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Israel is lost and directionless. Its political leaders lack vision and aspire to nothing. Judaism is lost and directionless. Its rabbinical leaders lack vision and aspire to nothing.
Revisionist leader Ze’ev Jabotinsky once illustrated his criticism of mainstream Zionism with the following analogy: “I see a man limping down the street, using only one leg, even though it is apparent that nothing is wrong with the other one. I turn to him and ask: ‘Why don’t you walk on both legs?’ He replies: ‘Is there something the matter with the one that I am using?’”
Jabotinsky
referred of course to the policy of "one more dunam, one more goat",
whereby the Zionist Establishment focused on building up the land
piecemeal, living from day to day, all the while refusing to enunciate
its vision, the goal for which it was ostensibly striving: a sovereign
state for the Jewish people in their historical homeland within clearly
defined borders. Thus the most fundamental issues - what kind of state
were the Jewish people demanding, where would its borders be, and
within what time frame? - remained unaddressed. Jabotinsky's insight
was that the leadership preferred it that way, like a man who opts to
use only one of his legs.
The
result of this (lack of) policy was that the typical Zionist spoke
fervently of the Jewish people's right to the Land of Israel but could
not explain, even to himself, where the borders of his beloved homeland
lay or on what basis he defined that territory. In the end, observed
Shabtai Ben-Dov, it was the acceptance of the armistice lines of 1948
that "clarified" for most Zionists where the Land of Israel for which
they had fought actually was. It was only "logical", therefore, for one
time Education Minister Shulamit Aloni to refer to Hebron as "Hutz
Laaretz" (overseas), and for the post-Six-Day-War Left to view a return
to the very heart of our homeland as an "occupation".
I
once came face to face with the results of just such a Zionist
education. The year was 1993 and I was doing reserve duty on the
Jordanian border. Four of us were in a command car patrolling the
border, and the discussion turned to then Prime Minister Rabin's stated
willingness to negotiate with the Syrians about relinquishing the Golan
Heights. The driver announced that he supported handing over the Golan
for peace, at which point I asked him: "Tell me, all other
considerations aside, to whom does the Golan belong, us or them?" He
thought for a moment and replied truthfully "I have no idea." Why would
he? Was he, a product of the State school system established by
Ben-Gurion, ever taught what territory the Jewish people claimed and
why?
Israel's
political leaders are just like that driver: they truly don't know
where we belong or why, nor where we are supposed to be headed.
Everything is negotiable, nothing is clear, the future is a black hole.
Israel
lost its way not in 1967 but in the 20's, 30's and 40's, before there
was an Israel, by thinking small, by refusing to see the big picture,
by denying the Jewish nation's destiny. By choosing mediocrity over
greatness.
Israel and Torah Judaism: Missing in Action
The
same can be said for Judaism. Have you ever noticed how some religious
Jews refer to themselves as "Lithuanians"? Or that there is a Jerusalem
suburb named "Poland Heights"? Treat the reality of over 5 million Jews
living as a sovereign nation in their homeland for the first time in
2000 years as a continuation of Dvinsk, Minsk or Pinsk; insist that
Jews in the Land of Israel must all behave, in terms of their customs
and Halachic practice, as if they were still in Warsaw, Sanna or
Marakesh; preach that the divisions of the Diaspora must be maintained
today and for all time, thus perpetuating a seriously flawed Galuth
mentality indefinitely; convince yourself that the Judaism of the
Galuth is the real McCoy, that there is nowhere to go from here - and
that's precisely where you'll go. Nowhere. No greater purpose. Nothing.
When
the Beth HaWa'adh beth din (Jewish court) of Machon Shilo announced
last year that all Jews in Israel may consume kitniyoth (rice, corn,
legumes etc.) during Pesah, some thought that it was all about doing
whatever is convenient. Not so. It's about getting Torah Judaism back
on track.
At
the core of any authentic conception of Torah Judaism is its Halachic
system. Halacha is the practical implementation and realization of
those values and concepts that the Torah teaches and that the Jewish
nation holds dear. An Halachic system always reflects the philosophy
and vision that a particular ideology aspires to actualize in the real
world. Halacha is never neutral; it is either a help or a hindrance. It
either drives the Jewish people upwards and onwards, or it weighs it
down and holds it back.
One
who refrains from eating rice, or soy beans, or corn starch on Pesah is
not a better Jew than one who does. Halachically there is no question
that it is permissible. On the other hand, one is not required to
consume these items on Pesah, or at any time during the year. So what's
the problem? It focuses the mind on a non-issue. And the more
meaningless Pesah stringencies are promoted, the more meaningless
Judaism becomes.
Galuth Mode or Geulah Mode?
Human
beings are limited. We cannot be different people at one and the same
time. A Jew can function in either Galuth mode or Geulah mode; you
can't have both. If we concern ourselves with maintaining our
Galuth-based identities, we have no time or inclination to wonder how
it is that each Pesah we beseech Hashem that next year we might
participate in the Pesah sacrifice and yet do nothing whatever to
actualize this deep-seated aspiration in the real world. We have to
make a choice: authentic, full-flavoured Torah, or a pale, watered-down
substitute.
Judaism's
rabbinical leaders are just like that reserve duty driver: they truly
do not know who and where we are or where we are supposed to be headed.
They have no clue how to move on to the next stage. They are unsure of
themselves, vague and uncertain about everything, preferring the
familiar, downtrodden Galuth version of the Torah for the majestic,
vibrant and uplifting Torah of the Land of Israel, the Judaism of
Abraham, Moses, David and the Maccabees. Little wonder that when Jews
once again controlled the Temple Mount in 1967, the rabbinical
establishment had nothing to say other than to forbid all Jews from
going there. If the truth be told, they breathed a sigh of relief when
it was tossed back to the Moslems like an unwanted bone.
Judaism
lost its way not in 1967 but 2500 years ago when the Jewish nation
declined to take up the offer of the Persian emperor Cyrus to return to
its homeland. By thinking small, by refusing to see the big picture, by
denying the Jewish nation's destiny. By choosing mediocrity over
greatness, Galuth over Geulah. From that day to this, as R. Yehuda
HaLevi wrote in his masterpiece The Kuzari (2:24), "our prayers for redemption are like the mindless cawings of rooks and ravens".
If we think small, we shall indeed be so, particularly in the eyes of our enemies.
If we think big, we shall indeed be great - in the eyes of Hashem, in our own eyes, and in the eyes of the whole world.
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