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Friday, September 05, 2014

Two Magazine Covers: Light and Darkness

In this time, when everyone in the world is being given the choice to make the final decision whether to join the forces of absolute good or absolute evil, here are two magazine covers.  The first below came out today.  The other magazine cover is from several years ago, but the subject of the article has been in the news again in the last several weeks, and I think he's going to be showing up in the mainstream press very soon.  I, and the individuals portrayed below, happen to have all been born the same year.

Yeshaya 45:
אני ה' ואין עוד זולתי אין אלקים; אאזרך ולא ידעתני.  למען ידעו ממזרח שמש וממערבה כי אפס בלעדי:  אני ה' ואין עוד.  יוצר אור ובורא חשך עשה שלום ובורא רע; אני ה' עשה כל אלה

I am the Lord, and there is no other; besides Me there is no God: I will strengthen you although you have not known Me.
In order that they know from the shining of the sun and from the west that there is no one besides Me; I am the Lord and there is no other.
I form the light and create darkness, I make peace and create evil; I am the Lord, I make all these.


The caption reads "The Kaplan Way."
This is Harav Tzvi Kaplan, Rosh Yeshiva of Yeshiva Kodshim in Eretz Yisrael, which combines the lomdus of Brisk and the mussar of his grandfather Reb Yerucham and the Mir.  He exhibits, and expects from his talmidim, absolute ameilus in iyun and hasmada and Yiras Shamayim, and he's a true baal chesed and rachaman.  He is holding up his right hand, his fist is closed over intangible, but powerful, words of Torah, and he is inspiring his students to become decent, holy, spiritual people.

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This caption reads "The Kaplan Case."
  Lehavdil elef havdalos, this is Metin Kaplan, called the Caliph of Cologne.  He is a bloody murderer.  As I said, he's in the news again, and my guess is that he will find a way out and join the leadership of ISIL.
He is holding up his right hand, his fist is closed over a sword, and he is inspiring his followers to wage a bloody war against anyone that does not share their particular brand of soul-deadening, conscious-cauterizing dementia.

 Kaplan, in Turkish, means Tiger, and it's a name his father, whose birth name was Hacaoglu, chose, so the coincidence probably doesn't mean anything, just one of those things.  Who knows?  The Ribono shel Olam runs the world.  In any case, it shines a bright light on the contrast.   As Chazal (AZ 17b) say,  אי סייפא לא ספרא ואי ספרא לא סייפא.  Also, there is the Medrash (Bechukosai 35:6)  
תני בשם ר' אלעזר הסייף והספר ניתנו מכורכין מן השמים אמר להם הקדוש ברוך הוא אם שמרתם מה שכתוב בספר זה הרי אתם ניצולים מן הסייף ואם לאו סוף שהוא הורג אתכם
It all boils down to the same thing.  If the sword, not the book.  If the book, not the sword. 


1 comment:

Anonymous said...

While the word "fall" in German means "the case of" you can also interpret that Kaplan will "napol tipol" speedily in our time.