Jews obsessing over politics (and watching sports)
A campaign button on her lapel says, in Hebrew, “Barack Obama ‘08” and Soifer explains the agenda this way: “We are here today to talk about Sen. Barack Obama and Joe Biden’s record, and to ensure that Baruch Obama is elected the next president of the United States.
Her use of the Hebrew name Baruch brings applause and laughter. The heavy turnout showed Democratic enthusiasm, but several of those on hand said they were former Hillary Clinton supporters and some of their friends were still slow to warm to Obama.
The first time I read this, I almost puked.
Many Jews don’t realize that we are primarily citizens of the Jewish State — no, not the modern Israel, but the Jewish theocratic state established by Yehoshua and then re-established after the first golus. Yes, it doesn’t exist today physically, but that merely means that we are a state in exile (ever heard of golus?), with government in exile (the rebbeim from the times of Mishna till now, who are spiritual and legal descendants of the Sanhedrin, the real Jewish government body) and still legally bound to obey its laws (ever heard of halacha?).
It is just like Poland during WWII: they too had people in exile and government in exile. While returning to Poland was impossible (since it was occupied by a hostile government — like Eretz Yosroel has been for the duration of the last golus), Poles in exile with their government-in-exile were residing in England. As a result, they had a situation of dual citizenship: Polish and British — which meant that while living in the UK they had to follow its laws (obviously) and have minimal level of participation in the society to repay UK for its hospitality (pay taxes, learn English, participate in local business, when possible contribute to overall welfare of the society). But why would a Pole in exile become emotionally invested into who gets elected to the UK Parliament and become really involved in the election campaign?
Hello, people? We are here temporarily, while our home is destroyed and we are waiting for it to be rebuilt. We appreciate the hospitality of this nation, we repay it by being minimally involved and contributing to the overall stability of society — but this is not our home!