By Rabbi Israel Rubin
Even as we celebrate Chanukah, the Jerusalem and Israel crisis weighs heavily on us. Our 'peace partners' have turned against us with violence and terrorism, rocks and fire, murder, barbaric lynching and mutilation.
The Lubavitcher Rebbe was right. The Rebbe emphatically warned against ceding parts of Israel, that each concession whets the enemy's appetite and emboldens them to demand more and more. The Rebbe predicted thirty years ago that an Israeli government would be ready to part with Jerusalem, but we didn't believe that day would come.
The skeptics snickered that the Rebbe was out of touch with reality. 'It doesn't hurt to give up a little here and there! Give peace a chance!'
They attacked the Rebbe for meddling in Israeli affairs, insisting that such matters be entrusted to diplomats and politicians. They threatened that his hawkish position jeopardizes Chabad's many programs and services. Unfortunately, we didn't listen.
The Nobel Peace Prizes, the media euphoria over Oslo and the pomp and circumstance of White House ceremonials lulled and deluded us into wishful thinking and naivete. Painful as it is, we now appreciate the Rebbe's vision.
This is not to gloat I-told-you-so, but to draw attention to the Rebbe's call on a related issue.
With the same foresight, conviction and intensity that he denounced the 'peace process,' the Rebbe emphatically stated that we are in the advanced stages of the "Redemption process," the eternal Jewish belief in Moshiach, the light at the end of the long tunnel of Exile.
But the skeptics snicker that Moshiach is unrealistic in this day and age.
They complain that 'redemption doesn't sound Jewish,' and smacks of escapism. They threaten that such outlandish ideas jeopardize Chabad's many programs and services.
Let us follow the Rebbe's direction to yearn and pray for the ultimate redemption, to learn about it and spiritually prepare for the promised era of true universal peace. May this vision inspire and guide us in the times ahead.
