Q:
What is your response to all this hatred against the Jews? The Arabs hate us and now even in America they’re turning against us. What’s the first step we should take?
A:
The first step, and the second step and all the steps are the same. To do teshuvah. We see that Hakadosh Baruch Hu is expressing to us some hint that He’s not satisfied with our way of life.
That’s the reason the world is being shaken up. Like it says היוסר גוים הלא יוכיח – the One who rebukes the nations isn’t He showing something, המלמד אדם דעת – isn’t He teaching men wisdom.
Unfortunately today we Jews don’t think like Jews. When an Arab throws a bomb, it’s ‘the Arabs are no good’. It’s the fault of the Arabs. But Hashem? Where does Hashem come in? It means we’re Jews with gentile heads.
The first thing we should think is מה זאת עשה אלוקים לנו – what’s Hashem doing to us? And we should start thinking, what does Hashem want of us if we’re being attacked by enemies around Eretz Yisrael. But instead it’s these bad Arabs, and these bad Arabs, and these bad Arabs.
And if in America the politicians finally are showing their true faces and they’re turning their backs to Medinas Yisrael so they’re bad politicians. And nobody thinks מה זאת – what is this, עשה אלוקים לנו – that Hashem is doing to us.
In the olden days the Jewish nation was able to sense that Hashem was doing things and doing them for a good reason. But today we want to be dumb. We act like dummies and complain about the Arabs and the politicians. It’s time to wake up and realize that the problem is by us. If there’s trouble in Eretz Yisroel, then it’s because they better make big teshuvah in Eretz Yisroel. If there’s trouble here too so you’re going to run away to Eretz Yisroel to find more trouble? Hashem is telling you to do teshuvah over here, that’s all.
TAPE # 125 (June 10, 1976)
