Zehut versus Otzma Leyisrael: A Conflict of Torah Visions

Rabbi Grossman explains.

Here’s an excerpt:

What I find interesting this year is a discussion among certain backers of the Otzma Yehudit and Zehut parties. The former are scandalized by how the allegedly libertarian Zehut would, out of principle, allow private bus companies to operate on the Sabbath, if they so chose, and would allow farmers who wish to do so to raise pigs, which are seemingly anti-Torah policies, because a true religious party would seek, when in power, to strictly enforce the Biblical law against driving automobiles on the Sabbath and the rabbinic decree against raising pigs in the land of Israel. In response, the Zehutniks would argue that in the current state of affairs, it is important to secure the rights of the individual to his freedom of movement and commerce, and as long as the Sabbath drivers and travelers and pig farmers do not harm others, so be it. For his part, Moshe Feiglin, whom I have personally supported until today, argues that today, the key to bringing others closer to Judaism is not by force but by persuasion and setting a good example, not by forcing sabbath observance, but by fostering it. As he put its, an Israeli will say a blessing over a cup of water because eventually he will realize that appreciation is part of our unique culture.

I believe that this ideological difference of opinion is actually echoed in the works of the prophets, specifically, in the contrasts between the era of the Judges and the era of the Kings.

See the rest here.