Parasha Ba-Midbar

The kidnapping in Nigeria several weeks ago of 300 schoolgirls by the Islamic terrorist group Boko Haram has caused an international uproar and, a by now famous “Bring Back our Girls” Twitter campaign initiated by Michelle Obama. The mitzvah of Redeeming of the Captive -- “Pidyon Shevuim” in the Hebrew –– is of such importance in Jewish life and law that the Shulkhan Arukh, the authoritative Code of Jewish Law, declares that “redeeming captives takes precedence over sustaining the poor and clothing them; there is no commandment more important than redeeming the captive.”  Predictably, there has been the criticism that the uproar over the kidnappings only serves to publicize the kidnappers to a world that had never before heard of them.  This publicity  has set the group in the minds of the Nigerian public as a terror group much to be feared, and, according to this thinking, plays right into their hands. Yet without the publicity, it is unlikely the Nigerian government would have display much effort to try to rescue the girls. We saw this dynamic play itself out between 2006 and 2011 in Israel with the Hamas kidnapping of the Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit. His parents led a sustained publicity drive to pressure the government to make a deal with Hamas for his release, and they were criticized for thereby giving more power and publicity to Hamas. When he was finally released in 2011 in exchange for one thousand Arab prisoners held in Israeli jails, it was seen as a great victory for Hamas and enhanced their prestige at the expense of the PLO, Israel’s only conceivable partners for peace.  A passage in the Talmud reflects this tension between the imperative to pay ransom for the captive and the cost of doing so. “We do not redeem captives for more than their worth,” states this opinion, “so that enemies will not dedicate themselves to take other people captive.” In fact, over the past 54 years Israel has released 13,509 Arab prisoners in exchange for 16 Israeli soldiers – a ratio of 800 to 1.

But it is a different kind of Pidyon – redemption – that I want to highlight this evening. It is not the Pidyon Shevuim, the Redemption of the Captive, but the Pidyon HaBen, the redemption of the first born, that we find for the first time in our Torah reading this week.  The Pidyon HaBen is a ceremony that, to this day, traditional Jews perform for their sons who are the first born children of their mothers.  The origins of this custom go back to the very birth of the Jewish people in Egypt. For the tenth plague, G-d killed all of the first born sons of the Egyptians, but spared the first born sons of the Jewish people. In return for sparing the first born sons of the Jewish people, G-d declared that all of our first born sons would be dedicated to His service. It is almost as if the sparing of the first born of the Israelites imbued their lives with extra sanctity. Every family would have to send their son, if he were the first born, for lifetime service in the Sanctuary. However, with the building of the Golden Calf, the first born sons lost this privilege, as they participated fully in the worshipping of this idol. The tribe of Levi was, in fact, the only one who refrained from worshipping the Golden Calf. G-d decided that they, therefore, were the ones who were worthy of serving Him in the Sanctuary, that they alone maintained the holiness, the kedusha, to carry out the sacred tasks in the Tabernacle  in the Wilderness and later in the Temple in Jerusalem.

Unlike the Israeli soldier/Arab prisoner ratio of redemption 800 to one, in this case there would be a one to one correspondence – one member of the tribe of Levi would redeem one first born son. A census was taken. There were 22,000 Levites and 22,273 first born sons. Those extra 273 firstborns, for whom there was no Levite to redeem them, had to pay 5 shekels to the Priest for their redemption. Afterward, they were allowed to return to their families and resume their normal life.

This redemption, or “ransom”, of the first born is accomplished in our own day through a pidyon ha-ben ceremony on the thirty first day of the son’s life.

It goes something like this: The child might be brought into the room on a silver tray, a custom that began in the middle ages. He might be surrounded by cubes of sugar symbolizing sweet things to come, and draped with some women’s jewelry, as a reminder that Jewish women refused to contribute their gold jewelry to the forming of the Golden Calf. The Kohen, or priest, asks the father if he wishes to redeem his son. The father affirms this and hands over five silver coins to the Kohen. The Kohen holds the coins over the child’s head and recites some blessings. Then everyone eats!

Reform and Reconstructionist Jews do not hold this ceremony, as they generally maintain that all Temple related rituals are irrelevant in our world.   Yet It seems that the deeper meaning of this ritual is both the celebration of the beginning of a new generation and the acknowledgement that our children are a gift from G-d, “on loan”, as it were, from the Kadosh Barukh Hu. May it serve to remind us that all children are precious to G-d and to their parents. May G-d have compassion upon the kidnapped girls of Nigeria, and may they be redeemed speedily and returned to the loving arms of their parents.   Shabbat Shalom

 

Parasha BeChuKoTai

IF.....

This week’s sermon is a meditation, of sorts, on the first word of our weekly parasha. It is a small word in Hebrew, only two letters – eem. The equivalent in English is “if”.

A review of a new book entitled Archduke Franz Ferdinand Lives! A World Without World War l – appeared in the May 9 edition of the Jewish Forward. It was written by Ned Lebow, a professor of international political theory at Kings College, in England. The book explores the following question – how would history have been different if Archduke Franz Ferdinand, the heir to the Hapsburg throne, had not been assassinated on June 28, 1914, one hundred years ago next month. The assassination of the Archduke is widely thought to have lit the match that set off World War l. Had the Archduke lived, he would have succeeded his father two years later as Emperor of the Austrian-Hungary Empire.   Professor Lebow maintains that Archduke Ferdinand, a man committed to peace, would have found a way to avert World War 1. 

According to the book review, Professor Lebow outlines not one but two separate scenarios that stem from the avoidance of World War l. The first scenario leads to a better world than we have today, the second leads to a worse world.  Had war been averted, according to the better scenario, Hitler would not have come to power, and the Holocaust would never have happened.  Had the Holocaust never happened, according to this scenario, there would have been insufficient immigration to Israel by Jews, tensions between Arabs and Jews in Palestine would have been muted, Britain would have been able to contain both Arab and Jewish national aspirations, and Israel would not have come into being. Not so much a “better” scenario? Professor Lebow also presents a scenario where both the Holocaust is avoided and Israel becomes a Jewish state.  The “worse” scenario, by the way, culminates in a European nuclear war.

As it often happens, there is a personal story behind Professor Lebow’s interest in the “ifs” of history. As an infant in Paris in 1942, he was about to be deported to Auschwitz with his mother when she handed him off to a courageous French policeman.  The policeman brought him to a group of French Jewish women who were active in an underground movement to ferry Jewish children abroad to safety. He was eventually adopted by a family in the United States. “If” his mother had not handed him to the policeman, his own story may very well have ended in 1942. Who among us has not been intrigued by the “ifs” in our own personal lives?

Our Parasha for this week opens with the word “if”. G-d says the people of Israel, “If you follow My laws and faithfully observe my commandments, I will grant you your rains in their season, so that the earth shall yield its produce and the trees of the field their fruit ….. You shall eat your fill of bread and dwell securely in your land.”  The parasha continues in this way for ten more verses before turning to the other side of the coin – the consequences if Israel does not follow G-d’s laws and faithfully observe G-d’s commandments. In these verses, instead of the guarantees of blessings we have warnings. The Torah is trying to instill the “fear of G-d” into us as it lists the horrible consequences if we do not follow G-d’s commandments.

If it were only so simple!  Were it only that if one followed the commandments one’s life would be blessed, and if not, one would suffer. King David, for example, despite his flaws, was one of history’s most righteous individuals, but, did he ever have Tsuras in his life!

 There is a story told of King David in the Book of Samuel. His beloved son, Absalom, mounts a military rebellion against him. I suppose unlike the present British royal Prince Charles, Absalom could not wait to be king! Absalom gathers a powerful military force and is about to march on Jerusalem.  King David and those loyal to him flee the city, the Holy Ark of the Covenant in tow. Now in the countryside, David tells Zadok, the High Priest, to return the Holy Ark to the city. “If I find favor with the Lord,” says David, “He will bring me back and let me see it in its abode. And if G-d should say, ‘I do not want you as King’, I am ready – let Him do with me as He pleases.”

David will do what he can to regain his Kingship. Unlike the Archduke, David will survive and return to the throne.  But he is also aware that his efforts will be in vain IF G-d no longer wants him to be king. He is prepared for that eventuality. Ultimately, he accepts that his fate is in G-d’s hands.

We must also accept that our fate is ultimately in G-d’s hands.  As human beings there are but a few things we can control in our lives. There is much we cannot.  We should endeavor to be open and honest with others, but we cannot control their actions and reactions to our efforts. We can and should watch what we eat to maintain our health, but we cannot control our genetic makeup which may lead to disease. We can and should get a good education to prepare ourselves for productive work, but we are buffeted by larger economic and political forces that determine whether or not we will find the work we want – or work at all!  We can, and should, live virtuous lives by performing mitzvoth – but blessings as a result are not guaranteed.  No wonder the sages startlingly concluded, that contrary to our Torah portion, “there is no reward for performing mitzvahs in this world.” The reward for the mitzvah is the mitzvah itself, they maintained, the good feeling one gets for doing it, the satisfaction one derives from fulfilling G-d’s will.  If that is the totality of our reward, I believe it is reward enough.

 

 

 

Parasha BeHar

Whose Responsibility? 

 I wonder if the idea I am going to talk about tonight has ever crossed your minds before.  It is an idea that might even seem heretical.  It is certainly out of the ordinary. Yet, it is an idea that comes from the heart of the Jewish tradition. It has to do with our relationship to G-d. When we come to synagogue to pray, much of our prayer consists of giving thanks to G-d for all the good that G-d has bestowed upon us. We come to express our gratefulness for the birth of a child. We come to express our heartfelt thanks for our children who, this evening, helped lead services so beautifully. We feel in indebted to the Kadosh Barukh Hu, beholden to G-d, for giving us all that we have in life.  This week our Torah reading comes to teach about a different group of people -- those who are not as fortunate as we are. The Torah instructs us how we should act toward those whose lives have become beset with misfortunes, all kinds of misfortunes. “Should your brother come to ruin,” the Torah says, “you need to strengthen him, even if he is not Jewish, even if he is someone just passing through, – that he may live.”  We have a sense of obligation to help our fellow human being when they fall into debt, because, after all, the Torah commands it.  This has always been the Jewish way. It is an important ethical principal for us. The idea is so ingrained in our psyches that we think it is a natural human instinct to help others who have fallen on hard times. It is not. In ancient Rome, a creditor could legally imprison a person who owed him money in his own private dungeon. He could chain him to a block; sell him into slavery, or even worse.   England had an infamous London prison called the Marshalsea, where debtors were sent. Charles Dickens father was sent there in 1824 because he owed money to a baker.  Dickens was forced to leave school at the age of 12 to work in a factory to try to pay his father’s debt and help support the family. As we know, Dickens went on to write about the inhumane and cruel conditions that the poor suffered in his time. The ethos seems to have been, “When your fellow comes to ruin, you need to punish him for it.”

Not so in our Torah. The Torah repeats, five times in this week’s portion alone, that we have an obligation to help those whose lives are in ruins. The Torah reminds us that our fellow human beings – not just our fellow Jews – are “our brothers and sisters”. In reminding us, the Torah does something very interesting. Up to that point, the Torah speaks to us in the plural. The Torah speaks to society in general – the plural “You” -- when giving the law of the Sabbatical and Jubilee years.  When it comes to commanding us to support those whose lives are in ruin, the Torah switches to the singular. The Torah now addresses the individual. According to one commentator, this is because it is natural that when a person is in need, everyone wants somebody else to help them – do they have a relative who is close to them, is there a wealthy person who can help them out?  Therefore, the Torah in this case speaks to the individual, in the singular, as if to say –it is YOUR obligation to help the poor, do not exempt yourself and say, “Someone else will do it.”[1]

The presence of the poor and the hungry confronts us with a theological problem. It says in our Psalms, “You open up Your hand, and satisfy every living thing with favor.” The Psalmist praises G-d in by saying, “You give food to all flesh”? What about all of the poor people in our world who are not “satisfied with favor”? What about all the hungry in our nation who do not have enough food to satisfy them?”

According to the Psalms, it appears it is G-d’s obligation to provide sustenance to all of His creatures. It seems that it is G-d’s job to save a person from ruin. Is G-d derelict in G-d’s duties? That is where we come in. In providing for the poor, we lend our hands and snatch, as it were, this mitzvah from G-d and make it our own. Did you know what G-d says when we do this, according to our tradition? G-d says, “I’m in debt to that person who feeds the poor. I am grateful to that person who gave a loan. I owe that person who lifted up another from ruin.” I want to add that this does not begin and end with our care for fellow humans. It extends as well when we show compassion other members of the animal kingdom. G-d says, “I am beholden to that person who rescued that kitten”, “I am obliged to that family who gave this dog a home”.  We always think of ourselves as being thankful to G-d. But when we come to the aid of others, man or beast, G-d is thankful to us.[2]

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[1] Alshich, Torat Moshe

[2] I am grateful to Rabbi Yechiel Poupko who provided the idea for this sermon.

Israel Independence Day

 The founding of the State of Israel in 1948, 66 years ago, will be observed the 6th of Iyar, this Tuesday, May 6th. It has been a tumultuous history, born from a war initiated by its neighbors who refused to accept the UN vote declaring Israel a Jewish State. Yet Israel, still surrounded by enemies, grows, develops and prospers. Today, Israel is one of the great democracies of the world, and the only true democracy in the Middle East.  A few significant facts:

·         Israelis come from one hundred countries around the world, representing diverse ethnic, religious and racial groups.  75% of Israelis are Jews, 20% are Arabs, and 4% Druze, Bahais and from other religions.

·         In the State of Israel Arab citizens enjoy equal rights with Jewish citizens.  They can participate in the political process and hold seats in the Knesset, Israel’s Parliament.  There are currently 12 Arab members of the Kenesset.  Salim Jubran, an Arab, has been an Israeli Supreme Court Justice since 2004.

·         Israel has two official languages: Arabic and Hebrew.

·         Israel has one of the world’s most vibrant free presses. Israeli newspapers regularly criticize their government -- free from threats of retaliation.

·         Israelis have the right to freely assemble and demonstrate on behalf of their beliefs.  In 2011 an estimated 430,000 people took part in demonstrations across Israel demanding social justice and economic reforms that benefit middle class and poor families. In January, 10,000 African migrants protested their treatment by the government of Israel as they sought refugee status in Israel. Two months ago thousands of ultra-Orthodox men took to the streets to protest a Supreme Court ruling that upheld the withholding of state funds to Yeshivahs whose students have evaded military responsibilities based on their Ultra Orthodox practices..

·         According to the Washington DC based Pew Forum, government hostility toward religious minorities is rising in the world, particularly in the Middle East since the Arab Spring. Israel remains a country where Jews, Christians, Muslims, Bahais, and other religions enjoy freedom of religion.  Declaration of Independence declares that Israel “will guarantee freedom of religion, conscience, language, education and culture; it will safeguard the Holy Places of all religions; and it will be faithful to the principles of the Charter of the United Nations.”

·         Israeli law forbids discrimination based on sexual orientation. In 2012, Tel Aviv was voted “The World’s Best Gay City” in an online competition, garnering 43% of the votes and ranking it above New York, San Francisco and Sydney, Australia..

·         Israeli law also guarantees full equality to women.  Israel had a female prime minister, Golda Meir, between 1969 and 1974. When she assumed the post at the age of 71, she was only the third female Prime minister in the world.  In last year’s election, a record 27 women were elected to the Knesset. Three women were at the head of the parties that made it into the legislature.  Nearly half of all district and magistrate judges are women. Dorit Beinisch was the first woman elected President of the Israeli Supreme Court in 2005 serving in that capacity until 2012.

·         Women have served in the Israeli army since the state was founded in 1948. Zahara Levitov, a pre-state female fighter in the Palmach, flew combat missions in the War for Independence.  Yael Rom was the first woman to graduate from the Israeli Army Flight School, the IAF, in 1950. She saw action during the 1956 Suez War. However, the IAF stopped accepting women into their flight school soon after.

 In  In 1994 a trained civilian pilot, Alice Miller, petitioned the Israeli Supreme Court to rule on the gender discrimination that prevented women from enrolling in the IAF flight school.  Against the wishes of the IAF commander at the time, the court ruled that the IAF could not bar candidates for training based on gender alone.  Since that time 35 women have completed the course and are qualified to fly missions for the IAF.  Starting this year, pregnant pilots will be allowed to fly transport planes until their 25^th week of pregnancy. Contrast this to Saudi Arabia, where women are not even legally allowed to drive a car!

The fact that Israel is a vibrant democracy should come as no surprise. Rabbi Morris N. Kertzner z”l notes that the same principles that are fundamental to Judaism are also fundamental to democracy. Judaism teaches that all people are created equal, and that each person is precious in the eyes of G-d. Judaism teaches that we are our brothers’ keeper – that we are responsible for each other’s well being. Judaism teaches that we are each made in the image of G-d, and therefore it is the responsibility of society to bring out the potential in each and every person. Finally, Judaism teaches that freedom is prized above all else – indeed, we are constantly reminded in our Torah that we were once slaves, and that G-d brought us out of slavery to freedom.  Benjamin Franklin proposed in 1776 that the Great Seal of the United States depict a scene from the Exodus from Egypt, with the motto underneath, “Rebellion to Tyrants is Obedience to G-d”.  Indeed, the thread of democratic values and principles in a fundamental sense runs through Jewish history from our nomadic beginnings to our present day.

Shabbat Shalom