The truth is, politics never interested me. I don't deny that there should be politicians, I don't deny the importance of democracy, nor that a country has a particular political system that helps (or hinders) its development; I'm simply saying that I was never interested in learning the ins and outs of politics, the names of the people involved, the foundations of each party, and so on.
I don't think I've ever (or very rarely in my life) read the politics section of a newspaper...
However, something happened in the political environment last Sunday that should draw our attention: at AMIA in Buenos Aires there were votes to appoint a new board of directors for the period 2008-2011.
Several lists were presented, each with its own proposal. This year, a list called "United Religious Bloc" was presented, which, as its name indicates, is a bloc of people connected to Orthodox Judaism, in its different "colors" (Ashkenazi, Sephardic, Hasidic, etc.).
After the vote, with over 3,700 members casting their ballots, this bloc received 37,781% of the votes. Furthermore, it garnered the most votes of any bloc, surpassing the incumbent party and other lists that ran in the election.
As the Baal Shem Tov used to say, from everything one hears or sees, one should learn a lesson in the service of God.
I think the message is very strong, coming from a community like Buenos Aires, which at one time was one of the largest in the diaspora, and was and is also one of the most important in several aspects in relation to world Jewry.
The continuity of Judaism depends exclusively on us opening our eyes and seeing that the Torah, with its pleasant ways and paths of peace, is the only thing that can guide us to continue being Jews in the diaspora exile and reach the long-awaited Final Redemption.
In particular, as we approach the festival of Passover, the time of the Jewish people's liberation from Egypt. Egypt represents the oppression of exile, the assimilation into the environment, whether by habit, almost unconsciously, or by choice. Passover represents liberation from that environment to which we assimilated and the connection with the very purpose of our existence: to make this world a place for the revelation of the Divine Presence.
For small communities like La Plata, the message is also clear... continuity, community, identity, all these words are only possible through the lens of the Torah, the Torah of Life, which is an eternal teaching for everyday life.