Q&A: Uganda in Norway
Uganda in Norway
Question
Not a halakhic question
If there were an option for all the Jewish citizens of Israel to emigrate to Norway (the Norwegians would be happy to emigrate to Mozambique and the Mozambicans would be happy to take them in, etc.) and receive a ready-made state with no neighbor conflicts, threats of war, and the like — would you, Rabbi Dr. Michael Abraham, be happy about the idea, or are you deeply bound, in the innermost sparks of the homey Jewish soul-levels, to our holy land, on whose clods Shamgar son of Anath struck down six hundred Philistines with an oxgoad, and in whose north the Yarmouk trickles along?
Answer
Good question. I don’t know.
Discussion on Answer
From your point of view, is there no commandment to settle the Land (if not on the state level, then at least for the individual who lives in it?)
1. He didn’t ask what I think should be done, but whether I would be happy.
2. In a situation of danger to life, there is certainly a strong case for preferring another place.
Before we ask that the Norwegians move to Mozambique, let’s ask that the Arabs move to Mozambique. Besides, it’s not for nothing that the State of Israel was established דווקא in the Land of Israel. The assumption hidden here — as though the Jews just want some territory on which to establish a state — has not really stood the test of reality. In practice, the Jews invested and continue to invest great efforts to establish a state specifically in the Land of Israel, perhaps because it is clear — even to the nations — that the Jews have a connection to the Land of Israel, and perhaps because that is simply the right thing to do.
I think the Jewish settlement was abandoned over the generations for economic reasons, and perhaps also international ones. The weakening of religions, the rise of a secular nationalist world, and the modern economy enabled the Jews to renew their hold on the Land of Israel, and that brought the Jews back to the Land of Israel.