A cloud or a dove

“Who are these that fly along like clouds, like doves to their nests?” — Isaiah 60:8

The book of Isaiah is filled with amazing prophecies about the Messianic era, including the return of the Jewish people to Israel. But not all Jews will return in the same way. Some will come out of love and with great joy. Others will be pushed there, some against their will. The prophet Isaiah put it this way: “Who are these that fly along like clouds, like doves to their nests?”

        Tradition teaches that this verse is referring to two different sets of people. There are those who will come to Israel like clouds – they will be pushed there by the storm of anti-Semitism and war. Then there are those who will go “like doves to their nests.” They will come out of their own volition and a desire to return home. These fortunate ones won’t be running away from something bad – they will be running toward something good.

Like many of the messianic prophecies in the book of Isaiah, the return of the Jewish people to their homeland has come to pass in our days. And just as Isaiah foretold, the ingathering of the exiles has come about in two different ways.

Jews around the world have found refuge in Israel, many of them arriving just after World War II when they were shut out from most of the world. Today, Israel continues to be the destination for Jews escaping oppression in countries around the Middle East, Africa and even some parts of Europe. But these are not the only Jews immigrating to Israel and it is not the only function of the Jewish state. Israel is far more than a life-vest for Jews in danger.

The State of Israel also is the living manifestation of a 2,000-year-old dream for the Jewish people to return to their ancient homeland. Today, Jews from all four corners of the earth, including the most affluent countries in the world, are choosing to leave everything behind in order to begin again in a new land. Because Israel is where a Jew belongs. Israel is home.

You don’t need to be Jewish to have a promised land. Everyone has an ideal place that they can get to in their lifetime, and it is more likely a spiritual space than a physical one. And they will get there in one of two ways. Some people will be pushed there by the storms in life, or some can choose to go peacefully on their own.

I know which I prefer. How about you?

http://www.holylandmoments.org/devotionals/a-cloud-or-a-dove

Strangers in the Land

“‘To you I will give the land of Canaan
   as the portion you will inherit.’
 When they were but few in number,
   few indeed, and strangers in it,
they wandered from nation to nation,
   from one kingdom to another.”—Psalm 105:11–13

For thousands of years, since the Jews were expelled from their land by the Romans in 70 C.E., the people of God have, indeed, wandered from one nation to another. As they tried to settle, raise their families, and live according to God’s word and law, they remained strangers, often facing persecution, opposition, and hardships.

Even after two thousand years of exile from their homeland, the Jews were not accepted into the fabric of society. By the mid-1800s, Jewish thinkers came to the stark conclusion: “The Jews have lived and labored among the nations for almost two thousand years, but nonetheless they cannot become rooted organically within them . . . . We shall always remain strangers among nations.”

With the birth of the State of Israel, the long-held dream of the Jewish people returning to their homeland — the land given to them by God — became a reality. And since that time, more than three million Jews have returned to Israel.

But for many Jews today, the dream of returning to the Holy Land has remained just that — a dream. That is why The Fellowship and our partner organizations, like the Jewish Agency for Israel, have worked tirelessly over the years to bring persecuted Jews home from the four corners of the world.

For the next two years, our focus will be on helping the final group of Ethiopian Jews make aliyah, or immigration to Israel. Despite centuries of anti-Semitism, physical destruction, land confiscation, and enslavement, these Jews have maintained their Jewish heritage and prayed for their return to Jerusalem.

The Ethiopian Jews have never lost hope that they will return home. They have tirelessly and continually held to God’s promise of the portion of land that they will inherit.

Miraculously, The Fellowship and our ministry partners have been given the privilege of helping fulfill this dream of coming home for thousands of Ethiopian Jews. Join us today in praying for the Ethiopian Jews and for the completion of this prophetic work which has been ongoing for the past twenty years.

With your prayers and support, these Jews will no longer be strangers, but will be home at last.

http://www.holylandmoments.org/devotionals/strangers-in-the-land-2

A Time to Speak Up

“When I say to a wicked man, ‘You will surely die,’ and you do not warn him or speak out to dissuade him from his evil ways in order to save his life, that wicked man will die for his sin, and I will hold you accountable for his blood. But if you do warn the wicked man and he does not turn from his wickedness or from his evil ways, he will die for his sin; but you will have saved yourself.” — Ezekiel 3:18–19

More than thirty years ago as a newly ordained rabbi, I was sent by the Anti-Defamation League to raise community support to protest a proposed march of a neo-Nazi group in Skokie, Illinois, a Chicago suburb where a large number of Holocaust survivors lived. Do you know who were the most willing to stand against this march? The Christian community. Why? Because of their love for the Jewish people and their sense of responsibility to stand against anti-Semitism.

One of the best ways to combat anti-Semitism — or any form of prejudice — is with love. A loving attitude toward others ensures that you will think the best of them and treat them well. If you “love your neighbor as yourself” you will not “seek revenge or bear a grudge” (Leviticus 19:18). But what if you don’t harbor any ill thoughts toward others, but you encounter someone who does? Again, love is the best response.

Oftentimes, a loving but straightforward reply is all that is needed. People might not realize that what they have said is offensive unless someone tells them. And sometimes people will stop speaking hatefully if they know that such remarks do not gain them approval. Leviticus 19:17 reminds us to “Rebuke your neighbor frankly so you will not share in his guilt.” But why would we share in the guilt of someone else who harbored anti-Semitic attitudes?

By doing nothing to stop it, we bear the responsibility. God said that if you do not warn a wicked man “or speak out to dissuade him from his evil ways . . . I will hold you accountable for his blood” (Ezekiel 3:18).

The Bible says to “speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves” (Proverbs 31:8). When you hear someone speak hatefully, you can speak up in love. There may not be anyone else present to speak up for people being verbally attacked, so we may be only ones to speak up on their behalf.

It may be difficult or uncomfortable to speak up against hatred, and it may take some courage. But it is our God-given duty to defend those who cannot defend themselves. If we all made a loving, but firm response to anti-Semitism, we could make great strides toward eliminating this harmful attitude.

http://www.holylandmoments.org/devotionals/a-time-to-speak-up-2

An Irrational Hatred

“Therefore pride is their necklace;
   they clothe themselves with violence.
 From their callous hearts comes iniquity;
   their evil imaginations have no limits.
 They scoff, and speak with malice;
   with arrogance they threaten oppression.”— Psalm 73:6–8

Have you ever felt like someone didn’t like you — maybe even hated you — for no particular reason? It’s puzzling, isn’t it? You wonder what you did to provoke a strong reaction, and if you can’t think of anything you did, it seems irrational. We Jews often find ourselves as the objects of such irrational hatred.

For example, at various points in history, Jews have been accused of being too poor or too wealthy; too politically domineering or too politically uninvolved. We’ve been accused of being too spiritual and too secular, unambitious and overly aggressive, too separated from others and too assimilated. Does that make sense? How can we be all those things?

Anti-Semitism, like other forms of racism, is a condition of the heart. It reflects a callous heart that has lost sensitivity to others. The writer of Psalm 73 says that “from their callous hearts comes iniquity” (v. 7). A hardened heart that has lost sensitivity to others is a breeding ground for evil.

In addition to a callous heart, anti-Semitism forms in a conceited mind. At the base of racism is the conceited belief that one person or group is better than another and “their evil imaginations have no limits” (Psalm 73:7). Rather than listening to the voice of reason, irrational thoughts prevail, driven by passionate hatred. For those who promote anti-Semitism, their hatred is simply hatred, without any reason or justification for it. This irrational racial hatred has often led to inconsistent accusations against the Jews — such as those above — because the accusations are not based on logic or merit, but hate.

Finally, the psalm writer says that those with callous hearts and conceited minds also have threatening lips, for “they scoff, and speak with malice; with arrogance they threaten oppression” (Psalm 73:8). Anti-Semitism, and other racial prejudice, often expresses itself in threats, intimidation, and oppression. Acts of terrorism against Jews and Jewish icons are an attempt to instill fear in the lives of Jews.

As the psalm writer concludes, when faced with unreasonable and unmerited prejudice, there is only one place to find hope and to remember, “Yet I am always with you; you hold me by my right hand. You guide me with your counsel, and afterward you will take me into glory. Whom have I in heaven but you?”(vv. 23-25). We can have confidence that in God’s presence and guidance no matter what our circumstances or difficulties we face.

http://www.holylandmoments.org/devotionals/an-irrational-hatred-2