reflections on korban Aza/Tisha B’Av 5765
In the aftermath of the effacing of everything Jewish from Gaza, be it animal, vegetable, or mineral, and in the run up to what , chas v’shalom, could be déjà vu in the Shomron and Yehuda, those who can be broadly described as being aligned with Religious Zionism are, emotionally speaking, hurting something fierce. Their collective catharsis has brought many to question their leadership, others their dreams, and even a few, their Yiddishkeit, r”l.
The implosion of Zionism is a de facto reality of several years standing that has been acknowledged both from within and without. And this coupled with the acute sense of ideological despair that has torn the Gazan refugees and their fellow travelers away from their philosophical moorings creates a pessach for something that hitherto would have been unthinkable.
These Jews, and many of them are truly holy Jews, as the Chofetz Chaim would have understood that term, have an opportunity to mesakin (fix) the aveira that was inherent in the 106 or so year run of official Zionism.
No, we’re not talking about the State as such. The right or wrong of a state was settled, at least from the aveira point of view when the nations of the world, as represented by the United Nations, voted for partition thereby giving the Jewish People, as misrepresented by the Jewish Agency, the green light.
From Mattan Torah until the First Zionist Congress in 1897 the Rabbonim, with few exceptions, spoke for the Jewish People, and even those exceptions for the most part called themselves rabbis. But by 1912, when Agudath Yisroel first met in Kattowice to respond to the challenge of Zionism, the masses in the Russian Empire and the Yishuv already belonged to Jabotinsky.
It took the Zionist Movement less than fifteen years to interpose itself between much of Eastern European Jewry and the Daas Torah of the Gedolai HaTorah. Once that breach was made, every ism worthy of a place in Gehennom burst forth to further attenuate the bond between the Gedolai HaTorah and Klal Yisroel.
This is the original sin of Zionism.
Just prior to the forcible eviction of the Jews from Gush Katif and its sister communities, in those last few hours allotted to the Tekufa of Zionism, it was reported that some of the Gush leadership met with Rav Elyashiv to ask him for a brocho that they would be matzliach in their endeavors to remain in Gaza.
At least they had the right address.
Had they asked the right question they could have set off a revolution instead of almost igniting a civil war.
What they said in effect was this: We have assessed the situation, and there is no possibility that the correct plan of action should be anything other than the course we have set upon. We would like your blessing that all of our plans should come to fruition just as we have worked them out…
…instead of this: The government has given us until August 15th to vacate our communities. What does the Rav advise that we should do?
Given the predilection of the post-Zionist government of Israel to view Eretz HaKedosha as if it were Uganda, those who purport to speak in the name of what was once known as Religious Zionism may well get a second chance to get it right if round two, chas v’shalom, ever puts in an appearance.
If they ask: What does the Rav advise that we should do, and then mekabel the psak, and follow through on it, the very foundations of what is left of the State of Israel will shake as we begin the long march back to the status quo ante that obtained prior to 1897.
