PROTEKTZIA OR A BANANA REPUBLIC | Rabbi Ari Shvat | Beit Midrash

Beit Midrash

Torah Portion and Tanach
Shmot
Bo

קטגוריה משנית

Female Lesson Parashat Hashavua Series'Library Piskei Din (Hebrew)Test Yourself

The exodus from Egypt towards national independence which we read about in Parshat Bo, fills us with pride and expectation, but should also fill us with immense responsibility for the forthcoming Parshat Mishpatim: how to run an ideal nation, with a fair, moral and G-dly economy, rules and regulations.
Like as slaves in Egypt, for two thousand years in exile, Jews became experts in navigating bad systems. When the law belonged to hostile rulers, you survived by finding loopholes, intermediaries, and quiet understandings. Chazal themselves recognize this reality: "Dina d'Malchuta Dina" (obligation to follow the law of the land) only applies when the law is applied fairly and serves the public good (Ran, Nedarim 28a). When it doesn’t, Jews learned how to live around the law, not through it. This wasn’t corruption — it was self-defense. In galut, the tax collector and regulations were anti-Semitic, and the army was often a weapon pointed straight at you.
Now that we have a State, we must change our mindset, and run it as an Or LaGoyim, with rules and regulations, and no longer as a shtetl. We have recently seen the price of not instituting legal guidelines at day "care" centers in Haredi and Arab neighborhoods, or if people think that for "my cause" it's legit to stop-up highways and lie down before buses. If building permits are not necessary in Haredi and Arab neighborhoods, and taxes are not collected there (just as they don't get an equal share of the tax budget), then we shouldn't be surprised that Arabs are "allowed" to kill each other on a daily basis, as if we were a Banana Republic. Refusing to obey orders in the IDF cannot be seen forgivingly if it comes from the "correct" side, and the Supreme Court and legal advisors can't change their mind to apply different laws of protests, depending upon whose ox is being gored - one law for leftists, a different one for rightists, a third for Haredim and a 4th law for Arabs.
If political leaders liken a law for equal army service to Hitler and Yellow badges, and accordingly, demonstrations yell "we'll die rather than serve", we shouldn't be surprised if 14 year olds demonstrate with no guidelines from their rabbis, and think it's an ideal to actually give their lives, like in their slogan, NOT to serve in the army, rather than the mitzvah of serving.
Shtetl logic ends the moment we Jews have sovereignty. The Torah repeats "משפט אחד יהיה לכם", there must be one just law for all (Vayikra 24, 21). The Rambam rules (M'lachim 4, 10): "The role of the king is to fill the WORLD with justice", an exemplary government as an example for all countries. A system based on PROTEKTZIA, winks, and "don’t worry, it’ll be fine" is not Jewish leadership; it is exactly what the Torah warns against when it forbids "You shall not pervert justice; you shall not show favoritism" (Devarim 16, 19), even toward righteous people (see Hil. De'ot 2, 6). A state that enforces law selectively is not compassionate; it is lawless. This is the same irresponsibility that caused 45 fatalities and 102 wounded in the trampling 5 years ago in Meiron on Lag BaOmer.
Chazal put it bluntly: "אלמלא מוראה של מלכות, איש את רעהו חיים בלעו" (אבות ג, ב). Without fear of the law, society collapses. In exile, we feared the government; in Israel, the government is ours, and we must see the ideal in implementing equal and fair laws for everyone. Otherwise, we haven’t ended galut — we’ve just translated it into Hebrew. Haredim who don't want a Jewish State before Mashiach, perhaps want this galut-type of shtetl to continue, but that doesn't mean it's good for them, or for anyone. A Jewish state cannot be built on clever loopholes or tricky coalition agreements; it must be built on what the Torah demands from judges, leaders, and citizens alike: דין אמת לאמיתו — real justice, applied equally, even when it’s inconvenient (Tosafot, Shabbat 10a), even when it applies to me
Christianity teaches "Give to Caesar that which is Caesar's and to G-d that which is His". Rav Kook stresses that Torah contrarily says that EVERY TOPIC, including GOVERNING, belongs to G-d and His Torah, which is precisely a Kiddush Hashem. "And David reigned over ALL Israel; and David administered JUSTICE AND CHARITY for ALL his people" (Shmuel ii 8, 15). David Melech Yisrael is meant to run an ideal Jewish State (Orot HaKodesh, p. 488), not an outdated Jewish shtetl. Shabbat Shalom! Rav Ari Shvat (Chwat)