Proving Providence
One big advantage that Jews have over Noahides, when it comes to perceiving God's reality and Torah's power, is that non-Jews can't come close to Jews at recognizing others' Jewishness.
"The principal Jewish sport," it's said, “is reading lists of names." Jews will study movie credits, obituaries, news articles, liner notes, dedications, and rosters of donors to libraries, museums, hospitals and symphonies, and come away impressed – sometimes even awed - by the mighty civilizing contributions of the Jews.
The vast majority of Jews don't have names that are instantly recognizable as being Jewish, like Cohen, Kaplan, Goldstein and Katz. So most people don’t know that they’re seeing signs of God’s hand, the fulfillment of prophecy and the efficacy of Torah, when they hear the names of the big contributors to things. The Browns, Greens, Mondrys, Davidsons (and Dallens), whose mothers were Jews, seem to non-Jews to be non-Jews. But, sometimes, the Jews who are looking can see through to some portion of the truth – and to the higher, Divine truth beyond those “Jewish” names.
This is how the world is constituted.
We had a Catholic clergyman visit recently, a lovely man but one who is utterly blind to such things. He saw our tefillin and tallis (fringed ritual shawl) and said, “That’s Kabbalah!” "No it's not," we said. We took him to a Bible and showed him some black-letter commandents for tefillin and fringes.
He responded, “Okay, but isn’t that all pretty stale?”
We tried to help him see that Israel is a civilizing movement, a force for good in the world, part of a universal mission to benefit the whole earth. We said, “Einstein, for instance, was Jewish.” He looked surprised and shook his head: “No he wasn’t.” We assured him it was so. “I’ll have to check that out,” he said. And, who knows? Maybe he did. But he’s still convinced that his church is the New Israel and that the "old Israel" is lost sheep.
Lots of people consider themselves to be part of “the true Israel.” Islam teaches that the true inheritors of the role of Israel in the world are the descendants of Ishmael – not Isaac or Jacob; the Jews having supposedly forged God’s Scripture – and Muslims. So Islam is the New Israel. Different Protestant and New Age sects are the New Israel too. Russians grow up hearing that Russians are the true Israel, “the saviors of mankind.” Even the Soviet Communists would teach that they – atheists! - were the fulfillment of God’s promises to the Jews.
When all is said and done, the proofs to the contrary - that Deuteronomy 7:7's "fewest of all peoples" (who, thanks to the Torah of matrilinear descent, are fewer than 2% of America's population, less than 1% of Canada's, and less than 0.2% of the world's) still constitute the eternal elevating force called Israel - are more convincing than even the most zealously God-fearing believer in HaShem might expect. It's not the Muslims or Lutherans or Russians who stand out so spectacularly. When you look in the obituaries, credits, liner notes, and the rosters of big donors to humankind’s civilizing institutions – especially here in North America - the insanely disproportionate contributions don’t come from the children of Ishmael, Calvin, Luther, Saint Vladimir, nor the Church, but from the children of Israel. That is, from old Israel – the only real Israel, as God, Y-H-V and H, is the only real God.
It’s just a matter of knowing how to look. If you, too, want to learn how to look, get some help from a Jew who knows how. Because it’s important. It’s part of the advertisement for Torah, sponsored by God and adding to the evidence of the reality of His existence – and of the truth of prophecy, and of Israel’s knowledge of His Name.
Noahides are, as always, invited to join this great and holy cause.
Let all who walk the earth recognize and know that You alone are the God over all the kingdoms of the earth. You have made the heavens, the earth, the sea, and all that is in them. Who among all Your handiwork, those above and those below, can say to You, ‘What are You doing?’
2 Kings 19:19, Isaiah 37:20; Prayerbook, morning prayer
