Former minister Ayelet Shaked shared a personal reflection on Thursday ahead of the upcoming elections, expressing her longing for the Shabbat weekends she used to spend visiting synagogues across Israel during election campaigns.
“We are two weeks away from the elections, and for the first time in 15 years, I am not spending my Shabbat weekends in Petah Tikva, Givat Shmuel, and other places," Shaked wrote.
She explained that for years, she devoted many Shabbat weekends before elections to meeting members of the religious community in cities across the country, particularly in Petah Tikva, where her schedule was especially packed.
She described walking between synagogues, meeting thousands of people of all ages and from across the religious spectrum, and talking with them.
“Some were surprised that a woman was allowed to speak in a synagogue, but the fact is that I was allowed to, and always with great generosity and joy," she recalled.
Shaked added that despite the busy schedule and long walks, she had enjoyed those Shabbat weekends.
“People always asked me whether I found it exhausting. Well, I never did - I actually enjoyed it. I enjoyed observing Shabbat, meeting the public, the company, and the walking," she wrote.
She went on to reflect on what she described as a change in Israel’s public and political atmosphere, expressing nostalgia for a time when disagreements were handled with greater respect.
“Those were better days - days of elections, certainly, but also days of healthy debate, free of hatred and without the venomous, sharp social polarization we see today," she wrote.
Shaked concluded by expressing hope that the public atmosphere would change.
“I wish for us as a society, as a people, as a nation, that the days when disagreements were conducted with mutual respect and without hatred will return. I am certain they will."