Gary Cooperberg, May 24, 2010

With all the worrisome talk about Iran, President Obama, the PLO and various assorted "friends" and enemies, it is easy to understand how people can become discouraged about the future of the Jewish State. The fact is that most of us have got the whole thing backwards. Israel is the only country in the world whose future is guaranteed by the Creator of the Universe. When we see that the most powerful nations of the world seem to be siding with our enemies it is easy to forget that guarantee and fear for our future. Yet it is precisely the fact that tiny, seemingly defenseless, Israel is being threatened so overwhelmingly that we should take courage. Certainly there are many other little, and not so little, countries in the world that are far more deserving of world condemnation than we. What makes us so special that anyone should even care what goes on here? There is no logical explanation for it. Only a Divine one.The Jewish nation was created to prove to the entire world that it has a Creator to whom we all owe our very existence. Throughout the centuries world powers refused to recognize our Creator, and worse, tried to prove that He doesn’t exist. The "easiest" way to prove that He doesn’t exist is to destroy His Chosen People. Surely this tiny dispersed and apparently helpless people shouldn’t be too hard to destroy. Yet all those who sought to destroy us have disappeared into history. Not only has the Jewish nation survived all of these attempts to destroy us, but at our very weakest moment in history, we began to come home and rebuild our ancient homeland!

The reestablishment of the Jewish Homeland in the Land of Israel only served to further anger those who prefer not to recognize our Creator. Seeing such a tiny and hopeless country defying all odds by daring to declare its independence, our enemies sought to destroy us even before we could begin to grow. We were attacked with a bloodlust that defied description. Had we lost even one war the Jewish nation would have perished. Yet every time we were attacked we defeated our enemies and returned to more of our ancient homeland -- again in defiance of logic.

Today we are far more able to defend ourselves than ever before. Yet our enemies continue to pursue us and our leaders continue to make futile attempts to reason with the unreasonable. The most amazing aspect of our continued growth is that it has taken place in spite of a leadership which consistently refuses to see the miracles and even tries to undo them!!

The Jewish State is not just another country. It is not dependent upon U.S. dollars or military aid as most choose to believe. It is the beginning of fulfillment of Biblical prophesy which no power on Earth can alter, as hard as they may try.

When I first began to understand the magnitude of what it means to be Jewish, I immediately understood that living in the Land of Israel was part and parcel of Jewish identity and destiny. I developed an inexplicable yearning to come home to a Land where I had never been. I remember looking skyward every time I heard the sound of an airplane, and, upon seeing the plane, I would imagine that it was going to Israel and how I longed to be on that plane. The power of that longing resulted in enabling me to move my family to Israel. This too was clearly a defiance of logic. There are so many logical reasons for a Jew not to leave his American Exile. . . but none is valid. We are all destined to come home. If we choose to come, and do so in spite of apparent difficulties, we can actually hasten redemption. If we think it prudent to wait we will eventually find that the Exile will spit us out and that our homecoming will be less than glorious.

It is difficult for me to explain to people that my homecoming was not an act of sacrifice, rather an effort to become more complete as a Jew. That effort was rewarded far greater than I could have ever imagined. I live in a beautiful home in the city of Abraham. I wake up each morning before dawn, as did our Father, Abraham, and pray at the Cave of Machpelah, where he would pray and were he rests with his wife, Sarah; his son and daughter-in-law Isaac and Rebecca, and his grandson and his wife, Jacob and Leah. This is a privilege beyond measure, and an unfathomable reality.

My wife and I had the pleasure of raising our children here, in Kiryat Arba. And now we are watching our grandchildren grow up here as well. Most of my grandchildren only speak Hebrew, another miraculous and wondrous reality resulting from our decision to come home. So perhaps you can understand why it bothers me so when visitors "praise" me for my bravery and self sacrifice. How can I ever explain to them that it is truly they who are brave and self sacrificing by risking their lives and that of their children by willingly remaining in Exile? This is an illogical reality which too many fail to see.

Like the Jewish State itself, I have grown and thrived in spite of logic. I have given my children and grandchildren fruit from the tree of life which cannot be tasted anywhere else in the world. And I cannot understand why any Jew in the world would willingly settle for less.

Gary Cooperberg, a resident of the Jewish community in Hebron, Israel, is the founder and director of Project Shofar.

Copyright © 2010 Gary Cooperberg