Weekly PONDERABLE articles published in the Or Chadash Newsletter
+ occasional sidetracks
PONDERABLE Sedrah Sh’mini / HaChodesh
ויקרא /Leviticus 9:1–11:47; maftir שמות /Exodus 12:1-20
Haftarah יחזקאל /Ezekiel 45:16-46:18
GIVING SENSIBLY:
What we can learn from Nadav and Avihu
by ADINA GERVER
--and how it applies to Humanitarian Aid /rcdj
Parashat Shmini juxtaposes two sacrifices, both offered to God by Israelites in the desert and both summoning Divine fire, but with tragically different consequences. The first series of sacrifices was offered by Aaron and his sons and was rewarded: “the Presence of the Lord appeared to all the people” and “[f]ire came forth from before the Lord and consumed the burnt offering and the fat parts on the altar” (Leviticus 9:8-24). The second, incense offered by Aaron’s sons Nadav and Avihu, elicited God’s wrath and swift punishment: “fire came forth from the Lord and consumed them; thus they died” (Leviticus 10:2).
The contrast between these two parts of Parashat Shmini–one capped off by a holy revelation and a sacrifice-consuming fire and the other by sudden, fiery death–is striking. Why did Nadav and Avihu die? Were they not serving God by offering sacrifices, just as they and their father and brothers had previously?
Serving Spontaneously
Ibn Ezra, a medieval commentator, uses the phrase immediately following the description of the brothers’ sacrifice to explain the problem with their offering. Commenting on the words, “which [God] had not enjoined upon them,” he explains that their grave sin lay in doing something that God had not commanded them to do, in contrast to the earlier part of the Torah portion, in which the priests do “as Moses had commanded” (Leviticus 10:1). It was not so much what Nadav and Avihu brought as why they brought it – because of their own autonomous desire to worship God, not in response to God’s command (Ibn Ezra on Leviticus 10:1. Leviticus 9:21).
We can certainly understand this impulse. In our own modern, incense-less version of service, sometimes we respond to an explicit request for aid, while at other times we serve others spontaneously out of a desire to give or effect change in the world. Intuitively, we may feel that service offered out of our own heroic motivation should be more highly regarded than service offered in response to a call for help. After all, there is something a bit coercive about responding when someone asks–it can be difficult to say “no” in the face of suffering–while there is something unboundedly generous about offering help simply because one feels like it.
Perhaps spontaneous human outpourings of help should be placed on a level above responses to solicitations. Perhaps, we might think as Nadav and Avihu did, that taking matters into our own hands and proactively offering of ourselves to God or to other people is the highest form of service.
Thoughtful Offerings
Yet, we may also reason that the best kind of help is the kind that most closely aligns with people’s needs. We see in humanitarian crises, again and again, that help without a directive can do more harm than good. One powerful example of this was the spontaneous outpouring of individual donations after the tragic tsunami that killed hundreds of thousands and left many more displaced, diseased, and destitute in southeast Asia in December 2004. Some of the unprecedented donations that flowed in after the disaster included things that were clearly of no use to the displaced and homeless in the hot, humid climate of southeast Asia, such as four-inch stilettos and wool blankets.
Other contributions seemed useful to well-meaning donors, but were out of touch with progress already made on the ground. Knowing that clean drinking water was urgently needed in the immediate aftermath of the tsunami, donors kept sending heavy bottled water long after water purification systems had been set up by aid agencies.
The tragedy of Nadav and Avihu as refracted through Ibn Ezra’s focus on commandedness versus volition can teach us something about our service to other people. It tells us, in a horrifyingly stark way, that we must not let generous motives get disconnected from the reality on the ground; that our modern “offerings” are best given thoughtfully in response to explicit needs.
As alien as the story of Nadav and Avihu may seem to us, the impulses that it addresses are human ones, familiar to each of us: the urge to quickly offer the help that we want to offer, regardless of what is needed. The harsh punishment meted out to Aaron’s sons is not one that I would condone, but the seriousness with which Nadav and Avihu’s very human impulses were checked should give us pause. It should compel us to make the effort to find out, from the people we seek to help, exactly what they need before we rush to give. ////
In our day, foolish donor nations have circumvented common sense and sent humanitarian aid to the so-called “innocent civilians” of gaza. Jordan and the US air dropped large crates of presumed needed items of food and supplies, ignoring the capricious nature of winds that tragically misdirected the parachuted gifts – crushing people and houses, and resulting in drowning of people swimming out to sea to grab what they could from crates that landed offshore. Egyptian drivers of aid trucks are justifiably skittish about driving in to gaza and having to face hamas thieves attacking them and stealing their trucks and loads, to sell it to their beloved needy. Al Jazeera posted videos of the starving gazans cursing the United States for sending food that now lies in heaps because, as the famished civilians proclaim, holding up sealed packages of prepared meals, “we can’t eat this”. If my advice were to be sought – I’m waiting for the call – the best humanitarian aid that should be provided is nothing at all. A total embargo of all aid, including electricity, just might force hamas to surrender: either on their own or at the hands of their constituency. Delivery of provisions is, sadly, enabling the evil in the tunnels to survive and thrive. The best long-term, durable aid to gazans would be canceled hamas.
עם ישראל חי ביחד ננצח
Shabbat shalom,
RCDJ
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TABERNACLES OF PRIDE
and shame
This week’s sedrah, P'kudei, concludes the Book of Exodus, finalizing the implementation of the Mishkan that had been built by the people exclusively with materials and labor provided by the people themselves. There had been no foreign labor, nor were there construction grants from other nations. It was, indeed, truly the Jewish People’s “invitation to God” to dwell among them. A tabernacle of enormous pride in which everyone had invested “sweat equity”. It was theirs. It is ours.
Today the Mishkan of world Jewry is beleaguered Eretz Yisrael. Built by the toil and struggle of our people who were inspired by the mantra we have been reciting every Pesach for thousands of years: לשנה הבאה בירושלים L’shanah habaah birushalayim.
But many in our generation are gasping in disbelief at the inversion of the definitions of Good and Evil. In the grips of wokeism “successful” = “oppressor”, “impoverished, minority, etc.” = “oppressed”. In 1967 Israel was the underdog against the massive Arab armies arrayed against her and, after a stunning survival, was briefly cheered. Since that time, however, as Israel prospered through intellect, innovation, and generosity; and the Arabs in gaza and much of Judea and Samaria fell into poverty as a result of wanton, blatant corrupt leadership of their own, Israel was cast in the image of oppressor, and the antisemitic terrorizing Arabs became “oppressed”.
Perhaps the greatest disappointment during the months since the atrocities of October 7 is the eruption of antisemitism as if an expression of disappointment that the invasion was not more successful. Those stiff-necked Jews, trembling helpless in foreign lands for two millennia, now dared to unite and defend themselves with unanticipated fury. As the war has taken longer than it might have had the IDF simply flattened gaza (recall Dresden? napalm of villages in VietNam? Hiroshima and Nagasaki? – no warning leaflets to the innocents, no humanitarian corridors, no humanitarian aid convoys…), ostensive allies are now clamoring for Israel to stop short of a lasting victory. The ultimate insult is the upcoming Humanitarian Wharf. I offer the following two parables:
PARABLE 1
The wise men of Chelm had decided to build a new shul, and immediately set about the task of collecting money from all “wise hearted men and women” in the community. As the sum began to grow, they worried about where to store the cash. In someone’s home? No, thieves could steal it. The wise men finally concluded it would be best to keep it in the holy Synagogue itself. Some nay-sayers pointed out that thieves, who were not yirat shamayim, could break in the sacred building as well. After considerable headscratching and a few sips of schnapps, their collective wisdom paid off: they would place a strongbox with the money high up on the highest of high ceiling rafters out of the reach of all. When the applause and back-slapping died down, the usual and customary whiner (doesn’t every committee have at least one?) said that they, the righteous wise men, too, would be unable to get to the strongbox. They concluded that a ladder would be suspended from that highest of high ceiling beams with a sign at the bottom declaring: “thieves are not allowed to use this ladder”. Fully satisfied with themselves, so it was written, and so it was done.
PARABLE 2
The wise men at the Helm, heartsick over the plight of innocent gazans (ig’s) mercilessly besieged by those Israelis (tI’s), decided to provide sustenance for the poor huddled downtrodden masses who so sincerely yearned to breathe free. But how to deliver sustenance so that those tI’s couldn’t cruelly interfere? They would send trucks laden with lifesaving nourishment; but tI’s insisted on inspecting the convoys of mercy. So the wise men at the Helm devised a brilliant work-around scheme: they would send crates laden with lifesaving nourishment on the wings of eagles, dropping them carefully onto the starving huddled masses, secondarily providing precious parachute silk for crafting shelters. Some of the silken chutes would arrive unopened, in pristine condition marred only by the splinters of the crushed crates and a few stains from crushed ig’s. What to do, what to do!
TI’s slow the trucks, air drops have nasty PR repercussions, hamas thieves abound and steal trucks with lifesaving nourishment and oh my they are so wicked.
Then, out of the fog of narishkeit a brilliant solution materialized: like a golem fashioned from mud, the wharf solution emerged from the collective minds of the wise men at the Helm! No more trucks, no more random-landing parachutes. We’ll construct a billions-of-dollars platform off the coast of gaza to drop off humanitarian aid! And best of all - no “boots on the ground”!
Huzzah and cheers, backslapping and high fives in the joyous realm of the Helm.
Until the inevitable naysayer asks, “Who will ferry the lifesaving nourishment off the wharf and deliver it to the ig’s and keep wicked hamas from stealing it?”
The obvious answer to that irritating skeptical naysayer: “We’ll put up a sign ….”
See you in shul – עם ישראל חי, Shabbat shalom, RCDJ
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PONDERABLE Sedrah Yitro
שמות/Exodus 18:1 – 20:23
Haftarah ישעיהו/Isaiah 6:1-7:6, 9:5-6
MENTSCH ON A BENCH
Ellie Wiesel repackaged our thoughts regarding LOVE when he stated, simply,
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“The opposite of love is not hate, it's indifference.
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The opposite of art is not ugliness, it's indifference.
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The opposite of faith is not heresy, it's indifference.
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And the opposite of life is not death, it's indifference.”
In a moment I’ll offer an embellishment on this concept. To begin, consider this week’s sedrah, Yitro, which contains the Ten Commandments/Statements (עשרת הדברות). If there is one overarching theme to which they all seem to point, it would be an obsession with respect – for one another and, almost secondarily, for God. We could extrapolate from here that we show respect for God when we follow the lead given to us for relating to one another. In sum: it distills down to a single Mitzvah: be a mentsch.
Some of you may have noticed that in the first quarter of this century there has been a progressing erosion of the national esprit de corps. National patriotism has not waned; rather, there has been a propensity to short-fused flailing anger when nice, decent folks deign to discuss what should be matter-of-fact issues. “People often characterize the current moment in America as being ‘angry’. If only this were true. Anger is an emotion that occurs when we want to change someone’s behavior and believe that we can do it.” [Arthur C. Brooks, commencement address BYU, April, 2019] While anger is often perceived as a negative emotion, it has social purpose. And it is not to drive others away. Rather, it is intended to remove problematic elements of a relationship and bring people back together. The problem is not anger – it is contempt. In the words of Arthur Schopenhauer, contempt “is the unsullied conviction of the worthlessness of another.” [A.S., “On Psychology”, 2004. P. 170] The destructive power of contempt is limitless. It can destroy a family, a marriage, a congregation; and it can tear a country apart. It hardly requires a social scientist to notice an ongoing degradation in public and interpersonal discourse. For instantaneous proof: mention certain political names.
Have we truly become a culture of contempt – seeing those who disagree with us not as merely incorrect or misguided but as worthless? Many Americans have long ago stopped talking to close friends and family members about virtually any aspect of politics. Do you organize your social life and curate your news and information to avoid hearing viewpoints differing from your own? From my vantage point of someone who long ago received an AARP membership, ideological polarization is at higher levels than at any time since the American civil war. And we’ve even generated an addition to our social vocabulary: Cancel Culture. How sad.
As Jews we have a mission; a holy mission, to be “a light unto the nations”. Our guidebook is over three millennia old and always new. This week’s sedrah and its commandments are far more than meets the casual eye. When we disregard its teachings of civility and fall into step with the culture of contempt all around us, we fail in our mission. We must be better than that. Since October seventh most Jews are staggering under the weight of the cognitive dissonance of a world gone mad, ignoring the suffering of our people, blaming the victims. But we shall not be deterred from the standard that has always defined us: בַּקֵּשׁ שָׁלוֹם וְרָדְפֵהוּ – seek peace and pursue it. [Psalms 34:15]
Does that require an end to disagreement? Absolutely not, because competition in the arena of deep thought is healthy; it is the wellspring of creativity and innovative solutions to mutually shared challenges. We don’t need to disagree less; we need to disagree better. We need something more than mere tolerance and civility; something that speaks to our hearts’ true desire. The word that comes to mind is love - to will the good of another person. It won’t be easy, but if America is to survive as a cohesive society, we must be willing to infiltrate the culture of contempt and cancellation, and model a better set of values. As Jews, that must be our mission. We can hope that others will follow our lead.
We are the lonely Mentsch on the Bench of history, with a world view that seeks to uplift all humanity. Our prayers for the welfare of the government and its leaders are not limited to concern for the well-being of the Jewish people alone. Rabbi Chanina taught: “Pray for the welfare of the government….” [Pirke Avot 3:2] America has been the beacon of hope for the rest of the world. Over the past century, following world wars and calamities worldwide, we pulled billions of people out of starvation-level poverty. This is the country that attracted us or our ancestors with the promise of equal opportunity, religious freedom, and a good life for ourselves and our families: the freedom to discuss, argue vehemently, and then dine together. Our mission as Jews is to take the lead in restoring the bonds that have begun to fray, to rekindle that beacon. At this time in momentous history that responsibility is more important than at any time since the Shoah.
Will the truth set us free? While my usual optimism has been shaken in the reaction of so many erstwhile intelligentsia to the pogrom of 116 days ago, despite the clear “truth” in front of their eyes, I persist in hope.
Rabbi Tarfon taught (Pirke Avot): It is not your responsibility to finish the work of perfecting the world, but you are not free to desist from it either. Do not be arrogant; do not think that you alone can finish the job. Trust in your children and generations yet unborn to take up the task. Know that you are part of the living chain of people who have dreamed, worked for a better world and carried on this mission for thousands of years in an unbroken covenant.
עם ישראל חי – יחד ננצח
Shabbat Shalom,
RCDJ
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PONDERABLE Sedrah Va-era
שמות/Exodus 6:2-9:35
Haftarah: יחזקאל/Ezekiel 28:25-29:21
STOP THE WORLD, I WANT TO GET OFF…
… with you. The 1961 musical by Leslie Bricusse and Anthony Newley picked up on this catchy theme from earlier cultural jargon, but it could be easily applied to this frustrated upside-down world of ours – and this week’s sedrah – of course.
Newspeak prevails: up is down, down is sideways. Terrorists with cameras are heralded as journalists. Note this: In an interview with MSNBC, [U.S. Secretary of State Antony] Blinken expressed condolences to the family of Al Dahdouh, "My heart goes out to the family of Al Dahdouh (Al Jazeera journalist), too many innocent people have been killed". Unbelievable.
The truth? On January 7, 2024, IDF forces intercepted a hostile drone near Rafah, posing an immediate threat to nearby soldiers. Responding swiftly, an IAF aircraft targeted the drone's operators. Subsequent reports from palestinian media indicated the deaths of journalists Hamza al-Dahdouh and Mustafa Thuria during this operation. …However both individuals were affiliated with Gaza-based terrorist organizations actively engaged in attacks against IDF forces. Prior to the strike, Al-Dahdouh and Thuria operated drones. Mustafa Thuria… served as the Squad Deputy Commander in hamas' Gaza City Brigade within the al-Qadisiyyah Battalion. Hamza Wael al-Dahdouh, on the other hand, was associated with the Islamic Jihad terrorist organization. He was involved in the Islamic Jihad's electronic engineering unit, along with his prior role as the deputy commander in the Zeitun Battalion's Rocket Array. A document listing operatives from the Islamic Jihad terrorist organization's electronic engineering unit, featuring al-Dahdouh's military number and his significant role within the organization, were found.
Misplaced compassion is evil.
Newspeak: Compassion for evil is deemed righteous.
In reference to the plagues of this week’s sedrah, have you ever expressed compassion for the Egyptians who were punished for their cruel treatment of our ancestors? Pharaoh had enslaved and enacted evil decrees to destroy the Jews. With the exception of those unfortunate horses who will inevitably drown again in the sedrah B’shallach, are there any historic declarations of compassion, empathy, sorrow* for the Egyptian villains? Of course not. They were BAD! So, we must ask ourselves, how is it within any semblance of moral compassion that leaders of our Goldene Medina, the “Light on the hill”, “the last stand on earth” – give aid and comfort to the vilest corruption of humanity, the reincarnation of nazis, that populates gaza? After being presented with the incontrovertible truth that billions of our taxpayers’ dollars were transformed into massive infrastructure whose sole purpose is to destroy Israel and Jews everywhere, where is the demand that hamas cease its bombardment of Israeli civilians? Why are there no demands that “humanitarian aid” be given to the so-called “innocent” palestinian civilians, when it is clear that hamas steals it all and sells it to “their people” after skimming the bulk for themselves underground? Where is the humanitarian aid and support for the hundreds of thousands of Israelis displaced by the war, or the Israeli victims of the horrors of October 7?
Yes, indeed. Pharaoh’s world was turned upside down. Today, the moral truth in the West seems to be awol.
But I am in the grips of eternal optimism. We know Who’s in charge.
Shabbat shalom – עם ישראל חי - - - יחד ננצח
RCDJ
* Talmud: Sanhedrin, 39b: ministering angels desired to recite a song when they witnessed the destruction of the entire Egyptian army… but God said to them: “My handiwork [the Egyptians] are drowning in the sea, and you are reciting a song before Me?” God is not glad to see the downfall even of the wicked. But He does choose sides appropriately, iy"h.
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PONDERABLE Sedrah ויחי/Vay’chi
בראשית/Genesis 47:28-50:26
Haftarah מלכים א'/1 Kings 2:1-12
ALEVAI!
À propos the sedrah and current wartime struggles in Israel, I recalled the euphoric sense of secure, stable, and successful Israel just a few years ago. Here is an excerpt from my newsletter article for this sedrah in 2014: “As Claire and I enjoyed a Haifa sunset over a rippling Mediterran-ean shore this evening, with clear skies and short-sleeve weather, we couldn't help marveling at the steady flow of immense cargo ships moving in and out of port, with billowing flags of many nations. Laden with containers of goods arriving and departing they were beautiful evidence of Israel's remarkable stature as an important player in the world's economy. … Our El Al flight from Newark had brought 60 new olim of all ages from several countries. The normally scheduled charter flights are no longer sufficient for Nefesh b'Nefesh to meet the demand for aliyah. We have every rational reason to expect 2015 to be a very good year for our Land of Israel. Can you even imagine how thrilled beyond rational belief the Patriarchs, the generation of the Exodus, our ancestors of the past 2000 years, or even the founders of the modern State of Israel would be if they could see it now?”
Imagine, indeed. WWYD? What would Yosef have done to solve today’s turmoil? For clues, let us refer to the text in Vay’chi. Spoiler alert: there is nothing to imply that Yosef could have ended armed conflict.
The long range far off in the future dilemma that Israel – and in all likelihood diaspora Jews – will face is how to cope with an intractable enemy on her border, after the physical annihilation of hamas. In the “Yosef and His Brothers in Egypt Because of the Famine” story, Yosef tested them in order to learn whether they had transformed from the jealousy tainted young men who had abused him, to repentant, reformed adults. As we know, they passed the tests and Yosef forgave them in the first recorded act of forgiveness in literature. He did not forgive the act; he absolved his brothers in such a way that they could go on with their lives unburdened. Yes, they had acted criminally and lived in shame (“don’t tell dad!”) and transitioned to lifelong guilt: the “inner voice” that gave them no peace. Yosef lifted the weight from their souls. Given the temptation to repeat their self-serving behavior during the confrontation with Yosef regarding their brother Benjamin, they did not. Over decades, maturity and wisdom had replaced the hatred. It took time.
A modern day Yosef would insist on tests of the Arabs who identify as “palestinians", to assure that they had transformed into humans with consciences. He would surely counsel that the current generation, age 3 and upwards [note the recent discovery in the tunnels of bomb vests for small children], are beyond redemption, having been irretrievably indoctrinated from toddlerhood to hate without reason, to harm without hesitation, to kill with joy and no conscience, to revel in martyrdom; all in the absolute knowledge that great rewards await them in the bosom of allah. The contemporary palestinians are akin to the gaunt ears of corn and emaciated cattle in Pharaoh’s dreams which consumed healthy, robust, fat ears and cattle but remained gaunt and emaciated. The avalanche of wealth that poured unabated into gaza from nations hypnotized into acting against their own best interest, was consumed by hamas, who destroyed the possibility of humanity and prosperity of their own people; with one purpose: to kill Jews and destroy the only nation on earth that saw them as people in need, worthy of compassion. After all, the Jewish people learned in Genesis 9:7, "כִּי בְּצֶלֶם אֱלֹקים עָשָׂה אֶת־הָאָדָם:" “because in the image of God was mankind created”. But it will take time.
Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is grown he will not depart from it. [Proverbs 22:6]
The inconvenient, now horrifically undeniable truth is that a people infected with rigid, concretized “belief” is immune to common sense. Similarly, a people in whom decency is embedded cannot fathom the evil in others.
For today’s Israelis, it is impossible to plan for the war’s so-called “day after” that will surely come, while the rockets’ red glares still light up their sky. But that day is inevitable. Will our people, war-weary and grief-stricken over the tragedies they endured, have the fortitude to insist on a difficult course of action in their own best interests? Or will outside influencers who have never – even at their own peril – truly understood the devious mind of the enemy, demand that Israel acquiesce to the old reality of letting evil sprout anew?
In our sedrah, the final portion of Genesis/B’resheet, the patriarch Yaacov and his family are finally at peace, the old dysfunctions resolved. But the years that could have been filled with joy were not to be retrieved. What a colossal waste. A sad commentary on their time; a lesson yet to be learned in ours.
Let us pray that the new year 2024 will bring an end to the insanity that has gripped the world. Alevai!
Shabbat shalom,
RCDJ
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PONDERABLE Sedrah Vayiggash
בראשית/Genesis 44:18-47:27 - Joseph reunited with his family
Haftarah: יחזקאל/Ezekiel 37:15-37:28 – Prophesy of Jewish Unity
PENULTIMATE SHABBAT of 2023
By now many have begun putting away Chanukah decorations, and local and on-line Judaica vendors have cut prices on nearly all such items – which is a boon for future-gift-planner people. I’ve begun to contemplate deflating our ostentatious front yard display of holiday inflatables that celebrated our triumph over the forces of darkness and boldly declared our identity on this Festival of Light. As a result there are probably more non-Jews in our vicinity who are well informed about the Maccabees and general Jewish issues than elsewhere. Since the October 7 pogrom their spontaneous outpouring to me of support for Israel is possibly due to the consciousness raising over the years of conversations that our presence and, to a significant degree, our impossible-to-miss yard display encouraged. But Claire and I are just one household.
כָּל יִשְׂרָאֵל עֲרֵבִים זֶה בָּזֶה
All Israel is responsible, one for the other
Considering that our ancestors in dire conditions of exile courageously, with chutzpah to spare, placed a m’zuzah on the doorposts of their homes in plain view for all to see, we, basking in the warmth of this great country, must take advantage of the opportunities that abound to stand up for our people – in Israel and in galut. It distills down to pride.
To get a sense of the urgency that is upon us, please visit the shul website's ISRAEL AT WAR page and read today’s two lead articles: Doctors Without Borders and Shadows Are Getting Long.
It is said that the Temple was destroyed because the elders kept the Torah to themselves and failed to inspire the general public. Is that us? Are you among those who read this newsletter plus Jewish sources in Israel, and attend services on holidays and Shabbat? If so, then you would be counted among “the elders” whose responsibility to Am Yisrael is to help inspire pride and affinity among those who do not, the Jews on the fringes of our community. Influence for good comes down to one person, one laborious instance at a time. When you hear or read antisemitic/antiIsrael media or conversations, take a stand to correct and eliminate such bias. Resources for quality news and information is in this newsletter and on the website.
In our sedrah Y’hudah’s actions of bravery – to guarantee the safety of his brother Benjamin – succeeded in restoring the family’s unity. At this time when Israel and Jewry worldwide are under existential threats daily, it is time for every Jew to be Y’hudah, bravely and without hesitation proclaiming and defending the truth, guaranteeing a vibrant future for Jews and Judaism.
2023 is skidding to a rough and tumble bruising close for humanity, with wars and a that-can’t-be-happening-here surge in virulent, often violent anti-Semitism from sources we could not have rationally anticipated. But there is abundant serious and growing push-back. Stand With Us, the AJC, AIPAC, Christians United for Israel (CUFI), and other well-organized defenders of our People are speaking out; mainstream media is being pushed with faint but positive success to transition back to sensible honest reporting.
In our own unique ways each of us required by our shared history to be an active influencer.
The future is now.
See you in shul,
עם ישראל חי
Shabbat shalom,
RCDJ
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PONDERABLE Sedrah מקץ/Miketz
בראשית/Genesis 41:1-44:17,
Haftarah מלכים א'/Kings 1 3:15-4:1
DREAMSCAPES
You've got to have a dream, If you don't have a dream, How you gonna have a dream come true?
“South Pacific” (1958) Rodgers & Hammerstein
Amazingly, every sedrah is pertinent to current events!
In our sedrah, Miketz, an all-time favorite Biblical story is told, about Pharaoh’s dreams of corn and cows: how the fat and healthy were swallowed up by the skinny and emaciated – who remained emaciated. We’ve seen it all play out in our time, harshly, tragically, over the past months.
Think of all the dreams that were shattered on October 7: over a thousand Israeli lives snuffed out and their individual worlds lost; shattered families and homes; efforts for peace overturned and made a mockery. Even the ill-begotten nightmarish dreams of the evil forces that yearned for the launch of a new caliphate on the ruins of our people have been dashed. The years of plenty, for which they should have aspired and could have realized with the EU and American taxpayers’ wealth that poured into their coffers, are now obliterated, emaciated, in the tunnels of gaza.
The dreams of the Baker, the Butler, Pharaoh, Yosef, and even the wily soothsayer Bilaam were all received special delivery from Above: authentic, unblemished by human whim or wish. Contrarily, the daydreams of the evil forces that now seek to overtake the world and drag it back to pre-civilization were exactly that, daydreams – concocted with an evil, dangerous mix of financial greed and an illiterate decerebrate populous.
Try to imagine the glory that could be if Israel’s dreams of peace and the elevation of human dignity through celebration of innovation and generosity were to be underwritten by the huge wealth and population of her neighbors. The Middle East would be the crown jewel of the earth, not the swirling vortex of ceaseless turmoil that is literally draining away reliably meaningful life from the region.
Consider these matters as evidence and proof that this could be achieved:
> Prior to the Wadi Araba Treaty of October 26, 1994, signed in the Arava Valley just north of Eilat near the Jordan:Israel border, that ended the state of war between the two countries, the physical demarcation between Israel and Jordan was self-evident: lush, verdant green on the Israeli side, brown and desolate across the fences. Before the ink was dry on the treaty, the hills of Jordan turned green, thanks to the application of innovative Israeli techniques that were made available to Jordanian agronomists for conquering their arid desert. Additionally, Israelis became the prime tourists to Petra, which directly influenced revitalization of that ancient wonder of the world.
> Fifteen years earlier, on March 26, 1979, the peace treaty with Egypt allowed Israel’s former mortal enemy to likewise take advantage of Israeli tourism and agricultural knowledge. The huge budgetary boost to the Egyptian economy by reduction in military expenditures was an add-on bonus.
> The unbelievable success of the Abraham Accords, which instantaneously flung open welded doors and smashed barriers between historic adversaries, continues to this day, despite the gaza war.
From the rebirth of Eretz Yisrael to the throes and accomplishments of modernity, these miracles were realized because of two thousand years of persistent subliminal noodging by Jewish dreamers. The yearning that turned to reality had been etched in our cultural DNA at thousands of Pesach sedarim: “l’shanah habah-ah birushalayim Next Year in Jerusalem”.
Without dreams, “… How you gonna have a dream come true?”.
In consonance with the Prophet Z’charyah, a bone fide dreamer in his own right [12:9], “And it shall come to pass on that day, that I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem”, I am confident in the inevitability that someday Israel will succeed in its mission as a light unto the nations, leading mankind on its mission of peace.
כַּכָּתוּב בְּתוֹרָתֶֽךָ, יְיָ יִמְלֹךְ לְעוֹלָם וָעֶד
וְנֶאֱמַר, וְהָיָה יְיָ לְמֶֽלֶךְ עַל כָּל הָאָֽרֶץ…
As it is written in Your Torah: “The Lord will reign forever and ever.”
In the words of Z’charyah, “The Lord will be King over all the earth…”
Shabbat shalom, עם ישראל חי!
RCDJ
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PONDERABLE Sedrah וישב/Vayeshev + Chanukah day 2
בראשית/Genesis 37:1-40:23 -
Yosef the dreamer sold into Egyptian slavery!
Birth of special twins.
An indecent proposal and SHALSHELET.
Yosef interprets dreams.
Maftir: במדבר/Numbers 7:18-7:29
Haftarah: זכריה/Zecheriah 2:14-4:7
"A little bit of light can dispel much of the darkness."
Rav Schneur Zalman of Liadi
The name of our shul, Or Chadash, means – literally – “New Light”. This week our light grew brighter as we welcomed into Am Yisrael TM Garret, whose journey from the shadows into the light of Yiddishkeit is most remarkable. For a glimpse of his personal story, please watch this short video that was featured by the JCPA a couple of years ago.
His message is a simple one: beware the forces of emaciation. It is the proclamation of the illumination that Judaism, through Torah, brings to the world.
Often, though, the illumination must be turned inward. While it is noble to strive to fulfill our role as “a light unto the nations”, it is the height of negligence to ignore the need to feed on that light ourselves. Chanukah, which begins tomorrow night, is the lens that brings us into the light’s focus. It is a reminder and encouragement to recognize, resist, and repel the forces of darkness that seek to undermine the brilliance of Jewish contributions to the world in every arena of decent human endeavor. It doesn’t require great scholarship to recognize the increasing efforts to tear down the advancements of civilization, advancements that were achieved with slow, often agonizing effort over a hundred generations. How swiftly it can invert: recall – adolf had just a 2.6% of the German vote in 1928. In a mere blink of time he was chancellor and the most enlightened country of the world fell into darkness, dragging the rest of the world into a black hole from which no light could escape. We have been witness to a creeping shadow emerging swiftly on our landscape, exploding on October 7 into virulent antisemitism whose tentacles of violence unfurled from dormancy.
We are shocked by the indifference of deans and presidents of “enlightened” institutions of higher education to overt intimidation of Jewish students and expressions of hate on their campuses; stunned by the silence of women’s protective organizations who are fully aware of the brutality against Israeli women; bewildered by leaders of democracies who “just don’t get it” and believe that it is possible to reason with the devil; disgusted by the joy expressed by so many imams when they learned of the pogrom; saddened when anti-Israel rhetoric appears in editorials penned by our co-religionists; struggling for comprehension of this upside down world.
But we have within us the power – and shared responsibility – to dispel it. Our Jewish world view demands it. Our intelligence and history require it. A little bit of light can dispel much of the darkness. Become and stay informed; consult the sources printed weekly in this newsletter and on our website. Beware of self-deprecating Jews – leaders and others – who are quick to become “progressive” by indulging in the anti-Israel/anti-Zionist/anti-Jewish causes and rhetoric that is so “in” these days. Repeat this regularly, let it play as a recording loop in your mind: if what is being bandied about as the so-called truth - about Israel and world Jewry - doesn’t jive with what you know our values to be, assume that it isn’t true.
Read. Read. Read.
Information + knowledge = light.
Shabbat shalom – chag orim sameach,
RCDJ
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PONDERABLE Sedrah וישלח/Vayishlach
בראשית/Genesis 32:4 – 36:43
Haftarah עבדיה/Ovadiah 1:1-21
SURVIVE AND THRIVE
the holy mission of Am Yisrael
Today, November 29, is the anniversary of the UN Partition Plan of 1947.
On December 9, we’ll mark the 107th birthday of Issur Danielovitch.
This year we’ll also note the 3,676th birthday of our patriarch Yaacov.
Issur Danielovitch Americanized his name to dodge antisemitism when he joined the navy during World War 2, ironically selecting as his first name an old Norse and Scottish word for “church” – Kirk. From that day forward he was known by that name only. Danielovitch morphed to Douglas.
Yaacov’s name change was imposed by God (Genesis 32:29, 35:10): Yisrael.
In contrast to Kirk Douglas whose birth name was cast aside, such was not the destiny of our patriarch’s names. Rather, it serves to remind us that Yaacov had at least two competing identities. His contemporaries and, indeed, God continued to address and refer to him as Yaacov. Recall: Avram à Abraham, Sarai à Sarah: once their names changed the originals were not mentioned again.
The significance of retaining both names, Yaacov and Yisrael, should reach out to us today as a clarion call. A “wake up and evaluate ourselves” blast as significant as the T’kiah G’dolah of Rosh Hashanah. A palpable slap out of drowsy lethargy.
Who are we - world Jewry - now? Are we B’nei Yisrael or B’nei Yaacov? “Yaacov” was tentative, “Yisrael” was assertive.
Throughout our galut history we were timid among often hostile majority cultures, B’nei Yaacov. As we learn in our sedrah, on approach to Esav, his twin brother whom he believed he had wronged, and who his mother had convinced him was filled with killing rage towards him, he approached as Yaacov.
In the two Kingdoms we were B’nei Yisrael.
Yaacov was beset with weaknesses, uncertainties, and fears.
Yisrael was confident, fearless, and strong.
To this day, we are known as B’nei Yisrael, yet we begin the Amidah with the words, “Praised are You, … God of Avraham, God of Yitzchak, and God of Yaacov.” Despite his psychological infirmities Yaacov was beloved of God. As a people, we have been perpetually a blend of the two. The heroes of the Chanukah story were, without a doubt, B’nei Yisrael.
On October 7 the supremely joyous holiday Simchat Torah was forever desecrated in galut. [In Israel, Sh’mini Atzeret+Simchat Torah are celebrated as one Yom Tov; there it was on October 6.] For nearly two months decent people of the world have been held hostage by the hideous monsters who have enslaved and brainwashed the Arabs of gaza. Our beloved nation of Israel, rudely awakened from Yaacov complacency and internal bickering, has rediscovered and revived latent Yisrael of old. The moral and political cataract that has been distorting the view of far too many for far too long, tragically even in Israel, has been violently replaced with a new lens, with a clear vision that our erstwhile “partners in the peace process” are devout, murderous enemies. Surprise…
Gone is the illusion that peacemakers abound among the Arabs on Israel’s borders.
Gone is the illusion that “the truth will set you free”, and that Israel’s open and tumultuous democracy and love of life will be a light unto the nations.
Gone is the illusion that once exalted media is trustworthy: Haaretz, The Forward, BBC, CNN, NPR, NYTimes, Washington Post – all too often are caricatures of Al Jazeera masquerading as quality journalism. [Tom Friedman of NYT, bright but all too often succumbing to lunacy and downright stupidity, recently opined: “to maximize the chances that the forces of decency can prevail…the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank [must be] reinvigorated in partnership with moderate Arab states…” ignoring the undisguised openly offensive fact that the terrorist mahmoud abbas and his PA insist on paying terrorists for their atrocities.]
Gone – shattered – is the wish-illusion that antisemitism has been in steady decline.
Gone is the hope that we can comfortably embody the calm of B’nei Yaacov. We must consistently, perpetually be B’nei Yisrael.
It is time to acknowledge and celebrate the Maccabees of Modernity.
It is time, in the spirit of Chanukah, to rededicate ourselves to Kol Beit Yisrael if we are to survive and thrive – in our Homeland as well as in the diaspora.
כל ישראל עֲרֵבִים זה בזה
All Israel is responsible, one for another.
Shabbat shalom – Am Yisrael Chai,
RCDJ
Ponder this: What would you have done during the years of the Shoah?
Answer: You're doing it now.
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PONDERABLE
Sedrah Vayetze 5784
בראשית/Genesis 28:10-32:3
Haftarah הושע/Hoshea 12:13-14:10
LOOK
Thanksgiving in a time of War
When Moshe Rabbenu, a shepherd for his father-in-law, was walking a path that he’d trekked for decades, he looked and, presumably for the first time, saw the burning bush. And the rest is history.
When Lot’s wife just had to have one more peek at her home going up in smoke, she looked back, and her pillar of salt remains on a hilltop overlooking the Dead Sea to this day.
We’ll never know what thoughts may have sprinkled into the dear lady’s salinized mind, but the story’s sublime message is clear: do not live in the past.
Moshe’s look was a chance encounter that set in motion the establishment of intellect and ethics as normative, far in advance of their contemporaries and, regrettably, most modern societies. With the holy mission set before him we cannot find so much as a hint of his reflecting on his past status as either Prince in Pharaoh’s house or of the comforts of being a shepherd with routine day-in, years-out predictability. He was neither too “high-society” for dealing with slaves, nor too comfortable with his life as a shepherd to do the Lord’s bidding. For the next forty years he did not look back.
Our sedrah speaks of the Patriarch Yaacov’s constant watchful vigilance to protect himself from the greed of his uncle, Lavan: twenty-one years of looking for and reversing subterfuge.
Tomorrow American Jews will be looking as well. Our immediate focus may be on the festivities of the day, reflecting on the blessings of freedom and the mythical idealism of pilgrims, but our minds will be looking east. As we gather for a day of gratitude and praise, we wonder how we will be able to heal the strains of the Simchat Torah war. (Have we healed the strains of 9/11? – or of the Shoah?)
In 1863, during the American Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln proclaimed the first national Day of Thanksgiving and Praise. In the midst of a conflict “of unequalled magnitude and severity”, he implored Americans to “solemnly, reverently and gratefully acknowledge God’s mercy with one heart and one voice”.
Marking Thanksgiving in 1940, before the United States had entered World War II, first lady Eleanor Roosevelt urged an obligation toward “our fellow human beings – people ... whom we could love and understand if it were not for this thing called war.”
Israel – Am Yisrael – is now facing demanding challenges far beyond what such a peace-starved nation should. The remarkable purity of Israel’s yearning for shalom is sadly matched by ancient hatred that glorifies its own vileness. See, for example, today’s Facebook ad (yes: the Facebook of Mark Zuckerberg) by a coffee shop in neighboring Jordan: A Jordanian coffee shop called Gosta advertised on social media a drink mocking the Holocaust. The coffee drink is called Holo-Gosta, a combination of the name of the shop with a prefix to make it sound like the word “Holocaust”. According to the company’s promotion, the drink is served with marshmallows with blue stars of David that are lit on fire. A flyer featuring the drink with a background of a Palestinian flag, a gloved hand, and a blowtorch was posted on the coffee shop’s Facebook and Instagram accounts. The hashtag slogan was “Feel the Arabic taste”.
But thankful we must be, for the bountiful blessings we do have: one another, life in a steadily improving goldene medinah that strives to achieve its mandate to form a “more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility… and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our posterity”.
Someday, with the shining light of Israel and the United Sates, it will be achieved. I am confident.
Shabbat shalom, Am Yisrael Chai
RCDJ
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PONDERABLE Sedrah Tol’dot [not Toldot!]
בראשית/Genesis 25:19-28:9
Haftarah מלאכי/Malachi 1:1-2:7 (the last prophet)
STARK PARALLELS
(please see clickables at the end)
Yesterday I was one of over 200 Memphians, zealots for Israel and World Jewry, who were joined in Washington, D.C. by 310,000 others from throughout the United States. We assembled in the National Mall, between the Capitol Building and the Washington Monument for the March for Israel. It was one of the most profound and moving experiences of our lives, indelibly etched in our collective memories.
What, in our modern, sophisticated, enlightened, and often quarrelsome society could have motivated so many of us – Jews, Christians, every race and ethnicity, young and old – to spontaneously unify under one conceptual banner? How could so many people find one focus, one concern, one frustration that would inspire them to assemble so swiftly?
Thanks to the inspirational work and organizational skills of the Jewish Federations of North America, Friends of the IDF, and the remarkable staff and leadership of our own JCPA, it happened. Judaism happened en masse: our values and dignity were on display for the world to see. Kudos to Laura Linder, Scott Notowich, Bluma Zuckerbrot-Finkelstein, Amanda Braswell, Jill Shanker, and several others who motivated our community and led our people efficiently, with thoughtful detailed preparation. From our 6:30 AM departure, to our 11:30 PM return all of us were accounted for – exhausted from the long day of miles of walking, but exhilarated for having been in the thick of the most extraordinary Jewish social-political-unifying event in history.
Notwithstanding the speeches and occasional cheerleading by an impressive list of personalities, what struck me was the dignity of the packed crowd, whose number was about equal to the populations of St. Louis, Pittsburgh, or Cincinnati. Speakers were listened to, songs were joined, cheering was synchronous. Occasional gaps were filled by calls for “Bring Them Home”. Hatikva and Star Spangled Banner were sung as if under a master choir director. In contrast to demonstrations by “others”, this was a thankfully boring day for police. There were children atop fathers’ shoulders waving American and Israeli flags, people unembarrassedly weeping as parents of hostages spoke, passionate camaraderie and solidarity welded strangers together, placards and T-shirt with images of hostages were everywhere – including on plastic cards worn by each Memphis participant. The feeling of a revitalized love for Israel and Judaism was palpable: soul connections that were beautiful beyond the singing of it. To a one, we all were supremely grateful to have been part of Kahal Yisrael.
There is a relevance of the sedrah – Toldot – to the struggle we’re in and the world’s reaction. Consider the personalities of our patriarchs and other ancient leaders, and how Kabbalah labeled some of them:
Avraham, though kind and thoughtful, was a warrior [recall his rescue of Lot]: Label: Chesed, compassionate
Yaakov was proud of his triumphant use of “my sword and my bow”. Label: tiferet, harmonious
Moshe slew the Egyptian taskmaster who was cruel to his Jewish victim.
Y’hoshua, Sha-ul, and David each led our people in battle.
Samson slew Philistines.
Yitzchak - - - was never belligerent, either in words or deed. Label: g’vurah, strength
Of these important figures, it is Yitzchak who is assigned by Kabbalistic terminology the trait of g’vurah! There are two types of strength. One is by exerting power, another is by stoicism. He resisted the urge to bicker; shalom bayit was his prime directive.
Here is where parallelism is revelatory:
BIBLICAL YITZCHAK: Philistines stopped up his wells (purely vindictive destructive acts with no benefit to them)
MODERN ISRAEL: Gazans fire rockets at civilian targets in Israel, dispatch incendiary balloons into farms. (purely vindictive, destructive acts with no benefit to them)
BIBLICAL YITZCHAK: He left the scene, dug new wells rather than wage war.
MODERN ISRAEL: Israel “takes it” – tries to deal with the incessant provocations via diplomacy (to no avail)
BIBLICAL YITZCHAK: Others stop up the new wells (purely vindictive, destructive acts with no benefit to them)
MODERN ISRAEL: Rockets and arson continue (purely vindictive, destructive acts with no benefit to them)
BIBLICAL YITZCHAK: Finally moved far enough away, dug new wells
MODERN ISRAEL: To quote Hymie, from Get Smart: “Nice is nice, but enough is enough” Israel cannot move away; - strikes launch sites (censured by UN for putting civilians in danger)
BIBLICAL YITZCHAK: Yitzchak lived out his passive life at peace with others. (Wide open spaces made that possible.)
MODERN ISRAEL: Israel denied passivity options on October 7; responded appropriately (censured by UN for putting civilians in danger)
BIBLICAL YITZCHAK: Many find his patience in the face of his enemies frustrating. But - "Better to be forbearing than mighty; to have self-control than to conquer a city." (Proverbs 16:32). Forgoing the military option was itself a show of his strength.
MODERN ISRAEL: Many found Israel’s patience in the face of vicious enemies frustrating. Truces seen as weakness by the enemies, and a time to re-arm. /// No peace seems possible with the neighbors; and reputedly bright people and leaders proclaim that the atrocities did not happen (purely vindictive, destructive acts with no benefit to them).
Moral clarity is a trait that shouldn’t need to be taught in an educated society. And that is the key: what was in the scholastic pablum that was fed to the generations of adults who, today, cannot see past the fog of antisemitism? “Teach a child in the way he should go, and when he is grown, he will not depart from it.” Teaching can be for evil (under hamas and PA influence, sanctioned by UNRWA, 3-year-olds are initiated into the sick cult that glorifies martyrdom and killing Jews – and infidels of all kinds. See this eye-opening article, followed by this one. These matter-of-fact insights will surely unstatus your quo.
Make no mistake: Israel is at the forefront of the battle for the soul of Western Civilization, the sentinel at the gate; the war between Good and Evil is on the threshold of our children’s future.
Come to shul – we should talk.
Am Yisrael Chai,
Shabbat shalom,
RCDJ
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PONDERABLE:
Sedrah: Chayei Sarah
בראשית/Genesis 23:1–25:18
Haftarah מלכים א' / 1 Kings 1:1 – 1:31
TO EVERY THING THERE IS A SEASON,
AND A TIME TO EVERY PURPOSE UNDER THE HEAVEN:
Veterans' Day will occur on this coming Shabbat, November 11. Americans have long been celebrating and paying homage to the long history of military service that has preserved the precious freedoms we enjoy. Far too often our men and women in uniform have had to confront those who would cripple or destroy the extraordinary miracle that the Founders, against all odds, wrested from the grip of foreign rule. As a nation, we’ve been tested; and, despite the patchwork mix of cultures that are our foundation, we have melded into fifty remarkably United States. We are a people who has met every challenge – together. No other nation on earth is so blended, with distinct populations, cultural histories, and a multitude of languages responding as one to uniquely American efforts, aspirations, and threats. Since colonial days we have acquitted ourselves well against those forces that seek to harm us, from within and abroad. This year is vigorously testing the mettle of our national ethic as we confront the ancient virus – antisemitism, awaiting the judgment of future historians when evaluating how well our principles vanquished the unprincipled.
The essence of America and Israel is all about tests and a fierce, obstinate devotion to meeting them head-on, with brave resolution, and with unmatched esprit de corps. This week’s sedrah is a perfect fit to this theme.
For the last two weeks we have read that Avraham was besieged by gut-wrenching choices, with consequences that would change his life forever and ripple through time:
leave home for a new land;
risk Sarah’s integrity to Pharaoh and Avimelech;
separate from Lot;
banish Hagar and Ishmael;
sacrifice Yitzchak (Akedah).
As if these tests were insufficient, the opening two verses of this week's sedrah recount Sarah’s death and the traumatic preparation for her burial. The real estate haggling for Machpelah in Chevron and the final “deal” have historic ownership consequences to this day, but the story provides evidence of heart-breaking tragi-drama. Despite “passing the tests” that God had given him, the family was obviously traumatized by the Akedah. It is apparent from the text that after the Akedah, Avraham and Sarah lived apart. Indeed, there was a sacrifice on that mountain other than the hapless ram. The Akedah drove the three of them apart, and the separation added trauma to trauma. One could say that, indeed, a grievous sacrifice of family had occurred on that mountain. And so they wept: attachment, separation, grief.
Perhaps the Torah's message is that families and communities may be torn apart for many reasons, and often the damage seems irreparable. Pain, fear, resentment, and bitterness can run very deep in humanity’s soul. At the sedrah’s merciful conclusion we learn that Yitzchak and Ishmael re-unite to bury their father Avraham; and we can only speculate about their conversations – but come together they did. The "between-the-lines" reading of the account leads us to believe that healing took place. It is a plea to us that even in the direst situations, overburdened with near impossible challenges, we must fan the embers of hope that the three “R’s” – repair, reunification, and reconciliation – are possible. Yes, I am certain that someday the descendants of Yitzchak and Ishmael will be at peace with one another.
We seem to have overcome the trauma of the caronapocalypse in just a few years. But will we emerge whole again after the exposure and explosion of deep-seated, often deadly antisemitism? Is spiritual cleansing on a global scale possible, after millennia of festering and embedded disdain, disrespect, dehumanizing, and downright ignorance? Or do we, as Jews, resign ourselves to an uncomfortable reality that we will “be at war with Amalek throughout the ages (Exodus 17:16)”?
As Yitzchak and Ishmael did so long ago, let us strive to choose the positive half from each of the time-sensitive statements in Kohelet/Ecclesiastes:
To every thing there is a season,
and a time to every purpose under the heaven:
A time to be born, a time to plant,
a time to heal, a time to build up,
a time to laugh, a time to dance,
a time to embrace, a time to gain,
a time for silence, a time to speak,
a time for love, a time for peace.
IDENTIFY!
כל ישראל ערבים זה בזה
Share your Jewish Pride,
Engage with Jewish institutions more than you ever have,
Reinvigorate your home rituals,
Remember that “Beit K’nesset" (synagogue) means
“House of Meeting” – where we need to be!
עם ישראל חי
See you in shul – Shabbat shalom,
RCDJ
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PONDERABLE
Sedrah וירא/Vayera בראשית/Genesis 18:1-22:24
Haftarah 'מלכים ב /II Kings 4:1-4:37
WITH GREAT INTELLECT COMES GREAT RESPONSIBILITY
The Bible teaches us that with great intellect comes great responsibility: Abraham, the first Jew, was progenitor of a people endowed with unique insights regarding the manner in which human beings are to coexist, and through his descendants gave the world a humane code for living peacefully and justly, promoting the civil in civilization. A mandate to understand, not blindly follow; to search for meaning and justice in society. Question everything and everybody!
Try to imagine the frustration Abraham would feel if he witnessed modern day assaults on our people. The people, through whom all other nations were to be blessed, finds itself vilified. For thousands of years our thinkers strode far ahead of the barbarism of their times, speaking out for human dignity, betterment, and literacy – arousing the ire of despots. Today, while many Jews have nurtured the belief that the West has “caught up” with the spirit of our philosophy, and while assimilation is (unfortunately) at an all-time high, we have just been harshly reminded that the abyss still exists.
Anti-Semitism in the progressive, so-called liberal media and among certain legislators of our country – expressed cynically as criticism of Israel and Zionism, coupled with praise and support of our wicked enemies – inexplicably has erupted among foes and erstwhile friends. In response to the evil – lies, violence, celebration of brutality on Israelis – being promoted by Israel’s “partners in the peace process”, many governments have often – absurdly – suggested that Israel cease its incitement of the Palestinians [a “people” that did not exist until named by the Egyptian terrorist yasser arafat, y’mach sh’mo]. While we may have relished the comforts enjoyed in Western countries, the harsh wake-up call on October 7 has unstatused our quo. The slanderous remarks of antónio guterres, secretary general of the UN, are still ablaze in our ears.
With the steady rise of antisemitism in this century, our people had been leaving Europe, and Ukraine, in greater numbers than at any time since the early 20th century pogroms. Some would say that these are the “end times” when the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob will be ingathered “from the four corners of the earth.” Could it be that the good Lord is using the vitriolic nations of the world as His proxy agents to increase the pace of the ingathering of His people?
Regardless of the cosmic implications of current events, it is important for us to Stand With Israel. If you are among those Jews who, anxious to “see the other point of view” in deference to our avowed enemies’ sensitivities, criticize Israel from afar, please watch this short video and the ones that will follow it, and others by David Wood that will appear as well. Click HERE. This video of Sara Zoabi can also be accessed from the shul website’s ISRAEL AT WAR page, where you will find a well of sources of solace and information.
כל ישראל ערבים זה בזה
All Israel is responsible one for the other.
עם ישראל חי!
RCDJ - see you in shul!
Reprinted from a previous Ponderable:
PS: here is an uncomfortable, inconvenient truth. Everyone in gaza shares a particular worldview and mindset simply by virtue of the fact that this entire generation has grown up under the constancy of the evil philosophy of radical Islam. Recall: our ancestors of the Exodus required a new generation to emerge that did not know slavery, one that could deal with the rigors of freedom and nation building; and the slave generation completely died out. The problem is that there is no “midbar, wilderness” in which to isolate the gaza civilians, so that a new generation can arise with a modern civilization perspective. No matter where they go, they will carry with them a disregard for the preciousness of life, and an embedded “knowledge” that Jews are sub-human, and in need of eradication. They will become part of the disturbing anti-democracy element that has unfortunately already taken root in much of Europe and sites in the United States.
Solution? Israel - not UNRWA or the PA - must take over the educational systems throughout its territories and gaza.// rcdj//
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PONDERABLE
Sedrah Lech L’cha בראשית/Genesis 12:1 – 17:27
Haftarah ישעיהו/Isaiah 40:27-41:26
SECOND ANNUAL “LECH L’CHA” HONOREE*: AM YISRAEL
אין ברירה – עין ברירה
EIN BRERAH
כל ישראל ערבים זה בזה
Background: The second word, “L’cha – לך” is perplexing. It is comprised of a prefix-suffix blend: “L’- to, or towards” and “-cha – you/yourself.” Go [in]to yourself?
Outstanding! Before Avram Avinu ventured into his Promised Land to secure his (and our) future, he was told to venture into himself and inspect his soul, his drive:
-
did he have the strength to withstand the many trials that were to come?
-
would he be able to pass his religious mandate on to his descendants?
-
was he sufficiently “k’she oref” – stiff necked – to resist the temptations of other cultural pressures in his new homeland?
-
would he be able to lead by precept and example, bringing people into the fold in unity of vision and purpose?
… all that in a two-syllable contraction!
In 1967, when bloodthirsty Arab armies arrayed against Israel, despair gripped us; the Great Jewish Hope, the 19-year miracle of Jewish sovereignty resurrected in our Homeland was about to be swept away. It occurred to me then: was this Biblical allegory to be our fate?
Psalms 90:6
בַּבֹּקֶר יָצִיץ וְחָלָף לָעֶרֶב יְמוֹלֵל וְיָבֵשׁ
In the morning it flourishes and grows
in the evening it is cut down and withers.
Las Vegas oddsmakers were offering incredible payouts to anyone foolish enough to wager that Israel would survive. You’d have gotten better odds betting on the establishment of a Jewish state back in 1939. But survive we did. Afterwards, Israelis answered the inevitable question, “How did you do it?” with a typical Israeli shrug and two words: “אין ברירה – there was no choice!”
Not so. There are always choices: fight-withdraw, live-die. Israel then was and Israel now is standing up to evil: it is our Lech L’cha moment in history. Yes, we are facing once again an apparent אין ברירה scenario, but it is, in truth, an endless, agonizing fountain of choices - עין ברירה! History will record whether decency stood its ground against an endless cacophony of hatred, triumphing on behalf of civilized mankind, destroying the soulless remnant of medieval depravity; or withered under the burden of moral clarity assaulted by a world turned upside-down. The righteous pathway is clear. The forks and routes through the military and political labyrinth are many.
It is magnificent that the myriad fractious divisions in Israel snapped to unity on October 7, setting aside “issues” and “feelings”, spontaneously rising to the monstrous task at hand. In like manner, we in galut – the diaspora – are called upon to support the people of ארץ ישראל with unity of purpose and vision. It is, indeed, our Lech L’cha moment in history. Does each of us have the fortitude to stand up to anyone who spews the lies – ancient or modern? Is the m’zuzah on your doorpost and in your heart prominent and on display for all to see? Are you capable of re-orienting yourself with regard to presumed friends of decency who turn out not to be so – like BLM1, SPLC2, the LGBTQ3 movement , and others who openly support hamas? And are you ready to embrace people whose views you might have considered socially or politically heinous, but who now see Israel’s struggle and the scourge of antisemitism as their battle as well?
Yes, indeed: ein brerah.
We Jews have always derived strength from one another. As these past weeks have been emotionally, spiritually draining for us all, which is likely to continue for some time, I look forward now more than ever to seeing you in shul. The comfort and support we derive by assembling as a congregation is beyond measure.
All Israel is responsible for one another . כל ישראל ערבים זה בזה
See you in shul – עם ישראל חי
RCDJ
* last year’s Lech L’cha “honoree” was DOÑA GRACIA MENDES
1. BLM: click here
2. Southern Poverty Law Center: click here
3. LGBTQ: click here
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PONDERABLE
Sedrah נח/Noach בראשית/Genesis 6:9-11:32
Haftarah ישעיהו/Isaiah 54:1-55:5
SENTINEL AT THE GATE
Israel: Civilization’s Flagship
The hero of this week’s sedrah, described as “righteous for his generation”, became the unwitting ancestor to all of humanity. Noah. A name that indicates passivity, kindness; gentility. Some have opined that the world needs another cleansing on a scale of the Biblical flood, but where is this generation’s Noah? Who would qualify as “righteous for our generation”?
By now we all realize that a cultural virus has been allowed to spread in our world. Its name is Radical Islam. Its influence is now seen throughout the Western world, most notably on college campuses and in some districts in our country that elect Antisemitic legislators. France, Germany, the UK, Scandinavian countries – all are grappling with the consequences of leniency towards immigrants who seek to change the democracies of their hosts. Now, our precious homeland Israel is the lone sentinel at the gate, engaged in protective struggle on behalf of us all. While the western world is today in solidarity with Israel in its response to the barbarism that was perpetrated on Simchat Torah, I wonder if they have calculated the risks to us all if Israel is allowed to fail, or forced to stop the eradication, once and for all, of the devil at their door. Israel is in mortal combat for the world, and must be supported by every American, Jew and non-Jew alike, by all means possible. How? By speaking out locally, rebutting slanders on social and print media, supporting decent elected officials, or by providing targeted financial aid (for example, click HERE to contribute to ZAKA; or HERE to support United Hatzalah; or donate to our own Jewish Federation).
Time for a new flood? Or a Sodom and Gomorrah hellfire? Well, if I ruled the world ….
But I do not. Therefore I ask you all to
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steel yourself with knowledge - read JewishPress.com, watch i24 television;
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receive updates from the Consulate General of Israel by requesting a subscription to their newsletter: jewishcommunity@atlanta.mfa.gov.il;
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recognize and refute the antisemitic undercurrent at New York Times, BBC, and others who, with only hamas’ claim, quickly ran banner headline falsehoods regarding the explosion at the gaza hospital;
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postpone concerns about the political issues that were distracting Israel for the past year.
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recognize and accept with pride that Israel is a just nation, conducting itself with adherence to Jewish values (What other military alerts its enemy of pending strikes, or puts itself at risk to avoid collateral suffering?), and readily admits to errors, investigating itself!
In this way you will be equipped to counter lies with facts (they aren’t “freedom fighters”, “militants”, “combatants” – they are savage murderers, terrorists!).
The sedrah relates the story of the Tower of Babel, whereby haughty self-righteous people were cut off from one another by confounding their ability to converse, to plot, to scheme. Have we become ‘them’, overrun by the ability to spread falsehoods instantaneously?
Alan Dershowitz wrote in a post this afternoon, regarding the spontaneous combustion of Muslim anger after the gaza hospital tragedy was announced, “the lessons of the selective protests worldwide are that it doesn't matter much what Israel does. It matters more what Israel is: the nation state of the Jewish people.”
Our fate is inextricably tied to Israel’s.
Noah had hundreds of years to build his ark. Israel is our ark; we’ve had a mere 75 years to build it. It is up to us to cherish and protect it. Truly, the lone sentinel at the gate.
I look forward to seeing you in shul,
עם ישראל חי Am Yisrael Chai!
RCDJ
PS: here is an uncomfortable, inconvenient truth. Everyone in gaza shares a particular worldview and mindset simply by virtue of the fact that this entire generation has grown up under the constancy of the evil philosophy of radical Islam. Recall: our ancestors of the Exodus required a new generation to emerge that did not know slavery, one that could deal with the rigors of freedom and nation building; and the slave generation completely died out. The problem is that there is no “midbar, wilderness” in which to isolate the gaza civilians, so that a new generation can arise with a modern civilization perspective. No matter where they go, they will carry with them a disregard for the preciousness of life, and an embedded “knowledge” that Jews are sub-human, and in need of eradication. They will become part of the disturbing anti-democracy element that has unfortunately already taken root in much of Europe and sites in the United States.
Solution? Israel - not UNRWA or the PA - must take over the educational systems throughout its territories and gaza.// rcdj//
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PONDERABLE
Sedrah בראשית/Genesis 1:1 – 6:8 Machar Chodesh
Haftarah שמואל א'/Samuel 1 20:18-42
THIS WAS THE WEEK THAT SHOULDN’T HAVE BEEN
rewind … rewind … rewind…
Like you, I haven’t been able to distract myself from the horrors of this past Shabbat – a solemn Yom Tov whose highlights should have been Hallel, Yizkor and the prayer for גשם rain; from the endless barrage of updates that has made our minds numb with anger, hate, frustration, and the incomprehensible truth that a Shoah was once again visited upon our People.
To extract myself from the spiraling vortex of inconsolable stress and depression that derives from the inability to fix what needs to be fixed, to strike out and destroy an inhuman enemy, I indulged in a forced mental health break: I spun the wheels of my thoughts 180° to steer away from the pervasive social and news media narratives. I resolved to sharply focus on and discuss this week’s sedrah, B’resheet, the fresh start of our annual Torah reading cycle. How simple, how therapeutic. The Bible has been Jews’ healing elixir for thousands of years, and its exquisite prose and profound messages would now provide the salve that I sorely needed.
All was proceeding according to plan, my vitals returning to October 6 levels – until this sentence upended my calm: (B’resheet/Genesis 1:26-27): And God said: “Let Us make man in Our image, after Our likeness… in the image of God He created him”. Mankind, including both decent and reprehensible people, was created in the image of God! What was I to do – how could I reconcile the grace of the pinnacle of Creation with the pain of this week’s reality, the terrorists at Israel’s throat? The lump in my throat surged back. Tears of anger, frustrated quivering paralyzed my writing. The images of debauched Evil masquerading as humans (in the image of God He created him) swarming with gleeful blood lust through our precious Eretz Yisrael, shouting alahu akhbar, blurred my mind. I paused to re-think, recollect, regroup; and then, mercifully …
I recalled a d’var Torah by Rabbi Jonathan Sacks, z”l, who reminded us that when the Holy One, blessed be He, came to create man, He created a group of ministering angels and asked them, “Do you agree that we should make man in our image?” They replied, “Sovereign of the Universe, what will be his deeds?” God showed them the history of mankind. The angels replied, “What is man that You are mindful of him? ה' מה אדם ותדעהו (Ps. 144)” [in other words, let man not be created]. God destroyed the angels!
He created a second group, and they gave the same answer. God destroyed them.
He created a third group of angels, and they replied, “Sovereign of the Universe, the first and second group of angels told You not to create man, and it did not avail them. You did not listen. What then can we say but this: The universe is Yours. Do with it as You wish.”
Then God created man.
When it came to the generation of the Flood, and then to the generation of the builders of Babel, the angels said to God, “Were not the first angels right? See how great is the corruption of mankind.”
Then God replied (Isaiah 46:4), “Even to old age I will not change, and even to grey hair, I will still be patient.” (Sanhedrin 38b)
The Talmud is telling us is that the existence of humankind can only be explained by the fact that God had faith in man. The real religious mystery, according to Judaism, is not our faith in God. It is God’s faith in us.
God never stops believing in us, loving us, and hoping for the best from us. There are moments when He almost despairs. Our sedrah says so.
The Lord saw how great the wickedness of the human race had become on the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of the human heart was only evil all the time. The Lord regretted that he had made human beings on the earth, and He was grieved to His very core.
But Noah, good, innocent, upright, righteous for his generation, consoled Him.
For the sake of one good man God was prepared to begin again.
For the sake of the fundamental righteousness of the People of Eretz Yisrael, Am Yisrael will emerge from the pit of despair more vigilant, cohesive, and infinitely more עם קשה עורף stiff necked than ever before. The name of the wretched spawn of Amalek will be blotted out, but we will never forget.
עם ישראל חי Am Yisrael Chai!
Shabbat shalom,
RCDJ
Update: Claire and I have been in regular contact with our family and dear friends in Israel. Though they are obviously in harms way, all are well ב"ה and coping. Some have been deployed, many are involved in the spontaneous upsurge of support efforts, and my sister-in-law Hana Levi Julian is providing much needed counseling at hospitals to local residents and to people relocated from the south, traumatized by the onslaught. She continues writing current accurate news at JewishPress.com.