1991, Rav Eliyahu Meir Klugman, biographer of Rav Samson Raphael Hirsch, wrote an article summarizing the views of Rav Hirsch on Zionism. He closed with the following thought:
Yet, after all has been said, Medinas Yisroel is a modern, secular, parliamentary state. Clearly, it is not the Jewish State, projected by our prophets, for which we have been taught to yearn (as Rav Samson Raphael Hirsch so lucidly explains), and that would express our national identity as the Am HaTorah and the beginnings of the Messianic Redemption.
It follows clearly from Rav Hirsch’s teachings, then that we cannot embrace it in its present form with any enthusiasm. Rather it can only be viewed as a political fact and we must work within it to further the true interests of the Jewish people, the Am Hatorah, as we would in any political setting in which we find ourselves – but we cannot recognize it as an expression of the Jewish national identity and the coming of Moshiach.
"Rather it can only be viewed as a political fact and we must work within it to further the true interests of the Jewish people, the Am Hatorah, as we would in any political setting in which we find ourselves..."
ReplyDeleteA political fact which makes possible a military. A military which, unless we are relying on miracles on the order of the splitting of the sea, is the only thing standing between millions of Jews, and tens of millions of Moslems who want to kill them.
So when Leftists try to destroy this political fact brick-by-brick, by comparing it with apartheid, or Nazism, we should take it very personally, even if we Hirschians see it essentially as a non-Jewish government run by Jews.
Instead of falling for the Leftists' criticism of any Western-style democracy that hasn't achieved their delusional Utopia, we should marvel at how relatively few revenge atrocities this nation has perpetrated, in the face of thousands of atrocities perpetrated against it. We should marvel at a nation that gives its sworn enemies the vote, political parties, health care, university education, even welfare. How many other nations that have been under siege for large periods of their respective histories have done this? Answer: zero.
Listen, if you want to be a Zionist, this isn't the place to do it. Go post on Hamemtza or some other Zionist site. I notice that every single comment of yours is a defense of the state.
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ReplyDeleteI'm not a Zionist; but I am a realist. For better or worse, unless we're relying on miracles, the IDF is the only thing preventing a Holocaust at the hands of Hamas psychopaths (YOUR characterization) and Hezbollah. Do you disagree?
ReplyDeleteI'm in favor of Jews surviving, as was R' Hirsch, who I believe worked together even with heretical Jewish organizations in order to save Jews in eastern Europe from pogroms.
I have nothing against your posts which criticized Israel and the IDF (e.g. they've been over-aggressive, to their own detriment), but also acknowledged that other nations in Israel's predicament (e.g. surrounded by deadly enemies) have usually done worse as regards human rights.
But your posts that use Leftist-style selective prosecution of the IDF and Israel,i.e. they compare Israel's record to a make-believe utopia, not to actual armies at war, are helping weaken this barrier to a Holocaust.
And by making these attacks on a blog that's dedicated to R' Hirsch and his worldview, you associate him with these attacks. Is that fair? Do you have indications that R' Hirsch would agree with you?
Would you prefer it if I stopped commenting on your posts? Let me know.