Photo Credit: Courtesy Rabbi Lebovic
Rabbi Yeheskel Lebovic

Oh, God, if that comes to pass, You are not making sense. The reason You are angry at the Jewish people, as You Yourself said, is that “until when will they continue to anger Me and refuse to believe in Me [as a result of] all the great wonders that I have already wrought for them.” But if you slaughter them now, the net result would be that the nations will have their belief in You and Your Power weakened, and they will stop observing properly the Seven Mitzvos You gave them. In effect, it would be a case of responding to weakened emunah with an act that results in more weakened emunah.

How would Moshe Rabbeinu address God today? It might run something like this:

You, O God, are no doubt angry at your people. Their emunah in You and your Power is greatly weakened. Many of their political leaders place all their emphasis on the public image they portray to the world. Your Name they don’t invoke – not in their secular declaration of independence, not in their political platforms, and not in their press releases. They act independently of You, relying on their own might. I wistfully recall King David and the wars he fought and won, and reflect on how he would react to today’s situation. How he, in a no-nonsense way, would secure the Land You gave Your people and tell the rest of the world to mind its own business.

I know You are in control at all times and that, regardless of the folly of some of these political leaders, every act of terrorism that occurs is still within the confines of Your Divine Providence. But please, enough with the slaughter. Have You forgotten Your promise? Yes, You’ve brought them into the Land. But is this all? What about Your promise, conveyed through your prophets, to bring Your people their ultimate redeemer, Mashiach, who will bring the Final Redemption to them and to the whole world?

Yes, too many Jews have little or no faith, but will You let the current situation continue? If You do, the nations of the world will start to lose their belief in You and Your Word. In your Word, which the nations know as the Bible, You declare the chosenness of the Jewish people. The nations are therefore entitled to ask: Is this the way to treat someone You’ve chosen? And they may decide that the whole thing isn’t true. Their belief in You and Your mighty Power will weaken and wither.

Dear Father, it’s time, at long last, to show the world Who the Boss is around here and bring Mashiach b’karov.


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Rabbi Yeheskel Lebovic is spiritual leader of Cong. Ahavath Zion of Maplewood, New Jersey. He can be reached at [email protected].