[Avodah] Rav Moshe Feinstein on America

[Micha Berger via Avodah]

On Fri, Sep 01, 2017 at 07:23:21AM +0200, Ben Waxman wrote:
: Did RMF believe the below in regards to the State of Israel?

I would GUESS that this dilemma, the desirability of Jews living according
to Judaism vs that of not imposing ideology, was part of the worldview
that led to RMF not being a Zionist. The conflict is a problem with a
Jewish State that predates the vast majority accepting a Torah-based
ideology.

But I have a feeling that's all we can do on this one, state our guesses.



I should point out that there is indication that the late second BHMQ
Sanhedrin apparently agreed. What was the self-exile from the Lishkas
haGazis about? Rashi (Sanhedrin 41 "ela dinei nefashos") says that it's
because they couldn't keep up with the demand for death penalties.

And given that the Sanhedrin lost the command to perform makkos along with
that of dinei nefasho with leaving the lishkas hagazis, they basically got
out of the enforcing observance business. Power was left to legislate,
interpret, dinei mamonos, kenasos, qidush hachodesh... But corporal
and capital punishment were not longer mandatory, and only applied
extra-Judicially when there was sufficient need.

So it seems to me that before we lost the autonomous state, the state
wasn't trying to impose ideology on a masses that didn't embrace it
either.

:-)BBii!
-Micha

-- 
Micha Berger             "As long as the candle is still burning,
micha at aishdas.org        it is still possible to accomplish and to
http://www.aishdas.org   mend."
Fax: (270) 514-1507          - Anonymous shoemaker to R' Yisrael Salanter