Daily Devotionals

Voice of the Lord

Devotional: 5th of Iyar

If one of yours [an Israelite] was scattered to the far end of the sky, ADONAI your God will gather you even from there (Deuteronomy 30:4).

The shalosh regalim (the three pilgrimage festivals given in the Torah) inextricably link the cycle of the Jewish year to the Land of Israel. Each festival has an agricultural component that can be fulfilled only in the Land of Promise. Hence, Jewish longing to return to the Land is reinforced in the biblical practice of Jewish religion.

Well over a century ago, the British Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli, himself of Jewish background, noted this connection: "The vineyards of Israel have ceased to exist, but the eternal Law enjoins the children of Israel still to celebrate the vintage. A race that persists in celebrating their vintage, although they have no fruits to gather, will regain their vineyards."

As Disraeli foresaw, the eternal Jewish bond to the Land of Israel demanded a fulfillment in history. No event celebrates that fulfillment better than Yom Ha'Atzma'ut, the fifth of Iyyar, May 14,1948, when an independent Jewish state was again declared in the Land. This same event also marks the imprint of God upon modern history. The Jewish return to the Land is the product not only of Jewish aspiration, but of a biblical promise and God's intervention to fulfill it. He is still at work, bringing his Word to pass.

...pray for spiritual awakening in the Land of Israel, confident that this is part of God's promise of restoration for the Jewish people.

RR