PERSPECTIVE

 

Perspective.
This is the first word that comes to mind as I witness the amazing events unfolding today.

Jewish history is very long. Our scripture and holidays have enabled us to recall the miracles that sustained us for time immemorial.

The Pesach Haggadah says it well: " In every generation they rise to destroy us, but God saves us from their hands."

What is true of ancient history, so too recent events and the present.
Maybe more so.

Modern Israel and thus the Jewish Nation was reborn literally and miraculously from the ashes. It is sustained by miracles and continues to this hour.
The "dry bones" prophecy of Ezekiel is for us today.

David Ben Gurion, the first prime minister,  had a nuanced view of God, instinctively observing, "In Israel, if you don't believe in miracles, you are not a realist."

A recurring question that Jews ask themselves is why does the world hate us. Are we committing genocide?  Are we Nazis, as the world insists today.

Why does evil have so much support in its attempts to destroy the Jewish nation?

Shelves of books have been written trying to explain Jew hatred and the passion to bow down to every generation's foremost Jew haters.
The list is as long as history itself, but we can look at current events.

The  "October 7" events that sparked the latest "round" are a case in point. What made "Sunni" Gazans (not just  "Hamas") do what they did and publicize it?
Why did they choose the  name of their attack, the "Al Aksa flood"
Why do  Shia Muslims in Lebanon share the same hatred and goal of total Jewish annihilation?
Why does distant Iran dedicate all its wealth and blood to wiping the Jewish Nation off the map?

Why did Amalek come from far to attack the Jewish Nation as they left Egypt?
The dots are connected in the Haggadah."In every generation.."

A question is further asked: why do "good and civilized people support this evil against the Jewish Nation? Can they not discern good from evil?
The simple truth is that "decent" people don't particularly like our enemies; they just hate Jews

Why, in the "civilized world," were there ecstatic demonstrations in support of Hamas Nazi barbarians and such hate for the Jewish victims?

Even the most "Liberal " Jews could not intellectualize this outpouring of illogical hate.
They could not explain the barbaric actions or fault themselves  for this
(Of course, incorrigibly ill, self-hating Jews had no problem; it was an opportunity )

The demonstrations in favor of Hamas then, as with Iran, have nothing to do with love for barbarism per se but have everything to do with the Jews. Yes, once again.
Another example comes to mind.
The official "Polish Home Army" that fought the Nazi occupation had unfinished work when the Germans were defeated.
Their post-war slogan was "Poland free of Jews!"
They hunted down Jewish survivors  with as much fervor as the Nazis>

Logic?Justice? Good?

"In every generation..."

This week of Pesach, I led a very special tour to the area around the biblical city of Jericho (which a foolish Israeli government gave to the PLO terrorists in 1993 - Oslo)
. I say around Jericho, because it is forbidden and dangerous for Jews to enter the biblical city since the "peace" of Oslo.

For years, the PLO, the EU, and the USA have supported efforts to expand Arab presence in Area C, which, according to "Oslo," is Israeli-controlled territory.
While Arabs built thousands of illegal structures on Israeli territory, the government did not act.
Popular nature spots in "Area C" became "Judenrein" as Arabs terrorized Jewish visitors. The government did nothing.
A handful of young Jews did something.

Thus,  the "Hilltop" movement was born a few years ago.

They choose areas which have become "no-go zones" for Jews due to Arab encroachment and violence and "set up their tents."

We visited one of these areas this week.
A favorite long-time picnic spot is the "Ujha" spring near Jericho in "Area C".
Arabs sent by the PLO crowded the area, and Jews were no longer seen.

We visited a handful of young Jews who changed all of that with their faith, determination, and guts.
Their flocks of sheep now range the entire area, and the intimidating  Arab interlopers are gone!
The Arabs respect Jews who don't apologize or appease.
It is that simple.

Last Pesach, no Jews visited the spring. This year, there were hundreds of cars enjoying an  Eretz Yisrael Jewel.
Why is this year different from other years?

"Ma nishtana", indeed.

Our enemies are on the run, in our backyards, and thousands of kilometers away.
"Psalms 104 " How great are Your deeds."

מה רבו מעשיך