Part II

It is universally accepted in Halacha that the continued existence of the Jewish people is dependent upon the uninterrupted settlement of Jews in the Land of Israel. However, the extent and structure of the Jewish settlement in Israel before the final redemption and the coming of the Messiah is the subject of an ongoing halachic debate.

Should just a few communities settle the Land of Israel? Should there be a mass emigration of all Jews world-wide to Israel? Should the Land of Israel be acquired by peaceful means such as by land purchases or should it be conquered? Should the Jews in Israel organize themselves as a sovereign state or should they live in Israel under foreign rule?

The halachic opinions on these questions range across the board. There are those, to whom we shall refer as the “yishuv school,” that would restrict settlement to individual communities living under whatever foreign sovereign power happens to reign in the Land of Israel at the relevant time.

There are others, to whom we shall refer as the “kibbutz galuyot school,” that would require all Jews to return to Israel under a Jewish sovereign state. The third group, to whom we shall refer as the “territorial school,” that would, in addition, require the conquest of all of the Land of Israel that remains in non-Jewish hands. The fact that the holders of these diverse opinions live side by side in Israel is a tribute to the unifying power of the land.

This essay, the second in a series that sets out to explore and articulate these various opinions, focuses on the yishuv school of thought. The coming essays will focus on the kibbutz galuyot and the territorial schools of thought. Some of the opinions cited in these chapters may appear extreme to the reader but they are out there and form part of the mosaic of life in Israel today.

The point of departure for this debate is a passage in the Talmud, which quotes the following verse from the Song of Songs. “I charge you, O daughters of Yerushalayim, by the gazelles and the hinds of the field, that you stir not up, nor awake my love until it please.” The Talmud’s interpretation of this passage is that God made the Jews and the nations of the world swear that they would not do the following things.

The first oath was that before the arrival of the Messiah, the Jews would not converge upon Israel in a “wall of force, lo ya’alu bechomah.”

The second oath was that the Jews would not rebel against the nations of the world that detain them in exile.

The third oath was that the nations of the world would not subjugate the Jews more than necessary.

The fourth oath was that the Jews would not delay the arrival of the Messiah through their sins or that the Jews would not force the arrival of the Messiah before his time, “shelo yerachaku/yidchaku et haketz.”

If the Jews were to violate these oaths, then according to the Talmud, Jewish lives would become prey to the nations of the world like the “gazelles and hinds of the fields.”

The yishuv school interprets this passage from the Talmud at face value. What follows are some of their arguments.

It is God’s will that during the exile, the Jewish people live in all countries, including Israel, but not exclusively Israel, in order to spread God’s message world-wide. Although every effort should be made to encourage and sustain Jewish settlements in Israel, mass emigration to Israel, as well as the establishment of Jewish sovereignty in Israel before the final redemption, violates the oath of lo ya’alu bechomah.

Based on Rashi’s interpretation, lo ya’alu bechomah refers not only to the force of arms but also to the force of numbers and the force of Jewish political pressure on the nations of the world. Jewish self-rule that is not based on the laws of the Torah cannot be the basis for the final redemption.

The final redemption will occur miraculously when God decides, but not before all Jews repent and accept the rule of Torah. This is borne out by the sequence of the words of the Torah: “There, among the nations where God will have banished you … you will return to God and will obey him. God will then gather you from all the nations where he scattered you and bring you back to the land that your ancestors occupied.”

Accelerating the redemption by mass emmigration to Israel or self-rule in Israel, is in violation of the oath not to force the arrival of the Messiah before his time. The Jews must remain in exile until the final redemption. This is so even if the nations of the world permit the Jews to return to Israel as a nation. This is God’s will and in any event, even if other nations consent, force would have to be used against the inhabitants of Israel, other than the Jews, who claim the land as their own.

All of this applies even if the nations of the world violate their own oath not to subjugate Israel more than necessary, because the oaths are not interdependent. History has shown that attempts to force the redemption have ended in Jewish bloodshed and disaster.

The Rambam mentions the prohibition of violating the oaths at length in his letter to the Jews of Yemen, “Igeret Teiman,” who consulted him about a self-proclaimed Messiah in their day.^. Self-rule in Israel before the final redemption would require us to violate the mandate to banish idolatry from the land.

The kibbutz galuyot and the territorial schools of thought, as we shall see in the essays to come, counter each of the above arguments.

Raphael Grunfeld, a partner at the Wall Street law firm of Carter Ledyard & Milburn LLP, received Semichah in Yoreh Yoreh from Mesivtha Tifereth Jerusalem of America and in Yadin Yadin from Harav Haga’on Dovid Feinstein, Zt”l. This article is an extract from Raphael’s book “Ner Eyal: A Guide to Seder Nashim, Nezikin, Kodashim, Taharot and Zerai’m” available for purchase at www.amazon.com/dp/057816731X  or by e-mailing Raphael at [email protected].