For a few hours this morning until early afternoon, while it was still 29 Tishrei, I attended R' Sprecher's class once again with my husband and the guys - my last opportunity for a while. This time I audio-recorded a study filled with marvelous hiddushim (revelations based on text within the written Torah) and commentary. Some of the highlights:
How are angels created and what role do they play? You make the call!
What does Qayin (Cain)'s grandson Lemech's speech to his wives Ada and Zillah, almost 6,000 years ago, have to do with today?
The deeper meaning of the name Hava and her real mission (easily applicable to this blog)!
What did the movie Ghost get right about death and dying?
R' Sprecher discusses an event that came before the current wave of intifada-style terrorism in Israel...let's just say he believes it isn't a coincidence.
I hope my dear readers have had a good and worthwhile Chag season, and that you have had a good signing into the Book of Life.
Before all the bloody murder* ratcheted up again here in Israel — it never stopped and has not stopped even as I write — I was going to compose this post. I was, and remain, impressed by the powerful insight concerning sinath hinam (free-floating hatred between Jews) I found on the Jewish End of Days blog's post Avoiding the Tsunami of Edom vs. Paras:
The Yerushalmi [Jerusalem Talmud -CDG] says the Second Temple was destroyed because Jews love money and hate each other for no reason.
Love money – intoxication with wealth and the wealthy.
Hate each other for no reason – seeing a sin in somebody else that doesn’t exist.
...
Hashem is not asking us for ahavat hinam. He’s not asking us for v’ehavata l’recha c’mocha – that’s way too high a level. He’s not even asking us not to hate somebody if we have good reason to hate them. HaShem’s just asking us not to hate each other for no reason! A very low bar indeed!!
This is the tshuva the Jews need to do to get out of Exile. Don’t love money. Don’t hate another Jew for no reason.
If what I experience is anywhere near normative, we Jews are obsessed with this subject when it comes to the reason our exile continues. Many shiurim include it; or else I find myself discussing this topic with others on a regular basis, yet every year we seem to get no further than when we started, thus necessitating another round of shiurim and discussion. Do you think that with the above explanation we could finally get closer to resolution of this longest-standing issue in the Jewish world?
I do, and now I would like to focus on a few important issues. We need more unity, not less, than ever exactly now that we are more under attack than ever. However, there are some Jews whose mission in life seems to be to destroy us, and we need to have the assurance that we are in the right when we decide we just cannot include them; even more so when we find ourselves on opposite sides.
For instance: When soldiers were ordered to stand by while Arabs freely attacked Jews in the Shomron (Samaria) yesterday. We are told not to stand idly by our brother's blood. I cannot understand why our government would have able-bodied soldiers do nothing unless ordered. Lives were at stake! And who made these decisions? Jews in the government. How am I supposed to feel about them and what they are doing? How would you feel if this were your situation?
Here's an example of "racism" against settlers. If the cinder block attack Josh Hasten, Jerusalem Post reporter, describes here had happened near Tel Aviv, you bet a much speedier response would have been ordered. Thanks to Yaffa Ranells.
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu visits Adele Bennett in the hospital, after she was told "Die!" by Arabs as she ran for safety after being stabbed in her neck. English subtitles.
In any case, I have a lot to discuss with my rabbi. This could be the paradigm shift we need as to how we think about ourselves, and each other. Right now we can't think about the rest of the world. They will have to wait.
There is only One we can rely on no matter what. We do not have the option, nor do we want it, to commit suicide, either national or personal. And in case you are thinking, "Why don't you just leave there and go back where you came from?" I say to you: This is our land and I'm not going anywhere. Rashi told us how to answer that, commenting on Bereshith 1:1: G-d created the world and gave it out to whomever He wished; He took it from the seven nations who lived here previously and gave it to us. Me and mine included (in my own words). We are not thieves. Only a scoundrel would suggest such a thing.
Banishing Jews from their homes in Samaria, no matter whether you think they should be there or not, while war is waging is a luxury we cannot afford; so is barring Israeli Jewish government officialsfrom the Temple Mount, and so many other things large and small. Must we continue acting as though the barriers between us are real? The lion's share of the issues is exile-generated; and, whether we caused whatever issue in question to come forth or not, the nations have egged us on and encouraged all sorts of divisions and quagmires among us. Therefore, we must throw it all out the proverbial window. However we live now, we must not continue to hold it against another Jew who does things differently than we do and base our arguments on it. Any remaining disagreements between Jews must be
as private as possible (making allowances for times and situations when privacy is impossible because public figures are involved)
be based on actions that endanger us all, and nothing less
for the purpose of solving problems, many of which have proved intractable thus far.
Above all, we must look out for one another as much as possible, and take no abuse, whether speech or action, from anybody. Even other Jews. Especially those known for such abuse.
I hope this helps, even a little. I'm sure there is more, but this will have to do for now.
Now, I must turn to the Israeli government again because they are the most public of figures, and in Israel many of its members are well-known for their abuse of fellow Jews.
No Entry for Israelis sign within Israel, meant for Jews only.
Credit: ukmediawatch.org.
For starters, we, the citizenry of Israel, must not be made to be afraid to walk anywhere, live anywhere, and work anywhere within our borders that we wish: no "no-go zones" for Jewish Israelis. After all, any nation, including ours, must have a well-run government with proper priorities: If Arabs and Muslims have no "no-go zones," why should we?
It also made no sense to me as a 12-year old sometime after the 6-Day War that a Jew still could not walk in territory that we had rescued from the hands of our enemies, even though they started the fight and we won it fair and square.
Another: If the government divides Jew from Jew, as is the leftist philosophy, and hates some Jews more than our enemies, then how can the nation survive? I used to think that racism, for instance, didn't exist in Israel, and that they didn't even know what it is. In fact, Israelis think of racism in broader terms than Americans —from whence came the concept — do, and include more in the definition in that nasty word we share. The generalization of selected portions of the citizenry (as explained by Daniel Greenfield, aka Sultan Knish, who explains Israeli leftist racism better than I ever could, below) is rampant and comes from the top down; in other words, from the government itself. What I found reminds me of nothing less than what minorities in the USA often suffer at their own hands. Except, in the Israeli case one can hardly distinguish it from real white-on-black bigotry:
The left spitefully alienated every immigrant group from Holocaust survivors
to Middle Eastern Jews to Russian Jews. It also had slurs for each of them. The
Holocaust survivors were called 'Sabon' (soap) and the Middle Eastern refugees
were called 'Chakhchakhim'. That particular slur at an election rally cost
Peres and Labor the 1981 election. Another slur at an election rally now hurt
the left and boosted Netanyahu. But if you ask the left why it lost, it will
blame Israeli racism.
The Israeli left slurred Middle Eastern Jews as "primitives" and
used them as cheap labor to maintain the Kibbutz collectivist lifestyle until
they stood up for themselves and the experiment in 'equality' ended. It slurred
Russian immigrants as "prostitutes", Settlers in '67 Israel as
"bloodsuckers" and Ultra-Orthodox as "parasites".
And that's just the words. The actions have been worse in some cases, and explain why settlement building, even for natural growth, gets held up constantly in Judea and Samaria, Mizrahim are often left in poor development towns and more. I could take this and develop it, if desired. It is a large subject deserving its own post.
And can you believe they actually targeted HOLOCAUST SURVIVORS??? How can a Jewish society put up with such heavy, life-destroying hammering on fellow Jews by their own leadership and still survive? From my experience, we ignore them and go on with our own lives. They're lucky we're blessed with abundance of patience. HaShem has also paid us back by making us, in general, more fertile than they. We also have hope that when Mashiach comes, they will get their just desserts.
They have apparently forgotten that many people among the groups they mock are every bit as Ashkenazic as they themselves are. No wonder we call them "self-hating" as well as "erev rav." And if you want more insight, read this by Seth J. Frantzman (warning: your brain might get twisted up reading it).
Yet another that affected me personally: For most of my life I was afraid I would be intimidated by the "Israeli mentality" when I made aliyah, being apprehensive enough by my galut environment as it was. After many years of working on myself to stop being overawed and overwhelmed by the goyim, and afraid to even visit Israel, much less live here, I came — and I realized that through the years we have allowed ourselves, from the government on down, to be beaten down by our so-called friends, the US and the European Union, to the point that we have become absolute suckers, freierim muhlatim, absorbing the message that even our country is not ours, and being deathly afraid to offend the nations. There is no "New Jew" who is somehow better than the religious Jews in Europe and Arabia, or Jews in the United States, whether religious or not. If he ever existed, he folded the first time the nations said "NO! You're not allowed to win!"
Plenty of brave Jews serve in the Israeli armed forces. But let's face the fact that any attempt to create a purely fearless Jew straight from exile with no faith in G-d and our mission in the world has completely failed, especially when given orders to hold fire when it is absolutely needed and submit to increasingly untenable standards of "moral purity of arms." We must also resolve to forbid ourselves to listen to such nonsense as "if we give the Arabs among us more rights, more land, pay their bills, more...and more..., they will leave us alone." No, they won't. They'll keep going until the last Jew is dead as long as we let them. By the time this phase of the war reaches the rich suburbs surrounding Tel Aviv, it will be too late. Let the bravest Jews be brave: They know that G-d is with them, and they are with Him. Just ask Gid'on ben Yoash (beginning Shofetim 6).
And let the government choose its direction, whether for G-d or against Him; for the Jewish people or against us. As you can see, there are very good reasons to hate what people do, even if they're one of your group. If one persists in his/her actions and resists repeated rebuke and s/he keeps informing some dictatorial authority or putting us in jail for our every thought, then according to the Talmud above, we can hate him/her, or even a whole group of them (but I am trying not to dwell on it all the time unless we hear too much bad news and I can do something about it. It's very energy-draining.).And don't ask me to apologize, because only when I am sure my people and I will not perish from the overdose of hesed poured out on everyone else but us, will I even be able to think straight again.
G-d, help me. Abba, help us all!
Let Eliyahu start making his rounds; let the true Sanhedrin rise up and govern; and let Mashiach come and be crowned. Time for a paradigm shift. Ready or not, here it comes...
But, don't ask me when. It can't come fast enough for me!
P.S. It would be more beneficial, lifesaving and freeing If we can manage to transform our hatred of all things evil (as well as people) with our prayers to haQadosh Baruch Hu... I am there with you.
It may well be that Yitzhak's merit in spending his entire life here on orders from haShem is what justifies our return to Zion and gives place to the geulah process happening at this very moment. Why? Because his traits, as discussed in my previous post and more, are the ones that have kept us going through the millennia and are the ones we need the most right now. He also obeyed HaShem never to leave Eretz Yisrael, even through some very tough times.
Fortunately for us, he completed his task on earth quite thoroughly. No, he was not perfect. Everyone knows the story: He was fooled by his son Esav’s blandishments enough to want to give him the blessing of the first born. However, he was wise enough to realize that Ya’aqov possessed the ability to apply gevurah (take the blessing, upon Rivkah's urging) when necessary along with hesed (lovingkindness, compassion) as appropriate to a given situation. In Kabbala this combination of characteristics is called Tiferet, Beauty, which is Ya’aqov Avinu’s trademark. But, here’s the catch: For the children of Ya’aqov to restore and retain this balance requires that we go through Yitzhak. Avraham's hesed alone is insufficient, and we need a whole lot of gevurah now.
In our day official Israel loves to (at least appear to) emulate Avraham Avinu by giving kindness and compassion to the minorities here, even though the latter compete with each other as to who will damage the Jewish people the most. I say ‘appearance’ because officials have proven quite capable of using gevurah on their fellow Jews, particularly approving draconian measures to those only accused of crimes even though they haven't been convicted.
The government is beginning to react now. I do not expect our government to read this blog, let alone take any real action to proactively deal with problems like Arab-generated terrorism. I am told that the police, as well as the army, want to take more action than they are allowed, and they know that law enforcement personnel in other parts of the world are not as constrained as they; furthermore, the military and police functions are better separated. But the results are clear tonight, as Arabs attack Jews with more and more impunity since they succeeded in murdering a mother and father in front of their young children just a couple of days ago. See how the Israeli media reacted to this murder, negatively covering only Jewish reaction to it.
NYC Assemblyman Dov Hikind speaks up about the Henkin murders.
I suggest that those who wonder at the intractability of our problems would benefit from a study of Moshe Rabbeinu and the Mixed Multitude, with Jewish commentary where available. Yitzhak Avinu didn’t have to deal with the Erev Rav, the Jewish enemy within. Especially, go over Sanhedrin 97, where it is hinted that they would rule the nation before Mashiach comes. The government should not wonder why more and more Israelis are hoping and praying for another system to replace it; there is vast room for improvement, which we need, like yesterday!
And by the way, if you pray the Shmoneh Esreh daily, you certainly are praying for change in the Israeli government as well as your own, one way or the other, whether here in Israel or outside her.
My rough translation of the relevant paragraphs, the HaShiva Shoftenu and the LaMinim v'laMalshinim (could have different formulations, depending on nusah; this one is the Eidoth Mizrah as composed by R' Mordekhai Eliyahu, zz"l):
Restore our judges as they were at first, and our counselors as at the beginning, and take away from us grief and groaning, and take kingship over us quickly, You, G-d, alone, with compassion and mercy, with righteousness and law. Blessed are You, Lord our G-d, Who loves justice and [true] law.
Let the heretics and the informers not have hope, and all the evil ones be lost in a moment, and all who hate You be cut off. And let the malicious kingdom quickly be rendered useless, broken, shamed and embarrassed, and overpowered speedily in our days. Blessed are You, Lord our G-d, Who shatters enemies and subjugates heretics.
And that’s just the daily prayers. You should see the ones on Yom Kippur, that we just prayed but a few days ago!
Additionally, only the Creator of the Universe has the right to decide who is a heretic and an enemy, and deal with the likes of these as He pleases; and He has graciously revealed this to His people Israel. Our government members still have a little time left to decide whether to be on His side or against Him, to defend this nation to the death or leave it to die — or be redeemed without them.
Dear reader, do you wonder why I agree with Rav Frand that we need to follow the footsteps of Yitzhak Avinu, why more gevurah is needed, and even beyond that — why Shim'on and Levi's attack on an entire people seems nothing less than appropriate right now? Yitzhak walked away only to press on and finally win. He made no pretense of striving to realize the national aspirations of the Philistines at his family’s (and eventually nation’s) expense, and neither did Shim'on and Levi, when their sister was raped and the whole village said not a word!
Hosha' NA! Hosha' NA! Hosha' NA! Hosha' NA! Hosha' NA! Hosha' NA! Hosha' NA!
Save Us NOW! Save Us NOW! Save Us NOW! Save Us NOW! Save Us NOW!
This post is dedicated l’iluy nishmath Akiva ben Avraham Avinu v’Sarah Imeinu. May his widow and son know no more sorrow, and merit greeting Mashiach with all Am Yisrael.
Yitzhak is represented by the sefirah of gevurah - the essence of judgment, limitation, awe and fire. "It is the restraining might of gevurah which allows one to overcome his enemies, be they from without or from within (his evil inclination)." Wikipedia
Gevurah, the middah of Yitzchak, is about an inner strength. It demands determination and an unwillingness to quit. It takes great strength to get back up again after falling. Tiferet Center
All Jews know that Yitzhak is the second, middle forefather of the Jewish people, the son of Avraham and Sarah. In fact, most Bible readers know this too, whether Jewish or not. It is also known that, as children, Yishma’el was highly jealous of Yitzhak and tried to kill him, pretending it was a game.
So, let’s start this a little further along.
Overview
Of the three avot, Yitzchak is the least well-developed in the Torah. His story spans barely one parshah, in which he shares center stage with and is often eclipsed by the activities of others-- Avraham during the akeidah (binding of Yitzchak); Yaakov, Eisav, and Rivkah in the struggle over the birthright and blessings. Moreover, when we do encounter Yitzchak in the Torah, he emerges as a most enigmatic figure. Occasionally, he exudes majesty and charisma. This is exemplified by his willing participation in the akeidah and by his dramatic first meeting with Rivkah, in which she literally falls off her camel in his presence (Bereishit 24:64). In other contexts, however, Yitzchak appears to be at least partially manipulated by events that swirl around him and his role is almost transitional, the bridge between a father who was the celebrated founder of monotheism and a nation, and a son, Yaakov, whose evident achievements qualified him to bear the name and legacy of "Yisrael". Yet, Yitzchak's status and stature in Biblical literature and religious history is unquestioned, even as his contribution needs to be more fully assessed and understood. Who is Yitzchak really and what is his legacy? Read more...
The Significance of the Rehovoth Well
Many teachers and rabbis perceive Yitzhak as restrained and limited to “mundane affairs” and keeping his father Avraham’s flame alive, doing nothing innovative for himself. But they miss the addition of one well – Rehovoth – to the wells he dug, and the struggle with the other two – Esek and Sitnah – that he went through to get there.
If the wicked king Omri (father of Ahab, who was even more wicked) could be praised and merit kingship for the addition of one city to Israel in First Temple times (Babylonian Talmud, Sanhedrin 102b), surely the idealistic and righteous Yitzhak must be lauded for the addition of one well! Cities get built around wells, if there are no rivers, lakes and other surface-level bodies of water (such as in much of Israel) …we have the city of Rehovoth to this day; and so Yitzhak’s legacy of building up the land of Israel is revealed in modern, pre-Mashiach times.
The Part Israel Plays…for Jews Today
What I find in most commentary on Yitzhak is that it all notes the fact that his life and times take place in Israel, but then appears to shunt it aside, as though it has no meaning at all for the Jewish people today. If, as Rav Frand says, we need to take this progenitor of our nation as our model, then we need to study the aspects of all his actions seriously. Consider whether anything Sarah’s son did would have the same meaning anywhere else in the world, or any meaning at all, for that matter.
What I am about to say relates strongly to R' Frand's advice for beating Yishma'el at his own game. He said,
So, what do we do? How do we defeat this enormously powerful enemy called Yishma’el?...From the time that they were children, Yishmael made it his life’s mission to kill Yitzhak. The Pirkei Eliezer says this...Yishma’el never, ever got over that he was not the chosen son; he never got over that he was not the true heir. He never got over that he was not given any portion, any land. Esav got Har Seir. Klal Yisrael got Eretz Yisrael. Yishma’el was left out in the cold, and he has never gotten over that, and he has never forgiven us, and that is why he wants to wrest Eretz Yisrael from us ad hayom hazeh (until this very day). This goes back all the way to Yitzhak, and that ancient battle continues till today. This not merely a battle about a piece of land called Israel…this is a spiritual battle, this is a cosmic battle that is going on in Himmel, in Shamayim (heaven)... And for us to vanquish Yishma’el, we must adhere to the legacy of our grandfather Yitzhak Avinu more than the way the Arabs and the Bnei Yishma’el and…the adherents of Islam, adhere to their legacy that they got from Yishma’el. That’s what the battle is about, that’s where it’s going to be won. Who is going to be a better grandson of their grandfather? Who’s going to be more makpidon the legacy of their grandfather? We or them? The B’nei Yitzhak or the B’nei Yishma’el? And the more successful, and the more passionately, and the more religiously we adhere to that legacy, we will be successful…who is going to be a better adherent to the traditions of their grandfather. (emphasis mine)
Rav Frand goes on to define the essence of Yitzhak, including two components: Av Avodah (Pillar/Father of Prayer) and Moser Nefesh (Sacrifice of Self – putting one’s self in harm’s way to obtain a worthy goal) – and then points out that Yishma’el is just as good, if not better, than we are at these things. My only question is: As important as proper attire and decorum during prayer are – and of course we should take more care with them than for a job interview! – and as important as standing up to our bosses when it comes to taking off from work when haShem wants us to – where does the legacy of our grandfather regarding Eretz Yisrael fit in? When is each and every Jew, whether we live in Israel or outside – even those who refuse to come home – going to insist on taking back what Yitzhak handed us as an inheritance and a heritage? It might be said that Yishma’el is better than us at this, too. Who controls the Temple Mount, and who moves freely there, doing as they please (certainly not what haShem wants, either from them or from us)? They do. Who allows them to hold that exalted place, while we are not allowed to move our lips, even to drink a glass of water? We do, to our shame.
Yishma’el’s Remorse
Not to mention that Yishma’el, when he matured, repented of his attitude toward Yitzhak: He walked behind his younger brother at their father’s funeral (Bereshith 25:9). As elder brother, he had every right to go first; but because of the written Torah there, we learn that Yishma’el had had a better understanding, and thus a change of heart (Rav Frand teaches us this here, citing Rashi, who bases his commentary on Bava Bathra 16b.). But did his descendants get the message? From our standpoint today, the answer must have been NO; or else, they were as rebellious and lacking proper respect and behavior as Yishma’el had prior to his teshuvah. Therefore, unfortunately for us and for the whole world, in our day we cannot affirm that Yishma’el’s repentance was complete. Therefore, we must not accept his children lording over us, especially in Eretz Yisrael, and most especially, on Har haBayit.
Shame on us if we cannot turn this around because we must take orders from the nations!
WHAT DOES AKEDATH YITZHAK MEAN TO US, IF NOT TO ACTUALIZE HIS PRECIOUS GIFT???
Perhaps haShem’s purpose of deliberately keeping our second Forefather’s story as an adult short and contained in Parashath Toledoth is in some sense prophetic and bears a message for us. We — like Ya’aqov Avinu when he took Esav’s place and the blessing Yitzhak intended for him (the latter having mistaken Esav’s toughness for the strength needed to keep the world going in the correct path, not knowing that his favorite son was a murderer, thief, philanderer, etc…) — need to prove that we have the gevurah, the guts and the emunah to overcome our predicament, to get to the other side of our complete redemption with haShem’s help and oversight.
I propose that we add a new Hebrew phrase to Rav Frand's, to complete the third component of Yitzhak Avinu's legacy discussed here: Our forefather Yitzhak Avinu was Av Bniyath Eretz Yisrael (Pillar of Building Up the Land of Israel) — if for no other reason than because of the Rehovoth well. Let us continue in his path.
Am Yisrael Chai!!!!
May the Jewish nation be blessed during this week of Succoth, and hereafter, forever.
May the Rav’s nephew, Shmuel Aryeh ben Malka Feige, continue to receive a refuah shleimah.
