Joseph B. Soloveitchik’s Theological Case for Zionism

On Israel’s independence day in 1956, as Egypt seemed increasingly likely to attack the fledgling Jewish state, the great 20th-century sage Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik gave a lengthy lecture on Jews’ obligation to support Israel. The lecture, later published in English as “Fate and Destiny,” appeared first in Hebrew as Kol dodi dofek—“the voice of my beloved knocks”—a verse from the Song of Songs. Soloveitchik’s exegesis of this verse forms the basis of his argument that Jews are obligated to respond to the divine “knocks” manifested in recent history. In conversation with Jonathan Silver, Soloveitchik’s student Jacob J. Schacter explains the historical and theological context behind this argument. (Audio, 29 minutes. Options for download and streaming are available at the link below.)