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Toroh thouohts
Two tests
Adapted from the works of Rabbi Menachcm M
Sihnccrson. the Lubavitcher Rebbe. by Rabbi
Yossi New. Chabad of Georgia
Throughout the centuries, the
faith of the Jew has often been
tried. And though the specific tests
and trials vary with the era and the
locality, they can be generally clas
sified into two categories: trials
related to “poverty” or oppression,
and trials related to “wealth” or
pleasure. Of the two, the trial of
“wealth” is the more difficult to
overcome.
The prophet Isaiah, talking of
the future redemption of our peo
ple by Moshiach (the Messiah)
says: “...then shall they gather who
were lost in the land of Assyria and
they who were banished in the land
of Egypt...” Assyria and Egypt
symbolize respectively the tests of
"wealth” and “poverty.”
In Egyptian exile the Jews were
harshly oppressed both physically
and spiritually. They were kept in
the most abject servitude, made to
perform hard, arduous labor, and
were truly impoverished—lacking
their basic spiritual (as well as
physical) needs.
By contrast, Assyria symbolizes
the test and temptation of “wealth,”
of "having it good.” In Assyrian
exile there was no servitude and
an abundance of material riches.
Moreover, there were no decrees
limiting their spiritual way of life
and no obstacles were placed in the
path of their religious activities.
Senacherib, the Assyrian monarch
who drove the Jews into exile, only
wanted Jewish people to leave the
Holy Land “upon which the eyes of
G-d your G-d gaze from the begin
ning of the year until the year’s
end” and come to live in Assyria.
In the Holy Land the Jews were
ever aware of G-dliness—(for ex
ample, they could witness the 10
miracles in the Beis Hamikdosh in
Jerusalem). Senacherib, however,
wanted the Jews to leave this be
hind. He wanted them to live in
Ashur (Assyria), a land of wealth,
happiness and pleasure. In this
way he could induce them to forget
G-d and His laws.
Despite the affluence of the As
syrian exile, the prophet uses the
severe and drastic description “lost”
when he refers to the Jews in As
syria. On the other hand, when
describing the Jews in Egypt, he em
ploys the milder adjective “ban
ished.” Evidently the Egyptian exile
(poverty and oppression) was a less
severe trial than the Assyrian
(wealth).
Today we can also see millions
of Jews living under oppression
and deprivation, in contemporary
“Egypts.” Yet they are alive to their
Jewish identity and have not for
gotten G-d. 1 he harsh decrees and
the deprivation of their basic reli
gious rights have only temporarily
“displaced" and “banished” them,
but inwardly they long for an “Ex
odus from Egypt,” so that they
may live a full Jewish life of Torah
and mitzvot.
On the other hand, we also see
Rabbi Schneerson
the communities of today’s “Assy
ria” in the free world. We see
communities living in an affluent
society with complete freedom, at
liberty to worship and to observe
mitzvot with the same enthusiasm
and intensity as was common in
the Eastern European communi
ties of 50 and 100 years ago. Yet the
“Assyrian” Jews have thus far failed
to make the most of this golden
opportunity. They have been af
fected by their comfort and secur
ity to such an extent that they are
becoming “lost.” As in Isaiah’s
day, the test of wealth is still the
more difficult to overcome.
Tel Aviv II. students
bar Kahane, followers
by Hugh Orgel
TEL AVIV (JTA)—An attempt
by Rabbi Meir Kahane and several
other members of his extremist
Kach Party to enter the Tel Aviv
University campus last Thursday
w'as blocked by students who also
scuffled with Arab fellow students
when some of the latter shouted
pro-PLO slogans.
Student Union chairman David
Berman, who led the anti-Kahane
demonstration, told reporters af
terwards, “We showed Kahane that
Tel Aviv University is a bastion of
democracy and that he can’t come
in.”
But the only arrests made in the
melee were of three Arab students.
One of them, Mohammed Shakif,
deputy chairman of the Student
Union, was detained for allegedly
insulting a policeman. As police
led them away, the Arabs were spat
upon by members of the Kahane
group who departed unmolested.
The Kach group arrived at the
main entrance to the campus in a
van and two cars. Several dozen
students were assembled at a nearby
dormitory with loudspeakers and
placards denouncing Kach’s racist
policies. The students blocked the
entrance, shouting, “We won t let
the fascists through.” The Kach
group shouted, “It’s a Jewish home
land” and “PLO go home.”
The small police force on hand
did not intervene until the shouting
turned into a shoving match and
some PLO slogans were heard.
Kahane claimed he went to the
campus as a Knesset member to
check the nature of the relation
ship between Jewish and Arab
students.
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sharing views on
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Our program is offered free to the entire community.
PAGE 11 THE SOUTHERN ISRAELITE July 4, 1986