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B"sd
Jewish Enemy #1: Despair
Gary Cooperberg
June 16, 2003
Not to be concerned about the grave situation with which we are living in Israel is certainly impossible. Everyone wishes that there was some way to make things better. The first reaction most of us experience is frustration and anger at our government. It is a human need to assign blame when we just don't know what to do.
Those of us who were raised in the United States have been nurtured on the concept that democracy is the most fair and just form of government in the world. When we compare that form of government to the odd combination of systems that comprises the government in Israel we find serious flaws. It has been pointed out that the Jewish State has a government which is neither a Jewish government, nor a democratic one. We go through the motions of democracy on election day, at the end of which we elect a virtual dictatorship, albeit for four years or less. Unlike in the United States, the government of Israel is not responsible to the electorate, nor is it responsive to their pleas. Once in office the government simply does as it sees fit, assuming that the people gave it a mandate to do so via the electoral process. The electorate has no recourse other than to wait for new elections and choose a different dictatorship which they can hope will be less unbearable.
While there have been some intelligent and well proposed suggestions to revise the present form of government to make it more responsive to the will of the governed, the brutal reality is that no changes can be made without the consent of those who run the present system. Clearly those people have no interest in genuine democracy as it will impinge upon their control of the government. The system is so entrenched that any attempt to change it from within is quashed before it can begin to see the light of day. No one ever made a better attempt to challenge the system than did Rabbi Kahane, H"yd. As a result, not only was a "law" passed forbidding him to run, but he was murdered as well (yes, I suspect it was a political assassination made to look like a terrorist act).
So, aside from the fact that even a just and reasonable proposal to change the system will probably never see the light of day, even if it began to attract support, the present rulers would find a "legal" way to stop it in its tracks. I am not suggesting that we just throw up our hands and give up. I am suggesting that salvation will not come from our government. We must find other avenues of expressing our grievances and changing our lot. I would also add that, even were it possible to institute a true democratic system of government in Israel, that, in no way, would guarantee that a truly Jewish government would evolve from it. On the contrary, it might make things even worse. Today we can blame an evil system for neglecting Jewish responsibilities. Were the nation to democratically agree to creating a foreign state on Jewish soil and uprooting Jewish communities, the sin would be far worse, as would be the punishment.
This week's Torah portion, Shelach, very starkly demonstrates the danger of Jewish democracy. Moses chose twelve prominent Jewish leaders, the princes of every tribe, all of whom personally heard the Voice of G-d on Mount Sinai, to scout out the Land. When these prominent leaders "voted" to decide whether or not to obey G-d and go up to the Land, the result was ten against and only two in favor! The gravity of that sin resulted in a forty year delay in entering the Land and an immediate death sentence to the leaders who "voted against". Clearly if Jewish leaders in the generation of Moses could be found lacking in faith, what can we expect of even the best of our leaders today?
I daresay that we must all stop thinking like professors of law and promulgators of democracy. We have no other recourse other than to just think like Jews. In this, the generation of return to the Land and the beginning of the final redemption, we must strive to be worthy of the freewill gifts our Creator has already bestowed upon us, in spite of our failings. We must realize that our suffering is the result of our failure to demonstrate our total faith in G-d and Jewish destiny. When we finally understand that Jewish destiny is exactly that, destiny, then we can at least stop whining about allegations that we could ever lose our country again.
The problem is not Arabs either. Arabs are our punishment. We earned them. When we begin to act like Jews this problem too will fade away like the morning mist. Talking about creating a foreign state on our soil, under any conditions, is chilul HaShem, a desecration of G-d, and will not go unpunished. Listening to the President of the United States issue a demand that "the Holy Land needs to be divided" without issuing an indignant vow that we would sooner perish than agree to such blasphemy, is an insult to the Creator of the Universe and yet another invitation to tragedy.
We may not be able to change our government, but there are things that we can do. We can and we must speak out forcefully against any proposal which opposes our obligations as Jews. Our actions must demonstrate our faith in the G-dly Process in our everyday lives, no matter what the threat. First and foremost Jews presently living in Exile must make plans to come home. More than financial and political support from Jews living in Exile, we need the only demonstration of faith which G-d is waiting for, obedience to Him by coming home now, especially when times are difficult here. And those of us already here must conduct our lives by the measure of Jewish imperatives above political ones.
The bottom line is faith in G-d. Faith only has meaning when it is tested by hardships and challenges. When our leaders tell us that they have decided to make "painful decisions" to give parts of our homeland away we must do whatever we can to oppose those decisions. But even if it seems that we cannot succeed, we must never lose hope. We must know, deep in our hearts and souls, that there is a greater Decision Maker who will prevail over the futile plans of our present leaders. Our greatest enemy today is despair. If we can defeat that enemy, we can defeat them all.
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