Jerusalem: time to change it's name

Oh, and I almost forgot.
Not only is Jerusalem up for grabs, but whether or not Israel is even a Jewish country is also a point of deep contention. Listen to what has transpired over the last couple of days.

Two days ago, Raleb Majadle, Israel's first Arab minister (Minister of Science, Culture and Sport) was asked, "Does Israeli law apply on the Temple Mount or not?" In response, he declared from the Knesset podium: "Certainly not. " Then, after being reminded that as a minister he speaks for the entire government, he said, "Before I am a government minister I am first and foremost a person and a citizen and a Muslim. With all due respect for the law, I say clearly, Al-Aksa, Al-Haram al-Sharif (the Muslim term for the Temple Mount) cannot be under the authority of Israeli law … I was born a Muslim and a Muslim I will die. I respect Israeli law … but if there is a contradiction between the law and my deep faith as a Muslim, I announce that I will know what to choose."


I suspect we have a lot to learn from Minister Majadle, and I believe Rashi would agree with me. But before we get to Rashi, get this—

Yesterday, in the run up to Annapolis, the Jerusalem Post reported that Senior Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat said: "Israel has rights in the Middle East and the majority of Israelis are Jews. And when we recognized Israel, we recognized the composition of the state." Erekat had told an Arabic satellite TV interviewer earlier this week that the Palestinian Authority "will never acknowledge Israel's Jewish identity." Erekat told the Post it was up to Israel to decide what to call itself, and that the Palestinians would recognize it accordingly. "Like the Islamic Republic of Iran," he said, "if you change your name to 'the Jewish state of Israel,' we'll call you that."

Bingo! Perfect suggestion.
Let's officially change the name of the state to the Jewish State of Israel, and while we are at it, let's officially name the capitol, the Holy Jewish City of Jerusalem.

The point here is not a political one. It's a Jewish one.
Is there anything more preposterous than the leaders of Israel begging for the country to be recognized as Jewish? And is there anything more obscene than a Muslim unabashedly proclaiming in the Knesset that the bonds of a Muslim to Jerusalem are deeper and more real that the bonds between Jewish Israelis and Jerusalem?
What in the world is going on here!?

Are we afraid to speak the truth?
Are we afraid to assert the fundamental essence of our very identity?
Are we uncomfortable being Jews?

Now that I've got some ranting out of my system, I'd like to offer a Rashi for consideration.

Rashi is the preeminent Torah commentary and he expresses a thought on the very first verse in the Torah that goes to the heart of the identity of Israel, Jerusalem, and each and every Jew. Consider the following—

Israel and the Absurd Power of Truth


Rabbi Shlomo ben Yitzchaki, known to history as Rashi, was a scholar and winemaker who lived in France during the time of the first Crusades. In all of Jewish history, Rashis commentary to the Torah—the Jewish Bible—stands out as the most significant of all. Given his preeminent place in the world of Jewish thought and scholarship, Rashi’s comments about the land of Israel are astonishing, absurd and insightful. In today’s world, they may also be quite instructive. Let’s take a look:

The Torah begins with the ever-famous declaration, “In the beginning G-d created the heavens and the earth.” Rashi introduces his analysis of the Torah with the following query. Since the Torah is, first and foremost, a book of laws and practices proscribed by G-d for the Jewish nation, shouldn’t God have skipped the whole creation thing and gotten right to the point, namely, the commandments given to the Jews? Rashis answer to this question is astounding. Rashi says that the Torah begins with the account of creation inorder to preempt a conard that will one day be leveled against the Jewish people. That canard, in the words of Rashi, is this: “The nations of the world will accuse the Jewish people of stealing the land of Israel.” Therefore, to cut such a perfidious accusation off at the knees, Rashi says that the Torah begins with Creation so that the Jewish people will be able to respond, “G-d created the world, the entire earth is His and He chose to give the Land of Israel to the Jewish people.”
Rashi’s words are astonishing, absurd, and profoundly insightful. Here’s what I make of them.

1) Rashi’s words are astonishing. At the time Rashi was writing, Israel had been under Muslim rule for four hundred years and the Christian Crusaders were marauding their way across Europe to wrest the Holy Land from their grasp. As for the Jews, there was only a tiny, defenseless community left in a land that hadn’t known Jewish sovereignty for eleven centuries. In that historical context, Rashi had the chutzpah to write that there would yet come a day when Jews would again be sovereign in Israel and, once sovereign, the rest of the world would accuse the Jews of “stealing” the land from it’s rightful inhabitants. It’s astonishing that from within the medieval world of the Crusades, Rashi could see a time when there would be a Jewish State in Israel. Equally astounding, is that he could imagine a world that included a mechanism that would enable nations from around the globe to unite against the right of the Jews in Israel.

2) Rashi’s words are absurd. Think about it: The response that Rashi proposes we offer to the unified accusation that the Jews stole the land of Israel is that the same God who created the world, also gave the land of Israel to the Jews. Tell me, do you really think such an answer would ever fly with the likes of Mahmoud Abbas, Hassan Nasrallah of Hezbollah or the European Union? I can just see it now. Olmert calls up Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, tells him that G-d gave Israel to the Jews, and he immediately apologizes for having ever questioned the Jewish right to Jerusalem. Next thing you know, the lion lays down with the lamb and we all live happily ever after. It’s absurd! What in the world was Rashi thinking?

3) Rashi’s words are insightful. Rashi was no fool, and I believe that what he was trying to tell us was this: When truth is presented with conviction, nothing can stand in its way. And, when all is said and done, the only weapon the Jewish people may ultimately have at their disposal is the power of truth.

For over fifty years now, the Arab-Israeli conflict has always been about one fundamental issue—the right of the Jewish people to the Land of Israel and Jerusalem.

I have a feeling that what Rashi wanted us Jews to know is this: Tanks, and planes, and missiles are vital. At the same time, the truth is also a weapon—perhaps the ultimate weapon . How it works I don’t exactly know, but some how, some way, when the entire Jewish people can speak with one clear voice and say from the depths of our souls that the land of Israel is the homeland of the Jewish people, and Jerusalem is the Holy Jewish City, that this declaration will make all the difference in the world.


I propose that we run with Mr. Erekat's suggestion to change the name of the country and that the Prime Minister of Israel, from the Knesset podium, proclaim loud and clear to the entire world: From now on the State of Israel will be called The Jewish State of Israel, and it's capitol, The Holy Jewish City of Jerusalem.

I believe that if he were to do that, and if every Jew stood up to second his motion, this would change everything.

Anyone in the Knesset second that ?