You write a weekly dvar Torah which is posted on your website, NachmanKahana.com. What lessons do you draw from some of the recent parshiyos or the last chag we celebrated, Chanukah?
The theme of Chanukah is that the Jewish people were in a very weakened state vis-à-vis the Greeks, yet they won. The same will be for us vis-à-vis the United Nations and all the enemies of the Jewish people. The Jewish people are like a steamroller. Whoever stands in its way will be destroyed.
The Jewish people are coming back home with the help of Hashem. Whoever analyzes our situation realizes that without miracles, the country could never have been formed and could not exist today for one day. The military victories, the fantastic economic development… Israel is a leading country in almost every sphere in human life today. This is miraculous, and people have to realize that here is where the action is. For a Jew to stay in chutz la’aretz, to remain in the Diaspora, is like a slap in God’s face.
Often I look at my own family and think what would have been had we not moved to Eretz Yisrael in 1962. All my children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren were born here, and it’s just a different kind of breed. They’re so proud to be Jewish, so proud to be Israeli. They don’t have the feeling I had when I was in America of having to look over my shoulder to see who’s looking at me.
You referred to the UN as an enemy of the Jewish people, but doesn’t Israel’s own Supreme Court sometimes side with the UN, declaring portions of the West Bank to be Arab land rather than Jewish land?
The Supreme Court goes according to international law, and they want to be holier than the pope. Look how judicial we are! We even do things which are to our detriment! That’s the galus complex – because they’re devoid of Torah.
But things are changing. The Supreme Court is going to change. In another 10 years there will be a different court. Things are picking up here. All the vectors of society are going up at a very quick pace, thank God. The population is growing, people are richer, and the country is developing fantastically. I go to Tel Aviv after being away for two or three months, and there are more skyscrapers, more cars. Israel imported over 300,000 new automobiles this year – you know what that means? Thank God, this is a miracle. You see it in front of your face. And the rabbis in America don’t encourage people to come. It’s a sin on their part. They’re keeping people back.