PRO or CON - It's Not Always So Simple

9 Elul 5779

The most important thing to remember ahead of the election is this: The last government in Israel is Erev Rav and their impulse is to "mix" - the Left is allied with Yishmael (Muslims) and the right is allied with Eisav (Christians).  Don't vote Left or Right - Vote the Torah (UTJ, Otzma, NOAM) and you can't go wrong. 

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Most people would prefer things to be more black and white, and so they read life situations this way - Pro-Israel, Antisemitic, Pro/Con BDS. Face it, it's easier!  But, things just aren't always so simple.  That's why there are so many books of Oral Law to explain the Written Torah.

One of the hardest things for Torah Jews in Israel is to figure out how best to regard and relate to the State and its institutions.  I discussed this a bit in a blog post I wrote months ago called The Middle Ground of Truth.

Among Torah Jews, there is a range from those who idolize the State and its institutions (IDF, etc.) to those who refuse to recognize it at all.  Contrary to the beliefs of some, Torah Judaism does not admire or advocate extremism.  As so many Jews have followed the world culture off the edge of the planet and into the abyss, it's been made to appear as if those who still hold to the Torah are the extremists when the opposite is the case.

The Truth lies in the balanced middle, as I have stated before.  Obviously, once the State came into being, it had to have been Hashem's will, but it is neither the redemption itself nor a barrier to it.  It serves Hashem's purposes, but it is not yet the fulfillment of all our hopes and prayers and dreams.

In fact, the State is like the shell that surrounds an egg.  An entire chicken is under development inside that shell and one day, the emerging chick will crack that shell and peck at it until it can peck its way out of it and into the world at large where chickens live their lives.

The State was established, according to its own founders, not to fulfill our Torah mandate as a nation, but to provide a safe haven for Jews - much the same purpose as a shell for a developing egg. While the secular State has built an entire modern infrastructure and established a flourishing economy, inside the yeshivot and seminaries and Torah-abiding homes, the Kingdom of Israel has been taking root and developing in the neshamot within, preparing a people fit to meet and greet our Righteous Mashiach.

The day will surely come, and it's not far off now, when the "shell" will be broken and trampled underfoot, but if not for the shell until that moment, there would be no fully-formed chicken to emerge.  

I say all of this, as I learned it from the writings of the Maharal, in order to explain why so many rabbis no doubt felt such great responsibility to not damage the State before its time - before its purpose has been completed.  That's why I believe that Rabbi Tau was a big supporter of the State and why, even at its worst, when it carried out the expulsion of Jews from Gush Katif, he still felt he had to be careful to find that balanced middle ground where he did not call out to the masses to refuse orders, but encouraged every Jewish soldier to find an acceptable way to avoid committing such an abominable act:

Prior to the meeting, all Tau's students believed he firmly backed the concept of the Jewish state's sovereignty in this question: Although firmly opposed to any withdrawal from any part of the Holy Land, he also opposed any undermining of the state's sovereignty, especially any undermining of the Israel Defense Forces' authority. Thus, students at the Eli center could sometimes be heard saying, "If we have to, we will even evacuate our own parents."

However, the meeting with Tau turned out to be very surprising. He protested the "misunderstanding" surrounding his position: Explicit refusal to obey the order to evacuate a settlement was unthinkable; however, students at the centers would have to make it clear to their commanding officers that they "were incapable" of obeying such an order. Following the encounter, Sadan held a meeting with his students at Eli. He informed them that his previous directives had been mistaken and then issued new ones.

The change in Tau's position on the refusal-to-obey-orders issue has far-reaching implications. Rabbinical authority, which was supposed to counterbalance recent rabbinical rulings favoring refusal, is now encouraging a "gray" form of refusal.  (Source)

As long as Israel still needs the secular army's protection, it would be extremely irresponsible, to say the least, for any rabbi to call for a blanket refusal of orders.  An army can't operate effectively if it comes to a situation where each order has to be cleared by a rabbi before a soldier can respond to it.  And what happens when rabbis disagree on a particular order? You're talking about opening a Pandora's box, but Rabbi Tau maintained the perfect balance here in my view.

Rabbis of such stature, with the ability to influence so many, cannot afford to react emotionally.  They have to take many things into consideration, including whether their constituency will be held more or less accountable for following their instructions.  The mindset of different populations, the demands of different periods of history, among other things, also play a part. That's why we are bidden to consult with da'at Torah and why we are obligated, having done so, to follow its instructions with trust in Hashem.

For many decades, the State justified its own existence by funding aliyah for Jews all over the world, for building mikvaot, batei knesset, yeshivot, the rabbanut, etc.  Even in the State-run schools, Jewish "culture" was inculcated in the youth.  

But in more recent times, the drive to force yeshivah students into the army for the sole purpose of assimilating them into the surrounding culture; throwing men and women together in military service, not even to mention the recruitment of gays, trans, and messianics; the championing of "LGBTQ rights" among the populace;  and facilitating the ever-encroaching menace of Christian missionary organizations has been - bit by bit - chipping away at the eggshell and they're doing it to themselves without any help at all from the rest of us.  And that's not even a comprehensive list!!

The point is, the Erev Rav, the Klipah - the "shells" - through its embrace of Western culture, norms and so-called values is actually already falling apart and the clearest sign we've seen of it is the failed election of 2019.

I hope this sets the record straight for anyone who would unwittingly make false accusations against Rabbi Tau.  And I hope it gives the reader maybe a little bit better perspective on why a rabbi might rule in what he considers to be a too-conservative fashion. But, I hope most of all that it encourages everyone to see that we've almost reached the time for the emergence of the Kingdom of Israel from the shell that up to now we've been calling the State of Israel and that groups like NOAM and Otzma Yehudit are playing a crucial part in it.

(This post could also have been entitled: The Quest to Balance Living in the "Real World" While Maintaining Mashiach Consciousness).