Dear Friends,

In Hebrew, the word for elections is "bichirot", which means "choosing". It is noteworthy that Judaism uses this same word to describe a far more permanent and eternal "election", the choosing of G-d. In modern society, where democracy prevails, nations hold elections periodically to choose their leaders. Voters go to the polls every four years and choose new leadership and often change direction. Values of democratic societies fluctuate as they are based upon the whims of Man.

In Judaism, on the other hand, we have the eternal example of a Divine Choosing. It is the Choice of G-d which will endure and prevail over the choice of Mankind. It was our G-d who Chose our Father, Abraham, to be the example of faith to all of Mankind. We thank Him every time a Jew is called to the Torah for Choosing us, the Jewish People, out of all the peoples of the world. And, in Psalms, we recall how He Chose Zion, the Land of Israel. These are the Choices of the Living G-d of Israel. These are Choices which will remain and never change.

The Jewish people has learned to live with the temporary choices of Mankind. But our faith and our belief is only in the eternal Choices of G-d. For this reason, although we participate in elections, and try to choose leaders whom we feel are most likely to follow in the direction of Divine Choices, we never place our trust in Man. Instead we trust that HaShem will cause those who find themselves in positions of leadership to have the wisdom to make the right decisions.

While many are discouraged at the election of Barak to the position of Prime Minister, we must look at the entire picture before we jump to negative conclusions. His election was more of a protest against Netanyahu and his personality then it was a positive choice for Barak Also we must realize that Barak is relatively new to politics and we must not be too hasty to make assumptions about him.

Aside from the election of the Prime Minister, we would do well to examine the results of the Knesset election. I have always asserted that our country is steadily moving in a positive direction. The anti-religious and the left are waning, despite the noises they make. If we look at the number of seats won by the left, we will see that they have about fifty altogether. On the other hand, those who espouse right wing positions number fifty-eight. So already we see that the right is clearly in the majority. In the last election we were astounded that religious parties achieved a total of twenty-three seats. Yet in this election they managed to get twenty-seven or twenty-eight which, as total, makes the religious Members of Knesset the largest faction of all!

So we see that the results of this election are not as they may seem. The left is clearly in the minority, while the right and the religious are a clear majority. This is the direction our country has always been taking. Our future leadership will definitely be one of faith and Jewish principles. As we prepare ourselves for Chag Shavuot, the time of the Giving of the Torah on Mount Sinai, we continue to hear the call of G-d for us to come up and inherit the Land. And with this Divine message reverberating in our ears, we rededicate ourselves to continue building and growing and developing all of our homeland. In the words of our Fathers, "All that G-d says, we will do and we will listen."