I Blame You, All of You

by Jason Gold

As we inexorably march on our way from Rosh HaShana to Yom Kippur, the tone of the prayers begins to shift from declaring Gd king over the universe (and each one of us individually; probably the harder concept) to begging for forgiveness from Gd for our sins. The "vidui" or confession of sins on Yom Kippur, an essential part of the repentance process, enumerates these sins in detail, along a format of "for the sin that we have sinned before you with____________" where the blank is filled in with a different sin as one progresses down the list. In the process, I thought I might channel Emil Zola as well. 

I thought about this process as I looked at the farce of what one would call the Israeli elections.  It's both an incredible and pathetic turn of events that both we and the rest of the world are witnessing where two elections have failed to produce a definitive winner or government with the shadow of  disaster of a left/Arab coalition not entirely out of the picture. Think about it. The right basically had more than 20 years of rule beginning with Bibi's first term in 1996, interrupted only by the lameness of the Ehud twins (Barak and Olmert).  When you think of what could have been done and where we are now, well, I was inspired to present my own version of vidui for the Right in Israel.  Note that I do not single out individuals. This was a massive collective failure for the entire right although I'm sure the culprits will be identifiable:

• For the sin of wasting 20 years of rule, I blame you, all of you.
• For not taking advantage of the time to completely marginalize the left, I blame you, all of you.
• For not taking the time to neuter the Arab parties, I blame you, all of you.
• For needing more Chareidi Jews on welfare rather than getting them into the job force, I blame you, all of you.
• For needing more Sefardi rabbis on the streets, rather than having them working, I blame you, all of you.
• For not working towards a draft compromise, I blame you, all of you.
• For hatred of the Chareidim and all religious Jews, I blame you, all of you.
• For not improving the secular education system, especially when the religious right controlled it, I blame you, all of you.
• For having a 12-hour planning horizon, I blame you, all of you.
• For not having any plan after getting into the government, I blame you, all of you.
• For allowing the Ehud twins to actually win an election, I blame you, all of you.
• For engaging in sectoral politics and not caring about the country as a whole, I blame you, all of you.
• For causing more divisiveness, rather than uniting the right, I blame you, all of you.
• For not annexing Yesha years ago, I blame you, all of you.
• For not paying the Arabs to leave Gaza, when many would be all too happy to do so, I blame you, all of you.
• For not turning the remainder of Gaza into a parking lot, I blame you, all of you.
• For letting ego get in the way of true leadership, I blame you, all of you.
• For not being able to stand up in the Knesset and proclaim Israel as Gd's gift to the Jewish people, I blame you, all of you.
• For allowing a thug like Ahmed Tibi into the Knesset and then allowing him to proclaim that he is the landlord of Israel, I blame you, all of you.
• For not listening to Meir Kahane's, H"YD, warning, I blame you, all of you.
• For all the animosity, I blame you, all of you.

Get the idea? It doesn't matter if you love Bibi/Liberman/Litzman/Bennet/Shaked, or hate Bibi/Liberman/Litzman/Bennet/Shaked. Every one of these people (and others) have failed the country and the nation as a whole by allowing some truly dangerous and undesirable elements within spitting distance of ruling the country.  This failure is epic and so much more than just blaming one person. It's a systemic failure of leadership and all levels, political, secular, and religious. It's a failure to put aside aside personal or narrow agendas and doing what needs to be done.  

The only upside to this is that it proves Israel is truly the land of miracles; nay, it is an open miracle very day.  For a country to rise out of the ashes and become a powerhouse militarily and technologically, while surrounded by (at best) frenemies and implacable enemies, while sporting a keystone cops government for almost all that time, it truly defies natural law.   

Israel wakes up each day wondering whether it's a democracy, a republic, a parliamentary entity, or Gd knows what. In truth it is a judicial dictatorship that clothes itself in the veneer of democracy.  It has no constitution to speak of and the only real power lies in the hands of an activist self-propagating Supreme Court that answers to no one and has no checks or balances.  And yet, Israel thrives and prospers in the most hostile environment on earth.  It's as if Gd has said, "You know, I gave you guys 20 years to get your act together and unite the Right, overcome your petty differences, have the religious and secular show deference and respect for each other, and this is the best you can do? Fine, I'll just run things as I always have but you are now all irrelevant to the final plan". At least we can all take comfort knowing who's really in charge. G'mar Chatima Tova to all and for those of you I may have offended in any way, I ask forgiveness. For those I did not offend, be patient, I have a few days to get it right.