Holy Land.
Sounds like an oxymoron, yet when it comes to Israel they?re synonymous. Think about it. Can land really be holy? Isn?t holiness in to be found in the spiritual realm of prayer meditation and enlightenment? The ancient Israelites traveling through the desert pondered the same question. The spies they dispatched to survey the land confirmed their suspicion. You can?t be Holy and live on the land, build a country, create a viable economy and protect its citizens. No, to be Holy we?ve got to stay in the desert removed from physical, societal and worldly concerns. G-d said, ?You?ve got it all wrong. Don?t confine me to the desert. Don?t relegate me to spirituality. I created the material world - find Me there. And in that world, I chose a place where you won?t even have to try very hard. I?ve made the very land itself Holy. You only need to respect My presence in it and it will protect yours.?
Of the millions of visitors to the Grand Canyon, I doubt anyone was ever moved by its beauty to drop to their knees and kiss one of its rocks. What is it about Israel that moves people to kiss the tarmac of its airport and caress the stones of the Western Wall? It?s Holiness. It?s the Holy Land and we feel inextricably connected to it.
Israel is the Jewish people?s ultimate trial. Can we accept that respect for the ?Holy? is the only way to treat the ?Land?? Or do we pretend that it?s just a land like any other and that its fate lies in the hands of man?
The Jewish connection to the land is conferred by G-d, not by the nations of the world. At the moment of truth, David Ben Gurion knew that the story of Israel doesn?t begin in 1948, but with G-d?s promise to Abraham. By putting our faith in G-d and following His prescription for its safety and security, we will have just that ? safety and security. Our futile pandering to world opinion and attempts at appeasement has led us down the path of self-destruction. We cry victim to the forces of American pressure that is self-inflicted. We decry Yasser Arafat a terrorist and then let him run free. No one respects someone who has no respect for himself. Time and time again Israel sacrifices herself to impress a world that?s never impressed. Israel lost more soldiers in it?s recent incursions then America lost in Afghanistan, because it refused to bomb away from the air and cause additional civilian (terrorist harboring) lives. In response, the UN wanted to investigate the ?massacre? in Jenin.
It?s not enough to decry Arafat at every opportunity; we must let the Israeli government know, with a resounding and clarion call, that the world is ready to hear the truth. We have seen the tragic consequences of its ambiguous positions. When you govern a land universally recognized as a Holy Land, no one buys it when you pretend it isn?t. You simply leave the world confused and hungering for you to simply say it once and for all.
You may accept the theology as sound, but what is one to do with the 3 million ?facts on the ground?? The refugee problem - another distortion of truth. We have a choice: accept the lie or debunk the myth. The Arab world has fostered and deliberately perpetuated the ?refugee issue,? to be a thorn in the eyes of the world, and have voided themselves from a problem that is clearly theirs. Who made the Arab refugees Israel?s responsibility? If the Jews had 22 countries of their own, would there be a Jewish refugee problem?
The notion of accommodating the Arab refugees, aside from making Israel?s borders more indefensible than they are, is tantamount to America ceding territory to the right-wing militia groups and conferring upon them independent status and democracy. If we truly believe, as every solidarity rally purports, that Arafat and Bin Laden are one and the same, why does Arafat still live (now freely) within Israel?s borders? Why is he still allowed the status of a statesman?
The double standard of the Bush administration has its roots in Israel?s own duplicitous position. Who brought Arafat to its borders, released thousands of terrorists from jail, and armed them to boot? Terrorism is but the symptom of today?s conflict. The roots lie in the policies that legitimized the nationalist aspirations of a non- existent nation, and gave them the hope of something to fight for, in the only vile way they know. Sadly, despite seeing this dismal process literally blowing up in the faces of thousands of innocents, we are still focused on the symptom instead of the roots.
In the end, the issue is really not Arafat himself, it?s what he represents, and we must be bold enough to expose the fundamental lie of Palestinian nationalism and confront the truth of God?s promise - that the land of Israel is His eternal gift to the Jewish people; the truth that the recipe for true peace can only come through following G-d?s recipe for peace and by refusing to acquiesce to the great lie of the ?Palestinian entity.? May G-d almighty, in His infinite wisdom, kindness and grace, give the wisdom, the strength, the conviction to us all and to those who lead our great nation to stand strong and resolute in retaining our Biblical heritage.
Let us direct the current surge of Jewish pride toward strengthening our relationship to G-d, each other and to our Land. Let us all resolve to add a Mitzvah for the sake of peace. Men should put on Teffilin daily, and encourage others to the same. Women and girls should light the Shabbat candles at the proper time and encourage others as well. When it comes to the Holy Land, a single Mitzvah is worth more than a thousand words. Let?s do our part to bring Peace Upon the Land.
King David writes that truth will eventually sprout from the earth. In the pre-messianic age, the nations of world will demand the truth from us. That time has arrived and we are edging ever closer to delivering it. For example, the Likud party defied its leader and voted overwhelmingly against the creation of a Palestinian State.
We have to work to present a unified front the world .We must forever divest ourselves of the notion that Divine truths cannot resolve practical problems in the ?real world?. It?s time to redefine the ?real world?. ?Reality? is not relative to perception, it?s axiomatic and absolute. That?s what we mean when we say ?Hear Israel the L-rd is Our G-d the L-rd is one? ?Our G-d? means His is truth is our truth. Our world is His world. His solutions are our solutions. It?s time to get in touch with reality, and get down to the heart of the matter. The world is counting on us.
----------------------------------
Rabbi Ruvi New is the director of Chabad Lubavitch of East Boca Raton, Florida.
Sounds like an oxymoron, yet when it comes to Israel they?re synonymous. Think about it. Can land really be holy? Isn?t holiness in to be found in the spiritual realm of prayer meditation and enlightenment? The ancient Israelites traveling through the desert pondered the same question. The spies they dispatched to survey the land confirmed their suspicion. You can?t be Holy and live on the land, build a country, create a viable economy and protect its citizens. No, to be Holy we?ve got to stay in the desert removed from physical, societal and worldly concerns. G-d said, ?You?ve got it all wrong. Don?t confine me to the desert. Don?t relegate me to spirituality. I created the material world - find Me there. And in that world, I chose a place where you won?t even have to try very hard. I?ve made the very land itself Holy. You only need to respect My presence in it and it will protect yours.?
Of the millions of visitors to the Grand Canyon, I doubt anyone was ever moved by its beauty to drop to their knees and kiss one of its rocks. What is it about Israel that moves people to kiss the tarmac of its airport and caress the stones of the Western Wall? It?s Holiness. It?s the Holy Land and we feel inextricably connected to it.
Israel is the Jewish people?s ultimate trial. Can we accept that respect for the ?Holy? is the only way to treat the ?Land?? Or do we pretend that it?s just a land like any other and that its fate lies in the hands of man?
The Jewish connection to the land is conferred by G-d, not by the nations of the world. At the moment of truth, David Ben Gurion knew that the story of Israel doesn?t begin in 1948, but with G-d?s promise to Abraham. By putting our faith in G-d and following His prescription for its safety and security, we will have just that ? safety and security. Our futile pandering to world opinion and attempts at appeasement has led us down the path of self-destruction. We cry victim to the forces of American pressure that is self-inflicted. We decry Yasser Arafat a terrorist and then let him run free. No one respects someone who has no respect for himself. Time and time again Israel sacrifices herself to impress a world that?s never impressed. Israel lost more soldiers in it?s recent incursions then America lost in Afghanistan, because it refused to bomb away from the air and cause additional civilian (terrorist harboring) lives. In response, the UN wanted to investigate the ?massacre? in Jenin.
It?s not enough to decry Arafat at every opportunity; we must let the Israeli government know, with a resounding and clarion call, that the world is ready to hear the truth. We have seen the tragic consequences of its ambiguous positions. When you govern a land universally recognized as a Holy Land, no one buys it when you pretend it isn?t. You simply leave the world confused and hungering for you to simply say it once and for all.
You may accept the theology as sound, but what is one to do with the 3 million ?facts on the ground?? The refugee problem - another distortion of truth. We have a choice: accept the lie or debunk the myth. The Arab world has fostered and deliberately perpetuated the ?refugee issue,? to be a thorn in the eyes of the world, and have voided themselves from a problem that is clearly theirs. Who made the Arab refugees Israel?s responsibility? If the Jews had 22 countries of their own, would there be a Jewish refugee problem?
The notion of accommodating the Arab refugees, aside from making Israel?s borders more indefensible than they are, is tantamount to America ceding territory to the right-wing militia groups and conferring upon them independent status and democracy. If we truly believe, as every solidarity rally purports, that Arafat and Bin Laden are one and the same, why does Arafat still live (now freely) within Israel?s borders? Why is he still allowed the status of a statesman?
The double standard of the Bush administration has its roots in Israel?s own duplicitous position. Who brought Arafat to its borders, released thousands of terrorists from jail, and armed them to boot? Terrorism is but the symptom of today?s conflict. The roots lie in the policies that legitimized the nationalist aspirations of a non- existent nation, and gave them the hope of something to fight for, in the only vile way they know. Sadly, despite seeing this dismal process literally blowing up in the faces of thousands of innocents, we are still focused on the symptom instead of the roots.
In the end, the issue is really not Arafat himself, it?s what he represents, and we must be bold enough to expose the fundamental lie of Palestinian nationalism and confront the truth of God?s promise - that the land of Israel is His eternal gift to the Jewish people; the truth that the recipe for true peace can only come through following G-d?s recipe for peace and by refusing to acquiesce to the great lie of the ?Palestinian entity.? May G-d almighty, in His infinite wisdom, kindness and grace, give the wisdom, the strength, the conviction to us all and to those who lead our great nation to stand strong and resolute in retaining our Biblical heritage.
Let us direct the current surge of Jewish pride toward strengthening our relationship to G-d, each other and to our Land. Let us all resolve to add a Mitzvah for the sake of peace. Men should put on Teffilin daily, and encourage others to the same. Women and girls should light the Shabbat candles at the proper time and encourage others as well. When it comes to the Holy Land, a single Mitzvah is worth more than a thousand words. Let?s do our part to bring Peace Upon the Land.
King David writes that truth will eventually sprout from the earth. In the pre-messianic age, the nations of world will demand the truth from us. That time has arrived and we are edging ever closer to delivering it. For example, the Likud party defied its leader and voted overwhelmingly against the creation of a Palestinian State.
We have to work to present a unified front the world .We must forever divest ourselves of the notion that Divine truths cannot resolve practical problems in the ?real world?. It?s time to redefine the ?real world?. ?Reality? is not relative to perception, it?s axiomatic and absolute. That?s what we mean when we say ?Hear Israel the L-rd is Our G-d the L-rd is one? ?Our G-d? means His is truth is our truth. Our world is His world. His solutions are our solutions. It?s time to get in touch with reality, and get down to the heart of the matter. The world is counting on us.
----------------------------------
Rabbi Ruvi New is the director of Chabad Lubavitch of East Boca Raton, Florida.