Ariel Sharon has never been a man of faith. He was a man of vision and a man of ideals, but that vision and those ideals were never nourished by faith. At times, that vision and ideal could rise up like a pillar of smoke and fire, yet it could not withstand the pressures of time and the onslaught of the world. The fire could not sustain itself and the smoke dissipated, since they were only fed by Sharon's own logic and rationale. Fatigue and arrogance extinguished the flames.
Without faith, the Eternal road seems unending. Without a sense of divine destiny, the obstacles seem insurmountable. When one has no faith in G-d, one assumes that it is imperative to depend on power and on might. When looking at the world through those short-sighted spectacles of the natural world, Israel is in an untenable position. The only option for weakened leaders such as Sharon is to reach out and try to appease the strong and the powerful.
President George Bush, viewed with these short-sighted eyes, seems to be the only powerful anchor and savior. It seems natural, then, for people of little faith to bend, succumb and submit to the will of such powerful leaders. This is especially true if such submission also achieves short-term financial and physical benefits that so attract people of short-sighted vision.
In the Scroll of Esther we read (Esther 1:5):
"And when these days were fulfilled, the king made a feast unto all the people that were present in Shushan the castle, both great and small, seven days, in the court of the garden of the king's palace."
The traditional understanding of this feast relates to the words, "And when these days were fulfilled..." King Achashverosh (Atarxerxes) believed that the days prophesied regarding the seventy-year exile of the Jews in Babylon had "been fulfilled", and yet, he looked around and saw that the Jews were still in exile. Achashverosh and the Jews of his kingdom were convinced that Jeremiah's prophecy of seventy years had come and gone, and that the redemption was not to be. The king celebrated his victory over the G-d of the Jews by declaring a feast.
As the text cryptically declares (Esther 1:7): "And they gave them drink in vessels of gold -- the vessels being of various diverse kinds -- and royal wine in abundance, according to the bounty of the king."
He used the golden vessels of Jerusalem's destroyed Temple to signify his victory. The Jews of Shushan, despairing of hope, joined in the festivities, in sadness, but in submission. They lost faith, and therefore submitted to the strong and powerful.
It is not until later that events begin to clearly turn around (Esther 4:1): "Now, when Mordehai knew all that was done, Mordechai rent his clothes, and put on sackcloth with ashes, and went out into the midst of the city, and cried with a loud and a bitter cry."
The loud and bitter cry was the turning point.
We see the same with Jewish people in Egypt (Shmot / Exodus 2:23-24): "And it came to pass in the course of those many days that the king of Egypt died; and the children of Israel sighed by reason of the bondage, and they cried, and their cry came up unto God by reason of the bondage. And God heard their groaning, and God remembered His covenant with Abraham, with Isaac and with Jacob."
Crying out is an indication that an individual has broken out of the bondage of Exile. Crying out is a sign that one is unwilling to submit to what is, and still has the faith to believe that things can change.
Our political system has proven inadequate to overcome the bribery and machinations of a leader who will stop at nothing. It could not rise to its democratic potential and turn to the people, to hear their voice on these critical issues. Instead, it turned to small-minded gains, political opportunism and jobs.
All we have left is to "stand strong and cry out."
We are enjoined to stand on every street corner, and on the roads leading to the endangered settlements of Gush Katif and Shomron, and cry out.
We are impelled to stand in the houses and farms slated to be turned over to our enemies and declare our faith.
We have no option but to stand strong and cry out.
Redemption, then, is sure to follow.
Without faith, the Eternal road seems unending. Without a sense of divine destiny, the obstacles seem insurmountable. When one has no faith in G-d, one assumes that it is imperative to depend on power and on might. When looking at the world through those short-sighted spectacles of the natural world, Israel is in an untenable position. The only option for weakened leaders such as Sharon is to reach out and try to appease the strong and the powerful.
President George Bush, viewed with these short-sighted eyes, seems to be the only powerful anchor and savior. It seems natural, then, for people of little faith to bend, succumb and submit to the will of such powerful leaders. This is especially true if such submission also achieves short-term financial and physical benefits that so attract people of short-sighted vision.
In the Scroll of Esther we read (Esther 1:5):
"And when these days were fulfilled, the king made a feast unto all the people that were present in Shushan the castle, both great and small, seven days, in the court of the garden of the king's palace."
The traditional understanding of this feast relates to the words, "And when these days were fulfilled..." King Achashverosh (Atarxerxes) believed that the days prophesied regarding the seventy-year exile of the Jews in Babylon had "been fulfilled", and yet, he looked around and saw that the Jews were still in exile. Achashverosh and the Jews of his kingdom were convinced that Jeremiah's prophecy of seventy years had come and gone, and that the redemption was not to be. The king celebrated his victory over the G-d of the Jews by declaring a feast.
As the text cryptically declares (Esther 1:7): "And they gave them drink in vessels of gold -- the vessels being of various diverse kinds -- and royal wine in abundance, according to the bounty of the king."
He used the golden vessels of Jerusalem's destroyed Temple to signify his victory. The Jews of Shushan, despairing of hope, joined in the festivities, in sadness, but in submission. They lost faith, and therefore submitted to the strong and powerful.
It is not until later that events begin to clearly turn around (Esther 4:1): "Now, when Mordehai knew all that was done, Mordechai rent his clothes, and put on sackcloth with ashes, and went out into the midst of the city, and cried with a loud and a bitter cry."
The loud and bitter cry was the turning point.
We see the same with Jewish people in Egypt (Shmot / Exodus 2:23-24): "And it came to pass in the course of those many days that the king of Egypt died; and the children of Israel sighed by reason of the bondage, and they cried, and their cry came up unto God by reason of the bondage. And God heard their groaning, and God remembered His covenant with Abraham, with Isaac and with Jacob."
Crying out is an indication that an individual has broken out of the bondage of Exile. Crying out is a sign that one is unwilling to submit to what is, and still has the faith to believe that things can change.
Our political system has proven inadequate to overcome the bribery and machinations of a leader who will stop at nothing. It could not rise to its democratic potential and turn to the people, to hear their voice on these critical issues. Instead, it turned to small-minded gains, political opportunism and jobs.
All we have left is to "stand strong and cry out."
We are enjoined to stand on every street corner, and on the roads leading to the endangered settlements of Gush Katif and Shomron, and cry out.
We are impelled to stand in the houses and farms slated to be turned over to our enemies and declare our faith.
We have no option but to stand strong and cry out.
Redemption, then, is sure to follow.