The Bottles Stand As Empty Now, As They Were Filled Before (Robert Hunter & Jerry Garcia - "Ship of Fools"

A Canadian acquaintance of mine used to be a huge fan of President Trump. He had a “Make America Great” hat and everything.  When I asked why he was such a fan, his answer was similar to approximately 40% of Americans, “because he says what’s on everyone’s mind but no one has the nerve to say.”  We met for coffee this week and I asked him if he thought the Canadian Prime Minister “had a special place in hell” because he called the President out on the ridiculous misrepresentations of tariffs and trade with the United States. I asked him if he was still a fan of the U.S. President who recently threatened the Prime Minister and Canada by saying that if the Prime Minister continues doing what he is doing the Canadian people will suffer. I asked my friend if he thought that the North Korean leader was a smart, great guy, whom the President is looking forward to having to the White House. He sheepishly smiled and explained that he honestly did not think that it was possible for a President to screw up the U.S / Canadian relationship. I reminded him that the relationship is stronger than a Donald Trump “tweet” or two. However, it is troubling to think of all the serious issues that need to be dealt with, and this President  creates a problem, spreads emptiness, antipathy and mistrust because he can, because it provides a sense of empowerment.

This week we read from Parsha Korach.  Korach was a relative of Moshe's. They both came from the tribe of Levi. Korach questioned Moshe's authority eventually leading a rebellion. Korach did question Moshe’s authority in a private meeting between individuals. Rather, Korach gathered 250 supporters, and then publicly challenged Moshe. Moshe tried to keep peace within the community, but to no avail. A divine test is administered, and Korach and his supporters fail. The earth swallows them up. However God is angry and a plague falls upon the people. They are communally punished for Korach's actions, their passive support, and their failure to bond together against Korach. Yet the people are still not convinced that Moshe and Aharon should remain in charge, only that Korach was unworthy. So a second divine test is administered this time with 12 rods stuck in the ground and almond branches resulting in Aaron’s staff, thus symbolizing that God has chosen Aharon to be the Kohen Gadol.  The Parsha concludes with God speaking to Aharon, and re-iterating his obligations in terms of the Mishkan, the Altar, and the Tent of the Meeting.

The Torah portion begins in rather innocuously, much like many rebellions. VaYikach Korach ben Yitzhar Ben Kahat ben Levi v’ Datan V’Aviram B’nai Eliav V’On ben Pelet Bnai Reuven – Korach son of Itzhar son of Kohath son of Levi took Datan and Aviram.  Korach “took” these men? Where did he “take” them? Rashi, the 11^th- century French commentator, offers an explanation based upon the Midrash Tanchuma (a fifth century compilation of rabbinic commentary). Rashi points out that VaYiKach he took - suggests that there should be a direct object. Since there is no direct object, Lakach Et Atzmo LTzad Echod – he [Korach] took himself off to one side or separated himself from the rest of the Leviim. By definition, a rebellion is a means of separating oneself from authority or accepted norms. The name Korach coming from the three lettered root of Kuf (K) – Resh (R) and Chet (Ch) means to make something empty or bald. KoRaCh’s rebellion against Moshe was not an attempt to create a better more efficient form of governance. Instead, KoRaCh’s rebellion was an attempt to elevate his own stature. He gathers leaders from other tribe, tribes that were geographically near him that heard his complaints. He didn’t have the support of other Leviim.  Korach was the first great “disruptor”, challenging Moshe’s authority and the institutions that he helped to establish in order to keep B’nai Yisroel safe from all those threatening societies.  

As my friend and I finished up our coffee; I told him to read the Tuesday June 12^th NY Times column by David Brooks, a politically conservative observant Jew.  Just last week, we commemorated D-Day, and the generation that created the post war institutions that saved the world and saved democracy. Over the past year, Brooks explains, we have watched the President, as well as leaders from Russia, Turkey, Poland and all the nationalist movements weaken these Post-War institutions that has kept much of the world safe, lawful and democratic.  Brooks points out that these highly nationalistic despotic oriented leaders are very different than those that saved the world from Hitler’s Germany. They are intent on fanning mistrust, spreading an emptiness of their world view in which there is no greater good than one’s own self- aggrandizement. Who knew that they were all taking a page from Korach?

Peace,

Rav Yitz

 

Saw Your First Ship Sink And Drown From Rocking Of The Boat (Robert Hunter & Jerry Garcia - "Ship of Fools")

It’s been approximately six weeks since Hurricane Maria devastated Puerto Rico. As of now, only 15% of the island has power. There is still a shortage of drinking water. Recently the President has stated that it was not his job to use the military to transport and distribute food, nor was it his job to make sure that power returns to the island. Simultaneously, tensions continue to rise with North Korea, I can’t help but think of the late President, Harry S. Truman, who was President when the Korean War was fought and the 38^th Parallel became part of the Western lexicon. President Truman used to keep a paper weight on his desk with the saying “The Buck Stops Here”. In a sense it became indicative of President Truman’s view of leadership. The leader is ultimately responsible and therefore must assume that responsibility.

This week we read Parshat Noach. Noach’s should be familiar to all of us. God sends a flood as a means of dealing with the growing disappointment in mankind abysmal behavior. However one man, Noach, is deemed Ish Tzadik B’dorotav – a righteous man in his generation and God makes a covenant with him and his family.  As a result, Noach, his family, and the male and female of every species will be saved in order to re-create after the flood. God instructs Noach to build a Tevah, an Ark. Noach, his family, and each species of animal is saved. In a sense, a second creation ensues, and Noach and is family begin the narrative of re-creation. Generations pass, and eventually mankind becomes corrupt. This time, the corruption is the result of the mankind’s passivity by permitting, a certain kind of person to become the leader and never questioning or opposing his desire to build a Tower. A Tower is built, God views it as a violation of boundaries and rather than destroying the world, multiple languages come into being and people are unable to communicate. As a result, the leadership which lacked respect for boundaries scatters across the earth. The Parsha concludes ten generations later with the birth of Avraham Avinu, Abraham the Patriarch.

The narrative appears quite straightforward and simple. God is unhappy with the way people behave. He identifies Noach as a worthy partner and instructs him to build the Ark.  However one should keep in mind that Ark wasn’t built in a few days or weeks. According to the Midrash, the ark was built over the course of many decades. Even worse the flood didn’t come right away, that too, was decades in the making. According to the Midrash Tanchuma, it took Noach 120 years to build the Ark. Also, the Ark was built atop a mountain in order to give Noach the greatest amount of time to complete the project. This meant hauling all the materials up a mountain. Imagine spending roughly 1/8^th of your life preparing for the future. Imagine spending roughly 1/8^th of your life engaged in a single endeavor. Imagine putting off gratification for 1/8^th of your life and then knowing your sense of accomplishment is predicated on the destruction of so much. Imagine spending 1/8^th of your life hauling Gopher wood up a mountain. Every day Noach spent his time engaged in one activity, building the first aircraft carrier. Eventually the project would become the purpose of living. During this time, Noach’s life was not so easy. In fact, from a practical perspective, Noach’s life seems quite depressing. According to Midrash Tanchuma, Noach faced ridicule from others and he was threatened with death. Yet despite it all, he continued building even though the gratification from the project would not occur for many years. Even with the first raindrops and the first opportunity to enjoy the fruit of his life’s’ work and enter the Ark; he didn’t. Rather, he delayed his sense of accomplishment and gratification. Noach waited until the last possible second when there was no hope of saving anymore of God’s creation, and then he finally entered the Ark.

Being the leader can be a rather lonely job. Whether it’s the leader of a family, a tribe or a community it can be lonely. By no means was Noach a perfect leader. In fact one of the criticisms was that he really didn’t lead, instead his concern was limited to himself, his family and the animals that entered the Ark. That being said, Noach offers a valuable lesson in leadership.  Leaders cannot be concerned with immediate gratification. Rather, a leader takes the long view of history and destiny. A leader has the strength of his belief and convictions which allows him to worry about the long term and not be concerned with the short term. When undo attention is given to the short term, it seems that more people suffer as is the case in Puerto Rico. Hopefully those in a position to make a difference will remember President Truman’s paper weight that sat atop his desk: “The Buck Stops Here”.

Peace,

Rav Yitz

You Thought You Was The Cool Fool And Never Would Do No Wrong (Robert Hunter & Jerry Garcia - "Sugaree"

While our family was celebrating Sukkot and Shabbat, we haven’t seen much news. We heard about the mass shootings in Las Vegas and our prayers go out to the victims and their families. Sadly mass shootings have become so common that we understand that there is evil in this world that I can’t stomach to write about it again.  There was another bit of news that occurred during the Sukkot holiday. What made it newsworthy is that in the history of politics, I cannot remember the last time a sitting senator offered such a negative assessment of a President from his own political party. Yet, Robert Corker is a Republican Senator for the Tennessee. He has recently announced that he will NOT seek re-election to the Senate. Since Senator Corker has no more races to run, and no more politics to worry about, he can afford to be brutally honest about everything. This past week he gave an interview in which he shared his feelings about President Trump. The comments were stunning in their assessment of a man who has “may be setting the U.S. on a path to WWIII.” Corker made this comment because, as chairman of the Committee on Foreign Relations, he has been closely monitoring the President’s handling of North Korea and the Iran Nuclear Agreement. More than any other Senator, Corker understands the importance of brutal honesty, truth to power,  the vital importance of Knowledge, and speaking to those people that possess knowledge. In Senator Corker’s assessment of the Republican President, he believes that this president has a very minimal understanding of or no understanding of the world and the United States role in the world. Corker goes so far as to say that General Kelly, General Mattis, and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson are the only three people preventing the President’s ignorance and incompetence from causing tragedy. Indeed, ignorance is a dangerous thing. A person who is proud of ignorance, who basks in the waters of ignorance and brags about his lack of knowledge and understanding could be considered criminal. Ironically, for a person who clearly is attracted to power and powerful people, it seems that the President forgot the age old adage: “Knowledge is Power”.

In B’reishit, we read the story of Creation, Adam and Chava’s banishment from Paradise (Gan Eden), and the fratricide of Cain and Abel. We begin however with God. God is the Creator, the ultimate power. If knowledge is power, then God is the ultimate source of knowledge. We accept this as part of our Jewish theology. God is all-knowing and all powerful. We read the words: V’Yivrah Elohim et Ha’Adam b’Tzalmo, b’tzelem Elohim barah oto Zachar u’Nekeivah Barah Otam. “And God created man in His own image. In the image of God, He created him; male and female He created them. (1:27). The question therefore is: What is the image of God? Obviously part of that image is the power to create, the power to create life. We surmise this because in the next verse, God commands Adam and Chava to be fruitful and multiply, to create life just like God had created. The other image of God is Power. God’s purpose in creating humanity was in order that they “should have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the fowl of the air and over the cattle, and over all the earth…” (1:26). In today’s vernacular “dominion” is Power. However the ability to create, and the ability to exercise power sagaciously, and judiciously, necessitates the attainment of knowledge. Perhaps that is our greatest gift. We have the ability to learn, to reason, to discern between right and wrong. To do so expresses our faith in God, re-affirms that, indeed, we are created in God’s image, and we possess an aspect of Holiness.

            In the Babylonian Talmudic tractate entitled Chagigah (14b), there is an Aggadah, a legend that illustrates the notion that attaining knowledge is a holy endeavor. Four of the leading sages of their generation entered PaRDes (Paradise). They were Ben Assai, Ben Zoma, Elisha ben  Abuyah, and Rabbi Akiva. When they entered PaRDeS and came into contact with the pure power pure knowledge and complete perfection that is God, one sage died immediately. One sage went insane. Elisha ben Abuyah became a heretic, and became known as Acher (the other). Only Rabbi Akiva emerged unscathed. The commentators of this Aggadah explain that PaRDeS is an acronym for four methods of Torah inquiry: P’shat, (simple literal understanding) Remez (deriving meaning from implicit hints and deep meaning), D’rash (explanation through application), and Sod (hidden meaning). Imagine that? Our tradition explains that Paradise, is achieved through Torah study. In a sense our sages are absolutely correct. 

We recognize that have within us both the Yetzer Hara, the Bad Inclination and the Yetzer HaTov, the Good Inclination. The attainment of knowledge and Truth is a Godly endeavor. The use of such knowledge judiciously and wisely for creative purposes represents the notion that we are indeed created in God’s image is a manifestation of the Yetzer HaTov. We know that a little bit of knowledge and partial truths can be used for destructive purposes and traditionally that has been a manifestation of the Yetzer HaRah, the Evil Inclination. However Senator Corker’s assessment of the President, his White House, and the pride that he takes in his ignorance and lack of intellectual curiosity reveals a different type of Yetzer HaRah with no less dangerous and potentially deadly results. Hopefully, those three men whom Corker pointed out as informed and knowledgeable: General Kelly, General Mattis, and Secretary Tillerson will continue to have the ear of the president and guide him accordingly.

Peace,

Rav Yitz