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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…

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…

The Yefei Kol is a commentary on the Midrash Shir Hashirim, by Rabbi Shmuel Yaffe Ashkenazi of Constantinople (1525-1595).  Commenting on the Three Oaths (chapter 2, verse 7), he writes: Rashi explains that “going up as a wall” means “together, with a strong hand.” The problem is that if this means a military invasion, there…

Sefer Hashimush (“The Useful Book”) is a guide to replying to the arguments of the Sabbatean heretics of Rabbi Yaakov Emden’s time. Some of his points apply just as well to Zionism. Whether Hashem redeems us now, or whether He keeps us in exile for thousands of years more, G-d forbid, we will not give…