In order for a seed to take root and begin its ascent towards the Heavens, the husk surrounding and protecting it must decay and fall away. We are living in the midst of the time of that decay. We are witness to the deterioration and the crumbling of the shell that has protected and nurtured a certain seed for several decades. That shell, after achieving its protective purpose with self-sacrifice and vision, has begun to decay and crumble. It is that crumbling that will enable and empower the sapling to begin reaching towards the great heights it has yet to achieve.
It was this image that Rabbi Avraham Yitzchak Kook used to describe the days of redemption that were yet to unfold. Rabbi Kook was a great defender of secular Zionism, the protective shell of his day. He saw it as a spiritually endowed vessel that would move the process of redemption forward. He sensed and declared that this vessel, should it remain empty of spirituality and faith, would eventually implode and deteriorate. Only after this deterioration would the healthy kernel of destiny begin to blossom into existence.
There can be no better metaphor than this decaying husk and shell to describe Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and his self serving cadre of ministers and advisors. Every action and reaction of theirs has been measured to match rating surveys and opinion polls. It is no wonder that the handling of this first phase of the war against Heizbullah was done so poorly and hesitantly. We can only be thankful that the young people who make up the Israel Defense Forces never lost the sense of duty, vision and courage that has exemplified this country for so long. They were able to pick up the slack left by their leadership, and they avoided great disaster.
After the very difficult Disengagement Expulsion of last summer, and the subsequent abandonment of 9,000 Jews to uncertainty and aimlessness, I was filled with great anger towards the general Israeli public. I concluded that this nation, who very studiously avoided dealing with the tragedy and pain inherent in the expulsion of thousands of Jews from their homes in Gush Katif and northern Samaria, deserved the government they were getting.
I was wrong.
The outpouring of love by all segments of this population towards the displaced residents of the north surpassed all expectations. The acts of bravery and self-sacrifice performed by young men in their late teens and early twenties will yet be recorded in prose and lyrics for generations yet to come. The gritty determination of a people to bear the onslaughts of terror, with the purpose of going forward to get the job done, was unexpected. The many public and private confessions of Israelis expressing their guilt regarding the tragedy of Gush Katif was surprising.
The people of Israel, as opposed to their leadership, are as determined and as courageous as ever. The politicians of today do not have the right to lead them. In a country where politicians are viewed so negatively, it is no wonder that the best of Israel's young people avoid politics with a passion and leave the stage free for the self serving and the mediocre. This leadership is unworthy of this people.
As I was driving to participate in the demonstration of the reserve soldiers demanding a commission of inquiry and the resignation of Prime Minister Olmert , I picked up a man and woman walking towards the event. They had just come into Jerusalem from Tel Hashomer where they had dropped off their son entering basic training.
The man said, "I love this country and I am proud my son is beginning to serve in the IDF, but I don't trust this leadership. We need to be at this demonstration to voice our concern."
Last week, I participated at a wedding of a member of the Orev special operations unit of the paratroopers. True, the wedding was of one special young man and his new wife, but the other members of his unit - who had undergone many difficult days during the war - were celebrating the wedding and much more. This young man's wedding represented for them an affirmation of life, of hope and of a better future. The unit, made up of so-called secular and religious young men, did not or could not stop dancing or singing throughout the wedding.
During the battles, in which small groups of this unit would be placed deep behind enemy lines, the thought that one of their comrades in the field was soon to be married was never forgotten. That thought induced some of the young men to look for ways to surround the young groom-to-be in order to ensure that he would not be hurt and would succeed to come under his ownhuppa (wedding canopy). They risked their lives so that this life affirming event would occur. Under that huppa, four members of the unit held the young man's tallit (prayer shawl) over the new couple; and that image gripped my soul. These same men who had used their own bodies to cover and protect their comrade in battle were now using the tallit to cover over him again.
This is a people worthy of much more. They are ready for the changes that are coming.
The change in the air is palpable, yet subtle. That sense of change is summarized by one comment one hears again and again. Everybody you speak to is talking of "the next battle." That simple statement is the harbinger of great change. For over twenty years, since the rot and decay began to fester in this country, you would never hear an Israeli talk about the next conflict or battle. Now that this statement has become the accepted axiom of thinking, a paradigm shift becomes necessary. Everything changes and nothing will be as it was. It may take time for that paradigm shift in thinking to begin to filter down and up, but the shifting has become inevitable.
The decay and crumbling of the husk will continue. The untainted seed and sapling, represented by all the acts of selflessness that this country has experienced during this war, will continue to blossom and grow. That, too, is inevitable.
It was this image that Rabbi Avraham Yitzchak Kook used to describe the days of redemption that were yet to unfold. Rabbi Kook was a great defender of secular Zionism, the protective shell of his day. He saw it as a spiritually endowed vessel that would move the process of redemption forward. He sensed and declared that this vessel, should it remain empty of spirituality and faith, would eventually implode and deteriorate. Only after this deterioration would the healthy kernel of destiny begin to blossom into existence.
There can be no better metaphor than this decaying husk and shell to describe Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and his self serving cadre of ministers and advisors. Every action and reaction of theirs has been measured to match rating surveys and opinion polls. It is no wonder that the handling of this first phase of the war against Heizbullah was done so poorly and hesitantly. We can only be thankful that the young people who make up the Israel Defense Forces never lost the sense of duty, vision and courage that has exemplified this country for so long. They were able to pick up the slack left by their leadership, and they avoided great disaster.
After the very difficult Disengagement Expulsion of last summer, and the subsequent abandonment of 9,000 Jews to uncertainty and aimlessness, I was filled with great anger towards the general Israeli public. I concluded that this nation, who very studiously avoided dealing with the tragedy and pain inherent in the expulsion of thousands of Jews from their homes in Gush Katif and northern Samaria, deserved the government they were getting.
I was wrong.
The outpouring of love by all segments of this population towards the displaced residents of the north surpassed all expectations. The acts of bravery and self-sacrifice performed by young men in their late teens and early twenties will yet be recorded in prose and lyrics for generations yet to come. The gritty determination of a people to bear the onslaughts of terror, with the purpose of going forward to get the job done, was unexpected. The many public and private confessions of Israelis expressing their guilt regarding the tragedy of Gush Katif was surprising.
The people of Israel, as opposed to their leadership, are as determined and as courageous as ever. The politicians of today do not have the right to lead them. In a country where politicians are viewed so negatively, it is no wonder that the best of Israel's young people avoid politics with a passion and leave the stage free for the self serving and the mediocre. This leadership is unworthy of this people.
As I was driving to participate in the demonstration of the reserve soldiers demanding a commission of inquiry and the resignation of Prime Minister Olmert , I picked up a man and woman walking towards the event. They had just come into Jerusalem from Tel Hashomer where they had dropped off their son entering basic training.
The man said, "I love this country and I am proud my son is beginning to serve in the IDF, but I don't trust this leadership. We need to be at this demonstration to voice our concern."
Last week, I participated at a wedding of a member of the Orev special operations unit of the paratroopers. True, the wedding was of one special young man and his new wife, but the other members of his unit - who had undergone many difficult days during the war - were celebrating the wedding and much more. This young man's wedding represented for them an affirmation of life, of hope and of a better future. The unit, made up of so-called secular and religious young men, did not or could not stop dancing or singing throughout the wedding.
During the battles, in which small groups of this unit would be placed deep behind enemy lines, the thought that one of their comrades in the field was soon to be married was never forgotten. That thought induced some of the young men to look for ways to surround the young groom-to-be in order to ensure that he would not be hurt and would succeed to come under his own
This is a people worthy of much more. They are ready for the changes that are coming.
The change in the air is palpable, yet subtle. That sense of change is summarized by one comment one hears again and again. Everybody you speak to is talking of "the next battle." That simple statement is the harbinger of great change. For over twenty years, since the rot and decay began to fester in this country, you would never hear an Israeli talk about the next conflict or battle. Now that this statement has become the accepted axiom of thinking, a paradigm shift becomes necessary. Everything changes and nothing will be as it was. It may take time for that paradigm shift in thinking to begin to filter down and up, but the shifting has become inevitable.
The decay and crumbling of the husk will continue. The untainted seed and sapling, represented by all the acts of selflessness that this country has experienced during this war, will continue to blossom and grow. That, too, is inevitable.