Former Chief Rabbi Says Peace Plan Goes Against Will of G-d
In a letter handed to US President George Bush Thursday, former Sephardic Chief Rabbi Mordechai Eliyahu admonished the US president to avoid any course of action that would harm the Jewish nation.
The Jewish nation is eternal, and forever remembers those that have aided it throughout history, as well as those that have done it harm. Please let your name go down in history as a president who aided the Jewish nation, who worked alongside God and not against him, wrote the rabbi.
You were granted the privilege of serving as US president. Make the best of the duties given you, and we will fulfill our task of remembering you as good and noble throughout the ages, said the rabbi.
Rabbi Eliyahu began his letter with greetings for President Bush and praise for his efforts to bring peace to the region. With that, he then told the American president that his agenda for peace goes against the will of God.
Granting the site of the Holy Temple to murderers of women and children who blaspheme God, wrote Rabbi Eliyahu, is an act against the Jewish people as well as God.
Ever since the Jews of Gush Katif were expelled from their homes, Sderot was bombarded with hundreds of Qassam rockets by Hamas as well as other Palestinian organizations&.Hundreds of thousands of additional people will live in similar danger if we were to abide by your peace plan, and then where would we end up? asked the Rabbi.
The Rabbi stressed that he prays for peace, as does any individual who believes in God, but that anyone who accepts the bible as the word of God must keep in mind that God had promised the land of Israel to the Jewish people alone. The Ishmaelites have no part of this divine guarantee.
Noting that Gods promise to return the Jewish people to their homeland has been coming to full fruition during the last century, the rabbi then urged President Bush to act as a vessel carrying out the divine plan. Gods pledge to the Jewish people is carried out through people who were created in Gods image, and it their duty to carry out the divine will.
In addition to Rabbi Eliyahus letter, various rabbis and right-wing activists composed an additional letter to President Bush, urging him to free Israeli spy Jonathan Pollard, to support Jewish settlement in Israel entire, and to encourage Israeli expatriate Jews to make aliyah to Israel en masse.
Written on parchment much like a Torah scroll, the aforementioned letter will be handed to the US president by a very prominent figure who is scheduled to meet him. Rabbi Adin Steinzaltz, Sanhedrin President, wrote the letter, which was then translated by Rabbi Chaim Richman.
It begins by saying that Mr. Bush can "make a declaration, as did Cyrus, King of Persia... who, in the year 538 BCE, returned the exiled nations to their lands, recognized the full right of the Jewish people to reestablish their Holy Temple, the house of prayer for all nations (Isaiah 56:7), and called upon them to return to their land."
"And thus," the manifesto continues, "if you truly desire peace and benevolence, and you would be counted in the company of the truly righteous, we call upon you to declare to all the world: The Land of Israel was bequeathed to the nation of Israel by the Creator of the world. Neither could I, as a son of my faith, nor the Muslims according to their faith, ever take away even the slightest grain from the Eternals gift, which He gave to His people Israel, the eternal people."
The letter was signed by members of the News Jewish Congress, the Sanhedrin, and the Temple Mount Faithful Movement, the loyal representatives of the Jewish nation in Gods name.
"The Jewish nation is eternal, and forever remembers those that have aided it throughout history, as well as those that have done it harm." Is Rabbi Eliyahu telling Bush that if he pushes the peace process, he will be remembered as an anti-Semite along with Pharaoh, Haman and Antiochus? It seems that there is a lack of perspective here: Bush is the most pro-Zionist president ever in the White House. Furthermore, is the State of Israel synonymous with the Jewish nation? Is someone who harms the interests of the State of Israel to be considered anti-Jewish?
"Granting the site of the Holy Temple to murderers of women and children who blaspheme God, wrote Rabbi Eliyahu, is an act against the Jewish people as well as God." What makes him so sure that the Zionist regime doesn't fit the description "murderers of women and children who blaspheme G-d"? Did it occur to him that giving the Zionists control of the site of the Holy Temple might be "an act against the Jewish people as well as G-d"?
In fact, Jews have traditionally been thankful that during our exile G-d entrusted the Temple site to the Muslims, because they forbid any Jew from entering it, as is the Torah law. If the Zionists were to gain complete control of the site, they would certainly grant access to Jewish tourists and the result would be a terrible desecration of the holy ground as well as a most serious sin.
"Anyone who accepts the bible as the word of God must keep in mind that God had promised the land of Israel to the Jewish people alone. The Ishmaelites have no part of this divine guarantee. He omits to mention all the passages in the Bible that foretell the Jewish exile, and say clearly that the Holy Land will not belong to the Jews in all times of history. He ignores the fact that the Zohar (Shemos 32a) foretells that the Ishmaelites will rule over the Holy Land during the Jewish exile.
Rabbi Steinsaltz urges Bush to act like Cyrus, king of Persia. Perhaps he has forgotten that the restoration of the Jewish kingdom under Cyrus was foretold by the prophets Isaiah and Jeremiah, whereas in our age there is no such prophecy and no such divine permission.