs that religious Jews are not represented by the State of Israel or other radical factions that incite hatred.”

A spokesman for TTJ notes that the ad is written in a similar fashion to the letter published by the great Rabbi Yosef Chaim Sonnenfeld, in the wake of the 1929 attacks, titled “Words of Peace and Truth.” He stated that Haredi Jewry is opposed to anyone that ascends to the Temple Mount, and that Jews have no wish to fight with the Arabs, but rather wish to live in peace.

Rabbi Yosef Chaim Sonnenfeld’s essay, subsequently published in the Arabic newspaper “The Peace” and the English “Palestine Bulletin,” turns to the Arabic nations with a call for peace “to spare no effort and do everything possible to restore peace to the Holy Land, and to remove all suspicion and jealousy from the heart of everyone that lives here,” because “the Jewish residents of the Holy Land don’t wish evil, Heaven Forbid, to the other residents; the good of the Land is good for everyone living there.”

Click here to view Rabbi Sonnenfeld's entire letter, with links to the original.

Listen to Rabbi Yaakov Shapiro discussing the ad with Talkline host Zev Brenner on WMCA New York 570 AM.

Download the clip of Rabbi Yaakov Shapiro discussing the ad with Talkline host Zev Brenner on WMCA New York 570 AM.

Read coverage of the ad campaign on jpudates.com.

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Al Quds

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Peace

Why don't you say more about the non-Jewish deaths caused by Zionism?

ycohen — Wed, 26 Dec 2012 23:26:31 +0000

11/05/06

Dear Jews Against Zionism,

When I first saw your site, I thought it was great to see that there were Jews who were against Israel and the horrible crimes that it has commited to not only the people of Palestine, but to people all over the world.

As I read more information on your website, I have to come to the conclusion that yes, you group is against Zionism, but ONLY because according to you it is against the true teachings of Jewry. I must be honest in the sense that I can not agree with this. You fail to mention the amount of NON-JEWISH deaths caused by Zionists and Zionism. The hundreds of thousands of Palestinians, Lebanese, Egyptions, Americans (Rachel Corrie), even people of Europe who were killed because of Zionists. Please do not mistake this email as a hate email, because in my eye there is no difference between a Jewish and a non-Jewish death. They are both just as horrible. But what I see is the failure to acknowledge the deaths of thousands of innocent Palestians. You also fail to mention what the Zionists have done to the religion of Islam. They have made it to be a religion of evil. Many people think that Islam is a violent religion because of Zionists. This cannot be more wrong.

Prior to the creation of Israel, many Jews lived in Palestine peacefuly with their Muslim and Christian neighbors. Yes there were violent skermishes between IMMIGRANT Jews and Palestinians(Both Muslims and Christians) before Israel but that was due to the fact that many of those Jews who were their were brought to Palestine from other countries with the intent of creating a Zionist "Jewish" State.

Both Jews and Christians alike are in Islam considered "People of the Book". "Book" refers to the Holy Koran. It is considered against Islam to kill anybody based on their religious beliefs or ethnicity.

I would like to reiterate one last thing because of its importance. The Palestinian-Israeli conflict is NOT Jews against Muslims! The hatred is not religious but rather political. In that I mean it is not because of religious beliefs but rather land, occupation, and treatment of Palestinians. Zionists would like you to believe that it is a religious war because it portrays Muslims negitively.

Although I find your site very informative and your cause just, I still cannot help to believe that your group does not care about the deaths of Palestinians and their expulsion from their HOMES. PLEASE RESPOND AND PROVE ME WRONG. I would greatly appreciate it.

One last thing I would like to mention is this. I am a Muslim and I know a little bit about Jewish beliefs. I would like to say that we are closer then many will admit. I deeply respect you for what you are doing. Please keep it up and if you need any help at all, do not hesitate to send me an email.

And if you will, please be kind and post this on your website in order to educate others regarding these issues.

Thank you.
Peace.
Shaloom.
Salam alaikum.

Please make no mistake: we too are angered and horrified at the great numbers of non-Jews who have been killed due to Zionism. The Zionists from the beginning were militants and terrorists. They terrorized the British until they left Palestine. The threat they posed to the Palestinian Arabs is what aroused them to action. The Palestians never bothered the Jews before the age of Zionism. Even as late as the 1920's, the Jewish yeshiva students in Hebron testified that they could walk anywhere at any time of the day or night and they were on very friendly terms with the local Arabs. It was only in 1929, after the militant Zionists declared that the Western Wall in Jerusalem belonged to them, that the Arabs were aroused to violence.

Rabbi Yosef Chaim Zonenfeld wrote in the early 1930's that Jews could settle Palestine but they should do it on peaceful terms with the Palestinians. Zionists at that time were making a point of not buying from Arab merchants and not hiring their workers, and Rabbi Zonenfeld spoke out against this. I think we have his letter on our website. In 1924 Rabbi Zonenfeld met with King Hussein of Saudi Arabia and his son Emir Abdullah of Jordan. Unfortunately, Rabbi Zonenfeld and his followers were a minority, and the Zionists proceeded to develop the land without concern for its prior inhabitants.

The longer the Zionist state existed, the more non-Jews suffered as a result. The true Jews are terribly ashamed of the Israeli atrocities in the 1948 war, the expulsions and killings, massacres of the 1950s, in the Lebanon violence of the late 1970s and early 1980s, culminating with the massacres of Palestinians in Lebanon encouraged by Israel in 1983. And the bombing of Lebanon this year has further tarnished the reputation of Jews as peaceful and moral people.

The Zionist state has brought nothing but conflict and violence to the Middle East. America, because of its pro-Israel stance and major aid, has always been a part of the conflict, but now after September 11 2001 it is completely involved. The whole world is in danger because of Zionism, and this is no exaggeration.

And yes, you are right that pro-Zionist propaganda is responsible for making Islam look like a violent religion in people's eyes. We do not share that view.

Let me address your question about why we don't emphasize on the website our concern about the expulsion and killing of Palestinians. Zionism is a broad subject and there are many, many reasons we are against it. However we must distinguish between primary reasons and secondary reasons. Secondary in this context does not mean less important; it means that it does not go to the core of the issue. For example, the Zionist state is secular. Its leaders don't keep the Sabbath, they eat non-kosher food, many don't believe in G-d, and in their school system the children are trained to be immoral and deny the Torah. These are all terrible things from the viewpoint of religious Jewry, but they are considered secondary reasons, because even if they were all to change - all the people of the state of Israel would begin keeping the Torah - the core issue of Zionism would remain. The core issue, of course, is that Jews may not seek political independence during their exile. They must wait for G-d to send the messiah.

If we were to stress the terrible crimes against humanity committed by the Zionists, it would give the impression that we were merely peace activists. It would sound as if the state of Israel would be okay, if only they would treat the Palestinians nicely. They could give them back some land and then, if all the Palestinians and Muslim nations would accept the existence of Israel, it would be okay. But this is not true at all - the Torah forbids us to have any state, no matter whether the world approves of it or not. This is an issue of what the Jewish belief system is, not just an issue of how the Israelis happen to behave. In order to underscore that, we don't emphasize the Israelis' atrocities. Our main goal is to reach Jews and teach them what true Judaism says.

We believe that our way is actually the most effective way to stop Zionism. If we were to publicize the crimes of the Zionist against the world, Zionist Jews would just argue back that it's not true, or the Israelis were justified, or the Arabs deserve it, or other such silliness. I'm sure you know what goes on in the media and the talk shows when they discuss whether the Americans are acting morally in Iraq and so on. It's an endless discussion of give and take over facts and judgment of people. It leads nowhere. Instead, we come and pull the rug out from under the whole thing. We prove to people that Judaism does not allow any state, no matter what. The Zionists can't argue with that, because we have the Torah on our side. And our arguments are non-offensive to them, because they are based not on accusing people of crimes, but on honest evaluation of Torah and Talmudic texts.

Furthermore, speaking about this subject would actually undermine our powerful influence. As you know, whenever individuals or groups stick up for the suffering Palestinians, the Zionist propagandists label them "anti-Semites" or "self-hating Jews".

Besides, when it comes to Israeli war crimes and human rights violations there are already powerful worldwide organizations active in the field, and we don't have much to add to their work. But our organization exists for a purpose that no other organization fulfills: to pull the mask off the Zionist leaders, who want everyone to think that their state and wars are part of Judaism, and show that actually their state is the greatest violation of the Jewish Torah and religion.

I hope this answers your questions, and thank you for your interest. May we see world peace in our time.

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What efforts are you making to unite organizations to bring an end to Zionism?

ycohen — Wed, 26 Dec 2012 20:42:01 +0000

01/20/08

WITH THE NAME OF THE ONE CREATOR ALMIGHTY

"PEACE TO ALL SUPPORTERS OF TRUTH AND JUSTICE...amen"

The ONE HUMAN FAMILY is grateful for the service you give. Prayers for your best health, peace of mind and for success in all good works.

The war to defeat the zionist is an obligation for all, and a sacred obligation to Believers of all Faith Communities.

I shall do every lawful thing I can to contribute
to the total defeat of the zionist and I fully support the efforts of the Torah community, AS BELIEVERS IN OUR ONE CREATOR AND DEVOTED
FRIEND SERVANTS TO THE ONE HUMAN FAMILY, to keep established and to maintain the HONORABLE FAITH COMMUNITY OF JUDAISM.

THANK YOU AND MAY YOU BE BLESSED.
PEACE BE WITH YOU.....

a friend missionary servant,

Sababu

QUESTION: Is there an effort currently being made to unite people, groups, organizations, etcetera, under an umbrella group, spearheaded by the Torah Community, for the purpose of a fully engaged worldwide effort to defeat the zionist?

Dear Sababu,

We are definitely trying to educate religious Jews and convince them to join our effort. It is our hope that by removing the Jewish religious support and sanction for Zionism, the movement will lose its power and legitimacy and will come to an end.

As to uniting with non-religious Jewish anti-Zionists and non-Jewish anti-Zionists, we would like to do it one day but feel that there are issues of belief that would prevent it from working right now. Furthermore, it would take away from our efficacy as a solely religious organization appealing to religious Jewish listeners.

Thank you for your support.

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What should Muslims and Jews do together to show the truth?

ycohen — Wed, 26 Dec 2012 20:34:37 +0000

Feb. 27 2008

Dear Rabbi,

First off i want to say I am a Muslim, and it really is overwhelming and feels amazing to see our Jewish brothers and sisters telling the truth about the Zionist Problem. My question is, what exactly do you feel that Muslims and Jews should do together to show the truth? Thank you. Asalaamu Alakum, Shalom, Peace be with you.
Dawud

Dear Dawud,

The Torah says that only G-d has the right to bring back our exiles and restore us to our homeland; we do not have the right to do it on our own.

This was the Jewish belief throughout the ages and it is only in the age of Zionism that many Jews have forgotten their original mindset and begun thinking differently. We see it as our job to publicize the words of the Torah, our Talmudic sages and rabbis of recent times so that Jews realize their mistake.

You ask what Jews and Muslims should do together. I think a Jewish group like ours speaking alone will have a better effect on Jews than a joint effort of Jews and Muslims.

But Muslims can play an important role by making clear that their criticisms and grievances are against Zionism and Zionists, not against Jews. This serves to deflect the common Zionist accusation of anti-Semitism. Many Muslims already do make a point of saying "Zionists" and yet they are still accused of being anti-Jewish. The best way to avoid this is for Muslims to explain why Zionists are not traditional Jews. They should say, "Jews have always believed in waiting for G-d to send the messiah to redeem them, whereas Zionists believe that they can redeem themselves through warfare and other human initiatives." When they say this, their insistence on speaking against the "Zionist state" rather than the "Jewish state" will be more meaningful.

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We will spread your message that Zionism is not Judaism

ycohen — Wed, 26 Dec 2012 18:49:50 +0000

Dec. 31, 2008

My name is Lana and I am from Palestine, but I live in Canada because my family's home in Palestine was destroyed. Also many of my cousins, mostly children, were mercilessly killed by members of the Zionist army. I never believed that a person who abides the Jewish religion as G-D wanted would kill children and destroy homes. And I was right. These "Jews" in "Israel" are not Jews, they have gone far astray from G-D's teachings and what is worst is that they kill in the name of the Jewish religion. Don't they fear G-D? The Jewish religion is one of peace, understading, patience, kindess, and love. I come from a family that is both Muslim and Jewish. It is a shame that the world sees the Muslims and the Jews as people who can never get along with eachother. That is not true. There are many Jewish Arabs who are living happily in Arabic countries. It is the Zionists who are ruining the Jewish religion and it's reputation. Zionism is the source for many of the conflicts today. This is what happens when people decide to go against The Alm-ghty. World caos is what's happening.

I just wanted to let you know that I will try all my best to tell the terribly misinformed people that Zionism is NOT Judaism. I would like to end with this statement from the Holy Qu'ran:

Surely, those who believe,
those who are Jewish, the Christians,
and the converts; anyone who
(1) believes in GOD, and
(2) believes in the Last Day, and
(3) leads a righteous life,
will receive their recompense from their Lord.
They have nothing to fear, nor will they grieve.

May G-D continue you to guide you true Jews in his path. Have a wonderful New Year!

Lana

Thank you for your letter. We deeply sympathize with your familys losses, and we look forward to the day when Jews and Muslims can live side by side peacefully in Palestine and throughout the world. Please do spread our website and materials as much as you can.

Thank you for your kind reply. Please look at this video on Youtube. It is very important you see this even though it is not the complete video (I couldn't find the complete version). I am sorry for the title, it wasn't me who posted the video. It should say "Zionist Terrorism." Here is the think:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9DsicqcNdJM

Also, I have a question please. Are you affiliated with Naturei Karta? You two should come together to make your voices heard louder. All of you who believe in this important matter that Zionism is the destructor if the Jewish faith should really hold hands and be so big that the whole world hears you. There are just too many Jews who are in the trap of Zionism. They have been blinded and can no longer see what is right from wrong. These Zionists must be stopped before the Torah becomes just a distant memory and Zionism becomes a religion, G-D FORBID.

Lana

No we are not affiliated with Neturei Karta. We represent the Satmar Chassidic group, centered in the Williamsburg neighborhood of Brooklyn and in Monroe New York. It is a much larger group than Neturei Karta.

You say we should all become one organization but I think it's important for the Jewish people to have many anti-Zionist organizations made up of different types of Jews so that Jews will be influenced by us more. If it were just one organization it could be dismissed as a lone opinion.

I watched the video about the settlers and Kahanists. It's all true but you have to realize that the vast majority of Orthodox Jews aren't like that. Even those who are not active anti-Zionists do not support militant Zionism in that way. It's too bad these kahanists are getting so much publicity and that the media is portraying their struggle against the Israeli government as a struggle between religious and secular, implying that religious Jews are Zionists. That is a terrible misrepresentation.

I agree with you on every point. You are very wise indeed.

Lana

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Anti-Semitism predates Zionism - so why will the end of Zionism mean the end of anti-Semitism?

ycohen — Mon, 09 Jul 2012 21:50:57 +0000

May 25, 2008

I can't believe that you wrote on your site that if Israel is disbanded, anti-semitism will cease. I quote - "It is our firm belief that when the state of "Israel" is recognized for what it is, a Zionist state which is not guided by the teachings of the traditional Jewish faith, Jews worldwide will be able to live in peace."
Anti semitism had existed for thousands of yesrs before the state of Israel existed. Your position is completely illogical.
Andy Harris

Dear Mr. Harris,

You are right that anti-Semitism has existed for thousands of years and will continue to exist after the State of Israel is disbanded. "It is halacha that Esav hates Jacob," our Sages say.

What we mean on the website is as follows. Anti-Semitism always exists in a latent form, but there have been times in history when it manifested itself in severe actions, and other times when it was kept at bay and Jews lives relatively peacefully. We believe that G-d watches over us in exile and does not allow us to be persecuted: "And even so, when they are in the land of their enemies, I did not reject them nor despise them&" (Leviticus 26:44). When we are persecuted, G-d has a reason for it. It's to keep us in line, to put a stop to assimilation, to show us that we shouldn't feel too much at home in exile. "And what you imagine will not come to be: you say, let us be like the nations, like the families of the earth, worshipping wood and stone. As I live, said Hashem G-d, I swear that with a strong hand and an outstretched arm and poured out wrath I will reign over you." (Ezekiel 20:32-33)

Nowadays there is completely new phenomenon: Jews are waging wars against gentiles, arousing their anger, which leads to the death of Jews. This is not the old persecution of the past two thousand years. Then it was not our fault we did nothing to the Germans or the Spanish or the French. Then it was G-d's doing, to teach us a lesson. But now it certainly is our fault, because we really are doing something to anger the gentiles and provoke them to attack us.

So when the State of Israel is disbanded, the Jews worldwide will be able to live in peace meaning that this danger we have brought upon ourselves will come to an end. Jews will go back to living in exile just as they did before at peace, unless G-d decides to bring persecution on us for our own edification.

As an analogy, imagine that someone said, "If only America and the USSR would stop antagonizing one another, there would be peace." And you would say to him, "What do mean there would be peace? Wouldn't there still be tornadoes and earthquakes and hurricanes? Do you call that peace?" The answer is, he meant peace from the artifical conflict created by the policies of the two nations. Of course there would still be acts of G-d, but that is not what he meant.

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Truth and Peace, by Rabbi Yosef Chaim Sonnenfeld

ycohen — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 18:41:49 +0000

After the disorders in Eretz Yisroel in 1929, the Chief Rabbi of the Orthodox Jewish Community, Rabbi Yosef Chaim Sonnenfeld, zt"l, issued a touching appeal to the Arab population to live in peace with the Jewish community, and assuring them that the Jewish people have no designs on the Temple Mount nor Arab properties.

This appeal, presented in English translation, was printed in Arabic in the leading Arab newspaper as well as in Loshon Kodesh in the Agudah weekly, Kol Yisroel on November 22, 1929. It appeared in English in the Palestine Bulletin on November 29.

It is fifty-seven years since the L-rd allowed me to ascend to the Holy Land, to take pleasure in its stones and to enjoy its earth. Providence has permitted me to be a witness to the rebuilding of the ruins of Jerusalem, may it be built and established, to the expansion of its settlement beyond the city's walls. Houses were built and neighborhoods were founded. They established charitable institutions, foundations of Torah and service to G-d. Workshops were also established. Men who live by the toil of their hands and by trade have ascended to our Holy Land.

During the days of my dwelling in the Holy Land, the L-rd has aroused the spirit of certain esteemed individuals to fulfill the commandment of settling the land of Israel both by working the earth in order to partake of its fruit and be satiated by its goodness, and by fulfilling the commandments connected with the land. And with His help, may He be blessed, settlements have been established in Judah and the Galilee, which, afterwards, were a delight for me to walk through and give praise and thanks to the One who establishes the border of the widow.

The "Western Wall", the place from which the Divine Presence has not departed, even in its ruination, has been a place of refuge for all the inhabitants of the Holy Land to pour out their hearts. Whenever a Jewish soul has thirsted for closeness to G-d, whatever the supplication, whatever the prayer, he has gone to this holy place, and his prayer has ascended to heaven and he was helped.

This holy place also serves as a tower for the entire world. The dispersed of Israel, in far off lands, direct their hearts in prayer to this place where the Divine Presence dwells, and when they are in distress, they turn to their brothers in Jerusalem to arrange supplications for them by this "Western Wall".

There was no fixed time for this outpouring of prayer. Neither day nor night have the feet of Jews ceased treading in this holy corner. I too, have been favored by the L-rd to be among the visitors to this place. I too, have not, had a fixed time for this, and many times my feet stood in this holy place, late at night, alone, and in seclusion with the One who caused His name to dwell in this house. And all of these decades even after the land came under the mandate of His Royal Majesty's government, the government of Great Britain, may His Majesty be exalted, peace and tranquility prevailed in the land. The inhabitants of the land who are not the Children of Israel looked favorably upon the blossoming of the settlement. Antagonism to religion, which, lamentably is prevalent in many lands abroad, had no place in this sanctified land. The One who makes peace in His heavens had spread the tabernacle of His peace over the land and the city which He chose, and there was no violence or outrage in our streets. Our esteemed neighbors honored the Jews, and the Jews respected the other inhabitants of the land. On many occasions one group was helped by the other, as is fitting proper for tranquil neighbors, who together desire the success of their community. Also the Arabs knew and still know that the Jews seek their peace and well-being, and bring a blessing upon the entire land. All of them together awaited the great day of the L-rd, on which his Divine Presence will return to Zion, to restore its sanctity and glory, as in days of old, to be a light to the nations and kingdoms.

But behold now, woe unto us that such a thing has arisen in our days, a raging storming wind is turning upon the Jews of the Holy Land. Hatred and slander is taking root, causing the spilling of innocent blood and the destruction of holy settlements. The soil of the Holy Land is saturated with the blood of pure, innocent souls, and the voice of the blood of brothers cries out to us from the ground.

To our great sorrow, false accusations have been spread, invented by lovers of strife, which ascribe evil intentions to the Jewish inhabitants in order to arouse anger and vengeance, and to turn our quiet Holy Land into a battlefield and place of catastrophe, G-d forbid. The severe consequences of the dispute and belligerence bring a great loss to the entire community. And if the situation continues, G-d forbid, any longer, it is liable to bring misfortune and ruin upon the entire community and upon hundreds of thousands of its inhabitants.

I am eighty years old today, and in the days of my old age, the L-rd has bound me to see the destruction of the foundations of the settlement, which was built over a period of many years, with the toil and sweat of men who sacrificed themselves for it, and which was nurtured and reared by strong men, out of holy devotion and out of a strong will to secure the foundations of a settlement in the Land of Israel.

I turn to all sections of the population of the Holy Land, and in particular to those who are not of the Children of Israel and from the depths of my sad broken heart, I ask to to have pity on the Holy Land, and to say to the angel of destruction, "cease!" Remove hatred from your hearts, and don't allow yourselves to be misled by the false prophecies and seductions of men who, either with evil intent or because of mistaken assumptions are trying to increase division among the various parts of the population.

Don't turn your ears to slanders and false charges that are baseless. The Jewish inhabitants of the Holy Land do not seek, G-d forbid, the harm of the rest of the inhabitants. They desire, just as the other inhabitants of the land that which is good for the land and good for all those who dwell in it. The Jews do not want to encroach upon the rest of the inhabitants. The Holy Land is a beautiful land, in which, with the growth of the community and its expansion, there is room for all of its inhabitants to dwell in peace, without anyone interfering with his neighbor to the slightest degree.

The Jews do not want, in any way, to take that which isn't theirs. And they certainly don't want to contest the rights of the other inhabitants to the places held by them in which they regard with honor and consider holy. And in particular there is no foundation to the rumor that the Jews want to acquire the "Temple Mount". On the contrary, from the time that, because of our sins, we were exiled from our land, and our Holy Temple was destroyed, and we have been lacking the purity required by the Torah, it is forbidden for any man of Israel to set foot upon the grounds of the "Temple Mount", until the coming of the righteous Meshiach, who with the spirit of the L-rd, which will hover over him, will rule righteously, for the good of all creation, and will return to us the purity required by the Torah.

We request only that they leave us the most holy place that is left for us, as a refuge, the site of the Western Wall, so that we will still be able to pour out our prayers before our father in heaven, concerning any trouble that may befall us, G-d forbid, and whenever a Jewish soul desires this holy place, without any disturbance and with peace of mind, as was always the case.

I declare my words before everyone and I hope that all righteous peoples of the world will recognize the justic of my words and because of this recognition will make every exertion and explore every possibility to restore peace to the Holy Land, and to remove suspicion and jealousy from the hearts of all the inhabitants. And then the L-rd will take pleasure in our deeds and strengthen the work of our hands, in order to see the building of our Holy Land, and its blossoming, for the enrichment of the entire world, and then His Presence will dwell amongst us as in ancient times.

Awaiting speedy salvation
Yosef Chaim Zonenfeld
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TRUTH AND PEACEThe "Holy Land", upon which the eyes of the L-rd our G-d are from the beginning of the year until the end of the year, the land from which comes forth blessings for all the peoples, and in which the prohets of the L-rd forsaw the promises of the future and the perfection of all humanity, and from which they called for the peace of all creation, has groaned and cried for two years because of pain and insult, and it soil, which is permeated with holy memories of purity of heart and morality of character, has become a witness to raciel hatred and strife between neighbors. And the atmosphere of spiritual life is filled with suffocating clouds which poison every understanding heart, and remnant of human love.

The prolonged controversy and dissention is repelling the Divine Presence and is removing G-d forbid, the blessing of the L-rd from the beautiful and bountiful land, which is destined and assured by providence. And in its place come aching souls, quarrels between brothers, scheming hearts, lack of faith and trust in the L-rd, and mistaken and misleading suspicions of one another.

As one of the leaders of the "Holy Land", who has been privileged, with G-d's help, to be in this land, now nearly sixty years, and who has been an eyewitness to years of tranquility, security and complete peace between the inhabitants, I permit myself to turn to all the inhabitants of the Holy Land, regardless of race or religion, the people which the Divine Providence has given the privilege of dwelling in the land which is holier than any other land, to ask them, from the depts of my broken and said heart to have pity upon the bountiful land and upon the various ethnic groups that dwell in it, to come together to rebuild the moral ruins and to reestablish the broken fragments of humane feeling and divine ethnics, which have been ruined and shattered during the last few years.

Uproot every grudge from your hearts. Remove the suspicions that come from false prophecies and seductions which nest there, and pave the road to peace. The heads of the Jewish People in the Holy Land will be the first to call for peace, and the hearts of the leaders and heads of the Arab People will in turn be aroused to the restoration of peace to the people.

The blessing of the L-rd will accompany the goodwill of the inhabitants. It will enrich and crown this will with success and saturate the holy ground with the dew of life. And may we be privileged to see the new light which the L-rd will cause to shine on Zion, and nations will go by His light.

As the entreaty of one who awaits and longs for heavenly mercy,

Yosef Chaim Sonnenfeld

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A Martyr's Message: The Life of Dr. DeHaan, by Emil Marmorstein

ycohen — Mon, 24 Oct 2011 22:51:07 +0000

A Martyr's Message
By Emil Marmorstein
To commemorate the fiftieth anniversary of the murder of Professor De-Haan
Published in London 1975
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PREFACE
Sivan 29th was the Yahrzeit of Reb Yaaakov Yisroal Ben Yitzchok Isaac De-Hann.

Dr. Yackov Yisroel DeHaan Zt"l Fifty years have passed since he was deliberately struck down by the murderous bullets of the Zionists appointed for this assassination.

His fight against Zionism was so determined because his devotion to Torah Judaism was so deep and although he was repeatedly warned of the danger, selflessly and fearlessly he went forth to do battle with the prime adversary envisaged as the salvation of the whole Jewish People; a consoling dream yearned for; a hope awaited. Professor De-Haan understood Zionism for what it really is. He sensed it, he recognized it and made hiss life a mission to combat it. It is this life of Professor De-Haan which true Religious Jews will never forget; his tragic death they will always remember.

He was, perhaps, not rightly appreciated in his lifetime. He had opposition from his own circles. The Aguda, under whose banner he fought and whose creation was primarily to combat Zionism, was already showing the seeds which are now so apparent. The tendency to go along with the stream had started-if not yet in full swing as now, at least not too far behind. The "Israelite" of Frankfurt, the cradle of that deep misconception of a fusion of Torah and Western culture, could not appreciate nor even understand the straightforward Messiras-Nefesh of De-Haan whose soul alone defied and overpowered the narrow avenues of worldly thought with which this Professor of International law was so well acquainted but which he had transcended and left behind completely.

Read more about the murder of Dr. DeHaan in the article When the Zionists Killed Yaakov DeHaanThe Zionists, however, did appreciate that great man to the full. They saw in him their implacable opponent: in his devotion to true Judaism-a challenge: in his outstanding ability-a supreme danger: in his determination their cue for action. They concluded that only their murderous bullets would rid them of that problem and they had recourse to them. cowardly and in cold blood.

Professor De-Haan should be remembered the more at this juncture when the all-embracing Zionist Tummoh has become so established, so popular and so universally acclaimed. When all hands are dropped, when all strength is exhausted, when all truth is gone, when Mall Yisroel is ruled by stupidity and lies, Professor De Haan's memory should be given more and more prominence. His body, pouring blood, carried in the darkness of night should be pictured on every wail. The last feeble beats of his pure heart should forever sound with the rhythm of re-awakening and revival.

Many thanks to Mr. E. Marrnorstein who was willing, and indeed found it his duty, to write down in this narrative the facts about the life and death of Professor De-Haan in a moving and descriptive manner. 8y now, when Zionism is moving slowly but surely in the realm of the past it is even more important that the facts about this episode in Jewish history should be known.

Professor De-Haan was a message. His martyr's death demands constant awareness. It is a ceaseless voice piercing the heavy silence into which we are sunken. His grave shows a call to the living not to forget that we are Jews whose Jewishness has set out to eliminate and to destroy. The tragic end of Professor De-Haan is a lasting memorial of the opposition to Zionism, to its achievements, to its State and to all that goes with it.

Many have died, unfortunately, for the cause of the Zionist idol. He is one who gave his life to defy it. There were others who gave much in the fight against this all pervading Tummoh. He gave his all. And when the Zionist achievements will be gone and forgotten, when his murderers will have vanished from the face of the earth, the name of Reb Yaaakov Yisroal Ben Yitzchok Isaac De-Haan will stand out supreme-a shining star. His is the place of honour forever, amongst the great of our People.

Shvat 5735 (1975)
TOMCHEI
NETUREI KARTA
LONDON.

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A MARTYR'S MESSAGEAccording to Tudus of Rome (T.B. Pesachim 53b) the plague of frogs inspired Hananiah Mishael and Azariah to court death in the fiery furnace (Daniel 3)c since, they reasoned, the frogs, who were not commanded to lay down their lives for the sanctity of the Divine Name, entered tire ovens of Egypt, we who have been so commanded must surely emulate them. This argument was questioned by Rabbi Jonathan Eybeschutz on the grounds that tile frogs were also obeying orders-"and they shall go up and come into your house and into your bedroom and upon your bed and into the house of your servants and upon your people and into your ovens and your kneading- (Exodus 8,3). In reply to his own question, he suggested that the frogs were not divided into separate detachments, each with its specific objective: all were therefore free to prefer tile luxury of Pharaoh's bedroom, where they could croak in his ears all night in comfort, to the heat of the ovens; and only from those who chose tire most dangerous way of obeying the Divine Will did Hananiah, Mishael and Azariab derive their a minori ad mains conclusion.

On the analogy of the frogs, we who would rather discuss and describe the Wars of the Lord than participate in them -I mean of course, myself--are constantly challenged and rebuked by the heroism of Jacob Israel de Haan. Granted, however. that a sense of guilt partly underlines my initiative in arranging a modest celebration of the fiftieth anniversary of his death, it hardly accounts for the fascination he has held for me since the morning not long past my fifteenth birth day-when the words "De Haan its ermordet" greeted my father on our arrival at prayer, I was soon to hear more of him in Galanta, where I spent part of the summer holidays under the instruction of Reb Leib Deutsch , the son of my father's former teacher, Reb Mandel Deutsch' who then lived in Jerusalem-he was the (second) father-in-lacy of Rabbi T. H. Sonnenfeld. I was told, in considerable detail, how Rob Mandel had defied the direst threats to deliver a eulogy at the graveside, as well as something of the character and nature of the man for whose sake menaces were ignored. But it was not until my own arrival in the Holy City (1934) that I could form a more distinct impression of him. Long conversations with people whose recollections of him were still quite vivid-Muslims and Christians as well as Jews-revealed "a small, plump, blond-bearded man in his early forties", a congenial companion as well as a talented poet and witty feuilletonist, whose passion for truth endeared him to his friends and raised a host of enemies. Furthermore, I gained a superficial knowledge of his background and professional career.

He was born in Smilde (Holland) in 1881 and spent his childhood in Zaandam, where his father was employed as cantor and teacher by the local community. His early development roughly resembles that of many of his Western and Central European contemporaries, clever boys born into conventional Judaism and estranged from it shortly after leaving the parental home in the pursuit of wider opportunities of advancement. While training for the teaching profession, he began to attract attention in literary circles. Among the admirers of his poetry was a (non-Jewish) physician, Johanna van Marseveen, whom he subsequently married. She subsidized his legal studies, which led to his appointment as a university lecturer. He joined the Social Democrats: his membership of a party delegation to Russia resulted in a book on the condition of political prisoners in Tsarist jails; and in February 1918 he attended the conference in Amsterdam at which the forthcoming peace negotiations came under review. Soon afterwards he renounced Socialism. The publication of Het Joodsche Lied (the Jewish song) had marked the start of his return to a Judaism more fervent than that of Ids childhood environment. He was now attached to a group of religious Zionists associated with the Mizrachi, which, towards the end of 1919, feted him as the first Dutch Jew to settle in Palestine under Zionist auspices. There he earned his living as correspondent of the Amsterdam Algemeen Hdndelsblad and (from 1923) the London Daily Express. He also lectured at the Government Law College in Jerusalem.

Throughout his first year, his popularity as a speaker proved an asset to the Mizrachi, which had recently established branbhes. Nevertheless, in the latter half of 1921, he was writing to the effect that adherence to it was justified anywhere in the world except Palestine or, in other words, that the party's approach to Judaism, dominated as it was and is so largely by feelings of ethnic solidarity, could be no more than a prelude to the personal experience of the Divine that meticulous observance of the commandments in the Holy Land can offer. The breach with the ideals of the Zionist movement was drawing nearer, and it was aggravated by his satirical comments on its leadership's political judgements and tactics-he shared the Western intellectual's contempt for less sophisticated varieties of the secular pattern of thought.

To describe him as coming under Rabbi Sonnenfeld's influence would be a dilution of the rare quality of a disciple's humble submission to his master. In total surrender to the overriding claims of the Holy Torah, pride was stripped from him as, under the master's guidance, he became increasingly sensitive to the enormity of guilt and the boundless compassion inherent in the Divinely granted power of reconciliation through contrition. "Let the wicked forsake his way and the man of iniquity his thoughts" (Isaiah 55, 7). The moralists, to whose writings he was now directed, laid special emphasis on repentance from sinful thoughts on the grounds that they were sooner forgotten and neglected than sinful actions. One of their remedies was to record sins of thought as well as deed on paper and inspect the list regularly in order to atone for the past and resist in future. De Haan became an exponent of creative confession. In addition to prolonged prayer and rigorous fasting, he refined his conscience by illustrating the war of the impulses and the contest between faith and unbelief, in fact, the struggle for his own soul, in moving quatrains. He could certainly have said, with the Psalmist (.51, 3), "my sin is ever before me". His penance was completed by his public life in the few years left to hum, when, he might well have echoed the Psalmist in another context: "I have become a stranger to my brethren and an alien to.my mother's children, for zeal for Thy house has consumed me, and the reproaches of those who reproach Thee have fallen on me" (69, 8 and 9). He was in need not only of "delivery out of the mire lest I sink' but also of protection "from those that hate me" (69, 14).

Rabbi Sonnenfeld, for his part, had reason to regard De Haan's allegiance as providential. The community, which he had been practically coerced into leading, was formed under a regime headed by a Zionist High Commissioner and pledged to implement the Balfour Declaration. Whatever else that document may or may not have implied, it certainly recognized Jews as a national entity rather than, as in Ottoman times, a religious body; and it thereby paved the way for the conquest of the communities, which would seem to have been the primary aim of the Zionists in the early years of the Mandate. They did, in fact, achieve it to a very considerable extent: with government encouragement, deriving not only from their constitutional position under the mandatory regime but also from the general tendency of British colonial policy to prefer indirect to direct rule, they created ostensibly representative institutions in preparation for a single Jewish community under their control. More surprising, in view of the fall in numbers and resources as a result of war-time privation, was the extent of opposition on the part of the pre-war inhabitants. In a letter dated 22nd February, 1922, Artur Ruppin, who had been sent to direct Zionist activity in the country in 1907, noted that a Zionist newspaper's campaign against their schemes was attracting support "particularly among the Orthodox and the Sephardim, who were Zionism's open opponents in the past and are now its concealed opponents. Owing to the opposition of the Orthodox and the Sephardim, the Elected Assembly has had to he adjourned, and it is in the nature of things that this has immediately brought about a recognizable decline of its authority. I fear that thus the organization of the Jewish population of Palestine, which was proceeding well, has again been impeded. The hope that the Jewish population-as an organized community-would be empowered to levy taxes has also been disappointed once more: were it fulfilled, the foundation stone would be laid for the Jewish population's independence of aid from abroad in respect of the financing of its communal institutions" (Pirqe Hayyay, Tel Aviv 1968, III p.32). Subsequently, many of the Orthodox and most of the Sephardim, who then together constituted a majority, succumbed to the familiar mixture of inducement and intimidation, leaving Rabbi Sonnenfeld and his following almost isolated. Indeed, with the exception of the Agudah, whose Jerusalem branch their community virtually became, they had not a single avowed ally anywhere in the world.

Rabbi Sonnenfeld, who together with many of his contemporaries, had been denouncing Zionism on theological grounds ever since it had first come to his notice, was now compelled to defend his community's right to provide the facilities which every organized JeNvish community makes available to its members; and since administrative policy and practice were usually involved in the issues under discussion, he required a loyal and well-versed lawyer to plead in the courts, advise delegates to conferences, draft petitions and memoranda, study proposals and precedents and explain the general situation in answer to sympathetic inquiries. For instance, the Zionists attempted to secure the automatic transfer of the real estate with which Jewish religious and charitable institutions had been endowed, from the Qadi s supervision, where it had safely rested under Ottoman rule, to that of their own Rabbinate; but the publication of the text of the decree in the official gazette aroused such a storm of protest including a cable to the Colonial Office from Rabbis Sonnenfeld and Diskin-that it was amended to exempt institutions registering within a year at the Public Trustee's office. Rabbi Moses Blau, the faithful assistant of Rabbi Sonnenfeld and his first biographer, reports that several institutions unconnected with his community took advantage of this arrangement (Amuda di-Nehora, Jerusalem 1932 p,75). Another issue on which Rabbi Sonneafeld felt strongly was that of a separate Shehitah. Here there were no legal restrictions, but hundreds of families had banned meat from their homes before the administrative pretexts that prevented the community from organizing its own meat supply in Jerusalem were set aside (ibid. p.76). The third issue arose when, after the Zionist-controlled councils had been granted the power of taxation, a tax of two piasters on every rutl (three kilos) of. unleavened bread was levied. Rabbi Blau's detailed description off the resistance to it highlights the year-long court case and the plebiscite conducted by the District Commissioner among the 1.600 householders listed as members of the community. The first was lost, with defense counsel, De Haan, paying the hundred pound fine out of his own pocket, but the second resulted in an award to the community of a share in the tax proceeds calculated on the basis of its proportion of the Jewish population-despite its objection on principle even to this indirect form of partnership. It took seven years for the government to annul the tax throughout the country (ibid. 77-79).

The struggle centered round the proposed Communities Ordinance, and the community waged it from a weak legal position. Jews seeking to opt out of the community organized for them by the Zionists could hardly appeal either to the Balfour Declaration, which guaranteed only `the civil and religious rights of the existing non-Jewish communities", or to the text of the Mandate, whose fourth article recognized the Zionist Organization as an official agency and entrusted it with the task of advising the Government about everything connected with the realization of `the National Home'. Nevertheless, the petition drafted by De Haan and signed on the community's behalf by Rabbis Bernstein and Jungreis began by thanking the League of Nations for its "approval of that magnificent declaration which promises to give to the suffering and wandering Jewish people- the possibility of returning and rebuilding a faithful home in the land of its two thousand years' yearning to which it has been devoted notwithstanding its compulsory separation therefrom for nigh twenty centuries." Moreover, this preamble was relevant to the "observations" which it heralded. They were to the effect that the reconstruction of the country was hampered by the Jewish Agency's refusal to co-opt a representative of the million orthodox Jews enrolled under the banner of the Agudah and by the denial of religious freedom to "the pioneers of the present settlement and its institutions", who "have been led to organize their community independently, being convinced that only by this course could the future preservation of the Jewish religion be assured in the country, and that by independence alone could Aisputes and quarrels be avoided". This petition, which was discussed during the seventh session of the League's Mandates Commission, was moderately successful: although tile requests for amendments to Article 4 of the Mandate were never granted, the appeal. to natural justice, religious freedom and the smooth performance of the most difficult of the Mandate's tasks eventually resulted in a modus vivendi whereby Jews in the Holy City could opt out of the general community and lead an independent communal life in accord with their consciences. But it was a long-drawn-out affair. De Haan was actively engaged in it to his last hour, and many of the faithful have believed that he sacrificed his life for it.

The Zionist press campaign against him would seem to have begun with Lord Northcliffe's visit to Jerusalem. Ruppin, who, together with three other leading Zionists, spent haifan-boor with him, noted in his diary (7.2.22) that his recent stay in India had instilled in the press magnate's mind the view that "Islam was a great power" and that Zionism was one of the many causes of British unpopularity among the Muslims. Judging from Ruppin's solitary comment that "this conversation will not have the slightest effect-either to the advantage or disadvantage of Zionism" (Pirqe Hayyay III p.33), Northcliffe was not considered a serious menace in Zionist circles. Yet when he received delegates of the independent Orthodox Community, De Haan, who had made the arrangements was furiously denounced as a `traitor'. This agitation provoked Rabbi Sonnenfeld to issue, for the first time, a statement to the press. After acknowledging that the delegation bad been formed on his instructions and spoken "words that need to be said", he reaffirmed his own devotion to the sacred cause of Jewish settlement in the Holy Land and the conviction of his adherents that it would be best promoted by "a just law granting complete freedom to all communities and religions°. The delegation's purpose, he continued, was to "oppose the Zionist leaderships desire to subdue the communities and administer us with the sceptre of rulers against our will and our opinions" and to join in the World Aguda's protest against the Zionist denial of its right to he represented in the Jewish Agency for Palestine; and the statement ends with a brief summary of the doctrine attributing Exile to sin and Redemption to penitence (Amuda di-Nehora pp.70-72). The identity of the , delegates' pleas as expressed here in Hebrew with those subsequently formulated in English in the. petition to the League of Nations tends to support my inference that Rabbi Sonnenfeld himself decided the community's policy and strategy.

So does the delegation he led in person to the Sharif Husayn. Its intent was, in accordance with tradition, appeasement of a ruling family in hope, of a measure of future protection. There was an exchange of courtesies rather than views: the Rabbi recited the customary benediction on beholding human majesty, and the Sharif conferred on him membership of the Order devised for such occasions. An immediate result was the renewal of press agitation against De Haan and his entry into Zionist mythology as `the Jewish Lawrence'. As this ridiculous comparison survives up to the time of writing, I might perhaps report that my own investigations revealed neither Arab nationalist feelings on his part nor, notwithstanding questions designed to ellicit it, a breath of scandal. Admittedly, he was then remembered among Arab acquaintances for his affable manner, lively conversation, diligent study of literary Arabic and insight into the social and political conditions of the region. Yet his repeated argument in the course of negotiations with the authorities that the grant of taxation rights to the Zionist councils would lead the Arab Executive to demand similar powers is hardly one that an Arab partisan would put forward. At that time, indeed, when he warned Colonel Kisch of the Zionist Executive (in a letter dated 16th May, 1923) that "the Arab problem becomes more and more serious every day" and that therefore "troubles amongst the Jews should be avoided" (Central Zionist Archives, file S25/583), his efforts to cultivate the friendship of Arab notables, as well as Rabbi Sonnenfeld's approval of them, were prompted by grave anxiety for the fate of Orthodox Jews, whose proximity to Arab quarters and sheer helplessness singled them out as the readiest victim of outbreaks of violence. Unfortunately, their fears were justified.

Religious hatred, which, owing to our many sins,. found paths in several lands abroad, had no place in this land, which is hallowed above all other lands. He who makes peace in His heights spread His tabernacle of peace over the land and city which He chose, and there was neither outbreak nor outcry in our streets. Neighbouring notables respected Jews, and Jews felt friendship and esteem for the rest of the inhabitants, and fin no few cases was one section helped by the other, as is fit and proper among peaceful neighbours who together desire the success of the land where they dwell.

(`Amuda di-Nehora, p.86).
These are the opening words of a message entitled "Words of Peace and Truth" which Rabbi Sonnenfeld composed under the shadow of the 1929 massacres. No doubt today they are liable to be dismissed as a timely expression of nostalgia on the part of an octogenarian whose experience of insecurity and oppression during the sixty of his years spent in the Old City was now mercifully obliterated by a medley of sweeter memories; but the evidence of his clarity and steadfastness to the last favours their acceptance as his assessment of the relationship between Jews and Muslims at its best or, at any rate, his appreciation of instances of kindness and consideration shown to a defenceless group at the mercy of an excitable populace. Deprived, to his sorrcw, of his trusted and skilful intermediary, the Rabbi felt stirred to make a personal appeal for good-will and restraint, based on traditional aversion to quarrels with the peoples of the world as well as on traditional fear.

The final paragraph in the above-quoted letter to Kisch ran as follows:

I got a letter (in a government envelope) telling me that I shall be killed if I do not leave Palestine before the 24th. I know that the question whether it is advisable or not to kill me is seriously discussed in the circles which you have the honour to represent".

De Haan was not intimidated: he had predicted his assassination by the Zionists to the Tharaud brothers when they visited him several months before, and he appears to have cherished his dismissal from the Law College (in the wake of Zionist hooliganism at his lectures) and the pressure on the Dutch newspaper to sever its connection with him as signs that his penitence was acceptable. Yet while, on his friends' testimony, he spent his last year on earth in calm and deliberate preparation for martyrdom, he did not interrupt his work or vary his daily routine. On Monday, 30th June, 1924, he had completed his arrangements to accompany an Aguda delegation, as legal adviser, to London in order to present the community's objections to the proposed Communities Ordinance at the Colonial Office. After despatching his last message to the Daily Express (6.5 p.m.) he made his way to the synagogue in the Sha'arei Sedeq Hospital where he prayed twice daily. When the evening service was over and the worshippers had reached the hospital gates, three shots rang out. De Haan fell to the ground. His devoted friend, Dr. Wallach, the hospital's founder and director, rushed out to attend him, but his soul had already fled from his blood-stained body. "When news of the murder reached Rabbi Sonmenfeld", wrote another friend, H. A. Goodman, "he tore his clothes in mourning. De Haan's funeral on the Mount of Olives was a demonstration of the entire religious population against this strange murder, for this was the first time in our generation that Jew stretched out his hands against Jew. Rabbi Sonnenfeld and many other Rabbis and communal leaders came to grant him the final honour, all of them outraged by the murder. During the seven days of mourning, representatives of the Arab Executive and the Muslim-Christian Association paid visits of condolence to Rabbi Sonnenfeld" (Jewish Post, 6th May 1960). Furthermore, among the eloquent eulogies published in the communal fortnightly was a (translated) tribute from Musa Kazim Pasha alHusayni, the Mayor of Jerusalem.

Expressions of shock at the crime by the Government and the Zionist Executive (who were also represented at the funeral) were matched by their concern to prevent the discovery of the criminals. The only Zionist of note to publish an unequivocal condemnation, albeit in a periodical with a restricted circulation, was .Moses Beilinson, who settled in the country at about that time.

The movement's flag should not be stained by the blood of either the innocent or the guilty. Otherwise, our movement will be in bad way. For blood always attracts bloodshed after it. Blood is always avenged, and if a step is taken on this path, there is no knowing where it might extend. We are strong enough to allow our enemies to remain alive and, if they use illegitimate means, to regard them with contempt; but we are not strong enough to adopt methods of war liable to involve moral destruction in the movement. Political sensitivity, concern for the purity of our movement and moral feeling compel us-irrespective of De Harm's personality or the motives of the perpetrators of this action-to issue a severe verdict on De Haan's murder.

Most Zionist editorial writers found it easier to condemn De Haan: admittedly, the more `liberal' tended to pronounce the victim-not his murderers-insane as they sorrowfully shook their heads over the tragedy of-to descend to their jargon a man of education and talent falling under the sway of mediaeval obscurantists. All evidently agreed that in papers read exclusively by Jews there was little point in pretending that the assassination had been instigated, planned and carried out by non-Jews. (For external consumption, the event was generally reported as "shrouded in mystery"). A change came with the hurried publication of a little book, by a party hack with the effrontery to re-name himself Ben-Yishai. The term ‘sublimation’ had obviously not yet reached the ‘enlightened’ circles of his home-town. Accordingly, be felt free to impute to De-Haan the sins which the poet's KwatAjnen were designed to dispel even from his unguarded phantasy. This unscrupulous propaganda line, which was calculated not only to defame the murdered man but also to divert the murder-hunt to Arab quarters, met with some success in the secularist camp. Arnold Zweig relates how on 6th March 1932 he was, to his surprise, convinced that "De Haan war gar niebt von Arabern ermordet, sondern von einem juden, einem politischen Ged er, einem radikalen Zionisten, den viele Leute im Lande kennen and der noch dort lebe" (Sigmund Freud-Arnold Zweig Briefweehset, Berlin 1968; p. 55f). The next day Zweig began dictating his unilluminating novel on the subject, "De Vriendt kehrt heim°, which was published in Berlin at the end of 1932.

Among the faithful, however, no amount of Zionist propaganda could shake De Haan's credentials. They had themselves witnessed his meticulous observance of the Divine precepts and could testify to his flawless conduct, humility, compassion and contrition. What proof could be more valid than his adherence to, and acceptance by, their spiritual leaders, his arduous endeavours in obedience to their instructions and, above all, his death at the hands of their enemies? I wish I could reproduce the tone of reverence and affection in which he was mentioned by the select hand of friends and admirers whom I was twice priveleged to accompany to his grave on 29th Sivan. And he is still commemorated-particularly by the Guardians of the City, whose frail periodical has never allowed this anniversary to pass without a hagiographical memoir.

Nor has the Other Side grown indifferent to him: over the years its press agents continue to write about him from time to time, their dreary and inaccurate articles betraying ignorance of the nature of both penitence and poetry and, more generally, reinforcing De Haan's disdain for their puny culture. Take the Haganah's eventual confession in its official history (Toledoth Ha-Haganah, Vol. 11 Part 1 1964 pp.251-3). The order allegedly came from Joseph Hecht, who instructed Zachariah Urieli, the Jerusalem commander, to have De Haan killed by the smallest possible group; and a couple of (anonymous) immigrants, too recent to have heard of De Haan, answered Urieli's call for volunteers. From this account, the Haganah would appear to have been an autonomous force free to inflict the death penalty without the Zionist leadership's consent or even knowledge-and all on the authority of a single individual, for the writer gives us no indication of the composition of the court which passed the sentence. He is content to cite the case of Colonel Redl, an Austro-Hungarian staffofficer who was blackmailed into selling military secrets to the Russians, and to assert, without a shred of evidence, that De Haan had been similarly induced to collaborate with the Arab Executive. Analogies, however far-fetched, with the peoples of the world are, of course, part of the Zionist mystique; but the comparison with Redl is even more ludicrous than that with T. E. Lawrence, who at least shared with De Haan an acquaintance with the Arabic language. Published verses on the Divinely-contrived conflict in the human heart scarcely expose the poet to blackmail; Zionist secrets, whether military, political or economic, were inaccessible to him; and the idea of anyone 'using' Rabbi Sonnenfeld is as conceivable as a plan for manipulating Mount Everest. De Haan may perhaps be haunting the inward points of his enemies' souls and demanding to be exorcised by their acknowledgement of the Truth.

However, the quality of Zionist propaganda is of very minor importance to us; that our heroes are their villains and vice versa lies at the root of our situation; and we ought to be more perturbed by efforts to blur the differences. Fundamentally De Haan was murdered for publicizing these differences, for advertising to the world what the Zionists want to suppress, the fact that there are Jews who love Zion passionately and hate Zionists as defilers and despoilers of Zion. Accordingly, our homage is to be paid to the penitent who rose from the idol's feet to spit in its face and sacrificed his life to rescue the faithful from its clutches. In these uncertain times when Satan, having lavishly fullfilled his side of the bargain, is feared to be about to exact his price, the martyr's intercession is sorely needed. May the memory of his sacrifice mount to the Throne of Glory, arouse Heaven's compassion for the Remnant of Israel and hasten the Redemption of Zion, Amen.

BACKGROUND NOTES
1. The Zionist furor over Rabbi Sonnenfeld's visit to the Sharif Husayn must be understood in the light of Arab nationalism's liberal phase. Most of the anti-Zionist declarations drawn. up by Arab leaders in the early twenties distinguished between Jews and Zionists; and the generosity of their sentiments induced some Oriental Jews to add their signatures to anti-Zionist petitions. In 1823, a group of them met in one of their synagogues to protest against Zionist rule and call for Jewish Arab friendship. The Zionist leadership was shocked and alarmed by this demonstration, which it managed to keep out of the newspapers. However, the 1929 outbreak put an end to this development: their own losses forced the vast maiority of Zionism's Jewish opponents, both European and Oriental, to rely on Zionist ‘protection’.

2. Zionist newspapers have named the assassins as Abraham Krichevski (Giora) and Abraham Silberg (Tahomi)-the former is said to have died in Tel Aviv in 1942, the latter to have emigrated to California-and identified Isaac Ben-Zwi, his wife, Rachel Yanait, Moses Eisenstadt and Aviezer Yellin as prominent in the Haganah's Jerusalem branch at the time. Hecht, to whom the Haganah's historian ascribes the sole responsibility for the order to kill De Haan, was dismissed from his command by the Zionist leadership as the result of an investigation into the Haganah's failure to give prior warning of the 1929 outbreak

tags:

Yaakov Yisrael DeHaan

Eidah Chareidis

Rabbi Yosef Chaim Sonnenfeld

Peace

The Murder of Dr. DeHaan

ycohen — Mon, 24 Oct 2011 22:47:02 +0000

When the Zionists Killed Dr. Yaakov DeHaan on July 1, 1924
(From the newsletter of Neturei Karta in Jerusalem – Hachoma)
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Yaakov Yisrael Dahan was murdered on July 1, 1924. He was a man who devoted all his energies and the best years of his life to saving the remnant of loyal Jews, and to promote peace with the veteran Arab residents of the Holy Land. Through his knowledge of politics and diplomacy, Dahan contributed much to crystallizing an independent position for Orthodox Jewry unaffiliated with the Zionist leadership.

At a time when the first followers of the Zionist movement began streaming into the Holy Land in large numbers, defiling the holiness of the land, and by virtue of their idiotic ideas began to work to expel the Arabs who had been living there for centuries in order to establish a Zionist state.

The Zionists first approached the British authorities by pretending to present themselves as the representatives of the Jewish nation, who desired to establish a “national home” without any regard whatsoever of the fact that the vast majority of the Jewish People opposed Zionism in those days. However, through their various contacts, the Zionists managed to bring about the Balfour Declaration (known among our rabbis of the time as the Baal Peor Declaration – a pun referring to the idolatry mentioned in the Bible), based on the “right” of the Jews to establish a state in Palestine, and ultimately the state itself to our great misfortune.

Read more about the murder of Dr. DeHaan in online book, "A Martyr's Message" by Emil MarmorsteinGood relations existed between the Jewish and Arab communities, and the leadership of the Orthodox Jewish community conducted themselves according to the principles of Judaism, never provoking their non-Jewish neighbors. The Arabs were very friendly and neighborly, and a spirit of mutual respect was typical.

When the winds of Zionism began to blow through Palestine, the Arabs began to change their attitude because of the fact that they heard that the “Jews” wanted to grab the Land from them and expel them. Of course, they did not distinguish between the Zionist troublemakers and the members of the loyal authentic Jewish community that advocated tolerance and peace. There were outbreaks of violence here and there, until bloodshed began and many people died.

However, instead of learning from this experience that brought suffering upon the Jewish People in the Holy Land, and ceasing their dangerous lawless behavior, the Zionists used these events as “additional proof” for the need for a state and an army to protect the Jews from violence. Jewish blood was of no importance to the Zionists in comparison to their “lofty” nationalist goals.

It was clear to the leaders of the Orthodox community that there was an immediate need for an organization to confront the Zionist organization, and demand that the British desist from endorsing the idea of a Zionist state, and resolve Arab-Jewish tensions peacefully.

A great and unexpected opportunity presented itself in the form of Rabbi Yaakov Yisrael Dahan, who had embraced Judaism from a life of secularism, and had made his way to the Orthodox community of Jerusalem during those difficult days. He sensed the truth, and from then on never ceased to march with the great rabbi of Jerusalem, Rabbi Yosef Chaim Zonnenfeld, who wisely advised Dahan.

Dahan established extensive contacts with many governmental authorities in Europe, including the English, and proceeded to carry out his work immediately. In no time at all he transformed the loyal Jewish community from a tiny one without any international recognition to a community standing up against the Zionist heretics. He and other members of the community represented the Orthodox Jews under the name of “Eida Haredis” (G-d-Fearing Community), and represented the position of the loyal Jewish community.

It goes without saying that the Eida Haredis was accepted warmly among non-Jews, much more so than was the case with the Zionists – both because of the fact that the Eida Haredis represented traditional, authentic Judaism against Zionism that openly rejected Judaism in its entirety, and because of the fact that the Orthodox position made more sense in order to prevent bloodshed and promote harmony in Palestine.

Rabbi Dahan then organized a delegation of Orthodox leaders to meet with Arab leaders headed by King Abdullah. The Jewish delegation was headed by Rabbi Zonnenfeld, and was welcomed by the Arabs like royalty. The king even gave them expensive gifts as a sign of his affection. Of course the Zionists were gritting their teeth when they learned of this event, and saw the possibility that all of their projects may end up collapsing in front of their very eyes. The Zionists began their attacks against the loyal Jewish community in general, and against Rabbi Dahan in particular. They slandered him with increasing brutality until they went so far as to call for his murder.

In those days the G-d-fearing Jews were persecuted greatly by the Zionists, and whenever they ran into Dahan in the street they would insult him. However, Dahan never ceased his holy work on behalf of our rabbis. When the Zionists realized that their persecution of Dahan had no effect, they decided to kill him.

In a plan approved by the leading Haganah Zionists a number of young Zionists encountered Rabbi Dahan as he left the Shaarei Zedek Hospital in Jerusalem. The Zionist Avraham Tahomi, may his name be obliterated, shot Dahan three times in the chest, and shortly thereafter Dahan expired, returning his soul to heaven. This murder was carried out with the approval of the Zionist leadership.

On that fateful day of July 1, 1924, when the Zionists committed their crime, for which we suffer to this very day and still do not see the end in sight, they shot him in his pure heart. But they did not only shoot him and kill him, but they shot and killed the entire People, thereby preventing any plan that did not comply with their wicked intentions.

Nevertheless, some seventy-eight years after that horrible day, there is still a community of Jews following in the authentic path, and refusing to bow to the Zionist idol. It is in large measure due to the selfless holy efforts of Yaakov Dahan, a martyr of his people who paved the way with self-sacrifice that there are still Jews who refuse to succumb to the Zionist regime of heretics despite the fact that the Zionists overpower the authentic Jews with their laws and power. It is in the merit of Yaakov Dahan that there are still Jews today throughout the world who stand and announce unflinchingly their unswerving loyalty to the countries in which they live, and that there are still Jews in this world who declare to the nations of world that the Zionists and their state have no link with Judaism or the Jewish People.

His murder proved to every loyal Jew that the Zionists appearing on the scene were no friends of the Jewish People, but were murderers who hated Judaism, something that was the beginning of the opportunity of recognizing the enemy. On the most recent anniversary of Dahan’s murder we remembered the good work of Rabbi Yaakov Yisrael Dahan on behalf of authentic Judaism in his war against Zionism and its wicked plans. Let us learn from his work to strengthen our resolve and dedication in refusing to bow to the Zionist idol, and to pray for divine providence to redeem the world.

tags:

Yaakov Yisrael DeHaan

Eidah Chareidis

Rabbi Yosef Chaim Sonnenfeld

Peace

The State of Israel: The Most Dangerous Place for a Jew

ycohen — Tue, 27 Sep 2011 22:26:52 +0000

The Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs has published on their website a running list of suicide and other bombing Attacks since the declaration of principles between the State of Israel and Arafat's PLO in 1993.

In 2015's Global Peace Index, an annual ranking of the world's nations on the basis of how peaceful they are, the Zionist State came in as number 148 out of 162. The only countries more dangerous that it are Libya, Ukraine, Nigeria, Russia, N Korea, Pakistan, DRC, Sudan, Somalia, Central African Republic, South Sudan, Afghanistan, Iraq and Syria.

We hope this information will prove useful to Jews who may have been contemplating moving to, visiting or studying in the Zionist state. Leaving all ideological considerations aside, it is not a wise thing to do.

Indeed, the Satmar Rebbe once said that a person who lives under the Zionist state nowadays should recite the blessing “Hagomel” (recited by Jews after being saved from danger) every single day, to thank G-d that he woke up alive.

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