Seventy Years, Still Under Construction (Derashah, Yom ha'Atzmaut 5778)

I was a guest-speaker at a shul this past Shabbat, in honour of Yom ha'Atzmat. I gave this derashah, and liked it enough to re-post it here. But I realize in retrospect (thanks, Batya) that some words of introduction are in order, so you might look at the first two comments on the post, below.

How can we celebrate?

Archaeologists have discovered a 2500-year old letter, dating to the destruction of the first Beit haMikdash. It was from a soldier named Hosheia, a Jewish commander defending our eastern border against the Babylonians. He requested, “Please send the arba minim.[1]”

Chief Rabbi of South Africa Warren Goldstein notes that 2500 years later, early in the Yom Kippur War, an IDF commander named Yehoshua sent the same message to headquarters, “Please send the arba minim.[2]”

I’ve been asked to speak “in honour of Yom Ha’Atzmaut and the 70th anniversary of Medinat Yisrael”, and the beautiful religious symmetry of those letters from Israel fills me with hope for our nation which has survived both the ancient Babylonians and modern invaders, and continues to seek the arba minim. I can celebrate this.

But then I read the daily headlines of Israel’s internal strife, and I have to wonder about this celebration. A Prime Minister facing criminal charges. Rising levels of poverty. An on-going crisis over drafting yeshiva students. Scandals in the rabbanut over kashrut supervision. Conflict over egalitarianism at the Kotel. Conversion quarrels. The struggle to cope with African migrants. Is this the answer to the millennia-old question of what it looks like when Jews run a country? This doesn’t look like something to celebrate; Yeshayah criticized the Jews of his day who ate and drank and sang when they should have been fasting and crying![3] And really, what have we achieved - is there an honourable mention prize for just reaching 70, no matter what condition the medinah is in?

But perhaps the answer is that terrible problems are not always a cause for grief; from the Torah’s perspective, a crisis can be a catalyst for celebration.

Example 1: Adam and Chavah

This idea goes all the way back to Gan Eden, and the curious way Hashem punished Adam and Chavah.

When the serpent convinced Chavah to eat from the Tree of Knowledge, it was not merely via the charms of an attractive fruit. The serpent lured Chavah by promising that if she and Adam would eat from the fruit, והייתם כאלקים, they would be gods, like Hashem. What did Chavah know about Hashem at this point? Rashi explains that they would be יוצרי עולמות – Creators of Worlds. What attracted Chavah and Adam was the capacity to create life.

Given Rashi’s explanation, I would have expected Hashem to punish them by removing all capacity to create – but instead, Hashem gave Chavah and Adam the privilege to bring life into this world! Hashem told Chavah: You will bring life from your body! HaShem told Adam: You will bring life from the ground! What was Hashem doing here?

When we look closer, we realize the genius the Torah is revealing. The human beings wished to be Creators, but to do it quickly and cheaply, just eat a fruit and you become like Hashem. So Hashem taught them that they could indeed create life, but it would involve time and labour and pain. Hashem took their weakness and their flaw, and turned it into an education which would refine them. Hashem converted their aveirah into a building block.

Example 2: Eigel

The same phenomenon takes place millenia later, in this morning’s parshah, as the Mishkan is dedicated. According to Rashi, the Mishkan was created to make up for the catastrophic Eigel [Golden Calf] – but it led to a grand and beautiful and joyous celebration! And even per Ramban,[4] who contended we were always meant to have a Mishkan, the יום השמיני, the eighth day of the Miluim, may have been added just to make up for the Eigel – but this day which was produced by the Eigel was a grand celebration, such that the Sifra calls it יום שמחת לבו, the day of Hashem’s great joy![5] How did the Eigel’s terrible sin, with its death toll in the thousands, lead to יום שמחת לבו?

Because the Eigel was born from a misguided attempt to communicate with Hashem, and the Mishkan turned that desire to communicate with Hashem into a building block for greater success – a success which went on for many centuries of avodas HaShem.

Example 3: זדונות לזכויות

This concept of recognizing an aveirah as a building block is not restricted to the era of the Chumash; it applies to us today, as expressed in a classic gemara. The amora Reish Lakish declared, גדולה תשובה שזדונות נעשות לו כזכיות, teshuvah is so great that it converts even intentional sin into merit.[6] How does an intentional aveirah become a source of merit?

In his Orot haTeshuvah, Rav Kook explained that aveirot teach us lessons. They cause us to feel unsettled and anxious, recognizing that we are out of sync, we have left the proper path. This anxiety triggers what he called העריגה והחפץ הקבוע אל השלמות, the longing and desire to achieve perfection.[7] And so the aveirah becomes not an instant of degradation but a long-term building block, a catalyst for greatness, turning our זדונות into זכויות.

Exercise and Psychology

This phenomenon of destruction which fuels growth[8] appears not only in Torah, but also in Teva [nature].

This is how muscles grow. When we strain our muscles with exercise, we inflict “micro-tears”, small rips in the muscle fibers. Soreness after a workout is a function of those tears. Those tears are what enable muscles to grow; in repairing the tear, we experience hypertrophy, the fibers grow. The tears are our building blocks.

And the growth potential of our mistakes is a core principle in developmental psychology. Psychiatrist Elizabeth Kubler-Ross wrote, “There are no mistakes, no coincidences. Just gifts given to us to learn from.[9]” Or as a famous athlete once said, “I've failed over and over and over again in my life, and that is why I succeed.[10]"

Nature knows: Failure generates success.

Summary

In sum: We would prefer not to sin in the first place, but we know our reality. Like the Haggadah, our lives are מתחיל בגנות ומסיים בשבח, we start with disgrace and we conclude with glory – and it is the disgrace itself, eating from the fruit in Gan Eden, creating an Eigel, even performing זדונות, which generates that glory.

So keep moving forward!

This is a crucial concept for us to remember and implement personally after an aveirah.

·         We look at what we did wrong, and we ask ourselves what we can learn.

·         We detect the anxiety that comes from an unsettled neshamah.

·         We study the yitzrim which attract us, and figure out how they can become strengths – laziness can keep us from an aveirah, a gossiper can learn to share Torah, a ringleader can organize people for chesed.

When we recognize that our failure can point the way to our success, we will be inspired to follow Shlomo HaMelech’s counsel, כי שבע יפול צדיק וקם – The tzaddik falls seven times, but each time he gets up.[11] Or as Irish writer Oliver Goldsmith re-worded it: "Success consists of getting up one more time than you fall down." And that success will be well worth celebrating.

For Israel Today

Which brings me back to celebrating the 70^th birthday of the State of Israel.

The problems and scandals and crises are there. And yes, we continue to face religious problems, in particular. In 1954,[12] Rabbi Chaim David HaLevi said, “We have a strong desire to give our state a religious character where the Torah of Israel will be its law  - though none of us believe that we will succeed, at least not in this generation.” Two generations later, we are still working on it.

But so much social and religious good has been achieved by this State, in facing and addressing its problems. Millions of lives have been saved, from trouble spots all over the world. Many thousands of Jews are only able to study Torah daily thanks to the financial support of the world’s greatest sponsor of Talmud Torah, the State of Israel. That same State of Israel includes Tanach in its public school curriculum. Kiddush HaShem is experienced daily via the actions of visibly observant Jews, from Israeli hospitals and non-profits to sidewalk interactions on Israeli streets to the corridors of the Knesset to the beneficiaries of Israel’s international aid projects.

And the troubles of today will lead to a greater Jewish state tomorrow.

·         The proper solution to Israeli poverty will lead to fulfillment of וחי אחיך עמך.[13]

·         The proper solution to the draft crisis will lead to more Torah study and defense of the medinah.

·         The proper solution at the Kotel will lead to more Jews davening and saying Tehillim.

These problems will turn out to be micro-tears in our national muscle, and they will leave us ever stronger. This is why we celebrate, and thank Hashem for bringing us to this day.

Zecharyah

Hopelessness plagued the Jews early in Second Beit HaMikdash, too, in the days of the navi Zecharyah. We were embedded  in an assimilated exile; then we re-gained our homeland through Persian policies of conquest. Most Jews opted to remain in exile. Then the Persians withdrew their permission to build the Beit HaMikdash, and even the Jews who had returned to Israel sank into deep doubt and disappointment; some actually left.[14]

Zecharyah[15] summed up his generation's malaise with three words, “בז ליום קטנות,” We “degrade the day of small achievements.” But then Zecharyah described a vision of Yehoshua, the Kohen Gadol, clad in בגדים צואים, filthy clothing representing our exile and poverty and degradation. In this vision, HaShem told a malach to remove Yehoshua’s filthy clothing and to replace it with resplendent Bigdei Kehunah, the glorious garments of the Kohen Gadol. That generation would build on its weak beginnings, and create a glorious structure.

At the age of 70, we are part of our own יום קטנות, struggling to incorporate our mistakes into a process of construction. It’s hard עבודה [work]; we are still under construction. But through Hashem’s orchestration, and our השתדלות [effort], we and our children will see the fruit - and for this we can celebrate.

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[1] The set of four plant species used for a mitzvah on Succot

[2] Essay in Sixty Days for Sixty Years, “The Eternal Message”

[3] Yeshayah 22:12-14, and see Taanis 11a

[4] Ramban to Vayikra 9:3

[5] Sifra Miluim 15. And see Haameik Davar to Vayikra 9:1 on what יום שמחת לבו adds to יום חתונתו

[6] Yoma 86b

[7] Orot haTeshuvah 5:6

[8] ירידה לצורך עליה

[9] https://www.wellbeing.com.au/kinship/parenting/10-steps-to-a-confident-child.html

[10] Michael Jordan, but I don’t want to distract from the derashah

[11] Mishlei 24:16

[12] החק ותועלתו בעיצוב חיי דת במדינה , in the anthology בין ישראל לעמים

[13] The Torah’s imperative to support our brethren

[14] Metzudat David to Nechemiah 7

[15] Zecharyah 4:10

The Religious Zionism of Menachem Begin

Next week, I expect to present a class on what I consider the unique brand of Religious Zionism of Menachem Begin. I hope to explain why I believe it unique at the class, but here is the source sheet. The quotes are from Menachem Begin, Basic Outlines of ourLife-Worldview and National Outlook, other than Source 9.

Is this vision secular or Jewish?

1.         A national movement - Page 31

What is a national outlook? Does a "national movement" exist at all, or is the Marxist theory correct… whereby every public movement expresses, or must express, the genuine material interests of one of the classes in a society possessing classes?

Indeed, it is in and of ourselves, as sons of Israel and as fighters, that we can find the proof - for the Marxist theory is meaningless - that a national movement exists. In other words, a movement that expresses what is common to all parts of the nation and bears the historical desires of the entire nation is, ipso facto, a national movement.

2.         Individual freedom - Page 11-12

Man must be free in his thoughts and in his belief; he must be free in giving expression to his thoughts, whether orally or in writing… The group of spiritual freedoms is inextricably tied with the group of political freedoms. The individual person must be free to assemble with other people, to express the belief that is common to them, in order to realize, or try to realize, their opinions. Man must be free to dispatch his representative emissaries to the various branches of government; he must be free to demand their resignations and replacement with other representative emissaries….

In our day, "economic freedoms" represent an inseparable part of the concept "human freedom" if not to completely remove from this concept its real content. A person must be free not only in his way of life and occupations, but also in his place of residence and his place of work… But "freedom of movement", "freedom of initiative" and "freedom of creativity" still do not exhaust the concept of human freedom in the economic sphere. A person – any person – must also be free from an absence of vital commodities, that without which he cannot make a living as a cultured person.

3.         Societal reform – Page 20

[T]he positive content of the idea of societal reform is the ceaseless coming together of the social extremes, coming together not in the "up to down" direction, that necessarily brings general descent and withdrawal, but in the "down to up" direction that brings ascent and progress. Just as it is possible "to bring groups together" by providing education to those that lack it, rather than taking away from everyone the possibility of acquiring wisdom and understanding, so one needs to bring together the extremities of the economic sphere and to ensure for those of meager means a constant benefit of conditions for their existence…

[T]he ensured provision of basic needs must be fixed as "the starting point" for every person. Ze’ev Jabotinsky defined these needs as housing, food, clothing, health care, and schooling (in Hebrew, his terms all began with the letter “Mem”: maon, mazon, malbush, mirpa, melamed) and he notated them as the five "Mems".

4.         Classes remain forever – Pages 17-18

There will always be differences, some based on inherited characteristics, such as mental talent which are not dependent on the individual or the society, and others that are dependent to a greater measure on the free will of the individual as well as the general social "atmosphere", such as personal effort, energy and so on. On the background of these differences and their results, "classes" will grow in every period. It is possible to change the basis of the division of classes, to eliminate one basis and create a completely different basis, but the division itself into classes is impossible to eliminate, just as it is impossible to eliminate natural differences, the physical ones and more important, the psychological differences, between people. This law of history has become apparent over the many previous decades.

5.         Supremacy of law – Pages 26-27

I propose not being satisfied with "independence of the judiciary" but rather to engrave on our flag the supremacy of the law… The supremacy of the law will thereby be expressed in that a panel of independent judges will be granted not only the power to determine, in the case of a complaint, whether a rule or administrative statute of the institutions of the executive regime is legal or just, but also the power to decide, in the case of a complaint, whether the laws that are made by the house of representatives… abide by the fundamental law or contradict the rights of the citizen that are stated in the law.

6.         In order to create this reality – Page 31

Israel's historical desires, from the day of its exile from its land, have found expression in the prayer "renew our days as of old", indeed the prayer enfolds within it the two national aspirations: liberation of the homeland and concentration of the nation once again on its land. Of course, being interdependent, the two historic aspirations of our people who have fashioned its character from generation to generation, are in fact one aspiration. Concentration of the nation is not possible without liberation of the homeland; and, every stage of liberation of the homeland would be impossible without some stage of concentration of the nation on its land. The movement that carries both these aspirations, which are "the common elements" in national consciousness, over its classes, diasporas and generations, is the national movement in Israel. In addition, only a movement that carries both these aspirations in their entirety is a national movement. Any Jewish movement that has become estranged or is estranged from one of them – the estrangement from one of the aspirations is inexorably an estrangement from both – it is not a national movement, whatever its "Zionist" phraseology be as it may.

7.         This reality must be created in Israel – Page 35

From that day hidden beyond the historical horizon, and until this day, a process of thousands of years of existence, formation, persecution and resistance, we have stood against tremendous empires. We have fought, we have fallen, we have risen, we have been struck blows, we have been enslaved, we have rebelled, we have been oppressed, we have been redeemed, we have established, we have been exiled, we have been scattered to the four corners of the world, we have been persecuted from behind, we have been burned on the pyre, we have been nearly trampled out; but never did we concede one grain of our land. There is no example and no model in all of human history for this faith and for this preservation of faith that all the known winds of oppression and slavery in history have dashed into pieces. But who would deny that only by merit of this irregular faith, unnatural, imaginary, "almost inhuman" have we remained on the stage, despite the disappearance, without trace, of other great and mighty empires? Who would further deny that "unrealistic" faith can be quite realistic in its facts? Who would deny that only by merit of this "faith in fact" have we returned, after global wanderings, to the starting point, and we are again a nation?

But indeed, while we became a nation, there are rulers, heretics in Israel, that are prepared to sign in the name of the nation of Israel, that Jerusalem and Hebron and Bethlehem, Jericho and Nablus and all "the good broad land" that spreads forward, east beyond the Jordan, are not ours, but are the foreigner’s, the invader, the occupier – in perpetuity. Is there a political-historical crime that compares with this crime? What is the crime of "appeasement" of Chamberlain in Munich compared to the crime, that the heads of the government were about to commit at the expense of the tradition of the patriarchs and the future of the children?

Does religion fuel Begin's ideas, or is it aligned with his ideas?

8.         Religious language - Pages 39-41

Those who speak highly about the "ingathering of the exiles" but reject the idea of liberating the homeland, or deny it, are estranged also from the national outlook in its entirety which is to say they prevent in the end the concentration of the people on its land… I suggest a new definition of attainment for the concept of “concentration of the nation”. At this point in time, the implication of this concentration is a Jewish majority in the Land of Israel. Not an undefined "ingathering of the exiles"; not another Jewish majority in the State of Israel; not even a Jewish majority – in the Land of Israel, but rather a majority of the Jews in the country Israel.

9.         Religious language – "All of it is mine", a Betar song (cited on page 31)

From the day I was called to the wonder of Betar and Zion and Sinai,

a brother's hand has imprisoned me and my mother's house is closed to me…

10.      Religious roots of the three goals – Page 30

It is possible to prove that this outlook on life, clarified here in its basic outlines in previous sections, is an original Jewish outlook. In my saying this, I am not claiming that the good of our outlook on life is solely and exclusively its Jewish source for, without doubt, we must also learn from other nations, to learn – not duplicate. But it is a fact that our outlook is nursed on the sources of Jewish thought, from the strengthening wellsprings of our national tradition, from the roots of the nation's soul, as it was molded in an amazing war for existence as the messenger for those near and far. Are the ideas of a person's freedom and social reform not embodied in the basic fundamentals of Israel's Torah, in a verse which embodies a complete philosophy: "because man was created in the image of G-d"?

If man was created in the image of the King of Kings, surely he cannot be a slave who need fear the ruler over him.

If in the image of the Creator of All man was molded, surely he will be unable to direct all his thoughts and all his desires to his primary needs, which are, in part, also the basic need provisions, if he will suffer from a want of basics. In this verse you will even find the aspiration for equality. There is no going down or bringing down, but a constant rising or bringing up, inasmuch as man – every man – is created in His image. And the commandment "you will love your fellow-man as yourself"; and the rule "man lives not by bread alone", are they not marvelous expressions of the aspiration for social reform, to abolish suffering and want?

And as regards "the supremacy of the law", this is but a characteristic of our nation’s esprit, that in an entire historical period the nation's leaders and rescuers have been awarded the crown of ‘judge of all things’? And indeed the words "justice" and "law" are an ancient Jewish expression together in one breath, and they have become a saying of Israeli wisdom in one sentence: "justice and law". From this you may infer that as there is no law without justice, indeed no justice is possible without law.

11.      The Torah's freedom imperative – Page 13

Israel's Torah hates enslavement as well as “willing” slaves. Our Torah commanded – already in those days! – that one is to punish severely, by executing a mark of disgrace, on a Jewish man that will declare "I love my master," and would prefer his material security over his spiritual freedom.

12.      The vision of the Prophets – Page 17

Israel's prophets and seers, from whom we have inherited the aspiration for justice that guide our repose, elevated visions that are very difficult to realize. There were those that introduced the vision of social justice, to "repair the world in the Kingdom of G-d" and those that highlighted the vision of world government: "and everyone will make one association". That gave mankind the vision of world peace: "and nation will not raise sword against nation". However, they did not delude their generation or the coming generations; they admitted that the realization will be difficult and saw it only "at the end of days". They made their vision a sort of "guiding star" by whose light man wandering in darkness will proceed and find his path and even reach his objective. Their vision is a vision of truth, because even beyond the historical horizon, beyond "the end of days", they did not promise to abolish any difference. Indeed, "at the end of days" nation will not raise sword against nation, but even then there will be many "nations"; and while "at the end of days" devouring hatred will disappear for "the wolf will lie down with the lamb", but even then the differences between one species and another will not be eliminated. In other words - if one expands the symbolic meaning of the metaphor – the differences between a person and his fellow will not disappear with the desired disappearance of the hatred between them.

13.      Implicit religion – The perfectable world – Page 16

No form of society lasts forever. The truth is that there is no form of society whose power is eternally valid for the present and the future. Whoever says that there is no need to change the existing form of society ignores the natural aspiration for justice and whoever says there is no possibility to change the existing conditions in society ignores the law of historical development.

14.      Implicit religion – We must perfect it – Pages 28-29

Certainly, in regard to judges, one should also not invalidate the measure of realistic truth that is embodied in the well-known statement of Marx summing up his materialistic philosophy: "existence determines consciousness". But historical experience directs us that the greater measure of realistic truth is in the complete reversal of Marx's statement that is perhaps a summing up of idealistic philosophy: "consciousness determines existence". It is not "the existence" of our people that makes it carry the belief in one G-d that has any image of one. On the contrary, "the consciousness”, the belief in monotheism, is what has determined to a decisive measure the existence of our people, whether it has lived in its country or whether scattered among the nations. It was not the "existence" of the "BILU pioneers", mostly children of wealthy people, which determined their consciousness; on the contrary, "their consciousness” is what motivated them to determine their existence not in the comfortable homes of their fathers, but rather in an abandoned land, on land infested with swamps and fever… It is not "our existence" as individuals that made us, in the period of direct British enslavement, enter the underground and become fighters; on the contrary, inner consciousness, clearly the labor of Ze’ev Jabotinsky, is what determined "our existence" as rebels against the foreign rule.

It would be possible to expand upon these examples. But there is no need for additional cases for once something is proved, there is no need to add proof. The vision of "determining existence through consciousness" passes through history – and uniquely through the history of Israel.

15.      Implicit religion – Living ideals – Pages 30-31

We must prove "the living connection", and not just "the nursing connection", between ideas that are based on our "world outlook", upon the foundations on which the national outlook is built.

Israeli Religious Zionism is not Anglo Modern Orthodoxy (guest post)

I don't think I've ever had a guest post on this blog, but my friend Rabbi Dr. David Mescheloff has put together a wonderful primer on the nature(s) of Religious Zionism in Israel, and I have found it most instructive. With his permission, I am posting it here:

Rabbi Dr. David Mescheloff, Moshav Hemed, 

Marcheshvan 5773  /  November 2012

This article should provide an introduction to the religious Zionist community in Israel, and the great variety of world outlooks subsumed under that title.

Members of "the religious Zionist community" (RZC) in Israel share a common commitment to Torah and mitzvot, and to living according to halakha.  They also share a favorable attitude towards the State of Israel and the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), which they see as bearing religious significance. They are committed to the welfare and the unity of the Jewish people, and to the continued ingathering of our exiles.

Yet, while these shared beliefs and commitments hold them together loosely, nevertheless they may be divided into several distinct groups based on several factors.  I will describe them briefly, "min ha-kal el ha-kaved" (from the "lighter" to the "heavier"). I will not relate to the fact that there are RZ people in different proportions in all of Israel's political parties, which are constantly shuffling and reshuffling both personally and ideologically.

1) Some of the divisions are along "country of origin" lines – much more complex than just Sephardi-Ashkenazi, but rather Yemenite/Moroccan/Syrian/Iraqi/Turkish (for a start) and Polish/German/Russian/Western European/English-speaking countries (for a start). These distinctions are becoming increasingly blurred as marriages across these lines have been increasing in frequency for two generations or more, yet they still play a divisive role, particularly in the establishment of community synagogues or prayer groups along these lines. Nevertheless, it is unusual to find genuine hostility across these lines in the RZC.

2) Another division is along geographical lines in Israel: one can identify significant differences between center/urban/well-established communities on one hand and periphery/rural (kibbutz and moshav)/newer towns in Yehuda and Shomron.

3) Yet another division has to do with perceived level of religious observance (I emphasize the word "perceived"; it concerns both how people perceive themselves and how they perceive others).  The range is from "dati light" (still sometimes called "mizrachinik", a pejorative term that is largely historical) through "dati" and on to "chardali" (acronym of charedim le'umi'im, national "stricter" Orthodox).

In the next two sections, about rabbanim and yeshivot, I will list some of "the major players". I will not characterize them, and will not "give them grades".  Each one is excellent, and each is different from every other. Some of them can be grouped together with others, but I will not indicate who is associated with whom.  Where I can, I will give an internet address for the rabbanim and the yeshivot, and you, the reader, can form your own impression from the image each one chooses to present himself/itself.  Do not lend any importance to the number of links I attach to any one name.  With that introduction, let's continue.

4) There are followers, admirers, students, and others who adhere to different rabbanim, each of whom has his own "camp". Here are twelve from among the major RZ publicly recognized rabbinic leaders and educators with significant followings and who differ on various ideological issues on which they take public stands (in no special order).  They are prolific writers; some of the links below can lead you to their books and articles. 

R; Yaakov Ariel (Ramat Gan - http://www.haravariel.com/ and a sample teshuva on cloning:  http://www.daat.ac.il/daat/kitveyet/shana/ariel-1.htm),

R. Shlomo Aviner (Bet El - http://www.ateret.org.il/hebrew/rav-aviner/ and http://www.havabooks.co.il/author.asp?author_id=1 and http://www.meirtv.co.il/site/rabbis.asp?rabbi=3775, and a sample teshuva on Talmud study for women:  http://www.daat.ac.il/daat/mishpach/limud-2.htm  )

R. Chaim Druckman (Mercaz Shapira – http://he.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D7%97%D7%99%D7%99%D7%9D_%D7%93%D7%A8%D7%95%D7%A7%D7%9E%D7%9F  ; See sample shiurim at http://www.meirtv.co.il/site/rabbis.asp?rabbi=3791

And http://shiurim.moreshet.co.il/web/rav.asp?RAVid=1

And http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aCUUumtPbQU),

R. Yuval Cherlow (Petach Tikva - http://he.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D7%99%D7%95%D7%91%D7%9C_%D7%A9%D7%A8%D7%9C%D7%95  See some sample shiurim at:

http://shiurim.moreshet.co.il/web/rav.asp?ravID=38

and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zs3C_zIiDuQ

and at http://www.ypt.co.il/),

R. Yehoshua Shapiro (Ramat Gan – http://he.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D7%99%D7%94%D7%95%D7%A9%D7%A2_%D7%A9%D7%A4%D7%99%D7%A8%D7%90    See sample shiurim at http://www.yrg.org.il/rav_shapira.asp and http://shiurim.moreshet.co.il/web/rav.asp?ravID=37 and

http://www.meirtv.co.il/site/rabbis.asp?rabbi=3922),

R. Dr. Aharon Lichtenstein (and his colleagues at Elon Shevut –

http://etzion.haretzion.org/faculty/roshei-hayeshiva), and see

http://www.daat.ac.il/daat/mahshevt/maamarim/talmud-2.htm

and many shiurim can be accessed at http://etzion.haretzion.org/

R. Tzvi Yisrael Tau (Jerusalem - http://he.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D7%A6%D7%91%D7%99_%D7%99%D7%A9%D7%A8%D7%90%D7%9C_%D7%98%D7%90%D7%95  and see

http://www.haaretz.co.il/news/education/1.1789699 ),

R. Dov Lior (Kiryat 'Arba - http://he.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D7%93%D7%95%D7%91_%D7%9C%D7%99%D7%90%D7%95%D7%A8 ; See sample teshuvot at http://www.yeshiva.org.il/ask/?orderby=7&cat=1, and some sample shiurim at http://www.meirtv.co.il/site/rabbis.asp?rabbi=3805).

R. Eliezer Melamed (Berakha – http://yhb.org.il/?page_id=458

http://he.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D7%90%D7%9C%D7%99%D7%A2%D7%96%D7%A8_%D7%9E%D7%9C%D7%9E%D7%93   See books at http://www.kodeshbook.co.il/product.asp?productid=3565  and many shiurim at

http://www.yeshiva.org.il/midrash/hmidrash.aspx?orderby=5

and a sample video shiur at http://www.meirtv.co.il/site/rabbis.asp?rabbi=3889)

R. Dr. Nachum Eliezer Rabinowitz (http://he.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D7%A0%D7%97%D7%95%D7%9D_%D7%90%D7%9C%D7%99%D7%A2%D7%96%D7%A8_%D7%A8%D7%91%D7%99%D7%A0%D7%95%D7%91%D7%99%D7%A5', and see a brief talk at

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HAg1uXQUwL4

and here is an item on his magnum opus on the Rambam

http://musaf-shabbat.com/2012/04/05/%D7%94%D7%A8%D7%9E%D7%91%D7%9E%D7%99%D7%A1%D7%98-%D7%94%D7%90%D7%97%D7%A8%D7%95%D7%9F-%D7%A2%D7%99%D7%93%D7%95-%D7%A4%D7%9B%D7%98%D7%A8/

and an interview at

http://www.yeshiva.org.il/midrash/shiur.asp?id=2920

 and see  http://ph.yhb.org.il/06-11-14/

  and  http://www.hakolhayehudi.co.il/?p=16148  )

R. Yoel Bin-Nun (http://he.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D7%99%D7%95%D7%90%D7%9C_%D7%91%D7%9F_%D7%A0%D7%95%D7%9F

And see shiurim at his site, http://ybn.co.il/

And about his method of studying Tanakh:  http://www.ypt.co.il/show.asp?id=20296

Here's a sample talk:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5y7y6Sk3xiE

R. Uri Sherki (http://he.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D7%90%D7%95%D7%A8%D7%99_%D7%A9%D7%A8%D7%A7%D7%99

And see his site:  http://ravsherki.org/

And sample shiruim: http://www.meirtv.co.il/site/rabbis.asp?rabbi=3774 )

These and/or their students and/or their followers appear in print or in public forums frequently, and are asked by "the media" to express their opinions on public issues frequently

There are more.  Indeed, the RZ world is blessed with a very large number of genuine talmidei chakhamim and communal leaders, many of them young and on their way up in the public's awareness.  The absence of the name of any particular Rav from the list above should not be taken as a reflection on his Torah greatness or of his influence. The list is far from exhaustive.  Here is a report of a meeting of a dozen "elders" of RZ rabbanim in the winter of 5772, where you can see the names of some other prominent figures:  http://www.srugim.co.il/25949-%D7%91%D7%93%D7%A8%D7%9A-%D7%9C%D7%90%D7%97%D7%93%D7%95%D7%AA-%D7%9B%D7%99%D7%A0%D7%95%D7%A1-%D7%A9%D7%9C-%D7%96%D7%A7%D7%A0%D7%99-%D7%A8%D7%91%D7%A0%D7%99-%D7%94%D7%A6%D7%99%D7%95%D7%A0%D7%95%D7%AA?di=1

5)  There are divisions based on association with various yeshivot. The RZC has grown considerably in the past two generations.  Tens of thousands of "graduates" of the various RZ yeshivot , each with markedly different ideologies (see below), are "out there" in Israeli society – either as individuals or in communities and urban "gar'inim Torani'im"  - in the IDF, and in the various RZ educational systems and institutions, each trying to influence Israeli society in general and the RZC in particular in his own direction.  

Here are thirteen of the major yeshivot with significant numbers of graduates and followings, whose leaders do not see eye-to-eye on various ideological issues.  I cannot do justice to a description of the nuanced differences between them in this brief post.  You can form your own impression by visiting the internet sites maintained by the various institutions (see below).  Each exerts a major influence on its immediate surrounding community and throughout the RZC and Israel, through its teachers, students, and graduates, and through a variety of powerful educational and public service initiatives.

Eretz Hemda (http://www.eretzhemdah.org/),

Beit El (http://www.yeshiva.org.il/) ,

Har Berakha (http://yhb.org.il/),

Har Hamor (http://www.harhamor.co.il/),

Har Etzion (http://etzion.haretzion.org/),

Kerem B'Yavneh  (http://www.kby.org/hebrew/)

Birkat Moshe (Ma'aleh Adumim) (http://www.ybm.org.il/Hebrew/)

Machon Meir (http://www.meirtv.co.il/site/)

Mercaz HaRav (http://www.mercazharav.org.il/),

Ramat Gan (http://www.yrg.org.il/),

'Ateret Yerushalayim (used to be 'Ateret Cohanim) (http://www.ateret.org.il/hebrew/),

Petach Tikva (http://www.ypt.co.il/)

Sha'alvim  (http://www.shaalvim.org/  and  http://www.shaalvim.co.il/ )

It is not possible to list them all, not even the ones of major importance.  I leave it to the reader to examine the nuances of the differences between them.  One should add to the leading yeshivot: 'Eli, Ma'alot, 'Otniel, 'Or 'Etzion, Shavei Hevron, and Nir-Kiryat Arba. Each has its own unique character.

Another institution that should be mentioned because of its influence on many young RZ men and women, although it is not usually thought of as a yeshiva because of its association with Bar-Ilan University, is HaMakhon Ha-Gavoah L'Torah (http://www.mgl.org.il/).

It is also important to note that there are RZ institutions for the advanced Jewish education of women.  Here are seven among the most influential – again, with significant differences in orientation, and in no particular order –

Ha-Midrasha L'Nashim at Bar-Ilan University (http://midrasha.biu.ac.il/),

Midreshet Ha-Rova (http://harova.org/site/),

Michlelet Orot (http://www.orot.ac.il/Pages/Homepage.aspx),

Midreshet Lindenbaum (http://www.lind.org.il/),

the women's program at Beit Morasha (http://www.bmj.org.il/),

Midreshet Nishmat (http://www.nishmat.net/),

MaTaN – Midreshet Torah l'Nashim (http://www.matan.org.il/).

The absence of any particular yeshiva or women's institution from the list above should not be construed as reflecting on its significance, the greatness of its heads, or its influence.  The list is not intended to be exhaustive.  I personally find the rich variety among these RZC institutions to be exciting, stimulating, and inspiring (even where I don't agree with this or that ideological preference or educational approach) – all of these different world-views, and they are all Religious Zionist!

6) Now a brief word about divisions within the Israeli RZC according to positions on certain ideological issues.  

Unlike American Modern Orthodoxy, not all RZC groupings, institutions, and leaders, share favorable attitudes towards 1 - "contemporary Western culture and democracy" (which they do not all define in the same terms), 2 - academic/scientific/professional education/scholarship/achievement, and 3 - women and their involvement in public life and increased non-traditional public religious activities.

  

The ideological differences between the various RZ groups are too difficult to summarize briefly. The ideological dividing lines are often highly nuanced; an outsider would find it difficult to understand why the opposing sides fight with such vigor. Yet one who wants to understand the Israeli religious Zionist scene should be aware that - although all RZC groups have much more in common than divides them, yet the differences that rise to the surface mean a lot to them all, and do produce genuine flare-ups from time to time.

Let me add one more word about RZ rabbinical groups in Israel.  Tzohar is well-known by now (http://www.tzohar.org.il/).  Less well known are three groups from the past two years. One is actually a group that had become dormant, but reorganized and expanded beginning in Kislev 5771, "Derekh Emunah".  Its member rabbis are primarily former students of R. Tzvi Yehuda Kook zt"l of Yeshivat Mercaz HaRav, whose principal aim is to promulgate their teacher's heritage concerning the centrality of Eretz Yisrael in Jewish spiritual life.  The second group, "the rabbis' forum", is an informal closed email google group of some 300 Israeli community rabbanim and high level educators that began after Purim 5771. The members represent a rich variety of ideological approaches, and the forum provides a meeting place in which halakhic, hashkafic and communal issues are discussed intensively from every possible perspective.  The third group, "Bet Hillel", was formed less than a year ago, and seeks to provide a moderate rabbinic voice, attentive to public needs, on the Israeli scene.  It includes scholarly women in its ranks as equal members with the rabbanim. See http://www.facebook.com/B.Hillel.

One who desires to understand the rich tapestry of Torah that the RZ world is producing would do well to understand the complexity of the picture outlined above.  R. Eliyahu the Gaon of Vilna wrote at the beginning of his commentary to Mishlei (Proverbs) of the importance of knowing whose thoughts you are reading, who his ancestors were, what position he holds, and where he comes from, in order to understand and value his Torah.

Nevertheless, I recommend keeping in mind the following story I heard recently, that happened here in Israel.  A young man from one of the RZ yeshivot above had met a learned young RZ woman.  They met a few times to examine the possibility of marriage and building a family together.  The young woman, however, was plagued with uncertainty.  She kept asking the young man about the views of his rebbeim on various issues, and wasn't always happy about the answers.  On their fourth date, after she continued her inquiries, he said to her, "Why do you keep asking me what my rebbeim think?  Why don't you want to know what I think?" Startled, she realized she had been on the wrong track, and followed his suggestion.  They now are a happy couple, beginning a promising life together. 

Please remember: the only way to know a person is through personal contact.

May G-d grant strength (= Torah) to His people, and may G-d bless His people with peace (= harmony and mutual respect, with appreciation of the spiritual wealth G-d grants us in making us all different from each other).