I was up most of the night inhaling everything I could on tomorrow’s elections in Israel.
It only made me more anxious.
“Destiny awaits at the ballot box,” “The most momentous day in the battle for Israel,” were some of the stories that greeted me.
Indeed, this is a defining, momentous day in Israel’s history. Can the stakes be any higher?
Anxiety, in other words, is warranted.
So, sleep-deprived and anxious, I called my friend Yossi Klein Halevi in Jerusalem in the hope that it might bring some relief to my nervous system.
I saw him on a podcast a few days ago titled, “Spiritually coping with this Israeli election.”
I’m glad I called.
You see, here’s the dilemma for those of us who care deeply about Israel: we can’t stop thinking about who’s going to win. That’s all that occupies our minds.
If one side wins, it’s messianic. If the other side wins, it’s a disaster.
Yossi’s beliefs are as strong as anyone’s, but he pushes himself to see a bigger picture.
In particular, he talks about the long road– how Israeli society has shown time and again its ability to move forward no matter what.
What struck me was his talk of prayer. He sees a certain sanctity in a day of elections, a day when Jews choose their leaders.
He plans to pray on Tuesday, as if it were a religious holiday.
Prayer keeps him connected not just with God but with his Israeli brethren. He may abhor certain politicians, but he wants to keep a place in his heart for all Israeli voters.
When the big day hits tomorrow, prayer will keep him connected to the very idea of sanctity.
Of course, it’s tough to think of sanctity when one sees the crude, win-at-all-cost behavior of political candidates desperate for victory.
It’s tough to think of sanctity when you believe that a certain outcome will be a calamity, or when Israel has never seemed more divided, or when we hear stories of nasty infighting between civil and military leaders.
That’s why I’m glad I called.
Because what Yossi is talking about is very hard. It’s transcendence at a time of maximum focus. Regardless of who wins and who loses, we can never lose sight of the big picture, of the eternal Jewish story.
What I’m sure I will lose is more sleep.
