KEHILAT ARIEL MESSIANIC SYNAGOGUE NEWSLETTER
Volume 21, Number 3, January/February 2005
Tevet/Shevet 5765
Email- ka@KehilatAriel.org
Mail- P.O. Box 178755, San Diego, CA 92177 Phone- (858) 490-4355
Barney Kasdan Messianic Rabbi
Inspired by Our Fathers
By Cantor Lyle Leibovitz
It is important to give inspiration to people. I am inspired to be moving the summer of 2005 but at the same time it is sad to say goodbye, for now, to the mishpocha. Kehilat Ariel is still the first messianic home for me and Rabbi Barney has been an inspiration and visionary to me for more than 14 years.
Inspirers and visionaries are clearly seen in the Torah. As we see in Genesis we read and learn the biblical lessons from patriarchal inspirers and visionaries. Three individuals who give us inspiration are Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. It goes without saying these are the patriarchs of Judaism from whom we can learn great lessons of faith, obedience, and also lessons of trying to do things in our own strength apart from relying on God. Abraham was a man who needed guidance for his life. He received not only guidance but divine inspiration when he followed his calling (Gen. 12:1-4). Abraham needed confirmation about the destiny of his descendants, which came with the covenant (Gen. 15). Abraham did not have the full picture, but God gave him faith and inspiration to trust the Provider.
Much can be also said about Jacob. Jacob received dreams and visions from God like his father Isaac before him. God spoke to Jacob when he was at Bethel. Jacob received inspiration from Isaac who blessed him with the promised covenant (Gen. 28:1-4). Jacob heard about a great nation, a blessing from God, and the promised land. The Torah teaches us lessons from God's faithfulness to Jacob and his children who received portions of the promised land. Surely, Jacob was tested during his life with famines and various hardships in life much like we are tested. Through it all, this patriarch drew from God.
Certainly other patriarchs have come along since the early patriarchs. Three other patriarchs of modern Jewish history were Theodor Herzl, Chaim Weizmann, and David Ben Gurion. Did the God of history move these individuals through divine providence? Without doubt! Theodor Herzl gave inspiration to our people, which goes without saying. Herzl, a Hungarian Jew, who later lived in Austria, pioneered the Zionist Movement. Theodor Herzl was a very prolific writer turning out plays, journals, books, and the service on a French newspaper as correspondent.
I see that Herzl dreamed of solving the anti-Semitic problem for our people. His goal was to search and be successful in finding a homeland for the Jewish people.
He met with the German Kaiser, Wilhelm II, and the Ottoman Empire's Sultan but to no success. Theodor Herzl's only hope was to meet with his fellow Jewish people, which resulted in series of meetings as the Zionist Congress over a number of years during the late 19th an early 20th century. Uganda was offered by Great Britain as a possible homeland for the Jewish people. However, the the Zionist Congress rejected East Africa as permanent home for our people. Still, Herzl drew inspiration and faith from his predecessors . He at least saw hope in a national homeland with the assistance of Great Britain.
Certainly, Chaim Weizmann drew inspiration from his predecessor Herzl. This Russian born Jew was very brilliant with scientific endeavors. He, like Theodor Herzl, was a Zionist who fought to accomplish Herzl's unfulfilled dream. Chaim Weizmann helped Great Britain and allied countries win World War I because of his scientific achievements. Also, Weizmann paved the educational foundation for Hebrew University and never quit on the Zionist hope of Theodor Herzl. Over many years with the help of Great Britain Weizmann was successful in bringing to the surface and establishing the Partition Plan of Palestine of 1947 to create a Jewish state alongside our Arab neighbors. This was the Jewish voice to the nations of the world!
David Ben Gurion was another Jewish patriarch. Ben Gurion was a Polish Jew who fought to keep the fire of Herzl and Weizmann burning. Ben Gurion carried the fire of the Jewish dream to secure not only real-estate for Jews, but also a recognizable Jewish state for all Jews. David Ben Gurion settled in the Israel 1906 when he began an agricultural community, which would lead to the formation of kibbutz. Like Chaim Weizmann, Ben Gurion fought as a soldier to settle Jews in a state of its own. In the 1920's David Ben Gurion began to carry his inspiration to workers, and trade unions as a precursor to a soon realized Jewish state.
In 1948 the dream and vision of Theodor Herzl, Chaim Weizmann, and David Ben Gurion became real. The Jewish state was born and inaugurated as Israel. The newly Jewish state for Jews was first recognized by the United States of America. God providentially brought Jews to the land he had sworn to the biblical patriarchs Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. God worked miraculously through the later patriarch David Ben Gurion as Jewish immigrants came to the promised land. God used David Ben Gurion as this Jewish state's first prime minister. Wow!
As we reflect on Jewish history, both ancient and modern, may we all receive inspiration to accomplish God's plan for our lives. Of course, the greatest son of Israel serves as our greatest example:
"Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Yeshua, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God" Hebrews 12:1-2
