4,325 Shluchim Declare UN Resolution Null and Void
Rabbi Gerlitzky’s Address to the Lubavitch Internation Shluchim Conference
There was once a chosid who said that he knows everything his Rebbe knows and what his Rebbe doesn’t know he also doesn’t know. His friends asked him so why is he the Rebbe and you’re the chosid (and not vice versa)? He replied: because there is a tiny difference between us. My Rebbe knows everything before it happens and I know everything after it happens.
We now saw in the video a small example out of hundreds, perhaps
thousands, of hours in which the Rebbe cried out during farbrengens about Pikuach Nefesh and Shleimus Haaretz, based on the Halacha in Shulchan Oruch chapter Shin Chof Tes in the Beis Yosef and Alter Rebbe’s Shulchan Oruch.
I quote “Foreigners who besieged Jewish towns, one should go out with ammunition and even desecrate the Shabbos (because it’s pikuach nefesh) for if you allow them to enter the town it will become very easy for them to conquer the whole country.
There are two types of shluchim. There are young shluchim who don’t remember or never heard the Rebbe speak about the security and integrity of Eretz Israel, to such an extent that I once spoke with a few young shluchim about the Halacha “Shin Chof Tes” their reaction was “What is “Shin Chof Tes”?”
And there are those shluchim that do remember the Rebbe’s heart breaking words that began in 1969_____ and later in 1977____ concerning the Camp David and Sadat accords. He then continued his warning at almost every farbrengen, in letters and in yechidus, but some shluchim might think what does it have to do with their shlichus.
I want to quote a hand written reply from the Rebbe that I saw with my own eyes that he wrote in Nissan 5750 to Rabbi Yehudah Krinsky
יו”ר המרכז לענייני חינוך, ״בהתוועדות פומבית דכו׳כ אלפים (בהם מ כ ל החוגים), שמצב הבטחוני היינו דין דפיקוח נפש – מכריח שלא יחזירו מהשטחים. וכמו בכל דיני פקו׳נ מצוה בשו׳ע לפרסם זה. ויוסיף בתור חבר המזכירות , שכל הפונה למזכירות בזה – יענהו כן״
I will translate “(I said) in public farbrengens in which thousands of people from all walks of life participated, that the security situation (in Israel) has a din of Pikuach Nefesh – it compels one not to give up territories, and as is the case in all matters pertaining to Pikuach Nefesh it is a Mitzva in Shulchan Oruch to publicize this. And he should add that as a member of the secretariat, that anyone who turns to the secretariat about this – he should reply this way.”
The Rebbe spoke about this endlessly. There is a long letter from the Rebbe which the Avner Institute published recently where the Rebbe mentions 10 points to explain his opinion on this matter; I think it’s more than appropriate that every Shliach learn’s this letter.
The reason that the population of Israel is under the constant threat of missiles and scuds and places in jeopardy, is because we gave them Yamit in 1982 and then in 1993 with the signing of the Oslo accords Israel gave them very large chunks of land and then came the disengagement from Gaza in 2005. As I heard from many ministers and Members of Knesset who said “If only we would have listened to the Rebbe’s warnings everything would have been different today.”
It is no secret that the evil originates from the territory that we gave them in Gush Katif and from that very place which served as a home to 10,000 Jews, schools and synagogues – thousands of rockets are now fired and reach as far as Lod, Ramla, Tel Aviv and even to Netanya.
Former prime minister Ehud Olmert once remarked “Since we evacuated Gaza Israel has not had one moment of rest.” Or as former defense minister Ehud Barak told a conference in Austria: “We gave up all of Gaza and what did we get in return? 10, 000 missiles.”
One of our major activities that we are involved since our inception in תשנ”ב was to draw up a Psak Din based on Shulchan Oruch ‘Shin Chof Tes’ that it is absolutely forbidden to give up an inch of land under Israeli control. Over 350 rabbis, among them former chief rabbis and members of Agudat Israel’s ‘Moetzet Gedolei Hatorah’ and chief rabbis from various towns and cities all over Israel, affixed their signature to this Psak Din.
We later publicized this Psak Din with the signatures, in Israel’s major newspapers and media. Until we advertised this Psak Din in the Papers, those opposing the Rebbe’s view claimed that life supersedes land and for peace one could and should give territories to the Arabs.
We succeeded in stopping the media to claim this opinion because they saw 90 percent of Israel’s rabbis who hold differently. (Believe me, it wasn’t easy Because in the beginning we were accused of fighting against peace and many ministers issued a call “to fire these rabbis from their posts because they are fighting “against” peace.”
From time to time we meet with experts on the Middle East, professors and senior military officials to discuss with them the security situation and we always hear from them the same words that we heard from the Rebbe throughout the years:
That the reason an Arab gets up in the morning and decides to stab Jews __ or spends millions of dollars to buy missiles is because they feel that the entire world believes that they deserve a state of their own and Israel must provide them with more territory for this.
Hence, they feel that more terror and stabbings will pressure and precipitate Israel to give more and more. In the words of military officials: “Every Israeli declaration that under certain conditions we will be prepared to concede – this in itself is a tailwind to terror.
It has nothing to do with the ‘Har Habayit’ It has nothing to do with their economic situation and has nothing to do with what you hear in the media in Israel or outside Israel. It is has to do with one thing only and that is – the Israeli leadership vacillates, they do not believe and are not confident themselves that Jews are the rightful owners of all of Eretz Yisroel and therefore the Arabs exploit this weakness as an opportunity to pressure more and squeeze out more concessions ‘chas vesholom’.
The Rebbe said – and now all experts agree with him – there is only one solution: the moment it will be clear in no uncertain terms that they will NEVER have a state of their own under any conditions and Israel will never give up an inch of its land – the pressure will cease.
When the world will realize that we are dealing here with cold blooded murderers that any concession we make, will turn into a springboard that will enable them to overrun the whole country as the Shulchan Oruch rules, once they realize that they will never ever get what they want, this will eliminate the root cause of the problem.
My fellow shluchim, I didn’t come here to hold ‘droshos’ but to talk about what action must be taken today especially now.
In תש”מ (5740) the Rebbe during one of the farbrengens spoke at length about the concept that Torah is the Baal Habayis and controls the world and that a Psak Din by Rabbonim has the power to change facts on the ground. He quoted the גמרא “Omar Malka Okar Tura” “The king ordered and the mountain was uprooted,
מאן מלכי ? רבנן When רבנים issue a Psak Din it is an order to change the facts and situation on the ground. Because Hashem gave Rabbonim the power (through a Psak Din) to control the world. Not only Rabbis who live in Israel but all rabbis around the world have this power.
Every rabbi should sign on this Psak Din and send it to us and we will make sure it reverberates throughout the entire world. This pertains to all rabbis who live outside of Israel as the Rebbe spoke many times by the farbrengen of Shabbos Parsha Bo תשל”ו that because of the Torah’s warning of ‘Lo Saamod Al Dam Raecho’ (it is for bidden to stand idly by as the blood of your brother is being shed) it is incumbent on every rabbi in Chutz Looretz to protest and to publicize this Psak Din.
1 – Therefore I propose to renew the call to every shliach to ask the prominent Rabbonim in his area to sign the Psak Din which we wrote and appears on our website pikuachnefesh.net translated from Hebrew to English, French, Russian and Spanish.
Recently our site was hacked and brought down. Our moderator of the site told us that this was a vicious attack by ‘Sonei Yisroel’. They literally destroyed the whole site and we are now working to build it back.
From time to time I together with my colleagues meet with prime ministers, government ministers and ambassadors from various countries.
I remember several years ago when we met with then U.S. Ambassador to Israel Martin Indyk who identified with “Peace Now,” after telling him the Halacha of ‘Shin Chof Tes’ he yelled at us: “You people need to have your minds switched,” and almost chased us out of his office.
Recently we met with the French ambassador to Israel. After listening to what we have to say he told us: “look, we tried everything but it didn’t work. Maybe you are right and time has come to try the Torah way and the Halacha, maybe it will succeed.”
Today, thank G-d, there are thousands of the Rebbe’s shluchim the world over, who are in steady contact with Jews and non-Jews. We shluchim have the power to generate a substantial change in public opinion, by explaining to them the Rebbe’s opinion on this matter. The Rebbe did not use metaphysical terms but spoke in plain words, plain logic, that every person can see for themselves.
Many shluchim are connected with U.S. Congressmen and Senators and other influential figures the world over who from time to time visit Israel together with the respective shliach of the state to meet with the Prime Minister and other ministers, it is very important that the shliach should strengthen the ‘shita’ of the Rebbe that because of Pikuach Nefesh it is absolutely forbidden to give up even one inch of land because the value of life overrides every other value. קדושת החיים מעל הכל
If you feel you do not know enough about this subject to speak to your Congressmen or Senator then make sure when come to Israel please include a meeting with our organization. You can write to me or Rabbi Levin (avrlewin@netvision.net.il) to arrange a meeting with our group.
Dear Shluchim, We are all here united and larger in number than the representatives in the UN who voted for the two state solution to divide Israel, half for the Jews and half for the Arabs. While they represent different countries we represent the Meshaleach, the one and only leader of our generation who vehemently opposed such a scheme. Therefore we hereby declare in the name of all the shluchim that Chas vesholom there never ever will be a Palestinian state alongside Israel, and every inch of Eretz Yisroel will remain under control of its rightful owner – Am Yisroel.
עוצו עצה ותופר דברו דבר ולא יקום כי עמנו קל. And we will be zoche to see openly and in a revealed manner the promise of “Venosati Sholom Booretz Ushchavtem V’ein Machrid,
ארץ עולם לעם עולם, With the coming of Moshiach speedily NOW במהרה בימינו Umalkeinu berosheinu.