Bella Davidov

The Story of Purim

March 5, 2023 By Bella Davidov Leave a Comment

The central character in the story of Purim is the Jewish girl Esther (originally Hadassah.) Hadassah was an orphan, raised by her uncle Mordechai. They descended from exiled Jews who lived in the ancient Persian Empire. On one occasion, the Persian King Ahasuerus (Artaxerxes) became furious at his beautiful wife Vashti for refusing to appear at his great banquet and decided to replace her. An order was issued to bring to the Palace all the kingdom’s beautiful virgins from whom Artaxerxes would choose a new queen.

Esther, being very beautiful, also was brought to the Palace. The king loved Esther more than all the other virgins and chose her to replace Queen Vashti. Esther’s uncle Mordechai advised her to hide her Jewish origins.

The King had elevated a certain man, Haman the Agagite (descended from Amalek) to the powerful position of Prime Minister of the Empire. Haman was extremely wealthy and influential and according to the King’s command, all the royal servants at the king’s gate had to bow down to and revere Haman. However, Mordechai who also sat in the king’s gate worshiped only the true God of Israel.

Mordechai could not bow down before any man. When Haman heard of Mordechai’s refusal to bow before him, and that he was a Jew, it aroused his anger and hatred, not only toward Mordechai but toward all the Jewish people. Haman schemed to destroy them. Haman persuaded the King to sign a decree authorizing the extermination of the Jews. A date was set for this purpose by casting lots (“PUR”). The lot fell on the 13th of the month of Adar.

It was a time of mourning for all the Jews in the kingdom of Persia and Media.

Esther realized that she was chosen as Queen of Persia for such a time as this; to be used by God for the salvation of His people. She rose to the occasion by taking a step of faith and went before the Highest Authority (the God of Israel) in prayer and fasting after calling all the Jews in the capital city of Shushan to stand with her in prayer and fasting for three days before she risked her life by approaching the king uninvited.

Although Esther was the king’s beloved queen, she was part of his harem. As such, coming to him uninvited meant certain death unless the king extend his royal scepter. Esther was now willing to take this risk in hope of saving her people and said, “After that (the three days of prayer and fasting) I will go to the king, although it is against the law. And if I perish, I perish!”

Even though God’s name is not mentioned in the story of Esther, His hand is visibly at work. It is obvious Esther and the Jews fasted and prayed to the God of Israel during those three days. God not only used Esther’s beauty to find favor in the eyes of the King, but He also gave her wisdom and a strategy.

On the third day of the fast, Esther, dressed in royal attire, stood in the inner court in front of the hall where the King sat on his throne. When he saw her, he remembered his great love for her and extended his golden scepter, inviting her to approach.

“What is your request?” he asked. “I will grant you up to half the kingdom.”

Esther simply requested that the King and Haman attend a private banquet she had prepared that day in the King’s honor. Neither of them knew Esther was Jewish.

During the banquet as they were enjoying the food and wine, the King sensed there was something more on her heart and asked her again, “What is your request? I will grant it up to half the kingdom.”

Her request was that they come again the next day to another private banquet she would prepare for the King and Haman. In his pride, Haman bragged to his loved ones how important he was that Queen Esther chose to invite only him, besides the King, to her banquet.

At the second banquet, as they were enjoying the food and drink, the King again asked, “Queen Esther, what is your request? Even up to half the kingdom, it will be granted.”

This time, Queen Esther revealed she was Jewish and asked that her life and the life of her people, the Jews, be spared. “This is my request, for I and my people have been sold to be destroyed, killed, and annihilated. If we had merely been sold as slaves, I would have kept silent and not disturbed the King.”

When the King asked who dare do such a thing, Esther pointed to Haman and said, “An adversary and enemy! This wicked Haman!” The King was enraged, left his drink, and went out to the garden to absorb all this new twist of events.

Haman was terrified of what the King might do to him and stood in front of Queen Esther to beg for his life. At that very moment, the King returned from the palace garden to the banquet hall and saw Haman falling on the couch where Esther was. Alarmed, the King exclaimed, “Will he even molest the queen while she is with me in the house?”

The King ordered that Haman be hanged on the very pole Haman had set in his house to hang Mordechai the Jew. (Esther 7: 9-10)

Mordechai received the honor of being placed in the highest position and was given the King’s signet ring to reverse the edict. It was a day of joy and celebration for the Jews, and the Purim holiday was established for all generations.

Reform in the Israeli Judicial System

January 28, 2023 By Bella Davidov Leave a Comment

Should Supreme Court Judges be elected instead of appointed?

Should Judicial Pronouncements be subject to Knesset approval?

The Supreme Court’s main purpose is to interpret the law and defend the Constitution. It must assure that laws follow the Constitution.

The Supreme Court in the U.S.

In the most democratic republic, the US, the court’s main purpose is to interpret laws passed by the legislature, to defend them, and adhere to the Constitution which is the foundational governing document of the country, adopted and amended by “We the People.” Supreme Court Justices may hold their position as long as they choose unless the Senate impeaches them. Anything else is a usurpation (the act of taking control of something without having the right to do so, especially of a position of power.)

The US Supreme Court functioned as an antidemocratic institution when it declined to enforce federal laws because the unelected judges disagreed with Congress about whether they are constitutionally appropriate.

While President Lincoln was in office, the court decided that Congress had no power to restrict the spread of slavery. President Lincoln gave reasons why Congress, and not the Supreme Court, should have the final word on what the Constitution requires. He stated:

“The candid citizen must confess that if government policy upon vital questions affecting the whole people is to be irrevocably fixed by the Supreme Court,” the people will have ceased to be their own rulers, having to that extent practically resigned their government into the hands of that eminent tribunal.”

Lincoln was in essence saying that a self-governing people (elected by the majority of the citizens) should have the power to determine what their fundamental law meant.

Lincoln’s argument wasn’t that the Constitution shouldn’t be enforced, but that democratically, Congress was the best institution to enforce it. If people or state governments disagree about a law’s constitutionality, they can campaign to repeal that law. Even the number of Supreme Court Justices is left to Congress. Currently, there are nine justices in the US Supreme Court.

However, if the Supreme Court decides not to enforce a federal law, the majority of justices actually declare that their view is superior to everyone else’s. Even if the president, more than 500 members of Congress, and the four other justices interpret the Constitution as permitting a law, if five justices disagree, then the law is not enforced.

The Supreme Court In Israel

In Israel in the last three decades, the left lost the elections except for the last government that was formed with a minority of voters since the right-wing parties, headed by the largest party, Likud, was shy of one Knesset Member in order to form a coalition.

About 25 years ago, the Supreme Court headed by leftist judge Aaron Barak gradually took control over government policies and Knesset legislation by doing exactly what President Lincoln was against. Israel is the only country in the world where the Supreme Court makes laws without a conscious decision by the government legislative authority.

There is now an absurd situation where the government is restricted from expressing its position, which represents the majority of its citizens since it is bound by the non-elected few legal advisers. The notion that a group of judges protects democracy better than legislators has no basis, nor should there be a difference between the rule of law and the rule of judges, which is now the case in Israel.

Through the years, the attorney general, government legal advisors, and the Supreme Court have managed to block successive Likud governments from advancing their policies across a great number of issues. They gave themselves the authority, binding decisions to overturn any government decision and law, which is unreasonable in their opinion.

The new Justice Minister Yariv Levin has proposed a series of changes aimed at curbing the powers of the judiciary, including allowing lawmakers to pass laws that the High Court of Justice has struck down.

The suggested reforms in the judicial system will first of all further politicize the process for electing judges, giving the government control of appointments, the government’s involvement in the election of the High Court’s Chief Justice; thus allowing the government to create a new position of State Prosecutor.

Now, with Justice Minister Yariv Levin’s judicial and legal reform plan representing the first real threat to their grip on power, the judicial system and its supporters in the media and the far left are threatening to overthrow the government.

Levin has proposed a law that would empower the country’s 120-seat Knesset to override Supreme Court decisions with a simple majority of 61 votes. Levin also proposes giving the government control of appointments, and the government’s involvement in the election of the High Court’s Chief Justice, making it more difficult for the Supreme Court to abolish bills and allowing the Knesset to overturn such rulings; bar the Supreme Court from intervening on Basic Laws and with a majority of 61 Knesset members, allow the Knesset to re-legislate laws the court does manage to annul. Legal advisors to public ministries will be appointed by the ministers, and absolve ministers of the requirement to abide by their legal advisors’ guidance, weakening the position of the legal advisor to the government.

Levin plans to restore power that was grabbed by overly intervening judges back to elected officials.

Another critical limitation on the court that is necessary by the reformation is removing the court’s ability to use the clause of “reasonableness” which is not actually a law but decisions that are “reasonable” in the judge’s opinion, which they have used for years to abolish important government and local authorities decisions. Because “reasonableness” is based on opinions and not actual laws, the new government opposes it and proposes to change it.

“We go to the polls, vote, elect, and time after time, people we didn’t elect choose for us… that is not democracy,” Levin said last week when outlining the major components of his reforms during a press conference in the Knesset. These reforms will strengthen the legal system, and restore the public’s trust in it. They will restore order: It will allow the legislatures to legislate, the government to govern, legal advisers to advise, and judges to judge.”

The leftists fear that the government will have ultimate power that it will use not only against LGBTQ rights and illegal immigrants but also in elections and free speech and anything it wants. These fears are unfounded since the government is bound by the existing Basic Laws.

Unrest in Israel

January 27, 2023 By Bella Davidov Leave a Comment

The battle rages in Israel between the left that lost the elections and the new right-wing government. Thousands of Israelis took to the streets last Saturday evening to protest plans by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s new government whose opponents say threaten democracy and freedoms.

The protesters gathered in the central city of Tel Aviv days after the right-wing and religiously conservative government was sworn in.

“The settler government is against me,” read one placard. Another banner read, “Housing, Livelihood, Hope.” Some protesters carried rainbow flags.

The protest was led by left-wing and Arab members of the Israeli parliament, the Knesset. They contend that proposed plans by the new Cabinet will hinder the judicial system and widen societal gaps.

The left-wing protesters slammed Justice Minister Yariv Levin, who recently unveiled the government’s long-promised overhaul of the judicial system that aims to weaken the country’s Supreme Court.

Critics accused the government of declaring war on the legal system, saying the plan will up-end Israel’s system of checks and balances and undermine its democratic institutions by giving absolute power to the new governing coalition.

Picture: Israeli and Palestinian flags are seen at an anti-government demonstration in Tel Aviv, January 7, 2023. (Ahmad Al-Bazz) from +972 Magazine

Yair Lapid, the former prime minister and head of the opposition, said he would fight the changes “in every possible way” and vowed to cancel them if he returns to power. “Those who carry out a unilateral coup in Israel need to know that we are not obligated to it in any way whatsoever,” he said.

What has triggered this battle is the left’s objections to what they claim is a combination of the government’s proposed laws against LGBTQ rights, its plan to overhaul the law enforcement and education systems, and, most prominently, its proposals for “reform” of the judiciary.

However, democracy is not threatened if an elected body sets the rules to void a law that a majority of judges believe offends a Basic Law. Should a mere 8 or 11 Supreme Court judges invalidate a Knesset law? This is what the government wants to refute since these laws are legislative judgments and not judicial prerogatives.

Newly-appointed Justice Minister Levin’s proposed law would make several other reasonable changes affecting the membership and power of Israel’s judiciary, but not removing their power completely.

Levin and the Knesset’s Chair Rothman have stated they intend to make reforms in the Israeli judicial system, mainly in the authority of the Supreme Court. Read more about the suggested reforms here – Click. The left and Arab parties are protesting against the new government every Saturday in Tel Aviv.

These protests are organized and financed by left-wing organizations such as Standing Together, the New Fund for Israel, and Breaking the Silence all of which oppose Israel being God’s Land and a Jewish State. They claim that Israel should be the state of ALL its citizens, not just Jews and that this government is promoting “racist” and “dictatorial policies.” The left is declaring a “struggle for democracy.”

The Saturday protests also include a smaller, more radical group of Israeli anti-Zionists and pro-Palestinians who hold banners and signs against Israeli ‘apartheid’ and ‘colonialism,’ as well as Palestinian flags.

Last week National Security Minister Ben Gvir instructed the police commissioner to ban the Palestinian flag in public and called for more drastic measures against future demonstrations. Gvir’s measures have incited more people, even leaders from nearly every political party in the opposition, to commit to a similar demonstration expected shortly.

We are thankful to the Lord that there was not one incident of violence in these protests. Please pray that peaceful protests will continue to be peaceful.

BREAKING NEWS – PLEASE PRAY!

January 21, 2023 By Bella Davidov Leave a Comment

The massacres against Israeli citizens by Palestinian terrorists continue. Since the September 1993 Oslo agreements that Israel hoped would lead to lasting peace until September 2000, nearly 300 Israelis were murdered in terrorist attacks. Since September 2000, Palestinian terrorists murdered another 1,403 Israelis.

Last Friday night, at least seven innocent Jewish citizens were shot dead at close rage with a handgun outside an East Jerusalem synagogue by a 21-year-old Arab Palestinian from E. Jerusalem.

The attack took place on international Holocaust Memorial Day, which is dedicated to the memory of the six million Jews murdered by the Nazis in the Holocaust. The Israeli police called the attack a slaughter of innocent Jewish civilians. The Jews were observing the holy day of Shabbat.
After his shooting spree at innocent Israelis, the terrorist fled the scene. When Israeli security personnel intercepted him, he tried shooting at them, but they neutralized him.

The very next day – Saturday morning, a 13-year-old Arab boy from E. Jerusalem opened fire on people visiting the City of David. A father and son were seriously injured. Others were injured as well. The shooter was neutralized.

Please “Pray for the Peace of Jerusalem”.

Democracies

December 7, 2022 By Bella Davidov Leave a Comment

US Democracy/Republic

Unlike the ancient Greek democracy, the US system is at its core, not a pure democracy, but a constitutional republic with democratic elections, as clearly stated in the U.S. Constitution: “The United States shall guarantee to every State in this Union a Republican form of Government.” This differs from the original ancient Greek democracy, which the American founders believed to be a corrupt form of government. There are fundamental differences between pure democracy and constitutional republic forms of government.

The Difference between a Democracy and a Republic

The key difference between a democracy and a republic lies in the limits placed on government by the law, which has implications for minority rights. Both forms of government use a representational system, where citizens vote to elect politicians to represent their interests and form the government.

In a republic, a constitution, or charter of rights, protects certain inalienable rights that cannot be taken away by the government, even if it has been elected by a majority of voters.

In a so-called pure democracy, the majority is not restrained in this way. It can impose its will on the minority. It also differs from a representative democracy in which constituents choose leaders to govern according to their interests.

The US is a democratic republic that guarantees fundamental rights and liberties and features an electoral system combining direct elections for legislators and indirect voting (through an electoral college) for the President.

Other Nations

Given that the US is a republic with democratic elections, Americans may not understand how it compares with other forms of government.

For example, unlike the United States, the United Kingdom has a constitutional monarchy that has democratic elections. Although the UK has a legislative system, its Parliament’s historical foundations are not entirely democratic. Whereas the House of Commons is an elected body, the House of Lords is hereditary, though its authority to originate legislation has been curtailed over the years. Yet, unlike Israel, its government is rarely delegitimized.

Some Muslim countries, like Malaysia, enshrine Islam as the national faith; citizens must be Muslim to be considered ethnic Malaysians. Even though they have constitutions and legislative bodies, certain rights and freedoms are subservient to Islamic law as applied by Sharia courts, and there is no separation between religion and state (which is seen as a purely western invention).

Israel

Israel is a parliamentary democracy, consisting of legislative, executive, and judicial branches. Its institutions are the Presidency, the Knesset (parliament), the Government (cabinet), and the Judiciary.

The system is based on the principle of separation of powers, with checks and balances, in which the executive branch (the government) is subject to the confidence of the legislative branch (the Knesset) and the law guarantees the independence of the judiciary.

The President in this system has just a few symbolic duties, with no political power. Defined by law, his duties are mostly ceremonial and formal, such as ceremonially opening the first session of a new Knesset; accepting the credentials of foreign envoys; signing treaties and laws adopted by the Knesset; appointing judges, the governor of the Bank of Israel and heads of Israel’s diplomatic missions abroad. He can pardon prisoners and commute sentences, on the advice of the minister of justice.

The President is elected once in seven years by a simple majority of the Knesset from among candidates, nominated based on their personal stature and contribution to the state.

The Israeli parliament, The Knesset is the legislative authority elected in a general election.

The Knesset, through its committees, conducts general debates on government policy and activity, as well as on legislation. Debates are conducted in Hebrew, but members may speak Arabic, as both are official languages; simultaneous translation is available.

Every citizen is eligible to vote for the Knesset from age 18 and to be elected to the Knesset from age 21. Knesset elections, for a tenure of four years, are general, national, direct, equal, secret, and proportional, with the entire country constituting a single electoral constituency. The Knesset may dissolve itself or be dissolved by the Prime Minister before the end of its term. Until a new Knesset is formally constituted following elections, full authority remains with the outgoing one.

Knesset elections are based on a vote for a party rather than for individuals, and the many political parties, which compete for election to the Knesset, reflect a wide range of outlooks and beliefs. Knesset seats are assigned in proportion to each party’s percentage of the total national vote.

The Government (cabinet of ministers) is the executive authority of the state, charged with administering internal and foreign affairs, including security matters. Its policy-making powers are very wide and it is authorized to take action on any issue, which is not delegated by law to another authority. Like the Knesset, the government usually serves for four years, but its tenure may be shortened if the Prime Minister is unable to continue in office due to death, resignation, or impeachment when the government appoints one of its members (who is a Knesset member) as acting Prime Minister.

In the case of a vote of no confidence, the government and the Prime Minister remain in their positions until a new government is formed. All the ministers must be Israeli citizens and residents of Israel; they need not be Knesset members, but a majority usually are. Ministers, with the approval of the Prime Minister and the government, may appoint a deputy minister in their ministry; all deputy ministers must be Knesset members.

To date, all governments have been based on coalitions of several parties, since no party has received enough Knesset seats to be able to form a government by itself.

The Judiciary – Israeli law guarantees the absolute independence of the judiciary. Judges are appointed by the President, upon recommendation of a special nominations committee, comprised of Supreme Court judges, members of the bar, and public figures. Judges’ appointments are for life, with a mandatory retirement age of 70.