Please read and share this letter:
"מי לה' אלי" - (שמות לב:כו)
"Whoever is for HaShem, come to me!" (Exodus 32:26)
To the Prime Minister of Israel, the Knesset, and Honored Rabbanim, Leaders of our Communities, and every Jew whose heart beats with love for HaShem and His Torah:
We stand at a crossroads where the soul of our nation is being tested. It has come to our attention that the government of Israel is permitting and promoting a four-day festival of public transgression at the Dead Sea, a gathering that celebrates acts explicitly forbidden in The Torah.
The Land of Israel is not merely a piece of real estate; it is The Holy Land. The Torah warns us with trembling clarity that the Land itself is sensitive to the conduct of its inhabitants: “And the land became defiled, and I visited its iniquity upon it, and the land vomited out its inhabitants” (Leviticus 18:25). When we allow the public square to be filled with what’s written in Isaiah:
“The earth also is defiled under the inhabitants thereof; because they have transgressed the laws, violated the statute, broken the everlasting covenant." (Isaiah 24:5), we risk the spiritual integrity of our home.
The Torah's prohibitions regarding acts of homosexuality and crossdressing (Leviticus 18:22, 20:13; Deuteronomy 22:5) are not mere suggestions; they are the boundaries that define us as a holy people, set apart from the practices of other nations.
We must recognize that in the face of such a public display, silence is not a neutral stance, it is abandonment of responsibility. The Prophet Ezekiel warns us that if a watchman sees the sword coming and fails to blow the shofar to warn the people, he is held accountable for the consequences (Ezekiel 33:2-16). To remain quiet while the sanctity of the Land is compromised is to become a silent partner in the wrongdoings.
This hour requires courageous leadership from our Rabbis. We look to our shepherds to lead the flock back to the path of righteousness, as the prophets reprimanded those who failed to strengthen the weak, or those who strayed from the path (Isaiah 56, Jeremiah 23, Ezekiel 34). We cannot allow the name “Israel”, a name bestowed by HaShem Himself, to be used as a banner for Chillul HaShem.
We are commanded: “And you shall keep my commandments, and do them; I, HaShem” (Leviticus 22:31) “And you shall not profane My Holy Name, that I may be sanctified in the midst of the children of Israel; I, HaShem, who sanctifies you” (Leviticus 22:32). Promoting this in the name of the Jewish State betrays our identity and is a desecration of HaShem’s name.
We call upon every religious Jew and every leader of the community to raise their voice. We must unequivocally protest this spiritual transgression with dignity, intellectual rigor, and unwavering resolve. Speak in your synagogues, write to your representatives, and educate your communities.
Let it not be said that in a generation of such knowledge, we stood by while the sanctity of our Holy Land was traded for fleeting cultural trends. Now is the time to declare where we stand.
With deep concern for the Honor of HaShem, and the welfare of Klal Yisrael.