“Words from the Heart Enter the Heart” GENESIS > Lech Lecha By Rabbi Simon Jacobson November 1, 2014 Lech Lecha Jewish Mother’s Cure for Jihad G “Words from the Heart e Meaningful Sermons Enter the Heart” n e GENESIS > Lech Lecha > Jewish Mother’s Cure for Jihad November 1, 2014 s i s ABSTRACT Jewish mothers are the ultimate stereotype. Can’t you just hear it? “My son the doctor, my son the lawyer, my son always takes L e care of his Momma” … “Don’t run outside without a coat, its 96 degrees out there and you may catch a cold” … “Why didn’t you c finish your dinner? Are you trying to starve yourself? Did h you know that when I was growing up I could only dream of L such a meal?” e Where did this stereotype come from? What are its origins? And c how can the stereotype of the Jewish mother help combat the h radicalism raging throughout the Middle East and the world? a That is our topic today – I kid you not – the Jewish mother’s cure for whatever ails us, be it war, plague, Ebola or even radical Islam. Radical Islam – the kind that snuffs out life and wages jihad J against any so-called infidel, which seems to include pretty much e anyone disagreeing with its murderous intentions – has been w i analyzed and dissected from here to Tora Bora. And I’d like to s meet the person who understands it. Meanwhile, the subject is h on our lips daily because every single day radical Islam makes M horrifying news in one form or another, with the latest being the o t assassination attempt of Yehuda Glick by a member of Islamic h Jihad, and the subsequent closing of the Temple Mount. e r ’ This sermon analyzes the origins of radical Islam in the birth of s Ishmael, who unfortunately did not have a Jewish mother. And C then it shows how the Jewish mother is the source of the cure for u r all that ails us. e f o r J i h a d Page 2 G Genesis > Lech Lecha > Jewish Mother’s Cure for Jihad e n JEWISH MOTHER’S CURE FOR JIHAD e s i s 1. Mother of all Breakfasts (Joke) On a bright Monday morning, Levi rushes breathlessly in to his psychiatrist’s office. “I had the strangest dream last night. I dreamt that you were my mother!” he tells his shrink. “Startled, I quickly awoke, L jumped out of bed, grabbed a Coke and a donut, and hustled over here e at first daylight.” c h The psychiatrist, all ashen-faced and worry-stricken, is incredulous: “What?! A Coke and a donut – you call that a breakfast?!” L e c h a 2. Jewish Mothers Jewish mothers are the ultimate stereotype. Can’t you just hear it? • “My son the doctor, my son the lawyer, my son always takes care of his Momma.” • “Don’t run outside without a coat, its 96 degrees out there and J e you may catch a cold.” w i • “Why didn’t you finish your dinner? Are you trying to starve s h yourself? Did you know that when I was growing up I could only M dream of such a meal?” o t Where did this stereotype come from? What are its origins? And how h can the stereotype of the Jewish mother help combat the radicalism e r raging throughout the Middle East and the world? ’ s That is our topic today – I kid you not – the Jewish mother’s cure for C whatever ails us, be it war, plague, Ebola or even radical Islam. u r e f o r J i h a d Page 3 G Genesis > Lech Lecha > Jewish Mother’s Cure for Jihad e n 3. Radical Islam e Radical Islam – the kind that snuffs out life and wages jihad against any s i so-called infidel, which seems to include pretty much anyone s disagreeing with its murderous intentions – has been analyzed and dissected from here to Tora Bora. And I’d like to meet the person who understands it. L Meanwhile, the subject is on our lips daily because every single day e radical Islam makes horrifying news in one form or another: c Ten days ago, a three-month-old baby was murdered in Jerusalem, h when an Arab terrorist rammed his car into a crowd of people waiting L at a train station. This week, a woman who was wounded in that same e attack succumbed to her wounds, another life snuffed out by terror. And c the latest headline is the assassination attempt of Yehuda Glick by a h member of Islamic Jihad, and the subsequent closing of the Temple a Mount. Who knows what wild acts will come next? Last Shabbat, the New York Times published ( nisht um Shabbat geredt …) a lengthy report on the horrible beheadings of hostages in Syria. The article related that, according to former hostages who were freed, ransomed, or escaped, “a majority of the Western prisoners had J converted to Islam during their difficult captivity.” That clearly means e “were forced to convert to Islam.” w i “Only a handful of the hostages stayed true to their own faiths, s h including Mr. Sotloff, then 30, a practicing Jew. On Yom Kippur, he M told his guards he was not feeling well and refused his food so he o could secretly observe the traditional fast, a witness said.” t h While one captive after another is being beheaded, America and its allies e r – in a token effort – are dropping weapons to arm the Kurds in their ’ s fight with the Islamists. But the coalition against ISIS has its own C problems. u r In Ottawa, an Islamist shot up the Parliament (killing one person), after e the Canadians lawmakers voted to join the anti-ISIS team. f o r In Jerusalem, a powder keg is brewing centered on the Temple Mount. J The media calls is the “Silent Intifada,” and it is just waiting to explode. i h a d Page 4 G Genesis > Lech Lecha > Jewish Mother’s Cure for Jihad e n The shot that was heard around the world might have been fired this past Wednesday night, when an Arab terrorist attempted to assassinate e a prominent Israeli right-wing activist. The assassin was then killed by s i Israeli police when he resisted arrest and the country is bracing for a s new wave of riots. With all that, we haven’t even mentioned Iran. The only calamity that doesn’t seem to be rooted in radical Islam is L e Ebola (the virus named after the Ebola River in Zaire where it first emerged in 1976). c h In response, the pundits are wringing their hands. This week in the New York Times – the so-called “paper of record” – I read three opinion pieces L e (by Thomas Friedman, Roger Cohen, and Rula Jebreal, two Jews, and one Arab married to a Jew) plus the aforementioned lengthy report on c the Syrian hostages and beheadings. h a The thing with these articles is that they never really offer any solutions to the problem and they seem baffled by its origins. It’s as if opinion writers, and even the alleged “objective” news reporters, are looking at a painting but their eyes only see three quarters of it. They never want to look at the artist who painted the painting and the origins of the painting itself. They only discuss some of the colors, some of the angles, J some of the interplay, but they all miss the underlying picture and its e w framework. i s The question essentially is: How did it ever come to this? Like a single h rebellious cell that evolves into a cancerous, life-eating disease, from M whence did an off-shoot of Islam snowball into the suicide-bombing, o t plane-hijacking, hostage-beheading monster that it is today? h e Today, with blood flowing, everything must be done to make it stop, to r ’ put an end to the hate, the killing and the terror. s C Parallel to that, we have to figure out how to ensure that this radicalism u does not perpetuate into the future? What radically good message and r e radically positive actions can we as Jews project to the world to provide f the alternative to this radical evil? o r J i h a d Page 5 G Genesis > Lech Lecha > Jewish Mother’s Cure for Jihad e n To guarantee that such radical darkness does not continue, and does not mutate and revive itself once it is eradicated, we must understand e what ingredients gave rise to it in the first place. s i s Nothing happens in a vacuum. Nobody wakes up one day and says: “Yesterday I loved human beings; today I will behead them.” It takes a progression, usually a long gradual one, to get to the reality that is the Middle East today. L e So where did it begin? c h L e 4. Ishmael Is Born c To understand the origins of all things – and thus to understand how h they play out in reality today – the place to look is the Torah. a Many think that the Islamic State was born over the past year or two, with ISIS growing out of Al Qaeda in Iraq. Many would be wrong.