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Nov. 20, 2009
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Jewish World Review
The Absurd Power of Truth
By Rabbi Shimon Apisdorf
An 11th Century scholar has a message for Netanyahu. He'd do well to listen. A must-read/forward for those who take their Bible seriously
http://www.JewishWorldReview.com |
In his Cairo speech, President Obama grounded himself in the Koran's teaching to
"Be conscious of G-d and speak always the truth," and committed himself to
personally "speak the truth as best I can." Prime Minister Netanyahu, in his response
to the president at Bar Ilan, took up the baton of truth when he said, "Even as we look
toward the horizon, we must be firmly connected to reality, to the truth." Both men
sought to root their understanding of the Jewish people's relationship to Israel in the
power of truth. They weren't the first to do so.
Rabbi Shlomo ben-Yitzchaki, the 11th century scholar known as Rashi, authored the
most authoritative Torah (Bible) commentary in all of Jewish history. Rashi's
comments about truth and the Jewish relationship to the land of Israel are astonishing,
absurd and insightful. For the Jewish people today, I suspect they are also deeply
instructive. Let's take a look:
The book of Genesis begins with the creation of the heavens and the earth, and
Rashi is immediately puzzled. If the Torah is first and foremost a book of laws and
practices proscribed by G-d for the Jewish nation, shouldn't G-d have skipped the
whole creation thing and gotten right to the point, namely, the commandments given
to the Jews?
Rashi's answer is astounding. He says that the Torah begins with the
account of creation in order to preempt a canard that will one day be leveled against
the Jewish people. In his words, "The nations of the world will accuse the Jewish
people of stealing the land of Israel." Therefore, to cut such a perfidious accusation off
at the knees, the Torah begins with Creation so that the Jewish people will be able to
respond, "G-d created the world, the entire earth is His and He chose to give the Land
of Israel to the Jewish people."
Rashi's words are astonishing, absurd, and profoundly insightful. Here's what I
make of them.
1) Astonishing. Rashi wrote at a time when Israel had been under Muslim rule for
four hundred years, Christian Crusaders were marauding their way across Europe to
wrest the Holy Land from the grasp of Islam, and only a tiny Jewish community
remained in Jerusalem. It's simply astonishing that he could not only see a day when
there would be a Jewish State in Israel, but that he could imagine a world that included
a mechanism for nations from around the globe to accuse the Jews of "stealing" the
land from it's rightful inhabitants.
2) Absurd. The Jewish response that Rashi proposes to the accusation of "stealing"
the land is that the same G-d who created the world, also gave the land of Israel to the
Jews. Tell me, would such an answer ever fly with the likes of Khaled Meshal of
Hamas, Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khameni or Hassan Nasrallah? I can just see it
now: Bibi makes a call to Meshal, tells him that G-d gave Israel to the Jews, Meshal
apologizes profusely for having ever questioned the Jewish right to Israel, the lion lays
down with the lamb and we all live happily ever after. It's absurd! What in the world
was Rashi thinking?
3) Insightful. Rashi was no fool, and I believe that what he was trying to tell us was
this: When truth is presented with conviction, nothing can stand in its way. And, when
all is said and done, the only weapon the Jewish people may ultimately have at their
disposal is the power of truth.
The Arab-Israeli conflict has always been about one fundamental issue—the right
of the Jewish people to the land of Israel. The truth is, the United States stole endless
tracks of land from the Indians and Europeans colonized Australia all but dooming an
ancient civilization to extinction. Yet, only when it comes to the land of Israel and the
Jews is the core legitimacy of our relationship an issue.
I suspect that what Rashi wanted all Jews to know, including the Israeli Prime
Minister, is that while troops, planes and helicopters are vital, the truth is also a
weapon—perhaps the most powerful weapon of all. How it works I don't exactly
know—perhaps there is a metaphysical force at work here—but some how, some way,
when the entire Jewish people can speak with one clear voice and say from the depths
of our collective soul that the land of Israel is the homeland of the Jewish people
because G-d gave it to us—that will make all the difference in the world.
JewishWorldReview.com regularly publishes uplifting articles. Sign up for the daily JWR update. It's free. Just click here.
Comment by clicking here.JWR contributor Rabbi Shimon Apisdorf is the award-winning author of eleven books, including the Rosh Hashanah Yom Kippur Survival Kit and Judaism In A Nutshell: ISRAEL.
© 2009, Rabbi Shimon Apisdorf
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