Yeshiva
Beit Midrash
- Family and Society
- The Torah Perspective
- Additional Lessons
Translated by Hillel Fendel
Question: How should I relate to great rabbis and Torah scholars, and even the generation's leaders, who ruled Halakhically that parts of the Land of Israel may be given over to autonomous gentile rule? For me personally, I find it hard to call them "rabbis" – but who am I in comparison to these great Torah giants?
Answer: To us, it is absolutely clear that according to Torah law, it is forbidden under all circumstances to give away parts of Eretz Yisrael to foreigners. Every such withdrawal is not only forbidden, but it also endangers life, as experience has shown us. Those rabbis who ruled that it is permitted to give away parts of the Land in exchange for so-called peace made a grave error, and we are paying a high price for their mistake.
Still and all, we are not permitted to insult or mock those Torah scholars. There are rabbis who were mistaken in this ruling, but they have great merits in teaching and disseminating Torah to many Jews.
Question: How should I relate to great rabbis and Torah scholars, and even the generation's leaders, who ruled Halakhically that parts of the Land of Israel may be given over to autonomous gentile rule? For me personally, I find it hard to call them "rabbis" – but who am I in comparison to these great Torah giants?
Answer: To us, it is absolutely clear that according to Torah law, it is forbidden under all circumstances to give away parts of Eretz Yisrael to foreigners. Every such withdrawal is not only forbidden, but it also endangers life, as experience has shown us. Those rabbis who ruled that it is permitted to give away parts of the Land in exchange for so-called peace made a grave error, and we are paying a high price for their mistake.
Still and all, we are not permitted to insult or mock those Torah scholars. There are rabbis who were mistaken in this ruling, but they have great merits in teaching and disseminating Torah to many Jews.
However, we should not rely on their rulings on matters of Eretz Yisrael, and perhaps in any matter that concerns the public at large, because they are apparently not familiar with the details of this topic and are liable to err again.
In order to get articles like this delivered straight to your inbox every week, subscribe to the Israel National Torah newsletter here.
In order to get articles like this delivered straight to your inbox every week, subscribe to the Israel National Torah newsletter here.
Rabbis in Midrash
Lessons
fast navigation
Hosha'ana Rabba FLYDUBAI & HOSHANA RABBA- ANI VAHU HOSHIA NA- I & HIM SAVE US
"Ani vaHu Hoshia Na", "I and Him, Save Us". We don't just pray to Him, but we also pray to and for ourselves that we should emulate and educate our children to have that instinctive altruism with which He created the world. President Trump seemed amused about Yaniv Hayon, our PLUMBER who confidently worked with G-d like Superman (he learned from a pilot on a TV show!) to save 174 lives on the Dubai hijacking, but we in Israel are totally accustomed already 78 years to our plumbers, teachers, garbage-men, rabbis, farmers & doctors being Hashem's shlichim! This is what Zionism is about.
Moreshet Shaul Hashem Is your Shadow – part I
Based on Siach Shaul, Pirkei Machshava V’Hadracha p. 420 – an address from 1941
P'ninat Mishpat A Non-Contractor in Changing Times – part I
(based on ruling 85128 of the Eretz Hemdah-Gazit Rabbinical Courts)
Moreshet Shaul Our King on Rosh Hashana, Our Father on Yom Kippur.
Based on Aroch Siach, p. 221 (Rav Shaul Yisraeli)
