Among the many themes in the Torah readings this week is the connection of the Jewish people to the Land of Israel, and the importance of upholding the Torah's commandments in maintaining that presence (see Lev. 18:25-28). At the same time, there are statements in the rabbinic literature that interpret other verses as asserting that Jewish presence on the land is worthwhile even when the Nation is engaging in sinful behavior (see Midrash Eichah 3:7, per Ez. 36:17). Rabbi Yissachar Teichtal, author of Eim HaBanim Smeicha, takes up the tension between these ideas (see Mishneh Sachir al HaTorah, Num. 34:2, and elsewhere). One suggestion is to distinguish between different kinds of sinful behavior, as well as different attitudes and levels of rebellion and intentionality involved.

In another letter written by my great-great-grandfather Rabbi Barit, this one long after the passing of Rabbi Kalischer, he takes up the question of the value of settling the Land in the context of many unknowns, including the level of commitment and piety of the people. In this letter, dated 7th Kislev, 5651 (Nov. 19, 1890), and also reprinted in Shivat Tziyon: Mikhtavim MiGedolei Yisrael together with the earlier ones (I, pp. 43-52), he emphasizes the importance of both settlement and religious commitment. At the same time, he finds merit in a wide array of attitudes and personalities, even if they may seem lacking in religious commitment, because they make their own worthwhile contributions to the steps towards eventual redemption.

Among other related points, he notes an apparent irony connected to criticism of the members of those settlements that relied on the hetter mekhirah or similar mechanisms to allow working of the land during the Shemittah, the sabbatical year. It is true, he acknowledged, that the Talmud teaches that observance of Shemittah is crucial for the Jewish people maintaining their presence in the land. Further, it is presumably correct that even an approach that technically succeeds in avoiding the obligation of Shemittah may not escape this concern. However, to level this criticism is to acknowledge that settling the land is a paramount value, and the beginning of the process of redemption; accordingly, the detractors should properly credit those who are pursuing this mission, and appreciate the difficulties involved, and recognize as well that the hetter, controversial as it may be, developed with the support of towering Torah scholars.

This is representative of the message as a whole. Even that which may seem lacking in religious commitment comes in this context of an overall effort to elevate the collective. Recognizing that fact is itself an endorsement of the endeavor. In this week’s reading (Lev. 19:23), the Torah says: "When you shall come into the land, and shall have planted all manner of trees..." Rabbi Barit’s essay is a literal application of this: some of the builders do the planting, while the Torah leadership ensures that the "planting" is done in holiness. He argues that we don't wait for the land to be perfect to start planting; rather, the act of planting and settling is what begins the process of sanctification.

My grandmother, Rebecca Namiat Feldman, in her book Solution of Present-Day Problems, included an abridged translation of this letter (the version below is based on that translation with modifications, partially courtesy of Gemini). The book was published in 1947, just one year before the United Nations would recognize the State of Israel, an action that parallels governmental permission that Rabbi Barit considered extremely significant in his letter. The book contains the following words of introduction:

“My own grandfather, Rabbi Zevulun Leib Barit of blessed memory of Plungian, Lithuania, corresponded about this matter with three other Zionist religious leaders, Rabbis Samuel Mohelever, Zvi Hirsch Kalischer, and Mordechai Eliasberg, of blessed memory. These letters were published in the book Shivat Zion. My grandfather's ardent propaganda for this idea, both by word of mouth and pen, was also amplified in his articles in the magazine Levanon, published in Germany, and in the newspaper Hatzefirah of Warsaw; but the irreligious educational program ended the cooperation of these rabbis in the movement and caused a split in Jewry. My grandfather strove to influence rabbis and religious Jews not to withdraw from this holy work. He maintained that if the rabbis remained in the movement, they would finally gain authority to direct the management of affairs and the method of education according to the statutes of the Torah, but his pleading did not avail them.” This failure, she writes, “slowed the restoration.”

"DORESH L’TZION" (SEEKER OF ZION)

By Rabbi Zevulun Leib Barit (1891)

We read in the Song of Songs (4:16): “Awake, O north wind; and come, thou south.” The Midrash comments: “The north wind will say, ‘I shall bring the exiles,’ and the south wind will say, ‘I will bring the exiles.’ And God makes peace between them and all come together from one side.”

Already, forty years ago, two great rabbis of our generation, Tzvi Hirsch Kalischer and Elijah Gutmacher of Greiditz, appealed for unity and for an attentive eye, to work for Israel’s material aims, in the settlement of Eretz Yisrael. This appeal proved then to be a voice in the wilderness. Many eminent persons thought of it as mere words and as Messianic talk.

When the banishment of Jews and pogroms occurred in Russia, I attempted to persuade the emigrants to go to Eretz Yisrael instead of America, Africa, or Australia; and I showed them that it was possible to restore the Holy Land to the great prosperity of old. I quoted the passage in Proverbs which reads, “Good is a morsel of bread and peace connected with it.” Rav comments, “This signifies life in the Land of Israel." If one eats there daily nothing better than a piece of bread and salt he is assured of a share in the world to come and is happier than one who lives in diaspora lands, filled with robbery and force, and there eats feasts connected with strife.

I emphasized the fact that those who think we can live well in the diaspora by becoming assimilated, and that we need no land of our own, are sure to hear the gentile reproof, “You Jews became enriched through us”.

You hope to gain friendship by imitating the gentiles, but the imitation will intensify their hatred. Previously they mocked thee, but now they will seek thy life to destroy it. How fine is the saying of our sages. Rabbi Johanan said, “The name of the angel who supervises the graveyard is Dumah” (Sanhedrin 94a). This means: “All evil happenings that overcame Israel in the exile were caused by hidamut—the striving to resemble or imitate the gentiles.” (Dumah means “being like” or “imitating”.)

For all know that Eretz Yisrael is the land of our fathers, and that we claim it not as a sojourner or a passerby but as its true owner. In the vision granted to Abraham during the making of the covenant of the divided parts (Genesis 15:10-18), we read, “Thy seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs.” This means they will always be considered strangers in a land that is not theirs. For Abraham, foreseeing the length of the exile period, greatly feared lest his children’s name and memory be lost. And the Holy One, blessed be He, quieted his mind and assured him that his seed would not mix with the outsiders, for all the time they dwell in a land that is not theirs they will be considered strangers and the gentiles will despise the Jews who seek to come near to them; but when the people dwell on the land which is rightfully Israel’s, then even if the land be ruled by other powers they will not consider the Jews strangers. By settling in Eretz Yisrael a Jew performs the will of God.

The Redemption of Jericho and the Sultan

And if one should ask: "Is there not a curse upon the building of Jericho?" I answer that this was a decree upon an individual, Hiel the Bethelite, and not a permanent wall against the Nation. Behold, the builders of the Second Temple returned by the permission of Cyrus, the King of Persia, and we see that the permission of the Sultan in our day is likewise a Divine opening. When the ruler allows us to establish houses and fields in our own name, he is a tool in the hand of Hashem, calling us to possess our inheritance. Let no man say that certain stones of our land are forbidden to us. Just as the land was once salty and desolate, it now begins to yield its fruit as a sign that the time of 'remembering the land' has arrived.

Jews should not emigrate to other countries in order to obtain riches, but should settle in Eretz Yisrael and be satisfied with a little. For we have been taught by our sages that in Eretz Yisrael the desire for material things is weaker than elsewhere. God blessed the Holy Land with inhabitants who are satisfied with little, and this blessing will come to everyone settling there, and he will not worry over the lack of luxuries. Our sages say that “it is the air of outward countries that stimulates the desire for luxuries. Therefore living in Eretz Yisrael equals in weight the performance of all other mitzvot.” For the trait of moderation added to fear of Heaven is the base of all divine commands.

In truth, even if I do not subscribe to the claim of the enthusiasts that colonization of Eretz Yisrael is a beginning of our redemption, neither do I agree that it is merely an economic subject, for truly much good lies therein for the continuation and unification of our nation. Even the free-thinking, educated Jews who stand apart from religion are nevertheless nationalistic Jews. If you ask one: “What is a nationalistic Jew?” he will respond: “Nationalism requires that I sacrifice my life for my brethren, feel the ills in the nation’s existence, and love the land of my own people.” And how much more is it incumbent upon the Jew to assist his persecuted brethren who seek relief and a place of rest in the land of our fathers, to which our eyes and hearts ever turn, the land in which every stone is wet with the tears of our forebears? This is the duty of nationalism and this duty we fulfill in working for the benefit of our brethren and our land.”

Consider that no other nation is separated into so many groups or has so much division of opinion as our people. What one builds the other demolishes. Is the bond the language? Many do not speak Hebrew. Is it the religion? This is true only for the religious.

But the Israelite nation is an everlasting element whose existence is above time and reason. Despite many tribulations it still lives and endures. It has passed through fire and water and gone out uninjured. Multitudes have oppressed and tortured it, but to no avail. Many peoples have been erased from under the heavens by old age and infirmity, yet Israel, in spite of age, in spite of tribulations, is living and full of youthful strength.

The same is true of the Torah. Like Israel, it was a thorn in the eyes of the pagans, who worked hard to destroy all memory of it. It too became old and gray, moved from place to place, from yeshivah to yeshivah. Many arose to destroy it, yet to this day it is the “light to the peoples,” and its brilliance shines from end to end of the world. No one knows the reason for this miraculous persistence of Israel and the Torah. But our eyes observe that some secret power guards both and daily revives their spirit to live.

All marks of life we find in Israel and the Torah, we find also in the Land. Romans planned to turn it into a desert; but now, after the loss of strength, the land has returned to youth and new life. Even if this does not denote time of the redemption, it is, nevertheless, a sign that the Jewish land stands for all time.

When God desires it we are certain we will yet return to see the pleasant land and realize all the promises of the prophets. Jeremiah, also, was comforted by this thought, “This I will recall to my heart, therefore will I hope” (Lamentations 3:21). When I recall the mercy of God by which we were saved from utter destruction in our exile, I can well trust that He will arise and pity Zion in due time, and then we three—Israel, the Torah, and the Land of Israel—will come to life again.

The matter of settlement of Eretz Yisrael is valuable enough to draw all parties in Israel, for therein all groups can unite, the religious and the “enlightened” (maskilim); but the Satan stands in between. Even if the opponents do have some arguments, most of these are groundless. It would be helpful for the rabbis of each district to discuss the matter, not with the aim of winning the argument, but to accept the truth and decision arrived at by the majority. Then, if all rabbis and important men among us will occupy themselves with the needs of this holy design, they will draw after them all the House of Israel, and all will join with money contributions or with counsel.

When learned men became heads of the “Society for the Return to Zion” and put forth the claim of “bringing the exiles to Zion,” the hearts of God-fearing men were turned away from them. I, for my part, say to the latter: “Beware of withdrawing and letting the irreligious conduct the affair as they like.” If the argument of the pious men has real substance, it is yet more the duty of all rabbis to take a part in the matter, for only thus will they gain authority and force things to be conducted as they direct. For a holy duty lies upon all rabbis to labor in this, not only for the sake of Eretz Yisrael but also for the sake of implanting fear of God there.

I testify from a faithful source: the testimony of the Great Gaon, the sharp and God-fearing R. Moshe Mordechai Epstein of Kovno, who returned from the Land recently. He saw with his own eyes that even in colonies like Gedera, the ways have turned toward the good. There is no longer public desecration of the Sabbath, and they are careful with tithes. If we provide them with teachers, their spiritual development will match their material success. Then we could feel sure that the colonists become worthy of praise, both in material and spiritual categories.

The true reason why educated Jews were first to become awakened to this labor is this: The pogroms moved all hearts in Israel, and each group sought to work for the benefit of the Jewish people according to its opinions and observations. The “learners” rose to increase the study of Torah, for this is a protective shield against misfortune. The great rabbis rose to found new yeshivot and to strengthen those previously established, and by the aid of the Almighty their labors proved successful. Many young men diligently study the Torah and practices of Judaism day and night. Middle-class householders took upon themselves to found societies to assist the needy and the students of Torah, or to discover the wants of the Jewish public and to relieve them. And at the same time the educated Jews arose to work for the good of the Jewish nation.

These Jews feel more than other groups the tribulations of Israel. Their circumstances bring them to sense our lowliness and lack of respect among the nations. For we, the elderly men, who are far from public honor, do not feel in the least the low state of our nation, and all curses heaped upon us are like a lancet in the flesh of a corpse; we forget the respect due to Israel and to any man who was created in the image of God. But the secularly educated Jews, when their hearts were enkindled by the sudden alterations in the life of our nation, lifted their eyes to the land of our fathers. Their words brought new feeling into our nation’s heart and the love of Zion to the hearts of all groups.

There are those among the pious who have withdrawn their hands from the work of Chovevei Tziyon because they permitted working the land during the Shemittah year. In truth, if one is going to complain about this, it is only in accordance with those who support the idea of the settlement as the beginning of redemption, and therefore it is unworthy to do this, as it is explicit in the Torah that the destruction comes because of the sin of neglecting the Shemittah, perhaps even with a rabbinic license. For who knows if even then the earlier neglect of Shemittah was also based on some justification and, in any event, brought about the destruction.

For those opponents who maintain that the purpose of the settlement is only economic, it should be all the more appropriate, in economic matters, to worry about the impoverished and to seek a halakhic dispensation to forestall the disaster that threatened these unfortunates. In any event, our pious brethren should not be angry regarding this matter and consequently withdraw their participation from the project of the settlement, which is inherently good, given that this license emerged from the mouths of great Gaonim whom we rely on completely. Even if there were those who inclined to prohibit, there are nonetheless opinions to rely on.

Those who withdrew their hands (and I was once among them) because there was no permission from the government acted appropriately at that time. Now that the society has been established and approved by our exalted government, there is no longer any impediment to participating in the activities of Chovevei Tziyon.

To those who maintain that there is a “Dechikat HaKetz” (a forbidden attempt to force the ultimate redemption), there is no need to respond to such fantastical ideas, for no one would think that this is yet the full redemption. Even those who believe this to be the first stirrings of redemption are only asserting that there is a mitzvah to redeem the land and rebuild its ruins, and that would be considered a redemption of the land, but not yet a redemption of Israel that will still come at a time when God will have compassion.

In addition to all this, I am astounded: in what way is this a “Dechikat HaKetz”? We believe with a full faith that if the people of Israel fulfill the will of God and return in repentance, they will be immediately redeemed. Should one then claim that those who return in repentance and fulfill the will of God are called sinners because they are “forcing the end”?

As for those who abstain because they believe they must only work for the study of the Torah, their argument is that they, too, labor for the resettlement. The learners labor for establishment there of all Israel together, while “the Lovers of Zion” work for settlement of but a few. But one mitzvah does not compete with the other. Let us combine and work for both together. The Torah will help us spiritually, the colonization, materially—like body and soul—and through the labors of both will Israel be saved.

And we return again to the quotation at the beginning: “The winds will argue." “North” means those with financial resources, for “the table” stands in the northern part of the Temple Court, and they contribute to build up the ruins. “South” means the pious and Torah students, for “one who wishes to become learned should turn towards the South”, where the menorah stood in the Temple. What does God do? He pacifies both and all the exiled are brought from one side. So shall it be the will of God that both learner and contributor unite to work for the benefit of the Settlement, so that Jacob rejoice and Israel be gladdened.

Zevulun Leib Barit

Plungian