Majorities can be wrong – Sh’lach L’cha
Democracy is a good thing. It expresses the will of the people. It ensures that government is not imposed from above. In that sense it is part of Jewish life too. Our communal government and judicial procedure works on a democratic principle, Acharei rabbim l’hattot, “Incline after the majority”.
But the majority rule does not always work. A passage in our sidra is an illustration. “If it be done in error by the congregation… then all the congregation shall offer an offering” (Num. 15:24-25). There are two implications – it is possible for all or most of the congregation to sin, and if they do sin, we prefer to say they acted against their true nature.
In Biblical times the people often abandoned God and the commandments. In Ahab’s time the majority followed the 400 prophets of Baal. In Babylon the people asserted that they were no longer bound by the Torah. Present-day Jews also give themselves dispensations.
If the majority rule always prevailed we would have to say the people’s will was clear and they had voted against God and the Torah as a whole or against specific commandments. And it would be absurd to say that if, for instance, the majority of Jews do not observe Shabbat, therefore Shabbat is abolished.
But the words, “if it be done in error”, give us hope. In most cases people simply do not know the greatness and grandeur of that which they abandon. That is why every community must enable its members to rediscover the riches of their heritage and make the Torah their “life and length of days”.
