Chilling Discoveries in Gaza
Being Jewish is so much more than just being anti-anti-Semitism
A chilling report from countless IDF soldiers in Gaza reveals that nearly every home in Gaza has a picture of the Dome of the Rock—the Muslim shrine that sits atop the Temple Mount in Jerusalem behind the Western Wall, famously known as the Dome of the Rock. Indeed, the name that Hamas gave to this war is “Al Aqsa Flood,” referring to this same Jerusalem shrine which is called Al Aqsa in Arabic.
It seems clear that what motivated Hamas terror organization to initiate this war is not a mere desire for anarchy and unrest, but rather nothing less than the conquest of Jerusalem, fulfilling the Hamas charter of an Islamic country “from the (Jordan) River to the (Mediterranean) Sea.”
And what is motivating the Jews?
Is it merely a desire to defend ourselves and be able to live in peace with our hostile neighbors? Surely there has to be more to defending the harassment and outright murder of our people than shrugging off their behavior as insane and unacceptable. No one ever won a game through playing defense alone. Logically, it’s not possible to beat an enemy motivated by passionate aggression through a war of dispassionate defensiveness alone—there’s got to be a reason that we are fighting for that will motivate us to proactively banish the hate and replace it with our mission.
It’s in Parshas Terumah that G-d lays it out for us loud and clear. After having been successfully freed from Egyptian slavery, the Jews needed something to live for—beyond merely having a problem to escape from. In one of the most life-altering statements of human history, G-d then declares that the mission of the Jewish nation is “And they shall create for me a sanctuary and, thus, I shall dwell amongst them (Exodus 25:8).”
In this succinct verse, G-d infuses us with the purpose of passion and a clearly defined goal which we are set to achieve over thousands of years. Our mission is to transform the Promised Land into the Holy Land, through the construction of our Temple in Jerusalem, where it will serve as a physical address for G-d upon this Earth. Ever since that moment, our collective ancestors have risked their lives to reach the Land of Israel—to fight for her and defend her—in order to be able to merit making her the home that Hashem desired her to be.
Admittedly, when you’ve been doing things for a long time they have a habit of getting dated. The Dome of Rock has only been in existence for less than 1400 years since the late 7th century when it was built by the caliph ‘Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan. The Jewish Temple in Jerusalem was prepared by King David nearly 3000 years ago and was completed by his son King Solomon in 957 BCE. Doing the same thing for 3000 years can sometimes lead one to forgetfulness. Whenever we Jews fail to recall our duties, our enemies are the ones who remind us. Sadly, they are our most effective teachers.
Indeed, Israel is the only nation on earth that bears the same name, inhabits the same land, worships the same G-d, and speaks the same language as it did 3000 years ago. It’s time for us now to enthusiastically embrace the call of our nation’s charter as stated explicitly in this week’s Torah reading.
Israel’s Chief Rabbi Israel Meir Lau was invited to the home of former Israeli Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion on April 13, 1972, to discuss some Torah questions that the latter had for the rabbi:
“He asked if we could meet up to discuss these issues at Sde Boker, as rheumatism had made it difficult for Ben-Gurion to walk. I considered this a great honor indeed. When we met up, we discussed his questions for several hours, but I had one question of my own.
“David”, I asked, “For years I have been telling a story that I had heard about you during the period of the British Mandate of Palestine. I would like to confirm if this story is true or not”.
“What is the story in question?” asked Ben-Gurion.
I proceeded to tell him what I had heard. It happened in 1937, at the time that the Peel Commission was presiding over the British mandate of Palestine, as Israel was then known, trying to decide what to do about the Arab-Jewish conflict. The Peel Committee was the only committee to suggest canceling the British mandate, the same decision that the UN came to in 1947. At the time of the Peel Commission, Ben-Gurion was the head of the Jewish Agency and was the last witness to appear before the Peel Committee to appeal in favor of a Jewish state. Ben-Gurion spent over three hours explaining the linkage between the Jews and the Land of Israel, stating, “This is our home”.
Everybody was impressed by Ben-Gurion’s testimony. Everyone, that is, except for Lord Peel.
“Mr Ben-Gurion, may I ask you a question?” said Lord Peel.
“Of course you can, that is why I am here”, replied Ben-Gurion.
“Where were you born?”
“Plonsk” came the reply.
“Where is Plonsk?”
“Poland.”
A large period of silence came after the reply. Finally, Lord Peel said in the barest whisper, “Very strange indeed. All of the Arab leaders who have appeared before me were born in Palestine. Most of the Jewish leaders who have appeared before me were born in Eastern Europe.”
Lord Peel spoke up, saying “Mr Ben-Gurion, the Arab people have a Kushan (title deed) entitling them to this land.” A Kushan was an Ottoman land deed. “Do you have a document saying that Palestine belongs to you?”
At that point, Ben-Gurion became aware of the Bible in his hand that he swore upon whilst taking the oath to be witness to the commission, and he held it up triumphantly exclaiming “Here is your Kushan, here is your document. It is the world’s most highly respected book, and I believe that you British regard it with much respect too. We must have this land.”
Back in 1973, I asked Ben-Gurion in his desert home “Is this story really true? Did you hold up a Tanach and say ‘Here is your document?’”
Ben-Gurion smiled and said “Emet Veyatziv”, it is true and it is certain.
I had another question to ask Ben-Gurion. I asked, “Imagine you have a document that entitles you to a land. Then you destroy it. You crumple it up, shred it, and tear it. Try and present this document to a committee as proof of entitlement for a piece of land. The committee will not accept it in its torn and tattered condition. But look at the Jewish people. We pick and choose certain laws. We consider some laws archaic. In effect, we are destroying our own document. How can we therefore use it as entitlement to the Land of Israel?”
David Ben-Gurion was a very smart man. So smart, in fact, that he refused to answer the question.”
The good rabbi was kind enough to allow the former Prime Minister’s silence to suffice. But Hamas today refuses to take our silence for an answer. Today, we are being squeezed harder than we’ve ever been squeezed before—to define our connection to the Land of Israel and to state the reason we’re fighting for her. Today, we have to emerge from the shadows of our nation’s accumulated trauma of generations and proudly declare that the land is ours because G-d Almighty gave it to us, as documented in the Bible—the most published book of all time. Most importantly, we have to show our spine as we proudly announce that the reason why G-d gave us this land is because he is counting on us to build a home for Him there. When we can muster the courage and the character to do this, we will have identified not only the tools towards victory over our enemies—but, even more critically, we will have identified the very purpose of our existence!
If you want to get to know someone, study the art on their walls. Arabs have the Dome of the Rock decorating their homes. What do you have on the walls of your home?
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Rabbi Dovid Vigler
Chabad of Palm Beach Gardens
6100 PGA Blvd, Palm Beach Gardens, FL 33418
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