In a few days we will celebrate Yom HaAtzmaut, Israel’s independence. In the next few days i would like to share with you a little about the history of modern Zionism, and how it happened that many Jews, despite not being observant, were part of the miraculous establishment of the State of Israel. As we learn more about what happened in the past, we will become more aware of our incredible privilege, and we will hopefully celebrate with greater gratitude to HaShem the miracle of the existence of the Jewish State.

NAPOLEON AND THE JEWS

To understand the impact of Zionism on modern Jewish history we must go back to the times of the French revolution in 1789. In the famous “Declaration of the Rights of Men and Citizens” France declared for the first time the freedom of worship, something that might seem natural to us today, but in those times it was an unprecedented event. A few years later the famous Napoleon Bonaparte designated Judaism as one of the official religions of France, and officially granted the Jews the right to French citizenship. Until then, Jews were “tolerated” as a non-grata minority, were discriminated against and had no access to education or to the exercise of the most common professions.

This great gesture of Napoleon, however, was not free of charge. Jews had to make some compromises. Jews had to commit to adopt the laws and the French constitution, as their highest authority, just as all other citizens did. To make this statement official by all Jews, Napoleon ordered the creation of a new institution, the Sanhedrin, which would become the official spokesman for the 40,000 French Jews.

THE GREAT SANHEDRIN

This Sanhedrin was com posed by 71 notable European Jews, most of them rabbis. The Sanhedrin had its first official meeting on February 9, 1807. The Sanhedrin had to make very difficult decisions to avoid any conflicts between Jewish law and French law. For example, in civil matters. A few illustrations: Polygamy, which anyways not longer applied since Rabenu Gershom, was formally prohibited. A Jewish man or woman that got divorced by a rabbinical court (get) was required to have a civil divorce in order to remarry. Civil marriages would be recognized, even mixed marriages. But most important to our subject, and to Napoleon, Jews now declared France as their only motherland, whom they would love and protect, even with arms if necessary. The Jews, now emancipated, “were no longer part of a nation” apart from France; and by accepting French citizenship “they renounced to their aspiration of a collective exodus that will take them back to the promised land”.

THE LAST ANTIDOTE TO ASSIMILATION?

Rabbi and historian Berel Wein explains that Napoleon was primarily interested in seeing Jews assimilating. Napoleon’s external tolerance and impartiality towards Jews was actually based on his grand plan for Jews to disappear entirely through assimilation, mixed marriages and conversion. And Napoleon’s plan seemed to be working perfectly. In fact, thousands of Jews abandoned religious practice, assimilated, and in many cases converted to Catholicism. And all to be fully accepted by the Gentile society.  But there was one element that Napoleon did not take into account in his plan: the depth of European anti-Semitism. For more than a thousand years Jews were accused of being the deicidal people (those who killed Yeshu); poisoning water wells to kill innocent Christians, and being parasites (since they didn’t work one day a week), etc. These anti-Semitic prejudices were not erased with the French revolution. And in this sense, as Rabbi Kook explained , anti-Semitism represented the last “Providential” barrier that avoided assimilation and the total disappearance of the people of Israel.

THE DREYFUS AFFAIR

One of the best examples of the social rejection of the Jews, however loyal they were to their homeland, is represented by the case of Captain Dreyfus. Alfred Dreyfus was a patriotic, loyal French Jew. From a young age he entered the French army where he made a great military career. In 1894 the French discovered that certain classified information was reaching the enemy side: Germany. The accused was Dreyfus. The evidence against him was very weak, but Dreyfus had already been found guilty because of his Jewish status. The French people had already condemned him in the streets shouting: Death to Dreyfus! Death to the Jews! Colonel Georges Picquart discovered that the real spy was Ferdinand Esterhazy, and that Dreyfus was innocent. But the High Command already got the “perfect culprit”, which French society easily accepted. Picquart was ordered to remain silent and upon his refusal he was sent to a military base in Tunis. Dreyfus was accused of treason, degraded militarily, humiliated and sent to the famous “Devil’s Island”, a penitentiary where prisoners were sent to die. Dreyfus was eventually exonerated. But the Dreyfus case left its mark.

It took practically a century for Western European Jews to learn the painful lesson: Abandoning Judaism or the idea of ​​”Jewish people”, or leaving aside the aspiration to return to the promised land, did not help Jews to be accepted as ordinary French citizens. No matter how much they did to become more French than the French, in the eyes of the Gentiles, they did not belong.

The Dreyfus affair had a very strong impact in a young Austrian Jewish lawyer, who realized that assimilation did not work to eliminate anti-Semitism. And he had a vision that, while secular, was prophetic. Biblical. That young man was Theodore Herzl. And his vision: a Jewish State.

To be continued

This is a very special  Shabbat. One that marks the transition between two very important historical milestones, diametrically opposed, that affected and profoundly changed the Jewish people.

On the one hand, this past Thursday we commemorated Yom HaShoah, the day of the remembrance of the Holocaust. On the other hand, this coming Wednesday night (May 4th), we will celebrate Yom ha’Atzmaut, the day of the Independence of the State of Israel.

We Jews have suffered countless persecutions, massacres, and pogroms. In all lands and at all times. But we never experienced anything as sinister as the Shoah. Both in absolute and relative terms, there was never such a devastating massacre of Jews, as the Holocaust that took place in Europe between 1940 and 1945.

Remember when no one dared to oppose the Third Reich, and the hesitations of Winston Churchill and the Allies who were about tom give up. Or when the Nazis exterminated half a million Hungarian Jews in just 6 months. Or when the Nazis were preparing the gas chambers in Tunisia to transport there and gas the Jews of North Africa, Palestine, Syria, Iran, and Iraq. The Jewish people never saw their end so close. We never ever had lost our hope so much. We never felt so clearly that we were irremediable, hopeless, and condemned to die.

Or already dead…

And then, in just 3 years, which in terms of the millennial Jewish history is less than the blink of an eye, the greatest miracle that the Tora (Debarim 30) and all our prophets had promised so long ago finally happened. The KIBBUTS GALUYOT – the return of the people of Israel to our land – began. HaShem, literally, opened our graves, He took us from below the ground, and brought us back home – to the beautiful land of Israel.

More than 2500 years ago, the prophet Ezekiel (Yehezqel) had a very special prophetic vision (nebua). In this vision Yehezqel finds himself transported to a valley. As he looks around him, he sees that the valley is filled with bones – dry, human bones.

Ezekiel sees it and remains silent. HaShem then asks him: “Son of a man: Do you believe that these bones can come back to life?”

Nothing is more dead than dry bones. Looking at them, with humility, perplexity, and common sense Yehezqel replied “HaShem, only You can know it “

Suddenly there was a deafening noise. The bones began to move. They joined with each other and formed skeletons. The skeletons then were covered with veins, then nerves, muscles, and flesh. And then they were covered by skin. Now they were not bones but human bodies. But without life. Corpses. HaShem told Ezekiel: “Prophesy so that these bodies will come to life … so a soul will enter these bodies and that they shall live again.” And so it was. “And a breath of life entered those bodies and they stood up. It was a great army, very numerous.” And HaShem said to Ezekiel, “Son of man, these bones are the house of Israel. They might say: ‘our bones have dried up, our hope is lost, we have been condemned [to disappear].’ Therefore, prophesy and tell [the people of Israel]: thus says HaShem, God: Behold, I will open your sepulchers, and I will raise you up from your graves and bring you to the land of Israel …

It is impossible not to connect this intense prophecy with 1945 and 1948.
In 1945 we were condemned to disappear. We were dry bones, or worse: ashes. And then, when everyone thought that we had disappeared for good; that we would never be a people again, and that all the ancient prophecies would never be fulfilled, the greatest miracle occurred: HaShem opened our graves,  our crematoriums, rescued us, and gave us back our lives. But His miracle did not end there. The inconceivable happened. HaShem fulfilled what He had promised us 3500 years ago: We returned to our land and established the State of Israel. We saw His Providence, and we become witnesses of His faithfulness to fulfill His promise. As Ezekiel had prophesied: “And when I open your graves, and take you out of them, My people, and lead you to your land, you will know that I, HaShem, I have promised, and I have delivered. “

SHABBAT SHALOM

THE CIRCLE CLOSES

The history of the Libyan Jewish community in the 20th century involves a lot of suffering. First under the dictatorship of Benito Mussolini, then under the Nazi regime, and at end of the Second World War, the Jews of Libya were also victims of attacks and programs by the local Arab population. Finally, in 1969 Libyan Jews suffered horrific discrimination imposed by General Muammar Gadaffi, which was exceptionally cruel to the few Jews who remained there.

On the other hand, the Libyan Jewish community had always a very important ally: the State of Israel, which even before it was born, was there to help. The brief history that I am about to tell you today represents a little of the spirit of these days in the Hebrew calendar: the transition from the Holocaust towards the creation of the Jewish State: Medinat Israel.

MUSSOLINI AND THE JEWS

There is evidence that Jews lived in Sirte, Libya, as early as the 13th century before the Common Era. This Jewish community was one of the oldest in the world. But we are focused now on the 20th century. From 1911 to 1951 when it gained its independence, Libya was an Italian protectorate. The early years of Mussolini were not so bad for the Jews of Italy and Libya. But their situation got worse in 1936 when Mussolini made a pact with Hitler. Anti-Jewish decrees were established in Italy and its protectorates. At the end of the 1930s there were more than 30,000 Jews in Libya, especially in the capital Tripoli, where Jews constituted 25% of the total population. They had 44 synagogues. Under Mussolini Jews were forced to open their businesses on Saturday, for the sake of “contributing to Italy’s economy”. Many objected, until the authorities, as an exemplary measure, executed two Jewish merchants. Italy’s infamous racial laws prohibited Jews from accessing high school or college education. Jews were also banned from working in government organizations, banks, or municipal offices. And all their official documents had to bear a stamp that said “Jew”.

In June 1940, Italy officially entered the war and sided with Germany. Thousands of Libyan Jews were sent to labor camps within Libya for construction work or to build military routes, just as had happened in Morocco and Algeria, and most survived. But Libyan Jews who had English citizenship were sent to death camps in Europe, such as Bergen-Belsen, where many died of starvation, typhus, or exhaustion.

A CONCENTRATION CAMP IN AN ISLAMIC COUNTRY

In February 1942 Mussolini ordered the establishment of a concentration camp in the city of Giado, 200 kilometers south of Tripoli, to take the Jews there. In June 1942, the Italians had already deported a total of 2,584 Jews to Giado. The conditions of life in the camp were impossible. The camp was crowded: dozens of families slept in a four-meter space and were separated only by bedding and blankets. The daily food rations consisted of a few grams of rice, oil, sugar, and coffee substitute. Men over the age of 18 were sent to forced labor every day. Water scarcity, malnutrition, overcrowding, and dirt intensified the spread of contagious diseases. And the Italian guards enjoyed humiliating the Jews. Of the nearly 2,600 Jews sent to Giado, 562 died of weakness and hunger, and especially of typhoid and typhus. The Giado concentration camp not only recruited workers but entire families. In this sense, this camp was the closest to a European concentration camp that could be found in North Africa. And it had the highest number of Jewish victims in Islamic countries during World War II.

THE BIG SURPRISE

In early 1943, British forces were defeating the Nazis and the fascists. The big surprise for Libya’s Jews was to encounter among the soldiers fighting to liberate Libya some “Israeli” soldiers, that is, young Jewish fighters coming from the Holy Land, then under British control, who had training in Jewish combat units, Lechi, Hagana, etc. After 1948 the fighters serving in those units formed the Israeli Army. The presence of these soldiers obviously created a great positive impact on the morale of the poor Jews of Tripoli and Benghazi. But the sufferings of the Libyan Jewish community did not end with the end of the Second World War.

In 1945, when the Jewish soldiers returned to Israel, there was a terrible pogrom carried out by the local Arabs in which close to 150 Jews were killed.

In 1948 some 3,000 Jews illegally escaped to Israel. This immigration started the redemption of the Libyan Jewish community towards a greater future!

In 1949, finally, England legalized immigration to Israel, and the remaining 30,000 Jews left. Only 700 Jews remained in Libya.

In 1967 during the Six-Day War 17 Jews were killed.

GADAFI BUILDS A CAMP

In 1969 when Muammar Gaddafi came to power, he decided to make life impossible for the few Jews who were still there. He did it the best Nazi-style. Jewish property was confiscated. The debts owed to the Jews were canceled. Jews were prohibited from leaving the country. And Gaddafi ordered the Jews to be taken to a detention camp where they were forced to stay for several months!

Yom HaShoah day of remembrance ended last night. However today I decided to write about what Libyan Jews suffered in the Holocaust and beyond because, despite all the pain and losses, the community had a happy ending. In the 1970s the Jews who remained in Libya were able to escape. Many settled in Rome, Milan, London, or New York. But the majority live nowadays in Medinat Israel.

Today, Baruch HaShem, there is not a single Jew left in Libya.

אין לנו על מי להשען אלא אבינו שבשמים

In the war of 1948, Israel miraculously defeated the five Arab countries that attacked her, after Israel declared its independence on Iyar 5, May 14 of that same year.

As we have already mentioned, none of the world powers at that time, the United States, France and England, came out to defend Israel. On the contrary, these countries established an arms embargo that placed Israel on the brink of extermination. Israel’s triumph in 1948 was, in my own words, a miracle of biblical proportions.

THE PARALYSIS OF THE ENEMY

After the first ceasefire, when the war started again, the Arab forces were paralyzed. Despite having Israel surrounded on all sides, the enemy did not advance. As if something was stopping them. Israel, on the other hand, began its counteroffensive, regaining territory and conquering land beyond the original borders. The prophecies that the Tora had announced in the Parasha we read this last Shabbat were fulfilled. The Creator promises His people (Leviticus 26: 7-8) that He will be with them when they go to war: “You will chase your enemies, and they will fall by the sword before you. Five of you will chase a hundred, and a hundred of you will chase ten thousand, and your enemies will fall by the sword before you. “

“YOU SHALL NOT BE UNGRATEFUL”

We Jews must be infinitely grateful to HaShem for His Providential intervention. As King David wrote in his Psalms, when he was saved from a certain death “I will sing Your praises and I will not remain silent; HaShem, my God, I will thank you forever. “  A Jew —who is permanently training himself to see Divine Intervention in his personal life— who does not see or does not declare his or her gratitude  to God for the birth and survival of Medinat Israel, in my opinion, is not only spiritually blind but is also accountable for the great sin of ingratitude. And there is no worse ingratitude than ingratitude to God.

ENGLAND, OF ARABIA

Of the three countries mentioned, the one that harmed Israel the most was Great Britain. England remained passive while thinking that Israel was going to lose the war. But intervened when realizing that Israel might win.

A couple of examples.

√ Jordan had the direct support of the English. The English trained their troops and supervised all their operations, especially in the fight for Jerusalem, which costed many Jewish lives. When Israel began to counterattack and bombed Jordan’s capital Amman, in reaction to the ongoing bombings of Tel Aviv, England threatened to destroy Tel-Aviv’s airports with its Royal Air Force. Israel had to withdraw.

√ In early January 1949, Israel, against all odds, was winning the war. Israel bombed Cairo and Damascus, and the Jewish army continued to advance towards the Suez Canal. The United Nations rushed to demand a ceasefire and declare an armistice. Israel, against its own interests, accepted the armistice. At that time Israel had already conquered Gaza, Rafiah, and much of the Sinai peninsula. And according to international law territories conquered in the war belong to the country that wins the war. THIS IS WHAT HAPPENED WITH ALL THE COUNTRIES OF THE WORLD THROUGHOUT HISTORY.

ISRAEL IS DIFFERENT

Now: In an action that went against all historical precedents and military conquests, including the conquests of the English colonies themselves, Great Britain denied Israel this right. And threatened to intervene militarily against Israel if the Jewish State did not return the conquered territory, the Sinai peninsula, Gaza, Rafiah, to Egypt (A history of Israel. Howard Sachar, page 346). David Ben Gurion was strongly opposed to this unprecedented concession. Ben Gurion considered it unfair and inconceivable that the Arabs would not pay a price for the war that they themselves had launched!  And no one would have required the Arabs to give up their military conquests, if they had defeated Israel.

Ben Gurion said that Israel will return the Arabs the conquered territories when the Arabs return to Israel the 6,000 Jews who died in the war that they started”

HOW DO YOU SAY “PRESSURE” IN ENGLAND?

But the international pressure was so great that Israel, completely isolated, had to give in.

To this day Israel continues to pay the price for this concession.

Why?

Firstly, because the outrageous international impunity enjoyed by any country or organization.  that attacks Israel,  encourages them to attack Israel again.

Second, because Israel inadvertently set a very dangerous precedent: Israel is willing to accept conditions that are not required of any other country in the world! Like, “return” conquered territory, or repatriate enemies (Palestinian refugees) who voluntarily fled a war that their own allies started!

Instead of “bringing more peace” Israel’s permanent concessions only encouraged the Arab countries, with the approval of the great powers, to demand more and more from Israel.

Until today, in the United Nations, Israel is not considered as just one more state. Israel is the only country in the world that can be threatened with extermination without fear of global condemnation.  Israel is the only country that is permanently condemned, and accused of the very crimes that its accusers perpetrate with impunity, with the complicit silence of the United Nations.

As Bil’am prophetically said (Bemidbar 23: 9):  Israel  “is a nation isolated [by other nations] and that other peoples do not consider [Israel as one of them ].  We cannot forget that the nations of the world abandoned us when we needed them most: “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it”. 

אם-יִהְיֶה נִדַּחֲךָ, בִּקְצֵה הַשָּׁמָיִם מִשָּׁם, יְקַבֶּצְךָ ה ‘אֱלֹהֶיךָ, וּמִשָּׁם, יִקָּחֶךָ. וֶהֱבִיאֲךָ ה ‘אֱלֹהֶיךָ, אֶל-הָאָרֶץ אֲשֶׁר-יָרְשׁוּ אֲבֹתֶיךָ וִירִשְׁתָּהּ; וְהֵיטִבְךָ וְהִרְבְּךָ, מֵאֲבֹתֶיךָ

  4 ‘דברים ל

The Tora speaks of reward and punishment for the mitsvot we do or fail to do. There are penalties established for individuals and collective punishments, which affect the entire Jewish people. The most severe collective punishment that the Tora stipulates for the rebellion of Israel is “exile”. So says, for example, Debarim 28: 64-65 “And then [if Israel abandons my Tora] HaShem will scatter you among all the nations, from one end of the earth to the other …. among those nations you will not find peace or a resting place … You will live in constant suspense, filled with dread both night and day, never sure of your life … “.

But just as the Tora predicted the rebellion of Am Israel and the horrors of the exile, it also predicted the reconciliation and the return of Israel to their land (qibbuts galuiyot).

In chapter 30 of the book of Debarim (Deut.) This process is explicitly described. Let’s analyze it verse by verse.

In the previous chapter, as we said, the Tora states that if the people of Israel leave the Tora they will be taken into exile and live oppressed and persecuted by the nations. Now, the Tora says that a new thought will awake within the Jew.

30:1 “And when all these [bad] things will happen to you (= exile, persecution, suffering) … and you would reflect in your heart, while you are among the nations where HaShem your God has led you … “. This pasuq describes the beginning of Teshuba, our return to HaShem. This reconciliation begins with us. First, with a new way of thinking. Understanding that all the suffering, the bad things that happened to the nation of Israel, was predicted by the Tora thousands of years ago. Thereore,  and this is the “new” thinking, if leaving HaShem has caused all this suffering, if we return to Him, our exile and tribuations will end. This thought should awake a feeling: feeling closer to Hashem, realizing that He loves us as a father loves his children.

This is what the next pasuq says

30:2 “And then you woud come closer to HaShem your God and obey his voice,  all I’m commanding you this day, you and your children, with all your heart and with all your soul.” These thoughts and feelings must be translated into actions: observing the Tora, our covenant with HaShem. In a way, by observing the mitzvot the individual Jew is “resetting” the dormant covenant with HaShem, reactivating it.

Once we take the first step, it is the turn of HaShem. The greatest miracle is about to be detailed:

30:3 “And then [when this happens] HaShem your God will bring you back from among the captives (= the Jews who were exiled among all the nations of the earth), and He will have compassion on you, and He will gather you from all the peoples where HaShem your God has scattered you. “

HaShem’s response to our Teshuba is qibbuts galuiyot, ending our exile, bringing us back from all the nations of the earth to our own land.

Thus says the following pasuq

30:4 “Even if you have been banished to the most distant land under the heavens,  from there HaShem your God will gather you and bring you back  [to your land].”

No matter how far we are. HaShem will bring us back from exile. And would He take us?

30: 5 “HaShem your God will bring you into the land which your fathers possessed, and you will take possession of it. He will make you more prosperous and numerous than your ancestors.”

The process of returning to the land of Israel is taking place today. More and more Jews return to the land that Hashem granted to our parents. Israel is a very prosperous country, more porsperous than ever, and the number of Yehudim living there has never been higher. No doubt there is still much to do and improve, but the fact is that our collective reconciliation but HaShem has begun. We are probably the most privileged generation of all Jewish history. We are living this ancient and beautiful prophecy. Moreover,  we ARE that prophecy.