FREILICHEN PURIM

     As  we prepare to celebrate the  Holiday of  Purim, I am reminded of the Rabbinic statement,"Should all the festivals be annulled, Purim will endure". Our sages spoke with great foresight. They saw the inevitable future of the hatred that continues to be espoused against the Jews which is implied in the Holiday of Purim. They knew Israel's role as G-D's suffering servants would demand agonizing sacrifices. They saw Mordechai and Esther perennially confronting a hostile world with some Haman arrayed against them. 

    Leo Tolstoy wrote,"Anti Semitism is a mad passion akin to the lowest perversities of diseased human nature, it is the will to hate." A study of world history shows us how true these ideas are. This is the story of Purim, a story that bespeaks outright Anti- Semitism. 

  Today we are experiencing, to our dismay, that  "History repeats itself". It is a sorry state of affairs that hatred in general, and hatred  in particular for the Jew still exists. How ironic it must seem that Iran, the Persia of old, where the entire story of Purim took place is once again in the throes of hatred, killing and disrespect for human rights.  

      Mr. Netanyahu is so right as he speaks as our modern day Mordechai on behalf of the Jewish State  to the world and to the United States Congress. It is a sad state of affairs when so many who are afraid to listen to the truth  are willing to boycot the session, acting as intellectual and political puppets. 

     Mr. Netanyahu is issuing a warning that our modern day  Haman in Iran is, once again, raising its ugly hand of hatred. This time it can become a nuclear war against the Jewish People and the world at large.

  The audacity of members of the congress to walk out on their Ally, a man who only wants to warn the world of the possibility of another world disaster threatening humanity.

  Today I call out  to the world "Awake, Awake and take your heads out of the sand , a real threat to humanity lurks behind the falsehood of the perpetrators of hatred."

  Remember well these words of wisdom "Deal with yourself as an individual worthy of respect and thereby make everyone else deal with you in the same way".  

   When  humanity will understand , that it is not an"us" and "them" world. It is an "all of us" world, then humanity will be saved. As soon as people understand this fact, the world will be a better place. 

   The amazing thing about Purim, is that, in spite, of all the uncertainties of life, we still celebrate Purim as one of the most joyous holidays on our calendar. The reason is plain and simple, it is because we celebrate life, not because we have any guarantees but because we possess the confidence of a Mordechai and Esther.  We believe that there is a divine Providential design that will bring our salvation and the salvation of all persecuted Jews throughout the world.

    Today, like the time recorded in the Megillah, קימו וקבלו היהודים, we are to rededicate ourselves to a greater allegiance and commitment to Judaism. 

   With a great sense of  Bitachin  that will bring about a greater sense of better times for the Jewish People , we will echo the words of the Megillah, ליהודים היתה אורה ושמחה וששון ויקר, " For the Jews there was light and joy, gladness and honor" כן תהיה לנו, So may it be for us in our times.

  Freilichen Purim to all.

   

INTERNAL LIGHT

    Our  Sedrah this week ,Parshas Trumah, speaks about the building of the Mishkan , the portable Tabernacle that accompanied the Jewish People through the desert.

    The Torah states , ועשו לי םקדש ושכנתי בתוכם,   " and you shall make Me a sanctuary, that I shall dwell among you".

   Reading this directive I am reminded of a story that a colleague of mine related ; He was visiting the interior of his Synagogue with the children from his Hebrew school.  He described and explained the different parts of the Sanctuary and especially the Ner Tamid, the Eternal Light  which burns constantly over the the Aron Hakodesh.

   Shortly after the visit he received numerous thank you letters from the students and he remembered one in particular, from a third grader who thanked him for all the explanations especially the one about the "Internal" light.  My colleagues remarked "Out of the mouths of  babes a profound truth is found."

     The light over the Aron is, indeed, eternal but even more so in each one of us there is an "Internal" light of spirituality that is always aglow. Even when it seems not to be there , that "Internal" light is always present.

    The Rav , when discussing the Mishkan posed the following question, "Why was the Mishkan necessary? Does G-D need a home?"

    The Rav brings to mind that when Shlomo dedicated the Beit Hamikdash in Yerushalyim he asked a similar question and evidenced this dilemma by stating;

הנה השמים ושמי השמים לא יכלכלוך אף כי הבית הזה אשר בניתי

" Neither the heaven nor the heaven of the heavens,  can contain Thee. Certainly not the house that I have built for Thee".

    The Rav, searching for an answer presented the following response; 

     Whenever the term בית הי, the House of G-D, is used we should realize that it does not refer to the house  of Hashem , but rather to the House of Man. There is no need for Hashem to have a home, for Hashem embraces the entire universe , He is Makom shel Olam, the universe is within G-D. However, man needs a spiritual home that will give him total security. Such a home can only be found within  Hashem  Himself.

   Thus, we begin to realize that when Hashen instructs Moshe to build a Mishkan , He was providing him with a home which the Almighty offers humanity. A man who feels close to Hashem feels he is protected by G-D'S  guiding Hand.  He is a person that has a true home to dwell in.

 When Hashem dwells , so to speak, in the  Beit Hamikdash, he does so to satisfy our need to be close to Him and to feel His presence  and His protection.

     As we dwell with G-D on a daily basis , our "Internal light is aglow and we thus feel the Brachos of Hashem upon us.

    It is this "Internal" light that endows  the Jew with his specialness, with his creativity , with his ability for greatness, because it is an "Internal" light, a spark, a glow of the Divine, that is kindled in each of us. 

     As we experience the depravity of society around us , from the killing of innocent lives, and the growing anti Semitism and that the State of Israel is the scape goat for the world powers,  we begin to realize more and more the need for our Home of protection that the Beit Hashem can offer us. 

     However, to do so, we must dwell in the  House  of The Lord, not by ourselves , but to extend the invitation to all Jews throughout the world to dwell under the canopy of peace and security that the House of Hashem provides for all of us.

     כי  ביתי בית תפילה יקרא לכל העמים

    

   

ENLIGHTENMENT

"The moment of enlightenment is when a person's dreams of possibilities become images of probabilities."

   Let us keep this in mind as we discuss the two Parshiot Yisro and Mishpatim that express our feelings of belief and faith. These Parshiot represent the essence of Judaism. For me, they can be considered our Judaic Constitution. 

    Parshat Yisro relates that great spiritual moment for the Jewish People as they stood at Har Sinai and heard the majestic Ten Commandments proclaimed by Hashem amidst thunder and lightening. They were so overwhelmed by the experience , that even before hearing the Ten Commandments they shouted out together Naaseh Venishma, "We shall do and we shall hearken". In this weeks Parsha, Mishpatim, which discusses the Mitzvos of בין אדם וחברו, between man and his fellow man, we heard the great response, once again, "We shall do and we shall hearken".  

    This response from B'nai Yisroel always amazes me.  We live in a time where before we even entertain to act we want to know what and why we are obligated to do so.  However, reading these two Parshiot we see, once again, the great faith and submissiveness of the Jewish People to G-D which brought about this superior  response . In fact, Chazal tell us that even Hashem was overwhelmed and asked "Who revealed to My children this secret which only the ministering angels know of?"

   The importance of this response suggests that man is not the center of all things, but rather G-D is the all important motivator in our lives. The law of G-D which we submit to humbly, has been and continues to be our way of life. When things occur , which in our intellectual way, we may not comprehend at that moment, our faith and belief in Hashem's  supremacy encourages us to fulfill His will which then becomes our will.

  Yes, we want to understand the will of G-D and the whys and wherefores of the Mitzvos.  However, this lack of knowledge must not deter us from fulfilling the directives of the Torah and to continue to be motivated in our studies which eventually will lead us to greater understanding of the will of Hashem. 

     I am reminded of an Anecdote that I included in one of my writings;

John Churchill, the first Duke of Marlborough, was elevated to the Dukedom by Queen Anne and many of the old established nobility did not welcome this newcomer, because of his humble parentage. On one occasion a member of the old aristocracy said to him mockingly "Tell me whose descendant are you?" To which Churchill replied "Sir I am not a descendant, I am an ancestor".

  As Jews we are truly proud and blessed that we are descendants of a worthy and great  and glorious and noble  past , but we dare not fall into the trap of resting upon  the laurels and accomplishments  of the past , how magnificent and important it was. When it comes to the practice of our Torah we need to reaffirm נעשה ונשמה, in our study and practice of Torah, so that we become its "ancestors",and thereby bringing Torah oriented Judaism into the 21st. Century in a glorious way.

  The Rav said, "The most amazing thing about the Exodus , far greater than the signs and the wonders, is the transformation that occurred to the nation as they accepted the obligation to observe the Torah."

  The political world is upset with our Prime Minister Netanyahu for his willingness to address the congress. Why are so many upset, I ask myself. The answer that seems to swell up in my mind is,  because he comes to tell the world that Israel cannot and must not be jeopardized  by Iran's threat  to wipe out the State of Israel. The problem is  that no one really understands the threat like Israel does and they must do everything possible to protect the citizens of our Holy State.We are living in a demoralized society when a young pilot is burned alive in front of the world. Though we are disturbed by such happenings, we move into our daily activities not realizing how such criminal acts are destroying the fabric of  our humanity. We are living in times of crisis and we must act, whatever way possible,to be a guiding light of spirituality and humanity for a world that has become complacent to the evil that exists.

  Our aim is to bring back the Sinai of the past and the laws of humanity that is espoused in our Parsha of Mishpatim, to insure the future of a sane and humane world.

   The Jews are descendants of the past , but we want to be the ancestors of the future and we  cannot do so if there is a threat to our future.

   When the Jews angelically said Naaseh Venishma, revealing their love and loyalty to Torah and to it's dictates under all circumstances, those words must now become our call today to world  Jewry, for our survival and for the future of our children and grandchildren.

   The danger of our civilization today is that most of the world is satisfied with simplistic solutions to difficult problems . We want quick solutions and quick answers and this is not the way to bring about a better world . We need more than ever the words of our Prophet Micah.

הגיד לך אדם מה טוב ומה הי דורש ממך כי אם עשות משפט ואהבת חסד והצנע לכת  עם אלוקיך.

" That you do justice , that you have mercy and that you walk humbly with your G-D."

   I sense from these magnificent words of our Navi, that  if we practice justice and if we act with mercy to one another , then the reward will be the Blessing of having the Z'chut to walk with G-D and then we will merit that G-D will always walk with us. 

  May our lives merit this great and needed Bracha.

GUARDIANS

" Your living is determined not so much by what life brings to you as by the attitude you bring to life"

   A metaphor comes to mind as we assess our state of today's society;

   Man is like a bird. A bird can fly higher and higher, but only if it keeps it's wings in motion constantly. If it stops flying for a moment, it will fall and crash to the earth. The same is true of man, he must continue to move forward and grow spiritually, or else he may fall to the ground.

   Our Parsha this Shabbat is Yisro,  when we read the most dramatic and inspirational document ofthe entire Torah , the Aseres Hadibros, the Ten Commandments, given to the Jewish People amidst divine revelation. At this great historic event בני ישראל  responded, even before the actual commandments were given, נעשה ונשמע "We will do and we will listen."

    Then our Torah relates how the Jewish  People gathered around Mt. Sinai to hear the words of G-D as He gave them the Ten Commandments. The Torah describes this great moment in Jewish History, ויהי קולות וברקים, they heard "thundering and lightening"

and ויחרד כל העם אשר במחנה, "they became frightened by the experience" and ויעמד העם מרחוק "they stood at a distance from the mountain." Our Sages teach us that the Jewish People backed away from Mt. Sinai. They were frightened of the responsibility of being the bearers of the Ten Commandments. They stepped back, not wanting to accept the commandments as they felt it was too burdensome

   Moshe seeing their reaction, as they stepped back and away from the mountain, felt he needed to inspire them and to remove their fears.     The Torah states ומשה נגש אל הערפל

"And Moshe rushed toward the flames that engulfed the mountain and caught a glimpse of G-D."

  Moshe was teaching the people an important lesson in Yahadut; 

If one wants to achieve the optimum bonum of Judaism then one must penetrate into the essence of Judaism and not move away from accepting responsibility for a Judaic way of life. 

  This is why we are the ממלכת וגוי קדוש , for we are ready נעשה ונשמה, to accept the Mitzvot of the Torah unequivocally.  We do so with great confidence that what ever Hashem gives us, is for our benefit, and for our betterment.

  Judaism requires that we constantly flap our wings of Yiddishkeit and to have the courage to step into the ערפל of Jewish Life by accepting our responsibility as Jews and to pass on this strong commitment to Torah and Mitzvot to the next generation, with the same התלהבות. 

    I am writing this blog on טו בשבט , on the day we celebrate Jewish Arbor  Day, the time we commemorate The New Year for Trees. I would like to share the following Talmudic story;

    A Rabbi passed a man planting a carob tree."How long, he asked, will it take for the tree to bear fruit?"

  "Seventy years," the man replied.

   "Are you sure, asked the Rabbi , that you will be here in seventy years?"

    "No, replied the man, but just as I found carob trees in the world, planted by my grandparents, so I am planting this for my grandchildren."

   We are the guardians of the past for the sake of our future.

  This lesson of dedication to all that is Jewish is crucial to our existence and at all times we must remember  כי הם חיינו וארך ימינו, 

"For they are our life, and the length of our days"