Fighting To’eiva: Rav Avigdor Miller, almost 40 years ago, sounded the battle cry. Where have we been?
Time is running out. And our silence, as the Am Hashem, is a GRAVE Chilul Hashem.
BS”D
Here are the words of Rav Avigdor Miller zatzal, from 1986:
Here, the same words are copied over for easier reading:
Q:
What should one do now that the Gay-Rights Bill has passed in New York?
A:
We have to maintain a constant battle against the Gay-Rights Bill. We have to bombard all the politicians with letters or other means to let them know we're very angry; we won't stand for it.
And I'll explain what's doing. This bill can be implemented in a soft-peddled way and it can be implemented in a militant way. If there will be a big angry reaction from all the citizenry, so they'll be slow, they'll be careful in being militant about it. Because the way the gays really want is, they want that the youth should be taught that this is a perfectly normal way of life. They want to corrupt the entire youth; and don’t be mistaken about it!
They also want to teach Mankind that little boys can be taken off the street. They want to lower the age of consent and that way for the sake of a candy bar they can get little boys to be their victims.
Now this wickedness it seems to us very far from reality. But you have to know the North American Man-Love-Boy Association says that openly. And Koch (Mayor of New York City) yemach shemo vezichro marched together with them in the Gay Rights parade.
And that's what they want. They want our children too! It’s no joke; it’s very serious. And so any little boy in the streets can be bribed by a candy bar. And once he gets into a bad habit, he's ruined for life.
And therefore, not like up till now you were asleep; the Jewish people were asleep and the general public is asleep surely. Those who listen to the radio and read the New York Times don't have their brains of their own; they just think what the media tell them – and the media is controlled by gays.
But the Jewish people, those that have some sense, have to maintain their constant drumming and battling. Constantly bothering them, pestering them with letters all the time. And don’t think it's not a mitzvah; it's a big mitzvah to do it all the time. Write letters to all the politicians. Write letters to everybody else. Wake up the rabbis who are asleep! They don't know what's doing here. They think it's none of our business, they don’t realize that this evil is penetrating into frum houses too; it's penetrating.
And therefore we have to battle for our lives against gay rights.
TAPE # 591 (March 1986)
The LEAST we can do right now is to boycott Target, Kohl’s, Nike, Adidas, and all the other companies that are vigorously promoting to’eiva.
There is a HUGE Target boycott going on right now in the outside world, after Target unveiled a revolting line of “pride” products aimed at children.
The boycott is having a wonderful effect, Baruch Hashem:
That SHOULD have been US, the Am Hashem, leading the way. The least we can do is to join.
And, we must publicly call out any “Jewish” companies, schools, or organizations that are supporting or promoting deviant lifestyles.
But what about making a huge public demonstration for the honor of Hashem? That is our DUTY. When will we do it?
Here is an article put out a few days ago by Rabbi Chananya Weissman, which I found very powerful. I included most of the article.
Our Unrealized Potential
I was on the Jerusalem light yesterday, and it was jam-packed.
… Rabbi Gershon Edelstein had just passed away, and they were going to the funeral in Bnei Brak.
This article is not about Rabbi Edelstein.
It is about the incredible ability of hundreds of thousands of religious Jews to mobilize at the spur of the moment to attend the funeral of a prominent rabbi. For many of them this would entail hours of traveling in heavy traffic, walking a significant distance from wherever the traffic could no longer proceed, then standing for hours in a tightly packed crowd under the broiling sun. They would almost certainly not get anywhere near the niftar, but would have to content themselves with hearing the eulogies over loudspeakers (if they could even decipher what was being said) and just being “there”.
Nevertheless, these people didn't give a second thought to the time they would spend and how physically taxing it would be. They stopped whatever they were doing, packed the buses and trains, and flocked to pay their respects in whatever trifling way they could.
I have tremendous admiration for that.
And also tremendous disappointment.
Tomorrow the rainbow people will be having their annual street party in the holy streets of Jerusalem, expressing their love and tolerance for the most vile desecration of the Torah – which is the extent of their much ballyhooed love and tolerance.
If Israel were truly a democracy – much ballyhooed as well – this event would not be taking place, for the majority of Jerusalem's residents do not care to have skimpily clad people marching through their main thoroughfares celebrating those who engage in deviant … behavior, or celebrating any … “identity” at all.
But no one asked Jerusalem's residents if they want this circus in their streets, nor do they care. This event is going to happen whether we like it or not. It wouldn't matter if 90 percent of us don't want it, or even 99 percent. We don't count. Letting the rainbow people trample over all that is dear to us is more important. That's what the 1 percent of people with money and power decided.
That's democracy and love in action.
Because Israel has to maintain the facade of being a Jewish state and a democracy (both of which are untrue and a contradiction besides), a small counter protest out of sight of the marchers will be permitted. This group armed with nothing but homemade signs and a bullhorn or two will be surrounded by thugs in police uniforms – specially chosen for their extreme animosity for religious Jews – who will brandish automatic weapons and leer at them. They will be joined by undercover police and intelligence agents to infiltrate this dangerous group of religious terrorists and pounce on whoever might seem “threatening”.
Sudden inexplicable arrests have a wonderful chilling effect.
Israel's crack security services will also randomly arrest a few people who look too religious who dare to walk in the streets near the parade, because religious Jews should know where they are not supposed to be. Where do they think they are, Vilna? These unfortunate strollers will be pegged as “suspicious” and hauled off to a police station – with a minimum of violence if they are not too terribly unfortunate – where they will rot for hours without water or bathroom privileges.
Eventually a lawyer from Honenu will secure their temporary release and assist them through a protracted legal battle, which might end with the victims (the religious Jews, not the rainbow people) being awarded a paltry sum of money for their false arrest, physical abuse, and humiliation. This will not come out of the pockets of the uniformed “public servants” who inflicted this upon innocent civilians; on the contrary, that was exactly what they were there to do, and they knew it.
A few thousand shekels out of state coffers – funded by the slave-like taxes you and I are forced to pay – is a small price to send a message and put religious people in their place. It's an investment, really.
Meanwhile the media snakes who invert reality for a living will publish outrageous smear pieces with titles like ‘Deadly Thursday’: Far-right activists threaten violence at Jerusalem Pride Parade, inviting a cascade of psychotic comments that would receive standing ovations at Nazi rallies. That is the point of such pieces, to stoke unbridled rage against Torah-observant Jews and justify war against them in the legislature, in the courts, and, eventually, on the streets.
Don't you feel the love?
This is why I felt tremendous sadness on the light rail yesterday. There were more people in a single train car going to a funeral than there will be protesting against the desecration of Jerusalem.
In no way do I intend to minimize the importance of paying respects to prominent rabbis and righteous people upon their passing, which is well documented. However, in the grand scheme of things, whether 50,000 people or 500,000 people attend a funeral… everyone will go home and it will be over. The religious media will rush to publish hagiographies, in a few months we will have the usual formulaic biography that will be an instant best seller, and a year from now they will publish a commemoration. It's a drill at this point.
What would happen if these same people showed up tomorrow to stand up for the sanctity of Jerusalem? They proved they can do it at a moment's notice to show respect for the Torah. They did not excuse themselves with the usual argument that the time would be better spent studying Torah – no! This was a unique opportunity to make a tremendous public statement in support of Torah, a true kiddush Hashem!
What would be a greater public statement in support of Torah and a true kiddush Hashem, going to a funeral or protesting the desecration of Jerusalem by morally bankrupt heretics actively waging war on Torah-observant Jewry?
What would make a greater practical difference?
If 500,000 Jews who respect the Torah protested the rainbow circus, it would be a game changer. Half a million people cannot be ignored. Half a million people cannot be dismissed as violent right wing religious extremists. Half a million people makes a powerful statement even if they do nothing but show up and stand with their backs turned to those marching in the streets. Standing with pride in being true to Hashem and the Torah – not pride at …. being confused about one's gender, but authentic, well-deserved pride.
Even 50,000 would be a game changer. Even 5000 would be a game changer.
If the strategy to this point has been to ignore the filth march with hopes that it won't affect us, that has proven terribly misguided. If the calculation has been that protesting the filth march would only bring greater hatred upon us, we have little left to lose there despite surrendering – or perhaps because of it.
I complained to one .. relative I am close with that if the government cut their stipend by fifty cents, they would block the streets … but as long as the to'eiva march isn't in their neighborhoods, they couldn't care less. He looked stricken and said nothing. There is nothing to say.
When will the millions of Jews in Israel who respect the Torah – despite varying levels of personal observance – show up en masse and make a historic change? It could be a million-person unity and teshuva event. Don't you think that would get Hashem's attention like little else? Why can't this be done?
When will the Jewish people utilize their phenomenal ability to mobilize en masse for something of urgent importance that will change the game?
Is tomorrow too soon?
[Also see Why I Protested the Jerusalem ‘Pride’ Parade from 2019 and Israel's Pride Revolution from 2020.]