WORTHINESS OF MAN

                               “It takes time to become anything worth becoming.”

 

This thought comes to mind as we approach that awesome day of Tisha B’av commemorating the destruction of our Holy Temple. The Rav said, “We need to remember the destruction but more so we need to remember  how magnificent it was when the Mikdash was standing in all of its majesty, and when Jewry  went to the Mikdash,and were a part of that Holy  experience”. 

In life we have a tendency to look at that which is negative and that which is destructive and that which is wrong.  There is a need in our day and age to be more optimistic and to observe that which is beautiful and   that which is kind and that which is understanding and that which is positive in our lives. These past few days we’ve been reading how young people took guns in hand without thought, and only with malice and hatred and began shooting and killing innocent men, women and children. This is not what life ought to be. This is truly, the Churban that we are so inundated with at the present time.

We need to begin to educate our children and grandchildren, to select priorities that enhance their lives and to be less concerned with their materialistic goals and focus more on the spiritual and humane concerns. This will prevent a narcissistic way of life that undermines the virtues of caring, kindness and especially respect for others. Our goal is to achieve the Worthiness of Life, dedicated to life’s values.

The question still remains, “Why is there so much anger and hatred in our society”?

This is the question that needs to be answered, or else we will fall deeper into the abyss of inhumanity. Our worries are exacerbated by the fact that this anger is pouring out over the streets of our country. Why are there so many leaders in our government vilifying the State of Israel and the Jewish People by their accusations that Israel is mistreating their surrounding neighbors.This hatred is venom that spreads to others, and many callously repeat these same ideas and some even go to more extreme measures, that often result in violence.  

 Please understand that my remarks may seem alarming, but this is not my intention.  My intention is to awaken in all of us a need for greater Chesbon  Hanefesh  within ourselves and within the  Jewish community in general.

 To begin with, let us focus on the first word of the Megillah that we will read on Saturday night, The word is AYCHA, “We Bewail” reflecting on how the Jewish People stand alone in our society. When this happens, we must change the word, using the exact same letters but read differently and with different meaning, AYECHA, “Where are you?” This selfsame word was used by G-D, when Adam sinned in the Garden of Eden.  Hashem knew where Adam was, but wanted him to look within himself, and see what he did wrong and how he could make amends for his action and in doing so becomes a better person.

  This is so simple and yet so profound for all to consider and for all to realize that we can change the AYCHA, from bewailing our fate, to  AYECHA by changing our way of life and engendering a change in our individual personalities and behaviorisms by  aligning ourselves with our Torah and with greater  Ahavas Yisrael.   

 Let us take an important life lesson from the last words of איכה.

השיבנו ה׳ אליך ונשובה

Turn us to You Hashem,and we shall return to You

חדש ימנו כקדם

Renew our days of old

Dr. Norman Lamm, explains the word כקדם, not referring to days of old, but rather referring to the place called, קדם, the place from which Adam was expelled after he sinned. One wonders why would we want to return to a place from which we were expelled? It seems somewhat ominous?

I sense our Sages were suggesting that Adam and Eve were living in the Garden of Eden, and their actions brought conflict and sin into their lives. It was only at this point that Hashem did them a favor and expelled them from this Garden of Eden, resulting in a better relationship between Adam and Eve, eventually building a home together, and learning a very important lesson In life, that they needed each other for survival. Their expulsion brought about a life of creativity in a world of reality.

This idea can be our important lesson in life, a life of  חדש ימנו כקדם a life of being able to face East of Eden, with courage, fortitude, and confidence and to face the world of reality making it a place for all humanity to build character and to feel the need to love G-D and to live with the love of mankind.                                                                                                  

Learning to live with Torah and יראת שמים,will enable mankind to face the realities of life in a more positive way.

The world is ours and what we do with it will depend on our efforts and on our commitment to improve and change our society from its negativity, into its positive attire, that Hashem has provided us with. אל תירא יעקב does not mean “Don’t worry, I will take care of everything.” I believe it means, “Don’t be afraid, but be courageous,” for you have the courage to be the active force in making this world a better one - a world without hate - a world of peace and a world of respect and serenity.                                                                               

We must put the word Love into the equation of Life.

Love G-D,

Love man,

Love our people,

Love our Jewish State,

Love our glorious Country,

Love our families,

Love life and live it to the fullest.

This may seem like paradise once again, and it can be with Divine help, and with our brotherly love.

 

Let us follow the words of the Navi, and turn our days of mourning into days of joy and happiness for K’lall Yisrael, and for all mankind.

 

B’nechamet Tzion

 

 

FAKE NEWS

  Fake news, Fake news, is today’s most popular expression of modern day parlance. These words are more confusing and more complex than the fake news itself. Where is the truth in all this, when will we see what Emes is all about, fulfilling the dictum of תתן אמת ליעקב?

The political scene has become so full of שקר, that the world recoils itself into a life of not believing anyone and distrusting everyone. 

The more we delve into this modern dilemma, the more we become disheartened, leading us to the brink of anxiety and demolishing our well being. We need to attune ourselves to an existence of greater calm and begin to search, for ourselves, where the truth lies and not to constantly believe every word we hear and read, and surely not to repeat every word that others utter.

We must begin to filter and draw into our being only the truth derived from logic and the unbiased information free of distortions. 

As I reflect on this issue, the famous words, משה אמת ותורתו אמת come into mind.

Then I proceed to read our Torah portion of the week, Korach. 

Here is a man of ample means, totally involved with his jealousy of Moshe and Aharon, angrily wishing to destroy their leadership dragging along hundreds of malcontents by using Fake news. Korach, at all times uses arguments that seem logical at first but, in reality, are false and destructive to the entire process of Jewish unity.

This man Korach, is a person who is responsible for destroying the harmony among the Jewish People. To accomplish his goal of destroying the leadership of Moshe, he made libelous accusations against him, committing the most destructive Fake news. It is this crime of Korach, that our Chazal states,

”This this was a controversy not motivated for the sake of heaven, but rather to create disruption and schism amongst the Jewish People. 

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         

Our society is suffering from this self same destructive force by the way our country acts, constantly, with so many verbal abuses and false motives to achieve their own personal agendas, rather than pursuing a road of Emes, that would lead our country down the pristine road of benevolence and humanitarianism.

As our Mishna states, “The clue to our actions is to try achieving mutual respect and selfless motives that will guarantee that our society is סופה להתקיים, is to be an everlasting testimony for the endurance of our people that are created in the Image of G-D, leading to our true salvation.”

We need to start acting with greater respect and understating even with those we are not in agreement with, and begin to listen to each other , not only with our ears, but with our minds and especially with our hearts. Demagoguery has no place in our society and especially in our times. Enough of the words and actions that are distortions of our ethical and moral principles and are only pontificated for their own self aggrandizement. These are times we need to return to our Image of 

G-D that resides in all of us, and which beckons to be projected into our society, leading to our Geulah Shelemah.

SPIRITUAL NOURISHMENT

While shopping in the supermarket, most shoppers are extremely careful 

to check all of the food items for the expiration date to make sure their family consumes the freshest food. 

Realizing this important requirement for fresh food, I realize how important it is to assure that our spiritual nourishment is not compromised by religious feelings that do not pass an expiration date. Our spiritual lives must be ever fresh in our hearts and minds.

With these thoughts let us read this week’s Parshas, Pinchas , which represents the turning point for the Jewish People as their sojourn in the desert comes to a close and  marks the end of the road for Moshe as his leadership is being turned over to Yehoshua.

This must have been a very traumatic experience, not only for Moshe, but even more so for Am Yisrael, - a new leader, a new way of conducting themselves, and a new set of rules and priorities.

One may wonder with this new leadership, can we be guaranteed that he will lead us successfully in assuring that our future generations will remain dedicated and committed to the Torah that was transmitted to Moshe and now in the hands of a new leader? 

The question that always bothered me, “Do we have leaders that know, well, how to lead their constituents in a meaningful and respectful manner reflecting the true needs of the people?”

As I probe this question, I realize that in this same Sedrah, that a new leader is appointed, we are told of an extremely perplexing story of Pinchas who, seeing an act of immorality, reacts with a sense of zealotry, to maintain the sanctity of G-Dsname, and kills the two participants in this very act of debauchery. It is true he did so בקנאו את קנאתיבתוכם, as Hashem said, “When he zealously avenged Me among them.”  However, one wonders, “Is an act of zealousness, the role that a leader should play?” In fact the Netziv, reflecting on G-D’s response to the act of Pinchas, הנני נותן לו בריתי שלום, suggests that this lesson of Shalom, as a reward for his zealous act, was to make sure that Pinchas, himself, was at peace.  Too often such a violent act, as much as it was needed, can have a very serious deleterious effect on the psyche of the individual, who acted in this way. For how just it was, he did kill, and Hashem,needed to bless him with Shalom, a Shalom of an inner peace and tranquility so that he could go on with his life unscathed by this brutal, albeit, necessary act.

In fact, when the word Shalom is written in the Torah it is written with a וי״ו דשלוםקטיעה היא, a split VAV. One may ask, “Why did the Torah write it this way?” I sense the Torah is trying to tell us that, indeed the actions of Pinchas may have brought some kind of peace, albeit a flawed peace. True, there are times that a violent act may assuage a horrendous situation, but such a zealot reaction brings about a flawed peace, for anytime an act brings with it a violent solution, than peace is flawed and must not be tolerated.

I always remember the words of Golda Meir

“We can forgive the Arabs for killing our children. We cannot forgive them for forcing us to kill their children”. 

Violence is never the answer, for a sense of humanity is lost even for the most life saving reason. That is why Hashem, rewards Pinchas with a message of peace, a lesson to remain gentle and peaceful in his dealings with humanity. 

Our society needs more humility and less self righteousness.

What better reason, for concluding ourAmidah with the most significant T’fillah,

ה׳ יברך את עמו בשלום, and let us echo, may it be so.

שבת שלום ומבורך

 

FOCUS and PERCEPTION

 As we approach the solemn nine day period of mourning for our Holy Beit Hamikdash I ask, “What should our demeanor be during these few days?” The answer is reflective in our outward observances, such as not shaving , not eating meat, not drinking wine, which is, understandable, according to Halacha. But I am searching for much more. This period must engender a greater sense of introspection into our observances, touching more of how it affects our inner core of being a Jew in this tumultuous period of history. A time that we are experiencing more anti semitism, and more negativism towards our Jewish State.

Do I have all the answers to our dire situation? No! But I do realize that if we wait until circumstances are precisely right for us to achieve and accomplish something, then, very often, nothing ever will be accomplished or achieved. Neither we nor circumstances are ever precisely right. I sense that to succeed in changing things and in achieving our goals, we are to whine less over our fate and start to take whatever has been given to us and make the best of it, by rallying our political and spiritual forces.

Judaism directs us to reject any and every kind of fatalism that denies us the freedom and the ingenuity to choose a way to strike out against the evil forces that wish to

 de legitimize our Judaic rights.

We must not let others judge our role as Jews, especially those who seem to be on the periphery. We need to take a somber look at what is important to me as a Jew and to recognize what is right and what is wrong in our society - to focus more on what is valuable for our existence as a Jew and to pursue those goals.

If we wish to change the perceptions what others have of us, then we need to begin to see our true selves and perfect our G-D given qualities.

Ask me, “Where do I begin?” This is my reply;

“Have I grown more caring? Have I become more forgiving? Have I become more tolerant? Have I become more generous or more self centered? Have I held onto the principles of our faith, and have, with my life, built a Sanctuary to G-D?”

Doing all this may not change the way others look at us, but it will send a message that, as a Jew, our world is much better off with us being a part of it, and for mankind to count their Blessings that there is a glorious and the benevolent State of Israel, transforming the entire Middle East into a Democratic environment.

Taking these thoughts to heart, we may readily understand the entire episode of Moshe’s dealing with the tribes of Reuben and Gad, in their request to remain on the East side of the Jordan, rather than cross over with the entire Jewish people into the land of Canaan.

The request seems to be upsetting to Moshe as he saw it as an avarice act on their behalf. It seemed that they were only concerned with their flocks, and the wealth it would bring to them, more than their concern for their families and, especially, their children. This angered Moshe for he knew, as we know today, our children come first, and to focus more on their needs and especially their education. Their spirituality, is the essence of what Judaism stands for, and it is the foundation that supports our way of life. Only after being convinced that these S’hvatim realized this truism, that he acquiesced to their requests

This idea is intensified as we recall the words of the Birchat Kohanim, “May Hashem bless you with earthly possessions and keep these possessions from possessing you. May He shield you against the destructive effects that too often followon the heels of prosperity.”

This, I sense, was bothering Moshe after the request and until he was sure otherwise, he did not want to agree to their request.

The lesson is simple but greatly needed for our success. Place our trust in Hashem, and more so place our trust in ourselves that we have the G-D given power and the wherewithal to engender change in the false perceptions that are engulfing so many of our own constituents and those who are maligning our Jewish State.

Oscar Wilde wrote ”Anybody can sympathize with the sufferings of a friend, but it requires a very fine nature to sympathize with a friend’s success”.

Until those who find fault with Israel and the Jewish People realize how belligerent and wrong they are in their perception of the Jewish people and the role they play in society, we, as the עם הנבחר, will continue to strengthen our אמונה, by experiencing greater אהבה for our Jewish brethren and to assure that our priority at the present time are our children and to continuously provide them with the a greater sense of loyalty and pride in our Judaic way of life.

Our quarrel is not with Jews who are different, but with Jews who are indifferent.