Friday, December 12, 2003
Sparks from Israel
Yacov’s Ladder
It’s amazing how the things that occur in my week, seem to be connected to the Parsha. Yacov meets Rachel and sees a ladder and angels. The same thing happened to me too, more or less. I met my friend Rachel and we went up and down escalators at the Disraeli Center looking for the restaurant on the top floor. The Disraeli Center looks like any other skyscraper but a Jewish skyscraper cannot help but fill my heart with pride. Look how far we have come, from turning deserts into gardens, to building the most modern metropolises in only 50 years. They say angels sit on top of high places, and that is part of the reason that people look up. But here at the top of the ladder in the land of Israel you can’t believe how many angels are sitting there waiting their turn to go down and come up again.
Yacov’s Ladder
It’s amazing how the things that occur in my week, seem to be connected to the Parsha. Yacov meets Rachel and sees a ladder and angels. The same thing happened to me too, more or less. I met my friend Rachel and we went up and down escalators at the Disraeli Center looking for the restaurant on the top floor. The Disraeli Center looks like any other skyscraper but a Jewish skyscraper cannot help but fill my heart with pride. Look how far we have come, from turning deserts into gardens, to building the most modern metropolises in only 50 years. They say angels sit on top of high places, and that is part of the reason that people look up. But here at the top of the ladder in the land of Israel you can’t believe how many angels are sitting there waiting their turn to go down and come up again.
Sparks from Israel
How Do You Know You Are In Israel?
Addis Ababa Chicken Soup
I became friendly with the Ethiopian security guard I see every day. He asked me if I was Jewish. Me? Jewish? Of course, I answered. Funny, you don’t look Jewish, he replied.
Borekas
As I approached my regular morning boreka shop, I saw a man screaming at the top of his lungs at the owner. He was calling him (and his mother) terrible names. I thought they were going to kill each other. However, now that I am fully acclimatized to Israeli life, I just walked over and stood between them. ‘One cheese, and one plain, please’ I said as they suddenly stopped. I paid, he answered me ‘bevakasha’. As I walked away with my breakfast they continued to kill each other. The nice thing about Israel is that no one suffers from holding their feelings inside.
How Do You Know You Are In Israel?
Addis Ababa Chicken Soup
I became friendly with the Ethiopian security guard I see every day. He asked me if I was Jewish. Me? Jewish? Of course, I answered. Funny, you don’t look Jewish, he replied.
Borekas
As I approached my regular morning boreka shop, I saw a man screaming at the top of his lungs at the owner. He was calling him (and his mother) terrible names. I thought they were going to kill each other. However, now that I am fully acclimatized to Israeli life, I just walked over and stood between them. ‘One cheese, and one plain, please’ I said as they suddenly stopped. I paid, he answered me ‘bevakasha’. As I walked away with my breakfast they continued to kill each other. The nice thing about Israel is that no one suffers from holding their feelings inside.
Friday, December 05, 2003
Sparks from Israel
The Formula
I have heard the concept of Moshiach explained in a very interesting way. Its not that one man will come like Santa Clause and save the Jewish people, but rather, he will discover the formula which will then spread like fire. As I walk the streets of our history this formula seems to be coming to light with the passage of time. Here is the formula as I see it now.
The Basics
The Creator created the world as an act of kindness. He placed man inside to recognize this kindness and thereby to benefit from it. He sought those who sought Him in order to reward them. Those who distinguished themselves in thier quest for His truth, He distinguished by promising them a progeny that would be called a Nation of Truth. The purpose of this Nation would be to build G-d's kingdom below to reflect what is above.
In order for this to suceed He gave them His blueprint of creation after testing them to see if they would accept something that was beyond their understanding. By studying this blueprint and putting it into practice, the world would be sustained and eventally built in the image the Creator had intended. As a further kindness to this nation who would endure suffering by maintaining the image of G-d in this world, He placed a part of Himself within the souls of each member of this Nation when He revealed Himself to the entire people.
Whether a Jew keeps this Torah, tries to extinguish its flame, or is indifferent, he cannot escape his destiny which is predicated upon this spark of the eternal that has been impregnated in his soul. Even though Jews have assimilated into Gentile cultures and have developed friendships and relations these relations may be severed very rapidly as times change. This was one of the lessons of Germany.
Though we may not see the spark of G-dliness inside of us, the nations do, and sub-conciously expect us to be different and the 'Light unto Nations'. The Hitlers and Hamas types who throughout the generations see the 'Jew' as someone who controls the world actually are not completely mad. There is some truth to their evil. As Resh Lakish of the Talmud puts it, 'If the Nations of the world understood that all the good in the world and all the bad in the world happens because of the Jew, they would send two soldiers to every Jew to make sure they kept the Torah'.
If one can say then that the Jewish people, the Torah, the Land of Israel and G-d, are part of one thing - the seed through which the creator evolves throughout history and will eventually be established. And all of this, in order for humanity to freely choose good and to support and 'establish' it then we can come to our final conclusion.
Conclusion
The Jewish people and their Torah sustain the world for their fulfilment of it is the purpose of creation. Israel sustains the Jewish people. Those who dwell in Yehuda and Shomron sustain Israel. Therefore it is really a handful of people that sustain Israel which sustains the Jewish people which sustains the world. The irony of course is that these very people are the ones that anger the world just by their existence and are the supposed reason for all the hate that is being vented at the Holy Nation.
The truth is however, G-d watches over His people, and I believe he is giving the world a final chance to stand up and be counted among people with integrity, or be left behind. The doors of the Ark are still open for those who wish to enter, as Jews by supporting Jewish causes, or by coming home, or by dwelling in the heartland. Or as gentiles by supporting this people which by doing so, demonstrated integrity. The world is not sustained by numbers and majorities, but only by quality.
Of course there are many sharks around the world who smell blood and expect the Jewish people to be finally weak enough to swallow. Of course there are unfortunately Jews who are afraid, and so they support the sharks, thinking that they will be saved by them. I pray that these Jews wake up soon, before the doors of the Ark are closed. For it is they who will be the sharks dinner, not us. But I suppose this takes a little faith to see and some understanding of formulas.
The Formula
I have heard the concept of Moshiach explained in a very interesting way. Its not that one man will come like Santa Clause and save the Jewish people, but rather, he will discover the formula which will then spread like fire. As I walk the streets of our history this formula seems to be coming to light with the passage of time. Here is the formula as I see it now.
The Basics
The Creator created the world as an act of kindness. He placed man inside to recognize this kindness and thereby to benefit from it. He sought those who sought Him in order to reward them. Those who distinguished themselves in thier quest for His truth, He distinguished by promising them a progeny that would be called a Nation of Truth. The purpose of this Nation would be to build G-d's kingdom below to reflect what is above.
In order for this to suceed He gave them His blueprint of creation after testing them to see if they would accept something that was beyond their understanding. By studying this blueprint and putting it into practice, the world would be sustained and eventally built in the image the Creator had intended. As a further kindness to this nation who would endure suffering by maintaining the image of G-d in this world, He placed a part of Himself within the souls of each member of this Nation when He revealed Himself to the entire people.
Whether a Jew keeps this Torah, tries to extinguish its flame, or is indifferent, he cannot escape his destiny which is predicated upon this spark of the eternal that has been impregnated in his soul. Even though Jews have assimilated into Gentile cultures and have developed friendships and relations these relations may be severed very rapidly as times change. This was one of the lessons of Germany.
Though we may not see the spark of G-dliness inside of us, the nations do, and sub-conciously expect us to be different and the 'Light unto Nations'. The Hitlers and Hamas types who throughout the generations see the 'Jew' as someone who controls the world actually are not completely mad. There is some truth to their evil. As Resh Lakish of the Talmud puts it, 'If the Nations of the world understood that all the good in the world and all the bad in the world happens because of the Jew, they would send two soldiers to every Jew to make sure they kept the Torah'.
If one can say then that the Jewish people, the Torah, the Land of Israel and G-d, are part of one thing - the seed through which the creator evolves throughout history and will eventually be established. And all of this, in order for humanity to freely choose good and to support and 'establish' it then we can come to our final conclusion.
Conclusion
The Jewish people and their Torah sustain the world for their fulfilment of it is the purpose of creation. Israel sustains the Jewish people. Those who dwell in Yehuda and Shomron sustain Israel. Therefore it is really a handful of people that sustain Israel which sustains the Jewish people which sustains the world. The irony of course is that these very people are the ones that anger the world just by their existence and are the supposed reason for all the hate that is being vented at the Holy Nation.
The truth is however, G-d watches over His people, and I believe he is giving the world a final chance to stand up and be counted among people with integrity, or be left behind. The doors of the Ark are still open for those who wish to enter, as Jews by supporting Jewish causes, or by coming home, or by dwelling in the heartland. Or as gentiles by supporting this people which by doing so, demonstrated integrity. The world is not sustained by numbers and majorities, but only by quality.
Of course there are many sharks around the world who smell blood and expect the Jewish people to be finally weak enough to swallow. Of course there are unfortunately Jews who are afraid, and so they support the sharks, thinking that they will be saved by them. I pray that these Jews wake up soon, before the doors of the Ark are closed. For it is they who will be the sharks dinner, not us. But I suppose this takes a little faith to see and some understanding of formulas.
