Competing visions of the Messiah in the modern state of Israel.

No, it's not what it looks like. I'm not claiming Cook is the messiah. Just a moment is needed to savour that innings. Breath. Ok, back.( I wrote this sentence a week ago when it was still fresh)

One of the subjects I touched upon in my Undergraduate thesis is the ambiguity of the messianic vision in Jewish thought and how at the time of Shabbatai Tzvi many different versions of the messiah could be envisaged that could claim equal authority. 

These have been troubling times in the past few weeks. It is clear that everyone wants the terrible attacks to stop immediately and we pray for the speedy recovery of those wounded by these terrible attacks. But I would like to throw out a few ways to consider approaching peace, particularly with regard to Jews and their neighbours. And funnily enough this has much to do with how we envisage the concept of messianism and redemption.

One way, for example, is to see persecution as the inevitable condition of Jewishness and exile and therefore pray for the eventual triumph of the Jewish people over our enemies in the form of the coming of the messiah. Everyone wants these terrible events to stop of course, but some have presented it as an inevitable conflict which can only be truly resolved in the messianic future and for the meantime the solution is to pray for respite from our enemies. Is there an inevitable us vs them element in all this? 

This idea is arguably supported by the Kabbalistic and Hasidic depiction of our forefathers and the events of their lives. The stories in Bereshit are deeper truths concerning human nature and history. The forefathers each represent a different characteristic, and this week's portion is about Avraham who embodied Hesed, or lovingkindness. Similarly, the struggles between different characters such as Ya'akov and Eisav, as well as Yishma'el and Yitzhak are understood in broader, cosmic terms. Do we regard the events in Israel as part of a broader, intrinsic, particularist dynamic of Jewish history?

Or is the messianic vision one of coexistence and the ambition more universal? Do we pray that swords are turned into ploughshares, try to achieve this with proactive effort and belief, refuse to accept the inevitability of conflict however naive that seems and not actively worry about how the final end will come? Could it be considered an ideal that, for example, a two-state solution is realised and harmony achieved at the expense of what appears to be a more proactively messianic and specifically Jewish vision of the future? Should our national role be to try and unite the world as one in peace?

The particularistic vs universalistic visions are ones  that different Jewish thinkers have favoured at different points in history and is a fluctuating dynamic that I too experience at different points in my life. Especially in situations so close to the heart my thoughts range from: 'Naive lefties with no sense of reality' to 'Right wing bigots with the sophistication of a five year old.' 

 Recently I've taken to reading the Parasha without any commentary and waiting for something to hit me that resonates with contemporary situations. In particular, Avraham Avinu is an excellent case study for approaching the conflicting emotions that we encounter in response to immensely difficult daily challenges.