My shul is all over the news… but not for anything we did. We were on the receiving side of anti-government demonstrators breaking illegally into our locked building to distribute their hate-filled propaganda.
For the last six months we have become used to Shabbat morning demonstrations outside our shul by a handful of older people screaming at Likud MK Yuli Edelstein, a regular member of our minyan. For some reason, they feel that he is not doing enough to free those who were kidnapped by Hamas. Just a month ago, when I came to shul, one of the ladies told me; “Tell Yuli to free the hostages!” I answered by saying the following: “First of all, I had no idea Yuli Edelstein was keeping the hostages locked in his basement and second of all – he won’t listen to me.” The woman then said, “No, he will listen to you!” I answered with something she will never forget: “I know for a fact that he won’t listen to me. For 5 years I have been telling him to blow up the golden dome on the Temple Mount and he won’t listen – so why should he listen now?” The lady then put her hand to her head and said, “Oy… I started with the wrong guy!” – That was the smartest thing she said all day!
OK, if this has been going on for half a year, what happened this past week that made it front page news? Simple – these protestors crossed the line. Before I describe what happened, I need to pause a moment to explain something that is not so obvious. Every Jew in this country wants the hostages freed and returned home in good health, as soon as possible, to their families. If that’s true – which it is! - what are the “Bring Them Home” demonstrations all about? Don’t we all want to “Bring Them Home”? What are the people screaming about? It’s about two things: First, it’s about bringing them home at any price – something which the overwhelming majority of this country opposes. Of course we want these beautiful, innocent people reunited with their loved ones. This is why we are davening for them and why we sent tens of thousands of brave soldiers to do everything possible to bring them to safety. In the last year we lost over 700 irreplaceable men and women who gave their lives fighting the enemy in a valiant attempt to destroy evil and save our brothers and sisters. To sign a deal now “at any price” is to surrender to Hamas and to ignore those who paid the ultimate price. Therefore, while everyone agrees with those saying “Bring Them Home” – we completely disagree with the weak and defeatist attitude of those willing to free the next Sinwar, as he was freed in the Shalit deal!
The second thing these protests are about, have nothing to do with the hostages – and this is the key point to the story. These protestors are vicious anti-government people who will scream about anything until Bibi is gone. Before these demonstrations, these very same people were yelling about changes to the Supreme Court. They cannot deal with the fact that the country democratically elected Likud who formed a coalition with Haredim, Smotrich and Ben-Gvir. I promise you – with a 100% guarantee – that even if all hostages are returned home safely, (b’Ezrat HaShem!!!), the demonstrations will continue! Deep-rooted hatred doesn’t stop… it just changes direction. The protestors outside my shul will continue harassing Yuli Edelstein. They will simply switch their signs from “Bring Them Home” to “New Elections Now”. Mark my words.
Let’s get back to what happened in Herziliya. This past Thursday, one of the female protestors entered the shul during a bar mitzvah celebration, unlocked a side door and left it slightly open. When the celebrations were over and the cleaners locked up, they never thought of checking a door that (they thought) wasn’t touched. It was the classic “inside job” move (“Hey, just leave the door unlocked and we’ll do the rest…”) Later that evening, when it was dark, the door-unlocking woman came back to the shul with 2 female friends, and they entered the building. They then put anti-Yuli Edelstein flyers on almost every chair in the sanctuary plus on the bima and chazzan’s stand next to the Aron Kodesh. I came into the shul Friday morning shortly after 6am and found these flyers. I quickly gathered them all and gave them to our gabbai, who called the police. What happened then was out of our control. The 3 women were arrested, interrogated and released with certain restrictions.
Word quickly spread among these extreme protestors, who immediately raced to the Gellilot police station, where they had… you guessed it… a demonstration demanding the release of their “heroic” friends. They put out statements on social media saying that all these ladies did was “distribute flyers” – conveniently ignoring the fact that they were “breaking and entering” and in complete violation of Israeli law. On Shabbat morning, they showed up outside our shul in force – with hundreds of screaming people – requiring the police to bring extra protection for Yuli Edelstein and the members of our shul.
A major complaint of this group is the fact that, when arrested, the police put all 3 women in handcuffs and leg cuffs. “Look at what Ben-Gvir (Minister of Internal Security) is doing to us… shame on him. Let’s protest!” The only problem with this statement is that the actions of the police are nothing new. I have been arrested 15 times in Israel – protesting against the Olso Accords, the Gaza Disengagement Plan and for Jewish prayer on Har Ha’Bayit. The police beat me, dragged me down steps in Jerusalem that ripped my back, shot water cannons at me and threw my wife down a flight of stairs at a peaceful protest when she was 7 months pregnant. Therefore, my dear Leftist brothers, don’t take it personally… they do this to everyone!
How will this end? I am afraid to write my answer. The one thing I can say is that we are – once again – getting close to the “sinat chinam” (baseless hatred) that plagued Israel exactly one year ago. We need to remember that while political differences of opinion and debate are healthy and should be encouraged, the hatred and venom of extreme groups need to be avoided. The media loves to point the finger at right-wing fanatics who they claim are extremely dangerous but allow me to remind you that when 10,000 Jews were thrown out of their homes in Gush Katif… not one soldier or policeman was attacked or injured. Not one. Those holy Jews cried bitter tears but did not raise a finger against a fellow Jew. Today’s protestors need to learn a powerful lesson from that.
May HaShem bless us with a year of peace internally, between all Jews, and total victory from our enemies externally who should be obliterated, once and for all. May we also see the speedy return of all hostages – safely to their families – and may HaShem heal, both physically and emotionally, the thousands of soldiers who were wounded in this most recent war.
L’Shana Ha’Bah b’Herziliya!! (Well, you know what I mean…)
Am Yisrael Chai!
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