Tzipiyah.com

I will be posting a short post for each of my four answers (in no specific order).

The first accomplishment I want to deal with is the return of Torat Eretz Israel.

The Midrash says a comment which is shocking to many: “There is no Torah like the Torah of Eretz Israel”. What? Is the Midrash an insane Tziyoni extremist? Is there really a difference between the Torah which we learn in Chutz Laaretz and the Torah we learn in Eretz Israel?

Yes. The creation of the State of Israel had a big influence on the nature of the Torah which is being studied in the world. I want to go through some of the practical differences which have occurred in Torah Study since the creation of the State of Israel. Of course, there also some mystical ramifications since “the air of the land of Israel makes one wiser”. However, I will limit myself to very practical ramifications.

The Tanach is full of stories of political leadership, military conquest etc… All of these sections of the Tanach, the holiest book in Judaism, have stayed completely theoretical and irrelevant to the Jews in two thousand years of exile. It is no surprise that Tanach was hardly learnt during this time, with people rather option to learn practical halacha which has ramifications in their lives. People could not relate to ideas such “a Jewish Kingdom”, “a Jewish Army”, “Jewish Political Leadership”. Ideas such as Malchut were discussed, but were limited to a discussion of individual growth through these concepts. The original nature of these concepts stayed irrelevant. Today, all of these concepts are extremely relevant. The Torah is once again alive!

Most of its sections is now relevant and applicable, and even the sections which are still not (kehunah, beit hamikdash) are not theoretical anymore: we can feel that they will soon be relevant again when learning them.
Of course, the study of the laws of Shmitta and everything related to the land of Israel has also had an AMAZING revival. So many books have come out on the subject! This revival of an all-encompassing Torah is definitely one of the greatest accomplishments of the State of Israel.

An interesting story I already mentioned once illustrates this point:
Once, Rav Elon was organizing with a few of us in yeshiva a program to train some yeshiva students to become community leaders when they go back to chuts laarets.
At one point, I told him… You know, Rav, some people will probably not come because they will say its “Bitul Torah”.. They don’t want this training instead of learning in the beit midrash!
Harav Elon looked at me and told me…”No, maybe they will say its bitul “toyreh” but its definitely not “Bitul Torah”

He then explained what he meant: In massechet Chagigua, it says (paraphrased), “There was no greater bitul torah than when Am Israel went to Galut”. So Harav Elon asked me: How can this be true? When we went to Galut, first the the gemara came out, then the gueonim, the rishonim, the acharonim, hassidut etc… How is that Bitul Torah? It is davka in galut that all the torah came out! Its the opposite of Bitul Torah!

He then clarified his thought: No, it is true that when we went to galut, it was the opposite of bitul “toyreh” but it wasn’t the opposite of bitul torah.
If bitul “toyreh” is the lack of study of torah, then there was a lot of torah in galut, where all jews could do is study because they did not need to bother themselves with issues of how to lead a state. However, that is bitul toyreh, not bitul torah! Bitul Torah is when you have a lot of torah, but it becomes mevutelet (cancelled).

How does this happen? If you take the torah, and you study it without connecting it to your daily life, then it is bitul torah. Therefore, the gemara was saying: When we are in erets israel, the torah is torat chayim! Not only does every aspect of our life relate to torah (agriculture, politics, army, work etc..) but also, all of the torah becomes relevant to our lives.
There are also other very practical difference between Torat Chutz Laaretz and Torat Eretz Israel. In Chutz Laaretz, most of the Torah Study was aimed at what an individual should do in order to enhance his relationship with God. In Israel, the concept of Klal Israel regained importance (This is also a difference between the Bavli and the Yerushalmi). We are not just individuals with a relationship with God – this is still true, but- we are also a nation bringing out God’s message to this world from our holy land, God’s Palace.

The Torah of Eretz Israel is also not limited to the studies of the details of Halacha. Rather, it looks at the full picture, at the general message of Torah and looks at Halacha as a tool to implement this message. Once again, this was also a difference between the Bavli and the Yerushalmi.

The Torat of Eretz Israel has regained life and this is in big part thanks to Medinat Israel. This is definitely one of its greatest accomplishments.