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The Evangelical Christian, or Christian Zionist world never ceases to amaze. The unbridled love, the prayers, the hopes, the justifications, the passion. All for the Jewish people, who number some 13 million and a tiny splash of land in the veritable ocean that is the Middle East.
And what does Israel do in return?
Act just like any other sinful country in the world.
Today’s one o’clock news began with the story of the arrests of the two top executives of Israel’s main tobacco company Dubek in connection with alleged financial finagling. Yesterday, a court ruled that a former Defense Minister has no right to appeal after he was found guilty of sexual misconduct.
The Zionist ideal has long gone, the agricultural fields have made way for high-tech parks, the social values have made way for consumerism and the people are far closer to a flickering match than a beacon of light unto the nations. Crime, poverty, dissatisfaction, industrial disharmony, quarrels, fractious family relationships, political bankruptcy are rife.
The hopes of the Zionistic pioneers of yestercentury have long gone, drowned in a sea of Westernization, or so-called culture.
Not that religious observance is necessarily a measure of moral fiber, but ask any Israeli pensioner about the Day of Atonement 30 years ago, and they will tell you of the thousands of people who made time for introspection on this, the holiest day of the Jewish calendar. These days the first reports after the Day of Atonement are about how many people flocked to the country’s beaches and how many kids were injured falling from a variety of two-, three- and four-wheeled contraptions.
During the Day of Atonement, which was celebrated this past Monday, people pray for forgiveness from God for transgressions committed. The rabbis teach that God can only forgive sins committed against Him. For those transgressions against fellow human beings, a person must first apologize to the one affronted.
When was the last time an Israeli apologized for driving like a manslaughterer? How long is it since an Israeli held a door open for someone following down a corridor? How frequently do religious Israelis speak good of their secular siblings and vice versa?
Israel 2002 is a sick model of a once shiny car. The seats are ripped, the body is dented and the chassis is buckled. An insurance assessor would call it a write-off.
From black to white, from rich to poor, from Jew to other, Israelis are in desperate need of salvation. Whether that is a call for some Messianic savior or simple reprogramming through education, something, someone must give. Something, someone must care enough to give a damn before the beacon unto the nations is extinguished completely.