Israel is currently riven by great political division. The current government is trying to reform the judicial system and change the power relationship between the judiciary and the legislative/executive branch of the government. This has triggered massive protests, bringing 500,000 protesters into the streets for seven consecutive months. While conflict has exacerbated some of the basic divisions in Israeli society and both sides seem unable to compromise; ironically, many Israelis feel that some judicial reform is justified. It isn’t the issue, but rather how it is being carried out that has triggered the political conflict, with the government trying to unilaterally pass these reforms and the opposition questioning their motives.
It did not have to be this way. In this week’s Torah portion we read, “Justice, justice shall you pursue, that you may thrive and occupy the land that your God is giving you.” (Deuteronomy 16:20) Many of our Sages commenting on this verse (Rashi, Ibn Ezra and Ramban) although they lived in different times and places agree that the repetition of the word justice means that a society must pursue justice, justly. The ends do not justify the means; the means are the ends. If an idea is right or a cause righteous, our sages believed that you must persuade others to follow you. Perhaps if the current government had heeded this wisdom the current crisis could have been avoided.
Shoftim, Deuteronomy 16:18-21:9, Parshat Hashavua for Shabbat, August 19, 2023
August 17, 2023 by Dean Kertesz • Drashot
Israel is currently riven by great political division. The current government is trying to reform the judicial system and change the power relationship between the judiciary and the legislative/executive branch of the government. This has triggered massive protests, bringing 500,000 protesters into the streets for seven consecutive months. While conflict has exacerbated some of the basic divisions in Israeli society and both sides seem unable to compromise; ironically, many Israelis feel that some judicial reform is justified. It isn’t the issue, but rather how it is being carried out that has triggered the political conflict, with the government trying to unilaterally pass these reforms and the opposition questioning their motives.
It did not have to be this way. In this week’s Torah portion we read, “Justice, justice shall you pursue, that you may thrive and occupy the land that your God is giving you.” (Deuteronomy 16:20) Many of our Sages commenting on this verse (Rashi, Ibn Ezra and Ramban) although they lived in different times and places agree that the repetition of the word justice means that a society must pursue justice, justly. The ends do not justify the means; the means are the ends. If an idea is right or a cause righteous, our sages believed that you must persuade others to follow you. Perhaps if the current government had heeded this wisdom the current crisis could have been avoided.