[Adapted from the book, Torat Eretz Yisrael, by HaRav David Samson, based on Sichot HaRav Tzvi Yehuda by HaRav Shlomo Aviner. Edited by Tzvi Fishman. See also, the book, “Like Father, Like Son” by HaRav Shlomo Aviner and Tzvi Fishman]
Selected Teachings of HaRav Tzvi Yehuda HaKohen Kook
AHAVAT YISRAEL
“My Father said that since groundless hatred caused the destruction of the Second Temple, to bring about the Temple’s rebuilding, we have to increase unlimited love. This love is not dependent on anything. It is like God’s unconditional love for Israel. This love exists regardless of any shortcomings in the beloved, or without any conditions that have to be met. Even with all of the deficiencies and imperfections in people, love must be total. There can be great differences in personalities, disagreements in learning, or debates over the right thing to do. True Ahavah transcends all of this and surrounds all of the Jewish People like the eternal love of God for His people.”
EMUNAH
“Emunah has to be studied. Emunah is not a simple statement of belief. Emunah is the greatest learning, the greatest wisdom, the most profound thought. It is the broadest approach to the world, encompassing all of man and all of the universe. The study of Emunah is more important than all other learning. It covers a vast range of knowledge how Hashem appears in the life of man, the life of the Jewish Nation, and the life of the world.”
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“Some people claim that the study of Aggadah and Emunah is not important. However, the Oral Torah includes the details of Halacha, and also Aggadot and Midrashim, which comprise the inner depths of the Torah and Emunah. Obviously, the main portion of the day must be devoted to the study of Halacha and Gemara. In addition, the Gaon of Vilna emphasized the learning of HaKuzari and the learning of Midrashim because, ‘A treasure of Divine instruction is hidden in them.’ It is impossible to separate oneself from the esoteric aspects of Torah or from the spiritual depths which the Torah contains.”
*
“There is a discussion in the Gemara regarding what brought about the Galut, (Nedarim 81A; Baba Metzia 85A). The question derives from a verse in Yermiyahu – ‘Why is the Land lost?’ (Yermiyahu, 9:11). Seemingly, there isn’t a need for such a question for we know that the First Temple was destroyed for the sins of idol worship, sexual misconduct, and murder. The Second Temple was destroyed by senseless hatred. However, the question calls for a deeper inquiry. Hashem provides the answer: ‘Because they have forsaken My Torah,’ (there). How are we to comprehend this? People did study Torah at the time. The Torah was studied in all generations. A richness of Torah scholars and Torah erudition existed in every age. The explanation is that while they studied the Torah and its many branches, they failed in their approach to Torah. They studied Torah from its individual, personal aspect alone and not out of its national character and national pride inherent in the blessing we say before Torah study: ‘Blessed art Thou, Hashem our God, who has chosen us from all of the nations, and given us His Torah.’ They were industrious learners and masters of Pilpul (Talmudic dialectics). They were Ultra-Orthodox in their religious observance. Hwever, they didn’t approach the Torah from its national essence. Because of this, the Land was lost. Hashem chose us as a Nation, as His Nation, out of all other nations. He chose the Israelite Nation, all members of His Nation with love, not only elite individuals and Tzaddikim. Out of this love for all of His Nation, He gave us the Torah. When the learning of Torah does not emanate from the recognition of Israel’s Divine national creation – this is called a forsaking of the Torah. If one learns Torah without this exalted national perspective, there is a danger of perishing from the Land, for the individual, and for the congregation as a whole.”
*
“Emunah is certainty. Contrasting this is Emunah stemming from philosophical inquiry alone which can bring about a situation of partial faith. This is the false Emunah which is mentioned in the Torah in connection with the Spies. Referring to their sin, the Torah says, ‘In this matter, you did not believe in the Lord your God’ (Devarim, 1:32). In this matter, in not making Aliyah to Israel, they did not have Emunah. In other matters, they did believe. They believed, and yet they didn’t believe. This is a state of half-Emunah. In contrast, the foundation of faith is seen in Avraham Avinu, as it says, ‘And he had Emunah in the Lord,’ (Bereshit, 15:6). He wasn’t a half-believer. He believed with a complete faith, with ‘Emunah shlema,’ in the language of the Rambam (Thirteen Principles of Faith). The Spies had a deficiency in their Emunah, as it says, ‘Yet you would not go up to Israel,’ (Devarim, 1:26). You have Emunah, yet in this matter of Aliyah, you don’t believe.
*
“Talmud (Sotah 48B) states that there are types of ‘Tzaddikim who don’t believe,’ as it says in the. They select and chose words of the Torah and the commandments, saying, ‘This matter is arranged properly by the Almighty. It is very nice, it pleases me, it’s easy to do. Therefore I agree to abide. However, this matter is not so pleasing in my eyes.’ This approach to Torah leads to heresy. In contrast to this selective Judaism comes the true approach of, ‘Everything that the Lord said, we will do and listen’ (Shemot, 24:7) We will do it, whether it pleases us or not, whether we intellectually agree, or whether the matter is above our logic. “When the Torah is seen in its true light, there is no criticism of Hashem and opposition to His commandments. In place of criticism comes cleaving, harmony, and complete Emunah.”
GALUT AND GEULA
“The Geula stands in contrast to the Galut, our exile from the Land of Israel. Geula is the opposite of Galut. What is Galut? An aberration. For instance, in our normal state, we all need to be here, the entire Nation of Israel in the Land of Israel. In addition, all of Eretz Yisrael needs to be in our possession. Baruch Hashem, the Lord’s blessing is now shining upon us, increasing, little by little, in gradual stages: immigration, Statehood, victory in wars, more Aliyah, Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria, economic boom, and the like. The process unfolds in natural stages. Just as Hashem can bring the Redemption through miracles, He can do it without open miracles, in a simpler way, through a natural process via the conquest, settlement, and development of Eretz Yisrael. The Redemption which is unfolding before us now, which we can clearly see with our eyes, appears in stages – not all at once.”
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“The Jerusalem Talmud teaches that the Redemption comes about, ‘Little by little, like the dawning of the day,’ (Berachot 1:1). The Redemption unfolds in gradual stages. A major step in the process is the establishment of Jewish sovereignty over Eretz Yisrael. Until our time, it was not clear how this would occur. Now, thank God, it is crystallizing and progressing before our eyes. The days of Mashiach encompass a great number of stages, as our Sages reveal in the expression: ‘Two thousand years of Mashiach’ (Sanhedrin 97A and B). This is also implied in the expression which we say toward the end of the Shacharit prayer, ‘The years of Mashiach.’ The ingathering of the exiles and the restoration of Jewish sovereignty over Eretz Yisrael – Medinat Yisrael – are clear steps in the process and revelations of Mashiach. The revelation of the Exile’s end began to appear with the settlement of the early moshavim. Our Sages teach, ‘There is nothing more revealing of the end of the Exile than this, as the Prophet says, ‘But you, O mountains of Israel, you shall shoot forth your branches and yield your fruit to My People Israel, for they will soon be coming’ (Ezekiel, 36:8). Rashi explains, ‘When Eretz Yisrael gives forth her fruits in abundance, the end of the Exile is near, and there is no surer sign of the end of the Exile than this’ (Sanhedrin 98A). This is clearly happening today. We see the blessing on the Land and on her fruits – grapes, bananas, oranges. Each day we hear of greater agricultural success. Just yesterday, the Land was a desert. Today we export fruits to all the world! This is a quiet miracle heralding the days of Mashiach. We have to accustom ourselves to see this as the work of Hashem. Likewise, the great immigration of our People and the restoration of Jewish sovereignty over our Land are all aspects of Mashiach orchestrated by the Master of the World, the Causer of Causes. The restoration unfolds every day. The Master of the Universe is not idle, God forbid. Today, we are in the middle of the road. All of the complications will all be worked out over time. Medinat Yisrael represents the statehood of the days of Mashiach, which begins with revealed events and concludes with hidden matters like the revival of the dead. There is no contradiction between these two facets of our Redemption, the revealed and the secret. For we are dealing with our unique Divine Nation. On the one hand it is the Statehood of Am Yisrael, a normal State which must weather all sorts of trials and tribulations. On the otrher hand, it is a State where prophets will once again roam. The Redemption doesn’t only evolve through obvious miracles. We also experience the quiet miracles of a desert land yielding bushels and bushels of fruit, of cities built on sand dunes and swamps, and of a Nation reborn in the ancient Land. All of this is a part of Mashiach. And it is happening now.”
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“The time has come to return home. Whether we want to or not, whether we recognize this truth, or whether we want to run away from it. ‘And I will bring them back to their Land,’ (Ezekiel, 36:22). Hashem has decided that the time has arrived. Even if this requires the most unpleasant means, Heaven forbid, with Hashem’s anger poured out, the time has come to return to our country and to our special air. However, when we return, we must realize that our restoration is not happenstance. This is not a coincidental shaping of history. Rather, we must see Hashem’s guiding Hand and His Divine ordering of events, for what they are – the fulfillment of, ‘When the Lord brings back the captivity of Zion,’” (Tehillim, 126:1).
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“Because of our long Exile amidst the impurity of the Gentile nations, we have become accustomed to think that our life of Exile is normal. We forget that Eretz Yisrael is our natural, healthy, Divinely-intended place. We need to foster the understanding and the feeling that we must live in Israel, that this is our normal place, in terms of religion, and in terms of our Nationhood. If we are not here, we are unhealthy. And from time to time, the Gentiles forcibly remind us that we are living in their domain, in an alien land.”
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“Many of the spiritual leaders of Torah communities mistakenly believed that the Redemption of Israel and the coming of Mashiach have to appear miraculously, as if Mashiach will appear from out of the heavens, in a way which transcends the natural order of life. This belief fails to recognize the Hand of Hashem in all of the events of the world. Both miracles and natural world development belong to the Creator’s domain. The Rambam explains that the Mashiach is also a natural historic process which is revealed by the ingathering of the exiles to Israel, and even through wars, (Rambam, Laws of Kings and Their Wars, 12: 1-4). The Redemption of the Jewish People which comes to pass via the natural events of the world, such as world wars, international treaties and proclamations, draining swampland, political Statehood, victories over our enemies, and the re-unification of Jerusalem, are also from the Almighty. At the beginning of the Zionist awakening, there was uncertainty in a part of the Torah community whether to support the call to return to Zion. Today there aren’t any doubts, and we see ‘eye to eye’ the acts of Hashem in the revival of our Nation in Zion and the rebuilding of the Land. It becomes increasingly clear that those who supported the return to Zion were right.”
*
“The setbacks we face are temporary. All steps backwards are transitory and passing. Advances sometimes come in hidden stages. One must look at the global upheaval involved in bringing us back to our Land and recognize that this is the Divine unfolding of, ‘When the Lord brings the exiles back to Zion.’ Because of its staggering scale, the process naturally undergoes difficulties and problems. The greater a thing is, the more complicated it is. The unfolding of our Redemption is an historical event of colossal proportions. All of the disturbances and temporary setbacks are trivialities which have no substance in this sweeping historical pageant. The actions of the Gentiles, or of superficially thinking Jews, which oppose this Divine Plan, carry no weight whatsoever. They are null and void in the light of the Torah and Hashem’s promise and providence over His people.”
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“We must not forget that the Gentile nations do us a favor by allowing us to stay in their lands – until they expel us. One must realize that we are on foreign soil there. It is not our society, not our culture, and not our government. Nothing is ours. Only in Israel are we at home, with family, living according to our own customs and our uniquely Jewish year, living in the holy place designed for our Kedusha, for our psychological health, and even for our physical wellbeing. We must return to health and turn away from unhealthy, polluted places, from environments which are sometimes so polluted and disorientating that one forgets who he truly is, thinking that it is normal to live among the Gentiles.”
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“It is written in the Torah portion, Mishpatim, that after six years, a Hebrew slave must go free. If he refuses, saying, ‘I loved my master – I won’t go out to freedom,’ this is an awful thing. Likewise, when a Jew falls in love with life in the Exile, saying, ‘I loved my master, the foreign nation,’ this is a tragic mistake. We need to foster this understanding and the feeling that we must live in Israel – that this is our normal and natural place, both in terms of our religion and it terms of our Nationhood. If we are not here, we are unhealthy and psychically damaged, in a schizophrenic state. May Hashem have mercy.”
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“Today, the first obligation before us is the ingathering of the exiles, from all of the lands of the Diaspora, and the ingathering of every Jew, whether he is healthy or ill, whether he believes in the Torah or denies it. Being a Jew today comes with the basic requirement to be in Eretz Yisrael. Every Jew who makes Aliyah brings back to Zion a part of the exiled Shechinah. Every additional Jew who comes to Israel to live, and every additional tree which is planted in the soil of Eretz Yisrael, is another spiritual stage in the unfolding of the Geula – in the very same way that every additional piece of Torah which is learned, and every new yeshiva that is built, is another stage in the returning of Hashem’s Divine Presence to Zion.”
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“Just as the stones used in building the Beit HaMikdash were not sanctified until after the building was complete, so too the building of Eretz Yisrael is accomplished by every segment of the Nation, by the righteous and the less righteous. We build with the non-holy, with all of the complications and difficulties inherent in this, and little by little, all of the assorted problems shall vanish, and the Sanctification of Hashem shall appear in stronger and stronger light.”
*
“If the Land of Israel gives forth her fruits in abundance, this is not happenstance. We don’t believe that the world is run by chance, God forbid. Only people of impoverished thinking, from intellectual laziness, believe that all of the miracles we are witnessing today are only accidents of history. This is a mistake. If events happen in accordance with Biblical prophecy, we recognize that this is all a matter of Divine design. What people call coincidence or historical circumstance is really Hashem incognito. Everything comes from the Cause of Causes who disguises Himself in the world in the natural forces and events of history. We only need to open our eyes in order to see Hashem’s Hand in our return to Zion, as the verse says, ‘For they shall see eye to eye the Lord returning to Zion,’ (Isaiah, 2:8). Today, we are moving forward, overcoming the obstacles and errors along the way, progressing and approaching ‘a new light on Zion.’ The desecration of Hashem’s Name caused by the Galut and its terrible disgrace, will disappear. Gradually, we will merit to sanctify the Name of the Lord in our midst.”
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“Today, we are returning to rebirth. We are returning to the Land of the living, as in the vision of Ezekiel, which describes the moribund state of Jewish existence in foreign lands, comparing it to dry bones and graves: ‘Can these bones live?’ (Ezekiel, 37:1-12). ‘The valley was full of bones.’ A metaphor of death and decay. Nevertheless, through the power of Divine Prophecy, and through the power of Hashem’s Presence, the bones rise to resurrection: ‘Therefore, prophesy and say to them: Thus says the Lord God, Behold My People, I will open your graves, and cause you to come out of your graves, and I will bring you into the Land of Israel.’
“The Gaon of Vilna, the Rabbi of all Israel in the previous generations, describes this situation in a dramatic and scorching light. He states: ‘Since the Temple was destroyed, our spirit and our crown departed, and only we remained, a body without a soul. Exile to outside the Land of Israel is a grave. Worms surround us there, and we do not have the power to save ourselves. They, the idol worshippers, devour our flesh. In every place, there were great yeshivot, but the body decayed, and the bones scattered again and again. Yet always, some bones still existed, the Torah scholars of the Nation, the pillars of the body – until even these bones rotted, and there only remained a rancid waste which disintegrated into dust – our life turned into dust,” (Likutei HaGra, end of ‘Safra D’Tzniuta.’ Also see Rashi on Sanhedrin 98A).
“In the Galut, we are in a graveyard. Our Kedusha is defiled by the impurity of Gentile lands. Worms and maggots devour us. For two-thousand years, we have been in a place of maggots and worms. The persecutions and pogroms of the Gentiles, their Gentile cultures and their polluted spiritual worlds are the maggots and worms which feast on our flesh and gnaw away at our spirit and holiness. This is the reality of Galut. There is absolutely no compatibility between impurity and holiness. There is no point of contact between them. Impurity contaminates. Thus, throughout the long Exile from our Land, the maggots and worms ate away at us. According to the holy, sensitive, and living words of the Gaon of Vilna, the flesh is easiest to consume. But when the worms reach the bones, the Talmidei Chachamim, our reservoir of spiritual power, the most solid block which connects us to the eternity of Israel, when the gnawing continues and the travesty and tragedy of Galut and its evil consequences reach, God forbid, our bones – then there is an extreme threat to our survival, an awful and horrifying situation.
“The Gaon of Vilna continues: ‘And we are now rising to a resurrection of the dead. We are waking up. We are arising from the dust. And an exalted spirit will rest on us. The end of Galut is revealed. ‘The Guardian of Israel neither slumbers nor sleeps.’ The Almighty begins to bring us back to our Land. The Geula begins to appear. The dead return to life. And even the evil-doers, who are called dead in their lifetime, come to return in repentance.
“Any intelligent person, who looks with open eyes on what has happened to us in recent generations, will understand this transformation as the work of Hashem. In the past generation, the impurity of the Gentiles and their greatest evil was seen (in the Holocaust), and now the time of the Exile’s end has arrived. The eternity of Israel advances and reappears with splendor, valor, Kedusha, and purity, and with Hashem’s magnifying and glorifying Torah. Baruch Hashem, our revival and resurrection can be seen in all corners of the up-built Land. With the revitalization of our physical prowess, more and more people are returning to Torah and spiritual health. Even if there are still Jews in our midst who are called ‘not religious,’ the process of Redemption continues via the overall Kedusha of our Nation, the Nation which Hashem chose to praise Him and to reveal His rule over all of the world, precisely through the return of the Israelite Nation to Zion, in fulfillment of His Promise of old. Ashrenu sh’zechenu. Fortunate are we who have merited to see the revelation of Divine Prophecy in our time.”
ERETZ YISRAEL
“Our Sages asked the question: ‘Do you desire to see the Shechinah in this world?” (Midrash Tehillim, Tehillim, 105). The Shechinah is the manifestation of Hashem’s Presence in the world, as it appears in Am Yisrael. Their answer is: ‘Study Torah in Eretz Yisrael.’
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“The more a person is connected to Am Yisrael, and to the labor of Torah study, the more one succeeds in cleaving to Hashem. The manifestation of the Shechinah is especially dependent on the health and wholeness of Am Yisrael. This occurs exclusively in Eretz Yisrael. The Gemara states that Talmidei Chachamin outside of the Land of Israel are out of place, (Shabbat 145B). Something is abnormal in their being in a foreign land. They don’t belong there. If you want to rise to the level of witnessing the Shechinah, you need to be part of the revelation of Torah in all of its purity, Kedusha, Emunah, and Truth – something which is only possible in Eretz Yisrael.
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“There is a special chapter in Orot HaKodesh (Ch.13) in which my Father and Teacher, of blessed memory, describes the difference between the Torah of Eretz Yisrael and the Torah of the Galut. The difference is profound. The foundation of the matter is that the Torah is life, the vitality of existence. Can a Jew, whether the individual, or the national, be in a similar state of Torah vitality in his life in the impure atmosphere of Brooklyn or Williamsburg, as in the holy air of Jerusalem, Petach Tikvah, or even in the non-religious kibbutz Ein Harod? Of course not! It is impossible to observe the same Torah and precepts in an atmosphere of impurity as one can in an atmosphere of Kedusha. The matter is mentioned frequently by the Sages in the Gemara and in the Midrash, that the Torah of Eretz Yisrael and the Torah of Chutz L’Aretz are not the same Torah and not the same mitzvot. The air of Eretz Yisrael is a Divine creation bonded with our lives. The healthy, fundamental place of our intellectual endeavor and spirituality is here, and this truth can never change. We can deceive neither ourselves, nor nature, and certainly not the Almighty.”
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“Eretz Yisrael is the Land of our life, in every way, whether national, historical, spiritual, social, or personal. The atmosphere of Eretz Yisrael is our atmosphere. These mountains, these hills, these valleys, Jerusalem, Hevron, and Shechem are all bonded to us. It is a catastrophe if, due to the routine of our lives, we forget this connection. It is a catastrophe when we fall in love with the Galut.”
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“The wholeness of the Jewish People appears only in Eretz Yisrael. The Divine value of this great Nation appears only when it is situated in its own Land, in all of its health and stature. The revelation of Hashem’s honor in the world comes through this Nation in this Land. This is the order of Creation, that, ‘There is no God in all of the earth, except in Israel,’ (Melachim 2, 5:15). When this portion of mankind is situated in this particular Land, the Torah is revealed in all of its truth.”
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“Our Sages have clearly explained the value of Eretz Yisrael to the Torah and to the mitzvot, stating that the precept of living in Israel is equal in scale to all of the commandments of the Torah, (Sifre, Ekev, 10:1). This is an awesome pronouncement. Obviously, this emphasis does not come to render all other precepts superfluous. Every precept is an integral part of the overall 613 commandments. However, the mitzvah of living in Israel is not just an ordinary commandment. It is an all-encompassing precept – the fundamental prerequisite for Am Yisrael to be able to function as a Nation. For the genuine keeping of the Torah is only in Eretz Yisrael. In every other place, the commandments are imposed merely as a reminder, so that when we return to Israel we will recall how to keep them. Rashi makes this most clear (Sifre, Ekev, 11:18; and Rashi on Devarim, 11:18. Also, Ramban, there).
“It is possible to understand the national, religious, and historical value of Eretz Yisrael. However, the essential vitality of our Land to the Jewish People is something far deeper, mysterious, mystical, and secret. My Father and teacher, of blessed memory, clarifies these matters in his book, Orot. He states: ‘By becoming removed from the secrets of Torah, the perception of Israel’s holiness becomes blurred,’ (Orot, 1:2). It is impossible to truly recognize the value of Eretz Yisrael except through the hidden lights of the Torah. Without this deep learning, everything is seen in a superficial manner. Eretz Yisrael is transformed into a side concern, a secondary matter, not essential to our lives. When this occurs, the Jew in Galut is cut off from the deepest connection with his soul, and does not miss not having his own Jewish State in his own Jewish Land. The Exile becomes pleasing to him. Out of this superficial understanding, he transforms the curse of Galut into a blessing, believing he has already discovered the Promised Land. It is only through a deeper immersion into the secrets of Torah, and through an inner valor to live the Divine Life in all of its truth, can this myopic understanding of Judaism be corrected. This will lead a person to abandon the Galut and to make the Land of Israel the central place of his life, and the central place of his service of Hashem, both for himself and for the Jewish Nation as a whole.”
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“This must be clear before anything else – no matter where a Jew is, he or she belongs only to Eretz Yisrael. This is our permanent home. Outside of our Land, we have the status of guests. Today, to be a Jew is to be in Eretz Yisrael.”
MASHIACH
“The Jerusalem Talmud teaches that the Geula comes about, ‘Little by little, like the gradually rising dawn,’ (Berachot, 1:1). First, we have to believe with absolute Emunah in the coming of Mashiach, and then to understand that the Redemption unfolds in stages. Major step in this process is the establishment of Malchut in Israel. What is the meaning of Malchut? It is Jewish sovereignty over Eretz Yisrael. Until our time, it was not clear how this process would occur. Now, Baruch Hashem, it is crystalizing before our eyes, and we no longer need explanations on how it will happen.”
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“The period called the ‘Days of Mashiach’ is a concrete, physical phenomenon, which includes returning the Kingdom of Israel to its former sovereignty; emancipation from foreign rule, and the shattering of the Gentile yoke from around us. Truly, the days of Mashiach encompass a great number of stages, as our Sages revealed in the expression, ‘Two thousand years of Mashiach.’ This is also implied in the expression, ‘Years of Mashiach.’ The first stage of Mashiach sees the blessing return to the Nation and to the Land, in place of the curse of Galut. Hashem’s anger is appeased, and the ingathering of Jews from the four corners of the Globe begins to accelerate at a growing pace. This is in accord with the Divine promise, ‘And I will bring you to your Land,’ (Ezekiel, 6:24). ‘And the Children of Israel will return to its borders,’ (Jeremiah, 31:16).
“Hashem’s appeasement with the Land began with the foundations of Petach Tikvah and the early moshavim. The revelation of the Exile’s end began to appear with the rebirth of agricultural bounty in the Land, as it says, ‘You O mountains of Israel shall shoot forth your branches and yield your fruit to My people Israel, for they will soon be coming,’ (Sanhedrin 98A). This is clearly evident today. These physical, down-to-earth matters and the great kibbutz galyot that we have witnessed in our time are the Divinely-orchestrated signs that Mashiach is on the way. We are in the midst of the path, in spite of all the difficulties which will all be worked out. We are in a stage of sovereign, military, agricultural Statehood. This is the Statehood of the days of Mashiach which begins with natural events and concludes with esoteric matters such as the revival of the dead. There is no contradiction between these two facets of Geula, the revealed and the secret. The Statehood of Israel is a normal state which must withstand all sorts of trials, and with this, it is a State where prophets will roam.”
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“The Gemara speaks of Tzaddikim who don’t believe (Sotah 48B). There were people at the time of the Second Temple who remembered the grandeur of the First Temple and complained about the situation in their time. Today also, among certain groups of devout Jews, there is a lack of Emunah in Hashem’s Providence over the events of our era. There are those who say that what is happening now is the work of the Satan. Personally, I am unacquainted with the Satan. I don’t have any business with him at all. We believe that everything that is happening now if from Hashem. We do not criticize the workings of the Almighty, unlike certain Torah scholars in our time who take exception with the way the Master of the World has decided to bring the exiles back to Zion. They are like the ‘smallminded’ in the days of Ezra who looked at the Second Temple with scorn. You are disbelievers, the Prophet told them, (Sotah 48B). The Prophet, Isaiah, proclaimed, ‘Hear O deaf, and look O blind, that you may see. Who is blind but My servant, or deaf as the messenger I sent? Who is blind as he who is perfect, and blind as the Lord’s servant?’ (Isaiah, 42: 18-19). Talmedei Chachamim, who are called servants of Hashem are the ones who are blind. It pains the heart. They know that Hashem brings about all events in the world, but to our glorious return to our Homeland, and the rebuilding of Jerusalem and the Israelite Nation in Zion – to this they are blind. Today, Eretz Yisrael is the Torah center of the world, with more outstanding Torah scholars than every other place on earth. Who has brought this about if not Hashem?
MEDINAT YISRAEL
“It is sometimes erroneously thought that living in Israel, conquering her, settling the Land, and keeping her under Jewish sovereignty are only the means for observing a Torah lifestyle in Israel. This is a mistake. The precept of conquering and settling the Land is, in and of itself, a mitzvah prescribed by the Torah. It applies in every generation – to settle the Land so that it will not lay in desolation, (Ramban, Supplement to the Sefer HaMitzvot of the Rambam, Positive Commandment #4).
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“In Judaism, it is accepted that, among the Rishonim, second in importance to the Rambam is his near contemporary, the Ramban. He was one of the most outstanding Sages and Kabbalists, two aspects f Torah knowledge and understanding that go hand-in-hand. The Ramban concluded that the commandment to settle the Land of Israel is a positive mitzvah of the 613 commandments of the Torah. All of the Poskim (the arbitrators of Torah Law), the Rishonim and Achronim, decide the law in this fashion on the basis of the Ramban, namely that the precept of conquering the Land applies in all generations. All of them agree that it is a commandment of the Torah (Pitchei Tshuva, Even HaEzer, Section 75, sub-section 6). The Ramban based his ruling on the language of the verse, ‘And you shall dispossess the inhabitants of the Land and dwell in it,’ (Bamidbar, 33:53), which is a positive command. We are enjoined with two tasks: first, to possess the Land through conquest; and second, to dwell in the Land. The Ramban clearly establishes that this Land, which Hashem has promised to our forefathers, must be kept under our control and not under the control of any other nation. This is clearly meant in a national sense, for everyone understands that ruling a land means the establishment of a State in that land. Thus the establishment of Jewish sovereignty over the Land of Israel is a fundamental precept of the Torah.”
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“It is well known that the Ramban established a fundamental halachic ruling that living in the Land of Israel and conquering the Land are commandments of the Torah which apply in every age (Supplement to the Sefer HaMitzvot of the Rambam, Positive Command #4). Supporting this understanding, he cites is the verse, ‘Rise up and possess the Land.’ The Ramban emphasizes that this is a command. In contrast to this, the rejection of the precept is a rebellion against Hashem, as the Torah itself states: ‘And when the Lord sent you from Kadesh Barnea saying, Go up and possess the Land which I gave you, and you rebelled against the Lord your God, and you did not believe in me, and did not listen to My voice,’ (Devarim, 9:3). The multitude that left Egypt didn’t listen to Hashem in conquering and settling in the Land. Settling the Land is a mitzvah, and the opposite is a rebellion against Hashem. We don’t choose between mitzvot in the manner of certain ‘Orthodox’ Jews do, saying, ‘I agree with this precept but not with that one.’ We perform everything we can in the Torah, with a whole heart and Emunah shelema.”
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“The situation is clear in Israel today. We are fighting a ‘Milchemet Mitzvah’, a compulsory war. This is true in the mitzvah’s two meanings. Firstly, this is a compulsory war as defined by the Rambam, who states that a ‘Milchemet Mitzvah’ is a war to save Israel from the hand of an enemy (Rambam, Laws of Kings, 5:1). Our army is called the Israel Defense Forces. Thank God, this is a very successful name. It would be wonderful if we didn’t require military engagement, but for the time being it is forced upon us.
“The second fundamental definition of a compulsory war is added by the Ramban in the Torah obligation to conquer Eretz Yisrael in every generation (Ramban, Supplement to “Sefer HaMitzvot of the Rambam, Mitzvah #4). Among all of the precepts of the Torah is this military command. It does not enter our minds to choose which precept to perform and which to ignore. Each mitzvah is a commandment of the Torah!
“The Ramban clearly determines that conquering Eretz Yisrael to ensure Jewish sovereignty here is the ‘Milchemet Mitzvah’ of the Torah. This is a precept of the Torah and there is no way of getting around it. There is no nation without a land, and the concrete, living, here-and-now Israel is compelled to hold on to its Land. This precept applies in every generation, and the Ramban emphasizes this three times. The mitzvah includes possessing the Land and dwelling here. Possession of the Land means conquest, and from this the mitzvah of living in the Land is made possible, so that the Land will not lie in desolation.”
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The reason the Rambam does not list living in Israel in the list of 613 Taryag Mitzvot is not because he thinks it is less of a mitzvah. He thinks just the opposite! It is more than a mitzvah! In the introduction to his Sefer HaMitzvot, the Rambam cites fourteen rules he used to establish which precepts are included in his list. He explains that an encompassing commandment which is above the normal value of the precepts is not included in the 613. Dwelling in the Land of Israel is an encompassing commandment. Without it, it is impossible to perform dozens of commandments. It is a mitzvah that all of the Torah depends upon. Because of this, the Ohr HaChaim HaKadosh wrote: ‘For living in Israel is a mitzvah encompassing all of the Torah,’ (Ohr HaChaim, on Devarim, 30:20). Our Sages have taught us that the precept of living in Israel is equal in weight to all of the precepts of the Torah combined,” (Sifre, Reah, 12:29).
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“It is important to understand that every Jew who comes to live in the Land of Israel is fulfilling a commandment of the Torah. This is true whether he is considered to be Torah observant or not; whether he knows that it is a mitzvah or not; and whether he comes with the intention to perform the commandment or not. Contrary to this – every Jew who dwells in the Diaspora, even if he is considered a Torah-observant Jew, commits a transgression. His transgression is certain because he knows that he is not doing a mitzvah by living in Galut.”
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“We are indivisibly attached to Judea and Samaria, and to all the expanses of our Land, through the eternal bond between the Holy Nation and the Holy Land. We must stand in defense of this to the uppermost limits of dedication and self-sacrifice, without any surrender at all. There is absolutely no room to entertain thoughts of relinquishing even a single square meter of Hashem’s inheritance to us. There is not to be any blemish in our borders, God forbid. We are to battle for this end with all of our strength.”
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“There isn’t any man who is permitted to make territorial concessions over this Land. Are these kilometers ours? Is someone the owner of them? These kilometers belong to the millions of Jews in Russia and America and throughout the world, no less than they belong to us. How can a person not feel ashamed by the thought of making do with a truncated State? No one has the right to relinquish lands which belong to the millions of Jews of all generations. This is a disgrace, a sorrowful shame, and a violation of the Torah, as Halachically derived from tractate Avodah Zarah, on the verse, ‘Not to show them mercy,’ (Devarim, 7:2). This means, ‘Not to give them a place in the Land,’” (Avodah Zarah 20A. Rambam, Laws of Avodah Zarah, 10:-4).
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“All types of agreements concerning Israel’s withdrawal from sections of Israel, the Land of our life, are null and void like the dust of the earth. It is even less substantive than this, similar to the law of a Shaliach who alters his assignment. It has no substance whatsoever. In addition, any coercion to transgress the commandment to keep Eretz Yisrael under Israeli sovereignty, whether on the part of the Israeli Government, or on the part of a Gentile government, obligates us to rise up against it with all of our life and souls. All decisions which come to steal away pieces of our Land are null and void.”
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“We must strengthen the conquest of Israel. Everything which the Gentiles do to interfere has no validity. We must stand against their opposition with dedication and sacrifice, with counsel and valor – without fear. We are not beholden to anyone. We must strive to strengthen the settlement of Israel in every place, both near and far.”
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“The danger of being killed (pekuach nefesh) exists in all wars. This is also the case in the Milchemet Mitzvah of keeping all of Eretz Yisrael in our hands. We enter into war knowing that lives will be endangered. This is the only precept of the Torah that demands this. With every other precept of the Torah which states: ‘Allow yourself to be killed rather than transgress,’ there is absolutely no justification to stand at the outset in the face of certain danger and be killed. If it is possible to escape, one escapes. But the precept to conquer the Land of Israel and rule over it, comes even at the risk of one’s life. As the Minchat Chinuch states, danger is not a factor in this mitzvah” (Minchat Chinuch, 425).
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“In our generation, we are in a situation of war, and we must be careful of what we say. We have been taught, ‘Sages, be careful with your words,’ (Avot, 1:11). We must strengthen the conquest and settlement of the Land with intelligence and reason, boldness and military might, and with a guarding of our speech. We must guard against language which leads to discouragement. The Torah forbids this: ‘Lest his brother’s heart melt like his heart,’ (Devarim, 20:8). The Torah tells us: ‘Let not your heart faint; fear not and do not tremble, nor be terrified because of them,’ (Devarim, 20:3). All expressions of surrendering Land confuse people, and there is no need for them. All variations of thoughts such as, ‘Maybe a withdrawal will bring peace,’ are totally unnecessary. What is the value of suppositions if they bring about weakness? In our time, weakness is as forbidden as pork, (See Rambam, Laws of Kings and Their Wars, 7:15). We must abandon all proposals of withdrawal, autonomy, partition, federations, two-states, and the like. We are commanded to be valorous and bold. Instead of talk about proposals, it is better to sanctify the time by spreading and magnifying Torah.”
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“It is imperative to know that we are not obligated to give the Arabs and sovereignty over our Land. The fact is the opposite. We are commanded to maintain Israeli sovereignty over all of the Land. We did not take away any Arab sovereignty over Eretz Yisrael. The Land was in the hands of the Turks, who then turned it over to the British. The Arabs never had sovereignty here. There is absolutely no national Arab land in Israel. As individuals, they can remain here as a minority. As lng as they do not cause us trouble, and do not rebel against our rule, but accept our sovereignty over all of the Land, then we will not trouble them. It is important to explain, to convince, to lessen the animosity between Arabs and Jews. This will increase friendly and closer relations and eliminate all discrimination – but first, it must be made clear that this is our Land from the beginning of time to eternity! On this point there is nothing to discuss.”
ALIYAH AND HONORING ONE’S PARENTS
“The ruling in Yoreh Deah states that if a father tells a child to transgress a positive commandment, even a Rabbinical ordinance, the child should not listen to him, (Yoreh Deah, 240:15). Living in Israel is a Torah precept which applies in every generation, to every Jew, even in the time of Galut, (Pitchei T’shuva, Even HaEzer, Section 75, Sub-section 6). Therefore, a Beit Din can compel someone to leave the Exile and move to Israel, even from a luxurious home in the Diaspora to a humble home in Eretz Yisrael. This applies even from a city in Galut where the majority of residents are Jews to a city in Israel where the majority of residents are idol worshippers, (Even HaEzer, 75:3). Furthermore, the obligation of moving to Israel is all the more stringent when it stems from a desire to learn Torah in Israel, for ‘There is no Torah like Torat Eretz Yisrael,’ (Bereshit Rabbah, 16:7. Sifre, Ekev, 1). The study of Torah is even greater than the mitzvah of honoring one’s father and mother, (Megilla 16B. Shulchan Oruch, Yoreh Deah, 250:25). Even women (because of the intrinsic Kedusha of Eretz Yisrael, which is the foundation of the mitzvah to live here) are also duty-bound by the commandment,” (See Marcheset, Part 1, Ch.22, Sections 6-7).
THE HOLOCAUST
“Everything that happens in the world is a Divine mystery. The understanding of Divine Providence, in all of its complexity, is not revealed to us. Analytical studies of the Holocaust are a juvenile activity. Only with great sensitivity, and with a mature spiritual perspective, is it possible to approach this awesome topic. First, one must remember that there is a difference between human comprehension and Divine Reckoning. The true understanding of the world and the true understanding of faith, demand an understanding of the Torah verse, ‘Remember the days of old; consider the years of many generations’ (Devarim, 32:5). This sweeping historical perspective includes a deep faith that everything comes from God. Along with this, one must remember that, ‘My thoughts are not your thoughts; My ways are not your ways, says the Lord. For My ways are higher than your ways, and My thoughts are higher than your thoughts,’ (Yishayahu, 55:8-9).
“A weakness of faith, and a narrow world outlook, causes one to measure Divine Providence according to the yardstick of our limited understanding. Human understanding is finite and cannot grasp the workings of ‘Thy kingdom is an everlasting kingdom,’ (Tehillim, 145:13). Our reckoning is a reckoning of the here and now, whereas the Divine Reckoning is an accounting of ages. Sometimes, man forgets that matters are not dependent on, nor do they begin with him. In truth, events are connected by a Divine historical plan. Our comprehension of them is dependent upon our ability to elevate ourselves and to recognize the overall Divine Reckoning.
“Rising to this level is not a simple matter. Therefore, there were people who abandoned their faith because of the Holocaust. They did not succeed in lifting themselves up to the knowledge of the true God. Obviously, one sympathizes with them. As our Sages said about Job, ‘A man is not to be blamed for what he utters in his agony,’ (Baba Batra 16B). There is room to understand errors committed in an hour of suffering. Yet difficulties do not justify abandoning faith. One must not subject God to our reasoning and perception. Only with this understanding is it possible to approach, in fear and awe, some comprehension of the Holocaust. In our generation, we have seen an awesome new form of destruction (the Holocaust) and an incredible new revival and building (the State of Israel). There are people who do not agree with this order of Divine Providence. They become confused when they encounter these events. However, nothing happens randomly. There is not a thing which transpires that is not carried out according to the Providence of the Almighty. This applies not only to good events, but also to the things which appear evil to us. They all happen according to the Divine Plan.
“There are no words to describe the shocking, frightening, and horrifying atrocity of the Holocaust. It will remain this way forever. It is impossible to stop the anger one feels against the Nazis, may their names be erased. They not only perpetuated an unspeakable evil against us, they also damaged our psyches, leaving us psychologically scarred. All of our national identity and pride was uprooted by them. This is even more pernicious than the killing and murder. All of the national, social, and political uncertainty we now experience, all of our confusion in our world outlook and lifestyle, follow from this destruction of the Jewish community. The Holocaust caused an upheaval in our attitudes and worldview, and it damaged our faith in God.
“We are commanded to rise up to a sublime vision. The Torah tells us to ‘Contemplate the years of many generations.’ We must rise up over trivial explanations and peer beyond mere superficial perception. One must guard against thinking in a condensed and myopic fashion when contemplating the historic reckonings of Clal Yisrael. The Nation of Israel is a single unity which arrives at its wholeness only after a continuum which spans all ages. The whole truthful vision beholds the entire Nation of Israel in all of its generations. It is true that there are many levels in Am Yisrael. Some are completely righteous. Others possess average deeds. Yet others are doers of evil. However, all of these categories compose one complete entity. Just as ‘The Torah of the Lord is whole,’ (Tehillim, 19:18), so is the Nation of Israel whole. The body of a man is made up of different organs having various functions and levels of importance, each performing its task. Their unity constitutes the complete man. Similarly, within the Nation of Israel, each tribe has its unique value. Together make up the Nation. A perspective of the Nation of Israel which divides the whole into parts (religious and secular, Zionist and anti-Zionist), without sensitivity to the overall oneness of the Nation, is a narrow-minded perspective that brings many divisions and crises in its wake. All of Israel’s millions are bound together, in one body, in one soul.
“This single, complete body of the Nation of Israel is whole only in Eretz Yisrael. In the Exile, we are not in our normal national situation, nor in our vibrant state. The return to the Land of Israel is a return to national normalcy and to health. God’s presence among the Jewish People appears in its true form in Eretz Yisrael. There is even a difference in the value of a mitzvah which a Jew performs in the Land of Israel compared to the value of the same precept when performed outside the Land. The actualization of Am Yisrael in all of its wholeness occurs only in Eretz Yisrael. Outside of the Land, we are not healthy because the national component of Clal Yisrael is shattered. There, we exist as solitary individuals, the remnants of Israel. The Exile causes a delay in God’s light on the Nation. Galut destroys our national format, and we remain isolated souls. However, the bones of Yechezkel’s prophecy do not disintegrate forever, and we wait the appearance of a new burst of life (Yechezkel, 37:3-5). And now the time has come to return to health. The end of Exile has arrived. Everything has stages. The Redemption does not appear all at once, but gradually, a little at a time (Jerusalem Talmud, Berachot 1:1). The Master of the World arranges history in such a way that for a certain time we are confined to Exile. Afterwards, He brings about historical events which cause the national body of the Jewish People to awaken in a developing process spanning generations. This awakening builds in momentum toward a complete revival.
“There are situations where it is difficult to separate from the Galut. However, the time has arrived for our Nation’s revival and for the Redemption of our Land. The Revealed End has come. It is the time when, ‘You O mountains of Israel shall shoot forth your branches and yield your fruit to My people Israel, for they will soon be coming,’ (Sanhedrin 98A). The time approached for Israel’s return to Zion, and this caused the rebirth of the Land. But as the time arrives for our departure from the darkness of the Exile, situations arise which resemble the Hebrew slave who rejects freedom and says, ‘I loved my master,’ (Shemot, 21:5). Jews fell in love with the Exile and refused to come back to Israel. But the Diaspora cannot continue forever. The Diaspora is the worse Desecration of God that there is, as we find in Yechezkel: ‘And when they came to the nations into which they came, they profaned My holy Name, in that men said of them, these are the people of the Lord, and they are gone out of His Land,’ (Yechezkel, 36:20).
“When the time comes for Redemption, complications arise. Large portions of the Nation are embedded in the tar of the Galut. The facts bear witness. Multitudes of Jews grew accustomed to the impurity of the Diaspora and refused to extricate themselves from it. Thus begins a Divine surgery, a deep inner, esoteric purification from this decay, a treatment of amputation and healing. All of Israel’s millions are one single body, an indivisible organism. When it is delayed from returning to health because of its clinging to a foreign land, then a cruel Divine amputation is needed. The time came for the Jewish People to return to their Land, but since they refused, there was no way to bring them back other than, ‘He took me by the side lock of my head’ (Yechezkel, 8:3), in order to bring them against their will to Eretz Yisrael. When the end of Exile arrives, and all of Israel fails to recognize it, there is a need for a cruel Divine amputation and severance. We are not speaking here about a reckoning against this person or that person, since this is a secret matter of God belonging to the secret world of souls. We are speaking of a reckoning that encompasses all of the Nation, which arises from a situation of, ‘They despised the desirable Land,’ (Tehillim, 106:24). This is an amputation which causes the Nation as a whole to separate from the Diaspora and return to its life in the Land of Israel.”
YOM HA’ATZMAUT
“It is true that there are shortcomings, and matters which have to be improved. We don’t hide our eyes from the things which need to be changed. This is not to be questioned. Rather, we expect that as the years pass, the problems will be solved.
“One of the Rambam’s principles of faith regards the Mashiach: ‘Even though his coming is delayed, even with all this, I will wait for him.’ We have faith that the time will arrive, even with all of the problems that his coming involves. For there is no doubt that the problems will all be solved in the perpetual process of perfecting the souls of our Nation.”
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“Patience, my Father and teacher taught, is not surrender. True patience, the patience of holiness, is bound to the call for perfection. There is no contradiction between the drive for perfection, in all of its force, with patience which understands that perfection is achieved in gradual stages, from year to passing year.”
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“In its enabling the Jewish People to live in Israel, the State of Israel is Kadosh. Out of the Kedusha of the mitzvah comes the Kedusha of the State. It is true that there are shortcomings and matters which have to be corrected. We don’t hide our eyes from the things which need to be improved. This is not to be questioned. Rather, we expect that as the years pass, these matters will undergo a broad and thorough clarification which will bring people to a greater yearning to align their lives with the Torah, in their individual lives and on the national level as well.”
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“The intrinsic value of the State of Israel is not dependent on the number of Orthodox Jews who live here. Of course, our aspiration is that all of our people will embrace the Torah and its mitzvot. However, the Statehood of Israel is holy, whatever religious level it has. Anyone who refuses to recognize that State of Israel does not recognize the return of the Divine Presence to Zion.”
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“In line with the holy words of my Father and teacher, HaRav, of blessed memory, regarding the ‘illegal’ Jewish immigration to Israel in the days of the British rule in the Land – my Father said that it was not the Aliyah to Israel that was illegal. Rather the prevention of Aliyah was the absolutely illegal act. So too today, it is not the settlement of Israel which is illegal. Its prevention is illegal for we are commanded to conquer and settle the full breath and width of the Land.”
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“There are religious Jews who express a criticism and say, ‘If the State of Israel were run according to our lifestyle and spirit, we would accept it. Until then we abstain from it.’ They talk as if the State does not belong to them. The State belongs to all of us. It belongs to all of Clal Yisrael. Anyone who refuses to recognize the State of Israel does not recognize the return of the Divine Presence to Zion and does not understand that Hashem orchestrates all events, great and small, in the life of Am Yisrael.”
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“Yom Ha’Atzmaut is the celebration of the existence of our State. This State, which was proclaimed in the Tel Aviv Museum, has its share of problems. Certainly there are matters demanding correction. However, it must be remembered that our Statehood does not start from the proclamation of independence in the Tel Aviv Museum. Rather, the State evolves from the holy words of the Torah and from the Halachic clarification of the Ramban that we are commanded by the Torah to possess and dwell in this Land.”
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“Secularism does not lessen the essential Kedusha of the State. In the Gemara, our Sages explain that all of the material used in building the Temple became sanctified only after it was set into place. We build with the secular and sanctify afterward. Rashi explains that when they were constructing the Beit HaMikdash, they would buy all of the building materials with non-holy currency; or they would take all of the building materials on credit. After the construction was finished, they made everything Kadosh, (Meilah 14A and 14B). This was because our Sages realized that, during the construction, workers would sit in the shade of the building to rest from the sun, and thus improperly benefit from something which had been dedicated exclusively to the use of the Sanctuary. The Beit HaMikdash was built in this fashion, and this is the way the Redemption of Israel develops, in gradual stages, little by little, (Jerusalem Talmud Berachot, 1:1). Just as the stones used in building the Temple were not immediately sanctified, so too, the building of Eretz Yisrael is accomplished by every segment of the Nation – by the righteous and by the less righteous. We build with the profane, even though this causes complications. Little by little, all of the various problems will vanish, and the Sanctification of Hashem will appear in more and more light.”
TU B’SHVAT IN SHILO
“We have reached the place of our rest. As the Gemara says, the resting place is Shilo, the inheritance is Jerusalem. Out of the death throes and sufferings of the Exile, the Valley of Dry Bones, the polluted cultures of the Gentiles surround us. This leads vast numbers away from our heritage and confuses the minds even of the teachers and learners of Torah. We arrive here gradually, gradually, to the place we belong, to the Land of our life, to the nrmal life of the Nation. The present is a part of our glorious past on the hillsides of Shilo, and a light to our glorious future throughout the ancient borders of our Land.
“From the Tabernacle of Shilo, ‘the tent where He made His dwelling among men,’ Hashem will bless His People with peace, true peace, peace on Israel, on the restored settlement here in Shilo, and on all of our increasing settlements and areas of possession and rightful inheritance, throughout the full borders of our Land, the Land of our national life. May we be blessed to see the arrival of many more millions of our brothers, captives in Exile, from Russia as well as the millions of Jews from America. We return to Shilo, to our place of rest. We return to our Inheritance, the inheritance of the Jewish People, and we return to the One who restores His Divine Presence to Zion, in our days, soon!”
