Israel: The Small Nation with a Global Responsibility

“On the world map, Israel seems like a tiny, helpless dot compared to the superpowers. And yet, throughout the generations, our sages have insisted that ‘Everything depends on Israel.’” — Rabbi David Solomon Eibenschutz, Willows of the Brook, Portion Lech Lecha.

The interdependence revealed in our global world reflects an internal, spiritual network of communication in which Israel is a central crossroads between the nations of the world; it is like a transit hub of positive power from the highest source to everyone in the world. As RABASH wrote, “It therefore follows that in the work, we should interpret what The Zohar says, that all the nations have a minister over them, but as for the people of Israel, only the Creator governs them.”[i]

Humanity feels, even if not with clear awareness, that the fulfillment of its happy life is in the hands of the Jews. There is an unconscious expectation among the nations of the world that Jews will unite, turn the evil between them into good and hatred into love, move from rejection to closeness, from distance to connection, since only their good, and ours, depends on it.

This is why Rav Kook wrote in the book Ein Ayah:

“When Israel ascends according to his true, internal quality … to give to the entire world a new and corrected form, not only Israel will ascend, but the entire world. …At that time, a new era will begin, in which there will be no admixture of the filth of evil, and wickedness and uprising will not affect it in the least, and anger and sadness will not be able to reign within it, and concern for the balance of the world will be inconceivable.”[ii]

The name “People of Israel” represents the vocation of the Jews to serve the world through the special connection with the force of nature that brings balance and harmony. As is written about it,

“Israel, meaning Yashar-El [straight to the Creator], meaning everything he thinks of is only that everything will get to the Creator, and he is not taken into account because he is not thinking of himself at all… All he wants is to have the means to bestow upon the Creator, and all the nourishments he gives to his body are only to have the strength to work in order to bestow.”[iii]

We, Jews, carry within us the great secret of creation, the method for bringing people closer to each other, for bringing about the deepest connection, which ends with adherence to the supreme power of nature, which is the good and benevolent force that humanity lacks today.

However, unity is not merely a trait we must preserve; it is exactly what we must cultivate among us and bequeath to the nations. It is no coincidence that the nations adopted as their own the most fundamental tenet in Jewish law: That which you hate, do not do unto others. But the nations will not know how to actualize it until we show the way. The more we stall, the more the world will fall into rabid hatred, and will punish us for it.

In the book Maor Eynaim, there is an eloquent explanation of the crucial role of the Jewish people in bringing peace and stability to the world:

“Our sages said, ‘No calamity comes to the world if not for Israel,’ and ‘No good comes to the world if not for Israel.’ … The word ‘for’ indicates a path, a track, which was established as a pathway for abundance. Alternatively, a corruption of the path elicits judgments and calamities since there is no unity.” It continues, “When Israel are separated from their collective root, which is Ein Sof, the whole world and all created beings are also, God forbid, separated.”[iv]

It is difficult for us to hear that everything depends on us: our well-being and that of the whole world. It is difficult to realize the enormity of our role and the responsibility placed on us. Nevertheless, we must listen and act with all haste. The heart of the Jewish nation is broken, utterly shattered, and grounded within egoism. There is no choice but to strive each and every moment to reach connection between us until our collective heart begins to awaken and beat.

In the words of the Holy Shlah,

“Israel are called the ‘Assembly of Israel,’ for although below they are parted from one another, still, above, at the root of their souls, they are one unity, and they are congregated, for they are the part of the Lord. The branches [the people of Israel] that wish to return to their roots must follow the example of their roots, meaning unite below as well. When separation is among them, they seemingly cause separation and severance above, see how far the matter extends. Therefore, the whole of the house of Israel must pursue peace and be one, in peace and wholeness, without a flaw, to resemble their Maker [be in equivalence of form with Him], for so is the name of the Lord, ‘Peace.’”[v]

Once we realize our mission and unite in love, we will discover that sitting on a powder keg need not be our perpetual destiny. Instead, our loving unity will create a peaceful garden around us where we can calmly sit.

“The construction of the world, which is currently crumpled by the dreadful storms of a blood-filled sword, requires the construction of the Israeli nation. The construction of the nation and the revealing of its spirit are one and the same, and it is one with the construction of the world, which is crumpling and awaits a force full of unity and sublimity, and all that is in the soul of the Assembly of Israel.” — Rav Kook, Orot (Lights}, Chapter 9, p 16.