9 Comments

David Ben-Gurion, an atheist, was being a clever politician when he held up a Bible, a torah scroll, or the tanakh as if that were all the argument that he needed. Moreover, the god, elohim, which is first mentioned in Bereshit 1, doesn't even exist. We know that this MUST be true because elohim exists if and only if the Bible is substantially correct. Genesis 1:1 - 2:4, you see, is a bundled deal; take it all or leave it. However, anyone who is familiar with astronomy and who can read and understand the first chapter, even in a Christian translation, will know that we don't live in the waterworld described in Ber. 1. There is no hard object called rakia, aka shamayim, holding up a great body of mayim above it (Psalms 148:4). The Moon, the Sun, and the other stars are not attached to shamayim aka sky and heaven (Ber. 1:8). There are no chambers for elohim attached below or above the rakia (Amos 9:6). Neither Elijah nor JC ascended to the shamayim which doesn't exist, not even with a rocket like Elon Musk's new "Starship". It's all b.s. Should one day humans encounter a god calling itself elohim and displaying vast powers, it won't be the god of the erroneous, misleading torah.

Yes, I'm reading the cosmogony and cosmology literally, just like I read literally the parts about a great ark, a captivity in Egypt, and the affair with Ahaseurus, Mordecai, and Esther. Context in each of these four cases indicates that the reader is to accept the events and circumsances described at face value, even if there is also an allegorical or other cryptic teaching embedded in the stories. When we read about Joshua plotting and carrying out a massacre at Jericho, we take that, too, literally, even if we don't believe that the story is an accurate description of events. I would add here that the story hardly supports DBG's contention that the colonists' descendants have a right to the land.

Now, it so happens that David Ben-Gurion knew all about the circumstances and motivations for declaring the existence of the State of Israel. People had been working on the project since before the time when Herzl held that meeting in Basel. Every now and then DBG publicly declared what the state's goal was at its founding. For instance, in January 1962, during his second term as PM, he asserted that...

"...With the exception of the USSR as a federated Eurasian state, all other continents will become united in a world alliance, at whose disposal will be an international police force. All armies will be abolished, and there will be no more wars.

In Jerusalem, the United Nations (a truly United Nations) will build a Shrine of the Prophets to serve the federated union of all continents; this will be the seat of the Supreme Court of Mankind, to settle all controversies among the federated continents, as prophesied by Isaiah...." (JTA Daily News Bulletin, Thursday, January 4, 1962, p. 3)

Facts on the ground have changed a bit since then. The USSR didn't endure as long as people had expected it to, and the USA is showing signs of replacing the USSR's role in DBG's democracy hustle. Still, this is no reason to doubt that the FOUNDING objective is what DBG claimed, or that the goal today is "a truly United Nations"; a "Shrine of the Prophets" and "Supreme Court of Mankind" in Jerusalem; a "federated union of all continents", and a unipolarist police state controlled by the nation of Israel and its state. Of course, DBG was a known bullshitter, as we saw above with the Bible stunt. So there's no reason to believe him about abolishing all armies. That remark was sentimental drivel for girls and mama's boys, and a rebellion against the planned, ugly despotism is inevitable.

"Pour out Thy wrath upon the Goyim that have no da’as of Thee, and upon the mamlachot that have not called upon Thy Shem."

Expand full comment

Thank you for this beautiful article. As someone who recently made aliyah it confirms my choice

Expand full comment

Excellent all around: deep, insightful, important.

Expand full comment

Thank you for a beautiful, insightful article.

Expand full comment
May 30, 2022·edited May 30, 2022

60 years ago, when I was 7 , I stood transfixed by a picture on the front page of my grandmother's Yiddish newspaper. There, in full color, was the Kesset aglow in sunlight. I knew, deep with my entire being it was important. It swelled me. I thank Dr. Gordis for putting the words and meaning to the experience I felt as that 7 year old. And now I feel yet more strongly, about the miracle and necessity of a Jewish homeland. It has awakened a yearning in me that is becoming consuming. Forever in the debt of Dr. Gordis for his persistent brilliant exploration of the journey and struggles facing the Jewish people.

Expand full comment

This is so good! So true, and something that many people forget: why we are here to begin with.

Expand full comment

This is fantastic. Thank you.

Expand full comment

The best

Expand full comment