In our previous class, we discussed the problems of humanity and the state of the modern world. In our current reality, we also see another phenomenon — the State of Israel — mentioned in the introduction. Within this context of relentless power struggles and fights over values, something incredible has happened — the return of the Jewish people to our land and the attainment of political independence. The event of the return to Zion carries deep significance for every thoughtful and responsible person in our world.
This is because the Jewish people holds a special status in the imagination of the world's great cultures, leaving an impression on the collective subconscious of humanity. In other words, the Jewish people achieving independence is unlike any other nation or people gaining independence. It's like a "piece of the Bible" in the modern world. Such a thing cannot leave the world indifferent. The establishment of the State of Israel is, for many, a theological enigma, or at least, a reason to reconsider the course of history and the place of the People of the Book within it.
This new situation obligates the Jewish people to provide an answer to the question posed by the nations towards us: "What do you have to say to us?"
In other words, if we have returned to the international stage, it signifies that the Jewish people have a message that concerns all of humanity. We Jews must provide an answer to this question.
Israeli society, long preoccupied with existential concerns over survival and economic prosperity, has left the spiritual questions characteristic of Jewish tradition to be discussed within the internal sphere of society, with almost no engagement with the general outside culture. In other words, we Jews have been debating amongst ourselves without involving the nations in our discussions. Now, the time has come to clarify Israel's universal messages and its essential contribution to the new era the world is entering.
This is the question that has pushed me to write the book we are currently studying.
