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From:
"Yeshivat Har Etzion's Israel Koschitzky Virtual Beit
Midrash"
Subject: INTPARSHA -22:
Parashat Vayakhel
To:
yhe-intparsha@vbm-torah.org
Yeshivat Har Etzion
Israel Koschitzky Virtual Beit Midrash
********************************************
Introduction to Parashat HaShavua
Parashat VaYakhel - The Mishkan and the Shabbat - Continued
By Rav Michael Hattin
Introduction
Last week, we started to explore the notion of Shabbat in
the Torah. We began by studying its first introduction in
the
Book of Bereishit where it appears as God's concluding act in
the great tapestry of the six days of creation. We noted at
the time that God's work during those first six days is
without exception referred to by the text as 'melakha'. We
went on to investigate the imperative of Shabbat as it is
presented in the Ten Utterances. Again, we discovered that
the term 'melakha' is employed by the Torah to describe our
mundane pursuits during the work week, as well as the
activities from which we are to cease on Shabbat.
Unfortunately, the Torah provided no concrete working
definition of the concept of 'melakha' in either place.
The description of the preparations for the building of
the Mishkan presented in Parashat Ki Tisa seemed to provide
the greatest promise for unraveling the mystery of melakha,
and we had just completed our survey of Betzalel and his
talents. It will be recalled that Betzalel, due solely to
an
unusual and unique act of Divine inspiration, was gifted in
all manner of craftsmanship and design. Blessed with
intelligence and insight, pedagogic skills and charismatic
character, he possessed a keen spiritual sensitivity,
comprehending the profundity of the work that lay before
him.
Most of all, though, he was an artisan and craftsman,
unusually and uniquely expert in metalwork, woodwork,
stonework, weaving, and design.
Betzalel as a Paradigm
Who is Betzalel as an archetype? What does he represent
in human history? What is the true significance of his
exceptional aptitude? Considering all of his talents,
pondering the range of his skills, deliberating upon the
gravity of his mission, a single, startling conclusion is
inescapable. Betzalel, like God Himself, is a
CREATOR.
Charged with the same sense of purpose, guided by insight and
understanding, and sensitive to a task that will transform raw
materials into things of meaning and beauty, Betzalel
initiates a grand process of design that is a reflection of
God's own work. The act of Creation that brought the cosmos
into being, the supreme exercise of Absolute wisdom and
capacity that rendered chaos into order and shaped
nonexistence into matter, cannot be duplicated by finite
man.
Nevertheless, a simulacrum of that moment, a semblance of its
infinite grandeur, is repeated every time a spark flies from
the anvil and an amorphous natural element is shaped by human
ingenuity. Betzalel creates just as God creates.
Inspired
with wisdom, electrified with fervor, he directs that God-given spark of creativity to transform the world.
"Said Rav Yehuda in the name of Rav: Betzalel knew how to
join the letters by which heaven and earth were created.
Concerning him it says that he was filled with 'a spirit of
God, with wisdom, insight and knowledge,' and concerning God's
act of Creation it says 'God with wisdom founded the earth,
and with insight established the heavens' (Mishlei/Proverbs
3:19). Furthermore, it states: 'with knowledge did He
uncover
the Deep' (Mishlei/Proverbs 3:20)" [Talmud Berakhot
55a]. In
this Midrashic statement of our Sages, Betzalel is presented
as a creator figure employing the very same methods and tools
that God utilized to forge the cosmos. These so-called
'letters' of the Hebrew alphabet, which are often understood
to possess mystical properties, also constitute the basic
building blocks of language. Metaphorically, the letters
represent the elemental atomic particles from which all other
matter derives. Just as God manipulated and arranged these
elemental forms to fashion a world of complexity, order,
beauty and meaning, so too Betzalel takes the 'basic'
materials of metal, stone, wood, and fiber to create an
edifice of splendor and spiritual significance.
Consider for a moment the processes involved in
Betzalel's work. Without exception, they tell the story of
utilizing the awesome, unlimited power of human creativity to
bridge the chasm between the design idea and the finished
product. In metalworking, for instance, one is able to
remarkably convert unimpressive and ineffectual ore into a
useful, lustrous object. When working with stone, one
transforms a rough and ordinary-looking mineral into a
precious gemstone. As a woodworker, one changes a formless
and prosaic block of timber into a beautiful and purposeful
vessel. In the act of spinning thread and weaving, one
miraculously transmutes fibers from animal (wool) or vegetable
(linen) sources into a fine piece of textile. In all of
these
four processes, it is creativity and ingenuity that are the
necessary link between the purposeful conception and its
intelligent result. Along the way, a raw material is
inevitably reshaped by the human intervention and given a new
and wondrous form.
The Definition of Melakha
Let us now consider again the passage from Parashat Ki
Tisa describing Betzalel's election: "God spoke to Moshe
saying: 'Behold, I single out by name Betzalel son of Uri son
of Chur from the tribe of Yehuda. I have filled him with
the
spirit of God, with wisdom, understanding, knowledge, and the
ability to execute all manner of work. To weave designs, to
work with gold, silver and bronze. To cut stones and to fit
them, to carve wood and to do all manner of work. Behold I
have provided as his assistant Oholiav son of Achisamakh of
the tribe of Dan, and in the heart of all of the wise I have
placed wisdom, so that they will do all that I have commanded
you. Namely, the Tent of Meeting and the ark for the
Testimony, as well as the lid that is upon it and all of the
other vessels of the Tent...'" (Shemot 31:1-7). Notice
that the
phrase 'all manner of work' occurs twice. It first occurs
as
the tangible expression of the divine spirit of wisdom,
understanding and knowledge with which he is endowed. It
occurs again as a generic summary of the processes of weaving,
metallurgy, stonework and carpentry.
In other words, 'all manner of work' describes a category
of specific activities that are purposeful, creative, and
transformative. In the original Hebrew text of the passage
'all manner of work' is 'kol MELAKHA.' The operational
definition of 'melakha' for which we were searching is thus
indicated by the paragon of Betzalel. As a gifted artisan
and
craftsman, as a creator whose work is a reflection of God's
own, Betzalel does not do 'avoda' but rather 'melakha.'
To reformulate our equation, Sabbath commemorates God's
cessation from the act of creating the universe. The Torah
enjoins the curtailment of 'melakha' as the expression of that
fact. The example of Betzalel and his building of the
Mishkan
captures the essence of the concept of 'melakha.' We now
understand and appreciate that 'melakha' is not a general and
all-inclusive expression of labor, work and toil. Rather, it
is a specific class of activities that are characterized by
purposefulness, the exercise of intelligence and creativity,
and a process of transformation that reshapes a coarse and
crude material into a useful product. It is indeed
significant that the word 'avoda' never occurs as a
freestanding noun in any passage describing Creation, Shabbat
or the Mishkan. Conversely, the term 'melakha' occurs
approximately sixty times in the Torah. Of those sixty,
approximately half refer to Shabbat and the holidays (on which
cessation from most forms of 'work' is also commanded), while
the vast majority of the other half occur in the context of
the construction of the Mishkan. The conclusion is
therefore
inescapable that when the Torah forbids the execution of
'melakha' on Shabbat, it is specifically ruling out activities
associated and modeled after Betzalel's undertaking, and
recalling God's own act of Creation.
Scriptural Allusions
The Mishna in Tractate Chagiga 1:8 asserts: "Release from
vows hovers in the air and has no Scriptural basis. The
laws
of the Shabbat, Festival offerings, and Temple trespass are
like mountains suspended by a hair because THEIR RESPECTIVE
TEXTS ARE MEAGER AND THEIR LAWS ARE NUMEROUS. Torts, rules
of
the Temple service, laws of Tum'a and Tahara and laws of
forbidden relations have much Scriptural basis for support.
All, however, are essentials of the Torah." The
observation
of the Mishna is the same one that has puzzled many of us.
The laws of Shabbat observance are numerous, detailed and
complex. Very few of these forbidden activities are
explicitly spelled out in the text of the Torah, and vague,
ambiguous references to 'you shall not do any work' do not
seem adequate to explain the overwhelming edifice of Sabbath
practice. Like proverbial mountains hanging by a hair, the
laws of the Sabbath appear to some to be a fanciful and not
terribly convincing invention of the Rabbis! But, suggests
the Mishna, by what a hair those mountains hang! By stating
that 'you shall not do any 'melakha'' but indicating from the
context of Creation on the one hand and Betzalel and the
Mishkan on the other exactly what 'melakha' entails, the text
of the Torah need not state any more. It becomes abundantly
clear to anyone who critically and carefully studies the text,
as our Sages most eminently did, that 'melakha' has little or
nothing to do with physical exertion, and everything to do
with human creativity that shapes and reshapes physical
matter.
The Critical Juxtaposition
"Moshe assembled the entire people of Israel and said to
them: 'these are the things that God has commanded to be
done. For six days you may do work ('melakha') but the
seventh day shall be a holy Shabbat to God, whoever does
work ('melakha') on it shall be put to death. Do not
kindle a fire in your habitations on the Shabbat.' Moshe
said to the entire people of Israel: 'this is the thing
that God has commanded. Collect from among yourselves an
offering to God, all those of generous heart shall bring
the offering to God, of gold, silver and bronze...all those
who are wise-hearted among you shall come forth to make
all the things which God has commanded, namely the
Mishkan...and the ark...' (Shemot 35:1-20).
As in last week's parasha, Parshat VaYakhel also contains
a critical juxtaposition. Shabbat observance and the
building
of the Mishkan are joined in context because they are linked
in concept. According to ancient and well-founded tradition,
there are thirty-nine main categories of activities that
delineate the types of work forbidden on the Shabbat; the
exact conceptual source for these thirty-nine is none other
than the main activities associated with the building of the
Mishkan. As Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi states in the Mekhilta (de
R.
Yishmael Parashat VaYakhel): " 'these are the things' refers
to the thirty-nine main categories of forbidden Shabbat
activities that Moshe told the people orally."
In other
words, Rabbi Yehuda understands that implicit in the
connection between Shabbat and the building of the Mishkan is
the definition of melakha for which we have been searching.
The somewhat different Talmudic formulation states: "The
thirty-nine categories of forbidden labor recorded in the
Mishna relate to the 'work' of the Mishkan...one is only liable
for an activity that was similarly performed in the
Mishkan.
They planted...and harvested (the flora that were used for the
extraction of vegetable dies used in the coloring of some of
the materials - Rashi ad loc), you shall not do so..."
(Tractate
Shabbat 49b).
The Thirty-Nine Categories of Melakha
Let us take a moment to consider these thirty-nine activities
as they are listed in the seventh chapter of Mishna Shabbat:
1. Plowing, 2. Sowing, 3. Harvesting, 4. Sheaf making, 5.
Threshing, 6. Winnowing, 7. Selecting, 8. Sifting, 9.
Grinding, 10. Kneading, 11. Baking;
12. Sheep shearing, 13. Bleaching, 14. Combing raw materials,
15. Dying, 16. Spinning, 17-19 Weaving operations, 20.
Separating into threads, 21. Tying a knot, 22. Untying a knot,
23. Sewing, 24. Tearing;
25. Trapping/hunting, 26. Slaughtering, 27. Skinning, 28.
Tanning, 29. Scraping pelts, 30. Marking out, 31. Cutting to
shape;
32. Writing, 33. Erasing;
34. Building, 35. Demolishing;
36. Kindling fire, 37. Extinguishing fire;
38. Finishing touches of a product;
39. Carrying from public to private domain.
While it is difficult to fully comprehend the parameters of
some of these activities based on this concise list, it is
nonetheless possible to organize the thirty-nine things into a
series of broader groupings. The first category consists of
numbers one through eleven (1-11), and clearly relates to the
practice of AGRICULTURE, spelling out all of the activities
necessary to wring forth 'bread from the earth.' Category
two, numbers twelve through twenty-four (12-24), describes the
process of fashioning TEXTILES. The third group, consisting
of numbers twenty-five through thirty-one (25-31), describes
the control and judicious use of ANIMALS. The fourth group,
thirty-two and thirty-three (32-33), concern WRITING, and the
fifth group of thirty-four and thirty-five (34-35), concern
BUILDING. The sixth group of activities thirty-six and
thirty-seven (36-37) relate to FIRE, and the final two groups
of thirty-eight (38) and thirty-nine (39) are the unrelated
actions of COMPLETION and CARRYING.
Revolutionary Developments in Human History
Evaluating these categories from an anthropological and
social historical perspective reveals a remarkable common
denominator. Each one of them represents a revolution in
human development! Agriculture ushered in the age of
independence from a nomadic way of life, and freed early man
from the time-consuming and wearisome task of gathering food
for survival. The making of textiles, the remarkable
conversion of coarse fibers into materials, represented the
possibility of making clothing and all manner of helpful
products. The use of animals to provide food for sustenance
and hides for survival was another important break with more
primitive living, and introduced a relationship with other
species from which we still benefit.
Writing was one of humanity's greatest inventions and
allowed knowledge and information to be transmitted around the
world and across the generations. The dawn of recorded history
is a function of writing. Human buildings are unlike any
shelter constructed by other species, for they are complex
manipulations of materials and forms. The construction of a
free-standing shelter was a development that allowed humanity
to leave the darkness of the cave. Fire was perhaps
mankind's
greatest invention for so many other human activities depend
upon our ability to harness this force. Through the use of
fire, we have transformed our lives and the state of the
world.
The act of completion represents the various processes
that human beings employ in the production of objects. The
specialization of work that is a hallmark of civilization is
based upon this category. Finally, the act of carrying from
the private to the public domain and visa versa is essentially
the basis of commerce. Commerce is about the transfer of
goods and materials, and is a direct function of their
transportation between the private and public domain.
Complex
societies are founded upon elaborate networks of commercial
traffic that are fundamentally expressions of 'carrying.'
Humanity and the Rest of Creation
It is now apparent that the creative enterprise contained
in the Torah's description of Betzalel's 'work' is echoed and
amplified in the traditional list of thirty nine 'avot
melakhot' or 'major categories of forbidden labors.'
Precisely those acts necessary to build the Mishkan are the
expressions of the human creative spark that can alter nature
and reshape it to fit an anthropomorphic mold. Let us
proceed
one step further. The thirty-nine categories not only trace
the story of human progress and the ongoing ability of
humanity to modify their surroundings, but also encapsulate
the essential distinction between humanity and the rest of
creation. No other species on this planet engages in the
vast
majority of these thirty-nine pursuits. Those that do
activities resembling planting, cutting or building do so at a
level of complexity that is limited, and tend to perform
within a circumscribed scope that is a direct function of
their particular instinctive capabilities. The leaf-cutter
ant may do 'farming,' but is incapable of growing anything
other than mushrooms. The colloquial spider may spin an orb
of astounding relative strength and ethereal beauty, but is
not capable of building anything else. Only the human being
has the ability and the versatility to develop complex and
broad solutions that address such an astoundingly wide array
of situations.
The forbidden melakhot therefore speak of what makes us
uniquely human, the aspects of our constitution that separate
us from the other species. The melakhot address the
creative
spark in man, which is part and parcel of what we variously
refer to as 'intelligence,' 'consciousness,' 'freedom of
choice,' 'awareness of God' or 'the soul.' All of these
intangible spiritual qualities describe facets of the human
personality that at its core is an expression of 'the Divine
Image' in which we were created. In other words, melakha
does
not describe those aspects of our lives in which we are
similar to our furred or feathered friends. All of the
animate creatures on this planet engage at sundry times in
activities requiring physical exertion, or involving toil and
drudgery, in the interests of physical survival. But in so
doing they are not performing 'melakha.' To phrase the
matter
in Halakhic terms, if one wishes one may lift heavy furniture
all day long to the point of physical exhaustion and not be in
direct violation of Shabbat, but to effortlessly strike a
match or nonchalantly pick a flower is to brazenly abrogate
'you shall not do any work.'
The Essence of Shabbat
What then is the purpose of Shabbat? Why does God demand
of his people that one day in seven they cease from
purposeful, deliberate, creative pursuits that effect a
physical change in the world? For a generation living at
the
cusp of the twenty-first century the answer is perhaps more
clear than ever before. God has endowed us with abilities
and
talents that allow us to occupy a most exalted position in the
scheme of things. As creators, we alone can bend the world
to
our suit our purposes. As creators, we alone can transform
nature to our meet our goals. But precisely because we are
blessed with superlative and unrivalled potential, we are in
great danger of succumbing to the erroneous and destructive
belief that we are gods in our own right. When our
creativity
knows no limits, when it is allowed to freely act without
constraint, when we refuse to acknowledge the God who demands
responsible conduct, the result is not constructive creation
but rather the atomic bomb. As perhaps no previous
generation
has ever understood, we are beginning to realize with
frightening urgency that human creativity can very easily
destroy the world and turn existence into a living hell.
The
institution of the Shabbat, when correctly understood and
sincerely appreciated, represents the hope and the dream that
a better world can yet be fashioned by human hands. The key
to that possibility remains the acknowledgement that,
notwithstanding our unrivalled accomplishments in extending
our reach to the very edges of the solar system, we are still
the work of a Creator who not only fashioned the cosmos but
also gave us the precious gift of self-mastery.
Shabbat Shalom
For further study:
1) It is significant indeed that during the entire experience
of slavery and bondage in Egypt, Bnei Yisrael are never
described as performing 'melakha' but rather as being
oppressed with 'avoda': "The Egyptians enslaved ('vayAViDu')
Bnei Yisrael with back-breaking labor. They embittered
their lives with hard work ('AVoDa'), with clay and brick
and all manner of work ('AvoDa') in the field. All of their
work ('AvoDatam') was imposed with harsh rigor" (Shemot
1:13-14). Avoda is the work of the slave, but melakha is
the creative spark of the free human personality. Avoda is
performed by the 'eved' (slave), but melakha is related to
'malakh' (angel or messenger). The great injustice of
slavery is that it dehumanizes people and reduces them to
beasts of burden, for the animal does 'avoda' but never
'melakha.'
2) In Hebrew, there is no verb conjugation for the root 'MLKh'
as there is for 'AVD.' Rather we say 'la'asot melakha'
which means 'to do' or 'to make' or 'to fashion' melakha,
and is an indication that 'melakha' is a higher and more
refined pursuit.
3) When electricity first became widely available at the turn
of the 20th century, there was a lively discussion and
debate among the Halakhic decisors as to whether use of this
new dynamic force was a violation of Shabbat law or not.
Differences of opinion existed concerning the 'melakha,' if
any, that was performed by utilizing electricity. Was it a
form of completion (the closing of the electric circuit), a
variation of fire (the electric spark or the incandescent
filament), or the idea of bringing something new into
existence? In the end, the weight of opinion ruled that its
use on Shabbat was forbidden. From a conceptual standpoint,
this decision was undoubtedly the right one, for no other
force in the modern world transforms our lives as much.
Electricity is the engine that drives every industry, powers
every transformative process, and continues to shape and
reshape nature like no other. The harnessing of the
electric spark was as significant for the modern age as was
the discovery of fire for the ancients. How senseless to
imagine that simply because turning on a light switch is
From: Eddie Chumney
To:
heb_roots_chr@hebroots.org
Subject: Israel in the News -
February 17-29, 2000
Israel in the News
February 17 to February 29, 2000
TEMPLE MOUNT
AG INFORMS CHAI VEKAIYAM THAT POPE WILL NOT PRAY ON THE MOUNT
IsraelWire-2/23
State Attorney General Elyakim Rubinstein told the leaders of the
Chai Vekaiyam organization that although he will be visiting the
Temple Mount in the Old City of Jerusalem in March, Pope John
Paul II will not be praying at that site. In addition,
Rubinstein told the organization that his office supports the
right of all Jews to pray on the Mount. Jews are currently
barred from praying on the Temple Mount, the site of the First
and Second Temples, because the Moslem Wakf Authority finds such
an action offensive.
Chai Vekaiyam leader Yehuda Etzion sent a letter to the attorney
general requesting that the government ban prayer by Christians
as it does Jews. Chai Vekaiyam has been at the forefront in
the
battle against the government, seeking Freedom of Prayer for Jews
as is afforded to members of other faiths in Israel.
Etzion, who
has taken his case to the High Court of Justice many times, has
pointed out that persons of varying religious faiths are
permitted to pray on the Temple Mount but Jews may not do so.
Many Jews, including Etzion, have been placed under arrest, some
beaten by Wakf security personnel, when observed praying on the
Mount.
In the past, the High Court has ruled that Jews may pray on the
Mount but have always made a provision permitting police to
override the ruling if they believed that the prayers would
result in violence. To date, police have always exercised
their
authority under the option.
JERUSALEM
MUSLIM SCHOLAR SAYS "JERUSALEM IS KEY TO PEACE OR WAR"
Hamas News 2/19/00 Occupied Jerusalem:
A Muslim scholar in Jerusalem has warned Israel against
"understating Muslim resolve on Jerusalem," saying
"Muslims
experienced periods of weakness in the past but were always able
to stand up again and defeat their oppressors." Ismael
Nawaha,
Ph.D., pointed out during the Friday sermon at the Aqsa Mosque
yesterday that Jerusalem was an integral part of the Muslim faith
since it ranked only third in holiness and sanctity right after
Mecca and Madina. "The Zionist must understand that
Jerusalem
was our first Qibla (the direction to which Muslim turn during
prayer) and the third of the three Holiest Mosques."
Nawahda told tens of thousands of worshipers that al-Quds al
Sharif (the Arabic name for Jerusalem) "was, is and will
always
be the key to peace or war," adding that relentless Jewish
efforts to arrogate Muslim rights in the city "will never
ever be
acceptable to Muslims." "If the Zionists think
that through
political insolence, arrogance of power, and the fact that they
have America at their beck and call, they can achieve peace, they
are dead wrong " Nawahda said peace in the holy land
could only
be attained through justice and the restoration of Palestinian
rights, including the right of Palestinian refugees to return to
their homes in Palestine. Nawahda said "peace can only
be the
result of justice," adding that "without justice, the
so-called
peace will only be a temporary truce."
STATUS OF JERUSALEM SHOULD BE DETERMINED IN FINAL STATUS TALKS
By Francesca Ciriaci Jordan Times, Feb. 24,00 Amman
The European Parliament reiterated on Wednesday that east
Jerusalem is an occupied land and that the future status of the
Holy City is to be determined in final status negotiations.
"The
European Union considers the status of Jerusalem a 'corpus
separatum'," visiting European Parliament President Nicole
Fontaine stressed at a press conference after talks with Prime
Minister Abdur-Ra'uf S. Rawabdeh and before heading to a working
dinner with His Majesty King Abdullah.
"East Jerusalem falls under U.N. Security Council 242/1967,
which
upholds the principle of the inadmissibility of territorial
acquisition through the use of force," Fontaine said,
reaffirming
that "continuing Israeli settlement activities are contrary
to
U.N. resolutions." "East Jerusalem is not, therefore,
under
Israeli sovereignty. It is an occupied territory, and the
Fourth
Geneva Convention on refugees is applicable to east Jerusalem as
it is to any other occupied land," she said.
POPE'S VISIT TO ISRAEL
ISRAEL PRESSURING VATICAN TO CANCEL OFFICIAL WELCOME BY PA
OFFICIALS
IsraelWire-2/23
Israel is applying pressure on the Vatican to cancel the planned
official welcoming ceremony for Pope John Paul II in the PLO
Authority (PA) on the Temple Mount. Officials in Jerusalem
are
concerned that the residents of the PA as well as PA leadership
will take advantage of the situation to display signs of
sovereignty in eastern Jerusalem in an attempt to embarrass
Israel in the international community. Israel has already
been
requested by the Vatican not to provide security agents for the
pontiff while he tours eastern Jerusalem and officials in
Jerusalem fear the PA will take advantage of this 'opening' and
surround the pope with PA security agents.
PA TO MAKE USE OF PAPAL VISIT TO JERUSALEM
By Amos Harel Ha'aretz Military Correspondent Thursday, February
24, 2000
The Palestinian Authority is liable to take advantage of the
Pope's impending visit to Israel and the PA to make demonstrative
moves in Jerusalem which will stress its aspirations for
sovereignty in the city - the defense establishment has warned,
based on intelligence analyses.
Pope John Paul II is scheduled to arrive in Israel on March 21.
Ahead of his visit, Palestinian Chair Yasser Arafat has appointed
a five-man reception committee. Israel believes that the
inclusion of ministers Faisal Husseini and Ziad Abu Ziad on the
committee reflects a Palestinian intention to highlight diplomatic issues during the Papal visit to Jerusalem.
The PA is likely to take special advantage of a Waqf reception
for the Pope at the Temple Mount to make diplomatic gains, for
example by having a large presence of its own representatives at
the ceremony. The Pope's visit to the Temple Mount is set
to
draw international attention and Israel will be hard pressed to
intervene and appear as disrupting the Papal visit.
In addition, the Palestinian Authority wishes to take advantage
of the visit in order to raise other political issues besides
Jerusalem. It is likely to stress signs of its
independence,
mainly during the Pope's visit to Bethlehem, as well as the
refugee problem during his visit of the Deheishe refugee
camp. A
senior PA official said yesterday that "Arafat is staging a
big
show in Dehaishe, to which refugees from all over the West Bank
will be invited.
VATICAN DEFENCE OF WARTIME ROLE ANGERS ISRAELIS
By Alan Philps in Jerusalem London Times 2/27/00
A Senior Catholic envoy provoked outrage last night after
brushing aside Israeli sensitivities to describe the Vatican's
wartime record as "wholly justified". The Pope's
tour of the
Holy Land faced growing opposition following the comments by the
Vatican's ambassador to Israel, Archbishop Pietro Sambi.
Within
hours, the offices of the Israeli Chief Rabbinate were daubed
with slogans condemning Pope John Paul II as "wicked"
and calling
for a boycott of his visit. "The Pope is evil"
and "May his name
perish" were some of the slogans against the pontiff, who is
due
in Israel and the Palestinian territories next month.
The Pope has described his millennial pilgrimage as "walking
in
the footsteps of God", but in Israel it is reopening old
wounds.
Archbishop Sambi was asked during a television interview about
the wartime record of Pope Pius XII, whose failure to condemn the
Holocaust has cast him in the eyes of many Jews as a collaborator
with the Nazis. The archbishop said that the Vatican had
taken
the view that public condemnation would only have made matters
worse and it should act to save individual Jews in silence.
"I
am convinced that a strong condemnation would have increased
Hitler's persecution of the Jews. I justify totally what he
did
to save many Jews." The interviewer, Yaacov Ahimeir,
responded:
"I'm a little stunned. In a way, you are justifying
the conduct
of Pope Pius XII during the Holocaust."
The issue of Pope Pius XII is a raw nerve in Israel as John Paul
II has beatified him, the first step towards canonisation, or
sainthood. While the Vatican has denounced Nazism in a
document
on the Holocaust, it praised the role of Pius XII in quietly
supporting Catholic initiatives in which thousands of Jews were
saved from the gas chambers.
Tommy Lapid, a Holocaust survivor and member of parliament for
the secular Shinui party, said: "The Pope should apologise
not
only for what Pius XII did and failed to do, but also for what
popes have done to Jews throughout the ages." The
archbishop's
comments underlined the fact that the Vatican had not changed its
public stance following the publication last year of Hitler's
Pope: The Secret History of Pius XII. The book accused the
pontiff of paving the way for Hitler's rise to power and then
ignoring the plight of the Jews as they were sent to the gas
chambers.
Papal defenders insist that the Church helped 400,000 Jews to
escape. The anti-Pope slogans are believed to be the work
of
supporters of the banned Jewish extremist organisation, Kach.
The Israeli Chief Rabbi, Meir Lau, called the slogans
"coarse and
violent" and suggested they could cause problems for Jews
living
in Catholic countries. He said: "We must not forget
that the
Pope represents a billion Catholics in countries which are home
to numerous Jews." Noting that the Pope had done much
to improve
relations with the Jews, he said: "Judaism teaches us that
we
must try to transform our enemies into friends, and not turn a
friend into an enemy."
ISRAEL
INTELLIGENCE AGENCIES WARN OF 'NEW INTIFADA' AFTER POPE'S VISIT
By Amos Harel Ha'aretz Military Correspondent 2/22/00
While Prime Minister Ehud Barak is engaged mainly with the
negotiations with Syria and the plans for a Lebanon withdrawal,
the defense establishment, along with some senior members of the
security cabinet, is increasingly coming around to the view that
the priority given to the Syrian track over the Palestinian track
is a serious mistake. Central Command, Military
Intelligence,
the Shin Bet security service and the office of the coordinator
of government activities in the territories - all have issued
dire warnings in the past few weeks about the direction that
talks with the Palestinian Authority have taken. "The
writing is
already on the wall: We are headed for a very severe
crisis," one
senior security source says.
Relations with the Palestinians are at their lowest ebb for a
long time. "Without a combined Israeli move on both
sub-tracks -
interim and permanent - and without any sign of progress, a
stalemate will rule and the PA will be dragged into a crisis in
order to shift the balance," a senior official predicts.
The impression in the defense establishment is that Arafat is
putting his people through a process of "preparation for a
crisis" ahead of September. In contrast to May 1999,
the
previous target date for a proclamation of independence, the new
date will be harder to defer. The assessment of the defense
establishment is that the tension will rise after Pope John Paul
II's visit here at the end of March, bringing forth manifestations of "popular violence," first at a local level and
through-
out the territories afterward. The question, as usual, is
how
far Arafat will be able to control things.
The PA's tactics are proceeding on three levels: accusing Israel
of a systematic violation of agreements, generating disputes over
land (which so far have not mobilized the solidarity of the
Palestinian public) and emphasizing the Israeli disparagement of
Arafat (the contempt shown for his requests, for example).
"JESUS BOAT" GETS PERMANENT HOME
by Arien O'Sullivan, Jerusalem Post, February 16, 2000
Two thousand years after it was built and 14 years after it was
discovered on the bottom of the Kinneret, the "Jesus
boat" was
yesterday lifted to its new home, where it will finally be on
full display. In a complex maneuver, a crane lifted the
eight-
meter-long (26 feet) fishing boat out of the shed where it had
been soaking since 1986. For a few hair-raising moments the
boat, encased in Styrofoam and metal, was suspended in midair
until finally being lowered into an addition to the Yigal Allon
Center on Kibbutz Ginossar.
The boat was dated by carbon-14 testing to 40 BC, ñ80 years.
Jesus is believed to have preached in the area around 30 AD.
When discovered and resurrected, it faced disintegration if its
waterlogged wood dried out, and was placed in a chemical bath for
seven years before being exposed to air.
During its renovations, experts determined that it was made with
inferior quality timber salvaged from other boats. It was
also
extensively repaired. It was a flat bottom boat to enable
it to
be used for fishing close to shore and was made watertight with
pitch from the Dead Sea. Archaeologists believe it was
constructed in nearby Migdal and probably ordered by a Jewish
family, since the lake was ringed with Jewish settlements.
It
ended its life stripped and scuttled and was covered by mud which
protected it from being eaten away by the elements.
AVNER: MARY 1 WELL HAS VAST GAS RESERVES
By Eli Groner Tel Aviv (February 28) Jerusalem Post
Avner Oil & Gas Ltd. said yesterday that initial
findings at its
Mary 1 drilling site off of Ashkelon point to substantial
quantities of oil, enough to provide for all of of the country's
natural gas needs, according to its managing director.
Avner told the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange that initial measurements
of reserves at its Mary 1 offshore drilling site indicate the
presence of "several times more" than the estimated 330
billion
cubic feet discovered at the Noa 1 drilling site last month.
"For that reason, the partners have decided to conduct the
drillings at Mary 1 before Noa," the statement said.
Gideon Tadmor, Avner's managing director, told Israel Radio that
the discovery is further evidence that Israel does not need to import large
quantities of natural gas from Egypt as the government is planning. "We can tell the country that there
is enough
gas to provide for all of its immediate... and long-term
needs,"
he said, adding that there would be announcements about further
drillings in the coming days. "Israel has to assume
that it has
huge amounts of natural gas that can be relied on," he said.
Israel is in talks about beginning large-scale natural gas
imports to the Israel Electric Corp., and other users over the
next few years. But in the last few moths the Israeli
domestic
oil-exploration industry has been mounting a campaign against the
plans, saying Israel's offshore gas reserves can supply all the
country's needs.
INDUSTRY MINISTER COHEN: GAS DISCOVERY COULD LEAD TO IMPROVED
RELATIONS WITH PA AND EGYPT
IsraelWire-2/29
Minister of Industry and Trade Ran Cohen stated on Monday that
should the discovery of large offshore gas deposits near
Ashkelon, Gaza and Sinai be confirmed, it will have a positive
effect on industry; he added that their exploitation would
improve relations between Israel, the PLO Authority (PA) and
Egypt. If current figures regarding gas quantities are con-
firmed, they will provide Israeli industry with a more accessible
source of energy, which in turn would have a positive affect on
high energy-consumption industries.
PEACE PROCESS
A COVENANT BETWEEN THE POPE AND PLO LEADER
Against the G d and People of Israel and Jerusalem
Temple Mount Faithful Commentary 2/18/00
On 15th February, 2000 at the Vatican, the Pope and the leader of
the PLO terrorist organisation, Yasser Arafat, signed a covenant
against the G d and people of Israel and Jerusalem. It was
a
covenant between two enemies of Israel who for a long time would
rather have Israel disappear from the Promised Land as soon as
possible.
According to this agreement, Jerusalem should be an international
city based on international resolutions and an international
guarantee. (The UN decided on more than one occasion that
Jerusalem should be an international city.) They also
decided
that any step or activity taken by Israel to change this position
of Jerusalem is against the law. The agreement also
recognizes a
"Palestinian" state in the land of Israel and agrees on
cooperation between the Vatican and the PLO and the Vatican committed
itself to assist the so-called "Palestinians".
Authorities in
the Vatican explained: "the agreement paves the way for
establishment of full diplomatic relations with a Palestinian state
when it is founded". The PLO representative in the
Vatican
stated: "This is an historical covenant".
It is no accident that this covenant was signed one month before
the Pope's visit to Israel. The agreement is part of the
long-term policy of the Vatican against Israel ever since the State of
Israel was founded. This is a continuation of the
historical
hostility of the Vatican against the Jewish people. The
Jewish
people in the exile, mainly in Europe, and later also in South
America have been persecuted by the Popes and the Roman Catholic
Church and many millions were killed in terrible ways during the
Inquisition, the pogroms and, in our time, in the Holocaust when
6 million Jews were killed including 1.5 million children and
babies. During the Holocaust the Pope did not even try to
prevent this killing or even state that he was against it.
He
was silent.
PA USING VIOLENCE TO MAKE ISRAEL CAVE IN
PA warns against arrests at crossings
By Amos Harel - Ha'aretz Military Correspondent Ha'aretz
2/27/2000
Israel and the Palestinian Authority have clashed repeatedly in
recent weeks over the responsibility for operating international
crossings and checkpoints between Israel and areas under PA
control. The clashes have followed attempts by Palestinians
to
disrupt the detention and questioning of Palestinians by soldiers
and Shin Bet officers stationed at the crossings.
The PA has warned Israel that the stopping of Palestinians,
without a prior agreement between the two sides, could lead to
the "spilling of blood." Israel's authority to
hold Palestinians suspected of terrorist activity is outlined in the Oslo Agreements, and its original definition caused much dispute between
the two sides. In recent years, the number of incidents resulting from this issue have been small and operations at such
crossings went without event.
Recent weeks, however, have seen a number of cases where
Palestinian security officers have tried to prevent residents of
PA-controlled areas from being detained for questioning. PA
representatives had asked Israel unofficially to include them in
the investigations of such cases. "It is important
that we catch
the suspects together," they stated. When Israel
refused, real
threats were made: "The arrest of Palestinians on bridges
without
coordination will end in the spilling of blood," said
members of
the PA security service.
ISRAEL WANTS TO MAKE PEACE WITH ARABS THIS YEAR: MINISTER
CAIRO, Feb 27 (AFP)
Israeli Justice Minister Yossi Beilin said here Sunday Israel
wants to make peace with the Arabs this year and is ready to
compromise with the Palestinians on what areas of the West Bank
it will transfer to their control. "The Israeli
government and
the (Labor bloc) majority in parliament are committed to
peace,"
he said after two hours of talks with Egyptian President Hosni
Mubarak. "That's why we want to finish all this
(negotiations)
in a short time and during the year 2000," he said, despite
the
pessimism expressed February 16 by Israeli Prime Minister Ehud
Barak on reaching a peace.
"We know that the Palestinians are ready to pay the price
for
peace. The Israeli and Palestinian leaderships are
convinced
that there is no alternative to peace, and if we can conclude it
during the year 2000 this will have important effects on the
entire region," he added. "It's possible to reach
a compromise"
with the Palestinians to resolve differences over the locations
of Israeli pullbacks in the West Bank.
ROSS ENDS ISRAELI-PALESTINIAN MISSION WITHOUT BREAKTHROUGH
Gaza City, Feb 28 (AFP) -
US Middle East envoy Dennis Ross said Monday he was heading back
to Washington after his week-long mission failed to achieve a
breakthrough in Israeli-Palestinian peace talks. Ross told
reporters after meeting Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat here
that he would now consult with US President Bill Clinton and
Secretary of State Madeleine Albright "to decide on what the
next
best step will be to ensure this process of overcoming the
difficulties actually succeeds." Chief Palestinian
negotiator
Yasser Abed Rabbo, who attended the meeting, said there were
"no
results."
ISRAEL-SYRIA PEACE PROCESS
PREZ OPENS U.S. COFFER$ IN BID FOR GOLAN PEACE
By Uri Dan Jerusalem New York Post 2/23/00
President Clinton has secretly orchestrated a peace plan for
Israel and Syria that gives Syria complete control of the Golan
Heights, rights to the Sea of Galilee -- and $15 billion in
economic aid. Although the deal has not been signed,
sources
told The Post Syrian President Hafez Assad and Israeli Prime
Minister Ehud Barak yesterday gave their consent to the
groundbreaking accord.
"I believe we have enough here to achieve final peace,"
Barak
said in a top-secret meeting, the minutes of which were obtained
by The Post. Quipped one Cabinet member after the meeting:
"Maybe President Clinton will get that Nobel Peace Prize he
wants."
Clinton has been working feverishly to bring the two countries
together after peace talks in Shepherdstown, W.Va., ground to a
halt last month when the two countries refused to agree on how to
divvy up the Golan Heights. Negotiations intensified in the
past
four weeks -- but had hit a snag again over violent clashes in
Lebanon. Hezbollah killed seven Israeli soldiers in a rash
of
attacks, and the Israelis retaliated by bombing Lebanon power
stations. But tensions eased -- and the United States took
advantage of the relatively peaceful lull, sources said.
Israel seized the Golan from Syria during the 1967 Six-Day War,
and Syria has demanded every inch back -- plus a huge economic
package. Israel said it was willing to hand over most of
the
territory, but wanted to keep control of the Sea of Galilee and
the international border. Under the new deal, Israel has
agreed
to hand over all of the heights, including the sea and its
fishing rights.
Only two snags remain -- Syria is demanding an additional several
billion dollars in arms from the United States beyond the $15
billion in aid. Barak objects to this. Barak also
insists Syria
should not be allowed to police the border. Instead, he
asked
Clinton to post U.S. peacekeeping troops there for at least 10
years.
In addition to the $15 billion for Syria, Clinton offered Israel
an estimated $15 billion in arms and at least another $15 billion
in economic aid so that it could relocate its citizens from the
Golan Heights, sources said.
The three leaders will not meet again until all the details have
been hammered out -- but a final peace accord could be signed by
May, the sources said.
ASSAD'S HEALTH AND THE PEACE PROCESS
By Ze'ev Schiff - Ha'aretz 2/27/2000
When Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak returned home from a recent
visit to his Syrian counterpart, Hafez Assad, he told his staff
and foreign diplomats that anyone interested in signing a peace
treaty with Assad's Syria should move quickly. Mubarak's
meaning
was that the Syrian president's health is not good and that no
one knows what tomorrow will bring. Similar information
about
Assad's state of health is also coming in from other sources,
foreign and local alike. Assad has good days, but he also has
plenty of bad days. He no longer holds marathon meetings
with
his guests, as he once did. Sometimes he has difficulty
escorting important guests. His reactions are slow and he has to
break off discussions in order to rest. It is clear that he
is
declining, but it is less clear what stage his decline has now
reached.
None of this should be construed to mean that the decision-making
process in Damascus has been adversely affected. No change
is
discernible in that regard. Assad's close circle is trying
to
keep him isolated in order to prevent any leakage of information
about the state of his health.
****************************************************************************
effortless it therefore cannot be characterized as 'work'!
In fact, as our earlier discussion indicates, it is the
essence of what 'melakha' is about.
YESHIVAT HAR ETZION
ISRAEL KOSCHITZKY VIRTUAL BEIT MIDRASH
ALON SHEVUT, GUSH ETZION 90433
Copyright (c) 1999 Yeshivat Har Etzion
All Rights Reserved
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