Three Things Every Jew Needs to Hear at the Seder This Year
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Never in human history has a nation of so few done so much so quickly in the face of so many threats to its survival and security.
In 1808 former President John Adams said, “I will insist the Hebrews have contributed more to civilize men than any other nation. If I was an atheist and believed in blind eternal fate, I should still believe that fate had ordained the Jews to be the most essential instrument for civilizing the nations. They are the most glorious nation that ever inhabited this Earth.”
President Adams most likely would not be surprised by the extent of Israel’s contributions to the world today. In fact, listing Israel’s innovative, scientific, technological, and agricultural breakthroughs is easier than finding sand on the beach.
Used throughout the world, their monumental inventions include the drip irrigation system, solar-powered water heaters, the USB flash drive, the Waze GP navigation app, a driver assistance system that can prevent vehicular accidents, a wearable robotic exoskeleton that helps people with spinal cord injuries walk, a pill that can examine the digestive system, and a wearable device that uses AI to assist vision-impaired people.
In recent months, Israel has added more stunning accomplishments to their impressive list.
In a ground-breaking achievement, Israeli researchers discovered a new way to make glass that is easier to manufacture than standard glass and can, in effect, fix itself. By combining peptide powder with water, scientists found that glass will form. Described as “self-healing”, the glass is able to repair its own cracks because it is adhesive and can be glued together. Scientists hope to apply this new discovery in a wide array of scientific and technological ways.
Another new achievement is Israel’s AI-driven defense system aimed at protecting property from the types of wildfires that plague Los Angeles. Using eco-friendly fire retardants along with Artificial Intelligence, the mechanism is able to form protective barriers and extinguish spot fires caused by wind-blown embers.
With a goal of solving the worldwide blood shortage, an Israeli startup recently innovated a way to mass-produce lab-grown red blood cells using stem cell technology instead of donor blood cells.
In another scientific advancement of late, Israeli researchers said that for the first time in history they were able to connect the parts of speech to the activity of individual cells from the regions of the brain. Because a patient was able to communicate with thoughts rather than voice, scientists are hopeful that this new discovery will help people with conditions such as ALS and brain injuries.
Israel’s contributions to the world emanate from a desire to solve problems and to enhance the global quality of life. It’s an expression of the Jewish mission to repair the world.
Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-NY) said, “In span of only a few decades, Israel has emerged as one of the most dynamic democracies after one of the gravest catastrophes. Never in human history has a nation of so few done so much so quickly in the face of so many threats to its survival and security. The achievements of the Jewish state are nothing short of astonishing. I marvel at the modern miracle it represents, and I wish everyone else saw what I so clearly see.”
Israel’s contributions to the world emanate from a desire to solve problems and to enhance the global quality of life. In fact, repairing the world is a Jewish mission. Yet, one of the biggest and most unfortunate ironies is that, with all that Israel has created, after seeing pictures of Gaza and Southern Lebanon, many now primarily associate Jews with tearing down rather than building. In actuality, it is Israel’s enemies who darken the world by using their resources to destroy rather than to create, and to break rather than to fix.
Israel’s remarkable achievements lead us to wonder how much more they could accomplish if so many of their resources were not spent in their perpetual fight for survival, fending off threats surrounding them. Indeed, the Jewish people have been hunted like no other people. There are Jews who survived the Holocaust but were later killed by Hamas or other terrorists. Also, we recently learned that a man named Shlomo Mantzur, who survived the 1941 Farhud massacre against the Jews in Iraq, was killed in the October 7 massacre. Even in death, he has no peace because Hamas still holds his body hostage.
The Jewish people have known rampant persecution for over two millennia. In 1938 Germans unleashed widespread pogroms, destroying synagogues and Jewish-owned businesses and homes. Named after the shattered glass that littered the streets, the event came to be known as Kristallnacht, the night of broken glass. Our history includes countless pogroms in which our glass, along with our dreams of living in peace, was shattered.
Yet the Jewish people have not only survived but have thrived. With an uncanny ability to self-repair, the Jewish people have done the seemingly impossible, managing again and again to pull themselves up by their bootstraps even when they had no boots.
How fitting it is that the Jewish people are the ones who have now discovered a way for broken glass to repair itself. With their boundless determination they are fixing what is broken and seeing even during the darkest hours glimmers of light within the shattered glass.
I'd like to add that by fighting these particular enemies, Israel is also trying to fix what is broken in the world. The dangers of radical Islam and Iran.
So right , supporting you from 🇬🇧
Every land and society, and all of humanity should THANK Israel for so much sacrifice in the front lines, and help Israel stop t-rrism. "First the Saturday people, then the Sunday people," is the Islamic saying, AND they end up persecuting even muslims who seem a bit not in step with their version of their religion etc. Everyone should pray for the land of Israel and the Jewish people and do whatever each can to help support the safety, security, and integrity of the land of Israel, and the Jewish people. It's doing themselves a huge favor. Also, the anti-semitic, anti-israel brainwashing that goes on in not even religious circles, but in worldwide media and academy is so detrimental to those who buy into it. So many people are really just idealistic and being brainwashed to support t-
I was hoping this article would address the divisions in Israeli society and how to fix those. But Israeli tech is impressive
Prayer is the only way.
Only if prayer is accompanied by sincere effort to improve our interpersonal relationships with other Jews can we even hope to have unity.
Definitely part of prayer is asking for help in our interpersonal relationships. We can only improve, we can only breathe, we can only do etc. etc. by going to G-d for help and thanking Him for all we achieve, including peace between people.
No single article can address everything, just like no single nation can repair everything; however, this writer has done a marvelous job, precisely like the nation of Israel that she writes about!
Besides, it should be clear to everyone that Israel is a bountiful blessing to the world while its enemies are a constant curse, as time will surely show & tell (in case those blinded by hatred fail to see that they are doomed, while the people of Israel and her supporters will b'ez"H continue to survive and thrive)!
Am Yisrael chai is not just an empty slogan; it's a Divine promise!