Goal:

To define the religious chalutz by:

1.   placing him into the context of  the groups present in pre-State Israel and

2.   presenting the balance of being religious and building the Land, which the religious chalutzim maintained.

Introduction:

The peulot up to this point have served as a backdrop and introduction to the sicha on the "religious chalutz" who is the role model of Torah Va'Avoda.  Two of the  groups of Jews living in Eretz Yisrael, had very little in common and did not get along.  One was religious, did not involve themselves in working the land, and survived for the most part on contributions from Chutz La'Aretz.  The other group, the chalutzim, were generally not religious and viewed the return and reclamation of Eretz Yisrael in political and not religious terms.

Enter the religious chalutz (religious Zionist) who could relate to  each group while maintaining his own unique identity.  The religious chalutz believed and participated in the reclamation of Eretz Yisrael.  At the same time he viewed this from a religious point of view and saw the building of a country and in gathering of Jews not only as a political homeland but as part of being a religious Jew.  The religious chalutz  worked to create a proper balance between being a religious Jew and contributing to the society in which he lived and he strove to  work with others whose beliefs were different than his own in order to achieve common goals and ultimately to affect the society at large.

Implementation:

In prior sichot we have defined the need to rebuild the land and the differences between the 'only religious' and 'only work' (secular) groups of Jews living in Eretz Yisrael.  The purpose of this sicha is to show how the religious chalutz encompassed the positive aspects of both groups and was able to communicate with each group since he shared common aspects with both the religious and secular groups of Jews.

In one circle, divide the kvutza into the same two groups as the last sicha.

Ask the kvutza for the negative points of the people that they represented in the last sicha ("Old Yishuv" vs. "New Yishuv").  If there is a need, hand out the questionnaire sheets from the last peula which state the basic beliefs of each group.  During the discussion, make sure to mention that one of the positive aspects of the "old yishuv" was that they were religious.

Ask for the positive points of each group.

Fill in the enclosed form by asking what beliefs a person would need in order to have the positive parts of both the Old and New Yishuv?

Project TvA

The Religious Chalutz

Create the person that combines the good points of being religious with the good points of working the land and building up Eretz Yisrael and give one or more reasons for why he believes in each point. (comes from the Torah, etc.)

What would be an appropriate name for the philosophy of the religious chalutz?____________

This form was filled out by____________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________

Background material

See essay on religious Zionism in background information of  'Introduction to the madrich'.

Adapted from the choveret for Chodesh Hatnua - 5744 - on the theme of Bnei Akiva

The religious chalutzim were the people who founded Bnei Akiva.  When they arrived in Eretz Yisrael they found two basic groups of Jews.  On the one side were the secular Zionists who believed in working the Land but not in the Torah.  On the other side were those of what has come to be known as the black hat hashkafa.  They believed in the Torah but not in working the Land.  The religious chalutzim, who believed in both the Torah and in working the Land (Torah V'Avoda) did not fit into either group.

Where the religious Zionist believed in the return to Eretz Yisrael because of its' special place in Judaism which makes it the only place where one could be a full Jew, the secular Zionists considered Eretz Yisrael as a 'homeland', as an answer to anti-semitism (some even felt that the Jewish 'homeland' did not have to be in Eretz Yisrael - for example, those in favor of creating a Jewish homeland in Uganda).  Where the religious Zionists considered the settlement of Eretz Yisrael as a part of the Torah, the secular Zionists acted as a rebellion against the Torah.  The religious chalutzim were not accepted, at first, by the secular chalutzim because it was not believed that religious people could actually work.

On the other side of the spectrum were those of the black hat hashkafa who were religious but did not believe in working the Land.  they lived in the few cities that existed at the time and lived primarily off of the money which was collected in chutz la'Aretz and sent to Eretz Yisrael.  These Jews believed that Mashiach and the geula (redemption) will come through a miracle and not through working and building the Land; they felt that working the land was bitul Torah.  The religious Zionists believed that working the land was not a bitul Torah but rather a part of the Torah and that  a life of Torah V'Avodat ha'Aretz could be lived together.

Another difference between these two hashkafot is their views on dealing with those who have different opinions than their own.  The black hat hashkafa would have nothing to do with those who had differing opinions.  They would have nothing to do with the secular Zionists and instead chose to 'ghettoize' themselves from the outside world.  When the State of Israel was founded, they did not support it or work with it (ie - sending their sons to the army...).  The religious Zionists felt that you must work with all Jews, even if they have different beliefs, in order to convince them of our beliefs.  There are stories of how Rav Kook and other rabbis went to the non-religious yishuvim to sing and dance with the secular Zionists.  Instead of looking at the negative and saying that they were not religious, these rabbis stressed the positive and said that if even the non-religious Jews had such an ahavat haAretz, then the geula could not be far off.  When the State of Israel was founded, the religious Zionists worked with the government, even though it was run by non-religious people, in order to eventually change it into the type of government and the type of state that Israel should be ( in explaining the black hat hashkafa, you may have to explain the difference between 'Eretz Yisrael' and the political 'State of Israel'.  Every religious Jew believes that we will return to the Biblical Land of Israel, what some people disagree with is the 'State of Israel' which was founded in 1948 in parts of the Biblical Land of Israel.  One of the main reasons for these people not supporting the government of the State of Israel is because the government is not a religious one).

The religious Zionists, who have come to be symbolized by the crochet kippah, were not accepted by the secular Zionists or by those of the black hat hashkafa.  These Jews, who believed in a hashkafa which combined aspects of the other two philosophies had to ban together and the forming of Bnei Akiva was one of the end results.

How were the religious chalutzim similar to members of Bnei Akiva today?

We, as chevrei tnua, also believe in those priorities which the religious chalutzim had.  We also feel that we must not only learn, but also act (ie - working in Bnei Akiva, making Aliya...).  In the same way that the religious chalutzim found themselves in the midst of different hashkafot with which they didn't agree and had to withstand, we too find ourselves among different hashkafot which tell us that it is all right not to stand up for what we believe in.

In looking at the different hashkafot today, we see that the secular Zionists and those of the black hat hashkafa have both mellowed out to an extent.  The secular Zionists, although not religious, aren't 'anti-religious' in the way that they used to be.  The black hat hashkafa has come to accept the State of Israel to some extent (the black hat hashkafa has a spectrum of its own ranging from those who are willing to accept the State of Israel to some extent, to those who are still very opposed to the State.).

Much of what is accepted today as the norm is only possible because of the religious chalutzim who not only pioneered the rebuilding of the Land of Israel but also pioneered an entirely new hashkafa which has grown and seems to be the philosophy of the future.  These chalutzim were the founders of Bnei Akiva and we have much to be proud of as chevrei tnua and as religious Zionists.

Note: certain stereotypes have been presumed - no offense intended.