               The Jewish State is in Grave Danger
                         March 21, 1994
                        Gary M. Cooperberg
      
     When a member of our family is ill, we feel their pain and do all we can to alleviate it. 
We are not doctors or miracle workers, but we do the best we can.  At the very least we visit
and try to comfort our loved one.
     The State of Israel is the homeland of the entire Jewish People.  It belongs to each and
every one of us, no matter where we may temporarily reside.  When danger threatens this
country, Jews all over the world, religious and non religious, share a bond of fear and concern
for her.
     In spite of the fact that the rebirth of the Jewish State in our generation was clearly an
act of Divine Mercy, and the beginning of fulfillment of Jewish Destiny, those who
participated in the setting up of the government were, predominantly, secular Jews.  The
miraculous nature of Jewish return was, largely, unnoticed by most of them and thus they
adopted foreign values in the structure of our government.  While all admitted a need to
recognize Jewish holidays and customs within the framework of the state, the actual structure
of government failed to adequately recognize the simple purpose for which this state was
created, to be a haven for all Jews.
     While, just prior to its rebirth, and in the very early stages of its existence, it was clear
to all that Israel was created to be a haven for the Jewish People, almost from the outset, this
concept was perverted into a poor attempt to pay homage to the concept of "democracy". 
This was the beginning of an illness which was never treated and thus deteriorated to the stage
it has today.
     How can it be that Prime Minister Rabin, of all people, could lower himself to shake
hands with the symbol of the Arab attempt to destroy the Jewish State?  The answer is simple. 
This is the logical result of the refusal of any Jewish government to clearly define the most
basic function of this state.  By not only failing to declare Israel an exclusively Jewish State,
but by actually inviting our enemies to become equal citizens in it, we created the tools for our
self destruction.  
     Compounding this grave error was our refusal to accept the miraculous victory of the
Six Day War.  Ancient Jewish Lands, which we regained as a result of defending our very
lives, were denied by our government as belonging to us.  In an absurd fear of appearing to be
aggressors in a war waged to destroy us, we refused to place our holy places under Jewish
sovereignty.  
     Quick to respond to our fear and confusion were our enemies.  While we sat on our
hands and insisted upon trading these lands for "peace" with Jordan, the Jordanian monarch
refused to negotiate.  Thus, for nearly 27 years, we have nurtured the myth of an oppressed
"palestinian" people.  We recognized their right to live in our homeland.  We rejected our own
rights to it.  Yet we refused to relinquish our authority over it.  It was our refusal to accept
our birthright which resulted in the creation of a "palestinian" entity comprised of an entire
generation of Arab migrants who have known no other home.  These Arabs were born here
and have spent their entire lives believing that Israel occupies their homeland.  And every
Jewish government encouraged that myth.
     Because we refused to face reality in 1948, and again in 1967, the monster we created
threatens to devour us today.  We have the same hapless and helpless leaders now that we had
back then.  Their solutions are equally cowardly and dishonest now as they were then, only
now it is clearly far more dangerous.
     The Jewish State is very ill.  We have no doctors and we have no leaders to cure her. 
But we can clearly see, if we make the effort, that the Creator of the Universe still watches
over us here day and night.  What we can do, is the same we would do for a sick loved one. 
We can visit her and do all we can to encourage her to continue.  The rest is in the hands of
HaShem.
     We need to strengthen one another by reaching out and offering comfort.  It is a two
way process and it works both ways.  We all need encouragement and we all need to be
reminded that we are all one people with a common destiny.  It is not Rabin or Clinton who
determines our future.  The G-d of Israel has already determined our future here, indelibly.  It
is for us to express our faith in His promise to our Father, Abraham, by continuing to walk in
the path He set out for us.
     We, who live in Kiryat Arba, have always been in the middle of controversy.  Today is
certainly no exception.  Because we are the veritable symbol of Jewish return to all of our
Biblical inheritance, we are the first to come under attack from those who challenge the
genuine reason for Jewish return.
     Do not listen to our illustrious foreign minister (indeed his thinking is foreign).  He
asks us, "Who needs Gaza?"  He might as well have asked, "Who needs Eretz Yisrael"?  It is
the same question.  If Mr. Peres doesn't know the answer, there are many other Jews, both in
this country and elsewhere, who do.  It is precisely because so many of our people do not
know the answer to such a simple question that we that we seek to appease those who call for
our destruction.
     While our country may, indeed, be seriously ill, there is no question but that the illness
is not terminal.  The way back to good health is not by taking pills to treat the symptoms,
rather to face the cause of the illness head on and change the conditions which contribute to it. 
Let each and every Jew, whether he lives in Israel or not.. whether he is observant of Jewish
Law or not, pause to reflect upon that which unifies all of us.  
     Hitler did not concern himself with where a Jew might have been born or whether or
not he practiced his religion.  Just as all Jews were equal in his hateful eyes, a fact which did
create a morbid sense of Jewish unity among the victims of the holocaust, so must we all
recognize that the world looks upon all Jews, from left to right, religious and non religious, as
an undesirable nation.
     Behind the noble words of those who seek to participate in "peace" negotiations
between Israel and her Arab enemies is an unarticulated desire to transform the sovereign
Jewish State into a dependent sub state under the authority of a non-Jewish entity.
It is an ancient jealousy and fear of the chosen nature of the Jewish people which has caused
the nations of the world to seek our destruction.
     While, over the past two thousand years we had no choice but to hide our heads and
keep a low profile, the reality of the ongoing Divine process of Jewish return to our homeland,
and of the return of Jewish sovereignty thereto, makes such a practice outdated, unnecessary,
and self defeating.  The overt miracles of 1948, and 1967 cannot be dismissed as "accidental". 
They were clear examples of Divine intervention to protect our people and our homeland.  