14
Living with In theNews Times The Week
By Rabbi Pinchos Lipschutz Publisher of the Yated Ne’eman
In his introduction to sefer Shemos, the Ramban refers to it as the Sefer Hageulah. The parshiyos of Shemos recount our subjugation in Mitzrayim, the miraculous exodus, Kabbalas HaTorah and then, finally, the construction of the mishkan. These are all parts of a process. The Jewish people were at their lowest point, with seemingly no escape, and then, with the help of Hashem, they triumphed. Today, as we find ourselves in golus, we wait for the next step in the process leading us to redemption. If we are attentive, we find indications that we are making progress toward exodus and geulah. Last week, my wife and I traveled to Eretz Yisrael for Shabbos. We happily went through the airport lines, the security checks, and the commotion at the gate, as travelers waited to head home to the greatest land on earth. We boarded the flight and headed to our seats, only to find that they were not together. There was an Israeli man sitting next to my wife. I offered him my aisle seat, assuming that he would have no problem switching with me, one aisle seat for another, so that I could sit near my spouse. It didn’t work out that way. The hard-edged Israeli with disgust in his eyes saw me, a chareidi with a beard, suit and tie, and shook his head. A kind American woman seated nearby offered to switch seats and the incident was over. But it wasn’t. I took my seat, buckled up, and the airplane rose into the sky. I wanted to go over to the Israeli and talk to him. I wanted to tell him what it means to be a Jew. What it would mean to have love in his heart. What he is missing in life. But I didn’t bother. I was afraid that he would cause a scene, so I kept quiet. I got off the plane without telling him what was in my heart. I wonder why the secular liberal Israelis hate us so much. Why are they so like the American leftists, who can’t get over Donald Trump’s victory and continue to proclaim him as illegitimate? They prefer
JANUARY 26, 2017 | The Jewish Home
The Sun Rises Over Yerushalayim to divide the country than come together. They’d rather wallow in hatred and selfpity than face reality. Sanctimonious liberals seek rights for everyone except the religious and those on the right. We are minimized, vilified, and shunted to the back of the bus. Because we follow the moral creed of the Torah. Because we are decent, honest, G-d-fearing people. All throughout Barack Obama’s term in office, the media and politicians admonished everyone to work together in unity. Whoever didn’t was guilty of racism and was deemed unpatriotic. That has all
was mainly atheistic…” After some time, “Beginning with the first stages in the consolidation and settlement or the Zionist movement, it was forced to meticulously sort and thoroughly nationalize some of the religious beliefs in order to turn them into nation-building myths.” But that didn’t work out too well. Firstly, since they denied religion, Eretz Yisrael, for them, was not a holy land given to the Jewish people by G-d, and Yerushalayim was not a holy city that housed the bais hamikdash. Consequently, everything that made the Promised Land special dissipated.
If we encounter sad people, such as my brother from the airplane, don’t misjudge their anger and bitterness.
We know who they really are. changed with the recent election. The Democrat party has been decimated and lost dozens of congressional seats, which you wouldn’t know from following the media. The media and Democrat leaders, such as Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer, create the fictitious narrative that they represent the majority, while Trump, his agenda and supporters are in the minority. Please don’t fall for it. Stop kowtowing to the left and those who advocate on behalf of the deviants, causing harm to our community. And so it is in Israel. From following the media, you would think that the religious community is an anti-social group, universally derided. Interactions with leftist Israelis are too often uncomfortable. It is upsetting. Then I read an article in Ha’aretz that was somewhat comforting. Shlomo Sand writes, “Zionism as a national movement that rebelled against historical Judaism
The atheists also had a problem identifying what a Jew is. That wasn’t as important pre-’67, when Israel was a small, nascent country. After the Six Day War, in 1967, as the country grew, Sand says, “the justifications for the appetite for renewed settlement also relied less on the Zionist demand for independent sovereignty and far more on the biblical idea of the Promised Land. That’s why it is no coincidence that the clerical establishment became increasingly inflated at the same time.” And finally, “The synthesis of Zionism and socialism has disintegrated totally, making way for a winning symbiosis of religion and strong ethno-nationalism. For pseudo-secular Zionists – and not only for them – this new situation is difficult and oppressive. But…they do not have answers to the identity problems and contradictions that have been part of Israeli society since its inception.” Therefore, the secularists will have no choice but to continue to rely on religious
Photos: Avi Yishai
explanations, theory, laws, and customs in order to give their country an argument for existence as a Jewish state. And that worries them. They despise us and “our” religion. They despise our religiosity and the way we lead our lives, but they cannot exist as a Jewish country without us and what we stand for. Rav Moshe Shapiro would relate that when he was a child, Rav Eizik Sher once asked him, “Zukt mir mein kind, tell me, farvoss zennen alleh Yidden brudder, why are all Jews brothers?” The Slabodka rosh yeshiva answered, “Veil mir hubben ein Tatte, because we have one Father.” I read the article and understood that this is the paradox of that country, of life, of our people. That man on the airplane hates us because he needs us. He knows that because we are brothers, he has a claim to his piece of land. And that upsets him. The argument he uses to justify his existence in his country would seem to also obligate him to live life differently, so he gets angry. The Gemara in Maseches Kesubos (66) relates that Rabi Yochanan was stopped by a hungry young woman. “Rebbi, please give me food,” she pleaded. She was so starved that she was picking through animal waste in a bid to find kernels of nutrition. Rabi Yochanan learned that she was a daughter of the fabulously wealthy Nakdimon ben Gurion, who had been very generous to the less fortunate back in the good days. “Ashreichem Yisrael,” he called out, “praised are you, Am Yisrael. Bezman she’osim retzono shel Makom, when you do the will of Hashem, ein kol umah... no nation can triumph over you. But if you don’t, bezman she’ein osim retzono shel Makom, mosrom beyad umah shefeila, you are given over to a lowly nation. And not just that, you are less than the animals of that nation.” The obvious question is why he considers how low we can fall praiseworthy. The meforshim explain that his term “ashreichem” refers to the fact that we are a nation outside the realm of nature. When we rise, no one is higher than us, and when we fall, no one is lower than us, because we don’t belong to the regular order of things. My encounter, while unpleasant, was a perfect introduction to my short trip. It was a welcome to the land of paradox, where light and dark exist side by side. Eretz Yisrael is blessed with layers of incredible chein. It has a special flavor, beneath which lies a fierce struggle for its