Q & A: Medinat Yisrael al pi Torat Yisrael

Question: Have any of the Gedolei Torah of the religious right been supportive of the Jewish State – Medinat Yisrael – even though it is not completely religious in nature and in fact governed as a secular state?

Joseph Borkovich

Via email

Answer: HaGaon HaRav Yosef Kahaneman, zt”l, the Ponevezher Rav, ordered that the Degel Yisrael (Israeli flag) hang atop the Ponevezher Yeshiva on Yom Ha’atzma’ut every year, and later on, this continued with the sanction of HaGaon HaRav Elazar Menachem Man Shach, zt”l, Ponevezher Rosh HaYeshiva. Further, the Gedolei Torah of the Agudat Yisrael, the Degel HaTorah, and the Shas parties endorse their representation in Israel’s government as Knesset members, with some even holding cabinet positions.

This is in spite of government rulings and laws that they find inconsistent with halacha. An example is what they view as the government’s zeal to remove talmidim from the yeshivot, which they see as designed to destroy the Torah learning that is the source of both Israel’s spiritual and physical safety and support from Above. In spite of that, they still sit in the government to support the state in this crucial time and to represent their views.

If we look back in history, we see that in earlier times, we find governance that might have not been proper. In fact, Rambam (Hilchot Chanukah 3:1) explicitly states that the Hasmoneans, who were kohanim, were enthroned as Kings of Israel. Yet he notes that this was a sinful and improper act, for it violated the Biblical rule (Genesis 49:10) of “Lo yasur shevet mi’Yehudah” – that the patriarch Jacob, in his Divinely inspired blessing to his son Judah, said that the scepter of monarchy should always be with Judah’s descendants.

Now, HaGaon HaRav Yaakov Kaminetzky, zt”l, was concerned over how the enthronement of kohanim could have ever taken place. It is an explicit Biblical rule, as noted above, that kings may only come from the tribe of Judah. Then why did the Sages of the day not reject the enthronement of kohanim? It is inconceivable that no one was aware that kings may only be descendants from the tribe of Judah.

In Rav Kaminetzky’s sefer, Emet L’Yaakov on Chumash (Genesis 49:10), he offers the following novel interpretation. The enthronement of the Hasmonean kohanim as kings was, indeed, with the approval of the Sages of the day. He maintained that the assimilation of Klal Yisrael at that point due to the Syrian Greek Hellenists was so great, and after having fought the Syrian Greeks, their spirits were so low as well that the Sages felt that it was necessary to lift up their morale by granting the people a temporary malchut of Jewish kings. To the extent that such a malchut was only a temporary measure, we see that descendants of the tribe of Judah were not selected – specifically to manifest the monarchy’s temporary status.

To signify its lack of permanence and even sanctity, he presents the following: Even though Jews resided in the Land of Israel, nonetheless the lingua franca was Aramaic, a Diasporan language. The Holy Ark was not in the Kodesh Kodashim (Holy of Holies). The blessing in the Amida for a return to Jerusalem – “V’le’Yerushalayim ircha tashuv” – was enacted in this era even though Jews resided in Jerusalem. By enthroning kohanim as kings, the Sages wished to emphasize that the era of Chanukah and its aftermath was not the Geulah Sheleima – the final redemption – as was thought by many at that time. As such, the Biblical rule of “lo yasur Shevet MiYehudah” refers only to kings enthroned to serve permanently.

I would like to offer my thoughts in this matter which support Rav Kamenetzky but from a Scriptural source. In I Kings (chapter 9), Hashem instructs Samuel to concede to the clamoring of the people for a king. He tells him to go to the home of Kish of the tribe of Benjamin and take his son, whose righteousness and stature were beyond compare, and anoint him as king. The young man protested that he was but from the smallest tribe, all to no avail, and Samuel presented him to the people and anointed him. Now, here too he was not one from the tribe of Judah; thus, we must ask how and why he was chosen to be crowned. The answer is that here too, Hashem wished to first create a temporary monarchy. However, had Saul withstood the test involving King Agag and the Amalekite spoils, his kingship would have, by Divine right, become the monarchical dynasty of Israel, supplanting the rule of“lo yasur Shevet MiYehudah.”

We now return to Rav Kaminetzky. He expressed his belief (see Emet l’Yaakov, Parshat Bo, footnote, p. 272) that the emergence of the State of Israel after the Holocaust may have taken place for a similar reason. As a result of the Holocaust, the Jewish people were depressed and saddened. They needed something to uplift their spirits as well as a home where they would not feel that Hashem had forsaken them. Medinat Yisrael was a gesture to transform and uplift Jewish morale. Certainly, it was not the Geulah Sheleima. It was not the z’man of Moshiach. It was similar to the enthronement of the Hasmoneans – a gesture to build Jewish pride and morale.

Make no mistake: No matter how large or small, there always was a Jewish presence in the land of Israel. It did increase with the old yishuv – the talmidim of the G’ra and the many Kabbalists in Safed and Jerusalem. Today, religious observance is on the upswing in Eretz Yisrael, with many different kehillot – chasiddish, litvish, Modern Orthodox, and Sephardic. Torah study and observance is flourishing, albeit under a dark shadow, as explained above.

We pray, especially now with all that we as Jews have endured and continue to endure, both in our Holy Land and in the Diaspora, that the time will come when our governance will come from the restored Davidic dynasty with the arrival of the redemption speedily in our days.