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HOLIDAY READING

Rabbi Dr. Benji Levy Rabbi Jesse Horn

Patient for the Truth

he Radak offers an inspiring long and important spiritual process
and insightful perspective into called Jewish history. For the ת ֶ מ ֱ א, will
Ta well-known verse we recite in only be clear once the redemption has
Hallel. The verse states, ֹו ּ ד ְ ס ַ ח ּוני ֵ ל ָ ע ר ַ ב ָ ג י ִּ כ arrived.
ּ ה־ָי ּול ְ ל ַ ה ם ָ לֹוע ְ ל ‘ה ת ֶ מ ֱ א ֶ ו “For His kindness
has overwhelmed us and the truth of Yom HaAtzmaut is a day that celebrates
the L-rd is eternal” (Tehillim 117:2), the highs. It reminds us that something
and is describing the final redemption worldly and mundane, like the declara-
as both ד ֶ ס ֶ ח, kindness, and ת ֶ מ ֱ א, truth. tion of the State, feels like a monumen-
This is seemingly strange, because the tal ד ֶ ס ֶ ח, but it actually fulfills a promise,
two descriptions are mutually exclusive, an ת ֶ מ ֱ א.
for one is not entitled to a ד ֶ ס ֶ ח, yet one Rav Soloveitchik astutely summarizes:
is entitled to an ת ֶ מ ֱ א. Is G-d’s bringing “Our history is a strange one: it consists
the redemption ד ֶ ס ֶ ח or ת ֶ מ ֱ א? It cannot of Divine promises, but at a slow pace.
be both! G-d promised Avraham the Land; it was
not given to him. Hundreds of years
Resolving this problem, the Radak bril-
liantly explains that due to the profound passed but eventually it was indeed ful-
filled” (Festivals of Freedom 137).
pain the exile has caused us, it is easy
for Am Yisrael to become skeptical or Rav Dessler (Michtav MeEliyahu) notes
doubtful. Because of this uncertainty, that we should not go through the
we perceive the redemption as a ד ֶ ס ֶ ח, as holidays but rather allow them to go
if we are unsure whether it will come. through us. We should leave every holi-
Yet, once the redemption has arrived, day religiously advanced and spiritually
looking back, it will be clear that it is, elevated. This Yom HaAtzmaut should
in fact, an ת ֶ מ ֱ א. After all G-d has unmis- inspire us to continue looking forward,
takably promised it in the Torah (Vay- knowing that the ultimate promise, the
ikra 26:46). ת ֶ מ ֱ א, will be fulfilled.
This beautiful insight lays out the theo-
logical outlook for modern Religious
Zionism. It requires patience and per- Rabbi Jesse Horn is a Senior Ra”m (Rosh
Metivta) at Yeshivat Hakotel and director of
spective. In any transformative process, the Mizrachi/Yeshivat Hakotel Mechanchim
there are ups and downs, moments of program.
idealism and those of setback. Unclar-
ity and even skepticism are normal and A member of the Mizrachi Speakers Bureau
anticipated human emotions in this mizrachi.org/speakers

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