Gary Cooperberg, May 21, 2007

Shavuot begins tomorrow night, and I leave for a speaking tour in the states right after Shabbat. I have been planning this trip for months and now it is about to happen. I always have mixed feelings prior to leaving Israel. Being away from home is never pleasant. Can I really hope to accomplish anything worthwhile on these visits? Project Shofar barely brings in enough money to pay for these visits, and I am one lone Jew trying to make a difference. Yet isn't that what being a Jew is all about? We are the tiniest of nations yet we are the key to the survival of all of Mankind.

We were chosen by G-d to be the example to all the peoples in the world as to how to serve our Creator. We have been hated by those who would prefer not to think about a Creator. Today, with all of our incredible technological advances, many people consider the concept of the G-d of Creation as paganism. We are living in a modern Tower of Babel where we proclaim that we are the creators as we seek to tamper with newly discovered elements of life.

Mankind has approached a time in which it is capable of completely destroying itself. Without spiritual direction it seems likely that it will do so. The only hope for the future of Mankind is for it to return to its recognition of G-d. G-d, in his infinite mercy, has created the cure even before the illness. He has always known that His creations would eventually sow the seeds of their self destruction. He thus provided the world with a living example to show it how to survive. He created the Jewish people as a gift to the entire world and an instrument to save it from itself.

Israel was always destined to be a nation that stands alone. As the rest of the world seeks power and wealth, Israel seeks only to serve its Creator. When the world with all of its power and wealth observes this tiny, fragile nation stand up to impossible odds and continue to thrive, it is forced to consider how such an impossible situation can be. Some will immediately recognize the intervention of G-d. Others will refuse to accept the illogical and seek to prove that Israel is, indeed, destructible. Our prophets tell us that the day will come when all nations will gather against Israel seeking to destroy her. The stage is being set for this to happen in our time.

Today we are all being tested. Those who stand with G-d will survive. Those who do not will not. The Jew is a unique creature. He was created to save all of Mankind, yet he seems powerless to save himself. The Jew who was exiled for over two thousand years and scattered all over the world has survived the greatest powers on Earth, all of which have perished. Today G-d has begun to return us to our original homeland, as he had promised. It is our destiny to return and rebuild the Kingdom of David in Jerusalem and conduct our national and personal lives according to our Torah. This is our destiny and it will happen.

The key to redemption lies in our expression of faith in G-d. Today the easiest way to clearly express our faith in G-d as Jews is simply to come home. When a Jew leaves a pleasant Exile to live in a seemingly dangerous homeland simply to please G-d, he is sanctifying the Name of G-d and hastening redemption. On the contrary, when a Jew chooses to close his eyes to the fact that the Land has begun to be returned to us via miracles, and chooses to live in Exile rather than to come home, he is desecrating the Name of G-d and inviting needless tragedy, even as redemption continues in spite of him.

And for the nations of the world the easiest way to express faith in G-d is to stand with the Jewish State for Biblical reasons, not political ones. Israel seems such a tiny and helpless nation. It is so tempting to stand with her enemies who have far more wealth and power. Rather than genuinely deal with Arab terror and endanger their own countries, it is far easier to simply sacrifice the tiny Jewish state to those who seek to devour her. Yet things are not as they appear. Those who side with Israel's enemies will reap the same reward as they - total destruction. Only those who have the courage to stand with the minority against the overwhelming majority and place service of G-d above their own survival will indeed survive.

When G-d gave the Torah to the Jewish People on Mount Sinai, He sounded a great Shofar which was heard by the entire world. That same sound is about to be heard again. It is time for all of us to listen and to acknowledge our Creator and seek to serve Him. For this is how redemption is achieved and the way in which genuine peace will come to our planet.

Gary Cooperberg, a resident of the Jewish community in Hebron, Israel, is the founder and director of Project Shofar.

Copyright © 2007 Gary Cooperberg