Yom Kippur Blessings to My Brothers in Zion
(forward it to your Jewish friends)
by Israel Shamir

Do not bother to fast, my brothers, this Day of Atonement. It is done for us by starving people in Shechem. Do not bother to disavow your vows, as our leaders already did it for us and cancelled our vows to the nations. Do not ask for the gates of heaven to open and admit your prayer. The gates of heaven are shut as the gates of Gaza checkpoint. Do not ask for mercy of Heaven: the angels have the same orders as our soldiers. They may kill, but may not admit a supplicant. A clear pool of running water removes all impurity, but a man with a roach in his clenched fist remains impure in the purification pool. Repentance removes the offence, but it is useless to repent while the siege lasts. Lord hardened our hearts into hard rock, as he hardened the hearts of Egyptians in the day of Exodus. It is the sign that He who had lifted us high, will crush us exceedingly low. How can we ask for daily bread if we refuse it to our neighbours? How can we ask for good life when we embitter lives of our neighbours? How can we ask for longevity when we murder others?
Our teachers of blessed memory forbade us to enter the Land of Israel until we shall see the Messiah. We thought we were wiser and rejected this commandment with contempt. But they knew what they meant and they knew harshness of our hearts. We came into this sweet Land and devoured it like locust. We uprooted olive trees. We caused the springs to dry and a tree to wither. We expelled and imprisoned its people. We wasted the limpid waters of the underground caverns. We sliced strategic roads through the mountain meadows. Now we are locking ourselves in a high-rise ghetto surrounded by the double ring of barbed wire and endless hostility. Inevitably we re-create the way of life of our despised and hated ancestors in a Polish schtetl. One can not escape oneself. We carry Exile in our hearts and that is why we create Exile.
But do not despair! This curse confirms validity of the divine plan of our exile from the Holy Land. Not a blind chance, not the might of Rome, but the sins of our fathers brought the curse of Exile. We were cursed to cause pain to the nations and to suffer in their hands, to be a stranger to Mother Earth, to wander from land to land. We can’t escape this curse until we see the Messiah. Whoever does not believe in the divine plan of Exile rejects Divine providence and teachings of our masters.
Here is salvation, for it is said, “until we SEE the Messiah”, not “until the Messiah cometh”! Why, we can see Him now! Messiah is here! Whoever sees and recognises Him is saved from the curse of exile and he can remain forever in the sweet land he lives. Whoever sees Him will become like loving brother to his neighbours, and they will bless him, and be blessed by him. Whoever sees Him will become a bountiful spring in the dry land. See Him, my brothers, witness the Messiah! The secret is that Messiah is not a man anymore but the Glory of God. His soul is with us, and when we turn to Him, we shall recognise Him. It is within our reach, to escape the curse and turn it into grace.
The power of Israel is great, but it goes into destruction and hatred. But the moment Israel will see the Messiah, this great force will become the force for good. We shall turn our land into paradise, slay the terrible twins of need and greed, and, every day and every hour, we shall witness Glory and Shechina, together with our Palestinian brothers who call them Christ and the Virgin, or Mesih and Sitt.
This is our faith of the Holy Land, love of the Spirit and of the Mother Earth, embodied in the boy from Bethlehem and to the girl from neighbouring Saffurie, love to the green hills of our beloved Land of Israel, Land of Palestine. We came to this land and we did not recognise it; we met our long forgotten Palestinian brothers and sisters and we did not recognise them. Like soldiers in the dark, we fought against our own brothers. But as the Sun of Messiah is rising, we recognise their familiar faces and lower our weapons.
Before Theodor Herzl decided to save Israel by taking them to Palestine, he dreamed to lead his people into the faith of Messiah with the bells a-tolling and folks calling Halleluiah. But then he saw the harshness of their hearts and preferred an easy way of conquering Palestine, getting rid of native population, terrorising the Middle East. He thought it was easier than to deliver the Jews. It was easier, but quite useless: the lofty ideals of messianic Zionism could not be achieved without recognising Messiah.
Why, actually? Consider: a small band of chosen warriors has been sent to deliver a secret important message to a remote besieged city. They have to cross unknown and hostile lands, face hidden dangers and deliver the secret. They were instructed to trust nothing and nobody, to remain aloof, to use and misuse strangers in order to fulfil their all-important mission. It is a long way, and the warriors get used to the idea. The right to use and misuse is quite a convenient right, and they manage not too bad. By the time they get to their goal, they form a close-knit group, utterly hostile to the surroundings, devoted to keep their message in secret. But some of them still remember of the reason of their mission and deliver the message to the city. The message had become a part of daily life for everybody, but this group of old soldiers still feels besieged in the hostile territory, still keeps in secret its message, for a long time known to the world. It is time to tell them: “you were fine, you made your best, you delivered the message, now you are free men in the city of free. Disband, mix freely, enjoy the world saved thanks to your message”.
Those who refuse to join mankind should be treated as Japanese soldiers in the jungle of New Guinea still fighting and hiding fifty years after the war was over – with strict compassion and psychological help.
Zionism became a poison without the Messiah: not in vain, our masters (“the instructions to the soldiers”) forbade us to gather in the Holy Land before the days of Messiah. The “instructors” knew what we have forgotten: such a gathering, unless by accepting Messiah, would be used by Antichrist and will poison the earth. Why Messiah would change Zionism into a marvellous thing? In the days of Messiah, all restrictions will be lifted, teaches Talmud. The separating commandments and prohibitions will be cancelled. By receiving the spirit of God, the Israelites will become free from tenets of the Law, and join mankind.
It was known to Sabbatai Zevi in 17th century: he blessed One Who releases from Prohibitions, over prohibited food. It was known to Rabbi Nachman of Bratzlav, a 19th century Messiah, who “fulfilled the Law”, much like Jesus, in the course of one night spent in the Holy Land, and became free from prohibitions and commandments. It was hinted by Nachmanides saying that a touch of Holy Land is more important than the prohibitions and commandments.
It is felt by the settlers, and Rabbi Ariel, one of the more radical settler Rabbis lamented, “we believed that by encountering the Holy Land, the Jewish hearts will be united with the heart of the land. But for majority of Jews our settlements failed to restore that sacred linkage”. Rabbi Ariel did not understand why the scriptures connected the miracle of ‘sacred linkage’ with the miracle of Messiah. That is why he did not understand the reason of failure. There is no way around it: the only way to God leads by union of our hearts with the hearts of the people of the Holy Land.
This is the sieve: those who feel the spirit of Messiah and join the Palestinians, are the true remainder of Israel coming back home after long exile; while those who reject it are the sons of multitude who joined us attracted by privileges of the chosen people. Our turn to Messiah and to our Palestinian brothers and sisters in one communion would separate grain from waste, and complete the redemption.
Do not fast this Day of Atonement, my brothers. Instead, share bread and wine with your Palestinian brothers and sisters. Do not observe the strict rules of Sabbath but go out and remove the fences. Seek the Spirit of God in your souls and you will find it. Messiah is here. It is not a man you should look to for deliverance, but the Glory of God.
If Messiah is here, the Third Temple is here, as well; it is the temple of all people of the Holy Land. The Third Temple is the people of the Holy Land praying together to one God in the Divine Presence of Shechina. Wish of Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, will become true: the Jews shall worship Allah together with Muslims. Wish of Jews will become true - all the nations will worship God in Jerusalem. The prophecy of St Paul will become true – the remainder of Israel shall come to Christ. The first commandment of Torah will be fulfilled: instead of waiting for man, Israel will turn to God.
Then, the sons of Abraham shall pray together on the Temple Mount, eat at one table, drink together wine of al-Halil and celebrate Easter, Passover and Adha in one day. Jews call themselves by referring to their father: Isaac son of Abraham; Palestinians refer to their sons: Isaac, father of Jacob. Then, we shall refer to ourselves as grandfathers of our common grandchildren, sons of the covenant of the free communes of Palestine. The wars will be over, exiles of Suba and Vilna, Kakun and Cordoba will return home, and in the feast of pilgrims the people of the Holy Land will gather at the foot of Kubbat as-Sahra to listen to the New Covenant of the Divine Presence and the Spirit of God.
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