Sign In Forgot Password

KI TISSA 5782

02/18/2022 09:23:51 AM

Feb18

Avi Abelow grew up in New York, and went on aliya many years ago. He is a writer and commentator on current events in Israel and the Jewish world. His video presentations called “Israel Unwired,” representing what we would call a “right wing” point of view, are sent to my email.

I do not know him personally, yet I have great admiration for someone like him who went on aliyah and devotes himself to defending the Jewish people and the land of Israel.

Unfortunately, I must take exception to a commentary of his that I saw a few days ago. He said that Israelis are following closely the “freedom convoy,” who he described as good people who are just trying to get their freedom of choice: “the right to decide to wear a mask, if to be vaccinated, to go to a gym or a movie or a hockey game, etc.”

All of this sounds very nice.  The fact is that I personally have suffered from gov’t regulations, as all of my immediate family live outside of Quebec. Nevertheless, I understand that these regulations are to protect the population.

In Mr. Abelow’s news clip, he tried to show how nice the protesters are. He showed them dancing! I couldn’t help but think of this week’s parasha. Moshe is on top of the mountain, where God gives him the 10 commandments. But then God tells Moses to go down, because the people have made a golden calf, and deserve to be destroyed. Moshe then, standing on the mountain, makes an emotional plea to God to forgive the people.

Moshe then starts to walk down the mountain, carrying the tablets on which were engraved the commandments. Yet, as Moshe gets further down the mountains and closer to the people, he sees the calf and the people dancing around it. That was too much for Moses. As the great Italian commentator Seforno pointed out, when Moses saw how happy the people were at their terrible act, that’s when he became really furious and despaired, and felt that the people were not worthy of the 10 commandments, and therefore smashed the tablets.

Mr. Abelow, please don’t be fooled by the protesters dancing!!

Have a good Shabbos, and, be’ezrat HaShem, as we follow the regulations, may we soon be rid of this pandemic!

Fri, March 29 2024 19 Adar II 5784