Sunday, 14 March 2010 13:43
Written by John Hellein
In the Jewish Quarter of the Old City of Jerusalem, the "Hurva" (חורבה) Synagogue dedication is scheduled for tomorrow on the eve of the month of Aviv (15 March). It has taken 62 years since its most recent destruction by the British/Arab troops in the 1948 Israel War of Independence for it to be finally rebuilt and now the Arabs, reminded yet again of just how weak they are, are whining about this undoing of their destruction.
Modern History of Hurva Synagogue
According to Wikipedia, a synagogue 's existence at the spot of Hurva can be traced back to as early as the Second Century. Then, in the early 1700s,
followers of Judah he-Hasid founded a synagogue at the site, but it was destroyed a few years later, in 1721. The plot lay in ruins for over 140 years and became known as the Ruin, or Hurva. In 1864, the Perushim built a new synagogue on the site. Although officially named the Beis Yaakov Synagogue, it retained its name as the Hurva and became Jerusalem's main Ashkenazi synagogue until it too was reduced to rubble during the 1948 Arab-Israeli War.
So at least twice in recent history, Hurva has been built by the Jews and destroyed by their enemies. It is a telling phenomenon that for the Jewish people today, a primary weapon in the struggle for the redemption of Judea and Samaria is building while a primary weapon for the enemies of the land of Israel is destruction.
Building in Judea and Samaria is Terrorism in the Nations Eyes
The prophet Zechariah points out the offensive (used in both the sense of progress and in causing offense) nature of those who build in Judea and Samaria:
Then the LORD showed me four craftsmen. I said, "What are these coming to do?" And he said, "These are the horns which have scattered Judah so that no man lifts up his head; but these craftsmen have come to terrify them, to throw down the horns of the nations who have lifted up their horns against the land of Judah in order to scatter it" (Zecariah 1.20-21).
The craftsmen actually terrify and at a level deeper than the merely intellectual. The reaction of the nations of the world to building in Judea and Samaria would seem to be off-the-scale irrational behavior. How is it that building a synagogue or announcing 1600 new apartments in Jerusalem would even be noticed by the major governments of the world, let alone vociferously denounced as "peace"-killing actions? Quite simply, the return of Jewish life to the hills of Judea and Samaria validates the numerous prophecies of the return of the people of Israel to the land of Israel. It is the beginning of a redemption process that ends with the establishment of the Kingdom of God, seated in Jerusalem, that reaches out through Israel to govern the entire world. In short, it means the end to the status quo: an end to the business-as-usual oppression that seeks to perpetuate itself through the governments of the nations.
Seeing the Battle Clearly
It is natural to see the war of words between the secular government of Israel and those of other nations in the world as the place where battles are won and lost. As a result, the US administration took last week's announcement of 1600 new Jewish appartments in Jerusalem, during Vice-President Biden's visit to Israel, as a slap in the face. The US has responded loudly in a way that seeks to undermine Prime Minister Netanyahu's government and cost him as much political clout within the nation of Israel as possible. (The US consistently and sometimes blatantly meddles in the internal affairs of Israel.) However, the spectacle of diplomacy that we see by the US State Department is not the real battle though it may affect the real battle. The real battle lies in the actual building up of Jewish life in Judea and Samaria and, for the opposition, in trying to cover up and ultimately destroy that same Jewish life. It is building in Judea and Samaria that clears the way for redemption. It is that building that terrifies the nations. So the nations of the world pressure the secular government of Israel to shut down building in Judea and Samaria and a weak coalition that does not clearly see the battle agrees to enforce a building freeze. The cause of redemption suffers as a result; but it is only a momentary setback.
The Faith Cultivated Over 2,500 Years is Distilled on the Hills of Judea and Samaria
The simple truth is that for 2,500 years while the Jewish people were dispersed among the nations of the world, the God of Israel Himself cultivated faith among His people, Israel. Today, all the power of that faith is being condensed, distilled into the faithful Jews who are living their lives out in the struggle for Judea and Samaria. It is a strong faith built over millenia and tended by God Himself; it will not easily be moved. To be sure, the nations of the world struggle against that faith with all the power they can muster. When they get up the guts, they will try to snuff it out. If the prophet Zechariah is right, they will not succeed in completely extinguishing that flame before they themselves are destroyed on the mountains of Judea and Samaria.
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