Undesirable Strangers
As we announce this Shabbat that Rosh Chodesh Av will be on the following Friday, we cannot help but reflect on what happened during this month thousands of years ago.
Biblical commentaries such as Ramban point out that our ancestors brought tragedy upon themselves by forming a political alliance with the Romans. These foreigners arrived in masses and eventually took control.
Israel today faces a grave threat to its existence in the form of infiltrators from Sudan and Eritrea who present not only a criminal problem but a demographic one as well. Unless the government sticks to its pledge to rid the country of these undesirable aliens and prevent new ones from joining them, we will one day discover that the Moslem minority has become a majority.
Israel has enough problems dealing with the non-Jews in its midst and it is hoped that the lesson of destruction and exile which the Month of Av communicates will inspire firm action to protect Israel forever.
