By: JV Staff
In the aftermath of the World Zionist Congress, controversy over the participation of the Chareidi Eretz Hakodesh party in the election that was held and the possibility that they will interface with a wide coalition of secular parties in the Israeli government, the Agudath Israel of America movement, which represents Torah Jewry in the US issued their own statement of principles.
Referencing the Jerusalem Program of the World Zionist Organization, the Agudath Israel stated that this program “declares Zionism to be “the national liberation movement of the Jewish people” and avers to “the centrality of the State of Israel . . . in the life of the nation.”
They added that, “Among the foundational principles upon which the Torah giants of the past century established the Agudas Yisroel movement was the firm rejection of the Zionist redefinition of Jewish peoplehood. Throughout its history Agudas Yisroel has remained faithful to that essential principle, and it will continue to do so. We therefore reiterate: Any suggestion that the ideology of Zionism is compatible with Chareidi Jewry’s fundamental beliefs has no basis and must be rejected.”
Offering their beliefs that are predicated on the wisdom of the Torah sages (Gedolim), the Agudah emphatically stated in their proclamation, ”The Jewish people is a nation based on the belief in One Hashem and the Torah He gave us, and nothing else. By omitting this truth, the Jerusalem Program – and the ideology it embodies – attempt to redefine the essence of the Jewish people as a political entity similar to all other nations of the world. This redefinition goes against the essence of our emunah and mesorah.”
The Agudah also took issue with Eretz Hakodesh, which is affiliated with the Degel Hatorah faction of the party) by saying “Chareidi Jewry has long abided by the halachic ruling of the most revered Torah leaders of a generation ago that it is forbidden to join Jewish organizations whose purpose is to bring Orthodox Jewry together with non-Orthodox under one organizational umbrella. What happened last week at the World Zionist Congress transgresses the spirit of that ruling, and represents a departure from accepted Chareidi norms.”
They added that. “Whatever financial benefits may accrue to worthy institutions as a result of this coalition agreement, they do not justify the abandonment of principle.”
They concluded their statement by saying, “At a time when there is so much confusion in our Jewish world, it is essential that we Chareidim remind ourselves that we stand for principle – and that we cannot stand silently by when fundamental values are distorted.
The statement follows a compromise reached last week in which the Orthodox and right-wing majority agreed to sit with left-wing, reform and conservative elements in the congress and the chairmanship of the Keren Kayemet’s education committee will be shared between the Eretz Hakodesh and Kachol Lavan parties.
In their postscript, the Agudah added that:
“From the very beginning of the Zionist movement, before the state of Israel’s establishment, there were deep concerns among European Gedolim about the Jewish movement that regarded the establishment of a “Jewish State” in part of Eretz Yisroel to be the highest ideal of the Jewish people.
Once the state of Israel was founded, the Gedolim who guided the Agudas Yisroel movement felt that, while involvement in the democratic workings of the new state – including in the Knesset – was in fact a necessary protection of religious Jews’ rights, kedushas Eretz Yisroel and kedushas Am Yisroel, the notion that the ideology of Zionism defines Jewish peoplehood is false.
Thus, as Rav Reuven Grozovsky zt”l, the chairman of Agudath Israel’s Moetzes Gedolei HaTorah at the time of the establishment of Medinas Yisrael, wrote, in his classic sefer “Ba’ayos Haz’man,” while the Knesset is a governmental body whose decisions affect us, the voluntary joining with any Zionist group or congress is unacceptable to Jews who know that Torah is the ultimate definer and unifier of the Jewish people.
The accompanying statement simply reiterates that timeless truth.
What our statement does not mean is that we reject in any way our fellow Jews who may not recognize that truth.
Nor does it mean that we will in any way change our support for Israel’s needs. Agudath Israel of America has always advocated in the halls of government for Israel’s security and economic needs and general welfare, and will always do so.