The people of Israel are undergoing difficult and important days. Though the struggle seems to be progressing along the avenues of what we call the real and tangible world, the real struggle seems to be playing out in another dimension. While it seems that the issue focuses on the settlements of Gush Katif and northern Samaria , the battle is actually about the very soul of this people.
No one truly believes that any determined struggle and march can stop army trucks and jeeps, yet it can irrevocably change the hearts and souls of the people driving those vehicles. While it is critical to get as many people as possible into Gush Katif, Homesh or Sa-Nur, it is also critical to get into the hearts of the soldiers standing in the way.
That is the essence of this struggle. It is a battle to rekindle the flame of passion and divine yearning that has lain dormant in too many Israeli hearts for far too long. The numbing power of modern-day priorities and ideals has had its effect. The watering down might of political correctness has damaged the soul of this great people.
Yet, these days of strife and struggle are rousing a new spirit in the hearts of many Israelis. The threats of expulsion and destruction are forcing individuals to reach deep inside themselves for strength they didn't know they had. The mixture of draconian judicial oppression mixed with unbridled police brutality is forcing an intense re-evaluation of priorities and ideals in growing parts of Israeli society. People who would never participate in a demonstration tie an orange ribbon on their car out of a desire to become part of an awakening strength and power.
Walking along the dusty roads of the Negev, and scurrying through the twisting paths in the fields of Kfar Maimon and Ofakim , thousands of Israelis found themselves being filled with a new spirit. Tens of thousands of people, descendants of the tribes that forsook this land of promise, are making every effort to affirm their love and faith in an unparalleled wave of orange defiance.
There have been many amongst the faithful who have complained that the demonstrations should have been more confrontational and more aggressive. They were concerned that the Judea, Samaria and Gaza Council and the rabbinical authorities have lulled the masses into a "be angry but be nice" level of impotence. If our enemy was a foreign occupier or oppressor, then their complaints would remain unanswered.
Regrettably, though, our enemy is in our midst, flesh of our flesh, blood of our blood. The enemy built of fear and confusion is hidden as well in our own hearts . The struggle against this enemy has to be mainly focused on faith and determination. Mesirut nefesh (self-sacrifice) and emunah (faith) are the only tools that can subdue this sinister foe.
This is a struggle that will be won by acts of chessed (righteousness) and faith. It is a struggle that is forging a new Israel.
When thousands of people gather in tents and sleeping bags in Ofakim to aid their brothers and sisters in Gush Katif, regardless of the heat and the discomfort, then the enemy within is weakened.
Rabbi Mordechai Eliyahu called for thousands of children to come for a special prayer meeting at the Western Wall. I found myself standing next to a young father holding on to his child, who was connected to an IV attached to his stroller. I realized that G-d cannot ignore this father and child's prayers, that they are lifting for people they don't even know.
At the tent city in Ofakim, hundreds of old and young people lined up to donate blood in three Mobile Blood Banks. This act is even more potent than breaking through police lines to achieve the victory of the spirit. Breaking through to Gush Katif is critical for the struggle, yet these acts of the spirit are no less important.
As I got out of my tent early Wednesday morning in Ofakim and beheld the hundreds of others set up amongst the trees of the park ,I blurted out to no one in particular the morning prayer, "Ma tovu ohalecha...." - "How goodly are thy tents, o Jacob". I realized how right Bilaam was regarding the fact that this people cannot be vanquished when connected to their spiritual moorings.
We are in a generation that has found the voice and strength to overcome the trauma of the generation of the wilderness of Sinai. We have learnt to overwhelm the whisper of the Ten Spies that have continued to harass us until this day. Their whisper, which continues to harangue thousands of generations with feelings of futility and despair, is being blotted out with young people chanting, "An eternal people has no fear of the long voyage."
We do not know what our immediate future will bring, but we have regained the courage to expect miracles.
A new Israel has been forged in the furnace of our tempestuous times. The young people of this generation will be the courageous leaders of our yet-maturing nation. Those who are continuing forward in faith, regardless of the nay-sayers, have retrieved the belief in the inevitability of their destiny.
It is this renewed Israel that will be demonstrating in every street corner this week. It is this nation that will be gathering to pray together in every town and square. It is these same people who are smuggling themselves into Gush Katif, Homesh Sa-Nur and Elei Sinai every night, despite the closure.
It is all these people that will merit seeing expulsion decrees melt away into the building, the planting and the sowing of the seeds of redemption.
No one truly believes that any determined struggle and march can stop army trucks and jeeps, yet it can irrevocably change the hearts and souls of the people driving those vehicles. While it is critical to get as many people as possible into Gush Katif, Homesh or Sa-Nur, it is also critical to get into the hearts of the soldiers standing in the way.
That is the essence of this struggle. It is a battle to rekindle the flame of passion and divine yearning that has lain dormant in too many Israeli hearts for far too long. The numbing power of modern-day priorities and ideals has had its effect. The watering down might of political correctness has damaged the soul of this great people.
Yet, these days of strife and struggle are rousing a new spirit in the hearts of many Israelis. The threats of expulsion and destruction are forcing individuals to reach deep inside themselves for strength they didn't know they had. The mixture of draconian judicial oppression mixed with unbridled police brutality is forcing an intense re-evaluation of priorities and ideals in growing parts of Israeli society. People who would never participate in a demonstration tie an orange ribbon on their car out of a desire to become part of an awakening strength and power.
Walking along the dusty roads of the Negev, and scurrying through the twisting paths in the fields of Kfar Maimon and Ofakim , thousands of Israelis found themselves being filled with a new spirit. Tens of thousands of people, descendants of the tribes that forsook this land of promise, are making every effort to affirm their love and faith in an unparalleled wave of orange defiance.
There have been many amongst the faithful who have complained that the demonstrations should have been more confrontational and more aggressive. They were concerned that the Judea, Samaria and Gaza Council and the rabbinical authorities have lulled the masses into a "be angry but be nice" level of impotence. If our enemy was a foreign occupier or oppressor, then their complaints would remain unanswered.
Regrettably, though, our enemy is in our midst, flesh of our flesh, blood of our blood. The enemy built of fear and confusion is hidden as well in our own hearts . The struggle against this enemy has to be mainly focused on faith and determination. Mesirut nefesh (self-sacrifice) and emunah (faith) are the only tools that can subdue this sinister foe.
This is a struggle that will be won by acts of chessed (righteousness) and faith. It is a struggle that is forging a new Israel.
When thousands of people gather in tents and sleeping bags in Ofakim to aid their brothers and sisters in Gush Katif, regardless of the heat and the discomfort, then the enemy within is weakened.
Rabbi Mordechai Eliyahu called for thousands of children to come for a special prayer meeting at the Western Wall. I found myself standing next to a young father holding on to his child, who was connected to an IV attached to his stroller. I realized that G-d cannot ignore this father and child's prayers, that they are lifting for people they don't even know.
At the tent city in Ofakim, hundreds of old and young people lined up to donate blood in three Mobile Blood Banks. This act is even more potent than breaking through police lines to achieve the victory of the spirit. Breaking through to Gush Katif is critical for the struggle, yet these acts of the spirit are no less important.
As I got out of my tent early Wednesday morning in Ofakim and beheld the hundreds of others set up amongst the trees of the park ,I blurted out to no one in particular the morning prayer, "Ma tovu ohalecha...." - "How goodly are thy tents, o Jacob". I realized how right Bilaam was regarding the fact that this people cannot be vanquished when connected to their spiritual moorings.
We are in a generation that has found the voice and strength to overcome the trauma of the generation of the wilderness of Sinai. We have learnt to overwhelm the whisper of the Ten Spies that have continued to harass us until this day. Their whisper, which continues to harangue thousands of generations with feelings of futility and despair, is being blotted out with young people chanting, "An eternal people has no fear of the long voyage."
We do not know what our immediate future will bring, but we have regained the courage to expect miracles.
A new Israel has been forged in the furnace of our tempestuous times. The young people of this generation will be the courageous leaders of our yet-maturing nation. Those who are continuing forward in faith, regardless of the nay-sayers, have retrieved the belief in the inevitability of their destiny.
It is this renewed Israel that will be demonstrating in every street corner this week. It is this nation that will be gathering to pray together in every town and square. It is these same people who are smuggling themselves into Gush Katif, Homesh Sa-Nur and Elei Sinai every night, despite the closure.
It is all these people that will merit seeing expulsion decrees melt away into the building, the planting and the sowing of the seeds of redemption.