Hopeful Wanderer

By: Jonathan Seidel                                                

                                            The Jewish traveller 

The Jew is regarded as a wanderer. He has been a displaced person for millennia. Yet, is the Jew ideally a wanderer? Is he to be a nomad eternally? To this I answer in the negative. The Jew has faced torment and exile but that is not endemic to the Jew. It is temporary state of panic and tribulation. He is to be a signature on the map stationed in his home. The Jew is to be in Israel broadcasting his message from his home. Though literally the Jew is not to be a wanderer, figuratively it has much merit to his ontology. 

What is the wandering Jew? Is it a myth? The wandering Jew is a a symptom of development. Exile is a punishment to grow. The wandering Jew is not an ideal place, it is a curse yet an opportunity simultaneously. Exile plays a pivotal role in the Jewish psyche, it is a mentality of error and refinement. A time to think about mistakes and fix them. The wanderer is provided time to think and reflect on his actions. He is isolated to focus on his self.

Abraham, Jacob and Moses were wanderers. They marched around the Fertile Crescent on a mission or on the run. They were exiled from their homes in pursuit of a better life. They reproached their old ways and sought new avenues. The wandering Jew is someone who is discontent with his current situation. He is ever growing and delights in his perpetuated development. He is wandering but there is an end goal, there is a finish line. The Jews wandered in the desert for forty years but Canaan was always the destination. Wandering is just the introspection needed to reach that finish line. Sometimes more preparation is necessary to complete that goal. Jews have wandered the world waiting for the Messiah yearning for the call home. There is much needed tribal love to aspire for that possibility. 

The Jew is a wanderer in a different way. He is someone not bound by societal norms. The wanderer is his own man who lives by his rules and principles. Haman lambasted the Jews for their idiosyncratic way of life. The Jew is a lone wolf out in the wild. The wanderer is ridiculed for his methods. He is a soloist and a nonconformist. He moves from place to place without a care for the shackles that capture everyone else. He slips through them trudging along. He comes and goes passing on his wisdom. The Jew has surpassed the best of them. He outlived them all, those who tried to destroy him, he overcame. He is thriving while they are in the dust, in ruin, holding their integrity together. 

The Jew should not leave his home. It is not proper. Yet, in the chance he is booted for a misdemeanour he should spend his time reflecting and building. Miriam’s isolation from tent supplied her time to rethink her actions. The Jew has a home to live in but he is capable of aiding elsewhere as well. The Chabad missionary ideology differs from christian missionaries as one is building a home for Jews and the other is trying to change you. It is a beautiful idea and can always be a necessity. The purpose is not to spread God’s name in the random parts of the world but to provide a home to Jews who live or are visiting. It is a kosher hostel of sorts. The Jew does the most influence damage from the heart of Jerusalem. His home is the beacon. He need not travel door to door passing out pamphlets. He attributes his success to his internal organ. 

Exile has aided the Jew in meeting the world. The world responded with rejection and perpetuated his wandering but he learned how the world worked. His inspirational poem marshals hope to the world. His memory surprises the audience with an experiential outlook of his survival and excellence. The wanderer is to return home, it is his destiny. The wanderer is not to be a physical wanderer forever but he is to be a metaphorical one for good.