The Jew's behavior, utterly sensible in principle, is nonetheless preposterous in the existing world. Surely, in the best of all possible worlds, no human being could ever imagine shooting another of his own species, one also created in the Divine image. Yet, this is hardly the best of all possible worlds, and in the present predatory situation the overriding sameness of human beings is scarcely ever noticed. In this situation the most insignificant differences are often elevated above all commonalities and "craziness" lies in rejecting such elevations.

How shall we Jews survive in such a distorted world? Shall we all simply join in to approve the inversion of sane behavior? And must we join in collectively as well as individually, as states as well as persons?

These questions are problematic not only for Jews as individuals, but also for the Jewish State. Wishing always that the non-Jewish world will fully acknowledge his or her fundamental humanity, the individual Jew has hoped for at least several centuries that a more humane pattern of interpersonal interaction would emerge. Similarly, since 1948, the State of Israel has tried, again and again and again, to impress its hostile Arab neighbors with the cosmopolitan vision of a shared humanity. Sadly, anti-Semitism is now resurgent throughout the world, and hatred of Israel — the individual Jew in macrocosm — is virulent, widespread and on the rise.

How shall we Jews survive in such a distorted world, both as individuals and as the always-imperilled State of Israel? In the collective form, shall we truly "Seek peace, and pursue it," when our enemies' brand of "sanity" lies exclusively and relentlessly in war? Or shall we reluctantly resign ourselves to war as the only genuine form of sanity in an altogether insane world? Aren't we clearly destined here to a no-win situation?

In any event, some decisions will have to be made. And soon. The Bush-advanced "Road Map" is already on the table. Prime Minister Sharon is already on record as willing to consider the associated proposals with seriousness and dispatch. Yet, Israel must take care never to forge peace agreements that are premised upon illusory assumptions of enemy "humanity." Instead, it should seek agreements only where they are fashioned in conformance with the lamentable understanding that Israel's enemies see in the Jewish State only an irremediable foe. Armed with such an understanding, Israel could at least act prudently to ensure its continued survival. This is not to suggest that Israel abandon the search for more durable peace with its many enemies, but only that this search always be conducted with a sober awareness of what these Arab states identify as sane behavior in world politics.

Sooner or later, even after America's recent defeat of Iraq, certain Arab states and/or Iran could acquire nuclear weapons. Should this be allowed to happen, these enemy states — emboldened by their atomic might — could fall upon Israel in an apocalyptic frenzy of destruction. It follows that Israel must now do everything in its power to prevent Arab/Iranian nuclearization, including — if necessary — non-nuclear preemptive strikes against pertinent enemy infrastructures. At the same time, it must stand ready to use certain of its nuclear weapons in reprisal for large-scale aggressions involving weapons of mass detruction. This readiness should not be kept as a secret; in one fashion or another, it should be communicated to those for whom humane behavior against Jews is invariably a contradiction in terms.

A Hasidic tale instructs us that we shall only be able to determine the hour of dawn, when the night ends and the day begins, when we can look into the face of another human being and have enough light to recognize in him a brother, a real brother. Until that moment, night and darkness shall still be with us. Understood in terms of the State of Israel, this tale reminds us that — in the best of all possible worlds — we humans, all of us, will finally be able to go beyond the most primordial forms of tribalism and acknowledge our basic Oneness.

For the moment, such an acknowledgment would be suicidal. Our enemies simply don't share a generous vision of cosmopolitan coexistence, and we cannot afford to be more "humane" about the "Road Map" at the predictable cost of collective disintegration. For now Israel must harden its resolve to preemptively remove certain Arab/Iranian weapons of mass destruction. Following United States policy, it should also act promptly to codify a formal strategy of anticipatory self-defense in its national strategic doctrine. And if preemption should fail, for one reason or another, Israeli deterrence of existential attack should include explicit and credible threats of nuclear retaliation against multiple high-value enemy targets.

Perhaps, in the future, all of humanity will finally understand that war and terror are "crazy." Here, witnessing the hour of a true dawn, each individual will look into the eyes of another and affirm in him the brother, the real brother. Until such time, however, we Jews must act upon the unavoidable understanding that for Israel's security, "Road Maps" are a very limited guide for direction.