Great piece on Israel and the power of Torah.

The feeling of gloom and doom regarding Israel's present danger is hardly justified by a long view of Jewish history.

Recall the appalling condition of the Jewish people after the destruction of the Second Temple. Or ponder the horrendous loss of Jewish life resulting from the Christian Crusades and, more recently, from the Nazi Holocaust. Surely there was more reason for pessimism then than now, when Israel is not stateless and has a formidable military establishment, a sophisticated scientific-technological infrastructure, and a surprisingly expanding economy.

In fact, Israel's condition in the 1948-49 War of Independence was more precarious than now. True, Israel's government under David Ben-Gurion was more passionately Zionistic than the present one. True, the patriotic zeal and the extraordinary fighting spirit of the Jews of his generation compensated for lack of military hardware. But as Operation Cast Lead indicates, the courage or fortitude of Israelis today is quite formidable despite the shortcomings of Israel's ruling elites.

This is not to minimize the danger now confronting Israel from Iran. That danger would be greatly diminished, however, if Israel were unified under a Torah-oriented republic rather than fragmented under a specious western-style democracy.
Perhaps the leadership for such a republic will soon emerge from Zionist youth now living in Judea and Samaria. And despite the anti-Zionist reputation of the Haredim, I dare say that the latter have great promise.

First of all, the Haredim have the fewest illusions about the secular democratic state, and none about the Arab-Islamic world. They scorn pop culture and they are not steeped in the escapism or pacifism of the cultural left.

Second, the vast majority of the Haredim maintain that the Land of Israel belongs exclusively to the Jews and that only Jews have political rights in Eretz Israel. At the same time, they have learned from the Torah and from their Rabbis, that whereas a wrong committed against a fellow Jew is an ordinary sin, a wrong committed against a non-Jew is in addition the more serious sin of profaning the Name of God, the sanctification of which is Israel's mission and destiny.

Third, and most happily, more and more Haredim are entering the professions, and this will foster greater unity and excellence among the Jewish people.

Fourth, their high birthrate is rendering the Haredim more politically significant, the tendency of which will make them more nationalistic.

Fifth, the convergence of Torah and science (evident in the books of physicists such as Gerald Schroeder and Nathan Aviezer), versus the nihilism conspicuous in western-style democracies, will bring more and more Jews back to their glorious heritage and hasten the process of transforming Israel into a Jewish republic that will inspire mankind.

Thus, let us not be downcast by the decrepit state of contemporary politics, and let us not be dismayed by the dangers that confront us. We must not only honor, but also enrich our unrivalled tradition by thinking in creative ways that will invigorated and elevate the individual and the community.

Even now there are creative ideas and forces at work that transcend the nostrums of politics or of conventional democracy. It was not politics, and it was not democracy, that preserved the Jewish people through centuries of humiliation, persecution, and massacre. To the contrary: the politics of nations cast countless Jews into the torture-chambers of Europe; and let us not forget that during the Holocaust, democracies, to say the very least, looked on with indifference.

To conclude: It was the Torah and only the Torah that preserved the Jewish people through millennia of dispersion and decimation. It is the Torah that must fire our hearts, inspire our minds, and guide our actions. By upholding the Torah we shall overcome our enemies and the present danger.

You can read this article in it's original form at http://www.shamar.org/weblog/israel/with_the_torah_as_our_guide.html

And a Little Boy Will Lead Them

On a more irregular than regular basis, we conduct what has become known in our family as “Bible Time”. Bible Time is a 10-15 minute moment with the kids before they go to school where we read a passage from the Text, discuss it and ask God to help us obey it individually and as a family. As you can imagine, it’s sometimes a challenge to keep it relevant for each of them, what with their ages ranging from 6-13, but we do our best.

The other day, we read from Matthew 4:23. In that verse, Matthew tells us that The Master went to Galilee, hung out with the people, taught Torah, and healed. I told the kids that in Matthew 9:36, we’re told why Jesus did this. It was because he had compassion on the people. I explained (more for my 6 year old Jack’s sake, than the others) that compassion is when we feel sad for someone enough to do something to make them happy. I explained it to him kind of like this: “Like if you see one of your friends alone at recess, compassion would make you go and ask them if they want to play with you. Then maybe he wouldn’t be sad anymore”. He nodded in that way that said to me “Got it dad”.

The next night at the dinner table, as I often do, I asked Jack to pray. He closed his eyes, and simply said, “Dear Jesus, thank you for the food. Please help us to have compassion”.

I was humbled indeed.

Favor

I’ve been thinking a lot about the concept of “favor” lately. It started last month during the Christmas season when I was reminded that Miriam, the mother of Yeshua, was “favored”. I kept thinking, what does that mean exactly? Did God like her better than others? What did she do to deserve this?

As Christmas passed, and the New Year started, this “favor” theme continued to occupy my thoughts. Our family is being blessed in a variety of ways, so much so that’s it’s causing me to ask, “What have we done to deserve these blessings?” And, “If we stop doing whatever it is we’re doing, will the blessings stop?” (C’mon…you think that way too sometimes…admit it).

So, back to Miriam. I did a quick Google search on “why was Miriam favored?” to see what those who write about these things think. Reading some of their thoughts was interesting. Like, “…she was the greatest of all women”. Or, “She was favored because of her chastity”. Or, “…because she said yes to God”. Or, because she was the “most worthy and spiritually talented of all his (God’s) spirit daughters…” I gotta tell ya, after reading those blogs and articles on the question, I still felt unsettled. My question still wasn’t answered. Was it really because of what she did? I mean, I’m sure there were other chaste Jewish girls floating around Galilee at the time, and I’m sure there were other obedient, Torah following girls too. So, what made Miriam so special?

I went back to Luke 1 where the story of Miriam’s encounter with Gabriel is written, and looked up the word “favor” in verse 28. There, Gabriel calls her “favored one”. The word favor there was the word “charitoo” in Greek. Some scholars say that Gabriel was probably using the Hebrew word “chanan” which means “grace”. (chanan also happens to be root for “John” the Baptist and “Anna”, whom we read about later in the Temple.). We see this Hebrew word being used over 100 times in the Hebrew Scriptures (Old Testament). For example, Genesis 6:8: “But Noah found favor (“chen”, which is the noun form of “chanan”) in the eyes of the LORD.” I like the King James Version better: But Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD. When I read it this way, I suddenly found that answer to my question. I realized that Miriam and Noach, and others didn’t merit or earn favor (or grace) at all. They simply found it. It didn’t come from what they did. It came from who God is: a great Father who is constantly looking at His kids with a warm, loving smile, giving them all kinds of good things in spite of what they’ve done.

So my question is answered. And I realize that when it comes to me, I’m asking the wrong question. “What have I done to deserve this?” is not the question anymore. The question is now “What can I do to thank you…” Finding the answer to that one may take more pondering…