Nurit
Greenger
When
God made His Covenant with Abraham, He copyrighted social justice.
The
Jewish nation rights to the land of Israel are not inscribed in the Balfour
Declaration or the Mandate for Palestine document, it precedes them. The
Mandate for Palestine is the Bible only.
On
Tuesday, April 24, 2012, the 49th
International Bible Quiz for Jewish youth, one of Israel's Independence Day’s
noble traditions, which the Prime Minister of Israel Benjamin Netanyahu attends, was held at the Jerusalem Theater. The first event, which David
Ben-Gurion attended, took place in 1958. (Video: http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/155164.)
Thanks to global cyber services I was able to sit at my
computer and for over two hours I was glued to the screen – and mesmerized –
while watching the young contestants, who arrived to Israel from twenty two countries, competing for first prize.
These knowledgeable young men and women, whether they
arrived at first or last prize are all winners. Because they are marching into
adult life equipped with wisdom only those who take time in life to learn the
Bible have.
I went through my elementary education in Israel and one
of the subjects was Bible study, which every kid in Israel had to take. I
personally liked the Biblical stories, but learning the Bible was not a
favorite subject by most students. However I did not appreciate the wisdom of
the Bible until years later.
Watching the 49th International Bible Quiz
reminded me that the Bible is the book of books and there is no other like
it. The wisdom of the Bible is infinite.
While the European countries, such as France, would like
to have
a claim to their enlightenment revolution and being the
first to come up with social justice, they are not. The Jewish forefather
Abraham and his Covenant with his newly found God, which he passed on to the Jewish
Nation, gave birth and hold the copyright to the humankind's early enlightenment.
With receiving and accepting the Ten Commandments at Mount Sinai, Moses
and the Jewish nation have etched social and political justice on the entire world
and have started paving the way to what later became psychology. Therefore,
Jews and their Nation State Israel see themselves as 'Light unto the Nations'.
To encapsulate these claims we have to refer to the
Bible. Watching the Bible Quiz enabled
me to do just that.
On grace and mercy:
In
the Book of Zachary, Chapter 7, it is said: 8
And the word of God unto Zechariah, saying: 9.
Thus said the God hosts, saying; judgment of truth judge with grace and mercy
one another. 10
and widow and orphan sojourner and poor so not
exploit; and the evil man his brother do not think in your heart.
On brotherhood:
In the Book of Malachi, Chapter 2:10, it is said, Is
it not one father to all of us, is it not one God created us, why betray man
his brother to desecrate the covenant of our fathers
On justice:
In the Book of Amos, Chapter 5:15, it is said, Hate the evil and love the good and present judgment
in the gate maybe God of hosts will pardon the remnant of Joseph.
On those who know justice:
In the Book of Isaiah, Chapter 51:7, it is said, Listen unto me those who
know justice, with my Torah in their heart do not fear the disgrace of men and
so nor fear their cursing.
On charity and benevolence:
King Solomon, in Proverbs Chapter 21:21, said, The one who chases charity
and kindness will find life
of charity and honor.
On compassion:
In the Book of Malachi, Chapter 3:17, it is said, And they
were to me, said God of hosts, the day in which I make treasured,
and I felt compassion for them – like a man has compassion for his son who is
working with him.
On helping the weak:
In
the Book of Deuteronomy, Chapter 24:19, it is said, When
you reap your harvest in your field, and have forgot a sheaf in the field, you
shall not go again to fetch it; it shall be for the sojourner, for the
fatherless, and for the widow; for that God may bless you in all the work of
your hands.
On
grace and truth:
In the Book Samuel 2 Chapter, 15:20 ,the
prophet Shmuel told Avshalom, Whereas you came but
yesterday, should I this day make you go up and down with us, and I go where I
may go again and bring back withyou’re your brother with mercy and truth
On the good and the honest:
In
the Book of Psalm, Chapter125:4, King David said, Do
good God to those who are good and honest in their hearts.
On filling the soul:
In the Book of Jeremiah, Chapter 31:25, the Prophet
Jeremiah said, For I have satiated the weary soul, and every
sorrowful soul have I replenished, and,
In the Book of Ecclesiastes, Chapter 6:7, King Solomon said, All the labor of man
is for his mouth, and yet the appetite is not filled.
On salvation:
In the Book of Deuteronomy, Chapter 33:29 Moses said, Happy are you, Yisra'el: Who is like you, a people saved by
God, the shield of your help and that the sword is your excellence, your
enemies shall submit themselves to you and you shall tread on their high
places, and,In Book Samuel 2, Chapter 22:28, King David said, The afflicted people you will save; and your eyes are on the
haughty, that you will bring them down.
On spirit of God:
In the Book of Isaiah, Chapter 11: 2, it is said, The
Spirit of God shall rest on him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the
spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of God,
and, In the Book of Ezekiel, Chapter 3:12, it is said, Then the Spirit
lifted me up, and I heard behind me the voice of a great noise, Blessed be the
glory of God from His place.
In the entire Bible there is hardly
any repetition of commanding a Deed - Mitzvah. Only few special Deeds the Bible
repeats. One is the concern for the sojourner, the orphan and the widow, a Deed that appears in the
Torah over forty times. Only once the Bible presents the demand for a double Deed,
"Justice, justice shall you pursue." That means, that for a Jew it is
not only to do justice, it is also to go after justice, which is the very
foundation of the Jewish people. And
though throughout history the world did not behave with justice with the Jewish
people, Jews did not forget this Deed and any of the other Deed the Torah
commands on a Jew. And perhaps it is the
very reason of the strength of the Jewish people and their uniqueness that helped
them to survive as a Peoples, and remain Jews observing Judaism against all
odds. Other nations disappeared from the
world under much less pressure and affliction.
The Nation of Israel is alive.
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