Now that the Israeli Election is pretty much done and dusted, let’s turn again briefly to Pirkei Avot for guidance as to how we—winners and losers alike—should respond as Jews.
First, the mishnah
expects a degree of magnanimity on the part of those who form the next government.
Directly citing a pair of verses from Proverbs (Mishlei 24:17-18), Shmuel
HaKatan teaches:
“Do not rejoice when your enemy falls, and don’t let your heart be
gleeful when he stumbles, in case God is watching and what he sees is bad in His
eyes so He will avert his anger from [your enemy]” (Avot 4:24).
From our
own experience we can testify that the history of representational democracy is
the history of ever-changing loyalties and alliances. My enemy today is my
friend tomorrow if he joins my coalition and offers me support, even though I must
pay for this by conceding some benefit to him in return. For the victor to
treat the vanquished with respect is not just a convenient way of avoiding God’s
wrath: it also paves the way for better human relationships with those who
share our ambitions but not our views.
For the
losers there is a reminder that we all prospectively suffer when a government
struggles and benefit from its success, even though we may approve of neither
its objectives nor its means of achieving them. Rabbi Chanina Segan HaKohanim (Avot
3:2) urges us all to pray for the welfare of the State since, were it not for
the machinery of government, people would swallow one another live. Anarchy
produces few winners, and those who emerge on top generally do so on account of
their superior strength and not their merit. Many sages have commented that
even a bad government is better than no government at all—and the new
government has yet to show itself good or bad since it has not yet taken office
[For a more detailed discussion of the need to pray for even a government of
which one approves, see “Praying for Putin?” on the Avot Today weblog here].
For all of us—winners, losers and voters—Avot points to the objective of any government. Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel (Avot 1:18) lists the three things that keep the world going: truth, justice and peace. These are values that transcend political affiliations and, while we may not always recognise them when we see them, we certainly feel their absence when they are absence. Any government that respects the truth, delivers justice and establishes peace is entitled to our respect for doing to, whatever feelings we may harbour, rightly or wrongly, with regard to the policies and personalities that drive it forward.
