             Iyar, the Month of Jewish Restoration
May 1992                                                              Iyar 5752
                     by Gary M. Cooperberg

       Iyar is the month of modern day liberation for the Jewish people.  In this month the
sovereign Jewish State of Israel was reborn.  Also in this month Jerusalem was completely
liberated and united and Hebron, Shechem, Shilo, Jericho, Bethlehem and so much more of
our ancient inheritance was returned to us as we miraculously defeated our Arab enemies who
attacked us from all fronts with the aim of destroying the Jewish State.  
       The lesson of Iyar is not to be afraid of any threat placed before us, because the G-d
of Israel stands with us and protects us from all harm.  This is not a prayer, wishful thinking or
a quote from the tanach.  It is merely an observation of recent and continuing events.  Our
Rabbis tell us that the letters of this month, Aleph, yud yud, resh, are an allusion to the words
in the Torah, (Shmot, 16:26), "Ani HaShem Rofecha", "I am the L-rd that healeth thee".
       As the Jewish State celebrates the forty-fourth anniversary of its reestablishment in
parts of her ancient homeland, there is much to recognize and in which to rejoice.  Just
imagine if it were possible to take a video cassette of Jewish children carrying the Jewish flag,
singing Hebrew songs and celebrating our Independence day and somehow find a way to
transport that cassette back into history.
       If all throughout the bleak and terrible exiles and persecutions we faced in all the
lands in which we wandered we would have been able to take out that video and see a proud
Jewish nation celebrating their independence in 1992, how much easier it would have been to
face the pogroms and persecutions.
       The fact is, that our ancestors had no need of such a video.  They had a burning
faith which kept them going through impossible times.  They knew that their G-d would not
forsake them and that a Jewish future is guaranteed by Him.  They knew that, no matter what
the evil gentile might do to them, they were indestructible.
       What has happened to the grandchildren of this true Jewish keeper of the faith?  He
had nothing and faced certain death yet knew that the Jewish People had a future and would,
some day, return to their homeland.  His grandchildren, the survivors of every kind of death
imaginable, have endured two thousand years of exile, suffering, and extermination, have seen
the rebirth of the Jewish State and the beginning of the ingathering of the exiles, yet they are
afraid for their future!
       We, the beneficiaries of strong, proud and defiant Jewish grandparents, can never
match the unflinching pure and holy faith which enabled them to endure two thousand years of
hell so that we could reap the fruits of a Jewish future.  But we have no need for faith.  All we
need are eyes to see the unending stream of miracles performed for us every day.
       It is not a natural thing for a people dispersed to the four corners of the earth,
despised, oppressed, beaten and nearly annihilated by an uncaring world, to pick up its motley
remnants and come back to its ancient homeland and rebuild its nation there in defiance of a
world which would prefer not to have a Jewish State.  Is it possible to explain how such a
state, of concentration camp survivors, can today command the best army in the world?   And
is it logical that this tiny country which is truly hated by all, not only continues to grow and
thrive, despite all obstacles, yet watches as one superpower after another crumbles before its
eyes and permits hundreds of thousands of formerly trapped Jews to come home to their
country?
       Let every Jew all over the world celebrate with us the month of modern Jewish
restoration and open his eyes to the reality of the genuine rebirth of a nation, his nation.