It happened in the fledgling Slabodka Yeshiva in Bnei Brak. The war was still raging in Europe; the angel of death had almost full reign in the killing fields of Europe. As Lithuania was being decimated Rabbi Isaac Sher resolved to rebuild from scratch in the Holy Land, and founded the Slabodka Yeshiva in Bnei…

Rabbi Shneur Kotler said, “People call the Satmar Rav’s ideas a shitah, but it is not. He proves in Vayoel Moshe that this is what Shas and poskim, Rishonim and Acharonim all held. What he holds is what all gedolei Yisroel once held. On the contrary, our Agudah shitah is a new shitah: that in…

In the summer of 1952, the Baba Sali traveled from Eretz Yisroel to France in order to take care of some business and then move to Eretz Yisroel, as the rabbis of the generation had advised him. When he arrived in Paris, he found out that the holy Rebbe, fighter of the wars of Torah,…

“For He will see that the enemy’s hand is strong, and no one is saved or supported.” (Devarim 32:36) The Gemara in Sanhedrin 97a derives from here that moshiach will not come until the Jewish people gives up on the redemption and thinks that there is no supporter or helper for Israel. Now this is…

Regarding your question if there is a mitzvah nowadays to live in Eretz Yisroel, as the Ramban says, or if there is no mitzvah nowadays, as Rabbeinu Chaim says, quoted in Tosafos on Kesubos 110b: Most poskim hold it is a mitzvah. But it is obvious that this is not an obligatory mitzvah in our…

The following article, entitled “Zion or Zionism?” appeared in Mitteilungen, the bulletin of K’hal Adath Jeshurun, NYC, Adar 1-2 5736 (1976). The United Nations has resolved by majority vote to equate Zionism with racism. All over the world Jews have reacted by indignant protests and vigorous public declarations: “We are all Zionists,” “Judaism is Zionism”…

We always saw the constant state of war and terrorism in Eretz Yisroel as the fulfillment of the punishment of the Oaths. Until recently, this punishment was confined to wars, or terrorist acts against the settlers and those on the borders. But now we are seeing a new phenomenon: Jewish blood is spilled like water…

It was claimed by Rav Yitzchok Isaac Herzog that Rabbi Eliyahu of Izmir said that the three oaths are no longer in force today. The source for this is his commentary on Shir Hashirim called Dana Pishra, on 3:5. Since the pesukim above are discussing the redemption, Hashem placed an oath again that they should…

The agreement of Agudath Israel to the establishment of a state before the coming of moshiach is based on the rulings of the Gedolei Torah. However, those rulings depend on two basic conditions, which are far from reality and possibility: 1) the state must be conducted in accordance with Torah and tradition; 2) there must…

I have been asked about a very delicate question. Basically it is almost like religion and politics, something you do not discuss. Is it wise to talk about something that divides us? Yes it is. I would like to be heard with light and not heat, as I would like to make this into an…