The Promised Land, Part I

 Rough and Rocky Travelling

Here is an interesting idea--the Jewish Promised Land is actually the United States.  No, this is not some latter day British Israelite theory, wondering where "those feet in ancient times" might have walked.  The thesis, however, (that the US might actually be the Jewish Promised Land) raises some really interesting theological and historical issues which we hope to explore in a short series of posts.

But first, the argument.

USA: The Jewish promised land

By

Stephen Richer

– July 4, 2011

We Jews have always looked to Israel as our promised land. The dates 586 BCE and 70 CE (the destruction of the first and second Temples and the start of the Diaspora communities) are etched into the collective Jewish mind, and we end each Yom Kippur and Passover with the saying: “Next year in Jerusalem.”

But in many respects, we Jews found our promised land when we first stepped foot on American soil (Boston, 1649, Solomon Franco), and later when we came in larger numbers during the 1800s (250,000 Jews by 1880). For the first time, Jews had a home country devoid of a history of Jewish expulsion or systematic Jewish bloodshed. For the first time in history, Jews had a country that – from the beginning – gave de jure acknowledgement to the right to practice to Judaism and the right to be an equal citizen as a Jew.

One Jew – Haym Solomon – quickly recognized the opportunities that the liberal values of the American Revolutionaries might afford future Jews. Solomon put his money where his thoughts were and gave $20,000 to George Washington’s army, making him the largest financier of the American Revolution.

Success ensued. Jews have made gold out of lead in many countries – think of Muslim Spain from 711 to 1492 or Nineteenth Century Germany – but none of these accomplishments can hold a feather to what is truly the golden age of Jewish history: Twentieth Century United States. American Jews freely practiced Judaism; American Jews set up Jewish schools; American Jews ran large corporations; American Jews climbed to the top levels of politics; American Jews became top performers and entertainers; and, as we often proudly boast, American Jews won a whole load of Nobel Prizes. We often decry the anti-Semitic canard that “Jews run the country, or at least Wall Street,” but at the same time, we take some pride in knowing that, yes, we Jews have climbed to positions of great power in the United States. By the end of the century, the average American Jewish household earned $8,000 more than the average American family. Imagine what our ancestors would have said had they known that there would be a country in which Jews were not only tolerated, but in which many Jews were the bosses, the ones hiring and firing their gentile peers without fear of violent retribution.

Has the United States been perfect for Jews? No. Obvious examples include anti-Jewish immigration quotas in the 1920s, anti-Jewish quotas at universities around the same time, Jewish bans from country clubs even in the 1960s, and of course the Jewish-filled ships that fled the Holocaust only to be turned back at American shores. The micro Jewish narrative also speaks of Jewish hardships in America – Jewish bullying at school was commonplace during our parents’ childhood, and it still exists in parts of the country today. Additionally, more hate crimes are committed in the United States against Jews than against any other religion (by far – 71.9% of religious motivated crimes were anti-Semitic in 2009).

But imperfection doesn’t preclude greatness. And the American Jewish history is the greatest tale the Jewish people have to offer in the past 2,000 years. Maybe the Israeli Jewish story will someday surpass ours, but if I had to point to a thriving Jewish culture that is free and – to use my favorite saying – “really dominating at life,” I would point to United States, and perhaps I’d even point to right here in Washington, DC, as a place where Jews are having a blast and making the world a better place.
Rock on, American Jews. Happy Fourth!
Stephen

Stephen Richer is a co-founder and director of Gather the Jews.  He can be reached at stephen@gatherthejews.com.

A similar argument could be made for the UK (which long ago laid aside anti-Semitism, and ever since Disraeli's Prime Ministership had demonstrated that highest political office was open to Jewish people.)  One may arguably add Canada, Australia, and New Zealand into the mix as places of refuge and welcome to Jewish people--although numbers have not been anything like the Jewish population in the United States. 

Richer's piece raises a number of very important issues.  Amongst these are:

-Is there any connection or relationship at all between the modern nation state of  Israel and biblical eschatology and prophecy?  Is the state of Israel a fulfilment of biblical prophecy? 

-What is the orthodox biblical teaching about the Jews and their place in the world; where do they fit in a biblical theology of modern history?  Or, to put the matter in sharp relief--given Richer's thesis, if Iran were to succeed in wiping the nation of Israel from the map, would this have any bearing at all upon redemptive history? 

-What is the appropriate Christian position viz a vis Israel--or for that matter, viz a vis the Palestinians? 

These questions we will endeavour to address in a couple of  forthcoming posts.  Hold on to your seats.  For many, it will likely be "rough and rocky travelling".