Vision and blindness, like in 1948, still exalt us and constrict us
November 29, 1947:
The UN votes to establish two states in Palestine, one of them Jewish.
Like all Jews around the world, the venerable chief rabbi of Petach Tikva, Reuven Katz, was electrified by the new; unlike all Jews around the world, he rejoiced by penning a prayer of gratitude — the first for the coming State of Israel.
He saw that the UN move was more than another turning point in Jewish history; this was unique, and it demanded a unique outpouring to G-d to be captured in a unique liturgical expression.
The chief rabbi of Petach Tikvah — the first Zionist settlement in the land of Israel — formulated the first theological response to the dramatic reversal of the long exile of the Jewish people from her land.
Only Divine assistance could have enabled an outnumbered, out-armed, fledgling community marshal its will and its meager material and human resources to withstand the invasion of six Arab armies. Instead of welcoming the UN’s new Palestinian state, these armies preferred to destroy the UN’s new Jewish state.
Ever since, this duality has marked the relation between Israel and most of the Arab world, prior to the Abraham Accords inked one-and-a-half years ago. On the one hand: hope. On the other hand: destruction of hope. On the one hand: vision. On the other hand: blindness.
Arab blindness to what? To the incalculable gifts of the new Jewish state to the world — including the Arab world.
• Blindness to population growth.
Under whose aegis did the Arab population of Palestinian grow exponentially? Under the Zionist aegis.
Prior to the modern Zionist arrival in Palestine, the Palestinian population languished. Poor Arab farmers — serfs, really — lived at the mercy of absentee landlords in other Arab lands.
• Blindness to medical advancement.
Under whose aegis did the standards of medical care rise dramatically in Palestine rise dramatically?
Under the Zionist aegis.
• Blindness to technological advancement.
Under whose aegis have dramatic, life-saving, high-tech inventions in the State of Israel reached across the globe in medicine and agriculture, including the Arab world? Under the Jewish state of Israel’s aegis.
• Blindness to the triumph over the dearth of natural resources.
Under whose aegis have water shortages ended in the land of Israel, including Palestinian territories?
Under the Israeli aegis.
• Blindness to freedom:
Under whose aegis have Jews, Christians, Muslims, Baha’i and Druze been freed to worship as they choose? Under the Jewish state of Israel’s aegis.
Such is the duality: The great gift of Israel to humanity, alongside the great denial of the gift by the nearby local Arabs states, even those with which Israel has formal peace treaties, Jordan and Egypt.
So it is 74 years after Israel’s declaration of independence and 75 years after the UN’s monumental step to making it possible.
• • •
Jews around the world celebrate:
- A reborn corporate Jewish identity.
- A reborn Hebrew language.
- A reborn Jewish army.
- An effloresence of Jewish technical discovery.
- An effloresence of Torah study.
- A society, all of its imperfections notwithstanding, looking to the future —an optimistic society.
- An Israel still building, welcoming persecuted Jews, this season from Ukraine; still discovering artifacts of the ancient Jewish presence and sovereignty in this chosen land.
- An Israel still seeking to be a light unto the nations while creating affirmative relations with the nations around it.
Such is the macrocosm.
And the microcosm, reflected as well as anywhere in Denver last Sunday morning during our community’s reborn march for Israel. Shut down for two years by the COVID and now re-embraced with waving flags, smiling children, ambling adults, streets filled with excitement, music, good cheer and the same optimism of Israel itself, under a glorious spring sun, not too hot, not too chilly.
All this is reflectedin the gratitude and hope of Rabbi Reuven Katz as he expressed it 75 years ago:
“ . . . May He whose sovereignty is over all worlds . . . bless, guard, help, elevate and exalt the sovereignty of Israel in the Land of Israel, and the entire people of Israel who bear the burden of establishing it and securing it. . . . May He inspire the leaders of all governments to act beneficently with us, with the sovereignty of Israel in the Land of Israel. . . . May He gather in our scattered castaways and exiles to Jerusalem and Zion in eternal song, and may our eyes see the coming of the Messiah and building of our Temple. Amen.”
Copyright © 2022 by the Intermountain Jewish News
