Erev Bo 5771 Democracy beats bad leaders Rabbi Aaron Goldstein 7 January 2011

In this week’s Torah portion we hear of the last of the three plagues to afflict the Egyptians as punishment for the intransigence of their leader. After the further threat of a plague of locusts, Pharaoh’s courtiers say to him, “How long shall this one be a snare to us? Let their notables go to worship the Eternal their God! Are you not aware that Egypt is lost?”

Pharaoh’s courtiers confront their ‘divine leader’ and call for an end to the conflict with Israel’s God. Although their practical suggestion does not call for complete freedom, rather, just to let the men go and worship as was the Egyptian practice, their words begin and end with acknowledgment that the game was up, “How long shall this one be a snare to us…Are you not aware that Egypt is lost?”

How many conversations have been held like this, when battles are clearly lost, in military conflicts and political power struggles? I can certainly think in my own lifetime of despotic leaders who have held their peoples in a fearsome vice, yet whose power and stranglehold had begun to erode. The conversations amongst the leader’s circle who know that they will go down with the leader, pleading for a change of direction without hope, for they know that defeat is merely a matter of time and that the leader’s heart will remain hardened.

Many have been the African states ripped apart - often as a by-product of colonialism - by the rotten nature of their despotic leader or cabal of self-serving dignitaries, one must readily admit. Today Laurent Gbagbo is clinging to power in Ivory Coast following his internationally recognised loss in November’s presidential elections. One fears for the people of Ivory Coast.

Pseudo-democracy and rigged elections have too often maintained the power of those seeking to subvert the humanity of these concepts. But democracy is a strong tool and once introduced to the people can be the downfall of a despot.

Whilst Zimbabweans still live with great poverty and fear, Robert Mugabe’s hold on power has been diminished by the ballot-box that he once kept in his pocket. We hope that the same will be the case for the people of southern Sudan ahead of Sunday’s vote for independence from the north and Omar al-Bashir, who had the charge of genocide added to his charge sheet by the International Criminal Court last year.

Whilst we in the UK might complain about our governments and leaders, we are able to rely on our system to root out illegal behaviour, as the jailing of the ex-Labour MP David Chaytor for expenses fraud has shown this week.

We can also be justifiably proud that the eighth president of Israel, Moshe Katsav, was forced to resign following accusations of rape and sexual harassment and has now been found guilty. If his appeal to the Supreme Court fails as it is expected to do, Israel has displayed, in the words of Vernon Bogdanor writing in the Jewish Chronicle this week, “the mark of a constitutional democracy…that no one is above the law.” He further states that, “The chair of the judges in the Katzav case was George Karra, a Christian Arab. Israel is the only country in the Middle East where a former head of state could be convicted in a court chaired by a member of a national minority. In other Middle Eastern countries and in the Palestinian Authority, it is not only Jews who are at risk but, as recent events in Egypt have shown, Christians too.”

Yet, as Bogdanor also points out, whilst Israel must not be compared to authoritarian states if it wishes to be compared favourably with those democracies that have been tried, tested and respected, it must beware of the threats posed to it, seemingly on a weekly basis. In February we welcome Anat Hoffman, the Executive Director of the Israel Religious Action Centre. Please come to meet her, eat with her and hear how we can support her work towards a democracy that many of Israel’s founders envisioned, one which is true to the prophetic vision that is so dear to Liberal Judaism.

Democracy is our human attempt to provide equality and freedom to those who live within it. It is human and imperfect but it is our best attempt at allowing multitudes of people and peoples to live in peace and with well-being. It is our best attempt to support human relationships.

Tonight we are grateful to celebrate such a relationship that has stood the test of time, in fact half a century of time. Before we do, let us give thanks once more for the freedom gained by our ancient ancestors from the despot of their day. Even though we understand it mythically, our freedom from Pharaoh and our prison, the land of Egypt, stands firm as a leitmotif for our concern for the freedom of all peoples. It took many centuries for democracy to enter the lives of the civilised world. There are still those unredeemed and those for whom democracy is constantly challenged. Let us then celebrate its victories and fight against threats to erode democracies until such time as a better system arises. And let us pray for the freedom of all those, whose lives and relationships are not cherished by the leaders and systems who hold them captive.

Amen.