The Little Nation That Could
by Ray Pettersen

I think about the Jewish people and in particular the Torah observant ones and getting to know them.  Being part of the hustle and bustle of the High Holy Days as a Noahide. Yes, I think of these things and much more.  I love Israel but I tend not to think about the nation of Israel itself when these thoughts roll through my mind. 

I guess the reason I am pondering the nation of Israel today is due to an interview that I recently did with Jim Long, who, during the interview, mentioned a book titled 'Start Up Nation'.  This is a tremendous work that needs serious consideration on many levels.  This book addresses the trillion dollar question: How is it that Israel-- a country of only 7.1 million people, only sixty years old, surrounded by enemies whose land mass is 650 times larger than Israel, they are in a constant state of war, have no natural resources and still produces a greater number of start up companies compared to the likes of Japan, China, Canada, Korea, India and even the United Kingdom.

The authors of 'Start Up Nation' argue that Israel is not just a country but a comprehensive state of mind.  This statement gave me all I needed to start my quest for wisdom on this fascinating subject.

What did this mean, I thought, a comprehensive state of mind?  How can this be and what is so different about Israel compared to the other powerhouse nations of the world.  How are they able to lead the way with so few and so much against them.  It simply defies all logic.

So, off I went and my first stop was DNA.  Is it possible that DNA alone could give the Jewish people this sort of advantage?  I ran across a recently written book that may offer some answers.  The book is titled DNA & The Bible: The Genetic Link by Y.M Kleiman.  This book explores the relevance of these recent genetic discoveries to Biblical tradition.  Does the genetics match the Biblical narrative? Can science help verify tradition and belief that goes back millennia? Is there genetic evidence of the continual lineage of the Hebrew Priesthood dating back to Temple times? Is it now possible to determine the genetic markers of the Patriarch Abraham?  And, for me, how does this DNA affect Israel today, or does it?

There have been many studies showing that alcoholism is inherited along with drug abuse and big feet.  However, I'm not convinced that this is true when it comes to a nation of people.  I believe much of it is your environment.  Kind of like the old saying, lay with dogs, become a dog.  I have yet to complete the DNA & the Bible book but at this point I think the answer will be yes, yes and yes to all of the above questions.  But there is still more out there, I'm certain of it but what is it?  I knew there had to be more to this, so on with the search.

As I was looking for my answer, if there even was one, I came across a quote by Charles Krauthammer from The Weekly Standard, May 11, 1998

"Israel is the very embodiment of Jewish continuity: It is the only nation on earth that inhabits the same land, bears the same name, speak the same language, and worships the same God that it did 3,000 years ago. You dig the soil and you find pottery from Davidic times, coins from Bar Kokhba, and 2,000-year-old scrolls written in a script remarkably like the one that today advertises ice cream at the corner candy store."

By the way I love Charles Krauthammer.  He does fantastic work and just tells it like it is but this was a very revealing statement he made back in '98.  What hit me was for the past 3000 years they have worshiped the same God.  I thought "now I've got something" and quite frankly so does Israel.  If your guess was HaShem you must also worship the same God of Israel.  How do a people continue to survive when all others are out to hurt them some who have said their goal is to exterminate them?  How? HaShem's protection, that's how.  Also, the many Jews who are truly observant, particularly in the Land, increases the protection from HaShem.  But even this was still not a complete answer but I felt like I was closing in on one.

An interesting statistic I ran across was that from 1901 - 2009 there have been 185 Nobel Prize winners who were Jewish.  This is nearly 25% of the total of Nobels ever given out.  This is an astounding fact when we consider that the entirety of the Jewish people only make up 1/24 of 1% of the world's population.  That's 12 Million Jews folks, give or take.  Consider this compared to the nine Nobel Prizes won from the Muslim world which is 1.4 Billion strong, many of whom consider Israel and the Jews their primary enemy.  Amazingly, one of those nine was Yasser Arafat for alleged efforts towards peace. Of course we all know that it is men like Yasser Arafat and Radical Islam that just want the Jews exterminated.  It would seem unless the Swedes and Norwegians start awarding Nobel Prizes for plane hijackings, pizza shop bombings, civilian bus attacks,  Jihad suicides/homicides, drive-by shootings, throat-slittings, embassy attacks and other such acts of barbarisms, the embarrassing low level of contribution to the welfare of Civilization and Mankind by the [Arab] Muslim world will continue.  This, of course, is not a reflection on all Muslims or the religion of Islam, because many have made significant contibutions to Mankind that have gone unrecognized by the Nobel judges.  In fact many Muslims should be given the Nobel Peace Prize for their efforts in gaining peace in their own country's which in many cases is a virtually impossible situation.

When we ponder the fact that they recently gave a Nobel to Barack Obama, who has contributed nothing to benefit Humanity, we realize that there are Muslims far more
deserving.  Well that discussion is for another day but I think it shows the intelligence of the Jewish people overall and their willingness to put Mankind first.  I guess that's part of what it means, a "Light unto the nations".

This was all quit interesting and certainly revealing information but I don't think it entirely answers the question.  I don't know if an exact answer exists but  obviously the Jewish people are very intelligent but there are many intelligent people in the UK, China, Japan and elsewhere so this can only be part of the answer.  The other part has to do with what Charles Krauthammer stated.  Israel worships the same God that it did 3,000 years ago.  This means they have had HaShem, His Torah and their traditions for those 3000 years.  Israel has had God and His Torah for so long that it is now part of who they are today.  Similar to people in the USA who for over 200 years have enjoyed freedom and have never known anything else.  So it will be very difficult for the progessive liberals to achieve their agenda of enslaving the American people because freedom is part of who we are, it's almost in our DNA or is it now part of our DNA?  The Jewish people and Israel has HaShem and His Torah, whether they believe it or not, whether they want Him or not.  It could very well be that after 3000 years that it is now part of their DNA and no amount of denial will change that.  

Knowing this it becomes inconceivable to think that there would be a different outcome.  This is why Israel is a leader among the nations.  How could it be any different?  Even as the increasing number of nations rise up against Israel they continue to give to Humanity and continue to lead Mankind, if only we would open our eyes and see.  HaShem taught mitzvoth to His people 3000 years ago and they continue to live those teachings and pass them on to the next generation.  He taught them how to be a nation and if Israel today, who has no Torah based government, leads the world now, how much more so will they lead when they do?  

I can assure you that with the combination of intelligence and 3000 years ingrained with HaShem and His Torah, regardless of what gets thrown at them by the shameless nations who rise up against her, Israel will be just fine and will continue to show the world the way.  Israel is not only the little nation that could but they are also the little nation that did and does.  HaShem sees to it and remember, their God never slumber or sleeps.

How is your nation?

Written by :

Ray