What's so special about Israel?

It's a very crucial question indeed

THIS is a very important question in our bid to strengthen Israel's spirit. Without understanding what's so special about this people and this country it is difficult to do much about the prevalent self-centered spirit, which saps away at our ability to build a great little country while standing firm in our ongoing conflict with the Arab and the Moslem world.

The source of Israel's specialness is two-fold − religion and history. For the religious person there is no need to explain what is special about Israel. According to Jewish belief, this is the land promised by the Almighty to the Jewish people for ever. There are a thousand other reasons, religiously, why Israel is so special.

On the secular level there are historical, national and emotional reasons, which of course are applicable to religiously observant folks as well. Similarly, many of the religious reasons are also applicable to a large percentage of people who do not consider themselves religious.

Here in a little more detail are some of the things that make Israel special:

• Israel is special because of the two-millennia prayer that preceded its modern renaissance.
• Israel is special because no other nation on earth has survived such a long exile and then become resurrected again.
• Israel is special because history has shown that in the Diaspora the Jew can never really feel safe from racial discrimination and persecution, and it is only in Israel that we can determine our own fate and fight for our security.
• Israel is special because of the hope for a better world, implicit in its very existence. Israel is more than just a country. Israel is really an ideal, that suggests a striving for all that is fine in the human spirit. (Although when observing Israel's fragmented, materialistic society today, this might seem to be a rather far-fetched notion. But that is what the word "Israel" suggests. And that is what we should all be working towards.)
• During the last six decades there has been a colossal national effort directed at the Ingathering of the Exiles, building up the Land and defending it against an implacable foe that still seeks its extinction.
• Israel's specialness is actually confirmed by the constant barrage of condemnation directed at it by its mortal foes and detractors − shamefully expressed mainly in the form of falsehood, half-truth and omission. While there are dozens of ongoing conflicts all over the world, some claiming millions of lives in wanton slaughter, the international community sees fit to condemn Israel over and over again every time it defends itself against military attack. There is a permanent expectation by friend and foe alike that Israel hand over to its enemies areas that were used time and again to launch military attacks and even invasions against it. (There is no precedent for any country in similar circumstances giving to its enemies land it conquered in wars of defence.) All this might even suggest something coming from an intrinsically cosmic source that is meant as an ultimate lesson in morality for all humanity.

On the personal level Israelis have devoted their lives to the mundane efforts of livelihood, family and home and getting items aimed at enhancing their comfort and leisure time. They have allowed the specialness of Israel to slip their minds. This could have catastrophic results in the face of ongoing Pan-Arab and global Islamic wrath!

We must all work to strengthen the spirit of Israel so as to give it the moral strength to transcend its present challenges and to truly be deserving of its fabulous name: Israel! To do all this we must realize just how special this Land is!

Without truthfulness the folly will continue − click