We Have a Choice

Rabbi Joshua b. Ḥananiah came to a crossroad where he found a boy. He asked the boy which road led to his destination city. The boy replied, "This road is short but long; the other road is long but short" (BT Eruvin 53b). The rabbi chose the first road, and after a while found that this road led to a dead end: thick woods blocked the entrance to the city. He returned to the same crossroad, this time taking the other road, and discovered that the "long but short" road was indeed longer in terms of distance, but led directly to the main gate of the city.

I believe that Rabbi Michael Graetz is suggesting a road which appears short but which will eventually lead the Masorti movement to a dead end. At first glance, the establishment of a Masorti political party seems to be in line with Israeli political culture. However, the proposed plan does not evaluate the difficulty of mobilizing the initial support required to form a Masorti party, nor the price we will inevitably pay if we enter the political scene, nor the likelihood of the plan achieving a positive outcome.

The political arena is indeed the main stage where changes in Israeli economics and social life are initiated and actualized. Haredi (ultra-Orthodox) political parties have mastered the art of employing the political "spoil system" to extort hundreds of millions of shekels from the national budget to build up their internal welfare and educational systems. They have a long-term vision for training and raising a new generation of ardent supporters. The thousands of children who were educated in their schools and synagogues in the 1980s and 1990s are now the supporters who faithfully vote for Shas or Yahadut Ha-torah at election time. In just two decades, Shas has tripled its political power and become one of Israel's largest political parties. Why not follow their example and have Masorti Jews vote for a Masorti political party that will claim and receive generous allocations for our TALI schools and Masorti synagogues? There is a basic difference between our members and supporters, on the one hand, and those who adhere to Haredi or even to modern Orthodoxy, on the other. For a Haredi Jew, Judaism is an all-embracing experience, the word of one's rabbi is almost as sacred as a divine commandment, and thus voting for Shas or Yahadut Ha-torah is fulfilling a mitzvah. In the case of Shas, doing so is fortified by the promise of their revered leader, Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, who promises a reward not only in this world, but also in the hereafter. (Israel's Central Election Committee has ruled time and again that making such promises is illegal, but Shas has never been impressed by this ruling.) Members of a Masorti kehillah in Israel may respect and even admire their rabbi for his or her spiritual leadership, but it is unlikely that any one of them holds that the rabbi is the person to consult with, let alone determine, which political party to support. Very few will consider voting for a Masorti party a mitzvah, and even fewer will be motivated by promises of accumulating merit in the hereafter for one's political allegiance to Masorti. Our members have a Western viewpoint, which makes a sharp distinction between religious adherence (church/synagogue) and political choice. Moreover, this distinction is visible in their daily lives. Their membership in a Masorti congregation may be a central factor in their religious, social, and cultural lives, but it is nevertheless only one of several factors. Some of them may resent any attempt by their rabbis and lay leaders to influence their political views. Even if they do vote for the MHH (Mifleget Hayahadut Ha-masortit), they will not consider it part of their commitment to Jewish tradition.

Our Masorti congregants must be aware that since we have no political power, our synagogues and study centers do not get a fair share of the taxpayers' money. No doubt, they would most probably say that they do not want to play the game on...