A different kind of Zionism

B"H

The chassidic Vishnitz sect is very much into "Ahavat Israel" - The love of Israel. Generally the topic of Ahavat Israel can be divided into two different explanations. The first one is the love for any Jew, no matter if he is religious or not.
The second explanation is a more or less Zionistic one; the love for the Land of Israel.

A few hundred years ago, settling in Israel was not too popular among the Chassidim. Although it is the goal of every religious Jew to live in Israel, many Chassidim followed the idea of the Baal Shem Tov that we Jews have an important role in Galut (Diaspora). Our task is to collect all the fallen sparks (Netzizot), make a Tikun Olam and thus bring the Meschiach.

On the other hand, Israel is very important as only there we are able to keep all the Mitzwot including Shemittah. Prayers are being more accepted in Israel than anywhere else in the world. Abroad prayers go from place to place until the finally reach Jerusalem and go up to heaven, whereas in Israel we have a local phone call with G - d.

Nevertheless, many Chassidim did move to Israel. One of the most famous among them was Rabbi Menachem Mendel of Vitebsk who moved to Tiberias in 1777. Rabbi Nachman of Breslov came for a visit and Rabbi Elimelech of Lizhensk considered moving to Israel. Later his students persuaded him not to leave Lizhensk.

Those Chassidim who did leave Eastern Europe had enough of the Gentile anti - Semitism and pogroms. They did not see a contradiction in settling the land although Meschiach had not arrived yet. It is possible to build a religious settlement run by Torah law.

The Apter (Opatov) Rebbe, Rabbi Avraham Yehoshua Heshel had a different approach. Each of us has the power to bring Meschiach. But what we need to do first is getting rid of our own individual Galut. We have to overcome our Yetzer and turn all our bad habits into something good. The idea of turning bad into good and, thus, elevating it is one of the basic ideas in Chassidut.

In May 1912, the Agudat Israel was founded as an opposition group against the secular Zionism of Theodor Herzl. Until 1935, the main branch of the Agudah was in located in Frankfurt - Germany. However, its heart was in Poland were the Chassidim lived. The Agudat Israel saw the Haskalah movement as an assimilation danger for the Jewish people. According to Herzl, Jews should have their own state but a secular one. He wanted German as the country's first language and wanted a Jewish state to be another Germany or Austria where Jews were very much assimilated. Thanks to the disastrous reform movement.
The spiritual leaders of the Agudah were the Chafetz Chaim, Rabbi Chaim Soloveitchik of Brest - Litovsk (Brisk Yeshiva) and Rabbi Avraham Mordechai Alter of Gur (Chassidut Gur). The Agudah was anti - Zionist but also pro - Zionist, as its goal was to build settlements according to the Torah law.
The present Agudat Israel has five seats in the Knesset and their party is called Yahadut HaTorah. In charge are Chassidut Gur, Vishnitz and Belz as well as litvishe Haredim. Their participation in the Knesset does not mean that they completely changed their policy and became great Zionists. It rather means that they learnt how to make certain agreements and from the inside (the Knesset) one can influence the land much better than from the outside.

In 1919, Rabbi Yosef Chaim Sonnenfeld founded the Edah HaCharedit, a kind of competitor to the Agudah. The reason was that the British occupation government at that time had allowed the Zionists to build their own chief rabbinate. This, the anti - Zionist Edah could not accept. Until today, the Edah and the chief rabbinate have almost nothing to do with each other. Sometimes there is a kind of contact but only concerning acceptance of marriages and birth certificates.
The main activists in the current Edah HaCharedit are the Satmarer Chassidim, Toldot Aharon, Toldot Avraham Yitzchak, Brisk, Spinka and Dushinsky. Their head office is located in the Mea Shearim neighbourhood and the present head of the Edah is Rabbi Moshe Sternbuch. Those of you who might think that the Neturei Karta reigns over the Edah are mistaken. The Neturei Karta does have an influence through Chassidei Satmar but, on the other hand, Satmar denied any contact with the Neturei Karta guys who went to Iran last year.

The founder of the chassidic Toldot Aharon sect, Rabbi Aharon Roth, called Zionism a terrible thing and accused secular Zionists of taking away the Kedusha (holiness) of Eretz Israel. Since they came, there is no more Kedusha here (Sefer Toldot Aharon, Part 2).

The most important head of the Edah ever was the former Satmarer Rebbe, Rabbi Yoel Teitelbaum. G - d has promised the land to the Jews and, one day, they shall return. However, as long as the Meschiach has not arrived they should not return but live abroad, fulfill Mitzwot and not rebel against foreign governments. The present State of Israel is a desecration of the Torah because Jews did not trust in G - d but rather took all decisions into their own hands. According to Rabbi Teitelbaum, the secular State of Israel is the reason that Meschiach has not come yet.

I do not agree with the Satmarer Rebbe, as no one can say for sure if G - d really did not want our present State of Israel. Of course, I would also prefer having a land with Torah law and the Meschiach. But I do see the secular state as it is today as a forerunner to the religious state. Maybe we did take too much into our own hands and we should have waited for Meschiach. On the other hand, Israel was founded after the Holocaust and I am glad that there is at least a place today where Jews can go to. It does not matter if it is religious or secular when your live is in danger.