[Avodah] Sobering Thoughts as Israel's Independence Day Approaches

[Micha Berger]

On Sun, Apr 18, 2010 at 12:43:51PM -0400, Zev Sero wrote:
: Daniel Bukingolts wrote:
:>               why all the seemingly huge miracles to create and keep 
:>its existence? How do you explain 48 war? 67? Do you just write it off 
:>by saying... in the path a person wants to go Hashem guides him? (or 
:>whatever the phrase is...)

: In both cases any other result would have caused a massacre r"l worse
: than Tach Vetat, and a massive chilul Hashem ("lama yomru vagoyim ayeh
: elokeihem").  HKBH had "no choice" keveyachol but to give the Jews a
: victory....

As opposed to what HQBH allowed to happen just 3 years prior to haqamas
hamedinah?

My point isn't to assert one way or the other, just to point out how
these things are simply topics I would want to take a stand about.
We're dealing with HQBH's "Actions". Our ability to answer "why?" is
severely limited.

As for the phrase, it's "bederekh she'adam rotzeh leileikh, sham
molikhin oso".

And to play devil's advocate (almost literally), recall seifer Iyov. The
satan was given a lot of authority to do much to Iyov for the sake of
providing him the challenges his soul needed. The notion that Israel is
maaseh satan can't be *summarily* dismissed.

(Personally, I understand the anti-Zionist position more readily than
I understand Agudah's. Li nir'eh, it's obvious that the Medinah is a
significant event. I can faster understand someone attributing negative
significance than denying it altogether.)

On Sun, Apr 18, 2010 at 07:42:31PM +0200, Ben Waxman wrote:
: Did Rav Breuer have any thoughts on how to bring about this change?

I don't recall R' Dovid Lifshitz suggesting anything concrete either.
However, a few years back, I posted the following. See the third
paragraph:

    A few years back, when Yom haAtzma'ut was also celebrated on
    Thursday 3 Iyyar, my father asked me what I thought about not saying
    Tachanun or saying Hallel. The choice of 5 Iyyar as the point at
    which we gained atzma'ut, independence, is itself not perfectly
    compelling. It was not the date we were given independence, or the
    date the war was won, but the date we made a declaration. No overt
    miracles. So even a full Zionist could question changing the liturgy
    for 5 Iyyar. And 3 Iyyar doesn't even have that much!I replied that
    quite the contrary. Why is Yom haAtzma'ut celebrated early this
    year? Because the government has an office of the rabbanut, which
    did not want to establish a commemoration that would lead to Shabbos
    violation. The government doesn't want to take responsibility for
    celebrations on Shabbos, or on Friday that could run into Shabbos
    and violate its laws.

    Is not the existence of a country that adapts its commemorations
    for the sake of the Torah not extactly what we should be celebrating?

    Rav Dovid Lifshitz spoke more than one year on the dual meaning of
    "atzma'ut". Yes, we gained our "atzma'ut" our independence, our
    ability to be a fully capable and productive individual nation.
    However, "etzem" not only refers to an individual, it is also a bone
    or core. For observant Jews, Yom haAtzma'ut recalls what can only be
    considered a huge gift from the Creator, but only half of the task
    is done. The Jewish essence, the "etzem" is not yet manifest. We
    must respond to His gift.

    Having a country that works to preserve Shabbos is one thing. Having
    one that doesn't even need to, quite something else.

    PS: In Rav Dovid Lishitz's minyan on a year where Thursday was both
    an early Yom haAtzama'ut and BaHa"B, we said Tachanun, Selichos,
    and afterward Hallel without a berakhah.

As for the position among the "Breuer's" community... What became Ezra
was founded by R' Yitzchak Breuer. (The name is a reference to the
marbitz Torah who resettled EY bederekh hateva.) And when Ezra became
part of the Agudah (in Germany, 1919), the heads were R's Eli and Elie
Munk. After he made Aliyah, R' Breuer was the ideologue behind Poalei
Agudas Yisrael, which inherited Ezra after the split.

RSRH's anti-Zionism didn't stick over the generations.

Tir'u baTov!
-Micha

-- 
Micha Berger             Today is the 22nd day, which is
micha at aishdas.org        3 weeks and 1 day in/toward the omer.
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Fax: (270) 514-1507                 situation for the benefit of others?