Israeli Elections 2006: The Bigger Picture...

In about 35 hours, the polls to elect the members of the 17th Knesset are going to open.

In about 35 hours +/-, as many as 40% of those eligible to vote in the Israeli elections won't care - because they have no intention of voting.

The system doesn't work.

Everyone in the Knesset is corrupt.

There are no parties that represent my interests and values.

It doesn't matter whom I vote for, we're going to get the policies of the left...

The above are just a short list of the many reasons given as to why these people don't plan on voting this coming Tuesday.

All I can say is chaval! Chaval for them, chaval for the Jewish People and chaval for the Jewish State.

I truly believe, if we look at the current situation in the proper context, many of those people who are not planning on voting might have a change of heart.

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I will not deny that the Jewish State is faced with many challenges, but, consider this:

Over the last 2,000 years, prior to the (re)establishment of the Jewish State of Israel, it is not difficult to imagine that in spite of all of the challenges that we face today, that given the choice, almost every Jew from any of those generations would gladly trade places with us today!

For 2,000 years the Jewish People were powerless, homeless and helpless. For 2,000 years the Jewish People were at the mercy and whim of the host countries in which we resided. For 2,000 years, the Jewish People had almost no control over their fate and over their future.

Today, in the Jewish State of Israel, the Jewish People have a home - having returned to our Homeland - and thank G-d, we have the potential to use the power that comes along with sovereignty - with a Jewish State - for the good of the entire Jewish People and to enable us to fulfill our mission in this world.

True, we may not like the choices that are before us this coming election day - but at least we have a choice.

Thank G-d that we have sovereignty over the Land of Israel.

Thank G-d that we have a Jewish State to call home.

Thank G-d that we have the chance to shape our future and the future of our children.

Thank G-d that we have the ability to choose the leadership of the Jewish State.

Granted, we might not like our options, but if we hope to change the course that the State of Israelis now on, one of the main ways to do so is through influencing the make-up of the Knesset, where the major policy decisions are made - and that can only be done through voting.

It is up to us to vote, and to vote wisely; to use our vote to strengthen Jewish sovereignty in the Land of Israel and to strengthen the State of Israel as a Jewish State...

But that is only possible if we first recognize how fortunate we are to be living in this generation - in the Jewish State of Israel - with all the challenges that come along with it... by casting our vote this Tuesday.

It's the very least we can do – and it’s more than any of the generations that preceded us could have ever hoped for – to hold the destiny and fate of the Jewish People in their own hands.

Let’s not let them down.

Israel
Zionism
Judaism