Quail

This week we talk about the Manna. But many forget that along with the Manna came meat in the form of Quails.

שמות פרק טז
(יא) וַיְדַבֵּר יְדֹוָד אֶל מֹשֶׁה לֵּאמֹר: (יב) שָׁמַעְתִּי אֶת תְּלוּנֹּת בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל דַּבֵּר אֲלֵהֶם לֵאמֹר בֵּין הָעַרְבַּיִם תֹּאכְלוּ בָשָׂר וּבַבֹּקֶר תִּשְׂבְּעוּ לָחֶם וִידַעְתֶּם כִּי אֲנִי יְדֹוָד אֱלֹהֵיכֶם: (יג) וַיְהִי בָעֶרֶב וַתַּעַל הַשְּׂלָו וַתְּכַס אֶת הַמַּחֲנֶה וּבַבֹּקֶר הָיְתָה שִׁכְבַת הַטַּל סָבִיב לַמַּחֲנֶה: (יד) וַתַּעַל שִׁכְבַת הַטָּל וְהִנֵּה עַל פְּנֵי הַמִּדְבָּר דַּק מְחֻסְפָּס דַּק כַּכְּפֹר עַל הָאָרֶץ: (טו) וַיִּרְאוּ בְנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל וַיֹּאמְרוּ אִישׁ אֶל אָחִיו מָן הוּא כִּי לֹא יָדְעוּ מַה הוּא וַיֹּאמֶר מֹשֶׁה אֲלֵהֶם הוּא הַלֶּחֶם אֲשֶׁר נָתַן יְדֹוָד לָכֶם

Did the Bnei Yisrael have Quails throughout their stay in the Midbar?

How long did they last?

In Bamidbar ch.11, the people once again request meat and are given ... Quails! So they must have disappeared at some stage. Why does God provide this delicacy in particular?

In his lovely book on Exodus, Nahum Sarna comments:

The quails that descended in the evening, like the manna the people found in the morning, may have a natural explanation. The narrative says little about them, and there is certainly no suggestion that they were available every day. It is well known that the quail, known to ornithologists as Coturnix coturnix, migrates in huge flocks from Europe to central Africa in the autumn and returns in the spring. A short-tailed game bird of the pheasant family, it flies rapidly
at very low altitudes. Due to the long distance involved, the migration is carried out in stages. The small quails twice each year land exhausted on the Mediterranean shore, where they can be easily captured by hand and by nets in great quantities. Their flesh and eggs are said to be delicious, and to this day they are prized food among the local population and are exported as a delicacy to Europe. 56 The season of the year in which the Israelites encountered the quails fits in precisely with the bird's migratory pattern.

As we mentioned, there are TWO Quail episodes in the Torah. This story in Exodus is dated 15th of Iyar (Shemot 16:2) in the year of the Exodus. The story on Bamidbar is also easy to date. Bamidbar 10:11 tells us that they embarked from Mt. Sinai on the 20th of Iyar. 10:33 talks about a three day journey. In other words Bamidbar ch.11 (which lasts for a month see 11:19) in which Quails settle in the camp is dated 23rd Iyar. Put simply it is PRECISELY the same season. If Sarna is correct and these are migratory birds, it all fits perfectly.

This episode is also a wonderful example of how God uses natural phenomena, with perfect timing, to create "miracles."

We can imagine then, that the Quails were in the camp for the period in which they were in Eilim (see Shemot 16:1) and when they moved on from there (17:1) there were no more quail.

There is a farm in Israel that produce Quail. Maybe we should get one for Shabbat!להתענג בתענוגים

ברבורים ושלו ודגים

When Tzniut is Immodest!

I came across this on the internet. Please, please tell me that these people are viewed as marginal, as crazy, by the Haredi community. From my perspective, men, religious men who are busy collecting women's clothes and defining with a toothcomb what is modest and what not, and holding public burnings of those clothes, are abrogating the very value of tzniut that they seek to uphold.

This obsession with modesty/tzniut frequently reaches a point when it is the height of immodesty!

Have you seen the book "Oz veHadar Levusha"? It details the precise apparel a woman may wear, including pyjamas (which are banned!) It is a very think tome, and it is written by a man. How can a Rav spend months compiling a book only thinking about women's clothing and exposed body parts? Please! it is perverted! Is that tzniut?

Rav Lichtenstein once told a great story. Once, I leading Rabbi in the OU office had a secretary who wore a short skirt. The Rabbi in question went to Rav Ahron Soloveitchik for advise. "Is it appropriate for me as a Rabbi to say something? Should she work for me?" Rav Ahron Soloveitchik replied: "You and me talking about her skirt is much more of a problem than her skirt. Let's not talk about it!"

Tu Bishvat - Planting for the Future

Planting for the Future

This Shabbat is Tu Bishvat. I wanted to spend a little time thinking about Trees and their significance. It is true that in the Mishna (Rosh Hashanna 1:1) Tu Bishvat is little more than a technical date in order to distinguish the tithes of a certain year from the next. And yet, under the influence, first of Kabbala, and then of Modern Zionism (now that is a lovely combination) Tu Bishvat has flowered and developed an identity all of its own.

THE STORY OF CHONI

Let us take one particular vantage point and cast our focus to the story of Choni as narrated by the Gemara in Massechet Taanit. We remember Choni! He was the man who confronted God when there was a drought. The Mishna tells us how Choni "drew a circle (on the ground) and stood inside it. He announced: Master of the Universe, Your children are looking in your direction. I swear that I will not leave this spot until you have mercy upon your children." And the rain began to fall. Choni is the person who brazenly orders God around. His colleagues disapproved of his aggressive and arrogant style of prayer, and yet his defiant stand is recorded for posterity in the Mishna. (See Taanit 19a)

"R. Yohanan said: Through all the days of that righteous man (Choni), he was
troubled about the meaning of the verse "A Song of Ascents. When the Lord
brought back those that returned to Zion, we were like as if in a dream" (Ps.
126:1) Is it possible for a man to doze off and dream continuously for seventy
years? One day, as he was walking on the road, he saw a man planting a carob
tree. He asked him, "How long will it take this tree to bear fruit?" The man
replied, "Seventy years." He asked, "Are you quite sure you will live another
seventy years to eat its fruit?" The man replied, "I myself found fully grown
carob trees in the world; as my forebears planted for me, so am I planting for
my children." Once, when Choni sat down for a meal, sleep overcame him and he
dozed off. He continued sleeping for seventy years. When he awoke, he saw a man
gathering the fruit of that same carob tree. He asked, "Are you the man who
planted this tree?" The man replied, "That was my grandfather."" (Taanit
23a)

Apparently Choni, is an impatient fellow. When he talks to God, demanding rain, he insists upon immediate results. He wants rain now! Quickly! Choni finds the notion of long-term processes a challenge. In this Gemara, he cannot fathom the notion of how one might dream for the return of the Exiles of Jerusalem for seventy years! I think that it was not the length of the sleep that bothered him. It was the fact that a dream might lie unfulfilled for seventy years. He cannot understand why a person would plant a tree whose fruit he would not enjoy.

Choni sees things in the here-and-now; long-term planning is not his strong point. And yet, the lesson of the Seventy years is brought home by a simple Carob tree. A Grandfather plants a tree because he has faith in the future, because he wants to plan for the next generation and the generation after that.

The planting of trees symbolizes permanence and endurance. The tree spans generations, and do we not say in Tehillim, "The span of our life is seventy years" (90:10)? Seventy years represents a lifetime. Can we look beyond our era, our epoch? The tree is the notion of endurance, of continuity, of the seeds I set down for the future, building, investing and planting. It is the quintessential symbol of longevity, of viewing time beyond the immediate.

And it is this that Choni has to learn. We can live life in the immediate, but in a natural world, God teaches us that we have to plant, to plant seeds, to invest in processes that will persist well beyond our lifetime. We might not eat the fruits of those trees but we live secure in the knowledge that we have toiled to ensure that our children will reap those fruits.

At the beginning of the creation of the world, God immediately engaged in the act of planting, as it states: 'He planted a garden in Eden' (Bereshit 2:8) Likewise, when you enter the land, the first thing you should engage in is the act of planting, as it states: 'When you enter the land, you shall plant all manner of fruit trees.'" (Vayikra Rabba 25:3)

At the very start of the world, God planted trees. He might have planted them before man entered the scene, but he waited for man, so that man might witness this momentous event. God wished to demonstrate a crucial lesson to mankind. That living is not simply about today. Sometimes it is not even about tomorrow. It is about a day in the distant future. The trees teach us to plan for the future.

REDEMPTION

But beyond this universal lesson is also a lesson that relates to our particular Jewish future. Choni is not puzzled simply by the notion of planning a lifespan ahead. He is concerned with Redemption.

How can one dream of Redemption for Seventy years? Do we not want Mashiach now? Can a person tolerate an unredeemed world for all of one's life? The Midrash quoted above seems to link God's planting with man's planting of trees. The prooftexts are fascinating. God's planting is taken from Bereshit as God plants the Garden of Eden, the perfect world. What is the mirror image of God's planting Gan Eden? It is the when we enter Eretz Yisrael! There is something about these trees that relates directly to the Jewish People's tenure in Eretz Yisrael. We yearn to recreate Gan Eden - the perfect reality - in Eretz Yisrael!

"If you are planting a sapling and they inform you that the Messiah is coming,
plant first and greet him afterwards." (Avot De-Rebbe Natan, Shechter Edition,
chap. 1, version b).

"Rabbi Abba taught: 'You have no clearer sign
of the End (i.e. redemption) than this, as it states: (Ezekiel 36:8): 'But ye, 0
mountains of Israel, ye shall shoot forth your branches and yield your fruit to
my people Israel" (Sanhedrin 98a)

It is quite fascinating that JNF dedicated its efforts to reclaim Eretz Yisrael in modern times by planting forests, and that the early founding fathers of Zionism saw agriculture as the primary tool in which to rebuild the ancient land.

But what message might we take for our confusing times from all this? Eretz Yisrael is blooming! Does that mean that we have the "clear sign" that Mashiach is on his way? Is Mashiach here "Now" as Choni would have it. Or alternatively, should we "plant first and greet him afterwards."?

As I have suggested, the Gemara about Choni is suffused with Messianic overtones. I think that the Gemara is saying that even when waiting for Geula, we might only plant the seeds, and reap the fruits many generations later. It isn't always a case of the Redemption happening "in the blink of an eye."

We talk of "Reishit Tzmichat Geulateinu." There were times when we imagined that the flower of Redemption was flowering imminently; that we could see the process of growth so vividly. The process appeared to be taking shape as we watched. But nowadays, that path seems more confusing. The plant refuses to flower, it twists and turns, it wilts sometimes, and then grows some more. But the flower of Redemption still eludes us.

What should we do? There is a danger here. It is a danger of impatience, of the desire for immediate results. We have to be worried that when we understand that our dreams will not be realised with immediacy that we will refuse to dream! Or worse; that we will try to reshape and adjust the plant - and snap its head off in the process! Maybe if we understand that our dream will take shape in a generation or two we will fail to plant, to sow the seeds for the next generation. And for this reason, we must reread the Gemara about Choni. We CAN hold a dream for seventy years and longer. Sometimes we have to wait for redemption and in the meantime to raise grandchildren as we wait for the tree to take shape. We cannot rush the process. But we will only have what to dream about if we continue to sow the seeds that yield redemption.

We must do our part, ploughing the tough earth and sowing the tender seeds with faith and love, with hope and tears, so that eventually, if we are patient - in time - the tree will grow.

Happy planting! Happy waiting!

It Takes a Generation!

Last week, I picked up Rav Yuval Sherlo's new book on the topic of Nevua. As I leafed through the introduction, Rav Yuval pays homage to the Tanach methodology of Yeshivat Har Etzion and in particular Rav Yoel Bin Nun.

Now, for any of you who know me, Tanach is my speciality and the Gush is where I learned. One of my teachers was Rav Yoel bin Nun. Rav Medan, Leibtag, Samet, Sabato all taught me Tanach. And so , whenever I read about the influence of the Yeshiva, it pulls a beloved heartstring.

Let me get to the point. When I came to the Gush, in 1985 I was greatly impressed by the Rashei Yeshiva and the entire learning methodology and the unique Hashkafa. And I was puzzled that the Yeshiva had produced few sefarim. It seemed that the Yeshiva had a clear derech, so where was the literature, the scholarship, that could spread the Torah beyond the Yeshiva walls?

The publishing began with the Megadim journal in 1982. In recent years there has been a burst of publishing by the Yeshiva, its Ramim and talmidim. Rav Amital and Rav Lichtenstein have published books on lomdus and Machshava. Rav Samet's books are a bestseller. Rav Medan and Rav Yoel have published. Rav Sherlo is prolific; so is Rav Chaimi Navon. Rav Amnon Bazak and Rav Y.Z. Rimon have published books. Rav Moshe Lichtenstein published a unique fusion of chumash, drash. The Tanach study days at Herzog College draw thousands of participants annually, and now it has spawned an American copy in the form of YCT's Yemei Tanach in Teaneck (run by Rav Nati Helfgot.) In English, Rav Leibtag's Torah has been on the web for a while, Rav Yitzchak Etshalom's book represents the Yeshiva's Tanach style.

In short, the past five years have produced a phenomenal wave of writing. What happened? When I read Rav Sherlo's introduction it occurred to me that it takes a generation for an institution to mature to the point at which it can effectively spread its Torah in writing. It takes 30-40 years! The Rashei Yeshiva have to build the institution, teach talmidim, but then those Talmidim teach too. It takes some time for the Torah of those teachers and those students to mature to the point that one wishes to publish. After years of teaching and formulating ideas, it is time to write books and to publish. Something that I realised here is just what an immense project an institution of this type is. And that sometimes you embark on a project and you see fruits only FORTY YEARS LATER! May that be a lesson for us mechanchim.

In the past, when I had "down moments" as a mechanech, feelings that many of my efforts and messages had passed students by, my boss would always talk about how we as teachers plant seeds, and we never ever know when and how these seeds will bear fruit. Frequently it is in the most unexpected of situations that the seeds flourish and flower! And sometimes many years hence.

It is incredible to think that it takes a generation for an institution to reach its fulfillment. In certain ways, the initial years have such energy, such excitement and youth, and in later years one sometimes feels that the institution has become "middle aged". So suddenly when you realise that time has distinct benefits, it gives a totally different dimension.

And so, on this exciting note, I look forward to an entire library of books published by Talmidei Har Etzion. I am happy that today's Torah community can read much of the Torah of Gush and the unique derech limmud and philosophy of this special Yeshiva.

Parashat Bo: The Ibn Ezra, Peshat and Halakha.

In the narrative sections of Torah, the Ibn Ezra pursues the peshat, the reading of the text based upon logic, grammar, context, and other linguistic rules. "The human mind is the angel that mediates between man and God," he writes. And hence he limits himself to the words, the language of the Torah to interpret the Biblical text. In general he is wary of added, imposed readings attached to the story, even of they come from Midrashic, Rabbinic sources.

But when it comes to reading Halakhic texts, the Ibn Ezra swings in the opposite direction:

"… if we find two readings to the text and one accords with the opinion of the Rabbis – who were all righteous - we shall rely upon their truth with no doubts."

In other words, whenever it comes to Halakhic texts, even if the peshat meaning is stretched somewhat; the Ibn Ezra prefers a reading that accords with normative Jewish Law, and the Halakhic readings of Chazal. In this situation he abandons his pursuit of strict textual rigour and allows a certain fluidity.

Why is this the case? And what is the connection to parashat Bo?

Read the entire shiur here:

Israelis learning from Diaspora identity

In a lovely article this week, we read about the experience of IDF soldiers who accompany the Birthright trips here in Israel. These soldiers are being confronted with issues in Jewish identity that they never faced in Israel. As they meet diaspora youth, they meet people who face very differnt Jewish choices on a daily basis. One soldier said:

"From my point of view, the program led me to understand that I am serving in the IDF for the Jews who don't live here. I never thought about that before,"

It is fascinating that whereas Diaspora youth are impressed here in Israel by the all encompassing environment of a country where everything and everyone (alomst) is Jewish, Israelis suffer from a situation in which it is easy to take things for granted.

My kids travelled to the U.S. some years ago and were shocked that one could not buy ice cream or confectionary just anywhere. They have never spent time where a kosher store is more than a block away! They really do not understand the notion of a non-Jewish culture that is not Arab (and potentially hostile.) And they are so used to being in an all envelopingculture, they would find a country elsewhere quite a challenge.

In certain ways, Israel has an advantage in this respect, but in other ways, living in a foreign culture has some up-sides too. After all, when we live in a diverse culture, we are constantly making choices: this I can eat, this I cannot. Now I will have to ask time off from work because it is a festival, because it is an early shabbat. (Halakhically observant) Jews are constantly making choices for the sake of Judaism. and there is some power in that. All Jews have to actively decide to marry a Jew, to socialise with Jews. And these decisions are like working a muscle. When you work a muscle, it gets stronger. When you constantly engage in these decisions, you excercise your Jewish muscles! You get stronger Jewishly. There are things that you are rejecting daily for the sake of your Judaism and all this can strenthen a person.

In that respect Israelis are frequently very unaware in the sense of individual identity of the notion of being a lone-Jew against the tide. They are so used to being a majorty culture. They often cannot distinguish between Jewish and Israeli! ... Just the other day when I was talking to my kids about my experiences prior to Aliya, my five-year-old said: "... but before you were Jewish ..." in other words, Israeli=Jewish. He doesn't understand the difference yet.

Some years ago , I performed a wedding for a couple where the groom was Israeli (7 generation in ISrael ...chiloni lemehadrin ... in his own words!) and the bride was from LA. He had been working in a computer firm in silicon valley and they had met. When they decided to marry she visited his family here in Israel, and he warned her: "Us Israelis have a tradition that on Friday night the family gets together and Mum likes candles and we say a prayer on the wine ..." she replied: "Yes! My family do that too in LA!" HE had NO IDEA that it was a Jewish thing. He thought it was an Israeli thing. And even if he somehow knew it, it was not a conscious thought. For him, he acted that way only in Israel. In the US he acted also like the majority culture.

(Another aspect of this is that secular Israelis that make Yerida frequently fail to associate with the Jewish community but for their own Israeli sub-culture. They don't quite understand where Judaism fits in as a personal commitment. They are used to experiencing Judaism solely as a national culture!)

So Israelis can learn from diaspora Jews about the more conscious living of identity, the micro choices that are made on a constant basis; the constant understanding and categorisation that this is "ours, Jewish, inside" and that is "theirs, outside, alien."

(אשר נשיא יחטא (ויקרא ד':כ"ב

רש"י ויקרא פרק ד

כב) אשר נשיא יחטא - לשון אשרי, אשרי הדור שהנשיא שלו נותן לב להביא כפרה על שגגתו, קל וחומר שמתחרט על זדונותיו

"...Happy is the generation who's political leaders have the sensitivity to bring atonement for their mistakes, all the more so for those who regret deliberate acts of impropriety."

The Torah was patently aware that political leaders would sin. It does not use the term "if the Nasi sins" but "when." Power frequently brings corruption. A quick look at Tanach proves this quite evidently.

Our President's actions are a collosal chillul Hashem and a stain on all Israel. The Rashi here welcomes a situation in which leaders are prepared to admit failings and crimes and face the consequences. We must ensure that as a society, we understand that sins are sins, and that they require justice, even if the perpetrator is the President. Apparently, even when impropriety abounds, we must be glad that society still retains a modicum of morality.

...enough said!

Tel Aviv and Jerusalem (post 2) - Jazz!!

Some time ago, I posted about the difference between Tel Aviv and Jerusalem. Yesterday, Haaretz posted an article about Jazz in the Jerusalem scene. Here too, the "higher," more spiritual dimensions of Jerusalem come to the fore!

See these quotes for example:

"Tel Aviv jazz's approach is entertainment, an immediate celebration of the imagination, while Jerusalem jazz's approach is existentialist, to change the soul."

"Jerusalem is more abstract," adds Haber. "Something in this city brings you to more abstract thinking. Maybe it's the mountain air," he adds with a smile. "There's a feeling that you're in a place with significance beyond the material. And this affects the way the audience listens to music. When I play in Tel Aviv, I feel like I'm in the background; here the people are more attentive. This influences the playing a lot. It makes you play differently."

Now, I have no idea who these players are, but it is amazing how even in an area such as Jazz, Jerusalem has a more spiritual texture! (I am also pleased to hear that Jazz is doing so well in Jerusalem. For Jazz enthusiasts, on the Hebrew Haaretz site, there is a list and review of the recent Jerusalem Jazz album releases.)

The Exile Experience - Today!

Some readers might find this post too hard-hitting. Please feel free to record (polite) comments in the comments section below. We might find the ensuing conversation fruitful.


In preparation for thinking about Megillat Esther and Purim, I picked up Yoram Hazony's book, The Dawn, which I am enjoying. In his introduction, a piece struck me that reflected quite accurately some of my feelings regarding the difference between living in Israel and Chutz La'aretz (The bloded sections are my emphasis!):


"When sovereign in the land of Israel, the Jews are confronted directly with questions of national morality: How to govern justly, how to obtain security and peace, how to establish the pious and good society in the face of the terrible obstacles encountered by any realistic appraisal of the proclivities and aptitudes of men. But in Israel the Jews at least have the advantage of sovereign authority: The government may muster vast material reresources and promulgate laws in the service of the public interest; the intellectual leaders may freely study, teach and write in the pursuit of truth; and the leaders of the spirit may go about inculcating a love of Justice and peace among the people. In sum, when sovereign in their own land, the Jews at least possess the power needed to determine and implement an ideal according to their own lights, whether they choose to make appropriate use of this power or not. And it is no coincidence, either, that it was when the Jews possessed this power, living on the land and fighting for it, that they also found themselves directly confronted by their God.

In exile, whether in ancient Persia or in a more contemporary one, Jewish life must somehow persist without the immense resources made available by independent, sovereign power. In exile, the Jews must live in dispersion, their institutions weak, their concerns wandering far from Jewish things, and their politics alienated from every obvious source of cohesiveness, direction and strength. It is clear at the outset that under such conditions there is no possibility of freely seeking and implementing any Jewish ideal. To live in a society ruled by others means that the government and the laws are not the product of a Jewish concern for the general public interest, and that they are certainly not the result of an interest in the well-being of the Jews as a nation; that Jewish intellectual endeavors are under constant pressure, whether overt or implicit, to conform to alien norms; and that Jewish leadership, if it is capable and effective, is perpetually viewed with a certain measure of suspicion and even fear-both by the community of non-Jews, and by members of the Jewish community concerned that Jewish success may be interpreted by the gentiles as a challenge to their authority. "

On the Lookstein blog, there was a powerful piece recently that bemoaned the fact that Israel is pretty marginal to Jews in the diaspora. Read it here.

As for me, I would like to make two additional comments:

Recently I was in America and talking to people about the current mood in Israel in the aftermath of the Lebanon War. These are caring, idealistic Jews who love Israel and are informed about it. What struck me is how out of touch they were regarding the mood, the pulse, the atmosphere of Israel. It seems that however much one has Jpost or Haaretz as your Home Page, it is difficulty to really connect with the spirit and feelings of being here. Some things do not transmit will even in a virtual global village.

Second, I cannot express how much I palpably feel, whenever in chu"l, the bitter words of David Hamelech - כי גרשוני היום מהסתפח בנחלת ה' לאמר לך עבוד אלוהים אחרים - in other words, outside Israel, we really do march to another nations's drum, and we are dramatically influenced by their cultural values, their fashions, norms and priorities. It can be no other way. And it is incredible how when we live in Chutz La'aretz, we are so so unaware of it. But coming from Israel, it really hits you in the face. Living in another culture compromises you, influences you in untold ways. (see also this earlier post.)

But Thank God, today we do have a choice where we live!

Parashat Shemot - Shades of Geula

The Ramban has an important introduction to Sefer Shemot. In our shiur this week I have tried to explain its significance for the structure of the Sefer and for our understanding of Redemption and contemporary Zionism.

The shiur is here.

The Midrash, the Stick and the Word.

Our parasha tells the story of how Moshe kills the Egyptian (who is hitting the Hebrew). There is a famous Midrash on this (quoted by Rashi 2:14)

הלהרגני אתה אומר, אתה מבקש לא נאמר אלא אתה אומר מכאן אתה למד ששם המפורש הזכיר על המצרי והרגו )שמות רבה פרשה א(

In other words, Moses killed the Egyptian not by clobbering him, but rather by invoking God's explicit name. Now this Midrashic comment is particularly difficult as the text is quite clear that Moshe utilized PHYSICAL force in killing the Egyptian. See the text:

(יא ( וַיְהִי בַּיָּמִים הָהֵם וַיִּגְדַּל מֹשֶׁה וַיֵּצֵא אֶל אֶחָיו וַיַּרְא בְּסִבְלֹתָם וַיַּרְא אִישׁ מִצְרִי מַכֶּה אִישׁ עִבְרִי מֵאֶחָיו: (יב) וַיִּפֶן כֹּה וָכֹה וַיַּרְא כִּי אֵין אִישׁ וַיַּךְ אֶת הַמִּצְרִי וַיִּטְמְנֵהוּ בַּחוֹל:

The verb מכה/ויך which is used to depict the Egyptian striking the Jew (the Ivri) is the same verb used to describe Moshe's fatal action. If Moshe is using God's name to kill the Egyptian, might we suggest that the Egyptian was verbally abusing the Hebrew slave? Nם! Clearly the peshat is that Moshe acted violently -he hit the guy!

So what is the Midrash about?

When I have posed this question to students, they frequently suggest that Chazal wanted to see Moshe without blood on his hands. King David is denied the right to build the Beit Mikdash because he has killed. Possibly we also wish to see Moshe as having a clear criminal record! I once heard a lecture at Bar Ilan in which one professor suggested that Chazal who lived in the aftermath of the Bar Kochba revolt, shied away from violence as a tool to forward the interests of the Jewish people. After the failed rebellion (which cost many hundreds of thousands of Jewish lives) , they decided that the power of Judaism lay in the area of speech and Limmud Torah rather than the sword. They preferred to express Jewish power through the religious word, rather than through physical force, and hence Chazal here are saying that even Moshe understood that the true power is by invoking God's name. So these readings see this Midrash as adopting a somewhat pacifist tone.

But I would like to suggest an approach that fits quite naturally into Moses' life story. Once when teaching a group at the Women's Beit Midrash in Efrat I presented this Midrash. One lady responded by saying: "Well doesn't Moshe have some trouble knowing when to speak and when to hit?" And suddenly I realized that she had unlocked the key to this Midrash!

Yes! At the rock, we all know the tradition that Moshe should have spoken but he hit (ויך). But there is a wider interplay here between the power of Moshe and the power of God! We all know that Moshe is going to bring מכות against Egypt, but is it HIS force or is it God's force that produces the מכה? When Aharon "strikes" the dust of Egypt producing lice, the Egyptian priests view this as the "hand of God" so already we see two interesting things. Are Moshe's מכות his or God's; and where is the line between Moshe's מכות and his speech in the name of God? After all, Moshe begins his public life with a dearth of speech לא איש דברים אנכי and an excess of מכה, brute force etc. And he ends his life in an excess of speech as he delivers possibly the longest speech ever: Sefer Devarim!

So possibly as we meet Moshe acting independently for the first time, the Midrash raises the interesting tension latent in the מכה of Moshe, letting these polar opposites simmer in our imagination for a while.

Anti Elitist!

Do you worry as to whether the kids in your children's school are "good enough?" Apparently some parents, concerned of the quality fo the school population raised the question with
Rav Shapira - who commands great authority in the Religious Zionist world. He made some worthwhile and powerful comments.

He said that there should not be special elitist schools.

"מצווה לחנך ילדים שהם יהודים, ואין מצווה לחנך יחסניים. האם כך אתן מקפידות שבאות לכיתות שלכן רק תלמידות יחסניות?! כל אחד צריך להביא תעודה מאבא שלו ומאימא שלו כי יכול להיות שהאבא יחסן גדול והאימא היא לא כל-כך יחסנית גדולה?! דנים על אופי של דת, שומרי דת או לא, אבל ביה"ס לצדקניות וצדיקים שמעתם על זה?? בית-ספר מיוחד לצדיקים וצדקניות! ומי שבא, ואבא שלו לא צדיק - לא יקבלו?!",

"It is a Mitzva to educate Jewish children, not to educate specially "connected" children! Are you really concerend only to educte kids from good family lineage? Does eachchild have to bring a certificate from his father and mother - because you know, maybe his father has a good family history, and the mother doesn't?! People talk about religiously observant or not, but a school for Tzadikkim and Tzidkaniot; has anyone ever heard of such a thing?"

See the full piece here

Inside the Secret Service (Shin Bet)

Over the weekend, Haaretz published an interview with a guy called Nissim Levy who has worked for the Shin Bet (Home Security) for over 20 years.

He tells amazing stories like this one....

"Once," he recalls, "I entered a house looking for a wanted man and I was sure he was in the house, because we had sealed it so hermetically. I didn't know exactly where he was. I didn't want to begin to open closets and take them apart or to search under the bed. I approached the mother, because I thought she was a somewhat weaker link. I asked her who her children were, and she told me the names of all the children except one - so I understood that she already knew what we were talking about and why I had come. "I told her: 'That's not all your children, you have more. What about Mohammed?' Then she tells me, 'I forgot Mohammed.' So I ask, 'And where is Mohammed?' And she says, 'Walla, I don't know. I haven't seen him for a long time.'

Now I follow her eyes and check where she's looking. I know that at a certain point her glances will go over him. If he's in the room, her eyes are supposed to speak to me. I saw that she was drawn to the closets. "I said to her, 'You're saying that he's not at home?' She says, 'Yes.' So I said to her, 'No problem. I'm going to fire into the closets now. I'm going to shoot a bullet into each closet. What do you say about that?'

"Now it's a game of nerves, who will give in first. I wouldn't have fired into the closets, but I wanted to save time. To get out of there quickly. Try to imagine the atmosphere. There's absolute silence in the room. Then she says, 'That's enough. Mohammed, come out.'"

So that is his work. However I found two points here exceptionally sinister. The first; that he is fully aware that for every action he performs, he is creating added hatred and future terrorists!

"Let's say that in a certain village there's someone who carried out a terror attack against soldiers. The moment you've traveled to the village, taken the man and left, you've created another four potential terrorists."

That is rather sobering! But here is a second point that really gave me cause for some deep thought. After all, why is he fighting these arab terrorists in their homes?

"My goal as a general security service," Levy continues, "is to reduce the terrorist threat to zero, or almost zero, so that the government in Israel will solve the problem we have, but not when there is a pistol to its head. I and my friends worked like dogs and managed to reduce the problem almost to a minimum. There were almost no terror attacks, and then the government came and said, 'There's nothing, so why make a decision now? Let's postpone it.' And they postponed it. In this equation I kept my part of the bargain and the governments didn't keep theirs."

In other words, he is saying that when e have quiet it is not just for the sake of quiet, because it always spirals to even greater violence. The violence of tomorrow will be worse than today, so the calm is supposed to be used to gain political headway.

IS this just Haaretz talking? Is there any political progress to be made? Whichever way, this was a fascinating piece.

100 Posts!!!

Well, I am quite proud to have reached my 100th post!

A post-Shabbat wish

For the past few weeks, every Motzei Shabbat I turn on my computer after 25+ hours of absolute disconnection with the world. Somewhere in my head as I load up the news site that is my home page, I have a hope, a prayer in my head. A thought lingers ... maybe I will read a headline that the Israel Air Force bombed the Iranian nuclear facility and rid us of the dreadful nuclear threat; possibly while we were disconnected fom reality, our soldiers actually did it?! ... And each week I have been disappointed!

Well, there is always next Motzei Shabbat!

Parashat Vayechi - Surviving Exile

Traditionally, we view the chapter of the berakhot (ch.49) as an opportunity for Yaakov, the aged patriarch, to depart from each of his sons with a wise life-message. He encourages, praises and critiques, leaving each of his sons with a personal lesson that will assist him in the future.

But the Midrashim develop a very different focus. They suggest that Yaakov focused not so much on his personal connection with his family as on the covenantal future of the Jewish people, on their survival intact through their protracted exile in Egypt. As he lies dying, it is the future of Am Yisrael that dominates his consciousness.

What are the messages that Yaakov seeks to impart? Read the shiur here.

Did Joseph get along with his brothers?

We all focus so much on Yoseph reuniting with his family that we barely give a thought to the aftermath. What was the family dynamic AFTEr the reunification, during the last 17 years of Yaakov's life in Egypt? Did the brothers get along? What did Yaakov know of the whole episode?

One comment of the Netziv last week grabbed my attention. When Yoseph reveals his true identity to his brothers he says:

"And now, be not upset or distressed that you sold me…"

Why should the brothers be upset? The Netziv comments:

"He (Yoseph) thought that possibly… some of them, even at this point, felt that they had been correct (to sell him) but that their plan had gone wrong by selling him to Egypt, a place where one could rise to great power, rather than selling him to a more lowly destination…"

This blew my mind. The Netziv is suggesting that even after this entire saga, Yoseph at least, suspects that many of the brothers might still wish that they had disposed of him. In other words, the family scars have not healed. They are still deep and painful. Had the brothers put the family tension behind them? Could Joseph put it all behind him?

Did Yaakov ever find out what the brothers did to Yoseph?

1. See 50:15-22

And when Joseph's brethren saw that their father was dead, they said: 'It may be that Joseph will hate us, and will fully requite us all the evil which we did unto him.' And they sent a message unto Joseph, saying: 'Thy father did command before he died, saying: So shall ye say unto Joseph: Forgive, I pray thee now, the transgression of thy brethren, and their sin, for that they did unto thee evil. And now, we pray thee, forgive the transgression of the servants of the God of thy father.' And Joseph wept when they spoke unto him.


Clearly after their father's death, the brothers are concerned about some form of retribution. Was Yoseph distant or friendly in the intervening years? Just imagine the family dynamics in that for all these years they suspected that he was hostile towards them?!

Another related question in this episode is whether the message from Yaakov was fabricated. If it were real, Yaakov would have had to know the truth. Even if it were a lie, it would be meaningless unless Yaakov knew what the borthers had done to Yoseph. – see Nehama Leibowitz's chapter (on Vayechi): "Truth gives way to Peace."

2. See 49:9 מטרף בני עלית What does it mean? Does it refer to Joseph?
בראשית רבה פרשה צח מטרף בני עלית, מטרפו של יוסף עלית ונתעלית
Rashi there makes a minor connection. The ibn Ezra rejects a context of the Joseph sale.

3. The Ramban is of the opinion that Yaakov never knew about what the brothers did to Yoseph. See his commentary to 45:27. The brothers and Yoseph all knew that it was better to keep the details hidden from Yaakov.

Any other relevant sources? (add them in the "comments" section.)

Israel and the Corruption Problem

And today we arre submerged once again in the mucky depths of yet another high-level corruption scandal. The head of the Tax Authority and The PM's Beaurueau Chief have all been taken for questioning. The issue is fraudulent promotions, favours and inappropriate tax breaks to associates of those in powerful places.

What started in Israel as a culture of Protexzia has now decayed to full-fledged corrution. We now have a situation where all of our past four Prime Ministers have been investigated for fraud, our last president too, our current president on sex-charges. Many other cabinet ministers are also up for police investigation. Last week we had a gambling ring who were "fixing" the results of footbal games, we have had politicians buying hotel rooms for party memebers. What is next?

There is a sickness here. There is a sense that for money, rules do not count. There is a sense that things do not work by the rules, but rather by "who you know."

And then people lose all confidence in the fairness of the system of law, of government.

And when that happens, we become a lawless society. It is not "worth it" to keep the law.

This starts at the top, but it trickles down to lower levels all over the place. When I built my house here in Alon Shevut, there was a rule that one may not build a sub-unit, or granny flat. The logic was that the neighbourhood infrastructure (shul, nursery, schools etc.) was designed for X families, and that if everyone built extra housing units, there would not be sufficient for all. After we had all built, I realised that the people who had legislated that very rule, had builttheir own sup-apartments. When I confronted them, they all had good excuses. But next time, will I keep the law, or break it? Why should I be the only idiot? They make good money from renting out a sub apartment? Why did I keep the law?

But then, we don't need to pay taxes, we don't need to pay our employees on time, we can ignore traffic reulations etc etc. And then the result is that there is no money for hospitals, no money to assist the elderly. Then society is all about how I can get ahead, without doing the work! Because doing the work doesn't get you anywhere! And it is about who I can hobnob with, and not keeping the rules.

I have been feeling this for some time now, and with every day I am more convinced: the no.1 problem in Israel is Law Enforcement. The system of law is week here. It is not that we lack the laws, but nobody enforces them. There are laws against enviromental pollution, but the Kishon is still filled with polution, and Tel Aviv still pumps many thousands of cubic metres of sewage into the sea. Traffic rules are not punished. Housing regulations are widely ignored and rural areas suddenly turn into throbbing metropolis.

The goverment fails in a war, and no one takes any responsibility. Responsibility, accountability is all irrelevent as long as you are on top.

Without a system of enforcing and keeping law, there is a real threat to the future of the Jewish State as anything other than a third world banana republic.

This must begin with our leaders. It must continue with every citizen who should feel proud that he is an upstanding law abiding citizen.

I so wish that one, just one of our politicians would put the notion of שלטון החוק at the forefront of the public awareness. But it is like nobody cares!

I guess we will just sit and wait for next week's scandal!