In honor of Rabbi Berel Wein zt”l, who passed away last month at the age of 91, I’m publishing a letter he wrote to a friend of mine in 2011, with my response at the time.
5/19/2011
Rabbi Wein is in town and I sent him an email about how I have come to identify with the Satmar Rebbe’s opinion of zionism and the state of Israel. Rabbi Wein responded to my e-mail. Please respond for my own interest on how you respond to this stuff. Thanks.
Without getting into polemics or theology – I do not beleve that even in Second Temple times with a Sadduccean High Priesthood and a Herodian/Roman/pagan government any of the tanaaim prayed for the end of that Jewish government by any means whatsoever – I find that the anti-Zionist movement has morphed into an anti-Israel movement and in the practicality of our world today that is an anti-Jewish movement, no matter what their intentions may be. The Torah preaches practicality and a clear view of consequences. Anyone who thinks that Monroe or Williamsburg will long survive if Israel is dismantled lives in a dream world. And there is no way now whatsoever – we can’t reroll history back to pre 1948 times – that there is any peaceful way to end the state of Israel.Any serious historian knows that Moslems persecute Jews living under their rule as a matter of faith and belief and not merely hate and bigotry. I shudder to think what life under Palestinian rule would be like and belonging to neturei Karta will not protect them. The theories and theological views of Rav Kook and the Satmar Rov are not the issue today. The survival of six milllion Jews living in israel is the issue.
In the practical real world the anti-Zionists are essentially anti-Jewish and the Torah abhors self-haters.
Dear ____,
I respect Rabbi Wein and in fact I have listened to all of his history series and many of his biographies. He may indeed be correct that it would be dangerous to live under a Palestinian government, or another Arab or Muslim government. That is a matter of metzius, practical fact; it’s not one of the Ani Maamins to believe that Arabs have always been nice to Jews and it would be safe to live under Arabs.
But that doesn’t exempt us from dealing with the theological issue of statehood, and here’s why: suppose that in a certain country where six million Jews lived it was impossible to keep Shabbos or keep kosher. Anyone attempting to do so would die of starvation. So the halacha is, it’s allowed for them to violate Shabbos and eat treif as much as necessary to preserve their lives. “The Torah preaches practicality and a clear view of consequences.” But does it end there? Are we to leave those six million Jews there to continue living this way indefinitely? No, we must do everything we can to get them out so that they can live the way the Hashem wants a Jew to live. A “pikuach nefesh” heter is not supposed to be a permanent state of affairs. And certainly we should not be encouraging more and more Jews to move to this country, send their children to live there, visit there etc.
Here too, if you agree in principle that having a state is a violation of the Shalosh Shevuos, but you say it is permitted now because of pikuach nefesh, then you should be doing everything possible to get Jews out of the state. Whoever possesses another country’s citizenship should hop on the next plane back to that country. The rest must try to get into the countries that would be the most likely to take them in. Not America, which is pretty much closed to immigration, but European and former Soviet countries whose populations are actually declining now. It doesn’t matter that in these countries it’s hard to make a living, because what would you rather do – live in poverty or eat pork your whole life?
Of course, Jews today are very far from thinking in these terms, and that’s where anti-Zionist organizations come in. We are not out in the streets making grandiose proclamations that we pray for the end of the state; we are trying to quietly create facts on the ground, publishing Hebrew seforim, English seforim and other material aimed at Jews to show them that having a state is a very serious aveirah and breach of Hashem’s covenant with the Jewish people. Once they understand this, the next step, getting Jews out, will fall into place.
Now, Rabbi Wein writes something else with which I disagree strongly: “Anyone who thinks that Monroe or Williamsburg will long survive if Israel is dismantled lives in a dream world.” In other words, even my idea of Jews leaving the state and living in non-Arab countries is not enough for him. He believes that the state functions as an insurance policy for Jews everywhere, either because they could always run there, or because it will stick up for them.
My question for him is: this could have been said 300 or 500 or 700 years ago as well. Jews needed a state then too, to protect them from the pogroms in Europe or the inquisitions and expulsions. If so, why didn’t they think of this before? We had a lot of great Rishonim and Acharonim. They should have founded a state for this very reason. And come to think of it, why didn’t Hashem come up with this brilliant idea? Mipnei chataeinu galinu m’artzeinu… When He sent us into golus because of our sins, He should have stopped and said, “Wait a minute, there might be persecutions in golus. The Jews still need a state.”
Obviously, Jews in all ages have accepted Hashem’s wisdom of placing us in golus until moshiach comes, and we intend to do the same.
In conclusion, let me say that I am in agreement with Rabbi Wein on one point: that it’s makes no sense today to protest against the State of Israel without advocating an alternative. Everybody hates to hear someone kvetching when they don’t have a better idea. And in this case, it only serves to make you appear anti-Jewish.
The protesting in Satmar and Neturei Karta that we see today is really a vestige from a previous era, from the 50’s and 60’s, when there was really nothing to do but protest. Orthodoxy then was predicted to be a dying movement. What were you going to do, explain the Shalosh Shevuos to the 97% of the Jewish world who didn’t even want to hear about Shabbos? What would a Gemara or a Midrash mean to them?
Today there is much more hope. The Orthodox are 15% of Jewry and growing by leaps and bounds, both here and in Eretz Yisroel. They are ready to hear the truth, and what they do will have a big effect on the future of Klal Yisroel.
12/6/2012
Nice speaking to you. If you remember in the past I had some e-mail contact with Rabbi Berel Wein and I forwarded him an e-mail of yours where you challenge him, disagreeing with and questioning what he said.
The following is from Rabbi Wein’s blog: I know that he will not respond to your response, but just for my info and library, could you comment on this from your perspective? I would appreciate it.
Much debate rages as to who won the latest Israeli Hamas encounter. Only time will tell what lasting effects, if any, came from this violent struggle. Yet I think certain things are clear. One is that in spite of negative international pressures Israel is still independent and powerful enough to respond to violent aggression.
The world has a difficult time realizing that Jewish blood is somehow no longer free for the taking. One can always question the tactics employed by the leadership of the State of Israel. But only the blind, the deaf and the stupid (of which there is no shortage) can no longer question the strategic sea change in the Jewish world that the State of Israel has brought about.
Israel’s response to the Hamas rocket barrage was measured, precise and hopefully successful at least for the immediate duration. But it should be clear to all, our open enemies and erstwhile friends, that Israel is not about to go quietly into the night in order to gain sympathetic points from the deluded and perhaps anti-Semitic do-gooders of the world. It is not that Israel is Sparta, it is that Israel spells the survival of an ancient faith and people that has brought blessing to all of humanity over millennia.
So this latest episode of violence is merely another footnote in this long thesis of Jewish survival. The overall picture of the Jewish future has always been weak and foreboding. But, here we are, here we will be, and we have the right and duty to act accordingly.
Our enemies are never wrong and even when they are, they will never admit it. They also are never able to recognize their errors and defeats. Egypt still celebrates the Yom Kippur war as a victory for Arab arms. The reality of the War of Independence that took place over 55 years ago somehow has not sunk in to the Arab psyche.
The wreckage that Islamic fundamentalism has wreaked in the Middle East and throughout the world is ignored by the very people who have been most harmed by its presence, rule and ideology. The Arab Spring has evaporated into the usual Middle Eastern chaos, bloodletting, anarchy, and renewed dictatorships. How naïve it was for anyone to expect it to be otherwise.
The society is built by education, posterity, idealism and vision. It can never be predicated and constructed on the basis of fanaticism and the destruction of others. Until that fundamental lesson is learned and assimilated in the Moslem world, it is going to be a rough ride for all of us for a long time to come. Who would have thought that the world would have longed for a Shah of Iran, Hosni Mubarak, and Hafez El Asad? But compared to what we now have, they look to be pretty good.
The inability of the Arab world to really get its act together creates all of the instability that haunts the region and reaches all other parts of the world as well. Terrorism may be a tactic but it is never a strategy. Without strategy and vision, the current situation will certainly persist.
I entitled this article “The Aftermath” but to a great extent this is a misnomer. Churchill once said after an Allied victory over Germany: “This is not yet the beginning of the end. Hopefully this is the end of the beginning.” It is not clear to me at what stage of our redemption and rebirth we are currently in. But it certainly is too soon to be called an aftermath. Patience and fortitude, faith and hope are our main weapons-the permanent Iron Dome that will be the source of our protection and defense.
As difficult as it is to counsel patience and the status quo, it is in my opinion even more difficult to counsel further unilateral concessions and to formulate starry-eyed peace proposals that lead nowhere. I would hope that we are certainly at the end of the beginning. Our strength and faith will lead us to the beginning of the end and a true peaceful and secure aftermath to our century’s long struggle.
Shabbat Shalom.
Berel Wein
“The world has a difficult time realizing that Jewish blood is somehow no longer free for the taking.” With this line, Rabbi Wein is implying a comparison between Hamas and all violent anti-Semitism of the past. In my opinion, this is ridiculous. Nazis killed because they hated Jews; Hamas kills because it has a legitimate grievance that needs to be addressed. Their method of making their grievance felt is clearly wrong. You cannot just kill innocent people because you have a good case. If A stole B’s house, B would have no right to fire rockets at A’s children in protest. As happens so often, people are blinded by the wrongness of the methods and are unable to think clearly about the essence of the problem.
We Jews lived in Europe for centuries and never did anything to harm the gentiles. They were jealous of our success, prejudiced against us because of their religion, and so they persecuted us.
Today, we have a unique situation in history, as Rabbi Wein should surely know. The tables have been turned. Jews have become the persecutors. We have taken 700,000 people (who have now increased to 2 or 3 million) and expelled them from their houses and towns. Whether it happened by accident as the Zionists claim, or whether it was deliberately done, the fact is that after the dust settled in 1948-49 the Israeli government refused to allow the Arabs of Palestine to return to their homes.
Why is Rabbi Wein comfortable with the whole world seeing Jews this way? When in history were Jews ever seen rightly as thieves and oppressors?
And if he replies that the UN recognized our right to a state, then I ask: firstly, the UN never recommended that the Zionists take 78% of Palestine and expel the Arabs from it. They recommended 54% of Palestine with no expulsion. Secondly, if the UN is your moral guide, why is Resolution 194 (that Israel must retreat to the Partition Plan borders and allow the refugees back), passed right after the 1948 war, meaningless to you?
Rabbi Wein continues to distract our attention from the issue of Jewish guilt by focusing only on the immediate problem, the rocket fire: “Israel is not about to go quietly into the night in order to gain sympathetic points from the deluded and perhaps anti-Semitic do-gooders of the world.” Of course we don’t need to listen to those who say, just let yourself be fired on and do nothing. But what about addressing the original issue?
“Israel spells the survival of an ancient faith and people that has brought blessing to all of humanity over millennia.” Our faith and people would survive without the state; on the contrary the state is a tremendous break with that faith, and threatens to change (or maybe I should say, already has changed) the image of Jews in the world as those who brought faith and blessing to humanity. Thanks to their state, we are no longer seen as a light to the nations, but rather as the rogue state that ignores every single UN resolution.
On one thing Rabbi Wein is right: the Arabs always fail to get their act together. They need to stop the terrorism, stop the rocket fire, stop the silly negotiations for a sliver of a Palestinian state that would be no better than Gaza, and ask for what they really deserve: full status as Israeli/Palestinian citizens. They could easily outnumber the Jews now and take over the state. They have to launch an international campaign for equality like the blacks in South Africa. Terrorism will never gain them sympathy in the US, but a demand for democracy and equality will.
I Will Await Him 
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