At the beginning of every year, new students at Jerusalem's Yeshivat Machon Meir ask me lots of questions. One of most repeated is:
What is the proper way to explain to religious Jews who look down upon Zionism that the return of Jews to Eretz Israel is truly the first sign of Redemption?
I preface my response by saying that such efforts must stem from humility, in the realization that we all have what to learn and improve. We must relate to those who disagree with love and respect and attempt to appreciate their point of view by understanding where it is coming from, what outlook it is based upon, and even learning the function this opposing view has in the greater scheme of the Redemption process itself.
The sources of fully understanding the depth of this amazing process and its goal are found in the inner depths of Torah, the Kabbalah, and it is incumbent upon the great Torah giants to familiarize themselves with these sources. For us there are many books available which expose these topics on our level, particularly commentaries on the writings of Rabbi Kook.
Another extremely important work that deals with these issues is “Eim Habanim Semeichah” by Rabbi Yisachar Shlomo Teichtal, a great Torah Scholar who himself once held strident anti-Zionist views. Before he was murdered in the Holocaust he was one of the leading Torah Authorities in Hungary. The book has been translated into English by Rabbi Moshe D. Lichtman and I highly recommend that everyone read it. Much of the following material is explained in far greater depth in his book.
There are a few topics which need to be discussed to properly answer the question, yet in the present framework we will only scratch the surface of one of them. Why do many haredi Jews reject the State of Israel as the beginning of Redemption?
There are certain factors which combined to produce a mindset that makes it difficult to properly understand and evaluate the events of our era. One of these is the expectation of the Redemption coming through miraculous means. This way of thinking arose in our downtrodden situation in Galut (Exile) when Redemption coming through human efforts became an impossible option. The inner desire to return to Zion always existed, but after two millennia without Eretz Yisrael as a part of our daily lives, this most basic ideal became a dream-like hope for the faraway future.
As the contrast between the ghetto reality and the hope of restoring the Davidic Dynasty grew, so did the expectations of a miraculous Redemption, for it seemed that it could come in no other way. In the last centuries of Galut we were so detached from the period of Jewish sovereignty that the concepts of Redemption became transformed into surreal mystical concepts. The thought of our active participation in bringing it about was replaced by the simple and sincere faith that G-d would bring the Redemption when He so desired by sending the Mashiach so save us without our political involvement and physical labor and self-sacrifice in the effort to conquer and redevelop our Land. Moreover, any attempt to participate in the Redemption process was seen as heretical, as if saying that G-d needed our help! This is was also as a response to the false messianic movements, after which the “leave it to G-d” approach was emphasized.
And so, when one entertains the conception of Redemption as coming by overt miracles, “leave it to G-d,” and expects the Redemption to come all at once, “all or nothing” – then considering all that is lacking today in the State of Israel, this is certainly not “all.” That means it is “nothing” to this way of thinking, and it is obviously NOT what we have been praying for.
This perspective ignores the teachings of our Sages that Israel’s Redemption is a gradually developing process like a sunrise which evolves over time – not all at once. This gradual unfolding process is further rejected when it comes about through secular – and even anti-religious - pioneers!
Ironically, this very waiting-for-miracle mindset was part of the reason that the Zionist movement became dominated by the secular. Those with the miracle mindset maintained their belief that action on our part was unnecessary or prohibited. Thus a “sit back and wait” approach dominated the religious camp who were therefore against doing the building ourselves. The work was therefore done by those who did not believe in a G-d that would do it for them. Thus, we see that the expectation of miracles leads to the conclusion that this is not Redemption.
Upon study of the topic, however, one finds that the Redemption is indeed a natural, dynamic, developmental process which requires our efforts to bring it about. In the beginning of the Talmud Yerushalmi (Brachot 1:1) we are taught by Chazal that the Redemption is like a sunrise which advances slowly slowly, stage by stage. There, the characteristics of the Final Redemption are learned from the prototype of the Redemption of Purim, a natural process, without the Name of G-d explicitly stated, as in Megillat Esther.
The simple conclusion of this teaching of Redemption coming as a process in stages is that even though it is not complete, that does not mean it has not begun. To the contrary. Stage-by-stage development means that it begins incomplete and develops toward completion and perfection. The Rabbis also give us keys to recognize the stages of this process and to understand WHY the Redemption comes in stages, naturally to uplift all of the Jewish Nation and to reveal that EVERYTHING is from Hashem, even that which seemed so brazenly secular and devoid of Divine Content.
This progression , ultimately reveals retroactively that “ein od milvado” - there is nothing “outside” of G-d’s plan.
More specifically, from Biblical sources down to modern times, we find that the general stages are delineated by two phases: first the physical Redemption and then the spiritual Redemption (see Yechezkel chapters 36 and 37). The physical Redemption includes the return – Teshuva - to our existence as a concrete Nation having a government and army, dealing with agriculture and industry,all of which is the foundation of our ultimately becoming “A Kingdom of Priests and a Holy Nation” (Shmot 19:6).
Rabbi Kook teaches that from this all-encompassing national teshuva all individual teshuva is triggered.
Another basis for assuming this cannot be Redemption is the thought that Redemption depends on teshuva, and since we are not all religious, therefore there can be no Redemption. The question of Redemption and teshuva was discussed in the Talmud (Sanhedrin 97b) and concludes with Rabbi Eliezer’s accepting Rabbi Yehoshua’s opinion that it is not dependent on teshuva (see version in Yerushalmi, Ta’anit 1:1, and the “Korban HaEda” commentary there, “Yad Rama” on Sanhedrin). When the Redemption comes “in its time” (see Sanhedrin 98a), “Not for your sake... but for My Holy Name’s sake” (Yechezkel 36:22), it comes even when we are unworthy.
All of what we have written is just a tiny glimpse into the process of Israel’s Redemption. As both Rabbi Kook and Rabbi Teichtal explain, this understanding is impossible to grasp when a person is unfamiliar and thus alienated from the deep wisdom found in the secrets of Torah. Therefore great humility is called for when debating these matters with our holy brothers who hold fast to a different opinion. In the end, the powerful undercurrent of unity embedded in the national Israelite soul will bring us all together, “one Nation in the Land.” May it be soon.