Are Religious or Ultra-Orthodox Jews Anti-Zionist? 5 Points to Consider

Ready, Set, Crawl!

Crawling occurs in the first year of our lives and is a significant developmental stage for babies. The free movement in space allows a baby, who was previously limited in motion, to explore the environment.

Crawling is a complex motor activity and requires considerable physical effort. Try crawling for a few minutes and you'll appreciate the effort of a crawling baby. Any adult who tries to crawl like a baby will feel sharp pains in their knees rubbing against the hard floor, a difficulty that can lead to a lack of coordination and slow movement.

And I ask myself, why doesn't it hurt a baby when crawling, and instead, it seems they actually enjoy it?

Unlike what we might think, a baby's bones are not hard. They have not yet completed the ossification process, so they are relatively soft, allowing the baby to move easily and quickly in the space. It should be noted that a baby’s bones start as cartilage, which transforms into bone over time. This wonderful fact enables growth during infancy, childhood, and adolescence.

Here we see the marvelous design present in a baby's skeletal system. We have not yet discussed questions like: how do our bones not rub against each other? Who "informs" the bones to grow for a certain period and stop at a specific age? How do broken bones know how to heal themselves perfectly, and who "programmed" them to do so?

It's impossible not to admire the supreme wisdom that created all these conditions!

Anti-Zionist

Here’s something I don’t understand:

Why do some in the "secular" public see religious, especially ultra-Orthodox, Jews as "anti-Zionist"?

Let’s look together at four key aspects of the religious observant community’s life:

1. They remember and mourn for the Land of Israel, Zion, by fasting on four major dates related to the separation from the Land of Zion: the 10th of Tevet marking the beginning of the siege on Jerusalem; the 17th of Tammuz marking the breach of the walls and the invasion of the city; the 9th of Av marking the burning of the Temple; and the 3rd of Tishrei marking the assassination of Gedaliah and the exile of the remaining Jewish community.

2. Every day, three times a day, a Jew turns to the Creator and prays fervently for the welfare of the Land of Zion and its people, and the ingathering of the exiles to Zion (the Amidah prayer - "May our eyes behold your return to Zion lovingly" / "Rebuild it as an eternal building quickly in our days"; the Grace After Meals - "Builder of Jerusalem", and more).

3. A significant number of observant Jews engage in "Tikkun Chatzot" every night, which focuses on remembering the Land of Zion and Jerusalem. It concludes with the verses "You will arise and have mercy on Zion for it is time to favor her, for the set time has come... The Lord builds Jerusalem; He gathers the outcasts of Israel" (Psalms 102:14-15, 147:2).

4. Any observant Jew living in the Land of Israel will not leave the land without consulting a Torah scholar to determine if their reason for leaving justifies a halachic allowance to exit the holy land.

And I ask: is this community, whose yearning for the Land of Zion is expressed in prayers three times a day, and whose commitment is tested through not easy sacrifices, deserving of the label "anti-Jewish" - "anti-Zionist"?

Bzzzzzzz

Every one of us has had our sweet sleep disturbed by the buzz of an annoying fly. Our efforts to swat them away are often in vain. Why do flies even exist? What purpose do they serve? Is their sole mission to annoy us with their buzzing?

However, flies play a crucial role in biological pest control. They are used to reduce populations of plant pests, which harm agricultural crops.

It turns out some people are willing to pay a lot for these flies! A recent report stated that Israel won a tender to export millions of flies to a region in Europe, where there are vast expanses rich with orchards and fruit groves that suffer from insects and worms harmful to the fruits. The flies eliminate those specific pests, allowing the fruits to continue growing undisturbed.

Moreover, flies, like bees, butterflies, and others, play a role in pollinating plants, essential for fertilization and fruit production. For plants to reproduce and create more plants, they need pollination, meaning the pollen of one male flower must reach another female flower of the same plant type to fertilize it. The flower then becomes a fruit with seeds, and a new cycle of growth begins.

As stated in the Mishnah in Ethics of the Fathers: "No man is without his moment, and no thing without its place" (Ethics of the Fathers 4). The same fly can be annoying at one time and helpful in another place and time. The Creator of the world crafted a perfect world from every aspect, and nothing in the world is superfluous. Everything was created precisely in its adequate place, according to its purpose.

First Step

"Maybe you should pray for me, you have a connection with Him, unlike me," said my secular friend about a particular difficulty he was facing.

I told him: "You should pray! You can't imagine how excited and happy Hashem will be from your approach to Him, despite what you think... Trust me."

My friend looked at me puzzled...

I explained that it's like in life: when is a father most thrilled to see his son walk toward him? During the baby's first steps, not when he is an adult. Those first steps are the most exciting because, in them, the father first realizes that his son acknowledges him and desires closeness...

Similarly, Hashem, our Father in Heaven. Pray to Him yourself, as these are your first steps, His lost son, toward Him! This first step will immensely delight Hashem. So go ahead! Take a step toward Him...

Friends, as dear and beloved sons – Hashem greatly desires our closeness and wants to hear our prayers to Him, in any situation and place. He loves His people Israel and desires their repentance, like any father, who despite his anger loves his son and desires to listen to and fulfill his son's wishes, even if he sinned against him. He wants to see His son return from his wrong ways and do His will.

Where Are the Transitional Creatures?

At the core of Darwin’s theory lies the idea that evolution occurs through small changes accumulated over long periods, progressively turning primitive species into complex ones more suited to their environment.

Let’s assume Darwin was right, and according to the theory of evolution – not only did apes evolve into humans, but other animals evolved into others. If so, why haven’t fossils of those transitional creatures—half man and half ape, or half horse and half donkey—been found to this day? The lack of evidence for transitional creatures is the main weakness in the renowned geologist’s theory.

If this claim were valid, we would find fossils also of the intermediate stages, in the transition from the ancient species to the current species. However, such fossils of these supposed intermediate stages have never been found, despite the claim that the evolutionary process occurred over hundreds of millions of years!

Where, then, are all the multitude of transitional creatures that supposedly existed in every developmental chain of every animal? This is enough to prove that creatures did not evolve from one another but rather each was created individually, as the Torah testifies.

In "On the Origin of Species," Darwin wrote: "Why, if species have descended from other species by fine gradations, do we not everywhere see innumerable transitional forms?" Perhaps this is the most obvious and serious objection which can be urged against my theory." He further wrote that he believes the explanation lies in the fact that during that time—the 19th century, as mentioned—most of the geological-archaeological finds were yet to be discovered. As we know, to this day, no fossils or skeletons of half-animals have been found, so Darwin himself would negate his theory if he were alive today.

Another question: Why hasn't it happened again that a monkey has evolved into a human? If it happened in the past, why isn't it happening today? Why don't we find some jungle of monkeys, from which new humans emerge, saying "Hello, we've arrived"?...