Posted on 07/28/2010 12:38:46 AM PDT by Ari Bussel
Israel Building a New Golden Calf by Norma Zager
“Isn't it enough that you have brought us up out of a land flowing with milk and honey to kill us in the desert? And now you also want to lord it over us?...” Dathan & Aviram (Number 16:13) [See also Psalms 106:19-23]
“Former glory will not sustain present failure.” Norma Zager
I love the Jewish people. Quite simply who couldn’t love a nation whose propensity for comedy carries over from the stage to real life and pervades Israeli politics in abundance?
Of course humor has sustained us, but we have a legacy of amazing comedians.
Whoda thunk it? Bibi Netanyahu and his team, the heir apparent to the Marx Brother’s legacy. Perhaps it was inevitable. After all, they are all descendants of the greatest Jewish comedian, Dathan.
Now, Israel rests on its former glory, counting on God’s mercy, His miracles in abundant supply. Letting their guard down when they should be preparing against what may well be their most powerful foe.
Reality check: the Golden Calf episode didn’t end well: earthquakes, tablets smashing, 40 years schlepping through the desert. Are we missing the point here?
God has His limits.
The jokes began thousands of years ago and keep on a comin’. The backslapping and belly laughs have been as much part of Jewish history as chicken soup and overly sweet gooey concoctions that pass for wine.
Since I am relating the facts, I shall take the liberty of beginning with my personal favorite Jewish comic of all time, Dathan. In all honesty I am uncertain if he ever existed at all, but he certainly provided comic relief and the perfect foil for Charlton Heston’s Moses in The Ten Commandments.
Played so brilliantly by Edward G Robinson, he was the guffaw snake in the Garden of Eden.
A self-hating Jew who lived to reign over his own people without regard or conscience. A biblical Bernie Madoff praying off the souls of his own relatives. Tsk Tsk. But unlike Bernie Madoff, Dathan was quite humorous in his approach.
God showed the Jewish people unbelievable miracles, and after each Dathan slithered up to Moses and goaded him with “Yeah, but what has God done for us in the last thirty seconds?” Sounds like a Hollywood agent to me.
Instead of the people slapping Dathan, as someone should have, they shook their heads in agreement. “Yeah, Dathan is right. What has He done for us lately?”
So the Lord, in his infinite patience, would pull off another miracle, and the Jews oohed, aahed and mumbled “thank you Lord” to on high.
Oops, and there’s Dathan again with his “Sure but He’s left you here to die at Pharaoh’s hand,” routine. “Come on, let’s build a golden calf, take it back to Egypt and get our old jobs back.”
Meanwhile, Moses is up on the mountain alone, sweating in the desert heat and trying to stay out of the line of fire as God burns the law into the tablets. Can you just imagine the temperature up there?
Moses drags himself down the mountain and there they are, hoo hahing, dancing and polishing a calf of gold. Even Moses’ own brother, Aaron, has succumbed too.
The man had a right to be angry.
It was definitely an “after all I’ve done for you people” moment.
So he threw the tablets, created an earthquake, all the dummies fell into the pit and the rest wandered around for forty years waiting to go home again.
And now we are home. So what are we doing there? We are resting on our laurels, counting on God to protect us, expecting miracles and listening to the Dathans of our people undercut our faith.
Of course the 1967 war was a miracle, but our track record lately is not so hot.
Israelis fight amongst themselves. Jews in the Diaspora are at odds and withdrawing support, and Israel shows not only weakness, but also foolishness in dealing with the highly effective propaganda war machine of their enemies.
Are we expecting God to pull another miracle out of His Israel hat? Is there any left?
There is an old saying: “God helps those who help themselves.” He is a patient father but even the Lord has His limits.
Yes, Israel is an amazing accomplishment. Yes, it is a light unto the world, with miracles in science, technology and medicine pouring forth each day. And how do we give thanks for God’s bounty? By ignoring the fact it is way past time we grow up and accept responsibility for our own nation. That it is incumbent upon us to protect and nurture the gifts we have been promised and daily receive.
In 1948 Israel was a dream worth dying for. The Jews who fought to return to their land fought side by side with one goal, Israel. Of course they had differences of opinions. They were Jews. Irgun, Haganah, Palmach, all had their various methods for carrying out their goals. But the path toward Israel was clear. Their own lives, their own agendas were secondary to the common good.
This is no longer the case in the Jewish State.
In-fighting, personal agendas, party politics and occasional rampant corruption have overtaken the ultimate purpose.
If once the Jewish people had to overcome the stigma of a golden calf, they now have a plethora of calves to polish and shine.
Of course politicians cannot agree. I am not so foolish to believe that a politician in Israel is different from the creatures that sit in the United States Congress or anywhere else.
They all hiss and slither into their seats to achieve their own selfish ends.
However, the history of the Jewish nation is unlike that of other countries.
Our misdeeds are chronicled in the Old Testament, our heroes well documented and our buffoons characterized with clarity and humor.
Whether polishing a golden calf, ignoring public relations, acting with hubris toward the safety of Israel, listening and kowtowing to the nations of the world who seek to destroy you, is nothing short of a polishing and perfecting of the next golden calf. Is Israel’s land the new peace offering for our destroyers?
Israel and the Jewish people around the world must step up to the plate with a firm resolve: We are one nation, we are home and we will stay.
The Dathans of our people must be silenced once and for all before we are all once again sent into the abyss to wander homeless.
The bag of miracles we are counting on to save us may be empty when we need it most. Time to create our own wonders and stop depending on God to pull us out of the fire. A golden calf would not have appeased pharaoh and neither will giving-in to our enemies today.
### In the series “Postcards from Israel—Postcards from America,” Ari Bussel and Norma Zager invite readers to view and experience an Israel and her politics through their eyes, an Israel visitors rarely discover.
This point—and often—counter-point presentation is sprinkled with humor and sadness and attempts to tackle serious and relevant issues of the day. The series began in 2008, appears both in print in the USA and on numerous websites and is followed regularly by readership from around the world.
© “Postcards from Israel—Postcards from America,” July, 2010 Contact: aribussel@gmail.com
BUMP for an interesting read.
Also (ahem), BUMP for Edward G. Robinson.
And what a Dathan he made!
It is also an apt description of all US politicians and especially the republicans and their circular firing squad.
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