At the end of history – that is, of this, current, stage of human history and progress – the Bible promises that the whole of humankind will have adopted HaShem (the One Holy God) as the One and Only God.

Until then, so it seems, HaShem’s direct worshippers will probably be relatively few: mostly Israel, the Jewish People (but, in fact, if current history is any guide, probably only a fraction of all Jews who passionately follow HaShem), and small numbers of individual Noahides, spread over the whole planet “like little islands,” as our friend Dimitar says.

All nations [goyim] whom You have made shall come and prostrate themselves before You, O Lord, and they shall glorify Your name. (Psalms 86:9)

This will follow, we’re told, Israel’s firm turn to the Path of HaShem.

If you will return, O Israel, saith HaShem, Yea, return unto Me; And if you will put away thy detestable things out of My sight, And will not waver; And will swear: ‘As HaShem liveth’ in truth, in justice, and in righteousness, Then shall the nations bless themselves by Him, And in Him shall they glory.
(Jeremiah 4:1-2)

Even though “the nations” are the main objective of this process, the People of Israel are key actors. When – not if (because God’s ultimate redemption of the world is certain) - the Jews do what they need to do, the world will come along.

What’s a Noahide, a Non-Jew, supposed to do in the meantime?

We’ve urged people to study the Jewish Prayerbook and reach out to God by Name; to become more conscious servants of HaShem; to study the Bible, complete with rabbis’ commentaries; to ponder the Noahide Law, and keep it; and to read, in English if not Hebrew, all the Torah precepts that apply to them, that bear on the Universal Law. But those are details, and by-the-way.  The ultimate Rule for Noahides is the same as their Path to blessing – to “go to shalom (to journey, persistently, and deliberately, to peace, to completion, and perfection),” or “lech l’shalom” (the prophet Elisha to the Syrian Noahide, Na’aman, 2 Kings 5).

This also happens to be the principle behind the universal “Prosperity Gospel” of HaShem:

God blesses those who bless Israel and curses those who curse Israel.

This Summer, we’ve watched a great war unfolding in the Land of Israel. On the one side, Israel; on the other, a remarkable enemy that pictures God’s Temple Mount on its very flag, on its stationery, on every newscast, press release, and calendar, representing Islam’s gilded Al Aksa shrine gleaming over the site, preventing any re-building; that PROUDLY targets Israel’s weakest, the aged, infirm, children, and even Jewish babies in their nurseries, to kill and maim them; that BRAGS that it’s the anti-Israel, determined not to debate grievances but EXTERMINATE Israel  - and the rest of the world’s Jews, too.

(These same estimable folks cheered when the hijacked jetliners crashed into the World Trade Center – and then, grasping at crazy lies, blamed “the Jews” for the crime. Many millions of their brethren in the Arab and Muslim world believe similarly!)

One might not expect that a contest like this would “delegitimize” Israel in the councils of nations, but, obviously, in our unredeemed world, most of our fellow men live estranged from, or even at odds with, God’s Plan – and certainly, from “God blesses those who bless Israel.”

At times like these, Jews and conscious servants of HaShem in general appreciate the relatively few Noahides on Earth who still, despite the hostility or even enmity of their fellow men, continue to “bless Israel.”

We’re not so fussy about the exact nature of those blessings, either.

One of our friends from Wales, in Britain - where the BBC (British Broadcasting Services) has been covering the war while continually communicating, sub-textually, that “might makes wrong” at least in this case, if the might is Israel’s - just wrote us:

"I am going to summarize this now, I know what you’re going through and I will always to my last breath I hope support Israel to live in that part of the world, in the land that God wants them to live in.  And I'm not doing this for a blessing, thank you very much, it isn't making me popular. I am doing it because I am a loving person and a genuine person who loves God and his Creation."

She’s one of our “little islands.” Against all the souls on Earth who oppose God’s cosmic Plan and the fulfillment of His promises to Israel and humanity, she’s sincerely for it, and us.

Cosmic Islands

People’s deliberate self-estrangement from even the best-known, best publicized, historically-grounded aspects of God’s Plan – the progress to a better world of greater God-consciousness, Israel’s declared nature as mankind’s elder brother and, at best, guide to greater God-consciousness; the Jews saving the Holy Land and elevating it, creating there an exemplary society - often strikes us as extremely dim-witted.

We look at the nations’ Jew-hatred and wonder if there might not be at least a little grudging respect there. But, if there is,  there’s not much of it. Furthermore, even the Jews can make your heart sink.

We were fighting last year with one character. He characterized the fulfillment of God’s promises to Israel “a pipe dream.” He claimed that the Jews’ return to the Land of Israel is criminal in international law. [No it isn’t, we explained.] But this fellow helps direct a significant mainstream Jewish group called the American Jewish Committee.They pay him for saying such stuff! [See Articles, International Law]

Bill Maher and the late Chris Hitchens, both of them Jews (although they were both raised as Christians), are probably America’s leading atheists. Mr. Maher, a brilliant, oft-quoted TV commentator and entertainer, was quoted recently in TIME. He was arguing against the idea of an atheist church, versus “the need to get together in religion.” “[T]he reason why people need to get together in religion is precisely because it’s nonsensical,” Maher says.” “People of faith need strength in numbers to support their belief systems.” [Time Magazine, 8/4/14, p. 53].

Then there’s Noahism. Atheists should –but probably won’t – take note.

Israel and the Jewish People need those “little islands” more than we can say.

“Those who love God form, as it were, centres whence, upon thousands brought within range of their influence, the blessings of His mercy are diffused abroad.” Samuel Rolles Driver, Commentary on Deuteronomy (London, 1902) [Quoted in H.R, Hirsch, the Hertz Torah, Soncino, London, 2d ed. 1960, Deuteronomy 7:9, p. 776]

Sir Isaac Newton

Did you see our piece about Isaac Newton? The great scientist, "discoverer" of gravity, inventor of calculus, etc., studied history and Scripture, learned Hebrew and Aramaic, and plunged into the larger Torah, including Maimonides, Rashi, Ibn Ezra, etc. He, too, was an island, a community of one: a secret, persecution-fearing (if the British public had known about his ultimate belief, in HaShem, they’d have probably, literally, killed him), God-revering, God-conscious Noahide. [See Articles, Sir Isaac Newton]

"Letter From an Angry Black Woman"

We think you deserve a look at this short piece from Cloe Vardary, "an angry black woman," as she calls herself, addressing "Students for Justice in Palestine."

"You do not have the right to invoke my people's struggle for your shoddy purposes, she tells them. See Articles, Letter from an Angry Black Woman

Cloe Vardary is currently a junior at the University of New Orleans (UNO).

 

By Michael Dallen

 

 

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