Messianic Moves (Part 2 of 2)

27 Tamuz 5779

(Part 1)

As I've explained in the past, my philosophy is to support those trying to do good, trying to do the right thing by the Torah and by HKB"H and the Jewish people.  I do not believe in the political process per se, so I do not advocate "choosing the lesser of two evils."  If, as happened last election, there is no one I perceive (with G-d's help) as presenting a clear-cut Torah path forward for the country, I abstain from voting altogether, which is exactly what I did then and what I will do in the future, if the only party I can support is ruled ineligible to run.

Presently, the party that I can support wholeheartedly is called "Noam."  And I was very pleased to read that Otzma Yehudit is joining them rather than the so-called United Right Wing Party which is not Torah-directed.

Noam (Hebrew: נעם, lit., Pleasantness) is an Orthodox Jewish religious, right-wing political party in Israel, established in July 2019 by a very conservative faction in the Religious Zionist community inspired by Rabbi Zvi Thau and his Har Hamor Yeshiva. The party's goal is to advance policies against LGBT rights and what its backers have called "the destruction of the family".

The party's basis is in Rabbi Zvi Thau and his Har Hamor Yeshiva. Rabbi Thau and his followers believe that Bayit Yehudi, led by Rabbi Rafi Peretz, and Tkuma, led by Bezalel Smotrich, have not sufficiently advanced Jewish values – particularly in the realm of opposition to LGBT rights, protection of the Shabbat as a day of rest, and the protection of the Orthodox conversion process. Following Rabbi Thau's disappointment with the parties of the United Right, he and his followers decided to form the Noam party. While Rabbi Thau is the party's spiritual leader, Avi Maoz is the political leader of the party. Another student of Thau that is involved in the creation of the party is Rabbi Shlomo Aviner. He said that: "The party will fight against the destruction of the family, against the destruction of conversion, against the destruction of Shabbat, against the destruction of the Western Wall, and against the use of deviant content in the IDF and the Education Ministry."

The Noam party was reported to be in talks with the Otzma Yehudit party, which split recently from the United Right, for a possible joint run. In 2015, Otzma Yehudit allied itself with the Yachad party of former Shas chief Eli Yishai, running on a joint ticket for the elections for the 19th Knesset. Rabbi Thau endorsed the joint ticket, marking the first time the Har Hamor dean had explicitly endorsed a political party. (Source)

The point here is not that Mashiach will come through elections. It is to assist Mashiach, whoever he may be, by preparing a Torah-based infrastructure in anticipation of his arrival - a vehicle, if you will - which will serve to launch him into national prominence at the appropriate time. If we want to replace the regime we have, something must be prepared in the wings to take its place. THAT is the point!

The State itself is just a vehicle for bringing Mashiach.  It is the very "donkey" that he is riding in on, but the day will come when he will ascend something better than a lowly donkey. 

One of the greatest things about Judaism is that it leaves no aspect of life without the influence of Torah law.  Anyone who wants to say our religion has no place in the political world, who prefers to abdicate any responsibility for it, is really advocating "separation of religion and state" per the Western model.  But, this is not our Judaism. 

Whoever is faithfully lifting the Torah banner over our nation deserves our support.  And more than that, we have an obligation to support it.  On the other hand, should the powers that be make that impossible by using a corrupt court to disqualify every Torah-based option, we have an equal obligation, I believe, to abstain altogether.

This is another step forward to our long-awaited geulah.  Someone very wise once said, "The only thing that evil needs to succeed is for good men to stand by and do nothing."  Everything we are reading in the weekly parashah proves how much WE have to be DOING in partnership with HKB"H.  

I'll finish here with some quotes from this article...

...Bennett has taken on a sometimes combative tone against some of the more extreme elements in the national religious community. Before he handed the keys to the New Right over to Shaked last week, the party championed the notion of secular-religious partnership. Bennett claimed that the Hardal (an acronym for “national Haredi”) flank of the Jewish Home had prevented his previous attempts to promote such cooperation.

While Otzma Yehudit and URWP each have a base of that increasingly religious, increasingly nationalist subgroup, the Noam party was established earlier this month to appeal to Hardal Israelis who want a stronger emphasis on “traditional family values.”

Noam kicked off its campaign with a series of provocative highway billboards and video ads with the slogan “Israel chooses to be normal.” The party claims that the LGBT community has “forced its agenda” on the rest of Israeli society, which believes in a “normal” (heteronormative) family structure.

The extremist party enjoys the express backing of Rabbi Tzvi Tau, the founder of the Har Hamor yeshiva in Jerusalem. The 81-year-old has been a leading voice in the national religious community against LGBT acceptance. In 2017, he wrote that homosexuality is the “ugliest deviation, which breaks down family life… and contradicts the first basis of human existence.”

The following comment posted in response to this article is proof that the Birur is still on track...

This is great news, if the racist Otzma Yehudi party and the hateful Noam party run together, it means that the more moderate Religious Zionist camp can return to its traditional values, and the majority of people in the Religious-Zionist community can vote for a party which represents their values without worrying about their vote going to a handful of haters who have hijacked the Religious-Zionist agenda in recent years.

If Otzma Yehudi and Noam run together, they have almost zero percent chance of breaking the threshold (they represent a tiny minority of the Religious Zionist community, which in itself make up less than 20% of the general population). If (Heaven forbid) they did break the threshold, I hope that Netanyahu, the Knesset, and the Media would treat them as pariahs in the same way that the Knesset and media treated Meir Kahana.

Funny how what used to be moderate and central has become "extremist" as the world keeps shifting further and further away from Hashem's expressed will.