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and Zionism Those who know this beautiful aspect of Chassidut will

be shocked by the strong hatred and vigorous resistance
that modern Zionism has encountered, from the moment
of its inception through the Balfour Declaration, from the
majority of Chassidim and their leaders.

Imagine a Jew whose education and way of thinking led
him very far from Torah and faith. This man (Theodor
Herzl), despite his great economic success and despite the
great rewards that await him if he assimilates, suddenly
awakens and realizes that this is not the correct path for a
Jew like him! He begins to understand that the only path
forward for him is to return to his Judaism, and that the
only path forward for his people is to return to the land
of its fathers. WIthout delay, he moves from thought to
action, and the nation responds to the sound of his call. A Rabbi Yaakov Friedman at his Beit Midrash in Tel Aviv.
popular movement springs up, yearning for the revival of
the nation and the return to Zion. Many well-known and
distinguished Jews joined the movement, people who until
this moment considered assimilation to be the only viable
answer to the Jewish question.
Does not Chassidut, faithful to its heritage, have an
obligation to look more kindly upon this wondrous vision
(of Zionism), despite the fact that the Zionist movement
is sullied with impurities and imperfections because it
was born among assimilated Jews and a foreign culture?
It would require great patience and caution at first, but
nevertheless – is there not an obligation to recognize the
sparks of holiness in Zionism, to clarify them and excite
them, to separate the precious and holy from the filth?
In order to understand the opposition of the Chassidim to
Zionism we must remember their views on the redemption Rabbi Yaakov Friedman with Rabbi Zev Gold, President of Mizrachi USA.
of Israel and its return to its land, and to consider the way
Zionism developed in that time.
The terrible disasters that befell our nation when we
tried to throw off the yoke of the nations following the
destruction of the Second Temple, and the great sufferings
and persecutions that we have borne over the long and
bitter exile have weakened our hands and our spirits,
and have led to a mistaken belief: that the return of the
Jewish people to the Land of Israel is not possible before
the messianic redemption. There were great rabbis in
Israel who foretold a natural return of the nation before
the final redemption (Radak, Tehillim 146:3; Ramban, Shir
Hashirim 5:12, etc.), but these views did not find a path to
the hearts of the nation, who could only find comfort by
believing in a redemption of open miracles. And so they
came to believe that the return of Israel to Zion and the
final messianic redemption would be one and the same. Jerusalem Groundbreaking Ceremony for Yeshivat Tiferet Yisrael (Ruzhin),
August 7, 1955. Rabbi Yaakov Friedman is third from the left.

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