Who Dares Ponder the Significance of September 11?
Gary Cooperberg
September 4, 2002
A week from today is September 11. On that day the United States got a taste of what we feel every day in Israel. Thousands of people who were guilty of traveling in the wrong airplane or working in the wrong office building were murdered in cold blood! Just like people in Israel who were guilty of traveling in the wrong bus, or attending the wrong celebration, or shopping in the wrong supermarket, or eating in the wrong restaurant, have been murdered by the hundreds.
It is interesting that so many people feel that the answer to these terrible murders in Israel is to give the so-called "palestinians" what they want. I have yet to hear anyone suggest to the government of the United States to give their terrorists what they want.
September 11 this year comes right between Rosh HaShanna and Yom Kippur. It is a time of year when Jews ponder inwardly in an effort to improve our ways. As we prepare for the Day of Atonement and pray that G-d will forgive our sins and give us another chance to improve ourselves, we must remember that everything that happens in this world has a reason. Terrorism doesn't just happen. We are guilty of allowing conditions to develop which not only permit but actually encourage terrorism!
In Israel we pretend that we can make peace with terror. No matter how many times we try to appease our enemies, we are shocked to discover that all we have accomplished is to whet their appetites for yet more of our homeland! Yet we seem not to learn from our own mistakes. Even now, rather than rid ourselves of the PLO and their ilk, we are still hoping that they will change their ways and make it possible for us to give away more of our homeland! And we wonder why they continue to murder us. When they threw rocks at us we gave them "Areas A", weapons, money and military bases. It is only natural then for them to assume that by shooting us with our own guns we will give them a state from which they can continue the effort to completely destroy us. When we hear even Sharon talk about a PLO state, no matter how he chooses to define it, we know how far we all have strayed from just being honest to ourselves.
President Bush spoke out strongly about his intention to fight terror wherever it can be found. He sounded very serious and uncompromising when he spoke. Yet he has been trying to enlist as partners in his "War against Terror" many of the very terrorists he seeks to destroy! Can he really believe that the whole problem is in Afghanistan? Did he not see the "innocent palestinians" in Israel dancing in the streets on September 11? Are these the same people he feels need to be given an independent state on Jewish soil? By what right do these impostors have to create yet another Arab state on Land that belongs solely to Israel?
If George W. is listening, he will notice that nearly all of the Arab "ally" nations whom he has enlisted in his war against terror are adamantly opposed to the United States attacking Iraq. I wonder why all of these "peace loving" nations think it is wrong to finish off Sadam before he uses the nuclear alternative he may very soon possess.
Mr. Bush, there is no war against terror. People don't just wake up one morning and decide to blow themselves up because they are mean and hate peace. Clearly a person who is willing to die for what he believes in must think that what he is doing is right. Genuine ideology, whether it is religious or nationalistic, will get people to fight to the death for what they believe in. There is such a thing as good and evil in this world. Although you will not likely find a good person who thinks he is evil, you can find loads of evil people who think they are good. Hitler, and a great many of his followers, really thought that he was the best thing that ever happened to Germany!
Sometimes in modern society it is not easy to know who are the good guys and who are the bad guys. The simple definition of right and wrong, good and evil, are often interpreted differently by well-meaning people. The United States of America is a trend setter for the world. Although her founding fathers were religious people who read the Bible and believed in it, today's generation has discarded that holy heritage. And we, in Israel, who are the bearers of that ancient holy heritage, seem to prefer to copy the poor example being set by modern America!
We have imported such examples of modern morality as labeling the abomination of homosexuality as an acceptable "alternate" life style. We cannot turn on our television sets or go to a movie without seeing naked people parading around. And we even seem to think that democracy, the concept of laws being made by men, is better than the eternal Law of G-d! This is the true source of our self-inflicted suffering.
In San Francisco it seems that all of the rabbis, from orthodox to reform, men and women, are having a great deal of trouble trying to interpret to their flocks the meaning of September 11. The reason they are having so much trouble is because they are lost themselves. They have made San Francisco the center of their myopic world and fail to understand that they are digging themselves and their followers deeper and deeper into the abyss of the curse of Exile. When a Jew is in Exile and longs to come home, but cannot, the angels in heaven weep. But when a Jew is in Exile and enjoys it, never dreaming to leave, the angels in heaven also weep. And the G-d of Israel grows angry. He has finally begun to answer our prayers. The dream of Zion is beginning to come true as Jews from all over the world flock to our ancient homeland where our sovereignty has been restored and our ancient Hebrew language resurrected. And, in San Francisco, the Jewish leadership, which really believes that it is being moral, raises money for poor "palestinians" who end up blowing themselves up in order to kill Jews in Israel!
Yes, indeed, there are many questions to ponder on September 11. But how many of us really have the courage to look for the answers in the right places?
Project Shofar is dedicated to spreading these truths wherever it is possible to do so. It is sounding the alarm, to Jew and Gentile alike, to open our eyes to the G-dly process that is presently underway, and work to support it. We dare not stand idly on the sidelines.
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