[Avodah] Eretz Yisrael vs Medinat Yisrael [was: The Legacy of RSRH, Zt'L]

[via Avodah]

R. Ben Waxman wrote:


>Therefore the creation of the State  is, in of itself,  a Kiddush Hashem.
>Rav Soloveitch tz"l wrote about  this point in Kol Dodi Dofek and in his
>drashot for the Kinot, as did Rav  Zvi Yehuda Kook tz"l.
 
RYL wrote:
 
>> We all know that there were great Torah scholars who disagreed  with 
>> the assertion that " the creation of the State is, in of  itself,  a 
>> Kiddush Hashem." 




>>>>>
 
I will have to re-read Kol Dodi Dofek because I don't remember such a  
forthright quote -- "The creation of the State is, in of itself, a Kiddush  
Hashem."  But in any case it isn't exactly an either-or  question.
 
The Medinah -- the secular socialist Russian government of Israel -- is  
hardly a kiddush Hashem.  Indeed it arouses waves of hatred from the goyim  
all over the world, on a daily basis.
 
RBW also wrote:
 
>>....The first is from Yoma 86:A, Rashi, B'Amor Lehem: "Evil comes  to 
chassidim and chachamim because "They desecrated My Holy name." How did they  
desecrate (God's name)? In those places to where they were exiled, the 
non-Jews  say "These are the people of God" and He can't redeem them. Conclusion: 
God's  name has been desecrated." End quote.<<
 
The establishment of a government that is hated and vilified by the whole  
world is not, it would seem, a kiddush Hashem.  Plus the fact that the  
country is under constant military threat and cannot, apparently, provide  
security to its inhabitants, also would not seem to be a kiddush Hashem.   But I 
think these facts -- the constant physical attacks, the world-wide moral  
opprobrium -- are the cosmic result of the fact that the Medinah is 
determinedly  secular and consciously rejects Torah as a guiding principle.   
 
HOWEVER, on the other side, RBW's Rashi quote does have a bearing on the  
current situation in Eretz Yisrael.
 
There is no denying that the flourishing of Eretz Yisrael, after two  
thousand years of desolation, is miraculous.  The continued existence  of the 
country, despite the constant waves of physical and diplomatic  attacks, is 
also miraculous.  And the fact that all Jews can go and live in  Eretz Yisrael, 
and that millions actually do live there, is also a huge  miracle.
 
I said there is no denying the miraculous aspects and yet I am aware that  
the Satmar Rebbe did deny it.  He admitted that there was a  supernatural 
aspect to Israel's recent history but ascribed the miracles to the  Satan, 
blinding our eyes.  He never joined Agudas Yisrael, the world-wide  umbrella 
organization for all Orthodox Jews, because he was on one side and all  the 
other gedolim in the world were on the other side.  All the others  rejected 
the ideology of secular Zionism while gratefully acknowledging chasdei  
Hashem in allowing the Land to be built up, allowing the Torah communities  to 
grow and flourish, allowing millions of Jews to live in our ancient  homeland. 
 
The Lubavitcher Rebbe also never joined the Agudah -- I refer not to the  
Israeli political party but to the world-wide umbrella organization.  He  had 
other reasons, perhaps for another time.  I think he wanted Chabad to  be 
THE world-wide organization, he did not want it to be one of many  competing 
Orthodox groups and derachim. But he agreed with the basic ideology of  the 
Agudah vis-a-vis the state of Israel -- the nuanced view of ohr  vechoshech. 
 
 
And so did the Yekkes, very much so!  In fact they were instrumental  in 
founding and guiding the Agudah, for decades!  Their attitude towards  Israel 
after the founding of the Medinah and the beginning of kibbutz galuyos  was 
very much the same as the whole rest of the Agudah -- grateful  
acknowledgment of the positive, hakaras hatov to the Ribono Shel Olam,  opposition to 
the negative, working to improve the moral status of Eretz  Yisrael, e.g., 
when it came to forced autopsies (B'H the charedim won that  bitterly fought 
battle), giyus banos and other issues.  But the Yekkes in  Israel do vote, do 
participate in running the country, do daven at the kosel  (unlike the 
Satmar and Neturei Karta), do thank Hashem for protecting Eretz  Yisrael and 
daven for continued Divine protection.  
 
RYL considers himself the premier acolyte of RSRH but he and I have some  
fundamental disagreements about what the Hirschian legacy really is.



--Toby  Katz
t613k at aol.com
..
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