In the 50 years since the 1967 Six Day-War, Israel has grown into a technological, economic and military regional superpower in the Middle East.

A nearly nonexistent inflation rate and low unemployment have helped propel Israel to third in the world after Hong Kong and South Korea on a list of the world’s most stable and promising economies for 2016 published by the Bloomberg financial news agency.

Israel fared better than the United States in both of those studies, prompting questions about where the quality of life is better nowadays — in the U.S. or the country that is the recipient of the most American military aid. 

Nevertheless, Israel still needs America — now more than ever. It can even be said that the U.S.-Israel relationship is more critical than ever for both countries.

For America, Israel is an ally that can be counted on in the volatile Middle East. A short-lived experiment by former U.S. president Barack Obama in shifting its primary regional alliance to Turkey started with Obama making his first trip abroad as president to Ankara and ended with American allegations that Turkey was allied with ISIS in Syria.

Meanwhile, the U.S.-Israel alliance endured the poor personal relations between Obama and Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Former Obama adviser Dennis Ross wrote in his book “Doomed to Succeed: The US-Israel Relationship from Truman to Obama” that Obama made a deliberate, strategic decision to add daylight between the US and Israel in order to improve his relations with the Muslim world. But by the end of his tenure, Obama decide to upgrade annual military aid for Israel from 31 to 38 billion.

There were Israelis who called for rejecting American military aid and turning elsewhere. After all, Israel fared well in the Six-Day War before the U.S. started aiding the IDF and before the Yom Kippur War reminded Israelis of their vulnerability. But those calls were rejected by Netanyahu, who made a deal with Obama despite his hopes that whoever won the American election would be better for Israel.

For Israel, America acts as a strategic buffer between the Jewish state and hostile world and — as has been repeatedly proven — its only friend that it can truly count on in good times and bad. When the international community received indications from the White House that positive treatment of Israel was not a prerequisite for good ties in Washington, Israel suffered accordingly.

Now, under U.S. President Donald Trump, more and more world leaders have realized that the road to Washington once again passes through Jerusalem. Hebrew media have reported that many diplomats in Washington have turned to Israel's ambassador Ron Dermer for help getting to Trump advisers Jared Kushner and Steve Bannon.

The perception of close ties between Netanyahu and Trump have helped Netanyahu improve his ties with Europe and Asia. Netanyahu has not been afraid to dictate new terms to Europe, vowing not to meet with visiting European leaders who meet with representatives of Israeli NGOs perceived by him as demonizing Israel and its military.

During this renaissance in Israel's relations with the U.S., Netanyahu is working behind the scenes to prevent the potential existential threat of the nuclearization of Iran. Looking to the future, Netanyahu is working with Trump to ensure that the Islamic Republic will not emerge from the Syrian civil war with a foothold on the Mediterranean and on the border with Israel.

Meanwhile, strong ties are being maintained with top Democrats in the Senate and House of Representatives, maintaining the bipartisan relationship that is such a strong strategic asset for Israel. This is crucial at a time for Israel as a small country that is struggling with constant threats from terror, anti-Semitism, boycotts, divestment and sanctions. 

On May 17th, 25 national Jewish organizations are gathering at the Capitol with Congressional leadership from both houses and parties to initiate a resolution commemorating the 50th anniversary of the reunification of Jerusalem. 

With Congress rarely agreeing on anything these days, it is no small accomplishment to bring this group together for this commemoration. The event is proof that just as the alliance with the United States unites the very divided people of Israel, the Jewish state — and its capital — bring the very divided American leadership together at a time when the U.S.-Israel relationship is more critical than ever for both countries.

Artwork submitted may be used for RZA purposes in connection to the Art Contest.

Winning entries will have their name and grade featured along with their artwork on the RZA virtual Art Exhibition.

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Questions? Call 212-465-9234.

The RZA-Aryeh Fellowship is a new initiative of the RZA-Mizrachi to strengthen the mission of Religious Zionism. Fifty college and graduate school students from around the country have been invited to spend their winter-break in Israel where they studied Torah and attended intensive seminars devoted to Religious Zionism education. Sincce their return the Aryeh Fellows have been focused on their year-long Manhigut (leadership) projects designed to bring the message of Religious Zionism back to communities across America. We are excited to profile a different “Aryeh Fellow” each week. 

I am Shalom Azar, a native of West Orange, NJ. Following my graduation from Torah Academy of Bergen County (TABC), I learned for a year and a half in Yeshivat Netiv Aryeh where I fell in love with the land, her people, and her torah. Although I couldnt make aliyah at that point in my life (because my parents still want me home), we agreed that I could go Home once I graduate Yeshiva University. Every day I remind myself about how important it is for me to return to Israel so, before leaving yeshiva, I wrote a letter to myself about the importance of this life goal. I carry this letter with me in my talit bag.

Now a student leader in Yeshiva University, I am thrilled to be an RZA Aryeh Fellow because this is one way I can share my love for Israel with other people. I am working with another RZA Fellow in YU named Jamie Rubin on making promotional materials like a brochure for the RZA. It means so much that I can contribute for something I care about so much.

They are buried in a long line that is not very straight. These people were killed by artillery fire in Jerusalem in 5708. This week I passed by the graves on Har Hamenuchot, in Jerusalem, and I tried to imagine their funerals. At the time, Jerusalem was under siege and locked in. Nobody could come in or go out. Water was provided in very measured amounts, and the small rations of food were almost at starvation level. In all of this, the inhabitants of the city were forced to bring their dear ones killed by the shells of the Arab Legion to rest. It is impossible to imagine. 

At one point, a low and neglected stone made of concrete caught my eye, with the following sign on it: “This is the final resting place of the boy Shalom Bachbut... Seven years old when he fell, in Jerusalem.” I thought of his parents, Esther and Yaacov Bachbut, and how in the midst of the blockade and the despair in the city at the time they were forced to accompany their young son to his grave. My heart felt empty within me. 

Several attempts to break through the blockade failed. Perhaps the people should have simply given up and left. Perhaps they should have taken a realistic view and concluded that they had no chance to survive. However, against all the odds, in the beginning of the month of Kislev, in a ceremony opening the road to Jerusalem, an anonymous messenger came to announce, “We have passed through the way, and the road is open.” 

Here is the immortal poem that Natan Alterman wrote about this heroic effort of opening the road – “About those who broke out...” 

     * * * * * * 

Logic decreed: “It is no use!”

Fear cried out: “Our fate is sealed!”

The reckoning of the constant war

Spit into our faces with disdain. 

English armor and Arab firepower

Screamed: “You will bend your knees!”

And we barely had a dozen rifles...

But we passed through on the way! 

     * * * * * * 

But let us return to today. Three years ago we left two of our soldiers behind in the Gaza Strip. The noble Goldin family has continued to fight with state-like responsibility in order to bring their son Hadar to rest. They do not want to repeat the Shalit deal, rather they demand that we put pressure on Hamas so that it will understand that it is not profitable for them to continue holding the bodies of Hadar Goldin and Oron Shaul. They do not even propose that we threaten the life of The Hamas leader Haniah if they do not return Hadar and Oron within 48 hours. The Goldins are asking for much milder forms of pressure. 

The cabinet has already made three decisions about this matter. The first is to prevent the return of Arab bodies which interest Hamas, the second is to worsen the conditions of the Hamas prisoners. The third decision was to curtail the humanitarian aid that is allowed to enter Azza. 

Not one of the cabinet decisions was put into effect. Nothing at all was done. This is insulting and shameful. It appears that the Prime Minister and the members of the cabinet do not really believe that it will be possible to retrieve the bodies of Hadar and Oron. They are also not willing to risk any danger by putting pressure on Hamas. They talk about the strength and the power of the IDF, and how strong we are as a country, but they are afraid to downgrade the conditions of the Hamas prisoners. They do not believe that it is possible to break out and make a new road. 

     * * * * * * 

My dear Prime Minister, we can indeed burst out into a new path. Our situation is much better than it was in 5708. And if they, with nothing more than a dozen rifles, could make it onto a new road, we can also succeed. We can bring Hadar and Oren back without having to pay the heavy price of the Shalit deal. 

We must apply pressure to Hamas, even it we have to pay a price for doing so. That is the only way for a sovereign nation with principles and values to act. Any country which is not willing to pay a price for its own values and principles is a country which has neither values nor principles.

“Observe My decrees and My laws, which man will perform so that he will live by them” [Vayikra 18:5].

“Be holy, for I am holy” [Vayikra 19:2]. The ability of man, a physical creature, to reach for and to create holiness is not obvious. A number of commentators have tried to explain this command. How does a person become holy, what is the essence of human sanctity?

The dispute between Rashi and the Ramban about this matter is well known. Rashi feels that the above command is related to the prohibition of illicit sexual encounters. “Keep away from illicit or exaggerated sex.” The sexual prohibitions appear in Chapter 18 of Vayikra. At the end of the list, the Torah devotes an additional verse to prevent man from becoming too deeply involved in sex (even acts that are permitted), “since wherever you find sexual limits you can also find sanctity.”

Experience shows that Rashi is correct in his feeling that sexual urge is a serious challenge to mankind. Holiness is created by man’s restraint and control.

The Ramban disagrees with this analysis. “As far as I am concerned, this passage is not referring to abstaining from sexual encounters, as Rashi writes. Rather, this piety is the intention whenever the Talmud mentions people who are called ‘perushim’ – the pious ones.” Man is commanded not to become “a villain within the limits of the Torah.”

According to the Ramban, a Jew can observe all the details of Torah commands and fulfill the halacha perfectly but still live a life of wild behavior and imbalance. In order to prevent this from happening, the Torah commanded us to “be holy.” The Ramban feels that the mitzvot are minimum and not maximum demands. If a man wants to become like the Holy One, Blessed be He, and to be holy, he must learn to control his desires.

Both Rashi and the Ramban demand that man learn to control his urges. The Torah portion of Acharei Mot turns our attention to sexual lust, and the portion of Kedoshim points us to social life, where we are concerned with money, control of poor people, and courts. And between the two portions, the command to “Be holy” demands that mankind live a full life while controlling the good and not being inundated by it. Holiness is created when a person manages to control his urges and they do not control him. As is written in the Midrash, “Evil people are controlled by their hearts, while the hearts of the righteous people are under their control.”

When I was a child, whenever we came home from the synagogue on Shabbat and were surrounded by the pleasant odors of Shabbat, we would demand from our father (the late Rav Lichtenstein) that he immediately recite the Kiddush so that we could eat. And he always responded calmly but in a definite tone: “The basic question of our lives is who controls whom – is your stomach in charge, or are you in charge of your stomach?”

Many years have passed since then, but that same question resounds louder than ever in the Torah portion of Kedoshim, from both the commentaries of Rashi and the Ramban: Who is in control? Are you in control or are your urges in control? This is true for sex, food, money, sleep, and fame, among other things.

So it was in my youth, and so it still is for all of us today.

The Torah portion of Kedoshim gathers together all those people in our surroundings who would seem to be “transparent” and gives us a specific commandment about each one. We must not put a stumbling block in front of a blind person or curse a deaf person, we must set aside grains as charity for the stranger and the poor, and we should not delay in paying the salary of a workman. 

What all these people who are mentioned in this week’s Torah portion have in common is that they are all a type of person that we might find easy to ignore. We usually do not have conversations with them, and we might even not pay attention to them without realizing that we are doing something out of the ordinary. It is true that at times this is not exactly an “innocent” action but rather taking advantage of the fact that they are from the “silent” part of our society, which quite often would not have the temerity to open their mouths or to make demands of somebody who is above their class. 

Don’t Tell the Rebbe 

It is said that a Chassid used to behave in an improper way in his house. One time a friend came to him and said that he should change his behavior, because G-d in heaven sees what he does, even in the deepest sealed room. The Chassid was surprised by the reprimand, and he said: “So what if G-d sees?” His friend replied: “He will tell the Rebbe!” 

Quite often a person’s fear of G-d is measured by his external deeds and his behavior as they are perceived by others. It might be possible to mistakenly label somebody as “G-d fearing” because in normal surroundings his external behavior appears to be honest and righteous. However, the Torah portion of Kedoshim gives new meaning to the concept of “fearing G-d” and establishes a completely different set of parameters than those we usually see. 

The Fear of G-d is His Treasure 

The “fear of G-d” in Kedoshim involves a situation where nobody else pays any attention to a person’s actions. It takes place on the side, in secret, when the eyes of another person do not analyze or pay attention to what is happening. That is when the true question of whether somebody fears G-d or not appears. 

When a blind person comes towards you and you put an obstacle in his way, neither he nor anybody else will know what you did. When a friend comes to ask for help and you give him bad advice, nobody else can tell exactly what you are thinking. 

In such situations, when you are in contact with such “transparent” and weak individuals, you can do whatever you want, without being disturbed and without fear of people looking at you and measuring your level of “fear.” Then, specifically, when nobody else is looking over your shoulder, when everything is in your hands and the rest of the world does not see what you are doing, your fear of G-d is tested. Then there is only one other who truly knows – You Father in Heaven. 

They have All been Gathered Here for You 

And that explains why all of these “transparent” people have been collected together in one place in the portion of Kedoshim. Poor person, stranger, one who is blind, one who is deaf, one who is destitute – all of them, side by side. They are all here to teach us that true fear of G-d means to pay attention to those people who are often left at the margins of society, who fill a role that many people do not see at all. 

And that is why the Torah repeats the mitzva to fear the Holy One, Blessed be He, together with the prohibitions to trip up a blind person and to curse a deaf one. This is to emphasize that in just such situations – when the blind man does not see and the deaf one does not hear what you say, when everything remains your secret – is when your fear of G-d will be put to a test.

“And he shall put the incense on the flame before G-d, and the cloud of incense will hide the cover which is on the Ark of Testimony, so that he will not die” [Vayikra 16:13]. 

The importance of the incense is seen not only in the pleasant odors that it propagated but also in the cloud of smoke that it gave off, and which played a significant role in the service of the High Priest in the Holy of Holies. The task of the cloud of incense was to provide a smoke screen which hid the cover of the Ark from view when the holy Shechina appeared. In order to stabilize the cloud of smoke, the plant “ma’aleh ashan” (literally: “smoke maker”) was added to it. This is one of the ingredients of the incense listed in a Baraita which appears in the Talmud (Kritut 6a). Ma’leh ashan is not a major component of the incense but rather a subsidiary component, of a type known as “incense preparation ingredient.” These components appear in the Baraita after the main list of eleven elements is given. They played secondary roles and were not used to enhance the scent of the incense. 

A Pillar of Smoke 

Adding the ma’aleh ashan created a pillar of smoke that rose straight up. In incense that lacked this ingredient the smoke would dissipate quickly in the Holy of Holies and disappear, such that it would not fulfill its role. We can see the result of leaving this plant out of the mix in the following: 

“The people of the House of Avtinus were experts in making the incense and were familiar with ma’aleh ashan, and they refused to teach others their secrets. So the authorities brought experts from Alexandria who knew how to make the incense but did not have knowledge of the ma’aleh ashan. The smoke of the incense made by the House of Avtinus went straight up, broke up, and descended, while the smoke of the other experts broke up immediately.” [Talmud Yerushalmi, Shekalim, 5:9]. 

The way the pillar of smoke acted was one of the routine miracles that our ancestors were used to seeing in the Temple. “Ten miracles took place for our ancestors in the Temple... Rain did not extinguish the flames on the wood of the Altar and the wind could not overpower the pillar of smoke...” [Avot 5:5]. 

A Tightly Held Secret 

Our sources do not give enough details to let us identify ma’aleh ashan, but something can be learned from the following story: 

“Rabbi Akiva said: Shimon Ben Lagass said to me, ‘I was once picking plants among the grass, together with a young boy from the House of Avtinus, and I saw him crying and also laughing. I said to him, My son, why did you cry? And he replied, It was for the honor of my family, which has decreased. I asked, And why did you laugh? He replied, It was for the glory that awaits the righteous ones in the distant future, behold I see some ma’aleh ashan in front of me. I said to him, My son, show it to me. And he replied, I have a tradition from my fathers never to show it to anybody.” [Talmud Yerushalmi, Yoma, Chapter 3]. 

From this we can see that ma’aleh ashan is a plant, since after all Shimon and his friend were gathering plants among the grass. It is also clear that this plant is does not especially stand out, and it was therefore not too difficult to hide its identity among all the other plants. 

Possible Identification – And the Difficulties 

It is often difficult to identify plants mentioned in our sources even if at the time they were well known. It becomes even harder to identify plants which were only known to a small secretive group. The accepted identity for these plants is the broom brush. (Evidently this was suggested by I. Löw.) 

This plant is a rare desert bush, from the family Asclepiadaceae (milkweed), which grows in the area of the Dead Sea, Sinai, Edom, and in the Arabic Peninsula. It has tall straight branches, and it can grow to a height of three meters. The plant contains inflammable nitrogenous material, and therefore lighting one branch can quickly lead to a huge flame which rises to great heights. The nitrogenous material has florescent properties, and in the opinion of I. Löw this is the plant Pliny was referring to when he wrote, “... it can be revealed even in the light of a lamp, since the light is immediately reflected in it.” According to this suggestion, crushed powder from the plant was mixed together with the main ingredients of the incense. When it was lit this created a pillar of smoke which dragged along with it the smoke of all the other ingredients, as a fiery pillar. 

We can quote from the description of this plant in a letter to I. Löw from the botanist and eastern expert Weinport: 

“This plant is called ‘markh’ in Arabic. It has no thorns, but its rigid branches, which have no leaves and stretch towards the sky, can reach a height of 5 meters. If it is ignited the bush immediately bursts into flame, reaching a height of 10 meters. This is a phenomenon that is not found in any plant that grows in the east, which is the reason that Forskal gave it the name “pyrotechnica.” The core of the bush can be used to start a fire by rubbing two sticks together.” 

Z. Amar felt that this proposal does not correspond to the characteristics of the plant described in our sources. He noted that “ma’aleh ashan” was singled out for its thick and copious smoke and not for its flammability. According to the Gemorra, the parts of the plant that were used were the roots and the leaves, but the broom brush has almost no leaves. According to the description in the Talmud Yerushalmi, the plant is not prominent in its surroundings, but the broom brush stands out and is very tall. Another problem with this identification is that this plant is very rare in Eretz Yisrael, while according to our sources the difficulty in finding the plant lies in the fact that it was kept a secret and not because it is rare.

Giving up on the Main Element 

“No party without a cake!” (In Hebrew, this is a rhyme: Ein chagigah bli ugah.) This is a popular song that children sing at birthday parties. Is it really true? Will the celebration be ruined if the participants are not given a piece of cake? Actually, perhaps it is not so. It turns out that a party filled with joy and significance can be based on songs, blessings, games, and light refreshments even without a cake full of birthday candles. 

However, there are other things in life that are much harder to do without. If anybody tries to continue on his way and leave these elements behind, he might as well give up on the entire effort. 

But even so, this is exactly what happens to us almost every year. 

Every Jew, without exception, feels a tremble in his heart at the piercing sound of the shofar on Rosh Hashanah. However, even so, whenever the holiday comes out on Shabbat the entire nation ignores the Torah mitzva that “it shall be a day of blasting” [Bamidbar 29:1], and everybody lets the day pass without a single shofar sound. 

The same is true of the mitzvot of taking hold of the Four Species during Succot and reading the Megillah on Purim, whenever the day comes out on Shabbat. 

What is truly remarkable about these three examples is that there is no real halachic violation in blowing shofar, in waving a lulav, or in reading the Megillah on Shabbat. However, the sages decided that we will all ignore these precious mitzvot on Shabbat, out of a fear that some Jew who lacks knowledge about the three mitzvot will take a shofar/a lulav/a Megillah to an expert who can teach him what to do with them, carrying them through a public area along the way (see Megillah 4b). 

In other words, what has happened in these cases seems remarkable in the extreme. In order to avoid unusual situations where individuals might make a mistake because of lack of knowledge – the entire nation of Yisrael, millions of people, miss an opportunity to fulfill an important mitzva! Anybody who has trouble understanding the principle that “All of Yisrael are responsible for each other” cannot look for a better example than this. 

Taking on Responsibility 

Perhaps not everybody is aware of this, but there is no mitzva, either from the Torah or as a rabbinical decree, to light a bonfire on Lag B’Omer. The Rambam and the Shulchan Aruch did not write a single word about this matter. But it is true that many good people have a custom of lighting a bonfire on the evening of the eighteenth of Iyar, the anniversary of the death of Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai (which is Lag B’Omer). However, when this day is Sunday, observance of the custom requires massive desecration of the Shabbat by security and emergency medical forces that protect those who travel to Miron and others who light fires all over the country. And we must not forget the hundreds of thousands of nonreligious children who will never abandon this “mitzva” of lighting a fire, including collecting wood and sometimes even lighting the fires on Shabbat itself. This is the reason that in a similar way to what the sages did with the other issues discussed above, the Chief Rabbinate has decreed that in order to avoid massive Shabbat desecration the Lag B’Omer celebrations will be delayed by one day. 

However, just look at the amazing thing that has happened, just the opposite of the cases of shofar, lulav, and Megillah, and even Yom Ha’atmaut and the Memorial Days which are moved in order to avoid Shabbat desecration, and nobody at all complains. But for Lag B’Omer there are some, many from the religious camp, who still plan to light the fires as usual, right after Shabbat. Of course they will make sure to wait until the end of Shabbat and only then move on to the custom of lighting fires, as if to say, “I have saved my own soul.” But what about their responsibility towards the rest of the nation of Yisrael? What about their ignoring the decision of the Chief Rabbinate and thereby creating the weird situation that some people light right after Shabbat while others light on Sunday night? 

Evidently the smoke of the bonfires has begun to cloud the eyes from being able to see the most elementary elements. Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai would undoubtedly turn over in his grave if he knew how the flames in his honor are being used in order to burn the Shabbat away and to burn away the holiest concept – that of unity of the entire community of Yisrael. 

Nadav and Avihu, Aharon’s sons, also wanted to bring their own flame before G-d. We can assume that their hearts were filled with tremendous aspirations of holiness and high spiritual levels. But as long as it is disconnected from the community of Yisrael and without Moshe’s permission, even the greatest mitzva is transformed into a grave sin. The Torah describes this situation in two sharp words that summarize the situation perfectly: a foreign flame!” [Vayikra 10:1]. 

So there you have it: Take advantage of a perfect opportunity by moving the campfire of our youth movement age group/class/family/building from Saturday night to Sunday night, even if some of the others do it for some weird reason right after Shabbat – as a way of strengthening the value of “the community of Yisrael.” In that way we will ignite a huge and enlightening bonfire which lights up and is linked to the entire nation of Yisrael.