Are we living in Messianic times? Only time will tell - opinion

Well-known Religious Zionist scholar Rabbi Alan Haber is convinced we are living in messianic times.

Rabbi Haber wrote, “To me, it is clear that we are in stages of the messianic times already nowadays. I think this way whenever I see or experience exciting new developments like bridges and tunnels that have been built already at the southern and western approaches to the city, and now another one on the east to enable us to enter Jerusalem more quickly and smoothly, not only by reducing traffic but also by turning mountains and valleys into ‘flat ground.’”

Rabbi Haber’s conviction is shared by many Religious Zionists, but not all Jews agree that we are living in messianic times. While the State of Israel is a development that has changed life for Jews all over the world, the theological implications of the Jewish state are a source of debate among global Jewry.

There are four different camps of thought that differ in their assessment of whether the State of Israel is a step in the redemptive messianic process. There are those who maintain Israel is definitively the first step of the redemption, those who maintain it definitively isn’t a step in the messianic process, those who aren’t sure, and those who are confident it is but aren’t definitive about it.

Rabbi Shmuel Ariel, rosh kollel of Yeshivat Yerucham, wrote, “The main reason to say that we are witnessing the beginning of the redemption is not various signs, calculations, or the like – but rather from what we see with our own eyes as we look around! Redemption is a multi-faceted concept, but three of its very fundamental components are these: the Nation of Israel’s return to its land; the abolition of our subjugation to foreigners, meaning our renewed national sovereignty; and the blossoming of the Land of Israel. We see these three things happening in front of our eyes!”

Rabbi Moshe Lichtman, famed Zionist scholar and author, demonstrated that the idea we are living in a messianic era isn’t a new or minority-held view: “Shortly after the establishment of the State, more than two hundred of the greatest rabbis of the Land issued a proclamation... Dated Friday, 20th of Tevet, 5709 (January 21, 1949) the document opened with these words: ‘We thank God for granting us the privilege – with His abundant mercy and kindness – to witness the first buds of the beginning of redemption, through the establishment of the State of Israel.’ Some of the more famous signatories were Rabbi Tzvi Pesach Frank, Rabbi Yechiel Michel Tikochinsky, Rabbi Yechezkel Sarna, Rabbi Zalman Sorotzkin, Rabbi Shlomo Yosef Zevin, Rabbi Shlomo Zalman Auerbach, and Rabbi Isser Yehudah Unterman.”

Rabbi Aaron Lopiansky, the rosh yeshiva of the Yeshiva of Greater Washington, does not place himself in the camp of those who think we are in stages of the messianic process and warned his readers, “Klal Yisrael has had many ‘Mashiach is here’ moments. Even in best-case scenarios where no false Mashiach or ideology takes root, the fervor still comes with a devastating downside. Just as a person who summons up adrenaline reaches an exhilarating high, only to crash and feel an equally dramatic letdown afterward, so too do we become emotionally spent and cynical if our ‘Mashiach moment’ passes by unfulfilled.

"One TIsha B'Av"

“One Tisha B’Av, I heard this point powerfully presented by Rav Yoshe Ber Soloveitchik [Rabbi Joseph Soloveitchik]. He said, ‘People say to me: We have Eretz Yisrael, Yerushalayim, and even the Kosel. Why are we still mourning as intensely as ever?’ He said, ‘I reply: Have you ever seen an estranged son sitting at his father’s table? There is only one foot of distance between their bodies, but a thousand miles between their hearts! This creates an unbearable tension, intensified, not ameliorated, by their physical proximity.’ So too, to be so close, yet so estranged…”

Rabbi Soloveitchik’s own writings don’t necessarily reflect Rabbi Lopiansky’s recording of his position as the State of Israel not being a first step of the redemption process. It is more accurate to place Rabbi Soloveitchik in the camp of doubt, where the State of Israel might be a step in the redemption, but it also might not.

Rabbi Soloveitchik explained, “No one can deny that the establishment of the State of Israel, in a political sense, was an almost supernatural occurrence.” Rabbi Soloveitchik bordered on attaching miraculous significance to the establishment of the state but didn’t go so far as to say it was definitively miraculous or a step in the redemptive process.

Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks, the late chief rabbi of Great Britain, wrote about the British Rabbinate’s position on Israel and its place in the redemption: “The extremely boring but nonetheless not bad view of Chief Rabbis of Great Britain – the late Sir Israel Brodie, the late Lord Jakobovitz, and myself – all of whom have mandated forms of prayer for the State of Israel which do not contain the phrase rayshit tsmichat ge’ulataynu (Israel is the first step of the redemption) – which see Israel as religiously significant but about which we are not yet ready to say that it is of Messianic significance.” Rabbi Sacks is in the camp that maintains that many signs point to Israel being a sign of the redemption, but how can we know for certain?

Delineating the four camps is important to understanding the different positions Jews maintain about the religious and messianic significance of the establishment of the State of Israel. The discussion is incomplete without mentioning Maimonides’s warning about placing too much emphasis on the messianic era.

Maimonides wrote, “The order of the occurrence of messianic events, or their precise detail, are not among the fundamental principles of faith. A person should not occupy himself with the tales and homiletics concerning these and similar matters, nor should a person consider them as essentials, for study of them will neither bring fear or love of God. The events that occur before and during the coming of the Messiah cannot be definitely known by man until they occur, for these matters are undefined in the prophets’ words and even the early scholars have no established tradition regarding these matters except their own interpretation of the verses. Therefore, there is a debate among them regarding these matters. Similarly, one should not try to determine the appointed time for Mashiach’s coming.”

Without prophecy, it is impossible to definitively know whether the establishment of the State of Israel is a step in the redemptive process. There are those who are convinced that Israel’s existence and the benefits it has brought to the Jewish people clearly point to a hastened redemption, and all Jews hope they are correct, but many Jews find themselves unconvinced and are either highly skeptical or in doubt. Only time will tell – may it be soon – which camp was correct.

The writer is a Zionist educator at institutions around the world and recently published his book, Zionism Today.