Jews: The People of the Future


I am feeling contemplative at the end of this special holiday season which began with Rosh
Hashana, ten days later the holiest day of the Jewish year, Yom Kippur-the Day of Atonement-and culminated in the very festive and special holiday of Sukkot and Shemini Atzeret--23 days of prayer, introspection and celebration--and after almost  a month of no blogging, I decided to finally blog, after having read a post by Rabbi Avraham Arieh Trugman about the nations of the world converging on Jerusalem, to show their support for Israel and the Jewish People.

My last post was about the savagery and inhumanity of Islamic extremists. I have written before of the world 's antisemitism and Israel's seeming isolation among the nations of the globe. We read in the Torah portion read on Sukkot that in the end of days, all the non-Jewish nations will come to Jerusalem to serve Hashem.

This sounds like a fantasy, because in today's world,  Israel is being vilified and denigrated, mocked and threatened with extinction by its enemies which surround it (although enemies of Israel are located all over the world, though less so in the West). Still, looking at the Jewish People historically, and seeing the outstanding achievements that the tiny country of Israel has accomplished in its as yet short history of the state, one sees the defying of all odds, lending credence to that fantasy, and credence to the Torah.

In the long run, we can only count on Hashem (G-d) to fulfill His promise to us, yet it is comforting to know that the Jewish people have friends among the nations.  That there are some who recognize the goodness of the Jewish People, and the good that they, and Israel-- have done for the world. They recognize the eternity of the Jewish People.

As we have just read in the Torah parsha "V'zot ha-Brachah," in Dvarim (Deuteronomy)33  לג:

אַשְׁרֶיךָ יִשְׂרָאֵל מִי כָמוֹךָ, עַם נוֹשַׁע בַּיהוָה, מָגֵן עֶזְרֶךָ, וַאֲשֶׁר-חֶרֶב גַּאֲוָתֶךָ; וְיִכָּחֲשׁוּ אֹיְבֶיךָ לָךְ, וְאַתָּה עַל-בָּמוֹתֵימוֹ תִדְרֹךְ.

Happy art thou, O Israel, who is like unto thee? a people saved by the LORD, the shield of thy help, and that is the sword of thy excellency! And thine enemies shall dwindle away before thee; and thou shalt tread upon their high places.

Those who bless Israel shall themselves be blessed.  And those who curse her shall be cursed.


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