The Hidden Blessing
A Secret Weapon of Israel
by Brigitte B. Nussbächer

The hidden blessing. Photo Shutterstock
In search of the driving force that enabled Israel to survive to this day and led to its resolve to never giving up hope.
What gave the incentive to continue fighting in the darkest hours? What gives Israelis confidence to this day that - despite all appearances - there will be a bright end?
Burning Questions
When I started to learn about Israel years ago, I kept coming up against the same questions:
Why did these nation not give up for 2,000 years? Any other people without a national reference point (such as minorities in their country of origin) would have long since assimilated and lost their identity.

Where did this utopian hope come from? How could anyone even think of living in Jerusalem again in a completely contrary reality?
Israel's unusual history raises many questions. Photo Shutterstock
Why did the Jews found their own state at that time of all times, after millions had perished in the Holocaust and only a fading minority remained? It was the time in modern history, when Judaism was at its weakest, both in terms of numbers and strengths. What did most of the new immigrants bring with them to build this country, beside the terrible memories of concentration camps and the lifelong scars and disabilities caused by the suffering?
Why do so many Holocaust survivors grow very old and have large families? Had they not experienced first-hand what a nightmare life could be? Hadn't they learned that there was no security? Were they really so naive, as to believe that they could survive in the midst of the many Arab-Muslim states that were not prepared to recognize Israel's right to exist? It was only a matter of time before the next wave of destruction came.
How is it that 23% of all Nobel Prize winners are of Jewish origin, even though they make up only 0.2% of the world's population? That is a hundred times the normal proportion! Why these people, of all people, who have been prevented from developing freely over the centuries by professional bans and who often grew up marginalized in ghettos? How was it possible that this misery led to an explosion of creativity and such triumphs of the spirit?
When I got to know Israelis personally, I often recognized the same pattern in their lives. Rising again and again as a phoenix from the ashes. Using defeats as a springboard. Not letting them get you down. Planting trees for the fallen. Again and again new beginnings, new life emerged from the ruins.
What enabled these people, what was the secret of their inexplicable successes and achievements? What was their secret weapon?
Of course, and rightly so, one can see God's hand and his blessing in all these events. But I was of the opinion that there was more to it than that. Because the things, I wanted to get to the bottom of, were not just miracles. They were events, in which the people concerned played a very active part. What was the secret of their psychological, mental, physical and intellectual resources? And why did this come about despite difficult conditions, disadvantages and suffering?
Does Suffering Have a Purpose?

I found a clue in the writings of Viktor Frankl, a Jewish Austrian psychologist, who spent several years in the Auschwitz concentration camp. In his book “Man’s Search for Meaning”, in which he describes his survival, he writes: “If life has any meaning at all, then suffering must also have a meaning” ...
Can suffering also be an opportunity? Ph. Shutterstock
... and “it is precisely extraordinarily difficult external situations that give people the opportunity to grow beyond themselves internally... and thus opportunities to begin to shape a different reality”. He continues: “Life means ... to bear responsibility for the proper fulfillment of the tasks that life presents to each individual.
Suffering is a very unique task and the way, in which the person affected by fate, bears this suffering is the unique opportunity for a unique achievement”.
Suffering as a breeding ground, suffering as a path - to achieve something special? Suffering as an opportunity?
That was a completely different view from the one I knew.
In the world around me, happiness meant the absence of suffering - and success was associated with unhindered access to resources and options.
It is the hypothesis of the exact opposite of Frankl's approach: with sufficient encouragement, affirmation, support and corresponding opportunities for self-fulfillment (i.e. an environment without suffering and lack), anything can be achieved. Western development programs for individuals and countries are based on this logic.
All my life I had feared suffering and tried to avoid it. Viktor Frankl's book gave me a lot to think about.
From Being a Slave to Becoming the Leader of a Great Empire
If you want to understand Israel, it is obvious to go back to the Bible. And who is a better example of a successful career than Joseph? He became the second man after Pharaoh over Egypt. He was successful and influential: thanks to him, Egypt was able to avoid famine despite seven years without a harvest and was even able to help people from other nations.
From a shepherd and a slave he became the operational leader of the empire at the time. What a rise! But at what cost?
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He was sold as a slave by his own siblings out of sheer resentment, because he was his father's favorite and had dreams, where he was superior to them. He was preferred and denounced his brothers to their father, when they blasphemed. Was the result of his special fostering arrogance and over-confidence that led to hatred and almost to his death?
This trauma was apparently a turning point in his life.
Joseph, the first man in Pharaoh's kingdom. Photo Shutterstock
From here on, we hear that he succeeds in everything because God blesses him and that he rises to become Potiphar's steward. But fate strikes again. This time through a woman, who wants revenge for the fact that she cannot seduce him. He is sent to prison - without a hint of guilt and without the possibility of defending himself. The surprising outcome: The young man, who reported everything negative to his father, had become a man, who did not complain, although now he had every reason to do so. Instead, he got to work in and became the unofficial prison manager. Eventually, his ability to understand God's voice from dreams leads him to Pharaoh's court. The maturity and far-sightedness of his recommendations pave his way to the top of the state - and make him the savior of countless people, including his own family.
Joseph was ready to “bear responsibility for the proper fulfillment of the tasks that life sent him”, to use Frankl's words. The way he bore his suffering ultimately gave him “the unique opportunity for this unique achievement”.
Were the bitter experiences, the disappointments, the years of suffering ultimately the forge in which Joseph's character was formed, so that he could later act without presumption, without condescension and without revenge - even towards his own siblings? Was this climax possible not in spite of but solely because of this pain-filled career?
And what had kept Joseph from sinking into self-pity and giving up hope all these years? What had given him the strength to keep going and make the best of each situation? What inner knowledge had driven him during the long period without any humanly visible rays of hope?
Was Joseph an isolated case? A man with special abilities? An exception? On the one hand certainly, but on the other hand not.
An Orphan with Migration Background Becomes Queen

Let us look at a young girl, who was raised far from home, in a foreign land. Her people, the Hebrews, had been taken into exile from Jerusalem by King Nebuchadnezzar. So she grew up as part of a disadvantaged national minority in Persia. In addition to this uprooting, she also lost both her parents.
An orphan with an immigrant background, she was eventually raised by her older, single cousin.
She was chosen for the king's harem because of her beauty.
Queen Esther speaks for her people. Shutterstock
Another stroke of fate. A woman without rights, whose normal destiny would have been to spend the rest of her life banished to the house of concubines. But her charm and authenticity won her the king's heart and she became queen.
And after only a short time, the fate of her entire people would lie in her hands.
Because Mordechai, her cousin, was not willing to bow down to the prime minister Haman as if to a god, the latter decided to murder all the Jews on a single day, the 13th of the month of Adar. He persuaded the king to decree that the Jews were to be exterminated and their property was to be made available for plundering. Despair spread among the Hebrews. Within Esther as well.
Would she have the courage to go to the king and plead for her people, at the risk of losing her life, because she too was only allowed to approach him, when she was called? In the end, she did so in an incredibly wise way, with the result that the Jews, instead of being annihilated themselves, were allowed to destroy their enemies with royal approval.
Esther's story, in which God's name is not mentioned once, also makes clear the personal responsibility of each individual in an impressive way. Without ifs and buts, without excuses. Esther would have had many reasons not to intervene. But she understood that she had perhaps become queen for precisely this situation and that she too (as Frankl puts it) “was responsible for the proper fulfillment of the tasks that life presents to each individual”. She used the suffering that was to be inflicted on the Jews for a unique achievement and saved her entire people.
How, in the face of this absolute catastrophe, confronted with the extinction of her people, did she rise above herself instead of giving up? Why did she think, she had a chance to turn around the already sealed fate of her people? Where did she find the audacity? What had prepared her for this task? Was it the long difficult years of her childhood in which she had developed an inner strength?
Thousands of Years Later: a Nation Rebuilds its Land
Around 2,500 years later, there was no one in Europe who stood in the way of the genocide of the Jews.
It was carried out with frightening systematicity and efficiency for years. Induced disease, malnutrition and excessive labor were replaced by mass shootings.

Then came the extermination camps, in which millions of people were murdered, mainly in gas chambers (in what is often described as an industrial form). Nazi Germany thus wrote the darkest page in world history. But the whole world supported this atrocious action through either active participation or indifferent passivity.
Holocaust: the genocide of the Jewish people. Photo Shutterstock
By 1945, the majority of European Jewry had been annihilated and almost all property had been looted. The survivors had been transferred from extermination camps to refugee camps and continued to live behind barbed wire because they were still unwanted in their countries of origin. It was the loneliest, bitterest hour since the expulsion into exile - and the most hopeless.
Theodor Herzl's dream of 1897 to reawaken the Jewish state seemed buried under the mountains of corpses, every initiative suffocated in the gas of the extermination chambers. Hope seemed to have crumbled to ashes in the crematoria.

How did it come about that on November 29, 1947, in this very situation, the United Nations decided to offer the remaining Jews the opportunity to proclaim their own state? Did they just want to get rid of the refugees and thus of the responsibility? Did they expect the action to fail?
The UN proposes an independent Jewish state in 1947. Photo Shutterstock
Why did they then advise the Jews not to seize this opportunity? Or did they assume that the Arab states would bring Hitler's Holocaust to an end so that the Jewish question would be buried for all time? Why did they deny Israel military support and even enforce an arms embargo?
And yet one man, David Ben Gurion, decided on his own, against the recommendations of all the Western states, to take the step towards independence: despite the warnings of the Soviet bloc and against the threats of the Arab countries. Even against the advice of his own generals!
What did this man see that the others did not? What was his confidence based on?

Only a few hours after the proclamation five professional Arab armies invaded Israel. The few thousand Jews tried to defend themselves with rifles and grenade launchers against the tens of thousands of the Arab League, their artillery, tanks, airplanes and warships.
The final extinction of the remnants of this people seemed sealed.
Ben Gurion proclaims the founding of the State of Israel. Photo Shutterstock
But they did not give up! What moved Holocaust survivors, who had arrived in the country as human wrecks, to take up arms and fight against all human reason? Why were the Jews born in Israel, the Sabras, not content to continue living as a tolerated minority in the country at the risk of losing everything? What chance did the 650,000 see against 150 million?

But around a year after the proclamation of the state, Israel proved its ability to survive to an astonished world - against all odds.
(More details on the history of Israel you can find in the articles: “Israel – A Hope fulfilled” - Part 1&2)
Nevertheless, Israel emerged stronger from the bitter War of Independence. Photo Shutterstock
We know from physics how diamonds are created: Carbon is transformed in the liquid rock of the earth's crust around 150 km below the surface, under incredible pressure and at over 1,000 degrees Celsius.
This process, in which the hardest natural elements on this planet are formed, which have an incredible radiant power, takes millions of years.
Were 2,000 years of exile, pogroms, persecution and over 6 million deaths the process that created a nation that could rebuild the land of their fathers? Did the way, in which those affected bore this suffering, create the unique opportunity for the unique achievement of founding the State of Israel?
The Special Secret Weapon
The examples described so far have various elements in common.
It is impressively clear that their suffering and the way they dealt with it, shaped and strengthened these persons internally and prepared them for challenges far beyond their imagination. Suffering was ultimately the breeding ground for their later human greatness, their abilities and finally their successes. This is where the meaning of suffering begins to emerge.
The second is the utter hopelessness of the situation. Each time, the sentence had already been passed, the execution had already been partially carried out. And yet, in the face of a seemingly irreversible and unstoppable downfall, these particular personalities did not give up. It was, as if they perceived another reality in addition to what everyone else could observe.
When veterans from the War of Independence were asked how they could explain this victory, the answer of some was: “There is an eternal covenant”. But that is not it alone.
The Jewish understanding of faith is: “Ein Od Milvado” (there is nothing other than him) and “Hakol Letova” (everything is for the good).
In other words, if we believe that God rules the world, that he is good and that everything happens under his guidance, then there must ultimately be a good reason for everything that happens.

It is the prospect of a finally positive outcome, of a blessing that has not yet become visible, but which will certainly occur at a certain point in time. Even if you do not experience this moment yourself, your loved ones will be the heirs of this blessing. To despair and give up before it happens would therefore be proof of a lack of trust in God and would lead to depriving oneself of the finale planned by God.
Waiting for the blessing. Photo Shutterstock
Take the example of the spies sent out by Moses to explore the Promised Land. They returned, but only two of them saw the possibility of taking this land. As a result, all the people had to walk through the desert for 40 years, and those, who doubted, died before the Hebrews actually entered the land. God kept his promise, but only the heirs and those who trusted in him from the beginning experienced this.
The principle of hidden blessing is to trust in the midst of suffering and hopelessness that everything has a purpose and that this is not the end. That despite the rubble and ashes, no - out of the rubble and ashes, God can and will build something new and wonderful, albeit - at the time of his choosing. And to actively look out for this result, to seek it with all our senses and to work towards it with all our strength.
Israel's men and women have used this secret weapon over and over again with success.

What is Israel's strength? Photos Shutterstock.

Own Experiences
At first hearing, this principle may sound simple. But when you try to apply it yourself, you realize how much inner strength and perseverance it requires. The most persistent opponents are your own thoughts, fears and experiences. It is therefore primarily a battle against oneself, a targeted control of the evaluation and interpretation of what one perceives.
The concept began to fascinate me. As someone, who had not had an easy childhood and was suffering from an incurable illness, I wondered, whether I might be able to find traces of a hidden blessing in my own life that I had not previously been aware of. This search became a revelation, as I suddenly began to assess and understand my own past differently.
All my life I had missed the security and confidence that accompanies people, who experience security and support in their parental home. My father's focus on his work on the one hand, the lack of harmony between my parents and my mother's mental illness on the other, meant that our home was just a place to sleep for me. When my mother's illness became so acute that she could no longer live at home, I was left to my own devices at the age of 16. The fact that all my other relatives lived far away, made the situation even worse. There was no one available to help me, so I had to cope on my own: with everyday life, but even more so with decisions and actions that were crucial for my future. These were very dark, lonely years for me.

Sad little girl. Photo private.

40 years later. Photo private
It was only when I began to deal with the Jewish understanding of suffering that the question began to germinate in me, as to whether there was a causal connection between the shortcomings of my childhood and my later successes. Had I unconsciously grown inwardly and become stronger as a result of this situation? It helped me to find a late peace with my past.
The fact that I have suffered from increasingly frequent and intense migraines since I was 14 years old, has also taught me something: To enjoy the moment and to try with all my might to make the best of it, because I never know whether the hours ahead will be mine. Whole days corroded away by pain and erased from life, heavy as unburied corpses. But what joy, what gratitude, what inner rejoicing in the unburdened moments. Each one a celebration of life. I realized with amazement that I had learned this intensity through migraine.
How Tears Became Diamonds

When my husband, Harald, was diagnosed with cancer in 2022, it was initially a blow for us. His father and grandfather had already died from the same disease. In the months that followed, he had to undergo regular surgical procedures. We lived from one appointment to the next. In January, a year later, two new tumors were discovered. It was devastating.
Diamonds are created at great depths, under enormous pressure and in the dark. Photo Shutterstock
And we had to decide, how much space we wanted to give to the fear. Whether we would allow ourselves to be paralyzed by the gloomy thoughts and worries that suddenly overshadowed all our hours and especially our nights.
On the Shabbat evening after the double tumor diagnosis, we watched the burning candles grow smaller and smaller without losing their luminosity, radiating their warm light until the very end. And decided that we would celebrate life together in the time we had left, trying to make the most of every moment. We were determined to concentrate on the important and valuable things and gratefully enjoy every precious hour.
The concrete consequence of this decision was to book a flight to Israel. This time we didn't want to discover new places and sights and learn more about this special country on a round trip. This time we actually just wanted to seek refuge with our Heavenly Father in the place, where he had said his eyes and heart would always be: In Jerusalem, at the Kotel (Western Wall). And that is what we did. I wrote about this special week in the article: “Altars of Gratitude”.
In the months that followed, we discovered that God had “filled our inner pockets” during this time - with ideas, initiatives, the revival of almost forgotten ones and the discovery of new talents.
I reactivated my literary skills and began to write about Israel.
The vision of a website for Israel was born.

With minimal external help, Harald managed to acquire the necessary technical knowledge to build the website himself. We tried to include everything we knew about Israel and what we thought, was particularly important and valuable to make it accessible to others in pictures, stories and recommendations.
Harald 2023 after the double tumor operation. Photo private
Constructive and creative thoughts replaced the gloomy images of the future. New ideas developed so quickly that we could hardly keep up with the implementation. We were happy and fulfilled during these months full of creative energy and zest for action and we felt that we managed to make the most of our days.

The Hamas massacre left over 1200 people murdered in its wake. Photo private

The Hamas massacre left a lot of ruins in its wake. Photo private
Then came the Hamas massacre on October 7th, 2023, and the reaction of the global public: the ignorance, the relativization, the indifference, the anti-Semitism. And for us, the moment to stand up for Israel publicly and in person. Given the emergency nature of the situation, our first Israel event was realized in less than 10 days and catapulted us into a new dimension: supporting Israel in a very practical way. Soon after, we were in the wounded country, meeting those affected, trying to alleviate their suffering and reporting as contemporary witnesses. The “Wounded Israel” series was born. And a succession of follow-up projects.
It began in Jerusalem in March 2023 and was born out of tears, pain and incredible pressure from all sides. But never before had we been so sure that we were doing the right thing. This way we were allowed to experience ourselves, how tears became diamonds.
Would all of this have happened without Harald's diagnosis or was this blessing made possible by the fact that we suddenly saw our lives from a different perspective, because of this prognosis? In any case, in contrast to my childhood, when I could only identify traces of blessing retrospectively, we were now much better able to deal constructively with a difficult situation. This time, we discovered the resulting blessing quite quickly.
And realized: you can learn it, you can claim it for yourself, you can get better at it. The circle that had opened up, when we read Viktor Frankl's theses on suffering, began to close. We began to understand that everything that happened to us actually happened for us. A completely different perspective! The supreme art is, to trust in the blessing that is not yet visible, as if it could already be experienced. Not an easy view. It requires inner strength and perseverance. But it opens up new worlds. An invisible but incredibly effective weapon against giving up.
How inspiring that each individual can also use this secret weapon in and for their own life!
The Spark of Survival

In this way, the stories of the Bible, current historical events and personal experiences round off the picture of the secret weapon that Israel's men and women used time and time again and that made them strong and invincible in the long term.
For all the conquering empires have failed: They have not succeeded in wiping Israel out permanently.
The spark of hope could not be extinguished. Photo Shutterstock
Even though they expelled the Jews all over the world, they could not extinguish the thought and hope of a return. For the Jews remember every year during Passover, how God freed them from the hands of Pharaoh and thus from the world power of Egypt. How he gave them the miracle of Hanukkah, where a small minority defeated the great empire of the Greeks.
These memories keep the fire of hope alive. Even the mass murder of millions of Jews could not snuff out the sparks. For there were always a few, in whom this hope continued to smolder, only to flare up even more. This is how they survived 2,000 years of persecution, expulsion and extermination. It is not for nothing that Israel's national anthem "Hatikva" is called Hope.
Hope in the Darkness
It is a time of confusion. Injustice seems to be getting out of hand. The circle of opponents around Israel, is growing even larger and narrower, the arguments are becoming ever more bizarre, hatred is spreading. The months of fighting have not brought victory, but have seemingly multiplied the number of enemies.

International support is dwindling with each passing day.
When a region was taken and the IDF later withdrew, terrorists immediately took root again.
Let's see light on the horizon? Photo Shutterstock
It seems to be a hopeless battle, a battle on 100 fronts: in the media, for opinions, or for the truth. No less than on the multiple battlefields: whether on the ground in the Gaza Strip, in the air against Iran and Hezbollah, or at sea against the Houthis. In politics, in hostage negotiations, in international forums and on the streets of many countries, even among friends.
A war of attrition that starves minds and withers souls. A war that seems pointless in its lack of final results. Resources are dwindling, exhaustion is spreading.
In these times, Israel is once again called upon to activate its secret weapon: The knowledge that everything has a purpose. And, in the midst of suffering and hopelessness, to trust that God can and will build something new and wonderful despite the rubble and ashes, no - out of the rubble and ashes - at the time of his choosing. And to actively look for this result, to seek it with all her senses and to work towards it with all her strength. It means trusting God's goodness, his omnipotence and his promises more than all the logic of this world and acting as if you can already see the future blessing despite the abysses, obstacles and impossibilities.
This also applies to all those, who stand by Israel's side. It also applies to us!
Do we believe the media reports? How do we assess the situation? Are we ready to give up? Or do we remember the darkest hours of history and learn from them that even that was not the end? That God is never at the end of his possibilities?
How credible do we consider the Bible's statements that God has made an eternal covenant with his people and that all Israel will be finally saved?
How long and with what consistency are we prepared to stand by Israel's side?

Condemnation of Israel by the nations. Photo Shutterstock

Help for Israel by the righteous of the nations Photo Shutterstock
Do we belong to the nations that turn against Israel, or do we choose to become the righteous among the nations by continuing to stand with Israel even during the hardest of times?
If we do not succeed in using this secret weapon for ourselves, we will grow weary, we will eventually despair at the apparent futility and hopelessness of the situation. But if we manage to see in all this a school, a learning process, which in the end will make Israel more mature and stronger and make it a light for all nations, we too will experience together with Israel how exactly this will ultimately come true.
Zechariah says in chapter 8: 23, “At that time, ten people from different countries will want to join a Jew. They will hold him by his robe and ask: 'Let us go with you, for we have heard that God is on your side.”
They are not all, they are not many, but they have always existed: The righteous of the nations. Through the centuries, during the Holocaust and also today. Do we choose to stand with Israel? You cannot be faithful to God and ignore his people. Nor can we claim to follow God and at the same time violate the apple of his eye, “Israel”. For those, for whom the statements of the Old Testament are not enough, let's conclude by looking together at the Gospel of Matthew, chapter 25. It is about the Last Judgement - the king chooses the righteous. On the basis of what criterion? On the basis of what they have done for his brothers, even the least of them. Is it really difficult to understand that his brothers were and are first and foremost his people, the Jews?

Standing together as one people! Ph.Shutterstock
Many of us have already experienced the truth “whoever blesses Israel will be blessed” in many ways. But one consequence of this is particularly impressive: those who stand with Israel also stand with God and will be his people together with Israel (Zechariah 2:14-15). Are we part of this?
First publication: Feb. 15, 2025
(76th Independence Day of Israel)
German:
English:
Copyright © Brigitte B. Nussbächer; Reproduction only after prior permission
Here you can find other articles from Brigitte B. Nussbächer
Wie wir das Wunder Israel erlebt haben
von Brigitte B. Nussbächer
Wir haben in Israel mit eigenen Augen wahrgenommen, wie Gott zu seinem Volk steht. Wir haben anhand von Fakten und Tatsachen gesehen, wie die Aussagen der Bibel Realität werden und wir haben überall im heutigen Israel Gottes in Erfüllung gehende Verheißungen erlebt.
Vorausgegangen war eine eher mühsame Entscheidungsfindung. Israel einmal zu besuchen gehörte zur „Allgemeinbildung“ von Christen. Trotzdem hatte es mich nicht hingezogen und die Berichte derer, die von Reisen aus Israel zurück kehrten, hatten wenig dazu beigetragen, es zu ändern. Wenn sie von den sogenannten „Heiligen“ Stätten berichteten, fragte ich mich immer, was es mir denn bringen würde, diese Ruinen oder Gedenkkirchen anzusehen. Viel mehr interessierte mich, was Gott heute in der Gegenwart erlebbar machte.
Letztlich war es dann tatsächlich auch ein anderer Gedanke, der den Anstoß zu dem Besuch gab. 2018 feierten mehrere nach dem 2. Weltkrieg gegründete Staaten ihr 70. Jubiläum – darunter auch Israel. Nachdem wir Dokumentarfilme über Indien und Pakistan zu dem Thema gesehen hatten, fragte ich mich, wie wohl Israel diese 70 Jahre genutzt hatte. Im Vergleich zu den anderen Staaten musste es ungleich schwerer gewesen sein, aus dem Nichts etwas aufzubauen. Noch 1867 hatte Marc Twain das Land als desolat, eine stille, traurige Weite ohne Mensch, Baum und Strauch bezeichnet. Was war daraus geworden?
Und so begaben wir uns auf eine geschichtliche Studienreise, was sich im Nachhinein als Volltreffer erwies. Nie hätten wir in einem Individualurlaub so viel erfahren und kennen gelernt.
Noch während wir vom Flughafen Ben Gurion nach Tel Aviv fahren, hören wir die Entstehungsgechichte dieser Stadt, von der Parzellverlosung an ein paar Dutzend Familien nördlich der jahrtausende alten Hafenstadt Jaffa im April 1909. Diese wollten auf den Sanddünen, die der niederländische Bankier Jacobus Kann gekauft hatte, die erste jüdische Stadt der Moderne bauen. Und dann fahren wir auch schon an den ersten Hochhäusern vorbei und nach Tel Aviv hinein, welches heute (rund 100 Jahre später) die modernste und weltoffenste Metropole des gesamten Nahen Ostens ist.
Im sehr originell und lebendig gestalteten Palmach Museum in Tel Aviv erfahren wir von dem beeindruckenden Kampf des jüdischen Volkes für seine Unabhängigkeit. Und von der Vorgeschichte: als die UN 1947 beschloss, das ehemalige britische Mandat in 2 Länder aufzuteilen: ein jüdisches und einen arabisches. Von dem Protest der Araber und von dem Druck, der auf die Juden ausgeübt wurde, diese Chance nicht zu nutzen. Von der Proklamation des jüdischen Staates durch David Ben Gurion am 14. Mai 1948 und von dem Angriff der 5 arabischen Länder Ägypten, Syrien, Jordanien, Irak & Libanon um Mitternacht am gleichen Tag.
Man muss sich die damalige Situation vergegenwärtigen. Ca. 650.000 Juden, viele von ihnen Holocaustüberlebende, die gerade erst das Grauen hinter sich gelassen hatten, versuchten Israel, welches als neugegründeter Staat keine Armee besaß, mit Gewehren, Maschinenpistolen und Granatwerfern gegen eine Mehrheit von 160 Millionen Arabern (ausgerüstet mit Panzern, Artillerie, Schützenpanzerwagen, Flugzeugen und Kriegsschiffen) zu verteidigen. Ein Verhältnis von 1 : 246! Dabei wird einem die menschliche Ausweglosigkeit bewusst und dass das Überleben Israels ein Wunder ist. Mit Tränen in den Augen verlasse ich das Museum. Jetzt verstehen wir, welch hohen Preis das jüdische Volk (nach der Auslöschung der 6 Millionen durch den Holocaust) im Unabhängigkeitskrieg für seine Existenz bezahlt hat.
Umso mehr staunen wir über die Lebensfreude und Energie, die heute auf den Strassen Tel Avivs spürbar ist und die wir bei den Menschen, denen wir begegnen, erleben. Wir sehen die Fähigkeit dieses Volkes schnell aus dem Nichts etwas aufzubauen (sie haben weltweit die 2 höchste Anzahl von Start Ups), ihre Genialität Lösungen für scheinbar Unlösbares zu finden, wie zum Beispiel mit Wasserentsalzungsanlagen am Mittelmeer den Wassermangel zu beheben und durch computergesteuerte Tröpfchenbewässerung Plantagen in der Wüste anzubauen. Wir sind überrascht, dass Israel die zweithöchste Akademikerquote und die dritthöchste Patentquote der Welt hat und bewundern, dass 23% aller Nobelpreisträger aus diesem kleinen Volk, dass nur 0,2 % der Weltbevölkerung ausmacht, stammen.
Wir erleben ihre Kreativität sowie ihren Sinn für Kunst und Schönheit. Israel hat gemessen an der Anzahl der Einwohner die meisten Museen und Orchester per capita und liegt auf Platz 2, was die Anzahl der verlegten Bücher anbelangt. Wer hier ein Konzert besucht, wird einem sehr hohen künstlerischen Niveau und großer Begeisterung des Publikums begegnen.
Wir streifen durch Städte, Orte, Landschaften und sind beeindruckt: unglaublich was hier in nur 70 Jahren geschaffen wurde. Dort wo sich früher Sümpfe, Sanddünen und wüstes Land befanden, haben Pioniergeist, Innovation und Durchhaltevermögen überall blühendes Leben entstehen lassen. Israel ist das einzige Land, in dem die Wüste rückläufig ist, Millionen Bäume wurden gepflanzt und entlang der Autobahn blüht tropfenbewässerter Oleander. Aus dem armen Agrarstaat ist ein Land mit führender Technologie und einer starken Währung entstanden. Israel gehört heute zu den 10 einflussreichsten Ländern der Welt und liegt auch im Happiness Ranking vorne. (Siehe Grafik unten)
Je mehr Israelis wir persönlich kennen lernen, desto mehr schätzen wir ihre konstruktive Einstellung, ihre Dynamik und ihren Mut – trotz ihres bis heute andauernden Ringens um ihr Recht auf Existenz.
Wir hören von den Kämpfen im 6 Tage Krieg 1967, von der Befreiung der Altstadt Jerusalems und wie die Juden wieder Zugang zu ihrer heute heiligsten Stätte, der Westmauer, erlangten.
Und von dem „Tal der Tränen“, so benannt nach der anfänglich auswegslosen Situation im Jom Kippur Krieg 1973, als die syrische Armee mit über 1.000 Panzern im Norden Israels einbrach und von weniger als 200 Panzern auf israelischer Seite aufgehalten wurde.
Wir sehen den Wiederaufbau nach wiederholter Zerstörung, sei es nun die Hurva Synagoge in Jerusalem oder die Siedlungen in Gush Etzion.
Und wir nehmen wahr, dass selbst die häufigen Terroranschläge in dieser Gegend den Menschen weder die Lebensfreude noch den Lebensmut rauben können, auch wenn sie schmerzliche Verluste zu beklagen haben.
Wir erleben die „Wächter Israels“, die jungen Soldaten und Soldatinnen auf den Straßen, die für Sicherheit sorgen und lauschen den Zeugnissen von sogenannten „einsamen“ Soldaten, die freiwillig ihr Heimatland, Verwandte, Freunde und ein angenehmes Leben verlassen, um in der IDF (Israels Defence Forces) zu dienen. Tatsächlich spielt die IDF auch eine wichtige Rolle bei der Integration und der Schaffung eines gemeinsamen Nenners in der israelischen Gesellschaft.
Denn die Bevölkerungsvielfalt ist erstaunlich. Die Holocaust Überlebenden von überall aus Europa, die ca. 700.000 Juden, die nach Israels Gründung aus den umliegenden arabischen Ländern vertrieben wurden, die Einwanderung aus Afrika und die großen Aliyah-Wellen aus der ehemaligen Sowjetunion haben alle dazu beigetragen. Die Bevölkerungszahl Israels hat sich in den letzten 75 Jahren ver-14-facht (im Vergleich dazu hat sich die Weltbevölkerung in den letzten 50 Jahren „nur“verdoppelt).
Am liebsten hören wir jedoch die Geschichten von jenen, die freiwillig nach Israel kamen, weil sie es als ihre Aufgaben betrachten, dieses Land aufzubauen und sich mit großer Energie dafür einsetzen.
Was uns aber am allermeisten beeindruckt – und tatsächlich auch überrascht hat - ist die intensive, innige und lebendige Beziehung, die viele Juden zu Gott haben. Da uns in den säkularen, kirchlichen und freikirchlichen Kreisen, aus denen wir stammen, die Rolle und Bedeutung von Israel und dem Judentum nicht vermittelt worden war, weder als geistliche Wurzel noch für die Zukunft, waren wir implizit davon ausgegangen, dass so eine Beziehung zu Gott nur bei Christen möglich sei. Jetzt sahen wir mit eigenen Augen wie falsch diese Annahme war.
Heute weiss ich, dank dem erschütterndem Buch „Holocaust“ von Susanna Kokkonen, dass der christliche Glaube bewusst vom Judentum differenziert wurde, seit Kaiser Konstantin der Große die Anerkennung des Christentums als rechtmässige Religion einführte, sich aus politischen Gründen zum Oberhaupt der Kirche ernannte und das erste Konzil im Jahre 325 einberief. Er erklärte, dass die Juden für den Tod Jesu verantwortlich wären, also betrachtete man sie als „Gottesmöder“; verdammt und der Gnade Gottes und der Menschen unwürdig. Eine weitere Lehre dieser Zeit, die „Ersatztheologie“ besagt, dass Israel seine Rolle in Gottes Plänen verspielt hätte und die Christen nun das neue Israel seien. Die Kirchenväter vor und nach diesem ersten Konzil verleugneten den ewigen Bund zwischen Gott und den Juden systematisch, beziehungsweise glaubten, dass Gott diesen Bund aufgehoben hätte.
Der Einfluss dieser Lehren die seit über 1700 Jahren im Umlauf sind, ist erschreckend tiefgreifend. Im Grunde wurde hier schon die Legitimation für Judenhass und Judenverfolgung geschaffen, für Verleugnung und Ignoranz. Hier liegt der idelogische Ursprung von Inquisition, Progromen, Kreuzzügen und Holocaust.
Eine Konsequenz daraus war, das einerseits bei Übersetzungen versucht wurde, die Hinweise auf das Judentum auszulassen und andererseits bei vielen christlichen Themen der jüdische Ursprung nicht erwähnt wurde. Beispiele dafür sind christliche Feste, die alle ihr Äquivalent in den jüdischen biblischen Festen haben (z.B. Passah-Ostern, Schavuot-Pfingsten, Weihnachten-Chanukka) oder auch andere Bräuche: so zum Beispiel ist die jüdische Bar Mitzwa, bei der junge Erwachsene in die Gemeinschaft der Gläubigen aufgenommen werden, das Vorbild für Kommunion/Konfirmation/Jugendweihe - um nur ein paar Beispiele zu nennen.
Das gleiche spiegelt sich auch in der Kunst. Wer z. B. durch die Uffizien von Florenz streift, (eines der berühmtesten Kunstmuseen der Welt mit Werken der Malerie und Bildhauerei von der Antike bis zum Spätbarock), stellt fest, dass es aus dem Alten Testament Bilder von Adam und Eva gibt. Das nächste große Thema ist die Ankündigung von Jesu Geburt. Alles was dazwischen liegt, ist ausgeblendet.
So sind sich viele bis heute des jüdischen Erbes nicht bewusst. Derek Prince, ein Bibellehrer unserer Zeit (und die, die mich schon lange kennen, wissen, dass ich jahrelang für Derek Prince Ministries gearbeitet habe), fasste es einmal so zusammen: Wir stehen tief in der Schuld des jüdischen Volkes.
Ohne dieses hätte die Gemeinde keine Patriarchen, keine Propheten, keine Apostel , keine Bibel und keinen Erlöser. Wenn uns all das fehlen würde, was gäbe es dann noch, was uns das Heil bringen könnte? Alle Nationen der Erde verdanken das Wertvollste an ihrem geistlichen Erbe den Juden.
Aber obwohl wir Derek Prince persönlich begegnet waren und viel von unserem Israel-Bild von seinen Worten geprägt war, mussten wir feststellen, dass auch wir Gefangene des Denkens der Kirchenväter waren. Auch wir hatten gedacht, dass die Juden verloren sein mussten, da man ja nur durch Jesus zum Vater kommen könne und übersahen dabei geflissentlich, dass Paulus in Römer 11 eindeutig sagt, dass Gott sein Volk nicht verstossen hat (Vers 1), dass er seine Gaben nicht zurück fordert und die Zusage seiner Erwählung nicht widerruft (Vers 29).
Und jetzt waren wir in Jerusalem und begegneten dem jüdischen Volk Israel erstmalig in seinem eigenen Land.
Was für uns ganz eindeutig wurde, war, dass die Gründung und das Überleben dieses Staates, seine schnellen Fortschritte und Errungenschaften, der Lebensmut und die Kraft, die man in so vielen Menschen in Israel beobachten kann, rational und menschlich nicht zu erklären sind, sondern auf eine besondere Energiequelle und Kraft zurück führen. Hier in Israel war Gott überall im Alltag erlebbar.
Seit über 2000 Jahren spricht die Bibel von einem lebendigen Gott, der Israel als sein Volk auserwählte und der verhieß, dies Volk nach seiner Zerstreuung wieder in das Land seiner Vorfahren zurück zu bringen und es besonders auszustatten. Dies jedoch auf einmal mit unseren eigenen Sinnen zu sehen, zu beobachten, veränderte uns.
Als wir am Ufer vom See Genezareth sassen, kam mir der Gedanke, dass Juden vorgeworfen wurde, Jesus nicht erkannt zu haben – obwohl doch das, was um ihn herum geschah, offensichtlich und eindeutig war … Und dass heute viele Christen das, was Gott in und mit Israel tut, nicht erkennen – obwohl es ebenso offensichtlich und eindeutig ist.
Wir begannen die Bibel mit anderen Augen zu lesen. Was wir bis dahin überlesen hatten, stach jetzt deutlich hervor.
Wenn man sich vergegenwärtig, dass Jesus in Matthäus 5,17 selber gesagt hat „Ihr sollt nicht meinen, dass ich gekommen bin, das Gesetz oder die Propheten aufzulösen; ich bin nicht gekommen aufzulösen, sondern zu erfüllen“, dann kann man die Bedeutung von Israel und Jerusalem schwer überlesen.
Denn auf dem Berge Zion und zu Jerusalem wird Errettung sein – steht in Joel 3,5
Und Sacharjia weissagt in Kapitel 8, 22: Menschen aus großen und mächtigen Völkern werden nach Jerusalem kommen, um den HERRN, den Allmächtigen, zu suchen und den HERRN gnädig zu stimmen.
Jesaja prophezeit in Kapitel 60, 2-3: Finsternis bedeckt das Erdreich und Dunkel die Völker; aber über dir (Zion) geht auf der HERR, und seine Herrlichkeit erscheint über dir. Und die Völker werden zu deinem Lichte ziehen und die Könige zum Glanz, der über dir aufgeht.
Wir haben in Israel mit eigenen Augen wahrgenommen, wie Gott zu seinem Volk steht. Wir haben anhand von Fakten und Tatsachen gesehen, wie die Aussagen der Bibel Realität werden und wir haben überall im heutigen Israel Gottes in Erfüllung gehende Verheißungen erlebt.
Die Bibel spricht in Sacharja 8,23 davon, dass „in jenen Tagen zehn Menschen aus Völkern mit lauter verschiedenen Sprachen einen Mann aus Juda am Rockzipfel festhalten werden und bitten: Wir wollen mit euch gehen, denn wir haben gehört, dass Gott bei euch ist“ - für uns sind diese Tage bereits angebrochen…die Beziehungen zu unseren jüdischen Freunden und die Verbindung zu Israel sind zu einer der wertvollsten Konstanten, einer Bereicherung und einer Quelle des Lernens in unserem Leben geworden.


„Bruchim haba'im le’Israel - Willkommen in Israel” klang die Stimme des Piloten aus den Lautsprechern und das Flugzeug rollte langsam zur finalen Position. Wir sahen neugierig aus dem Fenster. Was würden wir in diesem Land, über das so viel Widersprüchliches berichtet wird und dass es vor 100 Jahren noch nicht gab, vorfinden? Ich wusste damals nicht, vor welcher lebensverändernden Erfahrung ich stand!