Government Akeda

Dear Friends,

It is a guiding principle of rabbinic Torah interpretation that no matter what the Torah portion of the week happens to be, it turns out to be THE “prefect portion” to help us understand the events of the week. This week’s Torah portion, Va’yera, contains the famous story of the Binding of Isaac, the Akeda, familiar to most as the story read on Rosh Hashanah. Need I say more?

This week, at the very last moment, we, the American People, escaped the blade of the debt-ceiling knife poised to strike us, like Isaac escaped the knife poised to strike him in the Akeda. It is instructive that in the Torah Abraham hears the word of God telling him to sacrifice his son. In our contemporary debt-ceiling Akeda story there were congressmen who sincerely believed that their actions, though painful and destructive in the near term, were the morally right thing, a political “commandment,” as it were. Their view is that this action was necessary in order to prevent what they consider a greater social evil, Obamacare, from going into effect, as well as strike a blow against another great social evil, the accumulating national debt. But, just like when we read the Akeda in the Torah, we are left with the question: Is this the way to go about taking a stand for God? Is this the way to take a stand for what one believes is right? Or do such destructive means not justify the moral ends – no matter how strongly one may feel that things are going in the morally wrong direction? One hopes that those who took Isaac up Mount Moriah, and pulled out the blade that threatened severe damage to our economy and our standing in the world, do not try to do this again. Perhaps, we can pray that they now hear the angel calling out from the heavens, “Do not lay your hands on the boy, nor do him any harm.”

After the events of the past few weeks it is hard not to be left feeling completely cynical about politicians. But, it would be wrong to paint all politicians with the same brush, to see all parts of our government as hopelessly dysfunctional. For example, those we have elected to state and local offices – and those running against them in the upcoming elections in November – had nothing to do with the federal government shut down and debt-ceiling crisis.

I sincerely hope that you make a point of coming out this Sunday morning at 9:30 a.m. to our (free!) Brotherhood Breakfast when we will host a candidates forum for those running for New Jersey State Senate and Assembly and Bergen County Freeholders in District 37. Candidates who have confirmed that they will participate are Loretta Weinberg, Valerie Vainieri Huttle, Gordon Johnson, Paul Duggan, Gino Tessaro, and Dierdre Paul. Come find out what these candidates stand for and what issues concern them before going to the polls. Even if you’ve already made up your mind, come out to make sure that all our elected officials know that the Jewish community cares about what they do and believe. Our community and our democracy depend on our active involvement!

Shabbat Shalom,
Jordan