Bezalel Smotrich, Israel’s finance minister and chairman of the Religious Zionism Party, published a special column today in honor of the Shavuot holiday, in which he discussed the connection between the giving of the Torah, the bringing of first fruits, and Jewish settlement in the Land of Israel.
According to Smotrich, although some people view these two dimensions as separate worlds, they are actually a single expression of the bond between the Jewish people, the Torah, and the land.
Smotrich wrote that Shavuot places at its center both “the spirit and the book" as well as “the soil, the tractor, and the agricultural produce born of our labor." He emphasized that the Torah “is not disconnected from life," but rather is linked to the commandments tied to the land and to the joy of the farmer bringing his first fruits to Jerusalem.
He later referred to the revival of first-fruits celebrations during the Zionist settlement era, writing that the pioneers “did not invent a new holiday," but instead revived an ancient tradition that had disappeared during the years of exile. According to him, this reflects a profound connection between spirit and matter, and between the Torah and the Land of Israel.
Smotrich added that “Zionism without a connection to Torah is a body without a soul, and it becomes lost," while clarifying that the Torah was also never intended to remain confined within the walls of the study hall.
“The Torah was given so that we would illuminate all of reality through it - the field and the battlefield, the economy and the culture," he wrote.
At the conclusion of the column, Smotrich addressed the current security reality and the connection between Torah study and military service.
“When we see fighters who combine book and sword, who charge forward with a sacred book in their uniform pocket, and some of whom tragically do not return, we understand the depth of this connection," he wrote.
He added that on the night of Shavuot, “we will reconnect to the giving of the Torah, and through it continue to build and develop our land and our state."