Page 35 - HaMizrachi #9 Yom HaAtzmaut 5779

Rabbi Dr. Jerold Isenberg
תי ִשׁא ֵר

THE START OF SOMETHING BIG

Tefilla LeShlom HaMedina with the license of the governments of Significance
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very Shabbat in the Chicago the world’s nations. Indeed, the Vilna The Vilna Gaon and the Or HaChaim
Mizrachi shul, my father, Rabbi Gaon, with his deep, prophetic insight, both lived nearly two centuries before
E Zvi Isenberg, zt”l, publicly had precisely foreseen so much of what the 1917 Balfour Declaration, the 1922
recited the Tefilla LeShlom HaMedina would actually transpire in our recent League of Nations Mandate, the 1947
(the prayer for the welfare of the State history. UN Resolution, and the declaration of
of Israel). Filled with emotion, he the State on May 14, 1948. Yet, beyond
spoke with the harmonized voices of Or HaChaim a doubt, they clearly saw the religious
his family and friends who had perished I once asked my father if he believed that significance in the return to Zion.
in the Holocaust, the pogroms, the we are indeed witnessing the א ָּ ת ְ ל ַ ח ְ ת ַ א
persecutions of Jewish history. He spoke ּ ה ָ לּוא ֵ ג ְ ּ ד. In response, he showed me Now, seven decades later, while our
with the intense emotion which this a wonderful quotation from the Or homeland struggles with myriad
masterful prayer, written by Chief Rabbi HaChaim HaKadosh. In Parashat Balak, challenges, how are we to respond? Do
Herzog, was designed to evoke. With the (Bamidbar 24:17) we read: “I see it, but we still feel that significance?
words ּונ ֵ ת ָּ ל ֻ א ְּג ת ַ חי ִ מ ְ צ תי ִ ׁשא ֵ ר, he declared, not now, I view it, but it is not near; ך ֶ ר ֶ ּ ד
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with a sense of unwavering conviction, ב ָ כ ֹו ּ כ – a star shot forth from Jacob and a Mizrachi, the voice of Religious
that indeed we were witnessing the shevet (tribe) has risen from Israel. Zionism, declares that we should… we
ּ ה ָ לּוא ֵ ג ְ ּ ד א ָּ ת ְ ל ַ ח ְ ת ַ א. must!
In explaining this prophecy regarding
Seven decades ago, it was the prayer the time of Mashiach, the Or HaChaim Precisely because so many aspects of
of what could be. As a miraculous, new connects it with a well-known teaching Israeli life are at the point where one
chapter in Jewish history opened on of Rabbi Yehoshua Ben Levi (Sanhedrin could equally claim that the glass is half
5 Iyar 5708, the significance of this 98a) regarding the words in Isaiah full or half empty, it is vitally important
astonishing event was a major factor to remind ourselves, as well as our entire
which motivated the Chief Rabbinate (60:22): ה ָּנ ֶ ׁשי ִ ח ֲ א ה ָּ ת ִ ע ְּ ב – in its time, I people, that the State of Israel is indeed
to declare it “The Beginning of the will hasten it, which poses an apparent ּונ ֵ ת ָּ ל ֻ א ְּג ת ַ חי ִ מ ְ צ תי ִ ׁשא ֵ ר – the start of the
Flowering of our Redemption.” The contradiction. emerging Geula. This fundamental
following year, no fewer than 200 If the Geula – the Final Redemption concept – the Divine aspect of the
major Rabbinic leaders issued a public – will come in its time, then it is not naturally established State – lies at the
manifesto, with these opening words: hastened! And if it arrives sooner, then very core of Religious Zionism.
Let us give thanks to the L-rd, for it is not in its time! Rabbi Yehoshua
having, in his abundant mercy and explains: “If Klal Yisrael will have the And as a harbinger of Geula, Israel is not
kindness, granted us to see the first merits, the Geula will come quicker. If a parcel of land that may be traded for
shoots of the Atchalta D'Geula – the they do not, it will come in its time.” hollow promises. Our ׁש ֶ ד ֹוק ת ַ מ ְ ד ַ א – holy
beginning of the Redemption expressed land, is not just land, but Homeland; the
through the establishment of the State of The Or HaChaim connects these two Jewish homeland for the Jewish people –
Israel. 1 verses: regarding the Geula referred to the Chosen People who march under the
by ה ָּנ ֶ ׁשי ִ ח ֲ א, the prophecy is that it will banner of Torah.
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Vilna Gaon arrive ב ָ כ ֹו ּ כ ך ֶ ר ֶ ּ ד , a revolutionary action
The Vilna Gaon held that the א ָּ ת ְ ל ַ ח ְ ת ַ א from Heaven, as a meteor, showering
ּ ה ָ לּוא ֵ ג ְ ּ ד will be marked by a large the entire world with the miracle of 1 HaTekufa HaGedola by Rav Menachem Kasher.
ingathering of exiles, the conquest of the redemption all at once. However, if the 2 Kol HaTor by Rav Hillel Shklover.
Land, the rebuilding of Jerusalem and Geula will arrive ה ָּ ת ִ ע ְּ ב, at its appointed Rabbi Dr. Jerold Isenberg is Chancellor
the agricultural blossoming of the Land. time, it will appear as a shevet arises, as a Emeritus, Hebrew Theological College
Moreover, he taught that the א ָּ ת ְ ל ַ ח ְ ת ַ א natural occurrence, the normal evolution and Executive Director, Mizrachi –
ּ ה ָ לּוא ֵ ג ְ ּ ד will appear in a natural way, and of the geo-political landscape. Religious Zionists of Chicago

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