Tzvi Fishman interviews Rabbi Shmuel Eliahu, Chief Rabbi of Tzfat.

What is the proper orientation a religious Jew should have toward the State of Israel?

Just as we thank Hashem in the morning for each new day, and over each breath we take, as King David says, ‘Let every breath praise Hashem,’ and over each drop of rain, so too we should express thanksgiving over every second the State of Israel exists and continues to flourish, for this is the greatest miracle that has transpired in the world since the beginning of Creation until today.

On several occasions, your father, a former Chief Rabbi of Israel, of blessed memory, said that the celebration of Yom HaAtzmaut should focus more on Torah study and prayer, and less on half-day barbecues. Can you summary for us what his attitude was toward Medinat Yisrael?

Upon his appointment as Israel’s Chief Sefardi Rabbi, HaRav Eliahu, זצוק"ל, cited the Gemara which states that the surest sign of the revealed End of the Exile is when the Land of Israel gives forth her fruits in abundance, something which our generation has merited to witness. He often asserted that he only saw lights in Medinat Yisrael, not the shadows of doubt.

Each year on Yom HaAtzmaut, in his speech at the Mercaz HaRav Yeshiva in Jerusalem, HaRav Tzvi Yehuda Kook would bemoan the fact that not everyone saw the Divine Hand in the establishment of the State of Israel, declaring that we only had to open our eyes to see ‘the return of Your Shechinah to Zion,’ as we say in our prayers. What is the source of this blindness?

The Rebbe of Chabad also said that for the Geulah to come, a Jew had only to open his eyes and proclaim, ‘Behold, the Mashiach is on the way.’ The blindness in not seeing the great events of our time as the workings of Hashem, this is the root of Amalek. When the Children of Israel went out from Mitzrayim, they asked, ‘Is Hashem with us or not?’ Immediately Amalek attacked.

Our Sages compared this to a father who carried his son on his shoulders and gave him everything he needed. With the passing of time, the father heard his son ask, ‘Where is my father?’ The father replied, ‘I am carrying you on my shoulders, yet you ask where I am?’ So he set his son down and a dog leapt forward and bit him.

In the same light, if an unthinking person were to witness the dividing of the Red Sea day after day, he would say that the wonder was the natural way of the world - not a miracle. In contrast, a person who contemplated the phenomenon would understand that its daily, repeated occurrence was a much greater miracle than a onetime event.

The same is true with the day-after-day miracles which have accompanied Israel’s restoration in Eretz Yisrael and our continuing development, including the tremendous ingathering of the exiles and the rebuilding of the Land and Jerusalem. Each of these things is a miracle, but they remain hidden when you forget that Hashem is the Grand Conductor of Jewish History.

The Torah informs us that the Children of Israel were compelled to wander in the Wilderness because they failed to see and acknowledge Hashem’s Providence and loving care. Only in the fortieth year did their eyes and ears open, and did their hearts comprehend. Because of this turnabout of understanding, they finally merited to enter the Land of Israel. In a similar light, our Sages teach us that King Hezkiyahu lost his chance to be the Mashiach because he didn’t sing Hashem’s praises over the great miracle granted to him.

Likewise today, what Heavenly Merit can we expect if we fail to thank Hashem for orchestrating our way back to Zion via the historical events of our time?

How does a person learn to see Hashem in the workings of history?

When you study the prophecies in the Torah and the Tanach, you learn to see the workings of Hashem in history, in all of their wondrous manifestations. The same applies to the unfolding of Modern Zionism.

The G-d of Israel whom we read about in the Torah is the same G-d of Israel today. He directs the events of the world and the ups and downs of the Children of Israel today just as he did in the past, even though His guidance is often hidden. This understanding gives a person an infusion of faith regarding the ongoing development of the Jewish State. It also enables one to make thought-out decisions about the future when you understand that the national life and Redemption of Am Yisrael proceeds gradually in stages, which the Jerusalem Talmud compares to the slow breaking of dawn.

Your book, “The Prophecy" presents a convincing argument for recognizing the Divine Hand surrounding the establishment of the State of Israel by a unique blend of Biblical verses juxtaposed with photographs and explanations. Why did you trouble to back up your assertions with so many facts and figures?

Everyone acknowledges that the terrible prophecies of our national destruction came to pass during our wanderings in exile. Moshe Rabeinu describes it as, ‘And you shall perish amongst the heathen nations, and the land of your enemies shall devour you,’ (Vayikra, 26:36). The prophet Ezekiel pictures the Diaspora as a valley of dry bones, saying, ‘These bones are the whole house of Israel,’ (Ezekiel, 37:1). Can there be any greater evidence of this than photographs of Auschwitz? Wherever we wandered, after briefs periods of respite and prosperity, the wrath of the Gentiles swept down upon us like a reaper’s scythe.

At the same time, for almost 2000 years, the Land of Israel lay barren and fallow, as the prophet Jeremiah declares: ‘Therefore is your land a ruin, and an astonishment and a curse, without inhabitant,’ (Jeremiah, 44:22). Foreign nations endeavored to cultivate the Holy Land without success. On a visit to Palestine in 1869, the American writer Mark Twain noted in his diary, Innocents Abroad, ‘Of all the lands there are for dismal scenery, I think Palestine must be the prince. The hills are barren, they are dull of color; they are non-picturesque in shape. The valleys are unsightly deserts fringed with a feeble vegetation that has an expression about it of being sorrowful and despondent.’

Just as we acknowledge that prophesies of destruction were fulfilled, we are called upon to also recognize the Providence of Hashem in the awe-inspiring ingathering, rebuilding, and national revival which we have witnessed in modern times, as the prophecy promises: ‘Behold O my People, I will open your graves, and cause you to come out of your graves, and bring you into the Land of Israel,’

No one can deny the ingathering of Jews to Israel from all over the world, but perhaps, as some people say, given the secular nature of modern Zionism, this mere physical revival of the Nation isn’t the awaited Redemption?

All of the Prophets see the beginning of Israel’s Redemption in the return of the Jewish People to Eretz Yisrael from around the world. For example, Moshe Rabeinu declares: ‘Then the L-rd your G-d will turn your captivity and have compassion on you, and will return and gather you from all the nations…. If your outcasts will be in the farthest parts of the heaven, from there will the L-rd thy G-d gather and fetch you, and bring you into the Land which your fathers possessed, and you will possess it, and he will do you good and multiply you more than your fathers, (Devarim, 30:3-4).

The prophecy emphasizes that the ingathering will come from the most distant places, and that the Jewish population will multiply greatly. Hasn’t this happened in the last few hundred years? At first, the process began very slowly, then steadily increased. 450 years ago, Rabbi Yosef Caro and the Arizal arrived in Tzfat. Several thousand followed their call to make Aliyah. 200 years later, the Rashash came from Yemen. The Orach Haim HaKodesh came from Morocco. At the same time, the Gaon of Vilna and the Baal Shen Tov encouraged their students from Europe and Russia to immigrate to Israel and dwell in the Holy Land.

By 1880, there were 24,000 Jews living in the country. Then, miraculously, within the next century, the number swelled to 6.5 million.

Nearly all of the Prophets of Israel repeat this theme of mass ingathering, each in his own fashion. The physical ingathering marks the beginning of a gradually developing process. At a later stage, the spiritual side of the Nation is strengthened, as Ezekiel explains: ‘Then I will sprinkle clean water upon you, and you shall be clean, from all of your impurities, and from all of your idols, I will cleanse you. A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you… and I will cause you to follow My statutes, and you shall keep My judgments and do them. And you shall dwell in the Land that I gave to you fathers, and you shall be My People, and I will be your G-d,’ (Ezekiel, 36:25-28).

As HaRav Tzvi Yehuda told us time and again on Yom HaAtzmaut, all we had to do was open our eyes and see the growing movement of t’shuva that has accompanied the rebirth of the Land. Today, Baruch Hashem, Jerusalem is the Torah capital of the world. Everywhere you look in Israel, there are new yeshivot, religious seminaries for girls, synagogues, mikvaot, Talmudei Torah, pre-army Torah academies, and Hesder Yeshivot.

What do you mean by ‘the rebirth of the Land’?

Citing a prophecy of Ezekiel (36:8), the Talmud states that the surest sign that the Exile is ending is when the trees of the Land of Israel bring forth their fruits in abundance: ‘Rabbi Aba stated, there is no greater revealed End of the Exile than this, as it says, ‘But you, O mountains of Israel, shall shoot forth your branches, and yield your fruit to My People Israel, for they shall soon be coming,’ (Sanhedrin 98A).

Look how the former wasteland has become a leading world exporter of fruit. Jaffa oranges are famous all over the globe. Even Holland buys our flowers. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Israel’s average agricultural bounty per dunam is three times higher than the international standard.

In what other spheres have the visions of the Prophets found fulfillment in the rebirth of modern Israel?

Israel’s economy today is one of the most prosperous and stable in the world, as Moshe foretells, ‘And the L-rd shall make you plenteous in goods, in the fruit of your body, and in the fruit of your cattle, and in the fruit of your ground, in the Land which the L-rd swore to give to your fathers,’ (Devarim, 28:11).

The profound wisdom of the Jewish People has also found national and international expression via its contributions to science, medicine, computer and digital technology, to cite just a few, earning it the appellation, ‘Start-Up Nation,’ in accord with the prophecy, ‘And all of the families of the earth shall be blessed in you,’ (Bereshit, 12:2).

Why did you include so much research data in your book, including comparative tables and graphs, and not let the prophecies speak for themselves?

Not everyone has a rich Torah background. Many people need to see empirical evidence before they make up their minds. Secular Jews educated in universities, and non-Jews, are more at home with facts and figures than faith in Biblical texts.

Often, a criticism is expressed is the haredi community regarding the celebration of Yom HaAtzmaut when the country’s military might is glorified, like when our jet fighters fly over our cities and coastline with blue-and-white stripes in their wake.

Jet fighters also come from Hashem. In addition, people often overlook the incredible metaphysical transformation of the Jewish People in our return to our Homeland, from the frightened and impotent Jew of galut to the fearless freedom fighters of the Lehi and Etzel, and the heroic soldiers of the Hagana and Israel Defense Force.

In our exile in foreign lands, we are characterized by the prophecy, ‘And amongst those who are left alive, I will send a faintness into their hearts in the lands of their enemies, and the sound of a shaking leaf shall cause them to flee, as fleeing from a sword; and they shall fall when none pursues,’ (Vayikra, 26:36).

Behold, in our return to the Land of Israel, we rediscovered our valor and prowess of old, just as the Prophet proclaims: ‘And the remnant of Yaacov shall be in the midst of many peoples like dew from the L-rd, like a lion amongst the beasts of the forest, like a young lion among a flock of sheep, who if it accosts them, treads upon them, tears into pieces, and none can deliver,’ (Micah, 5:6-7).

In the short span of decades, Israel has become one of the most powerful military forces in the world, boasting soldiers who have an unparalleled willingness to sacrifice their lives for the Nation. May the continuing Providence of Hashem bring us speedily to a complete Redemption, for Israel and for the whole world. Amen.