HaRav Shlomo Avineris Head of Yeshivat Ateret Yerushalayim.
This week’s Haftorah for the Torah portion of Shoftim reads like a headline news story of today (Isaiah 51:12 - 52:12).
The return of the Jewish People to its Land, which we are witnessing in our generation, is not some historical adventure, but rather a true revolution marking a turning point in the history of humanity, as it says: "And I have placed My words in your mouth, and with the shadow of My hand I have covered you, to plant the heavens and to found the earth, and to say to Zion: You are My people" (Isaiah 51:16).
The Master of the Universe comforts us from the terrible exile that so crushed us. "I, I am the One who comforts you; who are you that you fear man, who shall die, and the son of man, who shall be made as grass?" (51:12). The Creator instructs us not to fear the great powers, whose strength is, in truth, relative and fleeting; sooner or later they will disappear from the stage of history. God is the true and only leader of the world: "And you have forgotten the Lord your Maker, who stretches out the heavens and lays the foundations of the earth; and you tremble all day long because of the fury of the oppressor, as he prepares to destroy - but where is the fury of the oppressor?" (51:13).
Indeed, one after another, we see how the tyrants are vanishing. Those who rise against Israel are destroyed. Those who still remain shall all meet the same end, may it be soon. But Israel continues on along its unstoppable path to Redemption.
"Speedily shall he that is bent down be released, and he shall not die and go down to the pit, neither shall his bread fail" (51:14). Yes, we will be rescued from all the suffering and tribulations of exile and from the pains of birth which we experience in our return to our homeland to be reborn into the Kingdom of Hashem on earth. "And I am the Lord your God, who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar; the Lord of Hosts is His name" (51:15). He who created the worlds and rules over the laws of nature will also solve human problems and save us from our national troubles.
But for us, the long-hoped-for redemption is not only about being rescued from suffering and difficulties. We expect much more: a new world! The Master of the Universe has brought us to this stage, "to plant the heavens and to found the earth" (51:16). Does this mean a cosmological revolution? No. It is a sweeping, cosmic, historical revolution: the restoration of the Jewish People in its Land. The key point is: "to say to Zion: You are My people" (51:16).
The revival of the Nation of Israel is indeed a new heaven and a new earth, as explained by our teacher Rambam: when Israel’s sovereignty is restored and continues, it is as if God creates new heavens and a new earth. He writes that this is the meaning of the verse, "I will place My words in your mouth … to plant the heavens and to found the earth, and to say to Zion: You are My people." The endurance of Israel’s Kingdom is described in terms of new creation (Guide for the Perplexed II:29). With our return to the Land of Israel we gradually shed the husks which transformed us in exile into a lowly and trembling people and we return to the kingly lions who we truly are.
The renewed State of Israel is no longer temporary like the two previous Israelite kingdoms of old. This time our return is final, and no foreign power will impose another exile upon us. This is not merely the individual return of Jews to the Land of Israel, as in previous centuries. Now it is the collective and national return of the Jewish People to its Land. A Land settled anew by its rightful people is, by definition, a state. The State of Israel is “the new heavens and the new earth” (Isaiah 66:22) spoken of by the prophet Isaiah.
For the Jewish People, a state is not just a framework for absorbing individuals, nor merely a refuge from the disasters of exile, nor even only a “social contract” that allows individuals to live quietly and peacefully. Our state is nothing less than the foundation of the throne of God’s Kingship on earth (Orot, Orot Yisrael). The State of Israel is a Divive Ideal in itself.
Indeed, on this earth, man does not exist merely as an individual. He is not an isolated creature living on an island of egocentrism, but belongs to the human collectivity gathered into nations. Therefore, it is impossible that the divine light would illuminate only the life of the individual and bypass the life of the nation. The life of the individual cannot be separated from the life of the nation, for the divine light transcends the level of the individual, the family, and even the community. It belongs to and illuminates the entire nation in all of its frameworks: the Knesset and the government, the army and the police, agriculture and economy, domestic and foreign policy, the social and cultural systems. We seek to redeem the whole world, not only the individual.
This is why our ultimate consolation does not lie in merely escaping tyrants, breaking free from our chains, or evading suffering and hunger. The true consolation is: "to say to Zion: You are My people" (51:16).
For two thousand years, a gulf lay open between Zion and the People of Israel. The true meaning of Zionism is precisely to renew Jewish national life as a people on its soil, and to awaken the dormant love of the people for Zion: "Awake, awake, stand up, O Jerusalem" (51:17). We sing this verse on Friday night in “Lecha Dodi”: "Awake, awake, put on your glorious garments, O Jerusalem, holy city … Shake yourself from the dust, arise, sit down, O Jerusalem; loosen the bonds of your neck, O captive daughter of Zion" (52:1-2).
Today we are witnessing not just a random historical process empty of meaning. These are the early signs of the Kingdom of God on earth, heralding the coming of the Messiah: "How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of the herald, who announces peace, who brings good tidings, who announces salvation, saying to Zion: Your God reigns! The voice of your watchmen—they lift up their voice, together they sing, for eye to eye they see the Lord’s return to Zion" (52:7-8).
The Jewish People returning to Zion are accompanied by God Himself: "Break forth into joy, sing together, you ruins of Jerusalem, for the Lord has comforted His people, He has redeemed Jerusalem" (52:9).
Let not the birth pains of the moment frighten us, the terror and wars we must endure in order to smash through all barriers which rise up against us. The tyrants of evil, in whatever guise they take, seek to prevent us from achieving our world revolutionizing mission of eradicating evil and establishing a new cosmic order of goodness and peace in the world.
All of humanity is a witness to the wondrous spectacle of Israel - a volcano erupting when they thought it was long extinct. "The Lord has bared His holy arm before the eyes of all the nations, and all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our God" (52:10). We are not refugees fleeing exile to find here a safe harbor: "For you shall not go out in haste, nor go in flight; for the Lord will go before you, and the God of Israel will gather you" (52:12). We are the superheroes of all existence and the climax of the saga is nearing completion. With increased stamina, steadfast courage, and faith in our God, we shall prevail.
[Translated by Tzvi Fishman]