I’m going to be honest. While I’m sitting through this next round of classwork I do switch to playing around on twitter and such when I’m just fried. As you can imagine, quite a bit is being tweeted about the elections. As much as I’m going to try to stay away from it, everyone’s talking about it. Ministers are talking about it. Rabbis are talking about it. But what are we really talking about?
The Jews were commanded to teach the Torah to the whole world, and one specific instance of this is the commandment given in this parshah to write the commandments on the sides of two large boulders and cover them with plaster. One opinion says the stones were plastered and then written on. The other says that the stones were written on and then covered with plaster. Those who really wanted to know the truth would come to the mountain to peel off the plaster.
In a sense, that’s what we are all doing with what these politicians are doing, and with their primary agents the media. Once upon a time, the media was the enemy of politicians. Now it’s their free PR firm. Everyone does it. They simply select which stations to go on based on their political affiliation. So how do we know what the truth is? We have to peel the plaster back. And how do we do that? Follow the advice of the Torah. Don’t trust the government. Understand that people trying to get power will only be your friend when they need your vote and do what’s best for them when it serves them better. And most of all: do research. Past votes. Past affiliations. Speeches.
A Jewish voter is an informed voter.
