PARSHA INSIGHTS
Banned By YouTube
“You shall observe My commandments and perform them; I am Hashem. You shall not desecrate My holy Name; rather I should be sanctified among the Children of Yisrael; I am Hashem Who sanctifies you.” (22:31-2)
In the middle of Chol HaMoedI received the following email from YouTube:
“Hi Rabbi Yaakov Asher Sinclairit looks like “The Jews Run the World!” - Parshat Va'etchanan didn’t follow Community Guidelines. To help keep our community safewe removed it from YouTube… Warning… We think your content didn’t follow our hate speech policy. Content that incites hatred against individuals or groups based on their protected group status isn’t allowed on YouTube. This may include dehumanizationusing slurs and stereotypesinferiority claimsand/or conspiracy theories…”
What was it that provoked the electronic ire of YouTube? Clearly the title“The Jews Run the World!” was provocativebut a title that doesn’t provoke isn’t worth its title. Every title cries out “Read Me!” and it’s competing against an ever-swelling glut of on-line ‘content’.
If YouTube would take more than a cursory look at the videothey would see that I have done no more than paraphrase Rabbi Chaim Velozhin’s seminal work“Nefesh HaChaim.” In Nefesh HaChaimthe author explains that Hashem runs the world in accordance with the actionswords and thoughts of the Jewish People. When the Jews do what they are supposed toi.e.when we keep the mitzvotHashem rains down on the world His bounty and blessingand
An anti-Semitic American Protestant pastor quoted my video on his website in an article entitled: “We Are All Amelekites.”
This is a quotation from his article:
Don’t believe me?
Listen to what this very influential Jewish rabbi recently said:
“It really doesn’t matter if Donald Trump or Donald Duck wins the elections. It really doesn’t matter if Kamala Harris or Kermit the Frog wins. When it comes to international affairsanything that impinges on the future of this worldDonald TrumpKamala Harris have no freedom of choice. They become like puppets. And who pulls the strings of those puppets? We do. The Jewish People.”
Of coursewhat I was saying was none other than what Chazal saythat ‘the heart of kings and ministers is in the Hand of Hashem’ (based on Proverbs 21:1).
I was troubled by the thought that I was giving ammunition to those who hate usand so I sent an email to HaRav Yitzchok Breitowitzshiltaasking whether I should remove the video.
This was his reply:“This is very regrettablebut I am inclined not to remove it. Torah is Torah and we should not allow ourselves to be censored because Jew-haters distort our words.”
The prophet Chavakuk writes: “For the earth shall be filled to know the glory of Hashem as the waters cover the sea.”
There’s something unusual about this verse. How can the waters cover the sea? The sea is water.
Maybe we can understand this with the explanation of Rabbi Shimon Schwab. Rav Schwab said thatin the days of the Mashiacheveryone will have some knowledge of Hashembut it won’t be uniform. Just as some areas of the sea are shallow and others are deepso too will people experience the Divine revelation on different levelsdepending on their preparationmeritand spiritual development.
In the days of Mashiachthose whose knowledge of Hashem is shallow and use the Torah to fan the flames of hatred and antisemitism will have enough knowledge to understand where their punishment is coming from.
But those who spent their days diving in the sea of Torah will be as close as a human can be to the Divine.May that day comespeedily in our days!