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The Talmud (Tractate Berachot) tells us, “Three
things are acquired through suffering: the Law of God, the World to Come,
and the Land of Israel.” These three things are the birthright, the
inheritance and the promise of every Jew. And yet the suffering of the
people in Israel is intense, almost unbearable. The Israelis are being
pressured to make more and more concessions “for the sake of peace” while
the enemies of Israel are required to give up nothing, not even their
stated intention to ultimately overwhelm the Jewish population and put an
end to the Jewish state. And the more land Israel offers to give away “for
peace” the more her enemies demand.
“You shall cross the Jordan and settle in the Land
that the Lord, your God, has given you for an inheritance, and He will
give you rest from all your enemies all around, and you shall dwell
securely.” (Deut. 12:10).
The Holy Land requires those who dwell in it to make
themselves holy.
“If you will follow My decrees and observe My
commandments and perform them…then I will provide peace in the
Land, and you will lie down with none to frighten you…I will make you
fruitful and increase you; and I will establish My covenant with you.”
(Leviticus 26:3,6,9)
The Torah, the Law of God, was given to the Nation of
Israel as they stood at the foot of Mount Sinai, where they accepted God’s
Law upon themselves and on their descendants for all generations. And the
Law is meant to be observed for all time and in all places, but especially
in the Land of God’s Promise. The Holy Land can not endure immorality or
idolatry (including atheism, which is the worship of self). A “Jewish”
state which holds public “Gay Pride” festivities, whose ministers declare
that Russian mercenaries and gangsters are a more valuable component to
society than Torah scholars, which allows its sacred places to be
desecrated, which gives away its birthright to bullies without receiving
even a bowl of bean soup in return, must endure the consequences that the
Torah warns about:
“But if you will not listen to Me and will not
perform all of these commandments; if you consider My decrees loathsome,
and if your being rejects My ordinances, so as not to perform all
My commandments, so that you annul My covenant…then…I will turn My
attention against you, you will be struck down before enemies; those who
hate you will subjugate you — you will flee with no one pursuing you.”
(Leviticus 26:14-15,17)
We see that Israel is being coerced to follow a
“roadmap” which will lead not to peace, but to disaster. We see Israel
forced to make tangible sacrifices of territory, to assist in the
expulsion of Jews from the heart of the Holy Land, and refrain from
self-defense in the land that is left to them, while the enemies of Israel
make worthless promises and fail to keep them. The President of the United
States, a man known as a “Friend of the Jews” inexplicably seems to be
favoring Israel’s enemies. But “the heart of princes and kings is in the
hands of the Lord.” When the hearts of mortal rulers seem to have
hardened, it is to teach us that there is no one that the people of Israel
can fully depend upon, except for the King of all Kings, the Holy One,
Blessed be He.
The Torah warns us repeatedly, that punishments will
pile up for failing to obey His Law:
“If in spite of this you do not heed Me…” (Lev.
26:18)
“If you go contrary and do not listen to Me…” (Lev.
26:21)
“If in spite if this you will not be chastised toward
Me, and you continue to go contrary to Me…” (Lev. 26:23)
“If in spite of this you will not listen to Me, and
you go contrary toward Me…” (Lev. 26:27)
The Hebrew word
בקרי which is translated as “contrary” also means, “by
accident.” The warning therefore can be interpreted to include not only
neglect of God’s Law, but the complete negation of the Law and the
denial of God’s providence, “If you continue to act as though
everything that happens is by accident…”
In spite of one terrible “clue” after another, people
persist in acting “contrary” to the Law of the Almighty, trying to achieve
peace through appeasement when it is beyond obvious that this only results
in more outrageous demands. People act “contrary” by refusing to make a
distinction between good and evil, or by inverting evil and calling it
“good,” while denouncing what is decent and holy by pretending it is
“evil.” By pampering murderers with a state of their own and punishing the
righteous with crushing poverty. By craving the approval and acceptance of
those who reject God and despise believers, while refusing the prayers and
support of righteous gentiles. The consequences are all explicitly
described in Torah and by the Prophets, and when we suffer as a result,
the only remedy is to return to the correct path, and follow the “roadmap”
that was handed down to Moses on Mt. Sinai.
This week, Jews observe the festival of Shavuot,
commemorating the Giving of the Torah. At that time the nation of Israel,
which would not enter the Holy Land for another generation, declared with
one voice and one heart, “We shall observe and we shall listen!”
accepting the obligation of all the commandments even before hearing
exactly what those commandments were.
To avoid the potential disaster about to be forced
upon Israel, we can not rely on the strength of our own hands, or on the
promises of the nations. We have to return, with a full heart, on the path
of the One who created Heaven and Earth.
May God hear our prayers and send Moshiach,
immediately. |
