Tuesday, December 13, 2005

Advocate for Israel...On my own terms.

The hardest aspect of blogging about daily life in the settlements of Israel, is not slandering Eretz Yisrael. The Zohar asks, how could the Israelite spies from the desert, who were such great leaders of Israel, speak such slander about the promised land?

The answer is frightening.

The Zohar writes that the spies realized that if Bnei Yisrael would cross the Jordan immediately after the spies' return from their mission (which was the correct game plan), then the Beit HaMikdash would be built and a king would be anointed. There would be no destruction of the Temples, no Exiles, No terrible periods of tragedy for the Jewish people -- rather we would have immediately entered the period of ultimate geula.

So what was the downside? The spies figured out that upon the anointment of a Jewish king, their leadership roles would disappear. In order to hang on to their political positions of power, they sacrificed the Jewish people for 38 more years in the desert, the destruction of 2 Temples, 2 periods of exile, and the deaths of countless Jews throughout the ages.

According to the midrash, not only did the spies make their announcement to all of Israel, but they went from tent to tent to personally spread their message of gloom and doom if Israel would enter the promised land of Eretz Yisrael.

To this day, we still see many of the same narrow-minded politicians advancing themselves at the expense of the Jewish State or the Jewish people. While there are those leaders who unselfishly dedicate their lives to further the Jewish people in their homeland, too many not only ignore the Klal, but even go so far as to attack them.

Though Israel today is wrought with problems, its imperative to go from house to house to mitaken the sins of the spies through the teaching of love for Israel. Israel is not only the political Zionist entity, which is getting more and more difficult daily for many Jews to identify with, but our national homeland which belongs to the entire Jewish people. Many of us have gone door to door in Israel talking about our love of the land, before and after the Disengagement. Many of us have even made extreme financial and personal sacrifices out of love of living in our land.

When I criticize many of the problems in our country today, it is out of love for Eretz Yisrael. Yet, when HaAretz blasts away at settlers, religious Jews, and any viewpoint they disagree with; are they really advocates for Israel? HaAretz is read around the world by many "Zionists", yet does it really advocate anything for Israel? Who's Israel? Which Israel?

Does my criticism of Israel mean that I'm advocating something else?

My Hakarat Hatov for the privilege of living in Israel is my primary reason for blogging, and connecting to others in the hope of bringing more and more Jews back home.

If you want to know more I'll be more than happy to help.

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

Good post. I had this conversation with my stepdaughter when she came back from Israel.

"Do you want to live in Israel when you grow up?"

"No, because in Israel, everyone hates everyone else," she said.

"You mean the Arabs and the Jews?" I asked.

"No," she said. "I mean the Jews hate the Jews. The blue ribbons and the orange ribbons."

Of course she was there during the Disengagement, so feelings were running at an unusual peak of intensity. I told her it's like when she fights with her brother; underneath that, there's love. (I hope that's true.)

Jameel @ The Muqata said...

Hi Mirty -

Thanks for your comments.

When push comes to shove, we can still hold together.

I still wish we had more cohesiveness...it was a very trying summer, and the common denominators seem to be slowly disappearing.

Lab Rab said...

Jeremiah 3:14-17

14 Return, O backsliding children, saith the LORD; for I am a lord unto you, and I will take you one of a city, and two of a family, and I will bring you to Zion; 15 and I will give you shepherds according to My heart, who shall feed you with knowledge and understanding. 16 And it shall come to pass, when ye are multiplied and increased in the land, in those days, saith the LORD, they shall say no more: The ark of the covenant of the LORD; neither shall it come to mind; neither shall they make mention of it; neither shall they miss it; neither shall it be made any more. 17 At that time they shall call Jerusalem The throne of the LORD; and all the nations shall be gathered unto it, to the name of the LORD, to Jerusalem; neither shall they walk any more after the stubbornness of their evil heart.

Sometimes all you can convert is one from a city, two from a family. Do not despair.
When the right time comes, people will no longer lionize symbols, such as the ark, or our modern political parties. They will instead know the truth about God's plan and Israel's destiny, and regard Jerusalem as the city of God.
Oh, and don't worry if you can't reach every door. Your blog goes where you can't.

Stacey said...

I love what you have to say about living here. I know how you feel. We moved here in June and were shocked at the lack of avodas yisroel between Jews. All we heard about was this group was for this issue and this one does serve in the military and this one learns full-time. Frankly, we thought after becoming frum and moving here for a while that things would seem MORE united, not less.

I heard in school that the Gush residents were a gilgul for the shvatim that did not want to go into Eretz Yisroel. I heard that since the Gush people loved their land so much and did not want to give it up they atoned for the prior aveira of the shvatim and thus we are one step closer to moshiach, IY"H. Who knows? But I thought it was cool.

Jameel @ The Muqata said...

Daat Y: When Haaretz started in the days of the old yishuv, they would be considered "Kach" by today's standards.

FrumGirl said...

Jameel you asked me about aliyah. I plan on addressing it on my blog one of these days. i do look up to you for having the strength to already have done it.

Jameel @ The Muqata said...

FrumGirl: I was very fortunate to have made aliya the second I finished college. I hopped on a plane (with $50) and never looked back.

Baruch Hashem, things have worked out very well.

If I can make it here; almost anyone can.

MC Aryeh said...

Had no idea that was the motivation of the spies. I always find it so daunting to read how low that generation fell. What hope is there for us then?

I would love to live in Eretz Yisrael. In some ways, I have never left there. It was smart of you to go right after college. At this stage, for me, there are too many things to keep me in the U.S, right now - family, parnassa issues, and single hood. But that is another story for another time and a different blog post..

Jameel @ The Muqata said...

MCAryeh: Well, when you are ready to come, just let me know, and I'll do whatever I can to help.

The smartest thing I ever did was making aliya the secod I finished school. It would only have been smarter had I stayed in Israel after learning in Yeshiva in Israel and never to have left in the first place.

westbankmama said...

Kol Hakavod to you for going door-to-door. I find that I am too shy to do this, and personally I think that I relate to Anglos better (after 15 years here and living in a mostly Israeli yishuv my Hebrew is good - but not perfect).

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