Danger: Israeli Elections

I had no time to hate because the grave would hinder me,

And life was not so ample I could finish enmity.

Nor had I time to love, but though such industry must be,

That little toil of love I though was large enough for me.

-Emily Dickinson

Should we be worried about a left-wing coalition of people who want to destroy Halachic marriage, defile the Kotel with abominations, cede the Land that Hashem gave us, along with other deeds that defy G-d and His Torah which He gives us every day, every season, and every hour?

Certainly. We must pray that all of us make repentance. Not them, us. We must ask Hashem to protect us. We must resolve to do more mitzvot, learn more Torah, and pray that Moshiach come sooner and His monarchy is restored.

While we do, we need to beg Hashem for the strength not to hate. Baseless hatred is the one sin that brought on an exile that is nearing 2,000 years. Every day we don’t have the Temple. Every day we don’t have the priesthood. Every day we cannot perform all 613 mitzvot is a day of exile, even if many of us are fortunate enough to live in the Land of Israel.

A Little History

For 200 years, we had a state. From the Maccabi revolution, around 160 BCE to the great destruction in 70 CE, we had sovereignty, autonomy, and everything in between.

Back then, we also were guilty of many of the sins we fear most today. During this time, we were living in the shadow of Greek and Roman culture. Many of us assimilated, taking on all of their lifestyles. There was homosexuality. There was the reform movement in the form of the Sadducees. There was idolatry. There was the concept of giving up Land for peace. For them, it was allowing Roman Imperials to come in and mediate disputes – with a garrison of soldiers.

Hashem didn’t throw us off our Land for these sins.

They aren’t excusable, we paid for them as we pay for them today. But these sins weren’t the reason for losing our nation and our Land. Even the sins of immorality, bloodshed, and idolatry didn’t result in the exile we are currently anguishing through. That exile ended after 70 years. The agony of this one still plagues us.

The Sin of Devastation

The sin that has led to the worst horror among the Jewish People is the sin of baseless hatred. This, unlike all of the other sins mentioned above, is the sin that led to an exile spanning 100 generations and counting.

We cannot succumb to its temptation today. We cannot hate any Jew, for any reason, in any situation whatsoever?

Can We Hate the Obvious Suspects?

Did you know that you shouldn’t eat your veggies with your cholent on Shabbat? It’s because the heat of the cholent can cook the cold veggies and baking is a violation of Shabbat.

Did you know that you cannot rip open a chocolate wrapper or chip bag carelessly? According to Jewish Law, erasing a letter is no different than writing one. If you tear open a wrapper and the tear pierces any of the letters, even those really small words describing the ingredients, you are writing – and breaking the Shabbat.

There are literally hundreds of rules governing the Shabbat. It can take a lifetime to understand them, and another lifetime to internalize them so deeply that we never commit a single infraction while on our island in time.

If it is that complicated to understand the intricate rules of Shabbat, how can we even think we can distinguish between baseless hatred and “kosher” hatred when this sin is punishable by exile and death.

Conclusion

This election season, vote for whom you like, but don’t talk about it. Don’t think about it. Make sure that you find a reason not to hate anyone running for leadership. Stay off the topic when you are on social media. Don’t read about it in the papers physical or digital.

Make an election sacrifice: Estimate the amount of time you typically spend reading about these elections, and promise yourself to learn Torah during that time. Ask Hashem for help in personal prayer that He grant you the strength not to hate.

For every thought, word, post of rage against a Jew – any Jew – force yourself to recite the prayer of forgiveness that we mention in the middle of the Amidah prayer. Add in the space of the sin – sinat Chinam.

There are many sins that the left is promoting. We should pray for our repentance. Their repentance and ours. If we pray, with all our heart, that Hashem will strengthen the heart of every Jew on earth . . . it can happen.

The most left wing, liberal, peace now activist can rise to power in the blink of an eye . . . and 30 seconds after he is sworn in as our next Prime Minister . . . reveal himself as Moshiach Ben David.