ed note–besides the usual, which is the manner in which the followers of Judaism–the ‘children of Israel’ as they like to fawningly refer to themselves–adhere to a completely-detached-from-reality thought process and the worldview that comes with it, is that ‘6th sense’ doom soothsaying that is appearing more and more in Judaic OpEds these days warning of some future ‘catastrophic event’ for which the Jews are going to be blamed, specifically–
Jewish communities throughout the Diaspora shouldn’t count on the IDF to arrive on the scene when the rage of Esau (Europe) and Achashverus (Russia) turns against them as it always has in the past.
Tzvi Fishman for Israel National News
Brothers and sisters, Purim is on the way. In the days of Mordechai and Esther, the terrible decree of Haman against the Jews of Shushan fell upon us because we stopped yearning to return to Israel and rebuild our Holy Temple. We were content to live as Persian Jews and enjoy our positions of aristocracy and wealth, epitomized by our flocking to the party of Achashverus, assured that we would be imbibing only glatt kosher food and wine.
The story of the Megillah isn’t just something that happened back then. The story of the Megillah is being replayed today. We are still the Jews of Shushan who want the nations of the world to love us.
Meanwhile, the Achashverus of Moscow is reminding the Jews of Russia and the Ukraine that waiting for Moshiach is not the wisest option if we cherish life. In situations like these, when Jews are threatened, the United Nations isn’t going to help us. The NATO alliance in Europe won’t help us. The United States won’t come to our aid.
Theoretically, as the slow-moving, 30-mile-long convoy of Russian tanks and missile launchers makes its way to Kiev, the Israeli Air Force could speedily fly out from the clouds and make a scrap-metal field out of the deadly procession, well before Russian jet interceptors could reach the site. Israel, of course, will not carry out such an heroic action. We have enough local enemies as it is and we don’t need to give Putin an excuse to launch Russian missiles our way.
In a sense, as moral-minded as Israel may be, we are handcuffed. Therefore, Jewish communities throughout the Diaspora shouldn’t count on the IDF to arrive on the scene when they are threatened in Moscow, Paris, and London, Brooklyn, South Florida, Mexico City and Melbourne. Just like the Jews of Kiev, Diaspora communities will have to fend for themselves when the rage of Esau and Achashverus turns against them as it always has in the past.
The Diaspora Jew has a choice. To continue to enjoy the good life of galut and flee to Israel when chased out of town, managing to salvage one suitcase stuffed with a change of socks, underwear, a family photo album and tefillin – or to make the proper arrangements now and come to Israel with a gigantic lift and all of the family’s belongings.
In Shushan, when the Jews learned of the decree of extermination, the Megilla states, ‘and the city of Shushan was confused’ (Megillat Esther 3:15). So too in Kiev today. The Jews are confused. How can it be they ask? Hasn’t Chabad constructed the largest building in the city, in the shape of a Menorah, a towering symbol of permanence, assuring us that Jewish life in Kiev is here to stay? Haven’t the Jews of the Ukraine been officially accepted as respected citizens of the Motherland? The President himself is a Jew! How can it be that the goyim have turned against us? Hasn’t Putin become our friend? The Jews of Kiev are confused.
How long will the Jews of the Diaspora pretend that Jewish life in foreign lands is forever? How much longer must that tragic shortsightedness and falsehood be perpetuated?
Not only is Kiev threatened. Jews of Moscow, beware! Stop listening to fairytales about being safe in Russia. Flee for your lives! Don’t wait for the line-ups and deportations to the detention camps which are sure to come. Don’t wait for Moshiach! Come home to the true Jewish Homeland now while you can.
The same warning holds true for the Jews of Paris, London, and New York. Don’t wait for history to repeat itself, as it has time and again. Building new, fabulous-looking synagogues and Jewish community centers in Texas, South Florida, and Arizona won’t save you when the Jews are blamed for global economic collapse. Look at the nightly news from Kiev and read the writing on the screen: ‘JEWS, GET OUT AS FAST AS YOU CAN!’
One way or the other, the day is sure to come. Hashem has decreed that His People will inherit the Land of Israel and forever live in its promised borders. The exile was decreed upon the Jewish People as a curse, not as lifetime vacation. The exile was never meant to last forever. Yes we all want Moshiach, but where is the Jewish wisdom in packing our bags only when the tanks of tyrants come rumbling into cities where we never belonged in the first place?
What was true then in the days of Mordechai and Ester is true today. The Torah hasn’t changed. The Almighty hasn’t altered His plans. We are to be a holy people, living according to our holy Torah in our own Holy Land. Like it or not, that’s the way it has to be.
G-d does not want us to be good American Jews who keep Shabbat.
G-d does not want us to be Londoners who keep kosher.
Nor does G-d want us to be Israelis who try to imitate the unholy lifestyles of the West.
Our national destiny is the same today as it was with the giving of the Torah at Sinai – to be Hashem’s holy Nation in the Holy Land. Whether we like it or not, the Almighty will bring this to pass. ‘The eternal One of Israel will not lie.’ Either we return to Zion and Jerusalem peacefully on our own, or else the Hamans, and Hitlers, and Putins of the world will persuade us the hard way, Heaven forbid.
This is the message of Purim. It is time to stop the masquerade of dressing up in the costumes of the loyal American Jew, and the cultured French Jew, the proper English Jew, the happy Russian Hasid, and the Westernized Israeli Jew, and to start being 100% holy Torah Jews in Hashem’s Chosen Land.