- A -
The day before the elections and the big question mark still remains unanswered. Even the optimistic commentators from the right-wing camp, who see encouraging signs in recent days, admit in closed and open conversations that it is impossible to know what will really happen. But it is clear to everyone that the question of whether a right-wing government or, God forbid, a left-wing government will be formed, may depend on two mandates here or there that will decide the campaign.
Against this backdrop, it is difficult and incomprehensible to understand the decision of the 'Otzma' list to continue running, even though its leaders know full well, with absolute certainty, that they are about to throw away two critical right-wing mandates.
Want more news, videos and stories? Join the Haredim 10 WhatsApp channel >>
The question of who is to blame for the separate path and the situation that has been created is not at all relevant in the face of the critical and fateful decision now, at this given moment: whether to give a chance to form a right-wing government, or to cause a left-wing government to be formed.
Even those who identify with them and are outraged by the criminal injustice inflicted on them when they were betrayed and boycotted cannot justify the irresponsible act of losing two critical mandates to the right-wing bloc.
Anyone who is truly concerned about the fate of the Land of Israel cannot act like that unreal "mother" from Solomon's proverb who said: "Cut it down - it will not be for me or you.".
The same goes for voters: Voting in elections is not a vote of identification but a vote of decision. Voting for a party that does not pass the threshold will not bring into the Knesset the people with whom the voter identifies; it will bring into the Knesset one or two more members of Knesset from the camp called the 'left'.
And unlike other circles, for Chabad followers who are loyal to the Rebbe's opinion, the issue of the right-wing government is a critical issue in its importance, beyond all other issues. This is the only issue for which the Rebbe changed his custom and his strictness 'not to interfere in politics,' and in an unusual and rare step, he intervened directly and publicly on behalf of the right-wing government, explaining that a left-wing government poses a life-saving danger to all Jews in the Holy Land.
Unfortunately, in those days, in the elections held in the summer of 1992, parties like 'Hatiya' and a few other party fragments ran separately and did not pass the threshold. The right-wing then lost two or three mandates, which were thrown away, and on the cusp of one mandate (!) - with a 'blocking bloc' of Arab parties - a left-wing government was formed, and in a step that no one dreamed of or even imagined in their wildest imagination, it signed the Oslo Accords with the great murderer Arafat, and changed at once, beyond recognition, the situation of the Jews in the Holy Land, from then until today.
- In -
And on the sidelines of the election campaign:
Chassidim often mention the saying that the Rebbe used to repeat in the name of the Baal Shem Tov, that from everything a Jew sees or hears, he should learn a lesson in the service of God.
From the Israeli media, in its response in recent days to the 'Fifth Dimension' affair that was revealed, we can learn a lot about the work of God in general and the war of instinct in particular, about determination, audacity, and courage.
Just yesterday they said that it is forbidden to speak a single word against the 'gatekeepers', and today they have no problem furiously attacking the 'gatekeepers', without shame, for their decision to investigate the 'fifth dimension'; only they cried out for peace and warned that voicing sharp criticism of the Attorney General's Office is an act that will not be done and 'the end of democracy,' and today, without thinking twice, they are pouring fire and brimstone on the same Attorney General's Office that made a decision that they do not like.
Only a short time ago, the chairman of Blue and White announced that accusing the Attorney General's Office of having political considerations is 'serious incitement,' and today, without blinking or batting an eyelid, he claims that the decision made by the Attorney General's Office to investigate the 'fifth dimension' stems solely from political considerations.
This is not just hypocrisy, which we have become accustomed to. This is audacity. The courage to 'beep' at everyone, without feeling embarrassed, and without apologizing.
Definitely a instructive lesson in the war of instinct and in the service of God in general.
• Rabbi Aharon Dov Halperin is the editor-in-chief of 'Kfar Chabad'. The column was published in the newspaper
