Over the past months, Israelis have hit the streets with mass demonstrations and protest tents throughout the country.
High prices of housing, food and fuel had left some with a feeling of helplessness, that the politicians are far removed from the realities of everyday life.
If only the lawmakers would take a deep look in our parsha, Ki Tetze, they would find all the answers that one needs to keep society healthy and going in the right direction.
This week's parsha, which holds the record for the most mitzvot in a weekly parsha - 74, making up some 12% of commandments in the entire Torah - deals with social issues and helping out your fellow man in his time of need. Whether it's to give a loan that's interest free, or to help carry your brother's burden, caring and returning a lost item, etc., the Torah covers all aspects of daily life.
The Torah calculates so many details of relationships between man and his fellow man, that we are warned time and time again not to degrade the poor and to return his collateral to him every night.
We are commanded to give gifts to the poor, so they, too, can live in dignity, and moreover, to help them rise up in their hour of need so they won't need to ask for money or to beg.
We are commanded not to oppress the orphans, the widows or the strangers who live among us, and to make sure all their needs are taken care of.
As the Rabbis of old told us: The greatest thing one can do, is to do someone a favor.
In our business dealings, we are commanded not to cheat and steal from our fellow man and to use proper weights and measures. Corruption and greed - the plague and downfall of modern society - is not tolerated in Torah law.
We are commanded to take responsibility for our actions, to place a guard rail on our roofs and not to place a stumbling block before our fellow man.
While our workers work in our fields, we allow them to partake of the fruits, we do not muzzle the ox while we reap our grain.
In following the Torah's laws, we ensure prosperity and justice for all.
Far be it from us to rely on man's intellect in order to secure social justice, for in man's mind, what is moral today may very well be immoral a few years from now. Try as he might, man is limited to his own objectives and understanding.
So we find that this parsha, which is so full of social justice, concludes with the commandment to kill Amalek. Men, women and children are included in this commandment, even the animals must be taken out and killed.
Our first king, Saul, had a very big moral problem with this commandment, so he said to G-d: If the men sinned, what about the women? And if the women sinned, what about the children? Surely they did not sin. G-d answered by telling him not to be overly righteous, i.e., more righteous than his Creator. King Saul, the moralist, did not fulfill the word of G-d and lost his kingship.
So, too, with the social issues facing us today: They cannot come from a place of our limited understanding, but as with every aspect of our lives, they, too, must come from Torah law to ensure a just society.