Gerry Ziering's Zionist Letter, 11/3/11

As the euphoria ebbs after redeeming our captives Gilad Shalit and Ilan Grapel and Hamas and Islamic Jihad return to their real personas by launching long range missiles on our towns and cities in the south, we head into the Parsha of Lech Lecha.

Avraham Avinu lived in a land of idolatry and wickedness where Avraham’s brother, Haran, had been killed in the fiery furnace. G-d then told Avraham:

לך לך מארצך ומולדתך ומבית אביך אל הארץ אשר אראך

"Go from your land, from your place of birth, and from your fathers house, to the land that I will show you”. With the advent of Avraham Avinu the world was about to change. He was a giant among men who was able to show the world that there was a creator and that this Supreme Being had a plan for the human race. This plan consisted of the Torah, the land he was being sent to, and the people whom he would teach about the existence of G-d. These three things would enable man to improve the world according to the way G-d had planned when he created the world. Each day of creation when G-d said "ki Tov", he had created something good. Since G-d is good, and perfect, how could the world He created become so bad/evil, that it had to be destroyed a mere ten generations after it began? The reason? Man was selected to be a partner in the creation and to complete the perfection of the world. The magic ingredients needed to accomplish this, consisted of the three things mentioned above; the Torah, the Land of Israel, and the Jewish people.

Fast forward 4000 years to bring us to current times and we see that we are extremely fortunate to have the Torah, the Land of Israel and the People of Israel. We have a land that has 5.5 million Jews and more people learning Torah than ever before in history. The Creator, who bequeathed these 3 valuable commodities to the world at the time of Avraham Avinu, and more specifically to the Jewish people, has brought all 3 entities back together in a holy alliance. Much the same as the Kohen Gadol in the Holy of Holies on Yom Kippur.

If you had longed with all your heart and soul for something all your life, be it someone you loved, a home of your own, a healthy child, and then were told it was available; how fast would you run to it?

We have longed for something throughout our existence and we now have the ability to obtain it. We should all be running out of our houses without even packing our suitcases to get the next plane to Israel. Why aren’t we doing so? Perhaps we are like someone who has been deprived of that item we love so much for so long, that we have lost our passion and have become used to what we have. Perhaps we no longer yearn for our lover, our dream house or a healthy child because we have lived so long without it. Our senses have been dulled, our feelings inured. We have given up on our dreams and have settled into complacency.

Let us all wake from our slumber and recognize the presence of Hashem in this amazing confluence of events, and despite the constant barrage of missiles and condemnation, let us forge ahead with our destiny. Our people, our state and our Torah are stronger then ever. Our economy is vibrant, our technology and inventions go out to help the entire world. There is more Torah learning than ever before. We must continue to strive to bring all our people to our land and to our Torah so that we can be a “light unto the nations”. Only when this job has been completed will we have fulfilled our mission.

Gerry Ziering