Succot: Israel's holiday of rejoicing--and Israel

Tonight, Sunday, September 23, 2018, Jews around the world begin the Jewish holiday called, Succot. It is, our prayers tell us, "the time of gladness/joy". 

Our Jewish heritage teaches us (from our Torah, in D'varim, 16:14) that we must be joyous with each of our three major holiday celebrations--Passover,  Shavuot and  Succot. But Succot is the only Jewish holiday specifically identified with 'gladness/joy'. 

Why?

There are many answers to this question. Each answer gives an insight into one of the many levels of spirituality found in our religion. But Succot also reminds of something more earthly. It reminds us that, as HaRav Avraham Yitchak HaCohen Kook (1865-1935, often called the the father of Religious Zionism) has said: the rickety, temporary booth we sit in during Succot is our protective Fortress (here).

 How ironic, yes? The Succah booth we sit in on this holiday is so flimsy, we can't even call it a dwelling. It is completely non-permanent. Yet it reminds us of HaShem, whose cloud of Glory protected the Jewish nation as it wandered in the desert more than  3,300 years ago. It reminds us today that this holy Land, our national home, has a direct connection to HaShem, our G-d--and to His protection (ibid). 

Think about how HaShem has protected Israel since the modern Israel was founded 70  years ago. On May 14, 1948, David Ben Gurion stood in Tel Aviv and announced that the new Jewish nation (voted into existence by the UN 5+ months earlier) will be called, Israel. At that moment, overwhelming Arab armies (trained and equipped by the British) began to attack this flimsy, rickety, vulnerable Israel. 

The Arabs surrounding Israel didn't accept the UN vote to create Israel. They want'ed to destroy Israel even before it was 'born'.

On May 14, 1948, Israel's "army'" was more rag-tag than formal. Israel certainly had no formally trained or equipped military. It didn't even have the money to make sure every Jew fighting those Arab armies had identity tags called, 'dog tags'. 

Yet, a miracle occurred. The rickety, flimsy Israel beat those Arab armies. 

Arab armies came together again and again to destroy Israel--in 1956, 1967 and 1973. There was more such formal fighting in 1982 and 2006. 

Each of these military campaigns failed. But they weren't the only way Arabs aimed to kill Jews. They had another way to attack us--through terror.  

In 1917, the British gave Jews the Balfour Declaration, which signaled a British support for Jews to establish a Jewish state in the Jewish ancestral homeland. Three years later, in 1920, the Jews' right to rebuild their homeland was put into an International Agreement at San Remo, Italy. 

In the 39 years between that 1920 San Remo Agreement and the year Yasser Arafat helped to found the Arab Fatah organization (1959), Arabs in-and-around Israel attacked Jews repeatedly. Arabs murdered some 1,388 Jews in terror attacks. But then, during the 45 years between 1959 and Arafat's death in 2004, Arabs murdered more than 2,100 more Jews--a rate that averages out more than 30% higher per year than the 1920-59 period. 

That increase wasn't an accident. It was deliberate. It was the work of Arafat. 

Yasser Arafat was a committed terrorist. He was known for this commitment. Some have even called him, 'the father of modern terrorism' (here).

He certainly lived up to that title. After he died, Mahmoud Abbas succeeded him. Between Arafat's 2004 death and December 31, 2017, Arabs living under Abbas' rule have murdered another 268 Jews in terror attacks.

Arafat's goal was to drive the Jews out of Israel through a campaign of terror. When, in 1993, he signed the Oslo Accords, he didn't see that Accord as a peace agreement. He saw it as a holding pattern to prepare some kind of modern ambush of Israel (here). He acknowledged that this plan was based upon a similar plan Mohammed himself had used 1,300+ years before (ibid). 

Arafat said he wanted the Jews to leave Israel like 'rats abandoning a sinking ship' (here). Terror was how he would drive out the Jews.

To give you a sense of how well he did with that goal, recall that, in 1959, when Arafat helped to found Fatah, there were perhaps 1.8 million Jews in Israel. In 1993, the year Arafat signed the Oslo Accords, there were perhaps 4.4 million Jews. 

Today, as of September 20, 2018, there are 6.6+ million Jews in Israel. 

Comparing Arafat's goals to Jewish population numbers reveals how G-d has protected this flimsy, rickety, vulnerable  Israel. Arafat's terror goal failed. There are now more Jews living in this holy Jewish Land than in any other nation in the world. 

2018 may well be the first time since Jews were driven into exile by Rome more than 1,948 years ago that more Jews live in Israel than in any other place on the planet. Given the genocidal goals promoted by the Arabs around us, this Jewish population growth in Israel is itself a miracle. 

This Israel is indeed protected by HaShem, our G-d. This protection is why Succot and modern Israel are connected. Rav Kook (above) was correct. Succot reminds us of the spiritual reality that connects HaShem to this Land, to His People--and to protecting His people. Israel is, indeed, a Fortress.

More than  3,300 years ago, HaShem protected His Chosen people in the desert. Today, He protects His Chosen People once again. If you want to understand the impact of this protection, consider this: since 1920, when there were less than 100,000 Jews in Israel, to today, with Israel's 6.6 million Jews, Arabs have murdered at least 3,800 Jews in terror attacks. 

Do the math. Since 1920, the number of Jews in Israel has increased by 6.5 million. That increase means that, for every Jew murdered by an Arab, there are an additional 1,700+ Jews in Israel today (3,800 victims x 1,700 additional Jews per victim = 6.5 million additional Jews in Israel today).

We mourn those deaths. But we rejoice in our succot because those holy souls have midwifed the Promise HaShem made so long ago to return us home to our Fortress. We rejoice at Succot because this holiday reminds us so vividly of the Promise Kept.

Chag Someach: Happy holiday.