To sit quietly – Not in this world!

To sit quietly – Not in this world!
One of the special blessings that my wife Anat and I were privileged to receive from our Rabbi, Rabbi Meir Kahane HY”D, was when we stood together under the chuppa. It caused more than a few of those present to raise their eyebrows, but only those who knew well the work of the Rabbi, who dedicated every moment of his life to the Jewish people, understood where that came from; the Rabbi blessed us “not to have any serenity in this world.” The blessing is based on the statement in the Midrash by our Sages on the verse “And Jacob dwelt in the land of his father’s residence”, and they thus expounded on the verse: “Ya’akov sought to sit serenely – (but) Joseph’s anger jumped out at him. The Al-mighty said: “Is it not enough for the righteous to have what is arranged for them in the next world, but now they seek to settle peacefully in this world?”
With Hashem’s mercy, we were privileged to see the Rabbi’s blessing come true for us, and we try to live a full life of action for the Jewish people. One of the examples of the fulfillment of the blessing in reality, happened last Friday. At home we started to get organized for the arrival of the children and grandchildren with preparation of our home and cooking for Shabbat, and suddenly my wife received two phone calls, one after the other: Two different cases – a mother of two children from the Jerusalem area, and another girl from the north, who wanted to leave their Arab husbands immediately, after a long period of time that they kept in touch with us. Pikuach Nefesh – saving lives – of course overrides everything else. From the moment we received those two calls, dozens more calls were made, and half an hour before Shabbat came in, we received the good news that both rescues took place peacefully; in the merit of good Jews, the women were rescued from the villages and sent to Lehava’s mystery apartments. So we had no serenity in our home that Friday, but joy, happiness and contentment that more Jewish women and children were redeemed from slavery, come what may.
This was really the closing of the circle of another year, full of ongoing efforts to fight assimilation and save the daughters of Israel.
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At this opportunity, I am pleased to express my appreciation and praise for my dear wife Anat, the head of Lehava’s department to care for the girls with us in Lehava, who launched her new book this week – M’Afar Kumi (Rise from the Dust). Dozens of cases are brought forward in the book, among them cases coming to light for the first time, from the easiest to the very hardest ones, of complicated and involved cases of assimilation which she handled professionally and with devotion, as did the rest of the workers and volunteers in the organization. Anyone who would like to get a “snapshot” of the current phenomenon of assimilation in Israel, is invited to go to the link  http://c18.co.il to order the book, or send a request by email, attached to the bottom of this column.
And on the occasion of the year 5781 (may it be a good one for us), I first and foremost wish all of the Jewish people a year in which we will preserve our Jewish identity, recognize it and not change it to any other identity. And for us in the Lehava organization, a year with a lot less work; a year that sees assimilation die out, never to raise its head again in Israel.
May you be signed and sealed for a good year.