Talmudic rabbis favored majority rule – much closer to a popular vote than the current system. Photo by iStock/Canva/Mira Fox

By Mira Fox
November 4, 2024

The Electoral College, a Byzantine system that does not always award the presidency to the candidate with the most votes, was designed by America’s own version of the Talmudic sages, also known as the Founding Fathers.

James Madison, Alexander Hamilton and others worried that the public was poorly educated and easily influenced, which could lead to poor decisions. The electoral college would serve to control the mob mentality of the public, since the electors would be leaders who could theoretically – although it happens very rarely – vote for someone other than their assigned candidate if they thought it was a bad idea. .

The true Talmudic sages took exactly the opposite approach. In one of the Talmud’s most famous parables, known as “The Oven of Akhnai,” the rule of the majority is considered such a high value that even God could not override the will of the people.

In history, several rabbis question whether an oven is kosher; they all agreed that this was not the case – except for one dissenting rabbi. He insists that the oven is kosher and that his analysis is so correct that God will prove him right. God reverses the flow of a river and causes a tree to fall from the ground, but this does not impress the majority group. Finally, a voice from heaven sounded indicating that the lone rabbi was right. Even that doesn’t change anything; the rabbis respond that the law of the Torah is in the hands of the people, where the laws are made by the majority, not by one who has God on his side. This is apparently a good answer, because it makes God smile.

Unlike the Founding Fathers, the rabbis are less concerned that the majority is wrong; in fact, they reject the idea of ​​a greater authority – whether God or a voter – capable of overriding the will of the majority. People disagree on a lot of things, and there’s nothing wrong with that, but that’s no way to guide or govern a community. Ultimately, the fairest and best way is to serve the interests of the greatest number.

Twice in the recent past – in 2000, when Al Gore won the popular vote but George W. Bush won the electoral college, and in 2016, when Hillary Clinton won the popular vote but Donald Trump was became president – ​​this system did not reflect the will of the people. Today, when elections depend almost entirely on swing states, people are highly critical of the Electoral College, which seems designed to reflect not the will of the citizens but rather a labyrinthine game of strategy.

Perhaps we should follow older wisdom and resort to a popular vote; it seems simpler. But even that is not that simple: nothing in the Talmud ever is.

The rabbi who rejects God’s authority in “The Oven of Akhnai” cites a Bible verse to support his argument. But this verse, when quoted in its entirety gives instructions to people not following the majority when they do something wrong or lie.

However, both sides in this year’s US elections claim the other is lying or bad. So perhaps it’s better not to rely on the Talmud after all.