For Speech at Katz Prize Jerusalem (1983)

/ For Speech at Katz Prize Jerusalem (198…

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October 1983

For Speech at Katz Prize Jerusalem (1983)

Zionism

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Speech

Jerusalem the Golden: A 2-Part Lecture Series (1968)

I. 1. June '67 = turning pt in theology that most Am, continental theologians (non-J) not yet aware of 2. For several yrs: "G-i-d". Hegel → Ntzsch → Hideggn\Sartre major import: g, if ever was, now abandoned world; f. all pract-purpose – Ntzsch's Zarathustra "killed" off g. 3. But 6-day war, reunif'n Jer., reac'n many Israelis – heralded evidence reentry Gd stream J. hist SI: "g-i-d – Ntzshe; Nietzsche is Dead – g-d" Events June knocked new chr. theology (J; mit's) coded yarmulke 4. These 2 lectures – changes wrought by these events: Theol, Halkhic 5. Powerful symbol: song ירושלים של זהב

Speech

The Ideology of Religious Zionism (1969)

In a broad sense, Zionism has always been an integral part of Judaism. Although the majority of Jews were away from the Land of Israel throughout most of the 3,500 years of Jewish history, ארץ ישראל has always loomed large, indeed, indispensable, in Jewish religious thought. It began at the beginning — with the divine promise to Abraham, and the blessing, which centered about the relation of God, People, and Land. Thus, the Talmud considers the settlement in ארץ ישראל as a mitzvah or obligation, and the overwhelming majority of authorities hold that this obligation is in force today too. This relationship between Israel the People and Israel the Land transcends historical memory or religious ideal or legal obligation. It is all these and more—a long, painful, and glorious love story. In the (Lev. 26:32) we read: "And I will bring the land into desolation; and your enemies that dwell therein shall be astonished ( ) at it." means more than "astonished" some translate; "appalled." Even more accurate, according to Jewish tradition, would be "desolated" so the Land will be desolate that even the enemy will not be able to flourish in it. The Sages found a consoling element in this prediction of doom: "This represents a good quality for Israel that the enemies will find no satisfaction in the Land, for it will be desolate of its inhabitants." People of Israel and Land of Israel are like two lovers, husband and wife, who have had bitter arguments and left each other. But it is a lover's quarrel—they are angry with each other, they have separated, but neither will give its love to any other. The People will not transfer its ultimate commitment to any other Land—neither Uganda nor Birobidjan. And the Land will not yield its secrets nor offer itself up to any other lover. Only Jews have ever succeeded in settling the Land and making it flourish—not the Germans in days of the Kaiser, not the Turks or English or Arabs. Of course, with such a glorious history of mutual love, lon…

Correspondence

Letter to Consul Zohar about His New Year's Gift (1963)

My Dear Mr. Zohar: Please accept my sincerest thanks, in which Mrs. Lamm and the children join me, for your kind and thoughtful gift and your generous sentiments on the eve of this new year. May G-d grant that this year be for you and your family one of health, happiness, and success, and for the State of Israel and all our people throughout the world one of peace, greater dedication to Torah, and serenity. Sincerely, Rabbi Norman Lamm.