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All You Need is Love (and Unity) |
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Tuesday, 01 June 2010 11:20 |
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How can you best describe a Jewish summer? For Seven weeks you count the Sefirat Ha-Omer[1] and you Kvetch, for three other weeks you mourn the Temple’s destruction[2] and you Kvetch, and the rest of the time you just perspire all the time and Kvetch… What is it in this time of the year that we so much Kvetch about? First, like good Jews, let's find the connection between the events that happened in this season during history: In the Hebrew month of Iyar, in the midst of the Sefira, we celebrate Lag B’ Omer, a day associated, among other things, with the Jewish rebellion against the Romans. The destruction of the Temple 2000 years ago (The Churban) marked for Am Yisrael not only the loss of The Place of Worship, but also the start of the 'Galut'[3] where we were forced to leave our land and be dispersed among other nations. It is mainly the loss of our national independence and the social breakdown that mattered. Napoleon once observed that a nation that mourns so vividly an event that happened thousands of years ago – was surely going to eventually reach its revival. Well, it has come true, at least partially. A Jewish State was established; 19 years later we won the Six Day War and liberated Jerusalem (note that both happened in Iyar, the month of Lag B’ Omer). In spite of what should appear to be a great success – the common feeling in Israel is somehow that we are still not really independent. The facts are that time after time we sign “peace” agreements that bring everything except peace. We are obliged to give up territories, and get nothing but terror in return. The US president and Secretary of State nod their heads understandingly as we protest against the firing of Kassam missiles on Sderot and the Negev, but their next sentence is always something about being committed to carrying out the Road Map or the need to give alleviations and make "confidence building" steps towards the Palestinians. In my opinion the answer to all of this is, as it has always been – our force is in our unity. Our sages say that the first Temple was destroyed because the nation of Israel betrayed God and opted for Idol worshipping. During the time of the second Temple, the Idols were gone, people were mostly Tzadikim (righteous) towards G-d, observing all the Mitzvot - but they were quarrelsome towards each other. Due to that causeless hatred among men, the second destruction of the Temple occurred. The remedy must be causeless - or unconditional - love. When we unite, when we stand together and reach out for each other, when we do not forget that while we lead our own peaceful and quiet life, some of our brethren in southern Israel remain under daily threat, when we demand that the governments take proper care of the situation – when we feel responsibility for everyone else, we prove that we deserve full independence and the Geula[4] will surely follow. Let’s hope it appears soon in our days.
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