The Torah as a guide for the ideal national life.
Learning to Condemn Evil
In order to condemn evil, we will have to review in depth the laws of slander and gossip. We will have to learn that we are obligated to relate the disrepute of evil people or people with evil opinions who bring evil upon the public.
Our precious, honest religious-Zionist community is not accustomed to behaving in such a manner. Many of us saw corrupt ministers, or senior officers acting with extreme crudeness, or wealthy individuals cheating the poor. Due to naivete, we tried to interpret these sins in a positive manner.
We must now learn to take a more honest look at reality. It is entirely possible that on a personal level, in many cases, an individual may be judged favorably. However, when the corruption takes its toll upon the "vineyard of Israel," we must condemn it.
Preparing an Alternative
Employing criticism will allow us to think creatively and come up with fresh ideas for building an original Jewish society according to the illumination of the Torah. The Almighty gave us His Torah, and it contains advice and instruction for ideal life. However, it is necessary to delve into its teachings in order to illuminate and rectify creation.
For two thousand years, the Torah accompanied us in our exile, and due to its power we succeeded in surviving the most difficult situations. However, we did not accustom ourselves to deriving from the Torah instructions for all aspects of life. This is our task today, to pave a path for national life based upon the Torah.
Our sages teach us to "embrace the wisdom of the nations," and a Jew who sees a wise man from one of the nations must bless: "Blessed are You, O Lord... who has imparted His wisdom to His creatures." Therefore, we must occupy ourselves with secular wisdom, for it too is "His wisdom." However, only the Torah can provide us with life's moral content.
Despite all of the technological advancement in recent generations, man's distress has remained as it always was. Only the Torah can give true meaning to life. We must learn one discipline after another, the humanities and the natural sciences alike. We must unravel the difficulties and problems in each field, and search the Torah for advice and direction in order to arrive at solutions.
Foreign Relations
For example, let us look at the field of foreign relations. We, the nation of Israel, live amongst the nations of the world, and our task is to be like a heart for the organs. The question is, how should we be managing our relations with the countries of the world today? In what manner should we be establishing relations with friendly nations? How should we respond to the animosity of our Arab neighbors? How shall we sanctify God's name amongst the nations?
To answer these questions, we must examine the foundations of Jewish faith and the role of the nation of Israel in the world. We must learn history and political science, familiarize ourselves with the various nations of the world, and think about how we can earnestly bestow upon them the sort of goodness that contains both spiritual truth and practical benefit.
Economics and Education
In the field of economics, too, we face weighty questions. How is it possible to create an economic system which provides maximum autonomy for free enterprise on the one hand, while preventing the rich from taking advantage of the poor on the other? How can we transform commercial transactions into something with moral value? How can we build a social system which, while aiding the weak, does not legitimize joblessness at public expense?
The Torah points us in certain directions, however, in order to realize the vision, we must delve into both the Torah and economic and social sciences. We need both of these ingredients if we wish to apply Torah values to modern conditions.
But dealing with theoretical economic questions is not enough; we must also cope with practical questions. How do we go about preparing a national program to reduce traffic accidents? How do we build safer roads? How do we create a system of punishment which will be less burdensome and more effective?
How do we improve the educational system and also reduce the burdensome expenses which fall upon parents? And how do we, at the same time, preserve the conditions of the teachers? These problems appear difficult, but I am certain that if we wrestle with all of the questions, without accepting the present norms as sacrosanct, we will succeed in greatly improving the educational system.
These two courses together - "abandon evil" and "adopt good"; i.e., criticism of evil on the one hand and the proposal of a worthy alternative on the other - will gradually allow us to replace the controlling elites "for the good of our nation and the cities of our God." (see 2 Samuel 10:12)
Inward Strengthening
The principal that underlies all of this depends upon an intensification of the inner strength of those who are loyal to the Torah, the nation and the land. We must solidify the spiritual stance of a sector which has had a tendency to be dragged to the right or the left, forward or backward.
It is not because we admire the generals or because we wish to please the secular public that we enlist for army service. We enlist because it is a Torah obligation. Therefore, we shall not be deterred from criticizing security policies, because voicing criticism in order to improve things is also a Torah obligation.
We do not uphold the laws of the state in order to prove to somebody that we are loyal to the state; rather, we uphold them because Jewish law demands this of us. However, we shall not uphold laws which run counter to the words of the Torah. We shall continuously remember that we must strive to "restore our judges as in earliest times" (from the Amidah prayer), and that in order to achieve this we must critique the courts which are estranged from the Torah, the nation, and the land.
Freedom
This inner strengthening is connected to the attribute of freedom, which is the only vehicle for critiquing and creating. By freeing ourselves from alien influences, we will be able to strengthen family life and educate our children as admirably as possible. By freeing ourselves from luxuries, we will be able to economize and establish ourselves financially. This will allow us to reach that ideal state wherein money is a vehicle for performing good deeds and realizing ideals - not an end in itself, an end which is never satisfactorily achieved.
When we finally merit living according to the Torah, living with a mission of mending the world, living with a proper balance of ideals and actions, a family life rich in love and faith and mutual fertilization, financial stamina, and joy of life - when this is achieved, all will know that those who follow the path of the Torah "merit life." Then, all of Israel will chose life, return to God, and inherit the goodly land, and God shall act benevolently towards us in accordance with that which he swore to our forefathers.
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