Without question, Jews around the world are “holding our breath” this Shabbas. For many of us, we do not remember a Nine Days that felt so rife with threat – and we in the diaspora are experiencing only a small sliver of that tension. Some may be asking “How did we get here?”, while others are pondering “How can the situation be saved?”
This Shabbas is known as Shabbas Chazon, which technically
translates into the Shabbas of vision but receives the name because chazon,
vision, is the first word of the Haftara, the opening lines of Sefer Yishayahu
(Isaiah). Shabbas Chazon is always the Shabbas right bfore Tisha B’Av, and it
is also always Parshas Devarim. Within that duality lie responses to both
questions.
How did we get here? Parshas Devarim begins with Moshe
reviewing the actions of Bnei Yisrael throughout their sojourn in the
Wilderness. Most significantly, however, Moshe focuses on the appointment of
the spies who so thoroughly led the nation astray. And it is only here, in
Devarim, that we learn the subtle details of how Moshe felt about their request
to spy out the land and how troubled he was by their lack of bitachon. Here it
is that we are reminded that had we, meaning the whole of klal Yisrael, not
cried out in self-pity that Hashem was leading us to our destruction, all of
history would have been different. We are reminded of how often Klal Yisrael
can be its own worst enemy.
How did we get here? Hashem makes it clear in Yishiyahu’s
vision that all of our trials and tribulations stem from our own behaviour. We
bring upon ourselves destruction because we did not learn from our mistakes,
because we allowed our society to become selfish and sinful. More importantly,
even as we practiced perfect sacrifices and orderly rituals, it is clear from
Yishayahu’s words that we lost the ikker, the heart, of the Torah – which is
about creating a true and just society.
How did we get here? Ritual and ceremony, and even prayer,
mean little without actual bitachon. Without bitachon, we cannot set up a just
society because we work under the pretense that we control the outcome and so
our instincts for self-preservation kick in. Alas, as pointed out in Shaar
Habitachon (I believe), the ways of Hashem are such that when mankind believes
in a force other than Hashem – be that an idol or money or people or self –
Hashem leaves them in their delusion.
Parshas Devarim wraps up with the assignment of land to Reuven,
Gad, and half of Menashe on the far side of the Yarden. This is significant because
it reminds us of an important aspect of bitachon, which is knowing that we are
in a relationship with Hashem, that Hashem listens to our opinions and desires
as well.
How can the situation be saved? Loftily stated – by creating
a society built on bitachon. This doesn’t mean religiosity, but rather “Learn
to do good. Devote yourselves to justice; Aid the wronged. Uphold the rights of
the orphan; Defend the cause of the widow” (Yishayahu 1:17). One can build a
truly just society only when one truly comprehends that Hashem runs the world
for the good of all and that we are each only tools for His will to be carried
out.
Of course, life, and faith and individuality are far more
complicated than just saying trust Hashem, and true bitachon is an exceptionally
hard feat – made even harder by a host society that asserts its rights to
self-expression and self-fulfillment above all else. Most of us are self aware
enough to know that we as individuals are not in positions to shape national
policy – or often even community behaviour. What we can shape is ourselves.
Will Iran attack? Might Hezbollah go rogue? Are our
synagogues safe? We must daven that this evil will pass, but we can’t just
daven in a vacuum. We have to do our hishtadlus by incorporating acts that lead
to just-ness and by building our bitachon.
Shabbat Shalom.
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