I am a Jew
standing at the Western Wall.
How long do I stand here?
Nearly 4000 years,
since the days of my grandfather Abraham,
when he nearly sacrificed his son
at Mount Moriah.
I see the Wall, its tears frozen.
Passing clouds with many sighs.
I read millions of Jewish names,
born in Egypt, Babylon, Rome, Poland,
Spain, Hungary, America and South Africa.
But that was only in a dream.
In reality, we Jews were all born in Israel
and exiled by Titus the Roman.
Though most of us began our lives
in foreign countries,
we merely camped in these places, never dwelled in them.
And at the end of our lives,
though our tombstones may stand in Exile,
our bodies are buried in Israel’s earth.
***
The return to Zion is unprecedented.
The State of Israel is a surprise, a shock.
It is the story of a nation in exile
which never had to return to its land,
because it never left.
It lifted its Holy Land from its native soil,
transformed it into a portable homeland,
and carried it to all corners of the earth,
only to replant it in its native land,
when the students of Moses prevailed over the power of Titus
and their love of the land was overwhelming.
***
Jerusalem
Only the Jews prayed for thousands of years and continue to pray for its rebuilding.
No other people.
Only the Jews mourn its destruction in their daily payers since the start of their exile.
No other nation.
It is only they who weep, fast and sit on the floor year after year, in the month of Av, to commemorate the day of the Temple’s desecration.
No other people.
It is only they who break a glass under the marriage canopy as an expression of sorrow for Jerusalem.
(How many millions of glasses were broken throughout exile?)
No other nation.
It is only the Jews who for thousands of years build their homes and leave part of the wall unplastered to represent the loss of their Temple.
No other people.
It is only Jewish women who do not wear all their jewelry at once, in deference to the destruction of the House of God.
No other women.
And it is only the Jews who cover their dead with earth from the land of Israel even as they bring their dear ones to a final resting place outside of Israel.
No other burial society.
Neither Titus’ offspring,
nor Saladin’s descendants,
nor Godfrey of Bouillon, the crusader,
nor their children,
ever mourned, prayed or buried their dead in the earth of the Holy Land.
***
Mr. President,
Israel was not founded on the ashes of Auschwitz.
It is founded on the Bible, a divine text
rooted in the Jewish experience of nearly 4000 years;
a “heilsgeschichte”, a redemptive history
for all of mankind.
Israel was not created because of the Holocaust,
but despite the Holocaust.
This you need to learn,
for without this knowledge
there will be no way to make peace.
****
Rabbi Nathan Lopes Cardozo
Rabbi Dr. Nathan Lopes Cardozo is the Founder and Dean of the David Cardozo Academy and the Bet Midrash of Avraham Avinu in Jerusalem. A sought-after lecturer on the international stage for both Jewish and non-Jewish audiences, Rabbi Cardozo is the author of 13 books and numerous articles in both English and Hebrew. He heads a Think Tank focused on finding new Halachic and philosophical approaches to dealing with the crisis of religion and identity amongst Jews and the Jewish State of Israel. Hailing from the Netherlands, Rabbi Cardozo is known for his original and often fearlessly controversial insights into Judaism. His ideas are widely debated on an international level on social media, blogs, books and other forums.
