The Yamim Nora’im of Nisan

Question: At what time of the year is it proper and appropriate for us to pray that we have a decent government? On Rosh Hodesh Nisan, which is the New Year’s day for Jewish kings?

Answer: According to our sages, three times a day on weekdays, and that’s the message of some of the blessings of the ‘amida: “Restore our judges as of old… and establish the throne of David…” And on the Sabbath and festivals, when the ordinary version of the ‘amida is not recited, the custom is to pray for proper governance after the Torah reading.

…

Recently, I had the chance to review the Book of Kings with a friend, and we were seeking to understand the story of Elijah the prophet. In a previous essay, I wrote about the symbolism and meaning Elijah’s encounter with God at Sinai, and now I want to address some more issues: Why did Elijah seek relief from his duty as prophet, and even when God said that He granted him that relief, Elijah continued to minister, well after Ahab’s death? Why was Elijah taken into heaven in a whirlwind and fiery chariots, instead of dying like everyone else, and what is the meaning behind Elisha’s vision of Elijah’s ascension?

…

Many asked me about an apparent contradiction in my previous essay. How can I write against participating in voting, while then proposing we use our votes to advance particular candidates?

My answer is that the issue of establishing a proper kingdom is not the task at hand. Perhaps appointing the figurehead president of the state of Israel would fit the Biblical imperative (I recall there was a group some years ago that proposed installing a hereditary David monarch as the figurehead of state, a romantic idea that intrigues me), but with regards to Knesset elections and the formation of a coalition and a government, our status is similar to that of our ancestors in the times of the Judges. These days we are stuck trying to find our way, getting our third commonwealth organized. I vote because I would prefer a Gideon over an Abimelech, an Othniel over a Jephtah. And to be honest,  I would prefer any of them over Jeroboam and his successors, or over Netanyahu and the rest. More so, my take on Jewish history leads me to the conclusion that perhaps during the time of the Judges, the Jewish people did technically fulfill the minimal requirement of having a malchuth, as we saw earlier, much in the same way that they fulfilled the commandments regarding the construction and maintenance the Temple, and the attendant sacrifices and pilgrimages, with the sanctuary at Shiloh, despite the facts that it was not meant to be a permanent arrangement, and that the people, or at least their scholarly leadership, were aware that an upgrade would eventually be demanded.

But in the most honest truth, I sincerely believe that this year, we should mark election day with fasting and prayer, as befits other days of Judgment, because we are putting ourselves into a situation whereby we are inviting the heavenly court to judge us, like anyone else who appeals to the heavenly court to judge others, or who puts himself into a dangerous situation. This is also based on a reading of history, both personal and national.

…

I have not found any classical sources that encourage universal participation in democratic, electoral processes. I know how the American founding fathers were wary of the masses directly electing their governmental executives. The masses are asses and der oilem is ah goilem.  When the choice is given, the masses are likely not to going to choose right, and they all will be made to pay. We saw this earlier regarding the reign of Hosea, the last king of the Ten Tribes, who put an end to Jeroboam’s policy of preventing the pilgrimage to the Temple, and in doing so actually made things worse for his subjects, because now they had the opportunity to choose to do right, and they failed. He should have completely reversed the policy, and shown proper leadership by encouraging and enforcing the pilgrimage. Because the people failed, they were punished. It would have been better had Hosea not left it to masses to decide what to do. (Ironically, I believe that a careful reading of the text reveals that Ahab, despite his introduction of outright idolatry to the Kingdom and his open and murderous persecution of the true prophets, actually relaxed Jeroboam’s program, and tolerated his subjects’ going on pilgrimage to Jerusalem. This is a novel idea that deserves its own extended treatment.)

We also know about how it was the masses who chose to react to King Agrippas’s realization that he was not truly fit to serve as king. Instead of being silent, they encouraged and flattered him. It would have been better had he not provoked a spontaneous reaction from the public, but it happened, and the people once again were made to pay the price. The sages have a rule regarding letting non-scholars know about halachic details. If one knows that the unlearned will not take heed, then it is better they not know, so that when they transgress, they will be unwitting instead of willing. This applies to public policy as well. If the masses are going to do the wrong thing, perhaps they should not be told what is right before hand.

A French rabbi told me of his own experience with a colleague in the rabbinate who was engaged in some highly-unethical-but-not-criminal behavior related to his executing his pulpit duties. The former participated in an investigative panel into the latter’s actions, and uncovered quite a lot of evidence against him, especially of his dangerous lack of familiarity with basic halachic sources and the principles for rendering decisions, and what he lacked in true scholarship he made up for with zealotry, (reminding me of this writer’s description of the second-tier Haredite leader “Rabbi Shpitzer” character described here) but ultimately, they never made any of their findings known to his congregants because they felt that he discharged his congregational duties sufficiently, and that disclosure would just result in the laymen not knowing what to do right with the information. On the contrary, it would result in a desecration of God’s name, and the laymen, who would normally turn to their rabbi precisely for ethical guidance, would be left with no one to turn to if it was the rabbi himself who was denounced. It boiled down to the fact that if it was up to the congregation to think over and decide, then the vast majority could not be trusted to make the right decision.

Therefore, when I think of the current elections, I am not excited about the prospects of us fulfilling the biblical commandment of appointing a King, or even setting  up a government, although I do believe that as a matter of basic political theory, we have to run our public affairs according to the highest ethical and moral standards, and I do not believe that giving teenagers, criminals, or the uneducated an equal say in how we run our affairs is right, nor do I believe that the voting public can be trusted to render the decisions that God expects of His holy people. It has for the most part not happened in the past, and there is no reason to believe that it will happen in the near future. Therefore, election day is basically a national emergency day, and we should pray that somehow God grants us the wisdom to choose what is right.

…

Returning to Elijah, we see that his harsh message of rebuke and impending destruction finds its echoes not in the words of the prophets who preceded him, but rather, in those of the latter prophets, like Jeremiah, who lived in a far more desperate period. Elijah’s message and method were not wrong, but they were also not working, and although they were timeless, they were not for his generation, or for the subsequent two or three generations. Elijah told the people too much, and their refusal to heed him was a severe indictment, and that is why he was removed, but only a temporally tentative basis. Rabbi Avigdor Miller wrote about how the entire institution of prophecy eventually became too much of an indictment against the people, and God mercifully eliminated it. Why should the people be punished for their intentional failures? If there were no prophets, they would be held less accountable.

Elijah’s successor was significant because he was so different from his predecessor. He was not recorded as being such a strong accuser of the people, and he eventually enjoyed good relations with the monarchy. At the time, God wanted to show that the moral leadership had to tone down its message, and therefore the most vocal exponents needed to be removed temporarily, and saved for a later time. This was akin to His allowing the expansion and strengthening of the israelite Kigndom during the latter part of the Jehu dynasty, to bring back the heart of the people through goodness and benefit instead of chastisement and suffering.

“And it came to pass, as they were still walking and talking, that, behold, a chariot of fire and horses of fire appeared, and separated them from each other; and Elijah went up into heaven by a whirlwind.” Notice the language of the verse: it was the fire (in its various forms) and the whirlwind, the powerful forces of nature that had earlier been used to represent Elijah’s prophecy, that separated between Elisha and Elijah, and which ultimately removed Elijah from this world. Later, Elisha would hesitate and cry when he had to render one of his unfortunate prophecies; it was indicative of his sensitivity toward his flock and his unwillingness to disclose to ordinary people even that which God had bidden him to disclose. It is for this reason and others that many have come to the conclusion that the ideal Jewish form of government is prophetic leadership by a prophet, like Moses, Joshua, and Samuel, and why the halachic tradition recognized them as kings in all but name.

…

The Knesset elections are to be held on Tuesday, the fourth of Nisan (April 9), and because it is inappropriate to hold a public fast day during Nisan, I propose that the previous day, Monday, the third of Nisan, be declared a day of extra prayer, while on election day laymen should be encouraged to spend a significant part of their work holiday in the study halls.