Jøder skal ha «rett» til Palestina, hører vi. Og slik som jøder er blitt forfulgt i historien, viser vi forståelse for denne «rett» – og lar sionistiske (politiske) jøder ture fram i Palestina, fordrive den palestinske befolkningen, ta over palestinsk jord og diskriminere palestinere – opp mot jøder – i alt som angår Palestina/Israel.
Vi lukker øynene for uretten! Og hva verre er, det er i tråd med den kristne tradisjonen som preger vår holdning til Palestina. Det bør vi alle – og ikke minst kristne – gjøre noe med!
Vi forholder oss til de sionistiske, politiske jøder, som påvirker våre standpunkt. Men hva med de religiøse jøder, ja, hva sier egentlig jødedommen, troen, den egentlige religionen? Hvordan forklarer den jødenes stilling, jødenes status i utlendighet (eksil)? Vi har spurt en troende, lærd jødisk leder; Rabbi Beck – for øvrig en venn av palestinerne.
Hvorfor sendte Gud jødene – israelittene – til fangenskap (i utlendighet)?
1.)
Gud sendte israelittene til fangenskap fordi de avviste å adlyde Gud og i stedet tjente andre guder. Jøder skal bare dyrke Gud. Gud kan straffe jøder for deres synder, men inviterer alltid til anger og til at jøder skal vende tilbake til Ham.
2.)
Gud brakte jødene tilbake til landet (Palestina) og ga dem pålegg og bud om hvordan å leve. Det fulgte med en høytidelig advarsel, om at hvis de ikke adlød budene, skulle Guds forbannelse falle på dem. Gud ville bringe dem til utlendighet.
3.)
Jødene lovte Gud – ifølge Tora’en; jødenes hellige skrift – at de i utlendighet ikke skulle prøve å gjenopprette jødisk suverenitet i landet (Palestina) før Gud ville det slik.
4.)
Jødiske tradisjonelle tekster kjent som Zohar sier at Gud ga landet til araberne.
Her følger teksten fra Rabbi Beck i hans svar på engelsk.
Why did God send the Israelites into captivity?
God sent the Israelites into captivity because they disobeyed the Lord and served other Gods. Through this discipline, the Jewish nation learned to only worship God. Likewise, God may punish us for our sins, but it is always a call to repent and return to Him.
The Lord saved the Israelites from captivity in Egypt and brought them to the promised land. Before they entered the land, God gave them his commandments. This was accompanied by a solemn warning. If they obeyed the commandments, the Lord would richly bless them. But if they would be disobedient, God’s curse would fall on them. Part of the curse is “the LORD will bring you and your king whom you set over you to a nation that neither you nor your fathers have known” (Dt.28:36).
After the Israelites entered into the promised land, they sometimes did not obey God as they should have. Whenever they strayed from God’s path, He sent other nations to rule over them.
And when they repented, He sent His messenger to save them, as related in the Book of Judges.
After that God gave kings to Israel, but many of them did not serve the Lord. Idolatry was rampant. God sent prophets, but most often the people did not repent and return to Him. The depth of depravity was reached during the reign of king Manasseh. He erected altars to false Gods. He sacrificed his own sons in the fire. He put an idol in the temple in Jerusalem (see 2 Kings 21:3-7).
So finally, God did what He had said even before the Israelites were in Israel: they were taken captive and led to another country, Babylon. This happened in two waves. In 597 BC, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon besieged Jerusalem, captured it, and took some of the most important people, (among them was Daniel) captive to Babylon (see Daniel 1:1-7). Over 10,000 men were taken as captives to Babylon: officials, soldiers, and craftsmen (see 2 Kings 24:10-17).
The second wave happened in the year 586 BC, after a Judean rebellion was crushed by Nebuchadnezzar. This time he set fire to the city, and destroyed the temple. The remaining Judeans were taken into exile to Babylon (see 2 Kings 25:1-21).
Between the second and the third wave, Jeremiah prophesied that the total time of captivity would be 70 years (Jeremiah 29:10). On the one hand this emphasised how serious the sin of Israel was. They would not be saved after a few years, as they expected. On the other hand, it showed God’s grace. For He promised to not forget them, but to save them in the end.
G-d promised already in the Torah that He would not forsake the Jews in exile: “And even so, when they are in the land of their enemies, I did not reject them nor despise them, to destroy them, to annul My covenant with them” (Leviticus 26:44).
After 70 years the Second Temple was built and many Jews returned to the Holy Land. But again, they were given the land only on condition that they would keep G-d’s laws. When they strayed and followed Greek culture, and then splintered into many warring sects, they were punished with exile again.
During exile, the Talmud says that G-d made the Jewish people promise not to attempt to restore their sovereignty on their own. Only He will determine the right time for that, and the correct amount of repentance Jews need to do before they can be redeemed. In the meantime, Jewish traditional text known as the Zohar says that G-d gave the land to the Arabs.
Jews are commanded to be loyal citizens of their countries of residence (see Jeremiah 29:7) and live peacefully alongside their neighbours.
Rabbi Beck
