Chaim I. Waxman Robert S. Hirt, Series Editor OF 19 r10 draft 08 balanced.indd iii 9/23/2008 8:19:37 AM THE ORTHODOX FORUM The Orthodox Forum, initially convened by Dr. Norman Lamm, Chancellor of Yeshiva University, meets each year to consider major issues of concern to the Jewish community. Forum participants from throughout the world, including academicians in both Jewish and secular fields, rabbis, rashei yeshivah, Jewish educators, and Jewish communal professionals, gather in conference as a think tank to discuss and critique each other’s original papers, examining different aspects of a central theme. The purpose of the Forum is to create and disseminate a new and vibrant Torah literature addressing the critical issues facing Jewry today. The Orthodox Forum gratefully acknowledges the support of the Joseph J. and Bertha K. Green Memorial Fund at the Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary established by Morris L. Green, of blessed memory. The Orthodox Forum Series is a project of the Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary, an affiliate of Yeshiva University OOFF 1199 rr1010 draftdraft 0088 balanced.inddbalanced.indd iiii 99/23/2008/23/2008 8:19:378:19:37 AMAM Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Religious Zionism post disengagement: future directions / edited by Chaim I. Waxman. p. cm. – (Orthodox Forum Series) ISBN 978-1-60280-022-9 1. Religious Zionism – Israel – History. 2. Religious Zionism – United States – His- tory. 3. Israel and the diaspora. 4. Judaism and state. 5. Religion and state. 6. Jews – Israel – Politics and government – 21st century. 7. Jews – United States – Politics and government–21st century. I. Waxman, Chaim Isaac. DS150.R32R45 2008 296.3’82–dc22 2008031986 * * * Distributed by KTAV Publishing House, Inc. 930 Newark Avenue Jersey City, NJ 07306 Tel. (201) 963-9524 Fax. (201) 963-0102 www.ktav.com [email protected] Copyright © 2008 Yeshiva University Press This book was typeset by Koren Publishing Services OOFF 1199 rr1010 draftdraft 0088 balanced.inddbalanced.indd iviv 99/23/2008/23/2008 8:19:378:19:37 AMAM Contents Contributors ix Series Editor’s Preface xiii Acknowledgments xv Preface xix Chaim I. Waxman Part 1 Being a Religious Zionist in the Diaspora 1. Diaspora Religious Zionism: Some Current Reflections 3 Aharon Lichtenstein 2. Decline and Fall: Thoughts on Religious Zionism in America 31 Lawrence Grossman Part 2 Interpreting History and Contemporary Events Theologically 3. Re-engaging Theology 57 Avraham Walfish 4. Religious Zionism and the Struggle Against the Evacuation of the Settlements: Theological and Cultural Aspects 93 Dov Schwartz OOFF 1199 rr1010 draftdraft 0088 balanced.inddbalanced.indd v 99/23/2008/23/2008 8:19:378:19:37 AMAM Part 3 Which Way for Religious Zionism 5. The Demise of Self-Negating Religious Zionism 119 Moshe Koppel 6. Which Way for Religious Zionism? 133 Kalman Neuman Part 4 Religious Zionism and Modern Orthodoxy – Educational Challenges 7. Walking a Tightrope : The Attitude of Religious Zionist Adolescents to the State of Israel after the Disengagement 159 Zehavit Gross 8. The Disengagement Plan as Reflected in Virtual FAQ 189 Yuval Cherlow Part 5 American Orthodox Education and Aliya 9. Can American Orthodoxy Afford to Have its Best and Brightest (Not) Make Aliya? 235 Yoel Finkelman 10. Are the Right People Making Aliya? [Who Will Be the Teachers of Our Children?] 259 Binyamin Blau 11. The Aliya Threat to American Modern Orthodoxy 271 Seth Farber Part 6 Zionism and Religious-Halakhic Decision Making 12. Prophetic Morality as a Factor in R. Uziel’s Rulings on Conversion : A Case Study of Halakhic Decision-Making from a Zionist Perspective 289 Binyamin Lau OOFF 1199 rr1010 draftdraft 0088 balanced.inddbalanced.indd vivi 99/23/2008/23/2008 8:19:378:19:37 AMAM 13. “Religious Zionist Halakhah” – Is It Reality Or Was It A Dream? 315 Aviad Hacohen Part 7 Israel’s Impact on American Orthodoxy 14. Holy Land in Exile: The Torah MiTzion Movement – Toward a New Paradigm for Religious Zionism 373 Adam S. Ferziger 15. If I Forget Thee, O Jerusalem… : The Impact of Israel on American Orthodox Jewry 415 Chaim I. Waxman 16. Israel’s Impact on American Orthodoxy : A Response 433 Leonard A. Matanky Orthodox Forum Eighteenth Conference 439 List of Participants Index 443 OOFF 1199 rr1010 draftdraft 0088 balanced.inddbalanced.indd viivii 99/23/2008/23/2008 8:19:378:19:37 AMAM OOFF 1199 rr1010 draftdraft 0088 balanced.inddbalanced.indd viiiviii 99/23/2008/23/2008 8:19:378:19:37 AMAM Other Volumes in the Orthodox Forum Series Rabbinic Authority and Personal Autonomy edited by Moshe Z. Sokol Jewish Tradition and the Non-Traditional Jew edited by Jacob J. Schacter Israel as a Religious Reality edited by Chaim I. Waxman Modern Scholarship in the Study of Torah: Contributions and Limitations edited by Shalom Carmy Tikkun Olam: Social Responsibility in Jewish Thought and Law edited by David Shatz, Chaim I. Waxman, and Nathan J. Diament Engaging Modernity: Rabbinic Leaders and the Challenge of the Twentieth Century edited by Moshe Z. Sokol Jewish Perspectives on the Experience of Suffering edited by Shalom Carmy Jewish Business Ethics: The Firm and Its Stakeholders edited by Aaron Levine and Moses Pava Tolerance, Dissent, and Democracy: Philosophical, Historical, and Halakhic Perspectives edited by Moshe Z. Sokol Jewish Spirituality and Divine Law edited by Adam Mintz and Lawrence Schiffman Formulating Responses in an Egalitarian Age edited by Marc D. Stern Judaism, Science, and Moral Responsibility edited by Yitzhak Berger and David Shatz The Conceptual Approach to Jewish Learning למדות edited by Yosef Blau Rabbinic and Lay Communal Authority edited by Suzanne Last Stone War and Peace in the Jewish Tradition edited by Lawrence Schiffman and Joel B. Wolowelsky Gender Relationships In Marriage and Out edited by Rivkah Blau OOFF 1199 rr1010 draftdraft 0088 balanced.inddbalanced.indd ixix 99/23/2008/23/2008 8:19:378:19:37 AMAM Contributors Rabbi Binyamin Blau presently serves as the Upper School prin- cipal of the Fuchs Mizrachi School, as well as the Rosh Kollel of the Torah Tzion Kollel. He previously was a member of the rabbinate at the Jewish Educational Center in Elizabeth, n.j., as well as the rav of Camp HASC. Harav Yuval Cherlow is Rosh Yeshiva of Yeshivat Hesder Petach Tikva. He is a graduate of Yeshivat Har Etzion; a retired Ma- jor in the IDF; a founding member of the Tzohar rabbinical organization; and a member of the Israeli committee on the national list of health services and the Helsinki Committee for biomedical research involving human subjects. Rav Cherlow has published many books and articles dealing with topics in Halakhah, biblical exegesis, modern Jewish philosophy, and contemporary questions. Dr. Seth Farber received his rabbinic ordination from RIETS and his PhD from the Hebrew University. He has taught at the Maimo- nides School in Boston and was a co-founder of Ma’ayan. He is the founder and director of ITIM: The Jewish Life Information Center and rabbi of Kehillat Netivot in Raanana, Israel. Farber is the author of An American Orthodox Dreamer: Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik and Boston’s Maimonides School (UPNE, 2004). Dr. Adam S. Ferziger is the Gwendolyn and Joseph Straus Fellow in Jewish Studies at Bar-Ilan University, where he serves as lecturer and associate director at the Graduate Program in Contempo- rary Jewry and senior research fellow at the Rappaport Center for Assimilation Research. He is the author of Exclusion and Hierarchy: Orthodoxy, Nonobservance and the Boundaries of Jewish Identity (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, OOFF 1199 rr1010 draftdraft 0088 balanced.inddbalanced.indd x 99/23/2008/23/2008 8:19:378:19:37 AMAM Contributors xi 2005) and the editor, with Aviezer Ravitzky and Yoseph Salmon, of Orthodox Judaism – New Perspectives (Jerusalem: Magnes Press, 2006) [Hebrew]. Dr. Yoel Finkelman teaches Talmud and Jewish Thought at Midreshet Lindenbaum, and is Director of Projects and Re- search at ATID. He received his Ph.D. from the Department of Jewish Thought at the Hebrew University. Dr. Zehavit Gross is a researcher and a lecturer in the School of Education, Bar-Ilan University, Israel. Her main area of specialization is Socialization Processes (religious, secular, feminine and civic) among adolescents. Recently (2007) she has won a prestigious award for research in Peace Education from the Tami Steinmetz Center for Peace Research (Tel Aviv University). Rabbi Dr. Lawrence Grossman is editor of the American Jewish Year Book and associate director of research at the American Jewish Committee, has published more than 100 essays and reviews on American Jewish life. Among his recent publications are: “The Organized Jewish Community and Evangelical America: A History” in Uneasy Allies: Jews and Evangelicals Today; “Jews: Middle Atlantic and Beyond” in Religion and Public Life in the Middle Atlantic Region. Dr. Avidad HaCohen received his B.A. (philosophy) at Yu, 1972, where he studied with Rav J.B. Soloveichik and Rav Aharon Lichtenstein; Semikhah, 1989 (Rav Zalman Nehemiah Gold- berg); PhD, Hebrew University, 2001, in Rabbinic Literature; re- sides in Tekoah, Israel; and teaches at Herzog College; Shaarey Mishpat Law College; Faculty of Law, Hebrew University, Jeru- salem, Bar Ilan University, and Yeshivat Tekoah. Rabbi Robert S. Hirt (Series Editor) is the senior advisor to the president of Yeshiva University and Vice President Emeritus of its affiliated Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary. He occupies the Rabbi Sidney Shoham Chair in Rabbinic and Community Leadership at RIETS. Professor Moshe Koppel is a graduate of Yeshiva University and a OOFF 1199 rr1010 draftdraft 0088 balanced.inddbalanced.indd xixi 99/23/2008/23/2008 8:19:378:19:37 AMAM xii professor of computer science in Bar-Ilan University. He has published widely in the fields of machine learning and author- ship attribution, and has written two books on mathematics and Halakhah.