Of course G-d is everywhere and all Jews are connected to Him, no matter where they are. But there is an added dimension to life in G-d’s land. It’s hard to describe. When you live here for a while, you begin to understand. To give up this privilege is moving out of the King’s Palace.
Nonetheless, “the Palace” has its price and I pay it every morning. I have a dreadful habit. Each morning, as soon as the wheels in my mind start turning round (it takes time; I’m a night person!) and my cognitive facilities begin to function, like every good Jew, I immediately say Modeh Ani and thank Hashem for the blessings of a brand new day. A day to fill with good deeds. Then my first words to my husband, who has by then usually returned from shul, are, “Good morning. Is the World still out there and functioning?”
Now this is undoubtedly a rather pessimistic way of beginning the day. My husband’s answer is usually something like, “I haven’t checked but the shul was full and the davening was great.” He doesn’t seem to understand how important it is to keep tabs on the World – day by day, hour by hour, and, if necessary, minute by minute. “Listen,” he explains patiently, “Congress, the Knesset and the U.N. get paid to take care of The World. My job is to see that my own world is in good working order. It’s the only world I can do anything about. One of the things I’m supposed to do is daven and like I said, the davening this morning was great.”
You might think I’m being funny, but this is decidedly serious. You see, in this violent, upside-down world we live in, you never know what’s coming next. Wonderful surprises or, lo aleinu, horrible events which can follow each other at dizzying speed. We barely had time to wipe away our tears after the funerals of the three kidnapped boys – Naftali, Gilad and Eyal Hashem yikom damam – before we found ourselves in our newest war.
Or think of the meteoric rise of anti-Semitism over the past ten-twenty years. When people broached the subject ten or fifteen years ago, they sounded slightly paranoid. Today, those old warnings are blasé. Old News. Today, we are experiencing violent riots against Jews – in the Western world, in the heart of Civilization. (G-d has His ways of shaking things up, perhaps to help move His people to His Land?) Are we surprised? Many good Jews are. They’ve forgotten their Jewish history. All they remember are the nice slogans and pretty promises – life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness for all. Justice, equal opportunity and fun all around. Unfortunately, the gold in the streets has tarnished a bit in the past few years. In some places, it’s run dry and we are… surprised.
We of the Western World were raised to think we are in control; that all problems come with solutions and all we have to do is find them. In the end, everyone will live happily ever after. Of course, we know that’s not really true, but we were programmed to meet, conquer and solve all eventualities, confident that in the end all will be well.
Actually, all will be well. There is something very Jewish about such optimism. All is good because all is truly programmed by G-d, except for our deeds. We here in Israel live in a daily whirlwind of miracles. They’re a natural part of the scene. Of course we don’t always see or feel or understand them at any given moment. And therein lies the problem. If all this is giving you a headache, you are not alone. Some of the finest minds in the world have struggled with this dilemma and we have yet to find a solution.
