Rabbi Avigdor Miller zt”l and the Current Political Election

Note:

This article is geared specifically to the Orthodox Jewish people.


Not that long ago the Jewish world had benefitted of the great legend Rabbi Avigdor Miller zt”l whose towering brilliance in Torah and Avodah combined with an overflowing passion and love to each and every yid. His humility and piety struck all who came in contact with him with an overwhelming sense of awe. He used his vast knowledge to share and spread yiddishkeit at all times in all places to all types of Yidden and his shiurim are still widely listened to today.

Rabbi Avigdor Miller zt”l was also greatly respected amongst the general public and when he felt a need to express the Torah opinion he would write articles in The New York Times. He particularly fought heavily to preserve the sanctity of marriage and decried those who wished to legalized toevah (gay marriage.) When fighting for Torah values he never backed down, and when wished death by haters, he calmly replied that it will indeed be his last act in this world.

He had also heavily protested the Israeli army’s attempt to draft females and had written an article in protest despite knowing the majority of the general public disagreed with him. The article was complete with data and proofs that women act upon emotion and therefore tend to be of greater disservice to the army for they often put at risk the lives of men who are sent to rescue them. The only reason the Israeli army was attempting to do so, he explained, was to follow the footsteps of the rest of the world in breaking all barriers between the genders thus creating an immoral and impure society.

The political world has been thrown abuzz the past week by a comment from presidential candidate Rick Santorum. Santorum was asked about the Pentagon’s decision to send women in the front lines and he responded that it could lead to compromising conditions because of the emotions involved. A female Navy vet who has held a leading role in the invasion of Iraq agrees with Santorum, as does all data. However, since we currently live in a post-reality world, the feminist movement is enraged at Santorum for daring to tell the truth as it stands.

Rick Santorum is one of the very few people out in the general world who aren’t afraid to publicly speak strongly in support of traditional marriage and sanctity of life, and has successfully fought the war to stop federal funding for partial-birth abortion.

His fearless fight for what’s right in face of ridicule and attacks is very rare in the politics of America today.

In a country where G-d may no longer be mentioned in many public places such as schools and colleges Rick Santorum has reminded the people that America had stood apart from all other nations because of their expression of faith in a creator. He reminded the American people that far more important than the “life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness” which is guaranteed for all in the Declaration of Independence and is widely quoted is the start of the statement which reads as follows; “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, [that they are] endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.”

He explains that unlike in other countries where rights are given by government, which can then take away those rights, the United States of America was formed on the premise that government is there not to give or take rights, but merely to protect those G-d given rights. And since they are given by G-d and not by government, government can take them away.

Rabbi Avigdor Miller zt”l is no longer alive, and we can no longer hear his pearls of wisdom. In addition to his brilliant expansions on Torah itself, he often spoke of what was the correct Torah opinion on a specific political situation. He had often stressed that as Torah Jews we must vote for Torah values and for the candidates who support morality as defined by Hashem.

Although I dare not speak in his stead or pretend to know what he would say in a specific scenario, the facts in the current presidential election speak for itself. There is only one candidate who has never been afraid to openly oppose immorality in every form. We must continue to support those who stand up for a moral society, as Rabbi Avigdor Miller zt”l had done all his life.