Tzipiyah.com

Most economists agree. A bailout is necessary to save the US economy. While they disagree as to the cause of the current situation, they all agree as to the need for some government action. I want to take a look at what lead to the bailout and through this, gain a greater understand to our responsibilities as individuals living within a collective group of people – for our purpose, as Jews living within Klal Israel.

There were two types of people engaged in the economy in the past 20 years. There were the responsible people who would only take out money when they knew they would be able to pay it back. Among those responsible people, there were individuals, families, CEOs, people on “Wallstreet” and on “Main Street”. On the other hand, there were some very irresponsible, greedy people who would take loans without being able to repay them. Once again, among those people, there were individuals, families, CEOs, people on “Wallstreet” and on “Main Street”. It is because of those irresponsible people that we are now in a mess.

The argument right now in Congress , from those who oppose the plan, is very straight-forward: If those irresponsible people caused the current crisis, why should responsible people pay to “bail them out”? This is unjust and unfair!

On the other hand, the other side of Congress argues something practical: Yes, you are right, it is unjust. Their mistakes should not make have to make you lose money. However, the fact is that we live in an interdependent society. Your mistakes affect others and their mistakes affect you. If you do not “bail them out”, you will end up paying for it as well. Mainstreet is affected by Wallstreet. Responsible people are affected by Irresponsible people. We are all in this together.

This, pretty obviously, brings back a powerful concept in Judaism – “Kol Israel Areivim Ze La Ze” – All of Klal Israel is responsible for each other. The reason for this concept goes to the basic foundation of Jewish Thought. Judaism is not, like many people think, a religion. Judaism is a Nationalist thought. The Jewish Nation is a Nation, not a religion. As a nation, we have a common goal, a common purpose and a common destiny. And so, we are all interconnected, responsible for each other. If one of us fails at something, it affects the whole nation. We are all in this together.

Of course, there are a lot of differences, both theological and practical, between this reality in the US and with the Jewish Nation, but the basic concept is the same. Nationalism regroups people towards a common purpose. Therefore, when, in the Jewish Nation, one person does not align himself with the direction in which the nation is going, he is affecting the whole nation (for better or worse).

Rav Kook has a famous perspective on Teshuva. He explains that while a low level teshuva is about repenting for sins, higher level teshuva is about realizing God is directing the world in a certain direction and then, tap into this reality and become a partner with God in bringing the world in that direction. This incredible perspective explains why Rosh Hashana, a day which is more about crowning God as our king than anything related to Teshuva, starts the 10 days of Teshuva. Once we realize God is King and directing his world in a certain direction, then, we can partner with him in bringing it to that direction.

As we know, God uses Klal Israel as his ambassadors in bringing the world in his chosen direction. In our generation where the Jewish People is slowly rebuilding itself on its land, it is clear that God is finally bringing us towards the direction of our complete, universal, and final redemption. Our job is to work hand in hand with him by improving our own personal lives, helping the world get to a level of Godly morality but also, help Klal Israel get to its goal of building a Kingdom of priests and a holy nation. As we know from the bailout, in order to achieve such an incredible purpose (much more incredible than the American economy), we need everyone to work hand in hand and to be responsible for each other. Our redemption will not come when a group of us become complete Tzaddikim. Our redemption will come when, as a nation, we tap into our amazing energy and work towards moving forward in our destiny of building ourselves as a holy nation.

During these days of teshuva, let us try to tap into this incredible energy and align our lives to best fit the interests of our nation, which will end up being the interests of the whole entire world and, of course, our own personal interests. Let us try and sacrifice some of our own immediate personal interests for the good of the collective Jewish people, thus bailing out the Jewish Nation of its exile.