Our
eldest daughter has been quite busy these past few months and for the next
week, until election- day she has explained that she is so busy that 18 hour
days are quickly becoming normal. She explained that she no longer works in her
office but now with days before the Presidential Election, she works in
something called “The Boiler Room”, and a “War Room”. When we speak, and she can barely afford 2 –
3 minutes of precious time, during which I ask her about the polling in Pennsylvania,
and how Philadelphia and it suburbs look. She is responsible for voter
registration and turnout for parts of Philadelphia and it suburbs. I have
started to sense that she has grown tired of her family calling, nervous and
anxious for her, and how the result will impact upon how well she is perceived to
have done her job. Has voter registration increased? Has more people voted? Was
voter turnout high? Were the precincts she was responsible for, voting
resoundingly Democratic or Republican. Amid all the chaos that is her job, amid
the chaos of her boss’s emails, she has reminded me of an August 25th
Bloomberg Market report “Citigroup claims that a “Trump victory in November
could cause a global recession,” and at the very least lots of political and
economic uncertainty with trade partners and countries with whom the U.S. has
treaties and cooperative relationships. Whenever my conversations get a little
too long and she becomes a little impatient, our daughter reminds me that she
is trying to prevent the chaos and that I really need to hang up and let her
get back to her work.
This
Shabbat we read from Parshat Noach. Comprised of two distinct narratives; both
deal with the theology of chaos and confused boundaries. First we read the story
of Noach, God’s disenchantment with
creation and mankind’s behavior, the instruction to build the Teva (the Ark), the Flood as punishment
for mankind’s unethical behavior, the covenant made between God and Noach and
the resulting offering to God, and then an odd story about Noach’s drunkenness
and one’s sons inappropriate behavior. The second distinct narrative is also
about chaos and confused boundaries. This time mankind confuses boundaries and
trying to build a tower up to the heavens. The result is that God scatters
mankind across the earth by making mankind speak numerous languages and making
communication difficult.
While both narratives can
conceivably stand alone; both narratives are related. As manifested in the
previous Parsha, God is a god of creation and order. Therefore, in order for
God to destroy, order must be removed or chaos must become firmly
entrenched. Meivi et HaMabul Mayim AL HaAretz L’Shacheit Kol Basar Asher Bo Ruach
Chayim Mitachat HaShamayim Kol Asher Ba’Aretz Yigvah – I will bring the flood of waters upon the earth to destroy all flesh, in which is the breath
of life from under heaven, and everything that is on earth shall die. Clearly
from the text there must be other kinds of floods besides water, otherwise we
do not need to be told that this particular flood is one that involves water.
The message is that God will punish creation by instituting chaos for a period
of time. Later in Chapter 11 as mankind begins building a tower up to heaven
God becomes disappointed again. Vayomer
Adoshem Hain Am Echad V’Safah Achat
L’Chulam V’zeh Hachilam La’Asot V’aAtah Lo Yibatzeir Mei’hem Kol Asher Yazmu
La’Asot – Behold the people is one,
and they have all one language; and this they begin to do; and now nothing will
be withheld from them which they have schemed to do. Hava Neirdah V’Navlah Sham Sfatam Sher lo Yishmu Ish Sfat Rei’eihu
– Come let us go down and there confound
their language, that they may not understand on another’s speech. Instead
of the flood of water, God created the flood of language and confusion the
flood of a cacophony.
The
flood of chaos and the struggle to handle chaos is part of our human condition.
The first narrative, the Noach narrative, teaches that chaos is now part of
creation and in a sense a type of punishment. The second narrative, the Tower
of Bavel, teaches us that chaos is part of the everyday human life. It is part
of our task as human beings as we struggle to elevate ourselves from the animal
aspect of our existence to the spiritual aspect of our existence that we create
order from chaos. To do so is a Godly endeavor. To do so allows us to transcend
the physical world. Who would have thought that a presidential election, no
matter how un-likeable each candidate might be, could be distilled into chaos
and order? I just hope that no matter what happens, our daughter can continue
to maintain order in world amid the chaos that she will be experiencing over
the next several days.
Peace,
Rav
Yitz
No comments:
Post a Comment