"And if the woman will not desire to follow you, and you
will be absolved of my oath - just do not return my son
to there." (From this week's Torah portion, Chayei
Sarah, Genesis 24:8)
Abraham is already old and has lived out most of his
days. Yitzchak is the only link in the chain that will
forge ahead with his world-wide faith revolution. Under
the circumstances, it would seem that for a good wife
from a distinguished family - it would be worthwhile to
leave Israel for a few years.
But Abraham says an emphatic "no". "Just do not return
my son to there."
Abraham understands something that we have forgotten. A
sizeable portion of Israel's citizens hold foreign
citizenship in addition to their Israeli ID cards.
Former Speaker of the Knesset and Chairman of the Jewish
Agency Avrum Burg proudly waves his French citizenship
for all to see, explaining why he publicly did what
other Israeli leaders have done quietly: For them, the
Land of Israel is an option - not a final destination.
If things are not working out here as planned, thank you
very much and goodbye. Look for us in Europe or the US.
But the Land of Israel is not merely a privilege. It is
not optional. There is simply no other place for a Jew.
The Exile is finished and we are rapidly progressing to
a time when the majority of Jews will live in Israel.
Lamentably, many Jews still retain their exile
mentality. The wandering Jew is alive and well in the
worldview of Israel's leaders and the stratum of Israeli
society that believes that it can arrange itself a more
comfortable option, if need be.
If Israel's leaders would assert that for the Jews,
Israel is the only option, nobody in the UN would dare
question the necessity of a Jewish State in the world
and the Iranian tyrant would not dare threaten our
existence. He would understand that when a country with
nuclear capabilities faces an existential threat and has
its back to the wall, it will make use of its weapons.
But "existential threat" is not in the lexicon of
Israel's leadership and part of its citizenry. Worse
comes to worse, they can always hop the first plane to
Europe, Canada or the USA.
The world clearly senses that we have not internalized
the fact that the Land of Israel is our final
destination; the last, blessed stop on our 2000 year
journey. But the moment when every Jew will have to make
the fateful choice is rapidly approaching.
An interesting questionnaire for Palestinian Advocates
ReplyDeleteIf you are so sure "Palestine, the country, goes back through most of recorded history," I expect you to be able to answer a basic questions about that country of Palestine:
1. When was it founded and by whom?
2. What were its borders?
3. What was its capital?
4. What were its major cities?
5. What constituted the basis of its economy?
6. What was its form of government?
7. Can you name at least one Palestinian leader before Arafat?
8. Was Palestine ever recognized by a country whose existence, at that time or now, leaves no room for interpretation?
9. What was the language of the country of Palestine ?
10. What was the prevalent religion of the country of Palestine ?
11. What was the name of its currency? Choose any date in history and tell what was the approximate exchange rate of the Palestinian monetary unit against the US dollar, German mark, GB pound, Japanese yen, or Chinese Yuan on that date.
12. And, finally, since there is no such country today, what caused its demise and when did it occur?
You are lamenting the "low sinking" of a "once proud" nation.
Please tell me, when exactly was that "nation" proud and what was it so proud of?
???? Do the Palestinian Arabs knot that their Koran states in The Qur'an 17:104 - states the land belongs to the Jewish people - "And thereafter we [Allah] said to the Children of Israel: 'Dwell securely in the Promised Land.”
Here is the least sarcastic question of all: If the people that are mistakenly called "Palestinians" are anything but generic Arabs collected from all over