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The Origins of the Dome of the Rock: How an Early Muslim Ruler Gave Permission to Build the Temple
The Maharam Chagiz (Rabbi Moshe Chagiz, 1671-1750) in his work Eileh Masei, page 18, tells a story that he heard from the “experts on Ottoman history.” In the year 637 CE, when Caliph Omar Al-Khitab[1] conquered Jerusalem, he built his palace there. He noticed that a large heap of rubbish lay near his palace. Every…
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Claim: True, the Three Oaths prohibit a state, but once the state is already here, it’s permitted
First, what would be the logic behind this? Violating the oaths of exile is akin to heresy: it is an implicit denial that Hashem is the one to decide when the bring about the redemption. If someone is a heretic once, are they allowed to continue being one? The Brisker Rav said, “Two things are…
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Peaceful aliyah with permission from the ruling power – revisiting the Satmar Rebbe’s proofs
The first of the Three Oaths is that the Jewish people must not go up to Eretz Yisroel “as a wall.” In Vayoel Moshe, Maamar Shalosh Shevuos Siman 10, the Satmar Rebbe lists 3 possibilities for what this might mean: 1) The immigration of a large group, all together 2) The immigration of the majority…
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Does the Ramban on Yishuv Eretz Yisroel mean that he would support today’s state?
Claim: The Ramban in Sefer Hamitzvos says that we are obligated to conquer Eretz Yisroel in every generation. This clearly shows that he did not pasken like the Three Oaths. Fact: The Ramban quotes Chazal’s statement that Dovid Hamelech was wrong to conquer Syria before completing the conquest of Eretz Yisroel, and then writes, “So…
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Did the Agudah in 1937 permit what happened in 1948?
The following letter was published in the journal Kedushas Tzion, Elul Tishrei 5785 (2024). I would like to comment on the sefer Achakeh Lo by Rabbi Yirmiyahu Cohen of New York. The sefer, which is written in Hebrew and English, comes to support the opinion of the Vayoel Moshe and brings many ideas that are…
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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…
I Will Await Him 