"In Eretz Yisrael Will Be the Ark"

9 Adar 5786

This is the second blog post of the day and I have another one lined up after this one.  Please make sure you don't miss anything.  We're comiing down to the wire.  There is little to no time left to get this information out. 

I was thinking about how everyone is saying, yeah, yeah, we've been hearing this our entire lives and nothing has happened yet.  Likely, it has years and years to go if it even happens at all.  It made me think about the people of Noah's time and how long 120 years is and how nobody thought in that 120th year that this was going to be "IT", except Noah and his family.  It reminded me of that passage from the Chesed l'Avraham...

The Chesed L'Avraham, a 17th-century Kabbalistic work by Rabbi Abraham Azulai discusses the Land of Israel's unique spiritual protection during the end of days.

The comparison of the Land of Israel to Noah's Ark is found in his descriptions of the "birth pangs of the Messiah" (Hevlei Mashiach): 

The Protective Shell: Rabbi Azulai explains that at the end of days, a "great flood" of spiritual and physical chaos will overwhelm the world.  Just as Noah's Ark was the only place of safety during the biblical flood, the Land of Israel will serve as the world's only spiritual refuge.

A "High" Spiritual Refuge: He notes that the Land of Israel is spiritually "higher" than all other lands. Much like the Ark rose above the waters, the Land of Israel will remain "above" the destruction and turmoil facing other nations.

The Zohar Connection: This concept is deeply rooted in the Zohar (e.g., Zohar 1:63a), which the Chesed L'Avraham frequently expands upon.  The Zohar suggests that the Land of Israel did not experience the physical destruction of the Flood and, similarly, will be shielded from the final upheavals.  (Source:  Google)

With that in mind, and given the fact that the flood seems to be upon us, I counted back 120 years to see if 1906 marked a beginning of the building of the State of Israel, which by its founders' own statements was meant to provide a refuge for the Jewish people - an Ark!

The year 1906 was a landmark year for the founding of the Jewish state, marked by the arrival of key future leaders and the establishment of institutions that defined the movement's cultural and educational identity.

The Arrival of David Ben-Gurion

On September 7, 1906, a 20-year-old David Ben-Gurion (then David Gruen) arrived at the port of Jaffa. This event is historically significant because Ben-Gurion eventually became the primary architect of the state and Israel's first Prime Minister. His arrival was part of the Second Aliyah (1904–1914), a wave of immigration that established the socialist labor foundations of the future state.

Educational and Cultural Foundations

Herzliya Hebrew Gymnasium: In 1906, the first Hebrew academic high school in the world opened its doors in Jaffa. Named in honor of Theodor Herzl, it was the first institution to teach all subjects—including sciences—entirely in Hebrew, proving that the ancient language could serve as a modern national tongue.

Bezalel Academy: The Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design was founded in Jerusalem in 1906 by Boris Schatz. It aimed to create a distinct "Jewish national art" style, blending European techniques with Middle Eastern motifs to help forge a new national identity.

Political and Urban Developments

The Roots of Tel Aviv: In 1906, a group of Jewish residents in Jaffa formed the Ahuzat Bayit society with the goal of building a modern Hebrew garden suburb. This society's efforts led directly to the founding of Tel Aviv three years later.

Poale Zion in Russia: The Jewish Social Democratic Labour Party (Poale Zion) was formally organized in Russia in 1906. This party's ideology of "Labor Zionism" became the dominant political force in the Yishuv (the Jewish community in pre-state Israel) for decades.

End of the Dreyfus Affair: In July 1906, Alfred Dreyfus was officially exonerated and reinstated in the French army. This event was the final chapter of the scandal that originally inspired Theodor Herzl to write The Jewish State.   (Source:  Google)

We only knew when the seventy years of exile to Babylon was over by counting back because no one was sure when it started.  The same was true for the 430 years of exile in Egypt, too.  So why should this be any different?  Just a thought.