The Week that Was

Two Sticks
Ezekiel 37 begins with the very familiar vision of the dry bones.
"What are these bones?"
"They are the whole House of Israel…."
"Can these bones live?"
The next vision is of two sticks. Hashem tells Ezekiel to take one and write on it "Yehudah", for the House of Yehudah and all his companions. He says to take the other stick and write on it "Ephraim", for the House of Yosef and all his companions. We know that this foretells a time when the ten lost tribes will be re-united with Yehudah, for the revived bones to stand as the whole House of Israel.
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The Dispensation of Benyamin
After the Gulf War of 1991, after Madrid, after Oslo, after all the terror and death, Israel is now being told that she has no choice but to accept the "Road Map". The nations are delighted, insisting that this will bring peace to the region and to the world, as if this one area is the cause for the woes of the entire world. It has been pointed out that it would be the most cynical double standard for the United States, on the heels of punishing terrorism in a war with Iraq, to reward terrorism by creating a Palestinian state. Yet that is exactly what is transpiring at this time. And in Israel, after all the years of terror, death, and unspeakable pain, people are still espousing and listening to the same tired platitudes that put our feet on this road to destruction. Why?
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Missed Opportunities
During the course of our lives Hashem presents us with many opportunities. We have a choice of saying “yes” or saying “no.” When we say “no” we should realize that our lives don’t simply continue along the same course, but rather, we regress and pay some price -- perhaps a very heavy price. So why would we say “no?” The simple answer to that question is fear, definitively, lack of faith. We look at the situation from our natural, earthly-plane vantage point, consider it too much of a risk, and decide to play it safe. This principle is true on both a personal and on a national level. Indeed, each of our lives is a microcosm of the nation, with all of its problems and sorrows, hopes and joys.
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What to the terrorists want?
America is disturbed. Whether for, or against, the war in Iraq, people are disturbed. The pictures are disturbing; this just isn’t the American way, George Bush tells the world. The weapons of mass destruction weren’t found in Iraq, so what was the war about, critics of his administration ask. It is all part of “war on terror.”
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"The Pollution of Idols"
At Sinai, G-d revealed Himself to Israel in a way He had never done before. In previous generations such revelations were limited to individuals--individuals who were chosen to build and prepare the Nation of Israel. But at Sinai, He revealed himself to every single person who was a part of this new nation. With the exodus from Egypt came a new revelation--a revelation that confirmed the existence of a "national" relationship with the Creator of heaven and earth.
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Two Funerals
On that day there shall be great mourning in Jerusalem, like the mourning of Hadadrimmon in the Valley of Megiddon. ~Zechariah 12:11
Whenever a passage in the Prophets begins with "on the day" or "in that day", we can know that this refers to some time in the future of the writer. The whole twelfth chapter concerns Jerusalem and what will happen before the coming of the Mashiach. This particular passage, however, refers to something specific-a period of mourning that parallels Biblical times. The Rashi explains these two period of mourning in Biblical days.
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Benyamin Netanyahu and King Saul
On Shevat 7, 5759 (January 24, 1999), MK Yitzchak Mordechai quoted scriptures to tell us how bad a leader he thinks Benayamin Netanyahu is. One of these was about Samuel the Prophet telling King Saul that the kingdom had been torn from him that day. I totally reject his analogy, but rather his remark reminds me of the day Netanyahu became the prime minister of Israel and of the passage in I Samuel about the anointing of Saul.
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What is Reality?
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.
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