Jewish Strife

We learn history so we are not doomed to repeat it; but Jewish history has been repeating for thousands of years. Ever since the destruction of the Holy Temple in Jerusalem the Jewish people have been stuck in a dangerous pattern. The force that keeps it going is the fact that Jews have a strong tendency to argue and disagree. It seems like a small problem but it can end friendships, form splits in communities and create conflicting sects of Judaism. Following the pattern, God sends an enemy to forcefully unite us. During the recent Palestinian uprising there have been countless Jewish rallies all over the world showing support for Israel. When Soviet Jewry was in trouble, Jews all over the world united for the cause. This pattern of events dates as far back to the times of Masada. When Masada was not in danger, men murdered each other because of their political opinion; but when Jewish slaves were building the ramp that would doom Masada, the slaves were not touched.

It does not always end that way; the year was 70 CE. There was more then enough food and supplies stored inside the city of Jerusalem to survive the Roman siege; but it was all burnt by groups of fighting Jewish zealots. The Temple was destroyed because even when God sent the enemy, we could not get along. They just hated each other for no reason. Today this hasn’t changed much.

It almost seems hopeless but its not. We always have and always will be united as one nation. When any Jew hears that a bomb went off in our holiest city and 15 of our brothers were murdered or that a bomb in Tel Aviv killed 21 teenagers, we all feel it. We don’t need to know what synagogue the victims belong to, what candidate they voted for or anything else as insignificant as that- we just don’t care. That’s how it should always be, wherever you are, whomever you meet. Just accept everybody Jewish as a Jew, you don’t need to know anything else about him or her. You may think they observe unnecessary things or don’t observe enough, maybe they even believe something you think is false. It has been 3000 or so years since every Jew received the Torah. Anything may have changed since then and nobody knows exactly what. Hitler was not concerned with which synagogue you belonged to or if you belonged to any at all. If he did not care, why should we? Why must we always be taught this through cruel persecution? Its time we understand this in peace.

We are like fire. If you separate the embers of a fire, you are left with scattered, glowing embers, still hotter then normal wood but still no flame. Together there is real flame, a light unto nations, which can easily light other sticks that contribute to the greater fire. Individual actions, another stick to the fire, can make a world of a difference. It seems as though Jews still can’t get along but with your help, we will. Let us skip the next step in the pattern that has haunted us for so long and jump to the final stage.

We all pray for the same things, peace in Israel (as well as all over), the coming of the Messiah and the rebuilding of Jerusalem and with it The Holy Temple. The Messiah will come, but he can come in many ways, the way he comes is up to us. He can come when we, the Jewish people, are hopelessly lost and only God’s power can help us. In that case there would be a huge war filled with suffering, death and destruction; then when all is nearly lost, the Messiah will come and redeem us. Or, we can make peace with each other and unify for a common goal, the rebuilding of Jerusalem. With such unity, we will have undone what the temple was destroyed for, repented for our forefathers and will all live to see the coming of the Messiah.

Lets forget all our differences and respect each other for what we all are, Jews.

Please publish this wherever you can and/or copy, then email it to your friends!

~~~~~~~

from the December 2001 Edition of the Jewish Magazine

E-mail This Page to a Friend

Please let us know if you see something unsavory on the Google Ads and we will have them removed. Email us with the offensive URL (www.something.com)