In
the great vision that the prophet Isaiah witnessed in Heaven at the onset of
his immortal prophetic career he heard a voice that asked: “Who shall I send
and who will go for us?" That verse in Isaiah has always been a marker for
me as to how to judge Jewish leaders and other people of note. There are
moments in life and in history when that question reverberates throughout the
Jewish world. And history and destiny and even I daresay Heaven itself judges
and will judge every generation of Jews according to the response that they
gave to this question. The Jewish world is coming off of a week of tears,
heartbreak, angst, enemy rockets and Arab riots and great uncertainty. We need
leaders, both religious and temporal, that will go for us. That will comfort,
inspire, act and give us strength and reason to hope and continue, to build and
believe. These types of people are rare, scattered throughout Jewish history,
often ignored and reviled buy heir contemporaries and current political
correctness.. The prophet Isaiah does not receive a warm welcome for his words
and visions from the people of Israel. Nevertheless, it is those words that
have guided and protected us throughout the ages, all because he was willing to
go for us, for all of us. He initially said that he lived amongst the people
that had impure lips and speech. Heaven immediately punished him for that
statement. Someone who goes for us is not allowed to complain about us to our
Father in Heaven. Heaven searches for defenders of Israel and shuns those who
are its accusers, even if those accusations may seemingly be correct and on
point. Going for us requires commitment, wisdom, empathy and compassion. It
should never be cloaked with moral relativism or sham piety and political and
ideological agenda.
Last
Saturday a few hundred Jews conducted a rally in Haifa (naturally not in
Sderot) demanding that Israel abandon the seven hundred thousand Jews living in
Judea, Samaria and the eastern neighborhoods of Jerusalem and immediately grant
the Fatah-Hamas rulers of the Palestinians a state encompassing the 1948
armistice borders. This took place while Israeli Arabs rioted throughout the
country causing great material damage and physical wounds to the police who
were trying to keep the peace. These Jews – the hard Left – certainly are not
interested in going for us. They are willing to sacrifice countless lives in
their attempt to undo the past century of Jewish effort. And to do so on the
altar of illusory peace and a very distorted sense of justice and relative morality.
Their ideological fervor in following the false gods of suicidal pacifism and
moral relativism blinds them to the realities of the conflicts that rock our
section of the world. Their naïveté is ludicrous and almost comical and yet it
is so dangerous for our present and future. Haaretz planned a “peace”
conference gathering for this coming week. Representatives of the Palestinian
government were invited and expected to use it as a propaganda coup for their
cause. However, the violence and hatred of the Palestinian street, encouraged
and educated by this very same leadership, has caused them to withdraw from
attending the conference. So once again, we will have no real partner while
arguing amongst ourselves about the fantasies of Oslo, Geneva, Camp David, etc.
We should instead convene a conference to rally those many amongst us who are
yet willing to go for us.
A
leading American Chasidic rebbe made a statement this past week about the
placing of blame for the murders of the three young yeshiva students. His
remarks were intemperate, foolish and completely lacking in fact and without
any sense of Jewish empathy and compassion. Again, ideology and extremism – two
of the great dangers lurking in our religious society – drove these public
utterances. It is clear that he also does not go for us. I have grandsons who
are students in a major yeshiva here in Jerusalem. They told me that none of
their teachers spoke to them about the tragedies and troubles that we are
currently experiencing. Apparently they are somehow unable to join themselves
in the situations and difficulties that the Jewish people are facing daily here
in Israel but throughout the world generally. I don't feel that they - these
teachers and scholars - are going for us either. Where is the voice of
necessary comfort, of commitment, of perspective and Torah wisdom? Our mother
Rachel wept for us for thousands of years and her tears have seen us through
the long night of exile. She has always been going for us. All of us should
emulate her and feel part of the great Jewish people and the events that we
encounter and surround us, good and better. We should all be willing to listen
to that echo from Heaven and continue to go for us.
