Yishuv ha’aretz it is not

I have heard it a thousand times and so have you the claim by aliyah salesmen that American Jews don’t move to Israel because they don’t want to give up their luxuries, as if they all live in luxury. The suggestion is that Americans are materialistic, and some are, but Zionists are even more materialistic, particularly the American and British Zionists. An American Orthodox Jew has his religion and his possessions, some more than others, but a Zionist’s religion is materialism, a materialism of a different kind. When he references yishuv ha-haretz, he means apartment buildings, an army, an air force, and a building for the Knesset, no matter who uses them. He’s so proud that “we have our own army,” but the great majority of the soldiers don’t observe the Torah, so who is “we”? He is overjoyed that “we” reconquered Jerusalem, even though atheists did the conquering and much of the city is overrun by Jews riding in their  cars on Shabbos. His interest in secular, materialistic. 

Yishuv ha’aretz is a religious concept.  Jews who observe the Jewish religion bring the discipline and holiness of mitzvos to the soil, to forming a religious society. Is that what a “Religious” Zionist is trying to do? I might credit him for that if he ever talked about anything but aliyah, if there were anything in life that bothered him other than Americans not moving to Israel, that and the existence of Arabs. But your typical “Religious” Zionist isn’t bothered by lashon hara, thievery, pritzus, bitul Torah, chesed, or any other mitzvah including murder. He wants his own country, not a religious one, but one that is run by that social group of people born to parents who were born to Jewish parents. It’s a materialistic urge. 

And with this materialistic urge comes selfishness. All the people who pushed me into moving to Israel disappeared when I got here. They offered no help with anything and did not invite me to anything. This includes my so-called Nefesh b’Nefesh buddy family that never met with us even one time. On the other hand, anti-Zionists befriended me and helped me out in all sorts of ways. So often in life our accusations are confessions. The Zionist materialism claim is just that. It’s a confession by a person who uses the religion as a cover for his materialistic urges. It is not the materialism of granite countertops, it's a materialism that is far more sinister.