Rejectionist Theory

The last few chapters of the Torah discuss Moshe Rabbeinu’s concern for the future of the Jewish people. He predicts that there will be a time when complacency will cause the nation to turn away from Hashem, that will lead to their being banished from the land.

The Torah goes on to predict that when the nations of the world will witness this banishment, they will draw a fairly obvious conclusion. They will attribute it to the forsaking of G-d’s commandments. They will understand that the lost glory of the Jewish nation is a punishment for their sins.

These observations led to a very flawed conclusion. They used this rejection of the Jewish people as a proof that it was perfectly in order to begin new religions.

The Kuzari clearly clarified their mistaken conclusion. They told their followers that “G-d once loved the Jews, but because of their sins, they were rejected.” Now G-d loves us Christians. Or in later generations, the Muslims made the same claim that once G-d loved the Jews and Christians, but now He has chosen the Muslims.

This “rejectionist theory” was in place for many centuries, and it was used to justify the validity of two of the great religions of the world.

The emergence of the State of Israel blasted a big hole to this theory. This might be the biggest reason why there have been so many non-Jews converting to Judaism.

They have asked their scholars to explain how this so called “rejected” nation have managed to return to Israel. They have caused the desert to bloom and have built magnificent cities. More than seven million Jews live in this land. And the Israel Defense Forces, are the admiration of the world. The Jewish people are not looking very rejected, to say the least.

Since there is no answer to this question, the truth and validity of these other religions has been put into question. They have a great deal of explaining to do!

We understand that the warnings of the Torah have come true. But we also always knew that the G-d of Israel would never reject His people, and we would return. We must be so grateful to be living in such miraculous and amazing times.