AHAVAT YISRAEL -- LOVE OF JEWRY
The Jewish People must become indivisible and united such that we collectively experience the love for and the pain of each Jew. This movement is dedicated specifically to Jewish problems and allocates its time, resources, energies and funds to Jews. We realize that, with few exceptions, a Jew can look to no one but another Jew for help, and that the solution to the real Jewish problem is the end of the Exile and the return of all Jews to Eretz Yisrael -- the Land of Israel. We must place Judaism over all other "isms" and ideologies which tend to distract Jews from their own issues and needs. We cannot save the World if we do not first save ourselves.
HADAR -- DIGNITY AND PRIDE
Jews must take pride in and have knowledge of authentic Jewish tradition, faith, culture, land, history, and law. Hadar is enduring pride in Judaism, not allowing it or any Jew or genuine Jewish institution to be disgraced or defiled. This is the concept that the great Jewish leader Ze’ev Jabotinsky attempted to instill in the oppressed and degraded masses of Eastern Europe 80 years ago. The anti-Semite's hatred and contempt of the Jew is an attempt to degrade us. It is an attempt to instill within us feelings of inferiority. It is an attempt that, all too often, succeeds in promoting Jewish self-hatred, shame, and an attempt to escape one's Jewishness. Hadar is pride. Hadar is self-respect. Hadar is dignity in being a Jew.
BARZEL -- IRON
Barzel -- iron – reflects the need to help Jews everywhere change the Jewish image through sacrifice and all necessary means. The Exile image of the Jew as a weakling, as one who is easily stepped on without fighting back, is an image that must be changed. Not only does that image cause immediate harm to all Jews wherever they live, but it has become a self-perpetuating disease. When a Jew runs away or allows himself to be stepped on, he guarantees that another Jew in the future will be similarly attacked. We want to help reestablish Scholar-Warrior Jews - physically strong, fearless and courageous Jews who are serious students of Torah and who fight back when provoked. We are changing an image born of 2,000 years in the Exile, an image that must be buried because it has buried us. We train ourselves for the defense of Jewish lives and Jewish rights.
MISHMAAT -- DISCIPLINE
The Jew with self discipline and dedication possesses the knowledge that he or she can and will do whatever must be done in any given situation. Sudden, extreme violence may be turned on or off at will as the natural state of the Jew is calm and contemplative. This is the reality of a Scholar-Warrior steeped in Torah. It is the lack of discipline and Jewish unity that has repeatedly led to the near destruction of the Jewish people over the past 2000 years. It is Jewish unity and self-discipline that will lead to the triumphant return of the Jewish people to the Land of Israel and their rightful place in G_d’s Creation.
BITACHON – FAITH/SECURITY
Bitachon, quite interestingly, means both faith in G_d and security. We cannot have physical security without absolute faith in G_d, his Ways, and his Plan. It is a faith that is built by our belief in the G_d of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob (the Elim). It is this faith in the permanence and survival of the Jewish People which, in turn, gives us faith in the ultimate success of the B'nai Elim. No matter how difficult a task may seem -- if it is a good task, if it is a holy task -- it will succeed.
The sources for the philosophy and actions of the B'nai Elim are Jewish sources.
They stem from the wellsprings of Jewish tradition and have their roots in
Jewish teachings. In the Bible, in the Talmud, in the teachings of our rabbis
throughout the ages, in Jewish practice throughout history, the concepts of
Ahavat Yisrael and Hadar Yisrael and the practices of Barzel Yisrael, Mishmaat
Yisrael and Bitachon Yisrael are hallowed. At the same time, an eternal debt is
owed to Jews of our age who recognized that these concepts are indeed Jewish and
fought an assimilationist tide to put them into practice. We refer to the great
Ze’ev Jabotinsky, his followers, and his movement of which we consider ourselves
a continuation. May the Almighty grant us the understanding to recognize and act
on our problems forthrightly, and the courage to go out to battle against our
enemies in the face of all obstacles -- from within and without