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A prayer for an incoming Knesset member

Bar-Or wrote this on the election to the Knesset of his friend Roy Folkman, a member of the Kulanu Party.
[additional-authors]
April 2, 2015

Bar-Or wrote this on the election to the Knesset of his friend Roy Folkman, a member of the Kulanu Party.

Dear Roy,

How exciting and moving to know you have become a Member of the Knesset! You’ve entered into a difficult and complex situation during complicated times. Yet I fully believe in you. You stand for a public seeking a different leadership. Allow me to congratulate you with a few words: 

I must admit that the weeks leading to the elections were hard for me. As a society, we have committed the “sin of (wrongful) speech,” reaching the lowest levels we have yet known. 

There has been virtually no ideological exchange. We heard nothing regarding vision. Media consultants quashed any possibility of serious and difficult dialogues in which one sees the face of the other even when basic disagreements exist between them. 

The elections showed us, once again, that we are reinforcing the culture of two camps within us. In the days of the First Temple, they were called “Judah” and “Israel.” These camps had very different narratives. And we know all too well that it was not the “Iranian” enemy that destroyed our home … 

I am not among the celebrators in the “Judah” camp. And yet I do not find myself cynical or pessimistic as many of “Israel” feel. What concerns me is the lack of soul-searching within the Israeli society. I view a social/political difficulty as an invitation to assemble together, to view the “other” as a mirror of myself, for everything that happens to us as individuals or as a society are opportunities for inner learning and tikkun.

In the first lesson of our KOLOT group, we studied a segment from the Talmud’s tractate Makot 24. The primary issue there led to a process by which the 613 mitzvahs were reduced to principles and pillars, a few pillars containing so very much. This complex and fascinating process ends with just one single, intense and charged principle: “And the righteous shall live by his faith” (Habakkuk, Chapter 2) 

This verse is supposed to contain the entire Torah. Many are acquainted with the story of Hillel the Elder, who when challenged to teach the entire Torah while standing on one foot, answered: “What is hateful unto you do not do to your friend.” This was the very basis of the entire Torah, a clear and significant message. But what is the meaning of, “And the righteous shall live by his faith”? 

We must understand the background of Habakkuk’s book. Habakkuk lived during the destruction of the Assyrian reign, some 23 years before the destruction of the First Temple. Like all the Jews around him, Habakkuk hoped that they may enjoy a few years of tranquility after the terrible cruelties inflicted by the Assyrians. However, the Babylonian reign proved even harsher than its predecessor, leading Habakkuk to express his deep grievances. In the first chapter he protests before and against God: “How long, O Lord, shall I cry, and Thou wilt not hear? I cry out unto Thee of violence, and Thou wilt not save. Why dost Thou show me iniquity, and beholdest mischief? And why are spoiling and violence before me, so that there is strife, and contention ariseth” (ch.1 v.2, 3). The chapter continues with Habakkuk’s harsh retorts to God about a historical event that seems unfair in the prophet’s eyes.

So what do you do in times of deep frustration? When political moves make no sense? What can we do with feelings of injustice? The beginning of chapter 2 clarifies: “And the Lord answered me, and said: ‘Write the vision, and make it plain … that a man may read it swiftly. For the vision is yet for the appointed time … though it tarry, wait for it, because it will surely come, it will not delay … and the righteous shall live by his faith.' “(Chapter 2, Verses 2-3)

In other words, in hours of hardship and moments of uncertainty, our job is to write a vision. A clear vision, so that anyone “may read it swiftly” and distinctly. Our job is to give direction, a new compass of our reality. Then, and only then, will we find purpose for our complex lives — and indeed live. When an individual or society has no such purpose or mission, each hardship brought on by destiny or by a bleak reality leads to despair. 

It seems that for quite a long time the Israeli society has been moving along without a vision. We have many leaders who believe they have solutions to our problems. What we need are the prophets; people who ask: “For what purpose? Why live, and even die, in Israel of 2015?”

“This is what I have once called an endless ideal. And really I think that Zionism will not cease to be an ideal, even after we finally live in our land, the land of Israel. Because Zionism, as I understand it, incorporates not only the desire to acquire a safe country for our miserable nation, but also the desire for moral and spiritual improvement.” — Theodor Herzl, “Our Hope”

We must write a vision for the next chapter of Zionism. We can’t satisfy ourselves with the ambiguous and unresolved slogan: a “Jewish-Democratic” state. We must imagine the face of the State of Israel and start working in light of this vision.

Our Torah can lead us in appreciating that the mission of the Jewish society includes:

• Understanding that the blessing of powerfulness after 2,000 years of Diaspora encompasses an absolute moral duty toward the weak and the other, the Jew and the minorities within us.

• Allowing for a culture of debate and argument. Viewing the face of my contender as a vital element.

• Appreciating that the gift of wealth is essentially a great commitment toward those without. We cannot allow such gaps between the poor and the rich. The lust for money, which has overtaken large segments of our society, also reveals cravings of the lowest nature. 

• Acknowledging that the power of speech is among the greatest assets of humans. Evil speech and slander, gossip and cynicism as well as absolute submission to media consultants — all these are not truly essential, even in the 21st century. Correct and authentic speech can create an entire world and can bring about a new face to our reality.

• Accepting that there is room for forgiveness, for believing that personal tikkun is the root of life and the greatest of freedoms.

• Learning that shmita is an invitation to recognize that every hold on the land depends on the ability to let it go. And that this may give us an opening for a new form of discussion related to the land of contention, that which we call the Land of Israel.

• Every leader must remember that s/he represents and stands for the public. In every given moment. And shall not gather around him “horses, women and gold.”

So that we shall say clearly and simply: In this place — the Land of Israel — there is an atmosphere of true sacredness.

The list can go on, yet the dialogue must begin. We must create a discourse on our purpose — now and here.

Two years ago, I put my faith in the agreements between Yair Lapid and Naftali Bennett, Shai Piron and Ayelet Shaked. I thought there might be some potential for a new form of cooperation, between “Judah” and “Israel.” It blew up in my face. Today, after the last elections, I understand that without a common vision, without a shared narrative, we cannot establish a true covenant. This requires a great deal of work. We have no choice but to roll up our sleeves and begin.

“A generation that grew apart from Judaism lacks the [internal] unity in that it cannot rely on the past and cannot look forward to the future. So we will reconvene into Judaism and never allow ourselves again to be thrown out of this fortress. … We too want to work to improve the conditions in the world, but we want to do this as Jews, not as people without a clear identity. … In this way we shall get back our lost inner wholeness and, along with it, some character — a character of our own, not one that was forced upon us, borrowed by us, insincere — but a character of our own.” (Writings of Herzl, Volume VII, pages 38-39)

We are living in extraordinary times in our people’s history. Never before could we choose, create, influence and thrive as we do today, as individuals and as a society.

Roy, even with all the urgent matters that will come before you in the next Knesset, “Write a vision.” Lead a discussion on significance and purpose. We will assist you, and you have many friends and allies along the way. With the tribalism of Israel that we see today, we must do everything to be worthy of residing in the current Zion. Between “Judah” and “Israel,” lies a secret to be found, a story waiting to be told. Let’s begin deciphering it — within it is the source of life.

With wishes for success, a hug and great love, Mordechai.


Mordechai Bar-Or is founder and director of KOLOT. He directed mishnah and Talmud studies at Pelech High School for Girls in Jerusalem, directed Gesher seminars in Safed, and co-founded and directed Elul. He studied at the Alon-Shevut hesder yeshiva for seven years. Bar-Or was born in the United States and is the father of four.

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