Judaism
The pursuit of unity is a religious ideal we must not forsake
A more than timely work from the chairman of World Mizrachi, Rabbi Doron Perez
September 1, 2023 10:00
A more than timely work from the chairman of World Mizrachi, Rabbi Doron Perez
September 1, 2023 10:00The Jewish State — From Opposition to Opportunity
by Doron Perez
Gefen/Mizrachi Press, $28
Given the rifts in Israel so starkly exposed in recent months by the protests over judicial reform, a book urging Jewish unity is more than timely.
That call has come from Rabbi Doron Perez, the chairman of World Mizrachi, the Orthodox religious movement, who grew up in South Africa and made aliyah when he was 18. Traditionally, Mizrachi has played a moderating role in Israeli society, mediating between religious and secular wings.
The first part of the book is taken up with an analysis of antisemitism, as defined by the Vilna Gaon. The 18th-century scholar found it embodied in different forms by three of ancient Israel’s adversaries: Moab (which represents spiritual erosion and hatred of Torah); Edom (which seeks physical destruction); and the Philistines, who oppose Israelite sovereignty in the Land of Israel.
While Rabbi Perez acknowledges that the modern-day Palestinians are neither historically nor culturally the descendants of the Philistines, he considers them “spiritual heirs” of the biblical people, in that they fulfil a similar role by contesting Jewish claims to the land.
Palestinian nationalism today, he writes, “is an oppositional nationalism, not based on an ancient historic love and deep national or spiritual connection to this particular tract of land, but rather deriving from a deep sense of opposition and even hatred to the claim of others to this land”.
But this metaphysical approach oversimplifies the conflict since it brushes aside the attachment felt by the Palestinians who were displaced in Israel’s War of Independence to the homes they lost as if it were of no consequence.
Rabbi Doron Perez's book (Photo: Bookcover)
