Tuesday 26 October 1999 / Cheshvan 16, 5760

When the attendant of the man of G-d rose early and went outside, he saw a force, with horses and chariots, surrounding the town. "Alas, master, what shall we do?" his servant asked him. "Have no fear," he replied. "There are more on our side than on theirs." Then Elisha prayed: "L-rd open his eyes and let him see." And the L-rd opened the servant's eyes and he saw the hills all round Elisha covered with horses and chariots of fire. The Arameans came down against him, and Elisha prayed to the L-rd: "Please strike this people with a blinding light." And He struck them with a blinding light, as Elisha had asked.
--II Kings 6:15-18

This is a perfect illustration of how we do not always see what is around us. As I have said before, things are not always as they appear. Throughout the Haphtorah readings of the first Torah portions, there is a theme of vision and seeing. What is it that we should be seeing? As I read the Haphtorah of Bereshit (Isaiah 42:5- 43:10), I contemplated this question and prayed for the blindness Isaiah describes to lift.

In our day there are many people who strive to advance ideas that are "politically correct". We are told to view the world according to the dictates of the government, the media, or some political party, and ignore such "antiquated" viewpoints as those found within the Torah. But the Torah was, and is, the blueprint for Creation. It is not only the ultimate reality--It is reality! If we want to see this reality we need to understand that life is an illusion and that we must define it in terms of something more concrete. The Torah is G-d's view of the world, and in a world of deception, it is the only real truth. It defines the difference between fact and fiction, between those who seek the truth and those who defy it. People who ignore the Torah and reject G-d's law deprive the world of the peace it deserves. Our newspapers and televisions testify to this everyday. The world cannot see it, however, because they have rejected reality and have embraced the illusion.

What does it do for us? It keeps us from feeling the despair that so often grips our hearts. It teaches us to walk in faith and believe that no matter how bad the circumstances are, all is truly in G-d's hands. "Gam zeh l'tov"--"This, too, is for good." If we accept this and understand it, then life will not defeat us. We need to lift up our eyes and live in the light, rather than lowering them and stumbling in darkness.

Such was the life of Avraham Avinu (Abraham, our father). He chose to set out from his home and follow the command of G-d. He left the comfort of his beginnings and endured a long, hard journey to find the land which we now call home. It was a dangerous and difficult trip. However, Avraham did not allow his physical circumstances to influence his decision. Even when he couldn't understand or fathom what the outcome of G-d's instructions might be, he trusted G-d and obeyed His voice. Avraham's reality was his walk with G-d, his trust in His perfect will. Even in a world dominated by the delusionary belief in pagan gods, he looked beyond what his physical eyes could see--the cosmetic cosmos--and saw the depth of the real world--the hidden olam (world).

Today we read about Avraham. He is supposed to be our example. He was given the Covenant that included the promise for him and his descendants, who would inherit the Land. Avraham asked: "How shall I know that I will inherit?" For Avraham, who was a pioneer of faith and had no precedent to look to, this may have been an understandable question. Yet, sadly, this question seems to have become an inherent part of the Jewish soul. "How can we be sure we really belong here?" Just the question itself was an opening to allow opposition to G-d's perfect will for the Jewish People.

In the midst of receiving the Covenant, Avraham had the terrifying experience of seeing his children's exile into Egyptian slavery. G-d told him: Know well that your offspring shall be strangers in a land not theirs, and they shall be enslaved and oppressed four hundred years; but I will execute judgement on the nation they shall serve, and in the end they shall go free with great wealth....And they shall return here in the fourth generation, for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete.(Gen. 15:14,16)

Just as G-d told him, the children of Israel did descend into Egypt and become slaves of Pharaoh. They did eventually leave with great wealth and return to the Land, as promised. However, they, too, asked themselves if this was really their inheritance, for the Amorites, who lived in the Land, were giants. Deeply inborn in the souls of these former slaves of Pharaoh, these people who had witnessed the plagues and the miracles, ached the question: "How can we know we will inherit?" Of course, when Avraham asked this question he was merely requesting a clarification as to his understanding of G-d's promise. It was not to question whether G-d would actually fulfill His promise. Because of this, his question was not counted as a sin. His children, however, did not really believe G-d. They asked the question in order determine whether G-d would even keep his promise. They reasoned that if G-d intended to keep His promise, then why were giants living in the Land? The presence of these giants terrified them. Their fear and disbelief tainted their view of reality, and they lost the resolve to acquire that which had been given to them. Avraham's question was not held against him; he remained stalwart in his faith. Yet, when his children asked the same question it was considered sin, for it challenged their faith to the core of their souls. Words have creative power--for good or bad, for life or death. The disheartening report of the spies shook the faith of the entire people. Their hearts couldn't hold onto the truth of the Torah that they had just received, in spite of the mighty outstretched arm of the L-rd that had set them free. Their view of reality was an illusion, and their fate testifies to the consequence of questioning G-d and refusing to follow His instructions. The doubts of the spies, convinced the people that G-d would be unable to give them their inheritance and that their dream was hopeless. They saw themselves as grasshoppers, rather than Torah giants that would make the hearts of the Amorites tremble. Their disbelief plunged them in an "alternate reality"--a universe where they would struggle for 40 years, a universe where faith in Torah was set aside until others would fulfill His word. But G-d would keep His promise despite their denial, and eventually HIS reality would prevail. It is a shame we cannot learn from their mistakes and failures--Or maybe we can!

Today, again, we have a choice. We can see ourselves as the heirs of Avraham, who have been ingathered from the four corners of the earth to return to repossess the Land. Or we can believe what the world and the Arabs want us to believe--that we are usurpers and thieves who have no right to be here. This choice will shape our lives--in the light of Torah or under the dark, deceptive veil of the mundane. The only question is how much hardship we must endure before G-d's reality prevails. The final decision will depend upon whether we have learned and whether we have come to understand that the precepts and precedents of the Torah are not just stories, but spiritual lessons in reality. We have the choice to believe or not, and it will make all the difference in the world--just as it did for that generation of the wilderness. G-d has given the promise, but He has also told us that there are consequences to be paid for rejecting that promise.

The servant of Elisha feared what his eyes saw. They were surrounded by a strong enemy army, and the situation looked hopeless. Elisha, however, knew that there was more beyond what the physical eyes could see. We have heard stories of angels being seen in Israel's modern battles. Even Arabs have told about seeing angels and running the other way. Just as in the days of Israel's first armies, we do not stand alone--if we stand in faith with the Living G-d of Israel, the L-rd of Hosts. We need to understand that Torah is reality; all else--especially if it contradicts Torah--is merely an illusion--a very dangerous illusion, a camouflaged trap.

The following two letters to the Jerusalem Post put forth the two opposing views prevalent in Israel today. The first letter is an example of the "illusion" that looks so real. It focuses on the "giant" obstacle to peace, and our "senseless" desire to keep the Land that G-d gave us in the face of "threats" to our very existence. It can be found at: http://www.jpost.co.il/com/Letters/305.html

Re: Halacha and Relinquishing the Land

How simple the concept in Halacha and Relinquishing the Land, how difficult its implementation. Easy for the Rabbis to warn "don't give up any of our land", as if we're speaking of some empty territory which is about to be populated by one people or another.

Just in case you have forgotten, we're locked in a regional life-and-death struggle now going into Israel's third generation, over a small sliver of land barely outsizing the Yellowstone National Park, or the State of New Jersey.

How much more fighting, dying and crying does she suggest the Jewish People in Israel endure while "holding on to biblical Eretz Yisrael" - in the face of hundreds of thousands of Moslems and Christians whose Koran and Bible tell a slightly different story of this land's inhabitants/owners?

Who are we, the Jews of the 20th/21st Century, to tell THEM that WE are the true owners? At what cost in blood and tears? How many more Intifadas and military administrations over hostile Arab civilians?

Or, perhaps, we should make YESHA Arabs voting citizens - oops...non-voting 2nd class citizens?

I, for one, want a different future for my children and THEIR children, than the Israel I inherited from my parents.

The quest for accommodation with the Palestinians is rooted in the belief that the risks being taken for Peace far outweigh the continued reality of imminent war, strife, death, destruction and tears... on BOTH sides.

This region needs one generation of Peace to destroy the radical forces which stand in the way of coexistence... one generation of Arab youth which will not have to explain a father's violent death, or that of a brother or uncle - or the destruction of the family home. Non-belligerence has a way of growing on you when your objectives are to get an education, move ahead economically, prosper in your chosen avocation - rather than look for the nearest HAMAS office for attaining membership.

However "cold" such Peace, it is preferable to a perpetual state of tension and battlemania. With all the complaints re the frigid "Peace" with Egypt, would one care to speculate on what kind of hell on earth Israel would have had to endure in the past 20 years of holding on to Sinai, peering in constant readiness across the Suez Canal?

Here is my response to that "illusion":

Relinquishing the Land

There seems to be a great fear in Israel of standing firm in our right to the Land. It is expressed with such words as:

"How much more fighting, dying and crying does she suggest the Jewish People in Israel endure while "holding on to biblical Eretz Yisrael" - in the face of hundreds of thousands of Moslems and Christians whose Koran and Bible tell a slightly different story of this land's inhabitants/owners?"

So I guess what we're being told is that if we believe the Torah, we accept HaShem's promises of the Covenant, and we sanctify His Name--as Ezekiel 36 says our return to the Land does-- we're all going to die. Didn't the 10 spies come back to Moses with the same opinion? That should have taught us that it's very dangerous to spurn the Land G-d has given us our People.

With blessings from Zion,
~Miriam~