You Know All The Rules By Now (Robert Hunter & Jerry Garcia - "Uncle John's Band")

          I admit it. I am a news junkie. I deeply believe that we should know what is going on in the world, not just our neighborhood, not just Israel, but the world.  It just so happens one of the more ironic news stories that I made my children watch had to do with the UN and the investigation of war crimes that it wants to conduct against Israel and its execution of it war in Gaza. After the story ran, our children were incredulous. They wondered what “war crimes” were. They asked if there was going to be an investigation of war crimes against Hamas. I added not only would Israel be investigated, but Israel will do everything it can to cooperate with this investigation. Our children wondered if Hamas was to be investigated for war crimes, would it be as cooperative?  My short answer is no, Hamas would never be cooperative in investigating itself.  However in terms of Israel, as painful as it may be, Israel’s ability to investigate itself actually reflects the strength of Israel and democracy in another wise totalitarian part of the world.  I reminded our children that Israel is very similar to the United States, and Canada. Justice and Law are the bedrock foundations upon which Israel is built. No individual and no institution is above the law but all members of Israeli society are responsible to maintain the integrity of the law. Unfortunately, no one has the ability within the Arab world, no one has the legal framework or the foundation to hold the leadership of Hamas responsible for civilian deaths both in Gaza or Israel. There will never be an investigation, there will never be a self-reflective process that examines corruption or decision among the leadership of Hamas since laws don’t apply to Hamas leadership.

                This week, we read from Parsha Shoftim. Moshe has completed his lecture on the values of monotheism and covenant. Now he begins telling B'nai Yisroel all the nitty gritty details of living a Jewish life within this community. What a downer! B’nai Yisroel is inspired and ready to enter into Eretz Canaan and begin living the life in the land that God had promised their ancestors. They are now ready to begin fulfilling the dream that allowed them to survive centuries of slavery. So what does Moshe Rabeinu do? He brings them crashing back to reality. Now they will listen and understand laws concerning war, punishments for idolatry, choosing a king, jurisprudence, priestly entitlements and unsolved murders. Moshe gives B’nai Yisroel a healthy dose of reality by supplying all the details required to uphold the Covenant.

            Implicit in Moshe’s lecture, implicit in a society, any society for that matter, is the role of justice. Justice provides a check and balance to corruption. However the concept itself let alone the reality of it can also become corrupt and perverse. Hence it is not enough for Moshe to tell us Shoftim v’Shotrim Titen Lecha  Sh’Arecha Asher Adoshem Elokecha Notein Lecha Lishvatecha  V’Shaftu et Ha’Am Mishpat Tzedek – Judges and officers shall you appoint in all your cities- which Hashem, Your God, gives you -  for your tribes; and they shall judge the people with righteous judgment. Moshe must explain what “righteous judgment” means, its foundation for a civilized society, its difficulty to maintain, and the brutal honesty required. Lo Tateh Mishpat – You shall not pervert judgment, Lo Takir Panim – you shall not recognize a person’s presence, V’Lo Tikach Shochad Ki HaShochad Ye’Averi Einei Chachamim Visaleif Divrei Tzadikkim – and you shall not accept a bribe, for the bribe will blind the eyes of the wise and make just words crooked (Deut 16:18-19).

            Justice, as we have learned, is supposed to be blind. Whether poor or wealthy, whether blue collar crime or white collar crime, justice is supposed be oblivious to our tendency to automatically side with the downtrodden or the wealthy and privileged person. Why? Because corruption is blind as well. The poor can be corrupt and so can the wealthy. Corruption knows no barriers to color, religion, gender or nationality. The only barrier to corruption is our own individual constitution and desire to Tzedek Tzedek Tirdof – Righteousness Righteousness shall you follow (Deut. 16:20). For Bnai Yisroel and for the Jewish people, our sense of Justice comes from Torah, these laws and the fact that justice must remain utterly pure without a blemish. Later on in the Parsha we are taught that a king, the one person who must wield justice, must write two Sifrei Torah. One he carries one he keep pristine and locked away only to be used to check against the “everyday Torah”.

            So with tremendous irony, Israel will be investigated for war crimes, and a known terrorist organization will not be investigated for war crimes. As our children contemplated this awful irony, they then asked what was wrong with the United Nations that are not investigating Hamas. I let them think for a moment to see if they would come up with their own answer.  A light went on and they understood, there are more countries in the UN that are not governed by the democratic ideals of justice than those that are governed by the democratic ideals of justice.  Hopefully, those nations that are governed by the democratic ideals of justice will prevail.

Peace,

Rav Yitz

By and By, Again, The Morning Sun Will Rise, But The Darkness Never Goes From Some Men's Eyes (John Barlow & Bob Weir - "Throwin' Stones")

          As this past week unfolded, I couldn’t help but be aware of the confluence of events and commemorations.  First has been the ongoing tension between Putin’s Russia and the West (Europe and the United States and Canada) amid the backdrop of commemorating the 100^th anniversary of the start of WWI. Simultaneously, Israel and Hamas were fighting a war in Gaza. As Israel destroyed the last tunnel and pulled its forces out of Gaza and back into Israel, Jews throughout the world couldn’t help but be aware of these events amid the backdrop of Tisha B’ Av, the national day of mourning for the commemoration of the destruction of the First and Second Temples. In its desire to keep things nice, neat, and morally relative, the ill- informed chastised and berated Israel and soon berated the Jewish people. Of course most of these people forget that Hamas was happily celebrating when the twin Towers fell on 9/11.  Over this past week, I have explained to my son, why the world struggles with mixed feeling for the Jewish People and Israel. During my explanation I was reminded of a famous quote about the Jewish People: “If the statistics are right, the Jews constitute but one percent of the human race. It suggests a nebulous dim puff of stardust lost in the blaze of the Milky Way. Properly, the Jew ought hardly to be heard of, but he is heard of, has always been heard of. He is as prominent on the planet as any other people, and his commercial importance is extravagantly out of proportion to the smallness of his bulk. His contributions to the world’s list of great names in literature, science, art, music, finance, medicine, and abstruse learning are also way out of proportion to the weakness of his numbers. He has made a marvelous fight in this world, in all the ages; and has done it with his hands tied behind him. He could be vain of himself, and be excused for it. The Egyptian, the Babylonian, and the Persian rose, filled the planet with the sound and splendor, then faded to dream stuff and passed away. The Greek and the Roman followed, and made a vast noise, and they are gone. Other peoples have sprung up and held their torch high for a time, but it burned out, and they sit in twilight now, or have vanished. The Jew saw them all, beat them all, and is now what he always was, exhibiting no decadence, no infirmities of age, no weakening of his parts, no slowing of his energies, and no dulling of his alert and aggressive mind. All things are mortal but the Jew; all other forces pass but he remains. What is the secret of his immortality? (Mark Twain, “Concerning the Jews” Harper’s Magazine, 1898).

This week’s Parsha is V’Etchanan. The Parshah begins with Moshe's recounting his experience of pleading to God to allow him into the Land. Moshe explained to this new generation that because of the previous generation's whining and complaining, he lost patience and failed to adhere to God's command. Moshe explain that this is why he cannot cross into the land as well as Joshua becoming the leader. Moshe then recounts his experience and his generation's experience of revelation at Sinai. However instead of just stating the facts, Moshe adds his own editorial comments. "For the Lord your God is a merciful, He will not abandon you or destroy you, He will not forget the covenant of your forefathers that he swore to them" (Deut. 4:31). Moshe is offering hope, suggesting that no matter what happens to this people, they must always know and believe that we always have the capacity for T'shuvah for return or repentance to God, and that we will always be accepted. Moshe then begins recounting the giving of the Aseret HaDibrot, The Ten Commandments. Moshe again reminds B’nai Yisroel to never participate in Avodah Zarah (idolatry), and avoid it at all costs. He implores us to pass this information, and to teach these traditions and these laws to the next generation.

Throughout this Parsha, the secrets to our survival are revealed in large broad statements as well as the use of certain words. One secret to our survival is the “Aseret Dibrot” -The Ten Commandments (Deut. 5:6-19). Another secret to our survival is perhaps the one theologically dogmatic statement in Torah: Shmah Yisroel Adoshem Elokeinu, Adoshem Echad – Hear O Yisroel O Lord Our God, the Lord is One. (Deut. 6:4). Certainly the “Shmah” contributes to the secret of our survival. Moshe’s re-iteration of God’s nature also contributes to the secret of our success.  Ki Eil Kanah Adoshem Elokecha B’kirbecha Pen Yechreh Af Adoshem Elokecha   Bach Y’Hismidcha Mei’Al Pnei Ha’Adamah- For a jealous God is the Lord your God, among you lest the wrath of the Lord your God will flare against you and He destroy you from upon the face of the earth…(Deut. 6:15-19). Certainly these powerful explicit statements of theology, universal moral guidelines, and our fear of retribution contribute to the secret of our survival.

The essence of our survival is our sense of purpose and our sense of existence. Our purpose is to live according to these laws. “You shall be careful to act as the Lord your God commanded you, you shall not stray to the right or left. B’chol Ha’derech Asher Tzivah Adoshem Elokeichem Etchem Teileichu L’ma’an Tishyun V’Tov Lachem v’haractem Yamim – On the entire way that the Lord your God, commanded you shall you go, so that you shall live and it will be good for you, and you shall prolong your days…(Deut.6:29-30).  We live according to Torah so that our lives will go well, so that our lives will have more meaning, so that the quality of our lives determines length. We learn that living a long life is not about length it is about quality. Our sense of purpose is to achieve this quality. Besides “purpose” we must have a sense of our existence. Our sense of existence is our acceptance of our place. There were generations that came before us and, G-d willing, generations will follow us. Ki Yishalcha Vincha Machar Leimor Mah Ha’eidot vHa’chukim v’Hamishpatim Asher Tzivah Adoshem Elokeinu Etchem – If your child asks you tomorrow saying; What are the testimonies and the decrees and the ordinances that the Lord your G-d commanded you V’Amarta L’Vincha Avadim Ha’yinu l’Faroh B’Mitzrayim – You shall say to your child, “We were slaves to Pharaoh in Egypt…(Deut. 6:20-21). Our sense of purpose is of that of transmitter between the older generation and the younger generation, between the past and the future.  Survival is dependent upon the ability to transmit this sense of purpose and sense of existence to the next generation. All of which assumes that there is hope for a better tomorrow for the next generation.

            This code of conduct and the profound need to transmit to the next generation is not only the secret to immortality of the Jewish People, it is also the secret as to the importance of Israel and the Jewish People for the rest of the world. Like the canary in the mine that is first aware of impending danger, Israel and the Jewish people are vital for the same reason. For it is Judaism and Israel that is aware of the injustices of the weak and the oppressed, it is Judaism and Israel that is aware of the mistreatment of “the Stranger”. It is Judaism and Israel that is designed to co-exist peacefully with the other. Rather than infusing the younger generation  with hopelessness in tomorrow in order to justify a culture of  death and martyrdom,  Judaism and Israel strive to pass down the opportunity for a better tomorrow by teaching its young people that a “purpose” driven life assumes a purposeful tomorrow. What is that purpose?  Ask Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, and any Arab country that is not yet a failed state. They now understand what Mark Twain spoke about. Israel and the Jewish people will survival in order to remain a beacon of light against the darkness of hatred, death, and rise of this Islamic fanaticism.

Peace,

Rav Yitz

Your Tongue Is Twisted With Words Half Spoken ( Robert Hunter & Phil Lesh - "Box of Rain")

Like most of the world, I have been watching the news and paying particularly close attention to the current conflict going on in Gaza between Israel and Hamas. Yes, the loss of civilian life has been absolutely horrible. While the news has tended to focus on the loss of Palestinian civilian life in Gaza, it has not focused upon the loss of civilian life in Syria. If anyone wanted to keep track, the average loss of life in Syria has been, on a monthly basis in the thousands! There are civilians being killed in Iraq, and Libya as well.  Yet the press and the world focus upon Gaza and the civilian loss of life. I have started to wonder why the press focuses upon Gaza as opposed to all these other places where Muslim civilians are being killed. Cynically, of course, we in the west probably don’t care so much about what one Muslim sect does to another Muslim sect. After all this internecine war between Sunni and Shii’a has been going on for approximately 1200 years.  For the non- Muslim world, fighting about who is the rightful heir and authentic interpreter of Mohammed’s words is rather tedious. However words such as “occupation”, “siege”, and “blockade” are words that are certainly pithier than words associated with some esoteric theological disagreement that probably could have been resolve at some madrassa or some university with an outstanding Islam department. Words such as “blockade” “siege” and “occupation” are words that could have applied to the British immediately prior to the American Revolution. Of course when we teach our children about the American Revolution these words are vital. These words such as “blockade”, “siege” and “occupation” were words used by the confederacy during and even after the American Civil War. These words are so powerful, that for several generations after the Civil War, and even to this day, these words enable many in the South to see the North as a threatening entity. So is it any wonder that Hamas has figured out that words such as “blockade”, “siege” and “occupation” carry so much meaning in the western press and the more frequently Hamas perverts the meaning of these words, that eventually the words lose meaning and Hamas becomes more legitimate in the eyes of some in the West as well as among some of the Palestinian people.   

This week we begin the final book of the Torah, Sefer Devarim, with Parsha Devarim. Traditionally known as Mishnah Torah – or the repetition of the Torah, Parsha Devarim is the introductory Parsha to Moshe’s formal teaching of the Torah to this new generation. Moshe Rabeinu, now only a few weeks from the moment of his death, imparts his teaching and his wisdom upon B’nai Yisroel like a dying grandparent or parent would to his/her children. Moshe begins with a history lesson, recounting B’nai Yisroel’s history. Moshe begins with leaving Mt. Horev (otherwise known as Mt. Sinai). Then Moshe shares with B’nai Yisroel his version of appointing judges, the mission of the spies and, and his punishment (that he was forbidden to enter into Eretz Canaan. Moshe then leaps ahead and reminds them of the more recent history: the avoidance of war with Edom, the war with Moab, the conquest of Og, and finally the 2 ½ tribes request to remain on the eastern shore of the Jordan River.

This fifth and final book of the Torah, makes it abundantly clear that we are hearing a recounting of history from Moshe Rabeinu’s perspective. Commandment that are re-iterated are prefaced with the reminder that “God told me (Moshe), to tell you (B’nai Yisroel). Words are vital and Moshe Rabeinu understands that it is his words that will live far longer than he will. Eilah HaDvarim Asher Diber Moshe El B’nai Yisroel B’Eiver Yarden-These are the words that Moshe Spoke to all Israel, on the other side of the Jordan…(Deut. 1:1). The words that follow are not God’s but rather Moshe’s. Some of these words, especially those that immediately follow this verse are harsh words of rebuke. They are words that remind B’nai Yisroel of some of their national shortcomings. Later, these words will become more prophetic. In either case, Moshe’s wisdom can only be passed down through words. Therefore both the speaker, Moshe, and the listener, B’nai Yisroel, must be on the “same page” in terms of the meaning of the words. There can be no confusion otherwise the message will become something different than how it was originally expressed.

Indeed words have meaning. If Hamas continues to use words like “occupation” “blockade” or “siege” frequently enough when talking about Israel, and the world doesn’t question it, then it becomes a fact. However Israel left Gaza in 2005, so Israel cannot now  “Occupy” Gaza; Israel is not in Gaza! A “blockade” suggests that  the means by bringing goods and services across a border are blocked. The only “blockade” exists at the Rafa crossing which is the border between Egypt and Gaza. Goods and services do move across the Israeli and Gaza borders, those goods include, medicine, electricity, steel and concrete (the same steel and concrete that Hamas used to build its tunnels).  When Hamas complains to anyone who will listen that Israel makes it too difficult to bring other things across the border, someone might want to remind Hamas that the checking goods and services prior to crossing a border even occurs at the Canada/US border; a border between two friendly countries! A “siege” suggest that a particular group is surrounded and will ultimately be captured, assumes that Egypt or Israel wants to capture Gaza. When in fact “siege” also means “a prolonged illness that besets an individual or a group.” Yes the Palestinian people have been under siege, but it is Hamas, a terrorist organization, an illness, a virus that has affected thought and speech, and has hurt its own people and continues to do so. Yes language matters. Language can be become perverted, twisted to such a point that it loses its meaning. Ultimately, when language becomes perverted enough, it can corrupt, poison and destroy a society.

Peace,

Rav Yitz