How should an Orthodox Jew approach politics in a democracy? Should he vote pragmatically or ideologically? Based on Torah principles or national interests?
I believe the Torah sees politics as a means to promote God and His vision for the world. I say this based on halachic, hashkafic, and practical grounds:
Halachic
1) God commanded Noach and all of mankind to observe seven basic mitzvos, which actually encompass many more. The Gemara (Chullin 92b) counts 30, and this number grows if one includes all their details.
One of the basic seven, though, is “dinim” – promoting justice – which, according to the Rambam, means using government to ensure the observance of the other six Noahide Laws (Melachim 9:17).
The Jewish people, of course, have 613 mitzvos. But God on Mt. Sinai didn’t decrease the number of mitzvos we already had to keep. He merely added to them. We are therefore still required, as the Gemara (Sanhedrin 58b) makes clear, to keep the laws binding on gentiles. Thus, it stands to reason – and a number of poskim have ruled in this manner – that Jews, like non-Jews, are required when possible to see to it that government laws mandate the observance of the Noahide Laws.
2) One of the most basic mitzvos in the Torah – which we mention in Shema twice a day – is loving God. How do we fulfill this mitzvah? According to the Sifri (on Deuteronomy 6:5), we do so by “bringing the creations to love God.” The Sifri notes that Avraham “converted people and brought them under the wings of the Shechinah.”
Since the Torah hadn’t yet been given, though, Avraham clearly did not convert them to Judaism. Rather, his “converts” committed to observing the Noahide Laws.
In his Sefer HaMitzvos, the Rambam quotes some of Sifri’s comments on loving God, making it clear that he saw them not just as agada, but as halacha. Thus, the mitzvah of loving God requires us to care about non-Jews observing the Seven Noahide Laws.
3) The Sifri (Devarim 14:2, 14:21) states that there is mitzvah to ensure that people don’t get the impression that non-Jews are holier than Jews. Tractate Kusim (one of the 14 minor tractates) also mentions this halacha, and it is the source, according to several authorities, of the Magen Avraham’s ruling that one cannot build a shul on Shabbos. Even though there are ways of doing so in a halachically permissible way, it would be a chillul Hashem, the Magen Avraham writes, since non-Jews don’t build houses of worship on their day of rest.
Thus, since many non-Jews make biblical morality their top priority when voting, we as Jews must do so too so as not to permit the impression that non-Jews care more about morality than we do.
Hashkafic
The Torah tells us that Noach was righteous in his generation, implying that had he lived in Avraham’s generation, he would have been unremarkable. Why would he have been unremarkable? Because unlike Avraham, he didn’t love God enough to go out and convince others to follow Him.
As descendants of Avraham, we must follow his example of loving God by influencing others to follow His commands.
Practical
In the last two decades, the Orthodox Jewish community has increasingly become a target for adhering to divine values that American law now considers outdated and “bigoted.” In other words, the more immoral the culture, the less safe is our community from being sued for “discrimination” and other “offenses.”
But even leaving this problem aside: It is a fact that we are influenced by our surroundings, and civilized society is now more immoral than it has been for many centuries, perhaps even millennia. Some have suggested that we shield ourselves from this immorality by building many more ghettoes like Kiryas Joel. The Torah, though, makes it clear that we should not do so. In fact, doing so would arguably imply that our ancestors were murderers. What do I mean?
Our ancestors annihilated the Canaanites at God’s behest lest they be influenced by the Canaanites’ wicked ways. But if one accept the premise that the Jewish people can remain uninfluenced by the outside world no matter how immoral it is, then we did not really need to eradicate the Canaanites. And since there was no need to do so, our ancestors can only be regarded as “murderers” for having done so. Since this conclusion is absurd, the premise – that we can remain unaffected – is obviously absurd too.
The Sefer Chassidim states: “The customs of Jews, even the best of them, resemble the nations among whom they settle.” If this statement was true in the Middle Ages when we were persecuted – who wants to be like his persecutor? – how much truer is it today.
If you doubt the power of outside influence, just consider: Is there any frum Jew alive today who is as disgusted by certain forms of immorality as our great-grandparents were?
