19 Elul 5772
About three weeks ago, I wrote:
...When we stood at the foot of Har Sinai, we were united "like one man with one heart," according to Chazal. But, where did that unity come from? From within ourselves? Was it an ability to set aside all our differences and accept them with love, no matter how divergent? Emphatically, NO! We were not the source of that unity. We were the recipients! It was the truth of the Holy Torah that united us around it. I believe that only around the essential truth can we unite - even (and especially) today.
This is something that should be self-evident.
Today Rabbi Dov Lior is quoted as saying:
“There is no doubt that the desire to unite all sections of the national-religious camp into one big movement is something very important, but on the other hand, we must carefully examine the true values around which they come together,” he said.
At a time when we are being urged to unify despite important differences, simply for the sake of unity, as if it alone will save us, this truth can not be overemphasized.
You don't need unity around everything that (is/could be) true. Unity around the Land of Israel is sufficient.
ReplyDeleteThe failure of the "Zionist" (Erev Rav) regime is proof enough of the error of this line of thinking.
ReplyDeleteHow is the failure of the Zionist regime proof of this? This failure is becoming clear to just-about every Jew in Israel. The failure is a tool in the Hands of Heaven, to achieve unity.
ReplyDeleteForget the machloket if you want to live. It's that simple.
ReplyDeleteWith the early secular Zionists, land was everything and in the beginning of the state, secular settlers and religious settlers united around claiming the land. Oviously, you can't have a staet without land. but what kind of state did it become? It's a state that is being attacked from within by "Israeli" Arabs and overrun by African "refugees." It's a state that protects missionary activity by all kinds of false religions.
ReplyDeleteWhy?
Because uniting around land is not enough. Did you know that a triangle is the most stable structure? We must unify around the G-d of Israel, the Torah of Israel and the Land of Israel EQUALLY in order to have any chance for lasting success and to fulfill our purpose. Nothing less will suffice.
I don't think there is anything "simple" about it. Not if you are going to separate fact from fiction before swallowing everything whole and giving yourself a big bellyache.
ReplyDeleteI mean we are obligated to live in this land in accordance with the covenant we made with Hashem and the Book of Instruction that He gave us. We are not allowed to abrogate the covenant in order to be unified with our wayward brothers. The Klal is made up of those who are faithful to the covenant. Those who have separated themselves from it are in rebellion and it is up to them to come back into the fold or be cut off.
ReplyDeleteYou use words that are difficult to parse for me. Noah's ark is in the Book of instruction. Is it ok to not believe it happened as written? Evolution of life, is it ok to believe it happened?
ReplyDeleteRe: Noah's ark - If you say I believe all of the Torah except this part, then you bring the whole thing into question. It's either true or it's not. You can't pick and choose. That's what other religions do. Re: evolution - it's not so clear because the Torah doesn't go into so many details about how it was accomplished. There are rabbis who say some kind of evolutionary process is consistent with total belief in the Torah's account. However, if you you're implying that Adam and Eve and the snake is a fairy tale, then you've gone too far.
ReplyDeleteNote to readers: Do not click on the link in my long response above. it is an ad that somehow inserted itself into my text and I can't remove it without deleting my comment altogether. Can't figure out how that happened.
Noah's ark is mandatory belief? You just wrote off a huge chunk of Am Yisrael.
ReplyDeleteYou are putting words in my mouth and you're missing the big picture. If you can't believe in Noah's ark, how can you believe that the Sea split and millions of people passed through it on dry land?
ReplyDeleteLook, we were united like one man at Har Sinai and if you want REAL unity, that's where we have to get back to. And we weren't even IN our land yet.