The well-known expression, “You get the government you deserve,” can also be applied to the type of atmosphere allowed by a society.
When people voted into office fail to take immediate action as protests spill into anarchy, disrupting even emergency services from operating, or when law enforcement is stoned, that’s the time to realize that a normal society has been hijacked and replaced by anarchy.
This is the madness that’s taken over the country, whose destiny is supposed to be a “light to the nations.” And who is creating all of this chaos? None other than those who believe they possess a superior moral character, by virtue of their religiously observant lifestyle.
Sadly, their claim does not back up their actions. As they disrupt the peace that orders our everyday lives by blocking traffic and rioting, there is nothing even close to resembling exemplary behavior, of which they are so fond of assuming ownership.
When police officers and innocent citizens end up being injured by stone-throwing, enraged, and rebellious hoodlums who disavow the laws of our land, it’s time to acknowledge that the authority, meant to be held by our law enforcement, has been forcibly seized.
But it’s not just stone throwing. How can any Jew utter the words, “kill the Jews,” no matter how frustrated they are by the moral obligation, enacted as law, prioritizing saving the lives of our citizens over religious study, which will only be temporarily placed on hold?
Are we to believe that serving for three years precludes Torah study for a lifetime?
Have these rioting haredim (ultra-Orthodox), who claim to love their holiest book, containing the words of Moses, decided that portions such as Deuteronomy 20:1-4, which say, “The Lord your God is the One Who goes with you, to fight for you against your enemies to save you and bring you victory,” should be excised?
Or do they simply think that what was written 4,000 years ago is no longer applicable?
What occurred last week in Jerusalem, at the Bar Ilan intersection, classified as a riot rather than a lawful protest, is a disgusting display of perversion, both as it relates to the lack of moral character by so-called men of faith, whose rage physically injured others, as well as an affront to God Himself.
Have these Torah students not yet read the Sanhedrin 85a portion of the Talmud, which gives a universal prohibition against hitting or physically injuring any person? What about Leviticus 25:17, which states, “You shall not wrong one another, but you shall fear your God.”
What exactly are these religious institutions teaching the young men who have enough boundless energy to fight the laws that govern a country that is fraught with existential threats, to the point of total destruction? Where would those studies be held if yeshivas are no more?
While police responded by saying, “We will not allow a blatant violation of public order while harming freedom of movement, and we will act resolutely to restore order,” why are they not confronting the ringleaders of such riots?
Why are they not insisting that the prime minister and his coalition do something about this, reminding them that this is a disgraceful stain upon a country meant to be the vehicle for world redemption?
None of this is fitting in any way and is tantamount to airing one’s dirty laundry in public. Nevertheless, our leaders continue to vote for funding the study of these young men, all on the financial back of Israel’s citizens and at the expense of the real heroes, some of whom selflessly spend more than a year in reserve duty to make up for the obvious slack.
Israel needs to stop tolerating the intolerable
Sadly, our leaders are actually the ones facilitating the chaos and moral bankruptcy to which our society is being subjected. Coalition members, who ignore all of this anarchy, are complicit in any physical injuries that ensue, as well as any who might inadvertently die for lack of being able to access timely medical attention, due to blocked highways.
Any prime minister who professes to be the captain of this ship, hoping to steer it into calm waters, in order to protect its boarded passengers, would not, for one moment, endanger the lives of those under his care by setting sail in the midst of a raging storm.
But that is exactly what is happening. The people of Israel, already experiencing the ferocity of countless outside enemies, are in desperate need of standing together as a unified cluster, able to take on whatever comes their way.
What they especially do not need now is a devastating internal whirlwind that will endanger the country, unable to withstand the fractures and divisions that tear apart populations, rendering them crippled and wounded.
Yet this is our destined trajectory if a segment of society continues to disregard the law while still receiving financial support, due to the inaction of its leaders who, for political considerations, will not do the right thing.
There is no way that an ethical and just society can survive this kind of abuse by scoffers of God and man’s law. Also implicit within their refusal to do as commanded in the Torah – to fight our enemies, is the tacit admission that God will truly not hand over the victory as He promised!
What does that say for those who claim to be the most pious among us, that they have no faith in God’s words or rely upon Him as their protector? Those young men and women who put their lives on the line daily for all of us, including the yeshiva bochurs (students), actually display more courage and conviction by realizing that a nation that will not defend itself is not worth saving.
They, consequently, choose to pay the price of temporarily putting their lives on hold for a few years, so that the Zionist dream can continue – the one for which we waited 2,000 years to achieve.
At a time when the Jewish homeland is being attacked on seven fronts, not to mention the growing worldwide antisemitism that is metastasizing at a fast and furious pace, this is not the time for Israeli leaders to allow its society to rot from the inside.
If they do, then aren’t we all guilty of tolerating the intolerable?
The writer is a former Jerusalem elementary and middle school principal. She is the author of Mistake-Proof Parenting, available on Amazon, based on the time-tested wisdom found in the Book of Proverbs