Faith and Politics in Judaism

This past Saturday Night, Americans had a chance to see the presidential candidates discuss issues of faith in a Church. As I looked at this pretty unusual but powerful program, I started thinking about Judaism's stance on the very controversial topic of faith and religion. The big question that everyone often asks is: "Should Rabbis speak about politics?" and "Should Religion and State be separated?". Most people connect both these questions together but I think they are two very distinct questions with different answers.

But first, what exactly is politics?

According to Rav Kook, in his famous Mahalach HaIdeot, politics is the tool which is used to organize societies. Political science, therefore, is the study of different ways to organize society. On the other hand, "religion" (and, even if they will hate this, I am including atheism and agnosticism as religions) is about what people believe. It's about their purpose in life and how to make their lives meaningful.

Politics is therefore very practical while religion is meaningful.

Should religion and State be separated?

Yes, to a certain extent. These two things have different goals which sometimes contradict each other. Sometimes, what is best for Klal Israel is not what is best for the religion. A very caracatural example of this would be: Giving money to yeshivot instead of giving it to the defense department and the army would be detrimental to Klal Israel. The torah (which is not simply a religious text but includes a great deal of political science) does not want this!

Therefore, in Torah, we have different branches in the organization of the Jewish Nation. The king is not the Kohen Gadol, he's not even a Kohen! Still, we pray and hope that the king is a religious king. Yet, it is not his religiousness which makes him king. He is king regardless. We just hope and pray that he be religious.

Some commentators explain that the reason why the Torah requires the King to write two sifrei torahs for himself is because, unlike other Jews which only write one, the King has two different ways to read the torah. On an individual level, he needs to read the torah like every other Jew in order to fully live his own religious life. On a national level though, as King, he needs to read to Torah in order to get insights from it from a political standpoint. It takes a completely different perspective to read it properly as a political leader.

In short, the Torah does require a certain separation between Religion and State since a proper political leadership cannot solely have religious goals.

Now, Should rabbis speak about politics?

Someone said this weekend on CNN: "If anyone claims that their religion does not affect their political positions, they are either lying or stupid". This is obvious! A person's beliefs are going to influence his priorities, they are going to influence how he views the society he wants to create.

Rav Tzvi Yehudah was once asked: "I love religious zionism but it is too political. Why do you speak about politics so much?". Rav Tzvi Yehudah answered: "If I don't speak about "politics", what do you want me to speak about? Torah is full of politics!".

Our torah's goal is to build a nation of priests and a holy nation on the land of Israel. That is our goal. So rabbis are not only allowed to speak about what our goal as a nation is, but are obligated to do so. Today, people call this politics, even though it does not fall in our previous definition of politics. Here, we are not talking about specific decision on how to best organize the nation for practical terms. We are talking about faith and values which should guide the nation. Of course rabbis should speak about these things!

Should rabbis decide which units to use when going to war? No, this is practical politics. Should he decide what the minimum wage is? No, once again, this is practical politics. However, rabbis have the obligation to discuss how important the security of the state of Israel is. They have the obligation to discuss how important social justice is. They must also be available for advice from people who want to know if the practical politics which they wish to implement is representative of the faith and goals which Klal Israel should have. However, they should not be the ones making the detailed practical decisions.

Of course, many rabbis have been in the Knesset since the creation of the state of Israel. However, in the Knesset, their jobs were not those of Rabbis but first and foremost of politicians. When they were speaking and teaching about the goals of Klal Israel, then, they were acting as rabbis. I think that it is possible for one person to do both if he knows that the two jobs have two very different demands. After all, David Hamelekh was one of the greatest sages and spiritual guide who still guides us through his Tehillim. He was also probably our greatest political leader ever.

In conclusion, there is, in Judaism, a distinction between religion and politics. However, this does not mean that our faith does not have a significant role in our political ideology. Torah recognizes that our political ideology, the goals of our nation, are shaped first and foremost by our religion. Still, Torah recognizes that when applying these goals practically, it is politicians which need to make the detailed decisions in the interest of the State and all of Klal Israel, and not Spiritual leaders in the interest of the religious world.

This topic I just discussed is quite controversial, and I don't claim my approach is the only valid one. I encourage everyone to share their thoughts and approach on this subject.