Less Avodah, More Torah

Vered Kelner wrote an article in Ma'ariv this shabbat about the state of the Tzionut Datit (Religious Zionism) in Israel.

The article focuses on the ongoing trend among Israeli religious youth to become more "religious" and less committed to the ideal of Torah Va'Avoda, the combination of a religious way of life with involvement in all aspects of life in modern (and non-religious) Israel. Traditionally, religious Zionists in Israel defined themselves as fulfilling a commitment to three equally important values: Am Israel, Torat Israel and Eretz Israel (Jewish people, the Torah and the Land of Israel). Following the Six Day War in 1967, there was a shift of emphasis towards the value Land of Israel; now it seems the trend is towards emphasising the value of Torah, not unlike the charedi way of life.

In this now uneven triangle of values, the commitment to the Jewish people as a whole seems to be diminishing to a point of near oblivion.

The article (in Hebrew) is available on the NRG website.