Moshe Kempinski
Israel is being challenged by an American President that believes so deeply
in the power of words that he has forgotten the “power of truth”.
Israel is facing a European continent that is slowly sinking under the
tsunami of radical Islam and has lost the “power of discernment”.
We are also dealing with Israeli leadership that attempts to combat the
pressure but lacking the spiritual eyes of faith makes compromise with
reality.
The storm is brewing and the pressure is growing. The missing light that
would help us navigate through this darkness is the light of the Temple
menorah .Its flickering flame still burns in the hearts of those who have
not lost their connection to their Divine destiny. Yet there are many that
are trying to extinguish those flickering embers as well. It is not
happenstance that the temple menorah was chosen to be the official symbol
of the state of Israel. There were few amongst those that chose it in the
1940’s that knew that the emblem was actually linked to a prophecy of a
menorah in the book of Zecharayah, . In that prophecy we are told of a
vision of a menorah with an olive tree on either side of it and the the
menorah is being fed with olive oil from these branches
And he said unto me: "What do you see ?" And I said: "I have seen, and
behold a menorah all of gold, with a bowl upon the top of it, with its
seven lamps....and two olive-trees by it, one upon the right side of the
bowl, and the other upon the left side thereof." .( Zecharayah 4:1-6 )
There is a mysterious strength and lesson being revealed in the olive tree
and its oil in these verses.
Every morning as I trudge up the little hill from my synagogue to the
entrance into my building, I always feel a sense of exhilaration that I
tried to understand. Just before I enter the building, I walk under a wide,
expansive olive tree. As I stop under it and look to the west, I have an
uninterrupted view of the Jerusalem forest hills for as far as my eyes can
see. I usually take a deep breath and somehow feel filled and whole, even
for only a minute. At first, this began to happen without my being overtly
conscious of it, but after repeatedly sensing that feeling, I began to
ponder its meaning.
I thought of the midrash brought down in Tractate Menachot 51b: "Rabbi
Yehoshuah Ben Levi said: Why is Israel compared to an olive tree? Because
just as the leaves of an olive tree do not fall off either in summer or
winter. So, too, the Jewish people shall not be cast off, neither in this
world nor in the World to Come."
The olive tree also appears in the Midrash Shmot Rabbah (Tetzaveh 36)
discussing the verse in the book of Jeremiah (11:16) comparing the Jewish
people to an olive tree: "God called your name a green olive tree, fair
(zayit ra'anan) with goodly fruit." The midrash expounds offers insights
gleaned from this verse. Just as the olive oil does not get mixed together
with other fluids, so too the Jewish people will never disappear fully into
the cauldron of assimilation. In fact, in a miraculous fashion, despite
being agitated, persecuted and oppressed, the Jewish people, like the oil,
always rise to the top. They rise above those nations oppressing them and
retain their distinct and unique character.
Finally, our sages continue with another thought based on the same verse,
(Tractate Menachot 53bJ "Just as the purpose of the olive is the oil which
is extracted from it, says Rabbi Yitzchak, so too is the purpose of the
exile and all its events realized only after it reaches the end of its
processing." The classic commentator, the Maharsha, explains that only
after the olive has been crushed and pressed to extract its essence can the
fruit's potential truly be revealed.
So it seems that this is the process we are now witnessing
President Obama , Jimmy Carter, Iran's Ahmanidjad and the European union
are simply the olive press.The Olive tree is being crushed and pressed and
the groundwork is being laid for the next chapter of Jewish history
Friday, June 19, 2009
Giants Of The West
Moshe Kempinski
The world is seemingly looming over the small and fragile state of Israel. It is raising its fists in frustration and filling its chest with indignant airs over the incalcitrant Jews of Israel. On the other hand this same world is much more insecure and bruised than it was before the financial crisis.
It is a world which is much more frightened and fragile than it was in before the events of 9/11. Mankind feels a lot more unstable and uneasy in our time as bastion after bastion of security has fallen and anchor after anchor of permanence has been uprooted.
As a result the world is a lot more dangerous to itself in general and to Israel in particular.
Mankind yearns for simple solutions and quick conflict resolution in the best of times. Yet in times of insecurity and confusion it is more easily drawn down that futile path of simplified solutions. It is especially in such times that individuals and leaders arise and speak in comforting sound bites and with packaged metaphors. Such leaders, in such times, can become formidable foes of complicated and layer-deep truths, even if their intentions are well meaning. President Obama has become such a leader.
His administration's proposed peace plan with its two year deadline is an example of the dangers that Israel is confronted with. The new American president has adopted the classic colonialist attitude of coming in to a situation and imposing a solution on the "unruly children" in the third world .In the words of Samantha Powers considered one of president Obama's closest adviser (the Washington Post identified her and retired Maj. Gen. Scott Garion as “closest to Obama, part of a group-within-the-group that he regularly turns to for advice. ;
"What we need is a willingness to put something on the line in helping the situation. Putting something on the line might mean alienating a domestic constituency of tremendous political and financial import;.....also, to support what will have to be a mammoth protection force, not of the old Rwanda kind, but a meaningful military presence. ....Unfortunately, imposition of a solution on unwilling parties is dreadful. It’s a terrible thing to do, it’s fundamentally undemocratic. But, sadly, we don’t just have a democracy here either, we have a liberal democracy. There are certain sets of principles that guide our policy or that are meant to, anyway. It’s essential that some set of principles becomes the benchmark, rather than a deference to [leaders] who are fundamentally politically destined to destroy the lives of their own people.( in an interview in Berkeley in 2002)"
What Israel may be facing then is an administration that toys with the idea of military intervention in Israel on behalf of a Palestinian state.
President Obama's two state solution is in reality, in Benny Begin's words ,a two stage solution for Israel's destruction..Yet there are few in this floundering world that have the nerve and stamina needed to stand up to this man being termed as "the coolest President America has known" . There are few capable of helping President Obama confront reality rather than to be dazzled by his own rhetoric. This administration needs to be reminded that the Middle East is not a third grade class and those are not spitballs that are being thrown around in this region.
Yet at this point the plans and machinations of the west are looming over this country like giants of great powers. It is, as always no coincidence that this week’s Torah portion relates similar fears by the people of Israel as they were about to enter into the "land of Promise".
And they spread an evil report of the land which they had spied out to the children of Israel, saying: 'The land, through which we have passed to spy it out, is a land that eats up the inhabitants thereof; and all the people that we saw in it are men of great stature. And there we saw the Nephilim, the sons of Anak, who come of the Nephilim; and we were in our own sight as grasshoppers, and so we were in their sight.'( Numbers 13:32-33)
They too , saw the obstacles before them as Giants. They too fell into that faulty vision because they lost sense of their own self worth and lost the understanding of the Divine source of their power. They too could not hear the pure faith filled voices of Yehoshua and Calev;
And Yehoshua the son of Nun and Calev the son of Yefunneh, who were of them that spied out the land, rent their clothes. And they spoke to all the congregation of the children of Israel, saying: 'The land, which we passed through to spy it out, is an exceeding good land. If HaShem delights in us, then He will bring us into this land, and give it to us--a land which flows with milk and honey. Only rebel not against the LORD, neither fear the people of the land; for they are bread for us; their defence is removed from over them, and HaShem is with us; fear them not.'( Numbers 14:6-9)
Prime Minister Netanyahu will be answering the American demands on Sunday. It would do him well to read the Torah portion on Shabbat and avoid the cries of those who see themselves as grasshoppers. Rather he should heed the supporting calls of those who have not lost faith and have not abandoned vision. He should fine-tune his soul so that it too could hear the call declared by Calev so very long ago. A call that continues to resonate throughout Jewish history.
“ Ki Yachol Nuchal La; for we are well able to overcome it.(Numbers 13:30)
The world is seemingly looming over the small and fragile state of Israel. It is raising its fists in frustration and filling its chest with indignant airs over the incalcitrant Jews of Israel. On the other hand this same world is much more insecure and bruised than it was before the financial crisis.
It is a world which is much more frightened and fragile than it was in before the events of 9/11. Mankind feels a lot more unstable and uneasy in our time as bastion after bastion of security has fallen and anchor after anchor of permanence has been uprooted.
As a result the world is a lot more dangerous to itself in general and to Israel in particular.
Mankind yearns for simple solutions and quick conflict resolution in the best of times. Yet in times of insecurity and confusion it is more easily drawn down that futile path of simplified solutions. It is especially in such times that individuals and leaders arise and speak in comforting sound bites and with packaged metaphors. Such leaders, in such times, can become formidable foes of complicated and layer-deep truths, even if their intentions are well meaning. President Obama has become such a leader.
His administration's proposed peace plan with its two year deadline is an example of the dangers that Israel is confronted with. The new American president has adopted the classic colonialist attitude of coming in to a situation and imposing a solution on the "unruly children" in the third world .In the words of Samantha Powers considered one of president Obama's closest adviser (the Washington Post identified her and retired Maj. Gen. Scott Garion as “closest to Obama, part of a group-within-the-group that he regularly turns to for advice. ;
"What we need is a willingness to put something on the line in helping the situation. Putting something on the line might mean alienating a domestic constituency of tremendous political and financial import;.....also, to support what will have to be a mammoth protection force, not of the old Rwanda kind, but a meaningful military presence. ....Unfortunately, imposition of a solution on unwilling parties is dreadful. It’s a terrible thing to do, it’s fundamentally undemocratic. But, sadly, we don’t just have a democracy here either, we have a liberal democracy. There are certain sets of principles that guide our policy or that are meant to, anyway. It’s essential that some set of principles becomes the benchmark, rather than a deference to [leaders] who are fundamentally politically destined to destroy the lives of their own people.( in an interview in Berkeley in 2002)"
What Israel may be facing then is an administration that toys with the idea of military intervention in Israel on behalf of a Palestinian state.
President Obama's two state solution is in reality, in Benny Begin's words ,a two stage solution for Israel's destruction..Yet there are few in this floundering world that have the nerve and stamina needed to stand up to this man being termed as "the coolest President America has known" . There are few capable of helping President Obama confront reality rather than to be dazzled by his own rhetoric. This administration needs to be reminded that the Middle East is not a third grade class and those are not spitballs that are being thrown around in this region.
Yet at this point the plans and machinations of the west are looming over this country like giants of great powers. It is, as always no coincidence that this week’s Torah portion relates similar fears by the people of Israel as they were about to enter into the "land of Promise".
And they spread an evil report of the land which they had spied out to the children of Israel, saying: 'The land, through which we have passed to spy it out, is a land that eats up the inhabitants thereof; and all the people that we saw in it are men of great stature. And there we saw the Nephilim, the sons of Anak, who come of the Nephilim; and we were in our own sight as grasshoppers, and so we were in their sight.'( Numbers 13:32-33)
They too , saw the obstacles before them as Giants. They too fell into that faulty vision because they lost sense of their own self worth and lost the understanding of the Divine source of their power. They too could not hear the pure faith filled voices of Yehoshua and Calev;
And Yehoshua the son of Nun and Calev the son of Yefunneh, who were of them that spied out the land, rent their clothes. And they spoke to all the congregation of the children of Israel, saying: 'The land, which we passed through to spy it out, is an exceeding good land. If HaShem delights in us, then He will bring us into this land, and give it to us--a land which flows with milk and honey. Only rebel not against the LORD, neither fear the people of the land; for they are bread for us; their defence is removed from over them, and HaShem is with us; fear them not.'( Numbers 14:6-9)
Prime Minister Netanyahu will be answering the American demands on Sunday. It would do him well to read the Torah portion on Shabbat and avoid the cries of those who see themselves as grasshoppers. Rather he should heed the supporting calls of those who have not lost faith and have not abandoned vision. He should fine-tune his soul so that it too could hear the call declared by Calev so very long ago. A call that continues to resonate throughout Jewish history.
“ Ki Yachol Nuchal La; for we are well able to overcome it.(Numbers 13:30)
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