Shmini: DOING WHAT GOD WANTS
Rabbi Avi Billet
In the early 1950s the Israeli Government decided that the 27th of
Nissan would be designated as Holocaust Remembrance Day. Out of respect for Shabbos, when that date falls on the weekend, as it does this year – tomorrowbeing the day – it is moved either forward to Monday or back to Thursday, so
that the preparations for or memorial services will not cross over into
Shabbos. This is the law in Israel
– respecting Shabbos. The law doesn't mandate observance of Shabbos the way we
practice. But it respects Shabbos.
No words or thoughts can soften the blow of the toll the Holocaust had on the
worldwide Jewish communities, and the impact it still has. The numbers remain
unfathomable. The declining overall Jewish birthrate is not replenishing the
loss, assimilation is making things even worse, and from a certain perspective,
Jewish identity and knowledge is declining overall.
From a
different perspective, there are positive developments as well. The Jewish population in Israel has – ironically – reached the 6 million mark, surpassing the Jewish population of the US,
which is around 5.5 million. Jews are active and prominent in many respectable
fields of influence – politics, science and medicine, Hollywood ,
world of finance.
These
last facts are often fodder for the spewings of anti-Semites who claim the
Protocols of the Elders of Zion is not a forgery – they would advocate for
thinking people to believe there is an active effort and network of Jews
worldwide to take over the world.
Another
side of the coin: We have sadly gotten to a point where Jewish comedians make
jokes about the Holocaust. I see articles about poor and needy Holocaust survivors who are being neglected in the US and in Israel.
And a self-proclaimed denier of the Holocaust, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, is given a
chance to speak at the United Nations General Assembly.
We live in strange times.
It is
troubling to read or hear people, especially Jewish people, assigning blame for
either why the Holocaust happened, or which Jews were responsible for not doing
more. We are human – we do not know and will not know why personal or national
tragedy befalls member or the entirety of Our People.
A number of years ago I
read a transcribed speech of Rabbi Moshe Shternbuch – in the book Reb Moshe
Speaks, in which he blamed the Zionists – the secular living in Israel ,
who did not want an influx of European Jews in Palestine
– for not doing enough to save Jews. I have seen similar accusations hurled at Chassidic
Rebbes and Roshei Yeshiva for telling their constituents that this too will
pass—stay, there is no reason to run away. [The troubling conflict they faced is analyzed here] The truth is, who knew? Who really
could have foreseen what Hitler's Nazi Machine could do? Who really understood
the gravity of the Final Solution.
Don't
blame Jews for the Holocaust! Blame the Nazis for the Holocaust! And blame an
indifferent world for ignoring those who escaped and
reported, and for turning a blind eye to what was going
on!
In his
recent visit to Israel ,
President Obama was addressed by Rabbi Israel Meir Lau at Yad Vashem. Rabbi Lau
told a personal memory of Rabbi Herschel Schacter, father of Rabbi JJ Schacter,
who happened to pass away the day before Obama's visit to Yad Vashem, of his
role as the chaplain for the US Army who liberated Buchenwald, where young
Lulek Lau was liberated as a child at age 8. Then he spoke of a member of the military that he met 68 years after the war, who apologized to him saying, "We were too late!" And Rabbi Lau asked of President
Obama not to be too late in standing up for what is right for the safety and
well being of the Jewish people in Israel
and around the world.
The
Pasuk towards the end of Va'eschanan says - דברים
פרק ו - יח) וְעָשִׂיתָ הַיָּשָׁר וְהַטּוֹב בְּעֵינֵי יְקֹוָק לְמַעַן יִיטַב
לָךְ וּבָאתָ וְיָרַשְׁתָּ אֶת הָאָרֶץ הַטֹּבָה אֲשֶׁר נִשְׁבַּע יְקֹוָק
לַאֲבֹתֶיךָ: The formula is
quite simple. Do what God wants – what is ישר וטוב in His eyes, and good things will
happen.
As we
learn from Paroh, who was perhaps a messenger of God who chose to take things
to the extreme he did, it is the oppressor that is to blame for turning the
oppressed into the victims. Blaming Jews for the Holocaust is disgraceful. We
blame Nazis and indifferent passive anti-Semites.
However,
what we can do is look at the precedent of Tanakh and see that there are many
warnings of what will happen to the Jewish people if they choose not to do what
God wants. Read the Tokhachas of Bechukosai and Ki Savo, and some things become
abundantly clear – as they have been played out for the Jewish people
generation after generation – like a script followed expertly by its
performers, villains and heroes, persecutors and victims.
Are
there guarantees that good will always be the result or that bad will never be
the result? No. We do not know the ways of God. But certainly a reasonable
formula for good tidings and outcomes, as per the Torah's description, is doing
what God wants.
This
morning we read of the dedication of the Mishkan on the Yom HaShmini – when all
the parts of the animals to be burned were placed on the Mizbeach, all was set,
leaving God to bring the anticipated fireworks. And did He deliver! when a fire
descended from the heavens and consumed all items fated for burning.
Everyone
present knew this was a heavenly fire. The Midrash Agada says when the people
saw the fire consuming the Korban parts, נפלו על
פניהם ואמרו שירה, על אותה השעה הוא אומר רננו צדיקים בה' לישרים נאוה תהלה (תהלים
לג א'. They knew they
were in the presence of God, that nothing could go wrong, because they were
doing everything right.
The
fire that consumed Nadav and Avihu, on the other hand, was clearly a punishing
fire. And why? With the exception of the very minority opinion that says the
deaths of Nadav and Avihu were preordained and were necessary for the
sanctification of the Mishkan, most everyone tries to nail the coffin, so to
speak, on where they went wrong.
[There
are many opinions: they were מורה הלכה בפני רבן, they were jealous of kavod given to
Moshe and Aharon, they acted on their own without consulting with anyone,
They drank wine before they did their avodah, they weren’t wearing the proper
bigdei kehunah, they didn’t perform רחיצת ידים
ורגלים, They didn’t have
children, they were not married (may have even tried to woo Agunos, alternatively they caused women to be Agunos, all thinking they might marry the two most eligible bachelors), they were
supposed to bring their ketores on the inside mizbeach and they brought it on
firepans instead, their deaths were punishment to their father for his role in
Chet HaEgel, they may have been acting as non-kohanim, as private citizens,
using their kohen-status for access, but not because this was considered a
proper avodah, they didn't trust in the possibility of a heavenly fire, as did
their father before them (thank you to Rabbi Josh Flug for making me aware of some of these)]
Even
the Torah says they brought an אש זרה, a strange fire, that God had not
commanded. That God chose to make that or any of the suggested reasons a death
sentence is His business, but it is a reflection of the fact that they were not
doing what God wanted.
We can
not give answers for the Holocaust. But in these days post the Holiday of
Redemption we can ask why the Redemption has not come? Perhaps part of the
answer was and continues to be – עד ביאת גואל צדק – that as a united Jewish People,
there are too many imperfections in our fulfillment of God's will.
What
God wants is laid out clearly in the middle of Devarim Chapter 10, and Micha
chapter 6 verse 8 – it's the last pasuk in the Haftorah of Parshas Balak. Look
them up and know those pesukim well. "God asks of you only that you remain
in awe of God your Lord, so that you will follow all His paths and love Him,
serving God your Lord with all your heart and with all your soul keeping
his commandments and decrees that I am de\scribing to you today." "He
has told you, O man, what is good, and what the Lord demands of you; but to do
justice, to love loving-kindness, and to walk discreetly/humbly with your
God."
These
verse mostly address the responsibilities we have between Man and God. And
between Man and Man, which is a reflection of what it means to be a Godly
person, we have many of the rules which are spelled out in Parshat Kedoshim,
which we will read in a few weeks.
And we
need to contrast all these with what God surely does not want:
Neglect
of the Torah and mitzvos on the one hand, and neglect of fellow Man on the other.
Sinas Chinam continues to plague our people.
I read
an article on ynet written by a Masorti rabbi – Israeli Conservative – who wasdescribing a more liberal-leaning Orthodox rabbi of the Tzohar group incomplimentary terms, and he even made some valid points about how Halakha views
people, that I struggle with – while he was really bashing Orthodoxy and its adherence
to more traditional, rather then liberal, interpretation of Halakha.
On the
other side, I read an editorial in a right-wing Orthodox magazine, in which the
author spoke of the battle between Orthodoxy and non-Orthodoxy, which he
believes will be won by the Orthodox.
Are
these what God wants? Bashing, name calling, a battle?
In the
aftermath of the latest election in Israel, there is an uproar over the draft
of the Chareidim. Some of the arguments I have read against the draft – from
the Chareidi side – would be funny if they didn't mean them seriously.
From
the UK edition of Hamodia [as quoted here]: "Our Hashkofoh obligates us to
demand state support for Torah and chessed mosdos, not out of
concern that they won't be able to continue to provide vital services to the
weaker sectors, but to provide a merit for the government, which is so in need
of Heavenly mercy. Even if the government doesn't appreciate and understand the
workings of midoh keneged midoh, its support for such institutions
will serve its interests."
One
wonders if the writer has taken any notice of the reality of our world.
The
theological arguments promoting a learning only culture and a
government-entitlement culture, in which men do not work or participate in
society are anti-thetical to the Torah.
ששת ימים תעבד!
Work! Teach your child a trade! And find time to learn when you've fulfilled
your work obligations.
Every
Bible hero and every Talmudic master had a trade. Some were wealthy some were
dirt poor. But they worked.
And
when push literally came to shove, the Biblical heroes bore arms and fought –
for themselves, their families and their nation. Was Avraham a military man?
Was Yaakov – the Ish Tam Yoshev Ohalim? Was Moshe a fighter? Was Shmuel Hanavi a
warrior? No! But they fought when they needed to!
Who
were Yehoshua, Otniel ben Knaz, Ehud ben Geirah, Gideon, Yiftach, Shimshon,
Shaul, David? Great leaders and warriors, famous for their military
accomplishments!
I read another article
entitled " Israeli Rabbi Causes Uproar
By Post On Facebook Saying He Shaves During Sefira". The
article explains that he is a mohel – according to halakha a mohel can get a
haircut and shave for a bris during sefirah. But that's beside the point! An
UPROAR? Over a Facebook post about a minhag? The mourning of the sefirah period
is meant to be a reminder of why Rabbi Akiva's students
died – because lo nahagu kavod zeh lazeh. Perhaps Rabbi Akiva was forced to
realize that V'ahavta L'reiakha Kamokha is such an important principle of the
Torah as a lesson learned from the way his students respected, or didn't
respect, one another, and the fact that they died because of their behavior.
The mourning feeling reminds us of this. And people getting in a tizzy over one
person's interpretation of a minhag misses the point entirely. Mind your own
business and mourn over what could have been had Rabbi Akiva's students
survived and taught Torah to the world.
Let us reject religious extremism – in the pro religion or in the anti-religion
(those whose "religion" it is to mock religion) side. People need to
be educated and need to make educated choices. Some choose to make halakha
important in their lives. Some choose not to. And some don't know anything
about it. And some, to quote Groucho Marx in Horse Feathers, say "whatever
it is, I'm against it."
A halakhic life is not yet in the cards for
everyone. But respecting those who choose it, or who choose not to have it, must
be in the cards for everyone.
The first section of our parsha demonstrated the way to do God's will, in which
people fell on their faces in praise of God. The second section, Nadav and
Avihu's tale, and its aftermath, demonstrates an admittedly extreme measure of
what can happen when people go against what God has said. Certainly the
Holocaust was an extreme measure. And 2000 years of exile is also an extreme
measure. But the ways of God are often hidden from us.
We must strive, as much and as best as we are able, to do what God wants. It is
our job to be tolerant of others, to share our knowledge when possible, and to
be good examples. But we can not let extremism take over who we are! Of course
people must stand for something! But if what they stand for is harmful to a
society, or makes life unbearable for others who live in that society – either
because they make demands or don't contribute to any cause from which they
benefit – this is wrong.
No
ethical religion mandates such a policy, and it should be shunned and rejected.
Living in a society means contributing to it, noticeably, tangibly, and in a
manner that indicates clearly that I believe in this, because this is where my
life is. It means being tolerant of others, letting people live their lives,
and being a model citizen. Respecting the law of the land – advocating for
change through the proper channels when necessary – but abiding by the law
while it is the law. [Footnote – see Women of the Wall. - who are welcome to pray at the Wall, but are just asked to follow the law]
The Law
in Israel, for example, respects Shabbos on Holocaust, Memorial and
Independence Days.
For a
Jew being the model Jew ideally means following those texts in Devarim and
Micha to round out one's religious experience vis a vis God. And with regard to
one's fellow man it means respecting the other person, showing compassion,
empathy, being a good listener and doing God's work - looking out for others
honestly, with dignity, doing our part to help bring about the Final
Redemption.
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