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B"sd
The Hope of Israel Is G-d,
Those Who Forsake You Shall Be Shamed (Jeremiah 17:13)
Gary Cooperberg
May 26, 2003
If there is one thing we must fight it is the natural tendency to despair. There is no question but that the government decision to accept the so called "road map" is a national disaster which will generate much needless tragedy for the Jewish people. The mistake we Jews make too often is to depend upon our leaders to save us. It is not our leaders who will save us, rather the Creator of the Universe, upon whom we must place all of our trust.
Anger at what has happened is certainly understandable. But anger and name calling will not make anything better. We would do well to stand back and look more carefully at the process of redemption over the last several decades. The pioneers who spearheaded the drive to return to the Land and reestablish Jewish sovereignty here were, by and large, non religious Jews. The historical reality is that good and well meaning people, inspired by an underlying religious fervor, plunged into an irrational and illogical attempt in defiance of world powers and basic common sense. Most religious leaders at the time spurned this attempt as sacreligious and refused to be party to it.
The very fact that this effort resulted in the reestablishment of Jewish sovereignty in the Land of Israel was proof that the action enjoyed Divine approval. Rather than immediately recognize this fact, the majority of the religious leadership of world Jewry chose to stand on the sidelines. It was this factor, more than any other, which caused the development of a national policy which greatly lacked faith in the Divine nature of the Jewish State. It takes a leadership with very strong faith to stand up to the overwhelming pressures of world powers. To date we have not been blessed with such leadership. And our religious leadership has failed us as well.
When one is immersed in the Exile he cannot help but be influenced by it. I have witnessed the painful reality that even rabbis who live in Exile cannot help but lose their sensitivity to the mitzvah of living in the Land. For all intents and purposes the governments of Israel have all been imbued with an Exile mentality. All have sought to be like unto the nations rather than accept their obligation to become an example to the nations of the world. We thus find that even leaders of strong national parties and even religious parties consider political interests above Jewish ones. Where are our Rabbis?
I have no doubt that Ariel Sharon really thinks that he made a wise, if painful, decision. In his mind he "had no choice" but to surrender to powers greater than he. Were he truly a G-d fearing leader he would have understood that, indeed, he had no choice other than to reject even a suggestion of parting with any part of the Land of Israel.
Again, rather than succumbing to despair, we must come to terms with reality. This is not the first time that our leaders have not only disappointed us, but made gravely dangerous and suicidal decisions. Even before we had a state the majority of our leaders did not want to declare our independence for fear of our enemies. Every time we won a war which was waged by our enemies to destroy us, we stopped short of destroying them and even returned much of the spoil of battle, which only served to tempt them to attack us again. We never learned the lesson of our sages, "When one comes to kill you, rise up and kill him first".
We accepted the partition plan. We gave back the Sinai. From the day after the Six Day War we tried to give away Judea and Samaria for peace. Had our enemies agreed they could have had it all immediately. We have never wanted to believe that all our enemies want is to destroy us. They have no interest in living with a Jewish State of any size. Today, with all of our past experience, including suicide murderers who are willing to die in order to murder, we still refuse to believe our own eyes. Rather than accept the bitter reality and simply remove our enemies from our midst, we have decided to force them to live in peace with us, even against their will. This is truly an absurd concept.
It is true that we cannot rule over one and a half-million people who are not Jews. We should not do so. If such people choose to live in Israel and cannot accept our sovereignty and abide by our laws, it is not our obligation to simply carve out a piece of our country and give it to them! It is simple common sense to expel such people from our country. Why do numbers give legitimacy to murder and thievery? The Land of Israel belongs to the people of Israel; the Jewish people exclusively. That we have been magnanimous and welcomed others to live here with us in no way obligates us to grant sovereignty to our guests, nor to tolerate outright rebellion.
Yes, Mr. Sharon, it may well be that defying the United States will hurt our economy. But, if we are a sovereign nation, then we certainly do have choices. The truth is that we are more than a sovereign state. We are fulfillment of Biblical destiny which brings with it obligations to the Creator of the Universe. You, Sir, are a witness to countless miracles which saw this state created in defiance of world powers, and survive many wars in which we were outnumbered and logically should have lost. Even though you are not an observant Jew, your own experiences in this country must make you believe in our G-d. If you fear George Bush more than the Living G-d of Israel, and your recent actions indicate that you do, deliverance will come to Israel from another source and you will fall into the trash heap with Jewish traitors like Shimon Peres, Yossi Beilin and Yossi Sarid.
Because the Jewish State is a Divine process, not a natural one, it will never be destroyed. But those who have been placed in positions of leadership and deliberately place her in danger for fear of the nations will cause needless tragedy to the nation, and personal tragedy to themselves. At times like these it is incumbent upon our rabbis and religious leaders to openly declare that it is a sin to even suggest giving away any part of our homeland. They should call for civil disobedience should any effort be made to remove Jews from any part of Eretz Yisrael. And they themselves should set the example. Where are our Rabbis?
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