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PDF FormatToday, Jewry again must choose between protecting all the rights of the individual or placing priority on serving the collective will. Because the founders of the State of Israel were faced with such a disparate population that was so prone to civil disobedience, they established a centralized socialist society in order to unify the many competing interest groups. This has bred one of the most divisive and controversial democracies in the West, full of contradictions and structural problems. How can a government serve its citizens when disobedience is so much a part of the political culture that even government ministers regularly act in open defiance to the nation’s elected leader, sometimes more akin to feudal lords ruling their fiefdoms than to bureaucrats serving the collective good of the state?
On a recent visit to Israel, Newt Gingrich commented most insight-fully that “Israel is too democratic. Its system rewards those who foster divisions, and punishes those who strive to unify the electorate.” The roots of civil disobedience sink deep into Israel’s wellsprings. The key question now is how Israel’s citizens can overcome their addiction to civil disobedience and competition between her many special interest groups, in order to achieve goals beneficial to the majority.
Yonah Triestman
Jerusalem
Jerusalem
Man of Letters
TO THE EDITORS:
After having read Yoram Hazony’s article, “The Jewish Origins of the Western Disobedience Tradition,” I am amazed that the Jews’ role in civil disobedience and their impact on history is not better known. Historically, Jews were forbidden to own and use arms. How appropriate that we preached nonviolent civil disobedience. As our own Rabbi Shimon ben Gamliel stated, “The world exists as a result of three things: Judgment, truth and peace.” And what is civil disobedience if not the battle for truth and justice? It is every Jew’s obligation to understand the inner workings of this subject, as it so much affects our lives. I tip my hat to Hazony for bringing this information to light in a scholarly yet down-to-earth manner. He truly deserves the title “man of letters.”
After having read Yoram Hazony’s article, “The Jewish Origins of the Western Disobedience Tradition,” I am amazed that the Jews’ role in civil disobedience and their impact on history is not better known. Historically, Jews were forbidden to own and use arms. How appropriate that we preached nonviolent civil disobedience. As our own Rabbi Shimon ben Gamliel stated, “The world exists as a result of three things: Judgment, truth and peace.” And what is civil disobedience if not the battle for truth and justice? It is every Jew’s obligation to understand the inner workings of this subject, as it so much affects our lives. I tip my hat to Hazony for bringing this information to light in a scholarly yet down-to-earth manner. He truly deserves the title “man of letters.”
Josh Wander
Jerusalem
Jerusalem
Radiating Health
TO THE EDITORS:
TO THE EDITORS:
I am quite taken with Azure. From one issue to the next, I gain a better understanding of your vision: To engender conservative thought in Israel and establish a cultural framework that will chip away at the hegemony of the Left. To me, however, this is all very vague. You express firm confidence in a system of axioms relating to economics, society, ethics, politics, science and the arts, which apparently is what is called “Right.” But I was not raised abroad, where it is clear what the Right thinks. I only know what the Left thinks; consequently, the axioms that form the basis for your writing are not at all clear to me.
To explain: Educating to achieve health can be effected in two ways: By radiating health, in the hope that it will heal what surrounds it; or by fighting illness, defining it, showing what is unhealthy, explaining what a healthy condition looks like and how it is attained. Azure is an excellent vehicle for radiating health, but are you also trying to fight the malady? Is there any publication where I can learn in a fundamental, thorough way the arenas of debate between Right and Left? This in itself is something totally new to me: The understanding that the terms “Right” and “Left” do not pertain solely to questions of security and the land of Israel. Extended forums should be dedicated to exploring this novel idea. Is anyone working on something like this?
At any rate, by reading between the lines of certain articles in Azure I am learning about these things. For this alone, you deserve our heartfelt thanks.
David Hillel
Israel Defense Forces
Israel Defense Forces
