The kosher connection: Does character still count in the upcoming Israeli elections?

There is an often forgotten “Kosher Connection” in the soon coming and much anticipated national elections in Israel. It is not about dietary laws or certain food choices around the preferences of the various candidates and their parties. The word “kosher” has a far deeper meaning than simply the type of food we eat and how and where it is prepared. At its root meaning the word describes honest and ethical conduct. To be “kosher” means to be legitimate, to be moral, to be trustworthy, to live in such a way that our lives match our lips. It means to be beyond reproach in both our attitudes and actions. 

This brings us to an important question—Does character still count? Is it given consideration anymore inside the voting booth? Do we still ask ourselves if that someone for whom we cast our vote is fit to serve the people by God’s higher standards? Is he or she “kosher” when it comes to morals, motives, and methods? If history is any indication, ancient Israel does not have a good track record at this point. It has a long history of leaders who fell far short of this mark resulting in all sorts of confusion, chaos and catastrophes for the people of the land.

There are really only two types of leaders. There are those who lead by public consensus. In other words, they do not take a stand on a certain issue until they receive their polling data revealing what the people are thinking on certain issues. Then, and only then, do these type leaders take stands on issues. People who lead by public consensus walk around with their finger in the air sensing which way the wind is blowing. People who lead in this way lead people to do what the people “want” to do, not necessarily what they would be better off doing. The world of politics is filled with people who only lead by public consensus.

But, there is another kind of leadership. There are those who lead by personal conviction. Down deep in the core of their very being they have convictions about what is right and wrong and lead in this manner no matter what others may think or say. This type of leadership leads people to do what they “need” to do, not simply what they “want” to do. Leaders with personal conviction know the danger of getting what you may have wanted only to find out it was not what you really needed. These are leaders who believe that character still counts in politics. These are leaders of the “kosher” variety and are needed now in the political arena more than ever before.

This election season is not the first time the people of Israel have faced extremely important decisions in terms of leadership. Twenty six hundred years ago Israel faced a major leadership crisis and was in desperate need of moral and ethical leadership. Of that time God said, “I sought for a man among them who should build up the wall and stand in the breech before me for the land that I should not destroy it. But I found none” (Ezekiel 22:30). As Israelis make ready to enter the voting booth in the coming elections God is still on a search. He is searching for someone who will “stand in the breech” today, someone who still believes that character counts and that being kosher is essential to God blessed leadership.

During those days Judah had known a few kosher kings, men like Josiah and, to an extent, Hezekiah. But now Zedekiah sat upon the throne and brought with him the attitude that character didn’t count as much anymore. Corruption in high places was running rampant. They were no longer a nation whose God was the Lord. God had given Israel three incredible blessings…a Lord…a Law…and a Land. But in those days HaShem had removed His sovereign hand of prosperity, power, and protection from them and almost overnight they discovered that character did indeed count after all and they subsequently fell into Babylonian captivity. 

This should be a warning, a wake up call, for us today in America as well as for our friends in Israel. We should all be asking, “Does character still count in our national leaders anymore?” God has not changed. As scripture records, “The eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose heart is loyal to Him” (2 Chronicles 16:9). God is still searching for someone today to lead His people with character and integrity, someone whose heart is “loyal to Him.”

As our Israeli friends are getting ready to vote let’s pray they enter the voting booth with the right perception, realizing that God is still sovereign. He is the one who is searching for the right type of leader. He said, “I sought” for a man. This is not us seeking for God. This is the God of the universe searching for us! This is the way it is. Sinful man has never searched for God. He runs from God.  Go back to the very beginning in the garden. It is God who is doing the searching for the man and the woman. They are running. They are hiding. Things haven’t changed today. It is time to vote for leaders with the right perception realizing that God is in play here and He is still on a search. HaShem believes that character still counts, especially when we are choosing our national leaders.

Let’s also pray that our Israeli friends vote not only with the right perception but for the right person. God said He was searching “for a man.” There is one somebody who can make a difference. And, by the way, the use of the term “man” can be generic meaning man or woman. Israel knows this well having once known the leadership of one of the world’s most outstanding women, Golda Meir. The term “man” is singular here. All throughout human history the stories of great nations, institutions, and movements can be traced back to one person. Examples abound like Moses in the Exodus…Herzl at Basel…Churchill in World War II…King in the civil rights movement…Ben Gurion in the founding days of the modern state of Israel…and on and on. God uses men and women to accomplish his tasks. God always works through people, not plans or programs or policies, to accomplish his purpose.

God says he is still searching for a man who will “stand in the breech.” Israel needs a leader who possesses not just the right perception and is the right person but one with the right position.  Someone who is not afraid to “stand.” Standing in the breech for a nation takes character and courage. This is what Moses did at Rephidim. Kosher leaders are those men and women who make decisions by inner principle and not by outer pressure. They stand tall on principle when others shrink back when outside pressure bears down upon them. They stand in the gap in behalf of their people. 

Evangelicals who pray for Israel should also pray they elect a leader with the right perspective. Kosher leaders never lose sight of the fact that they are standing “before Me.” That is, that they have an audience of One. HaShem said, “I searched…for a man…who would stand in the breech…BEFORE ME.” Leaders ultimately must answer to the Lord and understand that, first and foremost, their service is before Him before it is before anyone else. Our Christian Bible insists that it is the Sovereign Lord Himself who places our leaders in civil government (Romans 13). A constant perspective that we are standing “before” God is what enables leaders to stand by their policies and positions without changing them when there is a change in the wind of public opinion. Having this perspective is what holds a politician to keeping their promises. Voters need to keep the perspective that “the King’s heart is in the hand of the Lord…and He turns it wherever He wills” (Proverbs 21:1).

And, we must take special note to pray that a leader will be elected with the right purpose. HaShem says, “I searched for a man who would make up the wall and stand in the breech before me FOR THE LAND that I should not destroy it” (Ezekiel 22:30 emphasis added). Leaders can be used of God to save nations. We have seen this in the past. The land of Israel is owned by HaShem Himself. Israel, above all other nations, needs a leader with the right purpose who places national security at the very top of their agenda. Surrounded on all sides by hostile forces bent on their annihilation, this is one of, if not, the most, crucial elections in modern Israeli history. Israel’s leadership needs to remember the warnings that came with the fate of Nebuchadnezzar, “Those who walk in pride He (HaShem) is able to put down” (Daniel 4:37). 

The ultimate chutzpah is expecting exemplary leadership from corrupt and compromised candidates.  As we go through our checklist in making personal decisions in the voting booth we should make sure that at the top of our list is the question—Is He or She Kosher? Do they have a “kosher connection.”  In a world of increasingly polarized and polluted politics character still counts.

At this writing Israeli politicians are scrambling to build their coalitions in order to reach the 61 vote Knesset threshold for the ultimate election to the office of Prime Minister. Compromise and potential corruption abound as they try and coalesce around common, and at times not so common, interests. Everyone at this time is searching for the ultimate coalition. Few seem to understand that the greatest “coalition partner” they could have is the Lord God Himself. He is searching…right now…for a man…who will stand in the breech…before Him…for the land. In Ezekiel’s day these tragic words were recorded—“But He found none” (Ezekiel 22:30). 

As we evangelicals “pray for the peace of Jerusalem” (Psalm 122:6) and for our Israeli friends in their coming elections let us pray that those words of Ezekiel that “He found none” will not be spoken today. When all is said and done in the Israeli elections on October 27, we will get a definitive answer to the kosher question….DOES CHARACTER STILL COUNT?