How to View Current American Politics through the Lens of Torah

15/12/2020

Let's talk USA politics.

Or any politics, for that matter.

However emotionally unappealing, most of us realize that whoever wins the US elections is exactly the person Hashem wants in the White House.

That doesn't say anything good or bad about him. It just means that for whatever reason, Hashem wants davka him (or her!) there.

Another classic Torah idea is that "the heart of kings & officials is in Hashem's Hand" & "Streams of water is the heart of a king in the Hand of Hashem; He inclines it to wherever He desires" (Mishlei/Proverbs 21:1).

This is why, for example, it was the Nazi-allied Japan that saved & sheltered the Mir yeshivah, along with many other Jews (largely in the merit of the remarkable diplomat, Chiune Sugihara).

In fact, the yeshivahs operated under Japanese sovereignty without permission—and even without persecution or closures.

If you think about it, it's impossible that Nazi allies hosted an entire Jewish community—especially an outright yeshivish community—throughout the Nazi genocide.

But it happened.

At the same time, the anti-Nazi American allies—the Russians—treated Jews under their jurisdiction horribly.

Yes, Russian soldiers treated all citizens horribly, but the fact that they showed no mercy on Jews, who were obvious victims of the Nazi enemy, makes no sense—especially given the blatant physical appearance of the tormented & starving Jews.

Horrific stories abound of the Russian treatment of Jewish women who ended up under Russian jurisdiction in the recently liberated death camps and hiding in underground bomb shelters and so forth.

In one case, one of the Nazi officials was reinstituted as head of a recently liberated camp because he was able to protect the Jewish women against their Russian "liberators"!

In another instance, Emperor Charles V came to power in 1516. Severely inbred with physical & mental defects, plus the son of royals who instigated the Inquisition, his rise to power should have led to a completely hopeless situation for all of Europe and especially for the Jews.

And yes, the Inquisition in Portugal & Spain raged against the Jews—but in other areas under the rule of Charles V (like the Netherlands & the German provinces), Jews found refuge and relative safety.

How is it that under the same ruler, Jews were pursued mercilessly in one area, but left alone in another area?

It's as if (chas v'shalom!) the President relentlessly persecuted the Jews of Montana while ignoring the Jews of Wyoming.

It makes no sense.

Yet it happened.

Or let's take former President Truman, who served 1945-1953.

He was a Democrat, which usually means liberal values that destabilize society.

But Rav Avigdor Miller wrote him letters of praise.

Why? He doesn't say. But Truman did things that earned Rav Miller's approval.

Here's Rav Miller (since he mentions Reagan, this must've been said some time between 1981-1989):

The president of America is waiting for a kind word.

Believe me – if you send a postcard to Ronald he’ll appreciate it. Send a letter to Mr. Reagan, why not?

I once wrote letters to President Truman way back, a lot of them. He appreciated it.

His assistant sent me back thank you letters. Don’t think they ignore the letters. Believe me, the letters are appreciated.

— Parshas Behar-Bechukosai 3 – Speak with Care

Conversely, President Calvin Coolidge—possibly one of America's best presidents (1923-1929) and also probably one of the only ones who seems like a decent person at heart—made tremendous strides in American human rights.

He only ever praised Jews & Judaism, while also expressing pro-Israel sentiments long before the State of Israel even existed.

Yet it was Coolidge who signed the 1924 Immigration Restriction Act, which ended up blocking Jewish immigration to America just when European Jews needed it the most—during the Holocaust.

(You can read more about that HERE.)

While I'm grateful to former President Trump for the good things he did for America & for the Jewish community, I also realize that his re-election would've offered troublemakers the excuse for widespread rioting and media-incited chaos throughout many levels of society.

The Biden-Harris ascendency davka prevented some serious rioting & looting. I truly think so. Not because they or their followers are so peaceable, but because the troublemakers feel like they won, and so they lack the excuse to go violently insane.

(And by "troublemakers," I mean BOTH the televised & printed media that actively incited mayhem & murder throughout the past year AND the people who actually committed the mayhem & murder.)

And don't think the Democrats would not have demanded a recount of ballots—they certainly would have!

So what's the emunah response?

Two Pieces of Advice for Both Sides

(1) First of all, we pray for the success of the US government. No matter how awful the officials are, their success in governance means success for their citizens.

(2) Secondly, we seek to behave in a way that earns merits for ourselves & our society. Through our positive actions, we merit to sweeten din (Divine negative consequences).

Needless to say, the above applies to wherever you live—not just the USA.

May Hashem please shine the light of the Geula on us all.

10 Comments

Miriam

15/12/2020 22:52:13

I actually think the opposite. That if Biden is president, Hashem will use him to bring a harsher American existence for Jews and they will have to decide if they are on Israel's side and want to join in aliyah or rather remain in America as an American first and disappear like the 80% of Jews in Egypt who refused to leave when Hashem took them out. It will be necessary to pick sides. The morals of America have gone so far downhill, without Trump to try to bring back America to G-d fearing, there is no chance the level of morality will improve and it will descend to a level no Jew can remain in. Like in Egypt when Hashem had to take us out at that very last moment or else we never would have been able to leave. There are very clear parallels.

Yes, there would be less rioting and looting but that leaves people with a false sense of security. It's not going in a peaceful direction at all and especially not for Jews. Hashem can bring about the geula with either man becoming president and he can sweeten the end of days either way. It is important to see the situation for what it is and the morality of a country one lives in is super important as we are told to make sure we have good neighbors and low morality affects us when we live in it to the point that we can't see how far we are sunk into it.

Myrtle Rising

16/12/2020 11:21:32

Shalom, Miriam,

Totally agree that Jews need to pick where they stand & that circumstances are forcing that choice, whether the majority realize it or not.

(And that it's a moral & spiritual choice, rather than a political one—which I think is what you mean too—just that the outer politics reflect the inner morality.)

And yes, the lack of rioting right now could easily be the calm before the storm. After all, this past year showed that Democrat leadership & the liberal media definitely supports rioting & looting.

So yes, they know that under Biden-Harris (and secular liberal mayors), they can get away with murder & mayhem.

Likewise, under liberal leadership, the police know they will not receive support & therefore, will not risk their lives, possibility of incarceration, and reputations to patrol the neighborhoods that need it most—and they're right.

Why should cops put their lives & the lives of their families at risk? (As we know, with social media today, the cops also risk their families being targeted.)

However, I respectfully disagree with the premise that Trump gave America the chance to move back to a more moral plane. I didn't see that happening (although to be fair, he wasn't given much of a chance before COVID-19 hit).

But mostly, I think that there was no chance because the gospel-believing conservatives are no longer so conservative themselves.

For example, the conservative right-wing pundits who lead the movement cuss like sailors, encourage contraception rather than abstinence, make a big fuss about sports cancellations (so NOT important), and the women (rather than dressing professionally as do their male colleagues) wear clothes, makeup, and hair styles appropriate for a date at the local bar, and so on.

Where is their self-respect & sense of propriety? Where are their real conservative values?

In other words, I never saw any chance of America moving up, but only that Trump's support of the religious right slowed the slide down—but not more than that.

I honestly don't mean to be such a downer, but just saying how things look to me.

Emet

16/12/2020 03:10:15

Two points that I must clarify. You say 'former' Pres. Trump. He is the present President and very well might be the President for the next four years. This election was literally (not figuratively) stolen from him! This is a fact, not an opinion. Also, there are things going on behind the scenes that many might be very surprised because the investigation is ongoing. The voter fraud was massive. Secondly, would like to point out that the majority of the Americans are center-right to real conservative, whereas the left and today they are the extreme left are still the minority but they are the ones who make the trouble by rioting, looting, etc. Either way, they will riot because if, c'v, the left wins, they will have carte blanche to do so and if, hopefully, the one who was truly elected gets in, it will be stopped immediately. Just letting you know what's happening in real time.

Myrtle Rising

16/12/2020 10:56:00

Shalom Emet,

Thanks for your insights.

Just to clarify: Regarding the calling President Trump "former," I was going according to news reports announcing that the electoral college had voted.

That doesn't deny voter fraud (which I think obviously happened), nor was it a slam on him.

Also, I would need to see studies that show that America is right of center. Honestly, I don't see that at all. According to opinion polls, voting habits, and my own experience, America has been center to liberal since at least the 1990s—with the exception of certain areas of the country that lean more conservative.

Just the fact that Obama was elected twice shows a strong liberal bias across the country.

Also, I don't see the looters themselves as political (although some of them were obviously coming from the radical Left).

However, many of them were clearly thugs who enjoyed the opportunity to be wild, violent, destructive, and steal stuff. I don't believe they think in terms of politics, but simply behave as people who enjoy violence, destruction, theft, and murder.

In other words, they exploited the fact that it was the liberals/Leftists who allowed them to do it. But I don't think most of the looters themselves care about politics or even think in terms of politics. They're "just" bad people who lack morals.

Emet

17/12/2020 20:22:32

Of course, you don't see because the media is literally part of this cabal of globalists who are now the Dem. party. Almost everything is now covered up by mainstream media, be it print, electronic, etc. Only by going to the conservative news media where truth will actually show up, can you really know what is happening. The Biden team started to call him pres. elect almost immediately after the great 'fraud heist of the century' and the media, of course, working for them were the ones to make sure that everyone believes that. According to Constitutional law, the only ones who call out the winner is the Legislative body, and no one else. From the start, this was all their plan. The US doesn't understand that the chet (legalization of mishkav zochor) of what the previous president before Trump, activated was the last blow to cause the downfall of the freest country ever. As much as the power which is given to a real president and being assaulted day & night the whole four years, he has managed to be the best president ever for the U.S. We can see the Yad H' from the moment of his Presidency (even the goyim accept that) because do believe he somehow has a part in this Geulah process as some Rabbanim have alluded to. He needs another four years to assist Israel with the Geulah. Chas v'sholom if the other one gets in by literally stealing the election, the country will become a third world socialist (dictatorial) country. There are about 5 million Yehudim in the US and that is mafchid. Believe the Nasi will succeed in continuing his presidency. As far as the country being mainly more conservative, that is true. The news you hear is really news about the 'blue' states which are the coastal states, such as NY, NJ, CT, CA., etc. where they have nothing common in idealogy with the rest of the country. The 74 million legitimate votes we already know of that the President received, will not go away as this massive legitimate vote for Trump has already enraged the voters; it's as if they never voted and their vote meant nothing. It's like the greatest bank robbery ever and the people who had their life savings, etc. in the bank were now penniless. Just pointing out what many everywhere and in EY don't know.

Myrtle Rising

17/12/2020 22:41:20

Emet, I agree with the vast majority of what you write here—especially how the mishkav zochor legislation has been a terrible blow, a spiritual fact which many do not realize, but is written in our sources as the final nail in the coffin of any society who legitimitzes it.

However, I continue to disagree that America is mostly conservative and honestly don't see how that argument can be made for the majority. (A minority, yes. A majority, no.) For example, the rate of unwed motherhood is sky-high (40% of births come from unwed mothers), most people do not have a problem with early abortion (not even half are prolife in general), and a whole slew of other issues that were mainstream opinions (whether Democrat or Republican) as recently as 60 years ago.

In fact, I'm disappointed in America's conservative movement for not being conservative enough.

Furthermore, the fact that Obama achieved presidency not just once but twice shows how liberal the country is and how brainwashed many people have become.

Also, if it helps to know, I rarely read mainstream media. If I read the news, it's conservative.

Thanks for your comment; you make a lot of important points.

Yana Bril

16/12/2020 15:23:18

Myrtle,
Firstly, a Freilichen Chanuka!
Thank you for this perspective. Anything that brings a renewed sense of hope is very appreciated.
I do agree that as much as many people try to hold onto conservative values passed to them, the younger generations are so so lost in the liberal jungle that is absolutely horrifying. I also think that President Trump's win in 2016 slowed down this slide, but did not reverse it (at least not that I see).
Just on the side note, I enjoyed a Daily Dose sent by Orit Riter today about miracles. In short, a real miracle is only a miracle when set against any human logic/facts/expectations, etc. True miracles are definitely something that human mind and brain cannot fathom.
I am looking forward to many of them in the next couple of days :)
Especially, on Zos Chanukah!

Myrtle Rising

16/12/2020 16:19:03

A freichlichen Chanukah to you too, Yana!

Thank you for your feedback, and also for that Daily Dose. Great chizuk!

I definitely want to keep up hope, despite how things actually look. Hope can be mechazek people to keep trying.

For example, there are so many people working on themselves, and investing some grueling efforts in emunah & bitachon. They're our quiet unsung heroes that others don't really notice—or whom others even criticise because others don't know their real struggles & how much they are striving against all the odds.

Usually, those making such strenuous efforts don't even appreciate their own efforts as extraordinary.

I'm mostly hoping that Hashem is focusing on those struggling striving souls, and also hoping that will make all the difference.

Thanks again, Yana.

Emet

18/12/2020 05:14:33

I'm replying here because I must correct you in your assumption that most of the Americans are not conservative. I happen to live in the US and during elections there is always a map shown and 3/4 of the States are what you call Red States meaning the conservative states and we know that to be true. But the power as most everywhere else is in the hands of the liberals/leftist radical liberals in the the Blue States who have the media in their pockets. Simple as that. I'm replying here because I didn't see another empty spot to answer your reply.

Myrtle Rising

18/12/2020 10:44:07

It's fine that you're replying here, Emet. The "reply within a reply" function is counterintuitive (not sure why they set it up that way) and I don't expect readers to know how to do it. (I only figured it out myself by accident.)

Anyway...of course you're correct that the power is in the hands of the liberals/Leftists and those states (especially New York & California) control the media.

Simply put, having grown up in the USA & being in contact with people there, and reading the stats & voting (prior to this election) & so on, I cannot see how America is center-conservative.

And as stated above, even the conservative Americans are not so conservative. In fact, especially those at the forefront of the conservative movement, many conservatives tend to be more liberal than liberals were 60 years ago.

Having said that, Hashem is Greater than any other power, and the fact that you & other Americans like you do think & behave morally is a big merit. Many Jews in America are doing wonderful things, whether with inner middot work & tefillah, or acts of chessed, etc. And may He protect you all from all harm.

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