The speech, later an infamous essay, was called Kol Dodi Dofek, inspired by Song of Songs 5:2: My Beloved is knocking, open for me. Soloveitchik knew the verse’s ending. By the time she opens, he is gone. She has missed him. The question for the Jewish people in 1956 was whether we would hear the knocks while there was still time to answer the door.

I have been thinking about this and working on this essay for several years. The cascade of events from 10/7 necessitated a massive rewrite. It’s Yom Ha’atzmaut this week. 78 years. The 70th anniversary of the Rav’s speech. I want to take Soloveitchik’s question seriously, which means I have to do something the original essay would have likely resisted. I have to listen for knocks he could not have heard.

Sorry in advance, this is a long one!

Here is what Soloveitchik heard in 1956:

The first knock was political. At the UN in November 1947, the United States and the Soviet Union voted together for partition. This shouldn’t have happened, couldn’t happen again, but happened. A nation was allowed to be born with the full weight and blessing (believe it or not) of the UN.

The second was military. In 1948, a tiny army, under-equipped and half-trained, held off five invading states (and then some). Soloveitchik read it as the Biblical pattern of the few defeating the many.

The third was theological. Christian supersessionism (the idea of Christianity replacing Judaism) had long claimed that Jewish exile was divine proof of Jewish rejection. The existence of a re-dedicated Jewish state now pulled the theological ground out from under that claim.

The fourth was the knock to Jewish youth. Assimilated young Jews who had drifted from their people were rediscovering themselves through the nascent state. Jewish identity, which had seemed a dying embarrassment, was suddenly a source of pride and strength.

The fifth was the knock of Jewish honor. For two millennia, Jewish blood had been hefker or ownerless. A free commodity anyone could spill without consequence. For the first time in a very long time, a sovereign power would answer for Jewish lives.

The sixth was the knock of open gates. In the ‘30s and ‘40s, Jews fleeing murder had nowhere to go. The gates of every country closed. Now, a homeland’s gates stood open. Any Jew had somewhere to run.

Six demands on the Jew who claimed to be serious about his God.

What I want to try this Yom Ha’atzmaut is hear the knocks again. Not because Soloveitchik got them wrong, but because he was writing 70 years ago this year. The house is 70 years older, the door is heavier, and the knocks are coming from different corners. Some of his original six have grown louder. Some have been tested. Some have been inverted. A few have gone places he could never have anticipated.

I’m not seeking to necessarily update Soloveitchik’s list. I’m just trying to listen for........

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