נשים בירוק: [nashimbyarok-WIG] Sovereignty Newsletter #4 (in English)

Dear Friends,
We have just celebrated the 72nd Independence Day of the State of Israel, although this year, in a way that was different from the norm. Just as on Passover, which marks the birth of the Jewish people, each family was commanded to gather separately to fulfill the mitzva of: "You shall tell your son," while at the same time internalizing being part of the Jewish people, so, too, on this Independence Day. Instead of going out to parks and nature reserves in our multitudes, we gathered in our nuclear families and learned and taught the significance of the great miracle which we have been a part of for 72 years: the miracle of the rejuvenation of the Jewish people in their land, and we experienced the privilege of being part of the extended family of the Jewish people.

The first signs of a return to routine are upon us, and it is our hope and prayer that it will become clear that it is possible to continue implementing these steps without endangering ourselves or others. This will enable us to return to face the challenges of the revival of the Jewish people in their land with the same resolve that we displayed during these days of the Corona pandemic. We hope to adopt the cohesion, unity, gratitude, saying thanks, concern, solidarity, and the general mobilization as a new and renewed force in the future.

One of the significant challenges facing us is also one of the anticipated first steps of the impending government, the challenge of sovereignty. Together with you, we will continue to stand vigilant and sound the warning against the dangerous binding of the partial application of sovereignty to the tragic future establishment of an Arab state in the heart of our homeland, as it was developed in the Trump plan known as the "Deal of the Century."

The American Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, clarified this week that the United States will support the application of sovereignty, but his intention is that this step would be implemented in the framework of negotiations with the Arabs. It is certainly possible that this statement alludes to the American intention to continue to pressure the Israeli leaders to accept the dangerous deal that will ultimately lead to the establishment, for the first time in history, of a Palestinian state in the heart of our homeland, while endangering the future of Israel and lives of its citizens, and a fatal blow to the Zionist vision. We will not allow this, and, together with those who love Israel inside and outside the government, we will prevent any step of that kind.

It is important to remind ourselves, the United States, and the entire world, that in the declarations of the American government in support of sovereignty, the United States is privileged to join the cause of justice, morality, and truth. It is the United States that will profit historically from its support for the concept of sovereignty and its implementation. However, we do not require Pompeo's declarations or Trump's promises to remember our destiny and our right to the Land of Israel. We draw these rights from the source of the divine promise. One who participates in the fulfillment of this promise becomes a partner to the propulsion of the wheels of historic justice and anyone who compromises that promise attests that he is disengaged from the progress of history to its ultimate destiny.

This time, we are hosting the chairman of the Likud bloc in the Knesset, MK Miki Zohar:

"The application of sovereignty for me is a crucial step that must be undertaken as soon as possible, and it must be applied to all the territory of the Land of Israel. Now, when there is a supportive American administration, it is incumbent upon the State of Israel to quickly exploit this historic opportunity as soon as possible, so that we do not miss the opportunity."

In his column, Rabbi Baruch Efrati, head of the rabbis of Derekh Emuna [Path of Faith] addresses the connection between the mitzva of covering blood, the vision of vegetarianism, and the unique virtue of the Land of Israel.

The matter raises two questions: Why did the Torah command us to cover the blood, and why wasn't this mitzva cited adjacent to the laws of forbidden foods, but was situated specifically adjacent to the mitzvot related to the Temple and Yom Kippur?

Rav Kook, of blessed memory, explains that the mitzva of covering blood is a form of protest against the consumption of living beings. Indeed, in the future, there will be a day when we will no longer consume living beings. At present, we are not yet at that level, but the Torah seeks to remind us that although, at present, it is permitted, in the future, it will no longer be allowed. As an indication of the fact that eating animal flesh is less than ideal, we cover the blood.

We cover specifically the blood of non-domesticated animals and birds and not the blood of domesticated animals. Rav Kook explains that there are two reasons for vegetarianism. One reason is emotional, which is widespread when a person feels a connection to the animal, and, as a result, he is not interested in eating it. The second reason is the intellectual truth. It is a living being and there is no reason to eat it. Therefore, Rav Kook explains, there is no need to cover the blood of the large animals alongside a person, those animals with whom the person develops emotional empathy, because vegetarianism need not appear on an emotional basis with the lamb that lives in my courtyard. By contrast, when dealing with undomesticated animals that we hunt from afar, there is an obligation to cover the blood, as it is specifically there that we must remember that in the future we will not be allowed to eat animals, not because of the emotion, but because of the intellect. It is specifically there that the protest against eating animals must be expressed.

The mitzva of covering the blood is tied to the Land of Israel, which is the place where the most elevated moral level is revealed, both as a people and for each and every one of us as an individual. Our presence outside the Land of Israel is merely a mishap, and it is not there that the most elevated moral level of the Land of Israel can develop. Every moral formulation outside of the Land of Israel is merely a development of morality that began in the Land of Israel. In the Land of Israel the basis for morality was created in the books of the Bible, the Mishna, etc. From this, the understanding arises that in the future we will be sanctified and exalted, people who do not eat animals. Until then, we eat living beings and remember that we are not yet on that level.

We continue our travels throughout the Land of Israel together with the historian, author, and journalist, Haggai Hoberman, who reminds us of the event that transpired during this very period forty-six years ago.

Riddle: What is the first settlement established by Gush Emunim?

I already hear you saying: Ofra, Kedumim, Elon Moreh. I will spare you the indecision. The first settlement was Moshav Keshet in the Golan.

It was in the course of Israel's negotiations with Syria regarding a partial withdrawal from the Golan after the Yom Kippur War. The Committee of the Communities of the Golan established a civilian outpost in a bunker on the outskirts of Kuneitra. The members of Gush Emunim, who understood that withdrawal from the Golan would constitute the beginning of withdrawals that would continue in Judea and Samaria, came to their aid. From that group, consisting of religious and secular Jews, who sat together in that bunker, Moshav Keshet was established.

The settlement was established on 20 Iyyar 5734, April 27, 1974, in the northwest outskirts of Kuneitra. The name alludes to the name Kuneitra (the small bridge of the arches [keshatot]). It is also an acronym for Kuneitra shelanu tamid (Kuneitra is ours forever). Students from Yeshivat Mercaz HaRav in Jerusalem and supporters from throughout the land, opposed to ceding territory to Syria, joined the members of the kibbutzim and moshavim in the Golan.

Following the withdrawal from Kuneitra, the moshav relocated several times, in the course of which it developed into a religious settlement. In Elul 5728, September 1978, after four years of waiting for the conclusion of the construction of the permanent settlement, the members finally moved to the permanent settlement at the foot of Tel Talya, approximately five kilometers from the border with Syria, based on the understanding that ultimately it is settlement that will determine the border.

Sovereignty Youth continues to arouse enthusiasm in mobilization for the sovereignty vision and the initiatives that it initiates, produces, and implements.

Before Independence Day, members of Sovereignty Youth from throughout the country led a virtual ceremony for which they recruited many personalities, among them, Betzalel Smotrich, Rabbi Rafi Peretz, Miri Regev, former minister Ayelet Shaked, head of the Yesha Council David Elhayani, mayor of the Gush Etzion Regional Council, Shlomo Neeman, Rabbi Shmuel Eliyahu, Rabbi Yosef Tzvi Rimon, and others. To the ceremony, they added a filmed documentation of a wide range of activities in which the youth participated in the last year, as well as a special video clip of the Underdos troupe. See the clip and show your appreciation. They deserve it.