Moshe Shmuel Glasner - Zionist Activity

Zionist Activity

Rabbi Glasner's independence as a thinker was also manifested in his early support for Zionism (almost unique among the Hungarian Orthodox rabbinate). A founder of Mizrachi (religious Zionism), he became personally close to Rabbi Abraham Isaac Kook, especially after taking up residence in Jerusalem in 1923. His independence and especially his outspoken Zionism led to his estrangement from many of his rabbinical colleagues in Hungary. After the First World War, he increased his efforts in support of the Zionist enterprise. His "Zionism in the Light of the Faith" is the primary source for his philosophy of Zionism. He sharply criticized his colleagues in the Hungarian rabbinate for denying the national aspect of Judaism while proclaiming themselves to be nothing more than Hungarians of the Mosaic faith. Judaism had a national component which could only be realized once Jewish life in its full national character had been restored in the Holy Land. In 1921 he represented Mizrachi at the 12th World Zionist Congress in Carlsbad, and he undertook many speaking tours on behalf of the Zionist cause. His outspoken support of Zionism caused extreme elements of the Orthodox community in Klausenburg to break away from the community that he had headed for over 40 years. In 1923, Rabbi Glasner retired from his position as chief rabbi and was succeeded by his son, Rabbi Akiva Glasner. In his farewell address to his community at the Klausenburg train station as he embarked on his journey to Palestine, he implored his listeners to follow him to Palestine while they were still able to do so, because he greatly feared that a time would come when they would want to leave Europe to go to Palestine but then would no longer be able to leave.

See further under "Philosophy of the Oral Law and Zionism" below.