How ironic, that the same week B. Hussein Obama is elected president of the United States, the weekly portion of the Torah is "Lech L'cha"  (And you should go out)

Is G-d giving our brothers and sisters in the Diaspora a message?

I was cooking and preparing for Shabbat on Friday while listening to a radio station from Tennessee.  I like listening to radio stations from around the world through the internet.  It gives me a taste of what is on the mind of the people in different areas of the world.  On came the oldie song by Marty Robbins - El Paso, about a man who fell in love with a Mexican beauty at a tavern. Many men wanted her but he was determined to fight for her to have her for himself.  One of the lines in the song hit me, which was, "My love is stronger than my fear of death".  And I thought about all the 'Mikes' and others out there that prefer to stay away from what they claim they love so much.  …And I believe them.  I believe Mike when he says how important the Land of Israel is to him.  But the question is, HOW MUCH?

No love is perfect.  Our spouses may have caught our eye and our hearts, but they still can drive us mad some times.  Should we walk away from the marriage because of it?  What does love mean anyway?  Is it a feeling, an adjective? Or is love a verb? 

For those of us brought up on Hollywood movies, we naturally come to the conclusion that love is a feeling, an adjective.  Love is portrayed as an overwhelming, passionate, emotion.  But real life, and Torah, tells us differently.  Love is actually a verb.  It is what we DO for the object of our love, that really shows our love and commitment. 

I remember when I was a little kid playing with and petting our dog and saying in a cute voice over and over again, "I love you Skipper".  Everyday I would pet and tell my dog how much I loved him.  Then one night my father came home from work on a rainy night.  The dog was outside and he asked if anyone of us (siblings) had brought the dog into the house and fed him.  None of us did.  We were warm inside and watching TV.  He said to us, "you love, love , love your dog, but did you feed her today? No.  Did you bring her in for the night? No.  Don't give me your love, love, love statements anymore.  That's not what love is."  He turned and walked away to take care, feed, and 'Love'  that dog.  I always remembered that.  It was one of those wake-up lessons of life that happen in childhood.

And so it is for Israel.  The consensus here is that most of the people presently in the government are either corrupted or in politics for their own personal advancement.  They are not people who serve the nation.  They are not lovers of the Land of Israel.  They are people who say they care, but use their elected status for their own pleasures, -like we did as kids, for our dog.  So, …love, shmove.  The same goes for our friends in the Diaspora who say that they care about Israel, but yet, they stay away. 

A country singer can write lyrics about a man whose love for a woman is stronger than his fear of death.  What about our brothers and sisters away out  there in the Diaspora?

Is their love (for Israel) stronger than their fear of death?

For our boys who go to fight the Hizbullah and Hamas, it is.

Is their love stronger than their fear of going to jail?  For our youth who are as young as 12 years old, it is.

Is their love stronger than their fear of chucking it all and coming to a foreign culture?  For all the Jews who made Aliyah it is.

Is their love stronger than their fear of an uncertain future?  For all the Jews living here it is.

Do the key board-pounders in the Diaspora who claim they love Israel,  work the land, clean up the thorns, move the rocks, caress the soil, plant the seeds to make The Land bloom again?

Do the key board-pounders marry and have children here and raise their families here?  Do they strengthen the Jewish  population here?

Do they do ANYTHING here?

For the Jews living here, in the Land of Israel, our love is stronger than our fear of death.

NEW LYRICS for this song, sing along! 

Out in the Western part banks of the Jordan
I fell in love with the soft rolling hills
Nighttime would find me in Joseph's tomb praying
Music would play in my mind and bring chills

Blacker than night were the eyes of Fatima
Wicked and evil while casting a spell
My fear was deep for this knife wielding maiden
I'd have to shoot, but in vain I could tell

That night Fatima's Imam came  to kill me
Wild as he tried to catch me, eeeeeeee
Dashing and darting, I fought to escape
From Wicked Fatima, her Imam and flee.

So in anger I challenged his right for the Land that he squatted,
Down went his hand for the gun that he wore
My challenge was answered in less than a heartbeat
I punched Hamas-nik' down flat on the floor

Out through the back of the Tomb I had ran
Towards where the settlements were
I got home back to my house on the mountain
Holding my stake in the land till we could?


Ok, enough for me, you can do the rest of the lyrics. I wanted to post this a few days ago, and I thought I'd have time to finish this song, but you are all creative.  Give it a try.