Reply To: Zionism: the root problem

The Talmud (Gittin 68a) says that King Solomon used the shamir worm to cut the stones for the Temple. The Talmud relates how he captured Ashmedai, king of the demons, and asked him where to find the shamir. Later, Ashmedai threw Solomon out of his kingdom and then, taking on the appearance of Solomon, acted as king himself. Meanwhile, the true Solomon was going from door to door with his walking stick and telling everyone that he was the true king. All the Jews thought he was insane, for they saw King Solomon sitting on his throne and the kingdom running as usual. But then he came to the Sanhedrin, who said, “We know that an insane person does not just do one insane thing.” And this led them to investigate and discover that the “King Solomon” sitting on the throne was an impostor.

Today we find ourselves in the same situation as King Solomon. Ashmedai did not merely conquer Solomon and usurp his throne, as one king conquers another. He stole Solomon’s name as well, and proceeded to run the kingdom in the name of Solomon, thus denying the identity of the true Solomon. And Solomon, the true wise man, appeared to be insane. He cried out, “I am Solomon!” but no one listened. Today as well, the Zionists have stolen our name, “Israel,” and they pretend to represent the Jewish people in the world, thus denying the identity of the true Israel, the people of Hashem, the people of the Torah. And our situation is worse than that of Solomon, for at least Ashmedai, it seems, ruled the kingdom in the same way Solomon ruled it. But the Zionists are using our name for a purpose that is the opposite of our national purpose – to deny the Torah and rebel against Hashem’s decree of exile. And the Jewish people cries out to the world, who help this terrible forgery to exist – but no one listens.