Ishmael – The Jewish Arab
Conflict from a Torah Perspective
The origin of the conflict between the Jews and Arabs did not begin with the establishment of the state of Israel in 1948 as some would have us believe. It is true that for the most part of history Jews were treated more favourably under Arab and Islamic rule compared to how they fared under Christendom. But the relationship between the two peoples has been far from perfect and of course differed depending on the period of history.
The root of the conflict from a Torah perspective does not take us back to the birth of Islam but much earlier, back to the book of Genesis, to Abraham and the birth of his first son Ishmael. Sarah his wife was barren and could not bear children, so Abraham turned to his maidservant Hagar, they had a son named Ishmael. God tells Abraham:
“And you [Avraham] will call his name Ishmael… He will be a wild man (“pere adam”). And his hand will be on everything and the hand of everyone on him.” (Genesis 16:11-12)
A Pere Adam – Wild Man
The commentators expand on the meaning of the description of being a “Pere Adam,” a wild man. Onkelos says “Ishmael will “rebel against all mankind.” The Ibn Ezra adds “Ishmael will be “unrestrained among people.” The Ramban tells us that, “His descendants will wage war against all the nations.” And Rashi that “His hand will be on everything” – He will be a bandit”
Rav Yehshua Leib Diskin describes: ”Ishmael is not a man with a wild character. He is a wild character who takes the form of a man.”
The commentators tell us that Ishmael and his descendants will pose problems for the entire world, not confined to the Jewish people. We can certainly see today that Islamist fundamentalism and religiously motivated terrorism is a global problem. But our Sages and the Rabbis also tells us about how Ishmael will be the final exile that the Jewish people will suffer at the hands of in the pre-Messianic era. The Chofetz Chaim said:
“Our Torah is eternal, and when it says that ‘he will be a pere adam,’ it means that Ishmael will forever remain a pere adam… Even if the cultured nations of the world attempt to make him in a restrained character, they cannot succeed because he is in essence unrestrained… Oy! Who knows what that pere adam is liable to do to Am Israel sat the end of days…!”1
This does not mean all genetic offspring of Ishmael, not all Arabs are uncivilised. This refers to national and cultural tendencies that is passed on from Ishmael.
On numerous occasions US governments have attempted to “civilise” the Arab world by seeking to overthrow regimes and replace them with western styled liberal democracies. We see this in Iraq, in the Arab “Spring”, where westerners hoped that the people would overthrow dictatorship and choose western freedoms, but this has only led to greater instability and increased power and influence for extremist groups like ISIS, the Muslim Brotherhood and the spread of Iran and her proxies in the region. When the Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat died, president George Bush called on the Palestinians to hold elections with the hope that better peace partners for Israel would emerge. But instead the people voted for a unity government with Hamas entering Palestinian leadership positions for the first time and soon through force took control of Gaza and continue to rule there until this day.
Peace Haters
It says in Psalm 120:
“Woe to me, for I have lived with Meshech; I have dwelled among the tents of Kedar. My soul has long dwelled with those who hate peace. I am for peace but when I speak, they are for war.” (Psalm 120: 5-7)
We learn who Kedar is from the book of Genesis:
“These are the names of the sons of Ishmael, by their names, in their birth order: Ishmael’s firstborn Nevayot and Kedar….” (Genesis 25:13)
The Metzudas Tzion clarifies that “Kedar is one of the Kingdoms of Ishmael.” The Malbim adds, “The residents of Kedar are the quintessence of Bnei-Ishmael/children of Ishmael – “Wild, filled with enmity, and oppressive.” They speak about peace, but in their hearts they are planning war.” The Rambam (Maimonides) in his Epistle to Yemen tells us, “It is no coincidence that Kedar gained special recognition – for that is the very group from which Muhammed descended!”
He goes on to say:
‘Even King David, of blessed memory, when he saw by means of Divine inspiration all the troubles that would befall Israel, cried out and lamented in the name of the people because of the evil in Ishmael’s sons. He said, “Woe to me, for I have lived with Meshech; I have dwelled in the tents of Kedar.” Note that he singled out Kedar from among Ishmael’s sons. This is because their prophet, Muhammed, descended from Kedar, as he reports in his ancestry records. Despite this, we are unable to escape their evil and capriciousness. Whenever we pursue peace with them, they harass us with boycotts and war. As King David said, “I am peace, but when I speak, they are for war.”2
The Rambam’s words in the 1200s echo true to our present day. Anyone familiar with the history of the Arab Israeli peace process will know that attempts to partition the land of Israel into a Jewish state and an Arab state, from the UN partition plan (and earlier proposals) until the present, Israel has been willing to make compromises on land in exchange for peace. The Arab response has been to reject these proposals, preferring to seek the destruction of the Jewish state through launching wars, intifadas, kidnappings, boycotts and terrorism against civilians.
The Rambam continues:
“We are burdened with their subjugation, their perfidy, and their lies beyond the limits of our endurance. It is as our sages have taught: to suffer the lies and falsehoods of Ishmael in silence.” (ibid)
The war between Israel and the Palestinians has in recent years taken on a new dimension, where the battle takes place less on the battlefield but more in the war of ideas and propaganda. Their chief tactic is to deny the Jewish peoples claim to the Land of Israel, by fabricating history, denying that the Jewish people are a people or descend from the biblical Hebrews, branding Judaism as just a religion and that the Jews of today in modern Israel are European converts, who are colonialists, usurping what they believe to be rightful Arab land. But the Rambam teaches us a very insightful lesson relevant to our current conflict with the Muslim world:
“It is well known to you, our brothers, that because of our abysmal sins, the Holy One, blessed is He, cast us among this nation of Ishmael, which treats us very badly. As He decreed, “Our enemies are our judges” (Devarim 32:31). No nation that has stood against Israel has been more antagonistic… As we pursue peace with them, they pursue hostility and war against us. It goes without saying that if we draw attention to ourselves and call ourselves a kingdom with meaningless and false words, we put our lives at risk.” (ibid)
Contrary to what many claim, that the Muslim world loved the Jews and they coexisted side by side, the Rambam still had the above to say about them. He tells us something else though, that ‘if we draw attention to ourselves and call ourselves a kingdom with meaningless and false words, we put our lives at risk.’ That is if we deny our mission and status as a Chosen people who are supposed to live by the Torah and be a light unto the nations, then we will cause problems for ourselves. The Zionist movement did exactly this, it sought to create a secular state in Palestine for the Jews. Modern Israel is not a religious state and the people do not live according to the Torah. Subsequently, we see that Israelis lives are at risk, surrounded by hostile neighbours, Israel has not seen a day of peace since its establishment.
A Non-People – Palestinians
There is a verse in the book of Deuteronomy that reads,“They enraged Me with a non-G-d; they enraged Me with a non people; with a despicable nation I will anger them.”(Deuteronomy 32:21) The Ramban explains a non-people to be “A people that cannot develop a society fit to be called a nation, because they are not organised as a nation is.” On the same verse Rashi explains its meaning to be “A non people – A people that has no name.”
The Palestinians are not an historical nation. There never was an independent Palestinian nation or even a people who considered themselves to be Palestinian before the PLO was established in the 1960’s, where they began to invent a Palestinian identity. The Arabs who lived in Palestine considered themselves to be a part of Syria.3 The name Palestine is the name the Romans gave to the land of Israel after the Philistines, Israel’s enemies that settled on the coastal plain in order to deny the country of its Jewish identity.
The Palestinians are not descended from these people. Even their leaders are not ‘Palestinian,’ Yasser Arafat was born in Egypt, the prominent Palestinian family at the head of the Palestinian Authority, the Erekat’s descend from the Huwaitat tribe that come from Medina in Saudi Arabia who migrated to Jordan and later to Israel.4
The term Palestine and Palestinian referred more often than not to the Jews that lived there prior to 1948. For example, the Palestine Electric company after the states founding became the Israeli Electric company, the newspaper The Palestine Postbecame what is until today The Jerusalem Post. The country, and its industries were in the hands of the Palestinian Jews, who after 1948 became known as Israelis. They did not take a functioning country from an identifiable people who possessed and ran their own country. But with the Arab world rejecting the local Arabs, using them as pawns against Israel and deliberately keeping them in refugee camps, these Arabs who claim to be a nation have and are still causing unrest to the Jewish people.
The Arab claim to the Land of Israel
We are familiar with the usual secular cases brought forward by Israelis and Palestinians as to why each side lays claim to the Land of Israel. Israel points to the historical claim the Jewish people have to the land, that it is the ancestral homeland of the Jewish people that they never lost hope of returning to. Zionists argue that Jerusalem is holy to Judaism whereas the Arabs claim it is holy to them too, but it is not mentioned in the Koran once. Whilst this is all true, Judaism does not deny that Ishmael has a certain claim to a hold on the Land of Israel. This merit to a portion of the Land of Israel is in Ishmael undergoing and maintaining the practice of circumcision. The Zohar says:
“Woe to the time that Ishmael was born into the world and was circumcised. What did the Holy One, blessed is He, do with respect to the claim of Ishmael’s ministering angel [who demanded reward for Ishmael for his having undergone circumcision]? He kept the children of Ishmael from being close to Him on the higher plane, and gave them a portion below in the Holy Land because of their practice of circumcision. The children of Ishmael are destined to rule over the Holy Land for a long period at a time when it will be devoid of everything, just as their circumcision is empty, incomplete. They will prevent the Children of Israel from returning to their place for as long as it will take to repay the children of Ishmael for their merit.”5
Ishmael has an additional merit granting him a claim to the Land of Israel and that is through his mother Hagars repentance. Rav Yaakov of Lisa says:
The kingdom of Ishmael will be the last exile, and they will come up to Eretz (Land of) Israel… and no nation will be able to budge them from there. Even though they [the other nations] will be able to overtake other lands, they will not be able to take [Eretz Israel] from them… For Ishmael, when Hagar threw him under one of the bushes (Genesis 21:15)… repented. In the merit of his repentance, HaShem (God) promised to make him into a great nation – meaning quantitatively great – and, in addition, he was granted Eretz Israel for as long as Klal Israel is in exile, until the ‘days of Moshiach (Messiah).’”6
Of course, the merit of the Jewish people through Isaac is much greater than Ishmael’s. For Ishmael’s merit is only temporary. The Gemara in Shabbos tells us:
“[The command to Avraham came] after the words said by Ishmael to Isaac. He said, “I am greater than you when it comes to fulfilling the commandments. You where circumcised when you were eight days old, while I was thirteen years old. [That is, though I was old enough to resist, I agreed to undergo circumcision. This means that I fulfilled G-d’s commandment through self-sacrifice, because you were too young to understand what was happening.] Isaac replied, “Are you trying to intimidate me by referring to a commandment you fulfilled through a single organ? Were G-d to tell me to sacrifice my life for Him, I would comply. [Thus, I have a greater degree of self-sacrifice than you for the fulfilment of G-d’s commandments.]” Immediately after this exchange, “G-d tested Avraham.”” 7
The Maharal of Prague adds:
“Just as the Land is holy, transcending other lands, so too He commanded that its inhabitants be circumcised. For the Land requires a transcendent nation just as it is transcendent beyond other lands. There is nothing in which Israel utterly transcends other nations more than circumcision. It is holy because it is the removal of the foreskin, which is a physical and material disgrace and shame. So any removal of the foreskin is holy. This is why we say [in the blessing over circumcision], “…Who sanctified the beloved one from the womb.” 8
Chapter 9 in the book of the prophet Zechariah says:
“Also you, because of the blood of your covenant I will have sent forth your prisoners from the pit in which there is no water.” (Zechariah 9:11)
The Ramban commenting on this verse informs us:
“Here it alludes to the period before the arrival of the Mashiach (Messiah): the entire generation will be considered liable; the Torah all be forgotten from Israel; audacity and brazenness will increase, as it says ‘from the pit in which there is no water,’ and the only merit that they will have will be the merit of the mitzvah of milah (circumcision).”9
The Good in Ishmael and the origin of Arab Hospitality
Ishmael inherited the character trait of chessed/lovingkindness from his father Abraham. This manifests itself clearly in his descendants until this very day through Arab hospitality. The Pirke DeRebbi Eliezer tells us:
“Ishmael married a woman from Moab named Ayfa. Three years later, Avraham went to visit them. He arrived at noontime and found only Ayfa at home. Ishmael and Hagar had gone to get dates from the dates from the desert, Ayfa informed him. When Avraham asked Ayfa for some bread and water after his tiring trip, she responded that they had not to offer. Avraham replied: “Tell Ishmael when he comes… that an old man from Canaan came to see him, and that the threshold of his house [alluding to Ayfa] is no good.” When Ayfa relayed the message to Ishmael, he immediately divorced her.
Hagar then found him a wife named Petuma who was from her own family. Three years later Avraham again visited Ishmael. As before, Ishmael’s wife was home alone. This time, however Petuma told Avraham that Ishmael and Hagar were out grazing their camels in the desert. Avraham requested bread and water, and she graciously and generously provided both. Avraham then ravened to HaShem that their house should be blessed with all kinds of good. Upon Ishmael’s return, Petuma recounted what had transpired, and Ishmael understood that his father was still concerned for his welfare.” 10
The Radal (Rav Dovid Luria) adds,“To this day Ishmael clings to this trait of hosting guests. Even thieves among them welcome guests into their tents… providing bread and water…”
Isaac likewise inherited the trait of din/justice. He was therefore tested with his ability to restrain din/justice with chessed/lovingkindness. He ultimately succeeded in this task, we see his selflessness in being willing to give himself to God as a sacrifice in the Akeida. It is because they succeeded in these tests that the covenant continued through them. In the case of Ishmael and Esav, the former represents unrestrained chessed/lovingkindness and the other unrestrained din/justice. The Islamic religion like Christianity is a tool that attempts to find the balance between the two. But instead it pushes the scales into the opposite direction, Islam, in an attempt to restrain chessed/lovingkindness with justice, instead achieves justice without mercy. We could not see this more vividly today than with the images of ISIS terrorists conducting mass murder in the most brutal way possible, through beheading defenceless civilians.
Rabbeinu Bachya in commenting on Deuteronomy 30:7 illustrates this lack of the quality of mercy among Ishmael:
“Your enemies’ – Ishmael… and the reason that he mentioned ‘your enemies’ with regards to Ishmael, and ‘your haters’ with regards to Esav is because an enemy is worse than a hater, because a hater, even though he will harm him, he will still act in a merciful way, while an enemy who has eternal hate in his heart will have no mercy whatsoever, [even] on the elderly he will increase his yoke very much…”
The Ishmaelite Exile at the End of Days
The conflict between Jews (Israel) and Arabs (Ishmael) in the Land of Israel at the End of days was foretold by the prophets and the Sages long ago. Rav Chaim Vital, the talmid (disciple) of the Arizal said in his commentary on Psalm 124:
“You are already familiar with the fact that there are only four exiles; Babylonian exile [which lasted seventy years after the destruction of the First Temple], the Medean and Persian exiles [Haman and Achashveirosh], the Greek exile [the Hasmonean period], and the Edomite exile [the Romans led by Titus, who destroyed the Second Temple, thus beginning our two thousand years of Edomite exile]. But at the End of Days, Israel is destined to experience the Ishmaelite Exile. This fifth and last exile will be the severest of all. It is the exile of Ishmael, who is called ‘a wild man.’”
The Zohar says that, “No exile will be as oppressive to the Jewish people as the Ishmaelite Exile.” 11
The prophet Daniel prophesied about this time too:
“At that time, Michael, the great guardian angel who stands over Your people’s children, will stand, and it will be a time of distress, the likes of which there had never been from when they became a nation until that time; and at that time, Your people will escape, all those who are inscribed in a book.” (Daniel 12:1)
The Metzudas David in his commentary on this verse says, “Then there will come upon Israel a time of distress the likes of which they will never have experienced until that time. The small horn which represents the kingdom of Ishmael will cause them great distress.”
The Rambam too adds “There will not arise against Israel a nation that is more hostile than it, nor a nation that will be the epitome of evil who will try to ruin us and to minimise us and to disgust us such as it.” 12
Perhaps the most detailed description of this time is found in the Pirke De’Rebbi Eliezer:
“Reb Ishmael says: Bnei Ishmael (Children of Ishmael) will do fifteen things in the Land at the end of days… measure the Land with ropes [i.e., claim specific sections of Eretz Israel]; they will turn cemeteries into pastureland and dumps [i.e. desecrate sites holy to Jews so as to strengthen their position in Eretz Israel; they will make measurements on mountaintops [i.e., try to gain a foothold on strategic positions]; lies will abound [i.e., they will deceive the Jews in order to overtake them]; the truth will be hidden away [this higher level of deceit]’ the Law will be distant from Israel [i.e., the Jews will disregard Torah, following gentile law instead, thereby hindering their merit to live in Eretz Israel/Land of Israel]; iniquity will increase among the Jews [again, a deeper aspect of degeneration]; crimson thread will appear like thick wool – akin to the concept of unprecedented chutzpah as a sign of ultimate spiritual decline]; the paper and quill will shrivel [i.e., all agreements with Bnei Ishmael/Children of Ishmael won’t be worth the paper they are written on]; government-backed coinage will be invalidated [i.e., money will lose its value]; they will rebuild cities in the mountains [i.e., Bnei Ishmael/Children of Ishmael will settle many areas in Eretz Israel/Land of Israel]; they will clear paths, plant gardens and orchards, and fence in the breaches in the walls of the Beis HaMikdash/Temple [i.e., they’ll strengthen their presence in the Jews’ most holy site]; they will build a building in [over] the Heichal [as is known, they built a mosque on the site of the Temple]; two brothers amongst them will stand leaders [i.e., two of their leaders will band together to fight against Israel]; and in their days will spring forth a sprout from David.” 13
It would appear that this era has arrived. But there is an underlying question as to why it is occurring and how can it be defeated. Fighting the war on terror which has spread beyond Israel’s borders and affects the entire world. They too are not immune from this fanaticism. No matter how advanced the defence technology becomes, these fundamentalists have the most sophisticated and advanced super powers on their knees unable to find a truly affective strategy for how to combat this threat to civilisation.
Israel for example, built a wall separating Palestinians from Israelis in the West bank as a means of preventing suicide bombings, this proved to be effective, until the Palestinians employed the use of rockets fired at Israeli communities. Israel combatted this by spending billions of dollars on its Iron Dome. The latest form of terrorism employed by Palestinian extremists is using everyday items to attack Israeli civilians, such as stabbings, the Har Nof Massacre, using cars to run over civilians walking on the sidewalk. It is becoming increasingly difficult for states to combat such threats without compromising human rights, and civil liberties. Israel and the West still fear the looming threat of a nuclear Iran on their doorstep as well.
Ishmael as a means to Teshuva (Repentance)
The Pirkei DeRebbi Eliezer says:
“Why was he named Ishmael? Because HaShem (God) will hear the cries [of Israel] as a result of Bnei Ishmael’s/Children of Ishmael’s actions in the Land at the end of days. Therefore he was called Ishmael, as it says (Psalm 55:20), ‘Yishma Kail VaYaaneim [HaShem will hear the cries of Israel and answer them].’” 14
The Jewish people through the state of Israel will try by all means to defeat Ishmael through military might or through trying to make compromises that will not be honoured, but it will not be until their efforts will succeed no more and they have no choice but to cry out to God and recognise that He alone can protect them that they and the world will be redeemed. We see here that the threat that Ishmael poses to us is that it can lead the Jews to come to the conclusion logically, that in order to defeat them, we must become like them. It is not uncommon to find many Jews fall into this trap, to respond to Ishmael with frustration and feeling that the best thing to do is just kill them. They can’t be reasoned with, there is no way to defeat them, either we kill them or they will kill us. That is the threat that Ishmael poses and the trap that we must not fall into. The purpose of the grief that Ishmael causes to the Jewish people is in order to arouse them to Teshuva (repentance).
We see two dangers posed by both Ishmael and Edom to the Jewish people. Ishmael can pull the Jew towards the Torah but away from God. Whereas Edom tries to pull the Jew away from the Torah claiming it is the true way to serve God through their subjective man made value system.
Psalm 124 says: “Were it not for G-d Who was with us when man rose up against us… Our help is in the name of G-d, Who made heaven and earth.” (Psalm 124:2,8)
Rav Chaim Vital comments on this verse, “Were it not for G-d Who was with us, we would have perished in this [Ishmaelite] exile, for as a result of having the title “man,” as son of our father Avraham, he has the merit of his ancestors, as we find Avraham saying of him, “Were only Ishmael to live before You!” To which the Holy One, blessed is He, answered him, “As for Ishmael, I have heard you.” He [Ishmael] also has the merit of circumcision. This is an additional reason why he is called man. This is why his exile is more severe than those imposed by the other four kingdoms….” “…We are at a loss as to what to do. We have no hope but to trust in His great name, may He be blessed, that He may save us from their hand.”
The Fall of Ishmael and the Jews doing Teshuva
Ishmael will eventually fall and not ultimately succeed, as the Torah tells us:
“[Ishmael] fell upon all his brothers… These are the generations of Isaac.” (Genesis 25:18) The Baal HaTurim says “This tells us that Ishmael will fall at the End of Days, the son of David, descendent of Isaac, will rise.”
But not all the Jewish people will do Teshuva. The Rambam gives us a detailed illustration of what will be in this time:
“As our exile becomes lengthy and as troubles befall us, many will leave the religion… Some will have no doubts and their reasoning will not be confused, as it says, “Many will be selected, cleansed, and refined, and the wicked will act wickedly. None of the wicked will understand, but the wise will understand” (Daniel 12:10). [This implies] that even those who have sense and understanding and who underwent sufferings and weathered them, remaining steadfast in their belief in Hashem and Moshe, His servant, will still undergo severe tribulations, worse than the first ones they faced, to the point that they will develop doubts and err, until only the slightest bit will be clear to them. As it says, “And some of those who have sense will stumble, to refine them and to select and cleanse until the time of the ultimate end, for the appointed time is yet to come” (Daniel 11:35). 15
“Be aware that whoever has veered from the course of the religion that was given down at the convocation [the Revelation at Sinai] is not of the seed of those people. As our rabbis have said, ‘Anyone who has doubts about the veracity of the holy prophecies is not a descendent of those who stood at Mount Sinai.’” (Ibid)
The Gemara in Ketubot, tells us that:
“In the generation that the son of David will arrive there will be prosecution against Torah scholars. When I said this before Shmuel, he said: purification after purification, as it says; ‘A tenth will yet be there, then it shall again be consumed.” 16
Rashi comments on this that, “Many slanderers and prosecutors will rise against them…When nine parts will be lost and only a tenth remains, it will also be consumed once again…” He notes too in his commentary on Isaiah, “Also over that remainder I will pass My hand with purification after purification, and it will be consumed until the only ones remaining will be the completely righteous that will return to Me with all of their hearts.”17
Non-Jews respect Jews who respect Judaism
As with many other situations in Jewish history, in this instance, the Zionist movement sought to create a state for the Jews. Their intention was not to create a state for Jews to be free to be Jews (i.e. serve God through keeping the commandments). They wanted a state simply where Jews could live free from anti-Semitism. For some may wish to be observant, but the majority just want to be free to live their lives however they please. To be a nation like any other nation. The Zionist movement in its secular forms rejected the idea that the Jews were chosen by God and different. They sought normalcy, to be a nation just like any other.
The former Israeli Prime Minister, Yitzhak Rabin, when he was serving as the Israeli Ambassador to the United States, went to meet the Lubuvitcher Rebbe, Menachem Mendel Shneerson. He asked Rabin “Don’t you feel alone, as the representative of the Jewish state among the 120 countries and peoples represented in Washington?” He then went on to discuss the verse in the Torah said by the gentile prophet Balaam, “the nation shall dwell alone, and not be reckoned among the nations” (Numbers 23:9). He asked whether this was by choice, by choosing to keep the Torah or by non-Jewish rejection of the Jews. His answer was that it was both, and that this is the natural state for the Jews, and the establishment of the state of Israel was not going to change that reality.18
Israel’s very existence and the improbability of Jewish survival is unique and miraculous, defying all the odds, it is therefore impossible for Israel to be a nation just like any other. We see here, as the Rebbe pointed out, that Jewish survival is a combination of both Jewish choice to be Jews and in the event where Jews reject their mission, the non-Jewish world too will reject them, preventing them from assimilating, serving as a means to push Jews back to Judaism.
Israel advocacy focuses on demanding that the world treat Israel fairly and equally as they would treat any other nation. It is obvious that Israel is not treated equally, but is held to a double standard. The question is why. The singling out by the international community, the non-acceptance by Israel’s Arab neighbours are all a means to prevent the Jews from trying to assimilate, whether they attempt to do so as individuals or as a collective body, as a nation. The Torah’s solution is to return to God and His Torah.
Secular Jews will use every argument in the book to lay claim to the Land of Israel apart from the ultimate claim, that God promised it to them. Their main arguments rely on the authority of International law and legal documents such as the Balfour declaration and resolutions made by the League of Nations or the United Nations. Such arguments seek to appeal to secular westerners who do not overtly respect the authority of the Torah. But such arguments have no basis in the mind of the enemy.
Islamists understand God and religion, to combat such religious fanaticism that preaches violence can only be achieved through appealing to an authority that they recognise and in a language they understand. Only then can we begin to engage with such people, seeking peace in the name of God and the Torah, not a secular nationalism. It is however not likely that such people can be reasoned with, but it stands a much greater chance of succeeding than appealing to human ideals. This is the approach taken by Rabbi Jonathan Sacks who has recently published a new book titled Not In Gods Name: Confronting Religious Violence. Whether we want to admit it or not, it is a religious conflict and requires a religious solution.
The former Chief Rabbi of Great Britain, Jonathan Sacks, tells of an occasion when relations between Jews and Muslims were very tense following a conflict in Israel, where he was approached by a religious Muslim man who said “Chief Rabbi, my wife would like a word with you.” Rabbi Sacks was bracing himself, not looking forward to this encounter he was about to have. Then a religious Muslim woman approached him and said, “Chief Rabbi, I would like to thank you for writing your book ‘Radical Then, Radical Now.’ This is a book that wasn’t about inter-faith relations nor did it have anything to do with Islam, it is a book about Jewish pride.
The message is that non-Jews respect Jews who respect Judaism including our opponents. Rabbi Sacks is a Jew who is unwavering in his commitment to Orthodox Judaism and has earned the respect of people of all faiths and of no faith. Similarly, the Rambam in his time, had the respect of people beyond his coreligionists. We see above that he too had very strong words against both Islam and Christianity, but yet his brilliance earned him the respect of both Muslims and Christians. In fact even Richard the Lion-heart wanted the Rambam to be his physician, but he declined, for he did not wish to live in a Christian country.
The state of Israel will not be able to defend its right to exist and be accepted by the nations of the world until it recognises that the misplaced hatred and double standard imposed on it, from a human perspective has no logical explanation, but from a Torah perspective there is a spiritual meaning behind such phenomena. That in order for the Jews to rule in the land of Israel in peace, is dependent on them doing so in order to serve God and keep His commandments.19
There are several verses in the Torah that say this explicitly:
“…and you will do what is evil in the eyes of the Lord, your God, to anger Him. I call heaven and earth to witness against you this day that you will verily be lost quickly from the face of the land which you are crossing the Jordan to possess.” (Deuteronomy 4:25)
“And you shall heed all My statutes… lest the land spew you out.” (Leviticus 20:22)
There are several voices (including non-religious thinkers) that are now beginning to articulate components of this argument slowly in various manifestations. Lord Sacks in his book Future Tense: Jews, Judaism and Israel in the Twenty First Century discusses the future of Zionism. Zionism, he claims, has been extremely successful at creating a Jewish state, but unsuccessful at creating a Jewish society. Israeli’s in many ways have a bigger Jewish identity crisis than do Diaspora Jews, but for different reasons. Israeli’s take their Judaism for granted. The future of Zionism must be to address the internal conflicts that divide Jews through unifying all of the people of Israel behind what we have in common, Judaism.
There is an attitude amongst many, that the state is Jewish and so therefore it acts like an agent of Jewish observance on behalf of the individual so they do not have to be. This is not only contrary to the teachings of the Torah and Judaism, it also does not achieve Jewish continuity on logical grounds. It creates ignorance, and undermines the value and meaning of what it means to be a Jew. As a result it breeds a new generation who are not willing to make the sacrifices and commitments that a Jew must make, which are at times very challenging and hard to endure. Professor Amnon Rubinstein, the current Dean of the Interdisciplinary Center (IDC) in Herzliya and former Knesset member in his book The Zionist Dream Revisited: From Herzl to Gush Emunim writes that the Israeli newspaper Ha’aretz reported in the 1940’s that “when a Jew cannot be a Jew any more he becomes a Zionist.” 20
With the abandonment of their commitment to a concept of Judaism based on the Torah, comes also the denial of the Jewish right and claims to sovereignty over all of the Land of Israel. There has been a slow development amongst Zionist thinkers, beginning from an openness to exchange land which they believed was rightfully theirs in exchange for peace, to internalising the revisionist historians lies and rejecting that the Jews have any claim to it at all and seeing themselves as occupiers who should withdraw unconditionally.
Growing numbers of Israelis, in an ever hostile region are becoming skeptical of whether or not peace would be achieved by conceding territory. In the run up to the 2015 Israeli elections, Bibi Netanyahu announced that his party was no longer committed to the two-state solution. Prior to this, the American born Israeli journalist and writer, Caroline Glick wrote a book titled The Israeli Solution: A One-State Plan for Peace in the Middle East, where she puts forward a new proposal for peace in the region through annexation and applying Israeli law to Judea and Samaria. Addressing those who challenge Israel’s ability to not turn into a tyrannical regime in its commitment to being a Jewish state she says the following:
“In increasingly shrill discourse on Israel and the Palestinians, the allegation is heard more and more often that Jewish self-determination is inherently at odds with democratic governance. The assumption at the base of this claim is that Judaism and Jewish religious law are inherently antidemocratic, and therefore, the term “Jewish democracy” is an oxymoron.
The point should be moot, because Israel is among the freest countries in the world, and because it is governed by the laws of the Knesset and not by Jewish religious law. But even if Jewish law were the source of Israeli law, it would not change Israel’s position as a free, liberal democracy.
A scholarly examination of the roots of Western freedom undertaken over the past decade reveals that Western freedom is founded on Jewish law. British political philosophers of the seventeenth century, such as John Selden and Thomas Hobbes, who built the theoretical foundations of the modern state, based their understandings of what a modern republic should be on Jewish law and its rabbinic interpretations. As political theorist Fania Oz-Salzberger wrote in 2002, “According to Selden, the early Israelites created, with divine guidance, the first judicial state in history… which became the paradigm for the rule of law thereafter. The law given by God at Sinai was natural law itself, hence the Israelite laws deriving from it belong not in the realm of canon law, but in that of civil law in the proper sense.”
As political theorist Yoram Hazony has explained, Jewish law, which places God supreme and unknowable above man, is based on the assumption that no man can know God’s true intentions; therefore Judaism can never endorse or accept a supreme human leader whose decrees are unchangeable. And it cannot accept that any law is above interpretation and reinterpretation. As a consequence, “Jewish democracy” is not only a contradiction in terms, but it can legitimately be asked whether a state can be a democracy if it is not based on – or at least inspired by – Jewish law.”21
Professor Robert Wistrich of the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, committed his life to the study of anti-Semitism, who was head of the universities Vidal Sassoon Center for the Study of Anti-Semitism. Before he unexpectedly passed away in May 2015 he submitted an op-ed to the Jerusalem Post a few days earlier titled, Anti-Semitism and Jewish Destiny. In his closing remarks he said:
“My sixth observation relates to the need for Israelis and Diaspora Jews to rediscover, redefine and reassess their Jewish identity, core Jewish values and the depth of their own connection to the Land of Israel as well as to their historic heritage. I was privileged to have authored two years ago the exhibition “People, Book, Land – The 3,500-Year Relationship of the Jewish People to the Holy Land” for the bold project initiated by the Simon Wiesenthal Center together with UNESCO. Against all the odds and in the face of predictable opposition, it opened at UNESCO headquarters in Paris in June 2014.
In April 2015, the exhibit was even shown at UN Headquarters in New York, and it will soon come to Israel. This is not merely a historical exercise, for it shows the extraordinary tenacity, cultural vitality, spirituality, and metaphysical as well as physical bonds of Jews and Judaism to the Land of Israel. None of this was intended, it should be emphasized, to negate the historical presence and significance of Christianity and Islam in this land.
But it sets the record straight.
My final reflection flows from this experience. I believe that in an age of Jewish empowerment, living in a sovereign and democratic Israeli state, we can and must first clarify for ourselves our vocation, raison d’être, moral priorities, and the deeper meaning of our near-miraculous return to the historic homeland.
This is the other side of the coin in our essential and relentless fight against anti-Semitism. As we celebrate Jerusalem Day let us be worthy of the scriptural promise that “the Torah will come forth from Zion and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.”
Here, in the beating heart of the Jewish nation, where its body and soul come together in the City of Peace, we must be true to the national and universal vision of our biblical prophets. Anti-Semitism, the long shadow which has for so long accompanied our bi-millennial Diasporic tribulations, and nearly 70 years of renewed statehood, is neither “eternal” nor must it prevent Jews from fulfilling their ultimate destiny to one day become a “light unto the nations.””22
So we see that whilst there are forces in the Jewish world pushing for an Israel that is not Jewish and purely democratic fashioned on the model of European democracies, others watch with skepticism as these countries, too are struggling to define what their moral compass is and consequently we see an increase in influence of both Radical Islam, Fascism and Radical Leftism. As the above authors suggest, much of what has been viewed as positive contributions to western society that are valued universally, are uniquely Jewish. So perhaps Judaism alone is capable of providing the solution to the issues that threaten western civilisation, and has even more to contribute that has not been examined or considered.
They suggest that as individuals and a society we need not turn to the philosophies of the nations which in practice seem to be self defeating, but rather to look within, to rediscover our purpose and our mission as a people. That a true Jewish society would not be a Jewish version of Saudi Arabia, for example, but something very different and desirable to all.
A Jewish society as such, would not come into being through force or coercion but because the people return to the Torah and take it on voluntarily. But we must be sincere, we cannot speak with empty words of our God given mandate and then behave to the contrary. For example, Bibi Netanyahu, will often appeal to the Tanakh in his speeches but then he goes and eats sea food in a New York restaurant on Shabbat. 23
Writer and Biologist, Asher Keren, in his book A Time for Change, further illustrates the consequences of such an approach, he writes:
“Several years ago a notoriously dangerous Arab terrorist sat in an Israeli prison. It was time for the Jewish passover and one day he saw an Israeli guard eating bread, not matza. The terrorist asked the Jewish guard why he was eating bread on the Jewish passover, to which the guard replied that such “customs” no longer had any meaning. Some time after this the terrorist stated that when he saw this he knew it was possible that the Israelis would some day lose their will.
This Arab too understood well what many of us have forgotten: to keep our integrity and our strength, we need to keep our traditions vibrant and relevant.” 24
Whilst Israel is certainly a beacon of light in an ever hostile region and makes countless positive contributions to the world, in the field of medicine, or technology to name just a few examples. These are material contributions. As worthy and admirable as they are, they cannot replace Torah observance. Israel and the Jewish people’s ultimate contribution to civilisation is not physicality and materialism. It is its moral and spiritual possession that it has to offer. The solution to ending this conflict and real peace lies not in the legal or historical claims the Jewish people have to the Land of Israel but in its coming to terms with its ultimate purpose, of being a light to the nations through the Torah.
Bibliography
1) Chofetz Chaim, MiShulchan Gavoah, page 78
2) Rambam, Iggeres Teiman
3) Palestine for the Syrians by Daniel Pipes, December 1986
“During a meeting with leaders of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) in 1976, Syrian President Hafiz al-Asad referred to Palestine as a region of Syria, as Southern Syria. He then went on to tell the Palestinians: “You do not represent Palestine as much as we do. Do not forget one thing: there is no Palestinian people, no Palestinian entity, there is only Syria! You are an integral part of the Syrian people and Palestine is an integral part of Syria. Therefore it is we, the Syrian authorities, who are the real representatives of the Palestinian people.”
4) Saeb Erekat’s Fabrication Exposes ‘Palestinian Narrative’ by Eric Rozenman, September 19th 2014 ,
PA Negotiator Saeb Erekat Claims Family was Canaanite, in Israel for 9,000 Years, by Joshua Levitt, February 2nd 2014
About that 10,000- year history in Jericho, Mr. Erekat – Assessing the credibility – and the impact – of the Palestinian chief negotiator’s claims to pre-Jewish family lineage in the Holy Land, by Elhanan Miller, February 12th 2014
Note:
Ariel Sharon illustrated this in his autobiography, when addressing an Israeli Arab audience, he argued that Israeli Arabs need to become full partners as citizens of Israel, including bearing the duties of all other Israelis, including military service, which was received with protest by many in the audience:
“ “So what citizens are we supposed to be then? Somebody else asked. “Be Palestinian citizens, citizens of the Palestinian state residing in Israel. Nobody will harm you, any more than anyone harms any other residents here.” “And what if we don’t like that idea?” “That is up to you,” I answered. “Sell your property, go somewhere else, stay here, live as inhabitants. But you cannot dictate what government we will have here unless you bear all the burdens. Equal rights, equal duties.”
At that point a young man made himself heard above the din. “What do you mean?” he said. “Why should we be residents? We were here long before you were.” “Where are you from?” I asked. “From Kfar Kara.” I knew Kfar Kara well, so I said, “What do you mean, you came here earlier than we did? What is your name?” “Masarwa!” he shouted back. “Yes,” I said (Masarwa is an Egyptian name, a common one in Kfar Kara), “your family came here from Egypt about 140 years ago. You were brought her by Ibrahim Ali, the Egyptian pasha who settled most of these villages then.” At this point the crowd quieted down.”
Sharon, A, with Chanoff, D (1989) Warrior, Simon and Schuster: New York, pp.546
A more recent source finds that many Palestinian Arabs do not deny this. See The Most Important Video Exposing the Fraud of Palestine at the Israel Video Network.
5) Zohar, Va’era
6) Rav Yaakov of Lisa, Emes LeYaahov, Baba Basra 73b
7) Shabbos 89a
8) Maharal Netivot Olam 1, Netiv HaAvoda, Ch.18
9) The Writings of the Ramban, vol.2 p.517
10) Pirkei DeRebbi Eliezer (Chapter 30) Sourced from Mandelbaum, A (2005) Redemption Unfolding, Feldhiem Publishers: Jerusalem pp.25-26
11) Zohar, Part 2, 17:1
12) Rambam, Iggeres Teiman
13) Pirkei DeRebbi Eliezer Chapter 30
14) Pirkei DeRebbi Eliezer Chapter 32
15) Rambam, Iggeres Teiman
16) Ketubot 112b
17) Rashi, commentary on Isaiah 6:13
19) See also Leviticus 26:14, 32, 33, and Deuteronomy 28:15-63
20) Rubinstein, A (1984) The Zionist Dream Revisited, From Herzl to Gush Emunim and back, Shocken Books: New York, pp.145
21) Glick, C (2014) The Israeli Solution: A One-State Plan for Peace in the Middle East, Crown Forum:New York pp.162-163
22) Anti-Semitism and Jewish Destiny by Robert Wistrich, 20.05.2015
23) Religious Jews Aghast at PM’s “Surf and Turf” Shabbat by Yaakov Levi 02/10/2014
24) Keren, A (2005) A Time for Change, Geffen Publishing House Ltd: New York, Jerusalem pp.222 See text here
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