Ze'ev shows us the way

You know, dear readers, after taking a look at the direction this blog's been going over the past two weeks, it's become apparent to me that the vast majority focuses on Israeli politics, and settlement issues, specifically.

This made me wonder: is it really my place to opine, critique and ridicule the ideas, personalities and problems of a country I don't even live in? I have no plans to ever make aliyah (though I do have family there and I would like to visit), and perhaps putting so much attention on this sort of stuff is really no more than a horrible case of armchair-advocacy on my part.

But then I came across this little ditty, written by Ze'ev Orenstein, my online mentor and (one-way) dueling partner, written during the Disengagement:

Another common statement made by Jews who don't live in Israel is:

"Jews who don't live in Israel shouldn't have an opinion about what goes on in Israel, as they don't live there and don't have to live with the consequences."

I strongly disagree. When one doesn't have an opinion about something, it means they aren't interested in it. If one doesn't make the effort to be well informed or educated about a particular issue, it means they don't care about it. There is no excuse for any caring, involved Jew to be ignorant about anything relating to Israel, and certainly not something as momentous as the tragedy that is befalling the Jewish People today.

You know what? Ze'ev makes a good point. It's not that I don't care about American politics; it's that at the moment, Israeli politics are a hell of a lot more interesting and (somewhat) personal to me. So thanks, Ze'ev. Thanks... a lot.