I have no other country
June 8, 2010 by Steve
by Dana Bar-Zuri
Here I sit as another week begins, and again I am hopeful that this week will be quiet. We ask ourselves the question of whether this “quiet” is relative. Is Israeli “quiet” different to Australian “quiet”? I am sure that it is. The “quiet” that I am searching for is a quiet in the media, and quiet on the war-front, and not the quiet that comes before a storm. This has been the kind of scary “quiet” that I have felt for over a year now, ever since Operation Cast Lead.
For the first time this week, I had a scary thought that managed to prevent me from even resting my eyes as sleep eluded me. Dear community, I am happy to share with you that thought:
I was born in 1980 to a reality that was relatively comfortable, where the State of Israel was already in existence, already alive and kicking. It is true that not everyone felt comfortable with her existence, but the channels of communication were not asking the question that today is so painful to the ear: Does Israel have a right to exist?
Perhaps I am a naïve Israeli who lives in a protective bubble (yeah, yeah, you can laugh that living in Israel is like living in a warm and cozy bubble, where we do not need to deal with anti-Semitic remarks, question our Judaism or worry about the high price of kosher meat!). Perhaps as an Israeli I never heard the quiet voice which was suddenly given a microphone and now can be heard loud and clear in every newspaper (though perhaps not from the Jewish News).
So what happened? When did it all start and who lit the fire? Is it us, the Israelis, who made the mistake of doing what we would not have wanted to be done unto us? Or was it the terrorist organizations, who received weapons, and disguised as noble freedom fighters, managed to rise on top of the bleeding hearted, left-wing wave of nationalism and be embraced by the world with both arms, leaving behind the simple Palestinian - wounded, hungry, unemployed, angry and walking blind like the allegory of Plato’s Cave, looking for knowledge.
Who is to blame?
For even if I could place the blame the thought will not leave me that it is possible that Israel will not exist forever!
Even my parents were born into a reality where every year they would celebrate with drums and dancing, the birthday of the Jewish State, they would continue to praise her very existence, and prime ministers from all over the world, even from this big island, would send their warm wishes and raise their glasses in a toast.
But what will happen if this stops? What will happen the morning after? How are you, my dearest Jewish community, going to comfort us Israelis? How will you comfort those bereaved mothers who lost their sons in vain? Can you really return back to those years when the words “Israel” and “Jerusalem” were uttered with a painful sense of longing and tears? Would you really agree to give up that same country, so far but the only one, that for every Jew holds a little bit of magic, where he can experience a little bit of G-d?
No - I know that you won’t let her lose her way, and you will continue to support her. I know you will shed some light on her way and give her a big hug, even from a 20-hour flight away. But the big question is how and what can you do?
What can you do? Speak! Write! Comment! Shout from the top of your lungs to the sky and back - “I care!” Shout it to whoever is willing to listen, and also to those who are not. Just please , please do not tell me “tomorrow” - “tomorrow I will write” and “tomorrow I will respond” - because in the technological world of today, tomorrow could be irrelevant.
I dedicate the song of Ehud Manor z”l - “I have no other country” - because this country is not just mine, and is not only my responsibility. It is your country too, and the responsibility is yours as well.
I HAVE NO OTHER COUNTRY by Ehud Manor
I have no other country
even if my land is in flame
Just a word in Hebrew
pierces my veins and my soul -
With a painful body, with a hungry heart,
Here is my home.
I will not stay silent
because my country changed her face
I will not give up reminding her
And sing in her ears
until she will open her eyes
I won’t be silent because my country
has changed her face.
I will not give up reminding her
And sing in her ears
until she will open her eyes
With a painful body, with a hungry heart,
Here is my home.
Parshat Hashavua: June 11/12 2010
June 7, 2010 by Steve
Drash on Parshat Korach
Rabbi Gersh Lazarow
The King David School, Armadale, Melbourne, Australia
At the heart of this week’s parsha is the story of the rebellion of Korach. Our modern sensibilities are troubled by this story. What was the grave offense for which Korach and his followers were killed?
At the beginning of the rebellion, Korach says: “You take too much on yourselves; the entire congregation is holy, every one of them, and God is among them. Why do you raise yourselves above the congregation of the Lord?”
Korach sounds as though he’s speaking up because of what appears to be usurping of power on the part of Moses and Aaron. Korach, in fact, sounds as though he’s speaking out on behalf of democracy.
Even Rashi suggests this. Rashi says that Korach’s point, that the entire congregation is holy is because everyone heard the words at Sinai from the mouth of God; God didn’t speak only to the two of you alone, and Rashi brings proof from the text in Exodus noting that not just Moses but ”all the congregation heard” the word of God.
The classical commentator, Ibn Ezra, points out that when Korach charged that Moses and Aaron elevated themselves, he was referring to their positions, the loftiest of possible offices.
None of the commentators say that the accusations of Korach were wrong. They even support Korach’s assertions as to the holiness of the whole congregation, and the high station to which Moses and Aaron were elevated-or seemed to elevate themselves.
So what was Korach’s sin?
Korach violated commandment number ten, the commandment against coveting. Korach and his followers coveted: they were seriously envious of the high positions that Moses and Aaron held.
Many commentators say that the commandment not to covet is only violated when you actually do something wrong. It’s not enough to just think coveting thoughts. So what did Korach do? He just brought up a question, started an argument. Arguing is clearly an OK thing to do. Not just arguing with people, but even arguing with God is OK in Judaism.
To understand what made Korach’s argument a bad thing, we need to turn to the Mishnah. In Pirkei Avot (chapter 5) we learn: “Every argument that is in the name of heaven will be established in the end. And those that are not in the name of heaven will not be established in the end.” What is an argument that is in the name of heaven? The arguments of Hillel and Shammai. And one that is NOT in the name of heaven? This is the argument of Korach and his followers.
Why is Korach’s argument NOT one in the name of heaven? Because he was advancing a selfish cause. He wasn’t protesting because of the injustice to other people. He was protesting because he wanted to inflate his own position. He was jealous.
How do we know that the arguments of Hillel and Shammai are in the name of heaven? The Talmud (Eiruvin 13b) records how for three years there was a dispute running between the schools of Hillel and Shammai. The disciples of Shammai would say, “the halacha, the law, follows our opinion,” and disciples of Hillel would say, “No, the halacha follows OUR opinion.”
After three years of going back and forth with no resolution, a heavenly voice called out, “Eilu v’eilu divrei Elohim chayim, these and those are the words of the living God, (but the halachah is in agreement with the rulings of Beth Hillel).”
What is it that makes both opinions words of God? How can we accomplish this goal of having our words be words of the living God?
In Pirkei Avot Rabbi Yehuda ha Nasi says: “Make your desires, God’s desires, so that God will fulfill your desires as if they were His own. Subjugate your wishes to God’s wishes, so that he will subjugate the wishes of others to yours.”
In other words, if your goal is to do God’s will, God will do what you want!
Next time you find yourself in an argument, or in a situation of some moral ambiguity, pause to ask yourself, “What would God want me to do?” You just may find a way to make your will God’s will, thereby making your argument one that is for the sake of heaven, and avoiding falling into a pit (whether it’s one of God’s making, or one of your own making).
Shabbat shalom.
UPJ Torah from around the world
June 3, 2010 by Steve
ISSUE #16 12 MAY 2010 | 28 IYYAR 5770
on Parshat Shlach Lecha (Numbers 13:1-15:41)
by Rabbi Rich Kirschen, Director, The Anita Saltz International Education Center
of the World Union for Progressive Judaism
Noam Chomsky (who I cannot stand), Elvis Costello (whose music I still like), and now shooting missiles into the Flotilla… What exactly is Israel thinking these days? We need a far more sophisticated response to our detractors…
So we barred the annoying anti-Israel activist Noam Chomsky from entering the West Bank. How in the world did this help us? Not a great move for our “Israel is a democracy” image. Elvis Costello (he is a rock ‘n’ roll singer for those of you younger than 40 and older than 58) has cancelled his show in Israel for this coming summer with the least cogent explanation I have ever heard (something about conscience). I hope he is also canceling his visits to the U.S. as that country has been pretty shabby on its own human rights front with their forces still in Iraq and Afghanistan. And now we have the Flotilla. These are times when Israel needs to articulate a vision of where it is going and to come up with creative and proactive solutions to those who wish to destroy or discredit us at every chance they get. It is not about being Left or Right any more, Israel needs to GET SMART.
I woke up this morning to the radio report about Israel’s Navy shooting missiles into one of the boats of the Flotilla that was making its way to Gaza. A group of “activists” have come into the waters off the Gaza Strip in order to bring in “humanitarian” supplies to the Palestinians living under Hamas rule. Now this is without a doubt a complex subject. First off I will be honest: I have no great love for these people who are running this Flotilla. I don’t trust them. If they cared so much about the Palestinians in Gaza why aren’t they bringing Egypt into the picture? Remember Egypt (not just Israel) is also blockading their Palestinian brothers in Gaza. However when Arabs violate other Arabs’ rights, for some reason it is okay, but when Israel does it, for some reason it is war crimes. And when the United States kills 100,000 Iraqis … well apparently if you sell enough iPhones no one will notice anyway. The IDF has every right to be concerned about what materials are going to be smuggled in along with this humanitarian aid. In the past, Palestinians have used pregnant women in ambulances as a way of smuggling in material for suicide bombers to blow themselves up in Israel, and Hamas’s leadership hid under a hospital during the war in Gaza (so brave), so we know with whom we are dealing. Israel is all too aware that Hamas will use their people and put them in deaths way if they can build their military arsenal or win a publicity victory in the west. And it will not be surprising if we do find weapons.
So here we are once again: the people of Israel at the edge of the desert trying to figure out how to deal with our enemies. This is an age old dilemma that pits mustering up the necessary courage to act against ones enemies and acknowledging when it is simply more prudent to practice restraint. In this week’s Torah portion, Shlach Lecha, we have two stories that specifically relate to these dilemmas. Of course the most famous story is that of the spies: Twelve spies are sent by Moses to scout out the Promised Land and report back on what they have seen. Ten of the spies come back depressed, overwhelmed and in need of Biblical Prozac. They scare everyone and exaggerate the challenges ahead when it comes to dealing with their enemies and break everyone’s spirit. Of course two come back (Joshua and Caleb) with a vision and a belief that “if you will it, it is no dream.”
The story of the spies has always spoken to me. Far too often we have dreams that are crushed before they even get started by those negative spies – both external and, even more important, internal. Moving to Israel six years ago, I felt like I not only read this Parsha… I lived it. We decided to move to Israel when the Second Intifada was still taking place. We made this decision on a practical level (I had a job offer) and with the understanding that on another level, there is always an excuse not to move to Israel. And so with that logic we moved to Israel; had we not, we would still be waiting in the desert today (the two spies were my wife and myself). So we made a “leap of faith” or, as Heschel would have said, a “leap of action.” Unfortunately the response from the Jewish community around us was that of the ten spies. There were apocalyptic forecasts and dire predictions of what would happen to us once we arrived in Israel. Of course when we arrived here, the Israelis said nothing along these lines…they just laughed at us (and so it goes). But that experience of not letting those ten spies detract us is perhaps one of the most powerful experiences in my life. And when I look back I am grateful we had the inner strength to resist the pessimists who said we would never make it to Israel and to those who said we would never make it in Israel.
However there is another story in this week’s Torah portion. After the incident with the spies, God is furious with the Israelites because of their behavior, specifically because of their panicked reaction vis a vis their enemies. So God decrees to the Israelites that they will now have to wander in the desert for 40 years. And more importantly the generation who panicked will in fact die in the desert and never make it to the Promised Land. After this message is revealed, the people of Israel are so upset they want to make amends by now going out to war and fighting these same enemies. In fact they go out and attack the Amalekites and the Canaanites. But Moses tells them, “Do not go up, lest you be routed by your enemies, for the Lord is not in your midst.” (Numbers 14:42). And of course the children of Israel receive a shattering blow from Amalekites and the Canaanites.
Through these two stories, the Torah is teaching us that there are times when we need to take action even if the task before us is frightening. And yet we also need to learn how to restrain ourselves even if we are not scared at all. It is the wrestling match with which we as Jews in the 21st century must continually struggle. We as a people are still not sure where we are when it comes to powerlessness and power. Personally I subscribe to Rabbi Yitz Greenberg who writes, “Jewish powerlessness is absolutely incompatible with Jewish existence. But Jewish power is incompatible with absolute Jewish purity.” Indeed this is a difficult balance for Israel in a very tough neighborhood.
But for a state like Israel that is so creative and so inventive, we consistently respond to the conflict in the narrowest and most self destructive manner and it is going to hurt us in the end. Maybe we can learn from this week’s Torah portion that the answer is not about being overwhelmed by your enemies and frightened into submission. But neither is the answer to be found the IDF’s catch phrase “if force doesn’t work, use more force.”
Until Israel starts becoming innovative about the conflict and proactively seeking solutions, there will be more Noam Chomskys, Elvis Costellos and Flotillas. And suddenly it is at times like these that I miss my rabbi even more, Rabbi David Forman, for he was my moral compass. David passed away only three weeks ago. And if you ever read his articles and books you will see that Rabbi David Forman was neither Left or Right, he was just Smart.
Parshat Hashavua: June 4/5 2010
June 3, 2010 by Steve
Shelach L’cha - Believe in Yourself
Rabbi Gary J. Robuck
Senior Rabbi, North Shore Temple Emanuel, Chatswood, NSW, Australia
One of the most memorable passages in this week’s parsha concerns the report given by the spies - men who had been dispatched by Moshe to reconnoiter throughout the land. It is well known that their message was discouraging to the children of Israel and that only Joshua and Caleb regarded the scene positively. Most striking is their description: “We cannot attack that people, for it is stronger than we…the country that we traversed and scouted is one that devours its settlers. All the people that we saw in it are men of great size; we saw the Nephilim there - the Anakites are part of the Nephilim - and we looked like grasshoppers to ourselves, and so we must have looked to them.”
In the commentary which appears in the Etz Chaim Chumash, the editors identified this passage as being the “essence of the scouts’ failure.” That is to say, they did not believe in themselves. Because they saw themselves as weak and ineffectual, they presumed others would see them in much the same way.
A Midrash from Tanchuma explains God ’s angry reaction to the spies’ report that the people looked like grasshoppers in their own eyes, as God says: “You don’t know what you have just let your mouths utter. I am ready to put up with you saying, ‘We were in our own eyes as grasshoppers.’ But I do take offense at you asserting, ‘And so were we in their eyes.’ Could you possibly know how I made you appear in their eyes? How do you know but that in their eyes you were like angels?” Hence the transgression of the spies was assuming that they knew how others perceived them.
Understood in this midrashic way, we see that the people underestimated themselves; they lacked confidence, faith and courage. It was not the inhabitants of the land who saw them in a particular way, but they themselves.
The Kotzker Rebbe also believed that our ancestors, the generation of the desert wanderings, lost the plot because of their inclination to look at the negative and to engage in transference (my word, not his), believing that their enemies saw them as they saw themselves. The Kotzker wrote: “Nu, who cares how you look in the eyes of others? Stay true to yourself and to your mission.”
Whether at work, at school or at home, it is vital that we believe in ourselves and remain positive. Our rabbis teach in Mishnah Avot to see the world with an ayin tova - a good eye. From this we infer that it is a mitzvah to recognise in whatever circumstances we confront, something positive (hakarat ha’tov).
It is not easy. When we suffer misfortune - ill health, job loss, or a betrayal of trust - it can be nearly impossible to remain cheerful and optimistic. Yet this week’s sidra challenges us to try whenever possible, and to the best of our ability, to be like Joshua and Caleb who saw the possibilities for growth and success even when surrounded by those who were uncomplimentary and negative.
As friends and supporters of Israel, it is hard to remain optimistic amid the rumble of disapproval emanating from her detractors. Critical media reports give rise to doubts concerning the justice of Israel’s course. Each day seems to bring another account of corruption, the misuse of power and what I would choose to call a “stick in the eye’ approach to diplomacy. In truth, it is concerning. But we must remain positive, trust in Israel’s leaders and try to remain hopeful that peace will come and the fair society first envisioned by the prophets and later heralded within the state’s declaration of independence will yet come to be.
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