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B"sd
A Call for Action
Gary Cooperberg
June 11, 2003
Did you ever stop to wonder why, no matter who we elect as our leadership, eventually they all do the same stupid things? Oceans of ink have been used to eloquently express how totally wrong this "road map" gimmick is, yet both Bush and Sharon are still following it toward oblivion. Until now I really thought that Bush was a simple, but honest man who held high religious principles. His recent actions and statements conflict with that assessment. It seems that he too is continuing the US policy of pressuring Israel to make suicidal concessions to her enemies.
It is both unnecessary and futile to waste any more time trying to explain the obvious. If enough people choose to call black white and do it often enough, eventually people will come to believe that black is, indeed, white. That is human nature. The truth about what has happened to Mr. Bush is really not so difficult to see. He may have begun his war against terror in all sincerity, but he finally came to the conclusion that the forces of terror are even bigger than the United States. America simply cannot take on all the Islamic nations. Thus he has come to the conclusion that if he cannot beat them, and if he cannot prevent very serious terror attacks against the USA, then his only hope is to appease the terrorists by weakening Israel. He may deceive himself into thinking that peace can be achieved if Israel cuts itself in half voluntarily rather than consider the more likely result of a new attempt by the Arab nations to destroy her. But, his main priority is to try and save the USA from terrorism, at any cost...even at the cost of the Jewish State.
Sharon too is a pragmatic thinker like Bush. To his way of thinking Israel cannot continue to exist without support from the United States. As such he is doing all he can to heal gaping wounds with band aides, while offering to cut off a few fingers for peace. He doesn't want to think about what will happen when a few fingers aren't enough. Both leaders have failed to understand the magnitude of what is going on today, and both are bringing needless suffering and danger to their respective countries and to the world. Redemption cannot come without an end to the Exile. If we seek to prolong the Exile it will come to an end in a painful way.
The G-d of Creation designated the Land of Israel as the homeland of the Jewish People even before He created the world. He chose us, the Jewish People, to be His example of how Mankind should live and serve Him. This can only happen when all of the Jewish People return to this Land, from all over the world, and govern themselves according to Torah Law. In 1948 we were given the ability to begin this process on our own. Miracles were created, just for us, which saw Jewish sovereignty returned to the ancient Land of Israel, even against our own designs. Rather than recognize the Divine nature of what was happening, we chose to relegate miracles to "good luck", and tried to make peace by undoing them. Every such effort not only failed miserably, but brought pain and suffering along with it. One would imagine that we would have learned from our mistakes. Clearly we did not. Ever since June of 1967 we have been trying to give away the heart of our homeland for peace. The so called "Road Map" is but the latest fancy packaging around the same garbage.
There is a very simple "road map" to peace that will work. It has been waiting for thousands of years to be implemented. It was presented to us by G-d through his prophet, Ezekiel 36:20-24:
"And when they entered unto the nations whither they went, they desecrated my My Holy Name when it was said of them, 'These are the people of the L-rd, and are gone forth out of His Land.' But I will have pity upon My Holy Name which the House of Israel had desecrated by remaining among the nations whither they went. Therefore, say unto the House of Israel 'Thus saith the L-rd G-d, "I am not doing this for your sakes, O House of Israel, rather for the sake of My Holy Name which you have desecrated among the nations whither you went. And I will sanctify My Great Name which you have desecrated among the nations, which you have desecrated (by remaining) in the midst of them; and the nations shall know that I am the L-rd," saith the L-rd G-d, "when I shall be sanctified in you before their eyes. For I will take you from among the nations and gather you out of all countries and bring you into your own Land."'"
It is easy to understand what we must do if we read the above carefully. G-d defines the cause of His anger. He is angry with Israel for desecrating His Holy Name by virtue of the fact that we have chosen to remain among the nations of the world. He instructs us that, in spite of His anger with us, He will eventually take it upon Himself to end the desecration and Sanctify His Holy Name by picking us up and bringing us home to Israel. This is a Divine Pronouncement and it will happen. Actually it has already begun to happen. It is evident that every step along the way to the reestablishment of Jewish sovereignty in the Land of Israel was actually opposed by most Jews! In spite of ourselves we have already begun to see fulfillment of this prophesy.
G-d is clearly telling us why He is angry, and what He will do to appease that anger. In His Words we can find a way to hasten redemption and bring a speedy appeasement to His Divine anger. Since he has clearly told us how He will Sanctify His Holy Name by bringing us home before the eyes of the nations, we can actively assist this process by coming home on our own. Every Jew, especially those who are not oppressed and suffering in Exile, who leaves a seemingly secure and good life in Exile to live in the Land of Israel, as an expression of faith in G-d, hastens redemption and reduces our national suffering. Of course even a mass aliyah of thousands of Jews cannot solve all of the other problems. But we must remember, for us to be able to accomplish just that much would be a human miracle. When G-d sees us expressing our faith in Him in such a clear and strong manner, He will have no choice but to perform all the miracles needed to handle the real problems. This is the crux of the message Project Shofar seeks to impart.
Toward this end Project Shofar is seeking ways to project this message to Jews living in the American Exile, to show them how they are prolonging our collective suffering simply by not making plans to come home. Far more powerful than lobbies to Congress against the "Road Map", an effort to get Jews to think about aliyah can hasten redemption.
It is my hope to set up Project Shofar conferences all over the United States to discuss and analyze the one peace plan that can and will work, massive aliyah. I know that, logically, most Jews will not even consider coming home. But if we give up before we even try, then we too are guilty of perpetuating our Exile needlessly. No matter how impossible the goal there is no excuse to ignore our obligations. As my rabbi once told me, "It is no mitzvah to succeed, but it is a sin not to try." Won't you help me try? If you can at least examine the possibility of putting together a Project Shofar conference in your area, please do so. Call a few friends to help you. Once you have some facts and figures, send me an e-mail and we will see how we can go forward. Anyone can sit on the sidelines and hope. It is time for us to get creative and do. Let me hear from you. Let us Sound the Shofar together.
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