THE TRUE JEWISH
ROADMAP
Question:
Is it permissible to surrender portions of the Land of Israel to an enemy
as part of a peace agreement?
Answer:
More than four thousand years ago, long before George Bush got to the White
House, G-d gave a roadmap to the Jewish People. The borders of the Holy Land
were established and sealed by the Covenant between G-d and the Children
of Israel an irrevocable constant which can never be changed. [1]
The idea of dividing the Land of Israel is not new. In the wake of the Intifada
of 1936, the Royal British Committee drew up a map dividing Eretz Yisrael
(the Land of Israel), called the Partition Plan. The Plan called
for two states, Israeli and Arab, which would dwell side-by-side in peace.
In response, leading rabbis at that time voiced their opinions. Chief Rabbi
of Israel Yitzhak HaLevi Herzog called for a general assembly of all the
leading rabbis, but it was canceled because of the reign of Arab terror that
made travel to Jerusalem perilous at that time. Nonetheless, the majority
of the rabbis unequivocally established that dividing the Land of Israel
was prohibited by the Torah. [2]
Rabbi Yaacov Moshe Harlop, Rosh Yeshiva at the time of Mercaz HaRav in Jerusalem,
stated:
Behold, the matter is simple and clear Heaven forbid that the
Jewish People relinquish any tiny concession of any iota of land that is
sanctified with the holiness of Eretz Yisrael
. There is no doubt that
if the matter reaches the point where we will need sign an international
agreement that includes any form of surrender of our rights to Eretz Yisrael,
it is preferable for those signing to chop off their thumbs, rather than
to chop up the garden of Zion.
Rabbi Harlop continues: Just like a person who states that the entire
Torah is from Heaven, except for one letter, he is considered a heretic,
so too one who states that all of Israel belongs to the Jewish People except
for one footstep, behold he is totally cut off from the holiness of the Land
and he violates the soul of Israel
.for Israel is undividable. A division
of Eretz Yisrael will inevitably lead to war
not to mention the wrath
of G-d which will be cast upon us Heaven forbid
.Eretz Yisrael is for
the Jewish People the Land of Life, its soul and the source of all of its
vitality. Even an iota that is missing fatally weakens its life, just as
when the heart is pierced. [3]
Rabbi Reuven Margoliot, author of the Talmudic work Margoliot HaYam,
wrote:
I agree with the opinion of absolute opposition to accepting the Partition
Plan. There is a need to amass a determined opposition with all force against
the Plans acceptance to explain to the community and to the Jews the
world over that a tiny canton of Israel cannot survive. [4]
Rabbi Tzvi Pesach Frank, Chief Rabbi of Jerusalem, stated:
If the Jewish People have the power to acquire all of Israel as bequeathed
to us from our forefathers, the matter is simple we do not have permission
to relinquish even one footstep of Land to foreigners, as it says, Do
not sell them the land. Where do we learn this? Rabbi Yose bar
Chanina says, Do not give them possession in the Land. [5] Behold it
is explicit that there is a Torah prohibition forbidding the sale of even
a single tree to the gentiles. [4]
Rabbi Yechiel Michal Tekuchinsky, author of Luach Eretz Yisrael,
stated:
Definitely, without a doubt, we and all of us have absolutely no permission
(to sign) a peace agreement to remove any portion of the Land to others.
Not only are we not allowed or permitted to relinquish, there is absolutely
no value to any concession, just like it is impossible to change the borders
between day and night, so it is equally impossible to change the borders
of the Land as designated in the Torah, for both these matters were sealed
by He who gave the Torah, the Master and Creator of the world. [4]
Rabbi Kaniel of Haifa said: I believe that no one at all has any permission
whatsoever, whether an individual or a group, to concede the right of the
Jewish People to Eretz Yisrael in all of its boundaries. For the elected
representatives of the nation are only caretakers in their responsibility
to the Jews of all generations, and they do not have the right to tamper
with the inheritance of the Jewish People from our forefathers. [4]
Quoting the Talmud [6], he states: We learn that King Omri merited
kingship because he added one city in the Land of Israel. If we truly want
a state and we aspire to the crown of sovereignty and kingship, we mustnt
relinquish our existing settlements, that it should be said regarding us
They despised the cherished Land and did not believe His promise,
(Psalms, 106.) Rather, we must increase the settlement of the Land.
[4]
If this is what the rabbis said when we did not have a Jewish State in Israel,
how much more should we today champion our G-d given right to Eretz Yisrael
and work to strengthen its settlement in all of its Biblical borders.
In the immortal words of Ecclesiastes, A generation comes, and a generation
goes, but the Land remains forever.
[1] |
Genesis, 13:7; 12:16: 13:17;
16:18: 17:8. See the proclamation Lman Daat, by HaRav Tazvi
Yehuda Kook, printed in the book Torat Eretz Yisrael, pg.
374. |
[2] |
For a history of the period,
see the book, Pulmus HaHaluka Btekufah HaMandate, by Shmuel
Dotan. |
[3] |
Zikof HaKooma, Daniel Sirkus,
His Life and Deeds, by Pincus Sirkus. Pg. 112. Also, Tachumin, Vol.
9, Pg. 270. |
[4] |
Ibid. |
[5] |
Avodah Zora, 19B. Deut. 7. |
[6] |
Sanhedrin 120B. |
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
RabbiKookBooks.com. Rabbi Samson 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.
Tzvi Fishman was a successful Hollywood screenwriter before making
Aliyah to Israel in 1984. He has co-authored several Torah works with Rabbi
David Samson and written several books on Jewish/Israel topics. His two most
recent books Days of Mashiach and Tuvia In the Promised Land are available
on-line at: RabbiKookBooks.com. |