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Optimism for Israel

in Troubled Times

Martin Oliner

s Israel hits the milestone of its nation with a state of its own. This vision day be a new freedom festival parallel to
75th birthday, it is too easy to of normalcy as an ideal was included in Pesach, just as Chanukah was a late cel-
become demoralized. The dis- Israel’s Declaration of Independence: ebration of Sukkot and Purim confirmed
Aputes over the government’s “This is the natural right of the Jewish the acceptance of the Torah on Shavuot.
plans for legal reforms have become people to be masters of their own fate,
unprecedentedly intense. Strong differ- like all other nations, in their own sover- Following the miracles of Chanukah and
Purim, the internal divides continued.
ences of opinion have led to incidents of eign state,” says the document that was
violence and prophecies of doom. signed by representatives of all sectors of The Chashmonaim illegitimately held on
to power. Mordechai only had the support
President Isaac Herzog has even warned the nascent Jewish state. of a majority of his people. Since 1948, the
that the Jewish state is on the brink of Like all other states, Israel faces its share disputes have continued as well. But they
civil war and noted that previous Jewish of respectful disagreement. This is part continue with an important reminder: the
commonwealths did not pass eight and parcel of being the normal country menorah that is the official emblem of the
decades. A recent event at the Presi- that Herzl envisioned. The ability of the State of Israel.
dent’s Residence highlighted that there people of Israel to argue among them-
have been 12 civil wars in Jewish history selves is itself a democratic principle that When the menorah was first crafted for
– a stark reminder of the impact of past needs to be celebrated, not feared. the mishkan, it had to be built out of one
infighting inside the Jewish community. piece of solid gold. Since then, it has been
The many disputes that surfaced since a reminder of the need for Jewish unity.
But for us proud Religious Zionists, Israel was founded – over its borders, its The menorah stands opposite the Knesset
seeing such internal disputes inside religious status quo and accepting repa- as a reminder to the politicians that no
the Jewish state need not be a cause of rations from Germany for the Holocaust matter how much they fight, we must
despair. Witnessing these troubled times – make it all the more impressive that remain one people.
should actually give us even more hope the Jewish state has lasted so long. Even
for the future of the State of Israel as a declaring a State of Israel involved many It is my hope that after the current dis-
Jewish and democratic state. It should internal fights, as has the question about putes are resolved, we will see the return
strengthen our faith rather than weaken how to mark the day since then. Whether of the unity that is so desperately needed
it. We believe that Israel is atchalta deGeula, or not we make a blessing in our Hallel, for Israel’s next 75 years.
the beginning of the redemption that Jews we Religious Zionists thank G-d for the
around the world prayed for three times a modern miracle of Israel, shortcomings
day since the exile in 70 C.E., not the end. and all. In our Hallel prayer, we praise
Israel is a work in progress, not a finished G-d for His perfection, but we recall that
product. Its name means “struggling with while He is exalted high in the heavens,
G-d,” and that struggle continues. He gave the earth to the imperfect chil-
Israelis are fighting over how to be a dren of men. We are left to deal with those
Jewish state and a democratic one. Those imperfections with our own free will.
concepts that usually worked beautifully George Orwell wrote that “freedom is the
together over the past seven and a half right to tell people what they do not want Martin Oliner
decades are currently being reevaluated, to hear.” Both sides in Israel can express is co-president of the Religious Zionists
of America, chairman of the Center
and the finished product when the strug- that right that truly makes us free. for Righteousness and Integrity, and a
gle is over will end up being stronger and In that regard, Yom HaAtzmaut is a cele- committee member of the Jewish Agency.
more cohesive. He was appointed by former US president
bration of freedom. In 1881, nearly seven
Zionist visionary Theodor Herzl envi- decades before Yom HaAtzmaut, the Sfat Donald Trump as a member of the United
States Holocaust Memorial Council.
sioned the Jews becoming a normal Emet predicted that there would one

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