Page 5 - HaMizrachi Yom Yerushalayim - Shavuot 5782 USA

In Need of Bridge Builders

This philosophy continues to drive as King of the tribe of Judah in Chev- is the book of David, stands out as the
all that we do at Mizrachi. We look ron, he was not accepted by the other blueprint for achieving Jewish unity.
for ways to bridge modernity with tribes of Israel. And so when David It was David who bent over backwards
mesorah, humanism and halachah, the was ultimately accepted as the King to look past prior insults, grievances
sacred and secular, the national and of all of Israel, he conquered Jerusa- and disagreements to forgive others
religious. Through our programming lem, making the “City of David” the for the sake of unity, overcoming the
and Torah, and in the pages of capital of all of Israel. Jerusalem, not tribalism that had plagued the people
HaMizrachi magazine, we bring the Chevron, was destined to be the city of Israel for generations. And so it was
Jews of Israel and the Diaspora of unity, where G-d’s presence would David who laid the foundations for the
together as one. rest. Nestled on the border between Temple in Jerusalem, where Hashem’s
the territories of Judah and Benjamin, presence would reside. It is for this
In our own leadership structure, Jerusalem belonged not to one tribe reason that the ultimate future leader
we aspire to achieve a deep synergy but to the entire nation. Incredibly, the and unifier of Israel, the Mashiach him-
between our rabbinic and lay leader- border between Judah and Benjamin self, must be a descendant of David.
ship. Though many organizations are ran through the Beit HaMikdash itself,
led exclusively by one or the other, indicating that no individual tribe held How blessed are we to have an inde-
Mizrachi is led by both rabbis and a monopoly on spiritual life. pendent state and a unified Jerusa-
lay people, each of whom respect lem. But rebuilding of the third Beit
the other’s areas of authority and While David was a warrior who HaMikdash and achieving peace with
excellence. Our rabbinic leaders are fiercely fought the enemies of Israel, our enemies remain elusive. Israel’s
responsible for all halachic decisions he was extraordinarily forgiving and political system has produced four
and policy making of a halachic nature, kind towards his fellow Jews and divisive and inconclusive elections in
while our lay leaders have adminis- political adversaries. He stood up to two years, and the Knesset is currently
trative authority and ensure good the senior military brass and leader- gridlocked at 60 against 60. Political
governance. The overall strategic and ship of his tribe who simply could not demonization, defamation and divisive
organizational responsibility rests on understand his forgiving nature. tropes and tones are commonplace.
the shoulders of both together with a Sensing that David would one day At a time like this, the message of
mutual respect and sense of genuine replace him as king, King Saul Mizrachi is more critical than ever.
partnership. attempted to kill him on numerous Our people need fewer םי ִג ְּ ל ַפ ְמ and
This philosophy also guides the way occasions. Nevertheless, David desisted more םי ִר ְּ ב ַח ְמ. May our people soon
we work with other organizations. from killing Saul on two different occa- embrace the spirit of Jerusalem and
Recognizing that no one organization sions when he had opportunities to King David, and unite as one!
can fully serve the needs of Am Yis- kill Saul. He desisted from harming
rael, we create bona-fide partnerships Saul even though he was threatening
which recognize the important contri- to kill him and it would have been
butions of each partner organization. halachically acceptable. David under-
Working together, we can accomplish stood that killing Saul could lead to
so much more for Klal Yisrael than an irrevocable split among the tribes
when we go it alone. of Israel.
This also explains his remarkable for-
bearance and forgiveness to Avner and
The legacy of King David Amasa, generals who fought against
Of the many remarkable achieve- David on behalf of Saul’s kingdom and
ments of King David, perhaps the Avshalom’s rebel forces respectively.
greatest was unifying the twelve Perhaps, more than anything else, the Rabbi Doron Perez is the Executive Chairman
tribes of Israel. When first crowned Book of Shmuel, which in many ways of World Mizrachi.

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