Gary Cooperberg, February 3, 2005

The concept of redemption has been viewed by most people as merely a romantic way to present the reestablishment of Jewish sovereignty in the Land of Israel. To such people Judaism itself is little more than a romantic notion which sounds nice and provides nostalgic cultural benefits, but really shouldn’t be taken too seriously. To those who mold public opinion in the Jewish State, Judaism should be kept in the synagogue while "real life" decisions should be left to the politicians.

Democracy itself proclaims that ultimate good and truth can only be determined by the will of the majority. The vast majority of people in this country share that notion. Yet, unpleasant as it may seem, Judaism does not share that view. Judaism means much more than Shabbat and holidays; kosher food; bar mitzvot; weddings and funerals. Judaism, in a nutshell, is a belief that holds that the Creator of the Universe is the ultimate Truth and Good in our world. The Living G-d of Creation gave us a precious tool to enable us to live a good, happy and fulfilling life on this Earth. His Torah enables us to know what is right and what is wrong. It is His Will that the Jewish People return from all over the world to the Land that He destined for them. Their very homecoming, in defiance of nature and the will of the majority of nations, is, in and of itself, a tremendous miracle to demonstrate the power of our G-d. There simply is no other way to explain how a people who were expelled from their homeland over two thousand years ago, not only managed to maintain their identity despite being scattered all over the planet; not only survived countless attempts to destroy them, both by assimilation and by physical annihilation; but were able to return to their ancient homeland and reestablish Jewish sovereignty there despite overwhelming opposition.

Only blind fools can ignore the miraculous nature of the rebirth of Jewish sovereignty in the Land of Israel. What is even more amazing is the comparison of faith between Jews condemned to death in the Warsaw Ghetto; and Jews who presume to govern the sovereign Jewish State of Israel today. The Jews of Warsaw were clearly condemned to annihilation. Rather than give up on life they established schools and taught their children Hebrew. They renamed their streets after places in Israel. And they fought impossible odds against the German war machine, refusing to surrender even when the alternative was certain death.

The physical heirs to those heroic Jewish giants, the alleged "leaders" of the reborn Jewish State, have shown themselves to be pathetic Jewish midgets in comparison. While their forbears refused to compromise Jewish principles even when faced with certain death, these "modern" descendants of Jewish heros have shown themselves to be cowards. Rather than fight to the death for the Judaism that was preserved for them by tens of generations of their antecedents, they have opted to compromise that which was preserved for them.

Suddenly the miracles of the reborn Jewish state, the winning of wars under impossible odds against them; the blossoming of the desert; the return to our ancient holy places, are all items of "negotiation" with enemies who still seek our destruction! In return for a futile hope that maybe the Arabs will refrain from blowing up women and children on our buses, our hapless leaders have decided that we will give away parts of our inheritance to our murderers! And, in order to accomplish this cowardly surrender, we will also physically expel Jews from their homes and dig up bodies of our dead to be re-buried elsewhere!

The bottom line here is really very simple. While our leaders are eagerly prepared to accept miracles and pay lip service to them at memorial ceremonies at Yad V'Shem, when the time comes to demonstrate genuine faith in the Giver of Miracles by standing upon the most basic tenets of Judaism, their spiritual emptiness becomes crystal clear.

Shimon Peres and Ariel Sharon are simply unable to understand that genuine peace is not a commodity one can purchase by denying Jewish principles. On the contrary. By backing down upon Jewish principles it is we who invite tragedy. It is only when Jews are prepared to risk everything to uphold Judaism and faith in G-d that we merit miracles and have hope to bring peace.

When reading our newspapers and watching television here in Israel it is easy to lose faith and see the miracle of modern Israel about to melt away. But the newspapers and television cannot and will not portray the reality of Jewish faith. The Jews living in Gaza today are the true descendants of our holy forebears. No matter how real the threat to their future, even by their own government, they refuse to be party to chilul HaShem, the desecration of our G-d. It will be only as a result of their faith, and ours, that the cowardly plans of our hapless leaders will be foiled.

It was impossible to even dream that a Jewish State could be reborn in 1948. It was a logical certainty that the June war of 1967 would see the Jewish State destroyed. And it seems clear that "not one Jew will be left in the Gaza Strip" after Sharon's deportation plan is carried out. When will our leaders wake up to the "reality" that it is our G-d who determines our future and not our enemies, or even our alleged leaders?

Gary Cooperberg is a resident of the Jewish community in Hebron, Israel.

Copyright © 2005 Gary Cooperberg