Question:
(1) Can the Rav explain what the proper perspective is, about the financial aid which the USA provides to Jerusalem? Is this due to the increase of people learning Torah in Israel, and is it part of the “light of Moshiach” which has begun to shine, in which the nations will run after the Jewish nation? Or is it as the Rebbe of Satmar said in a derasha in front of thousands of his chassidim, regarding the financial aid of America to Jerusalem and the joy of the Chareidi world towards this and towards its benefactor, the prime minister, Binyamin Netanyahu. The Rebbe said that he is the “head of a country of deniers”. The Satmar Rebbe said that “One who enjoys the successes of the Zionists is being a total heretic, and he will not merit to rejoice in the coming of Moshiach. Just as idol worship must be nullified through establishing a disparaging name about it, so does a person need to speak negatively of the Zionists”. I would be happy to know what the Rav’s opinion is on this topic, so that we shouldn’t fall into confusion, G-d forbid, as when everyone enjoyed the party of Achashveirosh. Is there a comparison? (2) In relation to the previous question, what is the proper perspective to have towards the Netanyahu government, and Netanyahu specifically? Are they good or evil? Are they well-meaning towards the Jewish people, even though they are defined as Chiloni (irreligious)? Or are he and his government just the Erev Rav, evil people who are opposed to G-d and His children? I am asking this question even though I did not take a poll to see if there is confusion in this topic amongst a part of Chareidi Jewry, and perhaps more than a part – and understandably, it is [confusing] to me personally.Answer:
The “Erev Rav” in this generation is mixed with everything, and therefore, everything has good and evil in it. In each thing, one must see the good parts to it, and the bad parts to it, and this is an avodah for people who have already purified their hearts. But the general avodah is for a person to separate from all of this mixture, and not to think about the Israeli government at all, because the very thinking about them is the idea of mixing with them. Therefore a person should not speak of them at all. [There should be] a total disconnection [from them].
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