Parsha Pearls: Parshas Vaeschanan

Those who are in exile against their will
The Right Way to Consult a Rabbi
Don’t Break in Like a Burglar!
Selling Land and Giving Up Sovereignty
No Strategies or Diplomacy

…

Furthermore, the entire issue of “lo sechanem” cannot apply to the Zionist state returning lands it has conquered, because the land was acquired illegitimately, through stealing, and on the contrary there is a mitzvah to give back a stolen item. If this is true of movable objects, which are somewhat acquired by the thief, how much more is it true of land, which can never be acquired by the thief (Succah 30b). Although we hold that conquest is different from regular theft and does change the land’s legal ownership (as we see that Amon and Moav’s land became permitted to the Jewish people after it was conquered by Sichon – Gittin 38a), it is still not permitted to conquer land. This is clear from the first Rashi in the Torah, which states that when the nations argue, “You are thieves for stealing the land of the seven Canaanite nations,” the Jewish people can answer that the entire world belongs to Hashem and He give it to whomever He chooses. The implication is that only in this case, where there was an explicit prophecy to Moshe that we should get Eretz Yisroel, we have this answer, but in the absence of prophecy (for example, when the Zionists conquered Palestine in 1948) the argument “you are thieves” remains true.

…

The Balfour Declaration, the Mandate and the 1947 U.N. vote did not come by themselves. The Zionists used a lot of diplomacy, political threats and arm-twisting to get them.

…

The Gemara and Midrashim about the oaths were written 1500 years ago and since then, Jewish scholars have studied them and written about them. This was all so that when our era arrived and the violation of the oaths became a practical reality, we would be prepared and we would know what the Torah wants of us.

…

When the Brisker Rav would be called up for the Haftorah during the Seven Weeks of Consolation, he would always cry. He explained, “Throughout history, the hope of every Jew was always hanging on the words of the prophet, “Console, console My people” and “It is I, it is I, Who consoles you” (51:12) – and all the other verses of consolation spoken by Hashem through His true prophets, promising that Hashem Himself will redeem us. This promise breathed life into every Jew. But now, the Zionists have come and created a new vision, claiming that there is a natural solution to the “Jewish problem.” Jews must take their fate into their own hands, they say. They think that their state somehow saves the Jewish people, when in reality it is the worst exile of all.” (Uvdos Vehanhagos Leveis Brisk, v. 4 p. 189)

…

Full Reading:

https://torahjews.org/2023/11/26/parsha-pearls-parshas-vaeschanan

Tags:

Brisker Rov – Chason Ish – Meam Loez – Shmuel Aripol – Yonasan Eibeschütz -