Former Israeli Foreign Minister and Defence Minister Moshe Arens (27th December 1925 – 7th January 2019)

Friend and Lover of The State of Israel

“Knesset Speaker Yuli Edelstein eulogized former minister Moshe Arens, who had passed away, saying: “The State of Israel lost one of its greatest lovers, Moshe Arens. For decades and until his last day, Arens was devoted to one idea with all his heart and soul: the resurrection of the Jewish people in its country. His contribution to the security of Israel, and its international standing is invaluable, and it will stand as an eternal memorial for him.”

Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu eulogized Moshe Arens with the words: “Moshe Arens’ tremendous contribution to our people and to our country will be remembered forever…” “…I loved you like a son loves his father….” “…I saw Moshe do amazing work time and again to fortify the position of the State of Israel – as our ambassador in Washington, as Foreign Minister, as chairman of the foreign affairs and security committee, and as Defense Minister…” “…In recent years, he dedicated himself to documenting the full story of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, where people from Beitar played a central role…” “…Moshe’s enormous contributions to our nation and our state will be remembered forever…”

A founding member of the Herut party – a forerunner of the Likud – Arens ran for the Knesset on the Likud list, winning a seat in 1973. He then later served as Ambassador to the United States from 1982 to 1983. During his tenure as ambassador, Arens brought Binyamin Netanyahu onto his staff in Washington. Arens also held the position of Defense Minister from 1983 to 1984, and again from 1990 to 1992 and a third time in 1999. He also served as Foreign Minister from 1988 to 1990.

President Reuven Rivlin lauded former Defense Minister and Ambassador to the US, Moshe Arens, eulogizing the former Irgun member and Likud veteran as: “One of the most important defense ministers in Israel’s history.” “Misha [Moshe] was one of the most important leaders of the Herut movement,” Rivlin said in a statement Monday. “A man of honor who never flinched from the fight. Misha was one of the most important ministers of defense the State of Israel ever had. He was not a commander or a general, but a devoted man of learning who toiled day and night for the security of Israel and its citizens.” “Misha worked his whole life in key positions to ensure Israel’s development and success – as a member of the Etzel, as a scientist and engineer, as a statesman, as an ambassador and as a manager of the most important industries for Israel’s security. His important contributions to correcting the historical record regarding the role of the Jewish Military Union (ZZW) in the Warsaw Ghetto uprising will also never be forgotten. Misha was a man of bravery, determination and unbounded love for our country. With the honor and nobility of a Beitari, his an internal compass and Zionist vision showed him the way in everything he did.”

Arens, an aeronautics engineer who entered politics in the 1970s, was born in Lithuania in 1925. He moved with his family to New York in 1939, and later joined the Beitar Zionist youth movement. After immigrating to Israel in 1948, Arens joined the Irgun underground movement and later helped found the Herut party, a forerunner of the Likud. On 7th January 2019 Arens passed away at the age of 93. He is survived by his wife, Muriel, and their four children. Friend and lover of the State of Israel.

Friend or Lover?

This reminds me something that I’ve learned as I try to take a few minutes each day to learn more of the Hebrew language. It is always a treat, despite the slow pace… I have learned that for a long time, Abraham was a friend of God. So I thought “ohhh, friend….” The name in the Hebrew Bible should be Chaver.
So I searched the verses, and looked for Chaver (friend) in Isaiah 41:8, 2 Chronicles 20:7 and James 2:23… But there was no Chaver! No friend.
Instead, I found the name Ohev, (אוהב). What!!! Ohev, it comes from the name love, Ahavah, (אהבה) so Abraham was not a friend of God, he was a lover of God!!! This is a big difference… Abraham was not just a pal of God, he loved God, he was passionate for Him!
Abraham is the father of our faith. So, as his children, we can be like him, lovers of God, not just friends, or pals with Him. Like Moses Arens, we need to have a passionate heart to achieve and transform the world around us.

Now… Let us look further at the deep implication of that discovery.
There is a verse in Genesis 12 that is very well known to Zionist Christians.
“I will bless those who bless you and curse those who curse you.” This is the Almighty speaking…our Father in heaven.
Abraham has a strong connection with HaShem, and HaShem has a strong connection with Abraham.
So, the people who bless Abraham will be connected to him and to the Almighty as Abraham and HaShem are already connected together by a strong bond…

Shela… Meditate…
In Hebrew, there are root words, and many words will derive from that root word. The vast majority of words in the Hebrew language can be boiled down to a three-consonant root word that contain the essence of the word’s meaning. Even if you cannot read Hebrew, you will find that you can get some insights into the meaning of the Bible by identifying the roots of words. If the same Hebrew root is used in two different places, the words and their meanings are probably related. If you see the same English word in two different places, but the corresponding Hebrew words have different roots, this may indicate that there is a different shade of meaning that the English is not reflecting.

The root word for the name blessing is BRKH, ברך .ברך, Berekh is knee. The verb is to kneel, and when we kneel it is as an act of submission and/or giving honour to the person. As a person kneeling down before a king to show him honour.
So by honouring Abraham, we honour God, so the ones acknowledging Abraham, acknowledge God through Abraham! So the ones acknowledging Abraham, HaShem will acknowledge.
Get it? No anti-semitism to be found there!
Like the story of the king…The king will answer and say to them, “Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these, My brethren, you did it to Me.”
Now something else that we can’t see in the English language… “Curse those who curse you.” The name curse in Hebrew in not the same name in the sentence, the first curse is mekalelecha, from the verb lekalel. Again, we can see a root word Kal, (קל) which is light. So, it means the ones who treat you lightly, belittle you, underestimate, scoff at, downgrade, treat you with contempt.

Then the second time the verb is used, it is what God does; curse the person, aor, from the name Arur, accursed. Which means also to take away, to reduce the person.

So when we bless Abraham, we are enlarged, in all the sense of the word, we are enlarged in our way of thinking, of living and understanding, we are connected to HaShem. If we choose to curse Abraham, to belittle him, to sneer at him and at his descendants… We are cursed, reduced in our way we see the world, our understanding of the world, and our view is reduced. We are poorer in all our ways…
Shela. Meditate.
The choice is ours, depending of how we choose to acknowledge Abraham, his children and his descendants, Israel and her land, her people.

I choose to bless Abraham and his descendants. I choose to bless the Lover.

Blessings from Zion,

Nathalie Blackham,
Presenter, Israel First TV Programme.