Taken on a life of its own

The Modern Orthodox are gaga for the state of israel. Just go to any website of a MO school and look at their mission statements:

Ramaz: "Still, the essence of Ramaz resides in our mission, our commitment to menschlichkeit, to the values of human dignity and mutual respect. This is bound together by our commitment to the Jewish people, to Medinat Yisrael, and to Orthodox observance—the strength of our heritage."   

Not Eretz Yisroel but Medinat Yisrael, And that comes before Orthodox observance. And Hashem is not mentioned at all.

SAR Academy: "Raising our students’ connection to Hashem (Ahavat Hashem and Yir’at Shamayim), commitment to Talmud Torah, observance of Mitzvot and connection to Medinat Yisrael."

That's better, Hashem is first, and Torah and mitzvos precede Medinat Yisroel. But again, since when do Jews historically have an allegiance to a secular state? And why is Eretz Yisroel replaced by Medinat Yisroel?

Maimonides: "Maimonides is more than a school; it is a vibrant community whose members embody chesed, middot tovot, compassion for others, and an unconditional love for the State of Israel."

That one takes the cake. Note the photograph that sits under the mission statement. It shows you what excites them. Unconditional love for a state? Huh? It's ironic because Rabbi Soloveitchik founded Maimonides and he said this: 

“Emotionally, I feel Zionism – religious Zionism – has replaced Torah.” [This obviously is meant as a criticism of religious zionism.] (The Rav Thinking Aloud, Transcripts of Personal Conversations with Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik, p. 171, editor David Holtzer.)

Not only that, it has replaced Hashem. Unconditional love? That's what you reserve for G-d.

Rabbi Avigdor Miller was, as usual, on to all of this. He said, 

When you replace God with anything else, in particular something very secular, you have idol worship. What we here is a form of Christianity. In reality, Hashem is mysterious, but we find Him through Torah observance. It's very complicated. Xtians wanted something simple. Gentiles can appreciate complexity when it comes to technology and launching rockets. But when it comes to religion, they are very simple. "If someone tells you the gentiles have chochmah believe them. If they tell you that they have Torah, don't believe them." (Midrash) They wanted a picture they could place on the wall. That's JC.

Pictures of Medinat Israel you can also place on your wall. There's a synagogue in Teaneck that has photos of various parts of Medinat Israel all over the lobby. The Agudah in Passaic decorated the bima and front wall in Jerusalem stone. You can hang symbols of the Medinah around your neck, like a cross. 

These people have all been captured with a religious materialism, which of course is not religion at all. It is idol worship. The early Christians were Torah observant, but the Christianity took on a life of its own, and pulled them from that. It's the same with Zionism. This is evident throughout the Modern Orthodox world. They are gaga for the state, no matter what it does. Hashem, Torah, and mitzvos, not so much. 

More tragically, you see this in the children of 'olim' as they call themselves. In home after home, the children are less religious than their parents. The parents come in all YU, Torah  u-maddah, religious zionist and the kids become soldiers, some of the men wearing tzitzis, many not even wearing yarmulkas. The biggest day of the year is yom hazmut (yom haschmutz). Rosh Hashanah, not so much. 

Olim? I don't think so? Yordim, is the more accurate term. 

I'm warning you. Don't move here.