Re: ה' אייר - יום המר והנמהר
From Rabbi Avigdor Miller
Q: Is it a chillul Hashem what these people did last week when they burned the Israeli flag?
A: Well they’ll tell you it was a kiddush Hashem! Because who said that the flag of Israel has any holiness to it? Where does it say that the Israeli flag is a sacred object?! And I’ll tell you why it’s not a chillul Hashem. Now, nobody has to accept what I say, but of course I’m not going to accept what other people say either.
The Israeli flag is a symbol of Zionism. And Zionism is a principle that means something. Zionism is not just some political movement; it represents the principle that in order to be a Jew all you need is to subscribe to the idea of a Jewish state. You don’t need any Torah. You know you can be an atheist and you can still be a very good Zionist! And that’s where we come in and we say, that’s the chillul Hashem!
When the blue and white flag is raised, that’s what it’s saying. That flag is saying that this is the purpose, this is the ideal, this is the justification, and all other things are unimportant. And we say it’s not so! It’s the flag that is the chillul Hashem! Because we have only one flag and that is the Torah. We are a nation because of the Torah. Without the Torah we are nothing but gypsies, we’re a polyglot, and we’re halfbreeds; we have all types of people mixed into our nation. But there’s only one thing that makes Jews Jews. And that is that they are loyal to Hashem and His Torah.
And therefore a flag that proclaims that the Torah is not necessary to be a Jew – that you can be an oichel treifos just like the leaders of the State of Israel – except for Begin; Begin eats kosher, I think – so you can eat treifos they say, you can be a michaleil Shabbos, and work on Yom Kippur, and be an eishes-ishnik, you can commit adultery, it’s nothing to them. You have homosexuals too, who are diehard Zionists.
And therefore that is a travesty of the name ‘Jew’ and so I think that it’s not a chillul Hashem at all to burn the Zionist flag; and we shouldn’t be ashamed that we did it. Nothing to be ashamed of! The reason it’s not done elsewhere is because they’re afraid. But those who are brave enough to do it, I don’t see why they should be ashamed.
TAPE # 252 (January 1979)
Q: Is it a chillul Hashem what these people did last week when they burned the Israeli flag?
A: Well they’ll tell you it was a kiddush Hashem! Because who said that the flag of Israel has any holiness to it? Where does it say that the Israeli flag is a sacred object?! And I’ll tell you why it’s not a chillul Hashem. Now, nobody has to accept what I say, but of course I’m not going to accept what other people say either.
The Israeli flag is a symbol of Zionism. And Zionism is a principle that means something. Zionism is not just some political movement; it represents the principle that in order to be a Jew all you need is to subscribe to the idea of a Jewish state. You don’t need any Torah. You know you can be an atheist and you can still be a very good Zionist! And that’s where we come in and we say, that’s the chillul Hashem!
When the blue and white flag is raised, that’s what it’s saying. That flag is saying that this is the purpose, this is the ideal, this is the justification, and all other things are unimportant. And we say it’s not so! It’s the flag that is the chillul Hashem! Because we have only one flag and that is the Torah. We are a nation because of the Torah. Without the Torah we are nothing but gypsies, we’re a polyglot, and we’re halfbreeds; we have all types of people mixed into our nation. But there’s only one thing that makes Jews Jews. And that is that they are loyal to Hashem and His Torah.
And therefore a flag that proclaims that the Torah is not necessary to be a Jew – that you can be an oichel treifos just like the leaders of the State of Israel – except for Begin; Begin eats kosher, I think – so you can eat treifos they say, you can be a michaleil Shabbos, and work on Yom Kippur, and be an eishes-ishnik, you can commit adultery, it’s nothing to them. You have homosexuals too, who are diehard Zionists.
And therefore that is a travesty of the name ‘Jew’ and so I think that it’s not a chillul Hashem at all to burn the Zionist flag; and we shouldn’t be ashamed that we did it. Nothing to be ashamed of! The reason it’s not done elsewhere is because they’re afraid. But those who are brave enough to do it, I don’t see why they should be ashamed.
TAPE # 252 (January 1979)
