In Response to the "Letter to the Editor" of the Flatbush Jewish Journal from Rabbi Morris Goldman of NJ

 

DIN: I came across this "letter to the editor" to the FJJ, The Flatbush Jewish Journal,  from a guy who calls himself "Rabbi Morris Goldman" and who lives in West Orange, New Jersey! This "Goldman" character is answering  a previous "letter to the editor" in the Flatbush Jewish Journal written by a Moshe Bodner in the January 30 edition of the FJJ

ASK THE RABBI? 

 The January 23, 2025 issue published an excerpt from the book Ask The Rabbi by Chaim Mintz, Artscroll Productions. The questioner acknowledged that secular Zionism is flawed and asked whether religious Zionism is also flawed? 

 The response was "Yes, the accepted Torah-true worldview based on Talmud (Kesuvos 111a) is that we are not to have any Jewish-run government at all until the arrival of Moshiach." As you are aware, many "Torah true" rabbis do not agree with Rabbi Mintz's view, and it is, at the very least, questionable whether we may rely on Aggadata for Psak Halacha. Is this position, that Religious Zionism is contrary to halacha, held by the FJJ ownership and editors? 

 Moshe Bodner Woodmere, NY

I must address the response of  "Rabbi" Goldman to the Bodner letter because the FJJ has a pretty large circulation and some readers may take Goldman's letter as fact when in truth it is full of half-truths and whole lies! 

I will break up his letter and respond to his fictitious thoughts! 

MG (Morris Goldman): In response to Moshe Bodner's letter last week in regards to the Torah Hashkafa about the religious Zionism ideology, in which he wrote that there are many ''Torah true rabbis'' that do not hold of Rabbi Mintz's view that religious Zionism is also flawed.

DIN: I don't know who this Rabbi Mintz is but I can say that Rabbi Mintz's view goes contrary to the Avnei Nezer, Drishas Tzyon, Netziv , Rav Teichtal, Rav Henkin etc . 

In fact we spoke a lot about this previously on this blog and we pointed out that the Gemarra that Rabbi Mintz quotes is an "aggadetta" and this view is not brought in the Rambam's Mishna Torah, nor is it brought down anywhere in the entire Shulchan Aruch! 

The gemarrah itself doesn't mention when this "oath" took place, with whom it took place, and who was there when it took place and where it took place!

 What is fascinating is that the Maharsha who is on constant alert and explains all aggadetas,  doesn't say one word and skips over this gemarrah! ! What is also interesting is that Ezra HaSofer totally ignored this quoted gamarrah and made Aliya and cursed those who remained in Baval!

 Not only that but most of the greatest Tzaddikim ignored that aggadeta and made Aliyah, The Ramban, The Gra and the Besht were on the way but were prevented for one reason or another but their Talmedim made aliya in mass! The Chafetz Chayim sold his home in Radin to make Aliyah but had to abandon his plans! The Gerer Rebbe, the Belzer Rebbe, The Biayler Rebbe, The Kloizinberger, Rav Chaim Zonninfeld, Rav Dushinsky,The Chazon Ish, The Steipler, Rav Shach, Rav Shteinman, ...I can go on and on..all made Aliyah!! And now I'll reveal a secret ...Even the Satmar Rebbe made Aliyah, but then relocated to the US after his Chassidim in Israel rejected him because of his terrible advice pre WW2 that Jews should not emigrate to the US as that was a "treifine medina" and to Israel as that was Zionistic! 

 MG: I just wanted to say that you can actually look at the archives of the Agudas Yisroel asifa in the 1930's,  in which a poll was conducted among the participating rabbis, and almost all the rabbis there were strongly against the founding of the state and against the ideology that they were trying to promote. You can see for yourself at how they write about the idea. 

DIN: The 3rd Knessiya Gedolah was held in Marienbad in Sept 1937 There was no "poll"!  At this conference, the Aguda reiterated their anti-Zionist positions and distanced themselves from the Mizrachi Movement that was founded by the great Gaon and Tzaddik Rav Yitzchok Yaakov Reines z"l! 

As an aside, note that the Netziv was one of the founders of the Choiveve Tzion, a Zionist Religious Organization encouraging a State ! 

Ironically, the Agudah took part in the St. James Palace Conference convened by the British just two years later early in 1939, and coordinated and partnered with the Zionists! Since you asked readers to "look at the archives" I did and found this fact! 

 But It's important to point out that the Agudah dropped its anti-Zionist position after the Holocaust, when they realized albeit too late that if a State had been established then it would have saved 6 million Jews! 

In fact, Aguda established a political party in Israel endorsed by its Gedoilim and appointed members who ran and won seats in the Zionist Knesset. So much for Rabbi Mintz's ridiculous arrogant opinions! 

MG: For example, R' Elchanan Wasserman who wrote against the Zionist movement very strongly. 

DIN: True, but if instead of fighting Zionism, he would have supported a State, he could have saved himself and his entire Yeshiva from annihilation! Most Chareidie Rabbanim dropped their anti-Zionism stance while witnessing the largest destruction of the Jewish people in its entire history! 

MG: And even among our Gedolim in America you can hear how R' Avigdor Miller speaks about it in every other speech in which he denounces the state and their leaders, and states that the entire founding of the state is against Halacha and hashkafa of a frum Torah jew.

DIN: I'm glad you brought up R' Avigdor Miller who I knew personally and was at his Q&A on Sunday in Flatbush many times! 

With all due respect to Rav Miller, he was in the USA in a warm comfortable home when my grandparents, uncles and aunts, cousins, and two brothers were being gassed to death! אינו דומה שמיעה לריאה! 

Rav Miller wrote a book  called "A Divine Madness' where he outrageously actually blames the Holocaust on Zionism!????

One could argue in reverse, the argument put forth by Rav Teictal in his sefer Eim Habanim Semicha, that the Holocaust happened because the Jews DIDN'T listen to the call of the Zionists, and instead chose to remain in the galuth! 

 Interesting that he refrained from publishing this work while he was alive, and kept it in his drawer in a manuscript, it was published posthumously by a grandchild ! Many Holocaust survivors were outraged, in fact, the Kloizinberger Rebbe z"l who lost a wife and 11 children in the Holocaust said in response to people who said they knew what the reason of the Holocaust was  "He who knows, would never speak, and He who speaks doesn't know"?

 It's important to point out that in the early 50s and 60s Neturei Karta  could not understand or speak English and it was Rav Avigdar Miller who translated all the Neturei Karta hate propaganda against the Jewish State from Yiddish into English! 

As far as Goldman's comment that "that the entire founding of the state is against Halacha and hashkafa of a frum Torah Jew." this statement is not only patently false but a total distortion of the views of Gedoilei Yisrael such as Hav Kalisher, Harav Reinis, the Netziv, Harav Kook, Rav Teichtal, Rav Henkin etc.and more recently the Rabbis of Gur, Belz, Slonim, Stolin and Rav Shach, Rav Chaim Kanievski, Rav Ovadia Yosef all who appointed their own members to the Zionist Knesset, and established their own parties! 

 MR:  That is besides for the fact that how can we forget the thousands that lost their whole heritage due to the state forcing them to cut off their payos and forcing them to desecrate the Shabbos. (for ex. Yaldei Taimen,Yaldei Tehran). 

DIN: I have to admit that this was a tragic period in the founding of the state, but I see that Goldman doesn't write the epilogue where Haaretz did a survey about two years ago and found that many of these descendants have now returned to Yiddishkeit and have beautiful families! While in the USA, children of Chareidie families have totally abandoned their Chareidie backgrounds and became OTD with many marrying shiksas! At least in Israel, there is a 95% chance according to the latest Pew Research Poll that a Chilonie will marry another Jew! 

MG: As mentioned, we must stay far away from these people that are trying to do everything in their power to make other things (that the Gedolim said is Kefira) more important than our holy Torah of the past thousands of years. I would like if the writer can please write in which rabbis you know that hold of such things. 

DIN: Yes, stay far away from us with your crazed childish false views! I listed above a partial tiny list from Hundreds of Great Talmeide Chachamim who do "hold such things"

Hey Goldman, what are you doing living in West Orange? How many of the residents are intermarried? How many are OTD? 

What I am amazed is that a guy calling himself "Rabbi" living in the comfort of his home in West Orange NJ, spews hate and vitriol on the Jewish people and their rabbanim living in Israel, while Jewish children in uniform are still dying, and millions of Goldman's brothers and sisters are still running to shelters! 

The Talmud in Chulin 63b states:

אמר רב אבהו, ראה זו איה, ולמה נקרא שמה ראה

עומדת בבבל וראה נבלה בארץ ישראל

"Rabbi Abahu said, the bird called Raah is the same bird called Ayah. Why is this bird called Raah? Because the bird stands in Babylon and can see a carcass in Eretz Yisrael!"

The Baal Shem Tov asks, if Hashem created this bird that it can see so well, why is this bird Tamei?

Mr. Goldman... Listen to his answer!

The Baal Shem Tov answers that if a person is in Chutz Le'aartz and sees a "neveilah" in Eretz Yisrael, he sees only bad things, he sees chilonim, he sees Zionists, a person like this can only be tamei! 

מי שפוסל במימו פוסל

Calling Rabbanim who are Religious Zionists... "Flawed!" Is being mevazeh Talmeidi Chachamim!  From Goldman's letter is משמע that one cannot be mevazeh Chareidie Rabbanim, but being mevazeh Religious Zionist Rabbanim is no problem! 

The Goldmans of this world are blind to the fact that the Ribbono Shel Olam orchestrated the founding of the State so that all Jews would have a home, no questions asked! Pretty soon the goyim in West Orange New Jersey are going to round up the Jews there, where will the Goldmans run?? 

 MG: Rabbi Morris Goldman West Orange, New Jersey

DIN: The Mintzs and the Goldmans of this world are not bringing us any closer to Mashiach!