The biggest party in history!

There’s a party happening this Friday night.  A party so big and so colossal and so earth-shattering that when it first happened, it changed the world.  About 13 million invitations have been sent out so far, so if you did get one, be sure to RSVP for catering arrangements.

Because this Friday night, the Jewish people are celebrating their freedom.  And it will be a mighty celebration indeed.  3500 years may have passed, but our memories do not grow weary with the passage of time.

Around the world Jews will be celebrating the defining moment in our history when we truly became more than just a tribe.  We are celebrating that moment when we became a nation – a nation with a land, a goal and a purpose.

And just as we fought for our freedom back in our original Exodus, we need to continue to fight for it today.  And this time, it’s not a fight against chariots and spears and pharaohs, it’s a fight against something much more powerful.

Today in the year of 2015, we are fighting against an enemy that tanks alone cannot defeat.  And we are fighting against an enemy that knows no surrender.  And we are fighting against an enemy that hides in shadows and can even masquerade as our friends.

Today we are fighting against something that is more powerful that the combined armed forces of the surrounding Arab countries.  We are fighting against more firepower than the entire might of the US military.

Because the enemy we are fighting against today is not a person, or a country, or a place – it’s a concept.  And it’s a concept that says that we shouldn’t exist.  And it’s a concept that pushes the idea that we don’t belong – that we are somehow a foreign body that needs to be removed.  A concept that leads to the violence we see exploding around the world against us.

And the only way to fight this concept that seems to get stronger with each passing day is with another concept – one that is even more powerful.  We need to fight it with our unshakable belief that we belong here.  So while the soldiers of the Israeli army defends the citizens of Israel and indirectly Jews from around the world from physical harm, the Jewish people themselves must defend each other from spiritual harm – and in that battle, we are all soldiers.

For we have an Iron Dome too.  And our Iron Dome is built with the bricks of our history, held together by the cement of our beliefs and powered by the spirit of our people.

I don’t believe that we can ever truly defeat this concept that wants us removed – but ultimately it doesn’t really matter if we do or if we don’t.  Because those who hate us have hated us for a very long time.  And while they can be powerful – they are not powerful enough to define who we are or to change our destiny.

Our destiny is our own – and there is no force powerful enough on earth that can change that.