''Eim HaBanim Semeicha'' was written by Rabbi Yisachar Shlomo Teichtal, and published in 1943 in

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. The title is taken from

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and means “A Joyous Mother of Children”.

The Book

Teichtal grew up as a staunch

anti-Zionist Anti-Zionism is opposition to Zionism. Although anti-Zionism is a heterogeneous phenomenon, all its proponents agree that the creation of the modern State of Israel, and the movement to create a sovereign Jewish state in the region of Palestine ...

Chasid of the Munkatsher Rebbe. However, during the

Holocaust The Holocaust, also known as the Shoah, was the genocide of European Jews during World War II. Between 1941 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered some six million Jews across German-occupied Europe; a ...

, Rabbi Teichtal changed his position from the one he espoused in his youth. The physical product of that introspection is the book, Eim HaBanim Semeicha, in which he specifically retracts his previous viewpoints, and argues that the true redemption can only come if the Jewish people unite and rebuild the land of

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

. Many of his coreligionists viewed the book with skepticism, some going so far as to ban Rabbi Teichtal from their

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s. In the book, Rabbi Teichtal strongly criticizes the Haredim for not supporting the settlement of the Land of Israel. When it was written, it was a scathing criticism of the

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establishment, and Agudat Israel in particular. He writes:

It is clear that he who prepares prior to the
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will eat on the Sabbath (Avodah Zarah, 3a), and since the Haredim did not toil, they have absolutely no influence in the Land (of
Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...
). Those who toil and build have the influence, and they are the masters of the Land. It is, therefore, no wonder that they are in control... Now, what will the Haredim say? I do not know if they will ever be able to vindicate themselves before the heavenly court for not participating in the movement to rebuild the Land. (p. 23)

References

External links

*
Eim Habanim Semeichah
' on HebrewBooks.org

Torah database A Torah database (מאגר תורני or מאגר יהדות) is a collection of classic Jewish texts in electronic form, the kinds of texts which, especially in Israel, are often called "The Traditional Jewish Bookshelf" (ארון הספרים ה ...

Chaburat Eim Habanim Semeichah—On-line study of Eim Habanim Semeichah and related topics
on

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. * Daniel Reiser
''Aspects in the Thought of Rabbi Yisachar Shlomo Teichtal and a Study of New Documents,'' Yad Vashem Studies, vol. 43:2 (2015), pp. 143–190
on

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.
''The Vision of Redemption in Rabbi Yissakhar Shlomo Teichtal's Writings: Changes in his Messianic Approach During the Holocaust''
by Isaac Hershkowitz; Ph.D. dissertation, Bar-Ilan University (2009). {{Authority control Religious Zionism Books about Zionism 1943 books

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References

Further reading

External links