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Rabbi Yitzchok Yaakov Reines (1839-1915) was a leader of Chovevei Tzion and the founder of the Mizrachi movement. In 1902 he published a book called Ohr Chadash Al Tzion calling for settlement in Eretz Yisroel, but cautioning (p. 240) that it must not violate the oaths: What is the point of Chanukah? Seemingly, there is…

The challenges facing the Jewish people today are unique in history, and so one would think that Chazal would have left us some hints or guidelines on how to approach them and survive. And indeed, if one looks carefully, one can find such hints throughout Shas. This page will be dedicated to searching for these…

From Michtavim u’Ma’amarim, Letter 8, written 1979, translation from the book “Rav Shach Speaks,” p. 12: There is a well-publicized campaign afoot to oppose signing a peace treaty with our neighbors under any condition. To me this is incomprehensible. Every reasonable person understands that [so to speak] a life of austerity is a price that…

Zionism was the most successful violation of the oaths in our history, but it wasn’t the first. In fact, there were many times when our people tried to invade Eretz Yisroel at the wrong time, end their subjugation to the other nations inside or outside of Eretz Yisroel, or build the Third Temple. Not all…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…