We officially
assumed the role of
the “outsider” when
we stood at Mount
Sinai and accepted
the responsibility
to fulfill the Torah
– the Divine
Teaching. According
to our tradition,
this great
historical event at
Mount Sinai evoked
the hatred of the
other nations
towards us. The
Talmud therefore
states the following
teaching: The name
“Sinai” alludes to
“sinah” (hatred),
for when the Torah
was given, the pagan
nations began to
hate the People of
Israel (Shabbos 89a
– commentary of Iyun
Yaakov).
An example of this
hatred of the
nations can be found
in Psalm 83 which
describes how an
alliance of pagan
nations tried to
destroy the People
of Israel. The
following verses of
this psalm indicate
that a primary
motivation of their
attempt to destroy
us was their hatred
of the One God Whom
we represent:
“O God, do not hold
Yourself silent; be
not deaf and be not
still O God. For
behold, Your foes
are in uproar and
those who hate You
have raised their
head. Against Your
people they plot
deviously, they take
counsel against
those sheltered by
You. They said,
‘Come, let us cut
them off from
nationhood, so
Israel’s name will
not be remembered
any longer!’ For
they take counsel
together
unanimously; they
strike a covenant
against You.” (Psalm
83:2-6)
Rabbi Samson Raphael
Hirsch, in his
commentary on the
above passage,
explains that the
nations feel
threatened by the
moral and ethical
demands of the One
God Whom Israel
represents. He
writes:
“God stands in the
way of men and
nations with His
absolute power as a
ruler and with the
absolute
requirements of His
moral law, for both
of which He sent
Israel as a memorial
and messenger among
the nations.
Judaism, with its
concept of the
invisible God and
its idealistic view
of the world and of
life as a whole, has
always been
thoroughly hated by
those who capitalize
upon the degeneracy
and corruptibility
of man. The advent
of Israel as a
nation among nations
– bare of all those
things upon which
the other nations
base their existence
– represents such a
protest against the
entire social and
political structure
of the rest of the
world that the
nations would desire
nothing more than
the elimination of
Israel from their
midst.”
Rabbi Hirsch adds
the following
insight: The very
name of our nation,
“Yisrael” (which
means “God is
sovereign”), as well
as our persistent
survival, proclaims
the ultimate and
universal supremacy
of the Divine rule.
In other words,
even when we are not
properly fulfilling
the Torah, both our
name and our very
existence represents
a Divine ideal which
threatens the
degeneracy and
corruption within
human society.
The Christian
nations also viewed
us as a threat, for
we, the people of
the Torah, refused
to worship the man
that they deified.
Our refusal was
based on the
following Divine
proclamation at
Mount Sinai: “You
shall not have other
gods before My
Presence” (Exodus
20:3). In addition,
the Torah states,
“Know it today and
take it to heart
repeatedly that
Hashem alone is God;
in heaven above and
on earth below –
there is none other”
(Deuteronomy 4:39).
It is therefore
forbidden for us to
deify any object,
force, or being,
including a human
being; in fact, the
Torah tells us that
“God is not a man”
(Numbers 23:19).
When the Christians
insisted that Jesus
is the Lord and
Savior, we
remembered that
Hashem told us: “I,
only I, am God, and
there is no Savior
aside from Me”
(Isaiah 43:11).
We also refused to
accept their view of
him as the Messiah,
for he did not
fulfill the
prophecies regarding
the role of the
Messiah, who is to
gather all the
exiles of Israel and
inaugurate the age
of universal
enlightenment and
shalom. (For an
example of these
prophecies, see
Isaiah 11:1-12.) As
a result of our
refusal to accept
their religion, the
Christians hated us;
thus, Maimonides
writes in his
Mishneh Torah
regarding the
Christians: “They
caused the members
of Israel to be
slain by the sword”
(The Laws of Kings
11:4 – the
uncensored edition).
A study of Jewish
history reveals that
when the Arab
founder of Islam
realized that we
would not accept him
as our prophet and
guide, he turned
against us. In
addition, there were
a number of Muslim
groups that
persecuted us for
not accepting their
religion, and just
as we had to flee
from certain
Christian countries,
we also had to flee
from certain Muslim
countries. During
these periods of
persecution, we
found refuge with
some Christian and
Muslim rulers who
tolerated our
presence and who
viewed us as
potential
contributors to the
development of their
countries; however,
we were still viewed
as the “outsider” –
the proud and
stubborn people that
refused to accept
the religion of
their host-country.
With the rise of the
modern age, there
were secular
dictators that
viewed our
independent-minded
people as a threat
to their
totalitarian power.
For example, Stalin,
the brutal ruler of
the Soviet Union,
turned against our
people, and he
especially
persecuted those
Jews who attempted
to study and fulfill
the Torah. At a
later stage, he
persecuted those
members of our
people who were his
supporters! His
contemporary, the
modern Haman who
ruled Germany, tried
to annihilate our
entire people. This
secular dictator and
his followers not
only wished to
eliminate our
physical presence;
they also wished to
eliminate our
spiritual presence.
The German
oppressors
understood that we
represent the Divine
ideals which they
hated. As a result
of this hatred, they
burned synagogues,
Torahs, and all
Torah-related works.
In fact, any book
written by a Jew was
destroyed, and any
music composed by a
Jew was banned! In
their view, each Jew
– regardless of his
or her level of
observance – was a
living
representative of
the “dangerous”
ideals which needed
to be eliminated
from the new Aryan
society which they
wished to establish.
It is remarkable
that this modern
Haman, who almost
succeeded in
conquering the
world, saw our
stateless and
unarmed people as
his greatest threat!
His hatred and fear
of our people
therefore serves as
a reminder that we
contain within
ourselves a
spiritual strength
which threatens all
evil rulers and
their followers.
Our letters on the
isolation of Israel
reveal an awesome
paradox: In the
previous letter, we
learned that our
attempts to
assimilate among the
nations evoked the
hatred of the
nations; however, in
this letter we
learned that our
courage to be
different through
accepting the Torah
evoked the hatred of
the nations. It
seems that hatred
will be directed at
us no matter what we
do! How, then, can
we eliminate all the
hatred against us?
The answer can be
found in the
following messages
which Moshe Rebbeinu
proclaimed to our
people before we
entered the Promised
Land:
1. “See! I have
taught you statutes
and social laws, as
Hashem, my God, has
commanded me, to do
so in the midst of
the Land to which
you come, to possess
it. You shall
safeguard and
fulfill them, for it
is your wisdom and
understanding in the
eyes of the peoples,
who shall hear all
these statutes and
who shall say,
‘Surely a wise and
understanding people
is this great
nation!’ ”
(Deuteronomy 4:5, 6)
2. Hashem will
establish you for
Himself as a holy
nation, as He swore
to you, if you will
keep the mitzvos of
Hashem, your God,
and walk in His
ways. Then all the
peoples will see
that the Name of
Hashem is proclaimed
over you, and they
will revere you.”
(Deuteronomy 28:9,
10)
The above
messages reveal that
we will gain the
admiration and
respect of the
peoples of the earth
when we become a
social model of the
Divine teachings.
As we discussed, the Torah-committed Jews of the Old Yishuv strived to achieve this goal under challenging conditions, and they developed respectful relations with many of their Arab neighbors. The following information can serve as an example:
During the 19th century, the Jewish population of the Old City was rapidly increasing, and Jews began moving out of the overcrowded Jewish Quarter of the Old City into the Moslem Quarter. Rav Ben Zion Yadler, a famous “magid” – preacher – of Jerusalem, grew up in the Moslem quarter, and in his memoirs of that period, he writes:
“The hub of Jewish activity in the Moslem Quarter of the Old City is centered around Hebron Street, and northward towards the Damascus Gate…There were twenty-two synagogues in that area, both Ashkenazic and Sephardic, and two Ashkenazic yeshivos, Toras Chaim and Chayei Olam, as well as Sephardic ones…The neighborhood was mixed with Arabs; nevertheless, one was not afraid to walk alone through the alleyways, and there did not exist any animosity between Moslem and Jew. In fact, a spirit of benevolence existed there.”
As we mentioned in a previous letter, Rav Yehoshua Leib Diskin was a leading sage who was also the founder of an orphanage in Jerusalem which was first located in the Moslem Quarter. Wherever Rav Yehoshua Leib went in the Moslem Quarter, the Arabs regarded him with awe, standing for him and taking care that his way was unobstructed.
In his description of the flourishing Jewish life in the Muslim Quarter, Rav Ben Zion added that there was visible proof there of the following verse which describes the respect that our people will gain when we keep the mitzvos of the Torah and walk in the ways of Hashem:
“Then all the peoples will see that the Name of Hashem is proclaimed over you, and they will revere you.” (Deuteronomy 28:10)
The complete fulfillment of this Divine promise will take place during the messianic age, when “Torah will go forth Zion, and the word of Hashem from Jerusalem” (Isaiah 2:3).
Be Well, and Shalom,
Yosef Ben Shlomo
Hakohen (See below)
Related Prophecies:
1. The Prophet
Isaiah proclaimed
the following
related message
regarding the way
the peoples of the
earth will view us
in the messianic
age:
“You shall be called
‘Kohanim of Hashem’;
‘ministers of our
God’ will be said of
you.” (Isaiah 61:6)
2. We received the
following Divine
promise regarding
the future
recognition that we
will receive from
the nations towards
the beginning of the
messianic age:
“Thus said Hashem,
God of all the hosts
of creation: In
those days it will
happen that ten men,
of all the different
languages of the
nations, will take
hold, will take hold
of the corner of the
garment of a Jewish
man, saying, ‘Let us
go with you, for we
have heard that God
is with you!’ ”
(Zechariah 8:23)
Related Comments:
1. Dovid Rossoff is the author of the well-researched book, “Where heaven touches earth” – Jewish life in Jerusalem from medieval times to the present. It is published by Guardian Press. The above information about Jewish life in the Muslim Quarter of the Old City is taken from this book. For further information, you can write to the author at: Rossoff @ actcom.co.il
2. Our recent letter
– “Arab-Jewish
Relations in Old
Jerusalem: Parts 1
and 2” – is now in
the archive of our
series on our
website.