The Torah portion of Noah tells us that God felt compelled to flood the world because the land was full of “Hamas”. The sages have translated this vague word as sexual deviance, robbery, murder, and idolatry. But, it is also interpreted as legalized oppression without the consent of the governed. This reading is valid given the biblical narrative leading up to the flood story.
The end of Parshat Bereshit tells us that “The sons of ‘Elohim’ saw that the daughters of man were good and took wives from whomever they chose.” (Genesis 6:2) Translating “Elohim” as gods is problematic given the Torah’s strict monotheism. Rashi translates it as “rulers”. The powerful elites before the flood would take the daughters in their realm, whether or not the girl or family consented. The Midrash Bereshit Rabbah highlights this atrocity by commenting that the rulers would take these young women on their wedding night as they were beautifying themselves for their intended husbands.
This noxious practice spanned many times and places, including medieval Europe, where it was called Jus prima noctis. One historical source argues that this practice sparked the Maccabean revolt against the Greek Seleucid occupation. The Bible tells us that in reaction to this outrageous disregard of human dignity and consent, God limited man’s lifespan to 120 years. This measure did not stop the ongoing wickedness and corruption, so God felt compelled to destroy all of humanity, and start over with a select few.
Today, consent of the governed is on the wane, and increased totalitarianism is on the rise. Important decisions are no longer made locally, erasing the consent of individuals, small enterprises and local institutions. Global elites with their top-down edicts have stepped in with a vengeance. Witness how governments across the globe implemented harsh pandemic lockdown policies in lockstep. Note extreme climate and gender policies, dictated from above across nation states, even as they crush national economies. See the global retreat from cash in favor of digital currency, and the world-wide push to eliminate non-electric cars. The investment world has changed from shareholder investing to stakeholder investing, enforced by a powerful ESG scoring system reminiscent of Maoist China. The global totalitarians want to force local businesses to dance to a new set of global values. Corporate scale and concentration of power have gone unchecked. Where is the antitrust enforcement against Google or Blackrock?
Today’s “Elohim”, be they government or corporate masters, are on a mission to inculcate nonsensical ideologies and to silence dissenting voices. What? You do not agree that biological boys should change in girl’s locker rooms? What? You believe that the roads in Judea and Samaria are unsafe for Jewish people who deserve security? The mainstream press was to be our only check against false propaganda, but it has abandoned its mandate as a fact finder for the public. This leaves us unsure of the truth, and cynical about our government and corporate leadership.
The voting booth is the only lever left for common people. It is a blunt, indirect source of power that has been weakened as evidenced by election instability in strong democracies like the United States, Great Britain and Australia. In Israel, elections have not proven a workable method of seating stable governments that can endure for their proscribed terms.
No matter how ineffective voting seems, resist the impulse to give up on the one chance you have to exercise consent of the governed before we lose even that in a flood of global totalitarianism.
As we go to the voting booths once again next week, ask yourself which side of the political spectrum is less totalitarian. The Israeli and global mainstream press has gone to extremes for decades to portray the nationalist camp as the tyrants. But, if the nationalist camp is so all powerful, why does it tolerate such ongoing hostile press? The very existence of this blanket one-sided attack belies the claim of tyrannical power among Israel’s conservative nationalistic camp.
Ask yourselves which parties keep trying to silence dissenting voices like Arutz 14 or Arutz 7?
Which parties control the universities which consistently under represent conservative professors, speakers, and content?
Which parties shove secret harmful agreements like the Oslo Accords or the recent ocean drilling agreement with Lebanon down the throats of the public without legislative due process?
Which parties forgive hostiles who maim and kill Jews to please the global “Elohim”?
One lesson of the biblical flood is that without consent of the governed, humanity will self-destruct.
Vote. Wisely.
Ann P. Levinis a legal writing instructor in Israeli law schools and the author of Burning But Never Consumed: The Hebrew Bible in Turbulent Times.