Part II

A Good Name

The posuk in parshas Vayakheil (Shemos 35:30) says, "And Moshe said to bnei Yisroel, `See, Hashem has called by name Betzalel the son of Uri, the son of Chur, of the tribe of Yehuda'." The following posuk says, "And He has filled him with . . . wisdom, understanding and comprehension, and with every craft."

The retaliatory air strikes in Lebanon at the beginning of February on terrorist strongholds in the Baalebek Valley and power stations across the country were naturally the center of interest for many Israelis. All over the country people listened attentively to vivid reports of the damage and took pride in the "impressive attacks" of "our forces" who finally used the "military option" against the terrorists.

Forgetting Mitzvos

Indeed HaKodosh Boruch Hu in His Torah promised us that it would not be forgotten by His children, that the Torah would remain with am Yisroel forever. This, however, refers only to the Torah itself. In regard to the Torah's mitzvos, Yeshaya the novi decreed a gezeira and inflicted a punishment of, "Since this people draw near and with their mouths and with their lips honor Me, but have removed their heart far from Me, and their fear towards Me is as a commandment of men learned by rote, therefore behold I will proceed to do more wonders against this people, wonder upon wonder: for the wisdom of their wise men shall perish and the understanding of their prudent men shall be hidden" (Yeshaya 29:13-14).

Judicial Tyranny
by A. Yitzchaki