A People of Vision
HaRav Dov Begon, Head of Machon Meir.
In the seventy-seventh year since the establishment of the State of Israel, it is necessary to look ahead to the future, to clarify for ourselves the vision toward which our State must aspire, for “Where there is no vision, the people cast off restraint” (Mishle 29:18).
From our Prophets and Sages we learn the vision of the Jewish People throughout the generations, from beginning to end, as it is written: “Remember the days of old, consider the years of many generations; ask your father, and he will tell you; your elders, and they will say to you” (Devarim 32:7). As Rashi explains: “Your father” — these are the prophets; “your elders” — these are the sages.
Indeed, Rabbi Kook zt”l, Referring to the State of Israel decades before it was established, Rabbi Kook writes: “A regular state is no more valuable than a large mutual insurance company… when ideals hover above it and do not touch it… but the State of Israel is different — it is the foundation of G-d’s throne in the world, whose sole desire is that ‘the Lord shall be One and His Name One,’ which is truly the highest happiness” (see Orot, 160).
We must distinguish between our holy State and the other nations of the world — we did not establish a state merely as a refuge for the persecuted Jewish people, nor just to eat hummus in Shechem or Damascus. Rather, our goal is to fulfill the vision of the Prophets of Israel, to be a light unto the nations, as was long ago promised to our forefather Abraham: “Go forth to the Land that I will show you… I will make you into a great nation… and through you all the families of the earth shall be blessed” (Bereshit 12).
At this time, after a journey of thousands of years since the birth of the Jewish People and their separation from the nations in the Exodus from Egypt, we find ourselves toward the end of the path that our Sages called “the footsteps of the Messiah” (see Rashi at the end of Tractate Sotah). Precisely toward the end, we must face great and tremendous challenges — so much so that some Sages said that when the Messiah comes, they would prefer not to be in that generation due to the multitude of troubles, saying, “Let him come, but I shall not see him” (Sanhedrin 98b).
Indeed, in our generation, we have experienced the terrible Holocaust and the wars that strike us every few years. Today, we are still battling Hamas and their supporters, and we are threatened by Iran and its arsenal of weapons while the world appears indifferent to the real danger which Iran poses for everyone. All of this is in addition to the spiritual, religious, and moral crisis affecting our generation.
Precisely in such circumstances, we must strengthen ourselves, and there is nothing that fortifies both the individual and the collective more than looking ahead to the promised vision, to the good future hidden within the murky present.
True, there are clouds in the skies of our beloved Sate on its birthday, but we know that clouds also bring rains of blessing. Above the clouds are blue skies — like the flag of our country — hinting at the eternity of Israel and the guaranteed victory of the Nation of Israel.
From this, the great Name of the Holy One, Blessed be He, will be magnified and sanctified, as we say every day in the Kaddish: “May His great name be magnified and sanctified,” as it is written: “Saviors shall ascend Mount Zion to judge the Mount of Esau, and the kingdom shall be the L-rd’s” (Ovadiah 1), and “The L-rd shall be King over all the earth; on that day the L-rd shall be One and His Name One” (Zechariah 14).
With blessings for a happy Independence Day.
