Creating a Modern Jewish Society

By Moshe Feiglin

And Moses said to his father in law: When the nation will come to me to seek G-d. When they have a matter they come to me and I judge between a man and his neighbor and I make them know the statutes of G-d and His laws. And the father in law of Moses said to him: It is not good this thing that you are doing. You will surely wear away, you and this nation that is with you because this matter is too heavy for you, you cannot do it alone.

(From this week's Torah portion Yitro, Exodus 18:15-18)

The verses above may be a record of the birth of the first bureaucracy in the Jewish nation. But they are much more than that. They record the fist ginger steps of a nation as it realizes that it is no longer just a group of individuals, but a multi-faceted society bursting with potential that needs to find the way to run a country. How will the individual with questions get answers from Moses when there are tens of thousands of others with questions, as well? How will the court system work? How will this large group of people create a Jewish economy? How will the individual feel direct responsibility toward society in a modern state with government-run mechanisms?

The Nation of Israel has returned to its Holy Land. The greatest innovation of Zionism is its demand to take responsibility, its understanding that the redemption of Israel will take place through human beings who will set very human processes in motion. Sadly, this understanding has not yet fully permeated all levels of religious Zionism. The Religious Zionists have dedicated their souls to the Zionist enterprise. But they have failed to lead it to the spiritual renaissance that is essential to the re-establishment of a Jewish State.

Many people and organizations are busy bringing Jewish individuals closer to their heritage. That is excellent. But Manhigut Yehudit is the only organized movement that strives to bring the Nation of Israel, our society, back to our Jewish heritage as a modern state. Our court system must be restructured to reflect our Jewish values. (Click here for more). Our economy needs to be updated and modified to reflect Jewish ethics. We must begin to implement the laws of interest, shmittah and Jubilee on the backdrop of a vibrant, modern economy. How do we, as a society, deal with poverty? These new facets of our culture will surely open vast new horizons in the way that we relate to the Torah, how the Torah relates to our society and how we relate to G-d.

There is nothing about the smooth running of our society that does not need to be re-examined through the prism of Jewish values and heritage. As the State of Israel and its values slowly fade away, this is our urgent challenge.

Shabbat Shalom