Wednesday, March 7, 2018

Congruent Values

Many people have values that are incongruous with others values they hold. Chazal say, for example, that the Jews are inscrutable - when we were asked to give money to the golden calf, we gave it. When we were asked to give money to the mishkan, we also gave. How can the golden calf be a value and the mishkan be a value for the very same people? Would you give to a church and to a shul?? Mishegge!!!  

Many of us are the same. We have some very holy values but at the same time, consciously or subconsciously we maintain values that are incongruent with our holy values. I won't elaborate. 

I respect Binyamin Netanyahu. He works very hard to lead and protect the Jewish people. He is a great speaker, a brilliant man and presents Israel in a positive light to the world. He tacitly admits that we will never have peace [as long as he is in power] with the Arabs because he says that we can't make a peace deal until they acknowledge our right to exist. That will never happen [until Moshiach comes]. I don't know what he is really like [even though he seems like a really nice guy] because politics is a show and he spends a lot of time and money in order to maintain his positive public image. As a matter of fact, the reason he is undergoing brutal questioning by the authorities and might land in jail is because he is accused of bribing various news outlets to write positively about him. It is sad when a person has to worry so much and expend so much effort to make sure that people have a positive image of him. Fake, fake, fake. עלמא דשיקרא.  

He often asserts that Israel is our historic homeland and references the Tanach. I ask, Tanach?? Is the only thing written in Tanach that Israel belongs to the people of Israel?? What about Shabbos? Kashrus? Tzitzis? He knows that, but ignores it. And he is a brilliant, Harvard educated intellectual. So if he accepts the Tanach, then there is a whole lot more than the Land Of Israel. If he doesn't - then what is the point of this whole crazy enterprise? We should all join all of the Israelis in L.A. He speaks a language of כחי ועוצם ידי - WE are strong. WE are powerful. "I" have to protect us against our enemies. Where is He? The G-d of the Tanach?? The One who performed all of the miracles to get us here?? And people who wear kippot and women who cover their hair clap enthusiastically when he spouts his heresy.

I don't want him to go to jail. I want him to keep his job. I fear who would take his place. But I wish that he would fulfill what the Rambam says [Melachim 1/7] that any leader must be a ירא שמים.