History books paint a very different picture of current events than do our daily newspapers that see things from a very myopic view. Sometime we fail to see the forest because of the dense underbrush. Time reveals many details that we don’t seem to notice from close-up. What seems bad sometimes turns out to be good and what we thought was good can sometimes turn out to be a disaster. This is why our sages have told us “Who is wise? One that can see what will be born.” Only our Torah sages can properly assess today’s events with any reliability. Only today’s great Torah leaders can be relied upon to properly appraise the situation we are now in.
Great “Jew lovers” such as Roosevelt, Truman or Nixon are seen very differently when viewed through historical glasses. It is only now that we properly perceive their motives and their inner intentions. History sheds great light on past events and ought teach us how to avoid those same mistakes from reoccurring. If we don’t learn from our past mistakes we are bound to have to relive them once again.
One of the many lessons the Holocaust ought to teach us is never to depend or rely on the world’s sense of justice or on other nations to protect us. Vgua, uk ihta ost icc ohchsbc ujyc, kt. Neither can we ever rely on peace agreements to be kept even when accompanied by handshakes on the White House lawn. The peace agreement between Chamberlain and Hitler is but one example. We are one sheep living amongst seventy wolves who wish to devour us alive. As we say in the lamentations of Eicha, “Even our dearest friends have forsaken us in time of need.”
It wasn’t long ago that a shipload of Jews aboard the St. Louis were refused entry into the “home of the free and the land of the brave” and sent back into the inferno waiting for them in Nazi Germany. All pleas for mercy fell on deaf ears. Let’s not forget Great Britain’s response to open Jewish immigration to Palestine when all nations closed their doors.
Today, once again, all eyes are focused on small little Israel that looks like a mere speck on the world map compared to all the Arab countries that surround her on all sides. Yet, the only space the Palestinians are able to live is within the narrow boarders of the West Bank. Throughout history Jews have been expelled from one country after another without finding any place to put up a home of their own. Today, once again, in our very own homeland, people can still not live in peace. Nine thousand Jews are being evicted from their homes which they built with blood, sweat, and tears, and their land is being transferred to terrorists so that they can build a state aimed at Israel’s destruction.
How will history judge our silence and complacency? How will history view Sharon’s “disengagement” plan? One doesn’t have to look into tomorrows newspapers to see the results of this suicidal plan. A look back in history tells it all. Just open up the Haggadah and read the “V’hi Sheomdah” to learn our enemie’s inner intentions. In ancient times it was our own blood-brother Lavan that wanted to destroy us. Today, things haven’t changed much. Our own brothers still continue to make deals with those that have deceived us time and time again.
Many of the leading rabbis in Israel have warned of the great dangers that the “disengagement” can chas v’shalom lead to. Yet, we are being led by the blind and the deaf who refuse to admit their folly despite the Oslo fiasco. While many of today’s newspapers praise their actions and trumpet their achievements, yet, in the pages of history their names will go down in great shame and dishonor despite the great war heroes they once were.