Prayer for Tzahal

If you visit this blog, please say this prayer for our soldiers in Gaza:

מִי שֶׁבֵּרַךְ אֲבותֵינוּ אַבְרָהָם יִצְחָק וְיַעֲקב הוּא יְבָרֵךְ אֶת חַיָּלֵי צְבָא הֲגַנָּה לְיִשְׂרָאֵל, הָעומְדִים עַל מִשְׁמַר אַרְצֵנוּ וְעָרֵי אֱלהֵינוּ מִגְּבוּל הַלְּבָנון וְעַד מִדְבַּר מִצְרַיִם וּמִן הַיָּם הַגָּדול עַד לְבוא הָעֲרָבָה בַּיַּבָּשָׁה בָּאֲוִיר וּבַיָּם. יִתֵּן ה' אֶת אויְבֵינוּ הַקָּמִים עָלֵינוּ נִגָּפִים לִפְנֵיהֶם. הַקָּדושׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא יִשְׁמר וְיַצִּיל אֶת חַיָלֵינוּ מִכָּל צָרָה וְצוּקָה וּמִכָּל נֶגַע וּמַחְלָה וְיִשְׁלַח בְּרָכָה וְהַצְלָחָה בְּכָל מַעֲשֵׂה יְדֵיהֶם. יַדְבֵּר שׂונְאֵינוּ תַּחְתֵּיהֶם וִיעַטְרֵם בְּכֶתֶר יְשׁוּעָה וּבְעֲטֶרֶת נִצָּחון. וִיקֻיַּם בָּהֶם הַכָּתוּב: כִּי ה' אֱלהֵיכֶם הַהלֵךְ עִמָּכֶם לְהִלָּחֵם לָכֶם עִם איבֵיכֶם לְהושִׁיעַ אֶתְכֶם: וְנאמַר אָמֵן:

See also my post from the Lebanon War here.

Gaza

I have been deliberating about what to write about Gaza. So much has been written already. I must admit that I have had many doubts as to whether this is the right thing for us (Israel) to have entered into at this time... a war is a big thing. In addition, we have all been shaken by the huge numbers of casualities in Gaza. Of course the coming days and weeks will tell us whether this was the right course of action. The test of this will be whether we can indeed stop the rocket fire and not function as if Hamas is calling the shots, which has been the case for the past 3 years. To write comprehensively about this would take many posts. I will just write some short notes here and give you some links. (I liked this blog)

1. There is no question that this is more than justified. after 8 years of holding back and trying every negotiation route, what is Israel to do? we have the right to fight back.

2. While we certainly do not want any civilian casualties on the other side, of course there will be, and have been many. Any talk about how we are hitting civilians has to be considered in the light of the following factors:
a. Hamas put their arms depots and military instillations amongst civilians to make them immune to Israeli attacks. So does that mean we can never attack terrorists like this?
b. Of the 300+ Palestinians killed 75% are terrorists. So say the UN figures. That is a very good statistic. Tzahal clearly have their bombs well aimed.
c. In Gaza just like in South Lebanon, I think that most people civilian or military are Hamas. The entire population are mobilised to destroy Israel. Just like 9/11 which was perpetrated by cicvilians, in the new constellation of the non-conventional war (like in Iraq or Lebanon etc.) there isn't the traditional division between civilian and military. Where do you draw the line for Ahmed who has a store but mans a Hamas phone line at night, or Fatima who passes messages by hanging out her green shirt on the washing line, or Muhammed who smuggles arms for money but doesn't really believe in the cause?

3. we need to pray that this is succesful and that many Chayalim don't get hurt.

4. Having said that, I am fearful that we are going to fail here. why?
Because of us and because of them.

Us: See Harel's article in Haaretz (link) and Bret stephens in WSJ (link).

We are not determined enough. We need to persist and not to look back. If we realy want to succeed we are going to have to be quite ruthless and to really engage in alot of destruction and punishment. I am unconvinced that Olmert Livni and Barak have the staying power. already after 48 hrs, Barak was pining for a way out. What is that? If you start, don't you know how you want to continue? as Harel writes, the person who blinks first is dead. Barak blinked first! This, if it is to be succesful will be long, very long and arduous. Do we have the stamina? Do our leaders have the ability to keep going... y'know - the long haul?

Again what is the point of this op.? It is to make them realise that shooting missilies is NOT in their best interests. How do we do that? By making sure that we take out their infrastructure and weapons stores and by making them suffer. True, we have destroyed development labs and many missiles and tunnels. All good. We have given them a shock. But if we go in, do we know the objective? When will it be clear that we have victory? What if the missiles don't stop? Do we stay in Gaza if the missiles dont stop? At what cost? And if we do pull out , how can we ensure that they do not see it as a victory??

Caution is needed.

Them: I always think that our secular leaders misjudge the religious mind. Hamas are religious people. They are passionate and they believe in the name of God in their way. They will fight to the death. I feel that frequently secular thinkers don't get it, they think that our decisions are based upon self interest and quality of life. But for a religious person it is based on belief. The Haredim are willing to live in abject poverty for the sake of limmud torah. Hamas think that we are infidels. They believe that Israel should be destroyed. Will a few bombs break that? I doubt it.

(Now again, this just underscores how dangerous Hamas are... go back to Bret Stevens article. When they get funds, they use it to buy weapons, not to pave streets or to creat industry and prosperity for the average Palestinian in Gaza. But again, if they are so motivated, so focused, so ideologically directed, then will a few strikes deter them? I fear that we are back in Lebanon 2006.)

And then there is the desparation of the Palestinians. See this interesting article. (link)

“There is a state in the world with no heat, no gas, no oil, no diesel, no drugs, no food,” said Muhammad Ahmed, 33, angrily. “The Jews have everything, and they won’t understand that on the other side there is nothing!
“People dig the tunnels out of hunger,” he insisted, and then warned, “When you don’t feed animals, they get angry and they bite you!”

They Palestinians have little to lose. In Sharon's Op. of 2001 (Homat Magen) he was succesful because he totally ran over the cities and he did stop the terrorism. Will this do the same? I fear that the Gaza people have little to lose. How will their lives become worse exactly? Do they have anything to lose?

Once again, I do hope our leaders know what they are doing,and I know we are justified in striking Hamas, but knowing Ehud Barak and Olmert, I doubt they have what it takes to finish the job.

And if we pull out and they see it as a victory, we are far worse off.

I do really hope that our leaders will prove my fears wrong. I hope that we can indeed change the status quo, and restore Israel's deterrent vis a vis Hamas. I do not envy our leaders in these situations. Only time will tell.

Parashat Vayishlach: Financial Advice From the Midrash

In this week's parasha, Yaakov, fearful for the safety of his "camp" - his servants and livestock - decides to divide them into two different groups. He said: "If Esav attacks one camp, the other will escape."

The Rabbis in Midrash Rabba applied this to the most elementary piece of financial advice, namely a diversified portfolio!

בראשית רבה פרשה עו ד"ה ג ויחץ את

ויחץ את העם, לימדך תורה דרך ארץ שלא יהא אדם נותן כל ממונו בזוית אחד ממי אתה למד מיעקב, שנאמר ויחץ את העם וגו'

The Torah has taught you about worldly matters: A person should not place all his money in one corner (of his house). From who do we learn this if not from Jacob, as it says "He split his camp etc."

Eco-Hannuka

I just love the things that people will do to make a Jewish festival relevant and to link it to causes which they care about. This is a great one... a friend of mine directed me to the group on Facebook. It is by http://www.svivaisrael.org/

Read here from their Facebook page:

Let's celebrate Hannukah 5769 by
1) cleaning up the world!
2) sharing Jewish environmental teachings
(והשנה גם בעברית )!
3) ...and lighting the Hannuka candles!

On the 1st day of Hannukah, pick up 1 piece of litter and put it in the trash can / recycling container.

On the 2nd day of Hannukah, pick up 2 pieces of litter and place them in the trash can / recycling container.

On the 3rd day of Hannukah, pick up 3 items of litter and ...well, you get the idea.

In the spirit of Limud U'Maaseh, every day of Hannukah, Eco Lights participants will receive a daily Jewish Environmental teaching from incredible guest writers!

If you pick up one more item each day, then by the end of Hannukah's 8 days, you will have picked up 36 items of litter and helped make our world a better place to live (If you live in Israel, you get extra points for beautifying Israel - Mitzvat Yishuv Eretz Yisrael :) )

And I love the important caveat at the end!

** Please do not pick up the garbage while your Hannuka candles are burning. Use this time to reflect on how even a small flame (or act) can light up the darkness.**

Thundering Silence

Last week, a house in Hebron was evacuated amidst extreme protest and violence. (link) I am aware that the legal status of that house is under discussion and contention. And yet, whatever the circumstances, the violence was shocking and more than troubling.

What we are seeing is a new violent streak in the Religious Zionist community, and new in two ways:
1. That it delegitimises the government , police and army. Since the Disengagement it has decided that the legal representatives of the State are undermining our Jewish presence in Israel and are thus illegitimate.
2. They now feel it is perfectly OK to smash Arab graves, set their homes on fire and to frighten and intimidate the Arab people around them

Just read this story from Hebron (from Jpost - link) and that is BEFORE all this mess.

So let's get this straight.
There is NO WAY that this violence by the Hebron settlers against soldiers, and Arab neighbours can be legitimised. Olmert called it a pogrom. That is what it looks like to me! It is violent. It is lawless. It involves awful crimes of abuse, intimidation, violence and destruction of property. I am embarrassed as a Jew to see Jews act in this way. Their Judaism has little in common with mine!

So where are the leaders?
Where are the Rabbis?

Where are the Rabbi Riskins, the Avi Gissers, the Tzohar Rabbis, the heads of the Yeshiva High schools, the Rav Aviners? The Yesha Council, The Yesha Mayors? Why is there absolute silence?

Today in the newspapers quite incredulously, there were two pieces lending support to these hooligans! (here and Here)

I'll tell you - these leaders and Rabbis are scared that if the talk out, they will be branded as leftists and enemies of eretz Yisrael etc. Well, they must not be intimidated! They must stand up and represent the Right Wing, and at the same time, reject violence and lawlessness. If the settler movement act with restraint, morality, dignity and legality, they will achieve far more. They will also control the moral high-ground. They might even be a Kiddush Hashem.

This violence needs to be decried in the most absolute fashion, or else, we are really dealing with a most dangerous momentum that will end in tragedy. Once it is legitimate to shoot at Palestinians and burn their homes, Jews will be next. Once it is legitimiate to intimidate and riot, there are no boundaries.

The time to act is NOW. It is already late. Leaders - speak out!



UPDATE (Wed Dec 10): Thank God, some leaders are speaking out. Here is a piece from Ynet about a letter from (Mori VeRabbi) Rav Lichtenstein expressing the Hillul Hashem of last week's events in Hevron and calling upon parents to direct and guide their children. - LINK. The article also talks about a conference tomorrow at Kehillat Yedidya. Unfortunately it is being sponsored only by far left-wing religious-zionist groups and hence it is likely that they will be preaching to the converted.

Can we Create a Tolerant Society in Israel?

Here is a topic that has been troubling me for a number of weeks. It started with this video.



It is pretty gruesome watching. It shows Israeli soldiers at a checkpoint taunting a kneeling bound and blindfolded Palestinian. They are doing it for fun. I watch the video and I am embarrassed. How can our soldiers humiliate and torture a fellow human being. These people have crossed a dangerous line.

So, I was watching this video and I showed it to my wife. I remarked, "look what happens when you have absolute power over another individual!" To which she replied: "It's not about power. These kids are just plain rascist."

My feeling was that when you put 19 yr olds in that powerful situation, there is bound to be abuse."The Occupation Corrupts!" - so goes the slogan, and I believe that it has great potential to do so. I know that i will be talking to my son as he nears enlistment age as to the respect to be given to any human being.

But my wife had a point. Is it just plain old Racism?

which brings me to the next point. Obama! I, like many others, was delighted when Obama won. I won't go into all the reasons but we all realised that this was Historic. After slavery, after seperate busses and park benches, a black man would be the President of the United States. what a victory for tolerance and equal rights. what a success for the civil rights movement! But it took years! It took over 100 years to get that process happening. It took marches and protests and legislation and lobbying, and positive discrimination and television to create black heroes (and presidents - see 24 for example which I imagine DID influence people that a black man could be president.)

Now, lets get back to Israel. we know that Israel is not an equal society. Arab schools are horribly underfunded. Some villages don't have running water. Arabs are not represented in government ministries and offices. It is certainly true that in Hospitals, Arab doctors and nurses are well represented and Arab patients get exactly the same treatment as Jews. We ARE an equal society! And yet, it is clear that Arabs have a way to go before we treat them on equal ground.

And now I am conflicted. Because on the one hand, I do have to be honest that I do NOT want to see the Arabs gaining absolute equality here. See this piece from Daniel Gordis in this week's Jpost (article link):

"...while Israel must absolutely strive to make race a non-issue (even among Jews, as with Ethiopians, for example) and to accord Israeli Arabs a significantly greater piece of the pie, we ought to be honest: If Israel one day were to have a Knesset in which a majority of the members were Arab, Israel will have failed in its purpose. ISRAEL WAS established as the sole country in which the Jews could flourish as only a majority culture..."

I will add more. If Israeli Arabs do make it to equality , the intermarriage rate will shoot up here. Is that what we want? Do we want a country in which Arab culture is absolutely equal to Jewish culture?

So can we really do both? Can we try to give genuine opportunity and equality to Arabs, stamp out Racism and bigotry and separation? Or, if we wish to remain a Jewish society will we only go so far? After all, the American model created genuine equality, embraced multi-ethnic marriage, dreamed of an American president. Do we? I think not! The American model took 100 years. (Did you hear Obama as he spoke in his victory speech about Ann Nixon-Cooper, the 106 yr old lady?) Do we have 50 years?

But if we don't do that, are we destined to a future of soldiers taunting Arabs?

How does an Israeli-Arab feel when we talk about the Arab birthrate as a "demographic threat" to the existence of the Jewish state. Would they be wrong to imply that we effectively resent every arab baby born! Is that Racism? - even left wing MK's talk that way.

Neither extremes are acceptable. Is the middle ground a possibility? A Jewish state which is still Jewish but absolutely tolerant?

Even European countries after 9/11 and after the bombings in London began to examine whether their Islamic minorities were a threat to the hegemony and tradition of their cultural heritages. On the one hand is equality, tolerance and multiculturalism. On the other hand is the right of a country to continue to exist - culturally - as its majority population wish it to exist. In many European countries, the very raising of the question was so controversial that it simply could not be discussed. But I feel that this is what we are facing.

The calls are growing to giving Arabs full representation in Israel, calls for equality and full acceptance; co-existence, it is called.

Can the Jewish State afford that?

But if we don't are we condemned to a continuation of ugly Racism?

Oy!

UPDATE
I would just like to add a comment here. after I posted this, I realised that despite giving this much thought, there may be some naieve thinking here. after all, I imagine that despite Obama's election, there are still many rascist pockets of American society. Likewise, many Israelis ARE respectful and tolerant, and isolated incidents cannot be brought to prove the rule. And yet despite that, there is a feeling here that Arabs sometimes get the thin end of the wedge.

Much of this has to do with the "conflict". Some say that Israeli arabs will never be able to feel part of Israel nor us Israelis trust them until there is a resolution of the Palestinian conflict. In the meantime we are torn between seeing them as full citizens and seeing them as a fifth column of sorts. They are torn between Israel where they want to live and their Palestinian cousins, and certainly, there is evidencxe of radicalisation amongst Israeli Arabs.

I am not looking to be simplistic here. Once again I reiterate... coming from a Western culture and mindset that celebrates tolerance and equality, the question of how to instill these values and actualise them here in Israel seems far more complex and fraught with difficulty. Sometimes its difficult to even know precisely what we wish to achieve.

Parashat Vayetze: Yaakov Stoned!

Our parsha would appear to have something of a fascination with stones. Yes! You heard correctly! Stones!

Look at the evidence:
1. Yaakov, in response to his night-time epiphany turns the stone from under his head into a monument.
2. Yaakov proceeds to Aram, where there is an entire drama with the stone that covers the well. Yaakov exhibits unusual strength as he removes the weighty stone with ease “like a cork from a bottle.” (Rashi).
3. And then, at the close of our parsha (31:45-6) as Yaakov and Lavan part ways, Yaakov establishes another monument (matzeva.)
4. Yaakov then instigates the collection of stones, more stones to create a pile so large that he and Lavan can eat upon this artificial “hill!” This mound becomes a monumental symbol, a sign of their eternal separation.

Later in the Yaakov story, we hear of more stones:

5. The stone that he establishes on his return to Beit El (35:14) which would appear to have some sacrificial relevance.
6. and, the Matzeva on Rachel’s grave (35:20) … again mentioned three times in a single passuk. (We have never seen a monument or column/pillar on a person’s burial-place up to this point in the Torah.)

Rabbi Dr. Josh Berman wrote an article many years ago connecting the significance of Jacob’s FOUR matzevot. He suggested that the original Matzeva replicates or animates the dream: The ladder mutzav artza – placed firmly in the ground – with its head “rosha” reaching heaven. Hence Yaakov sets up (VaYatzev) a vertical column and pours oil “Al Rosha” on its head.

The ingredients of the dream are:
1. Yaakov's covenantal status
2. God will protect him
3. God will return him to Eretz Yisrael.

Hence:
1. At separation from Lavan, he sets up a Matzeva to recognise God's protection
2. At Beit El, he has been returned to the land.
3. Rachel's death marks the birth of his 12th son which he marks with a matzeva recognising God's granting him offspring and his covenantal status.

And even if this is correct (it is a pretty good theory!) it does not explain the other stones.

What is it with Yaakov and stones?

Ideas in the comments please?

The G-dcast.com

More Torah cartoons at www.g-dcast.com

I think that cartoons are an incredible medium for education. This video is full of Midrashim and I am unsure that I buy the precise message, and yet, I love the feel, the mood, the energy. A welcome addition to the weekly parashat Hashavua

I'm Speechless! Golan For Nothing!

I have already voiced my thoughts (link) on talks with syria. But I was speechless as I read this article in today's Haaretz (link):

WASHINGTON - U.S. President George Bush believes that Israel is offering Syria the Golan Heights without getting anything in exchange, according to sources briefed on his White House meeting with Prime Minister Ehud Olmert last week.

After Olmert updated Bush on Israel's indirect talks with Syrian President Bashar Assad, the U.S. president demanded, "Why do you want to give Assad the Golan for nothing?" the sources said. "It's not for nothing,"
Olmert insisted. "It's in exchange for a change in the region's strategic alignment."
Bush persisted: "Why should you believe him?"
And to that, Olmert did not reply.

... If Bush can see it, then how can the Israeli Govt. not see the stupidity of this offer?

Hidden Miracles, Arks and Israel

According to Sefer Bereshit, Noah's Ark was a vessel that managed to hold all the animal kingdom for virtually a year! The logistics are mind-boggling. Never mind the fact that animals need room to move, that rabbits breed like ... rabbits (maybe male and female animals were seperated?) and the food that would be needed to feed them (and how about the carnivores... what did they eat?)... never mind all that (!) ... How did they all fit into a box that was:

300 cubits x 50 cubits (3 floors!) in other words 150 metre (450ft.) by 25 metre (75ft) on THREE floors.

Not very big. (Just visit your local zoo!)

Ramban asks the question (6:19) and he has this to say:

"It was a miracle that a small space contained a large volume. And if you will then say, well he could have constructed a smaller one and relied upon this miracle! (i.e. if the Ark can contain everything by basis of miracles, then just make a smaller Ark and by miracle, it will all fit in.)
God saw fit to make it large so that the people of that era would see it and be amazed by its size and it would be a conversation point... maybe they would repent.
Moreover, they made it large in order to minimise the miracle for that is the manner of all miracles in the Torah and Neviim that man does what he can..."

In other words, the 2nd explanation says that EVEN when God makes a miracle, he tries to make it look natural. Moreover, man has to do his part and God will make the miraculous appear natural.

This of course has many applications, but recently we were talking about Medinat Yisrael and mashiach and the fact that the RAmbam sees Mashiach politically and that for Rambam (Hil. Melachim ch.12) the Messianic Era is defined by Jewish Independence. Have we experienced miracle in our generations, miracles in the guise of natural, military, political events? Have we failed to understand that man HAs to do his part and then even God's miracle will not slap us in the face, but will be clothed in the natural human order?

Global Financial Crisi and Our Values

Everyone is talking about the Global Financial Crisis. But it didn't come from nowhere. It comes from a consumer credit culture, a materialistic have-it-all culture. But is anyone talking about that? After the bailout plan, and after the new regulatory system, we will go back to supersized executive slaries and the traders will get back into their Porsches on the way to the gold course! Is anyone looking to examine the core values here?

Well I found someone who is! This is in todays Times - a little preachy, but nonetheless good to hear a moral voice in the madness. (link)

Here is the article:



From The Times. October 30, 2008 .
Ben Okri

The crisis affecting the economy is a crisis of our civilisation. The values that we hold dear are the very same that got us to this point. The meltdown in the economy is a harsh metaphor of the meltdown of some of our value systems. A house is on fire; we see flames coming through the windows on the second floor and we think that that is where the fire is raging. In fact it is raging elsewhere.

For decades poets and artists have been crying in the wilderness about the wasteland, the debacle, the apocalypse. But apparent economic triumph has deafened us to these warnings. Now it is necessary to look at this crisis as a symptom of things gone wrong in our culture.

Individualism has been raised almost to a religion, appearance made more important than substance. Success justifies greed, and greed justifies indifference to fellow human beings. We thought that our actions affected only our own sphere but the way that appalling decisions made in America have set off a domino effect makes it necessary to bring new ideas to the forefront of our civilisation. The most important is that we are more connected than we suspected. A visible and invisible mesh links economies and cultures around the globe to the great military and economic centres.

The only hope lies in a fundamental re-examination of the values that we have lived by in the past 30 years. It wouldn't do just to improve the banking system - we need to redesign the whole edifice.

There ought to be great cries in the land, great anger. But there is a strange silence. Why? Because we are all implicated. We have drifted to this dark unacceptable place together. We took the success of our economy as proof of the rightness of its underlying philosophy. We are now at a crossroad. Our future depends not on whether we get through this, but on how deeply and truthfully we examine its causes.

I strayed into the oldest church in Cheltenham not long ago and, with no intention in mind, opened the Bible. The passage that met my eyes was from Genesis, about Joseph and the seven lean years of famine. Something struck me in that passage. It was the tranquillity of its writing, the absence of hysteria.

They got through because someone had a vision before the event. What we need now more than ever is a vision beyond the event, a vision of renewal.

As one looks over the landscape of contemporary events, one thing becomes very striking. The people to whom we have delegated decision-making in economic matters cannot be unaware of the consequences. Those whose decisions have led to the economic collapse reveal to us how profoundly lacking in vision they were. This is not surprising. These were never people of vision. They are capable of making decisions in the economic sphere, but how these decisions relate to the wider world was never part of their mental make-up. This is a great flaw of our world.

To whom do we turn for guidance in our modern world? Teachers have had their scope limited by the prevailing fashions of education. Artists have become more appreciated for scandal than for important revelations about our lives. Writers are entertainers, provocateurs or- if truly serious - more or less ignored. The Church speaks with a broken voice. Politicians are more guided by polls than by vision. We have disembowelled our oracles. Anybody who claims to have something to say is immediately suspect.

So now that we have taken a blowtorch to the idea of sages, guides, bards, holy fools, seers, what is left in our cultural landscape? Scientific rationality has proved inadequate to the unpredictabilities of the times. It is enlightening that the Pharoah would not have saved Egypt from its seven lean years with the best economic advisers to hand.

This is where we step out into a new space. What is most missing in the landscape of our times is the sustaining power of myths that we can live by.

If we need a new vision for our times, what might it be? A vision that arises from necessity or one that orientates us towards a new future? I favour the latter. It is too late to react only from necessity. One of our much neglected qualities is our creative ability to reshape our world. Our planet is under threat. We need a new one-planet thinking.

We must bring back into society a deeper sense of the purpose of living. The unhappiness in so many lives ought to tell us that success alone is not enough. Material success has brought us to a strange spiritual and moral bankruptcy.

If we look at alcoholism rates, suicide rates and our sensation addiction, we must conclude that this banishment of higher things from the garden has not been a success. The more the society has succeeded, the more its heart has failed.

Everywhere parents are puzzled as to what to do with their children. Everywhere the children are puzzled as to what to do with themselves. The question everywhere is, you get your success and then what?

We need a new social consciousness. The poor and the hungry need to be the focus of our economic and social responsibility.

Every society has a legend about a treasure that is lost. The message of the Fisher King is as true now as ever. Find the grail that was lost. Find the values that were so crucial to the birth of our civilisation, but were lost in the intoxication of its triumphs.

We can enter a new future only by reconnecting what is best in us, and adapting it to our times. Education ought to be more global; we need to restore the pre-eminence of character over show, and wisdom over cleverness. We need to be more a people of the world.

All great cultures renew themselves by accepting the challenges of their times, and, like the biblical David, forge their vision and courage in the secret laboratory of the wild, wrestling with their demons, and perfecting their character. We must transform ourselves or perish.

Of Park Britania and Batei Galicia!

So Chol Hamoed is drawing to a close. Of course, being good Israelis, we have spent our Chol Hamoed time on Tiyulim and travelling the country.

I had an interesting thought as we were driving into Park Brittania the other day on our way to a great hike. Park Brittania is a huge nature area, a National Park near Beit Shemesh. It is called by the name of Brittania a.k.a. Britain as its upkeep and development were funded by British JNF. Similarly there is the Canada Park and American Park etc. Each of these National Parks are funded by a different community abroad.

and I was suddenly struck as to how ironic this was.

In the era before modern Zionism, the community in Eretz Yisrael, certainly the Ashkenazic community, subsisted primarily from the Chalukka. This meant that Jewish communities in Europe each donated money to support Talmidei Chacchamim studying in the Holy City of Jerusalem. Money was collected for the kollel/community/Beit Midrash and it was named after that European community. The community in Jerusalem fulfilled their responsibility by learning Torah, not working, and thereby gave special zechut to their funders around the world. The people frequently lived in abject poverty only receiivng a meagre stipend from the funds that were raised in Europe. Hence in Jerusalem, we may find Batei Galicia, Batei Ungarin (Hungary,) and so forth.

The "Zionists" looked at this practice with great disdain as they viewed the Jewish existence in which one experienced poverty, reliance on funds of others , without any productive national enterprise other than Limmud Torah as a pathetic, sick, parasitic mode of living.

And yet, in a hugely ironic twist, we have a similar Challuka going on. Only now, the funders do not fund Torah study! They fund planting forests and building recreation areas and the creation of National Parks as they "redeem" the landscape of Israel. Now instead of Batei Ungarin, we have Park Brittania!

This is simply a secularisation of the entire Challukah concept! Is it more worthy, more honorable? Do diaspora Jews have such a desire to give that this is a good thing connecting people to Israel? Should Israel be more self-reliant? Is this a national indignity or a wonderful tool to keep Jews around the world connected to Eretz Yisrael?

But it is interesting how the Zionist movement simply poached the idea!

Controversial Hakhel

Hakhel should be a mass gathering of the entire nation. Unfortunately, in yet another example of the current tension between Haredi and Zionist elements in the Rabbanut, it appears that there will be TWO ceremonies this year.

see here

Being Thankful

After taking a summer break, I am back. Thanks to all of you who said they missed the blog. Blogging is quite a burden when you commit yourself to posting multiple times a week. I have decided to go for a monthly post. And if something comes up in the middle, maybe I'll post about that too :-)

This month, I want to talk about being thankful. If a can use a cue from the Parsha, it is this week that we read the verse:

ואכלת ושבעת וברכת את ה' אלוקיך על הארץ הטובה אשר נתן לך

This is the passuk that tells us to say Birkhat Hamazon. But look at the context in Devarim ch.8! - It is all about taking nothing for granted. It is about realising that our good fortune is a blessing and that we shouldn't just live our lives forgetting to reflect upon the goodness that we have - our homes, our livelihood, even our food and clothing. No! We should activate our brains to connect those things to the Source of everything i.e. God.

I have always connected deeply to the notion of blessings. I have always felt taht brachot - made on food, new acquisitions, smell, scenery, lightning, thunder, the sea, the Queen, and what have you - they bring God into our lives in a very tangible way. A blessing is an opportunity to recognise God in the small things and to spiritualise even the most mundane moments.

But actually many of those moments are not mundane. Thunder and lightening are an awe inspiring experience. Experiencing new fruits when you watch them grow, is a real exciting feeling of renewal and the force of nature. Brachot allow us to capture emotions.

For example when the Talmud and Shulchan Aruch tell us that when we see a special friend, we accompany our delight at seeing them with a Birkhat Shehecheyanu. The intense emotion of friendship is channeled and heightened by the recital of the bracha.

I guess I am saying a few things:
1. That brachot help us stop and appreciate life
2. That they allow us to see God in the mundane physical world
3. That they are frequently (esp. Birkhot Hashevach) a way of giving expression to a heightened emotional experience.

And Birkhat Hamazon daily should help us appreciate our lives, our livelihood, our food and our country.

I once read a beautiful "Vort" by one of the Chassidishe Rebbes. (It was in a small book - Way of Man(?)- by Buber.) When Avraham feeds the 3 "men" who visit him - we know they were angels - it writes:
והוא עומד עליהם תחת העץ ויאכלו
And the question is, how can Abraham - a mere human - stand "above" the angels?

The answer is that in eating we stand above the angels. Angels are spiritual an disconnected with physical living. But with a bracha, with kashrut, with netilat yadayim, we can spiritualise the physical act of eating. But it is more than that.

When you think of a bracha, it is a very simple formulation. It essentially is a recognistion, a tribute that the goodness (or bad) of my life is from God. That is powerful.

First we have to see goodness. Then we have to know where it is from. Then we have to say thank you.
and when we say thank you and express appreciation, we become richer people. Berachot force us into this excercise.

My Rabbi (Rav Rimon) once spoke about an exercise that he recommended for families. He had noticed that his kids were arguing and acting a little selfish. He decided that before they each went to bed, they would say something nice that each family member had done to them that day. Very oson they were more appreciative and less accusatory.
(Now of course, when I tried this at home, it totally failed. The first kid refused to acknowledge that any of his siblings had been nice in any way that day! A total failure!)

My point is that when we acknowledge that there is good in our lives, and we appreciate it and express that, then we train our mind to be appreciative. We appreciate rather than accuse. We focus on the good rather than the annoying and bad. We live in a world which pursues more, which convinces us that we don't have enough, that others have more, that we are miserable because we lack so much. Advertising convinces us about all the things taht we "need" - that we don't need. And the feeling that we are needy makes us depressed. But in truth our society has so much. We are so fortunate. When we list our blessings, we begin to realise how much we do have. And then we become happier as we count our blessings and our good fortune for every little luxury and necessity that we benefit from.

Taking a Break

To all my happy readers.

I'm taking a break from blogging at the moment. Lots of reasons....
I'm busy with many other projects (Thank God) with little time to blog.
In addition, after two years of this project, it may just be time to move along.
I also have my Melachim Blog to complete (link).
I am also planning to put up a website with all my parsha shiurim (at long last!)

Anyhow, I am taking a summer break, and will decide in the Fall, whether to resume the blog. Please be in touch, and check back around the Chagim/ mid-September for an update.


Shalom!
Alex

Flags - Jerusalem / Tel Aviv

Two Parades took place this week. On Monday, Yom Yerushalayim. On Friday, the Gay Pride Parade in Tel Aviv!
Hmmm!

Why We Stay Awake on Shavuot.

I love this piece from Michael Rosenak (from his article, "The Mitzvot, The Messiah and The Territories", Tradition Spring 1969.)

The Torah is both a yoke and a joy. Shavuot is the day of the giving, more than of the accepting of the Torah, and we celebrate this festival with a wearying all-night vigil of study. Mount Sinai was raised over our heads and we were offered the choice of death or submission. For the Jewish people there is thus no life without it, but our history records how difficult we found it to live with the Torah. From the days in the desert when our forefathers nostalgically recalled the fish that they ate free in Egypt “free of mitzvot,” explains the Sifre, until the various movements of assimilation of our day, we encounter, again and again, the desire of Jews to be freed from the burden of their Jewish tasks. For the Torah is an ever-present task; it makes immediate demands at every moment of our lives, never relaxing its hold — and we are often sorely tempted to seek meaning in nostalgic romanticisms of the past or in future utopias (such as those of our revolutionary assimilationists) rather than in the present situation which demands, first and foremost, not the dream but the halakhah.

And yet, even while it is a burden, the Torah is a joy and a light. Once we bind ourselves to it wholly, it brings the eternal and Divine into our everyday existence. Through the Torah, we find the spiritual stamina to perform prosaic tasks unprosaically. In the knowledge that God is to be found and obeyed in the everyday, the routine becomes sacred. When we live by the mitzvot, we realize that we have been blessed with a Torah of truth, through which everlasting life has been planted in our midst. This is the Torah that was given as though today, to give meaning and a redemptive quality to today’s act. And then we recall that the Torah was not only imposed upon but also freely accepted by our forefathers and that the covenant was made not with our fathers alone but with each of us who is alive this day. And having realized this, we make God’s Torah our own, never tiring of constant repetition, rejoicing on Simkhat Torah that we are privileged to begin it anew at the moment we have completed it.

Podcasts on Bamidbar

I am currently recording a weekly parsha Podcast for the VBM's KMTT. I will be teaching Sefer Bamidbar.

You can access the weekly shiur here (link).

Whose Torah is it Anyway?

Yesterday at Yeshivat Eretz Hatzvi, I taught the following Midrash to my Jewish Philosophy class. I thought it would be interesting to share it on the blog especially in the lead-up to Shavuot. It is quite an incredible story as found in Vayikra Rabba 9:3:

"Rabbi Yannai
was on a walk and met a man who looked very elegant. Yannai said, "Would you
please accept my hospitality and come to my house?" The man replied, "Yes," and Yannai brought him
into his home and gave him food and drink.

As they were eating
and drinking together, Yannai tested the man in his knowledge of Talmud, and
found that he had none. He tested him in Aggada, in Mishnah and Bible, and in all these areas the man
knew nothing.

Then Rabbi Yannai asked the man to
recite grace after the meal, and the man answered, "Let Yannai recite grace in his
own home."

Seeing that the man could not even recite a
blessing, Yannai
asked him, "Can you repeat what I say to you?" "Yes" answered the man. And Yannai said, "Repeat these
words: 'A dog has eaten of Yannai's bread.' "

Offended, the
man stood up, grabbed Rabbi Yannai andexclaimed: "You have my inheritance, which you
are withholding from me!"
Puzzled, Yannai asked, "What inheritance of yours do I have?"

The man replied, "Once I passed by a school, and heard
the voices of the schoolchildren saying, 'Torah Tziva Lanu Moshe - Moses gave us the Torah, Morasha Kehillath Yaakov - the inheritance
of the congregation of Jacob' (Deuteronomy 33:4). - It is not written 'the
inheritance of the congregation of Yannai,' but the 'congregation of Jacob' -- which
means all the Jewish people."
To this, Yannai said, "And what is your merit?" The man
answered, "I have never in my life repeated gossip, nor have I ever seen two
persons quarrelling without making peace between them."
And Rabbi Yannai said, "Woe is
me, that I should have called you dog, when you are such an ethical person!"

Yannai is one of the early Amoraim, a Talmid of Rabbi Yehuda Hanaasi and an aristocrat. He was a man who was apparently on the lookout for fellow scholars and seeing an honourably dressed gentleman in the street, he assumed that he was a Talmid Chacham. He probably wanted to discover a new perspective from a scholar who had a different tradition than his own. Sitting around the table engaging in scholarly conversation, Yannai discovers to his dismay that the man is absolutely ignorant. It would appear that his dinner guest is not really a partner in conversation at all!

However the man proves to be more than a match for Yannai. Not only would he seem to be quite a Tzaddik in matters "bein Adam Lechavero," he teaches Yannai a vital lesson. This focuses back upon a reading of a passuk. After the man has been insulted and rejected by Yannai, he insists that Yannai has his "inheritance." After all , Yannai, the Talmid Chacham , has Torah, which rightfully "belongs" to every Jew. "How dare you" the man tells Yannai, "look down at me! You have a duty to restore my inheritance to me! If I am ignorant, then you should be teaching me, not distancing yourself from me nor mocking me!"

In the perspective presented by this Midrash, there is a sense that the Talmid Chacham is in some manner beholden to share his Torah, obligated to pass it on to others; certainly never to withhold it from another Jew. The focus then of "Morasha" is the sense of ownership of Torah, by ALL Jews – Kehillat Yaakov - of all walks of life and all backgrounds and abilities.

And certainly, this is a challenge in the contemporary Orthodox world. How much are we caught up in our own enclaves, our institutions with "enough problems of our own"? Do people who are less observant of Torah and Mitzvot feel comfortable in our shuls and Batei Midrash? To what degree do we welcome people who are outside the fold, the unaffiliated, the people with whom we disagree with ideologically? If our Torah is Emet, true, enriching, compelling, then what attempts are we making to restore the inheritance to other Jews? Or are we too insecure, too complacent, too lazy, to happy with our cosy communities where pretty much, everyone is like me?

I say all this because it is on my mind. I have recently started a new job at Pardes. Pardes describes itself as non-denominational. And yet it is a place that exemplifies Ahavat Torah and Ahavat Yisrael, serious learning and deep tolerance and respect for all. The students you find there would be unlikely to walk into a standard Yeshiva, Midrasha or Orthodox Beit Midrash. Some do not share the assumptions or lifestyle of the standard Orthodox community. I may not agree with their life choices. But when I teach Torah - which I teach there as in any other place - I am teaching Jews who could otherwise be excluded from serious Torah learning. Jews meet there with a sense that they are not being spoken down to, that they are fully respected. and only because they are truly respected, are they happy to engage rigorously in Limmud Torah, reclaiming their inheritance. Sometimes a feel that Pardes takes me out of my cosy safety homogeneous zone and brings into an encounter, over Tanach and Gemara - with other Jews. And sometimes it is unnerving because they take the Torah that I teach and absorb it, digest it, from their perspective, from their set of values. But it is exhilarating too, because after all, it is their inheritance, and how can I not share it with them.

But only too often I delight to find that, just as in this story, my students have much to give me. Their middot tovot, many virtues and insights, acts of kindness, their Jewish activism, their deep love for Israel, can always contribute a page to my thinking, my Torah U'Mitzvot.

The Jordan Valley Canal

See this interesting video (link)

Shimon Peres has been touting this project for a while. Now billionaire Yitzhak Tshuva is supporting it. What do you think of it?

Some believe that it will solve the erosion of the Dead Sea.

Others believe that it will destroy the Dead Sea.

It will most certainly open up the Arava area and the Negev in general to any new options.

I know that some ecologists are opposed but is there a better way to solve the Dead Sea and to develop new areas for Israelis to live in. We desperately need to attract people to the Negev. Maybe this will help?