John Stembridge

Everyone knows something about Israel and the Oslo Accords. Israel and the Oslo Accords have been in the worldwide media for years. And Israel, of course, is mentioned many times throughout the Torah and Tanach. Unfortunately very few know anything about Jabez. Compared to the giants of Israel, i.e., Moses, Joshua, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Samuel, David, Solomon, etc., Jabez may be considered insignificant. He is mentioned only once in the Tanach - I Chronicles 4:9-10. What does the Tanach reveal to us about this man of mystery? First, he was more honorable than his brothers. Secondly, his mother named him Jabez which means pain, distress, sorrow. Thirdly, he had a hunger to know G-d and to receive His blessing. Fourthly, he was important enough to G-d that HaShem granted him his request.
Let's examine Jabez a little closer by examining his request to HaShem. This we find in I Chronicles 4:10: "And Jabez called on the G-d of Israel saying, 'Oh, that You would bless me indeed, and enlarge my territory, and that Your hand might be with me, and that You keep me from evil, that it may not grieve me.' And G-d granted him that which he requested." Now, let's look at the similarities of Israel and Jabez. Both were born in pain. Israel was born when Jacob's name was changed to Israel after he was left crippled from pleading with the Angel of the Lord all night, so that his life could be spared. G-d granted his request. The next day Esau wept in his arms instead of killing Jacob as he had intended. That night so altered the personality of Jacob that G-d changed his name from Jacob which means supplanter, to Israel which means Prince with God! (Genesis 32 & 33) The same is true with modern Israel. It, too, was born in pain and sorrow - the pain and sorrow of the Holocaust that killed 6 million Jews, plus 49 million non-Jews. Only after such carnage, did HaShem allow Israel to become a State in 1948.
What About The Oslo Accords? How do the Oslo Accords tie into Israel and Jabez? Mainly they, too, have brought pain and sorrow to both the Israelis and Palestinians. Both are in horrible mourning today. Unlike Jabez, both Israel and the Palestinians in the Oslo Accords sought the blessing (billions) of the United States rather than the blessings of HaShem. The only ones blessed by the Oslo Accords so far are the Israeli and Palestinian bankers and their political allies. But what about the Israeli and Palestinian families who are mourning their dead and injured? What blessings have the Oslo Accords brought them? Jabez asked G-d to enlarge his territory. Israel's leaders through the Oslo Accords sought the opposite: the diminishing of its territories and holy places. Both Judea and Samaria have even been parted from G-d's people. Though Israel has been a State 53 years, the Jews are not allowed to pray and worship on the Temple Mount, thanks to Moshe Dyan and all subsequent governments.
Jews cannot safely go to Hebron to honor their patriarchs Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, nor for that matter - Bethlehem, Jericho, Joseph's and Samuel's tombs. If G-d is so passionate about calling all the tribes of Israel back to the land from the nations of their scattering, then He needs more land to accommodate all these tribes, not less. When Moshe Arens (former foreign minister of Israel) was in Miami recently, I asked him, "If Israel received billions from the United States to part with Judea and Samaria, what price will Israel be required to pay in blood and money to reclaim and redeem Judea and Samaria that have been parted?" Already the price is too great when Israelis cannot go into restaurants, ride buses to work or to shop, etc., without the fear of being blown into eternity.
To this day Ariel Sharon is the only one of Israel's modern leaders who has called to the nations' combined conscience and attention the fact that when it comes to the Temple Mount, Jews and Christians are second class citizens. Both have to pray at a wall at the bottom of the Temple Mount instead of the top where both Solomon's and Herod's Temples were located - where both expect a Holy King will reign over universe soon. Observant Jews knew only the Temple Mount as THE PLACE of worship for every Jew who loved HaShem until the Second Temple was destroyed in 70 CE. Since that time Judaism and the tribes have been scattered into the four corners of the earth. Without the regathering of all the tribes to the Land, the restoration of the Temple Mount and the Levitical priesthood, it is impossible for Judaism to keep all 613 mitzvahs of the Torah today.
It is only in this generation that we have seen over 1 million Jews leave the former Soviet Union, and thousands from Europe, from Arab countries, Ethiopia, etc. return to the land because of persecution and pogroms. There have been significant Aliyahs from the North, South and East, but no significant Aliyah from the West where over half the Jews of the world live today. Will it take a pogrom or holocaust in the West for the Jews here to wake up to their personal need of making Alijah? Let's hope not.
When will the Jews in the West be willing to lay down the onions, leaks and garlic of North, Central and South America to obtain the greater treasurers HaShem has awaiting them in Zion? As soon as this awakening of the Jews in the West takes place for Aliyah, Israel will need more land, not less. What will HaShem do to provide for this massive ingathering of the tribes?
What Can We Do?
A massive campaign must be waged among the nations to enlighten all people, cultures and religions to the significance to them of the regathering of all the tribes to the Land. These people and nations need to know that the world's redemption takes place after Israel's regathering and redemption. The pen is mightier than the sword in accomplishing this task. Let us begin to pray daily that HaShem grants every Jew this Rosh HaShanah, Yom Kippur and Sukkot the freedom to pray and worship Him safely on the Temple Mount and at all the holy places in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and throughout all of Eretz Israel.
Since Jabez's prayer was so powerful and successful, perhaps our generation can use it as a guide in our daily prayers for Israel. "And Israel called on G-d, saying, 'Oh that You will bless me indeed, and enlarge my territory and that your hand might be with me, and that You keep me from evil that it may not grieve me!' And may HaShem grant our request."