Monday, July 26, 2021

Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch, Rabbi of Frankfurt (1808-1889)

 https://www.truetorahjews.org/ravhirsch

Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch devotes a long section of his book Horeb (pp. 460-461) to the obligation of Jews to seek the welfare of their government (Yirmiyahu 29:7). If this applied under the Babylonians, who exiled the Jews by force, all the more so in our current countries of residence, in which we settled by choice. If this applied in Babylonia, where Jews were sent for a pre-specified period of 70 years, all the more so today, when the length of our exile has not been revealed to us. For hundreds of years, Jews have honored and loved the rulers of the countries in which they took refuge, and followed all their laws faithfully.

Israel’s nationhood does not depend on a common land, writes Rav Hirsch. Even when the Jewish people lived on its own land, it was not the land that united them. The land and the external trappings of statehood were only a means to better fulfill the obligations of the Jews. The Torah was not given for Eretz Yisroel; Eretz Yisroel was given for the Torah!

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