Israeli Elections: But what if they can't make a coalition?

17 Elul 5779

The Knesset building. Source

Some "experts" think that the results of the election taking place today will result in the same way as occurred last April: a failure to form a government (Sorry, can't find a link today. But I'm sure I read something about that recently.). Paradoxical as it may seem, if the parties that make it into the government can't make a coalition, there's even more hope than if they do.

Why would that be?

Certain texts we hold by cannot be taken literally. Recently Reb Dov Bear wrote that a contemporary Rav, Yekutiel Fish, came out with this explanation of the Talmud Bavli text of Sanhedrin 98a*:

The disciples of Rabbi Yossi the son of Kisma questioned him, asking when the son of David (the Messiah) will appear. And he answered: I am afraid you will request from me a sign as well. And they assured him that they would not. He then said to them: When this gate will fall, be rebuilt and fall again, be rebuilt again and fall again. And before it will be rebuilt for the third time the Messiah will appear. 

According to Rav Yekutiel Fish, these gates are attempted governments.  A government will fall which it did late in 2018.  There will be two elections where governments cannot be formed, and before there is a third such election Mashiach will come..... 

 If R' Fish is right, this means, metaphorically speaking, that our metamorphosis period as a nation is coming to an end. The cocoon, so to speak, is the first system of government and governance that has sustained, to the best of its ability, the Jews who came back to claim our inheritance in Eretz Yisrael in almost two millennia, and is getting ready for us to emerge from it to our native governance and founding documentation.

A real butterfly must struggle to get out of its cocoon in order to fly, survive and reproduce. It cannot be helped out of it, whether by human hands or anything else, or it will not be able to fly. The struggle gives it strength.

Our struggle to exit the "cocoon" is teshuva. The question will be how well we, the butterfly in the metaphor, can handle this transition. Like the butterfly exiting the cocoon, we can't use the help of the "peanut gallery" that constantly surrounds us.

Are we ready to shed our galut-originated mentality? Will the olim among us (obviously including yours truly!) still consider ourselves to be from our "countries of birth"? Are we going to judge each other by the color of our skin, as they do in America and Europe? Is the color of our skin even the point? Are we going to be able to ignore all the name-calling, and other attempts to dehumanize us and diminish our personhood and nationhood?

Are we going to keep on taking on increasingly deteriorating Western values until we choke on them?

Or are we going to head toward our own values, as delineated in the Torah? Are we going to be able to separate out the exilic dross from the texts from which we derive our understanding of Torah (I'm looking at you, Xian-"redacted" versions of Talmud Bavli), from our lifestyles and from our hearts? Are we going to be able to win back our derekh eretz regarding how we treat one another? Are we going to consider ourselves, at last, a family brought back together, the sons and daughters of Ya'aqov Avinu?


Are we going to respond this time to the secular challenge: "Do you REALLY want a Torah government and Halachic governance?" with fear, or with confidence that HQB"H will bless our efforts and bring even more peace and tranquility than we now expect?

In the upcoming days and weeks through the Yamim Nora'im — and maybe longer — questions like these and more will likely be as important as our personal sins and who our next Prime Minister and Knesset majority will be.

After all, what are we looking at, most likely, but a beckoning toward the Jewish People's ultimate destiny?

***
*My apologies to my readers! I had copied Reb Dov Bear's text; it turns out that the folio number was incorrect. Both of us have the correct number now. (Yes, I looked it up myself, just to be sure.)


More thoughts on elections:

Israeli Elections: Helek Shtayim | While you're thinking about who to vote for... |

Israeli Elections, Helek Shtayim...

the light of 17 Elul 5779

I'm trying to make sure I don't get fooled into submitting a fake ballot! This is a real one.

...that is, Part Two. Here we go again. I don't like writing under pressure, but here are my thoughts as I think about going into the voting booth tomorrow, for whatever they're worth...

Whomever I choose to vote for in the end must be serious about two issues:

1) Jewish sovereignty over the whole Land that was initially promised to us (I'm not giving up on the rest, just want to be sure we've got our feet on the ground...literally); and

2) Preservation of the Jewish People, as a people and not as a secular pretension, and that includes the best we have of religion until Mashiah is revealed. (This means we need to think deeply about the conditions HQB"H wants to bring about here in our Holy Land, because as has been told over and over again, we are not going to completely succeed until we see His light....)

And not necessarily in that order. I  just can't write both ideas "in the same breath"! I hold them both equally. How much discussion has there been on these?

Regarding sovereignty, there has been talk about taking full responsibility over Emek haYarden (Jordan Valley) and other "vital areas." Don't forget, we don't need to be squeezed to death by leaving out areas around them! In truth, we need the entire area. We are not so large we can afford to give land away.

The whole issue as to "who is colonizing whom" must be firmly addressed from our point of view. Plenty of time has been given to those who oppose our presence in the Middle East. The Jews are not particularly good at colonizing, but we know who has hundreds and hundreds of years' experience...some 1500 years' worth.

Additionally, from the Times of Israel, the defense ministry says that "Jews should be allowed to privately purchase West Bank land" (first of all, please call it Yehuda and Shomron!) That would require taking responsibility for ridding us of the Jordanian/Ottoman/British system for buying land in the cradle of Jewish civilization! Finally...but will they make it before the election? It doesn't look like they will, and we'd better hold their feet to the fire afterwards. After all, they always ask "what will the Gentiles say" before they do anything! Nowadays, they call it "international fallout."

And why aren't JONATHAN POLLARD (and his wife ESTHER YOCHEVED, may they both live) home by now? This could have been an easy win for Bibi and the Right, but NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO...nothing is ever easy for the Jews. Always an uphill battle...but we have a Heavenly Father Who watches over us and brings us signs of His care every day. We need to acknowledge them, and Him. We need to move ahead.

The rest will follow, as day follows night.

No matter who wins, HaShem will still be in charge.

I'm doing my part by voting for Jewish Power - Otzma Yehudit עוצמה יהודית. The picture above is their ballot.

Thank G-d there's still a party to vote for. But I hate this system with a passion. It's not really ours, and I hope there will be a smooth transition to the one that is, really soon, be"H.


More reading:

Giving Strength to "Jewish Power" | The Upcoming Election: For Whom to Vote | Frantic | The Day Before the Election | Weather: Forecasting the Election | Guide to the Politically Perplexed: Israeli Elections 2019, 5779, Redo, More Info Clarification | Palestinians are tired of being the only refugees denied the right of resettlement | The Moral Duty of All Jews |


The stakes are high. I wasn't here yet, but I was watching during the events the following video talks about. We must vote to the right of Bibi, in any event.

Are You Effecting Change for Positive or Negative Outcome?

6 Elul 5779

HDG: Both the rabbi and I are asking the title question, but for different reasons. 

Mine are: Could this article possibly be referring to the upcoming Israeli elections? Do we really want to keep this British-originated system going, or do we want to start heading in the direction of a truly Jewish government? See my suggestion below, after reading R' Kahana's article.

***

BS”D Parashat  Shoftim 5779 | Rabbi Nachman Kahana | light editing by HDG

Devarim 16:19

לא תטה משפט לא תכיר פנים ולא תקח שחד כי השחד יעור עיני חכמים ויסלף דברי צדיקם:

Do not pervert justice or show partiality. Do not accept a bribe, for a bribe blinds the eyes of the wise and twists the words of the righteous.

One need not make a big splash in order to effect change. Subtle movements can often bring about great changes for happy times or for chaotic results, just as the flutter of a butterfly’s wings at a certain time and a certain place can create devastation in the opposite hemisphere.

A certain smile; the dropping of the eyes; a twitch of the nose; the clearing of one’s throat – any one of these when done at an appropriate or inappropriate time can wreak havoc or bring salvation.

The Gemara (Sota 46b) relates that the tribe of Yosef (Efrayim and Menashe) laid siege to the town of Bet El but were unable to find the entrance to the city. When a local man appeared the soldiers asked him where the entrance was. He disclosed it and was sumptuously rewarded by HaShem for all time.

The rabbis debated what this goy [non-Jew - HDG] did to show them the town’s entrance. Chizkaya said he twitched his mouth in the direction of the entrance, and Rabbi Yochanan said he pointed his finger at the place.

No long lectures or complex instruction – just subtle moves of the lips or a finger and the man earned an indescribable reward.

Chazal were very sensitive to the subtleties of human behavior. Especially when done to influence men of great learning or righteous Jews who are often not aware or prepared for the deceitful ways of the world.

The Gemara (Ketubot 105b) records instances where rabbis invalidated themselves from serving in judgement because of subtle acts on the part of one of the litigants which could be construed as bribery.

The great Amora Shmuel was helped across a river by someone who later came to his court, and Shmuel invalidated himself. The same self-introspection was conducted by Amaymar, Mar Ukva, R. Yishmael son of R. Yosi and many other rabbis — judges who disqualified themselves for fear that their impartiality had been compromised even though the acts which performed for their benefit were seemingly inconsequential.

From here we learn how careful a religious leader who has influence over a community, yeshiva or bet knesset must be before he makes his decisions or recommendations, as the pasuk says ‘blinds the eyes of the wise and twists the words of the righteous.’

The reality of our generation is so clear. The galut is wasting away with intermarriage over 70% nationwide in the USA and worse in other places, while the holy land of Eretz Yisrael is being built bigger and better every day, with over half the world’s Jews already here.

A rational, objective, connected Jew with an eye for history can only stand in befuddlement at religious leaders in the galut who never mention the holy land of Israel in their sermons, and some who even attempt to persuade people to remain in the cesspool of the galut.

What happens to clever, erudite individuals to blind their eyes to the light of HaShem shining more bright than ever in the last 2000 years of our history?

Let’s take the parasha at its most literary sense. Wise and righteous people, even those who attained the status of judge can be compromised by their surroundings.

When a rabbi looks out at his congregation on Shabbat morning after turning away the request of a speaker who wishes to bring the message of aliya to the congregation, is he ideologically opposed to establishing a Jewish state before the Mashiach comes, or is he afraid to cut down the happy limb he is sitting on? And I am referring to more than one specific incident.

Is the Chassidic rabbi who urges his young chassidim not to study in Eretz Yisrael really afraid that the pull of Jewish nationalism will drag them to volunteer for the most dangerous units of Tzahal, or is he worried that his “clientele” might dwindle?

How pleasant it is to be honored and admired by congregants who stand up when the rabbi enters; or the thoughts of the rabbi or rosh yeshiva while sitting on the elevated bima looking out at a packed shul or yeshiva, when the alternative is to be in Israel where the rabbi’s erudition would be lacking when compared to the standards required here for rabbis.

How can an innocent congregant know what is in the heart of his religious mentor?

It is a given that the lifestyle of a rav should be modest, even touching on the humble. To be the top stone on a pyramid is a very lonely task; and the top stone on the pyramid of a Jewish community should be a humbling, non-ostentatious lifestyle.

If the goal of a galut rabbi is to aggrandize his community with a bigger more elaborate synagogue, mikva, gym, wedding hall, etc.,  maintaining its physical status quo rather than devoting his energies to encourage his congregants to return home – the entire congregation is  prolonging the galut and they have a problem which might soon turn into a calamity.

Shabbat Shalom | Nachman Kahana | Copyright © 5779/2019 Nachman Kahana

***

Now to my suggestion. If you are Israeli and eligible to vote in this election, and, like me, you are sick of the crazy, foreign, corrupt system everyone knows we have been suffering under for the past 70 years, we now have the opportunity to start heading away from it just a little bit. I am not saying that the government will change all at once, at least until Mashiah shows himself. But, at least, we need to signal to haShem, and our conscience, that we're ready for something new.

We have had parties who were uncompromising at least by their words. But, somehow, they were never able to get into the government. When the system was stronger, it mattered more. Now we've had our first election without resolution, and we're coming up to a new one, not knowing what the result will be. Part of the reason for this suggestion now, and not earlier, is that for the first time, not only is there a possibility that neither of the large parties will win, but also there's a new party that is clearly Torah-oriented and hasn't sold out to people who won't even take all their candidates or give them a seat.

Who is it?

NOAM. Their slogan is: A normal people in our Land.

Their website is only in Hebrew. Rather than doing a lot of explaining myself, I'll let my friends and the party speak for themselves; I'm even including an article where the blogger disagrees. I've also done a little commenting.

 The Separation and Clarification is Almost Complete by Devash | Why I Cannot Vote for the Noam Party by Esser Agaroth | NOAM web site (Hebrew only) | The Future Jewish State by R' David Bar-Hayim (VIDEO)  | Also see: While you're thinking about who to vote for...

 

Shabbath shalom umevorah l'khulam! Hodesh Elul Tov!