I am not aware of anyone who has envisioned a permanent and complete victory based on our current situation. First, our God is a very powerful God. He (She) created billions upon billions of stars in the universe. He created life over billions of years, and it resulted in man, who has freedom of choice. Finally, our God breaks the laws of nature to save Jews, i.e. killing of the Egyptian first-born males. So why hasn’t God sent us a Redeemer? The Torah has a clear answer. God is looking for the Jewish nation’s good behavior to trigger the coming of a Redeemer. We can understand how to behave if we look at where God gave the greatest reward to Abraham and Sarah and learn from the story with The Three Strangers (Genesis 18:1-10).
The story starts in Chapter 18 because 18 is “life” and good things happen for Jews when 18 is stated (see Genesis 14:1-24 for an amazing story). In The Three Strangers story, Abraham just had his brit milah, it is an uncomfortable hot day, and God is visiting Abraham. Nonetheless, when Abraham sees three strangers from his tent’s doorway, he leaves God and runs and bows down to the three strangers, encouraging them to come to his tent. Abraham gives the strangers water to drink and to wash their feet; he has them relax in the shade; he hurries and prepares his best food for them and he personally takes care of them. And what is his reward for these selfless deeds? God promises Abraham and Sarah a son, and it’s a miracle because Sarah is 90 years old and was always infertile. Please note that we do not see even one word of prayer in this story.
We learn from this story that selfless, helpful behavior counts, but prayer for the nation is not a requirement, and it requires good behavior for such prayer to be effective.
Friendship should be emphasized, and it has many benefits. Friendship is associated with greater unity, more group activities, more knowledge and more help. It also decreases loneliness and isolation. It is a good pathway for every Jew, Orthodox or not, and it should be the center of our actions.
Every synagogue should maximize friendship for its members, which results from increasing interactions. This requires local synagogue committees to determine what can be done to maximize friendship in the synagogue. Friendship among members should be monitored internally and externally and evaluated with passing and excellent grades.
A website I developed, OJF18.org, where OJF stands for Organization of Jewish Friendship, emphasizes friendship and allows synagogues to communicate and help each other. The website, however, needs more development. When we have done our best to promote friendship among ourselves, we can then ask God for help, and we will likely get it.
In many locations in the Torah, including right after promising a boy to Abraham and Sarah (Genesis 18:18-19), God states that he can do anything.
God can paralyze Iran in an instant, and he can paralyze Iran’s proxies, Hezbollah, Hamas and the Houthis, and even China. It says five times in the second paragraph of Shemoneh Esrei and elsewhere that God can bring the dead back to life. I can think of no better time than now. God should resurrect the 1,200 people killed on October 7, 2023, resurrect all the soldiers who died in the fighting and resurrect all the hostages who perished. Additionally, God should heal all the wounded, regardless of the severity of the injuries. By doing this, God would demonstrate not only his protection of Jews but also his power to restore them to life. These actions will not only be a great boost to all Jews but will create great fear among non-Jews, hopefully leading to an end to antisemitism. Let’s count on God, but let’s count on ourselves to help God help us. Am Yisrael Chai!!
Bruce Newman
Stamford, Connecticut
