Rabbi Landau Decided to Argue with the Rambam Himself | Adv. Yair Gabay

Adv. Yair Gabay attacks Rabbi Dov Landau for saying that the Torah of the defenders of Jewish sovereignty is a "distorted Torah." Gabay claims that in doing so Rabbi Landau nullifies the value of Jewish sovereignty and argues with the Rambam himself, who saw the return of Jewish rule as part of the salvation. The article compares the Hasmonean fighters to IDF soldiers and defends the value of sovereignty.

Adv. Yair Gabay sharply attacks Rabbi Dov Landau, head of the Slabodka Yeshiva, for his words that the Torah of the defenders of Jewish sovereignty is a "distorted Torah." Gabay claims that in doing so Rabbi Landau nullifies the value of Jewish sovereignty and argues with the Rambam himself. He notes that the Rambam, who knew well the weaknesses of the Hasmonean kings, saw the return of Jewish rule as part of the description of salvation on Hanukkah, and not only in the miracle of the cruse of oil. Gabay asks whether the five sons of Mattathias, who met their deaths in violence in the Hasmonean struggle, fell because they studied a "distorted Torah." He also mentions Haredim who bore arms in the War of Independence and fell in the defense of Jerusalem. Gabay argues that a Jewish state can suffer from flaws and still be of first-rank religious value, and that IDF soldiers defend not only the state but the entire Jewish people, of whom the Haredi public is a part. The article ends with the claim that the British Mandate that Rabbi Landau yearns to see return was rife with pogroms against Jews.