These are SCAAARRRY TIMES. The world has not seen such a tumultuous period since World War 2. I don't want to scare you when I suggest where this all could be leading to but suffice it to say - great great "challenges". ה' ישמור!!!
The Democrats are calling this presidential race a fight for the SOUL of America.
Exactly!
Politics is not a spiritually and religiously neutral domain. Just about every political question has direct or indirect spiritual and religious ramifications. The Torah is not just about אין מפגלין בחצי מתיר [??] or גוד אסיק מחיצתא [???] or oxen and cows roughing it up. The Torah wants to be the guide to fixing the WORLD. Not just Am Yisrael, not just Eretz Yisrael but every Chinese and Mexican guy, their wives and families. The Messianic vision we all anticipate is one of a world where ALL beings know Hashem and live moral and pure lives. Our tradition teaches us about laws pertaining to Gentiles precisely b/c they too have a task in perfecting the world. We are supposed to be the guides.
The question is not whether Trump or Biden is a better human being. [My opinion - thumbs down on both]. The question is what do they bring to the table. Who supports Jews and the Jewish State. Who promotes more traditional values. Who has better ideas about restoring economic growth. Who will help the black and lower [economic] class community more. Who will seed MORE divisiveness [I think that it is indisputable that both candidates are divisive]. These are HUUUGE questions. Anybody who cares about the world has to care about the outcome of this election. How to handle Corona is a question that is decided by politicians yet our very lives and the fate of mankind depend on it. [For the record - I am not blaming them b/c it isn't their fault but we can't say that any of them has done a particularly good job of containing it. Hashem runs the world, not our elected officials. They are His pawns].
We can't plant our faces in the ground and say "I will learn and keep mitzvos and this is not my problem". We can't say that b/c Hashem created the world for a purpose and this purpose goes beyond our personal Avodas Hashem. OF COURSE our first responsibility is to make sure that we are fulfilling our own jobs but beyond that we have to care about the other 12 million Jews and seven billion plus people, each of whom was placed here by Hashem with a purpose.
Politics is filled with - שקר, קנאה, שנאה ,תאוה and many other horrible middos. On the other hand, no less a personage than Rav Yehuda Amital ztz"l [to give one example of numerous] joined the Knesset while serving as Rosh Yeshiva b/c he understood that the soul of the nation is deeply affected by votes made in the Knesset. Rav Ovadiah Yosef ztz"lwas a person who knew thousands upon thousands of Sefarim by heart. He was KOOOOLLLLOOOO TORAH. Remarkable. What he knew in his twenties most Talmidei Chachomim never know. Yet, he FOUNDED a political party. Not for money or kavod but b/c he felt that the most effective way to advance Torah values and Avodas Hashem was through that vehicle. His son, Rav Yaakov ztz"l, a massive Talmid Chochom, was a Knesset member. And let us not forget Rav Shach ztz"l who also founded a political party. I never founded a party but I happen to LOVE a good party when I attend one.
Most Orthodox Jews are in favor of Trump and most secular Jews are in favor of Biden. Why is that? Well - Trump, with all his glaring personal flaws has been more Pro-Israel than any President probably EVER. That is huge. Trump's policy is Pro-Life. Chazal learn from a pasuk in this week's Parsha that abortion is such a sin for a GENTILE that it warrants CAPITAL PUNISHMENT!! [We have many shiurim on the topic]. The Democratic party advances the policy of marriage equality which means that homosexuality is equal to heterosexuality. Chazal [Chullin 92] say one of the few mitzvos that Gentiles keep is that they DON'T sign marriage documents for same sex marriage. Today, that is no longer true.
The Republican Party is, officially, conservative. They want to "conserve" traditional values. The Democratic Party is, officially, progressive. That means that they want to discard traditional values.
This is a Torah blog. I try as best I can to represent the Torah approach to everything. I have been told that people appreciate that. In addition to regular divrei Torah which they can find elsewhere, I also present current events according to the Torah perspective. I have one beloved friend and Talmid Chochom who DOESN'T like that. He wants me to stick to pure Torah topics and keep anything political out of it. He finds my views very upsetting to the point that he wrote me an angry email canceling his subscription [B"H I have joined "cancel culture!!! ברוך שהחיינו וקיימנו והגיענו לזמן הזה!] to the blog until I cease and desist from relating to current political events. He told me to tell him when I will stay away from politics and he will come back. [It hurt, especially coming from a friend, but so is life...]. Now, my readership has dwindled to just three people [including me].
But like I wrote - political questions are Torah questions and the very fate of the world is at stake and it is in a very precarious state.
On the other hand! I am not Ben Shapiro or Jordan Peterson or their left wing counterparts who make a living being contentious, getting people angry and "destroying them". I don't like when I hear that someone was upset about something I wrote. The job of every Jew and person is to make people feel happier and not perturbed or otherwise annoyed. I don't write to ruffle feathers.
So sweet friends - If I have caused you tzaar or anguish of any kind, I apologize. If you would like a personal apology then please contact me and I will grant you one.
That being said - I don't think that expressing the Torah view as I see is an inherently negative endeavor. On the contrary, I hope to bring light and clarity to the world as best I could with my limited understanding. If someone doesn't care for that then there are probably over SIXTEEN THOUSAND posts [most ghostwritten by my mother, wife or children] and over six thousand five hundred recorded shiurim [given by people I pay well to mimic my voice and style] where not a WORD about current events is uttered. A person who wants that has B"H ample material. I don't see why one has to "throw out the baby" with the offensive bathwater.
If someone has substantive criticism firmly grounded in Torah principles and sources, I would be happy to read it. I would even print it for a wider audience. The goal is to spread truth and make the world a better place. The blog is not a money-making endeavor [although to be honest, a few months back a sweet Yid sent me 25 dollars in appreciation] nor does it get me other things people seem to like [like honor or fanfare]. It takes up a LOT of my most valuable resource [time] which I invest b/c I deem it important.
So may Hashem help us to see the Truth and spread it to the world with LOVE.
