Spread Around to Build a Brighter World

Parshat Nitzavim 

by Rabbi Avi Billet 

Devarim 29:27 is the middle of a quote that the nations will say one day when they look upon the devastated land of Israel, wondering why God will have destroyed it and exiled His people. A verse before (29:24) says “It is because they abandoned the covenant of the Lord, the God of their fathers…” 

Their conclusion (verse 27) will state “And this is why God cast them to other lands.”

R Samson Raphael Hirsch has a subtle comment, worthy of a mini-dive. 

 “Even when they are exiled from their land, and spread among the nations, they are still serving Hashem, preparing the world for His purposes and aims.” 

This is not a case of the “Elders of Zion” (as in the fraudulent protocols), because this is not a plot to take over the world, or to get anyone back as vengeance for mistreatment. This is a mission from God Almighty to spread His ethics and His ways for the world to see what is possible in the brotherhood and fellowship of Mankind. Whether this was to be done through some Jewish equivalent of missionary work or whether the Jews were merely to live by example, modeling for all God’s ways, without “reaching out” to non-Jews, is a subject of debate. Suffice it to say most Jewish “outreach” has really been “inreach” – trying to reach Jews who have been distanced from their own heritage. 

 We are living in a time when the concepts of anti-Semitism spread like wildfire - in speech, in action, and even violence. We know it is not "anti-Zionism," for were it merely that, there wouldn’t be Jewish targets around the globe – the attacks would be limited to the Holy Land (chalilah that there should be attacks anywhere!) While anti-Semitism (a.k.a. Jew-hatred) - a term utilizing the identification of “Semite” though used, in this context, to refer to hatred of Jews, and everything about Jews (from the Torah, Halakha, Judaism, etc, to ethnic and cultural ‘critiques’ of Jewish people) - has been around forever, the term was only coined in the latter half of the 19th century, likely by Moritz Steinschneider (a Jewish scholar) and popularized by the anti-Semite Wilhelm Marr (a German politician). In Marr’s case, he looked to go beyond religious prejudice to define Jews as a race regarding which an answer needed to be found for the “Jewish Question.” 

Despite this, there have been philo-semites through the ages who have noticed the contribution of the Jew, and who marveled over how the Jewish people seemed to defy the odds of history – of always being on the outside of the general society, yet never quite disappearing. Always maintaining their traditions and unique identity, and never completely assimilating into oblivion.

What follows are a number of quotes lifted from an interesting website. (See https://www.quotesofzion.org/) Note that some of the quotes on that page (1 reproduced below) come from the early Roman period, particularly as Christianity, known by everyone at the time for being an offshoot of Judaism, was spreading itself across the Middle East and Europe. Perhaps surprising, perhaps not – beyond the Roman period, virtually all of the following quotes are from products of the Enlightenment, when thinkers who often thought for themselves just said what they believed, based on their observation. I don’t know the specific religion (or none) of any of these people (though I suppose that could easily be found through “googling” them). It is worth noting that basically none of them come from the Arab world – a point from which obvious conclusions can be drawn. 

 We begin with Emperor Julian, who had plans to re-establish the Jewish commonwealth and even rebuild the Beit HaMikdash, had he not died from his wounds following the Battle of Samarra. 

“I threw into the fire the records against you that were stored in my desks; so that it is no longer possible for anyone to aim at you such a reproach of impiety. (...) So that everywhere, during my reign, you may have security of mind, and in the enjoyment of peace may offer more fervid prayers for my reign to the Most High God, the Creator, who has deigned to crown me with his own immaculate right hand. (...) When I have successfully concluded the war with Persia, I may rebuild by my own efforts the sacred city of Jerusalem, which for so many years you have longed to see inhabited, and may bring settlers there, and, together with you, may glorify the Most High God therein.” – Julianus Apostata, Roman Emperor. 331 – 363 AD 

“The descendants of Abraham represent humanity in its purest form, without brutish giants, just as their religion is pure of superstitious rites. All the religious institutions of the Hebrew people were designed to maintain and promote the knowledge of God and to shield man against sinking into pagan vulgarity. While the pagan priests concealed carefully their religious mysteries, the prescriptions of the Jewish religion were put down in writing, and made accessible to all who could read.” – Giambattista Vico, Neapolitan/Italian philosopher, historian and jurist. 1668 – 1744 AD 

"I insist that the Hebrews have done more to civilize men that any other nation. If I were an atheist, and believed blind eternal fate, I should still believe that fate had ordained the Jews to be the most essential instrument for civilizing the nations. (...) They are the most glorious nation that ever inhabited this Earth. The Romans and their empire were but a bubble in comparison to the Jews. They have given religion to three-quarters of the globe and have influenced the affairs of mankind more and more happily than any other nation, ancient or modern. (...) I really wish the Jews again in Judea an independent nation." – John Adams, Anglo-American President of the United States. 1735 – 1826 AD 

“The Jews, who used to own the country, have not given up on their hope for the future of their country. They used to pray for Jerusalem and Zion and hoped for the Savior, who would liberate the country and make it blossom again. Nowadays not only prayers are made for Palestine within Jewish circles, nowadays work is also carried out for the land of the fathers. And this change of attitude has been accomplished by Zionism.” – David Friedrich Strauss, Württembergian/German theologian. 1808 – 1874 AD 

“If in nature the principle that every people, every living being is entitled to his share of the land, to just a room on this globe, is sacred; certainly there will be no people, there will be no government, there will be no individual who can deny the Jews the right to possession or privilege in Palestine, which they have never morally or politically renounced; which they have never even personally and materially abandoned. So, each mighty generous philanthropist government should help to wash the humanity of this ancient stain, and return to the room of its fathers a people which collected many titles of justice and merit. (…) Get together from all corners of the earth because it is time to rehabilitate the room of your fathers.” – Benedetto Musolino, Neapolitan Senator of Italy. 1809 – 1885 AD 

“No nation has been able to establish itself, as a nation in Palestine up to this day, no national union and no national spirit have prevailed there. The motley, impoverished tribes which have occupied it have held it as mere tenants at will, temporary landowners, evidently waiting for those entitled to the permanent possession of the soil.” – John William Dawson, Canadian geologist. 1820 – 1899 AD 

"There is store of wisdom among us to found a new Jewish polity, grand, simple, just like the old - a republic where there is equality of protection, an equality which hone like a star on the forehead of [this] ancient community, and gave it more than the brightness of Western freedom amid the despotisms of the East. Then [this] race shall have an organic centre, a heart and brain to watch and guide and execute; the outraged Jew shall have a defence in the court of nations, as the outraged Englishman of America. And the world will gain as Israel gains. For there will be a community in the van of the East which carries the culture and the sympathies of every great nation in its bosom: there will be a land set for a halting-place of enmities, a neutral ground for the East as Belgium is for the West." – Mary Anne Evans (George Eliot), English writer, novelist and journalist. 1819 – 1880 AD 

"As long as the world lasts, all who want to make progress in righteousness will come to Israel for inspiration as to the people who had the sense for righteousness most glowing and strongest." – Matthew Arnold, English poet. 1822 – 1888 AD 

The following, and the Balfour Declaration, seem to imply that the British wanted there to be a Jewish state under British rule, for the sake of British interests. That approach was dismissive of the concept of Jewish self-determination, and also stemmed from an attitude that the Jewish people couldn’t do it on their own. [Sadly, while the plight of the Jews for close to 2000 years was heaped upon the Jews through exile from every nation in Europe, the “refugee” problem in Israel and PA lands as a result of the 1948 is trying to utilize the same playbook to garner sympathy from the world. The difference is that the 20th century saw one of the largest displacements of populations throughout the world, and there are dozens of Arab states that share the same religion, culture, demographics as the “refugees” from 1948 (most of whom are no longer alive – we’re dealing with the 3rd and 4th generations now).]  Nonetheless, it portrays a reality of what Palestine looked like in the late 1800s and early 1900s, and an affinity for what Jews could accomplish there were they to return "home."

  "Palestine, though now barren and desolate, requires only an active and industrious population, so abundant are its natural advantages of soil and climate, to restore its original fertility. (...) The advantages derivable to England from this measure are so great that it would almost appear that my real object was to benefit my own country, instead of advocating the cause of a proscribed and harmless race; but so true is it (...) that the protection afforded to this people would quickly return in blessings on England and be felt in the wretched hears and homes of the poor manufacturers of Manchester, Birmingham and Glasgow. (...) The re-establishment of the Jewish nation in Palestine as a protected state, under the guardianship of Great Britain (...) would be attended with political advantages of incalculable importance to Great Britain." – Edward Ledwich Mitford, English author. 1811 – 1912 AD 

All this demonstrates that the Jewish people, when left alone, and seen without prejudice, have followed our Torah, lived our way of life, contributed to every society in which we found ourselves, and were even recognized by people not-filled-with-hatred as being more than capable of running a Jewish state in our ancestral homeland. 

 Exile happened originally on account of the sins of those living at the time of the destruction, and likely hasn’t ended on account of continued sins. Why were our people worthy of having a Jewish State in the land everyone spoke of? I don’t know the ways of God. Nor do I understand the switches back and forth in the sympathies of the world. 

It’s not perfect. It is certainly missing a Beit HaMikdash. No doubt the Messiah has not yet come. If Rav Hirsch is right, and the people of the world need only pay attention, then let us continue to pray for that day when the haters come to see that we can all benefit from living in peace, and that the fulfillment of not lifting sword anymore against one another will only bring prosperity to all, and a meaningful, long and blessed life of goodness, growth, and love between neighbors. All would benefit from living for a higher, holier purpose when weapons can be safely put aside in favor of a bright future for all.