Jewish Press: Jews have always been in the minority in their temporary diasporic homes, and so they have usually been at the mercy of anti-Semites. If at a given time and place they are not actively persecuted, the possibility of persecution always remains, as European and even American Jews are rediscovering today. The commandment to keep one’s suitcase packed is no less apt today than in previous centuries.
Despite the heartwarming (but illusory) feeling of a worldwide solidarity of good people engendered by Yair Lapid’s recent remarks that antisemitism is just a particular form of a much more general collection of religious, ethnic, racial (etc.) hatreds that all those of good will should decry, the pervasiveness of antisemitism over the millennia and its shape-shifting nature show that it is indeed sui generis, unique. And we learned from the Holocaust that the Jewish people ultimately must stand alone against it.
The world had forgotten that the Jews had a homeland and saw them only as a people who belonged nowhere, and who were permanently aliens no matter how long they lived in a particular place. Of course the Jews themselves never forgot, but that only added to their foreign and exotic nature in the eyes of their hosts. Read More …
Opinion: “For from the top of the rocks I see him, And from the hills I behold him; There! A people dwelling alone, Not reckoning itself among the nations.” Numbers 23:9
(The passage is about Balaam, a wicked prophet in the Bible, and is noteworthy because although he was a wicked prophet, he was not a false prophet. That is, Balaam did hear from God, and God did give him some true prophecies to speak. However, Balaam’s heart was not right with God, and eventually he showed his true colors by betraying Israel and leading them astray) source
I can’t tell you how many times I have read this passage. Let’s look at it line by line …
“For from the top of the rocks I see him, And from the hills I behold him;
Balaam being at this time on the top of a rock, or on a high hill from where he had a view of Israel, encamped in the plains of Moab below him on their way to the promised land …
There! A people dwelling alone
In the plains of Moab, Israel dwelt separately distinguished by their language, religion, laws, customs, and manner of living, being different both in their clothing, and in their food, from other people; nor had they dealings, nor did they company with those of other nations.
Not reckoning itself among the nations
Israel will be despised. Israel will never mix with the nations because of their customs and belief in one eternal God (Deut. 6:4).
The Book of Numbers is approximately 3500 years old proving the reliability and perfection of Biblical prophecy.
But Balaam’s prophecy does not end there. Zechariah 12:10 prophecies a redemption as a remnant of Jews acknowledge Jesus Christ, fulfilling Romans 11:26-27:
“And so all Israel will be saved, as it is written:
“The Deliverer will come out of Zion,
And He will turn away ungodliness from Jacob;
27 For this is My covenant with them,
When I take away their sins.”
