If the Shoe Flies, Throw It

Yesterday the State of Israel once again pushed the limits of Western society to enter that select club of countries that have introduced shoe throwing as the latest expression of discontent.  A 55-year-old man in the “throes” of  an ugly divorce expressed his anger with the high court of the land by tossing his footwear at Judge Beinish.  

Headlines on the news and in the papers described this act as a new low for this democratic society, yet another red line crossed. They spoke about what this says about Israeli society as a whole, and what it will take to reverse this horrible trend of disrespect.

My frist reaction was to consider the reports as sensationalistic exaggerations for the sake of creating controversy.  This was just one man – one incident – what was all the hype about?

And then I thought about a verse in this Shabbat’s Torah reading that has been bothering me all week – and considered that possibly old Shoeless in Jerusalem had given me a new insight into understanding…

Chapter 17, verse 3 reads in Hebrew:

וַיִּצְמָא שָׁם הָעָם לַמַּיִם, וַיָּלֶן הָעָם עַל-מֹשֶׁה; וַיֹּאמֶר, לָמָּה זֶּה הֶעֱלִיתָנוּ מִמִּצְרַיִם, לְהָמִית אֹתִי וְאֶת-בָּנַי וְאֶת-מִקְנַי, בַּצָּמָא

Most translations you will find of this verse smooth over a very strange grammatical issue in this verse.  The verse talks about the acts of the nation – the Am - and yet it offers a quote that seems to clearly be worded in the singular.  Here is how it reads literally:

The people began to suffer thirst because of the lack of water, and they began demonstrating against Moses.  “Why did you take us out of Egypt,” they said.  “Do you want to make me, my children, and my livestock die of thirst?”

It has been bothering me all week.  Why does the Torah change from the first person plural to the first person singular here?  Why does it say “me” and “my” instead of “us” and “our?” 

It think the Torah might be making a very significant point here. Societies crosses red-lines as a spin-off result of the inital chutzpadic behavior of the few. In the desert, the nation called out for water – this, the second time in only a few weeks – following the lead of one man who liked to complain.  The Torah wants us to know that murmurings among the Israelites began only after the first “shoe dropped,” after the head-of-household lodged his personal complaint.  Then the proverbial flood gates opened and the nation complained, each one about his own personal needs and hardships.  Even in the wake of hardships, they did not see themselves as one nation, under the leadership of one God. 

The Israeli shoe-throwing incident does have the potential of creating an epidemic of disrespect for the justice system and all that it stands for. 

However, it need-not be a comment on all of Israeli society.  It need not become an opening for others to do the same and even worse.   The red lines will stay in tact as long as the society can find ways to distance itself from those who dare to cross. 

A Defense Force for Humanity

“ We believe that if you save one life, you save a world.” Colonel Dr. Ariel Barr, IDF in Haiti.  Watch this NBC report.

President of Israel, Shimon Peres, put in a call to the Israeli contingent in Haiti, and these were some of his words:

‘“I thank you for expressing the humanity of the IDF. Your dedication shows the beautiful spirit of the IDF, which is human and respectful for life. The few moments of hope the citizens of Haiti have, are those when survivors are rescued from the ruins. The saving of lives and giving of lives. I speak in the name of the entire country when I thank you for your devotion, your abilities and your dedication, for bringing relief for the injured and pride to our State. The entire people watches every day with a crying heart and deep worry. You highlighted the ability of the IDF, which is not only the Defense Force of Israel, but a defense force for humanity.”

I have a lump in my throat every time I think of these words.  Two weeks ago I wrote about the future of Zionism.  I am feeling like what the IDF is doing in Haiti is a microcosm of what it is that the Jewish people and the State of Israel are capable of doing. Unfortunately, there are ongoing disasters of differing proportions throughout the world.  Drought, famine, disease – it is my prayer that Israel ultimately take upon itself the role of getting out there with the ingenuity that it seems only we have mastered, to better the world in all kinds of ways. In Herzl’s fiction book Altneuland, he envisions a palace in Jerusalem (in addition to  the Temple which he describes as rebuilt!).  That palace he called the Peace Palace..

Here in the Peace Palace, such universal efforts are channeled into one stream.  Wherever in the world a catastrophe occurs – earthquake, flood, famine, drought, epidemic – the stricken country wires to this centre for help.  Here there is always a stock of necessary supplies, because both the gifts of such supplies and the requests for them are centralized here. 

I swear, Herzl had the gift of prophecy!

In this week’s parasha, we will read of the exodus from Egypt.  Following all the havoc wreaked upon the Egyptians – the severe destruction of infrastructure and loss of life and limb - one would expect that the Egyptians would have looked at all of this destruction – all that Moses and Aaron had brought upon them through the auspices of their diety – and cursed them with the most horrible of curses – prayed to their Egyptian gods for Israel’s destruction – revenge, revenge!

However, the Torah tells us that this was not the case. It was just the opposite!

The LORD made it that the nation found favor in the eyes of the Egyptians , and they gave them whatever they asked for. In this way they carried away the wealth of the Egyptians when they left Egypt. (Exodus 12:36)

Why was this so? Perhaps the Torah means to teach us that God helped the Egyptian people realize who the real enemy was – their own Pharoah and his cabinet of advisors.  They realized what is was that their own leadership had wrought, what they had done to the Israelite nation, how they had oppressed them and enslaved them, and misled the Egyptian nation down a path of self-destruction.  There, at the rock-bottom of their national existence, in the wake of the gruesome death of the first-born of every household – the Egyptian people recognized the true face of their national enemy – and saw the truth about the Children of Israel.  In an effort to make amends, they showered Israel with gifts, asking for their forgiveness and mercy.

I like to fantasize that as the citizens of the world watch what the State of Israel and the IDF are doing to ”save worlds” on an island far removed from the Middle East, that they are realizing the real character of Israel, the true calling of the IDF, and the heroic efforts of the State of Israel IN ALL SITUATIONS to preserve and save human life, to defend humanity everywhere.

Im tirzu, ein zo aggadah…….

Tears in the Sea

The pictures and eye-witness reports coming out of Haiti indicate that we are only two weeks into this new decade and we have already suffered an immense, unimaginable loss of human life – we may very well surpass the levels of the 2004 tsunami.

How do we understand God’s role in the face of natural disaster?

In my soon to be published book, Where’s My Miracle?, I have devoted a section of the book to this difficult topic: Seeking the Hand of God amid Natural Disaster.

Here is a quote from the Talmud and a short passage from the book:

When the Holy One, blessed be He, is reminded of the great pain of His children suffering under the heels of their Gentile oppressors, He sheds two tears into the Mediterranean Sea whose sound is heard from one end of the world to the other. That is what we call an earthquake.” (Babylonian Talmud,  Berakhot 59a)

An earthquake is not the punishment or rebuke of an angry God, but rather a by-product of God’s sadness and His sympathy for us. In other words, according to this source, when human beings oppress and persecute other human beings, God, so to say, grieves for their suffering. The seismic vibrations felt “from one end of the world to the other” are the result of the “tears” God sheds at the thought of this suffering.

Since we know that God has no tears per se, let me suggest an interpretation of the deeper meaning of this text.

It seems to me that the text purposefully links the imperfections of humankind with the imperfections of the earth to teach an important lesson.

In this text, God is described as thinking about the suffering that His nation has endured through the persecutions wrought by other nations. This text seems to clearly articulate that these human atrocities are not God’s doing. They have been executed against God’s will, causing Him to grieve and even “cry” at the very thought of his creations choosing to be so evil to one another.

And, just as the sufferings for which God mourns here are not intentionally brought about by God, so too, natural disasters, such as earthquakes, are not intentionally served up by God. They too come about without divine intent.

Like tears rolling down one’s cheeks, neither the tears nor the exact place they land are the result of premeditated decisions. Although God originally created all aspects of the natural world, neither their timing nor the devastation they wreak upon us has been sent upon us by God.

Rabbi Jonathan Sacks, in an article he wrote entitled “Why Does God Allow Terrible Things to Happen to His People?” [Times (UK), January 1, 2005.] wrote as follows:

Natural disasters have no explanation other than that God, by placing us in a physical world, set life within the parameters of the physical. Planets are formed, tectonic plates shift, earthquakes occur, and sometimes – innocent people die. To wish it were otherwise is in essence to wish that we were not physical beings at all. Then we would not know pleasure, desire, achievement, freedom, virtue, creativity, vulnerability and love. We would be angels – God’s computers, programmed to sing His praise.

There is a lot more to say on this topic.  Nature can bring about devastation.  However, nature can also give protection.

When it comes to bringing about the first three plagues: blood, frogs and lice, God instructs that the act of hitting the Nile river or smacking the dust of Egypt is not toi be performed by Moshe, but rather by Aaron.  The Midrash(cited by Rashi) indicates that God insisted that it be this way, for Moshe owed his very life to both – it was the Nile that gently cared for him as baby, bringing him safely to his destiny, and the sand enabled him to bury the Egyptian and escape immediate danger. In both cases, teaches the Midrash, nature is to be respected for the life and protection if offers us.

Nature is a miracle; even if at times it can also wreak havoc.

For now, I will only add my prayers to those being uttered at this moment by millions around the world.

May all those who can lend assistance to the people of Haiti do so immediately.

May we not be indifferent to the suffering of our fellow human beings.

May God give strength to those who suffer, and comfort all those who mourn.

Is Zionism Dead?

Is Zionism dead?

What is Zionism about today, 61 years into this great endeavor called the State of Israel?

Last week our youngest son came home from school with an assignment to create a project memorializing members of the Jewish underground who had been captured by the British during the British mandate and hanged for their actions.  They are referred t in Hebrew as the Olei HaGardom. This project, specifically directed to 8th and 9th graders, was the idea of the Minister of Education, Gidon Sa’ar.  He claims that he is looking for ways to bring a sense of pride to the youth of Israel, pride in their history in and in those who, through their lives and deaths, brought the State of Israel into being.  In a letter announcing the new program, Sa’ar wrote, “I hope the program, recounting Olei Hagardom’s devotion to the struggle for Israel’s independence, will bolster the students’ ties with their people and heritage … and that their devotion will serve as an ideological model for our youth.”

I do agree that it  is important for our children  to understand the sacrifices  that were made by  individuals in order to give  us the opportunity to do  what it is we are doing –  living in the modern State of  Israel in the 21st century.  This is a privilege that no  one should take for granted.

However, I wonder about  the effectiveness of this  approach  in successfully providing  them with a sorely needed  relevant ideological model.

In other words, these martyrs were making sacrifices to bring about the fulfillment of a dream, coming out of the darkness of persecution, out of the death camps, cast aside by the world, in search of new beginning.  They lived and died for the realization of a dream that we are now living – the recreation of a Jewish State.

If we want to impart an ideology to our youth, it cannot be done by merely re-exploring the past – an ideology needs a future,  a set of objectives and lofty goals for which to strive.

Zionism is not dead.  It is, rather, in need of being redefined. The mission of the Jewish People today is not the same mission of 100 years ago.

Let me explain by way of reference to this week’s Torah portion.

Moses was appointed by God to be the redeemer of the people, which meant taking them out of Egypt and leading them to the Promised Land. His first encounter with Pharaoh, at which time he announced God’s intentions, did not go well.  It resulted in the withholding of building materials from the Israelites and the quick deterioration of their already miserable condition and overall morale.

When the Israelite foremen found out what was going on, they confronted Moses and Aaron saying, ” Let God look at you and be your judge. You have destroyed our reputation with Pharaoh and his advisors. You have placed a sword to kill us in their hands.“

Moses then returned to God with a bold accusation – “O Lord, why do you mistreat your people?” (Exodus 5:21-22)

I suggest that this was a case of non-aligned missions.

The Israelite foremen reacted as they did since they were not aware or sold on the mission.  The covenant with Abraham and the promise of a homeland had been forgotten long ago (or at the very last, put on the back burner).  The people had been in survival mode for generations, and any leader who would come forth and add to their acute discomfort was not welcome.

Their national mission was to defend themselves and survive.  They no longer knew how to be idealists. Moses had not taken this reality into account, and had no words to adequately respond to the serious accusations.

Theodore Herzl’s  monumental exposition, The Jewish State, written in 1896, made people think, gave them something to dream about once again.  In his preface to the treatise he wrote:

I am profoundly convinced that I am right; I do not know whether I shall be proved right in my lifetime.  The men who inaugurate this movement will hardly live to see its glorious conclusion.  But the very inauguration will bring a lofty pride and the happiness of inner freedom into their lives.

Some embraced his words and visions – others chastised his naivety.  Those who chastised no doubt considered themselves the “foremen” of their generation – looking out for what was best for the people.  They too had long ago forgotten the many promises of the ultimate return to Zion that had once ago flowed from the lips of Israel’s ancient prophets.

Today, in some ways we are back to the pre-State situation.  The State of Israel and its inhabitants find ourselves in survival mode.  Not only are we fending off our enemies, but we are under extreme pressure from our best friends – pressure that is ripping the away at the fragile fabric that holds this society together.

It seems to this Israeli citizen that what we need most today is a new vision.

It is not enough to go back and borrow the visions of those who paved the way for our independent statehood. Such nostalgia provides us with good feelings, but it is short-lived without long-term benefit.

What is Zionism about today?

Herzl concluded his essay The Jewish State with words that I believe point us in the direction of that new vision, the new vision that we must place before ourselves and our children at this time:

The world will be freed by our freedom, enriched by our riches, and made greater by our greatness.

And whatever we attempt there only for our own welfare will spread and redound mightily and blessedly to the good of all mankind.

God’s original promise to Abraham was that not only would his descendants inherit the land and inhabit it in great numbers, but through their dwelling here, they would bring “blessing to all of the families of the land.”

It is time for Israel and the Jewish People to look outwards and identify the many places that we as a people and as a country can better the lives of humankind worldwide.

This is a vision that we have yet to develop, an objective that lies before us.  Zionism was NOT only about establishing a Jewish homeland, it was about doing so for the purpose of ultimately becoming a light to the nations.

This is our calling as a people, this must become our mission as a country.

Please share with me your thoughts?  Let’s begin to once again dream together.

2012: Do Jews Believe in Predestination?

Many do. Ever hear the words “it was baschert“?

But maybe the better question should be:

Should Jews believe in predestination, in God’s foreordaining of what is to be in our lives?

2012

You  have probably heard about the “December 21, 2012 – Doomsday” the day when the world is prophesized to come to an end. (My kids have seen the movie – they don’t recommend it.)  The excitement stems from the ancient Mayan calendar  which states that the world will end in December 21, 2012.

The calendar  states that on December 21, 2012, the sun will rise on the dark rift of the center of the milky way which is referred to as a black hole, a galactic event which takes place only once every 25,800 years! -

Something big is predestined to happen! Some claim it will be end of the world.

What do Jews think about this notion of predetermination?

The Sale of Yosef

Immediately after revealing his true identity to his brothers (Parashat Vayigash – last week) Yosef tells them the following:

I am Yosef your brother! You sold me to Egypt. Now don’t worry or feel guilty because you sold me. Look! God has sent me ahead of you to save lives!  There has been a famine in the area for two years, and for another five years there will be no plowing or harvest.  God has sent me ahead of you to insure that you survive in the land and to keep you alive through extraordinary means.  Now it is not you who sent me here, but God.  He has made me Pharaoh’s vizier, director of his entire government, and in charge of all of Egypt. (Genesis 44:4-8)

No less than three times, Yosef assures his brothers that essentially they had nothing to do with the current situation.  It was “meant to be” – baschert – predestined – and at the very most, the brothers were but pawns in the realization of God’s plans. “Do not feel guilty,” he encourages them – it was not them, but the benevolent hand of the Almighty working in mysterious ways.

I personally have a problem with these words, with this approach.

Should the brothers really bear no guilt for their actions, for their deceptions and lies?

In this week’s Torah reading (Parashat Vayechi), after the death and burial of father Yakov, the brothers send word to Yosef, in their father’s name, saying that prior to his death he asked that they be forgiven for the sin they committed, for the evil they had done to Yosef years ago.

It seems that Yosef’s little speech from “last week” was not convincing, and either they still felt guilty, or they  feared revenge now that Yakov their father is out of the picture. Once again Yosef assures them that all is well – that they need not fear vengeance. However, this time Yosef’s words of assurance are a bit different.   He does not say that they are free of guilt. Paying close attention to his words at that time, here is what he says:

Don’t be afraid. Shall I take the place of God? You might have meant to do me harm, but God made it come out good.  He made it come out as it actually did, where the life of a great nation has been preserved. (Genesis 50:19-20)

In other words, the way I understand Yosef at this point is that he is acknowledging their guilt, their sin, but stating that it is not his place to stand in judgement.  In addition, although they did harm him, although they did take action that was not in any way pardonable, nonetheless God never abandoned  Yosef. He blessed him so that he could provide for the salvation of the great nation of Egypt(based on the interpretation 0f Seforno).

This is not predestination.  Rather, I suggest that this is the meaning of blessing.

When God blesses a person or a nation,that does not mean that God micromanages,  determining what is to happen to them; rather, God maintains a closeness with that person or nation, a closeness or presence that opens up opportunities for them; however, what happens is not predestined – not programmed ahead of time by God.

In a book I have recently completed entitled Where’s My Miracle (that will soon be published by Gefen), I include a powerful teaching of Rabbi Hayim David HaLevy, former chief rabbi of Tel Aviv:

This way of thinking is far removed from the masses who see in every occurrence without exception the hand of God. This approach has been handed down to us by Arab fatalism, a way of thinking that interprets everything that happens to a person and to humanity as decreed from the beginning, and that there is no escaping or preventing it from happening. Other religions have adopted that way of thinking, and have tied it to the will of God, Who decrees all.

This is not the way of thought of our holy Torah…. When we know for certain the specific cause of a human tragedy, there is no need to search for divine decrees or punishments….[1]

I am a great believer that the State of Israel is a modern-day miracle.

However, it did not fall into our laps – God blessed us at that hour, and we took advantage of the opportunities, of the doors that opened up before us.

Perhaps at the heat of the moment, when he revealed himself to his brothers, Yosef needed to assure his brothers that all was meant to be, that they should not feel guilty, so as not to allow them to dwell too much on the issue and to move forward, bringing their father and families to Egypt in order to save them from the famine.  He wanted to assure them that they would not be thrown into prison, they would not suffer punishment – that all of that was behind them – a little exaggeration for the greater good.

However, years later, when they again bring up the issue, Yosef tells them what he really thinks.  They did sin, they are guilty, but he is not their judge.

He remains thankful for the blessings in his life, for the ever-presence of God Who has given him the strength and the wisdom to save the lives of so many, Who has endowed him with the insight to turn lemons into lemonade.

---

[1] Hayim David HaLevy, Aseh Lecha Rav (Tel Aviv: Society for the Publication of the Writings of HaRav Hayim David HaLevy, 1986), 7:287–88, question 59.

The Making of a Miracle

As we have passed the halfway point in of our Chanukah celebration, moving to the other side of the shamash, I wish to revisit the ancient practice of lighting these lights.

As the Talmud does in so many places, in Tractate Shabbat, 23b it records a question of priorities.  The situation is that one has very, very limited funds:

Raba questioned: What [if the choice lies between] the Chanukah lamp and the wine for kiddush: is the latter more important, because it is a weekly, regular feature; or perhaps the Chanukah lamp is preferable, on account of advertising the miracle? After asking the question, he himself solved it: The Hanukkah lamp is preferable, on account of advertising the miracle.

It seems to me that in this text, the way that Raba asks the question and answers it himself, he clearly wanting to make this point – the reason we light Chanukah candles is to advertise the miracle.

Further, the Talmud instructs us that men and women are obligated in this time-bound positive commandment. (Traditionally women were exempt from most time-bound positive commandments.) Even more, the poor were obligated so beg, even to sell the shirt off of their backs in order to aquire for themselves oil and light at least one candle each of the eight nights of the celebration.

Why did the sages choose to make observance of this rabbinic commandment so significant?

Also, this notion – advertising the miracle – is somewhat confusing. That is to say, what is the objective of advertising the miracle? 

Normally we advertise information so that people will know about something they don’t already know about.  In the case of the Chanukah candles, we find ourselves generally “advertising” the miracle to friends, family, neighbors who already know it is Chanukah.  And if we really are advertising the miracle, how do we accomplish this by lighting candles without any further explanation?

Think about it this way – say you have never heard of Chanukah, never seen Chanukah lamps – you drive by someone’s home one day and see two candles, and then the next day three…what do you know that you did not know before?  Do you know there was a miracle? How do you interpret what you are seeing?

I am pretty sure that the term used by the Talmud here and in two other cases of rabbinic innovations – pirsumei nisa – translated as the advertisement of the miracle - doesn’t mean what we think it means.

I would like to suggest that these words are a kind of code the rabbis of the Talmud used when they were anxious to make sure that a certain moment in history would be recognized and commemorated AS A MIRACLE throughout the generations – a moment like the victory of the Maccabees over the Syrian Greeks in the second century BCE was such an event. 

Our sages of old interpreted this historical event as much more than a military victory – it was nothing less than a miracle.  And so, to be sure it would remembered as such, they instituted the lighting of the candles – so that WE who light them, generation after generation, would acknowledge and “publicize” the fact that what happened WAS truly a MIRACLE.

As we light the Chanukah candles, let us consider all of the events in our lives and in the life of our people that are truly miraculous.  An obvious one: the establishment of the State of Israel 61 years ago.  My concern is that  since there is no specific ritual associated with marking this great contemporary miracle, I fear we are taking it for granted.  We need to actively participate in the publicizing of this miracle.

Any ideas?

Let me offer a way to help you do this as you light the final two candles of Chanukah this year. Here is an additional stanza to Maoz Tzur that I have written –  in recognition of the modern miracle of our return to Zion, and the historic opportunity that lies before us.   Feel free to make it a part of your candle lighting celebration. 

Happy Chanukah wishes to you and yours…

אַלְפַּיִם שָׁנָה שֶׁל זִכְרוֹנוֹת מֵעוֹלָם לֹא אָבְדָה תִּקְוָתֵנוּ דּוֹר אַחַר דּוֹר, מֵאֲרָצוֹת שׁוֹנוֹת לְצִיּוֹן נָשָׂאנוּ עֵינֵינוּ חָזַרְנוּ אֶל מוֹלַדְתֵּנוּ, קִבַּצְנוּ גָּלוּיוֹתֵינוּ מְדִינָה וְאוּמָה נַגְשִׁים חֲלוֹמֵנוּ   Two thousand years of memories, Never did we lose our hope in the future- Generation after generation, from many a nation, To Zion did we lift up our eyes. We have returned to our homeland, We have gathered in our dispersed exiles, Country and nation, we will fulfill our dream.   Alpayim shana shel zichronot Me-olam lo avda tikvateinu Dor achar dor, me-artzot shonot Le-Tzion nasanu eyneynu Chazrnu el moladeteinu, kibatznu galiyoteynu –  Medina ve-uma, nagshim chalomeynu.

A Different Approach to Rosh Hashanah

Today I had the honor of studying together with a group of Melton Mini-School alumni in Boca Raton.  In preparation for  Rosh Hashanah,  we considered the Mishnah in Rosh Hashanah (1:2) which states:

At four times the world is judged: On Pesach, for the crops. On Shavuot, for the fruits of the tree. On Rosh Hashanah, all the world passes before Him like benei maron, as  it  says,  “He that fashions the hearts of them all, that  considers all their doings.” (Psalms 33:15) And on Sukkot, they are judged for water.

What is the meaning of benei maron? 

Answering this question has a powerful impact upon the way we understand the celebration of the New Year.

The most common translation is that it means “like sheep” – based on the aramaic word for sheep, pronounced amar.  This translation has paved the road to the imagery conjured up in the central prayer unetane tokef, which presents the metaphor of passing before God on this day like sheep before the shepherd, as he decides the fate of each and every one.

However, versions of the Mishnah found in Eretz Yisrael, even into the 12th-14th century, paint a very different picture.  Instead of claiming that we pass before God kivnei maron, an alternate reading indicates that all of humankind passes before God כבנומרון – kivenumeron – a Greek word meaning a “regiment” or “battalion.” That is to say, that on Rosh Hashanah, all human beings pass before God as legions of soldiers passing before the king.

 What a very different image!  Instead of passing before God in as sheep – weak and submissive – we march before the ruler of the world as legions of loyal soldiers, paying tribute to our king of kings, as He reviews the troops, and acknowledges their tribute.

How might such an image change one’s perspective on the spirit of Rosh Hashanah? 

May we be blessed with a year of great joy, great pride, and great accomplishments.

The Phenomena of Secular Jews

How does one become a secular Jew? In Israel the term has been thrown around for quite a long time – the “hilonim” –  so they are called.

In a recent report published in the Washington Times online, a survey has indicated that while only 6 percent of all Americans identify themselves as secular – that is, they disbelieve in God and do not follow any religion, one-third of all Jews fit into that secular category.

That is quite a large number! Close to two million!  Two million American Jews that do not believe in God, and do not follow Judaism. 

While it is true that percentage-wise Jews do often excel way beyond their numbers, it is unfortunate that in this category Jews have felt the need to excel as well.

How did we get to this point?

Here’s what I am thinking: Jews did not become secular – Judaism became irrelevant to them, and so they were no longer able to place themselves within the fold.  While for many, the draw of tradition, the connection to something that goes back hundreds and hundreds of generations has great appeal, for others it just does not. 

Secularism – “hiloniut” - is not a rebellion – it is a cry for meaning, for relevance, for vision, and for contemporary purpose: things they cannot find in the Judaism that surrounds them.

On the last day of Moshe’s life, he has much to tell the young nation on the threshold of meeting their destiny in the Land of Canaan.   Nearly the entire book of Deuteronomy is dedicated to reminders and inspiring messages. I focus here one of many jammed packed verses:

The entire matter that I command you, you are to guard in order to perform, do not add to it, and do subtract from it. (13:1)

Traditionally, the sages taught us that this verse bears an important message: it is to be understood as an admonishment not to add to the commandments nor to subtract from them…

Not to sit in the Sukkah for 8 days when the Torah commands only 7 (this is complicated by the two day observance of Shemini Atzeret in the Diaspora, but that’s a separate issue)

Not to shake 5 species, when commanded in only 4.

Not to put 5 Torah portions in the tefillin where only 4 are required.

Not to add a fourth blessing to the birkat kohanimwhere only three are listed in the Torah text itself…  and so on…..

In other words, the sages understood that Moshe was telling us not to manipulate biblical law and observances in ways that add or subtract from what the Torah teaches.  Nonetheless, in another place (17:11) the Torah does give the sages rabbinic licence to add rabbinic laws, but not to call these innovations Torah law (again, complicated issue, for another time).

Actually, I think there is a lot more to this verse, and others like it.

I suggest that  Moshe understood that the nature of the teachings he was going to present to the people – the nature of a written document of any sort – is that no matter what you do, it quickly becomes open to interpretation. 

On the one hand, there will be those who will attempt to read it on many levels, to suggest that it cannot be easily understood – everything word, every letter has significance, and only those who are steeped in learning can even begin to fathom its meaning.

On the other hand ,there will be those who subject it to criticism, who will look for its every seeming inconsistency, every flaw, every indication that it is less than divine, that it is the work of charlatans, or a people looking to justify its self-aggrandizement or the national agenda of its leadership.

In either case, we don’t do the Torah justice.

In the first case, seeing the Torah as a secret code that needs to be unlocked is an act of “adding to the Torah” in a way that distances it from the people, that renders it aloof and almost untouchable. 

In the second case, the Torah is rendered so pedestrian that it is no longer worthy of taking notice of – it’s a important masterwork that serves as an interesting source for an anthropological study of the history of a nation – but so are Shakespeare’s masterpieces.  This is a direct infringement upon Moshe’s second warning: “and do subtract from it. “

I would like to suggest that on the simple pshat level here, Moshe is persuading the people to  preserve the straghtforwward meaning of the words he has conveyed to to them in the Torah.  Never stop learning the Torah text, year after year, gleaning from the simple pshat of the text eternally relevant and meaningful truths, sublime visions, and important lessons for contemporary living. These truths will speak to Jews in all generations…let them read, and let them find deep personal meaning in its teachings. 

Moshe is encouraging the people to preserve the straightforward life lessons articulated directly and through the Torah’s many narratives. 

Preserve it, and you will find reason to observe it. 

Expand it it too far beyond its straightforward teachings, or detract too much from its holiness, reading it as just another historical document – in either case, you run the risk of making it irrelevant to the masses of Jews. 

Millions of Jews today have unfortunately absorbed the message that the Torah is beyond them, or that it is anachronistic – from another time – out of step with our world.  It might very well be that those who have had the very best of intentions in their pursuit of  the truth have, over the years, taken away from the Jewish people the wonder and awe that can come from simply reading a passage in the Torah and deriving from it personal meaning.

Bibles are everywhere to be found, translated and accessible…but how many of these secular Jews have taken the time to read the world’s best-seller? 

But, then again, why should they? For all they know it is at the best an ancient book of irrelevant, complex laws, and at worst, a literary forgery.

Jews must be given more opportunities to dialogue directly, one-on-one with the Torah text.

Jews should be encouraged to go back again as adults and read through passages in the Torah  and the Prophets – without the esoteric midrashic commentary or rabbinic elaborations; doing so, with open eyes, they will, I believe, surely find therein the timeless words of inspiration, meaning, vision, and contemporary relevance for which they have been searching.

The Real Heart of the Matter

Tonight begins a minor Jewish holiday known as Tu B’Av – the 15thof the month of Av.  While just six days ago we marked what is considered to be the absolute saddest day on the calendar, this day, Tu B’Avis considered to be, along with Yom Kippur, the happiest day of the Jewish year. A number of reasons are given for the celebration.  Among them is suggested that while the Jews wandered in the desert for forty years, female orphans without brothers could only marry within their tribe, to prevent their father’s inherited land in Eretz Yisrael from passing on to other tribes. On the fifteenthof Av of the fortieth year, this ban was lifted. (note that Yom Kippur is also a very happy day – what could make one happier than knowing that his or her sins and shortcomings can be forgiven.)

According to the Mishnah at the end of tractate Ta’anit, the celebration, on both days, included young unmarried women going out into the vineyards singing and dancing while young single men, in the market for wives, looked on.  (Hard to conceive of this happening today – for any number of reasons.)

Today, here in Israel, Tu B’Avis celebrated as a day of love, of gifts and romance, withthe main decorative theme being lots of red hearts….the malls are filled with them.

What does the heart symbolize?  What do we mean when we read in this week’s Torah portion “And you shall serve Him with all of your heart and all of your soul.” (Dev. 11:13)

Rambam (Sefer Hamitzvot) understood  ”service of the heart” to be the Biblical source for the obligation to pray.  And therefore, we often carry withus the image of ideal prayer as something that  is “heartfelt” – that is, said with a lot of feeling and a lot of emotion. 

However, associating the heart with love, emotion and feeling may not at all be what prayer is all about.  Many classical philosophers and scientists, including Aristotle, considered the heart - not the brain – to be the seat of thought and  reason, not only emotion.

Perhaps then the original meaning of serving God with all of your heart and all of your soul, meant that we are commanded to be astute and loyal servants of God.   

Surely one should love God, but that love is not to manifested so much in intense, emotional and tearful cryings out to God.  That is something else.  Service of God is meant to be performed through using our God-given blessings of thought and reason.

Here is what I am saying.

We serve God best when we are using our intelligence to reason, to discuss, and to decide responsibly, as individuals, and as a nation.  Service of God is not about throwing ourselves on God’s mercies, on stepping back and leaving Him to drive the order of the day.  We serve God when we activate the unique human blessings of wisdom and reason.

To love and serve God with all of your heart might actually mean, in its original context, to use your head! 

The highest level of service of God is therefore achieved through the study of Torah, for only in that way can one arrive at an informed and educated understanding of the objectives of divine service.  A servant has a keen understanding of what the master wants, what the master would do in any given situation… through study of Torah we bring ourselves closer to acquiring that understanding, to serving God with “all of your heart.”

The Ninth of Av: Is it possible to pray for too much?

This past week when the gabbai of our synagogue announced the times and locations for Tisha B’Av services, he prefaced his announcement with the customary preface, “In case the Messiah does not come, and the Temple is not rebuilt before then, services for Tisha B’Av will take place….”

This quaint custom is all part of the annual routine run-up to Tisha B’Av. I myself have a related type of behavior. It is customary to sit close to the ground, like a mourner, throughout the night and into the day of Tisha B’Av. As I get older, it is really very uncomfortable to sit on the ground. A low to the ground chair would be perfect, and I do see many of my fellow congregants who bring such chairs along with them each and every-year. Some of them even refer to them as their “Tisha B’Av chairs.” I cannot buy a “Tisha B’Av” chair – that would be like admitting that Tisha B’av is going to be a part of my holiday cycle from hereon in – not wanting so much to acknowledge that possibility, I will not buy the chair – I guess you could say that it is my own little personal prayer that this be the last Tisha B’Av.

To tell you the truth, I am beginning to rethink my longstanding “chairless prayer”…and not just because I am getting older. I am beginning to rethink exactly what it is we should be praying for and fasting about on Tisha B’Av.

In this week’s Torah reading, Vaetchanan, Moshe retells how he petitioned God to repeal the sentence and allow Moshe to go together with the nation into Eretz Yisrael. God, recalls Moshe, angered and firmly denied the request, answering Moshe with the words:

“Rav lach , al tosef daber elai od badavar hazeh!” (Deut. 3:23)

“That’s enough, do not speak to me further regarding this issue!”

Rashi cites an intriguing alternate understanding of the words: Rav lach - “That’s enough. Stop your beckoning, so that people should not say: The master is so harsh, and the student is overly-persistent.(Sotah 13b)

It would seem from this translation of God’s words that the sages conveyed to us a very serious issue, worthy of  our attention. They seem to teach that there are times when our prayers go over the top – there are times when we pray too much for something that God is not prepared to grant us.  In those times, not only do we find ourselves disheartened, but we may create a situation in which those whose desperate prayers remain unanswered, and we actually begin to question God’s benevolence, or His very existence. 

When prayers for individuals or for the nation go unheeded, there will  be those who blame it on God’s harshness.  And if it isn’t harshness, then it’s powerlessness.  “How could God let this suffering go on for so long?”

When we pray on Tisha B’Av for the restoration of Jerusalem, the rebuilding of the Temple, for a return to “the days of old,” what exactly are we demanding of God?  Are we not asking God to answer a prayer that is not really His to answer? That is, are we not really asking God to do for us what it is that we ultimately have the power to do for ourselves at this point, if as a nation it is what we truly want for ourselves?  

And if the question of a restored Jerusalem and a Temple, and a complete in-gathering of the exiles are really all achievements that are in our hands today, then what is all the praying for? Why do we have a Tisha B’Av at all?  Are we not year after year simply aggravating the situation, pinning the responsibility upon God who perhaps, for good reason, has no intentions of “fixing” this?

Isn’t our fasting and prayer just becoming one very big cop-out; rather than taking responsibility for our destiny, we seem to be pinning the responsibility on God. Do we expect that the 25 hour sacrifice of food, drink and other pleasures will somehow serve to appease God and lead him to grant us our wishes?

And worse, how do we understand the seeming silence to our requests and petitions, year after year? Is not God, in His silence, shouting down to us:

Rav lach!

Therefore, I suggest we look at this annual Tisha B’Av observance in a very different way: Tisha B’Av is not about praying for what we do not have, it is about reminding OURSELVES of why we do not have it….WE ARE THE PROBLEM…not God.

Did you ever ask yourself the question:  What did they do on Tishah ‘Av during the period of the Second Temple? (roughly from 500 BCE-70 CE).

In his commentary to the Mishnah (Rosh Hashanah 1,3), Rambam(Maimonides)states that the Jews in the Second Temple period fasted on Tishah B’av.

The Temple was standing, and yet, according to Rambam, they fasted just as we are about to do.  Why?  What were they mourning for then?

Dr. David Hanschke, of the Department of Talmud at Bar Ilan University wrote as follows:

Perhaps the rationale behind this was that the first destruction had proven that the Temple could be destroyed, and from then on the possibility that G-d would destroy His house and exile His people was a real one. We know that the prophets fought against the belief which stubbornly held that this very idea was a theological impossibility. It could not be possible, claimed some, that the Temple of the Lord, the foundation of His seat in the universe, could fall. The destruction of the First Temple put an end to this certainty: Never again could man put his trust in wood and stone – even the stones of the Temple. From that point on responsibility for the future rests squarely on the shoulders of the people and their behavior. If they deserved it – they would live in their own land in the shadow of their Temple, but if not – the Temple would fall and the people would be exiled.

They therefore fasted on Tishah B’av, all through the Second Temple period. On that day they confirmed their understanding that destruction is always a possibility. No faith can be placed in slogans such as “G-d will help us” because the responsibility for our continued existence as a people is ours alone. The awareness that destruction is possible may very well be the key to preventing it in the future when the Temple is rebuilt. Our sense of responsibility may be a contributing factor toward the eventual rebuilding of the Third Temple, may it occur speedily in our days.

Now this makes a lot of sense…this is the reason we are about to fast and devote the next 25 hours to remember the Temple and the destruction of Jerusalem - to remind ourselves that people just like us brought it about, and until we get our act together, nothing is going to change. 

Tisha B’Av is not a petition to God, it is a day of remorse and national introspection. And there you have it…the reason I am rethinking my “chairless minhag.”  We may be destined to observe Tisha B’Av forever, as an ongoing annual reminder of our own national responsibilities. 

If we pray for anything of God on Tisha B’Av, it should be for the wisdom to realize this.

Have a meaningful fast.

Fake Zealotry

One story in the Torah that I could certainly live without is the the one that concluded last week’s Torah reading, and begins this week’s reading.

And, behold, one of the children of Israel came and brought unto his brethren a Midianite woman in the sight of Moses, and in the sight of all the congregation of the children of Israel, while they were weeping at the door of the tent of meeting.

And when Pinchas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, saw it, he rose up from the midst of the congregation, and took a spear in his hand

And he went after the man of Israel into the chamber, and thrust both of them through, the man of Israel, and the woman through her belly. So the plague was stayed from the children of Israel.

And those that died by the plague were twenty and four thousand.

And the LORD spoke unto Moses, saying: ‘Pinchas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, hath turned My wrath away from the children of Israel, in that he was very jealous for My sake among them, so that I consumed not the children of Israel in My jealousy. (Numbers Chapter 25)

It is not a pleasant story…Pinchas the grandson of the peace-loving Aharon – takes the law into his his own hands and acts with great zealousness.  He takes the lives of the two public sinners, which apparently brings an end to a plague that had brought about the deaths of some 24,000 Israelites.  Pinchas’ act of violence is praised, he is extended God’s special covenant of peace for his actions.

I say that I could live without this story, because I believe it is sorely misunderstood, over and over, generation after generation, by Jews and Gentiles alike.

Each and every generation reads this story and tries anew to understand the message.  Unfortunately, in the State of Israel today, this is not only about wrestling with an age-old textual difficulty, we are living with a whole community of Pinchas wanna-be’s who are taking to the streets in communities all over Israel – particularly of late in Jerusalem – to demonstrate on behalf of the holiness of the Shabbat.

For the past few weeks it has been the controversy over the opening of a parking lot on Shabbat near the old city for the purpose of offering tourists (mainly Gentile)a place to park when they come to tour Jerusalem on Shabbat.  As I write these words, the haredi community is preparing to once again protest en masse in violent public demonstrations that lead to the arrest of a number of the protesters, the injury of protesters and security forces as well.

The Talmud makes it clear that  zealotry of the type displayed by Pinchas is not to be countenanced.

The Elders of Israel sought to excommunicate Pinchas until the Holy Spirit hurried and said: “It shall be for him and his descendants after him a covenant of priesthood for all time, because he took zealous action for his God, thus making expatiation for the Israelites. (Talmud Yerushalmi Sanhedrin 9:7)

In other words, the rabbis came out condemning Pinchas for his actions.  (Whether this actually happened or not, the terminology used by the rabbis of the Talmud here demonstrates their strong aversion to zealous acts) Such a deed must be animated by a genuine, unadulterated spirit of zeal to advance the glory of God.

In such a case, who can tell whether the ”zealot” is not really motivated by some selfish motive, maintaining that he is doing it for the sake of God, when he is actually acting for some other reason?  That was why the Elders wished to excommunicate Pinchas, had not God testified that his zeal for God was genuine.

What really motivates the zealots of Jerusalem?  Why is it that if they are not screaming “Nazi” at Israeli policemen, you might find them burning trash in the middle of their own neighborhood streets?

In 2002, Menachem Freidman of Bar Ilan University wrote in an essay entitled Violence in Haredi Society that ” violence  in haredi society results from the fact that it is internally divided and lacks a powerful and accepted leadership with the authority to make binding decisions on the fateful questions confronting it. These conditions afford various zealots the latitude needed both to use violence and to obtain the required protection and support among the various autonomous and competing Torah authorities. In this respect, rather than being directed outwardly at the secular population and its “religious” supporters, haredi violence and zealotry are directed inward, against those political leaders—and even great Torah authorities—who commit the cardinal sin of seeking a modus vivendi with the surrounding Jewish secular society.”

Perhaps this explains why in a survey conducted this past week, haredim themselves DO NOT think that these protests are liable to minimize desecration of Shabbat by the secular world, and on the contrary, just lead to more Shabbat desecration.

What we are seeing on the streets of Jerusalem then is just another form of fake zealotry where people claim they are doing one thing, while in reality, they are doing something else.

And for this reason, in my opinion, Israeli society needs to take steps to “excommunicate” such protesters – to ostracize them and the shallow leaders who send them out to disgrace the city of Jerusalem, the Jewish people, and the God of Israel.  There is no room for further respect of their superficial religiosity.  It must be condemned from the highest places in the religious world – (it is interesting that although the former chief rabbi of Israel – Rabbi Yisrael Meir Lau – condemned the activity- the current chief rabbis did not)

These fake zealots have created for themselves a “righteous” platform from which they spout their resentment of something that we Israelis hold dear – the existence of the modern State of Israel that strives to find answers to the many complex issues associated with the maintenance of a modern state.

Blemished Faith

This morning I found myself reading with jaw dropped about Connie Culp, a very brave woman from  Ohio.  Five years ago she was shot in the face at point-blank range and seriously disfigured.  This past December, she was the recipient of a new face, from a deceased donor, the first such transplant in US history.

On Tuesday she held a press conference and revealed her new face publicly for the first time. Wishing to move the focus of attention off of herself, the 46-year old Culp emphasized that she wants to help foster acceptance of those who have suffered burns and other disfiguring injuries. “When somebody has a disfigurement and don’t look as pretty as you do, don’t judge them, because you never know what happened to them,” she said.

And then I thought about this week’s Torah reading, Parashat Emor…

And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, “Speak to Aaron, saying, None of your offspring throughout their generations who has a blemish may approach to offer the bread of his God. For no one who has a blemish shall draw near, a man blind or lame, or one who has a mutilated face or a limb too long, or a man who has an injured foot or an injured hand, or a hunchback or a dwarf or a man with a defect in his sight or an itching disease or scabs or crushed testicles. No man of the offspring of Aaron the priest who has a blemish shall come near to offer the LORD’s food offerings; since he has a blemish, he shall not come near to offer the bread of his God. He may eat the bread of his God, both of the most holy and of the holy things, but he shall not go through the veil or approach the altar, because he has a blemish, that he may not profane my sanctuaries, for I am the LORD who sanctifies them.” (Lev 21:16-23)

I read God’s words, I read Connie’s words….I am humbled.

Connie Culp knows well the anguish, the feelings of being ostracized for so long because of a blemish, a mutilation that she bears through  no fault of her own.  How could it be that our Torah would pour so much salt on the open wounds of those who must not only suffer the glances and rejection from their fellow human beings, but must also be cast away by God, banished from serving alongside grandfathers, fathers and brothers…even sons….because of a physical disability or condition over which they have absolutely no control?

A life sentenced to standing outside the Temple, being reminded day in and day out that they are blemished, unfit to serve.

I will share with you an insight of Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch which goes a long way in offering significance to this prohibition, although it does not necessarily address the personal anguish that the law would no doubt cause the blemished Kohen. I am not sure that can ever be adequately addressed.

Basically, according to Hirsch, the Temple was the center of Jewish life.  Through service in the Temple, the kohanim were charged with presenting to the world-at-large Judaism’s central teachings. The services in the Temple were to symbolically convey the fundamental goals of our faith, the purpose of our religion.

Jewish faith in God was never meant to amount to the sum-total of what you expect to see outside, under a tent at a religious revival healing service. You know, the kind of spirited gathering where a cripple or deaf person comes forward and the minister heals him through the spirit of holiness.

Judaism was not founded as a quick-fix faith, or a faith for the tired and the weary.

Writes Hirsch about those soothsayers and cult leaders:

They and their sanctuaries speculate on the pain and  grief of the “believers.” It is not the vivacious and happy ones who go to their halls.  It is the blind, the lame, the sick and the weak who wend their way to their altars.  Not as the ruler of fresh pulsating active life, and the joy of life, but the consoler for what they had to endure and suffer and do without, is what religion is to them.

Not so is God and His Temple which Israel is to bear through history as the God of the whole humanity. The Sanctuary of  His Torah demands the full complete life with nothing left out, nothing missing, and promises in exchange a rich full life in which even death and pain lose their sting. (on Lev 1:3)

It is not the afflicted and the infirm, not the blind and the lame, the disfigured and the crippled, the broken and the sick, for whom the Jewish Altar is erected, so that weary, burdened humanity can drag itself up to it to to find compassionate consolation or even miraculous healing.  It is life in its completeness, in its freshness and strength, which there is to gain consecration to an active life of God-serving deeds, and thereby acquire the everlasting freshness of youth and unbroken forces of life.  Life and strength, not death and weakness, lives at the Altars of God….That is why it must be perfect, complete men – not blemished ones – who have to perform the offerings in this Sanctuary of Torah. (Lev 21:17)

Of course Judaism provides shelter and support to the weak and the needy, to the hurt and the anguished; however, that was not the purpose for which Judaism was introduced to the world.

In 1843, a Jewish Karl Marx wrote: Religion is the sigh of the oppressed creature, the heart of a heartless world, and the soul of soulless conditions. It is the opium of the people. –

Some 30 years later, Hirsch would set the record straight – what Marx had described was not the mission of Judaism.

In the Temple, the center from which this message was to emanate outward to the world, the symbolism of every rite, every service or sacrifice, was considered to be of great significance.  Those who were leading the sacred rituals must not appear to be drawn to their service by personal needs for healing or sympathy.  They needed to publicly convey the fundamental principle of the Jewish faith – that Jews are meant to takes their good, complete, stable lives, and dedicate those lives to God’s service.

So too today, ideally we are to come forward before God without demands, without yearnings for personal salvation.  We are to approach God carrying with us  all that is good in our personal and national lives , with a desire to make it even better  in service of God and all of God’s creations

Morey

www.rabbimorey.com

How could he do that?

As Jews worldwide ushered in Yom haShoah ve’haGevurah – the day that marks the destruction as well as the bravery of those 6,000,0000 Jews murdered by the Nazi killing machine – the Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu asked the question on the lips of level-headed people worldwide:

How could President Merz of Switzerland, host of the Geneva Racism Fiasco,  give such a warm welcome to Holocaust- denier and Israel-hater Ahmadinejad – enemy number one of the western World?

Mr. Prime Minister, I am no detective, nor am I any sort of historian, but let me paint the picture for you as I see it.

History Repeats Itself?

For Switzerland, it is just a bad habit.

The Harper Collins book “Nazi Gold” by Tom Bower, subtitled, “The Full Story of the Fifty-Year Swiss-Nazi Conspiracy to Steal Billions from Europe’s Jews and Holocaust Survivors” is a powerful indictment. When the War began, Germany had $100 million in gold, at the end of the War, Germany had sold about $900 million in gold.

The following excerpt from a review by Ann Louise Bardach, a contributing editor to Vanity Fair, speaks for itself:

The greatest slaughter in history has, until quite recently, tended to obscure the other horror perpetuated by the Nazis – namely, the greatest robbery in history.

The first order of business for the invading Nazi army as it trampled through Europe was a raid on the national treasury and the hauling of millions of dollars in gold and cash back to the Reichsbank in Berlin. Next were art seizures from museums, galleries and the private collections of Jews. In time, all the valuables and property of Jews would be confiscated, and eventually they, too, would be taken away. Even after their deaths, the thieving would continue. Wedding rings snatched from the corpses, gold wrested from their teeth; in fact, an estimated 72 pounds of dental gold was extracted each day from victims at Auschwitz. Billions of dollars of the looted gold and cash and an estimated $2.5 billion in stolen art were sent to Switzerland, where the Reich’s Swiss bankers attended to its purchase, care and investment. Nazi Germany was, after all, the most important client in the history of Swiss banking.

Before World War II, Switzerland had been a poor country. Thanks to the Third Reich, Switzerland emerged from the war as the second-richest country in the world. In news stories over the last two years, the world has learned that the Swiss were hardly the beset-upon neutrals that they have claimed to be but instead were full partners with the Nazis. Moreover, as Tom Bower’s masterly chronicle, “Nazi Gold,” makes clear, the Nazis could never have prevailed as long as they did without the Swiss. Indeed, as Bower makes clear, the war would most likely have ended a full year earlier had it not been for the financial intervention of Swiss bankers. [derived from the Los Angeles Times Sunday Book Review, 6 July, 1997.]

Hans-Rudolf Merz (born 10 November 1942) is a Swiss politician of the Free Democratic Party (FDP/PRD) and member of the Swiss Federal Council (since 2004). He is the head of the Federal Department of Finance (the Swiss finance minister) and President of the Swiss Confederation for 2009.

The Federal Banking Commission, an independent agency of the Swiss government within the Federal Department of Finance, supervises most banking-related activities as well as securities markets and investment funds.

What this means is that the current President of the Swiss Confederation is also the President of the Federal Department of Finance, directly involved with Swiss banking today.

Now that the background info is on the table, get a load of this….

May 13, 2008: 9:48 AM EDT

Victims of Hamas and Hezbollah Sue Swiss Bank for

Helping Fund Terrorists

NEW YORK (AP) — American victims of terrorist attacks in Israel have filed a lawsuit seeking more than $500 million from UBS AG, saying the Swiss bank made it possible for Iran to fund the terrorists.

The lawsuit says the Zurich-based bank provided dollars to Iran in violation of trade sanctions and Iran funneled the money to terrorist groups.

“UBS knew full well that the cash dollars it was providing to a state sponsor of terrorism such as Iran would be used to cause and facilitate terrorist attacks by Iranian-sponsored terrorist organizations,” the plaintiffs say.

Their lawyer, Nitsana Darshan-Leitner, said in a phone interview from Tel Aviv that the bank is liable “as much as Iran or the terrorists” for the damage caused.   [Nitzana Darshana-Leitner is a neighbor of mine.]

Mr. Prime Minister, I humbly submit that if you look closely at the smiles  of Merz and Ahmadinejad, you can see the word “money” written all over their faces.

If you ask me, though the Swiss claim to be gliding along throughout history in “neutral,” that is just an alibi – behind the scenes they have their foot pressed down firmly of the  “gas” pedal (read: peddler) of the world.

Thinking outside the box of matza

Anticipation of the seder night is in the air!

Guests will soon arrive, the house will fill with the smells of the horseradish and the charoset…the table will be set, and the ancient ceremony will begin.

What will be the most memorable moment at this year’s seder?  Many of us will prepare ideas for discussion, props to keep the kids into it,  and even new tunes that we want to try out. We will enjoy the annual traditions, be reminded of seders of Passovers that have passed, and before we know it…the whole experience will be behind us…again.

For me, this year, I am looking for the seder night to inspire me about the year to come.  I want to dwell less on what happened before, and focus more on what is yet to be…and how I can be a part of bringing that about in the coming year.

As we begin the main section of the Magid – the telling of the story of Pesach utilizing the words recited by the bringer of  first fruits in the Temple in Jerusalem (Deut. 26:5-8….we add verse 9 as well to our seder), the voice of the haggadah commands us:     צֵא וּלְמַד מַה בִּקֵּשׁ לָבָן הָאֲרַמִּי לַעֲשֹוֹת לְיַעֲקֹב אָבִינוּ.

“Go out and learn what it was that Lavan the Aramean wanted to do to our father, Yaakov!Pharaoh only wanted to kill the males, Lavan wanted to uproot everything.”

I really like those words: Go out and learn. What do they mean to you?

Here is what they say to me.

Learning that stays within a certain limited framework, that doesn’t demand of us to go out of our personal comfort zones and thresholds of our lives IS NOT LEARNING.

Think about it – how much can I learn if I only read and listen to the information that tells me exactly what it is I want to hear?

Let’s go back to Yaakov…he went back to Aram to find a wife. He worked for many years in order to earn the right to marry both Leah and then Rachel (albeit not the original plan).  And yet, although he worked hard, his life was to a great extent put on hold.  He wasn’t living in Canaan, establishing there a stable, permanent home.  According to Ibn Ezra, this is what the proof text means: “My father was a destitute Aramean.” That is to say, because of his years in Aram by Lavan, he never was able to stabilize his life – and this led to the ultimate need to take his family to Egypt…further destabilizing them…which then led to slavery and near destruction, if it weren’t for the mercy of God.

So what does all of this have to do with Lavan?  It is because of what Lavan did to Yaakov – holding him back for all of those years – that the Jewish people nearly came to an end….now let’s consider – was that really Lavan’s goal?  Probably not.  He was looking out for his own needs, his own desire to hold onto to his daughters, or at least to get some good years of work out of the deal.

And that is the rub…although his intentions were purely selfish, the impact of those decisions nearly destroyed an entire nation.

Thinking outside of the box of matza demands that each of us consider the long-term impact of what it is we are doing now – the decisions that we are making for ourselves and our families.  It might mean thinking thoughts that are not comfortable – considering life-changing moves that will take us way out of our comfort zone – but doing so in the name of tze ulemad – going out from under the covers in order to rethink and reconsider some things that we have perhaps grown way to accustomed to and that are stunting our growth.

I will eat the matza, eat the maror, drink the wine….but not only to remember what what was. As I do, I will attempt to consider what  is still just matza in my life – common, predictable, comfortable -  what is still bitter around me, and what could be even sweeter in the year to come.

Chag Sameah!

Seek out the Miracles

When it comes to Purim, one who reads through the story as recorded in the Book of Esther should begin to wonder, “exactly where is the miracle?”

The story is dramatic and entertaining.  It has its good guys and its bad guys, its starring roles and supporting actors.  There is suspense, there is irony and and even some humor.

But, in theory, there is no apparent “miracle.”

On the surface, Haman (read: serious Jew-hater) uses his power and position to have the Jews destroyed.  Esther(read: brave Jewess) risks her life in the Persian court to save her people. Haman makes some serious tactical errors, angers the king (read: persuadable super-power), and is killed.

But the story is not over with the death of enemy number-one; the nation fasts, the nation prays, the nation goes to war….and they are victorious in battle.  A lot of Jew-haters in Shushan and all around are killed – we are not told how many Jews lost their lives in these battles…

And so, where was the miracle?

In a recently published book (in Hebrew) called Chayei Shana, Rabbi Adin Steinsalz points out the missing-miracle in the Megillah.  In earlier times, God intervened in supernatural ways, performing what one might call second-order miracles.  For instance, parting the sea, delivering manna to the people during their 40 years of wandering in the wilderness of Sinai, the heavenly fires that consumed the worshipers of Baal in the time of Elijah,etc.  However, he points out that none of these miracles turned the nation into followers of Torah, into the faithful nation that our destiny demanded of us.

However, ironic as this might seem, as time moved on and God began interacting with us only in terms of first-order miracles- that is, miracles that unfold in the natural course of things – we became a more faithful, loyal nation. As Rabbi Steinsalz writes:

The implementation of miracles of the natural order did not cease after the time of Mordechai and Esther, nor in the time of Mattityahu and his sons, but has continued throughout the generations. In our days, essentially God says to us: “I no longer want to present you with miracles that every simpleton and child can look at and exclaim- ‘Look! It’s a Miracle!’ – From now on you will experience miracles that you need to think hard about, and to study them.”

It became apparent that these type of miracles demand greater participation on our part. Simply said, the “קיימו וקבלו” (the observance and acceptance of the Purim celebration) of the Jews in the days of Mordechai is still with us til this day, while the influence of the ” השם הוא האלוקים” (of the times of Elijah), was only temporary.

The miracle of Purim is found by making a close reading of the story,  and then, taking a leap of faith. The miracle is there only because we read it into the story.

In our daily prayers, we thank God for “miracles that are with us every day.”  There too we refer to the miracles of a first-order type, the kind that are with us at all times, that we take for granted, until they are, God forbid,  taken away from us, until something unexpected happens, and then we find ourselves praying for the return of the normal everyday things.

So, where is the miracle in the Purim story?  What makes it a miracle?

Not only are our lives governed by natural laws set in place by God that govern our physical existence, such as the laws of gravity, the laws of the harvest, or the biological laws that govern conception of human life, one might suggest that we are also subject to the social-political laws of human nature, these too set in motion by God from the time of our creation.

These social-political laws, corrective measures built into the very fabric of human existence, are no less divine in their nature, and those who suffer the consequences of these laws or ultimately reap the benefits of these laws have also experienced the consequences of divine providence.  When corrupt tyrants are toppled, when evil dynasties crumble, it may be the doings of human beings, but their actions are part of the order of nature – the way that God set up the world that all of us inhabit.  It is no mere coincidence that “evil doesn’t pay,” or that “you can’t fool all of the people all of the time.”

The miraculous benevolent world, created and set in motion by God, continues to demand patterns of goodness and grace;the miraculous nature of the world that God created will settle for no less.  God’s ongoing presence in our lives guarantees that ultimately all must move in the direction of good.

The miracle of Purim is there because we choose to open our eyes and hearts to the miraculous nature of our lives. The establishment of the State of Israel as well as the reunification of Jerusalem are miraculous in the exact same way as Purim; because we choose to study the facts and draw our own conclusions….this is what makes the celebration of Purim so important to us – it reminds us that the miracles of Jewish history are in the eyes of the beholder – it is up to us all to seek them out, declare them as miracles, and celebrate them with great joy in each and every generation.

Tthe rabbis teach (Midrash Mishlei 9:2)that in the time of the Messiah, all holidays will be annulled except for Purim; if you ask me, the Midrash is teaching that we will only realize that the Messianic era has come if we are willing to read into the circumstances as we did back in Shushan. When we are ready to do that, then the supernatural events of the past will no longer stoke the fires of our faith; we will be transported into a new era where our eyes will be open to what is happening around us and we will readily recognize the hand of God in every turn of events – Mordechai’s clarity of vision will be with us not only at this time, as we celebrate Purim, but each and every day of our lives.

We will need to cross the sea again

On Tuesday,  a Grad-model Katyusha rocket smashed into the center of Ashkelon.  Israel responded by warning those living in the area of the Philadelphi Corridor that the air force was going to perform the nearly daily post-cease-fire ritual of bombing a few tunnels there.

We warned them to leave.

We gave them a few hours.

They got out of the way.

We bombed the tunnels and warned Hamas that they shouldn’t start up with us…”or else…”

(And let us say, Amen.)

This has been a daily ritual here for six or seven days now. It seems like nothing has changed in Southern Israel.  Our hopes that Operation Cast Lead had brought normalcy back to the lives of thousands of Israelis was short-lived.  Much was accomplished…but clearly, not enough.

I am not a political or military leader – so far be it from me to say that I know what we should have done or could have done – but I do believe that the tales in our Torah are much more than tales – they are blueprints of timeless truths that are pointless to question….

For that reason, it seems to me that what we need to do is to cross the sea again….Let me explain what I mean.

Pharaoh, ruler of Egypt, watched as he and his countrymen suffered ten formidable plagues.  Plagues that caused millions of dollars in economic damage, agricultural chaos, disease, suffering and death…as the first born of Egypt, including Pharaoh’s own firstborn, were taking their last breaths, Egyptian society said enough is enough….

Pharaoh stayed up all night, along with his officials and all the rest of Egypt.  There was a great outcry, since there was no house where there were no dead.  Pharaoh sent for Moses and Aaron during the night.

“Get moving!” he said. “Get out from among my people – you and the Israelites! Go ! Worship God just as you demanded!”Take your sheep and cattle, just as you said! Go! Bless me too!”

The Egyptians were also urging the people to leave the land.  “We are all dead men!” they were saying.            (Ex. 12:30-31)

And so, that seems to have marked the attainment of the objectives of the original “Operation Moses.”  The Egyptians had suffered the powerful force of the God of Israel.  CNN was broadcasting pictures of the suffering and destruction that Moses and Aaron had wreaked upon Egyptian society.  One might even have felt sorry for the innocent Egyptians who were caught up in the stubbornness of Pharaoh, his delusions of grandeur and irrational resistance in the face of a power much mightier than his own. Innocent Egyptian children – firstborns nationwide – struck down by the mad god of the Israelites, in order to achieve the goals of the operation.

But that was not to be the final curtain for Egypt.

The Israelites hurried out of Egypt….they ran from their persecutors, anxious to be free of their oppressors.  So fast, that the Torah makes a point of stating:

The Israelites baked the dough they had brought out of Egypt into unleavened (matzah) cakes, since it had not risen.  They had been driven out of Egypt and could not delay, and they had not prepared any other provisions. (Ex. 12:39)

“Driven out of Egypt”? That is a very strange way of describing the outcome of the redemption brought about through  “God’s strong hand and outstretched arm.”

I suggest that here the Torah is not telling us what actually happened…but rather, the way the Egyptians were led to understand it…despite the facts  on the ground…Pharaoh spun the story differently…the newspapers in Egypt the very next day carried the following headline:

ISRAELITE MURDERERS AND CHILD-KILLERS DRIVEN OUT OF EGYPT BY THE POWERFUL PHARAOH, PRAISED BE HE.

While the Israelites were busy celebrating their grand victory 0ver Pharaoh, God saw clearly that the story wasn’t over – He saw that Egypt still venerated Pharaoh, that despite the destruction all around it was Egypt that had declared victory over their adversaries.

Pharaoh had turned the story on its head, and thus, the opening words of this week’s parasha,

Vayehi beshalch Paroh, “And it was when Pharaoh had sent the people out…” (Ex. 13:17). Wait a minute, was it Pharaoh that sent the people out of Egypt?  Why does the Torah here give him credit for the exodus?

It has been an age-old question as to how to understand this expression.

I suggest that this phrase is ultimately the key to understanding the necessity of crossing the sea:  in order to bring an end to Pharaoh and his despotic dynasty – in order to drown Pharaoh and his soldiers, and along with them, all delusions that Pharaoh was  a god, or that the ‘gods of Egypt’ were on his side.

As long as Egyptian society would remain under the impression that Pharaoh was still in control -  the Israelites would never find peace. Pharaoh and his armies would eventually come after them…or after another nation for that matter. The powerful plagues were not enough to destroy the spirit of Egypt. The propaganda machine was still in place. The regime of Pharaoh had to be brought down if the Israelites were going to realize their freedom and carry on with their calling. The Egyptian people would need to be freed of their illusion, freed of the falsehooods and the brainwashing. (Speaking of brainwashing…have you seen this? )

I will harden Pharaoh’s heart and he will come after them.  I will triumph over Pharaoh and his entire army, and Egypt will know that I am God. (Ex. 14:4)

This was not about revenge.  Unfortunately, there was….and there is…no other option. We will have to cross the sea again.

We must show bravery in the face of this evil. We have no choice but to bring about the end of a regime that would kill infants on the birth stool, that would drown babies in the water. In the war on terror, there are no short cuts. It may not be tomorrow…but there is ultimately no alternative in the war on terror.

“At the end of the day there will be no alternative but to bring down the regime of Hamas, a terrorist organization pledged to our destruction.”  Binyamin Netanyahu, January 13, 2009.

May God give us the wisdom to know what to do, and the confidence to finally do it.

www.rabbimorey.com

My son came home

I wanted to write something here on my blog, to thank all those who prayed for my son and the thousands of other Israeli soldiers who so proudly and bravely defended the right of the Jewish People to live here in Israel during Operation “Cast Lead.”

My son, a tank driver, was camped out close to the Gaza border for nearly two weeks, ready to enter into the battle at a moment’s notice.  In the end, he and his division were not called into the war.  He came home for Shabbat this past week, looking thinner and dirtier than ever.

We thank all of you around the world who prayed for him and the others.  I came across the following words of an Israeli mother, expressing her thoughts as her son came home…as they brought tears to my eyes, I realized I could not say it any better….I share her thoughts – our thoughts – here in my blog.

My son came home

My son came home from Gaza just a few minutes ago. He came home as we had sent him off, only more tired, worn and dirty. Thank you Hashem for bringing him home. To his wife, his brothers and sisters and his loving brood of nieces and nephews.

All of us have been waiting patiently these past three weeks to hold him in our arms. Barely able to wait to embrace him, I ran across the highway where his ride had dropped him off. I grabbed him in the middle of the road and cars driving into my yishuv had to veer around this sight of me standing on tiptoes reaching for my tall, handsome son’s face. The drivers waved at us. A few rolled down heir windows to say “todah — thank you” to my son.

I whispered Todah again to Hashem.

I helped him toss his heavy bags into the trunk of the car. The heaviest among them being the one weighted down with foodstuffs that Israel’s citizens sent to our soldiers. Tens of thousands of kilograms of food poured into the bases in the south. Cartons upon cartons of instant soups, nuts, pretzels, cookies and nosh of every kind. All sent by individuals, families, schools and businesses from throughout the country. We could barely lift his ‘booty’ and we both shared a laugh as we flung it onto the back seat.

The words that had been in my heart for so long melted on my tongue. My eyes drank him in, tall, bearded now and his face and soul, a bit darker than before he left us that Sunday morning.

He reached his hand to his head and apologized for the fact that he was bareheaded. In the midst of everything his kippa had fallen off. “No matter — easy enough to replace,” I said as his hand slipped into mine.

I reached up to grab his neck and felt his lips touch my cheek, and I knew that his presence, like this, was all that I had prayed for each day since he packed his bags and left before the sun even rose that cold morning.

I pulled in front of his apartment, a few kilometers from my home, and as we descended the steps I heard him speak gently and lovingly with his wife at work, telling her how anxious he was to see her. He turned on the boiler and laughingly told me “I’m not getting out of this shower for the next hour.” The bags fell to the floor and he leaned against the kitchen counter to untie his boots swiftly flinging them aside and letting his bare feet rest on the tile floor.

He was exhausted and I hesitated to start with the barrage of questions that had been streaming through my head every day, every hour for these past few weeks. He smiled as he opened the bag of goodies and told me about the elementary school children from Mevasseret Zion who had attached notes with their gifts. He spoke with three of them to thank them personally. One child wrote a three page letter and the soldiers in my son’s unit were grateful to learn more of this 8-year old’s daily life, his favorite subjects and his fondness for playstation. When they called to speak with him, he was overwhelmed and kept calling them “gibborim” heroes.

“Ima” he said, “I’m tired now, but I have to tell you how extraordinary this nation is. The children who wrote to us, the people who sent their good wishes with their packages of food, the businesses that sent truckloads of goods. The soldiers I served with, each one caring deeply about the other one. Zahal who made sure that we were well trained and well equipped for our mission.

But mostly. Mostly. This was a war that was guided by the Hand of G’d.

Everyday we felt His presence — whether deciding to enter a building by smashing down the back wall rather than entering through the front door, only to discover that the front door had been booby trapped, or searching rooms in a house and uncovering a tunnel under a bed we had lifted where tens of Hamas terrorists were hiding in the hopes of kidnapping one of us, or dozens more stories.”

I looked at this child’s face and saw the extraordinary young man he had become. Filled with faith. Feeling a passion for those values that have held this nation together for thousands of years. And, his very presence. His very modesty. His deep felt pride at being part of this nation. All of this wrapped around my heart and left me humbled. Humbled and grateful.

“And I will lift up my eyes unto the mountains, from where my strength will come.”

From: Ilene Bloch-Levy, Shaarei Tikvah. e-mail: ilenelevy@netvision.net.il

Spirit of Change verses kotzer ruach

As I write this Tuesday installment, it is only two hours since President Barak Obama was sworn in as the 44th president of the United States.  I listened to it live here in Israel on my MP3 player while riding the bus home from Jerusalem.  I was moved.  I was proud….and  even the Israeli radio announcers who were busy simultaneously translating every word of Obama’s inauguration speech  – they too were quite impressed.

He said nothing new, nothing unexpected – but he spoke with great confidence and painted a vision for a brighter tomorrow.

As you know, Israel’s gift to the new president was the pull-out of every last Israeli soldier from the Gaza Strip.

Mazal tov, Mr. President.

And while there is a feeling of a great sense of accomplishment here after our short 3-week war with Hamas, there is also a  lot of confusion, a lot of dismay.  Why is that they can still fire rockets?  Why is it that Gilad Shalit has not been returned?

Why is it that the world cannot understand our desire to live normal rocket-free, suicide-bomber free lives?

Why is is that no matter what serious steps we take to defend our people and our country, it is always the same: the world will always invent new ways to find fault.

Frankly, even  amidst the joy of reuniting with our beloved sons, fathers, husbands who are returning from the front-lines,  we are not celebrating like the millions of Americans this day in Washington, D.C.

Maybe the best way to describe our feelings would be with words right out of the parasha – we are suffering from a clinical case of  kotzer ruach - of deep disappointment.

Foreign Minister Tzippy Livni commented today during a speech she was giving in Rishon LeTzion, “I’m jealous of what is happening in the US… I wish Obama well; the leader of the free world. Israel is part of the free world and his success is our success.  I hope that on February 11 [day after Israeli national elections]there will be the same spirit of change here. I want people here to also feel the day after the election that they have power and hope.”

Listen, Ms. Livni, it is one think to “want” that, and a whole other thing to make it happen.  For there to be exhilaration and hope in the wake of the upcoming elections,  the candidates will need to realize that it is not magic – it is the result of clear communication and a well thought out vision.

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As an example, what happened at the beginning of Parashat Vayeira when Moshe delivered  God’s words of encouragement to the Israelites?

Say unto the children of Israel saying: I am the LORD, and I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will deliver you from their bondage, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm, and with great judgments; and I will take you to Me for a people, and I will be to you a God; and you shall know that I am the LORD your God, who brought you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians. And I will bring you in unto the land, which I vowed to give to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob; and I will give it you as an inheritance: I am the LORD. (Exodus 6:6-8)

These were some very inspiring words – or so one would think.  The Torah tells us that Moshe conveyed them directly to the people, but they would not listen. The Torah reports to us that it was because of their disappointment (kotzer ruach) and hard work.

Kil Yakar (Rabbi Shlomo Efraim of Lunchitz, 1550-1619) explained this passage in an intriguing fashion.  He suggests that Moshe actually misunderstood their reaction.  Their lack of enthusiasm led Moshe to believe that they did not want to leave, that they lacked the spirit, lacked the initiative to play their role in fulfilling the terms of the 400 year old covenant.  In fact, that was not the case.  They wanted to believe, but the fact that there was no mention in Moshe’s words as to how God was going to deal with Pharaoh, they assumed that they were going to have to force their way out of Egypt by themselves, and the hard labor and earlier disappointments had got them down. We know that – the Torah tells us that this was the reason – but Moshe had misunderstood. And it is for this reason that he questions God when He tells him to go speak with Pharaoh, saying, “The Israelites did not listen to me, why should Pharaoh?”  That is, if Pharaoh sees their lack of enthusiasm and desire to leave, why should he consider sending them out?

Moshe misunderstood. They wanted to believe, but could not trust that the leader who stood before them had a cogent plan to get them out of this mess. In the midst of their kotzer ruach they could not have confidence in the empty promise.

Unfortunately, it is kind of like that here in Israel.

Out of the three realistic candidates for Prime Minister, two have already led the country, without great success, and the third is “hoping” that on the day after the elections here in Israel, there will be great enthusiasm….

….at this rate, the only enthusiasm I can imagine will be the  great relief in knowing that the endless campaigning will be behind us!

Here’s to better times and new, inspiring visions….

Morey

www.rabbimorey.com

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Pray for our soldiers, and add another stanza to Maoz Tzur

Chanukah Sameach.

With the onset of the attack on the Gaza Strip, I thought I would share with everyone a new stanza that I wrote this year for Maoz Tzur.

It had been bothering me that we left the Miracle of Chanukah back more than 2000 years ago, without recognizing the great blessing of the State of Israel – the modern fulfillment of Al haNissim.

God has blessed this generation with the military might to defend the lives of our people….my son, Naftali,  a tank driver in the IDF,  is awaiting orders.  I am proud of him and ask that your prayers be with him and the thousands of Israeli soldiers who are being called upon to defend our nation, to defend our homeland, to defend Jews everywhere, as an extension of the miracle of Chanukah in our days, at this season.

PLEASE pass on these lyrics, and make them a part of your candle lighting on the final night of Chanukah, in recognition of the great miracle of the State of Israel, and the privilege we have been given to defend its right to exist.

אַלְפַּיִם שָׁנָה שֶׁל זִכְרוֹנוֹת

מֵעוֹלָם לֹא אָבְדָה תִּקְוָתֵנוּ

דּוֹר אַחַר דּוֹר, מֵאֲרָצוֹת שׁוֹנוֹת

לְצִיּוֹן נָשָׂאנוּ עֵינֵינוּ.

חָזַרְנוּ אֶל מוֹלַדְתֵּנוּ, קִבַּצְנוּ גָּלוּיוֹתֵינוּ –

מְדִינָה וְאוּמָה נַגְשִׁים חֲלוֹמֵנוּ

Two thousand years of memories,

Never did we lose our hope in the future-

Generation after generation, from many a nation,

To Zion did we lift up our eyes.

We have returned to our homeland,

We have gathered in our dispersed exiles,

Country and nation, we will fulfill our dream.

Alpayim shana shel zichronot

Me-olam lo avda tikvateinu

Dor achar dor, me-artzot shonot

Le-Tzion nasanu eyneynu

Chazrnu el moladeteinu, kibatznu galiyoteynu –

Medina ve-uma, nagshim chalomeynu.

Hebron: When so much love makes one hate…

It has been bothering me all day….how is it that one can love so much that he hates?

This Shabbat we will read about Yaakov’s passionate love for Rachel.  After working for seven years to gain her hand in marriage, he is duped into marrying her sister, Leah instead – apparently an issue of family custom and respect, according to her father, Lavan – who, nonetheless, fulfills his promise to Yaakov as soon as sheva berachot for he and Leah have come to a close(a week later). Of course, he does need to pay with a commitment to another seven years of work, but, the truth is, he is not really in a hurry to get back to Canaan at his point, still fearful of his revenge-seeking brother, Eisav.

Here is what I am thinking….too much love can make you so blind that you do not even realize the messages of hatred that you are broadcasting to another…. In fact, the Netziv here points out that ostensibly Yaakov was going through the motions of being a loving spouse with Leah – so much so, that at first, she did not realize how much he hated her – only God saw it (By the birth of their second son, Shimon, she too realizes the situation.) However, the more he wanted to show Rachel his devotion and love for her, the more he indirectly gave off hate-vibes…. to the point where God took notice and stepped in to steer Yaakov away from the path he had inadvertently chosen.

In Hebron, as I write these words, there is a lot of love for Eretz Yisrael going around among the idealistic youth and families gathered there.  They love Eretz Yisrael, and Hebron in particular so much…it is truly inspiring to see the personal sacrifices they have been willing to make to hold onto the House of Peace – Beit Shalom.  And yet, as they throw stones at the soldiers who have come to fulfill their duty, and threaten an all out civil-war – I just can’t help but feel that perhaps they are allowing their unabated love for Eretz Yisrael to blind them to the hatred they are spewing at these soldiers and and their fellow Jews.

It is a delicate balance, and only God knows where this will lead….but here in the holy land we must strive to ensure that at all times we  keep things in perspective…love for country, without hatred for countrymen…

Morey

www.rabbimorey.com

Leave those Midrashim alone!

One of the many Torah leaflets that fill our synagogues here in Israel every Shabbat caught my eye this past week.

The article addressed the questions as to how old Abraham was when he first recognized the existence of God. There are a number of contradicting sources, here are two of them:

1. Said Rabbi Ami bar Abba, Abraham first recognized God when he was three years old…. (Babylonian Talmud Tractate Nedarim 32)

2. Rabbi Chananiah and Rabbi Yochanan both said Abraham was forty-eight years old when he recognized his creator…(Bereshit Rabbah 30:8)

Of course, the difference between these two positions is quite significant?  How are we to explain this serious discrepancy?  The Hagahot Maimoni (glosses to the Rambam’s Mishneh Torah by Rabbi Meir Hakohen , Germany, 13th century), suggests that there is no discrepancy, but rather Avraham’s religious development grew in stages: At the age of three he was already quite advanced and began his search from God.  By the time he had reached forty, he had made great advnaces in his understanding.

While Rabbi Meir HaKohen offers a wonderful way of resolving the contradiction between these two midrashic sources, I suggest that this approach is seriously flawed, and in fact, counterproductive.

Let me explain.

The study of midrash is not comparable to the study of history.  Some will suggest the information conveyed in  Midrash represents specially preserved insider information that was not recorded for one reason or another in the Torah text itself – a type of oral tradition that has accompanied the Torah since revelation on Mount Sinai. That being the case, it would seem that we have here two conflicting traditions of what happened, and so, Rabbi Meir HaKohen, like others of this ilk, search for a way of smoothing over the discrepancy (not to mention that the Rambam in the Laws of Idolatry 1:3 writes that Avraham was actually 40 – Rabbi Meir HaKohen offers a resolution to this as well!)

Franky, I choose to see it differently.

These two midrashic sources ARE in conflict. More importantly, neither Rabbi Ami bar Abba nor Rabbi Chananiah and Rabbi Yochanan were the least bit interested in transmitting to us some sort of orally preserved tradition passed down from Moses.  Rather, each of them wished to tell us something about Avraham.  Not something they knew for certain, but rather, the way they chose to comprehend his greatness.  Each approach actually teaches a different message.

According to Rabbi Ami, the greatness of Avraham was that he was a child genius.  He was an exceptional individual, a child prodigy. His unique intellect and insight is what launched him on his career as founder of monotheism and progenitor of the Jewish People.  Go d chose him in recognition of his superior mind and thoughtfulness.

Onthe other hand, Rabbis Chananiah and Yochanan offer a very different picture.  They offer us the role model of a man for nearly five decades lived as an idolater.  Only in his late 40’s did he come around to the realization that all he had believed in for so many years was a pack of lies – worship based on superstitions and service of gods created through the fears and nightmares of human beings who had come before him.  He reasoned that he had been mistaken, and he came to the realization, as an adult, that there had to be a transcendent God, with unlimited power and not constricted by space and time.  And so, it was based on this mature realization that came after having lived as an idolater that grabbed God’s attention and led Him to choose Abraham as the founding father of the Chosen People.

As long as we don’t try and make these two midrashic sources “fit together,” they stand to offer us two very different ways of understanding Avraham – or even better, of understanding the qualities of a great leader.  Some will argue that excellent leadership is an innate ability that when nurtured can raise a person and his or her followers to the highest of heights. On the other hand it might be the case that the best leaders rise up form the masses, they are people with first-hand mature understandings of what is out there, what people are thinking, what concerns them, what they are lacking.  According to this approach, an Abraham-type leader is a person who as a result of personal experience is able to empathize with the plight of others, and know what it is they are searching for in their lives.

Who is a better leader? There is no need to answer this question!  The excitement of the reading the midrashim in this way is to offer both models as possible options, and opening up channels for discussion and consideration.

Leave those Midrashim alone!  There is no need to make peace between them.  They ARE saying different things, and we are all richer for the diversity found in our tradition.

Have a great “day after Tuesday”,

Morey

http://www.rabbimorey.com

Why Abraham would NEVER have been elected president

It has been a long time since I have posted….a long time.  I have no good explanations – just excuses.

It is nice to be back, and a belated Shanah Tovah to one and all!

My fellow American citizens will read this either in the midst of or just following the U.S. presidential elections.  As I write this, the polls have only just opened and neither we have no idea as to who will be the next leader of the free-world.

All I know is that even a quick look at this week’s parasha – Parashat Lech Lecha – makes it very clear that if our forefather Abraham were running for office, he would never get elected!

Let’s begin with his age – after all, the first time we really meet him – on his way to Canaan on orders from his “commanding office” he is already 75 years old!  According to the polls, that is way too old…and if he were elected and then died in office, would his nephew Lot be next in line…sure, he has good yichus, but his mere association with Sodom and Amora makes him highly suspect…..

And what about his foreign policy position?  Well, when there is a famine in his own land, he abandons home and goes down to Egypt, where he puts his wife and himself in serious danger.  When a regional war breaks out between the four kings and the five kings, Abraham stays out of it, until his own nephew is captured.  He then takes a small army of several hundred to do battle with armies of thousands!  True, he pulls it off, but at what risk!

And one more seeming weakness – in the area of decsion making.  When Sara tells him to take Hagar ad have a child with her, he does so, wihtout discussion or hesitation.  When it backfires, and Sara insists that he choose between Hagar and herself, he avoids making the decsion and pushes it back to her – “Yor maid is in your hands – deal with her as you think right!”

With all of this “dirt” Avraham  would had never been elected…..I guess that is why it was good that he wasn’t being elected as father of our nation by we – his people- but rather by the Lord, whose insights into the makings of leadership are far more than skin-deep, far mre than based on specific circumstances – specific bills he voted on or specific decsions that appear on the surface to be somewhat “sketchy.”

Perhaps Abraham’s election to enter into the covenant with God (end of the parasha) was based not on his past track record alone, but based on what God “knew” Abraham was capable of doing in the future….Abraham was chosen to me more than a president – he was chosen to found a nation… fortunately God had inside information, and seems to have voted for the right guy.

Whoever wins the election….may God too choose that leader to bring about a better and safer world.

Morey

www.rabbimorey.com

Celebration Obligation

How many of us would dream of missing a Pesach seder?

How many of us would just skip lighting Chanukah candles?

We have grown to understand that celebrating the exodus from Egypt and the victory of the Maccabees are not just invitations to make a party – rather, they are national obligations, part and parcel of our Jewish identity.  In other words, these are a couple of examples of the rituals that Jews do, because they are a part of being Jewish.

Now you must realize,  these two celebrations are very different in terms of their origination.  While the celebration of Pesach comes to us from the Torah itself, the celebration of Chanukah was a rabbinic creation.  In fact, we know from a variety of sources that it did not catch on right away.  The Books of Maccabees, ancient books describing the events of Chanukah, seem to have been written to elaborate on the miracle of the Chanukah victory, and to convince Jews in Israel as well as those living in the Diaspora that this event was worthy of celebration.  For instance, the second Book of Maccabees was originally written in Greek about 40 years after the events it recalls, and was most likely designed to encourage Egyptian Jewry, particularly the large population in Alexandria, to adopt the observance of Chanukah. 

My feeling is that we are at just about that same stage as regards Yom Ha’Atzmaut.

The Talmud, regarding the establishment of the mitzvah of reading the Megillah on Purim (another rabbinic innovation), asks:

Our Rabbis taught: ‘Forty-eight prophets and seven prophetesses prophesied to Israel, and they neither took away from nor added anything to what is written in the Torah, with the exception of commanding the reading of the Megillah’. How did they derive it [from the Torah]? — R. Hiyya b. Abin said in the name of R. Joshua b. Korha: If for being delivered from slavery to freedom we chant a hymn of praise, should we not do so all the more for being delivered from death to life? (Megillah 14a) 

According to the great posek of Pressburg, the Chatam Sofer (1762-1839), when the Talmud teaches something based on a kal vechomer – that is, where the Torah instructs us to do something in a certain  case, then all the more so should that same thing be done in an even more serious case – and then the observance, the new one that is being legistlated as a result of the kal vechomer - is to be considered a TORAH OBLIGATION – not just a nice idea. [Yoreh Deah 233]

In other words, practically speaking, just as it is incumbent upon us to make a seder and sing hallel on Pesach, based on the fact that the Torah OBLIGATES us to celebrate our redemption from Egyptian slavery, all the more so, when our lives were spared from the evil decree of Haman,it should be obvious that we are OBLIGATED IN THE SAME WAY to read the megillah and express our thankfulness for our salvation.

Today, it our OBLIGATION to celebrate Yom HaAtzmaut.  This is the way we need to approach it.  For this day marks Jewish independence from foreign rule – the first time in 2000 years!  It also marks the establishment of a Jewish homeland, a refuge for Jews worldwide – the State of Israel provided for and continues to provide for the safety and well being of Jews worldwide…millions of Jews today owe their lives to the establishment of this State….for this reason along we must consider ourselves OBLIGATED to celebrate this day…to say words of hallel, and to make the day into a celebration.

Tomorrow morning, our family will be hosting a seudah chagigit – a holiday meal – at our home.  Together with other friends who have made aliyah and made Israel their new home, we will offer a toast to the miracle of the State of Israel, and join together in recollection of what an incredible modern-day miracle we are all privileged to be a part of. 

We will do this not only as an excuse to get together and eat, but as an OBLIGATION, as we do our part to establish Yom haAtzmaut as the a full fledged Yom Tov, no different than Purim and Chanukah.

Chag Sameach!

A RABBI FOR ALL OCCASIONS…..Please visit my new website at www.rabbimorey.com

 

 

 

 

The Bare Facts about Rebuke

I begin with some self-rebuke for getting away from my weekly blog, and still not being able to keep track of the coming and going of Tuesdays….again, this week Thursday will have to do!

The parasha this week reminds us of the Torah’s built-in system of generating halakhic observance. We who are obligated to follow the mitzvot, are empowered to become the policemen of mitzvah observance as well:

You shall not hate your brother in your heart. Reprove your kinsman and incur no guilt because of him. You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against your countrymen. Love your neighbor as yourself: I am the Lord. (Lev. 19:17-19)

Much “ink has been spilled,” , much Torah has been taught focused on defining the precise meaning of these verses, both in terms of context and practical ramifications. This is not my purpose in this blog entry.

Rather, I would like to take this opportunity to “expose” (excuse the pun) the misguided attempts by some of my fellow Israelis who in pursuit of righteousness have once again crossed the line.

On the Monday of chol haMoed (second day of Yom Tov in the Diaspora), a 27-year-old man claiming to be a yeshiva student decided to give his own interpretation to the recent ruling that stores may sell chametz on Pesach if it is not publicly displayed.

To make his point he stripped naked in a Bat Yam supermarket.

The man entered the store and took off his clothes, leaving only a sock covering his private parts. Inscribed on his stomach were the words “This is not [a] public [place].”

He explained that if selling chametz in the store during Pesach was not to be considered a public breach of Israel’s Chametz law, then neither was his act to be considered to be “public.”

As you can imagine, the incident drew much attention – not that it made people think twice about selling chametz (and by the way, most store owners – even the secular ones – do not do so) – but it pointed once again to the fact that our charedi (ultra-orthodox) kinsfolk are out of control.

To bring you up to date, in 1986 the Knesset passed the Prohibition on the Display of Chametz Law. Several proprietors who sold chametz in their eateries or stores last Pesach were brought up on charges of breaking that law, but were exonerated based on the judges narrow reading of the law, limiting the prohibition to public display and sale, not just sale to the public.

A number of members of Knesset were outraged. They have begun to compose a bill whose intention is to outlaw the sale of chametz during Pesach altogether. One MK, Moshe Gafni (UTJ) claimed that the judge left them no choice but to resort to religious coercion.” Boker tov!!!???

The Jerusalem Report carried a very interesting article that analyzed the differences between the charedim and the religious Zionists over the legitimacy of using legislation to enforce religious observance in inherently personal matters, such as selling chametz on Pesach. Interesting, they pointed out that in general, charedei leaders are much more inclined to use legislation as a means of enforcing Jewish law. They are concerned that if they do not do everything in their power to enforce Jewish observance, then they will be held responsible for the sins of their wayward kinsfolk. Religious-Zionist leaders, on the other hand, are more sensitive to the downside of religious coercion, in that it creates a backlash of opposition among secular Israelis who have strayed off the path. (See the whole article at http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1208870486807&pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull)

Here are the real bare facts: legislation does not lead to mitzvah observance among the chiloni population of Israel – it leads only to greater and greater disdain for Torah and Mitzvot.

And in fact, the verses quoted above bear this out quite clearly.

Notice that four different words are used in these two verse to describe the other – the guy who is doing the sinning.

Here they are with the translation I have offered:

Verse 17: achicha - your brother/amitecha – your kinsman

Verse 18: bnei amecha – you countrymen/rei’echa – your neighbor

I would argue that these four words were not randomly chosen for literary purposes, but they come to make a distinction in terms of who and how to rebuke our fellow Jews. (There is evidence to this being the case in the Tanya as well)

In short, the first verse, 19:17, is speaking to the observant Jew with reference to other Jews who have chosen to live observant lives as well, other Jews who have chosen to be “a part of the club.” They are bound by this common bond in terms of their strong desire to be observant. This common cause makes them more like brothers than just friends. When one strays from the path, the other must not become resentful; instead, he must gently rebuke his coreligionist, his kinsman, helping him to get back on the path. And he should do this because no doubt it is what his brother would want him to do, to help him overcome his yetzer hara and get back on the path. Neglecting to rise to the occasion and take responsibility for his brother makes him partially culpable for the sins being committed by the other.

Verse 18 relates to a different scenario. Here the relationship is one of fellow countrymen and neighbors. What they have in common is that they share the same country, or happen to live in close proximity to one another. They see each other on the streets, take the same buses, vote in the same elections. Yet, they are not especially close, perhaps they do not even know each others names. Within this context, says the Torah, there is no place for rebuke – it is in fact not only pointless to rebuke- it will end up being detrimental. Here, the mandate is very different – first, one must remove any sense of resentment or ill-will about the choices the other has made. For the Jew who has chosen to live a fully committed halakhic life, this can be very difficult to do when he sense that the other non-observant Jews do not share the same commitment. Yet, the Torah teaches there is no room to bear a grudge – in fact, the operative approach is to do just the opposite – to show love for that neighbor as if he were kamocha – a “part of your club.”

Most poskim agreed that the well-know concept of “kol yisrael areivim zeh bazeh” – that all Jews are guarantors for one another” only applies to cases where protesting or rebuking other Jews has the potential of proving to be effective. Legislating halakhah might prevent halakhic transgressions in the short-term, but it is leading to greater resentment and ultimately to a greater amount of cumulative transgressions in the long-term.

Rav Ronan Lubitz, a teacher and writer here in Israel, has argued that much of the halakhic literature related to Jews who transgress halakha might be considered completely irrelevant to today’s secular or chiloni Jew. In the pre-modern period, when the great majority of Jews lived in autonomous Jewish communities, in which almost everyone was observant, the decision not to observe the mitzvot was generally a sign of conscious rebellion against the Torah and against the community. It was often part of conversion to another religion, and involved some degree of leaving the fold of the Jewish people for another, often competing and hostile, community.

None of this is relevant today, when the chiloni is part of the majority of the Jewish people, and his decisions are generally based not upon a rebellion against Judaism or the Jewish people, but rather based upon modern notions of personal autonomy, and a belief system in which the mitzvot do not play a significant role.

Israelis are definitely yearning today to bring more and more Jewish observance into their lives – but its their journey, and they won’t get there any faster by legislating the route.

A RABBI FOR ALL OCCASIONS…..Please visit my new website at www.rabbimorey.com

Entering Adar Covered in Blood

As I begin to write this blog entry, only about two hours have passed here in Israel since two arab terrorists from East Jerusalem – Israeli citizens – entered into Yeshivat Mercaz HaRav in the midst of Jerusalem, opening fire on the eighty young men who had gathered with singing and dancing to celebrate the onset of the month of Adar II, the month in which we will soon celebrate Purim. At the time of my writing, reports waver between 7-8 murdered, and several more in serious condition.

The Mishnah in Tractate Taanit instructs us that upon entering into the month of Adar, we are to increase joy and happiness.

We have entered Adar, and that does not seem to be the case; however, what is very much like Adar is that we are once again experiencing what it feels like to live in an upside down world.

Random kassam and grad missiles are be launched at Israeli cities…we have more than our share of miraculous misses – and yet, the word out on the streets of the world is that these missiles are understandable for they are in retaliation for Israel’s targeted killings of Hamas terrorists.

Of course, it has been forgotten that the Hamas terrorists are being targeted by Israel because the have already been involved in terrorist activities and they must be stopped before they plan or get involved in carrying out more terrorism.

In the spirit of the month of Adar, and the holiday of Purim, vna’hafoch hu – everything is upside down. Israel is in the midst of an ongoing defensive battle. Israel does not randomly aim at and kill civilians – that’s what Hamas and others do to us…when Israel does, unfortunately, kill civilians, it is because they are in proximity of terrorists. Period.

And another thing, when Israel targets terrorists and unintentionally kills civilians, we send our apologies, and we all feel remorseful for the human costs associated with self-defense. Hamas, Hizbollah, Islamic-Jihad and all the others, on the other hand, set their sites on random civilian targets – like a yeshiva in the heart of Jerusalem – slaughter and butcher with the intent of killing as many as possible, expect to die as martyrs, and then, celebrate in the streets, cleverly handing out candy to children as a means of indoctrinating them from a very young age that their highest aspiration should be to one day blow themselves while taking as much Jewish blood as possible along with them!

The members of Amnesty International are the ones who should seek amnesty for the confusion they have caused the free world whose goals are to make the world a better place, despite the hatred, violence, and disregard for the value of human life that is hiding around every dark corner of the fanatical arab world.Who on earth do these members of Amnesty International think they are? Who gave them the mandate to close their eyes to our story, to demand that we stop killing terrorists whose only goal in life is to live long enough see the State of Israel come to and end!

How do we cope with the kind of butchering that was carried out Thursday night in Jerusalem? After we, the appreciative and humane citizens of Israel, grieve at the loss of life and the high price we must pay for preserving our rights to live in our homeland and to build a country that is dedicated to making the world a better place, we continue to live on, to celebrate the opportunity of another day, of the ever-present hope that tomorrow will be better.

I am sorry if I have said nothing new, but experience has taught me that when faced with setbacks, we must always re-align ourselves with the mission, and remind ourselves that we are still fighting the War of Independence.

Despite it all, I give thanks to God who has blessed me and my family with the merit of living here in Israel. I know that most of my fellow citizens feel the same way.

I have chosen to include a poem that I wrote six years ago, at the height of a period when we were experiencing day-to-day terrorism here in Israel. Unfortunately, its message is still relevant.

Shabbat shalom

A soldier, every one

It now appears that

the war has begun,

A soldier, every one,

The battle is raging, and no where is safe,

A soldier, every one.

Who fights the battles, who’s on the front lines?

Our fathers and brothers and sons.

But no, not just they,

Every citizen here is

A soldier, every one.

A saba and savta at the Pesach seder,

A soldier, every one.

A nine month old in her mother’s arms,

A soldier, every one.

Teens eating pizza, or at the cafe,

Our children, our daughters and sons,

And so it will be ‘til the battle is won,

A soldier, every one.

“Chamushim alu Bnei Yisrael,”

A soldier, every one,

Every man, every woman,

Every daughter and son,

A soldier, every one.

And God was with them,

Every battle they fought,

Until the fighting was done.

“Vaya’aminu ba’Hashem uv’Moshe avdo.”

A soldier, every one.

 

And here we are,

It’s been thousands of years, yet

A soldier, every one.

Some armed with guns, most just with hope,

A soldier, every one.

Brave heroes go off to school every day,

A soldier, every one,

Their mothers and fathers bid farewell at the door,

A soldier, every one.

A cup of coffee, a trip to the grocer,

A soldier, every one,

The daily routine is the way we do battle,

A soldier, every one.

Synagogue prayers amidst

Rifles and pistols,

A soldier, every one.

We are no longer citizens,

As we live, we do battle,

A soldier, every one.

And so, we Israelis,

Our lives on the line,

A soldier, every one.

We do this for you,

and for all our descendants,

A soldier, every one.

Preserving our home,

Our Eretz Yisrael,

The war is far from won.

Together we pray,

May we be the last, to be

Soldiers, every one.

© Rabbi Morey Schwartz, Hashmonaim Israel. March 2002