Hurrah for Israel! A Different Perspective on the Idea of “Gathering of Israel”
What you thought you knew could only be a part of the truth.
I never thought the Gathering of Israel would have another meaning other than what I know.
In this story, I’ll tell you how I viewed this before as a Christian, followed by an explanation of a new understanding. I’m not literally changing my view, but what I recently discovered showed me another perspective on how I should see it.
The Gathering of Israel that I already knew
“Hurrah, for Israel!”
You’ll often hear one of the missionaries say that while imagining that scene from “The Other Side of Heaven,” where Elder Groberg was sailing on the boat on his way home after serving a mission as a young man in one of the islands of Tonga.
He looks at the bank of the island where Tomasi is, his missionary companion, calling to him and saying, “Hoorah, for Israel!”
For us, former members and members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, also known as Mormons, this phrase motivates us to do more missionary work.
What is missionary work?
Part of it is preaching the gospel taught by Jesus Christ in the New Testament.
Still, it mainly involves the gospel supposedly taught by him through his prophets in the Americas, as recorded in the Book of Mormon.
Most of it, however, is about doing good deeds.
That is either intending to spread the love of our Father in Heavento His children, but mainly to entice others to come unto Christ — or, in other words, become a member of the church.
What has missionary work got to do with the literal gathering of Israel?
Well, growing up, we, Mormons or ex-Mormons, were taught that we are Gentiles, but since we became a member of our church, we were given this opportunity to be a part of this literal gathering of Israel. We become sort of a part of Israel as an adopted family.
For example, once we’re 18 years old, and that’s what I did, we come to our patriarch for a patriarchal blessing. It’s basically just a blessing about our future if we “stay in the covenant path,” meaning we keep the commandments and stay obedient and active in the church we belong to until the end.
Aside from that, through this blessing, we will also know which tribe we belong to.
I, for example, was told that I’m from the Tribe of Ephraim.
By the way, the church I’m talking about, the name mentioned above, is supposedly the church of Jesus Christ, which he built himself in the New Testament times and was only restored through the prophet Joseph Smith in the 1800s.
Now, when we say “Hurrah for Israel!” my own perception is that I am saying this because I am helping to gather Israel because they were lost and needed to be gathered.
As more people decided to get baptized and become church members, more and more Gentiles were adopted to Israel.
This is why this “missionary work” is so important to this church.
Now that you know all of that, let me tell you about what I found out recently while learning about the Kabbalist view on things.
I never really thought that this “gathering of Israel” would have another meaning other than the literal meaning I know.
What is the Gathering of Israel in a Kabbalist view?
I’ve been watching this 6-hour free course by Anthony Kosinec, uploaded on YouTube, entitled “Kabbalah Revealed with Tony Kosinec — Full,” and it got me excited.
This is a whole new perspective on how I see the world and our purpose of being here. I plan to write more about it later.
Now, on the subject of the gathering of Israel, let me first tell you the meaning of Israel that I just recently found out.
Imagine growing up in a religious environment but only learning about the meaning of one popular word just now. Why did I let this happen?
It was because I just settled on the truth I thought I knew, which was spoon-fed to me growing up in the church.
The word that I’m talking about is Israel.
This word came from the Hebrew word Yisrael, which means the desire to be with God. According to Tony, “Yis-” means straight, and “-el” means God. So, it literally means “straight to God.”
If you google this meaning, you’ll find other meanings as well. However, I’ll stick to the meaning I learned from the course, as this significantly affected me — sort of like an “Aha!” moment.
Now, when I hear the phrase, “Hurrah for Israel,” my perception has changed. I do not only see it in its literal meaning. I also see it this way.
“Hurrah for the man’s desire to be with God!”
“Hurrah for the nation’s desire to be with God!”
“Hurrah for my desire to be with God!”
“Hurrah for the correcting of my desires to be with God!”
“Hurrah for Israel!”
For the simple gathering of Israel or the gathering of all nations, it also means gathering ourselves. We are gathering our desires and correcting all of them so we can be totally unified with God.
Once the qualities of our hearts are unified with God’s qualities, which is only one God, then Israel is finally gathered.
Your neighbor,
Wam