IN THE MERIT OF SIX HOUSES

The day arrived when all the ministering angels of the world came before the Heavenly Court to debate the matter of Israel facing war against its enemies amongst the nations of the world.

The prosecuting angel approached the tribunal and opened his speech by saying: “See, the People of Israel, whom God has gathered together from the four corners of the earth, and brought to the Holy Land. They show ingratitude, giving away His inheritance to the evil ones. Therefore, it is fitting that all of the goodness they have received should be rendered into harshness, and their enemies should vanquish them.”

At that moment, one of the ministering angels came to the defense of Israel, saying: “It is not that Israel shows aversion for the goodness that God gave them, but rather because He, God, is a Lord of Vengeance, while they, Israel, desire to increase peace in the world. Regarding their violation of the Divine covenant, they do so only in order to create a peaceful, New Middle East. Moreover, they are tired of war, and because of their great weakness, they believe their enemies are similarly tired, and seek tranquility.”

The prosecutors were ecstatic, realizing that this ministering angel, who had come to defend Israel, actually provided even more evidence for their own case!

The prosecutor then spoke: “If their intentions were truly good, how is it that they abandoned their righteous brothers living in Judea, Samaria, and Gaza, racing to embrace and kiss murderers, enemies of their nation, supplying them with weapons, and signed an agreement with their enemies allowing them to rule over large parts of the Land of Israel and cause them such pain?”

Michael, the great ministering angel, arose and argued: “But within Israel there are also many settlers who hold tight to the Land with great devotion, and even though Arab terrorists attack them on the roads day and night, and even though they must often bury their dead, they are not deterred, but rather, they adhere to and fulfill their faith.”

At once, a great buzz arose in the Divine chambers, with the merits of the settlers apparently about to tip the scales in favor of Israel.

Abruptly, Satan rose to defend his cause, saying: “The settlers are not such great heroes. The reason they remain in their communities is not because of their immense devotion for the Holy Land, but rather, because they purchased their homes for bargain basement prices, and have nowhere else to go.”

At that point, another ministering angel answered: “Just now, on the eve of the Sabbath in which Israel reads the Torah portion in which is written the words of the scouts, that “the Land is very, very good,” in one of the Jewish communities atop the mountain range near Shechem, in the place where all Israel stood over 3,000 years ago with Joshua and reaffirmed the Divine Covenant – in that very place, today, six families from among the Children of Israel, stood heroically, and despite all the internal and external obstacles, fulfilled the commandment of settling the Land, signing a contract to build new homes there.”

At that moment, the prosecutor fell backwards as the merit of the six new homes in Israel prevailed over the people’s transgressions. Consequently, it was decreed that the people of Israel would emerge victorious over their enemies and would merit seeing the building of their Land.

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Note: Whether the victory will come speedily or over a long period of time, whether it will come easily or with difficulty, we are still unsure; this has not yet been decided with finality. The more Jews repent for their lack of appreciation of the cherished Land of Israel, and the more Jews settle in Judea and Samaria, the closer our Redemption will be, speedily in our days. Amen.

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