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I heard a lecture in which a rabbi espoused very. negative views against nationalism in a July 4th speech. What are Jewish sources that counter his claim, that is, sources in which the Rabbis/great Jews see a need or benefit, etc. for these ideas? I am referring to lawful countries that are good to the Jews like the USA.

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The Rabbi of the Shul I attend is extremely patriotic. – Hacham Gabriel Jun 25 '12 at 13:40
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The Lubavitcher Rebbe called America a "medinah shel chesed" (quoted here). – b a Jun 27 '12 at 6:47
@ba - You can use that as a source to answer this question. – Adam Mosheh Jul 2 '12 at 19:09
not going to flesh this out into an answer, but in many shuls (nearly all I've been to), we pray for the local country on Shabbas (and sometimes its soldiers). Also many shuls hang an American flag on all days of the year. – Charles Koppelman Jul 2 '12 at 21:20
It was an Englishman who defined patriotism as the last refuge of scoundrels, and an American who called it the first. – TRiG Jul 27 '12 at 22:59

1 Answer

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I remember learning once that Rabbi Avigdor Miller used to hang up an American flag every year on the 4th of July and believed that all Jews should do the same. Although I could be gravely mistaken, it seems to me that this practice should be considered very pro-patriotism.

(Unfortunately I don't have a direct citation from a written source handy, but I will try to find one at some point if I ever get around to it. Alternatively, if you do a Google search for rabbi miller july 4 flag, you can find the same thing.)

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