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“You cannot be, I know, nor do I wish to see you, an inactive specta- writing? What would he think about the state of Religious
tor… We have too many high-sounding words, and too few actions Zionism in the Diaspora today?” Penetrating in his analysis
that correspond with them.” (Abigail Adams, October 16, 1774) of the Jewish community and unafraid to speak his mind,
I’m certain he would have plenty to say – and that he would
bigail Adams’ impassioned letter to her hus-
band John could easily have been written about ruffle more than a few feathers!
a very different man, in a very different time:
ARav Yitzchak Nissenbaum hy”d (1868–1943). A Becoming a lover of Zion
pioneering Religious Zionist leader and the founding editor
of HaMizrachi, Rav Nissenbaum was never to be found on the Born in Bobruisk, Belorussia, Rav Nissenbaum lost his
father at a young age. His mother, a sickly woman with a
sidelines of history, content to stand idly by while others
grappled with the complex issues of his time. A fearless chronic cough, was left to support four young children on
Religious Zionist, he repeatedly and tirelessly called upon her own. At the end of shiva, he assumed he would have
our people to reclaim the glory of Am Yisrael and return to leave his cheder to help his mother run the family store.
home to our Land. But his mother turned to him in tears and said: “No, my
son! This wasn’t your father’s desire, nor will it be mine!
The most talented speaker and greatest darshan of the Return to your learning and study with diligence, and both
Mizrachi movement, Rav Nissenbaum is largely unknown of us – your father there [in heaven] and I here, will have
today, for the passage of time is cruel to the reputations of nachas from you!” Though the family was in dire financial
all but the most famous actors of history. Rav Nissenbaum straits, nothing would interrupt young Yitzchak’s studies.
himself had no illusions that he would be remembered by It was a commitment that would later pay off handsomely,
future generations, frequently citing the verse in Kohelet: enabling Rav Nissenbaum to draw upon decades of Torah
“There is no remembrance of them of former times; nei- scholarship as he made the case for Zionism throughout
ther shall there be any remembrance of them of latter Eastern Europe.
times that are to come, among those that shall come after”
(Kohelet 1:11). Immersed in Talmud study as a teenager, Rav Nissenbaum
often davened in the Chassidic beit midrash near his home,
Unsurprisingly, I was only vaguely familiar with his name drawn by the powerful tunes and mystical prayers like
when I first plunged into the HaMizrachi archives two years א ָנו ְו ַג ְּ כ. At the same time, he was fascinated by the new
ago. But it didn’t take me long to realize that Rav Nissen- world of Hebrew literature that began to flourish in the
baum was not only HaMizrachi’s founding editor and most late 19th century, devouring the writings of authors like
prolific writer, he was also the movement’s heart and soul. Nachman Krochmal, Rabbi Shmuel David Luzzatto, Eliezer
In addition to publishing Zweifel and the early Zionist Peretz Smolenskin. Most
ten books of drashot and significantly, these modern writers led the young yeshiva
thousands of articles in student to immerse himself in the study of Tanach and
HaMizrachi, Rav Nissen- Jewish philosophy, areas of study generally ignored in the
baum penned Alei Cheldi, yeshivot of Eastern Europe. His deep knowledge of Nevi’im
a fascinating memoir and and Ketuvim and seminal works of Jewish thought like the
treasure trove of eye-open- Kuzari would form the foundation of his Religious Zionist
ing stories describing his worldview.
life in the early Religious A highly regarded young Torah scholar, Rav Nissenbaum
Zionist movement. Though began thinking deeply about Eretz Yisrael during the Shem-
the pages of my personal itta year of 1888–1889, when the heter mechirah leniency was
copy are beginning to used for the first time to support the new Jewish settle-
crumble, the memoir is ments in the Land of Israel. The leniency, which allowed
brimming with life, pas- Jewish farmers to sell their land to non-Jews so that they
sion and humor. More than could continue to work the land during Shemitta, sparked
once, entranced by another Title page of Alei Cheldi, Rav passionate halachic debates in yeshivot throughout Europe.
fascinating story of Rav Nis- Nissenbaum’s Autobiography, 1930 Rav Nissenbaum explains that “the spirited debates con-
senbaum’s encounters with cerning the laws of Shemitta, which centered on the great
Bialik or Rav Kook, I forgot to get off the bus and missed
my stop. Much of the material for this tribute is drawn value of the new agricultural settlements of the Yishuv,
transformed me into a chovev tzion, a lover of Zion...’’
from this work.
The more I read, the more I realized that Rav Nissenbaum Turning down the Rabbinate
was not merely another important rabbi from a bygone
era, but he had also become my Rebbe. I often ask myself, While studying at the famed Volozhin Yeshiva, Rav Nissen-
“What would Rav Nissenbaum say about the articles I’m baum joined the yeshiva’s secret Zionist association called

(FACING PAGE BACKGROUND PHOTO: DOV KRAM)
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