Question: Judging by what is happening in the world – and the forum of the United Nations specifically, in reaction to the barbaric October 7 attack on innocent Israeli civilians in southern Israel, I am intrigued as to how the Jewish nation has survived all these millennia in a world that is so hostile to the Jewish people, where all the opponents of any type of brutality to any human group normally summons up masses to come to their defense and champion their cause. Yet when it comes to the Jewish people and now the October 7 massacre as well as what we see on college campuses and many public venues both here and abroad, the Jew is considered to be the murderer, the perpetrator. How has it been that in such a world where we are but a very small minority, and after so many generations though the world keeps changing, yet the Jew remains and is the same constant whipping boy? What is the miracle of our survival?
Gedalia Estra
Via Email
Answer: First of all, how to understand those who have hijacked religion, all dressed in their very modest religious garb, preaching to their masses to murder and rape and brutalize in the name of their religion. It is these religious leaders, especially the ruling imams in Iran who preach death and all the horrors upon the “big Satan” [America] and the “little Satan” [Israel – the “Zionist entity”] and are not only the instigators for these atrocities but the main financial support as well.
All this they do to harm one small beleaguered nation, the State of Israel. Yet the State of Israel is one of the leading countries in technology and fifth in medical discovery worldwide and first in Asia. Israel contributes so much to the world out of all proportion to its population. Israel, the lone Jewish state in a sea of Arab and non-Arab Muslim states, has to fight for its very existence. Admittedly, Israel has made some inroads with peace treaties with some neighboring states and under the Trump administration even further openings, but even these have been from cold to lukewarm relationships.
This current war is the longest war to date that Israel has ever had to fight; we pray it ends soon with the desired outcome being the destruction of Hamas, the return of the hostages, and the re-education of Gazans and all Palestinians from the hatred they learn from the cradle on.
But a surprising outcome is that politically Israel has never been more united than it is now. From left to right there is a real feeling of brotherhood and an agreement that they cannot live with such a people who will savagely brutalize a Jew merely for who he/she is, even doing so to those in the kibbutzim that bordered them, many of whom were, ironically, the very champions of giving Gazans more access to Israeli society. They feel that it is not only their right to fight back but also their duty to do so. The question now remains – why is Israel singled out as the world’s villain and the subject of more UN resolutions and resolution attempts than any other nation in the entire world?
Many years ago, my uncle, HaRav Sholom Klass, zt”l, was asked the following question: Why are the Jewish people so small in numbers in comparison to the gentile nations? To answer your question, we cull somewhat from that earlier discussion. Perhaps his answer will quell our fears and help us to understand our true place in Hashem’s world.
The Torah (Devarim 7:7, Parshat Va’et’chanan) explains, “Not because you are more numerous than any other people did the L-rd set His love upon you, for you were the fewest [in numbers] of all peoples.’’
The following verse (7:8) continues, “Rather, because of Hashem’s love for you and because He abides by the oath He swore to your fathers [Avraham, Yitzhak and Yaakov], He brought you out with a strong hand and He redeemed you from the house of slavery, from the hand of Pharaoh, the king of Egypt.’’
Despite the statement in the second pasuk regarding G-d’s oath to the Patriarchs – and because the preceding verse states, “For you were the fewest [in numbers] of all peoples’’ – we perceive that there was another, possibly more important, reason for our being chosen by Hashem.
The Talmud (Avoda Zara 2b) relates that in the future the nations of the world will exclaim before Hashem in protest, “Have you given us the Torah [so that it could be said] that we have declined to accept it?” The Gemara negates their argument by citing the verse from Parshat Vezot Haberacha (Devarim 33:2), “He [Moshe] said, Hashem came from Sinai – He rose up to them from Seir, He appeared from Mount Paran, and then approached with some of the holy myriads, from His right hand He presented the fiery Torah to them.” And it says in Habakkuk (3:3), “Hashem came from the south, the Holy One from Mount Paran, selah…’’
The Gemara now asks regarding these two verses, “What did He seek in Seir, and what did He seek in Paran? R. Yochanan explains: This teaches us that Hashem offered the Torah to every nation and every tongue, but none accepted it until He came to the nation of Israel and they accepted…’’
Rashi (Devarim 33:2) explains, quoting Sifrei, that “from Seir’’ refers to the children of Esau, who refused the Torah; “from Mount Paran’’ refers to the children of Ishmael, who also refused it; and “He came’’ applies to the Children of Israel, who accepted it.
We were then chosen by Hashem to become a nation of priests and the leaders of humanity, to spread and proclaim the message of Hashem’s uniqueness in this world, as stated in Devarim (6:4), “Hashem is our G-d, Hashem is the One and Only.’’
Many of the world’s religions have borrowed from us and from our Torah – which they refer to as the Bible – admitting to some degree to our unique leadership in the world. (Leaders are always a minority among the ones they lead.
And leaders we are, as Hashem refers to each of us with that appellation, as it states (Shemot 19:6), “You shall be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation…’’
We have been dispersed throughout the Diaspora to teach the principles of the Torah to all the nations, for the Torah is a beacon of light, the shining ray that ignited the spark of civilization. Surely, if we show all the people the light, sooner or later they will follow it. As long as Israel carries the torch of the Torah, all the nations of the world will respect them and fashion their society in accordance with at least some of the basic principles mentioned in the Torah. Truly, even as they vilify us, they mimic us.
This, then, is the secret of a small nation that endures like no other – its connection to the Torah and to the land we all hold so dear Eretz Yisrael. Let us merit, through increased Torah study and observance, to witness the fulfillment of the prophecy of Zechariah (14:9), “On that day, Hashem will be king of all the land; on that day Hashem will be One and His Name will be One.”
As to our current situation, let us pray that we will see and celebrate with our brothers in Eretz Yisrael the victory and peace that we all so desire. May it be His will.
