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The
Situation in Israel
"The
Situation in Israel;
How can we know what G-d wants from us?"
by Rav Shaya Karlinsky
Klal Yisrael in Eretz Yisrael is experiencing its
most difficult period since the 1948 War of Independence.
But much has happened since 1948, and the context
in which we view the current difficulties has changed
dramatically over the past fifty years.
The Jewish people has witnessed miraculous fulfillment
of many of the Messianic prophecies, from the agricultural
flourishing of the land to the return of Jews from
every corner of the Diaspora. While 600,000 Jews
were living in the Land of Israel in 1948, nearly
half of world Jewry resides there now. Israel has
become the Torah center of the world. Torah study
and observance throughout the world strengthens
from year to year. Even non-Orthodox movements have
recognized their inability to create any viable
Jewish ideology detached from our authentic sources.
History continues to validate the foundations of
Jewish belief: Our eternal connection to and the
Divine truth of the Torah, and our eternal connection
to the Land of Israel.
With all the positive changes that have occurred
in the past fifty years, the picture nonetheless
has its very bleak side. Assimilation and intermarriage
are rampant throughout the world. Hundreds of thousands
of Jewish children in Israel are lack familiarity
with even the most basic elements of Jewish values
and Jewish culture, let alone Torah knowledge. Nearly
a quarter of the citizens and residents of the State
of Israel are not Jewish. The polarization between
religious and secular Jews increases on a daily
basis. And Jews in Israel who were the heroes of
the nation a generation ago are today being vilified
as extremist opponents of peace.
In these troubling and confusing times, as we claim
to be waiting anxiously for Mashiach's arrival,
we ask ourselves exactly what G-d wants from us.
Without prophecy, there are no clear answers.
But in reviewing the parshioth in the Torah that
we are reading during these weeks leading up to
Elul, there are some ideas that resonated in my
mind. I would like to highlight some of the verses
and share with you some of my thoughts, in the hope
that they can give us renewed focus on the challenges
that stand before us.
First, a summary of some selected verses from Sefer
Devarim.
(8:6-20) The Torah commands us to keep the Mitzvoth,
follow the path of G-d, and fear Him. For G-d is
bringing us into a good land, with plentiful resources
that will enable us to have our needs met, and for
which we are commanded to bless G-d. But these resources,
comfort and wealth can be the cause for arrogance,
a sense of independence and the power to control
our destiny independent of G-d's intervention. This
leads us to follow false gods, which brings upon
us destruction and exile.
(9:1-5) We are being brought into Eretz Yisrael
to inherit the land from nations more powerful than
we are. It is being done through the power of G-d,
not out of our own righteousness, but as a result
of the evil ways of the nations dwelling there,
and as a fulfillment of G-d's promise to our forefathers.
(10:12-14,20) What does G-d want from the Jewish
people? To fear G- d, to follow in His ways, to
love Him, to serve Him in every aspect of our lives,
and to attach ourselves to Him.
(11:8-12) Keep all the Mitzvoth that G-d commands
you, in order that you should be strong, entering
and inheriting Eretz Yisrael, and remaining there
in perpetuity. For the land to which you are being
brought to inherit is not like Egypt, which is sustained
by irrigation. Eretz Yisrael is a land of mountains
and valleys, drinking water from the heavens. It
is the land to which G-d directs his inquiries,
with the eyes of G-d on it from the beginning of
the year to the end of the year.
(11:22-23,25) For if you keep the Mitzvoth, to love
G-d, to follow in His ways, and to attach yourself
to Him: He will drive out all the nations before
you, and you will drive out nations greater and
more powerful than you...No one will stand before
you; G-d will place the fear of you on the face
of the land that you will traverse, as he promised
you.
(14:1-2) You are the children of G-d...you are a
nation holy to G-d, and He has chosen you to be
his treasured nation...on the face of the earth.
(14:22-15:11) [Laws of tithing agricultural produce;
supporting the Levi, the widow, the orphan; providing
loans and charity to the poor].
The Midrash (Breishith Rabba Ch.39) tells of how
Eretz Yisrael (Cana'an at that time) came to be
the land promised to Avraham Avinu for his descendants.
Avraham was walking through Aram Naharaim and Aram
Nachor, where he saw people eating, drinking and
making merry. He said "Would that I have no part
in this land." But when he reached the rocky heights
(overlooking Eretz Yisrael) he saw the people weeding
at the time of weeding, and hoeing at the time of
hoeing, he said "Would that my portion be in this
land."
What did Avraham see in Cana'an that made it appropriate
for his descendants? - the principle of delayed
gratification, which is the foundation of agriculture.
The pursuit of instant gratification, which Avraham
saw in Aram Naharaim and Aram Nachor, has become
the defining goal in our own culture (and too often
affects the norms of the Torah community), is foreign
to Judaism. We live in this world to invest our
resources in bringing glory to G-d, being a holy
nation, and ethical nation, a nation that imitates
the traits and ways of G-d.
The Land of Israel is the most appropriate place
in the world for Jews to accomplish these goals.
Living in a land under G-d's constant attention
enhances our relationship with Him. Being a "land
of mountains and valleys" implies that things are
not predictable. That certainly undermines our quest
for instant gratification. Every day brings surprises,
which is what you would expect when G-d is micro-managing
the goings-on there. Requiring our water and sustenance
to constantly be coming from heaven creates an ongoing
relationship with G-d. This requires a greater sensitivity
to our behavior, in contrast to a more predictable
and "natural" system of irrigation. It has the potential
to create a culture of spirituality, an environment
focused on Divine service.
Therefore, there is a positive requirement for every
Jew, when it is possible, to live in Eretz Yisrael.
Living outside of Eretz Yisrael is viewed negatively,
a manifestation of exile, since it distances us
from G-d and makes it more difficult for us to reach
our full spiritual potential.
The cultural influences of a secular and materialistic
society have impacted every segment of the Jewish
world. While the quantity of our Mitzvah observance,
our Torah learning and our Jewish institutions far
surpasses anything dreamed about fifty and a hundred
years ago, the inner dimension, the uniquely Jewish
quality of the accomplishments raises troubling
questions.
It is painful to listen to the Palestinian claims
and devotion to their "holy land." But the pain
is amplified with the confusion emanating from within
the Jewish community about the importance of Eretz
Yisrael, the source of our rights to it, and the
opportunities the Jewish world seems to be losing,
as Mashiach waits anxiously for his cue to bring
us our final redemption.
I hope that sensitivity to these issues will give
us the clarity to more accurately decipher the messages
G-d is trying to send us. |
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