The Rachel Corrie Memorial Latke Prize 5770/2009

This year's selection for the recipient of the Rachel Corrie Memorial Latke Prize was difficult indeed. So many out there have lined up against Israel in support of the Arab terror war against Israel that it was nearly impossible. With a slate of esteemed nominees like Marack Pajama, Dick Goldstone, Rahm Emmanuel, Hillary Clinton, and of course the always nominated Shimon Peres, it was a veritable cornucopia of myopia.

For those of you who are unaware, Rachel Corrie was an American peacenik dupe of the International Solidarity Movement, who swallowed anti-Israel propaganda like candy, and actually went to Gaza, unknowingly allowing herself to be put in harm's way in their effort to enrage the Western world with images of an American activist being killed by the Jews. With no knowledge of the real history of the conflict, or international law, Corrie and a few fellow idiots played chicken with an Israeli bulldozer. She lost.

While it is deplorable that a human being died, anyone who sides with genocidal terrorists gets what's coming to them. Putting oneself out of the line of sight of a bulldozer driver with limited visibility, who is knocking down a house hiding a smuggling tunnel, is just plain stupid, especially when the other protesters later made it clear that the bulldozers had been routinely doing their best to avoid hitting them....whoops! The responsibility for her death lies squarely with the Arabs who knowingly put her in harm's way as a propaganda tool, and Corrie herself, who went to a war zone and chose to defend terrorists, who later nearly kidnapped her parents when they went to Gaza.

And so, each year during Chanukah I am left to award the Rachel Corrie Memorial Latke Prize to a figure on the world stage who, in grand fashion, stands with the genocidal Arab terrorists who abuse and murder their own people, while targeting Jewish civilians and kidnapping soldiers in violation of international law. I came very close to naming Dick Golden Dickstone, but in light of the events in Judea and Samaria over the past couple of weeks, it is only fitting to award this year's Rachel Corrie Memorial Latke Prize to.......

Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak!!!!

Yes, as Defense Minister, Barak is charged with enforcing the Netanyahu government's Jewish building freeze edict in Judea and Samaria. So far he has managed to overstep the bounds of the edict, forcing a halt on projects that were already approved and/or begun before the freeze was ordered; he is enforcing an edict that is actually illegal under Israeli law as only the Security Cabinet voted on it, and his actions have led to scenes of violence between Jews, like this:

He has removed IDF protection from places like Efrat leaving Jews vulnerable to Arab attack; he is refusing to take any action to halt illegal Arab construction in Judea and Samaria; he has referred to the Jewish liberation of our land from the Jordanians in 1967 as an "occupation" of a people and a country that has never existed, exposing himself as the Stockhausen Syndrome sufferer he is; and most recently has violated the free speech of Har Baruch Yeshiva Rabbi, Eliezer Melamed, by ejecting his yeshiva from the Hesder program (where IDF soldiers can also attend yeshiva) for conveying the message that it is immoral for Jewish soldiers to evict Jews from their homes.

In fact, it is against Jewish law, and Rabbi Melamed is upholding that law because, unlike Barak, he actually follows and respects it. He is doing exactly what a true rabbi is supposed to do, make sure that those under his tutelage follow the halacha. Halacha is clear: Jewish soldiers may not evict Jews from land given to them by G-d. There is no halachic argument to refute it. In fact, Melamed's action is the best barometer as to who is a true Rav, and who is a collaborator. A true Rav, one devoted to Torah and Hashem, will stand by Har Baruch against Barak. Those who don't should be forgotten. This is not a time for sitting on fences, or collaborating. Those who find that type of behavior acceptable have failed to learn Matityahu's lessons on the worth of collaborators.

In a column of Melamed's to appear Thursday, a portion of which has been published by Arutz Sheva, he writes:

Rabbis are obligated to say the Torah truth as they see it, even when they need to pay a price for it,” he continues. “I never called for demonstrations within the army, but I will not consent to sign an emphatic denouncement of these protests just because of pressure and threats.”

"Instead of the Defense Minister distancing the military from all public controversy, or at the very least refraining from giving orders that contradict Jewish law – he incites the greater public against rabbis who supposedly endanger military discipline.”

"It is forbidden to express opinion on Torah matters under pressure from the government, and a rabbi must say his inner truth; in that he represents the sacred legacy of our nation. And these things are true of the Hesder yeshivas rabbis as well; they do not need to be under the discipline of of the military commanders, but to voice their opinion freely.

"Some rabbis are applying great pressure on me to sign [a declaration against refusal of orders] in order to end the painful confrontation with the Ministry of Defense. On the other hand, the spokesmen for the Ministry of Defense can be expected to present this in the media as the defeat of Torah opinion by the Barak government. On the face of it, there is a great temptation here. A tiny signature on a sentence whose contents I identify with and that does not contain any denouncement of the protesters, and it will be possible to go on as usual in the yeshiva, without wasting hours on writing articles and without losing an annual budget of NIS 800 thousand (based on the number of students).”

"Since I am, for the time being, part of the larger group of Hesder yeshivas, I have agreed upon the advice of my father and teacher [Rabbi Zalman Melamed of Beit El – ed.], and other rabbis, to transfer this decision to the forum of yeshiva heads which will convene on Sunday to discuss the affair.”

Every Rabbi that signs that declaration should be abandoned by their students, who should flock to Melamed's yeshiva. To sign such a declaration is to stand falsely in the face of Torah. It would not be the first time that a lone man stood upright in the face of collaborators. That is one of the things we remember during Chanukah. But I have to say that I question Melamed's passing the buck to the other yeshiva heads. Will he abide by their decision if it goes against the Halacha? For the sake of Am Yisrael I hope he does not.

Barak is part of the Left's continuing campaign to curtail the rising power of observant Jews in Israel in the hopes of maintaining their own power that has no respect for the Torah, for the people, or the G-d of Israel. He, and the rest of the Hellenists are willing to do anything, including putting the entire nation of Israel in jeopardy, just so they can continue to bow down to their god of political power, and all the false gifts that god gives them.

And so, human dung heap Ehud Barak, you are this year's winner of the Rachel Corrie Memorial Latke Prize.

Choke on it you pig.