Dear Friends:
"You shall safeguard My decrees and My judgments and not commit any of these abominations. For the inhabitants of the land who are before you committed all of these abominations, and the land became contaminated." (Vayikra 18:26)
"Do not follow the traditions of the nation that I expel from before you, for they did all of these and I was disgusted with them." (Vayikra 20:23)
So we read the Shabbos of Acharei Mos-Kedoshim.
G-d rejected these nations from the Holy Land, and now the nations of the world come to harangue and vilify the Children of Israel regarding possession of the Land of Israel!
What is going on?
Let us review some basics.
Years ago, when we were new to Judaism, Rebbetzin Esther Jungreis taught us Rashi's very first commentary in the Five Books of Moses. To paraphrase: Why does the Torah begin with the Creation of the world? It is a book of commandments and the Creation of the world is not a commandment. "The power of His acts He told His people ... so that if the nations of the world will say to Israel 'You are thieves, for you stole the Land from the Seven Nations who previously inhabited it...' Israel will then say to them, 'The whole earth belongs to the Holy One, Blessed is He. He created it and He gave it to the one found proper in His eyes. By His wish He gave it to them, and by His wish He took it from them and gave it to us.'" (Rashi to Genesis 1:1)
More basics: G-d said to our father Abraham, "I will give to you and to your offspring after you the land of your sojourns - the whole land of Canaan as an everlasting possession..." (Genesis 17:8)
G-d said to our father Isaac, "To you and to your offspring will I give all these lands, and I will establish the oath that I swore to Avraham your father." (Genesis 26:3)
G-d said to our father Jacob, "The land that I gave to Avraham and Yitzchak I will give to you and to your offspring after you...." (Genesis 35:12)
Are we "thieves"?
The Jewish People desire the good of all nations and all mankind. We come to be a blessing to the world. As G-d said to our father Abraham, "I will bless those who bless you." (Genesis 12:3) But blessings come only to those who respect His will. If G-d apportioned the Land to His Children, there is no force in the universe which can change that destiny. "Rabos machashavos b'lev ish ... many designs are in a man's heart, but only the counsel of G-d will prevail." (Mishlei 19:21)
We have been learning in the weekly Parshios about the erection of the Mishkan (Tabernacle in the Desert). Let us consider the disposition of the Children of Israel around the Mishkan. At the center is the Kodesh ha Kadoshim, the Holy of Holies. To its East is the Kodesh, the Holy Area. Surrounding them is the Chatzair, the Courtyard. The Tribe of Levi surrounds the Chatzair, with the place of Moses and Aaron on the east. Surrounding the Tribe of Levi are the other tribes, with Yehuda, Yissachar and Zevulon on the east. And what surrounds the tribes? The rest of the world! All the nations are grouped in expanding circles around the Mishkan, but the Mishkan is the center of the world. The successor to the Mishkan, the Bais ha Mikdosh, the Holy Temple - may we see it soon in our days! - is in the center of the entire world, the place from which the world was built, which is on the Temple Mount in the Holy City of Jerusalem.
This is a paradigm for the world today. The world has been set up with the site of the Temple its center. The Children of Israel, in all our sanctity, surround that center spot. The greatest sanctity is at the very center. Those entrusted and appointed by G-d to surround the intense sanctity at the center are His People Israel, who are saturated with the sanctity of the Torah and trusted to maintain and guard the sanctity of the world. The entire Land of Israel is filled with this sanctity, surrounding the site of the Bais ha Mikdosh. The nations of the world, surrounding Israel as they do, are able to benefit from our sanctity to the extent that they respect the way in which G-d has apportioned the world. But for anyone who - G-d forbid! - attempts to upset the arrangements made by G-d, the result, by definition, will be the opposite of blessing!
My book, 2020 VISION, begins with the following passage: "In the End of Days, after the Children of Israel have returned to their land, the children of Ishmael and the children of Esau will unite to attack Jerusalem. They will form a world coalition against the tiny nation of Israel. But something will go wrong with their plan. The religious beliefs of the children of Ishmael and the children of Esau will clash, and the two nations will collide and destroy each other. This is what is referred to as the War of Gog and Magog. Following this cataclysmic conflict, the Final Redemption of the Jewish People will occur with the coming of Messiah the Son of King David." (Malbim on Yechezkel 32:17)
We are seeing this today! Prophesy is unfolding before our eyes! If we are able to remember that, "ain od milvado ... There is none beside Him! (Dvarim 4:35), then we will know that -- not only do we have nothing to fear - but we should be filled with intense exhilaration that the signs of the Final Redemption are so incredibly palpable!
"G-d is with me. I have no fear; how can man affect me? .... All the nations surround me. In the Name of G-d I cut them down! They encircle me; they... surround me. In the Name of G-d I cut them down. They encircle me like bees, but they are extinguished as fire does thorns. In the Name of G-d I cut them down! (Tehillim 118)
Do you want to hear something amazing? I heard that the Brisker Rov ZT"L predicted there would be such a thing as "suicide bombers" on the basis of the words "they encircle me like bees."
When a bee stings, it dies!
People say "there is no answer to suicide bombers."
No answer?
King David has an answer! He "extinguishes" the "bees" with the Name of G-d!
What do we have to fear? All that we need remember is to live with the Name of G-d on our lips, and we will see the greatest Redemption in the history of the world!
These are our times: prophetic words are becoming clear for all to see.
Every descendant of Adam and Eve was born with free will. The nations of the world are not bound by some uncontrollable force to hate us and defy the Word of G-d. Every descendant of Adam and Eve is adjured to follow the Seven Commandments which are incumbent upon all mankind. When the King of all kings gives the Land of Israel back to His People, it is our place to applaud His greatness.
"How can I repay G-d for all His kindness to me? I will raise the cup of salvations and invoke the Name of G-d!" (Tehillim 116)
We have existed up to now despite the efforts of many nations to annihilate us, G-d forbid, and we will continue to exist until and beyond the Final Redemption, because we stick like glue to the Torah given to us by the Ruler of the Universe. If the nations of the world try to adhere to the will of the King of kings, then perhaps they will merit to survive and see the glorious day when "G-d is One and His Name is One," and the Children of Israel have all returned in honor to the Holy Land and the Holy Torah.
It is all unfolding before our eyes! May we see its glorious conclusion soon in our days!
Roy S. Neuberger
