I have looked at Jonathan Pollard today (see post just previous), so can I go back to bed now?
Apparently not. I promised to blog Thursday night about the OneJerusalem conference call with Dore Gold, and never did. yet. So it's hanging over me.
You learn so much more about yourself when you face what you don't want to do, than when you just go about pleasing yourself.
Blogpsychiatry aside, what am I talking about?
I don't wanna blog this because I found the call utterly terrifying. There, I've said it. I think it's terrifying that Dore Gold was compelled by our matsav, our situation, to write a book that delineates and PROVES the Jewish connection to Jerusalem.
Do Chinese people write books proving their relationship to China? Spanish people, to Spain? Egyptian people, to Egypt? Hardly.
I am taunted now by my own sub-heading: "It is not enough for Jews to fight for their survival. They must argue for it as well."
Here's my problem, and it comes up all the time... I resent having to argue for it. I think it should be as plain as the nose on your face that Jews should survive. I think it should be as plain as the nose on your face that Jews are indigenous to Judea, as Arabs are indigenous to Arabia. I think that if anyone doesn't know by now that Jews have been connected to Jerusalem since time immemorial, then they can jump off a bridge for all I care. How's that for persuasive?
The fact of the matter is that I've never been able to convince a single solitary person that they should support Israel, based on facts. Nor have I convinced anyone with any other sort of argument, either. I know it can be done; my friend Lisa does it all the time. I feed her information and she uses it to persuade people... and it works. And so should it be with Dore Gold's book, The Fight for Jerusalem.
My ignoble snobbery and resentment quite aside, I wish with all my heart that people will read his Chapter 1, page 35:
Jerusalem emerges as both the political and religious capital of ancient Israel in the Hebrew Bible, which refers to the Holy City nearly 700 times. Jerusalem was also "the goodly mountain" that Moses saw from afar across the Jordan River when he beseeched G-d to allow him to enter the Promised Land.... and believe it.
I hope that they will see the color photographs that he provides of archaeological evidence, of the royal seals of the Jewish kings of Judah - Ahaz ben Jotham 735BCE to 715 BCE; Hezekiah ben Ahaz 715 BCE to 686 BCE; and Jehoahaz, son of King Josiah 609 BCE - and it will cause them to have an Aha! moment, and then they will support Israel with us.
I pray that when someone reads (and sees physical proof) that we Jews were a majority in Jerusalem in 1863, they will then bow to the fact of our right to the Land.
I wish, I hope, I pray, but I don't believe. I had this conversation at Kesher Talk not that long ago. There I noted that
[T]he rational historical political approach fell apart as our enemies began to rewrite history and offer their own "narratives" as substitute.... with obfuscation and outright lies being the order of the day, my "facts" [have] crumbled into nothingness. But Jimmy Carter says... But Walt and Mearsheimer say... But Noam Chomsky says... But the imam said...
Facts are important, facts are on our side, and Dore Gold's book is a magnificent collection of those facts. And yet here I am, stuck with this feeling that spirit is what will win the day, not facts. This is why I questioned Ambassador Gold (as did Pamela) about the lagging spirit of Israelis.
I'll tell you the truth. I am terrified that Olmert would give up Jerusalem, and that the Israeli populace would allow him to do it. Gold was not encouraging in this regard; he admitted that Israelis are tired, that they're tired of war and tired of peace plans that never work, and tired of their children being at risk in wars, not to mention walking down the street. They have been under siege for so long.
So here's the next terrification. You know what this means as well as I do. Those of us who believe, those of us who are not so tired, need to be there. We need to go there, we need to visit, and ultimately we need to make aliyah. Israel doesn't need more facts as much as Israel needs us, our lives and our energy and our spirit and our presence. Somehow, the call with Dore Gold brought this into focus for me and I was terrified, simply terrified, that we could lose Jerusalem because people like me don't have what takes to keep it and defend it.
That's why I avoided blogging the call for so long. It made me look in the mirror (that's the second time today), and I wanted to look away because I didn't like what I saw.
The fact that Dore Gold has written this book - which everyone should buy and read and have and give to others - is a sign. It's yet another sign (to me, anyway) that we do truly live in the Age of Audacity, in the heels -or footsteps- of Moshiach, and that each one of us must choose which side of the abyss we're going to be on when the time comes.
The Time is coming very quickly now, more quickly than I imagined. In fact, the Fight for Jerusalem is already on. It's happening right now.
Just look in the mirror, and you'll see it.
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