Enjoy this brief history of the many empires that the Jewish People has seen off — and why Israel's modern-day Islamist enemies are destined to join them in historical ignominy.
Israel will be doing the entire world a huge favor by neutralizing Iran and preventing them from building the nuclear bomb they are racing to build. That's great for Israel and the world, but how ill the world respond to this blessing? They'll still hate the Jews, blame the Jews, blame Israel for everything, ad nauseum.
On a hopeful note, it's interesting that the names "Dariush" (Darius) "Kourosh" (Cyrus), and "Khosroes" are fairly common among Iranians. Theoretically, devout Muslims shouldn't have these names because they are from the pre-Islamic era of ignorance ("jahiliyyah"). They underscore the connection to the Sassanian and Achaemenid past, when there was a more positive relationship between the Jewish and Iranian peoples. Perhaps, one day, the more tolerant spirit of Cyrus will stage a comeback.
Israel is fighting against multiple Muslim countries at once. And winning! Israel is holding back on unleashing most of their true force. In fact, one could make a legitimate criticism of Israel in that they are being too gracious, if anything! Israel will still be here, regardless of its detractors. But this time… we have the opportunity to finally take out antisemitism as well! It was hiding away for decades.
Thank you Nachum. Tragically, it is a fascinating history that so many Gentiles remain ‘blissfully’ unaware of.
Perhaps it would make the piece too long, too shameful (for Gentiles), or too depressing, for modern tastes (or capabilities), but integrating that account with that of the global Diaspora communities across the same period, reveals an even more profound, indeed miraculous, picture. The miraculous nature of Jewish survival was clear to at least some educated persons well before the industrial age era. For example, over 300 years ago, King Louis XIV, the ruler of France, asked the famous philosopher, mathematician, Blaise Pascal, to prove that the existence of G-d. Pascal replied: “Well, Your Majesty, the Jews!
Yet, even when made aware of that integrated picture, up to the current period, a person - even a Jew - may still remain blind to its true significance. To me, the question of how one person can clearly see the evidence of G-d’s hands working through history, while others remain blind to the same evidence, is one of life’s great mysteries. Having said that, I offer the following propositions from the perspective of my Biblical understanding:
“This gives me confidence that Israel and the Jewish People will defeat our primary enemies today: Islamists and the antisemitic Far-Left.”
It is G-d, working in the world directly and through human beings (both Gentiles and Jews), who will frustrate the desires and ultimately defeat all of Israel’s (and His) enemies. It will be for His glory, and the glory of His Kingdom - not that of any person or people group, including the Chosen People. And the Tanakh makes it abundantly clear that any person or people group that seeks to take G-d’s credit for themselves will ultimately be brought to humbling shame.
“The Caliphate-seeking lunatics — who want to destroy Israel, bring down Muslim Kingdoms, and defeat the West — will fail in the face of an unstoppable modernity that even some Arab Muslim states have begun to embrace.”
It is the entire world that ‘will fail in the face of an unstoppable modernity’, and it will ultimately be seen to be the apex; the ‘high-water mark’, of organized evil in the history of mankind. The outworking of that ‘unstoppable modernity’ will eventually produce ‘the time of Jacob’s trouble’ (See Jeremiah, but also, Daniel, Isaiah, Zechariah, Joel, as well as significant portions of the Brit Hadasha), BUT (Behold the Underlying Truth), G-d…
But, G-d will bring His Chosen People through the darkest period of human history, and their worst experience of global persecution, and subsequently establish His Kingdom upon the Earth - exactly and precisely as He has declared He would throughout the Bible.
I write as a Christian Zionist, with the love of the G-d of Israel for the people of Israel flowing through my heart. My heart is also filled with sorrow for the blindness of so many historical and living Christian’s in regard to G-d’s faithful love for His people, as well as the utterly shameful treatment that ‘the Church’ towards them. There is indeed a tremendous amount to lament, but I have ‘read the End of the Book’, and my heart ultimately rests in faith and trust that evil will, eventually, be eradicated - and the glory of G-d will fill the Earth, as the waters cover the seas.
Meanwhile, my prayers are for the peace of Jerusalem; for discernment, wisdom, faith, courage, strength, protection, and victory in battle for Israel’s leaders and warriors; and that G-d’s Chosen People might turn to Him for salvation and grace, as the Word of G-d declares will ultimately happen. And yes, my prayers to Jehovah are made through the life and grace I am blessed with through the One I know as the true Jewish Messiah, Yeshua, in and through the power of the Spirit of G-d. All things are, and will be revealed - including the truths regarding this matter. I rest in that confidence.
I just figured that out! But, in the course of my search, I came across a fascinating tale from a young Irgun member during the War of Independence, and I’d problably never have found that if I hadn’t been curious as to whether I had erred! Life is often very mysterious that way, it seems we may often stumble onto treasures when we aren’t expecting them.
If you really want to dizzy it up with etzel or Irgun ssdn. My dad and uncle trained (military) in a Betar facility during the summers from 1936 through 1940. Near Hunter New York. Their camp counselor was a guy we called Misha. More properly Moshe Arens. They were at camp Betar when Jabotinsky passed away in 1940.
I just saw your comment my friend… i looked up Moshe Arens and he was indeed a fascinating man; a gift to the people of Israel.
I believe we have entered a phase of Biblical prophecy (history written in advance) in which G-d is going to bless Israel with many great and mighty sons and daughters - inspiring, empowering, and protecting them in battles against Israel’s enemies, both in the physical and spiritual realms.
Yet, “There is no growth without pain.” - M. Scott Peck. There is no ‘Testimony’ without a ‘Test’ (D. Brunet). There is no birth without pain and no way to experience and share true love in this world without facing the facts of death, separation, sorrow - or the presence of evil. BUT, G-d…
May the people of Israel; the Chosen People, wherever they may be in the world, turn to their G-d, seek to know, honor, and love Him with all their hearts, all their minds, and all their strength - trusting in Him as their shield, and their great reward, no matter what evils or trials they may face in these last days, before the coming of the King, and the restoration of all things. May He open their eyes and hearts, cause them to see and turn from their sins born out of self-will, fill them with His Spirit, write His Law (of Grace and Love) upon their hearts, and cause them to walk in His ways. May His People be strong in the Lord in this Day of Testing, as the forces of evil, led by Satan, seek to destroy His Chosen People, for:
“Those who do wickedly against the covenant he shall corrupt with flattery; but the people who know their God shall be strong, and carry out great exploits.” Daniel 11:32
All things that are written will be fulfilled in due time, including the fulfillment of the promises made to the Patriarchs, and the end of all evil, sorrow, and pain. But, between here and there, we must walk by faith, and:
1 “At that time Michael shall stand up, the great prince who stands watch over the sons of your people; and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation, even to that time. And at that time your people shall be delivered, every one who is found written in the book.
2 And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, some to shame and everlasting contempt.
3 Those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the firmament, and those who turn many to righteousness like the stars forever and ever.“ Daniel 12:1-3
And:
“Many shall be purified, made white, and refined, but the wicked shall do wickedly; and none of the wicked shall understand, but the wise shall understand.” Daniel 12:10
The Jewish People also surrvived the challenge of Communim in the USSR -When Chabad stays firm as to its presence on college campuses, it is because Chabad in the FSU was active during the darkest days of anti Semitism under Stalin
My neighbour said to me the other day, “you Jews are God’s chosen people, might it not be a good time for him to show up and help” I really couldn’t answer that!
Good piece, Mr Kaplan. Interestingly, these Empires lasted less long than the Nation States at their cores. Thus, Britain, Germany, and Italy are still going strong even after their Empires sought and gained Independence. But Beware Hubris, the pride which comes before a fall ! We would not survive long without Israel, in a Nazi-inspired Anti-Semitic world of Hate. Nazism's legacy is one of the Mind. Hitler is the personification of Evil, and this is Germany's dark-side 'Empire of The Mind', the horrible legacy of Nazism which has found root-and-home as Neo-Nazism in the sewers of Germany's BND, and also in some parts of the Secret Services here in The West.
Precisely! History shows the resilience of the Israelites, who have outlived many, many empires in the past, will do so with their Islamist enemies, as well as Americas Christianists (opposite side of the same coin as Islamists)! Including Nazi Germany's "Thule Gesellschaft" (Thule Society), responsible for the Holocaust, and MADA (make America Dumb again) Republicans "QAnon", with identical conspiracy theories as Thule Society. Thule Society believed that if they didn't sacrifices God's chosen, the Jews to fictional aliens, then the Jews would eat German babies! QAnon believe that if Trumpanzee, and American Nazis do not gain absolute power, then the Democrats (code name for Jews) will eat Republican babies! Similar beliefs can be found in Islamists too (Hamas, Hezbollah, Islamic Jihad, etc.).
I too am confident the Jewish people will continue in some form or another indefinitely. As you mention, the history of the world gives less reasons to be optimistic about the continuation of the state of Israel. I hope it does stick around.
Thank you for this. Its clarity and brevity is something I have been looking for for years. I loved Simon Schama's _Story of the Jews_ but it is the opposite of brief.
“It was under Ottoman rule that early Zionist pioneers began moving to the historical Land of Israel . .
From the first diaspora, Zionism has always been the yearning of Jews to return to their homeland. Those early "Zionist" pioneers were merely the latest version of that yearning. The ultimate form it is supposed to take, whether capitalist, socialist, communist, religious, or secular is still being hotly debated.
Regarding The British Mandate
“The League of Nations granted Britain a mandate to govern the area known as “Palestine” until it was ready to self-govern as a Jewish homeland . . .but Arab leaders rejected the UN's 1947 partition plan. In doing so, the well established International Law of Uti possidetis juris immediately applied.
This law provides that newly formed sovereign states should retain the internal borders that their preceding dependent area had before their independence.
Legally sovereign states are defined as “those legal entities hav[ing] a permanent population, defined territory, a government not under another, and the capacity to interact with other sovereign states.
The legal criteria for state sovereignty is a permanent population, defined territory, a government not under another, and the capacity to engage in multilateral relations with other states. These include war, diplomacy, trade, foreign policy as well as relations with and among other international actors, such as intergovernmental organizations, international legal bodies, and multinational corporations. Included in these criteria is that sovereign states should retain the internal borders their preceding dependent area had before their independence, that is, they should be established within the principle of Uti possidetis juris
This law has been applied in modern history to such regions as South America, Africa, the Middle East, the Soviet Union, and numerous other regions where centralized governments were broken up, where imperial rulers were overthrown, or where League of Nations mandates ended, e.g. Mandatory Palestine and Nauru. It is often applied to prevent foreign intervention by eliminating any contested terra nullius, or no man's land, that foreign powers could claim, or to prevent new disputes from forming.
“The Grand Mufti of Jerusalem, Haj Amin al-Husseini . . . spewed Quran-justified antisemitism”
And here Is the crux of the Middle East problem since 1948, at least. In a talk about freedom of speech, Ayaan Hirsi Ali noted that if hate speech were enacted the Qu'uran would have to be banned because two thirds of it is dedicated to promoting hatred. Thus, one of the author's closing observations, “This gives me confidence that Israel and the Jewish People will defeat our primary enemies today: Islamists and the antisemitic Far-Left” errs in that the source of past and future conflicts is religious, rooted in the religion's founding documents, the Qu'uran and Hadiths themselves. Unless and until those hateful passages are expunged, there will be no peace, neither in the Middle East, nor, ultimately, in Europe, North America, any other lands.
Lastly, another concluding remark the author makes is “I take no comfort from the way borders have changed so many times.” May I emend that to read “We can take no comfort that the UN and all its sub-agencies willfully ignore one of the very founding principles supposed to guide its decisions in settling international disputes so they do not threaten to flare into more world wars. And that principle is Uti possidetis juris.
Every time I hear the story about the mufti of Jerusalem plotting with Hitler, I can't help wonder what the leader of the master race would have actually done with an army in Arab lands. Or . . . as we read recently, would he easily ally with a culture that also favors the "honor" concept over the "human" concept.
Israel will be doing the entire world a huge favor by neutralizing Iran and preventing them from building the nuclear bomb they are racing to build. That's great for Israel and the world, but how ill the world respond to this blessing? They'll still hate the Jews, blame the Jews, blame Israel for everything, ad nauseum.
Either will or responds. I personally like “how ill the world responds”. Then there is no question.
On a hopeful note, it's interesting that the names "Dariush" (Darius) "Kourosh" (Cyrus), and "Khosroes" are fairly common among Iranians. Theoretically, devout Muslims shouldn't have these names because they are from the pre-Islamic era of ignorance ("jahiliyyah"). They underscore the connection to the Sassanian and Achaemenid past, when there was a more positive relationship between the Jewish and Iranian peoples. Perhaps, one day, the more tolerant spirit of Cyrus will stage a comeback.
I love this article, full of truth and written with a lot of humour. Thank you very much.
Israel is fighting against multiple Muslim countries at once. And winning! Israel is holding back on unleashing most of their true force. In fact, one could make a legitimate criticism of Israel in that they are being too gracious, if anything! Israel will still be here, regardless of its detractors. But this time… we have the opportunity to finally take out antisemitism as well! It was hiding away for decades.
Thank you Nachum. Tragically, it is a fascinating history that so many Gentiles remain ‘blissfully’ unaware of.
Perhaps it would make the piece too long, too shameful (for Gentiles), or too depressing, for modern tastes (or capabilities), but integrating that account with that of the global Diaspora communities across the same period, reveals an even more profound, indeed miraculous, picture. The miraculous nature of Jewish survival was clear to at least some educated persons well before the industrial age era. For example, over 300 years ago, King Louis XIV, the ruler of France, asked the famous philosopher, mathematician, Blaise Pascal, to prove that the existence of G-d. Pascal replied: “Well, Your Majesty, the Jews!
Yet, even when made aware of that integrated picture, up to the current period, a person - even a Jew - may still remain blind to its true significance. To me, the question of how one person can clearly see the evidence of G-d’s hands working through history, while others remain blind to the same evidence, is one of life’s great mysteries. Having said that, I offer the following propositions from the perspective of my Biblical understanding:
“This gives me confidence that Israel and the Jewish People will defeat our primary enemies today: Islamists and the antisemitic Far-Left.”
It is G-d, working in the world directly and through human beings (both Gentiles and Jews), who will frustrate the desires and ultimately defeat all of Israel’s (and His) enemies. It will be for His glory, and the glory of His Kingdom - not that of any person or people group, including the Chosen People. And the Tanakh makes it abundantly clear that any person or people group that seeks to take G-d’s credit for themselves will ultimately be brought to humbling shame.
“The Caliphate-seeking lunatics — who want to destroy Israel, bring down Muslim Kingdoms, and defeat the West — will fail in the face of an unstoppable modernity that even some Arab Muslim states have begun to embrace.”
It is the entire world that ‘will fail in the face of an unstoppable modernity’, and it will ultimately be seen to be the apex; the ‘high-water mark’, of organized evil in the history of mankind. The outworking of that ‘unstoppable modernity’ will eventually produce ‘the time of Jacob’s trouble’ (See Jeremiah, but also, Daniel, Isaiah, Zechariah, Joel, as well as significant portions of the Brit Hadasha), BUT (Behold the Underlying Truth), G-d…
But, G-d will bring His Chosen People through the darkest period of human history, and their worst experience of global persecution, and subsequently establish His Kingdom upon the Earth - exactly and precisely as He has declared He would throughout the Bible.
I write as a Christian Zionist, with the love of the G-d of Israel for the people of Israel flowing through my heart. My heart is also filled with sorrow for the blindness of so many historical and living Christian’s in regard to G-d’s faithful love for His people, as well as the utterly shameful treatment that ‘the Church’ towards them. There is indeed a tremendous amount to lament, but I have ‘read the End of the Book’, and my heart ultimately rests in faith and trust that evil will, eventually, be eradicated - and the glory of G-d will fill the Earth, as the waters cover the seas.
Meanwhile, my prayers are for the peace of Jerusalem; for discernment, wisdom, faith, courage, strength, protection, and victory in battle for Israel’s leaders and warriors; and that G-d’s Chosen People might turn to Him for salvation and grace, as the Word of G-d declares will ultimately happen. And yes, my prayers to Jehovah are made through the life and grace I am blessed with through the One I know as the true Jewish Messiah, Yeshua, in and through the power of the Spirit of G-d. All things are, and will be revealed - including the truths regarding this matter. I rest in that confidence.
Am Israel Chai! Love, Mike
Thanks Mike you made me cry. Abi gezhunt.
Thank you Abi; G-d bless!
Abi gezhunt is Yiddish a greeting for good health Kafr Dhimmi’s the name polemics the game
I just figured that out! But, in the course of my search, I came across a fascinating tale from a young Irgun member during the War of Independence, and I’d problably never have found that if I hadn’t been curious as to whether I had erred! Life is often very mysterious that way, it seems we may often stumble onto treasures when we aren’t expecting them.
The title was, ‘Passover with the Irgun’, from the April Passover 2003 Edition of the Jewish Magazine…
If you really want to dizzy it up with etzel or Irgun ssdn. My dad and uncle trained (military) in a Betar facility during the summers from 1936 through 1940. Near Hunter New York. Their camp counselor was a guy we called Misha. More properly Moshe Arens. They were at camp Betar when Jabotinsky passed away in 1940.
I just saw your comment my friend… i looked up Moshe Arens and he was indeed a fascinating man; a gift to the people of Israel.
I believe we have entered a phase of Biblical prophecy (history written in advance) in which G-d is going to bless Israel with many great and mighty sons and daughters - inspiring, empowering, and protecting them in battles against Israel’s enemies, both in the physical and spiritual realms.
Yet, “There is no growth without pain.” - M. Scott Peck. There is no ‘Testimony’ without a ‘Test’ (D. Brunet). There is no birth without pain and no way to experience and share true love in this world without facing the facts of death, separation, sorrow - or the presence of evil. BUT, G-d…
May the people of Israel; the Chosen People, wherever they may be in the world, turn to their G-d, seek to know, honor, and love Him with all their hearts, all their minds, and all their strength - trusting in Him as their shield, and their great reward, no matter what evils or trials they may face in these last days, before the coming of the King, and the restoration of all things. May He open their eyes and hearts, cause them to see and turn from their sins born out of self-will, fill them with His Spirit, write His Law (of Grace and Love) upon their hearts, and cause them to walk in His ways. May His People be strong in the Lord in this Day of Testing, as the forces of evil, led by Satan, seek to destroy His Chosen People, for:
“Those who do wickedly against the covenant he shall corrupt with flattery; but the people who know their God shall be strong, and carry out great exploits.” Daniel 11:32
All things that are written will be fulfilled in due time, including the fulfillment of the promises made to the Patriarchs, and the end of all evil, sorrow, and pain. But, between here and there, we must walk by faith, and:
1 “At that time Michael shall stand up, the great prince who stands watch over the sons of your people; and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation, even to that time. And at that time your people shall be delivered, every one who is found written in the book.
2 And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, some to shame and everlasting contempt.
3 Those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the firmament, and those who turn many to righteousness like the stars forever and ever.“ Daniel 12:1-3
And:
“Many shall be purified, made white, and refined, but the wicked shall do wickedly; and none of the wicked shall understand, but the wise shall understand.” Daniel 12:10
Love, Mike
The Jewish People also surrvived the challenge of Communim in the USSR -When Chabad stays firm as to its presence on college campuses, it is because Chabad in the FSU was active during the darkest days of anti Semitism under Stalin
My neighbour said to me the other day, “you Jews are God’s chosen people, might it not be a good time for him to show up and help” I really couldn’t answer that!
Good piece, Mr Kaplan. Interestingly, these Empires lasted less long than the Nation States at their cores. Thus, Britain, Germany, and Italy are still going strong even after their Empires sought and gained Independence. But Beware Hubris, the pride which comes before a fall ! We would not survive long without Israel, in a Nazi-inspired Anti-Semitic world of Hate. Nazism's legacy is one of the Mind. Hitler is the personification of Evil, and this is Germany's dark-side 'Empire of The Mind', the horrible legacy of Nazism which has found root-and-home as Neo-Nazism in the sewers of Germany's BND, and also in some parts of the Secret Services here in The West.
What a fascinating article! Israel will never be defeated! The history of your survival against all the odds, will continue! Iran has no chance!
Precisely! History shows the resilience of the Israelites, who have outlived many, many empires in the past, will do so with their Islamist enemies, as well as Americas Christianists (opposite side of the same coin as Islamists)! Including Nazi Germany's "Thule Gesellschaft" (Thule Society), responsible for the Holocaust, and MADA (make America Dumb again) Republicans "QAnon", with identical conspiracy theories as Thule Society. Thule Society believed that if they didn't sacrifices God's chosen, the Jews to fictional aliens, then the Jews would eat German babies! QAnon believe that if Trumpanzee, and American Nazis do not gain absolute power, then the Democrats (code name for Jews) will eat Republican babies! Similar beliefs can be found in Islamists too (Hamas, Hezbollah, Islamic Jihad, etc.).
I too am confident the Jewish people will continue in some form or another indefinitely. As you mention, the history of the world gives less reasons to be optimistic about the continuation of the state of Israel. I hope it does stick around.
Thank you for this. Its clarity and brevity is something I have been looking for for years. I loved Simon Schama's _Story of the Jews_ but it is the opposite of brief.
I loved reading this. The wacko Islamic crowd is the shadow side of technology. And technology is the future. The smart money is on start up nation
Excellent, ExcellentArticle.You did your research.
A few comments if I may:
“It was under Ottoman rule that early Zionist pioneers began moving to the historical Land of Israel . .
From the first diaspora, Zionism has always been the yearning of Jews to return to their homeland. Those early "Zionist" pioneers were merely the latest version of that yearning. The ultimate form it is supposed to take, whether capitalist, socialist, communist, religious, or secular is still being hotly debated.
Regarding The British Mandate
“The League of Nations granted Britain a mandate to govern the area known as “Palestine” until it was ready to self-govern as a Jewish homeland . . .but Arab leaders rejected the UN's 1947 partition plan. In doing so, the well established International Law of Uti possidetis juris immediately applied.
This law provides that newly formed sovereign states should retain the internal borders that their preceding dependent area had before their independence.
Legally sovereign states are defined as “those legal entities hav[ing] a permanent population, defined territory, a government not under another, and the capacity to interact with other sovereign states.
The legal criteria for state sovereignty is a permanent population, defined territory, a government not under another, and the capacity to engage in multilateral relations with other states. These include war, diplomacy, trade, foreign policy as well as relations with and among other international actors, such as intergovernmental organizations, international legal bodies, and multinational corporations. Included in these criteria is that sovereign states should retain the internal borders their preceding dependent area had before their independence, that is, they should be established within the principle of Uti possidetis juris
This law has been applied in modern history to such regions as South America, Africa, the Middle East, the Soviet Union, and numerous other regions where centralized governments were broken up, where imperial rulers were overthrown, or where League of Nations mandates ended, e.g. Mandatory Palestine and Nauru. It is often applied to prevent foreign intervention by eliminating any contested terra nullius, or no man's land, that foreign powers could claim, or to prevent new disputes from forming.
“The Grand Mufti of Jerusalem, Haj Amin al-Husseini . . . spewed Quran-justified antisemitism”
And here Is the crux of the Middle East problem since 1948, at least. In a talk about freedom of speech, Ayaan Hirsi Ali noted that if hate speech were enacted the Qu'uran would have to be banned because two thirds of it is dedicated to promoting hatred. Thus, one of the author's closing observations, “This gives me confidence that Israel and the Jewish People will defeat our primary enemies today: Islamists and the antisemitic Far-Left” errs in that the source of past and future conflicts is religious, rooted in the religion's founding documents, the Qu'uran and Hadiths themselves. Unless and until those hateful passages are expunged, there will be no peace, neither in the Middle East, nor, ultimately, in Europe, North America, any other lands.
Lastly, another concluding remark the author makes is “I take no comfort from the way borders have changed so many times.” May I emend that to read “We can take no comfort that the UN and all its sub-agencies willfully ignore one of the very founding principles supposed to guide its decisions in settling international disputes so they do not threaten to flare into more world wars. And that principle is Uti possidetis juris.
Every time I hear the story about the mufti of Jerusalem plotting with Hitler, I can't help wonder what the leader of the master race would have actually done with an army in Arab lands. Or . . . as we read recently, would he easily ally with a culture that also favors the "honor" concept over the "human" concept.