Monday, April 8, 2013

On Holocaust Remembrance Day

This was my sermon this past Shabbos. Some thoughts on the Holocaust, its aftermath, and on our responsibilities as the Jewish people to avoid religious extremism...


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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