Translation by Yehoshua Siskin
A memorandum for the day after the elections: yesterday, the 10th of Nissan, we went to vote. This was important but it is also important to remember that the future is determined not only by the ballot. The fact is that today, the 11th of Nissan, is the birthday of the Lubavitcher Rebbe. Chabad Chasidim take note of this day each year, but this year it seems to me that this day has special significance for all of us: this is a day that reminds us -- since it falls on the Rebbe's birthday -- that politics truly does not determine what will be, and that it is possible to positively influence and repair this world in numerous other ways.
The Lubavitcher Rebbe did not run on any party list, yet he changed the Jewish world due to the power of his faith, optimism, leadership, and emphasis on education. We aspire to integrate these elements into our own lives as well. The Rebbe rehabilitated American Judaism after the Holocaust, gave hope to Jews behind the Iron Curtain, and sent thousands of emissaries to all the corners of the globe. Beyond this, he transformed every person that he met into an emissary with a mission.
For two years we have awoken every morning to hear what Sa'ar said in reaction to Bennett who reacted to Lapid and on and on. All of this has meaning, but its significance is limited. There are personalities from whom it would be possible to learn much more than we do from politicians, if we were only as obsessed with them.
The identity of Israel will not be determined merely by election results. It will be determined by our behavior within and outside the home, according to our values, in the mission to which we will commit ourselves throughout our lives.
