A Crazy World
by Rabbi Berel Wein
10 August 2001 

There is a famous Chasidic story that pretty much sums up 
our present situation and the world that we live in. It seems 
that a great king had an extremely wise and prescient adviser 
whose opinion he trusted implicitly. One day, the adviser 
appeared before the king with very bad news. Its seems that 
the coming crop of grain just being harvested contained an 
organism that would make people who ate that grain stark 
raving mad. The king was terribly shocked and found himself 
in a quandary. If the contaminated grain was removed from 
the market, the population would starve to death. And yet if 
the people ate from that grain they would all become crazy. 

The adviser told the king that he should allow the grain to be 
marketed, for better mad than dead. The king agreed to this. 
The adviser then told the king that a sufficient amount of last 
yearīs normal grain remained in the kingīs pantry for the king, 
the adviser and their families to allow them to live until next 
yearīs more normal crop. The king responded that if the 
adviser and he were the only sane people in an otherwise 
insane society, then they would be the ones judged to be 
insane by the crazy people. Therefore, he ruled that he, the 
adviser and their families would also have to eat from the 
affected grain. However, the wise adviser painted a line on his 
forehead and that of the king, so that when they looked at 
each other they would at least recognize that they were crazy. 

The world in general has eaten locoweed. It is crazy beyond 
belief. How else can one explain that Amnesty International is 
after Carmi Gillon while the Pope exchanges kisses and hugs 
with Yassir Arafat? Arafatīs unblemished record of thirty five 
years of terror, murder, corruption and violence got him a 
Nobel Peace Prize and international approval, while all Gillon 
can show for his efforts at attempting to save the lives of 
innocents here in Israel is a lousy ambassadorial appointment 
to Denmark, with a threat of being arrested there. And what 
do you say to the "peace rally" last Saturday night in Tel 
Aviv? Does it not dawn upon the “peace camp” yet that there 
has to be another side willing to make peace with us for any 
"peace process" to work? I would also willingly join rallies for 
peace if I knew that such rallies were taking place in Gaza, 
Ramallah, Shechem and Jericho, as well. But as long as they 
are taking place only in Tel Aviv, I think that such gatherings, 
in light of present realities, border on the ludicrous, if not the 
insane. And what shall we make of the journalistic rewriting of 
the Camp David fiasco? What grain are these journalists 
eating? Somehow, it isnīt Arafatīs fault at all that he turned 
down the deal to end all deals, offered no counteroffer to 
Barak and unleashed the murderous campaign of terror and 
violence that, while it may be hurting Israel, is certainly 
destroying the Palestinian economy and social structure. 
Clinton, Barak, Albright, Ross, Indyk and all of the others are 
wrong in blaming Arafat. Only the crazies are right in 
sympathizing and rationalizing for him. 

What are we to think about the "humanitarians" who unleash 
Code Red "viruses" and "worms" on the worldīs computer 
systems in order to prove some obscure point? What sadistic 
pleasure they must gain from their twisted exploits. And how 
shall we understand the behavior of the noble anti-
globalization protesters who have trashed Seattle, Genoa and 
other world cities in their quest for social justice? Nothing 
accomplishes the advancement of the cause of the poor and 
the downtrodden the world over as quickly and definitively as 
does breaking shop windows, looting goods from their 
legitimate owners, hurling rocks and firebombs at police and 
becoming drunk and stoned. And, naturally, in this lunatic 
world of ours, the police are to be blamed for "overreacting" 
and beating the firebomb throwing crazies. 

The crazies are going to hold a conference on racism in South 
Africa next month. In attendance there will be, among others, 
the Hutus and the Tutsis of Burundi and Rwanda, the Zulus 
and the ANC of crime-ridden South Africa, Kadaffi of Libya 
and Mugabe of Zimbabwe, all of whom are experts in killing 
and stealing, with an horrendous record of accomplishments 
in these fields. They will gather and solemnly decide whether 
Zionism is racism. The Russians, whose methods of 
attempting to stamp out the Chechnyan uprising make the 
Middle East violence look like a touch football game, will 
undoubtedly intone on the matter. The righteous French, who 
have never yet admitted their collaborationist role with the 
Nazis in the Second World War, will also have something to 
say on the matter, as will the Oslo-creating Scandinavians. 

Pay them no heed. They are all mad. But then again so are 
we, for we also eat of the same grain that feeds post-
modernism, secularism, no-guilt value systems, family-
destroying promiscuity and selfish politics, above all else. The 
least we should do is paint a line on our foreheads, so that 
when we view each other, we will be aware of what an insane 
world we live in. 

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Rabbi Berel Wein, noted author and lecturer, is founder of 
the Destiny Foundation, dedicated to educating Jews about 
their historical and ethical heritage 
http://www.jewishdestiny.com