Sen. Shetland: Good morning. Three weeks ago, when the
Majority Leader took away Sen. Fontaine’s speaking privileges for shouting
“Fire!” in the middle of Sen. Bridgeport’s filibuster, I said a little prayer
to myself: “O Lord, take pity on this poor, misguided Congress.”
G-d’s answer to me was “Roy ,
invite the top religious leaders to testify before your Senate committee on how
to get America ’s
legislators to work together again for the good of the country.”
Our first witness is Rabbi Joseph Blickstein, spiritual
leader of Suburban Torah in Meridian ,
Idaho
Rabbi Blickstein: Mashiach.
Sen. Shetland: Excuse me, Rabbi. You said “mushy” what?
Rabbi Blickstein: I said, “Mashiach.” The Messiah. The person
who will perfect the world.
Sen. Shetland: Now there’s an ambitious agenda! Who is this
guy? How’s he gonna get elected? Does he have an organization set up yet in Iowa or New
Hampshire ?
Rabbi Blickstein: Mashiach will be a king. The people will
accept him as their leader based on his outstanding character traits and
accomplishments.
Sen. Shetland: He’s not going be asked to kiss a baby or
make a speech on ethanol?
Rabbi Blickstein: From my understanding, no. Mashiach, according
to Maimonides, is a Jewish king who will restore the Davidic Monarchy. He will
first compel the Jewish people to observe the Torah and then vanquish Israel ’s
enemies. Later he will rebuild the Temple in Jerusalem and inspire all Jews to return to the Land of Israel
Sen. Shetland: If you don’t mind me saying, Rabbi, so far
this sounds like a strictly Jewish affair. Didn’t you say Mashiach will perfect
the world?
Rabbi Blickstein: Yes, I did. What I just described to you
is the first stage of Mashiach’s rule, when it will be established that he is,
in fact, the Messiah the world has been waiting for all these years. After his
identity is confirmed, Mashiach will then turn his attention to the
world-at-large.
Sen. Shetland: So that’s when he’ll get us to work together
to balance the budget and create jobs?
Rabbi Blickstein: Senator, when Mashiach comes there will be
no more inflation, unemployment or credit crunch. Everyone will be able to obtain
the finest luxuries; as a result, famine, war, envy and competition will
disappear.
Sen. Shetland: My word, this Mashiach’s going to be better
than Greenspan!
Rabbi Blickstein: Since the economy will cease being a
concern, Mashiach will be free to truly unite the world, inspiring everyone to
serve G-d together.
Sen. Shetland: You got my juices flowing, Rabbi! Please call
my office if you have further suggestions along these lines … But now the Chair
recognizes the Ranking Minority Member, the Gentle Lady from California , Sen. Ventura.
Sen. Ventura: Thank you, Mr. Chairman. California has long taken pride in being at
the forefront of so many major American cultural trends. We invented the hot
tub, skateboarding and environmentalism. California
was the first state to say, “Have a nice day!” And ours were the first voters
to make extensive use of both the popular initiative and the Ouija Board. Rabbi
Blickstein, I don’t want my state to be left out of this. What can Californians
do to prepare the nation and the world for Mashiach?
Rabbi Blickstein: The Talmud identifies seven commandments
that G-d gave the nations of the world. These statutes derive their authority from
Mount Sinai where they were transmitted by G-d
as part of the Torah. The rabbinical sages have indicated that the nations of
the world should learn and observe the Seven Commandments as preparation for
the Age of Mashiach.
Sen. Ventura: Could you please tell us what these
commandments are, Rabbi? I want to make sure they contain nothing
environmentally damaging, discriminatory to minorities or women, or that would in
any way undermine the asparagus or windsurfing industries.
Rabbi Blickstein: The Seven Laws are 1) Do not worship false
gods; 2) Do not blaspheme G-d; 3) Do not murder; 4) Do not commit acts of
sexual immorality; 5) Do not steal; 6) Do not remove a limb from a living
animal; 7) Establish courts of justice.
Sen. Ventura: Rabbi Blickstein, is this a religion?
Rabbi Blickstein: The Noahide Laws are not a religion. They form
a foundation of universal ethics on which all humanity can stand as one to
acknowledge the One G-d, who endows everyone with life.
Sen. Ventura: Thank you very much, Rabbi … Mr. Chairman, I
yield the remainder of my time to the Gentleman from Rhode Island , Sen. Broadcloth.
Sen. Broadcloth: One and a half minutes, whoopee! … Rabbi, my question to you is
this: What is the End Game? Where is all this Mashiach business taking us? Let
me warn you, Rhode Islanders are a proud people. We may live in the smallest state,
but we were the first colony to declare independence from Great Britain .
We will not allow ourselves to be led around by the nose!
Rabbi Blickstein: The “End Game,” as you say, is that – in
the words of the prophet Isaiah – “The world will be filled with the knowledge
of G-d as the waters cover the sea.” Humankind will become permeated with awareness of G-d to such an
extent that the old world will become “covered” with goodness – unrecognizable in its complete transformation.
Sen. Broadcloth: Thank you, Rabbi. My time is up.
Sen. Shetland: Rabbi Blickstein, I’m sure I speak for the
entire Committee when I say that we’ve learned a lot from you today, sir, much
for all of us to consider … We will now adjourn for lunch. Our next witness
will be Raj Nanda Yogi, who will show us how to balance the budget using meditation
and deep breathing techniques. Sen. Ventura, how does 90 minutes sound to you?
All right, then, we'll see y’all back here at 1:30 …
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