We, the Jewish people, have been preaching the Ten Commandments to the world for the last three-thousand and three hundred years.
Therefore, we do not believe, indeed cannot believe, that someone, somewhere, wishes to kill us.
I remember, then a first-year student at Technion during the Six-Day War, running to the shelter to escape bombing from the air, with a single thought running in my mind, a young person that I was at the time:
“Why does someone, somewhere, wish to kill me?”
And because of this built-in conflict in the Jewish culture, believing, on the one hand, in the goodness of the human race, yet in desperate need to be prepared to be massacred, on the other, because of this built-in conflict, we are surprised. Over and over again:
- We were surprised during the Holocaust;
- We were surprised before the Six-day War (1967; Yes, we were surprised; I lived throughout those years);
- We were surprised before the Yom Kippur War (1973);
- We were surprised again now, at the massacre of October 7, 2023.
We, the Jews, pay dearly for this built-in conflict in our culture.
We pay dearly for our optimistic view, despite clear evidence to the contrary, of the nature of the human race (or else the Ten Commandments would not have been so wide-spread throughout the world).
Yet, regardless of the heavy price, I prefer this built-in conflict to continue be an essential and integral part of our inherited Jewish culture.
Haim Shore Blog 
5 replies on “The Built-In Conflict Within the Jewish Culture”
I feel very honored by your response, I follow your blog a lot, especially now that I am retired. Many years ago I sensed that the existence of God could be demonstrated scientifically and rationally. His book “Coincidences-in-the-Bible-and-in-Biblical-Hebrew” was a revelation to me. I have read the Bible many times, each parasha shows incredible secrets. Also reading Professor Gerald Schroeder’s book “Genesis and the Big Bang” opened my eyes a lot, as well as Rabbi Zemir HaCohen’s book “For Sure”, and the book “The CHALLENGE, the Torah versus the science and its problems”, by Aryeh Carmell and Cyrill Domb, which I bought a few years ago, specifically in 2011, in Jerusalem, an edition from 1976. And the book translated into Spanish “God, science, evidence” by the French authors Michell-Yves Bolloré and Olivier Bonnassies, which I have to buy. Not to mention the book “The Secret Codes of the Bible” by Drossnin and another author that I don’t remember.
I have been very involved in translating your book, Dr. Shore, into Spanish, because if we are not the first language spoken in the world, we are certainly the second, we are 800 million people who speak Spanish and I think it is absolutely necessary that this great book and its discoveries reach the Hispanic world. Science has become in the last 100 or 150 years a religion, with its inquisitorial courts, which do not burn or kill dissidents, but rather socially degrade them to ostracism when they are not ridiculed. Professor Shore, the idea of disseminating his book in Spanish would be a great Mitzvah for you and also for me. When I have everything translated, Beezrat HaShem, I will send it to your email, so that you can review it together with a Spanish translator in Israel, since I am an amateur at translating. When I see it and review it, I have put some of my notes under the heading, a little pretentious on my part, “Translator’s Note” that logically you can eliminate, but sincerely they were put by me with the best of intentions. You are right that we are almost in the battle of Og and Magog, God protect us and protect all our people Israel. Excuse the length of my response, but his comment to me has produced a deep emotion in me. My email is: Izjakbenabraham5770@gmail.com.
I take this opportunity to greet you very cordially and give you a big virtual hug. Take good care of yourself and all the people of Israel. From Sefarad we do all the Hasbará possible since there is a lot of ignorance about our people. Sincerely, Isaac.
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B”H. This theoretical physics article (titled “A Complete Set of 22 Elementary Particles for an Expanded Standard Model”) presents a proposed theory of complete elementary particle physics, based on Sefer Yetzirah (the oldest book of Kabbalah, traditionally attributed to Abraham). In this theory, the proposed number of 22 elementary particles corresponds to the 22 letters of the aleph-bet in Hebrew (the holy language of G-d’s divine speech), which are traditionally known as the “building blocks of [ex nihilo] creation”. The author of the article cites the consistency of this proposed theory with the teachings in the book Shaar HaYichud VeHaEmunah (The Gate of Unity and Faith) by Rabbi Shneur Zalman of Liadi. https://www.scirp.org/pdf/oalibj_2020092516141169.pdf
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Thank you for letting me know about this article. I intend to read it thoroughly soon. Take care, Haim
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I’m completely in agreement with you. My hebrew name is Itzjak Benabraham, I’m from Sefarad. I’m a medicine doctor pensiónate, and I’m doing the traduction to Spanish language, your book “Coincidences in Hebrew and in Biblical Hebrew”. When the traduction shall be finished, I send you your book in Spanish. The traduction, of course, is only for my personal use and nobody knows about it. My cell phone is: …., and my e-mail is: ….. Dear proffesor Shore, Shabat Shalom uBerajot
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Dear Itzjak,
Thank you so much for your encouraging words in these dire times.
Anyone with open eyes, and some knowledge of Bible prophecies and their interpretations throughtout Jewish history, may see that the final Gog and Magog war is upon us. I constantly pray to God to have much compassion on those who deserve such.
I am happy to learn that you are in the process of translating my book. God bless you for that. You may distrbute your translation freely, provided you mention explicitly that I gave you permission for that, and that the translation was not approved by me (for lack of knowledge of this language).
You and yours, take good care of yourselves.
Warm regards from me and from Israel. Haim.
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