Ideas and Opinions of Religious Leaders on the Disengagment

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More than a hundred mainstream National Religious rabbis and educators met this week in Jerusalemto lay the theological groundwork for the day after disengagement from Gazaand Northern Samaria.

The fact that the conference was willing to deal with "day after" questions was groundbreaking.

"I received several calls from prominent rabbis asking me to cancel the conference because it would only weaken the struggle against disengagement," said Rabbi Rafi Feuerstein, one of a group of moderate Tzohar and Bnei Akiva rabbis who organized the conference. "But I think we must cope with the emotional and spiritual challenges facing people today and prepare ourselves for tomorrow."

The conference, attended by moderate, mainstream voices, was an attempt to maintain the dialectic - the creed of religious Zionism implied in its very name that fuses the disparate elements of secular Zionism with religious faith - of cooperation with secular political leaders, while at the same time adhering fervently to religious belief and practice, even after the disengagement plan is implemented.

In a sense, Tuesday's conference can be viewed as an attempt by the more moderate elements of religious Zionism to encourage congregants to continue to pray the Hallel on Independence Day and to pray for the success of the state, even after it lets down many believers in the wake of its disengagement from Gazaand northern Samaria.

Many rabbis say the religious Zionist dialectic is untenable. If the choice is between the unity of the Jewish people and the observance of halacha, including the ideal of a Greater Israel along Biblical borders, then these rabbis would choose the latter.

In a way, knowing who avoided the conference is more revealing about its aims than knowing who attended. Rabbi Dov Lior of Kiryat Arba and chairman of the Yesha Council of Rabbis was not there, nor was Rabbi David Dudkevitch, known as the rabbi of the hilltop youth. Rabbi Shmuel Tal, rosh Yeshivat Torat Haim in Gush Katif, who sends his students to the Nahal-haredi instead of hesder, did not attend either.

Instead, Rabbi Shlomo Aviner, who was attacked by the Yesha Council of Rabbis for opposing conscientious objection to evacuating Jewish settlements in Gaza and Northern Samaria, attended, as did Rabbi Aharon Lichtenstein, rosh Yeshivat Har Etzion, probably the most politically moderate voice in religious Zionism, who postulated that disengagement might be a good thing.

In short, those who attended see an intrinsic value in maintaining the dialogue and cooperation between religious and secular elements of Israeli society. Those who did not attend, value, like the haredim, strict adherence to halacha even if that results in a irreparable split.

While the rabbis express clear-cut opinions on how to relate theologically to the state after disengagement, the wider public seems less sure. In a survey published by Shorashim, a popular Internet site for religious Zionist youth, 51 percent said their attitude to the state after disengagement would undergo a tremendous crisis and only 10% said there would be no change in their attitude toward the state.

It once was self-evident to the vast majority of religious Zionists raised on the philosophy of the late Rabbi Zvi Yehuda Kook, that the state and its institutions embody inherent holiness, a belief that demanded cooperation with secular political leaders. But belief in the state's sanctity has been steadily losing currency among the faithful. It suffered another severe blow after Monday's Knesset vote, which put an end to hopes that disengagement would be decided by a referendum.

Rabbis who spoke at the conference presented theological arguments supporting religious Zionism's dialectic. "Nothing worthwhile comes easily," said Aviner. "What we are experiencing right now is a temporary setback. We cannot understand His ways, but we must not lose faith just because things are getting tough."

At the end of the conference, participants made four pledges which constitute the dogma of mainstream religious Zionism:

• We reiterate our Torah-based loyalty to the State of Israel, embodying the beginning of our redemption, and see in it the national fulfillment of the Jewish people.
• We must do everything in our power to encourage the unity of the People of Israel in this critical hour, and, in tandem, to strengthen the deep spiritual and practical connections between the nation and the land.
• We will strive to maintain a hold on all parts of the Landof Israelunder the jurisdiction of the State of Israel while adhering to the law and democratic rules.
• We see it as important to strengthen the unity of religious Zionism in all its colors.

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