Zion: A Place Worth Defending
by Nils A. Haug • September 23, 2024 at 5:30 am
In essence, Zionism is simply an attempt to re-establish their ancestral home, their place of refuge and sanctuary in an alien world which largely despises them. Zion (now Israel), is a place they can gather to practise their faith without persecution. The six ancient cities of refuge were located only within the Land of Israel, just as, in a microscopic sense, the family is a city of refuge.
The world desperately needs Jewish values and wisdom -- those detailed in the holy scriptures. Jewish wisdom was among the first, after the Babylonian Code of Hammurabi (c. 1,755 BCE), to present the world with social justice -- not only in the Ten Commandments -- but also in how we treat our fellow creatures:
"Six days may you work, and perform all your labor, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God; you shall perform no labor, neither you, your son, your daughter, your manservant, your maidservant, your ox, your donkey, any of your livestock, nor the stranger who is within your cities, in order that your manservant and your maidservant may rest like you." (Deuteronomy 5:14)
"If a bird's nest chances before you on the road, on any tree, or on the ground, and [it contains] fledglings or eggs, if the mother is sitting upon the fledglings or upon the eggs, you shall not take the mother upon the young." (Deuteronomy 22:6)
"You shall not withhold the wages of a poor or destitute hired worker, of your brothers or of your strangers who are in your land within your cities." (Deuteronomy 24:14)
"You shall give him his wage on his day and not let the sun set over it, for he is poor, and he risks his life for it..." (Deuteronomy 24:15)
"You shall commit no injustice in judgment; you shall not favor a poor person or respect a great man; you shall judge your fellow with righteousness." (Leviticus 19:15)
"You shall not oppress any widow or orphan." (Exodus 22:21)
Jews have historically defended liberty against tyranny and moral confusion...
The true calling of the Jews, with "the world's most moral army," as the IDF is referred to by military expert Col. Richard Kemp, as they now wage a war that was forced on them, is to bring eternal values such as those above, found in the Torah, to the world at large. The Jews remain, after all, a "kingdom of priests and a holy nation." They are entitled to their land, a place historically theirs -- Zion, Israel, their ancestral home. This land was promised to the Jewish nation forever. It is a place worth defending.
The concept of home resonates deeply in all those searching for connection, peace, love, permanence and tranquility. This is particularly so for Jews, who have been scattered among alien cultures for countless generations. Their common faith and the ideal of a home -- with specific focus on Israel -- has enabled them to maintain their sense of identity and culture despite tremendous odds, barely surviving in hostile lands.
The ancestral home of Jews is the Land of Israel, Eretz Yisrael, Zion. Perhaps that is why dispersed Jews have for millennia celebrated Passover and Yom Kippur with the cry of longing, "Next year in Jerusalem" (L'Shana Haba'ah B'Yerushalayim). The center of Jewish existence for nearly 4,000 years has been, and remains, "the holy land and Jerusalem the holy city" -- their forever home. The Welsh people, having lost independence of their homeland, call this sense of longing hiraeth: homesickness for a place of their past.
