The Ashkenazi Revolution

7at the root of this book, is that the unity of the People of Israel lies buriedwithin its desire for eternal life. The words of the prophet Samuel, “theeternal one of Israel shall not lie”, which were uttered at a critical moment,are both a motto of faith and a motto of battle at the same time. Eachnation represents its image from within a struggle with one of thedimensions of space. For example: the dimensions of a plane, forests,mountains or seas. In contrast, the People of Israel forms its image fromwithin the struggle with the dimension of time, in order to conquer timeand to win eternal life. This desire has no sibling or twin among thenations. Each people knows, from the beginning, that the span of its life islimited and that the final hour will come sooner or later. But this is not sowith the People of Israel, which is not at peace with its death, but rather hasbeen appointed and has concluded that it shall live to the end of days andgenerations.“Abraham was old, advanced in days, and God blessed Abraham ineverything.” In this verse, which speaks of the lot of the first Patriarch, thecentral principle of the world-view of the People of Israel comes to beexpressed. “Advanced in days” (literally, “comes in days”) he is “goingforward” in days, as if time transforms itself, for him, into space. However,the specific time of the People of Israel is not a parcel of land or of sea, butthe eternal plane of time that continues from the beginning of the worlduntil the end of the world, which rules over everything that is found in theworld. “And God blessed Abraham in everything” – during the course ofhis walking on the plane of time, Abraham is blessed with everything. Ifnot for his walking, he would not have been blessed. For time is the vesseland container within which is placed and collected the blessing. Withouttime, the mundane experience of life ceases and the person is “gathered tohis people.”This approach, which views time as the ruling dimension, comes to beexpressed in a long list of Jewish tenets. The God of Israel, YHWH, rulesover time. The gods of other peoples were rulers of the planes, seas, rivers,planets and stars. Not so the God of Israel, for He rules over time, andsince He rules time, He also rules, by extension, all that is found within the