Shemos
Why Do We Fight So Much?
Moses Faced Two Enemies: One He Could Handle; the Other Eluded Him
Dedicated by David and Eda Schottenstein
in the loving memory of a young soul Alta Shula Swerdlov
daughter of Rabbi Yossi and Hindel Swerdlov
and in the merit of Yetta Alta Shula, "Aliya," Schottenstein
The War Is Over?
A man in Germany felt that he needed to confess, so he went to his priest. "Forgive me Father, for I have sinned. During World War Two, I hid a Jew in my attic."
"Well," answered the priest, "that's not a sin."
"But I made him agree to pay me $50 for every week he stayed."
"I admit that wasn't good, but you did it for a good cause."
"Oh, thank you, Father; that eases my mind. I have one more question..."
"What is that, my son?"
"Do I have to tell him the war is over?"
Two Incidents of Violence
In this week’s portion (Shemos) the Hebrew Bible introduces us to Moses, through two incidents (Exodus, Chapter 2):
“It happened in those days that Moses grew up and he went out to his brethren and observed their burdens; and he saw an Egyptian man striking a Hebrew man of his brethren. He turned this way and that way and he saw that there was no man, so he struck down the Egyptian, and hid him in the sand.”
The Bible continues:
“He went out the next day, and behold! Two Hebrew men were fighting. He said to the wicked one, ‘Why would you strike your fellow’? He replied: ‘Who appointed you as a prince and leader over us? Do you mean to kill me as you killed the Egyptian?’ Moses was frightened.”
As a result, he escapes from Egypt. Only later would he return to the country and liberate his people from slavery.
It is no coincidence that these are the only two vignettes the Bible shares with us concerning Moses’ youth in Egypt, and that the Bible emphasizes that these two episodes occurred during two consecutive days. It seems that these two episodes somehow encapsulate Moses’ life-mission and destiny; they seem to capture his particular story. How so?
Two Conditions of Exile
Exile for the Jewish people consists of two dynamics – oppression from without and erosion from within. The former might be more painful, but the latter is more lethal. Hence, the first and emblematic Jewish leader, Moses, as he is growing into his position, is immediately confronted with these two problems that would define the Jewish condition in exile.
On the first and most basic level, Jewish exile – from Egypt till today – has been defined by the “Egyptian man striking a Hebrew man.” Persecution, abuse, oppression, expulsion, random torture and murders, even genocide, have been the fate of the Jewish people from Pharaoh to Hitler. In almost every generation the Jew needed to reckon with the tragedy of baseless Jewish hatred that never ceased to claim innocent lives. The Jew turns this way and that way and sees “that there is no man” who cares enough. The world—The UN—will remain silent.
Yet with all of its crude and incomprehensible brutality, Moses finds a solution to this crisis. “He struck down the Egyptian and hid him in the sand.” Moses taught us, that there are times when we have no choice but to take up arms and strike the enemy, in order to protect innocent lives. The use of moral violence must always be the last resort, but when all other attempts fail, righteous might is the only response to immoral violence.
The Second Day
On the second day, after Moses rescued his fellow Jew from the external enemy, he is confronted with a new challenge: A Jew fighting a Jew. One would think that the solution to this problem would be easier than the former one. After all, this is only a quarrel between Jews themselves. Yet, astoundingly, in this incident Moses fails. His attempt to create reconciliation gets thrown back at him. In a typical Jewish response, Moses is told: “Who appointed you as a prince and leader over us?” Who do you think you are to tell me how to behave?
Anti-Semitism is dangerous, very dangerous, and we need much determination and courage to combat it wherever and whenever it rears its ugly head. Yet since the enemy is clearly defined, we have no problem identifying the target and eliminating it, either through peaceful methods or through justified conflict. However, discord within the Jewish people – the strife and mistrust between communities as well as the animosity within communities and families – is a silent disease that eats up at our core, and does not allow us to experience liberation. At first it does not seem so destructive; its negative potency shows up only in time, especially in moment of crisis when we need each other most but the trust has been eroded.
The Jewish people has often been threatened by hostile civilizations, from ancient Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, Persia, Greece, and Rome, to the Third Reich and the Soviet Union in the twentieth century, and by fundamentalist Islam in our own times. But the most fateful injuries have been those the Jewish people has inflicted on itself: the division of the kingdom in the days of the First Temple, which brought about the eventual defeat of both halves and the loss of ten of the twelve tribes; the internecine rivalry in the last days of the Second Temple, which brought about the destruction of Jerusalem and the longest exile in Jewish—indeed, in human—history.
There have been only three periods of Jewish political sovereignty in four thousand years. Two ended in and because of internal dissension. The third age of sovereignty began in 1948, and already Israeli society is dangerously fragmented. The democratic process alone does not guarantee the existence of the body politic; it needs also some shared culture and identity—a shared sense of purpose and destiny. Israel at war is defined by its enemies. Israel in pursuit of peace is less easily defined and may erode from within.
When Moses, more than three millennia ago, observed the Jew fighting the Jew, he grew frightened. Moses knew that as long as unity prevailed among his people, no force from without could crush them. But the moment they became fragmented within, their future is dim.
Today, in 2012, we are still in exile, and we suffer from both problems. There are the people who wish to strike us down, and there is conflict within our own ranks. And, just as it was with Moses, it seems at times that the former challenge is easier to address than the latter. It is easier to gain a consensus concerning Ahmadinejad and Hamas than it is to create peace in a family and community. Will we at least this time around have the courage to dull our egos, open our hearts and embrace each of our brothers and sisters with unconditional love?
Moses
Moses was confronted by a scene that violated his sense of values. For the first time in his life, the question of what action to take is put in front of him, since the Bible reports that no one was around to respond to the plight of the Hebrew man. He felt compelled to act, almost reflexively.
From Abraham on, the Bible depicts stories that put the "hero" in a position of action that is appropriately responsive to the situation.
And that is what the Torah was created for, to instruct us to be appropriately responsive in all situations.
Rashi's commentary is most apt
A time to fight
"You've got it wrong, Rabbi. It's not "in-fighting", it's "fighting is in".
The cat for one is still fighting as long as there are Baraks out there doing
the non-Torah thing. The only way the cat would cede there, is if that individual
or those individuals would do big time Tshuva, apologize and set his path/their
paths right. To tolerate their tyranny meanwhile is to stand by doing nothing,
while the blood of our brothers (and maybe our own) is shed - whether literally
or in the form of their being robbed of their rights (Hesder Yeshiva boys from
Har Bracha) and/or property.
As Rabbi Moshe Stern once said, though, in the same vein as Rabbi Jacobson
here, "If only some of our politicians would just have the guts to admit they were/are
wrong."
Ya, but you see this is the problem with our slavery to our own ego - the most
dangerous form of Avodah zarah, and this is being encouraged more and more,
because it is seemingly not as concrete as the old form of idol worship, and thus
- just like anti-Semitism clothed as anti-Zionism - slides comfortably into the state
of being "socially acceptable", because nobody wants to step on anybody's toes
by calling an ace an ace and a spade a spade.
"Yelley belly green guts" we used to scream in grade school. Oh for some of that
good old baseball bat frankness. Batter up, boys. Let's play ball - a straight game,
please, and even if the batter slugs that spinner right back into the pitcher's guts.
Oy vey is mir, but how good it is, and how straight forward. No hard feelings, and
after five minutes or so the pitcher can stand up straight again and be proud of his stomach muscles. These, davka these have to be trained.
Sorry for getting so crude, but sometimes we have to get back to basics - blue
and black eyes - that kind of thing to keep the game healthy.
We are so lacking in courage, and that is how our faith goes bad, how the Biedermann
und der Brandstifter scenario becomes commonplace (wants to be a good bourgeois,
invites an arsonist in, although he knows very well, what the arsonist is going to do, but
he just has to do the "camp" thing of inviting this criminal into his place). So we smile
at Obama, smile at the UN, the EU and Hamas and Fatah and co., and feel this is very
much the "in" thing to do, meanwhile in-fighting, but the real fight in which fighting is in
is to call things and people what they are and fight them accordingly, when Torah dictates it and when our own conscience screams at us to do so.
1948?
Don't Give Up
usual suspects
Sorry if this is pessimistic. But isn't it a reality ? Some Israelis want peace by giving up strategic terrain.And the paper the peace is signed on, what v becomes of it in later generations. And without peace, what are the chances of living without fear and leaving Israel on account of this situation ?
I'll apologize again for the pessimism/reality.
ב"ה b"H inyan: sounds of Shabbos
additional comment - a couple of years later -
Best heard by a blind man are the sounds of silence - e.g. by Hose Feliciano, who wrote "Listen to the Rain" that went through my head often this past Erev Shabbos in the rain, and then somebody just this Erev Shabbos had sent me an e-mail to draw my attention to a clip on You Tube - a clip called "The Sounds of Shabbos". If you print that in just as I have written on your browser, you will get it - and enjoy what is not what they call it - a Jewish parody on "The Sounds of Silence", but something quite beautiful - and catchy. You'll find yourself replaying it and singing it too. Now there is a problem perhaps with the line "Reform, Conservative or Orthodox" - for various reasons, including the fact that this still excludes a Sach' Yidden with no official "affiliation". However, it is a starting point, and not a bad one at all.
Another starting point might be this:
As the Rebbe himself once pointed out, the difference between the gematria of Moshe and that of Moshiach is thirteen, which equals Echad. It is necessary for this to be internalized from below, and that is why the process takes centuries. I found it also interesting that the gematria of Slichah is one hundred and thirteen, and it is just that - HaShem's PARDON to Moshe Rabeinu - that would be necessary for HaShem to send him here to Eretz Yisrael and Yerushalayim - RIGHT NOW - to help prepare us for the final redemption, speed up the process a lot. If you take a look at Simon Jacobson's Wort called "The Stutterer" for this Parsha, you will read more about Moshe Rabeinu and the quality of his silence - his total caring for our people.
Shavua tov. Kol tov.
Esther Sarah and Halakha (my kitty)
HAREDI AND THE HALACHA
More then ever, it is being shown that the term Haredi comes from the Tanach (Herda, on of the camping places in the desert where Bnei Israel was the victon of a plage) instead of the sefer ha haredim.
In short, when irat the neighbouhood rav takes the place of Irat Shamaim, Jewish people are in trouble. Damn Haredim!