Shadows of Avraham's Path

 This week’s parsha is Parshas Lech Lecha. The things that I will write are probably ideas that others are writing this week, ideas that are frequently tide to this parsha, and ideas that we all need to hear again to strengthen us in this time of unfathomable hate.

It is stated in tradition that everything that happened to our forefathers – to Avraham, Yitzchak, and Yaakov – is a map of what will happen to Bnei Yisrael over and over throughout history. In Parshas Lech Lecha, Hashem promised Avraham Eretz Yisrael (the Land of Israel) and had him walk it to make himself familiar with the land that was promised to him for the future. This was the beginning of our people’s love for this land.

History is here. Avraham had to leave the land because of famine, but he came right back.

Avraham brought all of his resources to the Promised Land, and the land flourished. The Jewish people returned to the Promised Land in 1948 and took a wasteland and made it an agricultural and technological wonder.

Avraham’s nephew Lot benefitted from Avraham’s success but undermined that connection by letting his sheep eat in the wrong pastures. The text says that Avraham said to Lot that the land was not big enough for them to dwell together and tradition tells us that Lot stole by grazing his sheep on the property of others. Perhaps one could also wonder if by grazing his sheep on the land of others he wasn’t denuding the property, destroying its environment and productivity. Israel walked out of Gaza, for the sake of peace, and left behind economically successful settlements. The land was now denuded. The agricultural villages that were fully functional and now empty, were destroyed; their greenhouses laid waste.

One could say that Lot then made a bad choice as he moved to Sodom. Before Sodom reached its epitome of debasement and needed to be overturned, it was the center of a great war. This war is known as the war of the five kings and the four kings. Avraham heard his nephew was in trouble – kidnapped by the victors along with the conquered kings - and he went, without hesitation, to rescue him. He didn’t just rescue Lot. He rescued all of the kings as well and brought stability to the land. After the war, the king of Sodom offered Avraham all of the spoils of the war, and Avraham refused.

Any other military power who would have come to their aid would have demanded far more than the spoils of the immediate battle. Even then, however, Avraham knew that he had to refrain, that he had to show that he did this act of valour for its own sake. And this too is not so far from today. Jews spend a tremendous amount of time trying to convince the world of our motivations. Israel is constantly trying to convince an insidious media of a truth the media refuses to believe - that Bnai Yisrael just wants to dwell in our land in peace.

Parshas Lech Lecha ends in an interesting place, and I hope that we can all draw inspiration from it. Avraham - really then called Avram – reacts to Hashem once again promising the land by asking how that can be if he has no children. He calls out; he challenges. He feels the fear of expecting miracles from the impossible, from what seemed impossible. And Hashem answers him and transforms him.

We feel like we are in an impossible situation right now. We feel grateful for every positive word uttered, for every government that speaks out in support even as their populous buys in to delusion. Hashem was leading Avraham on a path, on a very specific path, and it seemed impossible to him at the time.

We are being flooded with information that makes it seem as if we have no control over our world right now. Everything has gone topsy turvey – and it has, because that feeling is true. We do not have control over the world; But Hashem does. And Hashem can do anything.

May we soon see an overturning of the craziness of the world. May their be peace and May Hashem send Moshiach soon.

Parshas Bereishis: In Times Like These

This week’s Parsha is dedicated to the zechus for besoros tovos from Israel. May Hashem protect our soldiers, may He bring a speedy healing to the wounded, and may He let peace reign. Please continue to read in the merit of a refuah shelaima for Chaya Sofya Sara bas Mera, Tova bas Perel, and Binyamin ben Simcha.

If you will pardon my saying it, it seems strange that this week’s parsha is Parshas Beireishis. This is usually a time when we are all still burbling with the excitement of the Yom Tovim or laughingly complaining about the laundry and the cleanup. But we aren’t like that now…not this year. Not in 5784.

Five thousand, seven hundred and eighty-four years and about four weeks ago, Hashem infused the first form of man with His Divine spirit. And for almost a day, it was perfect – until humankind thought they had a better grasp of what was good for them. Perhaps the swallowed seed of the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Bad is that need to feel that we have control, that we are setting the path to our own destinies.

When Hashem calls to Adam after they have eaten the fruit, Adam responds: “And he said, "I heard Your voice in the garden, and I was afraid because I am naked; so I hid” (2:10). He hid…in the garden…from Hashem Who is Omniscient! Adam ate the fruit, and suddenly he thought he understood life and the choices that have to be made in it.

Hashem’s response is interesting as well: “And He said, "Who told you that you are naked? Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?" (2:11). It is such an obviously rhetorical question. There is no one who could have told Adam such a thing…except Adam himself. Perhaps we can read this as the ultimate rhetorical Divine question: Is anyone really in control of the world except Hashem?

The answer, of course, whether a tragedy is personal or communal, is no. All of this is in Hashem’s control, and all of it has purpose.

This week’s parsha also introduces us to the first acts of violence. Cain struck and killed his brother Abel. It is here also interesting to note because he did this act out of jealousy. Hashem showed favor to Abel’s offering, which was, indeed, superior. Cain believed that he had the ability to control the world enough to remove the obstacle in his way from receiving Divine praise, when, of course, the obstacle was himself (since he chose mediocre items to bring rather than the finest of what he had).

Klal Yisrael’s enemies have long sought to remove us from being an obstacle between them and the status of ultimate Divine favor. Even more so, however, is that like Cain, our enemies have refused to see how assessing and changing their own lives would elevate them.

This is all philosophically lovely and an example of relating the text of the Torah to the world we live in, but what is it that we can take away from these thoughts. So our enemies are jealous – stating that doesn’t make any of the pain diminish (which nothing can, really) or give comfort. It may, however, help us shape our reactions and our focus on what we need to do.

What is it that we need to do? Alas, I am a descendant of one who ate from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Bad, and so I will continue totry strive to change the world around me as I see fit. But with the guidance of the Torah, I recognize that the most critical act I can do is to pray and to remember that Hashem is Omnipotent and Omniscient and everything is part of His plan.

Please Hashem, may is be Your will that we only have besoros tovos (good tidings), that our enemies should be stopped, and that we should find strength and come together as a people, and truly see Your glory.

EREV SHMINI ATZERES: Our Place in the Relationship

What holiday will you be celebrating this weekend? (Hint to Canadians, this question has nothing to do with Canadian Thanksgiving, which - for the Americans - is scheduled for this Monday.) Most people would answer that we are about to celebrate Simchas Torah, the awesome holiday during which we celebrate starting over on the cycle of reading the Torah.

People who know me can probably predict what I am going to write: Simchas Torah is great, but there is no holiday in the Torah listed as Simchas Torah. There is only Chag Ha’Atzeres, the Festival of the Gathering.

The fascinating question is WHY we prefer to call the holiday Simchas Torah rather than Shmini Atzeres. It isn’t like one is easier to pronounce than the other or there’s something weird about Shmini Atzeres. Nevertheless, most people don’t walk around discussing their plans for Shemini Atzeres, but they do talk about what they are doing for Simchas Torah or for the second days (which is a whole other misnomer).

Of course there is the obvious statement that the overwhelming atmosphere of Simchas Torah, with its abundant candy and leibadik dancing, leaves an indelible mark on our memories. Chag HaAtzeres does not have much excitement attached to it. It has not rituals. It has no special and unique minhagim.

I am going to say something radical here. This is not going to be my usual type of Dvar Torah… The other day a friend and I were discussing how hard it was to relate to Simchas Torah as women. The conversation segued into a discussion of the drinking that occurs at shul and a question on why the drinking was necessary… I’m a bit of a tea-totaller by nature, so I won’t write my full feelings on that here.

People talk about drinking as a way of enhancing simcha. They speak of the freedom from inhibition and the lifting up of spirit. But when I think about Simchas Torah, I wonder if that level of joy should not - in an ideal world (and certainly we are far from that) - come straight from the joy of Torah and the celebration of learning. And I think this question is at the heart of why we refer to the holiday as Simchas Torah rather than Shmini Atzeres.

We are, alas, a humbled nation. We are a chosen people who has been exiled and distanced. Part of our exile is the challenge that many of us face with connecting spiritually, and that comes from an underlying insecurity. Because Hashem had to hide Himself away, we struggle to feel His hand fully in the world, and because we struggle to connect to Divinity - because it takes constant work - we have trouble truly celebrating Shmini Atzeres.

Although connected to Sukkot by its place on the calendar, Shmini Atzeres is a separate holiday. It is the day Hashem asked from us to stay with Him a little longer after the inter-national celebration that is at the heart of Sukkot. Chag HaAtzeres is translated as the Festival of the Gathering because Hashem wanted us to gather with Him a little longer. Think about that. On Shmini Atzeres we are answering Hashem’s request to spend more time with Him. What greater gesture of love is there than a request to stay in company longer?

But when you are insecure, when you are hesitant of your connection, it feels awkward to receive this invitation, to be the recipient of this affection.

We often compare the relationship of Bnei Yisrael and Hashem to that of a bride and groom, of people in a relationship. In our state of exile, however, we are the insecure partner in the relationship. We are the partner who, when a long moment of companionable silence occurs, needs to fill the space with noice. We do not know how to properly celebrate Shmini Atzeres, how to just gather and be… and so we focus on the celebration of Simchas Torah.

On Simchas Torah we acknowledge and celebrate our relationship with Hashem, but we do it loudly. We make certain that we are giving back to Hashem by verbously announcing our love for Him and our love for Torah. We are not secure enough to receive, but we are connected enough to want to try to give - and that is beautiful.

Please don’t get me wrong. This is not a criticism of the wonderful celebration of Simchas Torah. To see such gatherings of Jews pouring out their love to Hashem, declaring through prayer and song and dance how delighted we are to have the Torah is lovely and inspiring. This is a quest of thought on the state of our being today, so many years since we could gather and celebrate in the Beis Hamikdash. We have just welcomed in the year 5784. We know we are in the final epoch heading to Moshiach. May we see those days quickly and find ourselves next year in Yerushalayim celebrating Shmini Atzeres and basking in the Divine Presence.