Disengagement Deals Havoc to Jewish Messianic Theology
Supplement to Archive Update 24A
August 20, 2005
The predictions that I made in Archive Prophecy Update Number 24A have now occurred, and it h as
wrought a terrific blow to certain aspects of a belief held by some among the Jewish Orthodox. The details of the blow are found in the Jerusalem Post article that closes this Supplement to 24A.
The first Jewish Rabbi I ever made contact with, who held the views of Rabbi Avraham Yitzhak Hacohen Kook, I met in Paris in the last part of the seventies. As I spoke to him about his Messianic belief, I learned he did not believe Jesus was the Messiah, but that the true Messiah was yet to be born.
The 1967 conquest of Jerusalem by Israeli
troops had stirred Rabbi Kook’s followers to new found hope that Israel would, by growing in righteousness as a nation, cause the return of Messiah, and that when they had brought in the kingdom by righteousness, then the Messiah would come and position himself on the throne of David. As I talked with him, tears came down his c heeks w
hen he spoke of the soon coming Messiah.
The turning over of the Gaza Strip and part of the West Bank has dealt a severe blow to Rabbi Kook’s theology. The editorial which follows, from the Jerusalem Post, brought back memories of our conversation in Paris. I am hopeful some of the Rabbi Kook adherents might now come to place their faith in Jesus, who was, and is, the Messiah. He alone can bring in the kingdom, and establish it in his righteousness alone.
Philippians 3:9 – And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith:
Isaiah 62:1-4,11,12 – For Zion’s sake will I not hold my peace, and for Jerusalem’s sake I will not rest, until the righteousness thereof go forth as brightness, and the salvation thereof
as a lamp that burneth. [2] And the Gentiles shall see thy righteousness, and all kings thy glory: and thou shalt be called by a new name, which the mouth of the Lord shall name. [3] Thou shalt also be a crown of glory in the hand of the Lord, and a royal diadem in the hand of thy God. [4] Thou shalt no more be termed Forsaken; neither shall thy land any more be termed Desolate: but thou shalt be called Hephzi-bah, and thy land Beulah: for the Lord delighteth in thee, and thy land shall be married.
[11] Behold, the Lord hath proclaimed unto the end of the world, Say ye to the daughter of Zion, Behold, thy salvation cometh; behold, his reward is with him, and his work before him. [12] And they shall call them, The holy people, The redeemed of the Lord: and thou shalt be called, Sought out, A city not forsaken.
Zechariah 14:9 – And the Lord shall be king over all the earth: in that day shall there be one Lord, and his name one.
Acts 4:12 – Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.
BEGIN JERUSALEM POST ARTICLE
Redirecting Energies
Editorial, THE JERUSALEM POST
August 18, 2005
As the disengagement process approaches its completion, one group among its opponents demands special attention: the rabbis. Though far from made of one skin, it is clear that the neo-messianic
theology that has been espoused here with particular confidence since 1967 played a unique role in the emergence of the settlement movement.
The school of thought which derived its inspiration from the writings of Rabbi Avraham Yitzhak Hacohen Kook, the theological mastermind of the historic partnership between secular and religious Zionism, believed that Zionism was the harbinger of the days to come. The fact that most of the Jewish national restoration movement’s leaders and followers were secular was explained as a passing artifact in a divine plan for the full demographic repatriation and spiritual homecoming of the Jewish nation in its integral, ancestral land.
For decades, most secular Israelis were unaware of this theology’s existence, and those who were familiar with it often saw it as an exoticism rather than a challenge, let alone a threat. Similarly, its adherents still had sufficient historic patience with which to excuse what they saw as the Jewish state’s anomalous secular, and at times even anti-religious, leadership.
All this changed drastically twice: first, the Six Day War made many Zionist rabbis lose their patience with history, as they agreed that the war’s conquests were a heavenly inheritance that the nation was commanded to possess. Next, the Yom Kippur War left
the same circle with the impression that secular Zionism was crumbling, and that their chance to succeed it was fast approaching.
To the messianic rabbis, the blow dealt by disengagement is far more profound than for its other opponents, since to them it constitutes not only material loss and strategic decline but also a theological reversal. In their interpretation of history, the State of Israel was predestined to nurture – whether consciously or subconsciously – a redemption process.
That, and not the security concerns which they preferred to espouse in debates with secular audiences, is what made clergymen such as former chief rabbis Avraham Shapira and Mordechai Eliyahu or lawmakers Benny Elon and Yitzhak Levy so harshly oppose disengagement. It is what made so many messianic rabbis deny the approach of what other Israelis realized long ago was actually well on its way. It is also why some of them scandalously called on soldiers to disobey orders, or even preached disengagement from the State of Israel.
Now it is time for them and their followers to concede that with all due respect to their grievances toward everyone else – from Labor, Likud, Shinui and the ultra-Orthodox parties to the academic, judicial, military and artistic elites that allowed the plan to happen – this circle should itself engage in some serious introspection.
Philosophically, messianic Zionists might now conclude that imposing religious or historical theories on political developments has failed wherever it was experimented with, from the Vatican to the Kremlin. Man can, and indeed is destined, to impact history, but no one group can exclusively claim God’s mantle over where history should go.
Politically, messianic rabbis should understand that whatever objections they may have to the national agenda, the way for them to redirect the state is not through arm twisting and reprimanding, but rather by running for office or persuading the public. The slew of parties representing the messianic agenda never ga
thered even 10 percent of the Knesset seats. It follows that the political task of the messianic rabbis, if they are so disenchanted, is to shift from scolding leaders to wooing voters, either from inside – as Rabbi Ovadia Yosef did with his own agenda – or outside the system.
Lastly, the messianic rabbis must realize that even from their own viewpoint there is much to struggle over in this country that does not involve confrontation with the existing mainstream and elites.
If only a fraction of the energy dedicated by these rabbis to the creation of a Greater Israel were accorded to the creation of a Holier Israel – by fighting road carnage, domestic violence, juvenile crime, trafficking in women and so many of our state’s other afflictions – they would find that their agendas are much more respected, and that Israel, whatever its size, emerges much more Jewish.
END JERUSALEM POST ARTICLE