Page 3 - HaMizrachi Chanukah 2021 - USA

FROM THE

I One of the speeches recorded in the the State of Israel, we must remember
n what seems like the blink of an
eye, the Israel I visited and expe-
sefer was given on a particularly nota-
and yearn for David J; "Of David, to
rienced as a child has been trans- ble date - Parashat Emor, 1948 - the day make mention ... "
formed. Israel is now a military after the formal declaration of the State
As Rabbi Friedman so eloquently
power, and signs of growing economic of Israel.
writes, the establishment of the State
prosperity are everywhere. A telling
We hope and pray that "G-d will save of Israel, for all its significance, is not
example: A friend who recently made
Zion and build the cities of Judah ... and the ultimate fulfillment of our hopes.
Aliyah with minimal Hebrew language
the seed of His servants will inherit As believing Jews, we will never stop
skills began looking for a job on Sunday
it, and those who love His name shall yearning for our ultimate redemption
and had several job offers in hand by
dwell therein." These words are the final until Mashiach ben David arrives on his
the end of the week! Though some verses of the 69th chapter of Tehillim,
relics of the past remain (new immi- humble donkey - however long it takes!
and are followed immediately by the This is what drives our community
grants should drink a few l'chaims
opening words of the 70th chapter: forward. Armed with G-d's promises
before visiting an Israeli bank), the land
"For the conductor; of David, to make and a longing for the Temple rebuilt,
of our forefathers has moved squarely mention."
into the future. our Religious Zionist movement grows
Rashi cites the Midrash: "This is compa- ever stronger and more vibrant, even as
As Israel lurches forward, it's once dom- rable to a king who became angry with secular Zionism fades away.
inant secular Zionist ideology has lost his flock, and demolished the sheepcote
its verve, and no longer inspires mean- and took out the flock and the shep- In this special edition of HaMizrachi,
ing or identity among young Israelis herd. Sometime later, he restored the we celebrate the 120th anniversary of
in the way it once did. The goals of the flock and rebuilt the sheepcote, but he the Mizrachi World Movement, from
founding generation have largely been did not mention the shepherd. Said the its founding by Rabbi Yitzchak Yaakov
met; Israel is established and strong, shepherd, "Behold, the flock is restored Reines in 1902 to the dynamic move-
and a home for all Jews who wish to and the sheepcote is rebuilt, but I am ment of today. With the wind at our
live here. The great question, of course, not mentioned." backs, we look ahead to the future of
is what comes next? Is there anything left Religious Zionism and the leading role
When "G-d saves Zion" and, despite the our community must play in the des-
to yearn for and work for?
threats of our enemies, "builds the cities tiny of our people. One thing is sure
Rabbi Yaakov Friedman, the third of Judah and His servants inherit it," - the best is yet to come!
Rebbe of Husiyatin, made Aliyah from we must remember David. The estab-
Vienna in 1936 and settled in Tel Aviv. lishment of the State of Israel, though
A scion of the Ruzhin dynasty, Rabbi its importance must not be underesti-
Friedman was a Chassidic Rebbe - and mated, is not yet the hoped for redemp-
a card-carrying member of Mizrachi! tion that we have been promised, the
His fascinating sefer, Oholei Yaakov, true redemption that is bound up with
includes many of the divrei Torah Rabbi the coming of Mashiach ben David. Rabbi Elie Mischel
Friedman shared after making Aliyah. {Even now, after the establishment of Editor

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