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I wish I could say this small film cheered or inspired me. It did the opposite. This kind of primitive triumphalism seems to me just the kind of stuff that cheers our enemies. Consider the main message. ( He who believes does not fear) Believes what exactly? Believes that we are guaranteed to triumph over all our enemies without suffering on our part? Believes that the state of Israel is guaranteed to survive because the Jewish people have survived for four – thousand years? What exactly is the message here. Perhaps it is ‘Cheer up for Rosh Hoshanah’ ‘Don’t be afraid of those Iranian fanatics out to destroy us because they too will one day be like the Babylonians and Romans?
All of this is simplistic nonsense.
There is no guarantee of anything. No one has God in their pocket, not even us. If we are wise, tough, smart, lucky then with some Siyyata D’Shemayah we will make it through this crisis too.
But anyone who knows the tremendous disasters of Jewish history , knows too our demographic story knows it is not a subject for simple ‘ belief’ or ‘faith’.
There are many miracles in Jewish history and certainly in the story of the Jewish people’s return, the ingathering of exiles and building of the state there are elements of the miraculous and remarkable. But there are also a lot of ‘not-miracles’ and ‘unanswered prayers’ and ‘unjustified horrors’ in Jewish history.
I am all for our having strong morale and determination to fight and survive . And I certainly do not want to ruin anyone’s good mood on Rosh Hoshanah. But I believe tough realism , recognizing complex realities, understanding the problematic character of our situation, and again acting with wisdom and determination are what is really required for our survival in this sea of hostility and hate called the Middle East.
You are reading more into this than you should. They are not saying “God will take care of anything,” and it is not our responsibility. One of the miracles of 1967 was that God gave Israel an air force and brave pilots.
I think the message of the song is just that we shouldn’t accept the gloom and doom prophecies of the Left that the only option is to do nothing or to surrender (and their unspoken premise that it is because we are fundamentally corrupt and deserve what we get).
The message is that the Jewish people survived because they realized their faith in God by direct action.
I wish I could say this small film cheered or inspired me. It did the opposite. This kind of primitive triumphalism seems to me just the kind of stuff that cheers our enemies. Consider the main message. ( He who believes does not fear) Believes what exactly? Believes that we are guaranteed to triumph over all our enemies without suffering on our part? Believes that the state of Israel is guaranteed to survive because the Jewish people have survived for four – thousand years? What exactly is the message here. Perhaps it is ‘Cheer up for Rosh Hoshanah’ ‘Don’t be afraid of those Iranian fanatics out to destroy us because they too will one day be like the Babylonians and Romans?
All of this is simplistic nonsense.
There is no guarantee of anything. No one has God in their pocket, not even us. If we are wise, tough, smart, lucky then with some Siyyata D’Shemayah we will make it through this crisis too.
But anyone who knows the tremendous disasters of Jewish history , knows too our demographic story knows it is not a subject for simple ‘ belief’ or ‘faith’.
There are many miracles in Jewish history and certainly in the story of the Jewish people’s return, the ingathering of exiles and building of the state there are elements of the miraculous and remarkable. But there are also a lot of ‘not-miracles’ and ‘unanswered prayers’ and ‘unjustified horrors’ in Jewish history.
I am all for our having strong morale and determination to fight and survive . And I certainly do not want to ruin anyone’s good mood on Rosh Hoshanah. But I believe tough realism , recognizing complex realities, understanding the problematic character of our situation, and again acting with wisdom and determination are what is really required for our survival in this sea of hostility and hate called the Middle East.
Shalom:
You are reading more into this than you should. They are not saying “God will take care of anything,” and it is not our responsibility. One of the miracles of 1967 was that God gave Israel an air force and brave pilots.
I think the message of the song is just that we shouldn’t accept the gloom and doom prophecies of the Left that the only option is to do nothing or to surrender (and their unspoken premise that it is because we are fundamentally corrupt and deserve what we get).
The message is that the Jewish people survived because they realized their faith in God by direct action.
You are probably right. I apologize for the sermonizing.