Jerusalem—which we will commemorate tomorrow with the fast of the 10th of Tevet.
Fast starting 5:00 am ends after Shabbat begins 5:30 pm.
In 1978, the Camp David accords initiated by President Carter, brought together the late Menachem Begin, then Prime Minister of Israel, and the late Anwar Sadat, the President of Egypt, who was later assassinated. The pressure that President Carter exerted upon Begin was great, and Begin ended up giving Egypt all of the Sinai for a so called peace treaty (one which does not prevent the construction of hundreds of tunnels smuggling weapons to Gaza to be used against Israel.)
At some point in the negotiation, Jimmy Carter turned to Menachem Begin and wanted to put Jerusalem on the bargaining table as well. Begin related afterward:
When I vehemently objected, he tried to reassure me by telling me that we would not be negotiating, but merely “discussing” Jerusalem. After all, the president added, “There’s no harm in discussing.”
Begin told Carter: No! Jerusalem is not up even for discussion!
Carter was taken aback. Begin said: began to explain his position:
Mr. President, on the holiest days of the year, on Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, we recite a prayer calledUnetannah Tokef. I want to share with you the history of this prayer.
The prayer was composed by the eminent sage, Rabbi Amnon who lived in the 11th century in Mainz, Germany. The Bishob of Mainz, who was the most powerful man in the city, befriended Rabbi Amnon, a handsome and brilliant Jew, and tried to prevail upon him to convert, but Rabbi Amnon consistently rebuffed all pleadings. Despite all his imprecations and promises of riches as well as threats of terrible consequences in the afterlife, Rabbi Amnon stood strong as a rock in his faith loyalty to the Jewish faith.
On one occasion however, the bishop’s exhortations became so intense, so overbearing, that just to obtain a little respite, Rabbi Amnon asked to be given three days to consider the matter. No sooner did Rabbi Amnon depart from the bishop’s palace, than he was overcome by terrible anguish. A torturous question kept repeating itself in his mind, heart, and soul. “How? – How could I have said that? How could have I even entertained the notion of abandoning G-d?
For the next three days, Rabbi Amnon prayed, fasted, and wept and no one could console him. When the appointed time passed and Rabbi Amnon did not return to the palace of the bishop, soldiers came to fetch him and forcibly took him away.
“Why didn’t you come?” the bishop demanded menacingly.
Everyone in the chamber waited with baited breath for Rabbi Amnon’s response and they were shocked to hear him say in a determined, powerful voice, “Your honor, I spoke falsely when I said that I would consider conversion. Please know that never for a moment was that even a possibility for me.”
In a fury, the Bishop responded, “Your tongue spoke correctly, but your feet that did not bring you here acted treacherously.... and he immediately ordered his henchmen to cut off Rabbi Amnon’s feet joint by joint, toe by toe... And after each barbaric amputation the question was repeated: “Are you willing to convert?”
But Rabbi Amnon resisted the torture and would not relent, so the bishop ordered that the same be done to his hands and fingers. Thus mutilated and crippled, Rabbi Amnon was sent home in a wheelbarrow with his severed limbs at his side.
It was a few days before Rosh Hashana, and when the great awesome day arrived, Rabbi Amnon asked to be taken to shul. As the congregation got ready to recite the holyKedushah, Rabbi Amnon requested to be taken to the holy ark and there, in a trembling voice, he composed and recited the Unesana Tokefprayer — and with those words, his pure soul returned to its Creator.
A few days later, Rabbi Amnon appeared in a dream to Rabbi Klonimon Ben Meshulem, a great Torah scholar in Mainz. In the dream, Rabbi Amnon taught him the prayer and asked that it be sent to all Jewish communities – and today, it is an integral part of the High Holiday liturgy.
Menachem Begin concluded the story and said: So you see, Mr. President, “some things are not up for consideration or discussion. Jerusalem is our eternal capital, there is no room even for discussion. To give up Jerusalem would not bring peace; it would generate more demands, more terror, more violence.”
And guess what? Never again did Jerusalem come up for discussion. Until of course, with a later President and a later Prime Minister, who has relented.
Because the funny thing is, that when you are deaf to certain mind sets and arguments, people suddenly start understanding your point of view very acutely…
If I were to tell you: Give me your child for 20 billion dollars? Do you have to think about for three days?
No! Some things are priceless. They are not negotiable. Jerusalem—which we will commemorate tomorrow with the fast of the 10th of Tevet—is one of them. If we would be deaf about making compromises about Jewish and human life, people will start listening and understanding.
Shabbat Shalom and easy fast on Friday,
Rabbi Yoseph Geisinsky