By Reuven Koret
October 12, 2005
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| Young Israelis participate in the tradition of kapparot -- where a chicken is swung around heads to redeem Jews of their sins. (AP) |
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Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement approaches, and Israel Insider -- with the rest of the Jewish State and Jews worldwide -- will be taking a break for prayer, reflection, and repentance. I have few words to offer: the value of words, despite the thousands we publish on a daily basis, has been devalued. It has been a hard year for those with faith in and love for this nation, and the future is rimmed with uncertainty and danger.
It would be too depressing to review the Jewish year that was. Let's just say that from the lofty peaks of the Red Sox winning the World Series and Yasser Arafat's sudden and mysterious demise, it's been downhill all the way. I was part of those who fought the battle to prevent the implementation of the expulsion of Jews from Gaza and northern Samaria. It was a bitter fight, which has left productive communities in ruins and in the hands of the terrorists, leaving thousands of Israelis most optimistic and creative people without homes. We are left with a corrupt and cynical government -- heartless and false in its pronouncement, reckless in its disregard for the safety of our citizens.
And yet, in the spirit of the indomitable Jewish people, one can -- one must -- see the cup not half-empty, but half-full and, perhaps, with a little luck and divine providence, filling up. We are heartened by the winning of the Nobel Prize in Economics by Israel "Robert" Aulmann -- what a fortuitous name! A great-grandfather with a flowing beard and a twinkle in his eye. The fact that this religiously observant member of Professors for a Strong Israel wore an orange ribbon to the university, even after the expulsion, shows me that among our most brilliant thinkers are those who see the local reality the way we do.
It is also true that many smart people yet see reality otherwise, but then again, many also were filled with great hope by the signing of the Oslo Accords at this season more than a decade ago. I was not among them and, like Professor Aulmann, I do not see the Jewish-Arab dispute concluding peacefully in the coming generations. But like him, I can also celebrate with my family, and with my talented colleagues who produce this and our other publications, the day-to-day joys of life in a small but beautiful Jewish country, blessed with sunshine, human warmth, and an intensity of existence not matched in many places I know of.
Even the depressing and disheartening process of "Disengagement" had its positive dimensions. Soldiers "engaged" with those they expelled, and the people of Israel were exposed to searing images and traumatic scenes that we will not soon wish to see repeated. The precedent of government-sanctioned expulsion was established, and the day will yet come where that democratic vehicle may yet be used, with "determination and sensitivity" (as was said when innocent families were torn from their homes) against the implacable enemies in our midst, with the full sanction of our law, rather than to evict Jewish patriots.
We learned that there is strength in numbers and, even if the numbers fell short this time, the revealed reality is that the birthrate and influence of the post-Zionist Jewish left will wane and weaken before the birthrate and influence of the anti-Zionist Arab enemy will have a chance to destroy the Jewish State. The past year saw a resurgence of immigration of Jewish from North America and France and eastern Europe, people coming here with faith in building their lives in a nation where they will be part of the majority, not an embattled minority. Israel is now, and will henceforth be, the country with the largest Jewish population. Democratically, the forces that believe in a strong Jewish state will have their chance at the polls to prevail, and once in power, will know what to do to ensure our nation continues to survive and thrive.
Each Sabbath we raise our glasses in sanctifying over wine the Divine blessings we have been given. It is tradition to fill out cups to the brim--indeed, to create a meniscus whose surface tension suspends the wine above the brim. Israel is a bit like that--always threatening to spill over, occasionally doing so, yet always full -- of life, of passion, and of faith in the coming of something better. That is the Israel I know, the Israel I love, and the Israeli to which I will cleave in the days and years to come.
Publishing Israel Insider is a labor of love, and it is a rough and tumble mission to try and do justice to the words and ideas that coming flowing to us, through us, and from us on a daily basis. I apologize to any whom I have wronged, knowingly or unknowingly in the course of the year. I will try to do better in the coming one. I thank you all for sharing moments of your lives with us, and I hope and pray that the year to come will be better for all of us.
Gamar chatima tova. May we be inscribed in the Book of Life for good.
Views expressed by the author do not
necessarily reflect those of israelinsider.
 
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