The country is turning its back on Jewish tradition
Only God can rescue Israel from its current morass.
By YEHUDIT TAYAR
There was a time when a Jewish leader knew where he came from and who he was as a Jew. Even people such as David Ben-Gurion, when asked why he chose to come to Israel, told a story of a man on the road who stopped in order to observe Shabbat, and because he did so was saved from robbers and from wild animals and continued safely on his way. That man, Ben-Gurion would tell, was Abraham our forefather on the way to Hebron. Ben-Gurion would then explain that because of that man in Hebron the Jewish people must come home to Israel.
Even the American dollar bill has "In God we trust" printed on it. Yet when Amir Peretz was elected head of the Labor Party - in the Jewish homeland - and wanted to express gratitude, he chose to go to the grave of prime minister Yitzhak Rabin, and not to the Western Wall in our eternal capital, Jerusalem.
Is this a new religion? Is this the tradition that has kept our nation together through the dark centuries of the Diaspora - to go to the grave of a politician to express gratitude?
The fiber of our nation has always been embodied by our Torah, our Land and our people - and the national interest is supposed to protect Jewish rights in our Land.
Today, who do we have in our Knesset charged with protecting our interests? Too many politicians are shallow, some are arguably corrupt while others have lost sight of what Israel's genuine interests are.
They cynically manipulate the word "democracy" in a repulsive, tiresome manner; I'm unable even to relate to the meaning of the word in the way it is used by so many of our politicians and their puppets in the media.
AND NOW, in a further manifestation of setting aside Jewish values, we hear that MDA is willing to remove the Magen David Adom - the Star of David - from its logo for international use.
As for the government of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, it has capitulated and continues to capitulate to terrorist demands on a wide range of issues.
Entire Jewish communities have been dismantled, synagogues and cemeteries have been uprooted, while Gaza's Jewish residents are today suffering at the hands of a demeaning, negligent bureaucracy that is cruelly indifferent to their plight.
All the while, government security policies are undermining the infrastructure of our fortitude - our traditions, our Torah, our connection with our Land and our reverence for our Holy Sites.
In this context, it is dependent on us to pray to God to help us find the right direction and to grant Israel leadership that will honor His name and Torah, especially since we have no such leadership to direct us, to protect our rights and security and, more importantly, to protect our Torah and Land.
We must remember that as Jews we should turn to our God and our heritage, not to politicians - dead or alive - to ensure the continuity of our people.
The writer lives in Samaria with her husband and children and serves as one of the veteran spokespeople of the settlement movement.