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Religious Zionism: What It Means and Why It Matters the Three Oaths: Is Zionism Against the Talmud? Rabbi Sammy Bergman- [email protected] 1

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Religious Zionism: What It Means and Why It Matters the Three Oaths: Is Zionism Against the Talmud? Rabbi Sammy Bergman- Sbergman@Torontotorah.Com 1 Religious Zionism: What it means and why it matters The Three Oaths: Is Zionism against the Talmud? Rabbi Sammy Bergman- [email protected] 1. Shir HaShirim 2:7 הִשְׁבַּ֨עְׁתִ יאֶתְׁ כֶֶ֜ ם בְׁנ֤ ֹות יְׁרּושָׁ לִ֙ם֙ בִצְׁבָׁ קֹותאֹ֖ובְׁא יְׁלֹ֣ות השָׁדֶֶ֑ה אִ ם־תָׁעִִ֧ירּו ׀ וְְֽׁאִ ם־תְׁעֹ֥ורְׁר֛ ּואֶת־הָׁא הֲבָׁ֖ה ע ֥דשֶתֶחְׁפְָֽׁץ׃ }ס{ I adjure you, O maidens of Jerusalem, By gazelles or by hinds of the field: Do not wake or rouse Love until it please! 2. Talmud, Ketubot 110b-111a (William Davidson Edition Translation) לעולם ידור אדם בא"י אפי' בעיר שרובה עובדי כוכבים, ואל ידור בחו"ל ואפילו בעיר שרובה ישראל, שכל הדר בארץ ישראל - דומה כמי שיש לו אלוק, וכל הדר בחוצה לארץ - דומה כמי שאין לו אלוק... ר' זירא הוה קמשתמיט מיניה דרב יהודה, דבעא למיסק לארץ ישראל, דאמר רב יהודה: כל העולה מבבל לארץ ישראל עובר בעשה, שנאמר: בבלה יובאו ושמה יהיו עד יום פקדי אותם נאם ה' the Sages taught: A person should always reside in Eretz Yisrael, even in a city that is mostly populated by gentiles, and he should not reside outside of Eretz Yisrael, even in a city that is mostly populated by Jews. The reason is that anyone who resides in Eretz Yisrael is considered as one who has a God, and anyone who resides outside of Eretz Yisrael is considered as one who does not have a God… Rabbi Zeira was avoiding being seen by his teacher, Rav Yehuda, as Rabbi Zeira sought to ascend to Eretz Yisrael and his teacher disapproved. As Rav Yehuda said: Anyone who ascends from Babylonia to Eretz Yisrael transgresses a positive mitzva, as it is stated: They shall be taken to Babylonia and there they shall remain until the day that I recall them, said the Lord” (Jeremiah 27:22) - ורבי זירא? ההוא בכלי שרת כתיב. - ורב יהודה? כתיב קרא אחרינא: השבעתי אתכם בנות ירושלים בצבאות או באילות השדה וגו'. - ורבי זירא? ההוא שלא יעלו ישראל בחומה. - ורב יהודה? השבעתי אחרינא כתיב. - ורבי זירא? ההוא מיבעי ליה לכדרבי יוסי ברבי חנינא, דאמר: ג' שבועות הללו למה? אחת, שלא יעלו ישראל בחומה; ואחת, שהשביע הקדוש ברוך הוא את ישראל שלא ימרדו באומות העולם; ואחת, שהשביע הקדוש ברוך הוא את העובדי כוכבים שלא ישתעבדו בהן בישראל יותר מדאי. - ורב יהודה? אם תעירו ואם תעוררו כתיב. - ורבי זירא? מיבעי ליה לכדרבי לוי, דאמר: שש שבועות הללו למה? תלתא - הני דאמרן, אינך - שלא יגלו את הקץ, ושלא ירחקו את הקץ, ושלא יגלו הסוד לעובדי כוכבים. בצבאות או באילות השדה – אמר רבי אלעזר, אמר להם הקדוש ברוך הוא לישראל: אם אתם מקיימין את השבועה מוטב, ואם לאו - אני מתיר את בשרכם כצבאות וכאילות השדה. אמר רבי אלעזר: כל הדר בארץ ישראל שרוי בלא עון, - And how does Rav Yehuda respond to this argument Another verse is written: “I adjure you, O daughters of Jerusalem, by the gazelles and by the hinds of the field - And Rabbi Zeira maintains that the oath mentioned in that verse means that the Jews should not ascend to Eretz Yisrael as a wall - And what does Rav Yehuda reply to this? There is another verse in which “I adjure you” (Song of Songs 3:5) is written - And how does Rabbi Zeira- That verse is necessary for that which was taught by Rabbi Yosei, son of Rabbi Ḥanina, who said: Why are these three oaths (Song of Songs 2:7, 3:5, 8:4) needed? One, so that the Jews should not ascend to Eretz Yisrael as a wall, but little by little. And another one, that the Holy One, Blessed be He, adjured the Jews that they should not rebel against the rule of the nations of the world. And the last one is that the Holy One, Blessed be He, adjured the nations of the world that they should not subjugate the Jews excessively. - And how does Rav Yehuda respond? It is written: “That you not awaken or stir up love” (Song of Songs 2:7) - And Rabbi Zeira- He needs this phrase for that which was taught by Rabbi Levi, who said: These six oaths…why are they necessary? Three are those that we said and explained above. The other three oaths are as follows: That those who know should not reveal the end of days; and that they should not distance the end of days by saying that it is still distant; and that they should not reveal the secret of the Jews to the nations. by the gazelles and by the hinds of the field” (Song of Songs 2:7). Rabbi Elazar said: The Holy One, Blessed be He, said to the Jewish people: If you fulfill the oath, it is good, and if not, I will abandon your flesh and all will devour you like the gazelles and like the hinds of the field. Rabbi Elazar said: Anyone who resides in Eretz Yisrael dwells without transgression… 3. Rabbi Shlomi Yitzchaki (11th century France), Rashi on Ketubot ibid. שלא יעלו בחומה -יחד ביד חזקה They shouldn’t ascend as a wall- together with a strong hand Legal Oaths? 4. Rabbi Yitzchak de Leon (16th century Italy), Megillat Esther on “Mitzvot forgotten by the Rambam נראה לי כי מה שלא מנאה הרב הוא לפי שמצות ירושת הארץ וישיבתה לא נהגה רק בימי משה ויהושע ודוד וכל זמן שלא גלו מארצם אבל אחר שגלו מעל אדמתם אין מצוה זו נוהגת לדורות עד עת בוא המשיח, כי אדרבא נצטוינו לפי מה שאמרו בסוף כתובות דף קי"א שלא נמרוד באומות ללכת לכבוש את הארץ בחזקה... It appears to me that the reason the [Rambam] didn’t count the mitzvah to inherit the land and settle it is because it only applied in the time of Moshe and Yehoshua and David as long as they were not exiled from their land. But after they were exiled from their land, this mitzvah isn’t applicable for the generation until the Messiah come. For on the contrary, we were commanded based on the Talmud in Keubot 11a that we shouldn’t rebel against the nations to go conquer the land with force… 5. Rabbi Abraham Bornstein (19th Century Poland), Avnei Nezer Yoreh Deah 454 מעתה יפורש ג"כ השבועה לאוה"ע לשרים של כל אומה ואומה שלא יסיתו כל אחד את אומתו לשעבד בישראל יותר מדאי מה( והנה כעין זה נוכל לפרש בשבועות ישראל כי השבועה הי' לשורש נשמותיהם למעלה. וז"ש השבעתי אתכם בנות ירושלים שהם נשמות כמ"ש בזוה"ק ויחי )רמ"ב ע"א( בנות ירושלים אילין נשמתיהון דצדיקיא... ובהכי ניחא שהרמב"ם וכל הפוסקים לא הביאו דין החמש שבועות שנשבעו ישראל דזה אין עסק בהלכה. דבאמת האדם עצמו כמו שהוא בגוף לא נצטוה רק שורש הנשמה למעלה. ואם האדם הולך בדרך טוב הולך בדרך שמלמדתו הנשמה ואין זה לימוד התורה רק לימוד הנשמה. ע"כ לא הביאו הפוסקים: The Oath of the nations of the world was for the ministering angels of each nation that they should incite their nation to enslave Israel too harshly.. In a similar way we can explain regarding Israel’s oaths that the out was administer to the root of their souls above. This is why it says: “I adjure you daughters of Jerusalem” for they are souls as the Zohar writes in Vayechi (242a) “The daughters of Jerusalem” , these are the souls of the righteous. And based on this it’s understandable why the Rambam and all the authorities didn’t bring the 5 oaths that Israel swore, for they have no legal relevance. For in truth, each person wasn’t commanded, only the root of their souls. If a person follows the straight path, they follow the path their soul teaches them. This relates not to the study of Torah but the study of the soul…Therefore, the authorities didn’t bring it… 6. Rabbi Yehuda Henkin (20-21st century Israel), Responsa Benei Banim 3:30 ברם הרמב"ן עצמו לא הזכיר השבועה שלא לעלות בחומה והטעם פשוט מפני שאינה הלכה לדורות לשיטתו כי לא יתכן להשביע את ישראל לעבור על מצות כיבוש מן התורה וזהו שדקדק לכתוב שנצטוינו בכיבוש בכל הדורות עכ"ל כי המצוה היא תמידית ואינה לימות המשיח לדעתו ולשון בכל הדורות עכ"ל אינו כלשון מצוה לדורות ושלא כמי שטעה בזה Ramban himself doesn’t mention the oaths not to ascend. The reason is simple- that it isn’t the law for generations according to his opinion. For it isn’t possible to make Israel swear to violate the biblical mitzvah of conquering the land.. Babylon 7. Talmud, Ketubot 111a אמר רב יהודה אמר שמואל: כשם שאסור לצאת מארץ ישראל לבבל, כך אסור לצאת מבבל לשאר ארצות...אמר רב יהודה: כל הדר בבבל - כאילו דר בארץ ישראל Rabbi Yehudah says in the name of Shemuel: “Just as it is forbidden to leave from the land of Israel to Babylon, it is forbidden to leave from Babylon to other lands. Rabbi Yehuda said: “Anyone who lives in Babylon it is as if he lived in Israel… 8. Rashi Ibid. כך אסור לצאת מבבל - לפי שיש שם ישיבות המרביצות תורה תמיד For there are yeshivot there which constantly spread Torah. 9. Rabbi Shmuel Eidels (16th century Poland), Maharsha on Ketubot ibid. כל הדר בבבל כאילו דר בא"י שנאמר כו'. הכא משוה להו ותולה בבל בא"י ומרא דשמעתא רב יהודה ואיהו גופיה אמר לעיל כל העולה מבבל לא"י עובר בעשה י"ל לאו משום דבבל עדיפא אלא דכך צוה הקדוש ברוך הוא שכל הגולה שם לא יעלה עד יום פקודה מיהו מי שהוא בא"י ודאי דלא ילך לבבל אלא דהכא משוה להו לגבי שאר ארצות Here he equates them and compares Babylon and the land of Israel. The speaker is Rabbi Yehudah and he himself said earlier anyone who ascends from Babylon to Israel violates a commandment.
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