Rabbi Nathan Lopes Cardozo
Cardozo Academy
12 March '10
(1st Post, 30 April '09)

Throughout the many centuries, historians, philosophers and anthropologists have struggled with the notion called “Israel” more than with nearly any other topic. While trying hard to place Israel within the confines of conventional history they constantly experienced academic and philosophical frustration. Whatever definitions they suggested, they would always discover that these definitions would break down due to some serious inconsistencies. Was Israel a nation, a religion or an altogether mysterious entity which would forever stay unexplainable? Sometimes it was seen as less than a nation and more as a religion, only to be challenged by others who believed the reverse to be true. Again others claimed that it could not fit into any of these categories.

What was clear was that it was impossible to fit “Israel” into any specific definition or known scheme. It resisted all historical concepts and generalities. The uniqueness of Israel necessarily thwarted the people’s natural desire for an explanation since explanation always implies arrangement in categories. Anything which flies in the face of such an attempt is alarming and most disturbing. This fact became even more obvious once the Jew was forced out of his country by Titus the Roman and specifically after the collapse of the Bar Kochba rebellion. It was at that moment that the Jew was hurled into the abyss of the nations of the world. Since that day the Jew was confronted with a new condition: Ongoing insecurity. While mankind at large has always been confronted with moments of insecurity, it was the Jews to whom destiny has denied even the smallest share of a dubious security which others possess. Whether Jews were aware of it…