Reply To: character vs policy Which is more important?

Home Forums Decaffeinated Coffee character vs policy Which is more important? Reply To: character vs policy Which is more important?

#1915745

I wonder whether any of you guys are voting for a party that they voted most of the times before?
If yes, most likely you are not really debating a topic, but simply bringing a foreign culture of politicking here. This is obvious bitul Torah, as anyone can simply load corresponding website and find out about Trump’s taxes and Biden’s cash from the horses’ mouths.

Why don’t we try – together – establish some high-level non-partisan Torah principles on voting.

I’ll bring one example I read about that shows how non-trivial things are (my imperfect recollection from reading): some time in the 60s, a group of college students considered starting a campaign for Soviet Jewry. They approach R Feinstein, Lubavitcher R, R Teistz. All 3 were against open anti-Soviet activities, in part due to preferences for quiet activities and in part fearing what Soviets could do to these youngsters. R Soloveichik said that he will first consult Israeli government. He came back and said that he is not going to pasken, but he advises against. Students did study the campaign, and a couple of years later, one of them asked R Soloveichik why he is not repeating his negative position to them. Rav responded that he changed his position, explaining:
I asked the politicians that I consulted: what is best policy for Soviet Jews. They responded – to keep quiet. I later realized that they lied to me. They told me what is best for Israelis (as they tried to negotiate with Soviets), but not what is best for Soviet Jews.