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.

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.

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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The Anonymous “They say”ers of Life

In life, we find ourselves surrounded with opinions and suggestions.  Not just those shared with us by family and friends, but also those we hear on the news and read in the papers.  Often, it is the pessimistic voices that rise above the optimists.  There are many reasons that might be suggested for why this is – but that’s not my point.

The thing that bothers me is not the fact that “they say” this or “they say” that – what annoys me is that we are prone to listen to what they say.

The anonymous “they say”ers rule the way we think, the way we choose, the way we act.

An example: last we a friend of ours who lives in the United States was telling us that her daughter had been planning on making aliyah; however, she wants to be a nurse and “they say” that nursing is not a respected profession here in Israel.  My wife, a successful and respected nurse herself, suggested that you just can’t listen to everything “they say.”

Another example: There is a phenomena that has developed in certain circles of our society, where parents have decided that giving their children vaccinations is an unnecessary – they believe in a more holistic approach.  “They say” that is a risk, and better to refrain.  As a result,m there is now a serious measles epidemic circulating in the the ultra-orthodox world here in Israel.  this has been going on for months, and it just keeps reoccurring – measles!

Anyway, it seems to me that until now, I have been reading the Torah with “They say ” glasses, and if I allow myself to remove them, I can find a very different understanding lying beneath the surface.

Let me explain.

As the Bnei Yisrael are standing at the edge of the waters of the Reed Sea, with the Egyptians fast approaching, the Torah tells us that they became frightened and “they”cried out to God.  (Exodus 14:10).  It then says that “they” said to Moshe: “Weren’t there enough graves in Egypt?  Why did you have to bring us out here to die in the desert?  How could you do such a thing to us, bringing s out of Egypt?  Didn’t we tell you in Egypt to leave us alone and let s work for the Egyptians? It would have been better to be slaves in Egypt that to die here in the desert!”

When we read these words and words and compliants like these, attributed to the unspecified they – the bnei Yisrael – we are normally persuaded to beleive that it is as if all of them, in unison, said these words.  Similarly, when we read the az yashivr the song at the sea i nthis week’s parasha, we seem to picture everyone participating – however, does it seem reasonable that 2,000,000 men, women and children complained or sang in unison here?

I suggest that the Torah presents the story to us in the way we are used to understanding life. I can imagine that actually, there were many Israelites at the sea who had faith in Moshe and in God.  They were the stood silently, waitng for the miracle, while Moshe contended with the loud mouths who spoke out -

Of course, that is what a leader is forced to do – to deal with the lud mouths, the complainers – the “nay-sayers.”

With this perspective, I have come to listen  to the voices of the faithful – I know they are there – they are all around us, they fill our lives, they are a part of our journey – it’s just that sinc they don’t speak up, we forget they are there.

Have a very positive, songful Shabbat Shira – gotta go.

The Shofar of Elul

Yesterday I had the privilege of officiating at a Bar-Mitzvah at the Western Wall, the Kotel haMaaravi.  Our services were often interrupted by shofar blasts.  Some from old grey-bearded men, blowing the traditional blasts on modest rams’ horns, others by young, strong men using long twisted antelope horns, blowing many more than the traditional fours sounds usually blown each day after the morning Shacharit services.

It made me think seriously as to why it is we are all blasting on the shofar this whole month. 
The Rambam writes in the Mishneh Torah, Laws of Repentence, in reference to the blowing of the shofar:

“O sleepers, arise from your sleep! O slumbers, arise from your slumber! Scrutinize your deeds and lovingly repent! Remember your Creator! Peer into your souls, improve your ways and your deeds.” (Maimonides, Laws of Repentance 3:4).

Yet, in looking around, it doesn’t seem to move people spiritually, it doesn’t seem to be “waking them up to repent.” Instead of concentrating on teshuva, people seem rather to be concentrating and comparing the various performance qualities of the ‘trumpeters.”

And with all due respect to the Rambam here, I’m not convinced that these blasts are about teshuva.  While it is true that the shofar was sounded during ceremonies to bring rain, or in the event of local disasters, to awaken people to repent in an effort to bring divine mercy upon us, it doesn’t seem that this was its main use. Mainly, the shofar and the silver trumpets were intended to signal encampment movements especially during times of battle. (See Numbers 10) In addition, like battle cries, they were meant to arouse fear and dread, to produce panic in the ears and hearts of the enemy (Shall the horn be blown in a city, and the people not tremble? – Amos 3:6)

That being the case, then I would like to suggest that rather than serving to awaken us to repentance, the shofar of Elul is actually a rallying call to our fellow Jews. As the New Year approaches, we are calling out to all those around us to join together in an effort to make the coming year better than the one that has past.  We are calling out: “All hands on deck!”  We need everyone to be a part of taking advantage of the fresh new start that lies before us.
 
There is a source for this, I believe, in the Midrash.  After Moshe came down the mountain with the first set of tablets and found the people worshipping the golden calf, he prayed on their behalf that they be forgiven, and then he was invited by God to once again ascend the mountain.  As it is written in the Midrash:

On Rosh Chodesh [Elul] the Holy One, blessed be He, said to Moshe: Ascend the mount unto Me. And they sounded the shofar in all the camp, that Moshe ascended the mount, so that they shouldn’t further err after idols. And the Holy One, blessed be He, ascended in that shofar, as it is written, (Tehilim 47:6) ‘God ascends in the [shofar] blast’. Thus the Sages established that the shofar should be sounded every Rosh Chodesh [Elul] (Pirkei deRebbe Eliezer, chapter 46).

I suggest that the Midrash is teaching us about “second chances.”  The shofar was blasted as Moshe re-ascended Mt. Sinai in order to indicate to the people that they were being given a second chance – “Don’t squander it on some golden idol again!”

How will we use the New Year that lies ahead of us?  What steps can we take so as not to squander all that it promises?

An interesting thought: The blessing over the blowing of the shofar on Rosh Hashanah refers to the mitzvah as “lishmoah kol shofar,” “to hear the voice of the Shofar.”

Since that voice speaks without words, the message that is heard depends a great deal on who is doing the listening.

Potter, Paltry?

“Put aside the paltry contents and the moral of the book,” Avraham Ravitz, a Member of Knesset from the United Torah Judaism, said in a statement.”But the intention by booksellers to hold this party while blatantly violating the Sabbath is doubly sinful,” he raged.

I have a confession – I don’t read Harry Potter books (although my son Yoni is well into the seventh and final book in the series – “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows”).  I don’t dismiss the books because of their content, but simply because of their weight and length - those books are big and long! 

I am happy to follow the story via the movies (I know, I know, the books are much better!) Having just thoroughly enjoyed the fourth Harry Potter movie last night, I thought I would take a moment to consider what it is that draws me to the stories, and what it is that has lead certain Jews, like MK Ravitz, to speak out against them.

 I have to admit, the Friday night debut of the latest book was unfortunate for Jews who care about strict Shabbat observance.  My son had ordered the book ahead of time, and was perfectly happy to pick it up at the book store first thing Sunday morning.  It would have been nice to feel that we in the State of Israel could wait those few additonal hours.  However, given that the vast majority of the Jews who do live in the State of Israel today are not strictly observant of Shabbat, and many stores, restaurants, and attractions are open on Shabbat, then I don’t see why the MK’s needed to make any bigger a stink about this occasion. Seems like it was just an excuse to express further sinat chinam during the week right before Tisha B’av – but, that’s water under the bridge, and not really the issue I want to address.

Next week, in Parashat Re’eh, we will read of the warning: Beware of being lured into their ways.” (Deuteronomy 12:30) This prohibiton on mimicking the ways of the other nations has been extended throughout our history to disallow us from all sorts of behavior – be it our language, our dress, our music, our artwork, etc.  We have been determined not to follow in “their ways,” concerned that doing so will take us a step closer to becoming just like them – relinquishing our special ways and unique mission.

That’s fair – I understand that concern – I think most Jews can understand that. However, to say that the Harry Potter saga has paltry contents and lacks in terms of its overall message is to clearly disclose that one has no idea of what one is talking about!

Have you heard about the Harry Potter Alliance? (http://www.thehpalliance.org/)

The Harry Potter Alliance, founded by 28 year-old Anrdew Slack, is a mostly online social action group that urges Harry Potter fans to “to spread love, the greatest form of magic, and fight the Dark Arts in the real world, using Harry and Albus Dumbledore as inspiration.”

In the past, the group has tackled issues like global warming (“denying global warming is like denying Voldemort’s return”), the seal hunt in Canada (“we are responsible for the care of magical creatures”) and Wal-Mart’s practices, the latter through a YouTube video called “Harry Potter and the Dark Lord Waldemart.”

In fact, it has been suggested that the story of Harry Potter is the story of the Jewish people.  Rabbi Jack Abramowitz of the Orthodox Union wrote:

Harry is Jewish. His parents died so that he might survive and carry on their legacy. Voldemort isn’t an evil wizard, but he does represent the forces of evil. He is Egyptian slavery. He is the Syrian-Greeks. He is Haman. He is the Roman persecution. He is the Spanish Inquisition. He is pogroms and Crusades and the Holocaust and the Intifada. He thought he had destroyed the Potter family, but you know what? They survived in Harry, much the same way the Jewish people lives on in you.

(http://www.ou.org/ncsy/projects/5764/oct31-64/harry_potter_is_jewish.htm)

Maybe if someone translates the series into Yiddish, changes Harry’s name to Hershel, and relocates the story to Brooklyn, then certain skeptics out there might be surprised to find out that Jewish inspiration can come from many different places.

What ever happened to “real-life” Judaism?

Judaism, life every other culture, has its share of stories and legends. These serve to make Judaism rich and colorful.  In particular, stories are useful as tools for conveying central values that we as Jews are responsible for imparting to other Jews,  especially the children of the next generation.

However, it seems to me that there comes a time when we grow up, a stage when the stories need to be recognized for what they are – and real-life needs to become the focus of our attention.

For instance, on Pesach, I was searching for words of inspiration in one of the many Torah handouts that appear each week at our synagogue.  There, in one such handout, I came across an article with an appealing title: The Exodus from Egypt-In Days Gone by and Today. I noted that the writer was a religious Zionist rabbinic scholar, and I looked forward to reading what he had to say.

He begins with a story about a Hassidic rebbe (already a bad sign!) who once proclaimed the following:

“Come and see the greatness of God’s personal providence! Once a fly drowned, and the king decreed harsh servitude, with mortar and bricks, upon 600,000.”

He explains that the rebbe meant to say, that it was God’s will, He commanded the fly to fall into the wine goblet that the butler was about to bring before Pharaoh.  And then, one thing led to the next. Joseph explained that dream correctly, which gave him the opportunity to explain the dreams of Pharaoh, which enabled him to rise to viceroy of Egypt which allowed him to provide sustenance and shelter for his family in Goshen, which led to their enslavement, as well as the enslavement of hundreds of thousands of their descendants.

The message, wrote this rabbinic scholar, is that nothing happens by accident.  God had the fly fall into the wine goblet in order to bring about the fulfillment of his promise to Avraham.  The people, he reminds us, had fallen to the 49th level of tumah, or spiritual impurity, and so God acted to prevent them from falling beyond the lowest level, to the point of no return. He then went on to apply the lesson to our dire situation in modern day Israel: No matter how bad the corruption, no matter how messed-up the political system gets – even if the level of moral depravity within our leadership sinks to rock bottom, even if the majority of Jewish people are not able to say Shema Yisrael – we must take with us the lesson of the Exodus: God’s providence is with us and on it alone we must rely. Just as they had reached the rock bottom of tumah and were nonetheless redeemed, so too will God redeem us at this dark hour of national disgrace.

I beg to differ. 

It is clear as day to me that the straight-forward message of the Torah was found in last week’s Torah reading, Parashat Acharei Mot – Book of Leviticus, 18:4

And you shall preserve my laws and my ordinances, which a person shall perform them and live through them, I am the Lord.

The Torah is a book about real people, living real lives, making real decisions and suffering real consequences. Period. The Children of Israel suffered slavery in Egypt as a result of their decision to remain there.  Sure, God promised Abraham that he would ultimately take them out of their bondage, but the simple straight forward telling of the story does not blame a fly sent by God for 210 years of hard labor.  The lesson we are to learn is completely missed if we make such an assumption, rewriting what really happened through the looking glass of the midrash whose purpose is to expound, not to replace.

The Torah commands us to take action, to live by the Torah’s laws, to create just socieities and to take responsibility for their failures.  We cannot, should not, and have not the luxury of relying on God to rescue us from our current state of tumah here in Israel.  We have collectively brought this upon ourselves, and we must look to ourselves for the remedy.

Real-life Judaism is about applying Torah law to our lives; it is not about relying on midrashim to solve our problems and put us at ease. 

In real-life Judaism there is no room for relying on God to bail us out – God gave us the Torah and its laws for that purpose. 

We must not allow ourselves to believe for a moment that God will come to our rescue – even if He might! For in doing so we abdicate our responsibilities to living in the real world, the world that God created for us, the world He asked us to guard and protect.

Paying it Forward

The sons of Aaron, Nadav and Avihu, brought forth their offerings on the day of the dedication of the Tabernacle.  A fire came forth and devoured them before the eyes of the many who had come to celebrate the holy occasion. 

Then Moses said unto Aaron: ‘This is it that the LORD spoke, saying: Through them that are close to Me I will be sanctified, and before all the people I will be glorified.’ And Aaron held his peace.  (Leviticus, 9:3)

Moses said to Aaron, “My brother, at Mt. Sinai it was told to me [by God] that in the future I would sanctify this House, and that through a great man would I sanctify it.  I thought that meant that either through you or through me this House would be sanctified. And now, behold, your two sons are greater than me and greater than you.” (Midrash Leviticus Rabbah 12:2)

Yesterday, April 16, 2007, the Jewish world marked Holocaust Remembrance Day, known in Hebrew as Yom HaZikaron laShoah ve’lagevurah, Memorial Day for the Destruction and the Heroism. Communities throughout the world mark the day with commemorations, remembering the murdered, pledging to never let it happen again, and , wherever possible, paying tribute to the survivors still living among us who bear witness to Nazi atrocities

By the end of the day, there was one less Holocaust suvivor to pay tribute to.

Another victim of a modern day attrocity – a school shooting spree – whose never again pledge is long overdue, Professor Liviu Librescu, 76, an engineering science and mathematics lecturer in at Virginia Tech for 20 years, was one of the thirty-two victims whose lives were randomly snuffed out by a deranged young man for whom human life had lost all value.

Professor Librescu is reported to have saved the lives of his students by blocking the doorway of his classroom from the approaching gunman, allowing the students to climb out the windows to safety,  before he himself was fatally shot.

As reported in Haaretz, Professor Librescu, had known tragedy since childhood. When Romania joined forces with Nazi Germany in World War II, the young Librescu was interned in a labor camp, and then sent along with his family and thousands of other Jews to a central ghetto in the city of Focsani. Hundreds of thousands of Romanian Jews were killed by the collaborationist regime during the war.

He made aliyah in 1978 from Romania, forced to leave when he would not collaborate with the communists.  In 1986, he took a sabbatical at Virginia Tech, and decided to stay.

I uncovered an interesting fact today about Professor Libresco.  I came across a 1991 correspondence from Yad VaShem, where they responded to his request to designate the Queen Mother Elena of Romania as a “righteous gentile.” She had served as Queen Mother from 1940-47.  It is reported that in 1943 and early 1944, the queen mother helped to return thousands of the surviving expelled Jews, including thousands of Jewish orphans, from Transnistria, the part of the Ukraine conquered by German and Romanian troops in the summer of 1941. Before the war this area had a Jewish population of 300,000. By the end of the war, more than half of them had been deported and killed.

I have a strong hunch that Professor Librescu or members of his family were among those who were saved through the Queen Mother’s actions.

In the letter he received that year from Yad Vashem, Professor Librescu was reminded that only people who risked their lives to save Jews could be considered for the honor of ‘righteous gentile’.

After turning to various other people, the queen mother and the patriarch appealed directly to Ion

Antonescu, who acquiesced and agreed that those Jews who had not yet been expelled from

Cern_u_i could remain there temporarily. The help sent in 1942 saved the lives of thousands of

Jews who had been expelled to Transnistria. In 1943 and early 1944, the queen mother helped to

return thousands of the surviving expelled Jews, including thousands of Jewish orphans, from

Transnistria.

After turning to various other people, the queen mother and the patriarch appealed directly to Ion

Antonescu, who acquiesced and agreed that those Jews who had not yet been expelled from

Cern_u_i could remain there temporarily. The help sent in 1942 saved the lives of thousands of

Jews who had been expelled to Transnistria. In 1943 and early 1944, the queen mother helped to

return thousands of the surviving expelled Jews, including thousands of Jewish orphans, from

Transnistria.

After turning to various other people, the queen mother and the patriarch appealed directly to Ion

Antonescu, who acquiesced and agreed that those Jews who had not yet been expelled from

Cern_u_i could remain there temporarily. The help sent in 1942 saved the lives of thousands of

Jews who had been expelled to Transnistria. In 1943 and early 1944, the queen mother helped to

return thousands of the surviving expelled Jews, including thousands of Jewish orphans, from

Transnistria.

After turning to various other people, the queen mother and the patriarch appealed directly to Ion

Antonescu, who acquiesced and agreed that those Jews who had not yet been expelled from

Cern_u_i could remain there temporarily. The help sent in 1942 saved the lives of thousands of

Jews who had been expelled to Transnistria. In 1943 and early 1944, the queen mother helped to

return thousands of the surviving expelled Jews, including thousands of Jewish orphans, from

Transnistria.

Queen Mother Elena was soon after accepted for this honor, a ‘righteous gentile,’ acknowledged to have risked her life to save the lives of thousands of Jews.

What do we then call a Jew, who risks, even gives his life to save the lives of gentiles? And what do we call a Holocaust survivor, whose life was spared, and who then, more than 60 years later, sacrificed his own life to save others? 

In the words of Moses, he “was greater than I.” He sanctified the name of God in the eyes of millions around the world.  He never forgot that his life had been spared by the bravery of another, and so, he ended his life paying it forward, putting his own life on the line to spare the lives of his students.  Just as he had been given a second chance to live, so too did he give that chance to those students who were fortunate to call him their teacher.

Nadav and Avihu, according to Moses, sanctified the house of God through their deaths. How did that work, exactly?  Why did they have to die to bring holiness to the place?There are a number of different explanations that go in a number of directions.  However, if you ask me, the truth is that Moses himself didn’t have a good answer for Aaron.  What do you say to a father whose two sons have suddenly been taken from him?  Can any explanation really suffice?  Moses, however, senses that it must have been purposeful, their lives could not have been taken in this way on this occasion for no good reason!  Clearly, suggests Moses, we must assume that in some inexplicable way, their deaths in this way mark something very holy about them, even holier than he or Aaron. Moses’ explanation is said to have comforted Aaron as he faced the micro-holocaust that lay before him.

Perhaps Professor Libresco’s tragic, yet heroic death under inexplicable circumstances can serve as a source of consolation to his family, his students, and all of us who mourn for the murdered, and for the cheapness of human life today.  His act of heroism will forever serve as a glimmer of hope that as deranged as some human beings can become, the unsung heroes among us serve as a reminder that holiness and sanctity can still brighten the darkest of moments.