PMF
Jewish Section - Rabbi Brandwein's Essays
Religious Zionism in Crisis
For many years, before the establishment of the State of Israel and
afterwards, religious Zionism was a partner with secular Zionism in all
national matters including settlement and defense. But all the time that
secular Zionism concerned itself with purely national matters, religious
Zionism saw these matters also in a religious and messianic light.
As long as conflicts didn't arise, these two partners could work smoothly
together. But, lately, with the issue of turning over parts of the land of
Israel to Arabs, a conflict began since the main purpose of secular Zionism is
comfort. Furthermore, it doesn't see the land of Israel as sacred to the
Jewish people. The religious Zionists, on the other hand, see the land of
Israel as sacred in its own right.
Religious Zionism is now in crisis because their whole enterprise now seems to
be in grave danger and all their sacrifices, including on the battle field,
appear to have been in vain. Religious Zionism is also at a crossroads because
some elements within it have begun to gravitate towards secular Zionism while
some are even beginning to agree with Sutmar that negated Zionism from the
start seeing it as premature.
The mistake of the religious Zionists was to confuse means and ends. The true
purpose of the Jewish people is to cleave to the Creator. One of the
instruments to this end is settlement in the land of Israel. But having taken
settlement as an end in itself, religious Zionism now finds itself in grave
conflict with much of the nation over an issue that is less than paramount to
its true purpose.
Since 1967, when most of the Jewish lands came into our possession, the
religious Zionist movement passed up an historic opportunity to emphasize
unity and love of Israel, regardless of political orientation, as a means of
teaching all of Israel about the inner meaning of Torah and cleaving to our
Creator. Instead, they rested on their laurels as if the objective had already
been attained.
It is written that there are two messiahs - Mashiach Ben Yosef and Mashiach
Ben David. The significance of Ben Yosef concerns human acts including war.
Ben David signifies the spread of wisdom and Torah. Until 1967 was the epoch
of Mashiach Ben Yosef. In 1967 we entered the period of Mashiach Ben David. We
should then have abandoned militarism and turned to spiritual development.
Perhaps, even today, it is not too late to return to the way of peace.
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