This year my neighbor in the neighborhood of Rechavia, PM Netanyahu, prayed in the synagogue where I used to pray until recently. I wasn't there because I no longer pray there and especially on Yom Kippur I like to go to other places. But on my way back and on his way back, I saw him walking on my street, next to my building, with his wife and two sons, and a big entourage of security men in the front, in the back and on the sides. It's the first time I see him in real life. He is a bit shorter than I thought, and his wife is really petite. As they were walking, passers-by smiled when they realized they were seeing the PM walking near by, and some of them wished him "Shana Tova, Bibi!" It was funny. I didn't say anything, of course. I think that overall he is doing a good job, but I'm not a big fan of him, anyway.
It was nice - there is even a blessing in Judaism that is supposed to be recited when we see kings and heads of states, but since I wasn't prepared that I was going to see him, it completely slipped my mind. Only later I recalled. But anyway, it didn't move me much. He is just a human being. I feel like he is chosen by G-d to lead us in this crucial period of time, I'm not sure why, and because he has been in power for such a long time now, it feels almost as if he is a king, but he is not the Messiah that every one is waiting for. The Lubavitcher Rebbe once said to him, about 20 years ago, when he was a foreign minister or something like this, that one day he will be a prime minister for many years, and then he will hand out the keys to the Messiah. Funny. It might be so, who knows.
Here is a link to a funny Rosh Hashana video that Bibi released, in Hebrew - if it interests you enough to know what's being said, write to me and I'll tell you:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-9v5fgdx9mY
And just by the way - Messiah for us Jews is another Moshe, another David - not a "god"; He is someone who is from the seed of David.
But even when this spiritual leader is not yet in power, our redemption takes place just the same. Look at what is happening in Israel - the Jewish people has never been in a better situation. Jerusalem has never been so big. When I walk in the streets of my neighborhood, I feel that I'm so privileged to do that, because Jerusalem, even in King David's times and even in King Solomon's times, was tiny. Nothing so big. I don't think that there were any houses in my area back then. Jerusalem is huge now, and when you walk the streets you hear Italian, English, French, Yiddish - all the languages of the diaspora, as Jews return to their ancient home land, and then most of them learn to speak Hebrew. This is such a magical phenomenon, and there hasn't been in the history of the world anything like this. There could never be, because this is completely super-natural, completely divine. And it all is in line with the promises that G-d promised to us in the Bible. And this is the reason why, when I was in Norway, I told my friends there that I don't like the term "Old" Testament. There is nothing old about it - it is eternal, and the fulfillment of the prophecies is a proof to that. All the miracles that happen to us happen to a nation that hasn't embraced any other religion and stayed lovingly faithful to G-d, the one and only G-d, and to His Torah. We live a Torah way of life - we observe Shabbat, we keep Kosher, we keep our biblical holidays - we keep our part in the covenant, and in return, G-d keeps His part of the covenant. Things are not yet perfect, but are getting there in dazzling speed. The glorious State of Israel has been in the world for only 70 years now, and look at its success: in medicine, in technology, in agriculture, in science, there are numerous Yeshivahs (religious institutions in which men just sit and learn Torah) - this is not thanks to the efforts of the Jewish people. It can't be anything that humans can do. There is something divine in all of this. Our success is not thanks to our physical efforts, but thanks to the fact that we adhere to G-d's covenant (many of us, though not everyone), and He in return adheres to us. It's amazing to see all the non-Jewish tourists who come here from every corner of the world, and admire what they see. They come here to learn about the secret of our success, but the secret is simple - G-d, and only Him.
The miracles that are happening with Israel now are the biggest ones the world has ever known - bigger even than our Exodus from Egypt! The Exodus was huge, really, but what is happening now is so much bigger, so much more complex, so much more impressive - thank G-d!!
The Israeli Bureau of Statistics published some amazing numbers about the year that passed: 89% of the citizens of Israel say they are happy - they are happy with the place they live, happy with their job, happy with their country. Tourism is flourishing - 3.9 tourists came to Israel last year and left here around 21 billion shekels. Israel's economy is doing great at a time that many places in the world experience economical crisis: there have been around 7 million flights this year of Israelis flying abroad (some people flew more than once, so the total number of their flights are counted). 7,460 Hebrew books were published here this year. It's about 20 new books per DAY, for such a small country... It makes one think about our name among the nations: The People of the Book... Again, it is nothing we can take credit for - this is G-d's doing, and we are the recipients. After almost 2000 years of bitter exile, of persecutions, of humiliation - the Jewish nation is finally back home and experiences an amazing blessing. We do not only survive here, in the midst of millions of hostile Arabs all around us, many of whom vow to annihilate us - we actually thrive, prosper and flourish here in a way that is not humanly possible. It's all G-d's doing, and we are the recipients, because we keep His Torah, and because He wants to show the world that His words are true, that His promises and prophecies are true, that His covenant with us is not "old". Everyone who comes here is shocked to see how beautiful and advanced this country is, and everyone wants to stay here, even those who can't, because there is something special here that is hard to define, but people feel it - it's the presence of G-d. And it is a proof that G-d exists, because this land has been in such a desolation for almost 2000 years, and now it is blossoming beyond imagination.
The Biblical prophecies are coming true, and it causes people who grew up like me in the secular education system to open their eyes and realize that we are part of something HUGE! We are part of the most exciting story of human history. It causes this feeling not just to us, secular Jews, but also to many people from almost every nation of the world, who find out that something really BIG is happening.
I got a text message a few days ago from a non-Jewish friend of mine who lives abroad. She always had an interest in Judaism, a big love for Israel and a
strong connection to G-d. She told me that her country is going through some difficult times, and that it makes her think. She wonders, is G-d trying to
tell her people something? Do they have to repent? I'm thinking of all the countries in the world that go through troubles - the USA and Japan with crazy, dangerous weather, Venezuela with poverty and so many people running away from the country, Syria with that endless war, Yemen with that endless war, etc.
I told her that the way I see it, this is perhaps G-d’s way
of calling out to her nation – to the nation as a whole and to every
individual in it - to return to Him, to do Teshuvah (repentance), to believe in
G-d and to develop a personal relationship with Him. To think about the meaning
of life. Why are we here in this world? Why are we here for such a short time?
Why is there so much suffering? What is my role and mission in this world?
Each person was sent here, to this world, with their own
unique role and mission, with their own set of unique talents and capabilities
with which they can benefit the world. Man’s purpose is not to just make more
money and then spend it ‘having fun’: traveling, shopping, going to the most
luxurious hotels, buying the most expensive cars, etc. Such material life is
tantamount to death. People who live this way feel dead inside, completely
disconnected from their inner, spiritual core, from their soul. Man’s role in
life is to know G-d in every thing that he does and to benefit people around
him to the best of his abilities. The secret formula to happiness is not just
more ‘fun’, it’s more giving, being more useful to others, being kinder to people, doing more good in
this world and making this world a better place, with everything that we have –
with our hearts, with our hands, with our money, with our talents, with our words.
Each of us in this world, no matter from which culture, has
a pure, spiritual soul that is dressed in a physical body. Through our soul, we
can connect to G-d, and when we do not connect to G-d, we feel this dark
emptiness inside, we feel hunger and thirst for something that we do not know.
And it leads many of us to try to seek fulfillment in drinking, eating, abusing
other people in different ways, shopping, making more and more money and not
sharing any of it with anyone outside the immediate family. The harder we try to fill ourselves with these
external things, the more famished our souls becomes.
No one is here in this world by mistake. We are all here to
fulfill a mission, a mission that G-d endowed us with, and for which He gave us
our own unique set of strengths and personality traits. A person who ignores
this truth doesn’t really live their life. We all have an inner voice inside
us, that guides us in every decision in life, in every junction in life. We are
not always tuned to it, we do not always trust it or rely on it, and sometimes
we distort it with our own fears and misconceptions. But we are all surrounded
by G-d’s love, and He is guiding us - no matter from which country or nation we are. A material culture in which inner spirit
has no value or meaning makes its members depressed and full of despair. No
wonder that then suicide rates soar high. Human
beings need G-d.
This friend also asked me if I, as a Jew, can pray for
her country, if I can pray for people who are not Jewish. I answered that one of our
roles as Jews is to pray for the whole world. During the holiday of
Rosh HaShana our tradition holds that not only us, but the entire world, are judged by G-d, to see whether we lived up to our potential as human
beings, as spiritual beings who have free choice. Of course I pray, I must pray, and I
often do, for the whole world – for all the nations to discard their idols,
their false gods, and to return to the ONE G-d, the G-d whose miracles
in Israel are so obvious to everyone in the world. I pray for the all the peoples of the world that they would return to G-d and see His big miracles in their lives.
The next question she asked me was how should she, as a non-Jew, pray to
G-d. Does she have to convert to Judaism or can she worship Him through any
religion? She had some experience with another religion, but didn’t feel it was the truth. I told her that of course she can convert to Judaism, if she wants, but she doesn’t have to. She just has to
pray to G-d as the ONE G-d, and to fulfill the Seven Noahide Laws (7
commandments, that are really more than just seven, that non-Jews should
observe to do their part in the scheme of redemption). I sent her this link,
with a prayer book compiled by an orthodox Jewish Rabbi especially for Noahides, non-Jews
who want to follow the G-d of Israel and observe 7 of His commandments without
becoming Jews. Here is the prayer book for non-Jews, for those of you who are interested, it's very close to the Jewish Siddur, and it follows the holidays, and all the other interesting things – you
can print it and pray from it whenever you want:
http://noahideworldcenter.org/wp_en/brit-olam-prayer-book-for-noahides/
Thank you and Shana Tova!
R.