|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Rabbi Joel Lehrfield
|
| The Rabbi's Study |
| May, 2004 |
| Wedged between
Pesach and Shavuoth are two new Holydays in the yearIy calendar. They are "Yom Atzmauth" - Israel's Independence Day, and "Yom Yerushalayim." Though not universalIy celebrated they are still recognized by the majority of the Jewish people as being of great historical and religious significance. At best, they are comparable to those rabbinic Holydays - Chanukah and Purim, which spread joy, but without the sanctity that pervades Pesach and Shavuoth. On the Holydays of Chanukah and Purim, we celebrated events in which Hashem's involvement in the life of our people was less discernable than it was at the shores of the Sea of Reeds or on the slopes of Mount Sinai. Yet Chanukah and Purim have remained entrenched in our lives, not onIy because of the events that occurred, but primarily because of our abiding belief that Hashem intervenes in our history; that He sets in motion the conditions that lead to our salvation from our enemies and continued growth in our land. A modern Orthodox Zionist like myself, sees the same controlling hand of Hashem in the rise of the Medinah (State of Israel.) From the efforts of a small group of settlers over a hundred and thirty years ago who settled in a harsh environment of heat, desolation, sickness, and the pervasive enmity of the then small indigenous Arab community, a Jewish state has emerged. It is now the second largest Jewish community in the world and will certainly, in time, surpass the American Jewish community if current demographic trends persist. It is for me, absolute truth that the Jewish people will not survive anywhere without commitment to core Jewish beliefs and practices. This core consists of a belief in Hashem, a belief that the Torah's way is our way, and a commitment to the Covenant between G-d and the Jewish people to which all of us are connected. Without the understanding that in some way our lives are to be directed by the religious system consisting of the teachings of the Torah, we will not survive, neither here nor in Israel, as Jews. I am fully convinced that we are slowly moving in this direction. I do not anticipate that everyone will become Torah observant, but I am convinced that the secular ethic which has been so pronounced in Zionist ideology is no longer capable of carrying us further as a giver of meaning and direction to human life. It is lifeless and no amount of CPR will resuscitate it. The revival of religiosity with all its extremes throughout the world is essentially a response to its and likeminded ideological, failures. For me, the problem with the Labour Party and its allies is that they are still committed to this impotent conceptual structure. Their diatribes against the settlers who are among the few Zionist chalutzim left is evidence of their shortsightedness and the venom of their pronouncements about anything religious reflects their deep-seated antipathy. Unfortunately, we as a people will continue to pray before the idol of secularism long after the rest of the world will have discounted it. Ronald Gruen stated in a fine piece in Midstream, "secular Jews, i.e. most of us, will likely perceive this new 'no-Jewish' religiosity under categories of subversion and peril: intolerance, medievalism, superstition, illiteracy. Most of us will see ourselves embroiled in the good fight for established values, for 'light and progress'...and the opprobrium secular Jews will cast upon their own kith and kin will be more venomous than what they will aim at non Jews... (yet) in time, the now growing religious Jewish community will be the fact of what is Jewish." In our beloved Medinah, I believe that the quest for spirituality as enshrined in our faith and in our faith's forms, will ultimately prevail. It may not be the position of the religious right but religious values and directions will yet be our guides. "Secular Zionism" is an oxymoron, for without belief in the Covenant of Israel that connects us to the land of Israel, Zionism has little meaning. Today, it is the religious Israeli who takes his Zionism seriously, not his secular fellow citizen who scoffs at the Zionist idea and is currently rewriting the history of the State of Israel, turning heroes into demons and the oppressors into the oppressed. To quote Hillel Halkin, a dedicated and convinced secular Jew, "I looked at the youngsters talking to each other in a circle; the tight bond among them a barrier not easily crossed. Many of them would soon be officers, for in recent years, even as its political strength has been on the wane, the national sector and its B'nai Akiva youth movement have contributed in disproportionate numbers to the army's top combat units, taking over an elitist role once played by the kibbutzim. As ideological motivation to serve and excel has weakened among Israel's secular youth, it has strengthened among youngsters from B'nai Akiva youth movements. Thus, these days when we marvel at Hashem's gift of the Medinah to the Jewish people; this gift that the nations of the world thought would be short lived, has grown and prospered beyond our wildest imaginations; it may do us well to remember the ditty I learned as a child, "...The land of Israel without the Torah is like a body without a soul." |
|
|
|
|