חנניה ווייסמאן Chananya Weissman

Shabbat Shuva lessons from a tangent by Radak

Tehillim 146:3 says as follows: אל תבטחו בנדיבים בבן אדם שאין לו תשועה. “Don’t trust in the generous, in human beings, who do not have salvation.” We say this every day in our morning prayers.

Radak writes as follows:

אם לא ברצון האל אין ביד האדם להושיע חבירו מצרתו כי לה‘ לבדו התשועה והוא יסובבנה על יד בני אדם

“If not for the will of God, it is not in the hands of Man to save his fellow from his trouble, for salvation belongs only to Hashem, and He will orchestrate it through people.”

This is a straightforward explanation that is shared by the other commentators.

Radak then goes off on a striking tangent:

כמו שסיבב תשועת גלות בבל על ידי כורש וכן לעתיד יסבב גאולת ישראל על ידי מלכי הגוים שיעיר את רוחם לשלחם כמו שכתוב “והביאו את כל אחיכם מכל הגוים מנחה לה‘” וזה יהיה לפי שבטחו ישראל בגלותם באל ית‘ לבדו

“Just as He orchestrated the salvation of the Babylonian exile through Koresh, and so in the future He will orchestrate the redemption of Israel through the gentile kings; He will awaken their spirits to send them [the Jews back to Israel]…and this will be because the Jews in their exile trusted only in Hashem.”

This is yet another clear source that the modern return to Israel, which was orchestrated through the miraculous consent of the nations (something they have been repenting ever since) is the divine will. Those who insist that a return to Israel is illegitimate or theologically irrelevant until Moshiach arrives and open miracles occur are sorely mistaken.

The fact that the majority of Jews who unwittingly heeded this divine call were not spiritual role models does not invalidate the divine call or the salvation contained therein, which religious Jews must embrace. Israel is the real deal and Jews should return en masse. It’s not yet everything you want it to be? That’s part of your job. Come home and make it better.

It is also noteworthy that Radak chooses this as his example for the lesson of the pasuk. We would more instinctively think of a sick person going to a doctor, a pauper seeking charity from a rich person, or an accused person standing before a judge that their salvation is really in the hands of God alone. Radak takes this opportunity to remind us that our national salvation is also in the hands of God alone.

Too often we get lost in the constant feed of news updates and political machinations, and may lose sight of the fact that politicians and world leaders are little more than marionettes in God’s hands. It’s easy even for educated, religious Jews to forget themselves and believe it’s a matter of playing the game and pushing the right buttons. No such thing. All the exterior trappings are merely a cover for the divine will, which we can only influence through teshuva, tefilla, and tzedaka.

The Jews who stubbornly remain in exile by choice must internalize Radak’s message, that the redemption in our times mirrors the redemption of the Babylonian exiles.

The Jews who have already returned to Israel must internalize the second message, that the furthering of our redemption will not be achieved by playing political games or trusting in human elements here or abroad. Such machinations lead us only to outsmart ourselves and delay the redemption process. We must do only what the Torah indicates in each situation, put our trust only in God, and let Him run the world.

Two timely examples:

1) Our ability to daven with a minyan, let alone in shul as we were accustomed to, has been severely curtailed. Religious Jews have expended great efforts to daven as normally as possible in light of the ever-changing restrictions, and have lobbied politicians for restrictions to be relaxed wherever prudent. How much effort have we spent beseeching Hashem to remove the curse and restore the privilege of davening together normally?

2) For all the virtual ink that has been spilled on Halachic minutiae related to the coronavirus (which I do not intend to devalue), how much have we delved – as a tzibbur – into the underlying spiritual causes of this plague and its effects? In past generations the primary response to plagues would be for the community to publicly examine its ways and attempt to rectify its failings.

Today the mere suggestion that anything is a divine punishment invites scorn and censure even from “religious” Jews, and any attempt to connect a problem to a precise sin (as opposed to vague calls for us to be more kind, etc.) receives heated condemnation. This fear of offending the overly sensitive and over-reactive among us guarantees that we will fail to uncover the spiritual cause of our problems, let alone collectively address them.

Claiming that we cannot understand God’s messages denies God’s ability or willingness to send us messages we can understand, obviates the point of divine messages, and dooms us to even harsher messages. There is no Torah basis to feign humility when tragedies occur and claim we cannot possibly decipher their cause; on the contrary, both individually and collectively it is our duty to keep searching and trying until we get it right. At worst we might fix a problem that is unrelated to the situation and be forced to identify other problems as well.

It is well past time Jewish communities all over the world got together, honestly examined their collective ways, identified glaring shortcomings, and resolved to rectify them together. Even if we cannot be sure that we will correctly identify the spiritual cause of the plague – and this is something we should pray for – we can be sure that our efforts will get Hashem’s attention like little else and arouse divine mercy.

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A Desperate Warning to American Jews

A year ago this time, American Jews were concerned. On Pesach of 2019 the Chabad of Poway was attacked by a gunman, who murdered one person and wounded three others. It was miraculous that many more were not harmed. Several months earlier a synagogue in Pittsburgh was attacked during Shabbat services. Eleven people were murdered and six injured. The gunman told authorities that Jews were committing genocide, and he wanted all of them dead.

Politicians expressed their condolences and promised to beef up security; neighbors showed solidarity with the victims; organizations sent out press releases; funds were raised; hate “in all its forms” was condemned. It was a predictable script.

So was the reaction of Jews across the country. They expressed requisite concern, made it a little more difficult for their institutions to be invaded, brought in someone to talk about self-defense and how to survive an attack, arranged a ceremony, then went back to planning their next simcha and summer vacation. We’re in galus, they said. Stuff happens occasionally. It will be okay.

That December, a kosher grocery store in New Jersey was attacked by two gunmen with tactical gear. Miraculously, they only killed three people. They intended to massacre children at the Jewish school next door, and had a pipe bomb in their van, which they didn’t get a chance to use.

Days later, on Chanuka, a Jewish home in Monsey was invaded by a man with a machete, who went on a stabbing spree. One elderly Jew was severely wounded in the head and died three months later. Four others were wounded as well, one critically.

The murderer was a black man who didn’t believe that Jewish lives matter. We were told that he was mentally ill – as so often seems to be the case when Jews are attacked – and therefore, presumably, this wasn’t any particular cause for concern. It’s less disturbing if there are large numbers of mentally ill people roaming the streets looking to kill Jews than if they are “normal” people killing Jews deliberately.

All this time, Jews were being harassed and physically assaulted on the streets of Brooklyn and elsewhere on an almost daily basis. Most of these incidents were chalked up to pranks, mental illness, or randomness. They would be investigated as “possible” hate crimes, because when Jews are attacked we must not jump to conclusions that their Jewishness had anything to do with it, unlike when people of other persuasions are victimized. The Jews were assured that these were isolated incidents, and the streets were safe. Nevertheless, for good measure, there would be more police patrols and schools would teach students not to hate. Problem solved.

The sheer frequency of these incidents provided Jewish magazines ongoing opportunities to run feature stories on “rising anti-Semitism in America”, with predictable quotes telling Jews to be cautious but not to worry. Readers of these lengthy features would have no idea that Israel existed if they didn’t already know it. Jews don’t run away from anti-Semitism anymore, after all, the thought merely crosses their minds momentarily before they come to their senses. And if they did run away, Israel would be the least desirable option. No need to mention it.

Lest readers complain that the coverage of these tragedies was disproportionate and there was too much negativity in their Shabbos reading material, no serious alarm bells were raised. We were always assured that the situation was under control, leaders and organizations were on top of it, and it’s not too soon to plan the next Pesach vacation.

Oh, and increasing numbers of politicians across the country, including members of Congress, were making blatantly anti-Jewish and anti-Israel remarks, and anti-Semitism on college campuses was becoming as American as apple pie. How ignorant! The offenders would be invited to tour Holocaust museums, where they could learn from the pros and be inspired by their role models.

This was all a year ago. Those were much better days.

Since the Chanuka attack in Monsey, all of the following have occurred:

• New York virtually scrapped its bail requirements, allowing even violent criminals to be released back onto the streets hours after attacking someone. In completely unrelated news, crime in New York City has skyrocketed, and it has quickly deteriorated from one of the safest large cities in the world to a very scary place.

• The mayor of New York singled out Jews for blame over the spread of the coronavirus. No other demographic group has been similarly targeted. Subsequently, random Jews were harassed and attacked on this pretext.

• The American economy has been devastated, with the full extent of the damage impossible to gauge. Millions of people have lost their jobs, countless businesses have closed, and the government can’t print Monopoly money fast enough. The average American had little or no savings, or was deeply in debt, before all this happened.

• The following have all become normalized in the last three months alone: riots; looting; destruction of stores and businesses; harassing and intimidating random people in the street under the guise of “social justice”; mobs of “protesters” stalking people outside their homes; cars being surrounded by mobs in the middle of the street; cities large and small descending into anarchy on a nightly basis; rows of stores boarding up to deter looters or closing completely; police officers being demonized and dehumanized; police officers being assassinated while onlookers cheer; widespread resignation of police officers; destruction of American monuments; demonization of American history, its historical figures, and its founding principles; demonization and humiliation of people with white skin; demands for people with white skin to surrender their homes, property, money, and jobs; calls for America to be destroyed; schools and colleges across the country overhauling their curriculum to mainstream all of the above; sympathy in the mainstream media for all of the above; heavily armed militias roaming the streets in opposition of the above; increasingly deviant lifestyles; sexualization of children; indoctrination of children with gender confusion and sexual deviance; churches and Bibles being burned.

• All of that became normalized in the last three months. There’s plenty more – that was just off the top of my head.

• Large swaths of the country have been devastated by fires and hurricanes on an unprecedented scale.

• In the past, natural disasters united the country. Today, the opposing sides celebrate when enemy states burn or drown. They don’t even offer their “thoughts and prayers” anymore.

• All the major sports leagues have become overrun with political and social activism. No longer can Americans of different races and classes even join together in rooting for the local team. The activism, and the reactions to it, are bigger stories than the actual games. Even sports is no longer an escape from it all.

• The entertainment industry has dropped any pretense of being about entertainment; it exists to teach the masses what to think and how to behave.

• Corporations have become political entities instead of simply selling goods and services. Their advertisements often have more to do with politics and new morality than an actual product. What people buy or don’t buy is a political statement with battle lines sharply drawn.

• Literally the only thing that unifies Americans is a common currency. Referring to America as “The United States” is an anachronism, and there is no way to repair it. For the first time since the September 11 attacks, which unified the country in a moment of collective grief, commemorations of the day were awkward and received little attention. If a similar attack occurred today, much of the country – including most of the young people – would side with the attackers. If terrorists hijacked a plane and crashed it into the White House, there would be dancing in the streets.

• There is literally zero chance that the upcoming election comes and goes peacefully. Both sides have made it abundantly clear that if they lose the election they won’t accept the results. The question is not whether there will be fraud, but how much it will influence the results, how much of it will be uncovered, and how badly the foundations of the country will be further broken.

Somehow, in spite of all the above, American Jews believe they have a long and bright future in America. They believe things are going to return to the way they were after the virus settles down, or after the election. Cooler heads will prevail. Responsible leadership will heal the societal wounds.

American Jews today, after all that happened, are surprised – even shocked – when someone menaces them with an anti-Semitic tirade. They think those who attack Jews are mentally ill, but is it not the Jew who is afflicted with mental illness? How else can their utter blindness, their absurd optimism and confidence which is shared by virtually no other Americans, be explained?

Demonization of Jews has become increasingly normalized in the last few months as well. There is no logical reason why Jewish businesses and neighborhoods have not become better acquainted with the anarchists who hate them to the core and covet all they have. God has tremendous mercy on His people even in difficult times, but instead of gratefully receiving the relatively gentle warnings, the Jews are blissfully misinterpreting them as a sign that they are untouchable.

I mentioned that the only thing Americans have in common anymore is the currency. That’s not entirely true. The other thing that unites the warring factions is hatred for the Jew, to varying degrees, with the righteous exceptions not nearly significant enough or powerful enough to protect them.

In a country where all sacred boundaries have been trampled, where wickedness and cruelty are celebrated as moral virtues, Jews have no right to feel secure.

Just imagine what would happen if a black child ran in front of a Jewish car and was struck entirely by accident. Do I need to spell it out?

If the safety of all the Jews in America rests on such a razor’s edge, should they not be urgently planning their exodus en masse? Is that not what responsible, intelligent, generally affluent people would do, particularly when they are not even in their true home to begin with? How can it be that brilliant, scholarly rabbis across America, who are experts at seeing different sides of issues, see only one side to this one, which is to stay in America and pray? Pray for what? That what is clearly happening will just be a bad dream? That all the people who hate you, have no boundaries, and have nothing to stop them will just forget about you?

There is a time to pray, and there is a time to get out. This is a time to get out.

The vast majority of American Jews descend either from Holocaust survivors or people who escaped from Europe when they saw the warning signs. (The earliest Jews of America consisted largely of people who escaped the Spanish Inquisition.) They should know from their own grandparents not to be lulled into a false sense of security, to recognize when a previously hospitable society is breaking down, and that it’s always best to leave sooner rather than later. The longer you wait, the more difficult it will be to get out and the more it will cost. Eventually the cost will be everything, and then even that won’t be enough.

You can accuse me of “fearmongering” if it makes you feel better, but remember: this has happened literally every single time in history that the Jews thought they had it made in exile and it would stay that way until Moshiach came to pick them up in a limousine. There are countless reasons to believe that things are going to get very bad for the Jews in America very soon – many of them were cited above – and not a single substantial reason to believe this will all just blow over.

Americans across the country are celebrating wanton death and destruction or cowering in fear of it. When they come for the Jews and their money, the average American will cheer them on, or will be indifferent, or will be powerless to do anything about it.

It is not the attackers who should be accused of mental illness, but those who are still hoping to plan their next Pesach vacation.

I beg of you. Wake up. Get out. Come home. Figure it out when you get here, even if you have to live in poverty and start all over. It’s reached that point.

Far greater people have issued warnings – even prophetic warnings – and were ignored. I have no right to expect anyone to listen to me. If nothing else, I absolve myself for having tried.

Next year in Jerusalem.

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www.chananyaweissman.com

Prepping in the Torah

Preparing for disasters, or prepping, used to be a niche that tended to attract people on the fringes of society. Preppers devote themselves to preparing for ordinary interruptions to life as we know it, such as natural disasters and power outages, and “end of the world” scenarios, such as nuclear war and the collapse of civilization. For some it is a responsible hobby, for others it is a lifestyle, even an obsession.

In the past, preppers were ridiculed for such things as hoarding supplies, building bunkers, and learning how to survive in the wilderness – but no more. The events of recent months have brought credibility to preppers, who could laugh with dismay while their relatives and neighbors frantically shopped for toilet paper. Things have settled down for the moment, but the entire world is on edge. Those who know how to best prepare for pandemics, food shortages, civil unrest, economic collapse, world war, and other nightmare scenarios are suddenly the smart person in the room. Those who mock the idea of preparing and planning have become the crazy ones.

Let’s see what the Torah has to say about prepping.

1) The first example of prepping in the Torah is the famine when Yosef ruled Egypt. (I do not count Noach preparing for a year in the ark, because he was informed of the impending disaster and instructed precisely on how to prepare for it.) Yaakov instructed his sons to go to Egypt and stock up on food, lest they perish.

This instruction was preceded with a rhetorical question: “Why should you be seen?” (Bereishis 42:1). This is explained by commentators in several ways, all of which relate to prepping. Here are the two most relevant:

• Why are you looking at each other, as if waiting for your fellow to do something? There’s a famine! Are you waiting for the food to run out? Go to Egypt and stock up!

• Why should other people look at you with astonishment? Everyone is concerned about the famine, and you are just sitting around. Why should they be jealous of you that you have lots of food and they don’t? Go to Egypt and buy some like everyone else.

According to the first explanation, there was a real need for the brothers to buy food. Their supplies were insufficient for a long famine, and Yaakov urged them to stock up before it became a problem. This fits with the prepper mentality of stocking up for the long haul, not just for the immediate future.

According to the second explanation, they actually had plenty of food. Nevertheless, Yaakov urged them to behave as expected of people in a time of crisis, lest they attract the wrong kind of attention. This fits with the concept among preppers of blending in with one’s surroundings to remain unnoticed and avoid advertising that they have the food and supplies everyone else desperately wants.

2) During the forty years in the desert, the Jews were forbidden from collecting more man than their daily needs, and would be left with nothing extra even if they tried. Jews who attempted to “prep” angered Hashem and failed anyway! This was intended to drive home the lesson that our sustenance comes only from God, and we must rely on Heavenly salvation from one day to the next.

A jar of man was saved and kept on display in later generations to admonish Jews who devoted too much time to working instead of studying Torah. Just as God provided for their ancestors with open miracles, He would provide for them in more natural times, without need for prepping.

These two sources seem to contradict one another. The first source indicates that even those with a healthy supply of food should prepare for the long haul, even if for nothing more than camouflage. The second source seems to repudiate prepping altogether!

3) In Mishlei 6:6-11 we are taught to study the ant and learn wisdom. Chazal teach us that the ant lives for only six months, and consumes only a grain and a half of wheat. Nevertheless, the ant spends the summer gathering large quantities of food to store for many years, just in case God decides to grant it extra life. The ant is the ultimate prepper! The ant’s industriousness is contrasted with the lazy person, who folds his hands and refrains from working, then has nothing to eat. The contrast between those who prepare with those who sit idle is emphasized repeatedly in Mishlei.

4) This brings us to Tzidkiyahu, the last king before the destruction of the first Beit Hamikdash, and the closest example in Tanach to a modern prepper. Israel’s kingdom had been in decline for generations. Most of the population had already been exiled, and the remnant in Israel was subservient to Bavel. Tzidkiyahu was a vassal with little political power, even over his own people. His brothers, who preceded him on the throne, had been exiled or executed by Nevuchadnezzar for rebelling against his authority.

Tzidkiyahu knew he had a short leash and that an “end of the world” scenario for him and Israel was anything but far-fetched. Like any serious prepper, he prepared an escape plan in the event Jerusalem was invaded: a tunnel from Jerusalem all the way to the plains of Jericho, approximately 25 kilometers away!

When the city fell, he fled in his secret tunnel and should have successfully escaped. Unfortunately, God had other plans. A deer ran along the roof of the tunnel, and enemy soldiers chased it all the way to the exit point. When Tzidkiyahu emerged from the tunnel, he was immediately captured, to fulfill the words of the prophet Yechezkel.

Ultimately, all his prepping was for naught.

How can these sources in Tanach be reconciled to provide the Torah’s perspective on prepping?

The first source demonstrates that responsible preparations for a clear and present danger must be taken. If there is a famine in the land, and food is available in a nearby country, one should stock up and not wait until he runs out of food.

The third source indicates that one should prepare even for scenarios that seem entirely far-fetched, like the ants gathering much more food than they can ever expect to eat. However, this is balanced by the second source, in which we are taught not to work more than necessary at the expense of Torah study. Consequently, the lesson we should learn from ants is that hard work is virtuous, nothing more. After all, ants don’t need to devote time to Torah study, and therefore have nothing better to do with their extra time than endlessly prep.

Indeed, the fourth source demonstrates that prepping without divine assistance is futile. If Hashem is with us, a reasonable amount of prepping will be sufficient, and if, God forbid, Hashem is not with us, no amount of prepping will save us. Naturally, the proper balance between prepping and faith will vary based on the situation, and we can only present general philosophical guidelines.

An interesting source from Chazal is Menachos 103B. We are taught that there are three levels of accursed people who live with fear: one who purchases an annual supply of food every year, one who purchases grain on a weekly basis, and one who relies on the local baker to supply his daily needs. Even one with enough food to last a year stares death in the face, for he might not have money at the end of the year to make his next purchase. One who relies on the local baker will go hungry the very day the baker has no bread. Only a landowner, who does not need to rely on others to supply his food, can live with a measure of confidence.

At the same time, Chazal teach us (Sotah 48B) that one who has enough bread for today and worries about what he will eat tomorrow is short on faith!

Once again, these sources balance one another. God expects us to take reasonable measures to prepare our needs, preferably in a way that we are not dependent on others for our sustenance from one day to the next. Ultimately, though, we are supposed to rely only on God, not on our own efforts and ingenuity. We must trust that if we find ourselves in extenuating circumstances, and preparing for the long-term is impossible, God will see us through the difficult times.

Chazal also teach (Kiddushin 29A) that a father is obligated to teach his son an occupation and to swim. The main form of travel in those days was by sea, and the ability to swim was like wearing a seat belt in a car: a relatively simple life-saving device for a common danger. Chazal did not expect everyone to learn how to survive extreme scenarios; the cost of such prepping does not justify the benefit. Some individuals in every community must possess the skills to deal with extreme scenarios, but the average person should content himself with reasonable preparations.

What emerges from all these sources (which are a small sample but a good representation) is that extreme prepping – in which one devotes his life to preparing elaborately for any conceivable situation – is a poor investment of time and resources. When one’s life is devoted to prepping to survive anything merely for the sake of survival, then the life itself has little value.

We can store all the food in the world, all the weapons to protect it, all the hideouts if we need to flee, all the medicine and gas masks and tools and seeds and books to survive the destruction of civilization and rebuild it from scratch. No amount of prepping is enough to cover all the bases, and one slip or stroke of bad luck is enough to thwart the best prepping. Man plans and God laughs!

There are those who devote their lives to another sort of prepping: amassing enough money not only for the rest of their lives, but to support all their descendants until the end of time. This is the life of an ant, not the life of a Jew.

The Torah teaches that our life is really one big prepping exercise for life in the next world. What spiritual prepping are we doing? What Torah, mitzvos, and good deeds have we stored away for the long journey we will all have to take? Do we have enough?

This is one area in which panic buying is a healthy response, and no amount of prepping can be considered extreme.

One final thought: a wise prepper decides in advance at what point in the deterioration of his society he will get out of Dodge, abandon everything if necessary, and prioritize life over material considerations. Diaspora Jews historically are poor at this. They assure everyone that when things get “really bad” they will know it and leave, yet they fail at both.

If you asked Diaspora Jews ten years ago if they would leave if their society looked like it does today, they would laugh, claim that would never happen, and that they would leave if it did. Yet here we are…and there they still are, claiming that things aren’t so bad.

Our Sages teach (Tamid 32A): “Who is wise? One who sees what is coming.” A Jew in exile must know that his home is not permanent and be prepared to leave it. Considering the current climate, and how rapidly things are deteriorating, failing to prepare an escape from exile is reckless to the point of insanity.

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The Chillul Hashem of Galus

In a recent Jewish Press article I asserted that the very presence of Jews in exile is the ultimate chillul Hashem, which cannot be neutralized by good behavior. I referred to Orthodox Jews who are not bothered by this, and are not actively striving to rectify it, as assimilated Orthodox Jews.

I wasn’t expecting a bouquet of flowers from diaspora Jewry, but some of the responses only illustrated how deeply entrenched the galus is inside them. The Jewish Press published three letters in response to the article, yet none of them offered an argument against the notion that remaining in exile is a desecration of God’s name. Two merely expressed indignation, and require no rebuttal. Several commenters on the Jewish Press web site expressed condemnations not befitting a response (they have since been removed).

A rabbi in North America wrote that I had made “quite an accusation”, yet went on to support it with one of many pesukim that directly equate exile with chillul Hashem. He offered no explanation for why my thus validated assertion is incorrect, for there is none. Instead, he noted that the Rambam does not include living in Israel as one of the 613 mitzvos (while noting that the Ramban disagrees), he cited Rav Yosef Dovid HaLevi Soloveitchik’s allowance for rabbis and educators to remain in exile, and cited Rav Moshe Feinstein’s statement that “the mitzvah to live in Eretz Yisrael is not an absolute obligation.”

The weakness of this reply from a clearly knowledgeable rabbi only strengthens my case. Firstly, his reply conflated two distinct issues: the chillul Hashem of Jews being exiled from their land, and the degree of halachic obligation for them to return to Eretz Yisrael. Were he to successfully prove that some or even all diaspora Jews were halachically exempt from returning for one reason or another, this would have no impact on the chillul Hashem of millions of Jews being exiled from their land. On the contrary, in lieu of a halachic exemption – assuming one applies – they would be obligated to return if for no other reason than to nullify the chillul Hashem.

This is indeed borne out by the sources he cites. The Rambam’s omission of the mitzva to live in Israel from the 613 is often mentioned as an excuse for Jews to remain in exile. This is irrespective of the fact that the Ramban includes it; diaspora Jews simply claim that they are obediently following the Rambam, as if that’s the reason they remain in galus. The reality is that if the opinions were reversed, they would simply become ardent followers of the Ramban instead. They first decided what they wanted the answer to be, then they conveniently found a source for it. This is not how an Orthodox Jew is supposed to make decisions; this is how breakaways from Orthodoxy operate.

In addition, the belief that the Rambam did not consider it a mitzva to live in Israel before Moshiach comes is a terrible misunderstanding. Rav Yissachar Shlomo Teichtal, may Hashem avenge his blood, thoroughly demolishes this position – an extreme minority – in Eim Habanim S’meicha beginning on page 149. Rav Teichtal proves that the Rambam did not include the mitzva of settling the land as one of the 613 for technical reasons based on how he enumerated the mitzvos, and that the mitzva to settle the land is too overarching to be enumerated with the others. It transcends the 613. It is only on this technical point that the Ramban disagrees; both titanic poskim agree that settling the land is a mitzva at all times.

Rav Soloveitchik’s exemption for certain individuals to remain in galus is merely a concession to the unfortunate reality that not all Jews in galus are able or willing to make aliya en masse, and they need spiritual caretakers to remain with them. It is in no way a lechatchila that rabbis and educators remain in galus; ideally they would fulfill the mitzva of settling the land. Their staying behind should be viewed as a tragic necessity, one that pains them every moment, and which they hope to rectify by bringing their flock with them to Israel at the earliest possible time.

Rav Feinstein’s famous ruling that living in Israel is not an “absolute obligation” is famous only because of its convenience to so many people who wish to remain in galus. However, it hardly justifies their conclusion. Wearing tzitzis is also not an “absolute obligation”. The obligation only applies to a four-cornered garment. If one chooses not to wear such a garment, according to the Torah he is completely exempt from the mitzva.

However, we recognize that it is Hashem’s will for us to wear tzitzis. We therefore go out of our way to wear a four-cornered garment just so we can fulfill the mitzva, to the extent that a man who does not wear tzitzis is not even considered frum! No Orthodox person will say that he does not wear tzitzis because it is not an “absolute obligation” – yet when it comes to the transcendent mitzva of settling Israel, which concurrently rectifies the most serious chillul Hashem, Orthodox Jews excuse themselves that it is not an obligation!

If only they viewed settling Israel with the same seriousness that they have for a mere minhag, such as having a fish head on Rosh Hashana.

What is most tragic is that I even need to “prove” that it is a chillul Hashem for Jews to be in galus. The two are equated throughout the Torah, and the concept should be too fundamental to have to debate with educated Orthodox Jews. This is only a “controversy” because of the deep attachment these Jews have to galus – which only demonstrates their spiritual assimilation in this respect.

The fact that many gedolim lived in galus throughout history is not a counter argument. Their presence in galus was involuntary, but still represented a desecration of God’s name. They are not guilty for this; no doubt they were deeply pained by the situation and devoted their lives to rectifying it however possible.

Today, however, the presence of Orthodox Jews in galus, with few exceptions, is voluntary. There is little evidence that they are deeply pained by the situation – on the contrary, the suggestion that they make aliya is met with indignation – and they dedicate their lives to cementing diaspora life for perpetuity instead of leaving it once and for all. This is indeed the ultimate chillul Hashem, and demonstrates an assimilated mindset that has lost sight of the big picture.

Indeed, we say in Shemoneh Esrei that Hashem will redeem up “for the sake of His name, with love”. Even if we do not deserve to be redeemed, Hashem must redeem us and will redeem us to cease the desecration of His name caused by our continued exile. How can the diaspora Jew willingly perpetuate this desecration and not be pained to the core?

As we enter the culmination of the three weeks commemorating the ultimate chillul Hashem, let us resolve not merely to mourn it, but to rectify it. It is time to leave galus and not look back.

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Readers who are interested in additional sources that illustrate the direct link between Jews living in galus and chillul Hashem may refer to the following list below. Some of the sources in Nach were found on Wikitext with the aid of a quick search. This list of specific sources is a small representation; a complete list would encompass the totality of the Torah.

My sefer Go Up Like a Wall, which expands on these topics, is available at no cost to those who request it.

Devarim 32:37

Shmuel I 12:22

Melachim II 19:34

Yeshaya 43:25, 48:9, 52:5

Yechezkel 20:9, 36:20, 36:23

Tehillim 14:7, 21:6, 44:27

Eicha Rabba Introduction Section 17

Avoda Zara 11B

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Assimilated Orthodox Jews

Assimilation is like a virus in many ways. It spreads primarily from close contact with those who are already infected, though casual contact is also dangerous. Carriers may exhibit a variety of symptoms, and may even be asymptomatic. Many get away with only mild cases of the disease – and tend to downplay it as a result – but many others suffer severe cases that lead to permanent damage and even spiritual death.

More parallels can be drawn, but let’s proceed to the main point.

We tend to think of assimilated Jews as those who have married gentiles. Until recently, that was the “test”; assimilation was equated with intermarriage. Most people would agree that Jews who are indistinguishable from gentiles, even if they marry another such Jew, can fairly be described as assimilated, though their chance of recovery is significantly greater.

The truth is that assimilation is a subtle and sinister disease. Even Jews who keep Shabbos, are strict about kashrus, and maintain the exterior trappings of a Torah-observant lifestyle can be infected with it. These cases are the most difficult to detect, which also make them the most difficult to cure. The intermarried Jew knows he is not living in the ways of his ancestors; he can have a sudden awakening and return. The assimilated Orthodox Jew can hardly be convinced by sage or even prophet that he is not in perfect health.

Here are four tests, in no particular order, to determine if you are an assimilated Orthodox Jew.

1) You live outside of Israel, with no intention to change that, and teach your children how important it is not to make a chillul Hashem.

The latter clause is not necessary for the assimilation aspect, but it sheds light on it. There is no greater chillul Hashem than the Jewish people living outside of Israel. This is irrespective of whether Moshiach has arrived, or the quality of life inside or outside of Israel. The definition of galus is the Jewish people exiled from Israel. It is a greater chillul Hashem for Jews to live in a pristine religious bubble outside of Israel than for them to live among idol worshipers inside their own land. This is because the banishment of Jews from their land is proof to the nations of the world that God has abandoned the Jewish people, or that He cannot protect them. This idea is emphasized throughout Sefer Tehillim.

So if you live in a nice Jewish community in the Diaspora and worry about making a kiddush Hashem in your interactions with gentiles, consider this. Your very presence there is the ultimate chillul Hashem; nothing else compares to it, and no amount of good behavior will make up for it. If this does not bother you, and you are not actively striving to rectify it, then you are an assimilated Orthodox Jew.

2) You take moral cues from the goyim.

Morality is not subjective, nor does morality evolve or progress from one generation to the next as does technology. That belief is incompatible with belief in God – Who alone determines what is right and what is wrong – and the Torah, where these determinations are immortalized.

Everyone lives by some type of moral code – even criminals, gangs, terrorists, and those who profess the vapid belief that there are no rules. As long as the world is populated by more than one person, there will always be rules. The only question is whether these rules will be based on the Torah, or invented by man. The morality of any particular rule or system is determined strictly by its fidelity to God’s objective truth.

Our very existence as Orthodox Jews is for the purpose of implementing God’s complete Torah in our land and spreading the basic Noahide teachings to the rest of the world. Moral enlightenment is supposed to flow exclusively from Torah to Jew to gentile, never the reverse. Knowledge of science and art may be obtained from a variety of sources, but when it comes to morality there is only one authentic source.

Many Orthodox Jews receive moral direction from gentile society. It is no coincidence that “new understandings” of a woman’s role directly parallel gentile movements awash with atheism, socialism, and a general rebellion against tradition. Orthodox Jewish women did not wake up one day and decide they are oppressed, kept down, unappreciated, abused, and erased by a barbaric patriarchy. These ideas seeped into the Orthodox world from impure sources and gradually poisoned people’s minds. Isolated cases of real crimes against women were sensationalized and blown out of proportion to create a false impression of a corrupt system, with the goal of undermining tradition and eventually burying it completely.

Sincere, well-meaning Orthodox Jews imported an impure goyish movement with a kernel of truth to address problems in Jewish society real, exaggerated, and even fabricated. The goyim decided there were to be new understandings of right and wrong, and the Jews followed.

The same is true with such causes as vegetarianism and veganism. Their explosion in popularity among Orthodox Jews directly followed new understandings of morality among “enlightened” goyim. These goyim believe that they are morally superior to those who eat meat, to the extent that meat-eaters are referred to as murderers. They have also decided that taking the life of a plant to sustain oneself is perfectly fine, based on arbitrary considerations. They simply make it up as they go along.

Needless to say, slaughtering an animal and offering it as a sacrifice on an altar is anathema to many Orthodox Jews, who maintain they want a Bais Hamikdash but seem to have forgotten what we actually do there. It’s not a Kotel with four walls.

Orthodox Jews who believe they are more moral than the Torah and those who transmitted it to us throughout the generations, based on goyish movements, are assimilated Orthodox Jews.

The same is also true with movements pertaining to “rights” of homosexuals and their ilk. A gradual erosion within the Orthodox world from the Torah’s clear positions on these issues, to eventual sympathy and even support for that which the Torah abhors, directly mirrors the “progress” of these movements in gentile lands.

We have lost the ability to be outraged by anything anymore, except at fellow Orthodox Jews who stubbornly cling to tradition in the face of new morality. Orthodox Jews are supposed to be the leading and most outspoken voice when it comes to moral issues, clearly and proudly articulating the view of the Torah. Instead, our voice is the very last to be heard, suppressed as long as possible, and then meekly attempting to reconcile the goyish morality of the day with the Torah’s eternal teachings.

Can there be any greater sign of assimilation than that? Can there be anything more humiliating?

3) You believe interlopers in our land should be given control over any part of our land.

I recently saw a film by Ami Horowitz called Interview With A Murderer in which he interviewed a senior Hamas terrorist. He asked the Arab if abandoning any part of “Palestine” would be a breach in the promise between Allah and the Muslim people.

The Arab replied as follows: “You are talking about our rights. Why abandon your rights? There is no way that you can abandon part of your home, willingly. It belongs to all the Muslims. We are talking about the Holy Land here. It belongs to every Muslim in the world. I cannot give away, Abu Mazen cannot give away, Yasser Arafat could not give away, nobody can give away any part of it.”

If you are an Orthodox Jew, and you do not firmly echo this response, with “Jews” and the names of Jewish politicians substituted where appropriate, then you are an assimilated Orthodox Jew.

4) You have a problem with the mitzva to wipe out Amalek.

The Torah’s position on this is crystal clear. Shaul lost his kingdom and his life primarily because he took pity on Amalek. King David repeatedly emphasized his desire to pursue the enemies of the Jewish people, which are synonymous with the enemies of God, and wipe them out.

The latter is the leader we pray for three times a day, which presumably means we should vote for him in an election.

Today a great many Orthodox Jews want nothing to do with this mitzva. Since Orthodox Jews cannot simply do away with an uncomfortable or inconvenient mitzva as do their more “progressive” counterparts, they simply define them into irrelevance. Amalek is transformed from an actual nation of actual people to an idea – preferably an amorphous one – that must be abolished, particularly from inside ourselves.

See, dear gentile, we Jews are good – based on your definition, of course.

More traditional Orthodox Jews will maintain that Amalek does refer to actual human beings that we are commanded to wipe out, but we cannot possibly know who they are and we probably never will. Even if we did know who they are, due to a number of practical considerations we would not be allowed to do anything about it.

That may be true, but they say this with relief, not regret. If Eliyahu Hanavi delivered Amalek to them, gave them a sword, invited them to perform the mitzva, and assured them that no Jew would suffer for it, the Orthodox Jew would want nothing to do with it.

This Orthodox Jew is assimilated. The same Jew who would run to wear techeiles if he were confident that the opportunity to perform the mitzva had been restored should run with the same eagerness to fulfill another mitzva that has been denied us for generations. If you are an Orthodox Jew, how can you claim there is a difference? How can you desperately wish to remain exempt from a mitzva that is fundamental to achieving our national destiny? It is only through assimilation.

If you exhibit any of these symptoms, then I am afraid that you have contracted the disease of spiritual assimilation. Fortunately, with early detection and an honest assessment, the chances of a full recovery are high.

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