{"id":86480,"date":"2021-01-12T13:17:03","date_gmt":"2021-01-12T11:17:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/?p=86480"},"modified":"2021-01-12T13:17:24","modified_gmt":"2021-01-12T11:17:24","slug":"born-in-zion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/born-in-zion\/","title":{"rendered":"Born in Zion"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Psalm 87 is a psalm that has inspired countless people. Jews born in the diaspora saw the psalmist’s words (from verses 5-6) “It shall be said of Zion ‘Every man was born there'” as a confirmation of their deep conviction that Israel was their home.<\/span><\/p>\n

In the book <\/span>Logic of the Heart, Logic of the Mind<\/span> (pages 110-115), Rabbi Aharon Soloveichik elaborates on how this psalm is “the moral basis for the Law of Return.” In support for his position, he brings a story about the eminent Rabbi Yosef Sonnenfeld who lived during the British mandate. The British authorities passed a law that limited the number of Jews who could enter Palestine. A group of Rumanian Jews thought of producing false affidavits stating they were born in Czechoslovakia, since this would allow them to enter the country.\u00a0 When they inquired of Rabbi Sonnenfeld about this plan, he forbade them to follow it. In his eyes, this would be against the biblical prohibition “For it is an abomination before God to do any of these practices, anything dishonest” (Deut. 25:16).\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

However, when inquired if they can produce false affidavits stating they were originally born in Palestine, he gave them permission.\u00a0 When asked about the seeming discrepancy between these two decisions, he replied that the later claim is not false. His reasoning was based on the halacha (derived from our psalm) that includes people who desire to see Israel, together with people who dwell there, to be considered to have been “born in Zion”.<\/span><\/p>\n

Another renowned figure who felt this way was Shai Agnon, the Israeli winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature. In his 1966 Nobel Banquet speech (given in Hebrew), he introduced himself in the following way:<\/span><\/p>\n

“As a result of the historic catastrophe in which Titus of Rome destroyed Jerusalem and Israel was exiled from its land, I was born in one of the cities of the Exile. But always I regarded myself as one who was born in Jerusalem. In a dream, in a vision of the night, I saw myself standing with my brother-Levites in the Holy Temple, singing with them the songs of David, King of Israel, melodies such as no ear has heard since the day our city was destroyed and its people went into exile. I suspect that the angels in charge of the Shrine of Music, fearful lest I sing in wakefulness what I had sung in dream, made me forget by day what I had sung at night; for if my brethren, the sons of my people, were to hear, they would be unable to bear their grief over the happiness they have lost. To console me for having prevented me from singing with my mouth, they enable me to compose songs in writing.<\/span>“<\/span><\/p>\n

Here we see Shai Agnon’s greatness. He was able to duplicate in modern language the love of Zion originally expressed in Psalm 87.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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