This is a war, and any concession made to the enemy on the battlefield is dangerous, displays fear, is suicidal. It will bring defeat, for the other side will not stop if we don’t stop it first. We still are powerful enough to make a choice: instead of a political Masada, I prefer Chanukah.
David Applebaum’s journey began in Detroit and took him to Cleveland, to Chicago, to Toledo, back to Cleveland, and finally Jerusalem. Deborah joined him during this journey. So many others – relatives, friends and colleagues – met him on the way. There, in Jerusalem, father and daughter, David and Nava, rest with so many before them. We, however, cannot rest.
Throughout Tanach, the ancient Israelites were victorious when leaders arose willing to fight the enemy head on, with all at their disposal: the nation, while fighting, looked up to Heaven.
No attempts at peace treaties were efficacious during the First and Second Commonwealth when attempted with those who did not crave peace as much as the Jews. Defeat came when ancient Israel was led by leaders no longer sure of the relevance and importance of Israel as a distinct unit – witness the Jewish Hellenist kings who were ‘internationalists’ first, and the earlier secular kings allured more by power and comfort than the religious ideal of Israel’s Divine destiny. False prophets twisted the religion to weaken it; intellectuals demoralized the people by intoning how Israel could not win and through moral relativism expressed that the Jewish cause was no more just than that of its enemies.
Prior to past ravages of the Jewish people, our communal leaders told us to be quiet and rely on their high-powered negotiations. The masses followed; absent an army and state, we were powerless. Now we have a state and our elites still tell us not to use our power. They, the ‘smart’ Jews, will negotiate for us. Effectively, nothing has changed. So to those who wish to make yet more concessions to the Palestinian jihadists, I say: Not in my name.
