Haredi Rabbi: Secular Israel's Time Has Passed

Every year, as the 5th of Iyar approaches, feelings are mixed. On one hand, it is the day the People of Israel merited to establish sovereignty in their land after two thousand years of exile. We rose from the ashes of the Auschwitz crematoria and proved to the entire world that "the word of our God shall stand forever." The cursed Church, which had destined us for exile and humiliation as a permanent state, suffered a crushing defeat.

On the other hand, this is the day when transgressors of the covenant raised their hands against the Torah of Moses and established a regime that cries out, "The House of Israel shall be like all the nations". At this juncture, questions arise, debates rage, and various rabbis present their approaches, some affirming and others negating; some emphasizing the massive miracle, and others the grave disgrace of rebelling against God.

Many within Haredi Judaism stand bewildered in the face of this complexity. The more eloquent speakers and lecturers offer the public various ways to process this confusion. Historical, theological, conceptual, and even halakhic questions are clarified, one says this, and another says that. As is the way with complex issues, the conclusions are far from unequivocal.

A New Direction: Beyond History

I would like to propose a different direction. The historical relationship of Haredi Judaism to the establishment of the State of Israel is a fascinating and important debate. But on a practical level, it is far less relevant today than it once was!

Today’s reality is fundamentally different from what it was at the state's founding. The structure of the nation has changed completely; ideological trends are moving in an entirely different direction; demographics have taken a massive turn; the world of Torah is in a different place; and the world of Teshuva (repentance), which simply did not exist in those days, has become a highly significant factor in Israeli society. Countless other data points make the debate over the Haredi world’s relationship to the State of Israel at its inception a discussion that, while important and intellectually stimulating, is about as relevant to our lives today as the question of communal separation in Germany during the time of Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch.

The State as a Providential Fact

The State of Israel today is a fait accompli. Within it resides the majority of the Jewish people, certainly those who are conscious of their Judaism and see it as a value of supreme importance. The massive world of Torah that has grown within it is the center of spiritual life for the Jewish people globally, with overseas yeshivas drawing exclusively from its wellsprings.

The material success of the State of Israel has transformed the Jewish people from a poor and persecuted nation into an object of admiration among the nations of the world, most of whom hate and envy us, but many of whom also know how to respect us. The Jewish identity at the heart of the struggle for the state's character will be determined here in the Land. Meanwhile, the plague of assimilation worldwide serves as a thousand witnesses that there is no future for Jewish existence in the Diaspora, even before considering the terrifying rise of global antisemitism.

The clear identity between hatred of the State of Israel and classical antisemitism also testifies that the State of Israel is the framework through which God has chosen, whether we like it or not, to lead His people during this decisive period of history.

Anyone who believes that this entire massive process was done merely to "test us," and that in the end God will return us to the Diaspora to redeem us on "eagles' wings," is not only detached from reality but possesses a distorted and lacking perception of the Divine.

Their ingratitude toward the massive miracle we have witnessed with our own eyes, the fulfillment of the prophets' words, is inconceivable.

The Twilight of the Old Elite

How do we relate to the fact that this is a secular regime? A government that forcibly secularized hundreds of thousands of Mizrachi Jews, practiced harsh secular coercion, and engaged in the "Bolshevik" corruption that established the rule of the atheist Left? How do we deal with this regime's alienation from our very essence as Jews?

These are excellent questions, but they are far less relevant to our lives today!

We are currently in the twilight of the old elites’ rule. The massive change within the nation, a change that occurred despite and against the will of the old regime, heralds the transformation of Israel from a "State of the Jews" into a truly Jewish State.

The discussions should no longer be held among us, the God-fearing, regarding how to relate to a secular State of Israel. Instead, the discussions should be held among the opponents of the Torah regarding how they should relate to the Torah State that will, sooner or later, be established here. This is the destiny the Creator has designated for us, and the nation is moving toward this destiny at all times.

Let Yair Lapid, Yair Golan, Avigdor Liberman, and Naftali Bennett sit with the rest of the embittered souls who know their time has passed. Let them debate whether they should try to influence the Torah State from within, or if they should leave the country. Perhaps they should sequester themselves in their own private enclaves and try to obtain exemptions for their children so they won't have to serve in the Messianic Army... or perhaps they will think of some other idea to preserve their secularism.

Our Mission: Preparing for the Torah State

Our discourse, the Haredi public’s discourse, needs to be in a completely different place!

How do we best manage the transition from the current regime to the Rule of Torah?

How do we complete the process of the People of God returning to their God?

How do we apply our wondrous Torah to practical life in our time so that all the nation's systems operate according to it?

How do we establish a Jewish army, an economy based on Torah without interest, agriculture with *Shmita* (Sabbatical years) according to the law, the Temple, sacrifices, and purity?

A legal system of truth and justice emanating from the Chamber of Hewn Stone, a rooted Jewish education system, health, industry - everything!

Let us leave it to the historians to deal with the relationship to Herzl and Ben-Gurion. We have far more important tasks ahead of us in this great era, in which God has remembered His people!

The author is Rabbi Yehuda Epstein Chairman of the "Kedushat Zion" Association, the Haredi Association for Seeking Zion in Holiness. To receive short daily articles on current events via email, send a request (comments are also welcome) to: 1@SHEMA-YISRAEL.ORG**