by Moshe Burt

." (Sefer Devarim, Perek 16, posuk 20)

This posuk follows immediately after the opening of our Parsha; "Judges and officers shall you appoint in all of your cities -- which Hashem ...gives you -- for your tribes; and they shall judge the people with righteous judgement.  You shall not pervert judgement, you shall not respect persons, neither take a bribe, for a bribe binds the eyes of the wise, and perverts the words of the righteous." (Sefer Devarim, Perek 16, p'sukim 18-19)

"Justice alone is not enough, because there are many types of justice, just as there are many kinds of truth.  Every regime has it's own justice.  The Torah therefore stresses 'Justice, justice you shall pursue...', namely the justice of justice, where both the means and  the end are just."  (Torah Gems, Aharon Yaakov Greenberg, Volume 3, Parsha Shoftim page 257)

And maybe, at this time in Medinat Yisrael, we have to add emphasis to that term "officers."  For we see how the officers, those who are charged with implementing and carrying out "law" including the brutal Yassamnikim -- Arik Sharon's specially-trained secret police goons and bullies, as well as how the "Judges" of "law" pervert and bend the "law" to suit their own agendas and prejudices, as well as the needs of the evil regime. This regime, with its totalitarian minority, controls and has it's tenacles in every Israeli governmental, educational, military and economic institution -- Top, bottom, upside down, inside out and sideways.  Medinat Yisrael is but medina mishtara -- a police state.  Where there is no just judgement, there's no law.

And we saw how the officers, those who supposedly command and "lead" in battle, and their platoons of grunts followed immoral orders, having done a cheshbon of fear; opting for their own self-interest above the good and welfare of their brethren. 

What do I mean here?  In my many discussions with soldiers on buses to and from Gush Katif and to and from the Kisuffim checkpoint, I felt that my points regarding both the morality and the consequences of carrying out the expulsion had some impact on the soldiers.  On the buses and during my night at Kisuffim, I had a captive audience.  Where were they going to go, these soldiers packed onto buses like sardines.  Albeit in a quiet and non-combative tone, they had no choice but to hear what I was saying.  And the soldiers at the snack-bar across from the Kisuffim Checkpoint or those standing in the traffic lanes checking cars 50-100 meters from the protest tent, they weren't going anywhere as I pronounced my top 5 reasons why the Expulsion was insane and made no sense.

But, bottom line, I received dual rationales as to why they had to follow orders. Firstly, the grunts were inculcated with the logic that the IDF would lose face and credibility with the US and the world if they didn't carry out what the regime had committed to (when the Rasha Sharon ran to Bush for cover).  Secondly, the grunts were more concerned with their own self-interests, i.e. being ousted from their particular training classes and thus losing out on future use of the "old boys network", the edge, the protexia in carving a career after the IDF.  For these were the personal consequences of refusing orders, however immoral and Chillul Hashem that they were. In the end, I fear for and question if the army as a whole is capable of fighting Arabs.  Or will they now be merciful to the cruel, as they have already been cruel to the merciful, to the danger and detriment of us all?

But, I'll return now to the "Judges and officers" and their political arrests and court trials.

Twin paradigms stand out in my mind this week to testify to the complete and utter corruption and moral bankruptcy of modern day Medinat Yisrael's "Shoftim V'Shotrim" ("Judges and officers")

On Monday, it was reported that Rav Rachamim Nisimi, the Director of the Shalei Torah Yeshivas will be freed from 3 months of incarceration for allegedly "blocking roads."  It now comes to the surface of public knowledge that the Rav was falsely arrested.  Video footage has been submitted as evidence proving beyond doubt that the Rav was merely distributing Orange ribbons to drivers at an intersection on the day he was arrested.  With this evidence surfacing, the court was forced to backtrack and to schedule Rav Nisimi's release.  In short, this esteemed Rav was victimized, brutalized and vilified falsely by modern day Medinat Yisrael's "Shoftim V'Shotrim."

On Tuesday, Nadia Matar, co-director of Women in Green was arrested on charges of "inciting to sedition" for her various articles written from Shi-rat HaYam about how to stop the expulsion.  On this latter example, one wonders at both the multitudinous incidences of sedition by such as Amir Peretz and his Histadrut goons and the rest of the anti-Israel, anti-religious left and the blind eye and deaf ear of Israel's "Shoftim V'Shotrim" to these incidences.  And so Nadia is absolutely correct in echoing Moshe Feiglin, "This is a political interrogation, I have nothing to say." 

Also noted is the total complacence and duplicity of the "Justice system" in ignoring Jonathan Pollard's rightful assertion that he is a Prisoner of Zion.

So how do we bring about "Tzedek, Tzedek tierdof..." among the "Shoftim V'Shotrim"??   Perhaps it starts with us. 

We, the people didn't collectively put our lives on hold for our Gush Katif and Shomron brethren -- not in January and February when tens or hundreds of thousands of us should have laid siege to Knesset as in the Ukrainian model until they either voted down this insanity, or at the very least, forced a national referendum on the expulsion of Jews.

We sat crying bitter and emotional tears as all 3 religious parties lacked the courage and conviction of Torah principles at crucial points to fight and defeat this with every last grain of strength in their bodies.

The tens of thousands at K'far Maimon and Ofakim didn't smell out the traps nor did they rebel against a "leadership" which led them to traps and lacked courage of conviction to massively break out of these traps.  Not enough of us went the "full nine yards" of putting their lives on hold on behalf of their brethren, not even during the Chofesh (vacation) season.  Instead, we again suffered the meek historical Jewish staple; tombstone epitaphs and tributes (how well-behaved and, therefore praiseworthy) for we couldn't or wouldn't put our lives on hold.   V'ahavtah L'rei'echa Kamocha lost out to the fancy hotels and pools in the Galil, the Golan, etc.  And so our brethren suffered expulsion and the after-effects of the transition from self-sufficiency to abject poverty and we all suffered the humiliation of Chillul Hashem.  This battle just lost has made the campaign to secure Eretz Yisrael against the evil ones, the evil regime all the harder.

Perhaps it starts with us.  Do we have strength of sufficient collective self-pride, self-esteem and belief and trust in Hashem to wage the coming campaign stubbornly and tirelessly for justice, righteousness, to go the extra mile, or miles for one's brethren as one would for one's self, for Am Yehudi and for Eretz Yisrael ?

B'Ezrat Hashem, may we merit that this past Tisha B'av be the last Tzom for Am Yehudi. 

B'Ezrat Hashem, may we soon know the day when Torah is the law of the land, when we pray thanks to Hashem for the Ge’ula Shlaima and for the restoration of our Brethren, expelled by the evil regime from Gush Katif and the Shomron towns to bigger and more beautiful homes and neighborhoods, Bati Knesset, Yeshivot in Gush Katif and the Shomron and only happiness and success for all time.  May this abominable period of history called hitnatkut be as a bad dream.    And may we soon see freedom and long life in Eretz Yisrael for Jonathan Pollard.

May we see the “Yom Hashem Al Kol HaGoyim,” Achshav, Chik Chuk, Miyad, Etmol.

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Moshe Burt, an Oleh, is a commentator on news and events in Israel and Founder and Director of the Sefer Torah Recycling Network. He lives in Ramat Beit Shemesh.