Mia Anderssén-Löf He Speedily Comemia | May – a Comparative Study on Hardal and Haredi | 2017 Understandings of Exile and Redemption
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Mia Anderssén-Löf | May He Speedily Come – A Comparative Study on Hardal and Haredi Understandings of Exile and Redemption | 2017 and Haredi Study on Hardal – A Comparative | MayMia He Speedily Come Anderssén-Löf Mia Anderssén-Löf May He Speedily Come A Comparative Study on Hardal and Haredi Understandings of Exile and Redemption 9 789517 658799 ISBN 978-951-765-879-9 Mia Anderssén-Löf (born 1984) Master’s degree in Theology (2009) specializing in Jewish studies. Åbo Aka- demi University. Cover photo: ”At Western Wall” by JD Lasica, April 16, 2008, is licensed under CC BY 2.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/ https://www.flickr.com/photos/jdlasica/ Åbo Akademi University Press Domkyrkogatan 2–4, FI-20500 Åbo, Finland Tel. +358 (0)2 215 4190 E-mail: [email protected] Sales and distribution: Åbo Akademi University Library Domkyrkogatan 2–4, FI-20500 Åbo, Finland Tel. +358 (0)2 -215 4190 E-mail: [email protected] MAY HE SPEEDILY COME May He Speedily Come A Comparative Study on Hardal and Haredi Understandings of Exile and Redemption Mia Anderssén-Löf Åbo Akademis förlag | Åbo Akademi University Press Åbo, Finland, 2017 CIP Cataloguing in Publication Anderssén-Löf, Mia. May he speedily come : a comparative study on Hardal and Haredi under- standings of exile and redemption / Mia Anderssén-Löf. - Åbo : Åbo Akademi University Press, 2017. Diss.: Åbo Akademi University. ISBN 978-951-765-879-9 ISBN 978-951-765-879-9 ISBN 978-951-765-880-5 (digital) Painosalama Oy Åbo 2017 Acknowledgments Conducting this study has been a long process, involving many people in different capacities. I warmly thank my supervisors – Professor Antti Laato and university lecturer Pekka Lindqvist – for their kind, patient and competent guidance. Your support has been essential in my formation as a researcher and in the process of this study. The warm atmosphere of the Faculty of Theology (nowadays the Faculty of Arts, Psychology and Theology) and of our exegetical seminar has instilled hope and faith, encouraging me to keep momentum. For financing my studies, I stand in gratitude to Åbo Akademi University through the OTSEM network, to the Finnish Graduate School of Theology and to Svensk-Österbottniska samfundet r.f. I am also grateful to Docent Ruth Illman and the team of the Donner Institute of Turku for opportunities to grow as a researcher, for valuable critique, and also for its important work towards enriching the scholarly discussion on contemporary Judaism. I am thankful to Professor Martti Nissinen and Director Ari Kerkkänen of the Finnish Institute of the Middle East (FIME) for accepting me to the FIME Visiting Research Fellow Programme, and to the Thanks to Scandianvia Sperling Scholarship Fund, enabling me to study at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. My time in Israel and Palestine greatly widened my perspective. I would also like to extend a warm thank you to my colleague and friend, Anna-Liisa Tolonen, without whom this study period would have lost depth (and joy!). I would also like to thank Dr. Maria Leppäkari for first introducing me to contemporary expressions of Jewish radicalism and Temple Mount activism. I am also grateful to Associate Professor Motti Inbari, for sharing valuable insights on the subject. Working on a thesis involves many practical issues. For her competent and highly appreciated help, I would like to thank the ÅAU librarian, Airi Forssell, for helping me find my way around in the rich world of scholarly 1 literature. I would also like to thank Lorna Koskela for the English proofreading of my text, and the ÅAU research coordinator Fredrik Karlsson, for formal and practical management. I would also like to thank my family – my parents and brothers, who have cheered me on throughout the process; my dear friend, Charlotta Elenius, who shares all my ups and downs, scholarly and otherwise; and my husband, Janne, whose unending support has been vital for this process to be brought to fruition. I thank God for placing me in a time and a setting in which these doors were open for me. I feel blessed to have been given the opportunity to learn and grow with this study. I dedicate this study my son Johannes, who constantly reminds me of the joy of discovery. May we always share our fascination for life! Jakobstad, 8.11.2017 2 Contents 1. Introduction .................................................................................................... 5 1.1. On the Study ............................................................................................ 9 1.2. Definitions and Demarcations ............................................................. 10 1.3. Materials ................................................................................................. 21 1.4. Structure ................................................................................................... 33 1.5. Theoretical Considerations .................................................................. 34 1.6. Self-Positioning ...................................................................................... 51 1.7. Earlier Research in the Field ................................................................ 53 2. The Point of Departure for Redemption ................................................... 56 2.1. Exile and Redemption in Jewish Tradition ........................................ 56 2.2. The Hardalim: Redemption is a Process ............................................ 66 2.3. The Haredim: Redemption is an Event .............................................. 91 2.4. Summary and Conclusions ................................................................ 102 3. The Shoah: Punishment or Push ............................................................... 108 3.1. Suffering in Jewish tradition .............................................................. 108 3.2. The Hardalim: A Push towards Redemption .................................. 119 3.3. The Haredim: An Expression of Exile .............................................. 131 3.4. Summary and Conclusions ................................................................ 150 4. The State of Israel and the Diaspora ........................................................ 156 4.1. The Return of the Exiles in Jewish Tradition ................................... 156 4.2. The Hardalim: Go Up and Possess ................................................... 165 4.3. The Haredim: Stay In the Diaspora .................................................. 209 4.4. Summary and Conclusions ................................................................ 232 5. The Messiah Vis-à-Vis Redemption ......................................................... 237 3 5.1. Messiah and Messianism in the Jewish Tradition .......................... 237 5.2. The Hardalim: While Waiting for the Messiah .............................. 246 5.3. The Haredim: Not Before the Messiah ............................................ 261 5.4. Summary and Conclusions ............................................................... 272 6. Rebuilding the Temple of Jerusalem ....................................................... 277 6.1. The Temple in Jewish Tradition ....................................................... 277 6.2. The Hardalim: Building a Temple for God ..................................... 289 6.3. The Haredim: Awaiting a Temple from God ................................. 315 6.4. Summary and Conclusions ............................................................... 333 7. Conclusions ................................................................................................ 339 7.1. The Shift from Exile to Redemption ................................................. 340 7.2. The Other Eschatological Themes .................................................... 341 7.3. Rabbinical and Biblical Sources ........................................................ 348 7.4. Next year in Jerusalem? ..................................................................... 350 Svensk sammanfattning ................................................................................ 355 References ....................................................................................................... 357 4 1. INTRODUCTION This study compares two contemporary, ostensibly antithetical1 Jewish perspectives, the Hardal2 and the Haredi3. From the Hardal perspective the foremost challenge for the Jewish people, at the threshold of redemption, is to build the nation; to gather the exiles, to settle in Eretz Yisrael and – for some voices of the perspective – to rebuild the Temple of Jerusalem. From the Haredi perspective the Jewish people is still in exile, which prohibits the forming of a sovereign Jewish state; therefore, the representatives of this perspective oppose the mere existence of the State of Israel. This study seeks to examine how these two streams of thought understand the theological concepts of 1) exile and redemption; what announces the shift from exile to redemption and can the shift be accelerated? 2) the Shoah; how is it interpreted in relation to the dynamics of exile and redemption? 3) the Messiah; how does his arrival relate to these dynamics, and can his arrival be accelerated? 4) the ingathering of the exiles; that is, should the Jewish people – under the present conditions – be encouraged to remain in the Diaspora or immigrate (make aliyah) to the State of Israel? 5) the Third Temple; should it be built as soon as possible, or should it be left to God to build it, through a miracle or an emissary