בימים ההם בזמן הזה - Chanuka And The State Of Israel

I was recently talking to a friend and he opened up the Rambam and showed me the first halacha in Hilchos Chanuka. The Rambam says that the salvation was that the Jewish monarchy was restored  for over 200 years. My friend wondered - What is so good about the rulership of those Jews. Most of the kings were reshaim?!

I validated his question and asked what he thinks as if I too am perplexed.

The truth is that I am not bothered by the question at all. It is better to be under Jewish rulership than it is to be under Gentile rulership even if the Jewish leaders are reshaim. So it was a great salvation that we were freed from foreign dominion.  

I didn't tell him that. Why not?

He is fundamentally opposed to the State of Israel. He can't see anything positive about it [the biography of the Satmar Rebbe on his shelf would be a sign, although he is not a Satmar Chossid]. If I would have told him my theory [and that of many others - see for example the Gan Shoshanim chapter 20] he would not have been receptive, to say the least. It would mean that we should rejoice over Jewish sovereignty in the modern State of Israel. At a certain point, people's minds are made up and a thousand proofs to the contrary won't hinder them. Of course there is a counter-argument as explicated at the end of this article but it is certainly something to discuss and honestly explore. I have learned that most people are too invested in their own approaches and attitudes to honestly consider other perspectives. I say this about people on both sides of any given issue.

I happen to think that it is a cause for tremendous distress that the Knesset is filled with mechalelei shabbos who lack fear of Hashem. As a rule, I don't trust people without fear of Hashem and if he is a politician, that is two strikes against him. But I still believe that if given the choice between being under the rule of some guy named Mustaffa with a mustache, cigarette breath and four wives, or a chiloni Israeli, the latter is the much preferred option. Life under the present government is much better that it was under the Brits and the Turks - with all of the justified criticism that can be leveled.

If anybody has any feedback about this post, I request that you first read the article I linked above....:-)