ed note–Time to introduce a new theme/discussion here on this humble little informational endeavor ladies and Gentile-men, and the name we have chosen to give it is as follows–
‘The mind of God…’
In starting this discussion, it’s important to note first and foremost that there have been and doubtless always will be people claiming to know ‘the mind of God’, i.e. knowing the will of that omnipotent power responsible for creating everything and keeping the machinery of existence in the universe operating.
Some of them–in fact, many/most of them–are decent folks with no ulterior motives other than to share their own personal understanding of what it is that (they believe) our creator wants from us in terms of proper behavior and how we treat each other as fellow humans.
Others however have nothing BUT ‘ulterior motives’, and utilizing some bad grammar here, those motives ain’t good.
These types aren’t out to ‘better’ the human condition on a collective level, but rather to ‘better’ the human condition on a very personal, individual level in the form of empowering and enriching themselves.
These types–especially in this age of mass media–are oftentimes/most times easy to spot, to wit–
As much as the viewer is tempted to laugh at this ridiculous spectacle–including those of us here at this humble little informational endeavor–the ugly truth is that there’s nothing funny about it. It’s beyond sad, it’s tragic, and not just ‘tragic’ in the same way that someone gets scammed out of his/her life savings by some con artist, but in an apocalyptic way, where the continued existence of all human life on earth is reduced to a rather large question mark.
The rising/setting of the sun, the falling of rain, budding of plants and trees, birth of new life, etc, etc, etc, all of these things occur without as much as a micro-ounce of human involvement, nor are these things dependant IN ANY FASHION upon human understanding for them to take place…
They just ARE–always were, always will be…
Indeed, if there were not one single human on the planet to witness these things, understand them or write them down on paper, they would still take place, perfectly, just as they are made to do according to those rules set down by the author of the universe, the creator.
This, in its most basic sense, is the best indicator concerning what the ‘mind of God’ is all about, and in weighing all of this in a completely rational and natural manner, the thing which defines how much the ‘mind of God’ is so brilliant and beautiful in its simplicity.
In this brilliant and beautiful simplicity, there are no rules governing what is ‘kosher’ and what isn’t, nor any requirements that someone be stoned to death for gathering sticks of wood on the sabbath in order to start a fire and cook his food. No declarations ordering that a woman’s hand be cut off because she accidentally touched her husband’s private parts when she was struggling to save him while he was being attacked by bandits…No laws requiring children be killed for speaking ill of or backtalking their parents, no laws requiring a defenseless and harmless animal having its throat cut, blood drained and its body burned on an altar in appeasing the mind of this ‘God’ and filling his nostrils with the aroma of burned flesh…
And, as far as the subject matter of this OpEd is concerned, no calls for the establishment of some ‘great city’ named Joo-roo-salem that will serve as the home and headquarters of this ‘God’ and from which his various decrees will go forth, as manifested by those declarations and demands emanating from one tiny and statistically-insignificant group of people who claim a monopoly in understanding the mind of this ‘God’–
…The followers of Judah-ism otherwise known as the ‘children of Israel’…
Now, as already stated, there have always been and doubtless always will be people who bestow upon themselves some ‘6th sense’ and ‘3rd eye’ in determining and decoding the ‘mind of God’, and as long as these types have no ulterior motives, the danger they pose to the rest of us living on God’s green earth is minimal, if it even exists at all.
The problem arises however when these same types are possessed of enormous power, enormous wealth, enormous resources and believe that their VERY FINITE interpretation of the ‘mind of God’ is so Kristol Clear and infallible in its essence that everyone must, MUST agree with them, and that those who don’t are doomed to death on a MASS SCALE, and by that we are not talking about mere millions with an ‘M’ but rather billions with a ‘B’.
As the reader considers the religious-based acid trip below, the thing to keep in mind about all of this is that the only way to bring about the building of this ‘home’ and ‘headquarters’ of Yah-way, the deity which the followers of Judah-ism worship, in Joo-roo-salem is to bring about Armageddon itself, i.e. war between 2 billion Christians and 2 billion Muslims, a war that–according to those who claim to know the ‘mind of God’, is perfectly ‘kosher’ and as much part of the brilliance and beauty of the creator as is the rising and setting of the sun.
Now, as far as the piece itself, as always, pay close attention to those parts in red, but especially to the following–
…What flow of goodness is soon to be manifest following the return of Am Yisrael to its Land and Holy City…
–And compare it to what these same followers of Judah-ism, the ‘children of Israel’ as they love to refer to themselves, believe is to take place once they have gotten their claws on that ‘Land and Holy city,’ to wit–
The Gentiles and their kings shall come to your light and to the brightness of your ascension…
You shall drink their milk and draw milk from the breasts of their kings…
Strangers shall stand and feed your flocks,
And the sons of the foreigner shall be your plowmen and vinedressers…
As you devour the riches of the Gentiles they shall boast of your greatness and surrender unto you all their gold and incense, and the children of those who persecuted you shall come bowing down to you, while all those who despised you shall fall prostrate at the soles of your feet…
The sons of foreigners shall build up your walls, and their kings shall minister to you, as your gates remain open, day and night, so that the wealth of the Gentiles may be placed at your feet while their kings are led in humble procession before you…
For the nation which will not bow down and serve you shall perish, it shall be utterly destroyed…
–Book of Isaiah
Rabbi Moshe Kaplan
The Hebrew word ‘Netzach’ is often associated with victory. The word Netzach also has the meaning of eternity, as in the verse ‘The Eternal One of Israel will not lie, nor change His mind…’ (Shmuel I 15:29). Our Sages tell us: ‘Netzach – that is Yerushalayim’ (Brachot 58a).
Yerushalayim connects us to the level of the eternal, enabling us to rise to the perspective of Netzach, beyond all the day-to-day problems and deficiencies.
The Divine Name and Ideal, the full realization of the absolute good that Hashem wants for mankind, for which the world was created and which all of history leads to, is embodied in Yerushalayim, ‘the place where Hashem shall be seen.’
This process of Divine Revelation unfolds in stages, with ups and downs, making Hashem’s involvement and directing hand difficult to see. Despair and pessimism can enter our lives without the greater view of what is truly taking place.
There is an eternal nation, Israel, and there is a city of eternity, Yerushalayim. ‘Yerushalayim, the city where I have chosen to put My name’ (Melachim I 11:36). ‘Yerushalayim which I chose… I will put My Name there forever’ (Melachim II 21:7). The Jewish People were exiled and the Beit HaMikdash was destroyed, but those are only transient phenomena. Even 2000 years are transient in the perspective of Netzach.
Am Yisrael’s existence is beyond the laws of nature. Despite all the attempts to destroy us – persecutions, pogroms, and exiles – we are still here and we have miraculously returned to our Land. Non-Jewish thinkers have been amazed by this marvel, among them Tolstoy who wrote: ‘The Jew is the emblem of eternity… such a nation cannot be destroyed. The Jew is everlasting as is eternity itself.’
So too the eternal city of Yerushalayim, whose ‘holiness remains even in its destruction,’ was taken from us and destroyed. The Romans plowed over the city of Jerusalem and the Temple Mount as a sign that Zion was forever buried. Emperor Hadrian changed the name of Judea – the home of the Jewish people – to Palestine, and the name of Yerushalayim to Aelia Capitolina, in an attempt to remove any connection between the Jewish People and our city, yet the Jews have returned, and 55 years ago we merited to witness G-d’s eternal dominion over Yerushalayim and the Temple Mount when He returned it via the bravery of our soldiers to the reborn Jewish State.
We have not yet reached the full building of Yerushalayim with the rebuilt Temple and the return of the Shechina in all of its glorious revelation, but the eternal truth of ‘Netzach Yisrael’ will certainly be realized. This Divine Axiom of existence cannot be changed by any forces whatsoever – neither by world superpowers, politicians of the moment, or by any others who may try to prevent it.
Fifty-five years ago the two parts of the divided Yerushalayim were reunited – east and west. Now we must complete the process by reuniting the other two parts – the Yerushalayim above and the Yerushalayim below (Midrash Tanhuma Pekuday 1). This means joining the celestial Yerushalayim with the territorial Yerushalayim, to unify the holy and the mundane, the soul with the body.
‘Yerushalayim is the light of the world’ (Breishit Raba 59). Just like white light before it goes through a prism and diffracts into different colors, so too the entire good and future perfection of the world is concentrated in Yerushalayim. It is like the cover of a puzzle that shows us the entire picture, and from that we can understand how the pieces must be assembled into place. We must contemplate on the meaning and essence of ‘Yerushalayim’ to align our vision to the level of the eternal and thus be able to properly appreciate the significance of our times and express our gratitude to Hashem on this great day – Yom Yerushalayim.
‘Yerushalayim is the heart of the world’ (Zohar Breishit 84b). It is the place ‘from where the blessing emanates to all’ (Tehillim 128, Zohar Vayikra 36a). It is the ‘gateway to Heaven’ (Breishit 28:17). ‘From Zion will go forth Torah and the word of the L-rd from Yerushalayim’ (Yishayahu 2:3).
What a blessing for all mankind, and what flow of goodness is soon to be manifest following the return of Am Yisrael to its Land and Holy City. May we all work with Hashem to facilitate this amazing process of Redemption of which we have merited to be a part, and may we speedily see the Geula Shleima, the complete Redemption, in our time, soon. Amen.