Sitaatti: Aruz7 lehdetä
In instances too numerous to list, we have been terrorized. And each time, we returned to recite HaGomel.
Published: Friday, December 05, 2014 10:46 AM
The
Har Nof slaughter is just the latest atrocity in a history of
atrocities perpetrated against Jews. The wickedness pressing in around
us feels relentless. It is enough to make us seek stronger walls and
wider moats to keep the world at bay.
But walling ourselves
off from the world has never been an option. We are in the world. We
are of the world. We must not only engage the world, but to be
stronger for that engagement.
It is not enough to merely survive.
We must thrive, physically, psychologically and spiritually. Those who
survived the physical slaughter at the Har Nof synagogue
returned on
Thursday to recite HaGomel, the blessing said after being saved from
danger. As Rav Rubin related to Rav Shteinman and Rav Kanievsky, “There
has never been such HaGomels ever recited!”
To survive such a
direct confrontation with the Angel of Death as they did is beyond human
vocabulary. Har Nof. Treblinka. Poland, 1648-49. Hebron, 1929. In
instances too numerous to list, we have been terrorized.
And each time,
we returned to recite HaGomel. Yet, perhaps it is the profound threat
of these instances, the life and death nature of them, that encourages
piety. Perhaps the more difficult task is to live in the secular world,
to live with Laban, and to maintain our dignity and spirituality.
Before confronting Esau face to face, Jacob sent emissaries to transmit a message that begins,
Im Laban garti – I have sojourned with Laban and I have lingered until now.
This is all true. Jacob lived (
garti) around Laban but he always remained a stranger, a
ger.
He left his childhood home years before and then, as Rabbi
Soloveitchik explains, lived “a long night of darkness, misery and
distress.” It is no easy task to survive an environment that is
antithetical to one’s upbringing but Jacob emphasizes that he had not
“gone off the
derech,” the Jewish path. As Rashi declares, “I have sojourned with Laban, yet I observed the 613 mitzvos.”
He
had ample opportunity not to! Certainly the twenty-plus years he
sojourned with Laban was more than enough time to lose his identity and
traditions, to learn and embrace the ways of Laban. But Jacob asserts
that he did not. “He had not assimilated; he had not integrated himself
into Laban’s society and community; he had not accepted their morals,
their code of ethics, or their lifestyle.” (Rav Soloveitchik)
He
was as dedicated at the end of his servitude in Laban’s house as he was
that first night he spent on the cold stones of Beth El.
With
Hanukkah approaching, we are reminded of how difficult it is to remain
faithful in galut, Exile. Indeed, galut is the ultimate Rorschach test
for all Jewish generations. How we understand and react to this reality
defines us. We cannot avoid it. galut is our reality. There are no
walls tall enough nor moat wide enough to hold it at bay. As
frightening as that is,
the truth is that there can be no Geula without
galut.
The question for each generation and for each of us is, Do
we have what it takes to live through galut, to be able to declare as
Jacob did to Esau, “I have made it through Laban!” Implicit in his
declaration was that he would survive all that Esau might have in store
for him and his descendants, he would remain true and preserve Abraham’s
covenant.
To be fully Jewish has nothing to do with time or place.
Im Laban garti.
Jacob sojourned with Laban and maintained his commitment. He tells us
so himself! Which raises an interesting question, Is it appropriate for
someone of Jacob’s religious and spiritual stature to “sing his own
praise”?
While it seems that is exactly what Jacob was doing,
Rav Meir Shapiro of Lublin suggests another perspective, a novel
perspective that suggests a way for us to engage our galut. It’s true,
Jacob admits, I did observe the Taryag mitzvoth in Laban’s environment,
but I did not absorb any lessons from Laban’s approach (
Lo lamadti mi’maasav ha’rayim).
What is there after all to learn from Laban? The answer, Rav Meir
Shapiro teaches, is that inasmuch as a person is obligated to serve God
with every facet of his life, one must constantly be alert to new ways
to achieve those goals. Just as one who seeks wealth is always on the
lookout for new opportunities to increase his wealth, so too must we be
looking for ways to increase our spiritual well-being. After all, when I
see the lengths people go to in order to fulfill their carnal desires…
how much
more should I be willing to go to achieve my spiritual goals?
Rabbi
Meir Shapiro makes clear that, far from boasting, Jacob was taking
himself to task. “I lived with Laban all those years, I observed how
single-minded he was in pursuit of his worldly desires. He let nothing
get in his way. But I did not learn a lesson from him that could have
enhanced my life. Yes, I observed Taryag (613) mitzvoth, but I never
achieved the same fervor in pursuing my spiritual goals. My excitement
in observing mitzvoth paled to his thrill in pursuing his meaningless
goals.”
Im Laban…
We too often assume that our
learning and observance must be measured against the finest and best
among us. But such a perspective invites a sense of failure. How can I
possibly live up to the standards and achievements of the Chofetz Chaim
or Rav Aaron Kotler or Rav Moshe Feinstein?
Wiser to evaluate our achievements not against the best but against the worst. Im Laban… It sounds odd. It feels odd. But isn’t that what Rav Shapiro’s teaching suggests? I cannot expect to be like Reb Moshe ZTL or Reb Yaakov ZTL but I can exceed
the Labans of the world! I can certainly match the time and
determination of those who instill fear and trembling in the world even
if I can never match the time and spirituality of the best among us!
The Chofetz Chaim was once told about the seemingly enormous success of the missionaries throughout Europe.
“Oy vey!” the poor Jew cried. “What can we do to respond to all of this
sheker, these lies, they are spreading?”
The Chofetz Chaim smiled. “If we were to work for the
emes (truth) with an
emes (genuine sincerity) like they work for the
sheker with an
emes, I can assure you that we would experience enormous success.”
Im Laban…