by Bill Moore

On Friday I attended the Erev Shabbat in Burlington and was moved deeply that the speech and song was a yearning for G-d to carry on His work and not a call to take merely human sides against man’s follies. The people’s prayers and recitations yearned for a saving act of G-d, not the human vengeance of blood feud or wrath as some sort of rough “justice”.  Amen and Shalom. 

It must also be said the October 7 barbarism and deeply disturbed acts of the Hamas and Hezbollah demand acts of war and militarism in order to restore safety and security to the Jewish homeland that is Eretz Israel. And righteously so they will be done. These are death cults; an unfortunately common human tribalism that destroyed more lives than disease or famine in the 20th century (i.e. Hitler, Stalin, Mao, etc.) and more recently in Islamist forms such as Al Qaeda and Isis… 

In modern internationalist foreign policy lies the quandary of dealing with these religious death worship cults while maintaining a bizarre “over-sensitivity” to Islam writ large and the irrational “multiculturalism” of Europe while still denying the existence of G-d. Any rational approach to these strange evils requires a knowledge and yearning for the existence of a supernatural power that seeks to reveal itself to every single human.  Satan simply preys and stalks using the fictions and lies of Islamist Terror Doctrine as a temptation to these vulnerable souls. 

At the same time this same evil lie parades as “liberation theology” and “anti-colonialism” on college campuses and even the halls of the United States Congress and State Department.  Knowledge of the Bible/Torah and a healthy fear of G-d’s wrath against false idols and murder cults can lead one only to the inescapable conclusion of Israel having an ancestral and divine right to exist on the ancient lands from the Euphrates to the seas. 

Every threat to Israel is an “existential” threat as they are surrounded by those hostile to Jews, Judaism and the national paradigm of Zionism. To quote Golda Meir; “We Jews have a secret weapon in our struggle with the Arabs; we have no place to go.” If you believe I speak here merely of the Middle East, remember in history the entire world has at one time or another shown itself hostile to Jews.  

The advent of Zionism is not any rude colonialism or “occupier” policy; it is the necessary response to survive following 4,000 plus years of persecution. Zionism is the blood carrying the oxygen that has saved Israel, their language and culture time and time again in this eternal fight. Witness the current national unity in the Israeli people. Their enemies should shiver and shake with fear and beg G-d forgive them.

All so-called “Two-State” solutions and shared national existence policies are irrelevant now; Hamas in the Gaza “strip” and the Hezbollah controlled regions of Judea-Samaria have proved over and over they are both ungovernable and choose to govern themselves as death cults bent on one goal: complete destruction of Israel and death to all Jewish peoples.

Yes, I mean they demand both as inseparable directives. Anyone who still believes the fiction that the self-identified “Palestinian” people will ever self-govern under any lesser paradigm are simply deluded or deeply ignorant of the region and Islamism history.  Begin to understand by exploring the history of the Muslim Brotherhood of the 1920s; the great grand parents of Hezbollah and Hamas and Wahhabism of Osama Bin Laden and the like…

Returning to the Erev Shabat service last Friday: we heard the calls and shared the desire that G-d act and restore peace to Eretz Israel and so, the region may be returned to a crude homeostasis. Within the region Islamism is not the exception but the national paradigms of most of these nations and so stability is only absence of war.  Anyone who forgets this simple truth risks not just war but a wrath from a higher power.  

As G-d told Abraham and Sarah, the seeds of Israel will Bless all nations and G-d will Bless those who Bless Israel. Pray for peace for these people in our time, but more important, pray the expectancy and faith that G-d will act in ways we simply cannot fathom.

Choosing sides is not optional; it carries with it a Blessing if we choose well.  And choosing badly puts your soul at risk; unless spending eternity absent from G-d is your heart’s desire. Ask yourself today, do I want an eternity with G-d as my constant companion and help?  Or do I want emptiness and darkness as my constant companion? 

In the November 21 report on the event by Vermont Daily Chronicle, the quoted prayer/song Yedid Nefesh in full reads:

“Beloved of my soul, merciful Father, draw Your servant to Your will. Then Your servant will run as swiftly as a deer; he will bow before Your splendor; Your acts of affection will be sweeter than honeycomb and every pleasant taste.

Glorious, resplendent One, Light of the world, my soul is lovesick for You; I beseech You, O G‑d, pray heal it by showing it the sweetness of Your splendor. Then it will be strengthened and healed and will experience everlasting joy.

O pious One, may Your mercy be aroused, and show compassion to Your beloved child. For it is long that I have been yearning to behold the glory of Your majesty. These my heart desires, so have pity and do not conceal Yourself.

Reveal Yourself, my beloved, and spread over me the shelter of Your peace. Let the earth be illuminated by Your glory; we will rejoice and exult in You. Hasten, Beloved, for the time has come; and be gracious unto us as in days of yore.”

Pray these words for Israel today aloud.  G-d guarantees the result will Bless Us All, and we may change history…  Choosing sides is not optional, folks! To Not Choose is still a choice.

The author is a Johnson resident.