The Southern Israelite. (Augusta, Ga.) 1925-1986, September 05, 1986, Image 11
Torah thoughts
Religion in the Holy Land
Adapted Irom the works of Rabbi Menachetn M
Sehnecrson, the Lubavitcher Rcbbc, by Rabbi
Yossi New, Chabad of Georgia
"A land which the L-rdyour G-d
cares for; the eyes of the L-rd your
G-d are always upon it, from the
beginning of the year; even unto
the end of the year." With these
loving words does the Torah des
cribe the Holy Land of Israel in
this week’s Sidra. In this respect we
bring here excerpts of a letter by
the Lubavitcher Rebbe to the for
mer prime minister of Israel, David
Ben-Gurion in 1959 on the ques
tion of registration of Jews in
Israel, commonly known as the
“ Who is a Jew?" question. The
Rebbe’s official reply follows:
His Excellency
Mr. David Ben-Gurion
Prime Minister of Israel
Greetings:
Yesterday I sent you my official
reply to the question of registra
tion, and I have to apologize for
the delay in my reply till now for a
number of reasons. What is written
further is not official and not even
semi-official.
It was once fashionable in cer
tain circles to suggest that the Jew
ish religion and religious obser
vances were necessary for those
living in the Diaspora—as a shield
against assimilation. But for those
who can find another “antidote” in
the place of religion, particularly
for those living in Eretz Israel,
within their own society, where the
atmosphere, language, etc. (appar
ently) serve as ample assurances of
national preservation, the Jewish
religion was superflous—what need
had they to burden themselves with
all its minutiae in their daily life?
But the trend of developments in
Eretz Israel in the last seven or
eight years has increasingly em
phasized the opposite view: That
however vital the need for religion
amongst Diaspora Jewry, it is
needed even more for the Jews in
Eretz Israel. One of the basic rea
sons for this is that it is precisely in
Eretz Israel that there exists the
danger that a new generation will
grow up, a new type bearing the
name of Israel but completely di
vorced from the past of our people
and its eternal and essential values;
and moreover, hostile to it in its
world outlook, its culture, and the
content of its daily life; hostile—in
spite of the fact that it will speak
Hebrew, dwell in the land of the
Patriarchs and wax enthusiastic
over the Bible.
I do not wish to dwell on this
painful subject at all for obvious
reasons (especially since I see no
need for further elaboration). One
of the reasons is that I fervently
hope that this calamity will not
come to pass. Eventually, members
of that generatioi. itself will vehe
mently rise up against that danger,
and will take measures to ward off
the evil. Indeed it is just recently
that an intense ferment has been
felt in Eretz Israel and abroad
demanding a spiritual content life;
if a deeper probe is made, it becomes
evident that the yearning is for
something transcending the reason
of man.
The thirst of the youth of our
eternal people will certainly not be
quenched by rationalizations and
theories that are the product of
contemporary mortals, which will
share the fate of those ideologies
which made their debut only yes
terday and which are no more
today. Here is the place for the
Law of Moses and Israel, the Oral
and Written Law, our independent
values dating from the day the Jew
ish people stood before G-d, our
G-d, at Horeb and the great voice
was heard which did not stop: “1
am G-d your G-d...You shall have
no other gods... .”
Needless to say, I do not speak
here of theoretical religiosity which
serves only as a purely philosophi
cal world outlook, or as the subject
of lectures at weekends and holi
days. I speak of a pervading and
practical way of life, which includes
the weekdays too, and all such
matters which are usually termed
“secular.” Our faith is, after all,
essentially one of practical deeds.
Now is the ideal opportunity to
transform the whole canvas of life
in Eretz Israel and direct it into the
above-mentioned channels. This
opportunity knocking at your door;
for you have been granted the abil
ity and privilege to use it to the best
advantage, a privilege and oppor
tunity which are not given to every
man and the likes of which have
not presented themselves for many
decades.
It is more than likely that the
aforementioned lines will astonish
you. Do I really imagine that by
means of this letter I can change or
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influence an outlook many decades
old, and in particular the outlook
of a man who has seen the fruit of
his labors? But, since in my opin
ion the situation in Eretz Israel is
described above—the situation in
itself, the essential truth of the
idea, the unique and most wonder
ful opportunity granted you—it is
they which speak, appeal and de
mand. I am sure that even without
my letter you have often reflected
on this. But I could not allow
myself to pass over this in silence—
at a time when I am engaged in
writing on the subject of registra
tion which is part and parcel of the
general background outlined above.
I felt it my duty to refer to this, at
least in a private letter to you.
At this opportunity, and begging
apology for the delay, I thank you
for sending me your booklet. Let
me base my next few words on
what you wrote in the booklet
when referring to Eretz Israel, I
mean the expression “the Holy
Land.” Now the epithet “holy” like
that of “Jew,” has had its content
defined and consecrated by gener
ations of our people, from the time
of the Giving of the Law—when
the title “kingdom of priests and a
holy nation” was bestowed on us
and when the Jewish people were
granted the Holy Land according
to its borders “the land of the
Canaanite and the Lebanon as far
as the great river, the river Euphra
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PAGE 11 THE SOUTHERN ISRAELITE September 5, 1986