tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32118121.post1717830072321718669..comments2019-08-15T12:22:15.290+03:00Comments on Esser Agaroth (2¢): Why I Am Canceling My Likud MembershipEsser Agarothhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12853681733864707489noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32118121.post-12794168721704625912010-01-11T20:55:50.580+02:002010-01-11T20:55:50.580+02:00Ariel ben Yochanan: so we should just surrender to...Ariel ben Yochanan: so we should just surrender to the Left? That&#39;s what the Ashkenazim in Europe did, and that&#39;s why there&#39;s so little Jewish influence on Israeli politics in the first place (<i>Eim ha-Banim Semeikha</i>, by Rabbi Teichtal).Mikewind Dalehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08590233386034506578noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32118121.post-11832311649124657682010-01-08T02:26:53.998+02:002010-01-08T02:26:53.998+02:00mikewind wrote very wellmikewind wrote very welljohnhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01141627533205702379noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32118121.post-51488516009011542072010-01-06T16:13:21.228+02:002010-01-06T16:13:21.228+02:00B&quot;H The problem with Feiglin is (at least) t...B&quot;H<br /><br />The problem with Feiglin is (at least) two-fold. First, I see his message as a more or less correct one, I don&#39;t have major problems with his opinion or with his platform. What I have a big problem with is what he does with it: he drains off the best of the precious Jewish nationalistic support and syphons it right back to the heart of the corrupt, un-Jewish, secular system. This is one. Two: as Jews we should be interested in what the Torah wants from us as Jews and not in what we think is the right thing to do under given circumstances. This is called arrogance. My strong opinion therefore is that as knesset is not a Torah institution, a Jew should do everything in his power to distance himself from it and reject it. This implies no part-y membership, of course no candidacy and also, most importantly, a big NO to the vote. Voting Is A Big Jewish Sin. So Please, Swollow Your Ego And Do Not Vote!Ariel Ben Yochananhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17950586700336828450noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32118121.post-54394982718045314502010-01-06T14:05:41.811+02:002010-01-06T14:05:41.811+02:00It is not necessary for Feiglin to succeed in orde...It is not necessary for Feiglin to succeed in order to do any good. Just being a pain-in-the ass to Bibi is also helping a little. I am not as pessimistic as you. With each turn of the screw, he gets a bit closer to his goal. It is true that he runs a risk of getting the rug pulled out from underneath him but that is true as to whatever path a true activist takes. I wish him the best but do not rely on him to be the one that will make the real changes we need. Then again, I would not be unhappy if he succeeded. <br /><br />In the history of the world, no tyranny has ever voluntarily relinquished power or been replaced by peaceful means.<br /><br />Have a nice day <br /><br />Aryeh Zelasko <br />Beit ShemeshChttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17819787368792208898noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32118121.post-73255471364336478762010-01-06T12:46:48.909+02:002010-01-06T12:46:48.909+02:00Thanks for posting links to my posts on Feiglin, b...Thanks for posting links to my posts on Feiglin, but I have to hand it to you. You really dissected the issue in a logical and systematic way that is easy to understand. Not an easy task when discussing Israel&#39;s kangaroo Knesset.That&#39;s why you&#39;re #2 on my links list(blogroll), right after Rabbi Kahane&#39;s audios. Keep spreading the righteous word.Daniel Ben-Shmuelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11246286434527274674noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32118121.post-12248645574295884092010-01-06T11:26:40.679+02:002010-01-06T11:26:40.679+02:00The reason I support Feiglin is not so much for hi...The reason I support Feiglin is not so much for his Likud policy. That&#39;s the execution, but I don&#39;t care as much about the execution. I care about the ideas.<br /><br />And it&#39;s in the ideas that Feiglin is head-and-shoulders above everyone else. The problem with the NRP and Bayit ha-Yehudi, etc., is that they keep billing themselves as the parties for the religious. They keep to sectarian politics, not different in essence from what the Haredim do. Give us our petty little demands, and we&#39;ll join your coalition. <br /><br />By contrast, Feiglin actually aspires to run the country. He says to Labor and Likud: we religious people too have aspirations and national visions. We aren&#39;t concerned with only ourselves; we are concerned with the nation and its policies no less than the seculars. <br /><br />Feiglin is the political equivalent of a Habadnik. He isn&#39;t satisfied with having his own little sect off on the side. Instead, he tries to connect with the seculars in any way he can. Thus, he tries to market Jewish education in Israeli public schools as teaching Jewish history and literature like all countries teach their own history and literature. He talks about how Oslo is a security disaster from a purely pragmatic standpoint, and he rewords qedushat ha-aretz as being Jewish historical legacy and heritage to the land of Israel since Biblical times. The point is, Feiglin tries to talk to the seculars on their terms. Feiglin will talk about democracy, real John Locke-ian democracy, and show how Israeli fascism has nothing to do with Alexis de Tocqueville and Ralph Waldo Emerson. He wants to do qiruv, and so the same way that Moshe Rabenu spoke about this-wordly reward and punishment as a carrot for the masses, Feiglin tries to make his vision palatable for the non-religious. He doesn&#39;t lie, but he&#39;ll frame his message in such a way that even non-religious Zionists who care about Israel will agree with him. He&#39;s like Rabbi Haim David Halevi; Rabbi Halevi was a traditional Turkish Judeo-Spanish Sephardi rabbi, and yet Reform rabbis routinely quote him in their shu&quot;tim; why? - because Rabbi Halevi tried his best to make Judaism as easy and approachable as he could, for the sake of bringing the non-religious closer. Even when Rabbi Halevi was too strict for the Reformers, as he often was (Rabbi Halevi kept kashrut and Shabbat!), the Reformers still felt close to him, because they knew he cared about them.<br /><br />By contrast, NRP and its successors were/are happy with their own sectarian tents. Give us settlements, and we&#39;ll let Labor and Likud run the country. You see it in their marketing: they say to people, &#39;If you&#39;re religious, vote for us!&#39;. Feiglin would be appalled at such a statement.<br /><br />I have a friend that he suggested a compromise solution: let all the Feiglinites and NRPniks together form a new party, but not just any party. Just as Kadima split from Likud to form a party that wanted LEADERSHIP, let Feiglin and NRP join together to make a LEADERSHIP party. Not just another sectarian party, but a party that really aspires to take on Likud toe-to-toe. It&#39;s the best of both worlds: it combines Feiglin&#39;s universalism and qiruv and anti-sectarianism, with the NRP&#39;s not funneling extra votes to Bibi.<br /><br />But until then, I vote for Feiglin. Not because I support his being in Likud, but because he has no competition. He&#39;s the only one talking the way he does, and so I have no choice. That he is in Likud is in execution, but I couldn&#39;t care less. I care only about the ideas being executed, and Feiglin has a monopoly on them.Mikewind Dalehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08590233386034506578noreply@blogger.com