Rabbi Avraham Yitzchak Kook, in his letter to the delegates of the Mizrachi Movement at the Zionist Congress of 1913, called for nullifying the clause in the platform of the Zionist Movement stating that ?Zionism has no connection to religion,? and for instead proclaiming that ?Zionism is based on the principle of the rebirth of the nation through its Torah, in its land.? As he said, it is impossible that the nation?s rebirth should be separated and uprooted from its life-source.
The outcome of the disgraceful approach that holds that ?Zionism has no connection to religion? is casting off one?s religion and belittling the holy principles of our nation on a mass scale, in education and in literature, and it leads to the weakening of the nation?s spirit, to despair, hatred and acrimony. Rabbi Kook called upon the Mizrachi Movement, ?the force within Zionism bearing G-d?s name, to nullify the idea that Zionism has no connection to religion.?
He added: ?Let them constitute a dynamic force within Zionism and within the Jewish People, our whole nation, and to a certain extent within the whole world. Let them work towards peace, overall peace between all factions of our people, raising the general stature of our nation, and increasing unity. Now, surely we believe that the redemption of Israel will come about through our employing our G-d-given talents to be successful in conquering the Land, and in working and building it up. So, too, must we realize that the divine spirit resting upon Elijah, enabling him to turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, thereby bringing peace to the world, must be revealed also through our own spiritual efforts, the efforts of the whole nation employing its best strength - Torah scholars increasing peace throughout the world.? (Ig?rot II, Letter 575)
Today, that same disgraceful idea from the past, that ?Zionism has no connection to religion,? is being revealed once more in the political platforms of various parties, in the form of the idea that ?we have to separate religion and state.? Just as in the past Rabbi Kook called for the nullification from the Zionist platform the principle that ?Zionism has no connection to religion,? as it were, so today in the State of Israel we are called upon to nullify the idea of separating religion and state.
It is both possible and imperative for us to educate and explain through all channels of our nation that Jewish religion and tradition are not the private interest of any one individual, or of any one party. Rather, religion, Torah and Jewish tradition are the soul of the entire nation, down through the generations. They are its eternal heritage: ?Moses prescribed the Torah to us, an eternal heritage for the congregation of Jacob.? (Deuteronomy 32:4)
The State of Israel, bereft of its connection to the Torah of Israel, is like a body without a soul. Through our ?turning the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers,? (Malachi 3:24) as Elijah is to do, we will increase peace and unity in Israel. And we will know and recognize, together, that we all have one Father.
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Rabbi Dov Begon is founder and head of Machon Meir institutions.
Machon Meir is an Israeli educational institution and Hesder yeshiva dedicated to Jewish learning BeAhava UbeEmunah (with Love and in Faith), in the spirit of Rabbi Avraham Yitzchak HaCohen Kook, the late Chief Rabbi of the Land of Israel. Students at Machon Meir, Israelis and new immigrants, come from religious and non-religious backgrounds, and learn in Hebrew, English or Russian. The Machon can be contacted through its website, http://www.machonmeir.org.il/.
The outcome of the disgraceful approach that holds that ?Zionism has no connection to religion? is casting off one?s religion and belittling the holy principles of our nation on a mass scale, in education and in literature, and it leads to the weakening of the nation?s spirit, to despair, hatred and acrimony. Rabbi Kook called upon the Mizrachi Movement, ?the force within Zionism bearing G-d?s name, to nullify the idea that Zionism has no connection to religion.?
He added: ?Let them constitute a dynamic force within Zionism and within the Jewish People, our whole nation, and to a certain extent within the whole world. Let them work towards peace, overall peace between all factions of our people, raising the general stature of our nation, and increasing unity. Now, surely we believe that the redemption of Israel will come about through our employing our G-d-given talents to be successful in conquering the Land, and in working and building it up. So, too, must we realize that the divine spirit resting upon Elijah, enabling him to turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, thereby bringing peace to the world, must be revealed also through our own spiritual efforts, the efforts of the whole nation employing its best strength - Torah scholars increasing peace throughout the world.? (Ig?rot II, Letter 575)
Today, that same disgraceful idea from the past, that ?Zionism has no connection to religion,? is being revealed once more in the political platforms of various parties, in the form of the idea that ?we have to separate religion and state.? Just as in the past Rabbi Kook called for the nullification from the Zionist platform the principle that ?Zionism has no connection to religion,? as it were, so today in the State of Israel we are called upon to nullify the idea of separating religion and state.
It is both possible and imperative for us to educate and explain through all channels of our nation that Jewish religion and tradition are not the private interest of any one individual, or of any one party. Rather, religion, Torah and Jewish tradition are the soul of the entire nation, down through the generations. They are its eternal heritage: ?Moses prescribed the Torah to us, an eternal heritage for the congregation of Jacob.? (Deuteronomy 32:4)
The State of Israel, bereft of its connection to the Torah of Israel, is like a body without a soul. Through our ?turning the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers,? (Malachi 3:24) as Elijah is to do, we will increase peace and unity in Israel. And we will know and recognize, together, that we all have one Father.
--------------------------------------------------------
Rabbi Dov Begon is founder and head of Machon Meir institutions.
Machon Meir is an Israeli educational institution and Hesder yeshiva dedicated to Jewish learning BeAhava UbeEmunah (with Love and in Faith), in the spirit of Rabbi Avraham Yitzchak HaCohen Kook, the late Chief Rabbi of the Land of Israel. Students at Machon Meir, Israelis and new immigrants, come from religious and non-religious backgrounds, and learn in Hebrew, English or Russian. The Machon can be contacted through its website, http://www.machonmeir.org.il/.