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Against
The Censors
By Rabbi Shalom Yaakov Chazan
23
years ago, the Rebbe delivered a special sicha from his room about the
necessity to settle all the liberated territories at once. This speech
was publicized in the Israeli press with the addition of details
concerning Israel’s nuclear weapons and a suggestion of a political
process that would enable the settling of all of Yesha. These details
had not been divulged in the sicha and were not written in the Rebbe’s
edited version of the sicha. * Five years ago, Beis Moshiach disclosed
two notes the Rebbe had written in connection with the sicha, containing
those additional points. * Additional details could not be revealed in
Beis Moshiach at that time, due to the continuous struggle against
Israeli censorship, in which R’ Berke Wolf, a’h, was involved. We
publicize these details now for the first time, may they stand in his
memory.
Part
1
In
the winter of 5738 (1977-1978), a new phenomenon appeared in Lubavitch:
a Motzaei Shabbos farbrengen. This was after the Rebbe’s heart
attack on the night of Shmini Atzeres, after which the Rebbe did not
emerge from his room until Rosh Chodesh Kislev of that year
(five-and-a-half weeks later). Since the Rebbe did not want to give up
his usual Shabbos farbrengen, the Rebbe farbrenged from
his room on Motzaei Shabbos and everybody listened over the sound
system. This continued for a long time afterwards, when the Rebbe came
out and farbrenged in the large beis midrash. The Rebbe
even added to and edited the weekly sicha and maamer,
which was a most unusual thing at that time.
Then
came the farcical peace talks with Egypt, a few days after the
"historic" visit of Sadat, the Egyptian president, to Eretz
Yisroel. Talk about giving away land for peace was voiced more and more
loudly. The Arabs were raising their heads and presenting their claims,
while Israel exhibited weakness. There was a panicked scurry to find
favor in the eyes of the gentiles, fear of what they would say, and no
attempt to do anything to prevent the general sellout.
During
these destructive negotiations, the idea of autonomy for the Arabs in
Yesha began to be promulgated. In other words, the demands were not only
for Sinai, but for all the territories of Yehuda and Shomron. The Rebbe
fought the wars of Hashem to prevent the tragedy, spoke against the
ongoing negotiations each week, and said that everything possible should
be done to strengthen Jewish rule over all parts of Eretz Yisroel.
The
Rebbe’s talks were consistently reported in the Israeli press. Every
week, the Rebbe’s views were carried in all the Israeli papers, which
took a great interest in what the Rebbe had to say. You can read it all
in a book called "Shalom Shalom, V’ein Shalom," which
proves how all the Rebbe’s prognostications, which were publicized at
the time in the papers, came true.
A
single thread wove its way through all these talks, which was that
taking action regarding all matters concerning strengthening shleimus
ha’Aretz would hasten the revelation of Moshiach.
On
Motzaei Shabbos of Parshas Lech Lecha, the Rebbe spoke at length
about the absolute necessity of settling all the territories at once, at
least settling those territories about which the nations of the world
challenged us:
…to
settle all the territories of Eretz Yisroel, especially those
territories which they challenge… A place of Torah, a place of prayer,
and also mikvaos should be built in all these places...
Even
if for a short while there will be "the goyim tumult and the
nations speak," the truth is that they themselves know that this is
(as it says at the end of the verse) in vain, and that they tumult and
speak only because they want to fulfill their obligation towards some
individuals.
In
order for it to be seen openly that even the nations of the world know
that this (the tumult and speaking) is merely in vain, the Jewish people
must show that when they say that all of Eretz Yisroel belongs to them,
they really mean it.
And
obviously they should not invite, ch’v, pressure from the
nations by the odd behavior of settling only a few areas. Doing this
shows that one reckons with the conduct of those who complain.
There
is no logical reason to differentiate those areas from the rest, since
the tumult and the speaking are exactly the same whether they settle a
few areas or if they settle the entire area and all the territories...
Don’t
proclaim this loudly. The settling of the territories must be done
without a commotion. What matters is actually settling them…
So
there is no need for noise, and there is certainly no need for boasting,
"my strength and the might of my hand made me all this
wealth." On the contrary, boasting "my strength and the might
of my hand," etc., can, ch’v, cause harm, in addition to
the fact that it isn’t true....
When
they take this approach, not only will the nations not complain in the
end...but on the contrary, this will lead to "praise Hashem all the
goyim, laud him all the nations, for His kindness is great upon
us," etc...
They
will help the Jews (not only with the help they already promised, but)
with all the assistance (monetarily and otherwise) that the Jews need
from them now, as they are still in Galus.
This
sicha, edited by the Rebbe, can be found in Likkutei Sichos,
Vol. 20, p. 311.
If
you look at the newspapers from that period of time (or read Shalom,
Shalom V’ein Shalom), you will notice additional
details not mentioned in the sicha. Maariv (Oct. 24, 1977)
quotes the Rebbe as also saying, "The settling of all the
territories of Eretz Yisroel must be done in one day, without the
necessity of formal approval, but by order of the prime minister and the
minister in charge of settlements. After the fact, things will quiet
down...especially in light of the enthusiasm which will be engendered
within most of the nation in Eretz Yisroel and the Diaspora."
Four
days later in Yediot Acharonot, the following headline appeared:
"You must continue settling, as well as developing nuclear
capabilities." The article maintained that settling would not bring
on pressure, but on the contrary, it would speed up aid: "The Rebbe
quoted the fact about Israeli nuclear development, something well-known
in Washington and Moscow and Arab capitols. At first, said the Rebbe,
various nations wanted to interfere and exerted pressure, but when the
response was an immediate and forceful answer that the nuclear
development would continue, they backed down. Not only did the pressure
cease, but many of the nations which had exerted the pressure helped
them in this development in various ways." This point also appeared
in other papers such as She’arim, HaModia, and HaTzofeh.
Where
did this come from? What exactly did the Rebbe say about this? We cannot
glean anything else from the edited sicha because these
paragraphs don’t appear there, so when was this said? Why wasn’t
this point about nuclear development mentioned in Maariv, since
it later appeared in Yediot Acharonot? If the Rebbe said
it, why wasn’t it added to the edited sicha? Furthermore, the
quotes in the paper are not clear. In what context and in response to
what complaint did the Rebbe mention the "prime minister and the
minister in charge of settlements?"
Preliminary
details relevant to these questions were revealed for the first time
five years ago in Beis Moshiach (#81, 11 Nissan 5756),
though the bulk of the information had to be kept quiet. Now the cover
of secrecy can be removed to publicize additional points. R’ Berke
Wolf, a’h, who recently passed away, was involved in this. May
this be a neir l’zichro.
*
* *
The
night the sicha was said, at 4:00 a.m., the Rebbe asked Rabbi
Groner to call Berke Wolf, the Chabad spokesman at that time, to ask him
to delay publicizing the sicha delivered that Motzaei Shabbos
since there was a paragraph which the Rebbe, for certain reasons, did
not want to say at the time. This paragraph would appear as a footnote
to be given to the papers along with the sicha. At the same time,
the Rebbe said that those who write the sicha should be urged to
prepare the sicha as quickly as possible.
A
few hours later, after the Rebbe davened Shacharis, he wrote two
notes. The notes communicated 1) proof regarding the development of
nuclear weapons, and 2) the basis in fact that according to law, the
prime minister and the minister of settlements could make decisions
about settling the areas in question, after which there would be no
problem deflecting any conceivable pressure away from the government,
the Knesset and its committees. This is what was written in the notes
(free translation):
1)
The noise and pressure as a result of the establishment of five yishuvim
would not be greater than if they established yishuvim the
length of the border.
2)
A proof to this: everybody knows (including Washington, Moscow,
and Arab capitols) about the development of nuclear weapons in Eretz
Yisroel, that it already exists and that it is increasing as time
goes on and over many years. At first they wanted to halt or stop
all this and exerted pressure, etc., but when they answered immediately and
decisively that they would continue, those exerting the pressure
were satisfied with an official denial, and they stopped the pressure.
Not
only that, but a few of the nations who had pressured them are
actually helping them in many ways, and have been for many years.
The
surprise and sorrow are great that all this was not done yet and
hurriedly, at the earliest possible time, especially when the fact is
that this can be done in a completely legal manner.
According
to the present law, settling can be accomplished on a large scale and literally
in one day – if the decision is made to do it and a decree issued
in order to carry it out immediately – by only two people: the
prime minister and the minister of settlements.
And
even if the next day they will have to have to discuss it with
the entire government and with various Knesset committees, etc. –
Afterwards,
in actual fact, certainly in the end things will completely
quiet down, especially when each of them sees the tremendous
enthusiasm of the vast majority of the Jewish people in Eretz
Yisroel and outside the land when they learn about the immediate
settlements. However, all this must take place without any noise
whatsoever and without any announcements, etc.
The
sicha was written, and as soon as it was submitted to the Rebbe,
the Rebbe quickly added his notes. The Rebbe asked the secretary to give
R’ Berke the additions and to ask him to translate the sicha into
Hebrew in a style suitable for the newspapers, and to publicize it fully
in the papers.
When
the secretary asked whether the additions should be included in the
edited sicha, the Rebbe said no, revealing that they were only
for publication in Eretz Yisroel. The Rebbe added that later on he would
decide what to do with the edited sicha.
The
secretary immediately called R’ Berke. When R’ Berke heard that the
Rebbe mentioned Israel’s nuclear capacity, he realized that
publicizing the sicha would have opposition from the Israeli
censorship. He expressed concern to the secretary about the futility of
giving it to the Israeli News Agency; there was no question that the
material would be censored – it would never see print. R’ Berke
indicated that he would give the material directly to the editors of the
Yediot Acharonot and Maariv, where he had good
connections, and perhaps they would bypass the censors.
When
the secretary reported back to the Rebbe, the Rebbe agreed to R’ Berke’s
idea and said that the paper She’arim would also print it
without making any changes.
(Click
here to continue.)
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