Why Do So Many Religious Jews Live in America?

Arutz-7 Editor Arutz-7 News: Thursday, May 12, 2005 Jewish World
This excerpt from an Arutz-7 publication, "Ask the Rabbi," deals with a question asked on the backdrop of the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948, ushering in an Ingathering of the Exiles.


In honor of Israel Independence Day, Arutz-7 provides its readers with the following selection from the new book, "Ask the Rabbi," by Rabbi David Samson.

Ask the Rabbi, by Rabbi David Samson, can be ordered by clicking here.
While the book deals with a wide variety of topics, an entire section is dedicated to questions about the Land and State of Israel.

BEAT THE MASHIACH RUSH

Question:
If it is such a clear mitzvah to dwell in the Land of Israel, why do so many religious Jews live in America? I've asked around and was told that the obligation to live in Israel will only apply when the Mashiach (Messiah) comes and brings us there. What is your response?

Answer:
The very special relationship between the Jewish People and the Land of Israel was made clear with G-d's very first words to Abraham: "Get yourself forth to the Land that I will show you."[1]

The Ramban writes that the commandment to settle the Land of Israel is one of the 613 mitzvot of the Torah.[2] He bases this on the language of the Biblical verse, "And you shall dispossess the inhabitants of the Land and dwell in it."[3] We are enjoined with two tasks: first to conquer the Land, and secondly to dwell in it. The Ramban states that this mitzvah (commandment) applies in every generation. Furthermore, all of the early and later Torah authorities (Rishonim and Achronim) who formulate Halacha agree on this matter.[4]

In his sweeping Halachic (Jewish legal) compilation, the Mishna Torah,[5] the Rambam quotes the Talmud: "In all times, a Jew should live in the Land of Israel, even in a city where most of the inhabitants are idol worshippers, and not live outside of the Land, even in a city where most of the inhabitants are Jews."[6]

Our Sages stated that the mitzvah of living in the Land of Israel is equal to all of the commandments of the Torah combined.[7]

These weeks, in the weekly Parsha readings in the Book of Deuteronomy, we are being treated to an explanation of the Torah by Moses himself, as it says:
"Moses began to explain this Torah, saying, The L-rd our G-d spoke to us in Horev, saying, You have dwelt long enough in this mountain.."[8]
The time has come to journey on into Israel, Moses teaches. The Torah is to be kept in Eretz (the Land of) Yisrael, not in the wilderness.[9]

Again and again, Moses emphasizes this fundamental principle upon which all of the Torah rests:

"Behold, I have taught you statutes and judgments, even as the L-rd my G-d commanded me, that you should perform them in the Land whither you go to possess."[10]


"And the L-rd commanded me at that time to teach you statutes and judgments, that you may perform them in the Land which you go over to possess."[11]


"But as for thee, stand here by Me, and I will speak to thee all of the commandments and statutes and judgments which thou shall teach them, that they may do them in the Land which I gave them to possess."[12]


"Now this is the commandment, the statutes and the judgments which the L-rd thy G-d commanded me to teach you, that you might do them in the Land into which you go to possess."[13]


"All the commandments which I command you this day shall you observe to do, that you may live and multiply, and go in and possess the Land which the L-rd swore to your fathers."[14]

The commandments were given to be performed specifically in the Land of Israel, as the Ramban states:
"The essence of all of the commandments is that they be performed in the Land of G-d."[15]

Understanding the centrality of Eretz Yisrael to Torah and G-d's plans for the Jewish People, we can appreciate the enormity of the Sin of the Spies for not wanting to live in Israel. The Zohar teaches that the Spies, who were the princes of Israel, were worried about their honor. They feared that upon entering the Land, new leaders would be chosen, and they would lose their positions of authority and prestige.[16] As was highlighted in last week's answer by the words of the Gaon of Vilna, this failure to put Eretz Yisrael in the forefront of Jewish life continues tragically until today.[17]

Regarding your question regarding Mashiach, a Jew is called upon to fulfill the commandments whether Mashiach has arrived or not. As the Rambam writes:
"The obligation of the commandments is not dependent on the coming of Mashiach. Rather we are to busy ourselves with Torah and its precepts, and to strive to fulfill everything we can. However, if a man remains in a place where he sees that the Torah is waning, and where the Jewish People will be lost with the passage of time, and where he cannot stay true to his faith, and say. 'I will stay here until Mashiach comes and survive where I am,' this is nothing but an evil heart and a great loss, and a sickness of reasoning and spirit."[18]

Today, thank G-d, the Land of Israel is once again the thriving heart of the Jewish People. Jerusalem is once again the Torah center of the world. While there are many great challenges and problems in returning an exiled people to its ancestral homeland, Jewish life in Israel continues to grow in a miraculous fashion. So if you want to fulfill the mitzvah of waiting for Mashiach, the best place to do it is Israel.

May the words of the Prophet soon be fulfilled:
"The L-rd G-d who gathers the outcasts of Israel says, 'Yet I will gather others to him, besides those of him who are already gathered.'"[19]

Click here to order the book "Ask The Rabbi"

Rabbi David Samson is one of the leading English-speaking Torah scholars in the Religious-Zionist movement in Israel. He has co-authored four books on the writings of Rabbi Avraham Yitzchak Hacohen Kook and Rabbi Tzvi Yehuda Kook available on-line at IsraelNNmall.com. Born in Baltimore, Maryland, Rabbi Samson came to Israel and learned for twelve years under the tutelage of Rabbi Tzvi Yehuda Kook. He served as Rabbi of the Kehillat Dati Leumi Synagogue in Har Nof, Jerusalem, and teaches Jewish Studies at Mercaz HaRav Yeshiva Institutions.

1. Genesis, 12:2.
2. Supplement to the Sefer HaMitzvot of the Rambam, Positive Commandment #4.
3. Numbers, 33:53.
4. Pitchei T'shuva, Even HaEzer, Section 75, Sub-section 6.
5. Rambam, Laws of Kings and Their Wars, 5:12.
6. Ketubot 110B.
7. Sifre, Ekev, 10:1.
8. Deut, 1:6.
9. Ibid, 1:7.
10. Deut, 4:5.
11. Ibid, 4:14.
12. Ibid, 5:27.
13. Ibid, 6:1.
14. Ibid, 8:1.
15. Ramban on the Torah, Leviticus, 18:25.
16. Zohar on Numbers, 13:3. Also Mesillat Yesharim, On Cleanliness.
17. Likutei HaGra, at the end of Safra D'Tziniuta.
18. Rambam, Igeret Teiman. See, Kuzari, 2:24.
19. Isaiah, 55:8.

The Holocaust continues led by pagan Jews+WW2 Allies
MessagePw: sake09
hebron_today@hebron.org.il January 31, 2005
Arutz 7/Hebron Commentary: The Eleventh Commandment
by David Wilder

The Jewish Community of Hebron

January 31, 2005



Last night some 200,000 people stood in the streets between the Knesset and the Prime Minister's office, ostensibly demanding either elections or a national referendum as a prerequisite to implementation of Sharon's expulsion policy. "Let the nation decide!"



In all actuality though, the mass gathering screamed to the heavens: please - stop this madness.



The Yesha Council did a good job getting people out, but part of the message they espoused was disappointing. As reported by Israel National News, "Yesha officials called on the crowd to reject calls for the refusal of orders in the IDF, stressing such a move would destroy the military. They also decried the raising of a hand against soldiers, police, and border police, setting the ground rules for a tough fight, but one that does not cross the lines of a law-abiding society."



What's the problem with these points? They show a complete and total misunderstanding of how to lead opposition to Sharon's plans. They suggest that we 'play by the rules,' - not Sharon's rules, rather those established by a normal society. However, Sharon is not playing by those rules: he's devising his own rules as the game progresses, doing whatever he wants, however he wants. The fact that he has totally reversed his own campaign promises, the fact that he is now implementing the policies voiced by his opponent, Amram Mitzne, who was thoroughly trounced in the last election, the fact that he ignored a supposedly binding Likud referendum as well as a vote of the Likud Central Committee, the fact that he refuses to go to the people because he is scared that he might actually lose, the fact that he is conducting a massive campaign to delegitimize the same people he once regarded as heroes, that fact that he is returning to the one-way street called Oslo, leading to an inevitable head-on collision we've already experienced, again and again and again, with over 1,500 fatalities and thousands of casualties, the fact that according to Deputy Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Minister Meir Shitrit, not to mention Peres and all the other poodles presently serving as ministers under Sharon, the expulsion and destruction of Gush Katif and the northern Shomron communities is only the beginning - the remainder of communities of Judea and Samaria are on line for the guillotine - all these facts, and many more, clearly establish two sets of rules: one for Sharon and one for everyone else.



Two examples: During my interview with David Bedein last week, he revealed that police invaded homes of Sderot residents, warning and threatening them not to protest during a governmental visit to the city - this despite continued missile attacks and fatalities there.



And last night, buses on the way to the demonstration were randomly stopped and 'searched' - what did the police expect to find - child suicide bombers? One of the buses was stopped a few kilometers outside Jerusalem, on the Tel Aviv-Jerusalem road, and the search crew took its time looking for hard, criminal evidence against its passengers. Losing patience, the travelers left the bus and started walking down the middle of the highway - 'if you won't let us drive, we'll go by foot.' All traffic came to a stop and the police caught the message fast. Soon the bus was on its way into Jerusalem.



This second incident provides a good example of 'not playing by the rules' - and it works. This is what the Yesha Council has yet to learn. If we continue to 'play by the rules' we are bound to lose.



First and foremost on the list of 'our rules' is refusal to obey orders to evict families from their homes. The claim that refusal to obey orders will destroy the army is a moot point. Why? Because what good is an army without a land to defend? It is the declared intent of many members of the current government, in conjunction with the United States, Russia, Europe and the United Nations, to dismember Eretz Yisrael. Forget George W. - Sharon has, time and time again, declared his allegiance to the 'roadmap,' a plan leading to the disintegration of the State of Israel and the rise of the State of Palestine, G-d forbid. We will not have to worry about whether or not our soldiers obey orders in the future; should they refuse, there will be foreign forces here to do the work for them. So states the 'roadmap!'



True, under ordinary circumstances, refusal to obey orders should and would be viewed as virtually unthinkable. However, our lives, privately and collectively, are ruled by priorities: in this case, without Eretz Yisrael, our armed forces are unnecessary - Eretz Yisrael certainly takes priority over a dictator's decree. I have difficulty comprehending why the leaders of the Yesha council do not understand this.



You know, last week everyone was making a big whop-de-do about the events marking the sixtieth anniversary of the liberation of Aushwitz. This too, I had trouble fathoming. Speeches in the UN, a memorial to the slaughtered, singing HaTikava, our national anthem, it didn't move me.



Why not?



Many times, during meetings with correspondents from around the world, I tell them: "There is much we must learn from the Holocaust. One of the main lessons I have learned is from the refusal of the allied forces, including Britain and the United States, to bomb the camps and stop the mass murders. This taught me that the United States and Europeans were basically telling us, in other words, 'we don't want you here.' For had they valued Jewish lives, they would not have allowed the Nazis to continue exterminating them, by the millions.



So, what did Jews do? They came to live in Eretz Yisrael and established the State of Israel. Now, we are being told that we cannot continue to live in our land - and the same people who refused to stop the Nazi extermination are leading the call to expel us from our homeland.



So, I ask the reporters, where do they want us to go - they don't want us in their countries, but they refuse to allow us to live with security in our own land - so where should we go?"



The journalists look at me with a blank stare and, as a rule, do not respond.



My problem with the 60th anniversary events is exactly that - why did it take SIXTY YEARS for the nations of the world to stand up and recognize, in some manner, what they were responsible for. The proceedings at the UN should not have taken sixty years to occur. They should have taken place annually since the founding of the organization.



More significantly, in my opinion, in truth, Aushwitz has not been liberated. We are still there, behind barbed wire fences, being led like sheep to the crematorium. Then, the Jews had little recourse - there was no IDF, there was no State of Israel. But today there is. Yet, we are continuing to be led by the nose, by the same peoples who assisted, either actively or passively, with the Nazi extermination machine sixty years ago. The massive world attempt to force us to rid ourselves of our land is certainly nothing less than Aushwitz - because the world still does not recognize the legitimate, G-d-given right of our people to our land. There really is no doubt: Gush Katif will lead to Beit El and Shilo, and they will lead to Hebron and Hebron will lead to Jerusalem. Tel Aviv and Haifa are only a matter of time. That is the way they see it - those who refused to destroy Aushwitz - they are the same people, the same cultures, the same mentality. They haven't changed. And it seems, neither have we. We still haven't learned.



This past Shabbat morning, sitting in Ma'arat HaMachpela, I listened as we read in the Torah, the Ten Commandments. It is normally a very spiritually uplifting experience, especially at such a holy place. But this year, hearing the ancient words chanted, I couldn't help but think, what about the eleventh commandment. Why have we forgotten the eleventh commandment? Why don't we remember - we are we so good at forgetting? Again, meetings between Dachlan and Mufaz, Abu Mazen and Sharon, terrorist prisoner releases, pulling the army out of the 'cities, ' the same show we've seen so many times before. And we know what the results will be.



The Eleventh Commandment: Never Forget.



With blessings from Hebron.








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