circa 1900: Letter from Lubavitcher Rebbe, the Heresy of “Religious” Zionism

As is written in the Midrash Rabbah on the verse “For with You is the source of life,” even the redemption that was through Moshe and Aharon was not a complete redemption, and they returned [to exile]. And all the more so the redemption that was by Chaggai, Zechariah, and Malachi, etc., even though they acted according to the prophecy of Yirmiyahu and according to the later prophets who were with them. In this exile, we must hope only for our redemption and our salvation from the Holy One, Blessed be He, Himself—not through flesh and blood—and then our redemption will be complete.

b) Furthermore, in truth, all their affairs and their foundations are mere fantasy, for their desire is impossible to bring to fruition, as there will be no agreement on this in any way. And we, too, by our very nature, are not suited for this. It is only the bribe of licentiousness and power that blinds the eyes of the primary activists in this matter, and after them, the fools walk in darkness.

c) And what surpasses all else is that the primary activists in this matter are complete deniers of Hashem and His Torah. Their entire desire and aim is to cast off the yoke of the Torah and the Mitzvot and to hold fast only to nationalism (le’umiyut), and this will be their Judaism. This was stated not long ago by one of their special leaders in a public article, blaspheming and reviling all of Judaism before the eyes of all Israel. He dared to say for all to see that not everyone who observes the Torah and Mitzvot is a Jew, etc. And regarding many of the Torah’s commandments, they say that they are—(may their mouths be sealed)—a disgrace to Israel. And this they wish to implant in the hearts of the youth through the education they seek to seize under their control in their schools, in order to instill in them the poison and venom of heresy (kefirah), may the Merciful One save us, against the Torah and Mitzvot. Only nationalism will be their banner.

One of their leaders even dared to create a “new Torah,” that is, a Five Books of the Torah, but not as it was given to Moshe from Sinai. Rather, he omitted many verses and many sections and laws that were not proper in his eyes. He is prepared to print this new Torah, and this he will teach the youths in the schools. And this will be one of the functions of the Bank: to establish schools for youths to educate them in the aforementioned path.

And until they succeed in using the power of the Bank to rebuild the ruins of our land, to repair roads and railways and the other things mentioned in their program, they will apply their strength to the education of the youth and to “culture” in general, in order to implant in the youth and the young people of the generation a “root that grows gall and wormwood.” Their emissaries are the Zionist preachers (matifim), who preach to the masses sermons of slander and speak rebelliously against the prophets of Hashem, and even against Moshe Rabbeinu, the master of all prophets, with whatever comes to their minds. Woe unto us that it has come to this in our days! Whatever means they find to sway the heart of the masses to their opinion and their spirit, there is no prevention or hindrance to it whatsoever, and there is no restraint to their evil spirit. For in truth, most of them desire, Heaven forfend, to remove the heart of Israel from Hashem and His Torah and to demean in their eyes all the sacred treasures of Israel. This is the desire of the leaders, and the body is drawn after the head (gufa batar reisha grir). And if, Heaven forfend, they succeed in taking hold of the land as they imagine in their souls, they will defile it and make it abominable with their abominations and their evil deeds, and they will thereby, Heaven forfend, lengthen the duration of the exile.

After all these true statements, consider well, our brothers: Is this something that Hashem desires? And will the salvation of Israel come through them? No, we will not accept this in any way! Even the “good” of these men we will cast before them. It is not in this “good” that we are interested, but rather in the good that Hashem has given us through the fulfillment of the Torah and Mitzvot, as it is written: “If you walk in My statutes… I will give your rains [in their season]…” This is what we desire, and for this is all our hope. And those who assist the aforementioned Zionists are destined to give an accounting, for they strengthen the hands of those who cause the masses to sin. Therefore, whoever is for Hashem and His Torah will not associate with evildoers and will not cleave to them. On the contrary, he will oppose it in every possible way. And until it is the will of Hashem to redeem us, we must accept the yoke of exile to atone for our sins. We must strengthen ourselves and stand against every wave, and be strong and courageous in the fulfillment of the Torah and Mitzvot, for this is what Hashem demands of us. And we must hope to Him, may His name be blessed, for His salvation is near to come, and our righteous Mashiach will arrive, speedily in our days. “And though he may tarry, wait for him,” for the matter depends on the rectification of our deeds. And may Hashem, may He be blessed, have mercy upon us and hasten and speed our redemption, speedily in our days.

And as for the Zionists’ claim, “Why do the God-fearing and the pious not stand at the head [of the movement]?”
a) How can the God-fearing stand at the head of a movement that opposes the entirety of our faith regarding the matter of the true redemption, as explained above?
b) The God-fearing cannot participate with them, because they [the Zionists] will not listen to the words of the God-fearing in matters of faith and education, and they will do their deeds according to the will of the licentiousness that is planted and rooted in their souls. And they will further dare to say that the God-fearing also agree to this. And many of the Jewish masses will believe in their innocence that all their actions are also with the agreement of the God-fearing and the pious. And if [the God-fearing] later separate from them and cry out bitterly against them (if they are even given space for their words in the press), their separation will not be as effective as was their prior participation. We see this now with one of their great ones who left and separated from the Executive Committee to oppose them; nevertheless, his separation and his current opposition did not undo the effect of his prior participation…
c) In truth, they do not want the God-fearing to participate with them at all, because they would nevertheless stand against them in the evil path they have chosen for themselves (to cast off from themselves the yoke of the Torah and Mitzvot completely, so that their entire Judaism will be only nationalism, as mentioned above). As happened at the Warsaw assemblies, when the rabbis demanded that the Executive Committee also have a rabbinic committee, they did not agree to this in any way. And their emissaries—who are the writers—came out in the press with articles against the rabbis, made them a mockery, and reviled them, saying that the rabbis had dared to demand such a thing, and more in such language. From this it is patently clear that they do not want the participation of the God-fearing, so as not to be disturbed from their evil thought. And may Hashem, may He be blessed, annul their counsel…

And as for their further claim that they are doers and achievers for the good of their people, while the God-fearing sit with folded hands and do nothing: let us see what they have done for the good of our people. We will not speak of the Zionists who, in the nearly three years since the Zionist movement arose, have not done a single thing or half a thing for the good of our Jewish brethren. They have achieved only one thing: the shores of the Holy Land have been closed before all Jews, from whatever country they may be. And they [the authorities] will not ratify any purchase of a house or land by our Jewish brethren who are not under Ottoman protection… Since the Hovevei Tzion society began, the shores of the Holy Land were closed to those coming from Russia and Romania, and the purchase of land and houses was forbidden to those from all countries (except Ottoman subjects) who were new arrivals. It is known to all how many suffered from this and lost their money in a bad affair. And when the Zionist movement arose, entry was forbidden to all Jews, and purchase [of land] was also forbidden to the old-timers. With this, they have done a very great evil to our brethren who have been living there for a long time, and thereby a distinction was created between those who came to Eretz Yisrael which had not existed before. They have disgraced and lowered the honor of the Children of Israel in the eyes of the inhabitants of the land. And all this has come upon Israel at a great cost in money, beginning with the half-shekels they collected and afterwards with the shares for which they gathered a great sum, and they have accomplished nothing. They only want us to believe in them and their promises.

It is sheer brazenness on their part to demand from others when they themselves have shaken the world and collected a huge sum, and also spent it, yet have done nothing for the good of our brethren.

Indeed, even the Hovevei Tzion society in Odessa, which was founded about ten years ago with the permission of His Majesty’s government, what have they done for the good of our brethren? The one good thing they accomplished was the founding of the colony Chadera (Kastina). And as I have been told by a most trustworthy man who knows that colony well and knows its people well, this colony has only a few families. They do not have houses (only plank buildings), but only what is given to them for their toil in working the land, a franc and a half per day for each worker (and the income belongs to the society). They are impoverished slaves. They also support a small number of families in the colony of Petach Tikva with the profits from the etrogim. And this is their great benefit to all of Israel.

Good deeds and support of this kind are done by every rabbi and every homeowner in his city for the poor homeowners in a way that they will not need to receive charity again (unlike the colonists, who require constant support). Even the colonists of Baron Hirsch, who gave each one an inheritance with all the equipment, which amounts to ten thousand rubles and more per person—and it has been more than twenty years since his colonies were founded—they nevertheless require constant support, and only a few colonists have managed to become self-sufficient. And this too is through the Baron’s great generosity in being good to them.

[In our communities,] rabbis and community leaders support the poor of their city, and all this is done without a great clamor and commotion and is not known to the public at all. Even in towns which are not distinguished for their charitable deeds, they support far more than the Hovevei Tzion support. And many who make a great noise in the world… after the great clamor they raise, they collect more than forty thousand rubles a year. What have they done in ten years for the good of our brethren? Their strength is only in their mouth and their pen. Their tongue speaks great things, and with the power of their pen they expand and magnify every little thing they do or think of doing. And when they get a whiff of any opposition from someone, they fall upon him like ravening lions and pour upon him words of contempt and shame, and they seek to burn him with the breath of their mouths and the ink of their pens.

But “what advantage has the master of the tongue?” (Kohelet 10:11). With the breath of their mouths they will not create new realities, nor will they deceive the eyes of those who see. For in actual deed, we see nothing. How can they improve the lot of all Israel with such a small and insignificant amount of support? And they still call themselves “doers” and “achievers” for the good of our brethren. How are they not ashamed to say such a thing, and even to demand of others for their lack of action, when in truth those who are being challenged do much more than them, each in his city and in his place? And there are also among us those who are concerned with improving the lot of the many, to better their financial situation, and they do not make a commotion in the world at all, but do good in actual practice.

And may Hashem, may He be blessed, raise the horn of our Jewish brethren higher and higher and hasten and speed our redemption, speedily in our days.

The words of your friend who desires truth in your true love, who awaits the salvation of the Holy One, Blessed be He, soon,