From “The Alternative” by Rabbi Yehuda Schwartz
One of the major arguments in [certain] religious circles against the State of Israel is that it was founded and is run by the “Tzionim”. This argument (the third) is refuted in Reb Chaim’s “Seven Proofs”, where he offers both the argument and its refutation:
Argument: Geula cannot come through the Zionists.
Refutation: A Rasha may prepare the Redemption for the future generations of tzaddikim, who will further develop the generations, according to Torah and Halacha. It is similar to any other hechsher mitzva, preparation for tile mitzva itself, a means towards the end, which is only Torah.
The argument is still alive and well today despite the magnificent achievements of the builders of Zion through the State of Israel, in its natural evolution from sh’mama, desolation, to the beautiful Garden of Eden, literally, which Israel is today. Those who still believe this idea, prefer to “wait”, as they hide from the empirical evidence that are the great strides in the physical; re-establishment of that body of Israel, so necessary for the later perception of Torah, do so in some masochistic loyalty to their “rebbe”.
They point to what Reb Chaim describes as the fourth and fifth arguments against the State in his “Seven Proofs,” namely:
(4) Geula must come through the Malchut Beit David, and
(5) If Hashem does not want the State, all efforts are in vain.
The refutation to the argument that Geula must come through the Malchut Beit David, and not the State, is that when the Geula is be’itoh, as evidenced by all the other natural phenomena concerning Eretz Yisrael in this phase, then there is no need for the Melech haMashiach to bring us to Eretz Yisrael as described by the Rambam. This is achieved through the process of the atchalta deGeula as determined by divine hashgacha. Its progression and development is a natural process without any nissim gluyim – as might have been the case if the Redemption was be’achishena, hastened, “before the appointed time,” in which ease we would have required the Melech HaMoshiach, first!
And their “clinching” argument against the State of Israel is:
If Hashem does not want the State, all efforts are in vain. “You’ll see!”, they warn ominously. “The State will not last! It cannot last, since it is against the Will of G-d. You are pushing His hand, and as punishment, the Galut will last that much longer.
The Gaon explained this as follows:
The anti-Zionists bring proof from the Chafetz Chaim, who established axiomatically that a Jewish state in Eretz Yisrael cannot be established through human effort, but only through specific hashgacha pratit of God’s Will. Hence, “It will not last!” It is nothing more than a makom pleita, a place of refuge for those remnants of the holocaust which indeed was the case in the early 50’s (when this book was published-YS) and after the devastating decimation of almost a third of the Jewish people
However, especially 50 years! [now 75] after its establishment, it is specifically because we have a Jewish state that it is necessary to conclude that this was done directly through the will of God in his plan in establishing the atchalta deGeula. God wants us to achieve Geula in a natural manner. Therefore, the last 50! years of the physical development prove “all efforts were not in vain.”
