The Passion of Our Time
Rabbi Sholom Gold
Har Nof, Jerusalem
There was something hauntingly familiar about the question posed in the most recent issue of Viewpoint, “Why are serious Jews like us living in America?” It seemed like an echo from the distant past – and then it came rushing back. The question had indeed been asked before. It’s right there in the Kuzari, Rabbi Yehuda Halevy’s classic masterpiece of Jewish faith.
The Rabbi (chaver) in response to the query by the King of the Kusars, “Tell me some of the words that they (the Rabbis of the Talmud) said regarding Eretz Yisroel”. The chaver responds with a long list of Talmudic statements about Eretz Yisroel such as, “It is always better for one to live in Israel, even in a city that is mostly non-Jewish – than to live outside Israel – even in a city that is mostly Jewish. For anyone who dwells in Israel is like someone who has a G-d and anyone who dwells outside of Israel is like someone who has no G-d” …. The Rabbis praised “one who
comes to live in Eretz Yisroel during his lifetime rather than one who is transported there after his death … the air of Israel makes one wise … anyone who walks four cubits is guaranteed a place
in the world to come.”
The King responds with a variation on the theme of why is a serious Rabbi like you not living in Israel ? The Kuzari said: “If so, then you must have limited affection for your Torah. You have not made Israel your goal, nor your place of living and dying. Yet you say in your prayers: Have mercy on Zion for it is our life’s home. I see that all your knee bending and bowing toward Israel is mere flattery or insincere custom …” One could add the twice yearly L’shana Habaah BiYerushalayim at the end of Yom Kippur and the Seder night. What about Birkat Hamazon, especially the second blessing where we thank G-d for having “granted as a heritage to our ancestors a desirable, good, and wide land.”
How does one who has decided not to go on aliyah say all that and so much more? Major portions of our prayers focus on Eretz Yisroel and are known to all. I would add a prayer that is unfortunately overlooked. There is an amazing sentence in the Tachnun prayer we say on Mondays and Thursdays. Its significance casts a light on all of our prayers and confirms that Hashem does listen to us and answer our fervent requests. This prayer is one that defines the generation in which we live. For some strange reason I feel that we are hardly aware of the power of this prayer. But it’s there, tucked away in the folds of the long Tachnun. “Our Father, compassionate Father, show us a sign for good, לטובה אות ,and gather our scattered ones from the four corners of the earth. Let all nations recognize and know that You are the L-rd our G-d.”
Of all things, the most important sign for good we ask for is the ingathering of the exiles and we are the generation that in fact bears most eloquent testimony that He heard our prayers and He answered them.
From Rabbi Sholom Gold, here.