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).
Thursday, April 21, 2005
Thursday, April 14, 2005
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.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.
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.
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.
Friday, April 08, 2005
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.
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.
Friday, March 04, 2005
A Crown of Gold and Sackcloth
Moses descends the mountain, sees the golden calf, and smashes the holy Tablets, placed in his hands by G-d A-lmighty Himself.
After eighty days of negotiating, pleading and begging, the Israelites are given a second chance. A new set of tablets replace the first, shattered set.
But whatever happened to the broken pieces of the first Tablets? Were those holy pieces of stone, carved with G-d's own hand, swept away as just so much rubble?
Not at all, explains the Talmud. The shattered stones were given a place of honour in the Ark right next to the second set.
"The tablets and broken tablets lay side by side in the Ark".
Hey - I hear you ask - that seems to be going too far. Sure, the broken pieces should be treated with respect. But to put them in the Holy Ark right next to the "real", "whole" tablets? Isn't that a bit extreme?
Mordechai, the leader of the Jews, was famous even before the story of Purim. However this was nothing on the honour that he received after the Jewish victory. Now "his fame went forth throughout all the lands".
Wherever he went, Mordechai wore a large crown of gold. A Jew, said Mordechai, should be proud of his Jewishness. He also had no reason to be embarrassed by his success.
As befitting a person of great stature, Mordechai minted coins upon which his image was prominently displayed - Mordechai was no "shemediger" as they say in Yiddish. He certainly wasn't one to shy away from fame.
A cursory look at these coins would reveal something very strange indeed. Instead of a single image of Mordechai on one side of the coin, as is common practice, there were two, one on each side!
Going a little too far, no?
Your curiosity piqued, you may take a closer look. You would then find something of even greater interest.
On the one side - an image of Mordechai with a great crown of gold.
On the other - an image of Mordechai with sackcloth on his head. (The same sackcloth he wore when the decree of annihilation hung over the heads of the Jews.)
What was Mordechai saying with his coin?
One day the Chassidim snuck into his bedroom. They wanted a better look at those shoes.
Imagine their shock when they discovered stones in their shoes? Their Rebbe may be projecting an image of royalty to the outside - inside, however, he was in deep pain.
No matter what successes we enjoy in life - and we all experience successes in one or more areas of our lives - it ill behoves us to take them for granted. We need to maintain a sense of balance - a sense of the transience of our current situation. An understanding that what is may not always be. That what is should be viewed as a precious gift for which appreciation must be constantly expressed.
This applies to one's health, one's relationships, one's financial situation, and even to one's spiritual level.
When we don't take things for granted, we automatically become more refined, appreciative human beings. We also become more spiritual. We begin to see the wonder, the magic and the beauty - indeed the Divine - in our relationships, in our successes and in the world around us. What for others is common, everyday and unexciting - is to us nothing short of miraculous.
When we don't take things for granted, we don't fall into the trap of being careless with those things that are most precious to us. We realise that maintaining them takes almost as much effort as gaining them in the first instance.
If the above is true generally, it is certainly true in the spiritual arena. Attaining a spiritual level - a level of refinement, goodness, of care and concern for G-d and one's fellow human being - is not something that just happens. You are not born good or bad, refined or course. You have to work on self-improvement. And even should you achieve a level of spiritual enlightenment - without constant effort, you may just as easily lose it. This indeed is one of the central themes of Rabbi Schneur Zalman of Liadi's magnum opus, Tanya. Rabbi Schneur Zalman explains that whereas a person must have a positive self-concept, viewing himself in a good and positive light, he must at the same time see himself as on the edge of a spiritual precipice. He must understand that without due effort on his part he could quite easily fall.
Thinking well of oneself is an indispensable ingredient of success without which a person would be plagued with depression. Taking for granted one's goodness leads to complacency and inaction.
Developing a sense of our innate goodness, one the one hand, and of our delicate state of balance on the other, is essential for our spiritual growth.
And so:
* A golden crown on one side, but sackcloth on the other.
* Complete tablets in one half of the Ark, broken tablets in the other.
* Golden shoes on the outside, stones within.
* Outer pomp, inner brokenness.
King Solomon possessed a ring upon which he engraved the words: "This too will pass".
When things were at their height, he looked at those words. They reminded him to neither take his successes for granted, nor allow his successes to go to his head.
The words on the king's ring, served another, perhaps even more important purpose - one which is highly relevant to many of us.
When at a certain period of his life, King Solomon was deprived of his kingship and all hope seemed lost, he again looked at his ring and was reminded: "This too will pass".
There may be sackcloth in the present, but the hope of a golden crown in the future lives on.
The tablets may now be broken, but they will soon be repaired.
The stones will again give way to golden shoes, the brokenness to wholesomeness, the sinfulness to righteousness.
"This too will pass".
After eighty days of negotiating, pleading and begging, the Israelites are given a second chance. A new set of tablets replace the first, shattered set.
But whatever happened to the broken pieces of the first Tablets? Were those holy pieces of stone, carved with G-d's own hand, swept away as just so much rubble?
Not at all, explains the Talmud. The shattered stones were given a place of honour in the Ark right next to the second set.
"The tablets and broken tablets lay side by side in the Ark".
Hey - I hear you ask - that seems to be going too far. Sure, the broken pieces should be treated with respect. But to put them in the Holy Ark right next to the "real", "whole" tablets? Isn't that a bit extreme?
Mordechai, the leader of the Jews, was famous even before the story of Purim. However this was nothing on the honour that he received after the Jewish victory. Now "his fame went forth throughout all the lands".
Wherever he went, Mordechai wore a large crown of gold. A Jew, said Mordechai, should be proud of his Jewishness. He also had no reason to be embarrassed by his success.
As befitting a person of great stature, Mordechai minted coins upon which his image was prominently displayed - Mordechai was no "shemediger" as they say in Yiddish. He certainly wasn't one to shy away from fame.
A cursory look at these coins would reveal something very strange indeed. Instead of a single image of Mordechai on one side of the coin, as is common practice, there were two, one on each side!
Going a little too far, no?
Your curiosity piqued, you may take a closer look. You would then find something of even greater interest.
On the one side - an image of Mordechai with a great crown of gold.
On the other - an image of Mordechai with sackcloth on his head. (The same sackcloth he wore when the decree of annihilation hung over the heads of the Jews.)
What was Mordechai saying with his coin?
Reb Yisroel Rhuzhin was a famous Chassidic Rebbe. He too was not the embarrassed type. Every day he would ride in the countryside with his private regal coach harnessed to four horses. Never mind a crown, he wore shoes of gold. Reb Yisroel believed that Jews should live in style.
One day the Chassidim snuck into his bedroom. They wanted a better look at those shoes.
Imagine their shock when they discovered stones in their shoes? Their Rebbe may be projecting an image of royalty to the outside - inside, however, he was in deep pain.
In another generation, Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak, the previous Lubavitcher Rebbe, wrote to a friend from a posh hotel, "as the custom of the Schneerson family, outer opulence: inner brokenness".
The above contrasts can be understood on many levels - some with deep mystical connotations. Here I would like to suggest an insight that is both simple and relevant.
No matter what successes we enjoy in life - and we all experience successes in one or more areas of our lives - it ill behoves us to take them for granted. We need to maintain a sense of balance - a sense of the transience of our current situation. An understanding that what is may not always be. That what is should be viewed as a precious gift for which appreciation must be constantly expressed.
This applies to one's health, one's relationships, one's financial situation, and even to one's spiritual level.
When we don't take things for granted, we automatically become more refined, appreciative human beings. We also become more spiritual. We begin to see the wonder, the magic and the beauty - indeed the Divine - in our relationships, in our successes and in the world around us. What for others is common, everyday and unexciting - is to us nothing short of miraculous.
When we don't take things for granted, we don't fall into the trap of being careless with those things that are most precious to us. We realise that maintaining them takes almost as much effort as gaining them in the first instance.
If the above is true generally, it is certainly true in the spiritual arena. Attaining a spiritual level - a level of refinement, goodness, of care and concern for G-d and one's fellow human being - is not something that just happens. You are not born good or bad, refined or course. You have to work on self-improvement. And even should you achieve a level of spiritual enlightenment - without constant effort, you may just as easily lose it. This indeed is one of the central themes of Rabbi Schneur Zalman of Liadi's magnum opus, Tanya. Rabbi Schneur Zalman explains that whereas a person must have a positive self-concept, viewing himself in a good and positive light, he must at the same time see himself as on the edge of a spiritual precipice. He must understand that without due effort on his part he could quite easily fall.
Thinking well of oneself is an indispensable ingredient of success without which a person would be plagued with depression. Taking for granted one's goodness leads to complacency and inaction.
Developing a sense of our innate goodness, one the one hand, and of our delicate state of balance on the other, is essential for our spiritual growth.
And so:
* A golden crown on one side, but sackcloth on the other.
* Complete tablets in one half of the Ark, broken tablets in the other.
* Golden shoes on the outside, stones within.
* Outer pomp, inner brokenness.
King Solomon possessed a ring upon which he engraved the words: "This too will pass".
When things were at their height, he looked at those words. They reminded him to neither take his successes for granted, nor allow his successes to go to his head.
The words on the king's ring, served another, perhaps even more important purpose - one which is highly relevant to many of us.
When at a certain period of his life, King Solomon was deprived of his kingship and all hope seemed lost, he again looked at his ring and was reminded: "This too will pass".
There may be sackcloth in the present, but the hope of a golden crown in the future lives on.
The tablets may now be broken, but they will soon be repaired.
The stones will again give way to golden shoes, the brokenness to wholesomeness, the sinfulness to righteousness.
"This too will pass".
Friday, February 25, 2005
The Fiery Coin
It was just after the Exodus that Moshe commanded the Israelites in the name of G-d to give the half shekel contribution, "the rich shall not give more, nor shall the poor give less, to atone for their souls".
The Midrash records that as Moshe was puzzled by this command, G-d pulled out a fiery half-shekel coin from under His Throne of Glory and announced, "This they shall give".
But what is so hard to understand about a command to give a coin towards the Temple? And if there is some difficulty, how is it resolved by a "fiery coin from under the Throne of Glory"?
In explanation of this Midrash, the Lubavitcher Rebbe explains that what bothered Moses was how could money, the archetype of materialism, atone for a sin as serious as the worshiping of the golden calf.
By showing him a fiery coin, G-d was saying, "Moshe, you are right. It is only money, and money on its own cannot achieve atonement. However when it is a fiery half-shekel, a half-shekel given with soul and enthusiasm, then even money can reach right under the Divine Throne of Glory."
But note: G-d didn't show Moshe merely fire, He showed him a coin of fire.
It is true than one requires fire, but one only also requires the coin. And a very specific coin at that. Not a shekel, not a quarter of a shekel, but a half a shekel. The rich were not permitted to give more, nor were the poor permitted to give less.
Why?
Herein lies one of the great truths of Judaism.
There are many people who think that Judaism is all about feelings, that emotions speak louder than actions, that religion is all in the heart, "I'm a Jew in my heart", goes the common refrain.
We often hear the Jew say:
I acknowledge that in order to make my life meaningful there needs to be a point of contact between me and G-d. There are times when my heart spontaneously overflows with a love of G-d, a love of being Jewish, and a love of all creation. But what makes it real is the fact that it is unrestrained, that it is spontaneous. I cannot identify with these so very specific religious practices. Eat precisely this amount of matzah, make sure your tallit is the right size, light Shabbat candles at exactly the right time. It's in your heart, man!
What this Jew fails to understand is that when you do things merely because you feel like doing them, and when and where your emotions dictate, what you are actually saying is that you want G-d when and where you want Him, but you don't want Him to define YOUR when and YOUR where, your time and your space. What you are saying is I want G-d to be there for ME, to fill my spiritual needs, but I don't want Him to invade my time and my space, and certainly not my body.
Says G-d, "I want your heart, I want your enthusiasm, I want your warmth. Your feelings are so very important to me - performing a mitzvah without feeling is like having a soul without a body.
"But I also want your body. And I want your feelings to be translated into real time and real space. I want you to mould your world around me. I want you to define what's good for your body on my terms - eat kosher - and hence create a consecrated body. I want you to define your time along my lines - keep Shabbos precisely when I say so - and hence create consecrated time. I want you to have a tallit of the right dimensions - and hence create consecrated space."
Says G-d: "I want the fire, but I want the half-shekel, too."
The Midrash records that as Moshe was puzzled by this command, G-d pulled out a fiery half-shekel coin from under His Throne of Glory and announced, "This they shall give".
But what is so hard to understand about a command to give a coin towards the Temple? And if there is some difficulty, how is it resolved by a "fiery coin from under the Throne of Glory"?
In explanation of this Midrash, the Lubavitcher Rebbe explains that what bothered Moses was how could money, the archetype of materialism, atone for a sin as serious as the worshiping of the golden calf.
By showing him a fiery coin, G-d was saying, "Moshe, you are right. It is only money, and money on its own cannot achieve atonement. However when it is a fiery half-shekel, a half-shekel given with soul and enthusiasm, then even money can reach right under the Divine Throne of Glory."
But note: G-d didn't show Moshe merely fire, He showed him a coin of fire.
It is true than one requires fire, but one only also requires the coin. And a very specific coin at that. Not a shekel, not a quarter of a shekel, but a half a shekel. The rich were not permitted to give more, nor were the poor permitted to give less.
Why?
Herein lies one of the great truths of Judaism.
There are many people who think that Judaism is all about feelings, that emotions speak louder than actions, that religion is all in the heart, "I'm a Jew in my heart", goes the common refrain.
We often hear the Jew say:
I acknowledge that in order to make my life meaningful there needs to be a point of contact between me and G-d. There are times when my heart spontaneously overflows with a love of G-d, a love of being Jewish, and a love of all creation. But what makes it real is the fact that it is unrestrained, that it is spontaneous. I cannot identify with these so very specific religious practices. Eat precisely this amount of matzah, make sure your tallit is the right size, light Shabbat candles at exactly the right time. It's in your heart, man!
What this Jew fails to understand is that when you do things merely because you feel like doing them, and when and where your emotions dictate, what you are actually saying is that you want G-d when and where you want Him, but you don't want Him to define YOUR when and YOUR where, your time and your space. What you are saying is I want G-d to be there for ME, to fill my spiritual needs, but I don't want Him to invade my time and my space, and certainly not my body.
Says G-d, "I want your heart, I want your enthusiasm, I want your warmth. Your feelings are so very important to me - performing a mitzvah without feeling is like having a soul without a body.
"But I also want your body. And I want your feelings to be translated into real time and real space. I want you to mould your world around me. I want you to define what's good for your body on my terms - eat kosher - and hence create a consecrated body. I want you to define your time along my lines - keep Shabbos precisely when I say so - and hence create consecrated time. I want you to have a tallit of the right dimensions - and hence create consecrated space."
Says G-d: "I want the fire, but I want the half-shekel, too."
Friday, February 18, 2005
On Being Jewish and Democratic
Those in shule last Friday night heard Major General Uzi Dayan, a nephew of the famous Moshe Dayan, and a formidable military man in his own right, speak on the Security Fence.
Actually, he was supposed to speak on the Security Fence. Instead, the General chose to speak on what he called the bigger strategic issue. Terrorism, he explained, was not an existential threat to Israel. There would be casualties but it could be dealt with. The real threat was the demographic time-bomb. By 2020 there would be an Arab majority between the Mediteranian and the Jordon River. To counter this, Israel had only one choice - to shrink to a size that assured a Jewish majority within its borders.
The reason why Israel should withdraw from the territories, explained Dayan, had absolutely nothing to do with the Arabs or reducing the threat of terror. Abbas could not be counted upon to control the terror in the long term and it was not in his interest to do so. The only hope Israel had of dealing with the threat of terror was an exceedingly strong IDF.
Israel must unilaterally withdraw from the territories for one reason only - so that it's Jewish Democratic integrity could be maintained. Dayan then went on to explain that it was he who convinced Sharon of the need for unilateral withdrawal in 2002.
The above is a brief but, I believe, accurate summary of what Major General Dayan said.
The rest is commentary...
For three decades we heard from the left the mantra of "Land for Peace". After Oslo, after the withdrawal from Lebanon and after Barak's attempt to give away the Temple Mount led to the murderous intifada, the bankruptcy of this slogan became patently obvious to all. You would have expected the architects of withdrawal to move shamefacedly and quietly into a corner. And we would have had to forgive them for making a sincere but fatal mistake.
But no. They have miraculously managed to reappear with greater force than before, but with a slightly altered slogan. "Land for Democracy".
Of course, there is nothing new or surprising in this. Prime Minister Sharon has convincingly demonstrated that the only way to deal with Arab terror was by crushing it, not by negotiation or giving land, and he has been eminently successful. Indeed so successful that other countries now seek out Israel's expertise in this area. Similarly, the mantra of "the need to maintain a Jewish Democratic State" has been endlessly repeated for the last couple of years.
Still I wonder how many people fully grasp what is being said: The withdrawal from Gaza has nothing to do with security and everything to do with maintaining a Democratic Jewish State.
To put it bluntly: the withdrawal from Gaza is for ideological reasons. It is taken as a given that the Palestinian Arabs should all be given the vote - something that they have nowhere else in the Middle East (with the exception of Iraq...). And because giving them the vote will overturn the Jewish majority in Israel, we must shrink Israel. (Question: What happens when the Arab majority in the Gallillee democratically votes to secede and join the new Palestinian State?)
No one deems the moral question of giving the vote to our sworn enemies even worth pondering. Rather than how can we give murderers and terrorists the vote, the question asked is how can we not give them the vote. Doesn't it occur to the government to put first things first? First let them educate their children for peace, first let them put an end to the media, educational institutions and text-books nurturing hatred, anti-Semitism and murder. After that we can deal with democracy and borders. Wasn't there de-Nazification after WWII before Germany was given democracy?
Why is it that Jews do what gentiles would never dream of doing? What are we trying to prove and to whom? Does anyone really believe that someone is going to applaud us?
So then we hear the argument that we are not doing it for them. We are doing it for ourselves. It's about our need to maintain the moral high ground.
The moral high ground? Jews telling Jews that there are certain places that they may not live is moral and ethical? If a non-Jewish government would say that Jews cannot live in certain suburbs of Sydney there would be an outcry. But it's OK for Jews to force Jews out of parts of Israel?!?!
And even if you believe in democracy above everything, is what is being put forward here democracy? It is part of the democratic tradition in all normal countries that individuals are protected against unfairness from government. That if people are attacked, robbed and murdered, they are not told by government to move to another area and give their homes, lands and businesses away to their oppressors - but are rather protected by their government. Indeed it is the very first responsibility of any government to protect even individual citizens. That is the democratic tradition!
What is being put forward here is not democracy at all, but a perversion of democracy. It's a case of Jews doing what we have historically done all too often. Making nice for the gentiles at the expense of our own.
And to think that it is those who wish to maintain possession of the territories for religious or nationalistic reasons who are called the ideologues!
Let no one say that religion is dead. It's just got a different name - Secular Democracy (or a perverted version of it) - and those who pursue it, do so with a passion and irrationality that would put many traditionally religious people to shame.
We believe and trust that "the Guardian of Israel neither sleeps nor slumbers." But as so often in the past, we have given Him a really tough job - protecting us against ourselves. Let's pray that He does a good job of it!
Actually, he was supposed to speak on the Security Fence. Instead, the General chose to speak on what he called the bigger strategic issue. Terrorism, he explained, was not an existential threat to Israel. There would be casualties but it could be dealt with. The real threat was the demographic time-bomb. By 2020 there would be an Arab majority between the Mediteranian and the Jordon River. To counter this, Israel had only one choice - to shrink to a size that assured a Jewish majority within its borders.
The reason why Israel should withdraw from the territories, explained Dayan, had absolutely nothing to do with the Arabs or reducing the threat of terror. Abbas could not be counted upon to control the terror in the long term and it was not in his interest to do so. The only hope Israel had of dealing with the threat of terror was an exceedingly strong IDF.
Israel must unilaterally withdraw from the territories for one reason only - so that it's Jewish Democratic integrity could be maintained. Dayan then went on to explain that it was he who convinced Sharon of the need for unilateral withdrawal in 2002.
The above is a brief but, I believe, accurate summary of what Major General Dayan said.
The rest is commentary...
For three decades we heard from the left the mantra of "Land for Peace". After Oslo, after the withdrawal from Lebanon and after Barak's attempt to give away the Temple Mount led to the murderous intifada, the bankruptcy of this slogan became patently obvious to all. You would have expected the architects of withdrawal to move shamefacedly and quietly into a corner. And we would have had to forgive them for making a sincere but fatal mistake.
But no. They have miraculously managed to reappear with greater force than before, but with a slightly altered slogan. "Land for Democracy".
Of course, there is nothing new or surprising in this. Prime Minister Sharon has convincingly demonstrated that the only way to deal with Arab terror was by crushing it, not by negotiation or giving land, and he has been eminently successful. Indeed so successful that other countries now seek out Israel's expertise in this area. Similarly, the mantra of "the need to maintain a Jewish Democratic State" has been endlessly repeated for the last couple of years.
Still I wonder how many people fully grasp what is being said: The withdrawal from Gaza has nothing to do with security and everything to do with maintaining a Democratic Jewish State.
To put it bluntly: the withdrawal from Gaza is for ideological reasons. It is taken as a given that the Palestinian Arabs should all be given the vote - something that they have nowhere else in the Middle East (with the exception of Iraq...). And because giving them the vote will overturn the Jewish majority in Israel, we must shrink Israel. (Question: What happens when the Arab majority in the Gallillee democratically votes to secede and join the new Palestinian State?)
No one deems the moral question of giving the vote to our sworn enemies even worth pondering. Rather than how can we give murderers and terrorists the vote, the question asked is how can we not give them the vote. Doesn't it occur to the government to put first things first? First let them educate their children for peace, first let them put an end to the media, educational institutions and text-books nurturing hatred, anti-Semitism and murder. After that we can deal with democracy and borders. Wasn't there de-Nazification after WWII before Germany was given democracy?
Why is it that Jews do what gentiles would never dream of doing? What are we trying to prove and to whom? Does anyone really believe that someone is going to applaud us?
So then we hear the argument that we are not doing it for them. We are doing it for ourselves. It's about our need to maintain the moral high ground.
The moral high ground? Jews telling Jews that there are certain places that they may not live is moral and ethical? If a non-Jewish government would say that Jews cannot live in certain suburbs of Sydney there would be an outcry. But it's OK for Jews to force Jews out of parts of Israel?!?!
And even if you believe in democracy above everything, is what is being put forward here democracy? It is part of the democratic tradition in all normal countries that individuals are protected against unfairness from government. That if people are attacked, robbed and murdered, they are not told by government to move to another area and give their homes, lands and businesses away to their oppressors - but are rather protected by their government. Indeed it is the very first responsibility of any government to protect even individual citizens. That is the democratic tradition!
What is being put forward here is not democracy at all, but a perversion of democracy. It's a case of Jews doing what we have historically done all too often. Making nice for the gentiles at the expense of our own.
And to think that it is those who wish to maintain possession of the territories for religious or nationalistic reasons who are called the ideologues!
Let no one say that religion is dead. It's just got a different name - Secular Democracy (or a perverted version of it) - and those who pursue it, do so with a passion and irrationality that would put many traditionally religious people to shame.
We believe and trust that "the Guardian of Israel neither sleeps nor slumbers." But as so often in the past, we have given Him a really tough job - protecting us against ourselves. Let's pray that He does a good job of it!
Friday, February 11, 2005
Aristotle and Maimonides
When the Jewish People were offered the Torah on Mount Sinai, they responded, “We will do and we will understand.”
But what is more important, unquestioning doing or meaningful understanding?
The two parashiot that refer to the giving of the Torah are Yitro and Mishpatim. Yet there is a difference between them. Whereas Yitro primarily discusses the Great Sound and Light Show that occurred on Mt Sinai, and the Revelation of G-d as He spoke the Ten Commandments, Mishpatim mainly deals with the intricacies of Jewish civil law. Indeed, Mishpatim is the foundation of the major Talmudic tractates Bava Kama, Bave Metzia, Bava Batra and Sanhedrin upon which the entire body of Jewish jurisprudence is based. Now although everything that is stated in these tractates is Divinely inspired, and we are mandated to follow them as if they were given directly by G-d, it was human beings who, based on the Torah’s rules and principles, created this awesome body of work.
The reason why the Jewish sages of old were able to develop the relatively small parasha of Mishpatim into an entire legal framework is because it was based on sound logical principles. This is different to the commandments of Kashrut, or Shatnez and Impurity, which we accept as Divine decrees, but which we don’t truly understand. (In Torah terminology, laws that lend themselves to human understanding are called mishpatim; those that don’t are called chukim.)
So put it in another way: Yitro deals with G-d’s gift of the Torah, whereas Mishpatim deals with the Jewish People’s understanding and development of it (or at least of those parts of Torah that are humanly accessible.)
Interestingly, parashat Mishpatim is the eighteenth parasha of the Torah, whereas parashat Yitro is the seventeenth.
Is there perhaps some significance in this?
The Lubavitcher Rebbe points out that eighteen – chai – refers to life, whereas seventeen is the gematria of tov – good.
The ultimate good is G-d, as is understood from the English word for G-d.
Life, on the other hand, refers to something that you can grasp, something that you can understand, something that you can really enjoy - to the extent that it becomes part and parcel of you. It is interesting that the Hebrew word for taste is the same as the Hebrew word for reason – Taam. If you understand something it has taste. It is, as we say in Yiddish, gishmak! And it is certainly alive.
However at the beginning of Mishpatim there is a Vav, meaning AND. The AND connects the two parshiot of Yitro and Mishpatim. Rashi points out the deep significance of this. Don’t think that your understanding can be independent of G-d. Rather just as you acknowledge the Divine Source of those laws that you don’t understand, you must similarly acknowledge the Divine Source of those laws that you do understand. It is just that in some cases G-d has allowed His Wisdom to be understandable by us, and in some not. It all however comes from the same source – G-d.
This is an important principle not only in understanding the source of Jewish Civil Law, but in understanding both the greatness and limitations of human understanding.
The Hebrew word for Wisdom is Chochmo. And the Kabbalists point out that this word contains within it two words: Koach Mah, literally “The Power of What”. To be truly wise, one has to have the power to see beyond Wisdom, to stand in amazement and wonder as you are overwhelmed by the “What”. And to understand that Wisdom itself is sourced in that which is above it.
Even mathematicians now acknowledge that there are certain things that they just have to accept, as they can never be proven. In Chassidic Philosophy we find it stated that the hanachot rishonot - the axioms - of any scientific discipline are beyond logic and can never be proven. This is an indication that intellect and logic has a source beyond itself.
Early in the twentieth century there were philosophers – Bertrand Russell among them - who were very uncomfortable with this. They just did not want to accept that there were things beyond human comprehension in as an exact a discipline as mathematics. However the German mathematician Kurt Godel proved it once and for all. (You can read about all about this in Simon Singh’s amazing best-seller, Fermat’s Last Theorem).
Both Aristotle and Maimonides were great philosophers and both believed in G-d. But as Rabbi Sholom Ber of Lubavitch points out there was a big difference between them. He explains it by way of a metaphor. Belief in G-d is a non-dimensional point. Logic is the circle drawn around that point. Maimonides commenced with the point and drew the circle around it. The centre was clear and the circle even and beautiful. Aristotle commenced with the circle and tried to reach the point. The circle was uneven, and he never truly reached the centre.
Accepting that there is something beyond our logic, being able to stand in amazement at the awesome WHAT, not only humbles us and centres us in Truth, it enables us to think clearly and logically as well. When, however, we commence with logic that is devoid of belief in the hope that we will work it out for ourselves, even should we be as wise as Aristotle, both our logic and our faith will be flawed.
Let us return to our original question. What is more important; the unquestioning doing or the meaningful understanding?
Both of course. This is why the angels placed two crowns on the head of every Jew at Sinai – one for Naaseh – we will do and one for Nishma – we will understand.
However that wise generation of Jews understood that the Naaseh must always come before the Nishma. For it is in the Naaseh that the Nishma is ultimately rooted.
But what is more important, unquestioning doing or meaningful understanding?
The two parashiot that refer to the giving of the Torah are Yitro and Mishpatim. Yet there is a difference between them. Whereas Yitro primarily discusses the Great Sound and Light Show that occurred on Mt Sinai, and the Revelation of G-d as He spoke the Ten Commandments, Mishpatim mainly deals with the intricacies of Jewish civil law. Indeed, Mishpatim is the foundation of the major Talmudic tractates Bava Kama, Bave Metzia, Bava Batra and Sanhedrin upon which the entire body of Jewish jurisprudence is based. Now although everything that is stated in these tractates is Divinely inspired, and we are mandated to follow them as if they were given directly by G-d, it was human beings who, based on the Torah’s rules and principles, created this awesome body of work.
The reason why the Jewish sages of old were able to develop the relatively small parasha of Mishpatim into an entire legal framework is because it was based on sound logical principles. This is different to the commandments of Kashrut, or Shatnez and Impurity, which we accept as Divine decrees, but which we don’t truly understand. (In Torah terminology, laws that lend themselves to human understanding are called mishpatim; those that don’t are called chukim.)
So put it in another way: Yitro deals with G-d’s gift of the Torah, whereas Mishpatim deals with the Jewish People’s understanding and development of it (or at least of those parts of Torah that are humanly accessible.)
Interestingly, parashat Mishpatim is the eighteenth parasha of the Torah, whereas parashat Yitro is the seventeenth.
Is there perhaps some significance in this?
The Lubavitcher Rebbe points out that eighteen – chai – refers to life, whereas seventeen is the gematria of tov – good.
The ultimate good is G-d, as is understood from the English word for G-d.
Life, on the other hand, refers to something that you can grasp, something that you can understand, something that you can really enjoy - to the extent that it becomes part and parcel of you. It is interesting that the Hebrew word for taste is the same as the Hebrew word for reason – Taam. If you understand something it has taste. It is, as we say in Yiddish, gishmak! And it is certainly alive.
However at the beginning of Mishpatim there is a Vav, meaning AND. The AND connects the two parshiot of Yitro and Mishpatim. Rashi points out the deep significance of this. Don’t think that your understanding can be independent of G-d. Rather just as you acknowledge the Divine Source of those laws that you don’t understand, you must similarly acknowledge the Divine Source of those laws that you do understand. It is just that in some cases G-d has allowed His Wisdom to be understandable by us, and in some not. It all however comes from the same source – G-d.
This is an important principle not only in understanding the source of Jewish Civil Law, but in understanding both the greatness and limitations of human understanding.
The Hebrew word for Wisdom is Chochmo. And the Kabbalists point out that this word contains within it two words: Koach Mah, literally “The Power of What”. To be truly wise, one has to have the power to see beyond Wisdom, to stand in amazement and wonder as you are overwhelmed by the “What”. And to understand that Wisdom itself is sourced in that which is above it.
Even mathematicians now acknowledge that there are certain things that they just have to accept, as they can never be proven. In Chassidic Philosophy we find it stated that the hanachot rishonot - the axioms - of any scientific discipline are beyond logic and can never be proven. This is an indication that intellect and logic has a source beyond itself.
Early in the twentieth century there were philosophers – Bertrand Russell among them - who were very uncomfortable with this. They just did not want to accept that there were things beyond human comprehension in as an exact a discipline as mathematics. However the German mathematician Kurt Godel proved it once and for all. (You can read about all about this in Simon Singh’s amazing best-seller, Fermat’s Last Theorem).
Both Aristotle and Maimonides were great philosophers and both believed in G-d. But as Rabbi Sholom Ber of Lubavitch points out there was a big difference between them. He explains it by way of a metaphor. Belief in G-d is a non-dimensional point. Logic is the circle drawn around that point. Maimonides commenced with the point and drew the circle around it. The centre was clear and the circle even and beautiful. Aristotle commenced with the circle and tried to reach the point. The circle was uneven, and he never truly reached the centre.
Accepting that there is something beyond our logic, being able to stand in amazement at the awesome WHAT, not only humbles us and centres us in Truth, it enables us to think clearly and logically as well. When, however, we commence with logic that is devoid of belief in the hope that we will work it out for ourselves, even should we be as wise as Aristotle, both our logic and our faith will be flawed.
Let us return to our original question. What is more important; the unquestioning doing or the meaningful understanding?
Both of course. This is why the angels placed two crowns on the head of every Jew at Sinai – one for Naaseh – we will do and one for Nishma – we will understand.
However that wise generation of Jews understood that the Naaseh must always come before the Nishma. For it is in the Naaseh that the Nishma is ultimately rooted.
Friday, February 04, 2005
Fire and Water!
Fire and Water: the two staples of human life and development.
Without water, nothing can live; with water, the possibilities are endless. This is why so much effort and money is being invested into discovering whether there is or was water on Mars.And fire: at the very onset of civilization, what distinguished Man from all other creatures was his mastery of fire. Fire is energy in its rawest state. And to control fire, was to be control the world.
In Kabbalistic thought, Fire and Water represent G-d's first tools of Creation. The Talmud in tractate Chagiga explains that the Hebew word "Shamayim" (=heavens) is made up of two words: Esh (=fire) and Mayim (=water). According to Kabbalah, Water represents Divine Kindness (Chessed) whereas Fire represents Divine Judgement (Gevurah). Indeed the two most common names of G-d represent His acting in a manner of Chessed (Hashem) and Gevurah (Elokim).Yet while fire and water are indispensable for Creation and the success of human life, they can, as we have recently seen in the Tsunami and the Australian bush-fires, be responsible for Destruction on an enormous scale.
Indeed this is the manner in which G-d had created the world - the greater the potential for good, the greater the potential for evil. "This (referring to good) parallel to this (referring to evil), G-d did make."
Another example of this is the drive for sexual gratification. On the one hand, it is the most infinite, creative and beautiful power which the human body possesses. Infinite and creative - because it gives us the power to live on forever through progeny which are unique to us. And beautiful because it enables us to bond with the deepest intimacy with another human being.
But that same power which contains so much good, can also be the cause of much evil and suffering.
The Rabbis put it very well. They explain that the Hebrew word for Man is Ish whereas the Hebrew word for Woman is Isha. Both these words contain the Hebrew word for fire - Esh. However the Hebrew word for man also includes a Yud, whereas the Hebrew word for woman also includes a Heh. When combined Yud and Heh make up G-d's name. And so the Rabbis explain: If a Man and Woman merit - the Divine Presence (represented by the letters Yud and Heh) rests between them. If they don't merit - a fire consumes them.
The very power that can make their lives Divine can destroy them.
In our own time we are in the midst of one of the greatest technological revolutions of mankind - the internet. On the one hand it creates global links between human beings, grants unprecedented access to information and gives unimaginable power to the individual. On the other, if abused it can be the cause of great physical and spiritual destruction, may Hashem protect us.And when it comes to human beings, our rabbis quite clearly state: "the greater a person is, the greater his evil inclination is". After all, it's only fair that a person with the potential for greatness, should have an equal potential for it's opposite. Otherwise, there would be a lack of balance, an absence of free choice, in the world.
Although all human beings are special, we Jews possess a unique Divine Spark - Chelek Elokah Mimaal Mammash - literally a portion of G-d. It is because of this that G-d calls us in the Torah "A Kingdom of Priests and a Holy Nation". With this spark we can achieve what no one else can achieve. And indeed we have. But we need to choose wisely, for as our Rabbis say concerning the Jewish People: "They are compared to the stars and they are compared to the dirt of the ground. When they rise, they rise higher than the stars, but when they fall, they fall lower than the ground."
Let's not kid ourselves. As human beings and especially as Jews, each of us has enormous, infinite and unique potential. We do however have a choice: to use it or abuse it. And although most people would not choose to actively abuse their potential to do evil, many simply waste it.
And what could be more abusive than a person with the potential to become a spiritual giant choosing to become a midget?
Friday, January 07, 2005
Tsunami: An Act of G-d?
I received this week a letter from a survivor of the Tsunami who was deeply shaken by his experience. He asked me what can best be described as a number of theological questions. Although I am currently on vacation, the questions are so significant , and are so widely relevant, that I have decided to respond right away. Below you will find both the original question and my reply, although to protect his privacy I have changed his name to Netanel.
Please remember what I wrote last week: understanding all the theological responses in the world doesn't excuse us from doing what we need to do both as individuals and as governments. To give support and to lend a hand. Governments also need to do all that is humanly possible to ensure that this kind of disaster doesn't happen again.
Should you wish to respond to this article, please scroll down to the end and click on the word Comment.
Dear Rabbi,
Just thought I would let you know that 6 hours before the tsunami struck I was at Patong beach and left at midnight to go to my hotel on the eastern side of Phuket island so by sheer luck I survived. Why was I not killed? Why was I staying on the east of the island away from the disaster as opposed to the west where there was so much carnage? Why did this happen? What do we as jews do with such an event in terms of our beliefs? Did others deserve death and not me?
Perhaps what happened to me was a miracle so there are some positives to come out of this tragedy. I don't know . I simply write to you to say I am alive but very shaken.
My love to the family,
Netanel
Dear Netanel,
Wow, thank G-d that you were one of the "lucky" ones who managed to escape the devastation.
But was it really luck?
Why indeed did you decide to stay on the east of the island? Was it really your decision based on perhaps the quality and availability of accommodation or nearby tourist spots? Or did it merely seem like your decision?
According to Judaism, "Everything is in the hand of Heaven apart from Fear of Heaven". This means that every decision that we make that doesn't have a moral or religious dimension is not really ours at all. Human beings are certainly autonomous - but only in the moral and religious sphere. All other decisions are made by G-d and are merely implanted into our minds. Where we decide to live, the kind of career we pursue, or even where we vacation - these are all decided by G-d. As the prophet says, "From G-d, the footsteps of man are directed."
Therefore there was no luck at all involved in your decision to stay on the other side of the island. It was G-d's plan.
You ask whether others deserved death more than you. Your question is based on a false paradigm. It implies that people who die deserve to die as some form of punishment. This is clearly not the case. It is decided at the time of birth, and confirmed each Rosh HaShana, how long a person will live in order to fulfill his life's purpose. It is possible through one's actions to lengthen or shorten this time, but this requires either extraordinary good behaviour or extraordinary bad behaviour on the part of the individual. For the most part, people live as long as it was determined that they are going to live. It may appear to be unjust to us puny human beings who judge everything on the scale of our lifetimes here on earth - but on G-d's scale where our life on earth is only a small part of our spiritual existence, and where even human history on earth is not viewed from the perspective of one generation, justice takes on an entirely different meaning. There are souls for whom just a few short years is enough to achieve their life's purpose, perhaps because they were here before and are only tying up loose ends, while there are others who require entire lifetimes.
Belief that life and death are from G-d does not excuse us from reacting with deep emotion. From our part, we must mourn the great loss of life, and even cry out to G-d in great dismay at His actions, just as Moses did when faced with the sufferings of the Jews in Egypt. This is what G-d wants us to do. He doesn't want us to merely accept His decrees, because although from His perspective it may be understood, from ours it is extraordinarily painful, and we must give vent to that pain. Indeed we are told that if a person doesn't cry when hearing of a death, he is considered cruel and callous.
Nevertheless, G-d's response was that it was due to Moses' limited vision that he didn't understand - this in spite of the fact that he was the greatest of all prophets. How much more so when it comes to us. This is similar to a young child who cries when he perceives that his parents are unfair to him. Even after all of all his parents' explanations as to why their actions are really for his own benefit he is not consoled. Both the parent's actions and the child's reaction are understood; they are not contradictory but are operating on different planes of knowledge and experience.
Therefore just as no good luck was involved in your decision to stay on the opposite side of the island, no bad luck was involved in the decision of those who were on the west side. It was all Divinely ordained.
The same applies to thousands of villagers who perished around the Indian Ocean rim. Although it may be difficult for us to understand, each one of those people were where they were because that is where they were meant to be. Whether it was the person swept out to sea, or the person who survived by clinging onto a log.
There was no general disaster, although it may appear that way, but rather as we say on Rosh HaShana and Yom Kippur in Unesaneh Tokef: G-d is like a shepherd who counts his sheep individually. Each person is observed and led by G-d in a unique way - according to that person's individual destiny.
Earlier this week I read in the Sydney Morning Herald that a rabbi agreed with a Christian cleric that G-d had nothing to do with Tsunami. He was further reported as saying that to think differently causes unnecessary theological problems. Apart from being in conflict with Jewish thought - even Maimonides who says that Divine Providence does not apply (and this too needs elaboration) to individual animals, agrees that it applies to individual humans - I find this notion appalling. It implies that G-d has no control over what happens in His world. Rather than let G-d off the hook, this view leads us to conclude that on the individual level there is no judge and no justice. If you chance to be in the way of the Tsunami, your number is up and not even G-d can help you. There is no significance in your death, and no significance in the lives of those who were saved. In fact there is no significance in anything. Now that is a serious theological problem.
It is as a clever man once said: for one who believes in G-d, evil may be a problem; for one who doesn't everything is a problem. We need to remember that every person, and every family that faces what appears to be a premature death is facing it's own individual Tsunami. Are we to say that these deaths too are just random occurrences? It just happened that his heart gave way. It just happened that she contracted cancer. It's just statistics that a certain proportion of the population will contract these diseases - too bad it had to be him or her. There is no real meaning behind either their lives or their deaths.
G-d forbid!
I don't have to believe that the Tsunami was punishment for me to believe that it came from G-d. I also don't have to understand the Divine reason behind the Tsunami to believe that it came from G-d. As another wise man once said - I wouldn't want to believe in a G-d Who is so shallow that every Tom, Dick and Harry can understand Him.
I really don't know what G-d had in mind when He unleashed this Flood. What I do know is that, on balance, there is far more order in the world than disorder; that in spite of the inevitable hickups and backsliding, the world is steadily becoming a better place.
We human beings tend to take good and order for granted, and are shocked by what appears to us to be evil and disorder. In a godless world we should be accepting of evil and disorder and be amazed when confronted with good and order. This seemingly irrational response is itself testimony to the deep and innate belief in a Divine Being which all human beings have.
Or to quote Einstein: I cannot believe in a G-d who plays dice.
Unfortunately, it is only when confronted with apparent evil and disorder that we stop taking the good and order for granted, and realize how appreciative we ought to be. And because there is so much order, we ought to understand that even when we are struck by what appears to us to be disorder - that is all that it is - it's appearance to us.
In your individual case, I would suggest that you take note of the fact that G-d made a decision uniquely pertinent to you. He chose you to live because Your life here on earth has great significance to Him. And if He chose you to live, it is because He has expectations of you which you are yet to fulfill. Don't squander the great gift of life that has been given you. Study G-d's Holy Torah, His Guide for Life, and learn what still remains to be done.
May Hashem protect you always,
With best wishes for a G00d Shabbos,
Rabbi Benzion Milecki
Please remember what I wrote last week: understanding all the theological responses in the world doesn't excuse us from doing what we need to do both as individuals and as governments. To give support and to lend a hand. Governments also need to do all that is humanly possible to ensure that this kind of disaster doesn't happen again.
Should you wish to respond to this article, please scroll down to the end and click on the word Comment.
Dear Rabbi,
Just thought I would let you know that 6 hours before the tsunami struck I was at Patong beach and left at midnight to go to my hotel on the eastern side of Phuket island so by sheer luck I survived. Why was I not killed? Why was I staying on the east of the island away from the disaster as opposed to the west where there was so much carnage? Why did this happen? What do we as jews do with such an event in terms of our beliefs? Did others deserve death and not me?
Perhaps what happened to me was a miracle so there are some positives to come out of this tragedy. I don't know . I simply write to you to say I am alive but very shaken.
My love to the family,
Netanel
Dear Netanel,
Wow, thank G-d that you were one of the "lucky" ones who managed to escape the devastation.
But was it really luck?
Why indeed did you decide to stay on the east of the island? Was it really your decision based on perhaps the quality and availability of accommodation or nearby tourist spots? Or did it merely seem like your decision?
According to Judaism, "Everything is in the hand of Heaven apart from Fear of Heaven". This means that every decision that we make that doesn't have a moral or religious dimension is not really ours at all. Human beings are certainly autonomous - but only in the moral and religious sphere. All other decisions are made by G-d and are merely implanted into our minds. Where we decide to live, the kind of career we pursue, or even where we vacation - these are all decided by G-d. As the prophet says, "From G-d, the footsteps of man are directed."
Therefore there was no luck at all involved in your decision to stay on the other side of the island. It was G-d's plan.
You ask whether others deserved death more than you. Your question is based on a false paradigm. It implies that people who die deserve to die as some form of punishment. This is clearly not the case. It is decided at the time of birth, and confirmed each Rosh HaShana, how long a person will live in order to fulfill his life's purpose. It is possible through one's actions to lengthen or shorten this time, but this requires either extraordinary good behaviour or extraordinary bad behaviour on the part of the individual. For the most part, people live as long as it was determined that they are going to live. It may appear to be unjust to us puny human beings who judge everything on the scale of our lifetimes here on earth - but on G-d's scale where our life on earth is only a small part of our spiritual existence, and where even human history on earth is not viewed from the perspective of one generation, justice takes on an entirely different meaning. There are souls for whom just a few short years is enough to achieve their life's purpose, perhaps because they were here before and are only tying up loose ends, while there are others who require entire lifetimes.
Belief that life and death are from G-d does not excuse us from reacting with deep emotion. From our part, we must mourn the great loss of life, and even cry out to G-d in great dismay at His actions, just as Moses did when faced with the sufferings of the Jews in Egypt. This is what G-d wants us to do. He doesn't want us to merely accept His decrees, because although from His perspective it may be understood, from ours it is extraordinarily painful, and we must give vent to that pain. Indeed we are told that if a person doesn't cry when hearing of a death, he is considered cruel and callous.
Nevertheless, G-d's response was that it was due to Moses' limited vision that he didn't understand - this in spite of the fact that he was the greatest of all prophets. How much more so when it comes to us. This is similar to a young child who cries when he perceives that his parents are unfair to him. Even after all of all his parents' explanations as to why their actions are really for his own benefit he is not consoled. Both the parent's actions and the child's reaction are understood; they are not contradictory but are operating on different planes of knowledge and experience.
Therefore just as no good luck was involved in your decision to stay on the opposite side of the island, no bad luck was involved in the decision of those who were on the west side. It was all Divinely ordained.
The same applies to thousands of villagers who perished around the Indian Ocean rim. Although it may be difficult for us to understand, each one of those people were where they were because that is where they were meant to be. Whether it was the person swept out to sea, or the person who survived by clinging onto a log.
There was no general disaster, although it may appear that way, but rather as we say on Rosh HaShana and Yom Kippur in Unesaneh Tokef: G-d is like a shepherd who counts his sheep individually. Each person is observed and led by G-d in a unique way - according to that person's individual destiny.
Earlier this week I read in the Sydney Morning Herald that a rabbi agreed with a Christian cleric that G-d had nothing to do with Tsunami. He was further reported as saying that to think differently causes unnecessary theological problems. Apart from being in conflict with Jewish thought - even Maimonides who says that Divine Providence does not apply (and this too needs elaboration) to individual animals, agrees that it applies to individual humans - I find this notion appalling. It implies that G-d has no control over what happens in His world. Rather than let G-d off the hook, this view leads us to conclude that on the individual level there is no judge and no justice. If you chance to be in the way of the Tsunami, your number is up and not even G-d can help you. There is no significance in your death, and no significance in the lives of those who were saved. In fact there is no significance in anything. Now that is a serious theological problem.
It is as a clever man once said: for one who believes in G-d, evil may be a problem; for one who doesn't everything is a problem. We need to remember that every person, and every family that faces what appears to be a premature death is facing it's own individual Tsunami. Are we to say that these deaths too are just random occurrences? It just happened that his heart gave way. It just happened that she contracted cancer. It's just statistics that a certain proportion of the population will contract these diseases - too bad it had to be him or her. There is no real meaning behind either their lives or their deaths.
G-d forbid!
I don't have to believe that the Tsunami was punishment for me to believe that it came from G-d. I also don't have to understand the Divine reason behind the Tsunami to believe that it came from G-d. As another wise man once said - I wouldn't want to believe in a G-d Who is so shallow that every Tom, Dick and Harry can understand Him.
I really don't know what G-d had in mind when He unleashed this Flood. What I do know is that, on balance, there is far more order in the world than disorder; that in spite of the inevitable hickups and backsliding, the world is steadily becoming a better place.
We human beings tend to take good and order for granted, and are shocked by what appears to us to be evil and disorder. In a godless world we should be accepting of evil and disorder and be amazed when confronted with good and order. This seemingly irrational response is itself testimony to the deep and innate belief in a Divine Being which all human beings have.
Or to quote Einstein: I cannot believe in a G-d who plays dice.
Unfortunately, it is only when confronted with apparent evil and disorder that we stop taking the good and order for granted, and realize how appreciative we ought to be. And because there is so much order, we ought to understand that even when we are struck by what appears to us to be disorder - that is all that it is - it's appearance to us.
In your individual case, I would suggest that you take note of the fact that G-d made a decision uniquely pertinent to you. He chose you to live because Your life here on earth has great significance to Him. And if He chose you to live, it is because He has expectations of you which you are yet to fulfill. Don't squander the great gift of life that has been given you. Study G-d's Holy Torah, His Guide for Life, and learn what still remains to be done.
May Hashem protect you always,
With best wishes for a G00d Shabbos,
Rabbi Benzion Milecki
Sunday, January 02, 2005
Let's Hear from You!
Please use this forum to add your suggestions for articles, shiurim or sermons. I would really like to hear from you. To do so, click the Comments link below.
Friday, December 31, 2004
Tsunami: The Jewish Response
As Jews we seek guidance from the Torah in trying to make sense of the events around us. So as we struggle to come to terms with the greatest natural disaster in modern history - perhaps even since the Flood - it behooves us to look into the weekly parasha for spiritual direction.
And indeed we do not have to look far. In Chapter 9, Verse 10 we read that Pharaoh’s daughter called him Moshe, “for I drew him from the water”.
The Midrash notes that Moses was given many names by a whole variety of people. To name the two apparently most important: His father called him Chaver, while his mother called him Yekutiel, Yet the name which stuck, and the one by which G-d chose to call him was the name given to him by Pharaoh’s daughter, Moshe. Why?
Says the Midrash: From here we learn the reward of those who do kindness to others. Pharaoh’s daughter felt deeply for the anonymous child she saw floating in the Nile and she went beyond herself to save him. Her hand wasn’t long enough, so she stretched it beyond its limits, further than its natural capacity, in order to save Moses (see Rashi). In recognition of her heroic effort, it was the name that Pharaoh’s daughter gave that remained with the greatest prophet, leader and teacher that the world has ever seen.
We puny mortals cannot comprehend why G-d does what he does. When confronted with suffering, even Moses can’t understand and cries out to G-d, “Why have You acted evilly against this people!”
However there is something far more important than our understanding and comprehension – our actions! From Pharaoh’s daughter we learn that the correct response to tragedy is not to understand it, but to feel it to the extent that we do something about it.
To further confirm this, the Siporno notes that the literal translation of Moses’ name is not the passive, “He was drawn”, but the active “I drew him”. He explains: a person is not known by what happens to him, but by the events that he puts in train. Moses learnt from his saviour and when he saw suffering he too felt the pain and chose to do something about it.
Thank G-d, there are Jews in the very thick of the rescue efforts (continue reading for Rabbi Wilhelm’s extraordinarily moving article.) We may not be able to do what our brothers and sisters are doing in Thailand and other places, but it behooves us to do what we can: to feel the pain and financially assist; to thank G-d for the rescue of those who were saved; and finally to stand in awe and humility of He Who totally transcends us.
I know that there are many organizations that are fundraising at this time. However if you wish to be part of the extraordinary work being carried out by Chabad of Thailand, please forward your cheque to the synagogue office. Be sure to mark the envelope Tsunami Relief c/o South Head Synagogue, 662 Old South Head Road, Rose Bay, 2029 but make the cheque out to South Head Synagogue. You can also donate directly online by going to this page.
Ten minutes after the disaster hit the news, my phone started ringing. It's been ringing ever since, 24 hours a day. Husbands looking for wives. Mothers looking for daughters. Friends looking for their traveling companions.
As one of the Chabad emissaries living in Southeast Asia, I was dispatched that very night to the hardest hit areas. My mission: to aid with the search and rescue efforts, particularly in regards to the thousands of missing Israelis and other Jewish travelers. Yakov Dvir, from the Israeli Consul in Thailand, as well as Israeli Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom, put in the urgent request to Rabbi Yosef Chaim Kantor, the director of Chabad activities in Thailand, that Chabad step in to help. All of us -- the six Chabad rabbis and our families and the twelve rabbinical students living in Thailand -- immediately moved into 24-hour mode, fielding calls, compiling lists, and offering aid and comfort to the survivors.
When I arrived in Phuket the bloated bodies still lined the streets. I had hundreds of names on my lists, with new ones being added every hour. For three days now I have been making my rounds of the morgues, hospitals and makeshift shelters, trying to match faces and fates to the names in my lists.
For the dazed survivors I arrange food, clothing, medical care and transportation back home. For the dead, I have the unfortunate task of helping the ZAKA (Disaster Victims Identification) volunteers who've flown in from Israel make the identification, arrange for a proper Jewish burial, and get the news to loved ones keeping vigil by the phone. But in a place where unfortunately so many will be thrown together in mass graves, there is some sense of relief and closure knowing that the victim has been found and will receive a Jewish burial. From the moment a Jewish body is identified, it is not left alone for a minute. This is the last respect and love we can give to our brothers and sisters.
Yesterday we found Mattan. We searched for him for two days. The 11-month-old boy was torn from his mother's arms as they played on the beach. Both she and her husband survived the tsunami, but Mattan was nowhere to be seen. On Tuesday morning, Steve and Sylvia Nesima found their son. He was in the makeshift morgue along with the hundreds of other children who had no chance against the monstrous waves. Mattan was flown to Bangkok where the Chabad emissaries took turns sitting with him, around the clock, until they put his small body on the El Al plane to Israel, the Holy Land, the only appropriate place where such purity and innocence can be buried.
Our three Chabad houses in Bangkok, Chiang Mai and Ko Samui have been transformed into crisis centers for counseling, clothing, communication, food, money, transportation and shelter. We have opened our phone lines for free calls to assuage the fear of parents who will not rest until they hear their son or daughter's voice on the other end. Our free email service has enabled hundreds to contact worried loved ones and assure them of their safety.
The survivors come to us shaken, hungry and overwhelmed. They need to go home and be with their family. Until that is possible, it is our responsibility to provide them with that love, comfort and safety while they are still here. For some that means a warm meal, others need money and arrangements for necessary travel documents, some a hug or shoulder to cry on, and others a place to sleep.
The Thai government has been incredibly helpful and organized. Now that people have been able to travel here to help, we have been joined by dozens of volunteers who've flown in from Israel. We're all working together, round the clock. No one has yet digested the magnitude of what has happened. Right now, there's too much to do to even pause for moment to contemplate it.
The unity amongst all the workers is incredible. I was moved to tears when I saw the Israeli media and news reporters join us to help locate and identify the injured and dead. They were no longer looking at the situation through the camera, but through their tear-filled eyes, as they worked alongside the rabbis, government officials and volunteers.
On a larger scale, this disaster has joined every race, creed and religion together. There are no divisions in suffering. There are no barriers. Rich, poor, young, old, male, female, were all the same in the eyes of the waves. And now, once again are all the same when it comes to offering aid, support and love.
What keeps us going are the miracles that are sprinkled throughout the horror. Today a 20-day-old baby was found alive, floating upon a mattress in the water. A one-year-old who was torn from his mother’s arms was miraculously recovered by his nanny, seconds before he was submerged in water. A Jewish family of six were scheduled to fly to Ko Phi Phi, the hardest hit of the islands; we feared the worst for then, until we learned that they had missed their flight and were sitting on the runway bemoaning their ruined vacation when the news broke.
Today, when I visited the hospital, an Israeli woman called me over and started crying when she told me her story. She had been traveling by boat with another 41 Israelis. They had just docked at Ko Phi Phi when the waves began to hit. The group ran as fast as they could, but could not outrun the rushing water. They were immediately swept in its path along with debris, trees and cars. This woman was sure her life was over and without time to think, suddenly found herself screaming to others to join her in saying the "Shema" out loud. With all the last ounce of strength in her body she cried out the words of the most foundational prayer of the Jewish people, our acknowledgement of our Creator and His oneness. And as she finished the verse, she suddenly felt a log come up from under her feet, keeping her head above water so that she could breathe. Then, as she floated along, she looked up at the heavens and saw a rope come down from the sky. The rope had been thrown from her boat, where other survivors had gathered. They pulled her aboard and managed to save 40 of the group. Unfortunately, there are two who are still unaccounted for.
It is these miracles that give me hope and remind me of my purpose and my mission. There are no words to describe the horror that has happened, and certainly no understandable explanations or reasons for its occurrence. But we must believe that though we can’t make sense of it, this, like everything we experience, it is part of a larger picture that we currently don’t see. More importantly, we must use this opportunity to focus on our ability to overcome, to help others, and to rebuild. Every living, breathing person who survived this not only has to live his or her life, but must live for those who were not able to survive.
And we must remember that just as instantaneously as utter destruction struck, so too in a split second we can be redeemed, we can start anew, we can have complete peace, love and goodness.
I've seen more the pain and suffering in the last few days than I've seen in all my 32 years. But I have also been privileged to witness compassion and faith of a magnitude that I never imagined existed. I have watched as people from different cultures, faiths, countries and mentalities join together to help another. For the G-dly soul, hidden deep within, often shines forth precisely when externally there is nothing to depend on. When physicality is destroyed, the only thing left is spirituality, and that is now what is apparent throughout this annihilated area.
So, for now, I continue to help rescue and identify the victims, working along with representatives from throughout the world here to do the same. We still are hoping to find more survivors, to provide the injured with all their needs, and make possible for those who were not so fortunate to be brought to their families for a proper burial.
Thanks to everyone’s unbelievable dedication and work, we have made much headway. From an initial list of 2,000 missing Jews, only 17 remain unaccounted for. May G-d bless us to continue to be successful in our work, and may this disaster be the last we know of pain and suffering and the beginning of the true ushering in of goodness and redemption.
And indeed we do not have to look far. In Chapter 9, Verse 10 we read that Pharaoh’s daughter called him Moshe, “for I drew him from the water”.
The Midrash notes that Moses was given many names by a whole variety of people. To name the two apparently most important: His father called him Chaver, while his mother called him Yekutiel, Yet the name which stuck, and the one by which G-d chose to call him was the name given to him by Pharaoh’s daughter, Moshe. Why?
Says the Midrash: From here we learn the reward of those who do kindness to others. Pharaoh’s daughter felt deeply for the anonymous child she saw floating in the Nile and she went beyond herself to save him. Her hand wasn’t long enough, so she stretched it beyond its limits, further than its natural capacity, in order to save Moses (see Rashi). In recognition of her heroic effort, it was the name that Pharaoh’s daughter gave that remained with the greatest prophet, leader and teacher that the world has ever seen.
We puny mortals cannot comprehend why G-d does what he does. When confronted with suffering, even Moses can’t understand and cries out to G-d, “Why have You acted evilly against this people!”
However there is something far more important than our understanding and comprehension – our actions! From Pharaoh’s daughter we learn that the correct response to tragedy is not to understand it, but to feel it to the extent that we do something about it.
To further confirm this, the Siporno notes that the literal translation of Moses’ name is not the passive, “He was drawn”, but the active “I drew him”. He explains: a person is not known by what happens to him, but by the events that he puts in train. Moses learnt from his saviour and when he saw suffering he too felt the pain and chose to do something about it.
Thank G-d, there are Jews in the very thick of the rescue efforts (continue reading for Rabbi Wilhelm’s extraordinarily moving article.) We may not be able to do what our brothers and sisters are doing in Thailand and other places, but it behooves us to do what we can: to feel the pain and financially assist; to thank G-d for the rescue of those who were saved; and finally to stand in awe and humility of He Who totally transcends us.
I know that there are many organizations that are fundraising at this time. However if you wish to be part of the extraordinary work being carried out by Chabad of Thailand, please forward your cheque to the synagogue office. Be sure to mark the envelope Tsunami Relief c/o South Head Synagogue, 662 Old South Head Road, Rose Bay, 2029 but make the cheque out to South Head Synagogue. You can also donate directly online by going to this page.
Faith in the Path of the Tsunami
By Rabbi Nechemia Wilhelm, reporting from Phuket, Thailand
Ten minutes after the disaster hit the news, my phone started ringing. It's been ringing ever since, 24 hours a day. Husbands looking for wives. Mothers looking for daughters. Friends looking for their traveling companions.
As one of the Chabad emissaries living in Southeast Asia, I was dispatched that very night to the hardest hit areas. My mission: to aid with the search and rescue efforts, particularly in regards to the thousands of missing Israelis and other Jewish travelers. Yakov Dvir, from the Israeli Consul in Thailand, as well as Israeli Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom, put in the urgent request to Rabbi Yosef Chaim Kantor, the director of Chabad activities in Thailand, that Chabad step in to help. All of us -- the six Chabad rabbis and our families and the twelve rabbinical students living in Thailand -- immediately moved into 24-hour mode, fielding calls, compiling lists, and offering aid and comfort to the survivors.
When I arrived in Phuket the bloated bodies still lined the streets. I had hundreds of names on my lists, with new ones being added every hour. For three days now I have been making my rounds of the morgues, hospitals and makeshift shelters, trying to match faces and fates to the names in my lists.
For the dazed survivors I arrange food, clothing, medical care and transportation back home. For the dead, I have the unfortunate task of helping the ZAKA (Disaster Victims Identification) volunteers who've flown in from Israel make the identification, arrange for a proper Jewish burial, and get the news to loved ones keeping vigil by the phone. But in a place where unfortunately so many will be thrown together in mass graves, there is some sense of relief and closure knowing that the victim has been found and will receive a Jewish burial. From the moment a Jewish body is identified, it is not left alone for a minute. This is the last respect and love we can give to our brothers and sisters.
Yesterday we found Mattan. We searched for him for two days. The 11-month-old boy was torn from his mother's arms as they played on the beach. Both she and her husband survived the tsunami, but Mattan was nowhere to be seen. On Tuesday morning, Steve and Sylvia Nesima found their son. He was in the makeshift morgue along with the hundreds of other children who had no chance against the monstrous waves. Mattan was flown to Bangkok where the Chabad emissaries took turns sitting with him, around the clock, until they put his small body on the El Al plane to Israel, the Holy Land, the only appropriate place where such purity and innocence can be buried.
Our three Chabad houses in Bangkok, Chiang Mai and Ko Samui have been transformed into crisis centers for counseling, clothing, communication, food, money, transportation and shelter. We have opened our phone lines for free calls to assuage the fear of parents who will not rest until they hear their son or daughter's voice on the other end. Our free email service has enabled hundreds to contact worried loved ones and assure them of their safety.
The survivors come to us shaken, hungry and overwhelmed. They need to go home and be with their family. Until that is possible, it is our responsibility to provide them with that love, comfort and safety while they are still here. For some that means a warm meal, others need money and arrangements for necessary travel documents, some a hug or shoulder to cry on, and others a place to sleep.
The Thai government has been incredibly helpful and organized. Now that people have been able to travel here to help, we have been joined by dozens of volunteers who've flown in from Israel. We're all working together, round the clock. No one has yet digested the magnitude of what has happened. Right now, there's too much to do to even pause for moment to contemplate it.
The unity amongst all the workers is incredible. I was moved to tears when I saw the Israeli media and news reporters join us to help locate and identify the injured and dead. They were no longer looking at the situation through the camera, but through their tear-filled eyes, as they worked alongside the rabbis, government officials and volunteers.
On a larger scale, this disaster has joined every race, creed and religion together. There are no divisions in suffering. There are no barriers. Rich, poor, young, old, male, female, were all the same in the eyes of the waves. And now, once again are all the same when it comes to offering aid, support and love.
What keeps us going are the miracles that are sprinkled throughout the horror. Today a 20-day-old baby was found alive, floating upon a mattress in the water. A one-year-old who was torn from his mother’s arms was miraculously recovered by his nanny, seconds before he was submerged in water. A Jewish family of six were scheduled to fly to Ko Phi Phi, the hardest hit of the islands; we feared the worst for then, until we learned that they had missed their flight and were sitting on the runway bemoaning their ruined vacation when the news broke.
Today, when I visited the hospital, an Israeli woman called me over and started crying when she told me her story. She had been traveling by boat with another 41 Israelis. They had just docked at Ko Phi Phi when the waves began to hit. The group ran as fast as they could, but could not outrun the rushing water. They were immediately swept in its path along with debris, trees and cars. This woman was sure her life was over and without time to think, suddenly found herself screaming to others to join her in saying the "Shema" out loud. With all the last ounce of strength in her body she cried out the words of the most foundational prayer of the Jewish people, our acknowledgement of our Creator and His oneness. And as she finished the verse, she suddenly felt a log come up from under her feet, keeping her head above water so that she could breathe. Then, as she floated along, she looked up at the heavens and saw a rope come down from the sky. The rope had been thrown from her boat, where other survivors had gathered. They pulled her aboard and managed to save 40 of the group. Unfortunately, there are two who are still unaccounted for.
It is these miracles that give me hope and remind me of my purpose and my mission. There are no words to describe the horror that has happened, and certainly no understandable explanations or reasons for its occurrence. But we must believe that though we can’t make sense of it, this, like everything we experience, it is part of a larger picture that we currently don’t see. More importantly, we must use this opportunity to focus on our ability to overcome, to help others, and to rebuild. Every living, breathing person who survived this not only has to live his or her life, but must live for those who were not able to survive.
And we must remember that just as instantaneously as utter destruction struck, so too in a split second we can be redeemed, we can start anew, we can have complete peace, love and goodness.
I've seen more the pain and suffering in the last few days than I've seen in all my 32 years. But I have also been privileged to witness compassion and faith of a magnitude that I never imagined existed. I have watched as people from different cultures, faiths, countries and mentalities join together to help another. For the G-dly soul, hidden deep within, often shines forth precisely when externally there is nothing to depend on. When physicality is destroyed, the only thing left is spirituality, and that is now what is apparent throughout this annihilated area.
So, for now, I continue to help rescue and identify the victims, working along with representatives from throughout the world here to do the same. We still are hoping to find more survivors, to provide the injured with all their needs, and make possible for those who were not so fortunate to be brought to their families for a proper burial.
Thanks to everyone’s unbelievable dedication and work, we have made much headway. From an initial list of 2,000 missing Jews, only 17 remain unaccounted for. May G-d bless us to continue to be successful in our work, and may this disaster be the last we know of pain and suffering and the beginning of the true ushering in of goodness and redemption.
Tuesday, December 28, 2004
We Make Mentschen!
A few weeks ago I spent two days in Melbourne where a function was held in honour of Rabbi Yitzchok Dovid Groner's eightieth birthday. Rabbi Groner is the head of the Chabad in Melbourne.
Amongst the anecdotes that were told, I found the following particularly poignant.
In 1994 the Yeshivah institutions in Melbourne were facing bankruptcy and the Commonwealth Bank was threatening to foreclose on the mortgage. As a result, a number of communal identities and well-known business people went to see the then head of the Commonwealth Bank, David Murray. They were going to tell him how important the Yeshivah was for the Jewish Community. Many of them knew Murray personally and were convinced that they would get a sympathetic hearing.
Arriving at the meeting, they were taken aback. Murray had brought along with him a fellow called John Edwards or, as he was commonly known, John "the Hatchet" Edwards. Edwards was the man responsible for bad accounts. Things looked even grimmer when it became clear that it was Edwards, not Murray, who was going to chair the meeting.
Right at the outset he made it known that he was an atheist with absolutely no sympathy for any religion. On the contrary, he thought that religion was the bane of society. From his perspective, it would be better if everyone went to public schools and ceased sponging on the community. He concluded that as far as he was concerned the Yeshivah was no more than a client, and a particularly bad client at that. If the Yeshivah couldn't pay what it owed, he was going to wind it up just like we would any business in default.
All the businessmen sitting around the table were flabbergasted. In their minds, the case was lost. He didn't even give them an opening.
After a minute, Rabbi Groner gets up - he is a very big man - and says: "Hello, your name is John, my name is Isaac. How do you do?"
Then Rabbi Groner grabs Edwards around the shoulders and bellows: "Look here Johnny, I don't think you understand what we do here. We make mentschen. Do you know what a mentsch is? A mentsch is a person who has respect for all other human beings. A mentsch is a person who cares about others. A mentsch is a person who is a good civic citizen. Australia needs mentschen - and we produce them."
By the end of the meeting, everything had turned around - and a compromise deal was struck.
Rabbi Groner was not kidding when he spoke about an institution that produced mentschen. Yeshivah Melbourne was my school and Rabbi Groner was my Rabbi. He is also the Rabbi of many of today's religious and communal leaders throughout Australia. As Rabbi Groner said last week, there are some people who complain that Lubavitch takes over. "Lubavitch," he explained, "doesn't take over at all. It teaches its students that community service is the most important value in life, and it's therefore no surprise that so many of our graduates have put communal life way ahead of their personal and professional lives."
To give you an understanding of the kind of place that Yeshivah Melbourne was and the kind of person that Rabbi Groner is, here is another short story that was related that night.
Manny Althaus recalled how Rabbi Groner once came into his class to test the students. Manny, always the cheeky kid who forty years on is not much different, answered the questions in a rather chutzpahdik manner.
Rabbi Groner - quick as a flash - gave him slap. (I'm not advocating it - that's just what happened in those days - you could slap a naughty kid and not end up in jail!)
Came recess, and Manny finds himself being summoned into the Rabbi's office. He goes, tail between his feet, expecting to get yet another hiding. As he walks through the door, Rabbi Groner puts his arm around him and says, "Althaus, in class I had to give you a patch. But I want you to know that I love you. And he gives him a huge kiss." (In those days you could do that too without getting arrested!)
The reason I tell you these stories is because it is relevant to us. You see, the school I went to was not a school at all. It was a family and it had an absolutely astounding impact on the lives of its students - an impact that went far beyond education in the normal sense.
If we did something unacceptable outside school hours - we were hauled over the coals. We were bringing the family into disrepute.
Today, it's not like that. If the school dares discipline a child for something the child did outside school hours, the school is likely to find itself in court.
Now that's fine as long as parents take absolute responsibility for their children outside school hours. But do they?
Why is it then that children of fourteen and fifteen years old are strolling the streets at 12.00am and 1.00 am and even later on a Saturday night?
Why is it that so many children are drinking, drugging - and out of control?
Did anyone see the article in the Sydney Morning Herald a few weeks ago - that the main culprits of underage drinking are the children's own families who supply them with the drink or the money to buy it? And the article continued that many of these kids are likely to grow up with serious alcohol problems?
You know two years ago on Simchas Torah we had a problem - kids were drinking in our home. Some of them stole alcohol from our home and then they went off to the park and drank more.
I copped a lot of flak for that, but I took it on the chin and decided to do something about it. This year I decided to take action at the risk of becoming very unpopular. No liquor was left on the tables on Simchas Torah and only adults poured the drinks. I had strings of kids trailing me - literally begging for drinks. I had kids pulling PhotoID cards out of their wallets and saying see I am eighteen - when the card showed that they were sixteen or less!
I took it on the chin and was ready to be unpopular - tough love, I think they call it - and I certainly hope that parents will follow suit.
I was recently told that on a recent Saturday night a number of kids were hanging out outside the reserve on Lancaster Road, several of whom were holding baseball bats - at 11.00pm. So one of the parents, who is on the Board of the School gets out of his car - and says, "hmm, I didn't know that the school had a baseball team!"
But jokes aside - where were the parents?
This is not a matter of religion. This is a matter of bringing up your kids as responsible adults. Of creating mentchen.
Why are parents so afraid of their children? If you need to punish, then punish. You can follow Rabbi Groner's example and kiss them immediately after. They may not tell it to you at the time, but they will know that you love of them and that you care about them, even more than if you cower to all their needs.
It is a parent's responsibility to know where their children are - not where their children say they are but where they are - and what they are doing.
A lot of parents feel helpless. How can they be different to the many other parents who let their kids do as they please? I can only suggest that parents who really care about their kids form groups, and instead of trying to tackle this very serious problem on their own, tackle it together. Anything less is pure irresponsibility.
Finally, many parents think their kids are no different than they were when they were young. But I really wonder. What is available to kids today is a lot more dangerous than what was available to kids in our time.
When I was in New York recently, I noticed an advertisement on several subway cars. It read: "Just because you did drugs and survived, don't be so sure that your kids will too."
We are about to celebrate Chanukah - which on a deeper level is the Festival of Jewish Education (Chanukah derives from the Hebrew words Chinuch=Education). Education means a whole lot more than imparting facts. It means, as explained above, creating mentschen. I wish all of you, and me too, lots of success in parenting. It's the one area where we can really make a difference.
Amongst the anecdotes that were told, I found the following particularly poignant.
In 1994 the Yeshivah institutions in Melbourne were facing bankruptcy and the Commonwealth Bank was threatening to foreclose on the mortgage. As a result, a number of communal identities and well-known business people went to see the then head of the Commonwealth Bank, David Murray. They were going to tell him how important the Yeshivah was for the Jewish Community. Many of them knew Murray personally and were convinced that they would get a sympathetic hearing.
Arriving at the meeting, they were taken aback. Murray had brought along with him a fellow called John Edwards or, as he was commonly known, John "the Hatchet" Edwards. Edwards was the man responsible for bad accounts. Things looked even grimmer when it became clear that it was Edwards, not Murray, who was going to chair the meeting.
Right at the outset he made it known that he was an atheist with absolutely no sympathy for any religion. On the contrary, he thought that religion was the bane of society. From his perspective, it would be better if everyone went to public schools and ceased sponging on the community. He concluded that as far as he was concerned the Yeshivah was no more than a client, and a particularly bad client at that. If the Yeshivah couldn't pay what it owed, he was going to wind it up just like we would any business in default.
All the businessmen sitting around the table were flabbergasted. In their minds, the case was lost. He didn't even give them an opening.
After a minute, Rabbi Groner gets up - he is a very big man - and says: "Hello, your name is John, my name is Isaac. How do you do?"
Then Rabbi Groner grabs Edwards around the shoulders and bellows: "Look here Johnny, I don't think you understand what we do here. We make mentschen. Do you know what a mentsch is? A mentsch is a person who has respect for all other human beings. A mentsch is a person who cares about others. A mentsch is a person who is a good civic citizen. Australia needs mentschen - and we produce them."
By the end of the meeting, everything had turned around - and a compromise deal was struck.
Rabbi Groner was not kidding when he spoke about an institution that produced mentschen. Yeshivah Melbourne was my school and Rabbi Groner was my Rabbi. He is also the Rabbi of many of today's religious and communal leaders throughout Australia. As Rabbi Groner said last week, there are some people who complain that Lubavitch takes over. "Lubavitch," he explained, "doesn't take over at all. It teaches its students that community service is the most important value in life, and it's therefore no surprise that so many of our graduates have put communal life way ahead of their personal and professional lives."
To give you an understanding of the kind of place that Yeshivah Melbourne was and the kind of person that Rabbi Groner is, here is another short story that was related that night.
Manny Althaus recalled how Rabbi Groner once came into his class to test the students. Manny, always the cheeky kid who forty years on is not much different, answered the questions in a rather chutzpahdik manner.
Rabbi Groner - quick as a flash - gave him slap. (I'm not advocating it - that's just what happened in those days - you could slap a naughty kid and not end up in jail!)
Came recess, and Manny finds himself being summoned into the Rabbi's office. He goes, tail between his feet, expecting to get yet another hiding. As he walks through the door, Rabbi Groner puts his arm around him and says, "Althaus, in class I had to give you a patch. But I want you to know that I love you. And he gives him a huge kiss." (In those days you could do that too without getting arrested!)
The reason I tell you these stories is because it is relevant to us. You see, the school I went to was not a school at all. It was a family and it had an absolutely astounding impact on the lives of its students - an impact that went far beyond education in the normal sense.
If we did something unacceptable outside school hours - we were hauled over the coals. We were bringing the family into disrepute.
Today, it's not like that. If the school dares discipline a child for something the child did outside school hours, the school is likely to find itself in court.
Now that's fine as long as parents take absolute responsibility for their children outside school hours. But do they?
Why is it then that children of fourteen and fifteen years old are strolling the streets at 12.00am and 1.00 am and even later on a Saturday night?
Why is it that so many children are drinking, drugging - and out of control?
Did anyone see the article in the Sydney Morning Herald a few weeks ago - that the main culprits of underage drinking are the children's own families who supply them with the drink or the money to buy it? And the article continued that many of these kids are likely to grow up with serious alcohol problems?
You know two years ago on Simchas Torah we had a problem - kids were drinking in our home. Some of them stole alcohol from our home and then they went off to the park and drank more.
I copped a lot of flak for that, but I took it on the chin and decided to do something about it. This year I decided to take action at the risk of becoming very unpopular. No liquor was left on the tables on Simchas Torah and only adults poured the drinks. I had strings of kids trailing me - literally begging for drinks. I had kids pulling PhotoID cards out of their wallets and saying see I am eighteen - when the card showed that they were sixteen or less!
I took it on the chin and was ready to be unpopular - tough love, I think they call it - and I certainly hope that parents will follow suit.
I was recently told that on a recent Saturday night a number of kids were hanging out outside the reserve on Lancaster Road, several of whom were holding baseball bats - at 11.00pm. So one of the parents, who is on the Board of the School gets out of his car - and says, "hmm, I didn't know that the school had a baseball team!"
But jokes aside - where were the parents?
This is not a matter of religion. This is a matter of bringing up your kids as responsible adults. Of creating mentchen.
Why are parents so afraid of their children? If you need to punish, then punish. You can follow Rabbi Groner's example and kiss them immediately after. They may not tell it to you at the time, but they will know that you love of them and that you care about them, even more than if you cower to all their needs.
It is a parent's responsibility to know where their children are - not where their children say they are but where they are - and what they are doing.
A lot of parents feel helpless. How can they be different to the many other parents who let their kids do as they please? I can only suggest that parents who really care about their kids form groups, and instead of trying to tackle this very serious problem on their own, tackle it together. Anything less is pure irresponsibility.
Finally, many parents think their kids are no different than they were when they were young. But I really wonder. What is available to kids today is a lot more dangerous than what was available to kids in our time.
When I was in New York recently, I noticed an advertisement on several subway cars. It read: "Just because you did drugs and survived, don't be so sure that your kids will too."
We are about to celebrate Chanukah - which on a deeper level is the Festival of Jewish Education (Chanukah derives from the Hebrew words Chinuch=Education). Education means a whole lot more than imparting facts. It means, as explained above, creating mentschen. I wish all of you, and me too, lots of success in parenting. It's the one area where we can really make a difference.
Monday, December 27, 2004
Messiahs, Moons and Women
- Rabbi Benzion Milecki
One day, as the founder of Chabad, Rabbi Schneur Zalman of Liadi, was leaving his room, he heard his wife say to her friends, Meiner Zogt (literally, "mine [referring to her husband] says").
Said Rabbi Schneur Zalman, "If by virtue of one Mitzvah - the Mitzvah of marriage - I have become hers, by how many more Mitzvot have I become G-d's?" Meditating on this, he fell into a swoon of Divine ecstasy.
When he awoke he quoted the Song of Songs [1], "Go out and see, O daughters of Zion", explaining the verse as follows: "If a person wishes to 'go out' of himself (move to a higher plain) and 'see' G-dliness, he must be inspired by 'the daughters of Zion' (here referring to the Jewish woman). This parallels the level of Malchut (the feminine aspect of G-dliness) which stimulates Zo (the masculine aspect of G-dliness)".
And the Rebbe concluded, "The time of the future will see the fulfilment of the verse [2], 'A woman of valour is the crown of - and hence higher than - her husband'."
This concept is elaborated upon in other sources as well. In Hemshech Ranat [3], Rabbi Sholom Ber of Lubavitch explains that whereas nowadays the principal Divine Emanations come from the masculine aspect of G-dliness, in the time of the future they will come from the feminine aspect. In support of this he quotes the Zohar [4] where it says lav ihi meshamsha gabay - she will no longer be secondary to him.
Hence, according to the teachings of Chassidut, and of Kabbalah generally, it is clear that the messianic era will see women on a higher level than men.
Actually, Rabbi Sholom Ber goes further still. He contends that even nowadays the feminine aspect is greater. It is for this reason, he explains, that the ability to give birth and create new life, a power deriving from the very essence of G-d Himself, is more manifest in women than in men. Still, the superiority of women is not yet acknowledged. In the time of the future, however, it will be revealed for all.
Thus, the connection between women and the messianic era can be said to exist on several plains:
1) Just as Moshiach is associated with Malchut ("Royalty"), the seventh Divine sphere, so too are women associated with Malchut.
2) The principal Divine Emanation in the Messianic era will be from the feminine aspect of G-dliness.
3) The process of Redemption is compared to child-birth, and hence women, in whose possession lies the Divine ability to give birth and create life, have a pivotal role at this most important time.I would now like to suggest that there is another, perhaps even deeper, connection between Moshiach and women.
The Rebbe stated in Cheshvan 5752 [5] that Moshiach already exists and is manifest. According to the Rebbe, the only thing remaining now is to receive ("lekabel") Moshiach.
It is the Rebbe's emphasis on receiving which I now wish to draw attention to, elaborating on the special connection that exists between women and receiving Moshiach.
As is well known, Rabbi Schneur Zalman attributed much of the seminal thought in his Sefer HaTanya to his famous ancestor, Rabbi Yehuda Loew (more commonly known as the Maharal of Prague). It is from the Maharal's writings that I wish to draw inspiration today.
The Maharal asks: "Why were women given the Torah first, as it says [7], "So you shall say to Beit (the House of) Jacob" - Beit referring to the women?"
He goes on to explain that the answer can be found in the phrase itself. Beit apart from meaning "House" also means "receptacle". Women, explains the Maharal, have a greater ability to receive than men!
In another of his writings [8], the Maharal explains that both women and Moshiach are intrinsically connected to receiving. In support of this, he quotes the Talmud [9] where it says that the promise of the Messianic Era is greater for men than it is for women.
In explanation of this puzzling statement, the Maharal discourses on the essential differences between the male and female natures.
The Maharal explains that men have a nature of Hitgavrut - from the root gever, the Hebrew word for "man" - constantly desiring to fight, to overpower, to conquer new ground. Women, on the other hand, have a nature of Menucha which implies the ability to derive deep pleasure from what has already been accumulated.
An everyday example of this: How many times do women ask their husbands to spend more time with them and the family? And what does the husband respond: he can't, he is busy making a living so that the family can survive. And yet, even well after the family is established and is no longer in need of the husband working so hard, he still gives the same excuse. Why? Because it is the nature of man to gain pleasure from the act of achieving rather than from what has been achieved. This is as our Rabbis, so perceptive of human nature, explain [10], "one who has one hundred, desires two hundred; one who has two hundred desires four hundred."
This distinction between the male and female nature is actually alluded to in Rashi's commentary to the Torah [11]. Rashi quotes the Talmud [12] where it is written: "An old man in the home is a burden in the home; an old woman in the home is a treasure in the home." An old man, because he can no longer achieve and conquer, is frustrated and makes a nuisance of himself. An old woman, however, because she doesn't feel the need to achieve and conquer, because she can receive, because she can enjoy and nurture what is already there, can live her best years in her old age.
And so the Maharal explains that in this world, which is a world of achievement, a world of action hayom la'asotam [13] - a time to conquer the world for G-d - it is the masculine element which is dominant. However, in the world of the future, where the main thing is to receive reward machar lekabel secharam [14], it is the female element which will be dominant.
It should not however be assumed that the receiving associated with women and the messianic era is merely a passive phenomenon. This is clearly not the case.
In kabbalistic terms, women are compared to Shabbat - bride and queen - whereas men are compared to the days of the week. And although no one would argue with the Talmudic dictum [15] that "only one who toils before Shabbat, eats on Shabbat", and hence that Shabbat receives from the days of the week, it is clear that the ultimate aim is Shabbat and not the days of the week! And what is Shabbat if not a day, when free of the need to conquer the physical, one can reveal and nurture one's true inner essence.
And so too is the difference between the masculine and feminine, the this-worldly and the future-worldly aspects. Whereas the masculine is involved in conquering the outer, it is the feminine, once this has been achieved, which nurtures and develops the inner.
Hence when the Rebbe said [16] that now is the time Lekabel Penei Moshiach - to receive Moshiach - because as he has said, the work of conquering the world for G-d (Avodat Habirurim) is at an end, and we are now at the beginning of the period of receiving - Lekabel Secharam - it is only logical that both the merit and responsibility of women are at unprecedented heights.
Furthermore, as this new era dawns, it is even incumbent upon men to reveal the feminine aspect which they too contain within themselves.
The call of the moment, to arouse the feminine aspect within ourselves, emphasises the need to be receivers.
Here it is worth noting that just prior to his illness the Rebbe [17] placed renewed emphasis on the age-old custom of sanctifying the new moon, asking that it be observed - as stated in the Code of Jewish Law [18] - with great joy and dancing.
It is not difficult to draw connections between the moon and women. Both are cyclical in nature, and it is the festival of the moon, Rosh Chodesh, which was given to women.
At the same time the moon is connected with the House of David from which Moshiach derives. This is ellaborated upon by Rabbi Tsaddok HaCohen, who notes [19] that the very first time that we find a Rosh Chodesh festive meal mentioned in the Bible is in association with King David.
However, the connection between the moon, the House of David and women is greater still. They are all receivers and hence dependent on others. The moon constantly requires the sun without which it cannot shine; a woman cannot reveal her essential essence without a man; and the House of David cannot exist without the input of others. This is stated by our rabbis who explain that David's very existence was dependent on the years donated to him by Adam [20], or according to the Zohar [21], by our forefathers, Abraham, Jacob and Joseph.
When speaking of Moshiach, the Rebbe [22], too, emphasised that he was dependent on us: "I have done everything I can, now you do everything you can, in order to make the coming of Moshiach a this-worldly reality."
It is because women and Moshiach share this sense of dependency with the moon, explains Rabbi Tsaddok, that women have a greater ability to feel the pain of exile - a time when Israel is deprived of the source of her dependence - than men. Whereas men are deluded by a false sense of self-sufficiency which prevents them from seeing how dependent they really are on Redemption, women don't share this delusion.
Nevertheless, even as she suffers the pain of Exile, a woman remembers another aspect of her connection with the moon. The moon, even when enveloped in darkness from our perspective, basks in sunlight on the side not visible to us. So too, even at times of great spiritual pain and anguish, the essential unity that exists between G-d and his chosen Moshiach continues to flourish and grow [23].
In fact, even the most negative phenomena are themselves ultimately part of the process of Redemption.
This sheds light on a rather surprising incident in the Talmud [24]. When Rabbi Akiva and the Rabbis encountered the Temple ruins, Rabbi Akiva laughed whereas the other Rabbis cried. Confronted for an explanation of his unusual behaviour, Rabbi Akiva explained that upon seeing the fulfilment of the prophecy of destruction he became convinced that the prophecy of restoration would also be fulfilled.
Nevertheless, the Maharal [25] asks, "Why did he laugh?" Because it will be good?!?! Right now things aren't good at all!
The Maharal goes on to explain that the destruction is in actuality part of the process of Redemption. In fact he goes so far as to say that the building of the Third Temple is predicated on the destruction of the first two. Hence the very act of concealment is itself directed by G-d and is part of the process of Revelation.
In the course of this discussion, I have quoted extensively from the works of the Maharal. So let me now conclude with one final insight.
In his Netzach Yisrael [26], the Maharal addresses those whose faith has been so shaken by the terrible sufferings of Exile that they cannot now believe in Redemption.
In one of his most beautiful and moving passages, the Maharal paints a picture of the suffering which our people have endured. So much has passed upon us, he writes, that if all the skies were parchment, all the oceans were ink and all the trees were quills, they would still not suffice to describe the enormity of the tragedy. He then explains that our long history has been fraught with the most impossible and fantastic occurrences, calamities which have been so terrible in both scope and depth, that had they been merely written in books, people would have denied that such things were possible. We know that they are true only because we ourselves have experienced them.
And yet, concludes the Maharal, the very nature of our suffering points to our ultimate salvation. Just as our suffering, as impossible as it is to believe, did in fact occur, so too will our Redemption, as impossible as it sounds, come to pass. Because for the Jewish people, G-d's chosen people, there is no natural order. Everything which happens to them, the bad as the good, occurs in a manner unimagined in the natural order of things. Or in the words of the Midrash [27] (which according to the Maharal uses "double" to express the infinite) "they have sinned doubly, they have suffered doubly, they will be comforted doubly."
That we have sinned doubly requires no elaboration - divisions have occurred which by virtue of the education granted us should have been unimaginable. That we have suffered doubly - the Rebbe's two strokes occurring on exactly the same date, the 27th of Adar - is something which even sceptics cannot dismiss. Yet these very events, far from causing us to lose hope, point to the double, even infinite comfort, nechama, which the ultimate Comforter, Moshiach, will bestow upon us.
At this time, more than any other, it is for women to lead the way. Quoting from the writings of the Holy Ari [28], the Rebbe has told us that our generation is a reincarnation of the generation of the Exodus. Whereas the men of that generation were constantly involved in power struggles and rebellion (Datan, Aviram, Korach, the spies, to name a few) the women remained constantly loyal. Rather than grabbing for power, they were prepared to be followers of Jewry's greatest prophet, Moses.
Today, too, we are not in need of leaders. We have had within our midst a leader of such great stature who, as even one as sceptical as Chaim Bermant was forced to concede in a recent article, was one of the greatest Jewish leaders of any generation; whose activities were of such broad scope that, according to Bermant, the second half of the twentieth century will become known as the Schneerson Era.
What we need now are receivers. What we need now are followers. Those prepared to put their own agendas aside and with devotion and self- sacrifice dedicate their lives to the Rebbe's mission. Just as in Moses' time it was the women who led the way with their loyalty and devotion to their leader, so too today.
In the merit of our righteous women may we soon merit the fulfilment of Jeremiah's prophecy, "For the Lord has created something new on earth; a woman will court a man", with the imminent revelation of our righteous Messiah, the ultimate Comforter, speedily in our days.
1 3:11
2 Proverbs 12:4
3 Maamar L'chol Tichleh
4 Raya Mehemna Shemot 158a
5 Bsorat HaGeula Ch. 47
6 Tiferet Yisrael 28; See also Chidushei Agadot Bava Batra 58 and Netzach Yisrael 1.
7 Exodus 19:3
8 Drush al HaTorah
9 Brahcot 17a
10 Kohelet Rabba 1:34
11 End B'chukotai
12 Arachin 19b
13 Eiruvin 22a
14 Eiruvin 22a
15 Avoda Zara 3a
16 B'sorat HaGeula 38
17 B'sorat HaGeula 44
18 Orach Chaim Ch. 426; para. 2
19 Resisei Layla 8
20 Yalkut Shimoni 41
21 Vayishlach 168a
22 B'sorat HaGeula 20
23 Resisei Layla 25
24 End Makkot
25 Netzach Yisrael 26
26 Chapter 49
27 Midrash Eicha 1:57
28 Shaar HaGilgulim Hakdama 20
The Jewish Attitude to Christianity
As the Christian world gears up for one of their most important holidays, it is worthwhile contemplating the Jewish attitude towards Christianity.
With a background of the Crusades, Spanish Inquisition, Chmielnicki genocide and numerous other pogroms and edicts of expulsion, let alone the Holocaust, it is not hard to understand why Jews would have a very ambivalent attitude towards Christianity.
And yet, while Maimonides acknowledges this in his magnum opus, Mishneh Torah, where he writes:
He continues:
The Baal Shem Tov, founder of the Chassidic movement, instructed his followers to disembark from a wagon if they noticed the wagon-driver pass by a church and not cross himself. In Christian Europe, if a wagon-driver did not show respect for his own religion, how could he be trusted to do the right thing for Jews? He also told them that it was better to do business with a non-Jew who believed than with a Jew who did not believe. A person who believed in a Higher Being – although his religion may not be true in the fullest sense – was far more likely to be act with integrity than a person who did not believe.
So while Christianity has brought us much suffering, it has also raised the world to a higher moral level and is playing an important role in perfecting the world in preparation for Moshiach’s arrival.
We also need to be very cognizant and appreciative of the very welcome moral and political support that Israel receives from our Christian friends who believe that the Bible is the Word of G-d, and that Israel belongs to G-d’s Chosen People.
All this goes to show that nothing in this world is all good or all bad. G-d, Who is infinitely wiser than any of us, often chooses to accomplish His goals through means that appear more than a little strange to us mere mortals.
With a background of the Crusades, Spanish Inquisition, Chmielnicki genocide and numerous other pogroms and edicts of expulsion, let alone the Holocaust, it is not hard to understand why Jews would have a very ambivalent attitude towards Christianity.
And yet, while Maimonides acknowledges this in his magnum opus, Mishneh Torah, where he writes:
"All the prophets spoke of Mashiach as the redeemer of Israel and their savior, who would gather their dispersed ones and strengthen their [observance of the] Commandments. In contrast, [Yeshu] caused the Jews to be slain by the sword, their remnants to be scattered and humiliated, the Torah to be altered, and the majority of the world to serve a god other than the L-rd."
He continues:
"Nevertheless, the intent of the Creator of the world is not within the power of man to comprehend, for [to paraphrase Isaiah 55:8] His ways are not our ways, nor are His thoughts, our thoughts. [Ultimately,] all the deeds of [Yeshu] and that Ishmaelite [Mohammed] who rose after him will only serve to pave the way for the coming of Mashiach and for the improvement of the entire world, [motivating the nations] to serve G-d together, as it is written [Zephaniah 3:9], 'I will make the peoples pure of speech so that they will all call upon the Name of G-d and serve Him with one purpose.'What Maimonides is saying is that while Yeshu distorted the concept of Moshiach, and Christianity caused indescribable suffering to the Jewish People – Christianity (and Islam) should still be viewed as positive phenomena. While not true religions in the absolute sense – he even goes so far as to call them a "false heritage" – they are a most definite improvement on what came before them. They have caused the Jewish concepts, albeit in an adulterated form, to be "spread among the furthermost islands and among many spiritually insensitive nations". As a result, Moshiach, Torah (Bible), etc., are now part of the common language and "will pave the way for the coming of Mashiach and for the improvement of the entire world, [motivating the nations] to serve G-d together". As to the fact that these Jewish notions have been falsified and adulterated – once the basic concepts have been absorbed, it will be a small matter for Moshiach to correct the errors that have distorted them.
"How will this come about? The entire world has already become filled with talk of [the supposed] Messiah, as well as of the Torah and the Commandments. These matters have been spread among the furthermost islands and among many spiritually insensitive nations, who discuss these matters as well as the Commandments of the Torah. Some of them say: 'These commandments were true, but are not in force in the present age; they are not applicable for all time.' Others say: 'Implied in the commandments are hidden concepts that cannot be understood simply; the Messiah has already come and revealed them.'
"When the true Messianic king will arise and prove successful, his [position becoming] exalted and uplifted, they will all return and realize that their ancestors endowed them with a false heritage; their prophets and ancestors caused them to err."
The Baal Shem Tov, founder of the Chassidic movement, instructed his followers to disembark from a wagon if they noticed the wagon-driver pass by a church and not cross himself. In Christian Europe, if a wagon-driver did not show respect for his own religion, how could he be trusted to do the right thing for Jews? He also told them that it was better to do business with a non-Jew who believed than with a Jew who did not believe. A person who believed in a Higher Being – although his religion may not be true in the fullest sense – was far more likely to be act with integrity than a person who did not believe.
So while Christianity has brought us much suffering, it has also raised the world to a higher moral level and is playing an important role in perfecting the world in preparation for Moshiach’s arrival.
We also need to be very cognizant and appreciative of the very welcome moral and political support that Israel receives from our Christian friends who believe that the Bible is the Word of G-d, and that Israel belongs to G-d’s Chosen People.
All this goes to show that nothing in this world is all good or all bad. G-d, Who is infinitely wiser than any of us, often chooses to accomplish His goals through means that appear more than a little strange to us mere mortals.
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