All in our Heads

By Moshe Feiglin

It is all in our heads. Deep down, in our perception of ourselves. A person who thinks of himself as successful is also perceived that way by those who surround him. A person who considers himself a failure projects that image to his surroundings, even if he may look outwardly successful.

Now for a bit of mathematics. When the Jews made their break from Egypt, they numbered at least 3 million - and that is a modest estimate based on the fact that there were 600,000 males accounted for between the ages of 20 and 60. How many Egyptians chased them? At the very most - 1800. (Based on the 600 chariots that were reasonably carrying no more than 3 Egyptians per chariot). In other words, there were approximately 1600 Jews against every Egyptian. So what was the problem? Why did the Jews at the edge of the Red Sea wail? Why didn't they fight?

Stories from the Holocaust reveal the same phenomenon. How could small numbers of Nazi soldiers force tens of thousands of Jews to their deaths with total compliance?

It is all in our heads. On the day that the faith-based public will understand and integrate its real power, it will lead Israel. We at Manhigut Yehudit can explain, we can create the necessary political tools and we can work on public awareness. But the real reason that we have not yet merited a faith-based leader has nothing to do with technicalities or politics. We are big enough, we are talented enough and we are strong enough to lead the nation - if we really want to.

That is where the trouble lies. We don't really want to lead yet. The faith-based public still does not believe in itself.

During the previous primaries, the struggle between Netanyahu and me was justifiably perceived as the struggle of the faith-based public to enter the leadership arena. When I was elected to a realistic slot on the Likud Knesset roster, it seemed that the dam on the faith-based public's self-image had been burst wide open. A surge of enthusiasm engulfed the entire sector. Many were psychologically prepared to leave their sectorial way of thinking, to register for the Likud and to prepare the ground for leadership.

If that scenario would have played itself out, most of the Likud MKs today would have been ideological people. The Likud would have won 40 mandates, most of them MKs loyal to the Land and People of Israel. Even those less-than-loyal Likud MKs would have understood which way the wind was blowing inside their party. Strapped with a party with tens of thousands of faith-based members, Netanyahu would not have been able to make the political moves that he is making today. Even more important - in the next primaries a faith-based candidate would have been elected.

Sadly, though, the change in perception that we experienced was short-lived and immature. When I was demoted to the 36th place on the Likud roster, the faith-based public's comfortable, servile self-perception prevailed - and the rest is history.

Nevertheless, it is all in our heads. The wonderful dream that was shattered in the previous primaries could have held up just as well even if I were not in the Knesset. On the contrary - it is specifically when I am not in the Knesset that it is even more important to register, to increase our numbers in the Likud and to empower us for the next round!

When Netanyahu pushed me down to an unrealistic slot, the faith-based voter once again perceived himself as a second class citizen - a sector that does not deserve to be on the leadership arena. The faith-based votes returned to the comfortable but irrelevant sectorial parties.

Thank G-d, current events have opened the eyes of many faith-based people and registration for the Likud through Manhigut Yehudit is rapidly increasing. We will continue to develop our public's leadership consciousness as we prepare for the next round of voting.