Zionism Is Not Torah miSinai

7 Kislev 5785

Before we can proceed further with a discussion about the oxymoronic term Religious Zionism, a few points which have been raised in a couple of recent comments need to be addressed.  

Quote...

1)  Like I have stated previously, many have hijacked, distorted, and outright lied about what Zionism is.

2)  I see the true Religious Zionist as simply someone, say from a hill near Yitzhar, who observes the entire Torah to the best of his ability, and residing in the Land, conquering whatever we can, and building it up is simply part of the Torah.

3)  ...I'm too stubborn to allow the fakes to lie and to misrepresent Zionism, which I believe to mean that the Land of Zion belongs to the People of Israel.

Esser Agaroth

1.  Many more have failed to educate themselves or to accept the truth about the true and unhidden nature and goals of Zionism.  

2.  The things you find admirable in Religious Zionism are, as you say, "simply part of the Torah" and exist independent of Zionism.

3.  Zionism is a 19th century invention which has never pretended to be anything other than what it is.  It is the "Religious" who have misrepresented it in order to justify participation in its sins.

[Let me note here that the return to Zion and what passes as the chareidi response to it is a separate matter which will be addressed, God willing, when the present matter has been put to rest.]

Quote...

1)  Neither the haredi world nor the dati leumi are monolithic blocks. 

2)  Thus, it is completely incorrect to say that across the board the DL embrace evangelists. 

3)  ...DL soldiers are being killed disproportionately to their numbers, al kidush Hashem, to protect us all, many leaving behind widows and orphans.

4)  I suggest reading Em Habanim Smeichah by Rav Teichtal HYD, ....

Hitoreri

1.   That should go without saying.

2.  I should perhaps explain further what I meant by "across-the-board."  Speaking from personal experience, I mean that Jews who identify as Religious Zionists have made common cause and relationships with self-identified Chr*stian Zionists in every place where Religious Zionists live and work and learn, from the leadership all the way down.  No, it certainly does not involve all, but those who actively oppose are definitely in the minority.

3.  I'm not sure what your point is in regard to the claim that Religious Zionist soldiers "are being killed disproportionately to their numbers.  It's not a good thing and it's not a "kiddush Hashem" in my view.  It means they, and likely their parents, are invested in the Zionist idea of blood sacrifice for the Holy Medinah, which does not fight a war to win it and which is well known by the entire nation to put the soldiers at unnecessary risk in order to placate foreign powers.

The Tanakh teaches that when we are a righteous army, we do not suffer losses in battle.  We should be demanding to know why that is no longer true.  If all were well, I would think the result should be just the opposite.

4.  Thanks for suggesting the book, I've actually read it a few times.  I walked over and took it off the shelf and among all the dog-eared pages, I came to this highlighted portion on page xvi of the "Historical Introduction"...

The Rise of Zionism

Thus, the "enlightened," assimilated Jews reformed the Jewish religion and renounced all ties to Eretz Yisrael and Jewish nationalism*.  The Orthodox Jews, on the other hand, zealously guarded traditional Judaism and, of course, retained a holy reverence for their forefathers' Land.  Ironically, however, a significant shift took place on just this issue.**  These "enlightened" Jews, as far as they were from traditional Judaism, called for a renewal of Jewish nationalism*, a rebirth of the Jewish nation in its ancient Homeland.  They saw this as the only solution to the perpetual problem of anti-Semitism.

Something which history has proved was merely wishful thinking.  I'd like to pause here for a moment to make some important points with regard to defining our terms.  

----*See the definition of "nationalism":  "identification with one's own nation and support for its interests, especially to the exclusion or detriment of the interests of other nations."  

----Now, see the definition of "nationhood":  "the fact or status of being a nation; national identity or independence."

Nationalism was a fitting term for the National Socialists movement in 1940s Germany just as it is a fitting term for the Chr*stian nationalists in the USA today.  It is also fitting for the Zionists who wanted to "be like the other nations", but it has no connection to the Torah's definition of Am Yisrael, for whom the word nationhood (in English) is much more applicable.  I daresay the author of the Introduction to Eim Habanim Semeichah should have made the distinction. 

The Torah reveals the following solid truth about our "nationhood"...

...has any god performed miracles to come and take him a nation from the midst of a[nother] nation, (גוֹי֘ מִקֶּ֣רֶב גּוֹי֒) with trials, with signs, and with wonders, and with war and with a strong hand, and with an outstretched arm, and with great awesome deeds, as all that the Lord your God did for you in Egypt before your eyes?  (Devarim 4.34)

We were forged into a nation while mired in the depths of Egypt.  Our nationhood was not then, nor is it now, dependent on Land.  The entire idea of "rebirth" assumes this dependency.  That is not to discount the value and the place that Eretz Yisrael holds, but neither our presence in it, nor our absence from it, defines us as a nation.  If it did, then all the goyim living here could claim to be part of the Nation of Israel by virtue of living in the land.  

This is also why Jews are always perceived as strangers in other lands.  Whether we like to admit it or not, we are a nation in exile no matter where or when we live and that means we are not free to be part of any other nation.  And if we do view ourselves as part of any other nation than the goy kadosh we were created to be, it is a betrayal of HKB"H and our relationship to Him.

Now, continuing to quote from "The Rise of Zionism"...

Initially, the Orthodox reaction to this unexpected development was mixed.  Some (mainly in Czarist Russia) viewed Zionism as a return to authentic Judaism.  Others (particularly in Austro-Hungary and Germany) remained silent, waiting to see how things would develop.  It soon became clear, however, that the secular Zionists longed for a Jewish nationalism that mimicked European nationalism, with no ties to Torah and mitzvot.  The Zionist Congress determined that "Zionism has nothing to do with religion."  Many Orthodox groups saw this as a continuation of the Enlightenment movement, simply another attempt to strip the Jews of their sacred traditions.

Thus, the vast majority of Orthodox Jewry strongly opposed the Zionist movement.  They still loved and longed for the Holy Land; they opposed only the call for a renewal of Jewish national independence.  To underscore this difference, many religious leaders explained that it is inconceivable that God would fulfill our ancient hope of redemption through secular activism.  Some even attributed the secular Zionists' success to the forces of evil, arguing that Satan wanted to confuse well-meaning Jews.

...There were, of course, religious Zionists, like the members of Mizrachi.  However, they were not fully accepted by either group.  The ultra-Orthodox condemned them for cooperating with sinners, [Me: a violation of halachah] and the secular Zionists accused them of not cooperating enough, of dual loyalties.

That, right there, proves the point that Religious Zionists simply refuse to accept.  It's an unholy mixture!!  Religious Jews were already making aliyah and settling the land in preparation for the redemption before the Zionists entered the scene and continued to do so afterwards.  There was really no need to put a foot in each camp and straddle the fence like that except that the nationalist ideas appealed to the ego. 

[For the Orthodox establishment, there was a classic Failure of Conception that I am saving for later.]

Until next time, I'll leave you with this footnote from the book The Empty Wagon by Rabbi Yaakov Shapiro...

(The Brisker Rav, vol. 3, p. 220)  "Their main goal was to uproot religion from the Jewish people and turn them into a nation like all other nations"; ibid., p. 221:  "The main goal of the Zionists is . . . the promotion of the idea that we are a nation like all other nations, to be achieved by leaving the path of Torah"; ibid., p. 222:  "The Zionists want a land of Israel?  They want to move Klal Yisrael [away from its religious observance]"....

No one in his right mind today can refute the prescient words of the Brisker Rav, as their war on Torah is being played out every day across the pages of our daily news.  

** Way back up at the beginning, I starred this quote:  "Ironically, however, a significant shift took place on just this issue."  Because the Zionist leadership saw that they had no influence over the religious Jews without a common point of contact; therefore, they chose to make an appeal based on settling the Land of Israel and it worked.  How many were lead astray by this method?

To be continued, iy"H...