Does it matter what the other nations think of us? It is a question that is surely asked in different ways in every generation. Sometimes it is asked in an off-hand manner, sometimes condescendingly, and sometimes with honest concern. It sounds like a philosophical question but, in truth, it is really a practical one… or at least it should be, and it is one that needs to be particularly and uniquely addressed in the age of universal entertainment and social media.
There is a growing sense in the world that not only do we lack total privacy (given that Amazon, Walmart, and such, seem to know what one needs even before one begins to search) but that our every action is being judged. In a world of hyper-sensitivity to any form of “ism,” one might expect a decrease in anti-Semitism. Statistics, however, demonstrate the opposite. In an era of identity politics, Jewish identity is under attack – blatantly reminding us, once again, that it does matter what the other nations think.
Before anyone gets defensive and declares that the relationship of Klal Yisrael and Hashem is what matters most and that Hashem runs the world and decides our fate – both collectively and individually, this is a fact that is not in question. But it is all one of a piece. The Torah shows us that Hashem wants us to pay attention to the entire world. In the beginning of parshas Va’eschanan, Moshe tells the people: “Observe them [laws and rules] faithfully, for that will be proof of your wisdom and discernment to other people, who on hearing of all these laws will say, ‘Surely, that great nation is a wise and discerning people’” (Bamidbar 4:6).
Moshe told Bnei Yisrael straight out that it is important to heed the feeling of the other nations toward the Jews. He did so because we are supposed to be an Am Kodesh, a sanctified nation. We are meant to be the spiritual leaders of the world, and if the other nations do not find us praiseworthy, we have failed.
It seems that this pasuk becomes particularly relevant as the world of observant Judaism is besmirched in entertainment media. With books and television shows being created as tell-alls about why people were miserable in their lives in observant communities, with a vaudevillian level of hyperbole to make certain it is entertaining, who would want to come to this Am and praise them for their faithfulness? Should we be angry at the people who create this media – certainly, particularly those who ignore the thought that it could damage the lives of many people. But perhaps watching the world swallow those portrayals without question should be an alarm to us, a clarion call to look at ourselves and how we behave.
It is not as simple as demanding strict observance of the law…indeed, perhaps this type of call – the one that demands new stringencies in the wake of tragedy – is one we must reevaluate all together. In this section of the Torah, Moshe also tells the people “Take the utmost care and watch yourselves scrupulously so that you do not forget the things that you saw with your own eyes and so they do not fade from your mind as long as you live” (ibid 4:9). What did Bnei Yisrael see? We saw miracles. And when we reacted to those miracles with joy and song, as we did after the Yam Suf, we rose to a position where the whole world was watching us with awe. This, according to our sages, was actually why the actions of Amalek were so heinous – that while the whole world saw triumph and power and God’s greatness through Bnei Yisrael, they dared to attack. However, when Bnei Yisrael “forgot” the power of the miracles that had been witnessed, when they complained and looked only to what they did not have and to fear and anxiety, then Klal Yisrael suffered.
Our history tells us of the glorious ages of the past, when
the Beis Hamikdash was a beacon to the world. And we lost it. First to our
inability to remain faithful, as Moshe warns, and then to our inability to live
with joy and love – because sinas chinam, senseless hatred, only comes from a
place where there is no true joy.
To be the nation that inspires the world, we must remember Moshe’s words to “observe faithfully,” but we must do so with joy and with love. Moshe gives us some subtle clues of how to do this in this parsha as well: “You shall not add anything to what I command you or take anything away from it” (ibid 4:2). The world of Jewish life that is portrayed so negatively in entertainment media is a world that is fettered by chosen limitations and enforced judgementalism. We must remember that there were twelve distinct shvatim and that our tradition speaks of seventy faces to the Torah. Do not add means remember that a chumrah is a stringency, something a person or community takes upon themselves to enhance their devotion, but when a stringency becomes a rule then have we not added to the Torah? Have we not created a new “law”? Or, at least, are we not teaching our children that these are laws when they are not?
Does it matter what the other nations think of us? Yes, it does. “Observe faithfully,” pasuk 4:6, is said to the klal as a whole in the second person plural, but the call to watch yourselves scrupulously is spoken individually, in second person singular. For us to rise again to the pinnacle of world opinion, to the place where we are looked upon with awe, we have to focus not on the differences, on the individual expressions within the realm of Torah observance, for each of us must guard our own souls. Rather we must demonstrate joy and ahavas Yisrael. When all Jews feel that they have a place in the nation, then we can start to rise again, and when the world sees our nation come together and radiate the beauty of Hashem’s Torah, we will finally have succeeded in becoming an Ohr Goyim, a light unto the nations.
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