The Light of Mankind and the Covenant of Death
The Light of Mankind and the Covenant of Death

 

Alexis de Tocqueville, a wise man, said that virtually all issues—if we think deeply enough—involve the “God” issue. 

Much time has elapsed since June 14, 2009 when Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke at Israel’s one religious university and there endorsed the creation of an Arab-Islamic state in Judea and Samaria, Israel’s heartland.

Hardly a word of protest followed. Nothing said of the God of Israel and of His covenant with the Jewish people. I have yet to hear any theological denunciation of Mr. Netanyahu perfidious speech—his desecration of God’s Name and covenant.

Israel’s prime minister had bowed to President Obama. His rhetoric did not obscure this timidity, which was glaring to all.  And of course the wolves in Washington and Europe were quick to pounce on the helpless Jewish state by making insolent demands about Jews and “Jewish settlements.” France even had the audacity to advise Netanyahu to get rid of his foreign minister!

It’s obvious that Israel’s political leaders have no solid foundation on which to stand like men.  They seem to have forgotten that which preserved the Jewish people during 2,000 years of dispersion, persecution, and decimation. They are pathetically ignorant of the only true source of Israel’s strength and dignity: the Torah. 

Hence Israel’s strength and dignity ultimately depend on its being a Godly or Torah-oriented nation.  Ponder the words of Zechariah:  “Not by armed might, nor by power, but by My spirit, says the Lord of Hosts” (4:5).

A propos of Hanukah, the Festival of Lights, let us try to understand this verse by means of Israel’s most sacred symbol, the Menorah.

The light of the Menorah symbolizes knowledge, precisely spiritual enlightenment.  The source of spiritual enlightenment is of course God.  This enlightenment is manifested in the words of the Torah.  As King David has written: The Word of God is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path” (Psalms 119:105).  Or as his son King Solomon has written: “For the Commandment is a lamp and the Teaching a light (Proverbs 6:23).

Israel will be strong and secure only if its prime ministers are men of Torah.  Only if they imbue every heart and home with the light of the Torah will Israel enjoy peace.“For instruction shall go forth from Me, and I will create a quiet abode for My [people], so that it may shine upon the nations” (Isaiah 51:4).  “O House of Jacob, come let us walk in the light of God” (Isaiah 2:5).  When Israel suffers murder and misery, it is because“they rebel against the light, do not recognize the ways of God and never seek serenity [or peace] in His paths” (Job 24:13).

As Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch points out, Scripture uses the words “lamp” and “light” as metaphors for the source of growth and life, of undisturbed progress and happiness.  Hence, the spirit of God mentioned in Zechariah denotes not only the means for attaining perception, but also the motivation for action.

Notice that the Menorah resembles a tree with a central shaft generating three branches from one side and three branches from the other side.  The central shaft symbolizes the spirit of God.  From Isaiah (11:2) we learn that whereas the three branches of one side of the Menorah symbolize wisdom, counsel, and knowledge, the three branches from the other side symbolize understanding, strength, and fear of God.  Imbued with the spirit of God, Israel will unite theory and practice, perception and accomplishment.

Unless they stem from the spirit of God, what is called “wisdom,” “counsel,” “knowledge,” “understanding,” and “strength” will be futile. “I am the Lord … that turns wise men backward, and makes their knowledge foolish” (Isaiah 44:24-25). Hence King David teaches us, that “the fear of Godis the beginning of wisdom” (Psalm 111:10).  

If Israel’s leaders feared God (instead of Washington) they would not have made a covenant of death with the sworn enemies of the Jewish people. This is made astonishingly clear in the Targum’s rendering of Isaiah 28:15, which refers to scorners of the Torah who have made a covenant of death with “terrorists.” This covenant, says Isaiah, “shall be annulled, and your agreement with terrorists shall not stand.”

Hence the prophet assures us, that Israel will rise again as the light of mankind. We can hasten the process by casting light on the culpability of those who have perpetuated that covenant of death with an “invented people”—the preliminary to reconstructing the State of Israel on solid Hebraic foundations.

(For more by the writer, whose basic theme is “How to make Israel more democratic by means of Jewish principles, and how to make Israel more Jewish by means of democratic principles", see Israel-America Renaissance Institute (www.I-ari.org).