From “Besa Land” to Promise Land: From Albania to Israel—Friendship Essay (January 31, 2010)

From “Besa Land” to Promise Land

From Albania to Israel—Friendship EssayJanuary 31, 2010

Project: Minor Principle ApplicationSubmitted to: Dr. Franco GandolfiCourse: BMBA 612—Human Systems and Commerce

Author: Mr. Genard Hajdini

Tirana, AlbaniaJanuary, 2010

E-mail: [email protected]

Genard Hajdini © From Besa Land to Promise Land:from Albania to IsraelRegent UniversitySchool of Global Leadership & Entrepreneurship

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Introduction____________________________________________________________________________________3

Besa Land____________________________________________________________________________________5

Promise Land________________________________________________________________________________6

Conclusion____________________________________________________________________________________7

Works Cited__________________________________________________________________________________8

CONTACT INFORMATION_____________________________________________9


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Introduction

“And he (Noah) said: Blessed be the LORD, the God of Shem, andmay Canaan be his servant. May God enlarge Japheth, and may he dwell

in the tents of Shem; and may Canaan be his servant.”~Genesis 9:26-27

This is the story of two ancient nations: one descendents of

Japheth to Dodanim the coastland

people, to Pelasgian, to

Illyrians, to Albanians; and the

other to Shem, to Peleg, to

Nahor, to Terah, to Abraham, to

Isaac, to Jacob, to 12 sons and

tribes of Israel (Jacob’s sons),

10 lost tribes in the world and

Judah and Benjamin today in

Israel.

It was spring of 1994 where

I met with the Gudoritch couple,


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the first Jewish people to have known up to that point. They were

both archeologists and had come to Albania to see the

archeological sites in our country. I was happy to accompany

them as a guide, although a teenager myself. We went to Kruja,

the birthplace of Gjergj Kastrioti (also known as Scanderbeg

1405-1468). Then, we went to Shkodra in the northwest, where I

was born as well. They taught me about the comparative advantage

that Albania had at that time on good cheese, olives, beer,

organic food, and water. They preferred certain foods and fish.

They promised that the following year they would organize a bus

full of Jewish people to visit Albania, if I would be their

guide. It was flattering, but before that dream could become a

reality, I ended up going the following year in July 25, 1995 in

the United States for my senior year of high school to another

part-Jewish family: the Harmon family. They are truly a harmony,

since all of these family members enjoy singing and praising the

LORD in the worship team at church. I was taught by the host


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father of the family how to walk with God, listen and converse

with Him. He told me to walk like Enoch, a man of faith, and be a

friend of God, since God wants relationship with man, that is why

we were created. While, I attended Oral Roberts University (ORU),

thanks to TELED International who made possible my coming over to

United States of America, little did I know that its President

Dr. Don D. Petry who had come in Tirana, Albania for the first

time in the conference: “Free to Learn” on November 1991, and had

the audacity to bring the first Albanian flag without the five

point communist star, flag that was hanged afterwards in the

democratic parliament after 22 March 1992 free elections in the

last 50 years of Communism—it was finally Jubilee year for

Albania; would become my mentor and spiritual father on my

pathway to Christian education.

At ORU, I met a lot of many people from many nations, since

I become the International Students Organization’s President for

two consecutive years. Once, a Jewish lawyer invited me at his


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home together with my sister who was studying in high school

across ORU, during Passover Day as they called what I knew as

Easter. It was quite an experience: the radish plant, the

unleavened bread, the wine or grape-juice cup, and the kosher

meal. I was thankful to have known this other part of Jewish

culture.

The Jews gave to the world the Torah, and the Bible. Moses

who led his people out of Egypt wrote down the Decalogue, the ten

words, or the Ten Commandments which are the basis of moral

foundation of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. One Austrian

Catholic theologian on our way back from 7-9 November 2008

meeting in Paris, France, told me on Austrian Airline flight

seating across the isle: It would be better to think of the ten

words not as “you shall not do,” but as “you need not to do.” It

is more preventative to stop temptation if you think: “I need not

to kill, steal, covet, etc.” Jews have given much to the world,

as Albanians have opened their hearts and homes for them.


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Besa Land

“In mighty signs and wonders, by the power of the Spirit of God, sothat from Jerusalem and round about to Illyricum (Albania) I have

fully preached the gospel of Christ.”

~Romans 15:19

Apostle Paul, a Jewish scholar under his Pharisee teacherGamaliel who was a leading authority of Sanhedrin in the firstcentury A.D., preached the gospel of good news from Jerusalem toIllyricum—Albania today. Little is known about Albania, that itwas the only nation in the world that did not put any quotas onhow many Jews could accept while they were running away from NaziGermany. Also, during World War II, no Jew has been surrenderedby the Albanian people to the Nazis, and all Jews over 2,500 ofthem who came to hide in our country were safe and lived to go totheir Promise Land: Israel.

The Albanians in their history and proverbs talk a lot aboutcertain virtues, but almost two/thirds of it speaks about a wordcalled: “Besa.” There is no word in English to describe thisconcept, but its meaning is “a promise of a promise,” or “thegiven word.” The Jewish concept that describes this concept isthe Promised Son to Abraham, Isaac who was about to become aliving sacrifice in the land of Moriah, on a mountaintop. Thisword “besa,” or promise virtue of the Albanian people, become theGenard Hajdini © From Besa Land to Promise Land:from Albania to IsraelRegent UniversitySchool of Global Leadership & Entrepreneurship

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guarantee for the Jews living in our country. Just like when Godasked Abraham to offer Isaac, Albania a mountainous countrybecame synonymous to the place of “The-LORD-Will-Provide; as itis said to this day, ‘In the Mount of the LORD it shall beprovided” (Genesis 22:14). There is also an anecdotal story aboutAlbert Einstein that he actually had an Albania passport to getout of Germany. I am not sure to its validity, but in the end wewould be proud to have helped the least of them.

Promise Land “He who saves a life, saves an entire world.”

~Talmud (Quoted in Schindler’s List Movie)

“The acronym, ICHTHUS in Roman Letters is also the Greek

word for “fish” but it stands in Roman letters Iesous Christos THeou

Uios Soter, meaning ‘Jesus Christ, God’s Son, Saviour’” (Cahill,

1999, 255). Jesus, the Anointed One (Messiah in Hebrew), came to

save His people, the nation of Israel. God’s promise was given

first to Abram in his land, in Ur of the Chaldeans, who become

Abraham: “Get out of your country, from your kindred and from


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your father’s house, to a land that I will show you. I will make

you a great nation; I will bless you and make your name great; I

will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who curses

you; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed”

(Genesis 12:1-3). Then later, Moses led his people through 40

years of desert wondering to the Jordan River, not crossing it

but already passing the baton to Joshua, sun of Nun, who led his

people to the Promised Land of “milk and honey.” Jesus was the

promise to save his people and the world (John 3:16), the Logos

that was since in the beginning of the world (John 1:1-14).

Conclusion

“The Jews gave us the Outside and the Inside—our outlook and our inner life. We can hardly get up in the morning or cross the street without being Jewish. We dream Jewish dreams and hope Jewish hopes. Most of our best words, in fact—new, adventure, surprise; unique, individual, person, vocation; time, history, future; freedom, progress, spirit; faith, hope, justice—are the gifts of the Jews.”

~Thomas Cahill, 1998, 240.


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From Besa Land to Promise Land

Figure 2. Map of Albania.

Figure 3. Map of Israel.


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Works Cited

Cahill, Thomas. 1998. The gifts of the Jews: how a tribe of desert nomads changed the way everyone thinks and feels. New York: Doubleday. p. 240.

Cahill, Thomas. 1999. The World Before and After Jesus: Desire ofthe everlasting hills. New York: Random House, Inc. p. 255.

The New King James Version. 1985. The Open Bible: expanded edition. New York: Thomas Nelson Publishers.


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CONTACT INFORMATION

© Copyright GenardHajdini 2010

Institute of PublicHealth

Rruga: Aleksander MoisiuNr. 80Tirana, Albania

Produced in AlbaniaJanuary 31, 2010All Rights Reserved

Websites: www.moh.gov.al www.ishp.gov.al

E-mail:[email protected]

Skype: genard1977Tel. (W): 00-355-4-23-74-

756Fax. (W): 00-355-4-23-70-

058Cell. 00-355-69-24-99-526


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http://www.ishp.gov.al/

http://www.moh.gov.al/

From “Besa Land” to Promise Land: From Albania to Israel—Friendship Essay (January 31, 2010)

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