THE WOMEN IN GREEN ANNUAL TISHA B’AV WALK AROUND JERUSALEM’S OLD CITY WALLS
Well over 15,000 people participated in the Annual Women in Green march around the Walls of Jerusalem’s Old City. The evening started with a meaningful Eicha reading at Safra square and continued with the march. At the beginning of the march we met a representative of Almagor, a terror victim’s organization who told us they were having a vigil in front of the hotel where European Union envoy Tony Blair was staying. Almagor was protesting the fact that Tony Blair was pushing a new plan, very similar to the Oslo agreements, that would be disastrous to Israel and that would lead to many more Jewish victims of terror. Women in Green strengthened the victims of terror and joined in their call: Blair go home!!

Next to the Lion’s Gate, MK Professor Arieh Eldad, Rabbi Yossef Mendelevitch, Attorney Yoram Sheftel and Dudu Elaharar gave moving speeches.

MK Arieh Eldad pointed out how our current leadership is leading us to an additional destruction and we urgently need to change the leadership. Rabbi Yossef Mendelevitch gave an ode to those who fell to free Jerusalem in 1967 and ended his speech with an impassionate call to free Jonathan Pollard. Attorney Yoram Sheftel came out against the “Western Wall cult”, explaining that the Jewish people’s aspiration was not to pray at the Kotel, but rather on the Temple Mount. Sheftel quoted Uri Zvi Greenberg who said: ‘Whoever controls the Temple Mount, controls Israel” and called for all Jews in Israel and abroad to work harder to go back to the Temple Mount and, please G-d, rebuild the Temple. He ended his speech by saying that he hoped that next year the march would be towards the Temple Mount rather than towards the Kotel. Dudu Elharar read a most moving poem about Jerusalem by Uri Zvi Greenberg. Nadia Matar, co-chair of Women in Green, was the last speaker. Below is her speech.

We Can Correct the Sin of the Spies
by Nadia Matar
This evening, Tisha B’Av eve, we mourn, not only for the destruction of the First and Second Temples, that were ravaged by an external enemy, but we also we mourn for Gush Katif and northern Samaria, that were destroyed and razed to the ground by internal powers, in order to please the external foe.

For these we weep: Bedolah, Bnei Atzmon, Dugit, Elei Sinai, Gadid, Gan Or, Ganei Tal, Kfar Darom, Kfar Yam, Kerem Atzmona, Morag, Neveh Dekalim, Netzarim, Netzer Hazani, Nisanit, Pe’at Sadeh, Katif, Rafiah Yam, Shirat Hayam, Slav, Tel Katifa, Ganim, Kadim, Sa-Nur, and Homesh.

We stand here, and we ask ourselves: How have we come to this juncture? Two years have passed since the expulsion of our brothers and sisters from Gush Katif and northern Samaria. Gaza has become Hamastan. Sderot and the surrounding settlements are shelled. Even though it is clear now to any thinking person that handing over parts of the homeland to the Arab enemy endangers the very existence of the State of Israel, our political leaders continue their intent to surrender, to fold, to relinquish. to hand over, and to expel.

In other words, today’s political leaders are not all that different from the ten spies who slandered the Land. As we know, Caleb son of Jephunneh and Joshua son of Nun said (Numbers 13-14): “Let us by all means go up, and we shall gain possession of it, for we shall surely overcome it,” while the other ten spies said – No! “We cannot attack that people, for it is stronger than we,” “the country is one that devours its settlers.” The entire people began to weep: “The whole community broke into loud cries, and the people wept that night.” They proclaimed: “It would be better for us to go back to Egypt!” For this crying, the Holy One, blessed be He, punished the people of Israel with forty years in the wilderness, to ensure that whoever belonged to that wicked generation of weepers would not enter the Land of Israel.

And here we should ask: How did Hashem dare to punish them at all? By the rules of “democracy,” the people followed the “majority”: Ten spies said, “No to Eretz Yisrael,” and two said, “Yes to Eretz Yisrael.” According to the rules of “democracy,” the majority has to be heeded, doesn’t it?

What does the Holy One, blessed be He, teach us here? No! When it comes to Eretz Israel, there are no such rules. We are obligated to conquer, to take possession, and to settle every place in Eretz Israel. And if the people are stuck with weak leaders, then the people of Israel are obligated to rise up against them, and not to heed them.

In the Six Day War in 1967, we liberated the Temple Mount, Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, the Gaza District, and the Golan. Instead of being thankful for the miracle, our leaders, once again, repeated the sin of the spies. Moshe Dayan removed the Israeli flag from the Temple Mount, and handed the keys to the Arab enemy. Instead of the people rising up and not accepting that – all were silent, a majority of the rabbis, as well. Once again, they repeated the sin of the spies.

Exactly forty years have passed since that sin. The slanderers of the Land still rule, and continue to harm Eretz Israel. Thousands of Jews paid the price for this with their bodies and souls – the thousands of victims of Oslo, Wye, the disengagement. The majority of the people oppose those decrees but do not rise up against them. “Nothing can be none,” say many. Saying this sentence “nothing can be done” is in itself a repeat of the sin of slandering the Land. And in our camp, as well, the rabbis and public figures who opposed nonviolent civil disobedience and refusing to obey the expulsion order are guilty of the sin of the spies.

I ask: Will we allow this to continue, or will we finally begin to correct the sin of the spies? This sin can be corrected, as we read in the book Kol ha-Tor:

“The correction of the sin of the spies must come only by the building of Jerusalem and the expansion of the Jewish settlement, by the commandment of expansion, the prophetic mandate [Isaiah 54:2]: “Enlarge the site of your tent” […] enlargement in the physical area […] that is, expansion of the settlement, expansion of the number of those dwelling in Eretz Israel.”

In other words, my friends, the correction of the sin of the spies means that – despite our political leaders not wanting this – the people will arise and struggle for every place in Eretz Israel. This is the reason why we are going back to Homesh, yet again. Because we do not accept the decision by the “slandering the Land government” that handed over Gush Katif and northern Samaria. This is the reason why, with G-d’s help, we are establishing a settlement at the Eitam Hill in Efrat, tomorrow, the day after Tisha B’AV. The authorities want to abandon the hill to the Arab enemy, beyond the fence. The authorities, once again, are repeating the sin of the spies. This time, however, we are not joining them. We are joining the spirit of Caleb and Joshua, and we say: “Let us by all means go up, and we shall gain possession of it.” No matter how much this angers them, we will struggle for Eretz Yisrael. And you should know, this is only the beginning of a series of actions to renew the settlement momentum in Judea and Samaria, as a response to the policy of surrender and strangulation, as a response to the policy of the sin of the spies.

It is clear to everyone that this will not be simple. Our political leaders have gotten wind of the new spirit that blows through the hills of Judea and Samaria; and it is clear to all that the authorities will attempt to repress this spirit. And here, the Holy One, blessed be He, has given us the strongest tool for contending with this threat: this Shabbat we read in the portion of Devarim what is the necessary condition for possessing the Land (Deuteronomy 1:21): “See, the Lord your G-d has placed the land at your disposal, Go up, take possession, as the Lord, the G-d of your fathers, promised you. Fear not and be not dismayed.” And further on in the same chapter (verses 29-30): “I said to you, ‘Have no dread or fear of them. None other than the Lord your G-d, who goes before you, will fight for you.'”

 What I understand from this, with my limited comprehension, is that the Holy One, blessed be He, is telling us: In order to take possession of the Land – you may not fear; not only your external enemies, for it is clearly forbidden to fear them. Mainly, have no fear of your weak leaders. And if they want to hand over parts of the homeland to the enemy – do not be afraid to rise up against them! Do not be afraid of threats, intimidation, the Bolshevik methods of forcing people to shut their mouths. “Go up, take possession, as the Lord, the G-d of your fathers, promised you.”

Two years after the expulsion, I want to tell you: enough crying, enough mourning, enough of the submissive mamlakhtiyut (state-orientation). Now is the time to correct the sin of the spies. Now is the time to struggle for Eretz Yisrael, both to return to the places that were abandoned to the Arab enemy, and to struggle for the places that the government wants to give over now to the Arab enemy. I hope to see you all the day after tomorrow, on Wednesday, in Efrat, at 4:00 p.m. Together, we will go up with the families and establish the settlement on the Eitam Hill.

May it be His will that this new spirit, that so strongly desires to struggle for Eretz Israel, without fear of the authorities, will succeed in entering the entire people, and together we will free our land from domestic and external enemies; we will, with G-d’s help, return to Gush Katif and northern Samaria, we will impose Israeli sovereignty over all of Eretz Israel; we will build thousands of homes everywhere in Judea and Samaria; and, at long last, we will drive out the Hamas foxes who run about on the Temple Mount and desecrate the place where we will rebuild our Temple. Thus, with G-d’s help, we will save the people of Israel from its horrendous leaders; and thus, with G-d’s help, we will bring closer our righteous Messiah, speedily in our days, Amen.
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You are invited to join Women in Green’s first ever, all inclusive, guided tour to the center of the struggle for Israel’s heartland. Don’t just read about what’s going on in Judea and Samaria, see everything with your own eyes and meet the real people who are standing firm against those who want to surrender parts of our Holy Land. This fall, we will take you “beyond the wall” for an unforgettable experience. For more information please contact <therealisrael@womeningreen.org>.
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