By Lonny Moses

as Rabbi Ben Zakai and even Hillel, reverting to a more direct interpretation of the Torah, as a way to solidify their rule. Their reign ultimately ended with the destruction of the second temple and with the Galut or the exile from Jerusalem.

When Rabbi Ben Zakkai interpreted Moses' line about upholding the torah, he was not describing a theoretical threat from God. Rather, he was describing the actual human and social conditions which had led, ultimately, to the end of Jewish rule in Palestine.

He said that there were three sins which had lead these curses to come to pass. They were: lending money with interest, attempting to collect debts that had already been paid, and promising charity without delivering. In other words, Ben Zakkai looked at the social ills and divisions which had diminished the strength of the community during the rule of the Sadduccees and said that this is what brought an end to autonomous, Jewish civilization.

It was not about the attacking army and not about God’s wrath. It was about our choices and the consequences of those choices.

For nearly 2000 years after this, we didn’t have a national home, or political autonomy. So when the first waves of modern Aliyah started up at the end of the 19th century, the importance of Moses’ wisdom in Ki Tavo couldn’t have been more pertinent. The Jewish people began an experiment to see whether we could accomplish something in Israel today what the Jews of the Bible had not been able to maintain. That is, the establishment of a Jewish homeland that is sustainable, not just economically and politically, but also socially and spiritually.

The early Zionists understood this very well. Writing about Israel, they focused intensely not just on the establishment of the state, but also on its character. They

talked about the revival of Hebrew culture, about the vision of the prophets, about equality and mutual responsibility. They understood that no Jewish homeland would be able to survive, let alone be worth having, it if it was not accompanied by a renaissance in Jewish values, principles and ethical living.

Like Moses, they also understood that true leadership was not about making threats, or forcing people to bow to your will. Rather, the test of true leadership is to bring the choices your community faces into stark relief, and then to demand that people take responsibility for their actions and those of their fellow Jews. They understood that our mutual prosperity is dependent on the society we create together. This is the core of Zionism and of Jewish Leadership.

About a year and a half ago, I made Aliyah to join growing movement of urban kibbutzim in Israel, that is based very strongly in these Zionist, Jewish principles of leadership and responsibility. Whereas the Kibbutz movement once led the Zionist movement by being on the vanguard of agricultural settlement, we now try to lead Israel society in a different way.

We live and work in places that are underserved by the Israeli government, in order to strengthen the ideals of Zionist, Jewish Leadership. We organize people and communities around the principles of mutual responsibility and respect.

Many of Israel’s leaders and advocates over the past few decades, seem to want the opposite. Taking advantage of the unrest in the region they have been

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