Is living under a secular Jewish government better or worse than being under a non-Jewish one?
On the surface, it may seem obvious: Of course it’s better to live under Jewish rule than under a foreign one. After all, aren’t Jews our brothers? Wouldn’t a Jewish government understand our customs, speak our language, and allow us to live more freely as Torah Jews?
But when the leadership is secular, actively working against Torah values, the question becomes far more complex.
Pain From Within Hurts More Than From Without
The Chazon Ish famously taught that when the struggle is internal—a war between Jews over the soul of Torah—it is more dangerous than when it comes from outsiders. Why?
Because a non-Jewish government may restrict us, but it’s clearly an external galus. We know what it is, we know how to protect ourselves, and we know how to stand strong.
But a secular Jewish government often comes in the name of “Judaism”, trying to redefine Torah itself. It sends soldiers to plant trees on Shabbos in the Negev and calls it a "mitzvah." It changes school curriculums, funds immodest culture, and uses Hebrew phrases to promote values that openly contradict the Torah. That is far more spiritually dangerous than any Czar or Kaiser ever was.
Rav Elchonon Wasserman Hy”d warned in the 1930s that the biggest threat to Torah Jewry would come from within our own people, under the banner of progress and secular nationalism. He based this on the teachings of the Vilna Gaon and others who said that before Moshiach, the Erev Rav will rise up dressed in Jewish clothing, but tearing down the foundations of Torah from the inside.
The Chazon Ish’s Historic Letter
In 1949, shortly after the establishment of the State of Israel, the Chazon Ish zt”l wrote a famous letter to Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion. He pleaded that Torah life not be trampled by the new government, especially regarding army conscription of girls and attempts to secularize the Charedi community.
He wrote:
“If the government uses its power to force a person to act against his religion... this is the most terrible violence one can imagine.”¹
This wasn’t about politics—it was about neshamos. About the risk of spiritual destruction in a land that should be filled with kedushah.
When the Secular Government Is Benevolent
That said, there are circumstances where a secular Jewish government can be better than a non-Jewish one—if it allows Torah Jews to live freely, build yeshivos, and follow halacha without interference.
Rav Aharon Kotler zt”l was asked if it is permitted to accept financial support from the State of Israel, even though its leadership was secular. He responded that if doing so builds Torah, and does not come with spiritual strings attached, it is permitted—even praiseworthy.²
So the issue is not whether Jews or non-Jews run the government. The issue is: Does the government protect Torah or attack it? That determines how we relate to it.
A Tragic Irony
It is one of the painful ironies of our time: In many ways, Torah-observant Jews are more spiritually free under some non-Jewish governments than under secular Jewish ones.
In countries like America, many Charedim can learn, teach, build mosdos, and live openly as Torah Jews with little interference. But in Israel, some secular politicians fight to close yeshivos, draft bochurim, and impose “core curriculum” laws meant to dilute Torah life.
Rebbetzin Kanievsky a”h once commented:
“We don’t fear the non-Jew who tries to stop Torah. We fear the Jew who tries to change Torah.”
What Gedolim Have Said
- Rav Elazar Menachem Man Shach zt”l repeatedly warned about the dangers of secular Zionist ideology. He saw the greatest danger not in military threat, but in the spiritual erasure of Torah values.
- The Satmar Rebbe, Rav Yoel Teitelbaum zt”l, went further, declaring that a secular Jewish government ruling in Eretz Yisrael is not only worse than galus—it is galus, in the most dangerous disguise.³
- Rav Moshe Shmuel Shapiro zt”l said:
“If they attack us from the outside, we know how to defend. But when the battle is inside Klal Yisrael—when they call their war against Torah a ‘new Judaism’—then we must cry out with all our strength.”
So What’s the Answer?
There is no simple one.
- Living among Jews is always a brachah, and Eretz Yisrael is always our home.
- But leadership that destroys Torah, even if it speaks Hebrew and wears a kippah, is more dangerous than exile.
- Torah is our only compass, and any government—Jewish or not—that fights it is fighting against the essence of Am Yisrael.
The Charedi world is not ungrateful. It does not deny the physical benefits of the modern state. But it measures good and evil by one standard only: What brings us closer to Hashem, and what pulls us away?
If we merit a government that protects Torah—even if not fully observant—we rejoice. If the government wages war on Torah, we fight back—but with tefillah, mesirus nefesh, and clarity of purpose.
And we daven that soon, very soon, we will see a government of Melech HaMoshiach, who will restore true Torah rule—not through coercion, but with clarity, love, and truth.
Sources & Footnotes
- Chazon Ish, Igros, Letter to Ben-Gurion, 1949
- Igros Rav Aharon, Vol. 3, and letters to Rav Chaim Ozer
- Satmar Rebbe, VaYoel Moshe, Maamar Shalosh Shevuos