Friday, July 15, 2011

State of Israel - failure or vindication of Judaism?



The flag of the State of Israel has Star of David on white background between two blue bands. Symbolically it combines the state with the religion of Judaism. (By the way, the Star of David is a relatively new symbol for the ancient religion of Judaism. In Herodian period artifacts and buildings we often see Menorah).

Similarly, the Scandinavian flags connect state and religion by setting a cross on simple background, the flag of Finland for example a blues cross on white background. United Kingdom flag combines the cross, Union Jack, and St Andrew's cross making it a flag of a Christian country.

Many Moslem countries have the Moon crescent symbolizing Islam.

This symbolism is carried on in the signs for emergency services - Red Cross on the ambulances comes from the flag of Switzerland with a red cross on it. Israeli ambulances have the Star of David painted on them and Palestinian ambulances have the Red Crescent.

Failure of Judaism?
Well. There are few Jewish citizens in the State of Israel today who are not embarrassed by the serious court cases against their rulers with such heavy crimes as rape (former President of the State) and deep corruption (former Prime Minister). There are still pending court cases in serious matters of misuse of political position for personal gain (current Foreign Minister). Some citizens, of course, think that the ability to fool the state for money is a sign of truly great leader who can handle the system and knows how to pull the ropes for his or her benefit.

This in itself is nothign new or specific to the Jewish state. Tanakh is not blue-eyed and naive when it talks about the Kings of Israel and Judea in the Iron Age. The State was pretty corrupt, to the point that God of Israel utterly destroyed the Northern Kingdom and sent the citizens of the Southern Kingdom to Exile. Nor were all the Maccabean period kings and High priests praised by the people of their times, even if we do not mention what Alexander Janneus did.

In modern State of Israel there are many religious Jews, especially among the politically powerful ultra-Orthodox camp, with a long list of complaints against the secular citizens. They complain that there are godless Israelis who do not respect the mitzvot of the Torah and, to take one exmaple, break Shabbat by driving their cars on Levi Eshkol boulevard in northern Jerusalem.

Similarly, some secular Jews have some complaints against the religious Jews, for example the lack of respect for women and the Iranian style demand for segregation in public transportation. Many secular and also religious Jews abhor the harsh boycott of some 80% of the Jews in the world by Orthodox rabbies in the Knesset who consider them as "non-Jewish" because they belong to Liberal or Conservative synagogues and not really Jewish synagogues.

Accordingly, the citizens themselves are not completely satisfied with the idea that the State of Israel is the beacon of light to the nations:

And now the LORD says—
he who formed me in the womb to be his servant
to bring Jacob back to him
and gather Israel to himself,
for I am honored in the eyes of the LORD
and my God has been my strength—
he says:
“It is too small a thing for you to be my servant
to restore the tribes of Jacob
and bring back those of Israel I have kept.
I will also make you a light for the Gentiles,
that my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth.”
Isaiah 49:5-6 NIV

Anti-Semitism
Regardless of how people react to anti-Semitism it is a fact - as the King of Israel prophesized according to the Gosple of Luke, there is a deep hatred of the Jewish people among the Gentiles.

“When you see Jerusalem being surrounded by armies, you will know that its desolation is near. Then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains, let those in the city get out, and let those in the country not enter the city. For this is the time of punishment in fulfillment of all that has been written. How dreadful it will be in those days for pregnant women and nursing mothers! There will be great distress in the land and wrath against this people. They will fall by the sword and will be taken as prisoners to all the nations. Jerusalem will be trampled on by the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled."
Luke 21:20-24 NIV

Jerusalem was destroyed by the Romans in 70 AD and finally in 134 AD and there is a great wrath against the Jewish people among the nations.

United Nations is a case study. Simple statistics of the human rights and other issues brought to the General Assembly against the member nations demonstrates the number of accusations against the State of Israel. Everybody agrees, also the Jewish people themselves, that not everything is so good what has happened. But there are some Christian and Moslem and Communist states in United Nations that have not exactly fulfilled the ideals of the UN Charter during the past sixty years of its existence. There are many motives in singling out Israel but anti-Semitism surely is one of them.


(The word anti-Semitism is in itself a misnomer, since today there are rather anti-Semitic feelings among the Semitic Arab people, sons of Ishmael. So a better word would be anti-Jewish but the word is so widely used that there is no hope for correction.)

Many UN votes and resolutions do not give great glory to the modern State of Israel or Judaism as a religion. But these resolutions must be taken with a grain of salt and in a context of a truly hostile courthouse. Nevertheless, in many ways they do present world opinion and there are people among the nations who do not exactly love the Jewish state.

It is interesting that while early Zionism was developing the heated discussions among the Jews also included this subject - that is with the raise of a Jewish state there will be national level anti-Semitism and not just individual cases of hatred of the Jews. These warnings have turned out to be true.

Vindication of Judaism?
With the State slowly but steadily moving towards theocracy, religious nationalistic monarchy and the absolute rule of God as in the Iron Age holy Bible, many religious Jews are feeling more and more at home in the State of Israel. Reconquista of the Promised Land according to the will of the God of Israel, flourishing settlements in the ancient home land of God's people in Judea and Samaria, prophecies are coming true in front of the eyes of the people of our times.

Despite all the misfortunes and fortunes among the Gentiles for two thousand years the touching prayer of the Jewish people in Diaspora has been the Passover Seder L'shanah haba'ah b'Yerushalayim!

Very few Gentiles have believed that after so many years this would ever happen and the Jewish people become a nation again.

And yet it has happened.


Vindication of the God of Israel
Despite all the valiant human efforts of early Zionists and other Jewish people during the revival of nationalism in 19th century Europe and elsewhere in the world without which there would not be such a national state it nevertheless does not seem to me that the birth of Israel in 1948 was a vindication of Judaism.

I think that the birth of modern Israel and its survival in this hostile world is a vindication of the LORD, the God of Israel.

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