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By Shneor Zalmen Berger Beis Moshiach Magazine

The relationships between Chabad Chassidim and senior government personalities were always positive. Chabad, under the direction of the Rebbe (and even earlier, under the Rebbe Rayatz) knew to make a separation between people and views, between Zionist leaders who held the steering wheel and the absolute negation of the Zionist philosophy. A Jew is a Jew and should be drawn close in pleasant fashion.

All the more so with influential people in the government. Since the earliest days, Chabad askanim, under the direction of the Rebbe, maintained contacts with prime ministers and top ministers for the benefit of the Jewish people, Yiddishkeit in general, and Chabad Chassidim in Eretz Yisrael.

With that said, when it came to the first prime minister, David Ben Gurion, the relationships were not a simple matter and were even complicated. On the one hand, Ben Gurion encouraged the settling of Chabad Chassidim in Eretz Yisrael. He even expressed his strong desire that the Rebbe come and live in Eretz Yisrael. On the other hand, his attitude toward Yiddishkeit was hostile and openly negative. His government which, to a great extent, shaped the image of the young state also on the religious and spiritual planes, publicly trampled on religious matters. On yet a third hand, many of the laws that establish the principles of Judaism in Eretz Yisrael (marriage, divorce, the character of the Shabbos day, Mihu Yehudi etc.) were made in accordance with Jewish tradition.

David Ben Gurion and head of security of the Kfar, the tamim Tuvia Peles

This can be seen in a letter of the Rebbe to him (Igros Kodesh, vol. 18 #6,615), following the letter which the Rebbe wrote to him in response to the question of “Who is a Jew?” (and specifically the case of a child born to a Jewish father and non-Jewish mother). In the second letter written the next day, the Rebbe explains why he wrote in unambiguous terms, “without diplomacy, and perhaps not in a style befitting protocol,” due to the tremendous impact that the views of Ben Gurion had on deciding policy “in the most important areas of public life in Eretz Yisrael, and in this – even in a number of matters that are in the spiritual arena…

Despite Ben Gurion’s sharp opinions about the Jewish religion and Torah, when it came to political questions about religion he adopted a more cautious approach. In the summer of 5707, he signed on the status quo which was sent to the heads of Agudas Yisrael, where it laid out the relationship between religion and the state in the future state. The letter promised to make Shabbos the official day of rest of the state once it came into being, and promised autonomy of religious educational groups. The purpose of the letter was to create an understanding with Agudas Yisrael so it would help in the establishment of the Jewish state in Eretz Yisrael in its testimony before the UN Security Council.

This letter shaped the character of Eretz Yisrael in matters of “religion and state” for decades to come. On another occasion, he even warned Prime Minister Sharett, “We cannot separate between religion and state,” explaining that “there is a shared fate between the State of Israel and the Jewish people.”

This is why the attitude of Chabad Chassidus, whose goal it is to draw close every Jew, toward Ben Gurion was complicated and in a manner of “suspect and respect” and “suspect” yet again… Officially, there was no connection between Chabad and Ben Gurion. Here and there some connections were forged that found expression on brief occasions but one couldn’t call it an “ongoing connection” and certainly not a friendship as there was with other public figures.

Among the Chabad Chassidim with whom he had ties, although short-term, were R’ Shlomo Maidanchek, R’ Meir Blizinsky, R’ Chanoch Glitzenstein, R’ Adin Even-Yisrael, R’ Tuvia Peles, and a few others.

SHOWERING PRAISE ON CHABAD CHASSIDIM

As the one who led the government for a long time, Ben Gurion was a “red flag” for religious Jews because of the criminal acts of the State of Israel in those years. However, in order not to burn bridges and lose out on what they could get for Yiddishkeit, religious askanim, including Chabad, maintained a certain relationship with the prime minister.

Despite the complicated situation, it seems that Ben Gurion admired the Chabad community and saw it as a symbol and example of devoted settlers of the land. During the years that Kfar Chabad was founded, he said about the settlers of the kfar, “If only all the settlements would be like them and in that instance, I would agree to be a minority in this country.”

In the coming years, when the Rebbe asked Knesset member Avrohom Hertzfeld, one of the leaders of Mapai, to support and hasten the establishment of Kfar Chabad Beis, Hertzfeld along with Zalman Shazar began to work on the issue but after intensive efforts, Hertzfeld received a discouraging answer from the Jewish Agency’s settlement department. In his letter to Shazar, Hertzfeld expressed his doubt whether the establishment of Kfar Chabad Beis would happen. Hertzfeld sent a copy of the letter to Ben Gurion along with the Rebbe’s letter to Hertzfeld on the subject.

Visiting the Chabad stand at the Book Fair. On the right is the writer, Rabbi Chanoch Glitzenstein

In a letter from 22 Elul 5720, Ben Gurion responded with praise for Chabad:

“I thank you for sending me the Lubavitcher Rebbe’s letter to you but I was pained by your comment that you are in doubt as to whether the establishment of Kfar Chabad Beis will happen. Why not? There is particular importance to settlement by Jews such as they, particularly if they are coming from abroad, and if they become settled and financially secure they are likely to become a magnetic force to attract many others, because for now there is no hope from the Zionists. However, Chassidim and Americans come and settle here and they have an additional advantage in that they have many children. Why shouldn’t the Jewish Agency help the founding of this kfar?”

The construction of Kfar Chabad Beis took many more years and ended first in 5735, by which time Ben Gurion, Shazar, and Hertzfeld had already passed away.

Ben Gurion greatly desired that the Rebbe move to Eretz Yisrael, thus bringing many Chassidim with him which would strengthen the Jewish settlement in the land. He once even said to Minister Moshe Chaim Shapira, “I have no complaint against the Rebbe of Lubavitch. The only complaint is that he sits in New York and not in Eretz Yisrael.”

THE REBBE REFUSES TO MEET WITH THE PRIME MINISTER

Toward the end of the winter of 5720, PM Ben Gurion made an official visit to the United States. As government people worked hard to prepare for the trip, R’ Yonah Eidelkopf, a Chabad askan in Eretz Yisrael, thought about how the prime minister could be brought to meet with the Rebbe.

It was R’ Yona’s personal initiative and he began a broad intelligence operation in order to achieve this goal. He used his connection with the general-secretary of the teachers’ union, Mr. Sholom Levin, who wrote to Ben Gurion asking him to receive Mr. Eidelkopf for a brief meeting about “the security of the State of Israel!” A meeting was soon arranged.

He was able to convince the prime minister to visit 770 and have yechidus with the Rebbe. During the visit, the Chabad askan R’ Pinye Altheus was also in New York. He was there to raise funds for yeshivas Tomchei Tmimim in Lud.

R’ Pinye and their common friend Shazar, wanted Ben Gurion to meet with the Rebbe, but Ben Gurion did not want to appear to be going especially to the Rebbe. It was decided that he would go to visit 770 and indirectly end up meeting with the Rebbe.

According to one version, the Rebbe did not agree to receive the prime minister and said, “I won’t go to him.” R’ Pinye understood from this that the Rebbe would agree to receive him and conveyed this to Ben Gurion’s people but when R’ Pinye told the Rebbe about Ben Gurion’s expected arrival that night, the Rebbe said, “Did I say I would receive him?!”

This created a very uncomfortable situation. R’ Pinye went in to see the Rebbe about the matter and the Rebbe said to him, “I am sure that you will find the right way to convey this.” R’ Pinye who was close to the Rebbe and dared to speak like someone “close” said, “I am happy that you rely on me but I don’t know how to explain this change.”

R’ Pinye, with his typical “breitkeit” said to the Rebbe, “When Napoleon went to conquer Moscow, a melamed and his wife were on the side of the road. Napoleon suddenly noticed that the wife had two empty pails and was crossing the road. Napoleon asked her what she was doing and she said, ‘There is an omen; a young woman with two empty pails is a negative sign for the next person coming and I want Napoleon to lose the war.’ Her husband said to her, “Don’t mix in to matters of royalty.”

The Rebbe’s letter about conversion only according to halacha.

R’ Pinye was thus hinting that he wasn’t asking for the reason for the change because what the Rebbe does is “matters of royalty” and R’ Pinye could certainly not intervene.

Indeed, R’ Pinye, with his unique Chassidic talent, found a clever way to convey the negative answer without insulting the prime minister.

To celebrate the visit to New York, the Israeli embassy arranged a reception at the Pierre Hotel on Fifth Avenue in Manhattan. The Israeli ambassador, Mr. Avrohom Herman, invited Rashag, the Rebbe’s brother-in-law, to the reception. Rashag wasn’t sure what to do and wrote a short letter to the Rebbe asking what he should do. We do not know whether or what the Rebbe replied.

A few months passed and R’ Pinye got ready to return to Eretz Yisrael. He asked the Rebbe whether, when he met with public figures in Eretz Yisrael, he should give them regards from the Rebbe. The Rebbe said, “Yes, except for one.” The message was clear, all but Ben Gurion.

Perhaps, and we don’t really know, the Rebbe’s treatment of Ben Gurion had to do with his immoral conduct which led the Rebbe to write about him (the year he refused to receive him), “When the person in question mixed into the three that one is killed for and does not transgress… Christian practice and the like (avoda zara), drafting women even after they saw the results (gilui arayos), the Altalena operation etc (murder).”

The Rebbe’s distancing of Ben Gurion was expressed sharply on another occasion that year, in a letter that he sent to Sholom Levin who was a Knesset member and president of the teachers’ union: “They sent me a portion of your speech in which you publicized the content of our talk [during yechidus that took place the summer of 5719]… It is surprising that you let this out. It is my hope that you certainly understood that I mean the words in your speech [that were quoted in the Rebbe’s name] ‘that the service and dedication of B.G. will stand in his merit and he won’t be punished for his errors.’

“According to what is engraved in my memory, what I said was that even for someone who has many merits, this does not give him the right to transgress any sin, even the smallest etc… all the more so in this case, when the inadvertent errors, as you put it, affected thousands and tens of thousands of our brethren, sons and daughters of Israel …”

On that visit that Ben Gurion made to the US, in a speech that he gave at Brandeis University in Massachusetts, he negated the concept of “You have chosen us” when he said that “the Jewish people are not the chosen people, for every people, to some extent, is a chosen people – in its own eyes.”

The Rebbe didn’t react at the time but half a year later, on Simchas Torah 5761, the Rebbe taught the Chassidim the niggun, “Ata Vechartanu” which he prefaced by expanding upon Hashem’s choosing of the Jewish people, which is why they are different than all nations. Some Chassidim understood this as a response to the despicable words which Ben Gurion said.

In 5722, Ben Gurion stopped the search for the Nazi criminal Mengele ym’s. The Rebbe responded sharply to this, as the result was that a murderer walked around free.

Ben Gurion as sandak, standing near the Lubavitcher mohel, Rabbi Yaakov Yosef Raskin

RISING TO GREATNESS

In 5723, Shazar was elected president of Israel. It was Ben Gurion who suggested that he run for the position, since “All groups will want you because you are close to the irreligious, being a member of Mapai and you are also Chabad, so you are even close to the religious.”

Shortly after he was appointed, Shazar released the Chassid, R’ Sholom Stroks from jail, who had spirited away his grandson, Yossele Schumacher in the famous affair.

On Shabbos, parshas Naso, the Rebbe responded to those who wondered what was so special about the election of Shazar and the Rebbe explained that the appointment to greatness was through the Jewish people, including dozens of yerei shamayim. The Rebbe stressed the statement in the Gemara, “One who rises to greatness has all his sins forgiven,” and concluded with “he makes peace in his upper realms,” and returned a man to his wife, thus alluding to the release of Stroks by Shazar.

A distinguished Sanz-Klausenberger Chassid had yechidus and asked the Rebbe whether this also applied to Ben Gurion who rose to greatness in his position as prime minister and were all his sins also forgiven. The Rebbe said, “First of all, why do you care to say that about him? Second, one needs to find out whether his appointment was also by at least ten yerei shamayim as it was with Shazar.”

INTRODUCED BY BEN GURION HIMSELF

In 5719, Ben Gurion struggled with how to deal with the issue of “who is a Jew,” how to define who is or isn’t a Jew. At this point he sent letters to many rabbanim and Jewish leaders, including the Rebbe. The Rebbe responded (Igros Kodesh vol. 18), “In response to your letter about my opinion regarding registering children of intermarriages where the father is Jewish and the mother is not, and she did not convert before the birth of the child. The intent of the inquiry is – according to the wording of the resolution in the aforementioned letter – ‘to define rules that will conform to the tradition accepted by all Jewish groups, the fervently religious and the freethinkers of all streams, and to the special conditions of Israel as a sovereign state which guarantees freedom of conscience and religion and as a center of the ingathering of the exiles:

“My opinion is absolutely clear, in conformity with the Torah and the tradition accepted for generations, that in these matters there can be no validity whatsoever to a verbal declaration expressing the desire to register as a Jew. Such a declaration has no power to change the reality.”

In this lengthy, detailed letter, the Rebbe explains that this law should be based solely on halacha.

On Purim 5730, the Rebbe spoke for the first time about the importance in amending the law of Mihu Yehudi so that conversion would be carried out solely by halacha. R’ Shlomo Maidenchek, chairman of the Vaad Kfar Chabad, sent a portion of the sicha to Ben Gurion then serving as a Knesset member: “[Knowing you] as an admirer of Chabad, I am honored to present, attached here, an excerpt from a talk by the Lubavitcher Rebbe that he gave on Purim of this year.”

Ben Gurion responded, “I thank you from the depths of my heart for sending me the excerpt of the Lubavitcher Rebbe’s talk regarding the question being discussed now in the Supreme Court and then in the Knesset. I know your opinion regarding Jews of this sort and I respect your view even as my view is different, but I will not try to prove to you why my view is not that way.

“Even as I know – without verification – your views, I do not at all want to change your views and I accept you as you are and I am sure that you are loyal to your views, for which reason I respect you and respect all those who share your views. And although I am upset about several members of the government and the Knesset who did with this question what should not be done, and this is because they did so not because of the reasons of the Lubavitcher Rebbe but for completely different, improper considerations.

“I thank you for sending the above.”

With respect and appreciation,

David Ben Gurion.

***

Decades later, during Chanuka 5749, Mr. Brickman, a businessman and deputy chairman of the United Jewish Appeal, went to the Rebbe for dollars. He told the Rebbe that the battle to amend the law of Mihu Yehudi was having a divisive effect on the Jewish people. The Rebbe told him that the demand for giyur k’halacha came from Ben Gurion himself. “His reason was because he was willing that in Eretz Yisrael all Jews will begin a new epoch and a new era and in such a manner that there would be no divisiveness. It will automatically be one people, and because of that he introduced only one manner of marriage, only one manner of divorce, only one manner of conversion.

“All these things are not new. It was for all forty years of the Jewish state in Eretz Yisrael. It was installed and invested with all its prestige by Ben Gurion himself, and it was after that fortified by the rabbinate that he installed in Eretz Yisrael and, ch’v, I hope you will use all of your influence not to bring in a divisive factor in Eretz Yisrael…”

NO ONE IS LOST

It seems that at the end of Ben Gurion’s life, he merited a softer position from the Rebbe. In a certain yechidus, the Rebbe spoke about how no Jew is ever cast away. When the Rebbe was asked, “Even the old man?” referring to Ben Gurion, the Rebbe said yes.

Indeed, Ben-Gurion refused to define himself as “secular,” and he regarded himself a believer in G-d. During an interview with the Leftist weekly Hotam two years before his death, he revealed, “I too have a deep faith in the A-lmighty. I believe in one G-d, the omnipotent Creator.”

R’ Shlomo Maidanchek sent the Rebbe’s sicha about Mihu Yehudi to Ben Gurion.

***

BEN-GURION VISITS CHABAD CHEDER

Winter 5700.

Ben Gurion informed an unknown recipient of his correspondence that in the Chabad cheder in Tel Aviv, in other words, the cheder Bnei Tmimim, they learned in Yiddish. The letter is in Ben Gurion’s Archive:

“Not far from the sea [in Tel Aviv] several dozen children of Lubavitcher Chassidim learn in Yiddish. (Their studies are only limudei kodesh, of course.) Some children who attend other schools in the morning, join these studies in the afternoon.”

After the establishment of the first government, the government channeled funding to schools, including religious schools, but refused to approve schools where they learned in Yiddish. The Brisker Rav [Rabbi Yitzchok Zev Soloveitchik, d. 1959], who was the leader of all the struggles over matters of faith at that time, asked Rabbi Menachem Porush, who was traveling to the Rebbe, to talk to him about this.

The Rebbe told R’ Porush to discuss it with Shazar. When he returned to Eretz Yisrael, a meeting was held with R’ Porush, Shazar and Ben Gurion, after which a list of chareidi schools was submitted that were eligible to be recognized as “exempt institutions” to which the usual scholastic rules did not apply.

***

MINISTER OF EDUCATION VISITS THE REBBE

In David Ben Gurion’s diary, it’s recorded that the Minister of Education, Benzion Dinur, visited the Rebbe. Dinur had learned in yeshivas Tomchei Tmimim in Lubavitch in his youth but subsequently did not live a life of Torah and mitzvos. Still, he always remained a friend of Lubavitch and supported Chabad mosdos. As Minister of Education he did much to develop the “Reshet Oholei Yosef Yitzchok” and Tomchei Tmimim yeshivos.

In Ben Gurion’s diary for Cheshvan 5715, it said that Dinur had yechidus. “He returned from America… He had a talk with the Lubavitcher Rebbe. The latter adamantly opposed any besmirching of the State. He is 54 (not as young as I understood from Shazar).”

***

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