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In the real world that we inhabit, the fate of the Jewish people as a whole is inextricably bound to the well being of the Jewish state of Israel. Over one third of the world’s Jews live here and to a great extent it provides the teachers, scholars, political and social leaders for the entire Jewish world. Thus attachment and loyalty to the existence of the state of Israel would seem to be a self understood requirement in the societies of all types of Jews. Sadly this is not present even here in the state of Israel itself. Reading some of Israel’s newspapers, listening to portions of the radio or viewing television programming would convince an alien visitor from Mars that Israel is the chief villain of the world and responsible for all of the problems that face humankind currently. The entire concept of Jewish loyalty has become foreign to large sections of Jewish society. It is not taught in many Jewish schools here and abroad, it is absent from the programming of Jewish organizations operating on many college campuses, and it is absent in the spirit of many nominally Jewish households. In fact loyalty is viewed as being anachronistic, passé and not in the spirit of current civilized society.
A long time ago when I was a student at an American public elementary school the students were taught to remember the famous American motto: "My country, right or wrong, my country!" Well, that certainly is no longer the motto taught in American schools today. The motto today reads somewhat as follows: "My country, if it conforms to my firmly held prejudicial beliefs and does not deviate from them even slightly, then my country1" When Yehoshua bin Nun entered the land of Israel with the Jewish people millennia ago, the Tanach records for us that he encountered a stranger (who later turned out to be an angel sent by Heaven). Unaware of his identity or his intentions Yehoshua asked him only one question: "Are you with us or are you with our enemies?" Apparently there is no middle ground allowed in answering this question. It poses the harsh reality of Jewish life and does not allow for the illusions of a utopian, even-handed, collateral-damage free, moralistically perfect but unobtainable world to interfere with the stark and truthful answer that is required to this question. Loyalty to our Torah and its commandments, to our fellow Jews the world over, to our land and state are the guarantees of our survival and continued accomplishments. It may be old-fashioned to espouse loyalty in today’s weird world but loyalty to the concept of loyalty itself is a necessary component of Jewish life.
The Israeli Flag
Rabbi Zalman Baruch Melamed | 22 Iyar 5755
