Q:
If you were elected Prime Minister of Israel, what policies would you pursue?
A:
I would call together all the Chachmei haTorah and I would tell them, “Make policies for me.” And whatever the Chachmei haTorah would say, I would follow. Only that you have to know which Chachmei haTorah to call together – that’s a different story. But I would call together the Chachmei haTorah because they would know what to do, what policies to pursue. They have experience.
The Gemara is full of experience, full of eitzahs. The Gemara knows how to deal with Eisav. The Gemara tells us how to deal with all the gentile nations in a cunning way, in a way to win them over. The Gemara tells you how to deal with the Arabs. The Gemara is full of advice. It’s a very big Shas. Only that many people learn only the halacha part. The aggadata part is full of wisdom. One seventh of the Shas is aggadata; it’s full of wisdom. And it tells you how to deal with things.
And so the Chachmei haTorah would sit there and deliberate; they’d think it over. They’d think it over for weeks and months. And then they’d come and give their advice. And that would be the most fortunate government, the most fortunate people, if we ever had such a thing.
הָשִׁיבָה שׁוֹפְטֵינוּ כְּבָרִאשׁוֹנָה – Please Hashem, bring back our judges as we had in the past, וְיוֹעֲצֵינוּ כְּבַתְּחִלָּה – and our advisors as in the days of old. We say it every day in Shemonah Esrei. וְהָסֵר מִמֶּנּוּ יָגוֹן וַאֲנָחָה – And remove from us all sadness and sighing. Because all troubles come from the wrong people who are leading us – people who have no business giving advice to the Jewish nation. Burim, imbeciles is what they are. Besides for being reshaim, they’re beheimos. And they’re causing us a great deal of trouble, all these so-called leaders.
And therefore, we ask Hashem, “Remove from us sadness and sighing.” Bring back our leaders, our great Torah leaders. Even though they’re not nevi’im anymore, still they’re the ones to lead us. And then, וּמְלֹךְ עָלֵינוּ אַתָּה הַשֵּׁם לְבַדֶּיךָ – “And You Hashem should rule over us alone.” What does that mean that “You alone should rule over us”? It means this: When you have politicians, so they are selfish, ambitious people; they’re there for their own glory. They don’t care for the people. They do things for their party, for their own success. And therefore, they are a mechitza, a partition, between us and Hashem – they actually block out Hashem from our sight. But when you have tzaddikim, talmidei chachomim, who are interested only in ratzon Hashem, in doing only what is right, so they’re transparent, they’re non-existent. Our great men always felt they were nothing, and they therefore weren’t a mechitza between us and Hashem. In the days of old, when our leaders were the Torah leaders, there was no partition between us and Hashem – it was Hashem Who was ruling over us.
And therefore, anybody with any sense at all, that would be his policy. To have a successful administration, you need the policy of the Chachmei haTorah.
Not only in Eretz Yisroel. I would even tell our new President Bush the same thing; of course he doesn’t have enough sense to realize that. But at least he has more sense than that fool Dukakis; no question about it. We have to bentch gomel that Dukakis wasn’t elected, I’m telling you. You should bentch gomel that he wasn’t elected; because then it would mean that the ACLU would be in the White House.
But even Bush; after all, what is Bush? He has the seichel to make such big decisions? He should have called together all the great men of the Am Yisroel. Secretly, of course, or you’ll make the gentiles angry. Secretly, he should have called them together and told them, “Make a policy for me. Think of a policy.”
And they’d win over the Democratic Congress as well. There are ways of winning them over. The Chachmei haTorah could do it.
I could give you a list of the Chachmei haTorah right now. It would include all shades of the Torah world; and you can be sure that they would come up with very good ideas, excellent policies, that would help his administration succeed. But what can I do? He won’t listen to my suggestions.
TAPE # 716 (November 1988)
