Yom Ha’atzmaut
Yom
Ha’atzmaut Teacher’s Guide
Introduction
The purpose of this
lesson is to examine numerous Biblical and Talmudic texts that imply that the
modern settlement of the Land of Israel and the establishment of the State of
Israel were part of a Divinely ordained plan to begin the redemption of the
Jewish people. This would mean that Yom Ha'atzmaut, the day the State of Israel
was established, has major religious significance to the Jewish people. This
lesson will try to show that it behooves us to offer praise and thanks God for
the establishment of the State of Israel.
Some teachers may
prefer to simply bring the sources on one source sheet instead of leaving space
for the students to write their answers. Teachers should feel free to adapt the
worksheet to suit their particular needs.
The text selections
in this lesson appear in English, as many computers are not Hebrew enabled. The
Hebrew texts are available as an appendix at the
end of the teacher's guide for those teachers whose computers are Hebrew
enabled.
Section 1:
Ownership of the Land
Suggested answer
to Question 1
a) "…to you and
your descendants ('zera')".
Some students may say
that the Arabs (through Yishmael) are also descendants of Avraham and that
they, therefore, also have a legitimate Biblical claim to Eretz Yisrael.
Avraham, in the same
chapter, asks God the same question:
"Avraham said to
God: 'If only Yishmael could live before you.' God answered Avraham: 'But Sarah
your wife will bear for you a son. You will call him 'Yitzchak'. I will
establish My covenant with him and his descendants after him, as an eternal
covenant.'"
Bereshit 17:18-19
God clearly says that
only Yitzchak's descendants (as only he is the son of Sarah) qualify for this
covenant. In the following verses (20-21), God goes on to promise that Yishmael
is destined for greatness in other ways, but then reaffirms that the covenant
applies to Yitzchak alone.
Furthermore, when
Sarah forces Yishmael to leave her home out of concern over his bad influence
on Yitzchak, God tells Avraham to listen to Sarah because: "…only Yitzchak
I have proclaimed as your descendant (zera)" (Bereshit 21:12).
b) " an
everlasting covenant", i.e. the Jewish people are the eternal inheritors
of the Land of Israel.
Suggested Answer
for Question 2
If God has promised
that the Land of Israel is the Jewish people's eternal inheritance, students
may ask how it was possible that that the Jews have not actually possessed it
for large portions of world history.
This quote explains
that while we remain the owners of the land, we can lose possession of it if we
do not fulfill our part of the covenant, i.e. to follow the way of God.
Nevertheless, exile can only be temporary, as the Jews remain the owners since
the covenant is in fact, eternal.
This is indeed, what
happened as the Jews lost possession of the land around the year 70 CE. As a
result, many peoples still dispute the Jewish people’s claim to the land.
Section 2: The
Land in Exile
Suggested Answer
for Question 3
a) This text selection
prepares the groundwork for question 4, which shows that the Land of Israel
remained relatively uninhabited until the Jews began returning to it from the
late nineteenth century onwards. Of course, there were people dwelling in the
land, but only very few, and no inhabitants managed to establish an independent
country there, making it their home.
Concerning the
jackals, point out that these animals are scavengers who search for food in
ruins. When cities are inhabited, they are too frightened to enter. Therefore,
seeing a jackal in a city would imply that it is uninhabited.
b) At first glance it
seems that God is punishing the Jewish people by making their land desolate and
uninhabitable. However, as Rashi points out, God is actually preserving it for
them, so that they can return to it later on.
Suggested Answer
for Question 4
a) It is important to
mention that Mark Twain was describing the land in the mid- 1800's. The Jews
began returning to it in the late 1800's. From that point onwards, the land
began to bloom and become inhabited.
b) Obviously, this
description implies that the Torah, written thousands of years earlier, was
spot on in its prophecy.
Section 3: The
People in Exile
Suggested answer
to Question 5
a) "…God will
then scatter you among the nations."
This question deals
with the exile. Jews will be scattered to every country on earth. It would be a
useful to ask the students to discuss their ancestry and to count how many
countries they originate from. The Jewish Agency's Aliya department also has a
famous advertisement with photographs of Jews from many different countries and
cultures. It would be a good idea to bring it to the class if you can.
b) The second quote
deals with anti-Semitism. The nations of the world will hate us whilst we are
in exile.
c) At the same time
the Jews will live and suffer a horrible existence.
You may want to ask
your students if they have ever experienced any anti-Semitism, or whether they
feel that it exists.
Obviously,
anti-Semitism is not as overt and obvious as it once was. This is very good.
Nevertheless, you may want to ask your students to research by asking their
grandparents, what anti-Semitism was like before the State of Israel was
established.
Suggested Answer
for Question 6
The purpose of this
question is to show that whilst anti-Semitism may be virtually non-existent
today, it is something that Jews have experienced since the first day the exile
began.
Be careful not to get
too sidetracked when discussing anti-Semitism.
Section 4: The
Return of the Jews
Suggested Answer
for Question 7
a) The question
states: "What do you think…?" and therefore any answer will do. Peshat-wise,
it is merely using descriptive language to explain that however far Jews are
from Eretz Yisrael, they will return. Suggest that perhaps it refers to Jews
who have been totally cut off from their people or from Judaism, who will still
find a way home.
b) Once again it is
a: "Do you think" question. Point out that Jews from almost every
country under the sun have made Aliya to Israel. Look at the Aliya figures in the appendix section of this guide.
You may also want to
ask the students to think about why a Jew whose ancestors have not lived in
Israel for 2,000 years, would want to return there because its his home. Do
Chinese or African Americans feel a strong desire to return to their ancestral
home after even two generations - do they feel a strong connection? Can any
American even identify themselves as a descendant of the original pilgrims who
came on the Mayflower, never mind whether they feel any connection at all to
their original home in Europe? How come the Jews can?
Suggested Answer
for Question 8
The purpose of this
question is to tie this prophecy with today's reality, where the land is
blooming. Ask the students who have visited Israel to say whether their
experiences of Israel matched Mark Twains' or the Torah's exilic description or
Yechezkel's description here.
You may want to bring
in Israeli produce into the classroom and give everyone a taste.
There seems to be a
fulfillment of the Biblical prophecies.
Suggested Answer
for Question Nine
This question begins
to deal whether we are in the Messianic Age. Both Rabbi Abba's and Rabbi Chiya
Ruba’s comments suggests that our generation might be experiencing the
beginning of the redemption.
Whilst there are many
texts that support the theory that what we are experiencing is the Messianic
Era, you may want to discuss whether modern Zionism's successes have actually
been the work of God. After all, most of Zionism's founders and leaders were
non-believers and their achievements were those of hard working human beings.
You will need to discuss how Judaism sees God's hand in the simplest to the
most complicated of things—the growing of a blade of grass, the birth of a
child and in the technological progress of Man. Why should they not see God's
hand in this long and complicated process that led to the establishment of the
State of Israel?
Suggested Answer
for Question 10
Explain the meaning
of the term, i.e. "the beginnings of the budding of our redemption".
Note how the Rabbinate used an agricultural term, perhaps to hint at the
agricultural blooming of the land.
This is a very
cautious phrase. The Rabbinate has not declared the State of Israel to be
"our redemption" and nor have they even called it the "beginning
of our redemption". It is merely the beginning of the beginning. This also
suggests that if we are not careful, it can all go wrong; after all, the threat
in the Shema, which we read twice a day, still applies.
Nevertheless, even
though the day to day running of the State of Israel is not exactly what we
have been dreaming about for 2,000 years, it is fair to say that Jewish
settlement in Eretz Yisrael has made major strides with almost 40% of world
Jewry living in Israel. Even though the redemption is not yet complete, major
prophecies have come true. It is inconceivable that a believing Jew would
ignore God's role in its establishment and not be grateful to Him for it.
Surely, we must be grateful to God for what we have and give Him praise for what
He has given us.
Conclusion
This lesson has tried
to show that the creation of the State of Israel was a Divine act and that the
state itself is a gift from God. There are many other issues to discuss such
as:
a) Ahavat Ha'Aretz
- the love of Eretz Yisrael
b) The opposition of
many rabbinical leaders to Zionism
c) The fact that the
State of Israel is a secular country
d) Aliya
We will try to deal
with these issues in future lessons.
Hebrew Texts
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åÄéãÇòÀúÌÆí ëÌÄé-àÂðÄé ä':
ñðäãøéï
ö"ç ò"à
àîø øáé àáà àéï ìê ÷õ îâåìä îæä ùðàîø åàúí äøé éùøàì òðôëí úúðå åôøéëí
úùàå ìòîé éùøàì åâå'
îñëú
éåîà ãó éã/à ôø÷ â äìëä á âîøà
ø'
çééà øåáä åø"ù áï çìôúà äåå îäìëéï áäãà á÷òú àøáì á÷øéöúà øàå àéìú äùçø
ùá÷ò àåøä à"ø çééà øåáä ìø"ù áï çìôúà áø ø' ëê äéà âàåìúï ùì éùøàì
áúçéìä ÷éîòà ÷éîòà ëì ùäéà äåìëú äéà äåìëú åîàéø...
|
U.S.S.R.
and C.I.S. |
813,708 |
|
Morocco,
Algeria and Tunisia |
345,753 |
|
Romania |
273,957 |
|
Poland
|
171,753 |
|
Iraq
|
130,302 |
|
Iran
|
76,000 |
|
United
States |
71,480 |
|
Turkey
|
61,374 |
|
Yemen
|
51,158 |
|
Ethiopia
|
48,624 |
|
Argentina |
43,990 |
|
Bulgaria
|
42,703 |
|
Egypt
and Sudan |
37,548 |
|
Libya |
35,865 |
|
France
|
31,172 |
|
Hungary
|
30,316 |
|
India |
26,759 |
|
United
Kingdom |
26,236 |
|
Czechoslovakia
|
23,984 |
|
Germany |
17,912 |
|
South
Africa |
16,277 |
|
Yugoslavia |
10,141 |
|
Syria
|
10,078 |
Source: Jerusalem Report
Your objectives for
this lesson are to understand:
a) Some prophecies
the Torah gives regarding the Jews and Eretz Yisrael.
b) Some prophecies
regarding the Jewish People’s exiles from the land.
c) Some prophecies
regarding the return of the Jewish People to Eretz Yisrael.
Yom Ha’atzmaut
Section 1: Ownership
of the Land
1.Read
the following source and answer the questions below, quoting from the source:
“I will establish My covenant as an everlasting covenant, between Me,
you and your descendants that follow you, to be a God for you and for your
descendants. I will give the land of your sojourning, the whole land of Canaan
to you and your descendants for everlasting possession, and I will be their
God.”
Bereshit 17:7-8
a) To whom has God
given “the whole land of Canaan”?
b) How long was this
covenant supposed to last?
a)_____________________________________________________________
b)_____________________________________________________________
2.
Explain what additional information, the following source provides about God’s
promise:
“Be careful lest your heart is seduced, that you turn away and serve
other gods and that you bow down to them. And then the Lord’s anger will burn
against you and He will shut up the heavens and there will be no rain and the
land will not yield its produce. You will be quickly cut off from the good land
that the Lord is giving to you.”
Devarim 11:16-17
______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
Section 2: The
Land in Exile
3. After
reading the following sources, answer the questions below:
“I will turn Jerusalem into a heap of ruins, a haunt of jackals. I will
make the cities of Judah into a desolation without inhabitant.”
Yirmiyahu 9:10
“I will bring the land into desolation that
your enemies who come to dwell in it will stand aghast at the sight of it.
Vayikra 26:32
a) What will happen
to the land of Israel according to these sources? Explain.
b) Read the Rashi
below and explain how he sees the devastation of the land as a blessing from
God.
I will make the land desolate “This is a positive tiding for Israel as its enemies will not find any
peace of mind in their land, it will be desolate of inhabitants.”
Rashi on Vayikra
26:32
a)_____________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
b)_____________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
4.
Read what Mark Twain wrote about upon his visit to Eretz Yisrael in 1867:
“We traversed some
miles of desolate country whose soil is rich enough but is given wholly to
weeds, a silent, mournful expanse...A desolation is here that not even the
imagination can grace with pomp of life and action... We never saw a human
being on the whole route. We pressed on toward the goal of our crusade,
renowned Jerusalem. The further we went the hotter the sun got and the more
rocky and bare, repulsive and dreary the landscape became...There was hardly a
tree or a shrub anywhere. Even the olive and the cactus those fast friends of a
worthless soil, had almost deserted the country. No landscape exists that is
more tiresome to the eye that which bounds the approaches to
Jerusalem...Jerusalem is mournful, dreary and lifeless...”
Mark Twain, The
Innocents Abroad or The New Pilgrim’s Progress Volume II, Harper and
Brothers (New York:1922).
a) How does Mark
Twain describe Eretz Yisrael?
b) How does his
description compare to the promises the Torah gave about the land, in the three
sources of question 3? Explain.
a)_____________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
b)_____________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
Section 3: The
People in Exile
5.
Read the following sources, and answer the questions below:
“I call heaven and earth to witness against
you today that you will be cut off quickly from the land you are crossing the
Jordan to occupy. You will not remain there long, for you will be wiped out.
God will then scatter you among the nations and you will be left few in number
among the nations to which God will lead you.”
Devarim 4: 26-27
“You will become an (object of) ridicule, an example (of derision) and
an (insulting) byword from all the nations to which the Lord will lead you.”
Devarim 28:37
“Those of you who survive in the lands of your enemies, I shall make fainthearted,
and the sound of a rustling leave will chase them, they will flee headlong, as
if from the sword, and they shall fall though no one pursues them; stumbling
over one another as if to escape a weapon, while no one is after them, so
helpless will you be to take a stand against your foes. You will perish among
the nations, and the land of your enemies will consume you.”
Vayikra 26:36-38
a) Where will the
Jews live after they have been exiled from Israel?
b) What will the
attitude of the nations be towards the Jews?
c) How will the Jews
feel about their new homes?
a)_____________________________________________________________
b)_____________________________________________________________
c)_____________________________________________________________
6.
Read the following quote from Martin Gilbert’s Jewish History Atlas,
Oxford 1985.
“But as my research
into Jewish history progressed, I was surprised, depressed and to some extent
overwhelmed by the perpetual and irrational violence which pursued the Jews in
ever country and to almost every corner of the globe. If, therefore,
persecution, expulsion, torture, humiliation and mass murder, haunt these
pages, it is because they also haunt the Jewish story.”
Explain the
conclusions that can be drawn from this quote.
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
Section 4: The
Return of the Jews
“The Lord your God
will return your captives and will have compassion upon you. He will return and
gather you from among all the nations to which the Lord your God has scattered
you. Even if your dispersed ones will be at the edge of the heavens, from there
the Lord your God will gather you and fetch you. The Lord your God will bring
you to the land that your ancestors have inherited and you will possess it and
He will do you good and multiply you more than your
fathers.” Devarim 30:3-5
a) What do you think
the Torah means when it says: “will be at the edge of the heavens”? Explain.
b) Do you think that
this has happened? Explain.
a)_____________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
b)_____________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
“As for you, O mountains of Israel, you shall shoot forth your branches
and bear your fruit for My people of Israel, for their return is close at hand.
For behold, I am with you and I shall turn to you, then you shall be tilled and
sown. I will multiply men upon you, the entire house of Israel. They will
settle your cities, and rebuild all the ruins. I will multiply upon you men and
animals and they shall increase and bear fruit; and I will inhabit you like in
your former times, and I will make you even more prosperous than you were in
your beginnings. You will know that I am your God.”
Yechezkel 36:8-11
What will happen to
the Land of Israel according to Yechezkel’s prophecy? Explain.
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9.
Read Rabbi Abba’s comments about these verses an Rabbi Chiya Ruba’s comments
below:
“Rabbi Abba Said: There can be no clearer sign of redemption than this,
as it is written: ‘As for you, O mountains of Israel, you shall shoot forth
your branches and bear your fruit for My people of Israel, for their return is
close at hand’”.
Sanhedrin 98a
“Rabbi Chiya Ruba and Rabbi Shimonbar Chalafta were walking in the Arbel
Valley as dawn was breaking. They saw the morning star breaking its
light. Rabbi Chiya Ruba said to Rabbi Shimonbar Chalafta: “Thus is the
redemption of Israel. In the beginning it moves very slowly, but as it
progresses it becomes brighter.”
Yerushalmi Yoma 14a Chapter 3, Halacha 2
a) According to Rabbi
Abba what is a clear sign that the redemption of the Jewish people is at hand?
Explain.
b) How does Rabbi
Chiya Ruba explain the redemption? Explain.
a)
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b) ____________________________________________________________
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10.
The Israeli Chief Rabbinate has called the State of Israel: "reishit
tzmichat geulateinu". Considering the sources you have studied in this
lesson, do you think that this term is appropriate?
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