A Public Alert to Our Fellow Jews in Our Country,
The United States of America
Gedolei Torah of previous generations have already proclaimed that every Jewish person should participate and vote in elections held in our benevolent country, the United States of America. This is for several reasons.
First, it is incumbent on us to be concerned about the interests of our fellow Jews, and we have indeed merited to see great accomplishments that American Jewry has attained with the help of Heaven through participation in the electoral process. Second, Divine providence has placed the United States today in the position of being the single greatest ally of the Jewish nation that lives in the Holy Land, concerned with protecting it from the “70 wolves” that surround it to destroy it, G-d forbid.
There is also the mandate of hakoras hatov (recognition of goodness), one of the bases of our belief, which makes it incumbent on us to express our gratitude to the benevolent country in which we dwell by participating in its elections.
Let no one free himself from that obligation with the argument that in a country as large as the United States his individual voice can make no difference. For we have seen a number of elections, most notably the presidential election of only a few years ago, that were decided by only a few hundred votes.
May Hashem guard us and save us from all crisis and evil decree, and from the difficult times in which we live, so that we will merit, soon in our days, the arrival of the ultimate redeemer, and the fulfillment through us of “And all the nations of the land will see that upon you the name of Hashem is called.”
The Moetzes Gedolei HaTorah in America
Sh’vat, 5768
The United States of America
Gedolei Torah of previous generations have already proclaimed that every Jewish person should participate and vote in elections held in our benevolent country, the United States of America. This is for several reasons.
First, it is incumbent on us to be concerned about the interests of our fellow Jews, and we have indeed merited to see great accomplishments that American Jewry has attained with the help of Heaven through participation in the electoral process. Second, Divine providence has placed the United States today in the position of being the single greatest ally of the Jewish nation that lives in the Holy Land, concerned with protecting it from the “70 wolves” that surround it to destroy it, G-d forbid.
There is also the mandate of hakoras hatov (recognition of goodness), one of the bases of our belief, which makes it incumbent on us to express our gratitude to the benevolent country in which we dwell by participating in its elections.
Let no one free himself from that obligation with the argument that in a country as large as the United States his individual voice can make no difference. For we have seen a number of elections, most notably the presidential election of only a few years ago, that were decided by only a few hundred votes.
May Hashem guard us and save us from all crisis and evil decree, and from the difficult times in which we live, so that we will merit, soon in our days, the arrival of the ultimate redeemer, and the fulfillment through us of “And all the nations of the land will see that upon you the name of Hashem is called.”
The Moetzes Gedolei HaTorah in America
Sh’vat, 5768
——————————
קול קורא אל אחב”י במדינתנו ארה”ב
כבר הורו חכמים, גדולי תורה מדורות שלפנינו, שראוי לכל בן ישראל להשתתף ולהצביע בבחירות במדינתנו של חסד, ארצות הברית. וזה מטעם כמה סיבות.
לראשונה, עלינו לדאוג לאינטרסים של אחינו בית ישראל, וכבר זכינו לראות בעבר את ההשגות הגדולות שהשיגו יהדות ארה”ב, בסייעתא דשמיא, בכח הבחירות שלה. שנית, ההשגחה העליונה בימינו העמידה את ארה”ב כאומה העיקרית הדואגת על העם היושב בציון להצילו מה”שבעים זאבים” העומדים מסביבו לכלותו ר”ל.
ויש בזה גם ענין של הכרת הטוב, שהוא מיסודי הדת, ועלינו להביע הכרתינו להמלכות של חסד שבה אנו גרים על ידי השתתפותינו בבחירות.
ואל יפטר האדם את עצמו מחיובו לבחור עם הטענה שבארץ כל כך גדולה כמו ארה”ב אין הקול היחידי שלו מעלה ומוריד, כי כבר ראינו כמה בחירות, ובמיוחד הבחירות לנשיא של לפני שנים אחדות, שהוכרעו על ידי כמה מאות קולות.
ויה”ר שהקב”ה ישמרנו ויצילנו מכל צרה ומכל גזירה רעה, ומן השעות הקשות שבהן אנחנו חיים, ונזכה בקרוב בימינו לביאת גואל צדק, ויקויים בנו מה שנאמר “וראו כל עמי הארץ כי שם ה’ נקרא עליך”.
מועצת גדולי התורה באמריקה
ב’ שבט, תשס”ח
No comments:
Post a Comment