https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/387377
An opinion of our Sages teaches that the evil decree in the Purim story came when the Jews of Shushan attended the feast of Achashverus which celebrated his false understanding that the Jews would not return to Eretz Yisrael to build the Beit Hamikdash. Apparently, Mordechai was the only Jew who protested. He begged the Jews not to participate, but they were happy to attend, insisting that the food and drink would be glatt kosher.
The cause for the celebration – the belief that the Jews were freed of the obligation to return to the Land of Israel and to rebuild the Beit HaMikdash did not seem to bother anyone save Mordechai. There is no record that the other great Rabbis of the time, of which there were many, supported Mordechai’s vehement protest. Perhaps they dd and perhaps they erred and attended the gala party which celebrated the disconnection from Eretz Yisrael and an open door to acceptance amongst the Gentiles and assimilation, believing it would cement good relations with the powers that be.
Back in the early days of the Jewish blogsphere there was a famous post (I think it was on Wolfish Musings) called Daas Torah vs Daas Hedyot which looked at every significant event in Jewish history over the last 300 years or so. Each time, Daas Torah disagreed with Daas Hedyot on how to handle the event. Each time Daas Torah was wrong.
ReplyDeleteBack in the early days of Hovovei tzion, a few gedolim like the Netziv supported the quasi Zionist movement. As did the ohr sameach. But mainstream hareidi rabbis opposed it and instead glorified staying where they were. Sounds a bit like the mordechai story
DeleteThe Chovevei Tzion were the first modern Zionists but it didn't take off so it was left to the seculars to fulfill God's will.
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