History Forum / General / General Topics / February 2007

(apologies for the mistake in subject of posts; I put it at times as
'connection' and at other time as 'right', but it should have been
'connection' all through)
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Ch. 7 in the ongoing saga of the eternal, proven, connection between The
Jewish Nation and its ancestral land.

Note the indestructible connection between the nation as a whole throughout
the eras and our ancestral land, as expressed in this little excerpt from
the chapter to follow.

"The legal provisions and sayings quoted in the ... chapter illustrate the
place which Palestine held in the affections of the Jewries of the
Diaspora."

It is evident that no one can say that he did not know that the Jewish
Nation set its eyes forever and ever to its ancestral land all through the
exile time span, the terrible two thousand years, so the usurpers are the
people who came and occupied the land in spite of this knowledge, fully
cognizant of the possible claim that the Jewish nation may once make, as it
indeed did.

This is what I had said all the time and I say it again now to all, a
statement in unison with all the Jews that wanted, want, and will forever
want, their land as it is now, in their hands and in their hands only.
Period. Negotiations are not an option. You live in Israel? Fine! You are an
honored and respected guest, but know that the land is Jewish, was, and will
forever be.

Read and enjoy, compatriot brothers!
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PALESTINE AS THE CENTRE OF THE DIASPORA
The position of the Jewish people at the time of the Arab invasion presents
a picture of tragic complexity. They had ceased to possess any measure of
political independence or national autonomy in their native land. Long
periods of repression and persecution had resulted in the emigration of
large sections and the growth of a far-flung Jewish Diaspora. By the
destruction of the Temple the nation had lost its central shrine. Important
centres of Jewish learning had sprung up in Mesopotamia. In Egypt and in the
Mediterranean islands, the Jews had come under the influence of Hellenistic
civilisation, and new systems of thought and spiritual movements had
resulted from such contact. Yet, in spite of all these developments,
Palestine retained the spiritual allegiance of the entire Jewish people. In
the theory and practice of Jewish law, as maintained throughout the
Diaspora, it remained the national centre. In saying his prayers the Jew,
wherever fate had exiled him, turned to the holy Mount of Moriah. The Jewish
liturgy was permeated by supplications for the gathering of the exiles and
the rebuilding of Jerusalem. At the mid night hour the devout Jew would
rise, sit on the floor and cover his head with ashes to mourn the
destruction of Zion and pray for its redemption. In the morning service he
would pray: "0 bring us in peace from the four corners of the earth and make
us go upright to our land," and the great central prayer of the Jewish
service recited in the morning, at mid-day and at night, contained fervent
supplications for the restoration of the exiles and the re-building of
Jerusalem "speedily and in our days". The days of fasting and mourning of
the Jews calendar are nearly all memorials of national disasters. "Next year
in Jerusalem" is the note upon which conclude the most solemn services of
the Jewish ritual, those of the Passover Night and of the Day of Atonement.
The national restoration forms the central theme in every service, public or
private, in the Sabbath prayers and the solemn liturgy of the high
festivals, in the grace after meals, at the consecration of a new house, in
the marriage service and in the memorial for the dead. The liturgical
formula of comfort to mourners is: "May the Lord comfort ye among all those
that mourn for Zion and Jerusalem". When the new-born was received into the
community a blessing was pronounced that he might "become worthy to ascend
in the holy pilgrimage of the three festivals", and when the dead was laid
to eternal rest a small sack of earth from Palestine was placed under his
head that he might rest in the soil of the land of Israel, a practice which
is still in general use to-day. At the marriage ceremony it was customary
for the bridegroom to put ashes on his head, so as to "set Jerusalem above
his chiefest joy". Similarly, the jewellery of the bridal dress was to be
incomplete, while an empty space. at the feast was to remind the guests of
mourning Jerusalem and of the defective status of the nation. Though
resident in far-off lands where climatic conditions differed widely from
those in Palestine, the Jew continued to pray for rain and to intercede for
dew at the seasons when the climate of Palestine demanded it but when such
prayers were utterly meaningless in the land of his sojourn. And whatever
beautiful synagogues he might build in distant countries, the ruin of the
Wailing Wall in Jerusalem remained to him the holiest site on earth.
Similarly, the return to Zion formed the central theme in the Hebrew
literature of the exile. Elaborate treatises were written and continue to be
written to this day on the subject of religious rites which cannot be
performed outside Palestine, on the law of the first fruits and the
gleanings, of the tithe and of the seventh year, of the heave-offering and
the shekel dues. Truly was it said by Benjamin Disraeli: "The vineyards of
Israel have ceased to exist, but the eternal Law enjoins the children of
Israel still to celebrate the vintage. A race that persists in celebrating
their vintage although they have no fruits to gather will regain their
vineyards".
Hardly less significant are the provisions of Talmudic law, elaborated
during this period and in force ever since, regarding the priority of
Palestine in legal relations, religious and secular. A man is not allowed to
force his wife to move with him from Palestine to a foreign country even
though in Palestine he may have stayed in a place where Jews are few, while
abroad he might live in a town with a Jewish majority. If, however, he goes
to settle in Palestine and she refuses to accompany him he can divorce her.
Rabbinical law in general discourages emigration from Palestine save in
exceptional circumstances. It is permitted even on the Sabbath, when all
other business transactions are prohibited, to enter into a contract for the
purchase of a house in Palestine. Innumerable are the Talmudical sayings in
praise of Palestine: "He who has walked four yards in Palestine is assured
to a place in the world to come". "It is better to dwell in the deserts of
Palestine than in palaces abroad". "It is sinful to spread evil reports
about Palestine". "The merit of residence in Palestine equals that of the
fulfilment (sic; DB.) of all the commandments of Divine Law". "Rabbi Abba
used to kiss the stones of Acco. Rabbi Hiyyah would roll in its dust, as it
is written: 'for thy servants take pleasure in her stones and love her dust'."
(Psalm CII, 15). "God says: dearer to me is a small group of students in
Palestine than a large Sanhedrin abroad". "The air of Palestine bestows
wisdom". "Rabbi Jose said to his son: if thou wouldst behold the Divine
Presence in this life-go and study the Torah in Palestine".
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Dan