Q&A: The Am Shalem Party
Originally published:
This is an English translation (via GPT-5.4). Read the original Hebrew version.
The Am Shalem Party
Question
What does the Rabbi think about the party of Rabbi Chaim Amsalem and Rabbi-attorney Dov Halbertal, and about their outlook? (Even though they’re nowhere near the electoral threshold.)
Answer
I hadn’t heard they have a party.
Halbertal is a delusional idiot; amid all his verbal blunders, every so often he also says something sensible. The wonders of statistics.
Amsalem is apparently still trying, and I wish him success. But this will not be the path to his glory.
Discussion on Answer
Why, in your view, is Halbertal a delusional idiot?
Go and see his statements. I don’t intend to get into a study of his remarks here.
[By the way: Rabbi Amsalem (who takes a lenient position on conversion for those of Jewish descent, so that the people may be whole) chose for the party a name that also winks at his own name — Am Salem, Am Shalem. It’s admittedly marginal, but there is something odd about it (and it recalls the well-known quip about Mishneh Torah, Torat Moshe, and Shnei Luchot HaBrit, whose titles spell out “the Strong Hand,” “the Alshikh,” and “the Shelah”).]