Elul! Holiness and Yet Strife in Israel Rav Dovid Eidensohn

I am a deeply religious Jew as is my family, most of whom live in Israel. But I am told and have noticed myself, that although the Orthodox Torah community has many children and are eventually to become the majority of Israeli Jews, at this time the very strong religious suffer from some secular Israelis. Why?

It all began in the beginning of the twentieth century in 1917. Then, the British who were not winning the First World War, had a Jewish scientist Chaim Weizman who invented a new kind of bomb. The British used it and won the First World War.

Eventually the British army conquered and even entered Israel. I saw the pictures of that time. The General of the British army and Chaim Weizman stood at the side welcoming the marching British troops into Jerusalem. Next to them, slightly lower than these two, were the rabbi of Jerusalem Rabbi Yosef Shalom Sonnenfeld and another rabbi.

These years of the First World War saw entire countries in mortal combat. People suffered and the Jews surely suffered. As time went on, although originally the British backed Jews because of Chaim Weizman and his bomb, eventually, many Arabs openly hated Jews in Israel and plotted to kill them. The new British government now turned against the Jews. It began to forbid Jewish men to enter Israel. Finally, in 1948, after six million Jews had been murdered by the Germans, the nations of the world allowed Jews to have a tiny part of Israel for their new country.

The Israeli government has various small groups who vote for them. The election in Israel of a new government takes in consideration that the chamber of the government accepts 120 seats. But the large group of voters does not even have forty seats. So groups merge.

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The group that can assemble 61 seats is appointed by the President of Israel to form a government. In the past five elections the Premier of Israel off and on has been Benyamin Netanyohu. Although not personally religious, his Likud Party is basically religious, and his style of assuming the Premiership has been to join his Likud to other parties usually of Orthodox Jews.

The previous effort of Netanyohu to remain Premier of Israel foundered when an opponent refused to join his party unless religious Jews served in the military. This caused the government to fail to find a single party that could produce the next Premier. So a new election was scheduled for a few weeks in September 17.

Another issue dividing the religious and secular is the extreme ruling of the great rabbis of the world that Jewish women may not serve not only in the Israeli army, but in any capacity at all decreed by the government. A Jewish woman is only allowed to be guided by her father and her husband, not the government, even if it requires them to pray every day.

These and similar issues have caused problems for years, although the Orthodox are rapidly becoming the major force in the Jewish community, and although the Arabs who are also represented in the Israeli government hate Jews and regularly some Arabs murder Jews.

Arabs who murder Jews are allowed to vote for Israeli governments. But some secular people maintain that Arabs may vote but religious people who oppose Arabs murdering Jews may not.

There are three things dividing the religious and irreligious. The religious believe in the Torah of HaShem. The secular do not in general accept the Torah. But some hate religious people. and some do not. We know that Moshiach is on the way, we hope soon!