How do you understand Jeremiah 16:16 which states that Hashem will send fishers and hunters to force Jews to return to Israel from the exile, in the days before Moshiach comes? Could these decrees in the diaspora be the hunters that Jeremiah foresees? Should American Jews be making aliyah instead of putting their physical survival under the power of the nations?
The negative prophecies can be waived by G-d Almighty. The decrees are everywhere, and the State of Israel is the leading edge of the tyranny now. Tyranny can be more completely deployed in Israel than in most countries because the residents of the Land of Israel cannot conceive that the government there would do anything to harm them and Israelis are used to “papers please” and medicalization, etc. I don’t see any difference between a Jew living in America thinking the American government will save him from a Jew living in Israel thinking the Israeli government will save him. The Jews were scattered among the nations to bring the knowledge of G-d Almighty to every human being. We have this incredible merit and mission. It is incumbent upon every Jew to carry out this mission wherever they live. We have a responsibility to all humanity – we don’t fulfill that responsibility if we merely think we can leave humanity to its own devices and get front row seats for redemption in the Land of Israel. Withdrawing from the world is not the energy of Redemption. Taking responsibility for the wellbeing of humanity – which is represented in the very name of Abraham our father – that is what will bring Redemption to the world.
How do you understand Jeremiah 16:16 which states that Hashem will send fishers and hunters to force Jews to return to Israel from the exile, in the days before Moshiach comes? Could these decrees in the diaspora be the hunters that Jeremiah foresees? Should American Jews be making aliyah instead of putting their physical survival under the power of the nations?
The negative prophecies can be waived by G-d Almighty. The decrees are everywhere, and the State of Israel is the leading edge of the tyranny now. Tyranny can be more completely deployed in Israel than in most countries because the residents of the Land of Israel cannot conceive that the government there would do anything to harm them and Israelis are used to “papers please” and medicalization, etc. I don’t see any difference between a Jew living in America thinking the American government will save him from a Jew living in Israel thinking the Israeli government will save him. The Jews were scattered among the nations to bring the knowledge of G-d Almighty to every human being. We have this incredible merit and mission. It is incumbent upon every Jew to carry out this mission wherever they live. We have a responsibility to all humanity – we don’t fulfill that responsibility if we merely think we can leave humanity to its own devices and get front row seats for redemption in the Land of Israel. Withdrawing from the world is not the energy of Redemption. Taking responsibility for the wellbeing of humanity – which is represented in the very name of Abraham our father – that is what will bring Redemption to the world.
Be’H, my wife Chana and i are very glad with the wise words of Rabbi Smith. Thank you so much! Chana and Meïr Schrover from The Netherlands.