Q&A: Does the Rabbi have any idea why?
Does the Rabbi have any idea why?
Question
I thought there was something about the Right and rabbis that is corrupt at its core,
because Olmert was prime minister and the Left was pleased,
but they pushed him out immediately when there were investigations against him.
They didn’t even wait for conclusions, and certainly not for a hearing,
all the more so not for an actual indictment,
let alone a trial.
For much less than this, people wouldn’t even have imagined that it was possible to continue leading the nation.
But with Bibi, despite all of the above, the Right and rabbis do let him rule.
Does that mean that rabbis and the Right equal corruption?
Is there a better explanation?
Answer
The comparison is a bit hasty, but there is something to it. Still, it’s more complicated.
The rabbis and the religious need Bibi and Likud, because without him they have no power or influence. They cannot be in power on their own. Beyond that, there is a feeling of one-sidedness on the part of the media and the legal system, and there is something to that as well, so people do not trust them and become defensive toward them. And finally, religious people are indeed less sensitive to moral values and democratic values, because in their view they are entrusted with religious values. So they push those aside in favor of these. And likewise the Right with regard to values of tradition and nationhood. For the Left, there is nothing in its world but moral and democratic values, and naturally it is focused on them.
And even so, one should not exaggerate one’s assessment of the Left’s morality either. See how it behaves when its own values are harmed, for example regarding LGBT people. See the progressive world’s support for Palestinian terror simply because it fits the agenda. See their support for a nepotistic legal system that conducts itself in a detached and scandalous way and refuses to accept criticism, just because it stands in opposition to the government.
Discussion on Answer
I remember that the Rabbi once wrote about this in response to Rabbi Dr. Ratzon Arusi,
that it’s not enough to examine the principles; you also have to look at the actual implementation.
And in actual practice, the face of the rabbis (not all of them) is the face of corruption.
In things like this, you need to examine consistency. The legal Right generally attributes less importance to indictments, partly because of distrust in the system, but mainly at the ideological level: they do not allow public officials to remove those elected by the public. This is a consistent view among right-wing legal scholars. When Bibi said at the time that Olmert needed to resign, he was talking nonsense, and I said so in real time too. In saying that, he did not represent the ideological legal Right.
You’re making life too easy for yourself. The discussion is not about whether, legally, it is proper to remove a corrupt prime minister or one under indictment. The question is whether it is proper to support him and join him in a coalition. That’s a completely different question.
The question is a moral one,
and on that the Left and the center get an excellent grade,
and the Right and the rabbis get a disgraceful one.
It seems
that if you want a son who is upright, pleasant, and of good sense in the eyes of God and man,
make sure he does not study for the rabbinate.
If he becomes a rabbi,
people will say about you:
Woe to the father who taught him Torah, woe to the rabbi who taught him Torah; see his ways and deeds, how corrupt and ugly they are.
(There are also upright rabbis.)
Natan Eshel once said that the circle around Bibi thought that because of Bibi’s cases, the Right would abandon him. It turned out to them that it worked the opposite way: if Bibi has cases against him and he is corrupt, that means he’s a tough guy and not a sucker, and therefore, on the contrary, it proves even more that he is fit to be prime minister. I don’t know if that’s true, but those were more or less Natan Eshel’s words about the support of the Right and the Bibists.
He added that hatred is what unites their camp: hatred of the Left, the media, the court, and more. I think the rabbis support him partly because of hatred of the Left and so on, and mainly because they need him.
That’s nonsense. It’s not because of the criminality, but because the feeling is that he is being persecuted (and there is some justice to that).
Nechas, I suggest you start focusing on arguments and try to say something new. What you’re saying is demagogic propaganda, and before long I’ll start deleting it.
I also feel that they’re persecuting him, but he amplifies it so much and deliberately creates tension in order to create an image of himself as a victim.
Imagine you’re a newspaper reporter, God forbid, and you see with your own eyes how Bibi conducts himself: corrupt, a liar, an inciter, self-indulgent, giving Sarah a free hand, and more. Broadly speaking, it would be clear to you that this is a person who is harmful and dangerous to the state. Wouldn’t you go after him over every little mistake?!
(And I’m not saying that this is in fact the situation.)
I completely agree, but the fact is that right-wing journalists go after him less (if at all), and the mainstream media is controlled by center-left people. That is exactly the basis for the feeling I described.
Thanks.
In principle, rabbis are supposed to be against corruption.
Religion is full of that.
In the end, somehow it comes out the opposite.