“At 5:35 AM, we woke up: my wife, my brother Reb Shimon Leib, and my brother-in-law Reb Natanel Solduchil. And after we drank coffee, we put on Shabbat clothing in honor of this great and holy day, because ‘This is the day the L-rd has made, we will rejoice and be happy on it.’
“After 2,000 or more years of exile, you could say that from the six days of Creation until this day, we have not merited to see a day like this, that we are holding elections in a Jewish state. Shehecheyanu! Blessed is the One Who kept us alive and sustained us and brought us to this day!
“So we went to the voting station near Chabashim Street with our identity cards in hand. With great and mighty joy, we walked the short way there, and the entire way I walked as if it were Simchat Torah and I was circling with a Torah scroll, because I was holding the identity card of our new Jewish state in my hand. My happiness and joy knew no bounds! The assistant at the voting station brought the ballot box, and the chairman called out to me and said, ‘V’hadarta pnei zaken, And you shall honor the old man’ – and told me that since I was the oldest person present, I would be the first to vote. With a thrill of awe and holiness, I handed my identity card to the chairman, who read my name aloud from the card and the voters’ register.
“The deputy chairman wrote down my name and handed me the number 1, then handed me an envelope. I went into the other room, where there were ballots from all the parties. With a shaking hand, moved with holiness, I took one ballot marked ‘B’ for the Religious Union party and placed it inside the envelope. I reentered the polling room and showed them I held only one envelope. Then the holiest moment of my life arrived – the moment that neither my father nor my grandfather had the privilege to experience in their lifetimes. Only I, in my time, in my lifetime, did I merit to experience such a holy and pure moment as this. What joy for me and my portion! At 6:28 AM, we returned home and went to pray. What a great holiday!” (Sivan Rahav Meir, A Personal Account of the 1st Israeli Elections in 1949, April 8, 2019).
This is how Rabbi Moshe Alpert, an ultra-Orthodox rabbi who served as the leader of several Jewish communities in Jerusalem during the Mandate, described his experience of voting in the first Israeli Knesset elections in 1949.
Nearly eighty years and countless election cycles later, many of us have come to take for granted the privilege of voting for a Jewish government in a Jewish state. We should not. For nearly two millennia, our people lacked the opportunity to vote for Jewish representatives in our own country. Regardless of the candidates or the outcome, we should recognize and appreciate the profound zechut of possessing this right.
Jews know how to celebrate elections. Indeed, we take full advantage of the democratic process by consistently fielding one of the world’s largest numbers of political parties per capita. This situation complicates voters’ decision-making. Many party platforms are similar, and numerous significant issues are under debate. How, then, should we choose?
While each of us must ultimately make a personal decision, the Torah provides guidance. The verse describing the appointment of a king states “place a king upon yourself” – implying that the people bear responsibility for the appointment (Devarim 17:15). Yet the conclusion of the verse appears to suggest otherwise: “that Hashem, your G-d, chooses.” Who, then, is ultimately responsible: the people or Hashem?
The Sifri (Shoftim 14), emphasizing the end of the verse, views Hashem as the ultimate Chooser, with the prophet designating the individual to be appointed. This was indeed the process by which Shaul, David, and many subsequent kings were selected. The Ramban, however, identifies a difficulty with this interpretation: the continuation of the verse instructs the people to select a Jew rather than a gentile as king. If Hashem determines the king through the prophet, the need for Torah guidelines regarding eligibility becomes unclear.
The Ramban therefore cites a second interpretation, which emphasizes the words “place a king upon yourself” and asserts that the decision rests with us. The phrase “that Hashem, your G-d, chooses,” on this reading, means that we should use Hashem’s will as our guiding criterion. As Chazal instruct, we should align our will with Hashem’s will and desire what He desires (Pirkei Avot 2:4). This alignment should inform both our daily choices and our selection of leaders.
Ultimately, the Ramban favors a third interpretation that connects Hashem’s will to our decision-making: Hashem “chooses” whomever we appoint, provided the selection aligns with His guidelines. The decision rests with us, and Hashem affirms our choice.
May we, together with the Jewish people, select leaders in a manner that merits Hashem’s support and blessing for their endeavors.
Rabbi Reuven Taragin is the Dean of Overseas Students at Yeshivat Hakotel and the Educational Director of World Mizrachi and the RZA. His new book, Essentials of Judaism, is available at rabbireuventaragin.com.