Right now here from our assistant to the Rav. A reminder that at 11:55 when Makovsky is finished we will recite Tehillim as we usually do, but now we have the very special opportunity to hear from Makovsky. The selections you have were designed to serve as a partial incomplete introduction to the theme of the halakhic and historical significance of Medinat Yisrael according to the Rav. The Rav highlighted the fact that the Ramban, Ramban has it in Sefer Hamitzvos over the course of his commentary on the Rambam's listing of the Taryag mitzvos. So the Ramban at times dissents and thinks that what the Rambam counted as a mitzvah isn't a mitzvah, what the Rambam counted as two mitzvos should really be compressed into one mitzvah. And then he at the end, corresponding to as many mitzvos asei he omitted, so the as as the Ramban omitted from the Rambam's count, so then the Ramban has his own mitzvos asei to compensate and bring it back to 248. And similarly with the mitzvos lo ta'asei. So famously in the מצוות עשה ששכח הרב למנות the Ramban has the following: Hamitzva revi'is of that of those mitzvos that in in the Ramban's opinion the Rambam wrongly omitted שנצטווינו לרשת הארץ אשר נתן הקל יתברך ויתעלה לאבותינו לאברהם ליצחק וליעקב ולא נעזבנה ביד זולתנו מן האומות או לשממה. והוא אומרו להם והורשתם את הארץ וישבתם בה כי לכם נתתי את הארץ לרשת אותה.
So the Torah has two verbs in this mitzvah, the Torah speaks of Vehorashtem et ha'aretz and then additionally Viyeshavtem bah. What do those two represent? As the Ramban continues he makes clear what these two elements or these two parts of the mitzvah are: נצטוונו אנחנו לבוא בארץ ולכבוש שם המדינות ולהושיב בה שבטינו.
And thus after our cutting off of the nations hamuzkarim, the shiva amamim, if they want afterwards, שבטינו לעזוב את הארץ and conquer for themselves eretz shinar or eretz ashur v'zulasam min hamakomos, einam resha'im, that shenitztaveinu bechibusha uvishivata. The Ramban says that the two elements of the mitzvah are Kibbush and Yishuv. Vehorashtem et ha'aretz denotes Kibbush and Viyeshavtem bah Yishuv. Yishuv Eretz Yisrael means to settle the land, to live there, to establish a viable and hopefully thriving economy. What does what does Vehorashtem, what does Kibbush mean? It means that the Rav says clearly in the Ramban, he's basically just pointing his finger to the Ramban, it's not not as the Rav said in other contexts that his father taught him to read between the lines. Here he's just reading reading the lines for us and maybe taking out a highlighter that that Vehorashtem, Kibbush means to establish Jewish sovereignty. Now now just to sort of place this in broader halakhic context in terms of discussion about מצוות ישוב ארץ ישראל there is a very very well known unimaginable was happened. So the Avnei Nezer speaks of whether or not there is a chiyuv bazman hazeh, whether or not there's a mitzvah bazman hazeh. And he doesn't speak in these terms. As a matter of fact, a shoel then asks him about this and he sort of, I don't know, without referencing the Ramban, he sort of dismisses it. He doesn't think, he doesn't think in those terms. So that's why the Rav, if you had a chance to see in the excerpt from that drasha, so he refers to it as a chidush of Mizrachi. Again, a chidush in the sense that just underscoring that מצוות יישוב ארץ ישראל means to establish Jewish sovereignty. Maybe just to read one or two excerpts. קיומה של מדינת ישראל והעובדה שיהודים ולא אנגלים קובעים את העלייה כי יהודים ולא ערבים הינם הבעלים המדיניים בארץ וקיימת ממשלה יהודית משטרה וצבא הרי זה קיומה הגדול ביותר של מצוות יישוב ארץ ישראל.
The existence of Medinas Yisrael, the fact that Jews and not the English control aliyah, that the Jews and not the Arabs are the political, have political ownership and that there's a Jewish government, police and army, this is the biggest kiyum of מצוות יישוב ארץ ישראל. Al nishkach, we shouldn't forget ki mitzvah zo of yishuv Eretz Yisrael nova'at migzeiras hakatuv והורשתם את הארץ וישבתם בה. והיא היא ירושה וישיבה. Yerusha perusha kibush, conquest, sheltan mamlachti, sovereignty. Yeshiva, mashma'ah shikum kalkali, establishing a functioning and hopefully thriving economy. By way of offering halakhic perspective, not political commentary, you know, a government that depends upon non-Jewish votes for its parliamentary majority is the antithesis of religious Zionism. The halakhic essence of Zionism is establishing Jewish sovereignty over Eretz Yisrael, vehorashtem. So that's one perspective on the significance of hakamas hamedina. It's the first half of מצוות יישוב ארץ ישראל establishing the sovereignty. In a different drasha, so the Rav comments that ein anu gorsim, religious Zionists, so we don't, we don't, our mantra, our credo or slogan, ein anu gorsim tziyonut plus dat o tziyonut datet. It's not that we believe in dat u'medina, that we have two values, religion and state. It's not that our loyalty is to Zionism and religion, o tziyonut datet, or even religious Zionism. לגבינו קיים רק שם עצם אחד ומיוחד, there's only one word which encapsulates our belief, our value system, our loyalties, Torah. ארץ ישראל קדושה היא ויקרה, in fact of course Eretz Yisrael is sacred and so precious, but not as rachmana litzlan some independent autonomous value, but because and only because... mipnei shehaTorah kidshatah. And that's why the Rav conceptualized, he has a Halakhic framework for his support for Medinat Yisrael. You know, it's important whenever you have slogans, right? We have here in Yeshiva Torah Umadda. So Torah Umadda is intended to reflect that there's a dual curriculum, that the Yeshiva operates in tandem with a college as well. It shouldn't be misunderstood to mean rachmana litzlan that there are two values, that there are two foci of loyalties. No, when one speaks of values, when one speaks of loyalties, so there's Torah. To the extent and to the degree that Torah values Chochmah, so then Chochmah does have value, but not in a sense that it has its own intrinsic autonomous value. The Rav also spoke of the historical significance of hakamas hamedina, the fact that since 1948 we have a medina. Knesset Yisrael lived stateless for almost two millennia. We certainly suffered terribly at times. Jewish history is punctuated with instances of kiddush hashem throughout the millennia. But all that notwithstanding, we continued to live and retained our identity as the am hatorah. אין אומתנו אומה אלא בתורותיה as per Rav Saadia Gaon's famous formulation. But the first half of the 20th century witnessed two defining and unprecedented developments. Antisemitism as the Rambam highlights has been a constant in our historical experience since Yetziat Mitzrayim, beginning with ויבא עמלק וילחם עם ישראל ברפידים. But that notwithstanding, the constancy and consistency of antisemitism notwithstanding, in the 20th century it rose to unprecedented devilish heights, as we know, in the Holocaust. Maybe that had, in fact, that had always been the goal, but it was never in terms of accomplishment, it never ever rose to such horrific satanic levels. That was one unprecedented development in the 20th century, the first half of the 20th century. The other one, assimilation - no, assimilation didn't begin in the 20th century, modern assimilation sort of begins with the Haskalah, with the Enlightenment, but again, its origins and its roots notwithstanding, in the first half of the 20th century, obviously that trajectory has continued rachmana litzlan since then, assimilation reached terrifying levels, right? The rate of intermarriage already then and now even more so is Hashem yerachem is simply staggering. The Rav thought that providence had ordained that given these twin developments, the modus vivendi, and not just modus vivendi, but the mode of survival for Knesset Yisrael required and that's why Hakadosh Baruch Hu at this point gave us a medina. That whereas previously again, we had been buffeted by all the forces of antisemitism, but nothing, nothing remotely approaching the magnitude of the Holocaust had ever ever happened, nothing remotely approaching that had ever happened. There was assimilation, nothing remotely approaching what was happening and rachmana litzlan is still happening in the diaspora. Medinat Yisrael stands as a haven, again... All the attacks as we're very, very painfully aware notwithstanding, but Medinas Yisroel is the one place where Jews can engage successfully in self-defense, is one place where Jewish identity is accentuated and where Torah flourishes and again, problems of assimilation in Medinas Yisroel notwithstanding, there's no comparison to what happens in Chutz La'aretz. Again, a couple of selections. Again, we're reading the selections in Hebrew translation. The drashas were originally given and published in Yiddish, but the Hebrew captures a little bit of the taste. מה היו עושים הישיבות וחכמי התורה שנצלו מן השואה אודים מוצלים מאש.
Those who were saved from the Holocaust, the Yeshivos vechachmei Yisrael, אם יוסף של תרס"ב, that's the way the Rav's referring to Mizrachi because of what the ideas he developed earlier in the drasha. אם המזרחי לא היה כובש את הדרך לארץ ישראל ולא היה מאפשר לשתול מחדש את עץ החיים שנתלש מארצות אחרות בארץ הקדושה.
If Eretz Yisrael wasn't there to receive them, so where would the Renaissance of Torah have happened? Again, as much Torah as there is in Chutz La'aretz, unquestionably and unmistakably the center of Torah is certainly in Eretz Yisrael. Skipping a few lines but continuing in the same section. Al neshalet atzmeinu, we shouldn't deceive ourselves, we shouldn't fool ourselves. איננו יכולים לתלות הרבה תקוות בגולה. We can't hold out much hope for the diaspora. ההתבוללות גוברת מיום ליום. Assimilation gets stronger daily, from day to day. מספר נשואי התערובת מתרבה בהתמדה. The number of intermarriages increases, Rachmana litzlan, constantly. Gam bechugim ka'eleh, even in circles שעל פי השכל היו צריכים להיות מחוסנים כחומה בצורה נגד המגפה,
even in circles which we would have expected to be inoculated against that plague of intermarriage, Rachmana litzlan, כבר נמצאים נשואי תערובת. And again, this is, I don't know, this is in the 50s. This is the Rav's speaking 70 years ago. One of the remarkable things about these drashas, often drashas because they relate to the metzius of that day, part of drashas becomes dated or even outdated. It's remarkable in the Rav's drashas how they resonate today. אמנם יש קצת תורה בגולה. There's a little bit of Torah bagola, but now listen to this, I'm skipping one line. אבל אי אפשר לחזות מראש מה יקרה לדורות הבאים. It's impossible to foresee what's going to happen in future generations. נמצאים אנו בסירה קטנה הנעה לאיטה בים סוער. We're in a small boat which is moving in a raging ocean. אפילו ארץ ישראל שאיננה דתית, even yes the Medina is secular, even in Eretz Yisrael which is not yet religious, where the state is secular, בטוח בה עתידה של תורה ויהדות מסורתית הרבה יותר מכאן בגולה.
The future of Torah is much more secure even in a secular Medina than it is in Chutz La'aretz. We can fill in with the benefit of what we see going on, some of what the Rav was anticipating with אי אפשר לחזות מראש מה יקרה לדורות הבאים. Who can foresee what's going to happen in the Gola. Another selection. השנים של שואת היטלר, the years of the Hitler Holocaust, Tekumat Hamedina, the establishment of the state, והישגיה המזרחי בארץ ישראל, and the accomplishments of Mizrachi in Eretz Yisrael, שכנעוני בצדקת דרכה של תנועתנו. Again, that referencing the unprecedented development in terms of the historical reality of the 20th century. The Rav speaks consistently of Medinat Yisrael in halakhic and historical terms, but but not in messianic terms. Of course, ומצפה לישועה אחכה לו בכל יום שיבוא, and we certainly pray and hope that Medinat Yisrael in fact will turn out to be reishit tzmichat geulatenu, but we don't know that for a fact. And support for the Medina doesn't rely upon messianic aspirations. The Rav in one place does, does use the term Atchalta Degeulah. A couple of years ago, both in in Yiddish and then in in Yiddish and in English translation, the drasha that the Rav gave a couple of month in 1948, a couple of months after hakamat hamedina was was published. So in in that drasha, he does use the term Atchalta Degeulah. But but if you look in context, so it's quite clear that the way he's using it is not the way it's invoked commonly and popularly today, but but he's using it to to say that the accomplishment of hakamat hamedina is only partial because we have a Medina and now we have to make it Torah'dik and now we have to take advantage of the Medina to build Torah in Eretz Yisrael. So it's not he he uses the term but but not with not in its messianic context, not not with those overtones. And finally the the last perspective and the last mareh makom I wanted to share about the further another insight into the timing of hakamat hamedina. So this is a paragraph in Kol Dodi Dofek. Lifne shanim meatot. So the drasha of Kol Dodi Dofek was delivered in 1956. Lifne shanim meatot, a few years ago, eight years ago, בעצם ליל בלהות מלא זוועות מיידאנק טרבלינקה ובוכנוואלד, בליל של תאי גז וכבשנים.
A few years ago, just a few years ago, in the midst of the nightmarish night, full of the screams, full of the atrocities of Majdanek, Treblinka and Buchenwald, in the night of gas chambers and crematoria, בליל של הסתר פנים מוחלט in a night of of complete hester panim until that point, בליל של שלטון שטן, in a night when when the Satan seemingly ruled, אשר רצה לסחוב את הרעיה מביתה לכנסיה הנוצרית, who wanted to drag Knesset Yisrael to the to the church, בליל חיפושים בלי הרף ובקשת הדוד בליל זה גופא צף ועלה הדוד,
Hakadosh Baruch Hu appeared davka in that night, האל המסתתר בשפריר חביון הופיע פתאום והתחיל לדפוק. the door to the tent of his beloved Knesset Yisrael שהתהפכה על משכבה מתוך פרפורים ויסורי גיהנום who was turning on her bed amidst the yissurim of Gehennom. עקב ההכאות והדפיקות בפתח הרעיה עטופת אבל נולדה מדינת ישראל.
The Rav comments on the juxtaposition of Hakamas Hamedina with the years of the Holocaust. He doesn't, he just sort of presents that sharp contrast. At a time when the hester panim seemed to be complete, when the night was darkest, it was davka then that Hakadosh Baruch Hu appeared and the Lord fore-orchestrated the miraculous establishment of Medinat Yisrael. Kemiduma that what he has in mind here is something that he articulates at somewhat greater length and more explicitly on the very first page of his essay, Halakhic Mind. The Rav says that from time immemorial so it's davka when it's not limited to the Jewish historical experience, it's davka when man is shattered, when he falls to the lowest depths, that then Hakadosh Baruch Hu appears to him. And the Rav says you see that pattern Adam Harishon after the chet. So Adam Harishon, the madreiga that he was on before the chet and then the nefilla, the fall that he had through the chet and then what happens is Vayikra Hashem Elokim. He receives a nevuah. Hakadosh Baruch Hu calls out to Adam Harishon. Okay, so aino hachinami, he's got to be apprised of his onesh, but it's extraordinary that at the moment of nefilla, so that's when he's zoiche to this gilluy Shechina. Moshe Rabbeinu's greatest, the greatest hisgalus to Moshe Rabbeinu where Moshe Rabbeinu asks הודעני נא את דרכך and הראני נא את כבודך happened punkt after the chet ha'eigel. If you look based on this scheme of the Rav, you see something remarkable in Sefer Shemos also. So וידבר אלהים אל משה in the beginning of Parshas Va'eira ויאמר אליו אני ה'. וארא אל אברהם אל יצחק ואל יעקב באל שדי ושמי ה' לא נודעתי להם.
So what that means, the contrast between that the Avos had a vision of Keil Shakkai, but they didn't have what you Moshe Rabbeinu are now receiving, Ani Hashem, a nevuah from Hakadosh Baruch Hu from Yud-Kay-Vav-Kay. According to the Rambam, the Ramban, what this expresses is that Moshe Rabbeinu's uniqueness as a navi begins here in the beginning of Parshas Va'eira. The ויאמר אליו אני ה' is that only Moshe Rabbeinu according to the Rambam receives nevuah directly from Hakadosh Baruch Hu. All other nevi'im from malachim. All other nevi'im have a reiyas chazon that they see something. Moshe Rabbeinu, the communication is direct, is pure, without the moshel of a vision. So Moshe Rabbeinu here in Parshas Va'eira becomes sui generis. He becomes one of a kind, the unique navi. לא קם נביא בישראל כמשה עוד. He becomes the unique navi. What's the context? What happened at the end of Parshas Shemos? Moshe Rabbeinu, Moshe Rabbeinu sinned at the end of Parshas Shemos, right? Moshe Rabbeinu challenged Hakadosh Baruch Hu. מאז באתי אל פרעה לדבר בשמך הרע לעם הזה והצל לא הצלת את עמך.
And it's davka in the aftermath of that, and Hakadosh Baruch Hu chastises him for that and says עתה תראה אשר אעשה לפרעה כי ביד חזקה ישלחם. You'll see אשר אעשה לפרעה but you won't see אשר אעשה למלכי כנען. But it's davka in the aftermath of that, when when a person is broken, whether it's an individual or collectively, so that's when we seek Hakadosh Baruch Hu the most. Be-tzar lecha u-metzaukha. And that's what accounts for this pattern, that that it's davka again when when we fall to the depths, that's when Hakadosh Baruch Hu reveals himself. That's what Adam Harishon experienced and that's what Moshe Rabbeinu twice experienced as well. And lichora that's what this paragraph is highlighting, the the juxtaposition between the gas chambers and the crematoria of the concentration camps and the Hakamas Hamedina is exactly that same pattern and that's what what played itself out in the in Hakamas Hamedina. Thank you.