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Pamphlet expressing strong opposition to the use of terror as a weapon against the British mandate in the period preceding Israel’s independence. The title page, in blue ink simply states the pamphlet name. The verso begins in vocalized Hebrew, “Stop çãì ìê” (II Chronicles 25:16, 35:21). stating, “Stop youth, from heeding vain ways, do not turn to the false Torah of those who remove the yoke, lay waste their lives – as the ground in the days of Autumn. . . .” The remainder of the text of Al Talu be-Homa is in square unvocalized letters. It begins with the verse from Proverbs 16:32, “He who is slow to anger is better than the mighty; and he who rules his spirit than he who takes a city.” The text then states that we are opposed to terror in all forms. All who believe in it disavows the faith of Israel. The concept “My power and the might of my hand” (Deuteronomy 8:17) is a foreign plant to the house of Israel. Al Talu be-Homa has quotes from R. Isaac Breuer (1883–1946), leader of German Orthodoxy and president of Po’alei Agudat Israel; R. Moshe Blau (1885-46), head of the Edah Haredit and director of the Jerusalem office of Agudat Israel; and R. Moses Schonfeld.
The pamphlet refers to the campaign waged by Irgun Zeva’i Le'umi “The National Military Organization” (Etzel, I.Z.L.), beginning with armed reprisals against Arabs and afterwards against the British Mandatory authorities. Etzel, headed by Menachem Begin, declared war against the British administration, attacking and blowing up government offices, military installations and police stations. Etzel was opposed by the Jewish Agency and Hagganah. Al Talu be-Homa is an important part of the discussion, here condemnatory, representing the Agudah position.
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