Discourse 152 – The Chofetz Chaim on Aliyah – Are we living in the end times?
Chofetz Chaim on Aliyah /
by tzvi fishman, 02-08-2020
Past Historical Times..
Der Pere Adam.
The Destruction of Jerusalem by Titus.
The Conquest of Jerusalem in the End Times.
(Texts in a black frame are quotations from visitors
to this site or from other authors).
Chofetz Chaim (1838–1933)
on Aliyah
by tzvi fishman | Aug 2, 2020
Several times during the year, I am invited to speak to groups of yeshiva students from the Diaspora who are
studying in Israel. One of the questions that I am frequently asked is, “Is it a Mitzvah (religious duty) to live in Israel in a time
of danger?” Sometimes, the question takes different forms. “Is it permissible to live in settlements in Israel where
there is a clear danger, for example, Hevron.” Or, “If my parents, or my Rav, oppose my desire to live in Israel, do
I have to listen to them.
There are several principle Halachot that stand behind these questions. For example, is a Jew allowed to place
himself into a dangerous situation in order to do a Mitzvah? Is it a Torah commandment to live in Israel? What is
considered a danger? Does a person have to listen to his parents or his Rabbi if they try to prevent him from
performing a mitzvah?
Here, we will merely relate a story told about the Chofetz Chaim, which sheds light on the subject.
The Chofetz Chaim, Rabbi Yisrael Meir HaCohen, from Radin, was certainly one of the greatest Torah scholars of
modern times. His unparalleled halachic work, the “Mishna Berura,” is the considered the definitive compendium of
Jewish law. In addition, his writings on good deeds and kindness, “Ahavat Chesed,” and his treatises on the evils of
Lashon Hara, the “Chofetz Chaim” and “Shmirat HaLashon,” show his great piety and saintliness. He is known never to
have spoken unfairly about anyone.
The following story is brought down by the revered Rabbi Dichovsky, of blessed memory, in his book, “Neot Desha,”
on concluding a tractate of Talmud. In the introduction, he recounts his visit to the Chofetz Chaim in order to ask
him this very same question about moving to Israel at a time of danger. We quote:
“I saw it proper to record a statement made to me by the most pious of all of the Cohanim, the Rabbi of all
Israel, the glory of the generation, the holy of all Israel, may he be blessed in memory, in the matter of Aliyah
(the return of Jews as individuals or groups to the Land of Israel). I
asked him about this question, and the following are the details of our encounter.
“It was the beginning of the year, 1933. There was a group of Torah scholars who had organized themselves to go
together to Israel to learn Torah. I too was amongst them, but I had many doubts, because I knew that many of the
great gedolim (Torah scholars) of Israel were opposed. The heads of my Yeshiva were especially opposed to the idea
that Yeshiva students would go to Eretz Yisrael, even for the sake of studying Torah. They said that the proper
conditions had not as yet been established in order to facilitate Torah study with the proper diligence in the Holy
Land, to the extent that we are able to study Torah in the Yeshivot (pl. of yeshiva) in the Diaspora. Therefore, I said in my heart,
that I must not ask my rabbis in this matter, for obviously the answer will be no.
“Like Rabbi Zera, who ran away from his teacher, Rav Yehuda, when he wanted to make Aliyah to Israel (Tractate
Ketubot, 110B,) I decided to go and ask the counsel of the righteous man of our generation, our revered rabbi, and
to receive his blessing before I departed. Therefore, just before the Day of Atonement, I journeyed to the yeshiva
of the Chofetz Chaim in the town of Radin, where I stayed in the shadow of this great, righteous individual. This
was, as is known, the last Yom Kippur of this special Tzaddik, for at the end of the year, in the month of Elul, he
was taken to the Yeshiva Above, may his merit be a shield to us and all Israel.
“In spite of his great physical weakness, a Heavenly Providence was with me, and I merited to see him the day
after Yom Kippur. I told him my situation, and that I had a good chance of making Aliyah to Israel as a Torah
student, only I had lingering doubts if I would be able to learn Torah with the same diligence with which I was
learning now. Immediately, he answered, in his famous sweetness of speech, that there was no room at all for my
wariness. Why in the world would I not be able to learn Torah there with absolute diligence – just the opposite
would seem to be true, for the Land of Israel, without question, was more conducive for steadfast immersion in
Torah. He recited the verse, ‘The gold of the Land is good,’ (Bereshit, 2:12) [Gen 2:12;] on which the Midrash says, ‘These (the
gold of the Land is good) are the words of Torah, for there is no Torah like the Torah of Eretz Yisrael; and there
is no wisdom like the wisdom of Eretz Yisrael.’ (Bereshit Raba, 16:7) [Gen 16:7; "pere adam"]
“Before I could express the rest of the doubts that I harbored – especially the fear of the danger in Israel
because of the children of Ishmael who were marauding violently against the Jews, for only a few years had passed
since the end of the Hebron Massacre in the year 1929, which made clear to everyone the wild, bestial nature of the
Ishmaelites, who with savagery and unbounded cruelty massacred Yeshiva students and showed no mercy even to the
women and children – before I was able to confess all of my apprehensions, the Rabbi answered the question himself.
“In the following words of Torah, he said: ‘The holy Torah tells us regarding Ishmael that he is a ‘Pere Adam,’ a
wild beast of a man. It is known that our Torah is eternal, and if it says about Ishmael that he is a wild beast of
a man, then Ishmael will remain forever a wild beast of a man. Even if all of the cultured nations of the world will
gather together and try to educate Ishmael and transform him into a cultured individual, so that he will no longer
be a wild beast of a man, obviously this will be impossible in every fashion or form. They will not be able to do
this through any means whatsoever, because he is not capable of being a cultured individual, for behold, the Torah
testified regarding him that he is a wild beast of a man. This means that forever, for all eternity, Ishmael is by
definition a wild beast of a man. Even if Ishmael will be involved in intellectual endeavor, like being a lawyer, or
some similar profession, then he will be a beastly lawyer. If he will study diligently to be a professor, then he
will be a beastly professor. This means that the bestiality of Ishmael will never cease.’
“Then the Chofetz Chaim let out a long, painful sigh and said, ‘Who knows what this wild beast of a man is
capable of perpetrating against the Jewish people in the end of days?’"
“Concluding his words to me, he said, ‘Nevertheless, fear not – there is no reason for this to prevent you from
making Aliyah to the Land of Israel.’
“Then he blessed me, saying, ‘Go in peace, and the L-rd will bless your path.’
“So I left him, and journeyed in peace to the Holy Land.”
Past Historical Times.
This incident took place “at the beginning of 1933”, as Rabbi Dichovsky writes above. – It was the time
of a sinister beginning. At this very time, on 30 January 1933, Adolf Hitler was appointed Chancellor by President Paul
von Hindenburg. With this, the NSDAP political party became the party of government, and the Nazis began their gruesome
rise.
However, alongside the historical-political background, in the above lines it is mostly about a Jewish
religious question. Rabbi Dichovsky – the young man in this story – wanted to “make Aliyah”, i.e. he wanted to enter
Israel. He wanted to carry out his Torah study, but since it was a time of danger a Mosaic Jew did well to consult his
rabbi, who always knows what is right. And so Dichovsky travelled to the “Saint of all Israel”, to the Chofetz Chaim, to
ask his advice.
At that time, the Jews had integrated themselves more or less well in most European countries,
but the hatred of Jews could not be eradicated in some countries and repeatedly flared up here and there in the form of
persecution and pogroms. With the Nazis seizing power in Germany, and the Zionists’ call to migrate to Palestine, the
number of Jews fleeing from Europe increased.
But even in Palestine, the Jewish settlers did not have a secure
life. In the course of the British mandate rule of Palestine, the confrontations between Jews and Palestinians for
dominance in the country became increasingly intense. Several waves of immigration since the end of the 19th century
resulted in the Jewish share of the population in Palestine rising to around 30 percent by 1945. The British were no
longer able to bring the conflict under control. Therefore, under the pressure of events they announced that they would
hand back the mandate over Palestine to the United Nations.
At that time, the Jews had the choice between the
Devil and the deep blue sea: in Europe, the hatred of Jews accompanied by persecution of the Jews, and on the other hand
in Palestine the Palestinians who again and again attacked and plundered the new Jewish settlers. It was therefore
completely understandable for the young Dichovsky, whose parents had apparently also advised him against going to Israel
to study the Torah, to seek a “second opinion” from the Rabbi Chofetz, the “Rabbi of all Israel”, and to ask for his
blessing.
And when then the young Dichovsky expressed his concerns to the Chofetz Chaim, referring to the Hebron
massacre of the Ismaelites (that is the Arabs, the descendants of Ismael, Abraham’s first son), committed by the
Palestinians, some years before, in 1929, where they violently plundered the Torah students and with “boundless cruelty
massacred yeshiva students and showed no mercy even to the women and children”, you feel transported to the present day
and the Hamas attack on 7 October 2023 on the Kfar Aza kibbutz.
Pere Adam.
IIn the following answer from the Chofetz Chaim we find an astonishing character analysis of the
Ismaelites (Arabs), which could perhaps also help us in the present day with our current problems with this people. The
Chofetz Chaim said at the time to the later Rabbi Dichovsky:
“The holy Torah says to us about Ismael that he is a (Hebrew: ‘Pere Adam’ = wild donkey of a
man / Gen 16:12;), a wild animal of a man. It is well known that our Torah is everlasting, and when it is said of Ismael that he is a
wild animal of a man, then Ismael will always remain a wild animal of a man. Even if all the cultivated nations of the
world were to come together and try to educate Ismael and change him into a cultivated individual, so that he is no
longer a wild animal of a man, this will obviously be impossible in every respect. They will have no means of achieving
this because he is not capable of being a cultivated man, for behold, the Torah testifies about him that he is a wild
animal of a man. That means that Ismael is for ever, for all eternity by definition a wild animal of a man. Even if
Ismael pursues intellectual endeavours, perhaps as a lawyer or similar profession, he will be an appalling lawyer. If he
studies hard to become a professor, then he will be an appalling professor. That means that Ismael’s bestiality will
never cease.”
“Then the Chofetz Chaim let out a long painful sigh and said: ‘Who knows what this wild animal of a
man could do to the Jewish people at the end of days’?”
At the start of his above remarks, the Chofetz Chaim points out that the Torah is everlasting and its
prophecies will come true. A statement with which a Biblical Christian can only agree. However, that applies not only to
prophecies about Ismael, the Arab, but also to those prophecies which relate to his brother Isaac, the Jew. And
precisely with regard to Isaac, or his son Jacob who was given the name “Israel” by God, his character and his future,
the Bible makes concrete statements which must therefore also come true.
I will bring Judah and Israel back from captivity and will
rebuild them as they were before.
Jer 33,7I will bring Judah and Israel back from captivity and will
rebuild them as they were before. 33,8 I will cleanse them from all the sin they have committed against
me and will forgive all their sins of rebellion against me. 33,9 Then this city will bring me renown, joy,
praise and honour before all nations on earth that hear of all the good things I do for it; and they will be in awe and
will tremble at the abundant prosperity and peace I provide for it.” Jer 33,7-9;
When interpreting this text, the Jews themselves naturally place the part which is positive for them to
the fore, namely when God turns the fortunes of Israel and cleanses them of all sin, they will be holy again, as in the
beginning. However, that of course means that up to now, while they are not yet cleansed, Israel is heavily burdened
with sin, with “misdeeds and wickedness”.
For what is repeatedly overlooked – particularly by Jewish “scribes” –
is the Biblical fact that all Jews for two thousand years, and on into the future up to the millennium, the
thousand-year kingdom of peace of the Son of God on earth, that all these Jewish people have no forgiveness for their
sins if they have not converted to Jesus Christ. After their resurrection at the Last Judgement, they will be sent into
eternal damnation by that Jesus of Nazareth, their Messiah, whom their forefathers once condemned to death on the cross
and from which they have not distanced themselves.
I told you that you would die in your sins; if you do not believe that I am he (the Messiah),
you will indeed die in your sins.
Jh 8,23
But he continued (to the teachers of the law), ‘You are from below; I am from above. You are of this
world; I am not of this world. 28,4 I told you that you would die in your sins; if you do not believe that I am
he (the Messiah), you will indeed die in your sins.’ Jn 8,23-24; (And he
who dies in his sins without forgiveness goes to hell
Those Israelites whose sins will be forgiven by God one day according to these prophecies are the
Israelites of the future, at the millennium, those remaining from the greatest catastrophe of all times, the reshaping
of heaven and earth carried out by God, in preparation for a peaceful, fruitful and prosperous life for mankind in the
thousand-year kingdom of peace of his Son on earth.
Until then, all Jews – incidentally just like all other
people as well – who have not converted to Jesus Christ in their lifetime will go to hell. Thus all today’s Jews who
reject Jesus Christ and ridicule him will also spend eternity in hell, together with the godless non-Jewish peoples.
This is just for information for all those Jews of today who think that they have avoided punishment because of this
above promise of the forgiveness of sins for the Jews in the Millennium.
The real background to these grave statements is the foundation of the
state of Israel in our times. The Jews – and amongst them in particular the Zionists – maintain that this “gathering of
Jews back into their land” (Aliyah) is God’s promised return of all Jews to Israel, and therefore they call upon all
Jews worldwide to “make Aliyah” – therefore to immigrate back to Israel.
But let us take a closer look at these
prophecies of gathering Israel together from the diaspora into their land of Israel:
See, I will bring them from the land of the north and gather them from the ends of the earth.
Jer 31,7 This is what the Lord says: ‘Sing with joy for Jacob; shout for
the foremost of the nations (World power). Make your praises heard, and say, “Lord, save your people,
the remnant of Israel.” 31,8 See, I will bring them from the land of the north and gather them from the
ends of the earth. Among them will be the blind and the lame, expectant mothers and women in labor; a great
throng will return. 31,9 They will come with weeping; they will pray as I bring them back. I will lead
them beside streams of water on a level path where they will not stumble, because I am Israel’s father, and Ephraim is
my firstborn son. Jer 31,7-9;
I will bring your children from the east and gather you from the west.
Jes 43,3 For I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Saviour; I give
Egypt for your ransom, Cush and Seba in your stead. 4 Since you are precious and honoured in my sight, and because I
love you, I will give people in exchange for you, nations in exchange for your life. 43,5 Do not be afraid, for I am
with you; I will bring your children from the east and gather you from the west. 43,6 I will
say to the north, “Give them up!” and to the south, “Do not hold them back.” Bring my sons from afar and my daughters
from the ends of the earth – 43,7 everyone who is called by my name, whom I created for my glory, whom I formed
and made.’ Jes 43,3-7;
I will bring you out from the nations and gather you from the countries where you have been
scattered.
Hes 20,40 For on my holy mountain, the high mountain of Israel, declares
the Sovereign Lord, there in the land all the people of Israel will serve me, and there I will accept them.
There I w20,ill require your offerings and your choice gifts,[2] along with all your holy sacrifices. 20,41 I
will accept you as fragrant incense when I bring you out from the nations and gather you from the countries where you
have been scattered, and I will be proved holy through you in the sight of the nations. 20,42 Then you
will know that I am the Lord, when I bring you into the land of Israel, the land I had sworn with uplifted hand to give
to your ancestors. 20,43 There you will remember your conduct and all the actions by which you have
defiled yourselves, and you will loathe yourselves for all the evil you have done. 20,44 You will know that I
am the Lord, when I deal with you for my name’s sake and not according to your evil ways and your corrupt practices, you
people of Israel, declares the Sovereign Lord.” Hes
20,40-44;
II will plant Israel in their own land, never again to be uprooted from the land I have given
them.
Amos 9,14 and I will bring my people Israel back from exile ‘They will rebuild
the ruined cities (Titus only destroyed Jerusalem!) and live in them. They will plant vineyards and drink their wine; they will make gardens and eat their
fruit. 9,15 I will plant Israel in their own land, never again to be uprooted from the land I have given them,’
says the Lord your God. Amos 9,14-15;
It is almost all the prophets of Israel who have promised their people this “return”, this gathering to
Israel, – so it is Biblical reality. But all these prophecies have one thing in common: It is God who
is speaking, and he always says “I will bring them”, “I will gather them”. So it is
God himself who will gather the Israelites from the lands into which he dispersed them and bring them into their land of
Israel.
So there is no mention of Jews gathering themselves. But if it is so that God will gather them from their
dispersion and the Jews have already returned to their land of their own accord, what should we conclude from this? The
conclusion is – however momentous that may sound – that the Israelites – and above all their children and children’s
children – who have returned to their land since the foundation of the state of Israel in 1948 must be dispersed again
across the world, so that God can then again truly gather them “from the ends of the earth”.
And
given that the Jews will of course not voluntarily leave their land once more and go into the diaspora, they will also
this time have war waged against them by their enemies, be vanquished and be expelled from their land. And there are
also numerous prophecies for this, which, however, the “scribes” amongst the Jews date as being in the past.
The destruction of Jerusalem by Titus.
Thus e.g. the prophecy below, in Lk 19,41-44, which however actually does relate to the past; it is the total
destruction of Jerusalem together with the temple and the altar of burnt offering in the year 70 A.D. by Titus’ legions.
According to Flavius Josephus, the former Jewish military commander in Galilee, who accompanied Titus, around 1.1
million people died during the conquest, the largest part of them were Jews.
They will dash you to the ground, you and the children within your walls. They will not
leave one stone on another.
Lk 19,41 As he approached Jerusalem and saw the city, he wept over it 19,42 and
said, ‘If you, even you, had only known on this day what would bring you peace – but now it is hidden from your eyes.
19,43 The days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment against you and encircle you and
hem you in on every side. 19,44 They will dash you to the ground, you and the children within your
walls. They will not leave one stone on another, because you did not recognise the time of God’s coming to
you.’ Lk 19,41-44;
This prophecy of the Lord, that Titus’ legions would “not leave one stone on another” at the temple,
then literally came true around 40 years later. (Josephus, Bell, 6,254-259). As part of this, the complete destruction
of the altar of burnt offering in the temple courtyard is the reason why the Jews since then – if they have not
converted to Jesus Christ and obtained forgiveness of sins from him – “die in their sins” and have not received
forgiveness. For in the Mosaic faith, forgiveness of sins can only be achieved with a sin offering at precisely this
altar of burnt offering – and nowhere else!
If you do not believe that I am he (the Messiah), you will indeed die in your sins.
Jh 8,21 Once more Jesus said to them, ‘I am going away, and you will look for me,
and you will die in your sin. Where I go, you cannot come.’ 8,22 This made the Jews ask, ‘Will he kill
himself? Is that why he says, “Where I go, you cannot come”?’ 8,23 But he continued, ‘You are from below; I am from
above. You are of this world; I am not of this world. 8,24 I told you that you would die in your sins; if you do
not believe that I am he (the Messiah), you will indeed die in your sins.’ Jn 8,21-24;
The destruction of Jerusalem by Titus in 70 A.D. was the first part of God’s punishment of the Jews for
condemning the Son of God, our Lord and God Jesus Christ, to death and for handing him over to the Romans for
crucifixion. Around 60 years later, in the third Jewish-Roman War (Bar Kokhba revolt), the Romans then conquered the
rest of Judea and expelled all the Jews from Judea into the worldwide diaspora.
The Conquest of Jerusalem in the End Times.
Even if almost two thousand years have passed since then, and Jerusalem has lived in relative peace and
quiet until recently, the scripture tells us that a further such catastrophe will befall this city in the end times.
Evidence for this assumption is found in three further passages:
They will fall by the sword and will be taken as prisoners to all the nations. Jerusalem will be
trampled on by the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled.
Lk 21,20 ‘When you see Jerusalem being surrounded by armies, you will
know that its desolation is near. 21,21 Then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains, let those in the
city get out, and let those in the country not enter the city. 21,22 For this is the time of punishment in
fulfillment of all that has been written. 21,23 How dreadful it will be in those days for pregnant women and
nursing mothers! There will be great distress in the land and wrath against this people. 21,24
They will fall by the sword and will be taken as prisoners to all the nations. Jerusalem will be trampled on by the
Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled. Lk 21,20-24;
Apart from the strange fact that among the synoptists it is only in Luke – as we see above – that
there are two prophecies for the downfall of Jerusalem – in chapters 19 and 21 -, the content of the two texts is so
different that the conclusion is unavoidable that these are two different events. In Lk 19,43-44 (Titus, 70 A.D. – see
above), it says that the enemies will build an embankment and then raze Jerusalem to the ground complete with its
children – that is all its inhabitants. On the other hand, Lk 21,22-24 refers to this being the days of retribution and
there being great distress on earth and wrath against this people (a situation which seems to be developing now in our
current reality).
An attempt to interpret Lk 21,20-24 to also mean the conquest by Titus in 70 A.D. poses some
problems. Even if it were possible to explain to some extent the “wrath against this people” at the time of Titus (but
then only amongst the Romans, whereas here in Lk 21,22 it is obvious to assume that this wrath is to be understood as
being against the people of Israel worldwide), such a global event as “great distress on earth” at that time is neither
evidenced historically nor explicable from the situation at the time. However, if we relate this text to the end times,
these statements are much more understandable. And all the more so when we relate it to the present day (crises, wars,
famines, earthquakes)!
The “great distress on earth” is consistent with other statements in the New Testament
about the end times, with wars, famines, plagues and earthquakes in Mt 24:6-7, Mk 13:7-8, but especially in Rev 6,3-8.
The hatred of the Jews would be explained by the fact that it is the two witnesses of God in Jerusalem who triggered these catastrophes with their power over nature and thus provoked the wrath of the world against the whole people of
Israel. However, if we look at the present-day situation, with Israel collecting more and more opponents across the
world due to their ruthless actions against the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, and take into account the surrounding
circumstances, this gives rise to another – much more dangerous – suspicion!
And if that is the case, then it will doubtless be the Arab lands settled all around Israel which will bring about this new expulsion of the people of
Israel into the whole world into a new diaspora – as it says in Lk 21,24: “They will fall by the sword and will be taken as prisoners to all
the nations. Jerusalem will be trampled on by the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled.”
And
then the above final declaration of the Chofetz Chaim would turn out to be a prophecy, when he said:
"Who knows what this wild beast of a man is capable of perpetrating against the
Jewish people in the end of days?’"