The 15th blessing of the Amidah is a petition to G-d to restore the Davidic kingdom, the ideal form of classic Jewish leadership. It is not surprising that the rabbis, writing after the destruction of the Temple and with it the destruction of Jewish sovereignty, would long for “the good old days,” when ancient Israel was at the peak of its powers.
What is surprising, though, and particularly relevant today, is the way this pious wish was phrased. “May the bud of David Your servant quickly blossom” and “may he raise his horns in triumph.” The first image is one from agriculture, the second from animal husbandry. The two are combined in the final blessing of G-d “Who causes the horn of salvation to blossom.”
The text reveals an ancient, and unique, understanding of Jewish identity. Jews were (are) the human produce that flourishes precisely in the Land of Israel. This self-perception is echoed in the Shabbat musaf Amidah, where we ask G-d to “plant us in our borders,” (tita’eynu bigvuleinu). Today, we would call this perspective “consciousness of indigeneity.”
If we “pull the camera back” a little, it will become obvious that the link between the People of Israel and the Land of Israel is one of the great themes of Western culture. A Martian looking at the Torah for the first time would tell you that the whole point of the book was to tell the story of how, from the very moment of creation, the people Israel was destined to be in the Land. The theme of return from Exile is the beating heart of masterpieces of world literature like the Book of Psalms and the prophets Isaiah and Ezekiel. The “Wandering Jew” is a thousand year old literary motif echoing from Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales (“The Pardoner’s Tale,” specifically) to Joyce’s Ulysses. And in reviewing the history of Zionism, a driving force was Christian Zionism, including people like Melville and Jonathan Edwards, Lord Balfour and Martin Luther King, Jr., all of whom shared a vision of the return of the people to their land. This vision was, indeed, nearly universally shared (modern propaganda notwithstanding). Hence the language in the San Remo Agreement: “Whereas recognition has thereby been given to the historical connection of the Jewish people with Palestine and to the grounds for reconstituting their National Home in that country…”—a statement that had unanimous agreement by the League of Nations.
A Tablet Magazine list of great Jewish films named Spielberg’s E.T. the greatest Jewish movie ever made. A controversial choice, to be sure. But given that all E.T. wants to do is “go home,” it’s not at all surprising. That is the theme addressed every single day in the Amidah, and most particularly in this blessing.