It has been a real long time and I must assume that most of the usual readers of the The View From Jerusalem have gone their way giving up. Cannot say I blame anyone. But it is time to begin anew.
I have given much thought to the subjects I wish to approach in The View From Jerusalem. There are thousands if not tens of thousands of bloggers out there producing many posts per day on the political, religious and cultural world of Israel and World Jewry. I have from time to time, peeked, read, scratched my head in disbelief and even very rarely applauded some of the posts and opinions that I have seen. Let me make this clear. Very very rarely applauded.
So from my own soapbox, (after all this blog, or any blog can be used as a soapbox) and from my own very narrow view of the world (there - I said it, so when you want to attack these posts you have your first bullet), I am going to approach a subject that I think needs to be approached, must be approached, and indeed, much creative thinking must be applied to it - Religious Zionism and its total failure for the next generation.
I came to Israel in 1978 on Aliya but I had already been studying here for a few years so I was not unfamiliar with the country or the mentality. My generation was shaped not by the Six-Day War but by the Yom Kippur War, and following that the first entry into Lebanon (in 1982).
I came as a "religious Zionist". We had no Nefesh Bi'Nefesh; the Jewish Agency was horrendous (and the word horrendous is being charitable, though my shaliach was incredible despite the Jewish Agency and not because of it); but we were lucky in that I did have a place to immediately go to and thus could skip the feared stage of a Merkaz Kelita (Absorption Center).
I was a religious Zionist then. Oh yes, past tense is used. I am not a religious Zionist today. I am what would be called in this fair world of ours "modern orthodox" or maybe just "my own stream" which would be a much fairer bet. But then back in the good ole days - I was a religious Zionist. I no longer like being called a Zionist. I don't think the term expresses much these days. Indeed I think it has gone to hell actually.
Don't get me wrong. I believe in the centrality of the State of Israel. I believe that is the only homeland for the Jewish people. I am one of those ancient relics who finds more sense in Yom Yerushalyim (Jerusalem Day) than in Yom Ha'Atzmaut (Independence Day). And I certainly cannot be faulted for not doing my army service as it spanned a period of over 20 years and my sons did Hesder and my daughters Sherut Leumi.
Sounds like a religious Zionist... doesn't it? Those glassy eyed, gung-ho, fervent Olim getting off those Nefest Bi'Nefesh planes would say ... woah! That is a religious Zionist is it not? Like Hell It Is. Nope folks it is not. It is far from it. Religious Zionism today is rotten to the core. It is stewing in its own deadly decomposition. It lacks direction, leadership and certainly an understanding of what is critical and what is not critical. Hey, don't believe me. Just pick up any one of those ludicrous "parsha sheets" they drop in every synagogue on Friday night. Don't just look at the advertisements (which are ridiculous in and of themselves) - just read some of the junk spewed forth in the name of "religion" and "Zionism". And don't you worry. We will get to these wonderful sheets and ditty's of wisdom on the by and by in this series of posts as well.
A religious Zionist combines two basic ingredients. Zionism and religion. And specifically here in these next few posts I finally do get to talk from the perspective of years.
When our little country, went through the Six Day War, and many of you who will read this were simply not alive then, after the facts set in, after we were able to really judge what had happened, (and I was way to young for the Six Day War to make an impression upon me), religious Zionists suddenly "realized" that the path of Jewish History really did have a purpose. That someone up there was actually listening. Prayers were heard; prophecies were being fulfilled before our very eyes. Rav Kook, the embodiment of religious Zionism was quoted without end. Isaiah, Yehezkel, and many other prophecies were dug up. We pointed to them. We believed. There is a path. A purpose. A reason for our struggle and our sacrifice.
We wore our knitted Kippot with pride then. Oh yes we did.
I remember taking my father, o"h, to the Kotel in 1971. I remember his tears. I was but 18 years old, but I remember my father's tears. I also remember what he said to me.
"Everyone wants to know where the Messiah is," he said pointing to the Kotel. "There, in that wall is the Messiah".I was a young boy then. I knew it all. I did not then understand exactly what Pop was trying to tell me. Like the verse from Shir Ha'Shirim, "Here He stands behind our wall, peeking through the lattice-works and the cracks".
Yes, perhaps that is where God watches us. Perhaps that is one of those favorite and most holy of perches where God listens to our prayers.
And so from 1967 straight till Yom Kippur of 1973 we, as religious Zionists, were hell bent on the path to Deliverance. We were sure of our way. We had our miraculous proof. "Har Habayit BiYadenu" the famous message rang in our ears. The messianic road has begun. The road to redemption has been paved.
We were smug. We were sure. We were so full of ourselves.
The view of the Diaspora at that time, (you can deny this until you turn blue in the face but it will not change the facts), was that it was and had to be coming to an end. If you were a Zionist you lived in Israel. If you were a Religious Zionist you came to live in Israel. (Thus I came.) You could not be an "armchair Zionist". Marching in the Independence Day Parade in NY did not make you a Zionist. Giving money to Israel did not make you a Zionist. Only one thing made you a card carrying Zionist. Living in Israel. And if you were religious, it was more critical. Religious Zionism had (and still has) at its very core the need to live in Israel. A religious Zionist kept three things close to the heart:
1. Torat Yisrael (Torah)
2. Am Yisrael (People of Israel)
3. Eretz Yisrael (the Land of Israel).
And that third factor meant to the religious Zionist of the time that one had to live in Israel. We had our State. We had our army. "Har Habayit Bi'Yadenu"! Period. No and's if's or but's about it. The future of the people of Israel could no longer be accepted as one in the Diaspora. It was here in Israel.
Boy, did we still have a great deal to still learn. And boy did religious Zionism fail. And fail in colossal proportions.
And He watched though those cracks in the Wall. He watched and He waited.
And then in Yom Kippur of 1973, on that Friday night and Saturday - our dreams were shattered. To be sure we did not know it then. It took a very long time to understand the implications upon religious thought that the Yom Kippur war would cause. Suddenly, without warning, we were hammered on the head.
We were supposed to be in an age of miraculous victory. And we found ourselves in an age of miraculous events which allowed us only to breathe. We were supposed to have put all the sorrow behind us. And we found ourselves losing our sanity bent over open graves of our friends. We were supposed to be marching towards redemption, and we found ourselves thrown back with the fury of a guided missile aimed right at the heart of our beliefs.
Where were the promises of redemption? Where were the assurances that we would make it? Where were the prophets telling us that we should not fear?
Before I end Part One...remember this much. During this time the generation was growing up. Getting married. Having Children. Children who would be brought up in the world of religious Zionism.
And in the end result - we failed the next generation. We totally failed them.
(But that will have to wait for the next post or two or three.)
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1 comments:
I just now found your blog...and am looking forward to catching up and reading future posts. I think here you hit an important point, and there is another side to it: people like me who are driven away from religion because of its recent affiliation with certain political viewpoints.
Thanks for writing, telling unfortunate truths, and helping spread reason, rather than viewpoints, slogans, and oversimplifications.
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