A good week to all. Shabbos has ended, but I wanted to reflect one more time on this past week's parsha (Torah reading), Lech Lecha, as it's so relevant to today's Arab/Israeli conflict.
Lech Lecha is the parsha where God tells Abram (he's not yet been renamed "Abraham" by God), "Go for yourselves from your land, from your relatives, and from your father's house to the land that I will show you. And I will make you a great nation; I will bless you, and make your name great, and you shall be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and him who curses you I will curse; and all the families on the earth shall bless themselves by you."
Now, whether or not one accepts the bible as fact or fiction, one cannot deny that history has treated those who are good to Abraham's people very well, while those who have treated Abraham's people badly have not faired very well at all. The examples of this are are too numerous to mention.
Later, once Abram and Sarai (she's not yet been renamed "Sarah" by God) traveled to what was then known as "Canaan", God appears once again to Abram and said, "To your offspring I will give this land."
OK, we see God does make it clear who we wants to inherit this Land, don't we? What's remarkable is that no other nation has existed within those borders since the time of Joshua but the chosen offspring of Abraham. Yes, Israel has been conquered and placed under foreign rule many times over, but there has never, ever been a single independent country within the Land of Israel besides Israel. This is a historical fact.
Later in the reading, Abram consorts with his Egyptian servant Hagar (once Sarai is believed to be barren) and she conceives. Hagar then disrespects Sarai and subsequently runs away when treated harshly.
An angel comes to her then and says, "Return to your mistress (Sarai), and submit yourself to her domination."
Later the angel adds, "Behold, you will conceive, and give birth to a son; you shall name him Ishmael, for God has heard your prayer. And he shall be a wild-ass of a man: his hand against everyone, and everyone's hand against him; and over all his brothers shall he dwell."
Now, who are the descendents of this "WILD-ASS"of a man, you may ask? The Mohammedans, of course. Does history prove this people to be exactly as God had said? Without question.
Later, God again appears to Abraham and says, "Your name shall no longer be Abram, but your name shall be Abraham...I will ratify My covenant between Me and you and between your offspring after you, throughout their generations, as an everlasting covenant, to be a God to you and to your offspring after you; and I will give to you and to your offspring after you the land of your sojourns - the whole of the land of Canaan - as an everlasting possession; and I shall be a God to them."
Notice God did not say "I will give you a small section of the land", or "a little bit of this, and a little bit of that" of the land. No, God said the WHOLE OF THE LAND. Sharon expelling the Jews from Gaza and giving it to the Ishmaelites doesn't seem all that kosher now, does it?
Oh, wait, you say Ishmael is a son of Abram so it must be his covenant too, right?
WRONG!
God later in the reading says to Abraham, "As for Sarai your wife - do not call her name Sarai, for Sarah is her name. I will bless her; indeed, I will give you a son through her; I will bless her and she shall give rise to nations; kings of peoples shall rise from her."
Hmmm...still, God could mean Ishmael still is part of the covenant too, right? He's not been disqualified, after all.
WRONG! Read on...
Abraham said in response: "O that Ishmael might live before You!"
God then said: "Nonetheless, your wife Sarah will bear you a son and you shall call his name Isaac; and I will fulfill My covenant with him as an everlasting covenant for his offspring after him."
God then said: "But regarding Ishmael I have heard you: I have blessed him...But I will maintain my covenant through Isaac whom Sarah will bear to you by this time next year."
You're out mohammed! No soup for you!
Now, I know many of my readers are not at all religious, and I really don't have a problem with that, but I hope at least you can see better from the excerpts I've given from Lech Lecha that there are some very strong consistencies between history and Torah.
Shavua Tov,
-MZ
Lech Lecha is the parsha where God tells Abram (he's not yet been renamed "Abraham" by God), "Go for yourselves from your land, from your relatives, and from your father's house to the land that I will show you. And I will make you a great nation; I will bless you, and make your name great, and you shall be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and him who curses you I will curse; and all the families on the earth shall bless themselves by you."
Now, whether or not one accepts the bible as fact or fiction, one cannot deny that history has treated those who are good to Abraham's people very well, while those who have treated Abraham's people badly have not faired very well at all. The examples of this are are too numerous to mention.
Later, once Abram and Sarai (she's not yet been renamed "Sarah" by God) traveled to what was then known as "Canaan", God appears once again to Abram and said, "To your offspring I will give this land."
OK, we see God does make it clear who we wants to inherit this Land, don't we? What's remarkable is that no other nation has existed within those borders since the time of Joshua but the chosen offspring of Abraham. Yes, Israel has been conquered and placed under foreign rule many times over, but there has never, ever been a single independent country within the Land of Israel besides Israel. This is a historical fact.
Later in the reading, Abram consorts with his Egyptian servant Hagar (once Sarai is believed to be barren) and she conceives. Hagar then disrespects Sarai and subsequently runs away when treated harshly.
An angel comes to her then and says, "Return to your mistress (Sarai), and submit yourself to her domination."
Later the angel adds, "Behold, you will conceive, and give birth to a son; you shall name him Ishmael, for God has heard your prayer. And he shall be a wild-ass of a man: his hand against everyone, and everyone's hand against him; and over all his brothers shall he dwell."
Now, who are the descendents of this "WILD-ASS"of a man, you may ask? The Mohammedans, of course. Does history prove this people to be exactly as God had said? Without question.
Later, God again appears to Abraham and says, "Your name shall no longer be Abram, but your name shall be Abraham...I will ratify My covenant between Me and you and between your offspring after you, throughout their generations, as an everlasting covenant, to be a God to you and to your offspring after you; and I will give to you and to your offspring after you the land of your sojourns - the whole of the land of Canaan - as an everlasting possession; and I shall be a God to them."
Notice God did not say "I will give you a small section of the land", or "a little bit of this, and a little bit of that" of the land. No, God said the WHOLE OF THE LAND. Sharon expelling the Jews from Gaza and giving it to the Ishmaelites doesn't seem all that kosher now, does it?
Oh, wait, you say Ishmael is a son of Abram so it must be his covenant too, right?
WRONG!
God later in the reading says to Abraham, "As for Sarai your wife - do not call her name Sarai, for Sarah is her name. I will bless her; indeed, I will give you a son through her; I will bless her and she shall give rise to nations; kings of peoples shall rise from her."
Hmmm...still, God could mean Ishmael still is part of the covenant too, right? He's not been disqualified, after all.
WRONG! Read on...
Abraham said in response: "O that Ishmael might live before You!"
God then said: "Nonetheless, your wife Sarah will bear you a son and you shall call his name Isaac; and I will fulfill My covenant with him as an everlasting covenant for his offspring after him."
God then said: "But regarding Ishmael I have heard you: I have blessed him...But I will maintain my covenant through Isaac whom Sarah will bear to you by this time next year."
You're out mohammed! No soup for you!
Now, I know many of my readers are not at all religious, and I really don't have a problem with that, but I hope at least you can see better from the excerpts I've given from Lech Lecha that there are some very strong consistencies between history and Torah.
Shavua Tov,
-MZ
6 comments:
Even without the covenant I'd rather see Jews running ANY place than have it desecrated and degraded by that horde of racist barbarians.
Good point, Mac. The reasoning for why Israel should be a Jewish State and not a moslem one works religiously, logically, historically, morally, practically and militarily.
Did I forget anything?
Yes you did forget one MZ: hygienically.
:}
one more thing madze - ethically.
hygienically...very good! I think ethically was covered under morally, though.
I have another...How about belatedly!
not to mention ishmael was, for a better term, the bastard child. in scanning my bible i am hard put to find where G-d put the illegitimates ahead of the legitimates. but, G-d will not forget them. the descendants of ishmael will not allow that. i pray i am not remembered in the same manner.
grand morning to all.
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