Page 3 - HaMizrachi 1 Chicago Edition

Rabbi Doron Perez

Torat The Sacred

HaMizrachi and the Secular

olda Meir writes in her memoirs Independence Hall on that momentous thus blazing a trail of partnership and
– “My Life” – that one of the most day. The photo on the cover of our collaboration that is still thriving today.
G moving parts of the Declaration inaugural HaMizrachi publication,
of Independence in Tel-Aviv in 1948 was capturing this duality of voices, They acted as they did because they felt the
when Rabbi Maimon, the Head of Mizrachi, quintessentially captures the indispensable only way to impact is from within.
sitting immediately to the right of Ben- role of the Mizrachi Movement.
Gurion, made the ‘Shehechiyanu’ blessing. 1 From the outside you cannot influence;
What is that role? from the inside you can transform.
At that moment she sensed the true
meaning of what the establishment of the In 1897, the Zionist Movement was The very name – Mizrachi (י ִח ָר ְ ז ִמ) –
State meant. founded. Barely 50 years later, with captures its core mission. It as an acronym
God’s help, they had remarkably created for MerkaZ RuCHanI (יִנ ָחוּר ז ָכּ ְ ר ֶמ)
It was not just another modern national a sovereign state. The collective physical – a spiritual center, striving to bring the
movement of the 19th century European body of the Jewish people had somehow timeless values of Torah to the heart of the
secular ilk but a distinctly Jewish one. A been resurrected. Zionist endeavor.
fulfillment of Biblical prophecy and a link
in the chain of Jewish destiny. But would it also receive a soul? Would its Torat HaMizrachi is Torat Chaim – a
collective fate turn into spiritual destiny? Torah of Life – committed to bring Torah
Ben-Gurion’s political proclamation and Could the national secular movement – which values and vibrancy to all areas of human
Rabbi Maimon’s religious enunciation had achieved so much for the Jewish nation – and Jewish life. Aiming to fuse sacred and
echoed almost concurrently from also become a spiritual and sacred enterprise? secular, soldier and scholar, settler and sage,
In the religious world, many were skeptical. to come together to create a synergistic
They were understandably ambivalent to whole and uplift all areas of Jewish
the Zionist Movement as it appeared to be collective and national life.
just another transient secular ‘ism,’ hence
they kept it at arm’s length. That is our prayer too for this new publi-
cation. It is our hope that its message and
However, a group of leading Eastern spirit of Torah thoughts and ideas from
European rabbis, led by Rabbi Ya’akov Israel will become a relevant, inspiring,
Yitzchak Reines, thought otherwise. They and unifying platform between Israel and
answered an emphatic ‘yes’ to the above Jewish communities all over the world.
questions, believing they could and should _____________________________
strive to build bridges – between physical 1 The thanksgiving blessing upon acquiring new items
and spiritual, body and soul, national and or on living to see auspicious times.
religious, democratic and Jewish. 2 Literally “settlement,” but a term used to describe
the early community in pre-State Israel.
And to support their beliefs, they formed
Golda Meir with the children of Kibbutz Shefaim, “Mizrachi” in 1902 as a distinct yet Rabbi Doron Perez is Head of
1950 (GPO) integrated part of the Zionist Movement, the Mizrachi World Movement

Mizrachi World Movement
Chairman Mr. Harvey Blitz
Head Rabbi Doron Perez Editor-in-Chief Daniel Verbov hamizrachi@mizrachi.org
54 King George Street, Jerusalem Creative Director Jonny Lipczer
www.mizrachi.org Production Manager Meyer Sterman production@mizrachi.org
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