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HOW WE KNOW (PHOTO: HOWIE MISCHEL)

Rabbi Reuven Taragin

any non-observant Jews in our times, with Jews returning home this firsthand, Rav Kook concluded the
celebrate Israel from a sec- from over 100 different countries! ge’ula had already begun 100 years ago
ular perspective, much like The geonim and rishonim wrote extensively (Iggrot HaRa’aya 3:155), and the extraordi-
Mcitizens of other nations about the ingathering as a critical part of nary development of the Land since then
celebrate their own states. At the same the redemptive process. In fact, a student only strengthens his argument.
time, many religious Jews consider the of the Ramban argued that the Mashiach If we only merited to see the flowering of
State to be religiously insignificant, or only can only come once Jews have returned the Land, dayeinu!
important because it enables Jews to live to Israel and to Yerushalayim. If we only
in the Land. But as Religious Zionists, we merited to see the ingathering, dayeinu! Jewish independence
have a very different perspective. We view
our return to Eretz Yisrael and the existence Jewish life in Israel Living in an age of democracy, we may
of the State of Israel as critical elements of “There shall yet be old men and women not fully appreciate the significance of
the redemptive process. in the squares of Yerushalayim… And the self-rule. The amora Shmuel felt that our
freedom from foreign monarchs would
Still, life in the Jewish state is complex. squares of the city shall be crowded with be the definitive change heralding the
Though Jews throughout the generations boys and girls playing in the squares” times of the Mashiach. The Rambam adopts
would certainly have considered an inde- (Zechariah 8:4–5). “Again there shall be Shmuel’s position, using it to explain the
pendent State of Israel with over 7 million heard in this place… the sound of mirth significance of the Hasmonean dynasty
Jews as the manifestation of ge’ula, they did and gladness, the voice of bridegroom and and the Chanukah miracle. Setting aside
not envision a ge’ula that includes a majority bride” (Yirmiyahu 33:10–11). the three aforementioned blessings facil-
non-observant population, a government Children playing and the elderly sitting itated by the State, Israel is intrinsically
that does not function according to Jewish in the streets of Yerushalayim may not significant as an expression of Jewish
law, and a mosque on the Har HaBayit. How seem extraordinary, but these mundane sovereignty in Eretz Yisrael.
are we meant to understand our situation moments – now a daily reality in the State The realization of these four components
when we live in such a complex reality? of Israel – were mere dreams for genera-
tions of Jews exiled and often barred from identified over thousands of years by
Though the redemption is not yet com- entering the city. the Torah, nevi’im, amora’im, geonim, and
plete, there are four central components of rishonim as signs of the ge’ula are reason
the State of Israel that reflect its religious The midrash emphasizes the significance of enough to celebrate the State of Israel as
significance and support the view that these “mundane” moments, stating emphat- the beginning of ge’ula.
we are currently at the beginning of the ically that the Jewish people will not resettle Let us celebrate and reflect on how we
redemption process. in their land until the time of the eventual
ge’ula (Tanchuma Shoftim 9). If we only mer- can help facilitate the completion of the
Kibbutz Galuyot (ingathering of ited to see the return of normal daily Jewish ge’ula sheleimah!
the exiles) life in the Land of Israel, dayeinu!
Scan here to join Rabbi Taragin’s
“Even if your dispersed are at the ends of The flowering of the land daily Divrei Torah WhatsApp group
the world, from there Hashem your G-d Parashat Bechukotai describes how the Land
will gather you, from there He will fetch will lie desolate while we are in exile,
you. And Hashem your G-d will bring you while Parashat Nitzavim predicts visitors
to the Land that your fathers possessed, will be shocked by its absolute desolation.
and you shall possess it; and He will make Throughout the millennia of our exile, vis-
you more prosperous and more numerous itors were aghast at the devastation.
than your fathers” (Devarim 30:4–5).
“He has made her wilderness like Eden, Rabbi Reuven Taragin
Yishayahu vividly describes the future her desert like the Garden of Hashem…” is Educational Director of Mizrachi
ingathering from all four corners of (Yishayahu 51:3). The nevi’im repeatedly and Dean of the Yeshivat Hakotel
the world (43:5–6), a prophecy we pray prophesied that when the Jewish people Overseas Program.
for three times a day (“raise a banner to return home, the Land would once again
gather our exiles, and bring us together flower. Later, Rebbe Abba would point to Join me at the
from the four corners of the earth into the flowering of the land the clearest sign World Orthodox Israel Congress Est. 1902
orthodoxisraelcongress.org
our Land”) and which has been fulfilled of the end of days (Sanhedrin 98a). Seeing 120 YEARS OF RELIGIOUS ZIONISM

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