Page 18 - HaMizrachi Sukkot 5783 USA

and the moshavim of HaPoel HaMizrachi, who built settlements your future, says Hashem; and your children shall return to their
throughout the Land. borders” (Yirmiyahu 31:15–16).
At the same time, something significant changed in the wake of And to all the weak-minded who seek, G-d forbid, to uproot the
the Six-Day War. Before the war, Religious Zionism was merely children from their borders… [know this]: “The grass withers,
one voice in the larger Zionist movement. After the war, it became the flower fades; but the word of our G-d shall stand forever”
the dominant voice of Zionism, leading the settlement movement (Yishayahu 40:8).
and determining the agenda of the Zionist movement. If before
the war Religious Zionism served as a bridge between different
parts of the nation, after the war it became the bridgehead of  Translation by Rabbi Elie Mischel from “Ha’Agalah HaShlishit: Tzionut
the nation, shaping the orientation of the entire State. HaDatit B’Yameinu Mahu”, 353 (2009).
The difference between ‘safe haven Zionism’ and ‘redemptive
Zionism’ is not merely theoretical, but has several practical
consequences. ‘Safe haven Zionism’ is driven by the fear of
antisemitism, and so in places where antisemitism is not open
or widespread – like America and Canada – there should be no
need to promote Aliyah. And if living in Israel should prove to be
more dangerous than living in exile, there is no reason to remain
here. But according to the worldview of ‘redemptive Zionism’, a
Jew has no place in exile. The motivation to make Aliyah is driven
by the desire to be attached to the Land and the nation.
‘Safe haven Zionism’ does not assign any unique importance
to the Land, and certainly not to every inch of Eretz Yisrael, and
so it will happily give up Yehudah and Shomron, for the Land
is merely a means to a different end. By contrast, ‘redemptive
Zionism’ sees the attachment of the nation to its Land as having
inherent value. The bond between Am Yisrael and Eretz Yisrael is
like that between the body and the soul; uprooting Jews from
any part of the Land is like cutting a limb off a man’s body.
The most important difference is that ‘safe haven Zionism’
reduces the mission of Zionism to ensuring the physical security
of the State, ignoring the question of the State’s Jewish character
and culture. But for redemptive Zionists, the ingathering of the
exiles and the establishment and security of the State are merely
the first steps – each significant in their own right – of the return
to Zion. “The song is not over, it has just begun.” We still await
many more stages of redemption, establishing a “kingdom of
priests and a holy nation”, the return of G-d’s shechinah to Zion,
the establishment of the Davidic kingdom and the building of
the Beit HaMikdash – the key to repairing the world with the
kingdom of the Almighty…
The struggle between these two forms of Zionism is at the
center of today’s political and social debates. The spiritual
and educational world woven and shaped by the settlement
movement poses a great challenge to the broader Zionist
movement, forcing it to ask itself from whence it came and
where it is headed. This is not an easy struggle; the settlement
movement has increased passion and Jewish identity, but it has
also caused painful reactions and animosity that reached their
peak during the forced separation from Gush Katif and other
settlements.
Nevertheless and despite everything, the great settlement
movement in Yehudah and Shomron serves as a solid rock in
the middle of a stormy sea, calling out to our mother Rachel:
“Refrain your voice from weeping, and your eyes from tears,
for your work shall be rewarded, says Hashem; and they shall
come back from the land of the enemy. And there is hope for (PHOTO: RACHEL PORAT)

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