History is one of the greatest of educators for the wise.
Whoever disregards the events of the past may be compared to
a blind man walking alone, risking his life by stumbling on
stones and into pits. This person, too, errs in his path of
life, stumbling and sometimes even endangering himself.
Moshe Rabbeinu warned us about this very tersely: "Remember
the days of old, consider the years of many generations, ask
your father and he will tell you, your elders, and they will
relate to you" (Devorim 32:7).
Let us consider for a moment the history of our nation. For
thousands of years we have been exiled from country to
country, experiencing one calamity after another. However,
each period of destruction was invariably followed by a
process of renewal. The remnants of the nation always found
themselves fortified, ready to overcome obstacles, and
drawing hope and vitality from the eternal Torah, its
mitzvos and the unique way of life of the Jewish people.
Of course, it goes without saying that, during each period
of our history, and especially during difficult times, there
were many who did not manage to stand up to the challenge,
distancing themselves from Jewry and eventually assimilating
among the nations. They rejected their Judaism for
themselves and future generations, becoming apostates to
their religion.
This phenomenon itself proves the relationship between the
continued existence of the Jewish nation and the Torah,
since there is no trace left of the descendants of those
assimilated Jews. If everybody would, chas vesholom,
stop observing the Torah, the whole nation would necessarily
disappear R"l. The anusim of Spain are a case
in point: they and their Judaism have virtually vanished.
Therefore, the answer to the question, "What is the secret
of this nation's continued existence?" is clear and simple.
The unified Jewish nation's existence, characterized by its
wisdom, fine character traits, and all those other
outstanding qualities which are responsible for our
honorable status amongst the nations (and also for the
jealousy and hate towards us), is based solely on the
observance of Torah and mitzvos and on the nature of our
deeds, which resemble those of our holy ancestors, the
founders of the nation, Avrohom, Yitzchok and Yaakov, who
serve as a light unto all the nations.
Fundamental to the transmission of the Torah is the
education of our sons and daughters. < i>Hakodosh Boruch
Hu has warned us about this in Krias Shema, "And
you shall teach them to your children and you shall talk
about them" (ibid. 6:7), to tell our children how we
were chosen to be Hashem's nation, as it says (Shemos
13:8), "And you shall tell your son on that day, saying: `It
is because of that which Hashem did for me when I came out
of Egypt,' and also `by trials, by signs, and by wonders,
and by war, and by a mighty hand, and by an outstretched
arm'" Devorim 4:34).
As we know, the Christian church disseminated the Torah
amongst millions of people who consider it a holy book, and
it has been translated into all languages. Many people
believe in it, and ever since it was given to us, the
scholars amongst the nations have become familiar with
it.
All this gives us an appreciation of the Divine Providence
in history. After the terrible churbon of the last
World War, most world leaders met in 1947 in New York, the
biggest and most famous town in the world and the home of
the United Nations, and decided to return Eretz
Yisroel to the Jewish people. This was a truly
remarkable event. When the extent of the destruction wrought
by the Nazis became well- known, the world's conscience knew
no rest, since the nations had looked on as the reshoim
yemach shemom vezichrom made us suffer intolerably.
Consequently, the nations of the world came up with the
declaration: "The Creator promised the Land of Israel to the
Jewish nation; let us give them back their homeland."
According to all the rules of war and conquest, the
conqueror becomes the owner and ruler of the vanquished
territory. The loser loses everything. At least, that was
the situation before the twentieth century. (The fact that
this has changed in recent times is another matter, which we
will not go into now.) This is also the Torah's view, as it
says, "The territory of Ammon and Moav became `purified'
[for acquisition by the Jewish people] through [the
occupation] of Sichon" (Gittin 38a). In other words,
Sichon acquired ownership of territory he had taken
possession of through war and conquest.
Regarding Eretz Yisroel too, Chazal state
(Megilla 10a), "The first holiness was conferred at
the time [of Yehoshua's conquest] but not for all future
generations," and when the Jewish nation was exiled after
the destruction of the first Beis Hamikdosh, the
kedusha of Eretz Yisroel expired.
The same process should, on the face of it, have taken place
after we were exiled for the second time by the Romans (even
though the halocho is not like that, and the second
kedusha was conferred at the time and for all future
generations: see Rambam Hilchos Terumos 1:5). Our
land was taken over by the conquerors and we lost any rights
we had in it, especially taking into account the fact that
two thousand years have passed since then. In the light of
history, then, the U.N. decision seems absolutely
astonishing. Which document or other source served as a
basis for their resolution? (Obviously, they would not admit
that their conscience was motivating them.)
The answer is obvious. The Torah is the only eternal
document! The Torah which contains Hashem's promise to
Avrohom Ovinu (Bereishis 17:8): "And I will give to
you, and to your descendants after you, the land of your
sojourning, all the land of Canaan for an everlasting
possession."
This promise is repeated later to Yitzchok, Yaakov, Moshe
Rabbeinu and the whole Jewish people about thirty times! The
nations of he world are well aware of this, and they also
realize that "an everlasting possession" means that even
after being exiled from this country, this people will
return and possess it (See the Ramban's commentary on
Lech Lecho 15:18). In fact, the declaration of the
United Nations states: "The Torah is the eternal testimony
for the eternal right of the Jewish people to the land of
Palestine."
Incidentally, this is an indication of the mysterious
workings of Providence. I remember how people were saying
during the dark days of the destruction of European Jewry
during the last war, that Hashem had abandoned His people
and was "sleeping" R"l. In the end, however, Dovid
Hamelech had the last word: "The Guardian of Israel slumbers
not, nor sleeps." After the terrible churbon, and
actually because of it, we returned to our land, and
Hashem's Providence was revealed to all, when His promise to
Avrohom Ovinu four thousand years ago was fulfilled.
A student of history should immediately be struck by the
fact that the nations of the world, in their declaration,
determined, beyond any doubt, that the Jews of today are the
descendants of those people who were exiled from Eretz
Yisroel almost two thousand years ago! The members of
this weak nation, who have passed through almost every
country and have maintained their identity in spite of many
attempts to destroy them through all these years, these
people of today are the certain heirs of their ancestors'
homeland, being the descendants of Avrohom, Yitzchok and
Yaakov.
Let us pause a moment to consider what this means. Is there
another nation to be compared to this one, that can trace
its lineage with certainty over a period of two thousand, or
even one thousand years? Can the Greeks of today proclaim
that they are the descendants of the ancient Greeks? Can the
Egyptians, the Italians, or any other nation in the world
today prove their ancestry? They cannot, because Sancheriv
mixed up all the nations, and since then countless wars and
other events have taken place, resulting in constant
movement of peoples between countries and consequent
"intermarriage" between different national and racial
groups. (Of course, we are not talking here about groups
with obvious external features such as black-skinned or
Chinese people).
What is it that connects so many generations and countries?
What identifies the Jew and shows him clearly to be the
descendant of the "original" Jews? We say in the
Haggodo, " `And he became there a nation,' which
teaches that the Jews were distinguished there." What is it
that to this day distinguishes us from the non-Jewish
world?
The answer is simple. The eternal Torah, which we have
always kept, has shaped us and our way of life, and has been
proof throughout our history of our lineage.
The Rambam, at the end of hilchos Sefer Torah, after
delineating the laws pertaining to the kedusha of a
sefer Torah and the duty to honor it, concludes as
follows: "Anyone sitting near a sefer Torah must be
in a serious frame of mind and full of awe, for it is the
faithful witness for the whole world, as it says, `And it
shall be there for you as a witness.' "
In other words, the Torah is our proof to the world that we
are the nation who received the Torah, that we observe it,
and that we exist by virtue of it.
In short, it is clear beyond doubt that our right to this
land is rooted in the holy Torah. It is the only document
which confirms our eternal acquisition of Eretz
Yisroel, and it served as the basis of the U.N. decision
to authorize our return to it. Therefore, if a government of
the State of Israel which was established with the
encouragement of this declaration, asserts in front of the
whole world that this is a country governed by the rule of
law and not by the Torah, this constitutes not only a
rebellion against the Torah which we received at Sinai, but
also a denial of thousands of years of history, and even a
contradiction of the foundations of the U.N. declaration.
These people, the leaders of the first post-destruction
Jewish State in the Holy Land (as it is known by everybody,
after the holy Torah, which sanctifies us and our land), to
our sorrow and shame, have cast off the yoke of Torah and
mitzvos. Their whole philosophy consists of imitating all
the other nations.
This may be compared to a son who has received everything
from his parents. When he grows up, he turns his back on
them and, ignoring everything they have done for him,
pretends not to know them. Is there anything more terrible
than that? Is it not cruel to repay evil for good?
In this country there are more than one million Jewish
children who do not know the Shema Yisroel! Is it
possible that State schools in this country do not teach the
entire Chumash? How long can a government last which
alienates itself from the fundamental values for which our
ancestors gave up their lives?
This State, which was founded on such weak and distorted
foundations, has not known a day of rest or peace with its
internal or external neighbors. Thousands of Jews have been
murdered and many more wounded by our Arab enemies. There is
always talk of peace with the Arabs, but it has not come.
They make an alliance with murderers and are willing to hand
over large territories of the country. The Torah has already
foretold this (Bamidbor 33:55): "Those that you let
remain of them shall be as thorns in your eyes, and as
pricks in your sides, and they shall harass you in the land
wherein you dwell."
There is no possibility of peace being established if we do
not keep the whole Torah and all its commandments. That is
what the Creator warned us about in the beginning of
Parshas Bechukosai, "If you walk in My statutes, and
keep My commandments, and do them, then I will give peace in
the land, and you shall lie down, and none shall make you
afraid." Similarly, we say every Thursday at the end of the
tefilloh: "But My people listened not to My voice,
and Israel was not willing towards Me. So I let them go
after the stubbornness of their heart, that they might walk
in their own counsels. Oh that My people would listen to Me,
that Israel would walk in My ways! I would soon subdue their
enemies, and turn My hand against their adversaries."
All that is left for us is to strengthen our emunoh
and our Torah, and to pray to our Father in Heaven that He
may have pity on His nation, that He may say, "Peace, peace
to him that is far off, and to him that is near," and that
He may send us His Moshiach and redeem us fully, so
that we may see fulfilled the time when "Hashem will reign
forever, Your G-d, O Tzion, unto all generations,
Hallelukoh."
HaRav Leib Heiman is the rav of the Gra Shul in Bayit
Vegan, Jerusalem.
