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.