ISRAEL

My dearest Aaron Hershel,

 

Your letters bring such nachas to me. You adventures in America are, of course, interesting but it is your resolve to make time for Torah that gives me the most joy. When I hear people cluck their tongues and speak of the end of Yiddishkeit in America I always tell them about you. Because of you I have much hope for all our people who seek a new life in that world. So how ironic that with all your success in the new world, you write to me of the ancient world of Israel.

Yet, I must keep this letter short. I am not feeling well. Nothing serious, I trust, but enough to make thinking hard and writing harder. But if I do not respond to you now I am afraid too much time will pass and the rhythm of our conversation will suffer. So, you ask about Israel.

We talked already about who is a Jew and that should have been the same as who comprises the people Israel. But you want to talk about the so-called heresy of Zionism.

Remember Alexander Krupchick? His daughter had the limp. He and his family were Zionists. They moved to Palestine. Shmuel Felder, too. And Rayzl Sitskein. Maybe they will find partners there. Maybe they will find each other there. Stranger things have happened.

I have read a bit about Zionism, and heard a speech or two. What do I think? I don’t know enough to have an informed opinion, but what is a rabbi without some opinion? So I will have an opinion and share it with you.

Do I think Jews should rebuild Israel without waiting for Mashiach (Messiah)? No and yes. That is a good opinion, don’t you think? Now what do I mean?

No, Jews should not return and rebuild Palestine without seeing themselves as embodying the messianic hopes and dreams of our people. The Mashiach is to return us to Israel for what purpose? So that we can be an or l’goyyim, a light unto the nations of the world. We are charged with creating the perfect society: justice and compassion for all.

If our Zionist brothers and sisters hope to build a homeland that is without this messianic mission and light, then I would say it is not enough. Yes, I understand that if we had our own land we could leave the pogroms behind. And I would be the last person to discount the good in that idea. Yet, I would argue, assuming anyone would bother to ask, that a Jewish state without the messianic spark in the hearts of its people and the messianic challenge at the heart of its government would be no less a diaspora from what we Jews are supposed to be than any small village in Russia. So that is my opinion “no.”

Now to my opinion “yes.” Yes, they should not wait for a messiah to come from among us and work magic. We have had such messiahs before, and we rejected them all. Remember Yemen in the days of the Rambam (Rabbi Moses ben Maimon, 10th century)? They had a messiah. They wrote to Rambam and asked him how they could know if this was THE messiah. He suggested that the fellow do some miracle. He agreed to cut off his head with a sword and then pick it up and replace it on his neck good as new. And he almost succeeded.

And Rabbi Akiva, may his memory be for a blessing, did he not have his messiah, Bar Kochbah? And did not the Jews of Turkey follow the false messiah Shabbatai Tzvi? We have had and will continue to have messiahs. The question is which, if any, are real?

The one who succeeds, that one is real. The one who gathers up our people, leads them home to Jerusalem, helps them create a government that is indeed an or l’goyyim, and opens the hearts of our people to God. This one I will call Mashiach.

So let us see if Mashiach is among the Zionists. If they do what our messianic hope asks of them, then there was no need to wait for a messiah, they were Mashiach themselves. The proof is in the product.

So I say this: let them reclaim and rebuild our homeland. If at least they make a sanctuary for us Jews, they should be praised. If at most they pave the way for the redemption of the world, who is to criticize? I wish them and you well, my son. And do not think you need keep your own feelings a secret. I can tell from your letter you think of yourself as a Zionist. I am proud of you.

 

B’Shalom