A Time of Repentance
Chief Chaplain Rabbi Shlomo Goren carries a sefer Torah and blows a shofar while surrounded by IDF soldiers on the Temple Mount after the Six-Day War. Photo: Eli Landau/Israel Government Press Office
In the aftermath of the obvious miracles of the Six-Day War, Rabbi Shlomo Wolbe, a leading rabbi in the post-Holocaust era in Israel, felt there was an unprecedented opportunity to bring secular Israelis to Torah observance.
Inspired by the religious revival he witnessed, he personally traveled from kibbutz to kibbutz trying to bring multitudes back to Torah. Additionally, he traveled across the Suez Canal to encourage the IDF soldiers stationed there. The lectures he delivered to secular Jews were published years later as Bein Sheishes Le’Asor and Ohr LaShav. The following article is an excerpt from Bein Sheishes Le’Asor by Rabbi Shlomo Wolbe; translation by Rabbi Eliyahu Krakowski.
After many years during which the public at large distanced itself from “religion” and “religious people,” there has been a shift in attitude. Many yearn to learn about Judaism, and many seek the way back to a life of Torah.
The Six-Day War marked the beginning of this new period. Throughout the country, there was a palpable atmosphere of drawing closer to the source of our life—our sacred Torah. Quite a few soldiers returned from the front lines as ba’alei teshuvah. Since then, many doors have been opened to teach and explain the Torah—doors that had previously been closed to anything connected to “religion.” The excitement engendered by the miracles that occurred in those days faded afterward, but the yearning did not. Thoughts of repentance are awakening in the hearts of many, and interest in Judaism is continually growing.
The Yom Kippur War added a new stage to this inner transformation: it abruptly revealed the powerlessness and irresponsibility of leaders who had been crowned with a halo of heroism and victory until then. The breaking of idols continues. The disappointment with values and principles is spreading. A moral, cultural, social and ideological breakdown is shaking the very foundations of the State of Israel, and its future is shrouded in uncertainty. People of stature are preoccupied with the question: Can a state that is stripped of inner substance, fragmented and shaken by frequent scandals endure? And this question troubles them far more than the severe problems of foreign policy.
“I believe with perfect faith” that the hand of Divine Providence guides us: that the recent wars came to awaken us, to draw us near and to turn us from false values toward the truth of the eternal people. Divine Providence has granted us “a time of repentance for all.”
“I believe with perfect faith” that the beginning of the return to Judaism was small, but its end will be very great. More and more groups and individuals will open their eyes and recognize what generations have neglected: the Torah of our G-d, which is both the soul of the nation and the soul of our land. Knowledge will increase, the yearning will grow, until it encompasses every home, every circle, every unit, every school and every organization within the State of Israel.
“I believe with perfect faith” that a quiet and profound revolution is taking place in our midst. It has not yet reached the surface. Political parties ignore it. The media strive to silence it. But it is a fact. It is a modest revolution. Not in noise is the L-rd. Propaganda slogans are foreign to it. But it is expanding among wide circles. This inner revolution will lead to the revelation of a people of Israel renewed and strengthened in the faith of our Torah and in the observance of our commandments—the Hand of the G-d of Israel will achieve this!
Silent and still stand the fortresses of Torah, full of light on the inside but concealed and deaf to the outside. Now, however, the time has come to emerge from the hidden strength of the inner teachings of the Torah, outwards to those searching for the way—to extend a hand, to draw near, to teach and to explain!
For the Torah scholars who have already absorbed the Talmud and the halachic responsa and have merited entry into the inner orchard of the Torah—they are called to assist in this process of the people’s return to Torah and mitzvot. Only they can accomplish this. It is for them that the masses are waiting—not for the politicians. The public is weary of hearing ideologies tailored for election campaigns! The Torah scholars, who have no dealings with political parties, are tasked with bringing people closer and revealing the light within the Torah.
Every Torah scholar blessed with the gift of teaching should sometimes step outside the walls of the study hall to teach and explain. Every learned Jew who is skilled with the pen should write—to draw people closer and to clarify. It depends on us!
Rabbi Eliyahu Krakowski is book editor for Jewish Action and executive editor of OU Press.
Excerpted from Rabbi Shlomo Wolbe, Bein Sheishes Le’Asor, 2nd ed. (Jerusalem: 1994, first edition 1976).