Bsd
Richard Allen writes
The fact that David Meyers is actively involved in leadership positions with anti-Israel and BDS supporters; JStreet, New Israel Fund and "if not now", precludes him from holding any communal Jewish leadership position. Electing him the President & CEO of the Center for Jewish History is gross malfeasance.
Biblical Lesson re: Jewish Claim to Eretz Yisroel:
Let us begin with our forefathers Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
Abraham had 2 sons. Ishmael and Isaac. G-d promised Abraham that his son Ishmael from Hagar was to grow to be a great Nation and in fact he did and the descendants of Ishmael today are powerful and many. However the inheritance of Abraham went to his son Isaac, the son of Sarah exclusively as is stated in the Bible. It did not go to Ishmael as is falsely claimed by the Arabs thereby refuting their false claim of Israel's Occupation of Palestinian Land. Isaac had 2 sons. Eisav and Jacob. Eisav sold his birthright to Jacob. Jacob had 12 sons who became the 12 Tribes of Israel. Israel is another name given to Jacob. We the Nation of Israel are all descendants of Jacob, and the 12 Tribes and his 4 wives Leah, Rachel, Bilha and Zilpa. The Land of Israel whose boundaries are delineated, are Promised exclusively to the Nation of Israel the descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Originally the boundaries extended to the Euphrates as was the Covenant with our Forefathers Abraham, Isaac and Jacob as delineated in the Bris Bein HaBesarim.
Before entering the Land of Israel, the boundaries are again delineated in Parshat Masei. It is a reduced territory but encompasses much of Israel today, including Judea and Samaria and parts of Lebanon. It was reduced following the Sin of the Spies. This area to be conquered was divided among the 12 Tribes of Israel as per lots. Joshua and the Nation of Israel entered the Land of Israel and together they conquered the Land and it was divided according to Divine designation.
The Nation of Israel as per their part of the Covenant have special obligations, commandments to keep in the Land of Israel. Leket, Shichcha Peah, Shemittah to name some…
Keeping the commandments ensures that there will be peace in the Land.
After the period of the Judges, the Prophet Samuel, and the anointing of King Saul and the anointing of King David by the Prophet Samuel, the Temple was built by King David's son, King Solomon. The Temple, the Beit Hamikdash, was known as the House of David, after King David, Solomon's father. Following the reign of King Solomon the Kingdom Split into the Israelite Kingdom and the Judean Kingdom. Before the destruction of the 1st Temple, the Israelite Kingdom and 10 of the Tribes of Israel were exiled. They were lost among the nations. The Judean kingdom, consisting of the Tribe of Judah and the Tribe of Benjamin as well as members of the Levite Tribe who were dispersed throughout the Land, remained in the H-ly Land. Their exile came with the Destruction of the First Temple. The Jews of today are direct descendants of the Judean Kingdom. The Inheritance of the Tribe of Judah and the Tribe of Benjamin is situated in the territory known today as Judea and Samaria. This territory encompasses the Judean Hills, Temple Mount, East and West Jerusalem, Mateh Binyamin in Southern Samaria and Mateh Efraim in Northern Samaria. Interestingly, Samaria has their biggest protectors today coming from Evangelicals, Notzrim. The word Notzrim was originally used in Tanach with the meaning of Protectors and not Christianity. (Some scholars believe that embedded among Christians are those from the Tribe of Efraim who were exiled and migrated via Britain hundreds of years prior to the rise of Christianity.)
The Land belongs to G-d as it says Ki LI Kol Haaretz. This truth is practically demonstrated when we keep the Mitzvah of Shemittah as we return the Land to the Creator of the Earth and do not till or toil the Land once every 7 years.
It does not belong to the Prime Minister of Israel nor to the President of the United States no matter how benevolent or wonderful they are. It is not theirs to negotiate away. It belongs to G-d.
It is the Heritage of Israel alone. The Jubilee Year, Yovel represents Freedom and the return of property to their ancestral owners. We pray for the time when we know who belongs to which Tribe to once again claim their rightful inheritance. We do know without a shadow of a doubt that the entire Israel belongs to the descendants of the Tribes of Israel. Tel Aviv located in Gush Dan, is the Territory of the Tribe of Dan.
Why then is our claim to Tel Aviv or Bnei Brak stronger than our claim to Hebron? The opposite is true since Jews of today are by enlarge direct descendants of the Tribe of Judah not the Tribe of Dan. If we have no claim to Hebron than surely we have no claim to Tel Aviv. Jews of today are literally indigenous to the territory of Judea and Samaria and Jerusalem.
In addition, will the Palestinians keep the commandments that will bring H-liness to the Land?
Even on Temple Mount there were boundaries. From least H-ly to most H-ly. These areas include the Israelite Camp, the Levite Camp, the Priestly Camp and the H-ly of H-lies. Each camp was well guarded and it was dangerous to overstep the boundaries of the camp to the point of death. Guards were put in place for the protection of those who might overstep their boundaries. Today as well Jews refrain from ascending the forbidden areas.
It is actually dangerous for those who are unworthy or of the wrong lineage to trespass into forbidden territory. This is not a racist concept. It is Divine Will and for our own good and protection. Using the same logic, we should educate the Nations of the world that it is only to their benefit that Jews occupy their Biblical Homeland. To do otherwise can bring upon them great tragedy.
Jews are a Kingdom of Priests. The High Priest and the Priests had obligations that came with their elevated status among the people. The High Priest wore the names of the Tribes literally on his chest on his shoulders. Their elevated spiritual level was a responsibility so much so that if any Jew accidentally killed a fellow Jew, the High Priest shared responsibility. It should never have happened on his watch.
Israel is the light unto the Nations. The spiritual level of the world is connected to Israel being the proper moral compass.
To live in the H-lyland, residents of the Land of Israel must accept the Sovereignty of Israel and abide by the 7 Noahide Laws as do all civilized nations. They are then entitled and Israel must provide for their civil rights which will grant them health, education and economic prosperity with G-d's help.
If they do not agree to these conditions of being loyal to Israel and adhering to the 7 Noahide laws, they cannot remain on the Land and they must leave or be removed. The Book of Judges is replete of stories of the subjugation of Israel under foreign occupation because of their failure to remove the rotten, idolatrous elements prevalent in the society. Judges came and went and the spiritual level of the Israelites was in proportion to their willingness to keep the bad elements out.
Another example. When the Tabernacle was captured by the Philistines it was to their detriment as it caused a plague. When the H-lyland, the Land of Israel, is in the wrong hands it does not produce for the inhabitants and is desolate. Only when Jews return to their ancestral homeland does the Land of Israel produce and flourish. In fact we can see from Gaza, following the expulsion of Gush Katif, that rather than a booming Palestinian economy, in spite of receiving the hot houses, there now exists a Hamas enclave which continuously threatens Southern Israel and is hostile to its own people. Hamas is in violation of basic universal morality, engaging in acts of terror against their own and against Israel and use their civilian population, among them women and children, to be human shields and suicide bombers.
Jihad education currently under the auspices of the United Nations, and prevalent throughout the 22 Arab countries surrounding Israel consist of educating violent jihad; which is the justification of engaging in terror attacks against Israel and economic jihad; which is justification of the promotion of BDS. If neither is possible, the third kind of Jihad is recommended which is to lend support to the other 2 kinds of Jihad. This hate education leads to the opposite of peace in the area.
The only way to ensure true peace is written up in the Torah. This means accepting Sovereignty of Israel and establishing a righteous Jewish Court, adhering to the Biblical commandments pertaining to the Land and enforcing the 7 Noahide Laws, the laws of Universal Morality.
Alternatively, we are assured curses, like the implementation of the Jihad education which we so foolishly didn't and don't obstruct. Curses are the natural progression of annulling the Torah. In a heavenly court will we be ashamed for having willingly lost the opportunity to keep the Laws dependent on the Land of Israel and giving away our Heritage, G-d's Gift to the Jewish Nation. We will be held accountable for not providing testimony as per the fallacy of allowing a foreign entity to be Sovereign in a portion of Our Biblical Heritage.
