[Avodah] A Parable on Redemption

[Prof. Levine via Avodah]

The following is from pages 146 - 148  in Rav Schwab on Chumash.

In the Holy Land, a Jewish state was established by governing officials and
lawmakers who were heretics. flagrantly desecrating the holiness of the Jewish
People. Their laws are the antithesis  of Torah, yet these officials
shamelessly called their medinah, their Jewish state,  the name 
"Israel," appropriating
the holy name "Yisroel." Just as Samael, Yaakov's adversary, called himself
"Yisrael,", the  sacrilege still persists today;  the use of holy 
names to disguise profane
entities is a common subterfuge in the world of sheker."

This is followed by quoting form Rav Schwab's essay A Parable on
Redemption that appeared in the Jewish Observer in March 1974 and is
reproduced in the book Selected Writings.  I have put the entire
essay at

http://web.stevens.edu/golem/llevine/rsrh/parable_on_redemption.pdf

Even though this essay appeared in 1974 I thing it rings very true today.  YL

In part it says

A secular Jewish State, its remarkable
accomplishments notwithstanding, even with allowances
made for a thriving Torah life, is at its best a Golus
phenomenon. It can be likened to a heavily fortified island
surrounded by a stormy sea of unspeakable hatred, bloody
intrigues and political conspiracies by hundreds of millions
of sworn enemies.

No, the Golus has not even begun to end as long as the
ominous cloud of nuclear self-annihilation hovers over the
human race. The Jewish people is still very deeply caught
within the tragic grasp of the Golus and, by the way, so is all
of mankind. The sovereign Jewish State is the most recent
development of our 2,000 year old Golus history and by no
means the answer to our prayers, let alone the self
contradiction of a secular "Israel" with all its insoluble
problems : Jewish identity (Mihu Yehudi), the religious
educational dilemma, autopsies, conscription of girls,
missionaries, to name but a few.

The horizons of mankind are covered with black
darkness and we still scan the heavens for the first faint
glimmer of dawn.

As far as we are concerned, the first sign that would
initiate the end of Golus would be: the absence of
bloodshed. Imagine, for the first time in 2,000 years no Jews
are killed by Jew-haters! No Jewish blood will be spilled
anymore, once and for all! But instead of the fulfillment of
this basic requirement we face a stark, raving-mad alliance
of sworn enemies busily turning their plowshares into
swords and their scientific know-how into ever deadlier
missiles.

On the other hand, let us spell out some of the true
characteristics of the ultimate Geulah, the promised
redemption we yearn and pray for.

It means the restoration of the Jewish people as a
Kingdom of Priests and a Holy Nation.

It means the supreme rule of the Divine Torah over Am Yisroel and
Eretz Yisroel.

It means the complete abolishment of all traces of
G-dlessness, heresy and idolatry from the Holy Land.

It means the pacification of mankind and the end of
the reign of violence and terror.

It means the unification of all men in justice and
righteousness, to recognize the G-d of Yisroel as the
Supreme Ruler of all human affairs.

In short, it means: "Hashem shall reign as King over all
the Earth."


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