A woman from Monsey wrote a letter to the editor in this weeks Mishpacha magazine. In this letter she expressed her dismay that Israel is called a Jewish State etc. and that we are just as much in galus in Israel as we are in America etc. etc. She also buttressed her thesis about the non-Jewishness of the State by invoking the Chazal that says that three oaths were made by the Jewish people. One of them was not to force their way into the land of Israel [שלא יעלו כחומה]. So basically, we are all living here in sin....
I wish I could speak to her. I would ask her if she takes Chazal's statements seriously. She would replay "of course". Then I would ask her if she has ever killed a Jew on Yom Kippur. She would answer with horror that of course she hasn't. The I would quote the Gemara in Pesachim [49] that says to kill an עם הארץ even on Yom Kippur. If she doesn't keep that - then why is she so worried about the oaths.
Then I would ask her another question - Does she serve idols? She would answer in horror that she doesn't. Then I would quote the Chazal that say that anyone who leaves Eretz Yisrael to live in Chutz La-aretz [which includes Monsey] is considered an idolator. And she is also an atheist because Chazal say that one who lives in Chutz La-aretz is considered as if they have no G-d.
My point is - that there are MANY MANY statements of Chazal and each must be understood in context. Chazal CLEARLY don't want us to kill any Jews - even an עם הארץ. We don't have one case on record of an עם הארץ being killed. A bachur gets tested on Bava Kamma and only gets a 40. We take him to the town square and publicly execute him. Never happened. So what DO they mean? There are numerous explanations. Think of your own....
The three oaths? There are about 25 plus reasons that they don't apply today. There is much literature on the topic. One is that it wasn't paskened in any halacha sefer so it is not halacha li-myse. There are many others. Does this woman know that? How many pages of gemara does she know that she considers herself qualified to pasken?
What about living in Chutz La-aretz being like an atheist? Think about it...
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It doesn't bother me that Jews live in Chu"l. Some people need to live there for parnassa. Being poor can LITERALLY drive a person insane [according to Chazal]. There are other mitigating factors. Each person has his or her own cheshbon and I will leave the judging up to Hashem.
What DOES bother is when women [or men] from Monsey [or anywhere else] speak badly of Eretz Yisrael when there is no practical benefit and where in my estimation there is something much deeper lurking there. And that is that people don't appreciate the Kedusha of Eretz Yisrael and how the ENTIRE TORAH was given to keep in the Land.
רְאֵה לִמַּדְתִּי אֶתְכֶם חֻקִּים וּמִשְׁפָּטִים כַּאֲשֶׁר צִוַּנִי יְ-ה-וָ-ה אֱ-לֹהָי לַעֲשׂוֹת כֵּן בְּקֶרֶב הָאָרֶץ אֲשֶׁר אַתֶּם בָּאִים שָׁמָּה לְרִשְׁתָּהּ
If a person decides not to live here then let him or her do the right thing - to daven to one day merit coming and to send money to help those who do live here [as the halacha requires].
But PLEASE - drop the דיבת הארץ about how secular the country is. Is America a more frum country?
