סנהדרין כז

Herbert Samuel, the British High Commissioner in Palestine, was the first Jew to govern ארץ ישראל in almost 2,000 years.  Unfortunately, however, he was not accorded the same level of respect that other governors had been given.  Rav Avraham Kook, the Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi of Mandatory Palestine, explained:  “It’s like when a baby is brought in for a ברית and everyone says ברוך הבא, but after he is circumcised they run off to eat without blessing the child.  That’s because before the מילה they’re welcoming a גוי.  After the מילה, he’s but a fellow Jew.”

06/10/2021