Israel - The Future

Rabbi Irwin Wiener, D.D.


At this time of the year, the time for observance of the High Holidays, our thoughts revolve around what was, what is, and what will be. And just as much thought is given to a place that has been in our hearts, Israel. We speak to God about the past and we beseech God about the future. This is a time for great contemplation about our place in the world and the contributions we have made for the betterment of the human experience.

There is a Yiddish folk saying that goes: “You have chosen us from among all the nations. Why, O Lord? What did you have against us?” Sometimes we wonder what all the fuss is about – this “chosen” business. Everyone calls us the “chosen people” and just as many want to undo what has been ordained. Is it jealousy? Perhaps. But the real culprit is the interpretation. We were chosen to deliver a message and to do so requires a place from which to accomplish this. That place is Israel, the Holy Land, the place designated to deliver the Holy message of God.

Whether you believe in the theory of the “Promised Land” is immaterial. The important thing to remember is that our people settled that land over three thousand years ago. That’s right, not yesterday, or two centuries ago, or even two millennium ago. We were chased and scattered all over the world for two thousand years, and finally, 60 years ago we returned with the vow never to be separated again.

David Ben-Gurion once stated that building a State means for us a return to the soil. We found hundreds of Arab villages but we did not take them away. We established hundreds of new Jewish villages bought with Jewish National Fund monies. We didn’t merely buy the land, we re-created the land. Hundreds of Jews died of malaria in the swamps and those that survived refused to leave until it was made healthy. With our toil, our sweat, and with an abundance of love we remade and are remaking the soil to enable all to settle there, not at the expense of anyone else. Anyone who has visited Israel (only 20% of American Jewry) can attest to a barren land made to flourish, cities that now reach heights of modernity. We have made contributions to humankind never dreamed possible that now enable people to live a better life.

We could repeat over and over again the virtues of a people so devoted to a land, a place, an ideal, and not repeat ourselves once. But there are forces that exist both covertly and overtly that would do everything to undermine the truth of who we are and what the Land of Israel means to us. Even to the extent of trying to re-write history.

A while ago there were a series of programs presented by CNN – a news media that does not hide its bias against Israel. The program was titled “God’s Warriors.” It was supposed to illustrate the fringes of all three religions, Judaism, Christianity and Islam. Critics have already highlighted the programs multiple distortions, questionable experts and troubling bias regarding Judaism. The crux of the presentation regarding Judaism had nothing to do with Judaism but was used to denounce the settlements and their so-called impediment to a lasting Middle East peace. Can anyone in their right mind believe that this is the root of all the turmoil?

Before 1967 there were no settlements, but still the Arabs lived in poverty with no relief from their brothers in other Arab lands. Terrorists bombed Israel; Arab children had explosives strapped to their little bodies and were martyred by their people. Now their mother's have replaced them. There is nothing new here.

What is new is the suggestion that America’s ills are tied to this issue; that September 11, 2001 is a direct result of this issue; that the reign of terror visited on the whole world is a result of this issue; that terror organizations such as Hezbollah, PLO, Hamas, etc. are a result of this issue.

The program insisted that the Israel lobby controls America; that American Jews have dual loyalties; that the Jews are the cause of all the ills in the world. On and on we hear the same old tales with different twists. Never was it mentioned that Islam has declared war on the world – first the Saturday observers and then the Sunday observers.

In a new book by two distinguished professors, John Mearsheimer of the University of Chicago and Stephen Walt of Harvard wrote that Israel and America share common values. They portray Israel as an aggressor nation constantly threatening its neighbors and brutalizing the Palestinians and that the main reason America is the target of terrorists is because of its support for Israel. Even a past president of these United States espouses this theory and goes even further only because of his receipt of monies from Arab entities.

It is important for us to remember who we are. We need to understand who “they” are.
Not because we seek revenge but rather because we must safeguard our very lives from those who wish to destroy us. But as God has promised and fulfilled time and again –“those who curse you will themselves be cursed.”

Our dreams are the fabric that keep us from disappearing as have so many other civilizations. Centuries of wandering never dimmed our hope. Centuries of despair never diminished our faith. Centuries of pogroms, destruction and dispersion, never caused us to abandon our rightful place among the peoples of the earth. And no power, save that of the All powerful will cause this people to relinquish its rightful claim. The world needs to know and understand that this people are connected to that land now and forever.

Israel has endured; the Jewish people and the world are witness to the reclamation. If Israel is not successful how long before everyone endures the same fate? If Israel loses its land the world will lose its soul.

What can we do? Quite simply, as we approach the High Holiday season, continue to support Israel thus ensuring our destiny. We need to walk the ground that our ancestors walked; listen to the call of the ages as the Prophets once did; ensure the continuity of the generations. And pray that the children of Abraham, all of them, will find comfort with one another so that peace can be secured. Maybe then we will not have to wonder why God “chose” us. It will be evident.