You Must Take It With You!
The answer to the problem of security for the Jewish People is contained in a passage from Parshat Beha’alotcha familiar to everyone who prays in a synagogue on a day when the Torah is read.
As the Sefer Torah is taken from the Holy Ark we echo the words that Moshe said when the Holy Ark moved ahead of the nation as it journeyed through the wilderness: “Arise, O G-d, and let Your enemies be scattered, and let those who hate You flee before You.”
The “enemies”, explains Rashi, refers to those haters of Jews who do not fight them in the open, while “those who hate You” are the ones who try to persecute them. Although the passage is directed to G-d, the application is to G-d’s chosen people, for whoever hates Jews is characterized as hating G-d.
The Holy Ark containing the sacred Tablets received at Sinai may be looked at as a portable Mount Sinai. As long as Jews felt that they were taking the Sinai experience with them wherever they went, they were privy to Divine protection against their enemies, the open ones and the closet variety.
In a world filled with both kinds of Jew-haters we must learn the lesson of taking the Torah received at Sinai with us in order to achieve security for Israel forever.
