Existence

Partially inspired by an excellent article by a friend of mine, I have decided to write about some of my recent thoughts about Israel’s current political situation. This is something I’ve talked about before, but it’s also something I continually think about, so I think it deserves revisiting. I will probably write more in the future.

I have come to the conclusion that I do not, as a religious Jew, believe in the concept of the State of Israel. Judaism tells me that all people have a right to their religion. Judaism tells me that all people have a right to their land. Judaism tells me that all people have a right to their dignity. A religious state, whether a fundamentalist one that forces women to hide their skin from view or one with a democratically elected parliamentary majority, infringes on people’s basic human rights by nature of its existence.

No country can exist for any purpose other than the safety of its citizens. No governmental system can have any purpose other than ensuring that everyone is granted all of their rights. Perhaps the “ultimate” solution would be a world government allowing free and unrestricted travel to everyone everywhere. But society and politics have not evolved to the place where this is possible. Trying to create some kind of worldwide government now or anytime in the at all foreseeable future would be disastrous. For the moment, we must be content with our compartmentalized world, and strive to make it as humane and just as we can.

A very wise person once said “To be a Jew, it is not to be secular or to be orthodox, it is to be human.”. Jews need to move forward in the world; allow our understanding of it and how we relate to it to change as our surroundings do. This is how we have survived throughout history, and it is what we must do now.