the beginnings of a rambling... regarding zionism -heavily Jewish topic, not likely to be of interest to others
Why are we so enthralled with taking sides in politics?
I ask this particularly with regard to Israel and Israeli politics.
Can one love the land and not give to her? Can one's heart beat with the land and not know to build her and be built by her? Can one adore the land and not feel her crying when we are not our good selves within her boundaries? Can one know that of all the land in the world that Hashem chose her to be his own, no "sar" to reign over her, but HKB"H and not feel the kedusha it imparts?
Whatever Jew -or Jewish stripes- one bears, ... be ye yeshivish, hiloni, chareidi, modern orthodox, new age or whatever they will come up with next... a Jewish neshama is connected to that land.
I cannot speak for any other Jew, nor can I say much about the polity, becuase to be honest I know next to nothing of the politics. I'm so far from newspapers and from news websites that I am ill-equipped to debate much of anything regarding the politics. I rarely ever think of the politics, but of the people and of the land. Nothing matters more than Am Yisrael living as one nation. Nothing matters more than Eretz Yisrael's kedusha. The two are inexorably intertwined.
Whatever comes politically, the unity of the people is of greatest concern to me.
A friend said to me that he doesn't associate Zionism with yeshivish values... I don't know what values one associates with yeshivish types. I don't know either what values one associates with da'ati leumi types. I don't fit in either world and never will probably. It would be best if I could fit in both and maybe someday I shall. I would wish to embody the best of both worlds if I were granted the privilege of such a good character.
The da'ati leumi scorn the yeshivish for caring naught about the land, for their superficiality, and for their excessive sinat hinam. (Mind you, the yeshivish are winning the battle for ba'alei tshuva so they must be doing SOMETHING right.) The yeshivish scorn the da'ati leumi for not really learning torah, for having no dedication to halacha or mitzvot , and for having no standards. I would have them scorn no one, but see how collectively they work together to build our people and our faith. If I could have a hand in pulling people together and building Am Yisrael, I would be grateful for my life's journey when I got to its end no matter how hard the journey.
It is a painful concept to join one side to spit on the other. So why do we do it? Why are there countless Jews standing on one side of the argument yelling at countless Jews standing on the other side? A friend yesterday gave me an orange bracelet that reads "I love Gush Katif" on one side and reads " Jews don't expel Jews" on the other side. I will spare you what I personally think about such items, slogans, politics, etc., because I don't think it matters. What matters at this moment is that I recalled seeing people in orange, with orange signs, on a picket line shouting and protesting when I was in Washington, D.C. and feeling sad. I was sad that once again Jew is pitted against Jew.
If to be Zionist or not to be Zionist means creating this sort of division... I wish I could throw the whole lot of it out and start over again. What kind of world would we have if we began parenting our children, teaching them to love and about love, and standing up not against one another, but for one another? --hah, okay, so I'm a pipe-dreamer. Well, what's next best?
What if we united in our love of the land and united in our need to ensure a homeland of any sort for Jews? (...so they might have a place to go when America turns Muslim? heh, heh. okay. Well, you never know.)
I ask this particularly with regard to Israel and Israeli politics.
Can one love the land and not give to her? Can one's heart beat with the land and not know to build her and be built by her? Can one adore the land and not feel her crying when we are not our good selves within her boundaries? Can one know that of all the land in the world that Hashem chose her to be his own, no "sar" to reign over her, but HKB"H and not feel the kedusha it imparts?
Whatever Jew -or Jewish stripes- one bears, ... be ye yeshivish, hiloni, chareidi, modern orthodox, new age or whatever they will come up with next... a Jewish neshama is connected to that land.
I cannot speak for any other Jew, nor can I say much about the polity, becuase to be honest I know next to nothing of the politics. I'm so far from newspapers and from news websites that I am ill-equipped to debate much of anything regarding the politics. I rarely ever think of the politics, but of the people and of the land. Nothing matters more than Am Yisrael living as one nation. Nothing matters more than Eretz Yisrael's kedusha. The two are inexorably intertwined.
Whatever comes politically, the unity of the people is of greatest concern to me.
A friend said to me that he doesn't associate Zionism with yeshivish values... I don't know what values one associates with yeshivish types. I don't know either what values one associates with da'ati leumi types. I don't fit in either world and never will probably. It would be best if I could fit in both and maybe someday I shall. I would wish to embody the best of both worlds if I were granted the privilege of such a good character.
The da'ati leumi scorn the yeshivish for caring naught about the land, for their superficiality, and for their excessive sinat hinam. (Mind you, the yeshivish are winning the battle for ba'alei tshuva so they must be doing SOMETHING right.) The yeshivish scorn the da'ati leumi for not really learning torah, for having no dedication to halacha or mitzvot , and for having no standards. I would have them scorn no one, but see how collectively they work together to build our people and our faith. If I could have a hand in pulling people together and building Am Yisrael, I would be grateful for my life's journey when I got to its end no matter how hard the journey.
It is a painful concept to join one side to spit on the other. So why do we do it? Why are there countless Jews standing on one side of the argument yelling at countless Jews standing on the other side? A friend yesterday gave me an orange bracelet that reads "I love Gush Katif" on one side and reads " Jews don't expel Jews" on the other side. I will spare you what I personally think about such items, slogans, politics, etc., because I don't think it matters. What matters at this moment is that I recalled seeing people in orange, with orange signs, on a picket line shouting and protesting when I was in Washington, D.C. and feeling sad. I was sad that once again Jew is pitted against Jew.
If to be Zionist or not to be Zionist means creating this sort of division... I wish I could throw the whole lot of it out and start over again. What kind of world would we have if we began parenting our children, teaching them to love and about love, and standing up not against one another, but for one another? --hah, okay, so I'm a pipe-dreamer. Well, what's next best?
What if we united in our love of the land and united in our need to ensure a homeland of any sort for Jews? (...so they might have a place to go when America turns Muslim? heh, heh. okay. Well, you never know.)
posted by Meowmix Chatul at jeudi, juillet 07, 2005
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