Rabbi Brody: Ignore Politics

Rabbi Brody doesn't have a blog any more, but he sends weekly writings to his friends and has indicated that he's OK with having them published. This one seemed very much in the spirit of our Good News Saturday - read it, let it provoke some thoughts, then tell us what you think.

A Chassidic tale says that a "shadchan", or matchmaker, succeeded to pair up Dishonesty with Treachery. A year after the wedding, Treachery gave birth to her firstborn son. They named him "Politics".

I care very much about your good health and wellbeing. Therefore, please don't allow politics or the news worry you. In fact, the less time you spend reading newspapers and listening to news broadcasts, the happier and healthier you'll be.

Why? Hashem runs the world, and only He can and will decide what will happen to each and every one of us. Besides, ritual impurity enters the soul just as fast via the eyes and ears as it does via the mouth. That means that people are liable to contaminate themselves by listening to a dishonest and treacherous politician as they would by eating forbidden foods.

From a spiritual standpoint, politicians are powerless, here today and gone tomorrow. Try this test: Take a bucket of water, and vigorously splash with your arm inside it for a few seconds. Now remove your arm; in less than twenty seconds, the water will be as calm as if nothing ever happened. In like manner, so many national "leaders" make a lot of noise, but as soon as they leave the stage (as they all eventually do), the world returns to normal, as if they were never here.

The saintly Klausenberger Rebbe of blessed memory once told a story about getting into a cab; the taxi had a second steering wheel on the right side. The Rebbe asked the driver what the second steering wheel is for. The driver answered that whenever he takes his 5 year old son in the car, the little tike drives him crazy by grabbing the wheel, honking the horn, etc., to the point that it was becoming dangerous. One day, when the taxi was in the garage for a tuneup, the driver saw an old steering wheel lying around in a junk heap. He had it installed. Now, whenever he takes his son in the cab, the little guy is preoccupied with his own steering wheel. "Now I can drive peacefully," said the driver, "because my boy is busy turning his own wheel, waving out of the window to other drivers, and yelling 'varoom-room' every time we accelerate."

The Rebbe later said that he learned a fantastic lesson from the extra steering-wheel episode in the taxi. Hashem gives politicians - most of whom have the spiritual maturity of 5-year olds - the feeling that they're running the world. The make a lot of noise and hold what they think is the helm. In reality, they're doing nothing. We all know who's really doing the driving..."

* * * * *

In light of the above anecdote, we don't need to worry about what Bush, Ms. Condy Rice, Sharon, or Abbu Marzipan is saying or doing. We don't need to worry about disengagement or a Palestinian state. Personally, I don't want to see a human lose his/her home anywhere in the world, especially a Jew in Israel. Therefore, I pray every day asking Hashem to make everything work out for the best, so that 9,000 wonderful people in Gush Katif and in Northern Shomron won't have to lose their homes. No politician has a solution to the mess over here. Yet, this is the month of Adar, with Purim soon on the way; this is the season when Hashem turns everything around for the best. Our job is to beef up our prayers and our faith.

Apropos prayer, a very special young wife and mother in New Jersey needs our prayers to overcome a nasty sickness in her trigeminal nerve. Let's pray that Hashem sends Shaina Chana Bas Itcha a quick and speedy recovery, amen.

This week's "Lazer Flash" is sponsored by The Lener family of East Brunswick, New Jersey. May the mitzva of Torah Outreach protect them and their children always, amen.

Have a wonderful Shabbat and weekend,
Yours always with warmest regards from sunny Israel,
Lazer Brody

Well, lots of good questions in this one. Remembering that our disagreements about this kind of stuff will be even more polite than usual, answer any of these, or all, or make up your own:

• Is G-d running the world, or is it the product of our choices?
• Is there any way in which both of those propositions could be true (i.e. G-d runs it all AND it is the product of our choices)?
• If you believe G-d runs the world, then rather than miring ourselves in a semi-political argument for that proposition, maybe you could explain how following Rabbi Brody's advice above makes a positive personal difference in your life.
• Regardless of one's belief in G-d, is ignoring politics a good/rational idea most of the time? If so, when does it become time to pay attention or get involved?
• If you believe the world we inhabit is mostly the product of our choices, then what is the Divine role?
• If G-d is't running the world, are politicians kind of like that kid in the taxi most of the time? If they are, where are the "difference-makers" to be found instead?