Is God With Us? By Avi Shafran (Jerusalem Post)
“Dershowitz invoked a verse from the book of Isaiah that speaks of the ultimate futility of the plottings of the Jewish people’s enemies.”
“‘Utzu eitzah v’tufar; dabru davar v’lo yakum,’ the former yeshiva bochur eloquently intoned. ‘Plan a conspiracy, and it will be foiled; speak your piece and it will not stand.'”
“Very inspiring, except that Dershowitz left out the final words of the verse, ‘ki imanu [K]el’ – ‘for God is with us.'”
Commentary;
Recently, Buddy Macy sent out to his list a text of an exchange of emails between himself and members of the “conference of presidents.”
One of the responses he got was apparently sent out around 4 AM in the morning with this text “we are working around the clock…now is the time for action not words-a real test when Ahmadenojad will be here and we can be heard” and accusing Buddy as follows; “You are the one not acting in Israel’s best interest! And, I could not be more serious or certain of this.”
Apparently the article below refers to the UN Rally for which the high and mighty “conference of presidents” was “working around the clock.”
Hmm, but somehow, in working around the clock, more than one somebody forgot about The Almighty, about Our Father, About Ha Kadosh Borchu. MB
Excerpts;
At the recent large rally near the United Nations, it was encouraging to see the breadth of support for Israel and outrage at Iran’s current leadership. Not only were Jews of very different stripes present – from the bare-headed to the black-hatted – but there was quite a representation of non-Jews as well, white and black, American, European and even Middle-Eastern.
The event’s organizers deserve credit for all the work they put into it, and the vast majority of the tens of thousands of Jews who participated surely left with only good feelings. And yet, something – or, perhaps better said, Something – was missing: a clear expression of the Jewish people’s faith in the Almighty.
The void was most starkly evident during the speech of famed lawyer and author Alan Dershowitz. After reading a lengthy indictment of the Iranian president and his policies, Dershowitz invoked a verse from the book of Isaiah that speaks of the ultimate futility of the plottings of the Jewish people’s enemies.
“Utzu eitzah v’tufar; dabru davar v’lo yakum,” the former yeshiva bochur eloquently intoned. “Plan a conspiracy, and it will be foiled; speak your piece and it will not stand.”
Very inspiring, except that Dershowitz left out the final words of the verse, “ki imanu [K]el” – “for God is with us.” Whether he did so intentionally or not, the truncation seemed to symbolize an attitude that is sadly prevalent today.
THE PROPHET Isaiah was not the only one whose words were edited. When a Jewish band called Blue Fringe struck up the Shlomo Carlebach classic “Am Yisrael Chai” it used the title words for both parts of the song. In the Carlebach rendition, though, which became one of the signature songs of the Russian refuseniks during the dark years of Soviet Jewry’s anguish, the words to the second part are “Od Avinu Chai” – “Our Father Still Lives.” No room for Father, apparently, on the Fringe.
Even had the Talmud not informed us that our Succot are to remind us of the seemingly insubstantial “clouds of glory” with which God protected our ancestors from all harm and attack, could we have had any doubt that our fragile holiday abodes hold the message that our true protection comes not from things physical – or political, or military? It is a fundamental Jewish message, and an eternal one.
But it holds particular resonance, I think, for our own unfocused Jewish times.