What If Moses Had Taken A Poll?
Nov 9th, 2010 | By admin | Category: 2006-7, Archivesby Rabbi Yisrael Rutman
Presidents and prime ministers, no less than other elected officials, are keen followers of the opinion polls. Aside from the great burdens of office, of questions of war and peace and the economy, they must ponder the incessant pulse-taking of public opinion. When their approval ratings fall below 50%—and in the case of George W. Bush and Ehud Ulmert below 40%—perhaps it might be best for them not to read the poll results
at all.
In 1952, in the last days of his presidency, Harry S. Truman’s public approval rating was a mere 32 per cent, mostly because of the unpopularity of the Korean War. It was a hard war to sell. The average person had difficulty accepting the call for the ultimate sacrifice (33,000 killed) for the limited goal of containing rather than defeating the communist aggressors thousands of miles away.
Truman, who had won the greatest upset in American electoral history in 1948 when he defeated the Republicans’ Dewey against the prediction of every pollster and pundit in America, had a healthy contempt for the systematic monitoring of public opinion. In a comment recorded in a private memo at the time, he wrote: “If Moses had taken a poll, would the Jews have ever left Egypt?…The important thing is not to be popular, but to do what’s right.”
Truman was exceptionally well-read, and he knew his Bible, but he was probably unaware of what the Midrash had to say on the subject. If he had, he might have found considerable satisfaction in knowing that Moses’ approval rating was even lower than his own. For according to the Midrash, only 20% of the Jewish people wished to leave Egypt. The rest preferred to remain slaves in the society that had become home to them, rather than take a chance on a new “administration” out in the wilderness. In fact, Egypt is exactly where the majority stayed, lost forever to history in the immoral darkness of the host nation.
Though the polls have been proven fallible time and again, few politicians these days have the fortitude of a Truman. Most are captive to the polls, some even commissioning their own private opinion samplings, which they use in determining campaign strategy and even policy. The Talmudic saying that “the face of the generation in which Moshiach will come will be like the face of a dog,” is more relevant than ever, as interpreted by the 18th century Torah leader, Rabbi Yisrael Salanter. A dog, he said, runs ahead of its master, only to look back to see where his master is heading; he is not really leading, only following, giving only the appearance of leading. So, too, the politicians who pretend to lead, but only after carefully consulting the polls and ascertaining which direction their masters are choosing.
Democracy has proven its utility as a framework for stable governance and a bulwark against tyranny; but it has its limitations as a method for determining the truth. Logically, there is little, if any, correlation between the majority opinion and what is right. Take idol worship. It was the prevalent religion for many centuries;
everybody believed in it, or at least paid obeisance to it. As surely as we believe that it is the force of gravity which keeps our feet to the ground, they believed that the success of the next harvest depended on the favor of the gods.
They were the overwhelming majority, and yet they could not have been more mistaken. To us, the idea of bowing down to idols is a subject of curiosity and ridicule. Even archeologists, with all scholarly solemnity and the respect of cultures that political correctness demands, cannot really grasp what went on there. The sacrificial cults and arcane rites of the ancients are a sealed hieroglyph to the children of Darwin and Einstein.
Tocqueville warned that the greatest danger in democracy was the tyranny of the majority. When the prejudices and passions of the masses are enshrined as the guiding light of the nation, it’s hard to go against it. Those who do so risk being called “commies,” “racists,” “religious fanatics,” “politically incorrect.”
To be a supporter of Israel, or a believer in God (not necessarily the same thing), is not as popular as it once was in the West. Israel is depicted in the media as an occupier of Palestinian land; Islamofascism gives religion in general a bad name.
But a person has to think for himself. There comes a time when you have to put down the newspaper, ignore what the polls are saying, forget the slogans your friends are chanting, and try to think for yourself.
Because if Moses had taken a poll…
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