The Jew Beyond the Natural Order

he preparation for Pesach, more frenzied than that for all other festivals combined, finds its culmination as family and guests gather around the seder-table. Tranquility and calm replace the mad rush of the previous weeks. Seder (order) has been restored... or so we think. Just as we are ready to commence this much anticipated meal, a tiny squeak is heard from the direction of the youngest of the fraternity. And with the question "Why is this night different? " attention is drawn to the strange assortment of foods and relishes on the table.

"Order, is this what you people call order? What normal people eat matza, charoset and maror or do any of the other weird and wonderful things you are gearing up to do this evening?"

There is an old Yiddish folk-saying "Bei Yidden es is nishto kein seder." There is no seder (order) amongst Jews. They no sooner embark on the seder (order), and the child asks "Why is this night different?"(1)

There would seem to be more than a grain of truth in this saying. The Talmud says, "This nation is compared to the stars and compared to the dust, when they rise, they rise to the heavens; when they sink, they sink to the dust."(2) Greater than others, less than others... yes! Equal, normal, ordinary...no!

During our glorious, yet tortuous, history we have risen to heights unequalled by any other nation or people...but we have also been trampled underfoot by all other nations and people. We are a nation which has given the world so much, yet has suffered so much in return.

If the lofty concept of morality exists, it is due to the Jews; and if the degrading concept of holocaust exists, then that too is due to the Jews.

In his mad rantings to his friend Rauschning, Hitler, yemach shmo, put it this way:

"It is true we are barbarians. That is an honored title to us. I free humanity from the degrading suffering caused by the false vision called conscience and ethics... They are Jewish inventions. The war for domination of the world is waged only between the two of us...the Germans and the Jews..."(3)

Nietzsche, the 19th century German philosopher, saw Jews as the cultural force that had overthrown the natural order of might makes right, the law of the jungle. What is known as Western civilization and morality, he claimed, are in reality perversions of natural law and a violation of the ideal human order of domination of the strong for no other reason than the fact of their strength (4).

The Jew tries to raise Man from the ugly "natural order" of the survival of the fittest to a "superorderly" morality which alone can make him Human. But Man, not yet ready to be elevated, denigrates the Jew and subjects him to a "suborderly" existence. Either way, the Jew knows no order. Superorder, suborder...yes! Order...no!

And yet, in spite of all the above, in spite of millennia of historical precedent, the Jew still persists in a stubborn struggle for acceptance, for normalization, for order.

The assimilationist Jews of Germany saw the baptismal font as a carte blanche for their integration into society. It was an acceptable price to pay for "normalization", for "order" . The assimilationist Jews of Russia saw the "Jewish Problem" as a product of a bourgeois class system. Once we break down the barriers, they said, the Jews will be like everyone else...normal.

The capitalist Jews of Germany and the communist Jews of Russia each sought to solve this so-called "Jewish Problem" in their own way, the Germans through making the Jews "ordinary" Germans, the Russians through making the Jews "ordinary" people. Certainly they achieved something. People ostensibly stopped being anti-Jewish, Jewishness being associated with a religious system to which the Russian and German Jewish assimilationists no longer adhered. This was instead replaced with a hatred based on stock and race - antisemitism . And with this new label came a level of suffering and degradation which within a few years surpassed that of all of the previous three and a half millennia of Jewish suffering combined.

The German Jews and the Russian Jews had each forgotten that for Jews there is no "order".

But there have been highs as well as lows. After our extraordinary survival of two thousand years of dispersion, we were finally able to re-establish sovereignty on Jewish soil. In a miraculous string of victories, Israel, that mite amongst the nations, has proven herself superior to the might of over a hundred million Arabs. "When they rise, they rise to the heavens.(2)"

What a glorious opportunity for Jewish revival, for Jewish self-expression, for Jewish development!

Yet in spite of the extraordinary heights and depths of the last half-century, heights and depths which prove beyond all doubt that we are not an ordinary people, there are still those of our brethren clamouring for us to become a nation like all other nations (5), that Israel become a secular country where Jews happen to reside, rather than a Jewish country. People who, like Gershon Shocken, one-time editor of the well-known Israeli daily "Ha-aretz", say that for Israel to survive there must be a removal of the prohibition against intermarriage, there must be a complete integration of Jews and Gentiles. Only this, they claim, is consistent with the spirit of the New Israel.

They say this in the hope of "normalising" the Jews, of solving what to them is the "Jewish Problem". They take no heed of the fact that what was once anti-Jewishness and later replaced by anti-semitism, now goes under the guise of anti-Zionism in absolute defiance of any attempts at normalisation. When the Jew attempted to assimilate religiously and socially his escape was blocked by anti-Jewishness being replaced by anti-Semitism. When the Jew attempts to assimilate nationally, "to become a nation like all other nations", his escape is blocked by anti-Zionism. The pariah status of the Jew as an individual has been replaced by the pariah status of Israel as state. The Jews are simply not a normal people. Amongst Jews, there is no order!

So let us learn the lessons of history, let us forsake this quest for "normalisation, for "ordinariness", for "acceptance" amongst the nations, and let us accept instead our role as G-d's "special people(6)", as "a kingdom of priests and a holy nation(7)". Let us accept our role as a special and separate people with a special and separate Torah, while at the same time continuing to impart morals and ethics to all of mankind so that Man can eventually discover his Divinely human image. It may be a role which has at times been plagued with tragedy and frustration, but it is our role, and the only (8) possible role for a Jew. It may be an extraordinary goal, but let us not forget that we are an extraordinary people.

On this festival of Pesach, this occasion of the birth of the Jews as a nation (9), I wish all of you increased sense of Jewish identity, speciality and mission.

NOTES

1. In Torah, too, the written as well as the oral law, there Is no order. Talmud Pesachim 6b, Bava Kama 102a. Cf. LaTorah U'Lamoadim, Rabbl S. Y. Zevin, p349.

2. Talmud, Megillah, 16a

3. Sparks of Glory, Prager. M. pXIV

4. Ibid pXIII

5. Cf. Ezeklel 20,32.

6. Exodus 19:5

7 Exodus 19:5

8 "The thought which enters your mind shall never come to pass, that which you say "we will be as the nations, as the families of the world"...' By my life", says the Lord G-d, "I will rule over you with a strong hand, and an outstretched arm..."" (Ezekiel 20:32).
9. Ezekiel 16:4,5 s (Rashl, Metzudot).

Is the Kashrut Authority at a Crossroads?

After being threatened with legal action, I have removed the comments section from the blog site for the time being. In doing so I erred on the side of caution. My intention in publishing the article and inviting comments was to bring to the attention of the KA the depth of feeling in the community, not to embark on a protracted legal wrangle which would also involve the shule.

I urge people who wish to comment on this very important issue to do so through the pages of the Jewish News. I would also appreciate it if you would send me copies of your letters to the editor as well as any general comments you may have on the Kashrut situation here in Sydney. Please click here to email.

Concern regarding Kashrus and its availability is reaching a crescendo in Sydney. In this week's Australian Jewish News I have written an op-ed which appears below.

In addition, Isabelle Shapiro, Woollahra Councilor and member of South Head, has written a petition. There has already been an overwhelming response from members of the community who have seen it. If you are as concerned with the availability of a high and affordable standard of kosher products as I am, I urge you to download it from here, sign it, encourage your family and friends to sign it, and return it to Isabelle as soon as possible. Although Isabelle would prefer hard copy, if this will lead to a delay, please feel free to copy and paste it into an email to Isabelle.


I would also like to hear your thoughts on Kashrut here in Sydney and publish them. You can either post these on our blog by clicking the link at the end of this article, or you can email them to me directly by clicking here. While I understand that this is a highly emotive issue, I do ask that all correspondence be civil and non-personal - we must be as careful of what goes out of our mouths as what goes in!

AS the rabbi of one of Sydney's largest congregations it is my duty to report that there are concerns about the Kashrut Authority (KA).

This should not be taken as meaning that the KA has acted inappropriately. What it does mean is that the KA has not enunciated its policies clearly and succinctly in a manner that both ordinary laymen and rabbis can understand. It may also mean that the KA has bitten off more than it can chew.

For example, outside the KA itself, I have not met anyone who really understands why certain kosher caterers and restaurants are permitted to buy meat from Melbourne whereas others are not. When challenged with this, the KA first attempts to give an explanation which for most is just too esoteric.

We are then told that due to this lack of community understanding, the KA is now working on a plan to increase the number of butchers here in Sydney under KA supervision, the intention being to eventually force all kosher suppliers to only purchase meat under KA supervision.

Frankly I don't understand this. If meat from Melbourne is currently acceptable by the KA, then surely the KA should facilitate its availability rather than attempt to block it. There are currently three hashgaschot (supervisory authorities in Melbourne) all of which are of a Charedi standard. Both caterers and the general public want freedom of choice.

Another issue is the cost of kashrut supervision at kosher establishments. In order to maintain the highest standards of kashrut, it is imperative that certain establishments have constant supervision. This is a given according to accepted standards of halacha. The question here is who is responsible for this cost -- the KA or the kosher establishment? The KA says that it is the responsibility of the establishments whereas the establishments say that they cannot possibly absorb this cost without making the cost of their product prohibitively expensive. As no-one expects the supervision to be without cost, this presents a dilemma.

I do not believe that this dilemma can be resolved within the current structure of KA here in Sydney as it may require subsidisation by the community. The community in turn would only be prepared to subsidise kashrut if the organisation was fully open and accountable.

I have the utmost respect for Rabbi Moshe Gutnick as a talmid chochom and someone extraordinarily well-versed in commercial kashrut, and I believe that we are very lucky to have someone of his calibre at the head of the rabbinic arm of the KA.

However it does seem to me that the KA has two quite distinct roles. One is the supervision of kashrut to the highest standards as should be expected by the community. The other is facilitating an open-market approach to kashrut and making kosher products available to as many people as possible at affordable prices, which may require subsidisation, and/or the input of experienced business leaders. I am not convinced that these two roles are best served by the same person, or indeed even by people sitting on the same board. It would be wise to take a page out of the book of Kosher Australia (formerly Melbourne Kashrut), a newly constituted community body which comprises strong rabbinic and lay leadership from across the Orthodox community. Better still, perhaps amalgamation with Kosher Australia should be considered. In a small market such as Australia, there appears to be great advantages in that.

The issue of kashrut is of utmost importance. There are many people in my community, and in communities across Sydney, who are "borderline" kosher. If they perceive things as being unfair, or just too hard, it won't take a lot for them to be pushed over the edge. And the current situation is certainly not conducive to more people adopting kashrut. It must be a major part of the role of a community-based kashrut organisation to ensure that keeping kosher is as easy, simple and affordable as possible that everyone will want to do it.

Work the Dough!

It seems to never end.

Throughout the United States, school yards are bloodied with young corpses.

In another American city, a teenager trashes her newborn child in the bathroom and returns to the high school Prom. No child is going to ruin the best year of her life.

Nor are we immune in Australia. A ten year old boy pushes a six year old over a precipice – for fun and a thrill.

Children murdered. Children the murderers.

Children who in Western thought and literature are synonymous with innocence.

Children in whose faces we see the faces of angels.

How? Why?

While Judaism certainly does not subscribe to the notion that Man is irretrievably born in sin, it does posit that man is born with a propensity towards selfishness and self-absorption.

It can be reined in. It can be transformed. But only with education, with discipline and with effort.

From a Jewish perspective, the notion of angelic childhood innocence is no more than childish simplicity.

Children are certainly innocent in the sense that they are not mature enough to be held culpable for their deeds; nor wise enough to understand the full implications of their actions. They are however hardly paragons of selflessness and purity.

When a child is born it is his animal soul which is predominant. A child is exclusively interested in himself and his own needs. A baby cries when its demands are not immediately met. A toddler wants the whole world to be at its beck and call. As G-d said to Cain after he killed Abel, “At the entrance (of the womb) sin lies in wait.”

Concern for the other – for a person or thing outside of the self – needs to be taught directly and by example. It needs to be nurtured and developed. Indeed our sages explain that it is only at the age of barmitzvah when, if proper preparation has been made, the G-dly soul becomes manifest and dominant. Even so, the conquest of selfishness remains a life-long struggle; “losing oneself” to something higher the major challenge of life.

 If we abdicate our responsibilities as parents in the mistaken belief that everything will work out well without any investment on our part – at best, we run the risk of producing a self-seeking, mercenary generation for whom there is but one question, “What’s in it for me?” At worse, a proliferation of violence which numbs the senses.

It must never be assumed that goodness is the natural state – that without adult intervention, children will tend towards goodness.

William Golding’s Lord of the Flies, a favourite in school curriculums for generations, illustrates most graphically that this is simply not the case.

As parents it is our duty to form the characters of our children so that they grow up to become responsible adults. We must realize that our involvement and example are indispensable to the development of our children.

We are about to  celebrate Passover.

Passover is the festival of Matza – the non-rising, unleavened bread that our forefathers were commanded to eat during their Exodus from Egypt. Matza contrasts with Chametz – the rising, leavened bread which we eat the whole year round.

Pesach is also the festival of children.

And indeed both – Matza and children – are interrelated.

Matza – non-rising, “humble” bread represents righteousness.

Chametz – rising, “arrogant” bread represents evil.

Both Chametz and Matza are made of the same mixture of flour and water.

With Chametz the leavening process is allowed to proceed uninhibited.

With Matza the process is arrested by placing the dough in the oven within eighteen minutes of the flour being mixed with water.

Dough naturally progresses towards chametz. It is only human intervention and human involvement which can prevent chametz from forming.

So too, the human being: our natural propensity is towards selfishness, self-absorption, self-gratification – the root of all evil.

It is only when we “guard the matzot” – when we are vigilant and protect our children from both the outside evil and their own proclivity towards “Me above all else”, when we intervene in the otherwise inevitable downslide – that matza, “righteousness”, is formed.

But it is not possible to always stand guard over our children. And so the Torah gives us an alternative method of producing matza from dough which would otherwise become chametz.

If you continuously kneed the dough, not allow it to stand idle, work it so that it is “occupied” – then even if an entire day passes it will not become chametz.

And so too with our children.

Work them. Get them involved. Give them so many mitzvot that they are too busy to sin.

As one of the great Chassidic Masters once proclaimed:

“I do not want my students to avoid sin merely because they have controlled the urge to sin. I want them to avoid sin because they have no time for sin.”

“Don’ts” certainly have their place – and on occasion are indispensable. But they are only a small part of responsible parenting. It is the “Do’s” which are really important. It is the “Do’s” which create a positive personality.

So teach them to do mitzvot. Teach them to express care and concern for others. Teach them to pray and study. And by all means involve them in recreational activities, for as Maimonides says, “maintaining a healthy and perfect body is a manner of Divine Service”.

Listen to the Master; ensure that they are so busy doing good things that they have no time to sin.

And that’s good advice for adults too.