The gap between the healthy desires of the People of Israel and the failures of its leadership lies in the inherent falsehood of politics. A fundamental solution is to appoint a truthful, righteous leader who upholds a complete vision according to the true Torah.
Since the outbreak of the 'Simchat Torah War,' we have all been doing whatever we can to help – fighting or volunteering, revealing infinite Jewish bravery. At the same time, we are also trying to understand what God's will is for us and the way to rectify the dismal situation. When we look at reality, the gap between the healthy Jewish nation — which strives for life, justice, and revenge, and understands exactly what needs to be done — and its leadership, preoccupied with convoluted formulations, endless calculations, political survival attempts, and simultaneous appeasement of its voters, the media, and the nations of the world – is striking. Even when the failed leadership says the right things, it is impossible to believe the sincerity of their intentions and trust them to implement their words. The falsehood, more than any other sins and impurities, works against us and requires a complete change.
Against the falsehood of the unrectified leadership, we must appoint a true leader, righteous and upright, whose words can be trusted. A true leader is capable of speaking words of truth — "There is no truth but Torah." In contrast to the broken reality, the true leader presents a complete vision: he is not ashamed to demand, first and foremost, the completeness of the Land of Israel. This begins with the application of sovereignty over all areas of the Land of Israel and continues with taking responsibility for everything and everyone within it; he demands the wholeness of the people, out of love for Israel and the unity of Israel, and establishes a clear separation between Israel and the nations. He declares unequivocally that the lives of Jews in the Land of Israel will be rectified only in the light of the completeness of the Torah, in all its details and nuances, along with its inner soul that sweetens and softens reality.
A true and righteous leader also knows well that "My power and the might of my hand have made this wealth for me" is completely false. In the face of the shattered reality and the gap between it and the vision of wholeness, he clings to God. He prays from the depths of his heart about the situation, weeping and mourning, and then strengthens himself in his God and acts with all his might, recognizing that "It is He who gives you the power to achieve success."
The true leader, who knows how to criticize negative and destructive phenomena, is also full of true compassion — "for with compassion He will lead them." He empathizes with the innocent Jews, who are repeatedly deceived by political lies and are trapped in their disastrous consequences and has mercy on them (and even on the politicians themselves, who are ensnared in their web of lies and suffer from the results). His awe-filled identification with the pain of the Shechinah in exile and the suffering of the Jewish people enables him to reveal the great and awe-inspiring hand of God hidden within all the difficulties and to connect the entire nation to Him — in prayer, in faith, and in hope.
In these days, alongside our own efforts to strengthen our fellow Jews to fight with all their might and to bring some comfort to the broken-hearted, we must remember the true change that is required and strive for it. We must not be satisfied with cosmetic changes, nor place our hope in failed leaders or similar replacements. We must establish true leadership and clearly present a holistic Torah vision. We must truly believe in the health and goodwill of the people of Israel – that if the issues are presented to them correctly, they will follow the leader. When the truth of the righteous leader is revealed, it will naturally dispel all the falsehood and lies – and with God’s help, together we will triumph!
