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Food
for Thought
Food
for Thought
Thoughts in the Wake of the WTC Bombings
Rabbi Shaya Karlinsky
The following is an expanded version of a shmuze
given by Rav Shaya Karlinsky last Wednesday, after
the tragic events of the previous day.
It has been quite a year. The year began last Rosh
Hashana with fierce and deadly Arab violence against
the Jews of Eretz Yisrael. It is ending with Muslim
terror and destruction against the entire Western
world.
It is less than a month ago that I wrote you my
thoughts about the difficult situation Jews were
experiencing in Eretz Yisrael. My words began "in
the shadow of ongoing tragic deaths and maiming
of innocent victims of barbaric terrorism in Eretz
Yisrael." It is quite unbelievable and very difficult
to have to write once again, this time in the shadow
of even greater barbarism, insane loss of unimaginable
numbers of innocent human lives, coupled with mass
destruction. While the miraculous alarm clocks that
didn't go off, unexpected traffic jams or job layoffs,
and the "simply coincidental" vans that had to leave
late because of selichos resulted in many of our
Jewish brethren being saved from death or maiming,
the message G-d is sending was certainly directed
to us all.
I am sure there are many psukim and Midrashim making
the rounds that describe or predict what happened.
Some are more telling, some are more stretched.
I share with you two verses in the section of the
curses that we read the Shabbos before the Twin
Tower's Tragedy, which caught my attention.
"[Your enemies] will besiege you in all your gates,
until the crumbling of your tall and fortified walls,
those upon which you relied in all your lands."
(Devarim 28:52)
"You will go mad from the sight of what your eyes
see" (Devarim 28:34). On this verse the Netziv (Ha'amek
Davar) prophetically comments: You will be astounded
over how it was possible for a small number of thugs
to cause so much (damage), and your abilities didn't
save you, when in truth you had the power to withstand
them. This will cause you to go mad.
We are taught (Amos 3:6,8) "Is it possible that
the Shofar is sounded in the city, and the population
doesn't tremble? Could an evil befall the city,
and G-d didn't bring it about?... A lion roars -
who doesn't fear? G-d speaks - who can ignore the
prophecy?
The lion has roared. The shofar has sounded. G-d
has spoken very loudly.
The only problem we have is in deciphering the message.
Prophecy has been taken from us since the beginning
of the Second Temple period, so we have limited
resources available to help us. Yet, if G-d speaks
to us through world events, we must have some mechanisms
to hear Him. If we really want to hear Him,
and if we "listen very hard," there is chance we
may succeed. The tools available to us are our Torah
sources, from the Torah and Prophets, through the
Talmud and Midrash, continuing with the Rishonim,
later commentators and Rabbinic scholars.
Colleagues that I have spoken with have different
perspectives, as do contemporary Rabbinic leaders.
Each one focuses on a different aspect of Klal Yisrael
that needs attention. What I am going to write is
based on my perspective of the contemporary Jewish
world and Jewish history, as well as my reading
of our sources. It should not be taken as definitive,
but simply as "chomer l'machshava," material for
further thought and consideration, to get you thinking
and introspecting. And it should be read as being
directed to you, Darche Noam alumni, who may have
different challenges than other segments of the
Jewish community.
Whenever one finds oneself in a confusing situation,
the first rule is to "keep your eye on the ball,"
"begin with the end in mind," or in simple terms,
know what the end result is supposed to look like.
Where are we headed? From a Torah perspective, I
think that can be simplified into: The Jewish nation
being faithful to its unique character, keeping
the Torah in Eretz Yisrael, serving as a vehicle
for G-d's existence and greatness to be recognized
by the entire world. That is what our sources tell
us, and that is the clear direction of Jewish history
since the Vilna Gaon and the Ba'al Shem Tov instructed
groups of their disciples to make the very difficult
move from their homes in Europe to the wasteland
of eighteenth century Eretz Yisrael. Since that
time, we have seen the slow unfolding of Biblical
prophecies that are to usher in the Messianic Age,
and all the Torah giants of the past century were
in agreement that we were in the throes of that
final period of Jewish history. (The only serious
disagreement among them has been how to relate to
the secular state espoused and eventually built
by Zionism.) The agricultural development of Eretz
Yisrael, the ingathering of Jews from every corner
of the world, the relocation of the Torah center
of the world from Europe (pre WWII) to Eretz Yisrael
(by the 1970's, with a short stopover in the US),
and the miracles G-d has been performing from the
War of Independence (1948-49), the Suez War (1956),
the Six Day War (1967) through the Yom Kippur War
(1973, when the country was initially overrun, yet
it miraculously snatched victory from the jaws of
defeat) give us a good indication of the direction
in which G-d is moving Jewish history.
The problem, in my opinion, has been the reaction
of world Jewry to all this. How have G-d's miracles
been received? How dear is Eretz Yisrael to the
Jewish people? When we are taught in our sources
that the descendants of Yishmael will be in conflict
with the Jewish people over the rights of ownership
to Eretz Yisrael, and then we compare the level
of commitment and conviction they show over their
ownership claim compared to ours, it is embarrassing.
After Oslo, many Palestinians living in the US began
liquidating their businesses and selling their homes
to move [back] to the West Bank, which they proclaimed
as their homeland.
Exile was decreed on the Jewish nation as a punishment.
The Holy Temple was destroyed and we were driven
from Eretz Yisrael into exile as a punishment for
our sins. The Maharal teaches us that we needed
to take an oath not to leave the exile for Eretz
Yisrael (Ketuboth 110b-111a) because the unnatural
state of being in exile cannot be maintained under
the natural order. But when G-d has given us the
opportunity to leave that exile, when He gives us
the opportunity to enhance our relationship with
Him by coming to "the land which G-d inquires after,
always his eyes are on it, from the beginning of
the year to the end of the year" (Devarim 11:10-12)
what attitude are we conveying when we don't utilize
the opportunity?
I think it is quite a Chilul HaShem (desecration
of G-d's honor) when Jews ignore this opportunity.
Becoming more entrenched, more invested, more connected
to the exile (as Torah-friendly as it appears to
be) rejecting the opportunities of Eretz Yisrael,
makes a very clear statement about the strength
of our conviction about our rights to Eretz Yisrael.
Actions speak louder than words. And right now Arab
actions are speaking very loudly. And the Jewish
words being spoken aren't that loud. How often do
you hear Hanan Ashrawi or Saib Erekat speaking in
a very compelling way about their historical rights
to Palestine? How many times are Jewish spokesmen
as convincing?
Of course living in Eretz Yisrael is difficult.
Chazal teach that due the spiritual nature of Eretz
Yisrael, it requires sacrifices on the material
level. Every spiritual accomplishment does. But
those difficulties are much less today than they
were two hundred or one hundred or even thirty years
ago. There are jobs, there is housing, there are
cellphones and internet, and there is a level of
comfort undreamed of a decade or two ago. And if
the security situation had been the one remaining
excuse for choosing the US over Eretz Yisrael, the
events of the past week just leveled the playing
field. I fear that over the coming months, we may
find that in fact these events were just the tip
of the iceberg.
In discussing the situation in Israel with a close
friend and colleague from the US during the past
few months, the question kept coming up: What does
G-d want from us? When I put forth some of my ideas,
he rejected the ones that focused on the changes
demanded of the American Torah community. "The bombs
are going off in Jerusalem, Netanya, Gaza and Gush
Etzion, not New York, Monsey and Chicago," he said.
My response was "I can't speak for G-d, and that
isn't a proof, since frequently it is the righteous
who pay the price for the sins of the nation. But,
it is inconceivable to me that we, the Torah Jews
living in and sacrificing for Eretz Yisrael should
be subjected to the difficulties and terror that
we live with, and Jews in America should sit comfortably
insulated from the pain and suffering that G-d is
visiting upon us." I said this a number of times
during 5761, the last time being when he was in
Jerusalem on a solidarity mission, and one of his
students was killed in the Sbarro bombing.
The issue of Anti-Semitism should also not be overlooked.
While the reaction of the American people to last
week's events was one of understanding for Israel,
the recent Anti-Semitic spectacle of Durban shouldn't
be forgotten. And I don't need to tell alumni living
in the US about the voices blaming the WTC bombings
on US support for Israel. "Halacha - Eisav sonei
eth Yakov" Chazal inform us. Anti-Semitism is a
constant in the world order. There can be periods
in which it is more intense or less intense, and
it can manifest itself in different ways. It may
even take a hiatus. But it is an underlying constant,
and if the Jew forgets it, the world will remind
us.
The evidence of tangible Divine intervention in
the events of last week are overwhelming. From the
fact that such a complicated mission, in the planning
for many years, was pulled off with no intelligence
agency picking it up, with not one security check
picking up just one of the terrorists before boarding
the plane, et al; to the many instances of people
not making it to work on time for one reason or
another, thereby saving their lives, gives us a
tangible sense of the Divine hand guiding all that
is happening.
But there are two points about Divine intervention
that should be focused on.
The first point appears in Rashi's commentary on
the verses just quoted (11:12). Doesn't G-d inquire
about the welfare of the entire world? Aren't His
eyes on the entire world? Rather, it is as if He
only inquires about Eretz Yisrael, and along the
way He also inquires about the rest of the world.
Decrees for the entire world are a function of the
needs of Eretz Yisrael. When we experience personal
Divine intervention, it is available to us only
because G-d was attending to the needs of the Jews
in Eretz Yisrael.
Our relationship with G-d has the potential to be
more intense, more intimate, more ongoing in Eretz
Yisrael. How great are our efforts to make that
possible? What price are we willing to pay for that
special relationship?
The next point has to do with tefilah, our davening.
When Rav Shlomo Zalman Auerbach, zt"l, was asked
what he would miss about "this world" when he reaches
120, one of the two things he listed was the ability
to speak to the Almighty whenever he wanted, through
tefillah. The quality of the ongoing relationship
we have with G-d is directly related to the quality
of our davening. When we rush in late to shul, skip
half of psukei d'zimrah to reach Shmoneh Esrei with
the tzibbur, finish the entire davening in thirty
or thirty-five minutes, with our minds on our first
appointment in the office or on carpool as we say
"Aleinu," we have lost the most powerful opportunity
to create and define our relationship with G-d.
(We won't mention the insulting way we seem to be
relating to Him.)
At Darche Noam, we are coming off of an unbelievable
Yarchei Kallah this summer that was focused on the
Power of Prayer. If you weren't there, I highly
recommend that you get some of the tapes to listen
to the many inspiring and practical lectures and
shiurim. Spend time studying the davening. Get to
shul early, daven slowly, talk to G-d. Let
us improve the quality of our prayers, not just
with an extra chapter of Tehillim for the situation,
but with a complete overhaul of the way we communicate
with G-d.
Life stood still for many people last week in New
York. Things that seemed our top priorities lost
all significance during the hours we watched in
horror at what was happening to the world. The fragile
nature of life, the unstable existence we so take
for granted took on new perspective. I am sure the
concluding words of Nethaneh Tokef will take on
new meaning this year, as we better understand that
"Man is created from dust, and his end is dust.compared
to fragile pottery.a passing shadow and a dissipating
cloud, like a blowing wind, floating dust, and a
fleeting dream.
The world changed last week. Let this Rosh Hashana
provide us with a changed perspective on life and
our priorities.
A Kethiva v'Chathima Tovah to the entire Jewish
nation, with 5762 being a good and sweet year.
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