I can hear the cat-calls now screaming out virtuously from the haredi, both Litvish and Hassidic, strongholds in America: "You see! What did we tell you?! The State of Israel is traf! Zionism’s non-kosher claws are exposed for everyone to see. Rabbi Kook was wrong. Not only do the Israeli Hellenists give away huge chunks of the Holy Land to Arab terrorists, the secular government welcomes LGBTs, beats up settlers, forces people to get vaxxed, and now hosts the biggest immodest pageant in the world!"
Admittedly, on the surface, the situation is indeed distressing. While Israel’s Ministry of Tourism is billing the post-Hannukah, December 12th event as an historic achievement for the Jewish State, it is, like the Dead Sea, a very big low.
How ironic that the current leftist-leaning government in Israel, which includes one of the country’s staunchest feminists, Labor’s Merav Michaeli, is proud to host an extravaganza which turns women into objects, focusing far more on the shape of their bodies than on their minds.
The Tourist Ministry is making sure to get full coverage out of the event by having the 60 contestants parade around the country in the days leading up to the pageant, insuring that all of the cameras in the world will be focused on the Holy Land during the last days of Hannukah – a holiday which, among other things, marks the Maccabee-led rebellion against the exploitation of Jewish women.
How ironic that the current leftist-leaning government in Israel, which includes one of the country’s staunchest feminists, Labor’s Merav Michaeli, is proud to host an extravaganza which turns women into objects,...
Well let me tell you a secret, my friends. It isn't the Israeli Hellenists who are doing all these truly distressing things - it's Hashem Himself. He runs the show here. Preposterous, you say! Impossible! Not at all. Hashem orchestrates everything! Don't you remember? Nothing happens in the world without its having been orchestrated by Director of Directors, by the Producer of All Great Events, especially all things concerning Am Yisrael. Yes, man bears the responsibility for his actions, but in the realm of Divine Providence which our mortal minds can’t fathom, the Master of the Universe brings everything to pass according to His will.
But why immodest beauty pageants and gay parades through the streets of Jerusalem? Why? BECAUSE HASHEM IS TESTING THE JEWS. He is testing us to see if we set Jerusalem above their highest joy, or whether, for instance, we will use these unholy travesties as excuses not to make Aliyah or to flee from the Land, G-d forbid. Will the Jews follow the commandment of the Torah to dwell in the Land of Israel, or will they harp on the negative things that they see and reject life in Israel - like the Spies in the Wilderness who rejected the Chosen Land when fierce giants were spotted wandering around Hevron? The challenge is the same.
Ladies and Gentlemen, whether or not you like the way the Holy One Blessed Be He has chosen to bring about Israel’s Redemption, via the Zionists and their Hellenized brains, the Redemption is unfolding all the same, precisely through distressing Miss Universe Pageants and gay parades. Haven’t our Sages taught us that the Mashiach had his beginnings when Yehuda was led astray by Tamar, and when the daughters of Lot, in a cave not that far from Eilat, caused their father to sin. Ruth the Moabite and King David resulted from that very non-kosher event!
In ways we cannot fathom, Mashiach is on the way. Hashem is testing us, both in Israel and abroad. It's a grueling, final exam of Emunah to see who will merit to live in the Cherished Land and who will fall. In effect, it's Hashem's polite way of closing the door. In His kindness, He doesn't want to outwardly reject His children, so He lets us believe that we are rejecting the Land, G-d forbid, when in actuality, the Land is rejecting those who fail to embrace it with all of their hearts and souls.
The choice is ours. Will we play an active part in the ongoing Redemption of Israel or will we turn away? Will we place Jerusalem and the Land of Israel above our highest joy, or will we say the government isn’t holy enough, apartments are expensive, taxes are too high, the religious are hated, beauty pageants abound, and who wants to live in a country always threatened by war?
Tzvi Fishman was awarded the Israel Ministry of Education Prize for Jewish Culture and Creativity. Before making Aliyah to Israel in 1984, he was a successful Hollywood screenwriter. He has co-authored 4 books with Rabbi David Samson, based on the teachings of Rabbis A. Y. Kook and T. Y. Kook. His other books include: "The Kuzari For Young Readers" and "Tuvia in the Promised Land". His books are available on Amazon. Recently, he directed the movie, "Stories of Rebbe Nachman."
