Independence or Freedom: What Does the Jewish People Truly Need?

Independence Day is a well-known concept in every sovereign state. There is no nation or people worldwide that does not aspire to independence, meaning full self-governance, i.e., cultural and territorial autonomy. This includes a governing system, usually through elections based on a self-crafted legal system suited to their authentic leaders and traditions, with exclusive control over a region within defined and agreed-upon borders as an independent and recognized state in the world.

What symbolizes the recognition of one state by another is the establishment of an embassy within its borders: a situation that allows mutual dialogue. The state hosting the embassy relies on it for security and on the stability of peaceful relations between them.

Indeed, in the modern world, most nations have achieved this independence, and are even connected to the international organization called the United Nations (UN), founded on the agreement of the independent existence of each member state. It facilitates the establishment of an internationally agreed-upon legal system aimed at maintaining world order based on peace. The modern world has achieved some success in this aspect, yet one must not forget that every independent state is still dependent on its peers and, even more so, on the existing economic and military powers in the world; hence, their independence is essentially not absolute. Even the greatest superpower in the world is not truly "free."

If we observe carefully, we will notice that the entire purpose of independence is to allow the fulfillment of material desires and aspirations, i.e., the heart's desires of the people—each according to its "culture" and customs. However, by nature, a person is also spiritual, which gives rise to the need for spiritual pleasures as both an individual and a nation. To address this need, each society invents its own "culture," which includes events related to spirituality called holidays, based on the creativity and imagination of its founders and leaders. The purpose of all these is but to complete the picture of a full life in this world, to stir and fulfill the enjoyment of human emotion and spiritual satisfaction, such as "Independence Day," "Mother's Day," "Father's Day," and the like. It goes without saying that valuing parents only one or two days a year is rather ludicrous, not to mention dedicating a "Memorial Day" once a year to celebrate the memory of victims of wars in amusement parks, national gardens with food, drink, and revelry, or joyful excursions in nature.

Unlike autonomous and territorial independence like other nations with self-sovereignty, the Jewish people, by the grace of Hashem, regained theirs on the fifth of Iyar 5708 (1948) with the establishment of the State of Israel, after nearly two thousand years of exile, distress, and suffering, and after the horrific Holocaust in Europe in which about a third of the Jewish people were lost. The Jewish people, unique and different from all other nations, possess a completely different state of being, preserved even in the most difficult situations, and it has preserved them throughout history from completely assimilating among the nations despite a long exile, despite being scattered, persecuted, beaten, hated, disgraced, expelled, displaced, destroyed, and without political independence. This unique entity, which only the Jewish people possess, is called freedom. Meaning, despite lacking political independence, they were truly free.

This freedom received significant appreciation from the nations of the world and their leaders, despite their hatred towards us. The great Russian author, Leo Tolstoy, wrote about it (translated from Russian): "The Jew is that humble creature [a note: Here his "love" for the Jewish people is apparent], who descended from the ever-burning heavenly fire and enlightened the whole world. He is the source, the spring, and the fountain; from him, all the nations have drawn their faith and religion. The Jew is the pioneer in the camp at the head of freedom. The Jew is the pioneer at the head of human culture. The Jew is the symbol of eternity," thus he wrote.

It's noteworthy that although Leo Tolstoy was a wise man [There is wisdom among the nations; believe it (Eichah Rabbah 2)], the Torah of Israel does not need his consent or approval, Heaven forbid. However, his wisdom brought him to this sublime understanding, and he acknowledged this reality unwillingly.

In this freedom we were privileged—the holy, unique, and noble people of Israel, thanks to our patriarchs: Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, at Mount Sinai with the receiving of the holy Torah from the Creator of the universe, blessed be He, in His glory and by Himself.

The interesting aspect of this freedom is how the Sages of Blessed Memory described it in the Ethics of the Fathers (6:2): “There is no free person but one who occupies himself with the study of the Torah” as it is written, and as our national poet, R. Yehuda Halevi of blessed memory, said: “Slaves of time are the slaves of slaves, a servant of Hashem alone is truly free.” This means that the study of the Torah and adherence to its commandments is the exclusive condition for obtaining this "freedom." Only by fulfilling this condition did the people of Israel survive the inferno of their long and bitter exile, as history has shown. Needless to say, those who strayed from this "freedom" were assimilated among the gentiles and left no trace of their existence.

The above demonstrates that it is possible to live in an independent state with cultural and territorial autonomy, as stated, and to establish a governing system according to self-crafted laws, yet without "freedom," and the reality in the State of Israel proves it: signs are everywhere in foreign languages, clothing fashions based on imitation of the world's nations and their cultures to the point where in many cases it is difficult to distinguish between foreign visitors and our people.

Furthermore, despite the illusion of independence in which we live, the fact that we are largely dependent on world opinion, the favor of other nations, and more so the major powers among them: economically, militarily, and politically does not allow us to act freely for our security [to the extent that even police officers and soldiers fear using their weapons against attackers, often costing them their lives]. This reality testifies overwhelmingly that we have not yet regained "true freedom."

History testifies that despite being a small nation among many, during the time of the great kings of Israel: David and Solomon of blessed memory, when the people of Israel safely dwelt in their land, beyond economic prosperity, King David of blessed memory describes the political situation (Psalms 18:44-45): "People I do not know serve me: at the hearing of the ear they obey me," thus he wrote. And as described in the Navi (1 Kings 10:23-24): "King Solomon became greater than all the kings of the earth in wealth and wisdom: And the whole world sought the presence of Solomon to hear his wisdom, which Hashem had put in his heart", thus it was written. Thus, by all accounts, Israel was the "greatest power on earth," and all nations feared provocation against them, despite being a numerically small nation in the world.

The question that arises naturally from the above data is: What is the difference between the period of the aforementioned Kings of Israel and the period we live in today?

The answer is: The embassy that was stationed in the Land of Israel in their time, which due to our many sins was destroyed, and since then, until now, has not been rebuilt. This embassy is none other than the Tabernacle of the Testimony, or Temple, that replaced it, where the "divine presence of the Creator of the Universe, blessed be He" was dwelling, as the prophet Zechariah said (Zechariah 4:6): "Not by might, nor by power, but by My Spirit, said Hashem", which is only possible when the people of Israel adhere to the laws of our holy Torah and its commandments, as written in Deuteronomy 28:1, 9-10: (1) "And it shall come to pass, if you will listen diligently to the voice of Hashem your God, to observe to do all His commandments which I command you this day, that Hashem your God will set you on high above all nations of the earth": (9) "Hashem shall establish you as a holy people unto Himself, as He has sworn unto you, if you will keep the commandments of Hashem your God, and walk in His ways: (10) And all the peoples of the earth shall see that you are called by the name of Hashem, and they shall be afraid of you", thus it was written.

This is the true freedom we aspire and long for, and it depends only on us. However, due to not observing the laws and judgments of the Torah properly, our Temple was destroyed, a sword passed over our land, and we were exiled from our soil. Despite some of the Jewish people having returned to their homeland, the "Temple" has not been rebuilt yet, to our sorrows, and we have not merited the divine presence dwelling among us as in the times of the aforementioned "Kings of Israel". As the sages already stated (Jerusalem Talmud, Yoma 1:1), "Every generation in which the Temple is not rebuilt is considered as if it was destroyed in its days", so they wrote.

Fortunately, the movement of repentance that is sweeping the Jewish world in all its settlements, especially in the Holy Land, proves that the Jewish people are alive and will live forever. May it be Hashem's will that we merit to see the spiritual and physical return of Zion alike and the fulfillment of the prophet Joel's words (Joel 4:18-20): (18) "And it shall come to pass in that day, that the mountains shall drip with wine and the hills shall flow with milk, and all the watercourses of Yehuda shall flow with water; and a fountain shall come forth of the house of Hashem, and shall water the valley of Shittim: (19) Egypt shall be a desolation, and Edom a desolate wilderness, for the violence against the children of Yehuda because they have shed innocent blood in their land: (20) But Yehuda shall remain for ever, and Yerushalayim from generation to generation," swiftly in our days, Amen and Amen.