Israel: From The First Settlers To The Present Day

Question: Why did the first settlers in Israel lose their main internal essence of the mutual relations between them and just accepted socialism with all its implications and mistakes?

Answer: The fact is that in Israel there was mutual exclusion between Kabbalists and traditional Judaism, between Rav Kook and the religious people. Rav Kook called for unity, for the Light that is reflected in his writings, while the other Jewish leaders continued to educate their followers according to the principles laid down in exile.

They didn’t welcome the spiritual revival of the nation according to the principle of “love thy neighbor as thyself.” So far this condition has not been met because they are awaiting the arrival of the Messiah, that is, some force, some special circumstances, that will reveal the love of others in us. They don’t realize that this is only possible due to our own internal work, as the wisdom of Kabbalah tells us. From the Kabbalistic perspective it is totally wrong to tie the fulfillment of the law of “love thy neighbor as thyself” to some upper illumination or to a certain person or leader.

After the first wave of settlers in Israel, there was a delimitation between Kabbalah and Judaism. After all, the masses that came to Israel totally rejected religion, or clung to its ordinary corporeal frameworks. The number of Kabbalists among them, was very small and no one listened to them. Moreover, they were afraid to speak in public, afraid they would create a situation that would force them to leave the country.

It soon became clear who belonged to which camp among the settlers that caused the division among society according to political, economic, spiritual, and physical principles. This led to great problems. None of the famous Kabbalists who lived here were able to speak openly about spiritual correction. Rav Kook for example, used a language that could not be understood; therefore, everyone regarded him as an ordinary ideologue, not a Kabbalist.

The great Kabbalist, Baal HaSulam tried to publish a paper to reach the people, but he wasn’t able to achieve anything; the paper was shut down under the accusation of pro-communist ideas. After all, if you pursue the principle of love thy neighbor as thyself, it is perceived as a communistic principle.

Thus a quarter of a century after the first Zionist congress in Basel, the situation in Israel is that we have to revive everything all over again today. There are many people and movements opposed to the Kabbalistic approach of creating one nation since each one is trying to grab a “piece” for himself to become a tiny king in his own community.

We see how divided and torn apart modern Judaism is; a huge confrontation exists between the religious and non-religious factions of society. The entire nation is divided into many sectors.

I think that today we can speak openly about the wisdom of Kabbalah and with an appeal for the love of others, as a consequence of the deep frustration people are now beginning to feel and realize as a result of the cumulative experience gained over 150 years of development.

Therefore, we have the opportunity to stand on the shoulders of the first settlers and the founders of the country to call for practical actions based on our internal constitution of love thy neighbor as thyself.
[159548]
From KabTV’s “About Our Life” 5/7/15