The Children of Israel: The Light of The Nations

Compiled by Dr Itamar Raz

Who is the The Nation of Israel? What is their mission in the world? What is their right to The Promised Holy Land: the Land of Israel. 

This document is a true must for all mankind, to know and understand, now that the prophecies of the Torah and early prophets are being realized, and that we arerapidly approaching the Redemption in the age of Messiah.We all need to know whats going on!  The children of Israel are the descendants of Yaakov (Jacob) who was named 'Israel' by God's angel. The word 'Israel' means, amongst other meanings 'Straight (honest, loyal) with God.' Jacob was the son of Issac who was the son of Abraham, who was the first to discover, connect with and publicize God in the world, the job and the mission that his son Issac and his son Jacob continued and passed on to the following generations, to be a holy nation. holy in action, speech and thought. The lineage of holiness was passed down from the ancient sages, through Noah and then through his son Shem, and through sages until Abraham. Thus the nation of Israel, the descendants of these three forefathers (Abraham, Issac and Jacob) were chosen to be the holy nation to spread the word and light of God to the whole world. God proclaims (Deuteronomy Chapter 4):

 "And because He loved thy fathers, and chose their seed after them, and brought thee out with His presence, with His great power, out of Egypt."  

 And as the prophet Ishiah relays God's word:

"But you, Israel My servant, Jacob whom I have chosen, the seed of Abraham, who loved Me."  

We see from these prophecies that God relates the chosing of the Jewish people to His love of our forefathers.  Indeed the children of Israel were enslaved in Egypt, several generations after the passing of Jacob, where they multiplied and became a vast nation. This period of extreme suffering and hardship in Egypt  Jacob took upon his offspring in order to atone for the sins of the world of previous generations (as explained by the ancient kaballists.) When God saw fit to end this period of slavery, God then chose Moses, a humble son of the tribe of Levi (one of the sons of Jacob) to receive prophecy and become His servant to redeam the children of Israel from Pharoe and the slavery in Egypt. The nation of Israel then came out of Egypt, and received the Torah at Mt Sinai, the holy book of commandments, the laws that the Jews are to follow in their lives in order to be loyal to the covenant between us and God, and fulfil, through our connection to God's just ways, our mission in the world, as He instructed us through the prophet Moses. What is the mission?   Our purpose as Jews, is to be humble and peaceful and to spread the light of the truth...of the true attributes of kindness, mutual love and respect, global peace and personal serenity associated with humble lives, avoiding the lusts of wealth and other temptations. These are the ways in which the true righteous sages in every generation have guided the masses. Those who strayed from these ways of truth, of the Holy Torah, have defemated God's name and not fulfilled their purpose and mission as sons of Israel, and jews by the masses are realising their mission and returning to the ways of the truth. The Jews are here in this world to be an example of, and to teach the values of truth, kindness and mercy. To be a light to the nations, by living according to the just teachings of the holy Torah. Relating to our mission, the prophets relay the word of God to the children of Israel (Isiah 42):

 "I the LORD have called thee in righteousness, and have taken hold of thy hand, and kept thee, and set thee for a covenant of the people, for a light of the nations."

And further (Isiah 49):

 "I will also give thee for a light of the nations, that My salvation may be unto the end of the earth."

And what is this light? The Torah is the light of the world,  as the wise King Solomon proclaimed:

"For a mitzva (the hebrew word for commandment)is a candle and The Torah is Light" 

Moses nearing the end of his life explains what will be in the end of the days, when the Jews as people shall walk in the ways of the Torah and shall then finally be appreciated by the world (Deuteronomy Chapter 4):

 "Behold, I have taught you statutes and ordinances, even as the Lord my God commanded me, that ye should do so in the midst of the land whither ye go in to possess it. Observe therefore and do them; for this is your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the peoples, that, when they hear all these statutes, shall say: 'Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.' For what great nation is there, that hath God so nigh unto them, as the Lord our God is whensoever we call upon Him? And what great nation is there, that hath statutes and ordinances so righteous as all this law, which I set before you this day?"

We actually see, sadly, in our days, before our eyes, the coming true of the prophecy of Isiah regarding the mass destruction that will be rampant throughout the earth, as the world has filled with cruelty and hatred (often in the name of religion), primescuity and crime, and on the positive side, the Jewish nation, living peacefully according to the teachings of the Torah, and the prominant Jewish spiritual leaders, representing truth and kindness. We thus see the prophecy of Isiah (chapter 60) being fulfilled before our eyes:

"Arise (Israel)! Shine, for your light has come, the glory of the Lord has dawned upon you. Though darkness covers the earth, and thick clouds, the peoples, Upon you the Lord will dawn, and over you his glory will be seen. Nations shall walk by your light, kings by the radiance of your dawning."

WHERE THE ISSUE OF THE 'CHOOSING OF THE JEWISH PEOPLE' BEGAN?WHO IS THIS MAN NAMED ABRAHAM, THE MAN TERMED BY THE LORD AS HIS BELOVED SERVANT?

We shall now present and intriguing summary of the history of the promises to the Jewish people from the beginning...starting with Abraham ...three thousand years ago... Abraham was the 'foudner of faith:' the man of endless kindness...who was chosen to represent the creator of the heavens and earth, and found the lineage of the people who were later to receive the instruction manual for how the Creator requests His world to be run, and continue this representation to the end of time. 10 generations after Noah, a man of great wisdom, justness and truth, unequivocal kindness was born to a family of idol worshipers. Abraham, by learning the knowledge of the stars, and earth, and deeply contemplating regarding the wonders of the earth, believed and knew in his heart that there must  be a creator to the world, and he searched and prayed relentlessly to discover the creator. On the interpersonal plane, Abraham was an exemplary man of kindness as we have mentioned. He hosted passers by, fed them, gave them gifts, and dedicated his life to the highest kind of kindness: the spiritual teachings that he handed out to all, regarding the presence of a creator, rescuing many from the grave mistake of that time, idol worship.  As the kaballa sages explain, God waited from the time of creation of the world for the coming of a Abraham, who would represent Him in the world and spread the truth. This is learned from the word describing the creation of heaven and earth "BE-HiBARAAM" which, if the letters are switched, reads "In Abraham." The whole world was created in expectation that Abraham will one day be born. For Why would the Almighty Creator ceate the world if for havoc and idol worship? But for peace, kindness and the worship of the creator, did He, The Almighty, creat it. For these values to spread throughout mankind, the world needed Abraham and his offspring to be born. Due to the merit of his righteousness and kindness beyond all measure, as well as a reward for his continuous search and solid belief, God granted Abraham with prophecy. Propehcy is direct communication between the the creator and man. We can not fathom this phenomenon in our age, because we are so far away from it. This, unfortunately, leads to disbelief in its existence. However, many do believe, and all will soon believe, as we see more and more of the prophecies being fulfilled infront of our eyes. In the first prophecy that Abraham received (Genesis 12) while his name was still Abram, he is being told of his chosing, told to leave his county of birth, and told to go to the promised land, which is .

'Now the LORD said unto Abram: 'Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto the land that I will show thee. And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and be thou a blessing. And I will bless them that bless thee, and him that curseth thee will I curse; and in thee shall all the families of the earth be blessed.'

Indeed we look forward in time and we see that the Jews have always been a peaceful nation, always striving for peace and serenity, keeping a low profile, staying secluded, and the sages of the communities around the world were usually respected and admired by the leaders and kings of many countries which we have lived in...and certainly Israel was a blessing to the whole world in the time of King Solomon and the first temple...and the biggest blessing is awaiting, in the redemption and the future temple, which we will discuss soon. And on the contrary,  every civilization which has enslaved or tortured the jews, was destroyed soon after their wrongdoings. Egypt. Rome. Greece. And recently, Nazi Germany, and Sadam Hussain and Iraq. Every country which has done wrong by the Jews had an immediate downfall afterwards. You could call it Karma, but it is written in several places in the bible, that those who strike the Jews, God Himself, strikes them.

God proclaims through the prophet Isiah (41):

"Fear thou not (Israel), for I am with thee, be not dismayed, for I am thy God; I strengthen thee, yea, I help thee; yea, I uphold thee with My victorious right hand. Behold, all they that were incensed against thee shall be ashamed and confounded; they that strove with thee shall be as nothing, and shall perish."

We prefer to be on the side of prosperity and to bring a blessing to that place. Spiritual blessing and prosperity.

We continue our journey with Abraham. When he received the prophecy that he is soon to give birth to Issac, at the age of 99, these are the words of God (Genesis 17):

"And I will make My covenant between Me and thee, and will multiply thee exceedingly. And Abram fell on his face; and God talked with him, saying: As for Me, behold, My covenant is with thee, and thou shalt be the father of a multitude of nations. Neither shall thy name any more be called Abram, but thy name shall be Abraham; for the father of a multitude of nations have I made thee. And I will make thee exceeding fruitful, and I will make nations of thee, and kings shall come out of thee. And I will establish My covenant between Me and thee and thy seed after thee throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be a God unto thee and to thy seed after thee. And I will give unto thee, and to thy seed after thee, the land of thy sojournings, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession; and I will be their God. And God said unto Abraham: And as for thee, thou shalt keep My covenant, thou, and thy seed after thee throughout their generations. This is My covenant, which ye shall keep, between Me and you and thy seed after thee: every male among you shall be circumcised...And the uncircumcised male who is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin, that soul shall be cut off from his people; he hath broken My covenant. "

We see here several promises. Of a fruitful seed, and in addition to notifying Avraham of the coming birth of Issac, in this passage, he is notified of his name change to Avraham, meaning 'A father of a multitude of nations.' This is also the first time that Avraham is (and we are) told of the promise of the country of 'cannan (which is later in the Torah described as Israel) to him and to his seed as an everlasting inheritance. This is the first promise of the promised land. We also see here the first mention of theeverlasting nature of the promise to Avraham and his seed after him, to negate any other theories by other religions which arose throughout the ages. We are also told, as is Avraham, of the covenant of the circuimcision, a covenant between God and the descendants of Avraham, and of the severity of this covenant, that any Jewish male who is not circuimcised is (as the sages explain) spiritually cut off from the Jewish people.

In the following verses, we are also notified who exactly are his seed - the lineage of Issac, the son who is to be born:

And God said:

'Nay, but Sarah thy wife shall bear thee a son; and thou shalt call his name Isaac; and I will establish My covenant with him for an everlasting covenant for his seed after him.

This tells us of the chosing of the lineage of Issac, in contrast to the claims of other religions who which have risen through the ages. And when Avraham, out of concern, asks God:

And Abraham said unto God: 'Oh that Ishmael might live before Thee!'

Avraham is asking God: 'What about Ishmael,' as if to say, 'what about him, may he also prosper and succeed,' and God answered:

"And as for Ishmael, I have heard thee; behold, I have blessed him, and will make him fruitful, and will multiply him exceedingly; twelve princes shall he beget, and I will make him a great nation. But My covenant will I establish with Isaac, whom Sarah shall bear unto thee at this set time in the next year."

God answers, so there will be no mistaking: I have heard your concern, and will take care of Ishmael and his offspring, yet God repeats that the covenant, and the promises are regarding the seed of Isaac. 

Now we travel ahead in time. After a lifetime of servitude to the Lord, spreading the knowledge of the One God who all are to worship, and reprimanding the generation for their idol worship, and for sacrificing their children in the fire to their idols, Avraham is asked to perform a deed which is paradoxical to his whole life.

'Take now thy son, thine only son, whom thou lovest, even Isaac, and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt-offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of.'

Avraham asked no questions. Even though he was so commited to the quest of saving the people of the land from slaughtering their children to the idols they have made for themselves, when he was commanded to take his son Isaac to be slaughtered, he proceeded to the task promptly. Yet the sages say, that Avraham knew, by holy intuition and wisdom, that he was going to return together with Isaac alive, and that the quest was a test, and for many spiritual purposes and contained within it many secrets which the sages uncover in ancient mystic kaballa teachings. Isaac is in 37 years old. He is taken to the alter in order to be sacrified to God. The tension is rising. Avraham has already bound Isaac to the alter. (Genesis 22:)

"And Abraham stretched forth his hand, and took the knife to slay his son."

In the critical moment, the angel appeared to Avraham:

"And the angel of the LORD called unto him out of heaven, and said: 'Abraham, Abraham.' And he said: 'Here am I.' 'Lay not thy hand upon the lad, neither do thou any thing unto him; for now I know that thou art a God-fearing man, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son, from Me.'

It was all a test. The sages explain that Avraham passed 10 tests, this being the last of them, proving his worthiness to be 'the chosen one.' The angel relates God's incredible blessing and promise to Avraham after passing this final test: 

"And the angel of the LORD called unto Abraham a second time out of heaven. and said: 'By Myself have I sworn, saith the LORD, because thou hast done this thing, and hast not withheld thy son, thine only son, that in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the seashore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies; and in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because thou hast hearkened to My voice."

Isaac worked hard all his life to continue the work that his father, Avraham, spreading the holiness to the surrounding inhabitants of the land. Isaac lived all his life in the land of Canaan, and for spiritual reasons (as the sages explain) he was not allowed to leave the land. When there was a great famine in the land, he was commanded such (Genesis 26:)

"And the LORD appeared unto him, and said: 'Go not down unto Egypt; dwell in the land which I shall tell thee of. Sojourn in this land, and I will be with thee, and will bless thee; for unto thee, and unto thy seed, I will give all these lands, and I will establish the oath which I swore unto Abraham thy father; and I will multiply thy seed as the stars of heaven, and will give unto thy seed all these lands; and by thy seed shall all the nations of the earth bless themselves."

we see by this promise that the promise given to Avraham indeed descended to Isaac and the matter is absoutely indisputable. The promise of the fruitful seed by which all the nations of the earth be blessed, and of the promised land (which is termed at this stage 'these lands.' And the next verse clarifies why this promise exists:

"Because that Abraham hearkened to My voice, and kept My charge, My commandments, My statutes, and My laws."   

As I opened this essay, we saw (what is mentioned later in the Torah, when the entire Jewish nation is told the reason for their choosing: Because (Deuteronomy Chapter 4) :

"And because He loved thy fathers, and chose their seed after them..."

There (in the desert on the way out of Egypt) God is explaining that His choosing of the entire Jewish people is because of his love for the forefathers. Here He is telling Isaac...you know why I chose you and your offspring: because of your father's righteousness and committed servitude.

As we continue in the history of the dynasty of Avraham, we progress to the relationship of Isaac and Rivka (trans. Rebecca.) Rivka gave birth to twins. Jacob and Esau. The story of the 'selling of the first-born right' is well known, that Esau sold his right to the blessing of the eldest, which represented his lack of interest in a spiritual life, and a prefrens to the lusts of this world. This was all orchestrated by heaven, divine intervention, for Jacob was to be the successor of Issac and continuation of the lineage of spirituality was chosen from above to be channeled through him, so it came to be that Esau, though he was the first born, will make a conscious decision to sell the right to the blessing of the first born, so that later, when the time comes for the blessing of the continuation...it is given to the one who deserves it and there is no room for argument. Here are the blessings that Isaac gave to Jacob in his old age (Genesis 28:):

"And God Almighty bless thee, and make thee fruitful, and multiply thee, that thou mayest be a congregation of peoples; and give thee the blessing of Abraham, to thee, and to thy seed with thee; that thou mayest inherit the land of thy sojournings, which God gave unto Abraham."

Here we see the continuation of the blessing of Avraham, regarding the fruitful seed and the promised land, to the lineage of Jacob. 

Initially Esau was very upset and regretful for Jacob taking this incredible blessing from Issac in a clever and cunning way, which he had to use due to the great cunningness of Esau, as ordered by their mother Rivka who knew exactly who really deserved the blessing. Only after hearing that Issac his father already gave the main blessing to Jacob, and he missed out, Esau suddenly understood what he missed out on, and the poor trade that he made throughout his life, giving up spirituality for the pleasures and lusts of this world. He felt very angry and vengeful initially, as one who missed out on an eternal blessing would be, and wanted to take revenge against his older brother. Yet later, when he met Jacob in  a magnificent and monumental meeting, and met his family, his wives Rachel and Lea, and their children, he understood that the blessing went to the right person, his holy younger brother Jacob and his offspring, who were worthy to continue the lineage of spirituality which he could not.  

Now lets take a moment to return to Isaac and Ishmael, and their meeting later in life, to bury together their father, the great holy sage, Abraham.

From the Torah's way of describing the passage that tells of the meeting of Abraham and Issac in the joint purpose of burying their father and the father of all believers, Abraham, the great sage and Torah commentator named 'Rashi' explains that we can learn that Ishmael, the first son of Abraham, did repent, and became righteous. Later in the same passage, Rashi explains that by the Torah's writing Isaac's name in front of Ishmael, we learn that Ishmael complied with the divine plan of Isaac's choosing to continue the lineage of their father Abraham, and Ishmael showed his utmost respect to his late father by accepting his righteous brother Isaac to lead his father's burial service.  

So lets continue the journey through the lineage of Jacob and see what was promised to him. After being ordered by Isaac his father to travel to his uncle, his mother's (Rivka's) brother, in order to take a wife from one of his daughters. On the way, Jacob has a dream in the same place that the alter his grandfather Avraham build to sacrifice Isaac, his father. On that holy place which is later to be he exact spot of the holiest place in the Temple in Jerusalem, as told my the sages, Jacob has a dream. In the dream (Genesis 28)... 

"And, behold, the LORD stood beside him, and said: 'I am the LORD, the God of Abraham thy father, and the God of Isaac. The land whereon thou liest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed. And thy seed shall be as the dust of the earth, and thou shalt spread abroad to the west, and to the east, and to the north, and to the south. And in thee and in thy seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed. And, behold, I am with thee, and will keep thee whithersoever thou goest, and will bring thee back into this land; for I will not leave thee, until I have done that which I have spoken to thee of."

So here we again see the blessings of fruitfulness, of blessed offspring which the entire world will be blesses by, and the promise of the promised land, being handed over to Jacob and his offspring. 

Further on, Jacob continues in his travels, after having 11 out of his 12 sons who are going to to become the 12 tribes of Israel. God appears to him in prophecy, this time while awake, as opposed to the appearance in his dream the previous time . In this prophecy God declares the name change from Jacob to Israel (Genesis 35:)

"And God appeared unto Jacob again, when he came from Paddan-aram, and blessed him. And God said unto him: 'Thy name is Jacob: thy name shall not be called any more Jacob, but Israel shall be thy name'; and He called his name Israel. And God said unto him: 'I am God Almighty. Be fruitful and multiply; a nation and a company of nations shall be of thee, and kings shall come out of thy loins; and the land which I gave unto Abraham and Isaac, to thee I will give it, and to thy seed after thee will I give the land.'And God went up from him in the place where He spoke with him."

Here again we see clearly that the Land of Israel is promised to the children of Israel, from all the offspring of Abraham.

Now we travel ahead in time. The Children of Israel are enslaved in Egypt. They scream to the God of their forefathers (who lived approximately hundred to 3 hundred years before this time) for salvation. The Torah explains (Exodus 2):

"And it came to pass in the course of those many days that the king of Egypt died; and the children of Israel sighed from the bondage, and they cried, and their cry came up unto God from the bondage. And God heard their groaning, and God remembered His covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob. And God saw the children of Israel, and God knew."

God Knew what? The famous sage by the name of 'Rashi' who lived approximately 900 years ago, the most widely accepted commentator of the Torah explains the meaning of God 'Knew.' He writes 'God attended His heart to them and did not look away (did not ignore their cries.)

Moses grew up in Pharoe's palace as his adopted son, brought there by his daughter who pulled little baby Moses out of the waters of the nile (where he was put in a small floating ark by his sister Miriam in order to escape the Egyptians officers who went from house to house to execute Pharoes decree that every Jewish male would be killed.) Moses escaped the palace and fleed to the desert after he killed an Egyptian who raped a Jewish woman and was about to beat a Jew. The simple reason he ran away, was that he was afraid of pharoe's response to his killing an Egyptian and being on the side of his fellow jews, yet the sages explain that he fleed becuase he understood that the Jews, due to their unrighteous deeds, did not deserve to be saved at that time, and were going to be enslaved further. Indeed the slavery continued and intensified in the coming decades. Pharoe decreed tewrriblely harsh an cruel decrees, and treated the holy nation, the sons of the holy Abraham, Isaac and Jacob worse than animals. This was the exile which exeplifies all exiles, where the nation of God were far from their mission and purpose. Yet, of course, there was a reason for everything, and all was part of the journey of the Jews. The mystic sages explain that the ture reason behind the slavery of the Jews in Egypt was to atone for the sin of Adam, and that they...we...the children of Jacob, had to do so, as this was part of our serviture to the world, and part of our chosing.

 In the desert Moses was hosted by Yitro, a wise master and the highest priest of idol worship at that time, who later converted to Judaism after hearing of the great miracles that were made for the Jewish people in the exodus from Egypt and the splitting of the sea. Yitro gave Moses his daughter for a wife and he had two children. He was the shepeard of Yitro's flock. At this time of hardship of the Jewish people, that God attended to their salvation, God called upon Moses to be their saviouor. God appears to Moses at the burning bush (Exodus 3:)

"And the LORD said: 'I have surely seen the affliction of My people that are in Egypt, and have heard their cry by reason of their taskmasters; for I know their pains; and I am come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land unto a good land and a large, unto a land flowing with milk and honey; unto the place of the Canaanite, and the Hittite, and the Amorite, and the Perizzite, and the Hivite, and the Jebusite. And now, behold, the cry of the children of Israel is come unto Me; moreover I have seen the oppression wherewith the Egyptians oppress them. Come now therefore, and I will send thee unto Pharaoh, that thou mayest bring forth My people the children of Israel out of Egypt. And God said moreover unto Moses: 'Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel: The LORD, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, hath sent me unto you; this is My name for ever, and this is My memorial unto all generations. Go, and gather the elders of Israel together, and say unto them: The LORD, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob, hath appeared unto me, saying: I have surely remembered you, and seen that which is done to you in Egypt. And I have said: I will bring you up out of the affliction of Egypt unto the land of the Canaanite, and the Hittite, and the Amorite, and the Perizzite, and the Hivite, and the Jebusite, unto a land flowing with milk and honey.''

So we see that God remembered the promise He made to the forefathers and it was now time to proceed to fulfil it. The promise to reach the land of Israel, whi is described here as the land flowing with mild and honey. Moses is then sent as the messanger to free the Jewish people, performing the many miracles that were a part of this escape plan, together with his brother Aharon, at the command of God.

Now we travel futher in time, after the exodus, to the travel of the (now) nation of Israel in the desert. The nation of Israel received the holy Torah at Mt Sinai. 600,000 men were counted to be present at the giving of the Torah, in addition to the women and children that were present. Regarding this fact, in order to emhesize its importance, God asks:

 "Has there been such a thing (in history) that a whole entire nation heard the voice of God and lived?"

During the travels of the Jewish nation in the desert on the way to the promised land, the laws of the Torah are taught to Moses and relayed to the people. The Sabbath and the festivals are explained, the issues of Kosher food (which foods are allowed to be eaten and which are not) and many laws of behaviour, laws between people (property and damages laws etc.) and laws between the Jew and God. All the laws of the Torah are the instruction manual for the soul of the Jew. Which is the essence of the difference between the Jew and the non jew, which is the essence of the promise to the forefathers, that we have mentioned from its beginning (to Abraham) of being a 'blessed nation.' The keeping of the laws of the Torah is the safegaurding and livelihood of the Jewish soul. They are the connection between the Jew and God. They are the partnership and covenant between the Jew and God. As explained by the ancient Kaballa sages, the Mitzvot (the hebrew word for commandment, meaning partnership/team) - performing the laws makes us partners with God in the sustainance of the whole world, and all the spiritual worlds which are higher than this physical world. This is the blessing that the Jews received, that by performing the commandments that we received as a gift, to nourish our special souls, we are partners with the the Almighty Creator, to continuously maintain and recreate the worlds, and make us into holy people, as God says to Moses to tell the nation (Leviticus 19):

"Ye shall be holy; for I the LORD your God am holy."      

Here we have an entire portion of the Torah explaining what is true holiness (Leviticus 19: the portion is termed Kdoshim = Holy.) It was important to explain some of the contents of this portion of the Torah, for many may be very surprised to discover what is included in this section...and what is true holiness. Here are some extracts from the portion of 'Holy you shall be':

Ye shall be in awe (fear), every man, of his mother, and his father, and ye shall keep My sabbaths: I am the LORD your God. Here we see the great commandment of honouring parents (as is said in the ten commandments Honour your father and your mother.) And the importance of the holy Sabbath, the seventh day that the Jews are commanded to not perform any work of creating, as God ceased to create in the seventh day of creation. Thus, by the Jews' passivity of not creating in the seventh day, the Jews are given the privilage to attest to, and be part of, the creating of the world. 

Turn ye not unto the idols, nor make to yourselves molten gods: I am the LORD your God. Here we see the grave prohibition of making idols, as did most of the civilization in those days and some still these days.

And when ye reap the harvest of your land, thou shalt not wholly reap the corner of thy field, neither shalt thou gather the gleaning of thy harvest. And thou shalt not glean thy vineyard, neither shalt thou gather the fallen fruit of thy vineyard; thou shalt leave them for the poor and for the stranger: I am the LORD your God. Here we see the great commandment of taking care of the poor. Leaving parts of the fields and vineyards for those who do not have. Again we have to remember that though we see around us much charity these days, and it has become an every household thing to do, in those days it was hardly known of. Some cultures (sedom for example) actually forbid the giving to the poor. We have to realise that all the charity we see around us today is actually thanks to the giving of the Torah, and the bringing down of this consciousness by the jews throughout the ages.

Ye shall not steal; neither shall ye deal falsely, nor lie one to another. Very simple to say...but not so easy to do! Everyone can check themselves where they lie in these matters...if you understand the pun. These are not some ideals to try to strive towards...these are actual commandments that the Lord commanded the entire Jewish nation, every one of us. Not just when we feel like it and when it suits us...but always. And this is one of the criteria for holiness. If one is not accustomed to this lifestyle- it helps to evaluate ourselves day by day and strive to correct any attribute which we find to be negative within ourselves, thereby improving day by day.

And ye shall not swear by My name falsely, so that thou profane the name of thy God: I am the LORD.

Thou shalt not oppress thy neighbour, nor rob him; the wages of a hired servant shall not abide with thee all night until the morning. These laws of paying wages to workers are clarified and explained in detail by the oral law which was passed down from Moses by the sages, and several thick books have been compiled on the responsibility of employers to pay wages, and all the other interpersonal monatery laws. One who examins these laws has to be impressed and awed by the great divine wisdom embedded within them, and understands the incredible detail that God inserted in the as the definition of fairness is given a 'new' (yet ancient) meaning. As part of the recent wave of returning to God's ways, many lawyers and judges have recently delved into this world of law and after realising just how deep this wisdom is, and how true these laws are, have completely transformed their lives, and have returned to God's ways, on a personal and work level! 

Thou shalt not curse the deaf, nor put a stumbling-block before the blind, but thou shalt fear thy God: I am the LORD. - The sages explain that this refers to not fooling people in any matter which they are 'blind' so to speak, and not giving wrong advice. The sages explain that wherever God in the Torah declares 'I am the Lord' this is a warning that the commandment should be peerformed even when no-one sees, saying 'I know your deeds and your hearts.' In this case, of not fooling the blind (or someone who is 'blind' per say, regarding any issue,) no-one is around to know that one is fooling the other, only God sees all and knows the thoughts of a mans heart, thus here God proclaims 'I am The Lord,' saying that even if no-one is around, and he who is blind cannot foresee your fooling them, none the less 'I know if you are fooling or not.'

Ye shall do no unrighteousness in judgment; thou shalt not respect the person of the poor, nor favour the person of the mighty; but in righteousness shalt thou judge thy neighbour. This is one of the most powerful commandments regarding interpersonal law. It commands the judges to make their judgements purely on the basis of the truth and to disregard socioeconomic status. Even if one is poor and yet the evidence favours the rich, the ruling has to be in favour of the rich. And on the contrary, if one is rich and well respected or famous, and the ruling favours the poor or the unknown, the ruling has to favour the poor. Combined with the commandment of 'Thou Shall take no bribes,' which is commandment elsewhere, this pretty much corners the judges to make absolutely. This perfect straighness in judging is reached by the righteous sages who sit in the Jewish court. With all the cases of bribary and fraud we here these days in the court systems worldwide, we can see the obvious advantage of the system which is ruled by divine law and is governed by the righteous. If only the whole world will go by the system of the Torah...It would be a much better world!  

Thou shalt not go up and down as a talebearer among thy people; neither shalt thou stand idly by the blood of thy neighbour: I am the LORD. This extremely important criteria for holiness, of not speaking about others, is, as the sages say, a grave commandment, and one who transgresses it is doing as much wrong as a murderer, as words can kill. This is why it is written adjacent to the commandment of not standing idly by the blood of thy neighbour, which, as the sages explains, pertains to all the life saving and any physical and financial help one is obliged to give to others, as part of the performance of the commandment of 'Thou shall love your counterpart as yourself.'

Thou shalt not hate thy brother in thy heart; thou shalt surely rebuke thy neighbour, and not bear sin because of him. Being holy is not always being quiet and humble. The opposite- sometimes you need to speak out. Not hating one's brother is one thing. We all have to work on loving everyone around us, and not holding grudges, or feeling hatred.

Thou shalt not take vengeance, nor bear any grudge against the children of thy people, but thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself: I am the LORD. Easy to say - yet a lifetime work! The sages set very high standards for this commandment. Again, the stating of 'I am Your God' refers to cases where no-one knows, the thoughts of one's heart, such as bearing a grudge, or acting in a non loving way.

Ye shall keep My sabbaths, and reverence My sanctuary: I am the LORD. The holy Sabbath, the seventh day, is given to the children of Israel as a gift, to share the making of creation with the Creator, who rested on the seventh day. There are many laws pertaining to keeping Shabbat, and their keeping brings one to an elevation of the soul which is indescribable to one who has yet to taste this heavenly feeling.

Thou shalt rise up before the hoary head, and honour the face of the old man, and thou shalt fear thy God: I am the LORD. We sadly see these days how much the respect for the elderly has deminished in western society. If one spends time around Jewish religious circles one can appreciate the great respect they have for the elderly.

And if a stranger sojourn with thee in your land, ye shall not do him wrong. This commandment pertains to people of foreign lands coming to live in the land of Israel, and commands the jews to be welcoming and helpful in any way possible.

The stranger that sojourneth with you shall be unto you as the home-born among you, and thou shalt love him as thyself; for ye were strangers in the land of Egypt: I am the LORD your God. This commandment is relating to one who converts to be Jewish, to see them and act towards them exactly like one who was born Jewish, as they are now counted as part of the children of Israel (and we are actually commanded to love them MORE because they have left their homeland and family tradition and are more in need of support and help in some way!) The secret to this, how one that converts is as one who was born Jewish, is that at the time of the giving of the Torah, many sould wanted to convert, and could not, for many reasons, and they are reincarnated throughout the generations into people who have an attraction to be Jewish and thus fulfil their destiny and convert, to be counted as part of the children of Israel (Yaakov, son of Issac son of Abraham!) God commands us to act fondly to converts and to remember that we were once also in a land that is not ours...and we were treated very poorly, enslaved and abused...and we shall not repeat this onto any being. 

Ye shall do no unrighteousness in judgment, in meteyard, in weight, or in measure. Just balances, just weights....shall ye have: I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt. This commandments on merchants to be precise in the measurements, regarding buying and selling, qantity and quality. This also applies to hirked workers, reporting the correct times at work, and performing their work to the best of their ability without wasting excess time. Why is it mention 'I am the Lord your God:' here? Again, for even if one thinks no-one sees and knows that they have cheated or stolen...God knows and sees all. And why here does it continue 'Who brought you out of the land of Egypt:' To remind us that if God can bring one from the harsh enslavery of Egypt, He, The Creator, can make sure that we have bread and shelter without needing one's cunningness and cheating.  

And ye shall observe all My statutes, and all Mine ordinances, and do them: I am the LORD. - Meaning, that we are commanded to perform these laws because God commanded them, not because they seem 'logical' or fair.

Sanctify yourselves therefore, and be ye holy; for I am the LORD your God. And keep ye My statutes, and do them: I am the LORD who sanctify you. 

And ye shall be holy unto Me; for I the LORD am holy, and have set you apart from the peoples, that ye should be Mine.

We see that being holy is a commandment for every Jewish person who harbors a Jewish soul. The laws above (and these are only several of the commandments relating to inter-relationships,) have many sub-laws that are explained in the ancient texts of the sages, from the prophet periods, the kings (David and Solomon and their lineage) and further in time, the sages of the generations, who explain andclarify the meaning of the Torah in many situations, according to the strict handed down tradition all the way back to Moses, who received the Torah himself in prophecy directly from the words of the Almighty Creator. Whoever delves into this sea of Torah study is illuminated and fascinated, intellectualy and spiritually by the incredible divine wisdom embedded in every law and instruction. 

Many laws are common sense nowadays, because western society has slowly reached a fair level of mannerisms and social structure, yet think that the Torah was given approximately 3300 years ago  (1313 BCE) when the world was extremely barbaric, with no social structure, and the societies were driven in very cruel manners by the lusts for power and money, with much disregard for human life. Many nations were worshiping idols and sacrificing human blood (children etc) to their idols. The world was so far away from the care, mercy and compassion tought and commanded by the Torah. To leave a portion in the field and vineyard for the poor? who would have even considered such a thing! To not go around and speak about others?! What are you talking about! How can one live without that?! To tell the truth? How can we! To not take vengeance or bear a grudge! How can God ask that of a human!? To be honest in dealings (weight and emasure)! Now that has become fairly standard..but then...who would have heard of such a thing? 

We see that being holy is not for gurus and monks...it does not require isolation in a cave and years of meditation...its for everyone, in every place. To live within society, and act according to a very high moral and spiritual code, as explained by the Torah. And indeed, we see that the Jews, since receiving the Torah, have been keeping its laws thoughout the ages, as a nation and as individuals, while the world was so far from these principles of justness and fairness, kindness and charity, which represent true holiness. And now are any things different? Still the Jews (those who are aware of this covenant and care for their souls) keep and learn these same laws, that have passed onwards, from generation to generation, pure and untouched, despite the many civilazations and nations who have tried to destroy and eradicate the jews throughout the ages.      

We have mentioned above some of the examples of that portion of the Torah 'Holy you shall be' in the book of Leviticus, chapter 19. The Kosher animals are also mentioned later in this portion. About the prohibition of of eating the non kosher animals its is written elsewhere (leviticus 11, where the animals are mentioned for the first time:):

"Ye shall not make yourselves detestable with any swarming thing that swarmeth, neither shall ye make yourselves unclean with them, that ye should be defiled thereby. For I am the LORD your God; sanctify yourselves therefore, and be ye holy; for I am holy; neither shall ye defile yourselves with any manner of swarming thing that moveth upon the earth. For I am the LORD that brought you up out of the land of Egypt, to be your God; ye shall therefore be holy, for I am holy."

This terminology connects the Kosher animals to holiness and warns not to defile (impurify) the soul by the eating of the Non Kosher animals.  

Further in this portion God then commands the Jews on the important prohibitions of adultery, homosexuality and beastiality, and names the severe punishments for those who disregard and perform these prohibitions. Why are the punishments for commiting these sins so grave? It is explained by the sages, that these sins ruin the essence of society on a global level, as explained by the kaballa sages, on a personal level, the individual's soul is damaged in a way that all the livelihood and abundance associated with the individual's soul is cut off from its source in the upper spiritual worlds, thereby bringing dealth and suffering to the entire world, because of that sinning individual. There are great secrets embedded within the Torah, and the heavenly commandments contained within it. As King David declared "Who is wise will keep these" (Psalms 107) and King Solomon the wisest of all men declared many times over the preciousness and sancity of the Torah and its laws (Book of Proverbs, many places.) So we see that it is a great responsibility to be a Jew and care for the Jewish soul that we have been entrusted with, living according to the laws we have been given, and not giving in to all sorts of lusts and desires which come to test and tempt the Jew to stray from the path of holiness. This is exactly the issue of 'the chosing,' that of being the chosen nation. To put personal desires aside and subdugate the heart to God's will, in a life of servitude to the Creator. This is what we are here for. It is a great privilage, and a great responsibility, and it requires a lifetime's work.

Returning to our explaining the history of the chosing of the Jewish nation. After 40 years of travelling through the desert on the way to the holy land, Moses, knowing the rebellious nature of the man, speaks to the nation before his passing, repeating all the laws and emphasising the importance of the covenant between God and the people. The whole book of Deuteronomy is a summary of this speech, on the other side of the Jordan river, before Moses' passing. Here is a compilation of the promises and blessings that he relates to the nation: 

 Deuteronomy 7:6

"For thou art a holy people unto the LORD thy God: the LORD thy God hath chosen thee to be His own treasure, out of all peoples that are upon the face of the earth."

Deuteronomy 10:15

"Only the LORD had a delight in thy fathers to love them, and He chose their seed after them, even you, above all peoples, as it is this day."

Deuteronomy 4:37-38

''And because He loved thy fathers, and chose their seed after them, and brought thee out with His presence, with His great power, out of Egypt, to drive out nations from before thee greater and mightier than thou, to bring thee in, to give thee their land for an inheritance, as it is this day; know this day, and lay it to thy heart, that the LORD, He is God in heaven above and upon the earth beneath; there is none else.''  

Deuteronomy 26:18

"And the LORD hath avouched thee this day to be His own treasure, as He hath promised thee, and that thou shouldest keep all His commandments;"

Deuteronomy 28:9

"The LORD will establish thee for a holy people unto Himself, as He hath sworn unto thee; if thou shalt keep the commandments of the LORD thy God, and walk in His ways."

Deuteronomy 1:2

"Ye are the children of the LORD your God...For thou art a holy people unto the LORD thy God, and the LORD hath chosen thee to be His own treasure out of all peoples that are upon the face of the earth."

And King David praises the Lord and proclaims...in his speach to the nation...as it is told (Chronicles A, 29) before his death:

And David the king said unto all the congregation: 'Solomon my son, whom alone God hath chosen, is yet young and tender, and the work is great; for the palace is not for man, but for the LORD God. Now I have prepared with all my might for the house of my God the gold for the things of gold, and the silver for the things of silver, and the brass for the things of brass, the iron for the things of iron, and wood for the things of wood; onyx stones, and stones to be set, glistering stones, and of divers colours, and all manner of precious stones, and marble stones in abundance...

"Wherefore David blessed the LORD before all the congregation; and David said: 'Blessed be Thou, O LORD, the God of Israel our father, for ever and ever. Thine, O LORD, is the greatness, and the power, and the glory, and the victory, and the majesty; for all that is in the heaven and in the earth is Thine; Thine is the kingdom, O LORD, and Thou art exalted as head above all. Both riches and honour come of Thee, and Thou rulest over all; and in Thy hand is power and might; and in Thy hand it is to make great, and to give strength unto all. Now therefore, our God, we thank Thee, and praise Thy glorious name."

Nechemia (9) Relates a plea to the Lord:

"Thou art the LORD, even Thou alone; Thou hast made heaven, the heaven of heavens, with all their host, the earth and all things that are thereon, the seas and all that is in them, and Thou preservest them all; and the host of heaven worshippeth Thee. Thou art the LORD the God, who didst choose Abram, and broughtest him forth out of Ur of the Chaldees, and gavest him the name of Abraham; and foundest his heart faithful before Thee, and madest a covenant with him to give the land of the Canaanite, the Hittite, the Amorite, and the Perizzite, and the Jebusite, and the Girgashite, even to give it unto his seed, and hast performed Thy words; for Thou art righteous."

The promise of the land of Israel to the Jewish people

We discussed earlier, the sprouting of the promise of the land of Israel to the forefathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and we clearly saw that the land was promised to the seed of Jacob. When discussing the nature of the land of Israel we have to know and keep in mind something very important that the Kaballa sages explain to us. As we explained, the Jewish people have a special role in the world. They have special laws that they must keep, that are the so called 'food for the souls' that they contain within them. The land of Israel is not just a piece of land. And everyone that steps on this land can feel it, Jewish or not. The secret ancient texts explain that only the land of Israel is condisive to performing the commandments of the Torah. It is a triad: The Jewish person feeding the Jewish soul with the commandments in the Land of the souls- Israel. This is the reason that it was promised to the seed of Abraham, and Isaac and Jacob- for them to perform the Torah in this Land of the Torah. When this occurs, a spiritual union is formed that benefits the person doing the commandment, the whole Jewish nation and the entire civilization, bringing prosperity and a spirit of holiness and purity to the world. Thus is is obvious, that it is to the benefit of the entire universe, that the Jewish people dwell within the borders of the God given land of Israel and there perform the commandments for the sake of all the inhabitants of the world! 

As we can see from the collection of verses I have gathered here of many mentions throughout the Torah and the era of the prophets of the belonging of the holy land to the Jewish people:

Exodus 6:2-8: God speaks to Moses and commands him to go and redeam the Jewish people from Egypt:

"And God spoke unto Moses, and said unto him: 'I am the LORD; and I appeared unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob, as God Almighty, but by My name Yhvh I made Me not known to them. And I have also established My covenant with them, to give them the land of Canaan, the land of their sojournings, wherein they sojourned. And moreover I have heard the groaning of the children of Israel, whom the Egyptians keep in bondage; and I have remembered My covenant. Wherefore say unto the children of Israel: I am the LORD, and I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will deliver you from their bondage, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm, and with great judgments; andI will take you to Me for a people, and I will be to you a God; and ye shall know that I am the LORD your God, who brought you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians. And I will bring you in unto the land, concerning which I lifted up My hand to give it to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob; and I will give it you for a heritage: I am the LORD.''

We see in, and asertain from the above passage several important facts. Firstly, by the nature of the approach to Moses, that mentions the forefathers, we see that the redeaming of the Jewish people (which tells also of the nature of their chosing) is directly connected to the anscestory of the forefathers and the promises that were made to them. And importantly, we see, that God tells Moses to tell the people of israel, that their redemption from Egypt, is directly linked with reaching and inheriting the land promised to the forefathers.

During the travels in the desert on the way to the promised land, God commands the nation of Israel (Numbers 33:53:)

"And ye shall drive out the inhabitants of the land, and dwell therein; for unto you have I given the land to possess it."

The mentions of the promised land are many during thr travels in the desert. We shall bring here some refrences, to reinforce the Jewish claim on the holy land, relating to its being promised to our ancestors:

Deuteronomy 9:5:

"Not for thy righteousness, or for the uprightness of thy heart, dost thou go in to possess their land; but for the wickedness of these nations the LORD thy God doth drive them out from before thee, and that He may establish the word which the LORD swore unto thy fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob."

Deuteronomy 10:11:

And the LORD said unto me: 'Arise, go before the people, causing them to set forward, that they may go in and possess the land, which I swore unto their fathers to give unto them.'

Deuteronomy 11:8-9: Moses warns the people to keep the commandments

"Therefore shall ye keep all the commandment which I command thee this day, that ye may be strong, and go in and possess the land, whither ye go over to possess it; and that ye may prolong your days upon the land, which the LORD swore unto your fathers to give unto them and to their seed, a land flowing with milk and honey."

Deuteronomy 12:10:

"But when ye go over the Jordan, and dwell in the land which the LORD your God causeth you to inherit, and He giveth you rest from all your enemies round about, so that ye dwell in safety;"

Deuteronomy 27:3:

 "...that thou mayest go in unto the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee, a land flowing with milk and honey, as the LORD, the God of thy fathers, hath promised thee."  

Deuteronomy 30: 3-5   Here we see the promise of the gathering of Israel to the promise land, which we shall discuss further on.

" That then the LORD thy God will turn thy captivity, and have compassion upon thee, and will return and gather thee from all the peoples, whither the LORD thy God hath scattered thee. If any of thine that are dispersed be in the uttermost parts of heaven, from thence will the LORD thy God gather thee, and from thence will He fetch thee. And the LORD thy God will bring thee into the land which thy fathers possessed, and thou shalt possess it; and He will do thee good, and multiply thee above thy fathers."

Deuteronomy 30: 16

" In that I command thee this day to love the LORD thy God, to walk in His ways, and to keep His commandments and His statutes and His ordinances; then thou shalt live and multiply, and the LORD thy God shall bless thee in the land whither thou goest in to possess it."

Deuteronomy 30: 19-20: Moses speech right before his passing:

"I call heaven and earth to witness against you this day, that I have set before thee life and death, the blessing and the curse; therefore choose life, that thou mayest live, thou and thy seed; to love the LORD thy God, to hearken to His voice, and to adhere unto Him; for that is thy life, and the length of thy days; that thou mayest dwell in the land which the LORD swore unto thy fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give them."

King David, the great famous and righteous king of Israel, In his incredible prayer compilation, the Tehillim (called Psalms,) describes the relationship between God and His people, the return to the holy land, and the redemption. In Psalm 104 he exclaims:

"For He remembered His holy word unto Abraham His servant; And He brought forth His people with joy, His chosen ones with singing. And He gave them the lands of the nations, and they took the labour of the peoples in possession; That they might keep His statutes, and observe His laws. Hallelujah (meaning 'Prasie the Lord')."

We see by this description of the very wise and holy that the inheritance of the promise land is directly connected with the keeping of the laws of the Torah.

From all these We can see, indisputablely that the land of Israel belongs to the people of Israel, the descendants of the holy forefathers Abraham Isaac and Jacob.

After being enslaved in Egypt for hundreds of years, the Israelites adopted a slave mentality, of a low self confidence and a tendancy to 'give in' to the wishes of others. God is commanding the Jewish people that when it comes to the land of Israel, they must be assertive, and inherit the land, for it is theirs. The matter is similar to a father who passes on a piece of land to his son, and at that time other people occupy that land. The son may think to leave the matter be, and to give up on that inheritance, yet the father insists that it is his will that the son will not forego the right to that land the he inherited him. Such is the promise of the land of Israel to the jewish people, which as we explained, is essential for their performing of the Torah: in order to fulfil their mission and for the benefit of the entire world. It seems absurd, when one knows this is the absolute truth, that one sees all the other claims by other nations and religions on this land which so clearly and repeatedly was promised to the Jewish nation, the children of Abraham, Isacc and Jacob, as an eternal inheritance. It seems to me, as a sensible and reasonable man, as a physician, humanitarian, peace activist and psychoanalyst, that the other claims for this land are similar to those other occupants that are dwelling here and claiming that it is their land, are either due to a true lack of knowledge of the truth, or, like siblings who are jealous of their brother who receives a gift from dad and they try to snatch it from them. yet here, the matter is much more grave, as we are talking about a God given gift, that He promised to the Jewish nation, and there He will make sure that they receive it. It is only a matter of how. It is best that all the nations understand this truth and come together to help Israel, in rebuilding the holy land, in rebuilding the temple, in peace and joy. This is what the jews have strived for for thousands of years.

The Eternal nature of the chosing of the Jewish people as representatives of God in the world:

The chosing of the Jewish people is mentioned many times throught the Torah and prophets.

The righteous King David composed the incredible masterpiece of prayer, the Psalms, which are filled with heart stirring prayers, declerations regarding the Jewish people, and prophecies relating to the end of days. Here is his decleration regarding the eternal promise to the jewish people (psalm 94:14):

" For the LORD will not cast off His people, neither will He forsake His inheritance. "

The prophet Isiah relates the word of God (43:1):

"Yet now hear, O Jacob My servant, and Israel, whom I have chosen;"

God declares to the jewish people the eternal nature of His relationship with them, through the prophet Jeremiah (31):

"Thus saith the LORD: the people that were left of the sword have found grace in the wilderness, even Israel, when I go to cause him to rest. From afar the LORD appeared unto me.Yea, I have loved thee forever; therefore with affection have I drawn thee:"

As too God convays His everlasting chosing of the Jewish people through the prophet Hoshea 2:21, describing the nation of Israel as His eternal bride:

"And I will betroth thee unto Me for ever; yea, I will betroth thee unto Me in righteousness, and in justice, and in lovingkindness, and in compassion.

The prophet Isiah related the word of God (41:10-11):

"But thou, Israel, My servant, Jacob whom I have chosen, the seed of Abraham My beloved; Thou whom I have taken hold of from the ends of the earth, and called thee from the uttermost parts thereof, and said unto thee: 'Thou art My servant, I have chosen thee and not cast thee away';" 

We see in these verses, as we see in other verses in the actual Torah, that, unlike the claims of other gentiles that God had left the jewish nations. We see clearly from the collection of promises that the chosing of the jewish nation, fue to the merit of the forefathers, is an eternal chosing that cannot ever be 'substituted' by other nations. And of course, this is all being said in absolute humility and servitude, as we explained, that the chosing is not a means to be haughty, rather it is a merit and honour to serve the world in the spiritual tasks that were given to us in the Torah. And we an obvious pattern throughout the ages, that nations (and more correct religions) chase and harrass and murder and torment the jews, and attempt to convert them to their religion, yet the Jews remained faithful to God and kept His covenant throughout the ages...and from the time of Abraham, approximately three thousand years, we have become what we are today, a peace striving nation, spreading light and kindness to the world, as God promised. The daily prayers of a Jew consist of asking for peace and prosperity for the whole world, for the spreading of the knowledge of God in the world, for the spearing of the consiousness of peace between man and man, and thankfulness for our lives to the creator. Many times a day, by millions of jews throughout the ages, these requests are been repeated, for the sake of the inhabitants of the entire world.  

In the time of the first temple, the time of the reign of king Solomon (Whos name is 'Shlomo' in Hebrew meaning 'his peace'), who was termed by the bible 'the wisest of all men' indeed many of the Torah's blessings came true. The whole world was under the peaceful reign of King Solomon, and kings from all nations came to see and feel the holiness in Jerusalem, be blessed at the holy temple, and experience the wisdom of the Holy Torah. 

The first temple was destroyed as the Jewish people sinned and strayed from the ways of the Torah. It was rebuilt 70 years or so later. The second temple was a step down in holiness and

The destruction of the Second Temple by the Roman empire was a painful event for the Jewish nation, with much blood shed, sages being killed in very cruel ways, women raped and ight of the world, the place, the holy temple desecrated. This tragic event marked the beginning of Israel's long exile, which the Torah predicted if the jews were to stray from the ways of the just. If Israel (Which as we explained at the beginning means Yashar-El = Straight with God,) were to stray from the 'straight' ways, were to stray from those ways.

The Path on the Way to Redemption

With the generations, the importance of the Jews in the eyes and hearts of the people of the world declined, and, instead of being the blessing of the world in the ways of spreading light and peace, and atoning for the world's sins by the work done in the temple (which was one of the functions of the temple,) the jews were the scapegoats and sacrifises themselves, and atoned for the world's sins with their lives, and blood. This is the true reason why throughout the ages the jews have been blamed for catastrophies and plagues, which come about in the world. 

Although the sages explain that this period of outcasting and anti-semitism had to be part of the path on the way to the redemption, the bloody and suffering-filled history of the jews is only a step on the way to the final redemption by the Messiah, in the end of day. All the prophecies describing the Messiah and of the redemption describe a man of just and morality, spiritual strength and courage, who will lead Israel on the path of repentance and 'Return' to the ways of the Lord and the holy Torah, and return the world order of peace and spirituality. The word in hebrew for Messiah is (Mashiach- which hints to the word 'pull', for he is going to pull Israel and the whole world from all their troubles. Here are some descriptions of the man who is to be the Messiah. Some are very blund and understandable and some are more deep and must be learned with commentaries. All who wish to investigate may read further...

Isiah 2:4:

"And He shall judge between the nations, and shall decide for many peoples; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more."

Isiah 11:1-5:

"And there shall come forth a shoot out of the stock of Jesse (The grandfather of kind David) , and a twig shall grow forth out of his roots. And the spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD. And his delight shall be in the fear of the LORD; and he shall not judge after the sight of his eyes, neither decide after the hearing of his ears; But with righteousness shall he judge the poor, and decide with equity for the meek of the land; and he shall smite the land with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked. And righteousness shall be the girdle of his loins, and faithfulness the girdle of his reins"

Isiah 11:10:

"And it shall come to pass in that day, that the root of Jesse, that standeth for an ensign of the peoples, unto him shall the nations seek; and his resting-place shall be glorious."

Isiah 53:

"Surely our diseases he did bear, and our pains he carried; whereas we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But he was wounded because of our transgressions, he was crushed because of our iniquities: the chastisement of our welfare was upon him, and with his stripes we were healed. All we like sheep did go astray, we turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath made to light on him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed, though he humbled himself and opened not his mouth; as a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and as a sheep that before her shearers is dumb; yea, he opened not his mouth."

Isiah 59:20:

"And a redeemer will come to Zion, and unto them that turn from transgression in Jacob, saith the LORD."

Jeremiah 33: 14:

"Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will perform that good word which I have spoken concerning the house of Israel and concerning the house of Judah. In those days, and at that time, will I cause a shoot of righteousness to grow up unto David; and he shall execute justice and righteousness in the land."

Ezekiel 37: 24:

"And My servant David shall be king over them, and they all shall have one shepherd; they shall also walk in Mine ordinances, and observe My statutes, and do them."

Ezekiel 34: 23-24:

"And I will set up one shepherd over them, and he shall feed them, even My servant David; he shall feed them, and he shall be their shepherd. And I the LORD will be their God, and My servant David prince among them; I the LORD have spoken. And I will make with them a covenant of peace, and will cause evil beasts to cease out of the land; and they shall dwell safely in the wilderness, and sleep in the woods."

The climax and one of the purposes of the process of the redemption will be the rebuilding of the holy temple in jerusalem, the house of prayer for all nations, as God declares through the prophet Isiah (56:6-7):

"Also the gentiles (non jews) that join themselves to the LORD, to minister unto Him, and to love the name of the LORD, to be His servants, every one that keepeth the sabbath from profaning it, and holdeth fast by My covenant: Even them will I bring to My holy mountain, and make them joyful in My house of prayer; their burnt-offerings and their sacrifices shall be acceptable upon Mine altar; for My house shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples."

The third temple as described by the prophet Ezekiel is going to be an amazing building of the most impressive architecture and combined with the holiness of God's presence, with the rediscovering of the lost ark of the covenant, with the original Torah written by Moses and the tablets given to him at Mt Sinai.It will be a place of worship for all nations, with the daily work as instructed by Jewish law and passed onto the sages directly from Moses.The Temple will return the light and peace to the world, and for this we are hoping and praying for two thousand years, at least three times a day. This is what the jews have been doing all those thousands of years. Praying for world peace and salvation..for the time that there will be no more war. No more suffering. For the time of peace, love and harmony amongst and between all of mankind.

And in this generation, after thousands of years of exile of the jews in lands that are not ours, we see infront of our eyes the eventuation of the promises to the forefathers and prophecies (that are the words of God through the prophets), in the process which has been termed 'gathering of the exiles,' the return of the Jewish nation to the promised land....  

This video (in Hebrew), is of Rabbi Zamir Cohen speaking about how God punished the USA for trying to make us give back land to the Arab nations, as documented by a White House journalist.

The Gathering of the Exiles

For 2000 years we have been in exile, in foreign lands, murdered in inquisitions, pogroms and holocausts. Now, after nearly 200 years since the destruction of the temple we have been gathered back to the holy land...

As God promises in the Torah through the trusty prophet, Moses, approximately 3200 years ago, after describing and predicting the exile which will eventuate due to the sins of the people, God promises to gather His people, back to our land that He promised our forefathers to give to us, thier offspring:

(Deuteronomy 30:3-5)

"That then the LORD thy God will turn thy captivity, and have compassion upon thee, and will return and gather thee from all the peoples, whither the LORD thy God hath scattered thee. If any of thine that are dispersed be in the uttermost parts of heaven, from thence will the LORD thy God gather thee, and from thence will He fetch thee. And the LORD thy God will bring thee into the land which thy fathers possessed, and thou shalt possess it; and He will do thee good, and multiply thee above thy fathers."

God convays the messages about the gathering of the exiles through the prophets: 

Isiah 11:2:

"And He will set up an ensign for the nations, and will assemble the dispersed of Israel, and gather together the scattered of Judah from the four corners of the earth."

Isiah 40:11:

"Even as a shepherd that feedeth his flock, that gathereth the lambs in his arm, and carrieth them in his bosom, and gently leadeth those that give suck."

Isiah 43:5,6:

"Fear not, for I am with thee; I will bring thy seed from the east, and gather thee from the west; I will say to the north: 'Give up,' and to the south: 'Keep not back, bring My sons from far, and My daughters from the end of the earth;"

Isiah 46:13:

"I bring near My righteousness, it shall not be far off, and My salvation shall not tarry; and I will place salvation in Zion for Israel My glory." 

Isiah 49:3:

"And He said unto me: 'Thou art My servant, Israel, in whom I will be glorified.''

Isiah 49:12,22:

"Behold, these shall come from far; and, lo, these from the north and from the west, and these from the land of Sinim. Thus saith the Lord GOD: Behold, I will lift up My hand to the nations, and set up Mine ensign to the peoples, and they shall bring thy sons in their bosom, and thy daughters shall be carried upon their shoulders."

Isiah 56:8:

"Saith the Lord GOD who gathereth the dispersed of Israel: Yet I will gather others to him, beside those of him that are gathered."  

Isiah 60:4, 9:

"Lift up thine eyes round about, and see: they all are gathered together, and come to thee; thy sons come from far, and thy daughters are borne on the side. Surely the isles shall wait for Me, and the ships of Tarshish first, to bring thy sons from far, their silver and their gold with them, for the name of the LORD thy God, and for the Holy One of Israel, because He hath glorified thee."

Jeremiah 3: 14:

"Return, O backsliding children, saith the LORD; for I am a lord unto you, and I will take you one of a city, and two of a family, and I will bring you to Zion;"

Ezekiel 28:25:

"Thus saith the Lord GOD: When I shall have gathered the house of Israel from the peoples among whom they are scattered, and shall be sanctified in them in the sight of the nations, then shall they dwell in their own land which I gave to My servant Jacob."

Ezekiel 37:21,22:

"And say unto them: Thus saith the Lord GOD: Behold, I will take the children of Israel from among the nations, whither they are gone, and will gather them on every side, and bring them into their own land; and I will make them one nation in the land, upon the mountains of Israel, and one king shall be king to them all; and they shall be no more two nations, neither shall they be divided into two kingdoms any more at all;"

 Ezekiel 39:27,28:

"When I have brought them back from the peoples, and gathered them out of their enemies' lands, and am sanctified in them in the sight of many nations. And they shall know that I am the LORD their God, in that I caused them to go into captivity among the nations, and have gathered them unto their own land; and I will leave none of them any more there;"

And Read Well These Amazing Prophecies

Micha (2:12)

"I will surely assemble, O Jacob, all of thee; I will surely gather the remnant of Israel; I will render them all as sheep in a fold; as a flock in the midst of their pasture; they shall make great noise by reason of the multitude of men."

Zephaniah 3:

''Behold, at that time I will deal with all them that afflict thee; and I will save her that is lame, and gather her that was driven away; and I will make them to be a praise and a name, whose shame hath been in all the earth. At that time will I bring you in, and at that time will I gather you; for I will make you to be a name and a praise among all the peoples of the earth, when I turn your captivity before your eyes, saith the LORD.''

The prophet tells what we said earlier, that the Jews will be a shame amongst the nations, and we have seen this clearly, that throught the ages the jews have been always hated and abused, murdered and prosecuted. The prophet saw this, as did he see the rise to honour and praise of the jewish nation, and the return to the holy land.

Lets now relate the story which is told in the (1700 years old) text of the sages 'The Gemara'' which describes the incident with the holy sage Rabbi Akiva, which occured after the destruction of the second temple. Rabbi Akiva's way was always to look at the positive aspect of every situation, knowing that all is directed from Heaven, and all is for good. He was walking with other sages to the site of the destroyed temple. The site that not long before served as the source of life and light for the Jewish people. They saw a fox coming out of the area of the holy of holies, the most sacred part of the temple. The sages began to cry, and Rabbi Akiva laughed. The sages asked him: Why are you laughing. He asked them back: And for why are you crying? They were startled by his answer in the form of a question, for they seemed that the the reason was obvious, that they were crying because they light of the world has been destroyed and desecrated. They answered him the obvious answer, of their sadness for the destruction of the temple. He said to them: For the same reason I am laughing. For now that the prophecy of the destruction of this temple has come true, I know that the prophecy of of the end of days by the prophet Zechariah will come true (Zechariah Chapter 8):

"Thus saith the LORD of hosts: There shall yet old men and old women sit in the broad places of Jerusalem, every man with his staff in his hand from many days (from old age)."

And Now, amazingly, 1700 years after Rabbi Akiva said this to his fellow sages...after all these years of exile and wondering all around the world, after much trials and tribulations, suffering and pain, approximately 5 million jews, descendants of our forefather Abraham, are living in Israel, the land that was promised to his descendants, and approximately 300 thousand jews live in Jerusalem. Of them at least 70 thousand elderly people...and many of them have staffs as a walking aid. The prophecy has come true! Rabbi Akiva's words came true, and his reason for laughing has been substantiated.

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If you would have asked an ordinary person throughout the ages...say...500 years ago, a 1000 years ago, 1500 years ago...throught all the times that different nations occupied this land...if you would have asked them if it seems possible that the Jewish people would return to Israel, and cultivate the land, from the arid desert that it was then...a land that no civilization since the exile of the jewish people was able to cultivate...any reasonable person, who was unaware of the prophecies...would have not given the possibility any chance and would not have been able to foresee the amazing result that has eventuated! Yet the prophecies foretold the present, of the gathering of the exiles of the Jewish people, the descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob who were promised the holy land, and indeed of the return to Zion is in the process, and so do the prophecies foresaw the future, of the redemption and all that it entails.

The jews have indeed gathered...and settled the land that was promised to us...a long long time ago... 

The final redemption by the righteous holy Massiah, who we are all awaiting... the man who will sweep the whole world to worship God with love and joy, who will bring peace and serenity to the entire universe...as the blessing to the whole world will return, as the holy city of Jerusalem will regain its holiness with the building of the final and eternal temple, the source of light and holiness for the whole world, may it be build speedily in our days...

As God promises (Zecheraia 8)...

"Thus saith the LORD: I return unto Zion, and will dwell in the midst of Jerusalem; and Jerusalem shall be called the city of truth; and the mountain of the LORD of hosts the holy mountain."

So, It is clear and true and stands sturdy for eternity, that whoever is on the side of the Jewish nation, which ever nation helps us, is blessed and elevated, and therefore this is, the True Final Solution, that all of mankind will come to join the Jewish people in loving and serving our Almighty ever good Creator, in doing good deeds, peacfully forever and ever.

The entire world is awaiting....

For the redemption...

For the rebuilding of the House of God...

''For My House shall be called a House of Prayer for all peoples"

Blessings of Love and Peace

Dr Itamar Raz

For Further Spiritual Growth

A Guide to Spiritual Health

To find out about the Moral duties and laws of the people of all nations (7 Commandmends of Noah):

http://www.holyrainbow.com/