Shaarei Shamayim

TERUMA 5771

Super Bowl Sunday is upon us. It should be a great contest, the match-up of 2 storied NFL  franchises: the 3-time Super Bowl champion Green Bay Packers facing the Pittsburgh Steelers, who are looking for a record 7^th Super Bowl victory. Over 100,000 fans will pack Cowboys Stadium in the Dallas to watch it in person, while over 100 million viewers worldwide will watch it on TV. (Yonatan Sredni, Israel National News)

But for some reason I’m having a little trouble getting “psyched up” for the big game this year. I’ve been distracted and most of my attention is focused now on Egypt. The scenes broadcast from the streets of Cairo are far more captivating than any Super Bowl halftime show (with apologies to The Black Eyed Peas who will entertain at halftime).

According to multiple reports, Mubarak has become something of a joke in his own country. Mubarak has ruled the country for over 30 years under a number of sham elections. Opposition parties have often been outlawed and elections fixed. In the last election less than 25% of the people voted and Mubarak won by a landslide, even though he is clearly unpopular.

Last week on “Saturday Night Live,” Mubarak, brilliantly played by Fred Armisen, pretended that the population still loves him, and that they are only a little upset because the internet is down. Armisen’s Mubarak also claimed he has been “democratically elected” for the past 30 years with an approval rating of 115%. When Seth Meyers suggested that perhaps he was “missing the signs” that his people were protesting against him, he quipped: “Egyptians are not great with signs. Read the Bible. We needed 10 plagues before we let the Israelites go. Ten!”

What is happening on the streets of Cairo is not just an Egyptian phenomenon. Actually, it began in Tunisia last month. A street peddler hassled by police again and again for not having the proper permits set himself on fire. The fire turned into one protest after another—over rising food prices and high unemployment—until the Tunisian president, Zine el Abidine Ben Ali was deposed. This lighted the current spark of protest in Egypt. Then the president of Yemen, Ali Abdullah Saleh felt compelled to announce that he would not seek reelection and would not pass power to his son. Then Jordan appointed new prime minister. Syria has a big demonstration planned for today and suddenly President Bashar Al-Assad is now calling for political reforms. Algeria is now facing unrest. Saudi Arabia—who supports Mubarak—is tightening security. One thing now is certain: the face of the Arab world will never be the same.

With the rise of technology where anyone with access to the internet can see how the rest of the world is living and, if you’re one of the oppressed Egyptian masses, you can see how you have been kept down…and with texting, email and twitter you can now be kept informed…the Arab masses can no longer be kept ignorant of how they are being mistreated. So after half a century during which tyrants have ruled the Arab world, their control is now weakening.

To his credit, President Barak Obama sent former ambassador and friend of Mubarak, Frank Wisner, to give Mubarak a message that his days as head of Egypt must end and that there needs to be an orderly transition to democracy. Following that meeting Mubarak addressed Egypt saying he will not seek reelection. Yes, Mubarak must go. But will his replacement be any better?

Let’s take a look at these crowds of peaceful protestors. I don’t doubt that there are thousands and thousands of well-meaning people on the streets of Cairo, and if they had their druthers, they would elect the likes of Thomas Jefferson or maybe Abe Lincoln or would they? According to a Pew opinion survey of Egyptians from last June, 59% said they back Islamists. Only 27% said they back modernizers. 50% support Hamas. 30% support Hizbolah and 20% support Al Qaida. Moreover 95% of them would welcome Islamic influence over their politics. When this preference is translated into actual government policy, it is clear that the Islam they support is the Al Qaida vision. And that accounts for why 82% of Egyptians support executing adulterers by stoning. 77% support whipping and cutting the hands off thieves. 84% support executing any Muslim who changes his religion. (Rabbi Steven Saltzman)

The best result would be if the military—which controls the politics and the economy of Egypt would—replace Mubarak with one of their own who would maintain the status quo with some concessions to the demonstrators until such time as someone can think of a sane and safe way out of Egypt’s crippling problems. But keep in mind that Egypt has 300 F-16s fighter planes and a powerful army trained by Americans. That’s why Ariel Sharon called Egypt the most dangerous country for Israel. And Israel relies upon Egypt for oil and gas from the off-shore fields that Israel developed before it gave back the Sinai to Egypt. Would that supply still be secure?

Although the Muslim Brotherhood did not begin these protests, it’s getting on the bandwagon real fast. Pundits are quick to point out that we shouldn’t fear the Brotherhood because it represents only about 30% of the Egyptian population. But as the survey above indicates, most of the population sympathizes with many of their positions. And remember, the Ayatollahs only represented 30% of the population of Iran when the Shah was deposed. But who rules Iran now? 

What is the Moslem Brotherhood? Well, it was a small, unpopular group of anti-modern fanatics unable to attract members until they were adopted by Adolf Hitler in  the 1930s. Under the tutelage of the Third Reich, the Brotherhood learned to focus their anger on the Jews instead of on women. By war’s end, thanks entirely to Hitler’s support, the brotherhood had swelled to a million members, and Jew-hatred had become central to Arab culture and the main organizing force of Middle East politics for the next 80 years. In more recent times it taught Osama bin Laden, as it fathered Al Qaeda, Hezbollah and Hamas. With the power of the Egyptian army behind it, who knows what it would do?

What if Egypt were led by Mohammed El Baradei who now has returned to Egypt as the alternative to Mubarak? You remember him; He won the Nobel Peace Prize for his work as head of the U.N. nuclear agency as he lied to the world about the development of Iranian nuclear weapons. Recently, he’s become a strong champion of the Muslim Brotherhood.

Is there any Egyptian leader we can get behind? History demonstrates that every Egyptian leader from Nasser to Sadat to Mubarak has enshrined Nazi Jew-hatred in mainstream Egyptian culture out of both conviction and political calculation. And from all the possible candidates mentioned, nothing I hear makes me think it would be any different now with any of them. In fact, because the new leader will have to prove himself to the masses sympathetic to the values of the Moslem Brotherhood, I think that whoever replaces Mubarak might only be worse for Israel and America. And yet…

In the beginning of today’s Torah portion Gd calls for donations to build the Mishkan, the portable Temple of the Jews in the desert. The donations were asked of kol yidvenu libo, “everyone whose heart motivates him.” Wasn’t Gd taking an unnecessary risk? What if not enough people would give and they wouldn’t have the necessary supplies to build the Mishkan? Wouldn’t it have been safer for Gd just to command the people to give? The answer is that Gd had great faith in the Jewish people that they wouldn’t disappoint Him. And He was right. We later learn that the people gave more than was needed. 

Gd’s faith was well placed—as we see when the Jewish people left Egypt with hardly any provisions into a barren desert. That demonstrated great faith that Gd would take care of them—no matter what. This faith in Gd came after the miracles of the 10 plagues and the crossing of the Red Sea. We have seen even greater miracles in our time as little Israel has survived in a sea of hundreds of millions of hostile Arabs. We must have faith that, although the turmoil in Egypt seems troubling for the future, Gd has a great future in store for Israel. And He has faith in us that we will rise up and overcome any challenge. 

Oh, and one more thing. An Israeli posted the following message to the Egyptian people on Facebook this week: 

            Dear Egyptian rioters, Please do not damage the pyramids. We will not rebuild! Israel. Amen!

                                                 Rabbi Mark Hillel Kunis

                                                2/5/11