Laugh about it, shout about it. When you have to choose. Every way you look at it, you lose – Simon & Garfunkel, “Mrs. Robinson,” 1968
You could almost hear a global sigh of relief last week when the final results came in and the American presidential campaign came to an end.
For the supporters of Donald Trump, it was an ecstatic feeling of victory and vindication, while for Democrats it was a shocking, even historic, disappointment.
For the world at large, it was the long-awaited opportunity to finally move on from an endless war of words, interminable insults, and character assassination (with a too-close, almost true-to-life assassination thrown into the mix) that preoccupied us to an extreme.
But with all due respect to those nice musical Jewish boys Paul and Art, we didn’t lose in this election. Any time citizens of a country gather to exercise their right to freely select their leaders, that is a win. Elections cost a lot but are worth every dime. In a world filled with despotic dictators and evil totalitarian regimes that hold absolute power over their helpless victims, we are privileged to live in countries where our voices can be heard and our votes counted.
On a spiritual level as well, elections are a good thing. The essence of Jewish belief is that mankind and God are partners. We humans have been granted freedom of choice as an eternal sine qua non, and it is as much a reward as it is a responsibility. Already from the creation of the world, God decrees to Adam: “This is the Earth, and you shall subdue it” (Genesis 1:28).
That is, the world is imperfect – no surprise there – but mankind, by utilizing its energy, intellect, and ingenuity, has the ability to bring it to greater perfection. God gives us the tools, but we must develop and utilize them to effect progress. One of these tools is free and fair elections, whereby we jointly – hopefully – plot a course toward a greater good.
Did God play a role in the election of Donald Trump?
But what of the Almighty? Does God have any active say in the movement of history? Are we the sole decisors, or is God somehow also part of the process? Does God simply watch events from some all-knowing abode, totally disconnected from what’s going on below, or is there at least a trace of divine intervention – when needed?
Did the creator pack it up when creation was over, or does God “move the needle” a bit here and there, sending heavenly help when humanity needs a bit of a nudge?
I AM convinced that God is indeed active rather than inert; supportive rather than static. And Jewish sources affirm this concept. “No one so much as cuts his finger in the world below,” says the Talmud, “unless it is so ordained in the world above.” And the inclusion of our exodus from Egypt in our daily prayers and in the Kiddush of every Shabbat – not to mention an entire seven- to eight-day holiday centering around it – affirms the principle that God indeed intervenes in history when the time calls for it.
On numerous occasions, Jewish history has been “moved along” by magnanimous gestures from unexpected sources. The Babylonians, though cruel, allowed an exiled Jewish community to exist, and thrive, leading to the creation of the Babylonian Talmud. The conquering Romans acceded to Rav Yohanan ben Zakai’s request for Jewish life and scholarship to continue in Yavne. Napoleon took a liking to the Jews and offered us full citizenship.
And in the US, in what would become the largest Jewish Diaspora, American presidents also came to our aid and significantly affected Jewish history in remarkable ways.
America’s first president, George Washington, reassured the Jews that they would have full rights, despite the fact that Jewish colonists were not always welcomed with open arms by their neighbors. In his famous 1790 visit and letter to the Touro Synagogue – America’s oldest – in Newport, Rhode Island, Washington reassured those who had fled religious tyranny that life in the new nation would be different, that religious “toleration” would give way to religious liberty, and that the government would not interfere with individuals in matters of conscience and belief.
Paraphrasing the Bible, Washington wrote: “Every one shall sit in safety under his own vine and fig-tree, and there shall be none to make him afraid [Ed: Micah 4:4]. For happily, the Government of the United States, which gives to bigotry no sanction, to persecution no assistance, requires only that they who live under its protection should demean themselves as good citizens, in giving it on all occasions their effectual support.”
ABRAHAM LINCOLN – arguably the greatest of all American presidents – also quoted the Bible on numerous occasions; and he, too, was a great defender of American Jewry. He not only appointed the first Jewish chaplain in 1861, but he also came to the defense of the Jewish community when it was defamed by general Ulysses S. Grant. Grant had sparked antisemitism by accusing Jews of illicit trading; and,in his infamous 1862 General Order 11, he ordered all Jews to leave Kentucky, Mississippi, and Tennessee. Lincoln, upon hearing of the expulsion, immediately rescinded the order and reaffirmed the integrity of American Jews.
In 1948, the Yishuv in Israel was struggling to generate support for statehood. America’s then-secretary of state George C. Marshall, president Harry S. Truman’s closest confidante, was diametrically opposed to voting in favor. But Truman – upon the urging of his dearest friend and former business partner, Eddie Jacobson – had earlier met with Israel’s future first president, Chaim Weizmann, and agreed that he would indeed support our independence.
Truman resisted intense pressure to vote against, or even abstain, and the long, ongoing American-Israel friendship was secured. The positive American vote in the United Nation – the first vote cast – undoubtedly swayed many other countries to also vote in favor.
In 1973, Israel was caught shockingly unawares by Egyptian and Syrian forces. Running out of ammunition, the Jewish state was in serious danger of being overwhelmed by the Arab attackers, and so appealed to America for desperately needed arms. A contentious debate took place within the higher echelons of the US government, with secretary of defense James R. Schlesinger and the rest of the Pentagon adamantly opposed to intervening in the conflict.
While there has always been a question of who gave the final orders – I personally believe White House chief of staff Alexander Haig was the unsung hero – president Richard Nixon put his foot down and insisted that Israel be re-armed. “We will not let Israel go down the tube,” Nixon vowed. “Do it now! Send everything that can fly to Israel!” The drastic airlift, named Operation Nickel Grass, would reverse the tide of the war, turning defeat into victory and saving the Jewish state.
AND NOW we come to the modern era. Lively debate over Israel – our policies and our politics – continues in America. Our ongoing historical journey has taken dramatic giant steps into the future during the tumultuous tenure of the last quarter-century’s chief executives. We have had our low points and our high points, filled with problems as well as praise for our recent relationships with the presidents.
We clearly disdained the Obama administration’s coddling of Iran and its shipment of billions of dollars to a regime that openly threatens our survival. Yet that same administration gave Israel more financial help than any previous US government. The Biden presidency has also stirred the pot on many levels. Removing the sanctions that were crippling Iran and restoring mass funding of the Palestinian Authority – despite the pledge not to do so until the PA’s “pay for slay” policy was repealed – has irked many Israelis.
But President Biden’s lightning visit to Israel at the beginning of the Gaza war, his stalwart backing of Israel’s right to engage the enemy, and the ongoing massive shipments of arms to our fighting forces – despite aggressive and vocal-in-the-extreme worldwide opposition are clear signs of a deep partnership, and certainly deserving of our gratitude and recognition.
Despite his cringe-worthy rhetoric and bombastic style, president-elect Donald Trump’s first term was literally earth-shaking in its expansive support of Israel’s legitimacy, and in its determination to see us proudly represented on the world stage. Decisions we had waited decades for – officially recognizing Jerusalem as our capital and the Golan Heights as part of Israel – were finally carried out, and the Abraham Accords moved us closer to neighboring Arab states, even as the Palestinians finally received just punishment for their intransigence.
IT SEEMS clear to me that Trump’s four-year “break” in the White House has now allowed him to return at just the right moment. The struggle against Iran and its fiendish obsession to bring the planet under Islamist domination is reaching the point of crisis. The impending nuclear threat from Tehran can no longer be shoved under the rug, minimized, or ignored. Only someone who has the undiplomatic ability to frankly call out a crisis and deal defiantly with it stands a chance of bringing the world back from the brink of doom.
This grand play of history, then, is overseen by the divine director and acted out by selective, significant actors. World leaders must play their part and focus on their assigned tasks; they must never fail to see the bigger picture and to hear and heed the voice of our own Mordechai, a voice that reverberates throughout the generations and whispers in their ear, “Who knows if it was not for this reason that you have achieved your high position?”
So, in reply to the question “Did God vote for Donald Trump?” the answer is a definite “Yes!” God voted not only for Trump but for all these presidents, Democrat and Republican alike. God – along with us – chose them and placed them in a position to impact the world.
Let us hope they both validate that vote, as well as the trust both we and God place in them.
The writer is the director of the Jewish Outreach Center of Ra’anana. rabbistewart@gmail.com.
