All Alone

CNN:

Netanyahu admits Israel faces prolonged ‘isolation’ over war in Gaza

Bamidbar 23:9: 

ט  כִּי-מֵרֹאשׁ צֻרִים אֶרְאֶנּוּ, וּמִגְּבָעוֹת אֲשׁוּרֶנּוּ:  הֶן-עָם לְבָדָד יִשְׁכֹּן, וּבַגּוֹיִם לֹא יִתְחַשָּׁב.

9 For from the top of the rocks I see him, and from the hills I behold him: lo, it is a people that shall dwell alone, and shall not be reckoned among the nations.

This verse has always been a part of who we are.  But in a sense, it is also a part of who we are destined to be.  This verse is both a Jewish obligation and the reality of how we are treated by others.

We use this verse to show how the Jewish people are separate and should be separate from the nations.  And that we don't count among them.  That is very true.

However, it also is a prophecy whereby we are ostracized and isolated by the global community - for better or for worse.  At first glance, it seems that it's for the worse, but I claim that it's for the better.

The gematria of הֶן-עָם לְבָדָד יִשְׁכֹּן, וּבַגּוֹיִם לֹא יִתְחַשָּׁב, when using 600 for the Final Mems and 700 for the Final Nuns comes out to 3823.  More on that soon.

The Midrash Rabba on the beginning of the verse says:

“For from the top of precipices I will see it” – this is to inform of the hatred of that wicked one, as from his blessings, you ascertain his thoughts. To what is the matter comparable? It is to a person who comes to chop down a tree. One who is not expert, cuts each and every branch and exhausts himself. But the clever man exposes the roots and cuts. So that wicked one said: ‘Why should I curse each and every tribe? I will go to their root.’ He came to harm them, but found that they were hard. That is why he said: “For from the top of precipices I will see it.”
Another matter, “for from the top [of precipices]” – these are the patriarchs; “and from the hills” – these are the matriarchs.

(And Rashi on this verse summarizes this Midrash as well.)  

In other words, Bil'am tried to harm the Jews from their roots, but found the roots to be solid.  And who are the roots of the Jewish people?  The Avot and Imahot, the first of whom are Avraham and Sarah.

Avraham, the founder of our nation was himself an עם לבדד - alone in his beliefs in relation to the rest of the world.  According to some, he recognized Hashem's uniqueness as the only G-d in the world at age 3.  But he could not become an עם - a nation - until 10 years later at age 13, his Bar Mitzvah.  (And we know that Avraham Avinu kept all the Mitzvot so being a Bar Mitzvah was significant.)

If Avraham was born in the year 1948 from Creation, then the year of his Bar Mitzvah was 1961.  

Sarah was born in the year 1958 from Creation, but, like Rivka after her, did not reach early womanhood and become eligible for marriage until age 3, again in the year 1961.  (Sources tell us that Sarah actually got married to Avraham later when she was age 15.)

So the beginning of the verse tells us that the צרים and גבעות refer to the Avot and Imahot, of whom Avraham and Sarah are the first.  And Avraham became a nation and Sarah became an early woman in 1961.  Add the 3823 from the gematria of the second half of the verse and we get 5784, the year of the October 7th Massacre.  That was the year when we ironically started becoming more isolated from the world in our beliefs and this isolation only increased ever since.  Eradicating evil should not be controversial.  And yet, Israel finds itself almost alone in this war.  It seems as if Hashem is moving us closer to an Avraham-style isolationism of thought and beliefs.  And this is a good thing for the Jews (not so for the rest of the world).

Why is it good? Because it shows the difference between the moral clarity of the (majority of the) Jews in Israel and the utter depravity of the nations.  It's similar to what the Apter Rebbe ZTVK"L says about how the Jewish nation gets merits on every January 1st.  This is because Hashem sees how Jews behave on our New Year and how the nations behave on their New Year. 

Another verse that contains the words אראנו and אשורנו comes a chapter later:

יז  אֶרְאֶנּוּ וְלֹא עַתָּה, אֲשׁוּרֶנּוּ וְלֹא קָרוֹב; דָּרַךְ כּוֹכָב מִיַּעֲקֹב, וְקָם שֵׁבֶט מִיִּשְׂרָאֵל, וּמָחַץ פַּאֲתֵי מוֹאָב, וְקַרְקַר כָּל-בְּנֵי-שֵׁת.

17 I see him, but not now; I behold him, but not nigh; there shall step forth a star out of Jacob, and a scepter shall rise out of Israel, and shall smite through the corners of Moab, and break down all the sons of Seth.

This verse is referring to Mashiah's era.  Once the עם לבדד process is complete, Mashiah cannot be far behind.  May we witness his coming very soon.