The Council of Torah Sages of Agudath Israel in America is reportedly planning to convene on Wednesday in light of the speeches by Obama and Netanyahu.
The organization, which represents hareidi-religious Jewry in the United States, has been asked repeatedly, via phone calls from interested parties, to respond officially to some of the points raised in the above speeches. Specifically, the organization has been asked to take a stand on the Jewish People’s connection to the Biblical areas of Judea and Samaria.
Robin Ticker, author of the ShemittahRediscovered blog, quotes the “unofficial” response she received from Agudath Israel’s Council of Torah Sages, known as the Moetzes Gedolei HaTorah. The Council stated that it need not have a position on any particular issue. It added that though the Jewish People was obviously deeded all of the Land of Israel, this does not necessarily mean that “in our current state of [exile], a temporal Jewish State is best advised to hold onto all the territory under its control (and reclaim territory it has already conceded to an Arab entity).”
Ms. Ticker solicited the response of Rabbi Yeshayahu Hollander, a member of both the nascent Sanhedrin in Jerusalem and the Rabbinical Court for Noahides in New York. Rabbi Hollander critiqued the Agudath Israel response for referring to Israel as “temporal” – implying that Israel is non-spiritual – and for maintaining that the Jewish People are currently in “Golus” (Exile).” “Perhaps Golus is a permanent state of affairs in the Aguda mentality, and has nothing to do with reality?,” the rabbi asks rhetorically.
Another activist writes that the rabbis are behooved to relate this matter not merely as a political issue, and one not only with life-and-death ramifications, but also as one that is directly connected with the Biblical commandments of waging defensive war and controlling the Land. The Jewish populace of Judea and Samaria plays “a vital role in the fulfillment of [both],” writes Yosef Rabin, and “should be aided and applauded. The communities of Galut [outside Israel – ed.] must do everything in their power to aid and strengthen the border communities of the Land of Israel.”
Ms. Ticker has called for the public to contact Agudath Israel in advance of the Moetzes (Council) session this Wednesday, and ask, inter alia, the following questions: What is the Council’s response to Obama’s call for an end to Jewish settlement in Judea and Samaria? How does the Council view the fate of the 350,000 Jews there? What is the Council’s attitude towards Prime Minister Netanyahu’s conditional agreement to a Palestinian state, and might this not run contrary to Divine promises of the exclusive designation of the Land as belonging to the Jewish People?