Thursday morning. The day of disruption. Demonstrations for democracy and the judicial system are starting in the early morning. At the morning demonstration in Givatayim there are students, teachers, parents, grandmothers, and grandfathers. And so many young people. On that morning I came to the rally with signs from the ethics of Torah, Deuteronomy 16:
“… And you shall judge the people with justice.”
“You shall not skew a judgment, you shall not exercise favor and you shall not take bribes…”
“Justice, justice you shall pursue – that you may thrive and inherit the land…”
“May I ask you to give one sign to my son? I want to take a picture of him with the sign and the verses you have.” A young mother turns to me. And adds, “Would you also want to be in the photograph?” I am delighted. A cute boy, the age of my grandchildren. Came to demonstrate with mom and friends.
A few people come close to read my post. Others nod from a distance. One not-so-young woman steps aside. I’m looking to get out of the crowds, cautious despite the mask and the open air and stand next to the mother handing her one of my signs. I smile at her. She raises her tearful face and tells me: “I’m from a house where my mother was secular but my father was religious. We had a traditional house with the consent of both parents. My father passed away some time ago, and before he died, he asked: ‘Take care of our country. May there be no destruction of a Third Temple.’ I promised him,” she tells me crying, “and now I see the third destruction already…”. Someone else comes up to us. An acquaintance of mine from previous protests. The tearful woman is a little embarrassed, wiping her eyes and saying: “It’s good that you came up with these verses. It’s important that people know what a Jewish state is,” I hug her. She touches my heart. Then she adds: “You probably remember that verse about the corrupt ministers who are mentioned in the Bible.” I begin to quote, and she joins: “Your rulers are corrupt and friends of thieves all love bribes and greedy for gifts” (Isaiah 1:23). And she takes out a handkerchief, “That’s what my dad meant. This is our third destruction.” With my hand on her shoulder, I try to encourage her: “Do you see all those who come to demonstrate here, and all the millions who have come and come all over the country for three months to all the demonstrations? All of us together – the whole nation together – will prevent the destruction. Since the establishment of the state, the good people have won the wars. True, the wars were tough, the price was heavy – but we succeeded. So we will also win this war. And we will remove the bad government from our good land.”
The demands for social justice, equality, fair trial, the prohibition of injustice and bribery are not contemporary slogans, and have not been formulated by one party or another. These are fundamental and explicit requirements in Jewish tradition – directly from the Torah. The oldest – and also the most topical. Ethics of the Torah. This is the Torah that the people of Israel received at Mount Sinai, with the Ten Commandments. This is the Torah that for more than two thousand years has been read every Shabbat in the synagogue (or at home). This is the Torah on which we grew up at home, in schools, in the youth movements of the young State of Israel. This is the moral of the Torah woven through the great prophets – Isaiah, Jeremiah and Ezekiel, which we read in our synagogues – in the haftarah on Shabbat and festivals. And on Yom Kippur!
These prophetic values are etched in Israel’s Declaration of Independence: “The State of Israel… will be founded on the foundations of freedom, justice and peace in the light of the vision of the prophets of Israel… Israel will uphold complete equality of social and political rights for all its citizens regardless of religion, race or sex.” And this declaration is the state of Israel that is fighting for its soul – and fighting its greatest battle: for its identity and its very existence as a Jewish-democratic state.
We will not stand idly by. It is about our soul and very existence. We are standing together, center, left and right voters, secular and religious, Druze and Bedouins and others. We are all together – in favor of a Jewish and democratic State of Israel. Together with all of you in the US and around the world standing up for Tzedek.
Judaism and democracy are one and the same! read more
I am always honored to lead Hatikvah in UnXeptable Rochester rallies like this one from this past Sunday. (Especially since this grassroots movement was started by Israeli expats!)
