June 2002
By Rabbi Dr. Sol Roth
Anti-Semitism is erupting once again, and around the world. Most disturbing is its manifestation in France. It is said that it is not the French people that is responsible for it, but rather the large Muslim community that has taken up residence in France. This is a totally unsatisfactory defense. If the French government takes few initiatives to suppress anti-Semitism, then it is allowing and condoning it and, therefore, in effect, supporting it.
It is particularly repugnant that European states in general - France is not the only one - fail to resist the recurrence of anti-Semitism. One would have thought that after the Holocaust, for which European states were directly or indirectly responsible, they would have treated anti-Semitism as an abomination and striven to eradicate it.
But such is the nature of anti-Semitism. It occurs even when most unexpected. One can try to explain this phenomenon, one could find reasons for it, one could analyze it; it forever remains a mystery. Rashi described it as simply a universal pattern of human conduct. As he put it, "It is a law of life; it is known that Esau hates Jacob."
That being the case, the existence of the State of Israel is an incalculable blessing, not only for the people of Israel, but for Jews around the world. The creation of the Jewish State has not solved the Jewish problem, as many Zionists had hoped. What the Jewish State does mean, however, is the
possession of a great source of Jewish power that may be used for security and self-defense.
The State of Israel is a blessing that should inspire the appreciation and the dedication of every Jew.
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