Will Israel’s darkest hours cause a genuine return to God

Rabbi Jonathan Lieberman, in his article, “The first and last Tisha B’Av, laments that last week’s observance of Tisha B’Av, commemorating the destruction of both temples, as well as other terrible disasters, hit too close to home, because, unlike previous years, we are presently embroiled in an existential war, following the worst massacre on Jewish soil in the history of our nation. 

For him, it became much easier to identify with and feel the pain of our ancestors, who endured the devastation and destruction caused by enemies determined to annihilate them. Consequently, the fact that we’ve prevailed, throughout history, “having faced seemingly insurmountable challenges, causing the Jewish people to endure and emerge stronger,” causes him to feel certain that, even amidst these “dire circumstances, there is always hope for a brighter future.”

Lieberman attributes this phenomenon to “divine assistance,” and there is definitely something to that, because what are the chances that, throughout Israel’s 76-year history, a tiny country, the size of New Jersey, time and again, would manage to defeat multiple attacks, on many fronts, by countries much stronger and larger who were determined to win but never did? 

Any respectable bookmaker, after carefully calculating the odds, would have advised everyone not to place their bets on Israel, knowing that there was no possibility that she would prevail. Yet, the impossible always happened! 

But was it because the people of Israel truly looked upward and actively acknowledged God as the greatest intervening factor, surpassing that of our superior military, assistance from the world’s superpower or the indestructible resilience which always causes us to withstand even the harshest of circumstances? 

As sad as it may sound, it’s hard to make the case that the consideration of God, as our deliverer, has been front and center, on the minds of every Israeli, because that has not been the case.

While there have been recorded periods of the Jewish people turning towards God, in great remorse, acknowledging their tendency to invoke His intervention only when things really get tough, corporately, as a whole, we have tried to manage on our own, relying upon our inner strength, intellect and creativity in order to extricate ourselves from whatever forces have tried to come against us. 

Much to our disappointment, though, we have had to learn, through much pain and hardship, that we are not the masters of our own fate nor are we capable of winning over those who unjustifiably hate us. In truth, those types of character changes, require a spiritual heart transplant and can only be attributed to the Creator who has the ability to melt even the hardest and most depraved soul. 

Israel, perhaps, best known for its Western Wall landscape, is, indeed, the place where millions come to pray for anything and everything. And yet, while the visual association of fervent prayer and spiritual longing might be associated, in large part, with the land of Israel, it is not necessarily the way that everyday Israelis live their lives.

It is mostly the very religious, represented by the ultra-Orthodox, who dress the role and live out the ritualistic lifestyle. And when they call upon God, it’s usually done through repetitive prayers they’ve memorized, throughout their lifetime, rather than heartfelt and impassioned expressions that come from the deepest recesses of a person imploring the Almighty to step in and take over what needs to be relinquished by mere mortals who know their limitations. 

This is the prototype with which they are familiar. Seen as a faith, accompanied by too many rules, power struggles and the need to conform to man-made laws, modern Israelis have found it to be uninspiring, unauthentic and lacking genuine spirituality even if they’re not sure what that looks like. So, they continue to search for other sources of meaningful purpose or revelation which fuels an obvious insatiable need for something deeper.

Existential war is bringing them just a bit closer to the reality that, without God, they cannot go the distance. Because they instinctively understand that what is going on is so much bigger than them. Nonetheless, the only blueprint to spirituality, with which know has left them disinterested and unenthusiastic.

So how will they ever come to the place of fulfilling their destiny as the people who always rely upon God, turn to Him first and then carry that way of life off to the nations to influence other cultures and societies as well?

It is only God, Himself who can draw His people by personally revealing what He desires from each one of us. It’s not complicated, and it doesn’t require a 15-month conversion course on studying the wisdom of sages and scribes.

It starts by acknowledging our lowly station as being the creation rather than the Creator. It also demands a hard look at our flaws, our propensity towards evil and our need to continually get help from the only one who can make us into the best version of ourselves. Without Him, we’re doomed to fail despite our best efforts. And that is why Israel, especially during her darkest hours, is in desperate need of turning to God in a genuine and authentic way which will be the gamechanger for us as a nation, providing the invincible edge that we need to overcome every poisoned arrow of the many enemies surrounding us.  

And the best part is that He’s patiently waiting, ready to step in and fight on our behalf, something which He promised throughout the scriptures but which became impossible each time we turned away from Him, thinking that we could manage on our own.

Well, we can’t – a fact that is becoming more obvious with each painful blow that we are absorbing in this battle against determined and unshakable ideologues who are ready to be martyred for the reward that they’ve been told awaits them for killing Jews. Wholly devoted to a Satanic cause, they are unable to think for themselves and discern the obvious evil which has taken hold of them, cheapening the value of life and the one true God who gifted them with the chance to enjoy its many blessings.

Each one of us has a choice to go it alone or recognize our inability to do so. Finding God is not an impossible feat, because if we look for Him, He has promised, “You will find me when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you, declares the Lord, and will bring you back from captivity – Jeremiah 29:11-14. 

It is not merely a geographic captivity from which we will be saved but one of our own making from when we rejected the Almighty. Nonetheless, He is calling Israel back to return to Him. What better time than now, during our darkest hours?