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Zionist argument: The Agudah permitted a state in 1937
Claim: The Moetzes Gedolei Hatorah of Agudath Israel in 1937 agreed to a Jewish state. Fact: The resolutions produced by the Moetzes in 1937 were a compromise reached after arguments between those opposed to any state because it would be tantamount to denial of the coming of moshiach (among them Rabbi Elchonon Wasserman, Rabbi Aharon…
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Claim: The Zionist movement also had many rabbis to rely on
Claim: The Zionist movement also had many rabbis to rely on, such as Rabbi Tzvi Hirsch Kalischer, Rabbi Yitzchak Yaakov Reines and Rabbi Yissachar Shlomo Teichtal. Fact: A minority of rabbanim did indeed advocate Jewish settlement in Eretz Yisroel, but all of them explicitly prohibited a war to take over the land such as took…
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On the meaning of the Brisker Rav’s statement that there cannot be freedom from the nations before moshiach
Dear Rabbi Cohen, On page 297 (p. 202 in the Hebrew edition), you quote the Brisker Rav as saying: The Rambam (Melachim 12:2 and Teshuva 9:2) says that moshiach will redeem the Jewish people from their subjugation to the nations. Anyone who believes that it is possible to be redeemed from subjugation to the nations…
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The Maaneh Chochom’s Argument: The State is Exile by Definition
Rabbi Yoel Kahn (1930-2021), an important rabbi in the Lubavitch community, leader of the team of scholars who memorized and transcribed the Lubavitcher Rebbe’s addresses, once wrote a letter arguing that Jewish independence and self-determination before the coming of moshiach is an impossibility according to Jewish belief; therefore, it follows that the current State of…
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Shiur on Vayoel Moshe
Our weekly Vayoel Moshe shiur can now be accessed using the Google Drive links below. Hakdama Maamar Shalosh Shevuos These shiurim are from the second cycle of Vayoel Moshe. For the first cycle, as well as Al Hageulah V’al Hatemurah and shiurim on related topics, see this Google Drive. For written translation of the Hakdama…
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Anti-Semitism or Anti-Zionism?
The Hebrew edition of Achakeh Lo (p. 224) describes a tactic by which the today’s Jewish media makes Jews into Zionists, without making a single argument about the subject itself (the question of whether Zionism violates the oaths of exile). There are many non-Jews who oppose Zionism for their own reasons: their support for Palestinian…
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The full story behind Rabbi Chaim Kanievsky’s supposed support for voting in the WZO election
By Rabbi Sholom Kamenetsky, son of Rabbi Shmuel Kamenetzky Rabbi Lerner approached my father and asked him to support voting in the WZO. My father refused. But he said that he would think about it, since it seemed to be a very serious matter. Rabbi Lerner sent another delegation to my father to pressure him…
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The WZO Election
Five years ago, Pesach Lerner started a party called Eretz Hakodesh within the World Zionist Organization, and set about convincing chareidi Jews to vote for it. In a way, we have to thank him for bringing the issue of Zionism to the fore so that gedolim around the world had the opportunity to come forward…
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Zionist Argument: The Three Oaths are Only Aggadah
Claim: The Three Oaths are aggadah, not halacha. The poskim don’t bring them down as halacha. Facts: The Gemara begins with the story of Rabbi Zeira and Rav Yehuda. Rabbi Zeira did not want Rav Yehudah to know he was moving to Eretz Yisroel, because Rav Yehuda held, based on the Three Oaths, that it…
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Changing Israeli Demographics – Diluting the State’s Jewish Population
Proponents of the one-state solution are faced with daunting challenges. Yes, it would solve the halachic issue of a Jewish state before the messiah. (The number of Palestinians, Israeli Arabs and other non-Jews already today outnumber Jews between the river and the sea.) And it would offer an opportunity for Israelis and Palestinians to live…
I Will Await Him 