Thursday, April 29, 2004
Sparks From Israel
When Will We Learn
I am always shocked when I realize that the majority of Jews outside of Israel and a large number inside Israel do not support Yehuda and Shomron. My visiting friends were surprised that I supported them 100%.
‘So you don’t think we have to give back some land? But come on these guys are sending kids out to be killed every day what do we have to hold on to this for?’ And their Israeli guide adds ‘This is my country and I love it, but we don’t need these places like Gush Katif these Jews from Brooklyn come there and they only provoke the Arabs by living there. Why do they need to live there, it’s a big country?
#1 – Do you think Arabs kill Jews because of the occupied lands of 1967? Do you think Arabs kill Jews because they build communities in Yehuda and Shomron?
Why then did they kill 500 Jews in Hevron in the 1930’s? Was it because of the occupied lands of 1967? Why did they make a war in the first place? Because of the occupied lands of ‘67 which didn’t yet exist?
Arabs kill Jews because Arabs have been at war with us ever since we returned to our home and giving back conquered land will not stop them, but only encourage them to murder more of their babies and ours, because instead of throwing them out as any normal country would do, we reward them for their mass murder. I will explain why we do this in a moment.
#2 – Why does the thought of throwing out Jews, from the homes they built and paid for, from cities and towns that they built, fathers, mothers and children, not abhorrent to us? Why is this acceptable, and yet the thought of uprooting the neighbors, who are the true instigators, for they are the criminals that throw the bombs and murder innocent Jews, why is that abhorrent and racist?
To answer these questions that unfortunately I even need to ask we need to ask an even deeper question. Is the Holocaust something we cannot explain? Or do we believe we have a G-d that controls every detail of creation and He punishes and rewards? If so, why did He punish us with the Holocaust and what lesson can we learn from this punishment? And how does it apply to us today?
Learning from Tragedy
Often when tragedy strikes it is accompanied by a moment of truth. In these tragic moments our life flashes before us and our hopes and dreams, and often ‘delusions’ are shattered. What we failed to pay attention to in ‘whispers’ is made clear before our eyes in ‘earthquakes’. Just like paper-training a dog one has to rub his nose into something he fails to grasp, unfortunately we too need to cry when it’s too late in order to understand what could have been prevented.
With this in mind, let us look at one of the most horrible scenes, of the many punishments we incurred. When one sees photos of life in the concentration camp, there is one photo that is particularly gruesome, the photo of the section where Jews were forced to place their brothers into the furnace. They were promised life, for the price of their brother’s death. And so it goes.
Because we are taught that there is no explanation for the Holocaust, and therefore, there was no sin, and G-d is cruel, and we are innocent lambs, we continue down the path of tragedy without learning, even when our noses are rubbed into the evil we did, and continue to do to our brothers. Long before the war Aliyah was possible and millions of Jews could have been saved, but along with the freedom to go to Israel, their was also the freedom to leave the age-old shtetle and be a ‘German’ or an ‘American’.
And once the two doorways were opened the multitudes went fleeing to emancipation and cut off their beards and their roots and their leaders, like the spies in the dessert, discouraged Aliyah, while the tiny group who tried to encourage Aliyah was persecuted by their own brothers, much like the Jews of Yehuda and Shomron are persecuted today. The storm clouds loomed over Europe for many years before the Holocaust and if one truly believes that G-d orchestrates every detail of creation, then one must study the punishments in order to rectify our mistakes and prevent tragedy and encourage blessing.
Instead of understanding that Arabs or Nazis or Jew-haters anywhere, need no reason to kill Jews and that our only protection comes from our return to our land and the protection given us by our G-d in conjunction with a Jewish army. Instead of understanding that the Lands of 67, are as legitimate a claim to kill Jews as blood-libels were in the past, or pogroms. Instead of learning and understanding these lessons we continue to act like mice, willing to hand over other mice, hoping that now the cats will like us and give us permission to live.
But of course the cats only laugh at these foolish Jews and for the moment say ‘thank-you’. On the day that we learn the lessons of the Holocaust and begin to be ashamed of our behavior, on that same day we will realize that not only are we bound together because of Jewish rituals, language, traditions, or nationality. But behind these Jewish rituals is a ‘real’ G-d, who punishes by giving us the free-choice to betray our brothers, but also rewards us many times over, when we return to Him by supporting our brothers and answering all the cats in the world.
‘Yes, we are mice and we are tiny, but if you think because you are cats that you can stop us from doing what we have been commanded to do, or to appease you with the flesh of our brothers, you better be careful. Because behind us is our G-d and He is a lion, who will swallow all of you.’ At that point the cats will answer ‘what can we do to help’ and Moshiach will arrive.
When Will We Learn
I am always shocked when I realize that the majority of Jews outside of Israel and a large number inside Israel do not support Yehuda and Shomron. My visiting friends were surprised that I supported them 100%.
‘So you don’t think we have to give back some land? But come on these guys are sending kids out to be killed every day what do we have to hold on to this for?’ And their Israeli guide adds ‘This is my country and I love it, but we don’t need these places like Gush Katif these Jews from Brooklyn come there and they only provoke the Arabs by living there. Why do they need to live there, it’s a big country?
#1 – Do you think Arabs kill Jews because of the occupied lands of 1967? Do you think Arabs kill Jews because they build communities in Yehuda and Shomron?
Why then did they kill 500 Jews in Hevron in the 1930’s? Was it because of the occupied lands of 1967? Why did they make a war in the first place? Because of the occupied lands of ‘67 which didn’t yet exist?
Arabs kill Jews because Arabs have been at war with us ever since we returned to our home and giving back conquered land will not stop them, but only encourage them to murder more of their babies and ours, because instead of throwing them out as any normal country would do, we reward them for their mass murder. I will explain why we do this in a moment.
#2 – Why does the thought of throwing out Jews, from the homes they built and paid for, from cities and towns that they built, fathers, mothers and children, not abhorrent to us? Why is this acceptable, and yet the thought of uprooting the neighbors, who are the true instigators, for they are the criminals that throw the bombs and murder innocent Jews, why is that abhorrent and racist?
To answer these questions that unfortunately I even need to ask we need to ask an even deeper question. Is the Holocaust something we cannot explain? Or do we believe we have a G-d that controls every detail of creation and He punishes and rewards? If so, why did He punish us with the Holocaust and what lesson can we learn from this punishment? And how does it apply to us today?
Learning from Tragedy
Often when tragedy strikes it is accompanied by a moment of truth. In these tragic moments our life flashes before us and our hopes and dreams, and often ‘delusions’ are shattered. What we failed to pay attention to in ‘whispers’ is made clear before our eyes in ‘earthquakes’. Just like paper-training a dog one has to rub his nose into something he fails to grasp, unfortunately we too need to cry when it’s too late in order to understand what could have been prevented.
With this in mind, let us look at one of the most horrible scenes, of the many punishments we incurred. When one sees photos of life in the concentration camp, there is one photo that is particularly gruesome, the photo of the section where Jews were forced to place their brothers into the furnace. They were promised life, for the price of their brother’s death. And so it goes.
Because we are taught that there is no explanation for the Holocaust, and therefore, there was no sin, and G-d is cruel, and we are innocent lambs, we continue down the path of tragedy without learning, even when our noses are rubbed into the evil we did, and continue to do to our brothers. Long before the war Aliyah was possible and millions of Jews could have been saved, but along with the freedom to go to Israel, their was also the freedom to leave the age-old shtetle and be a ‘German’ or an ‘American’.
And once the two doorways were opened the multitudes went fleeing to emancipation and cut off their beards and their roots and their leaders, like the spies in the dessert, discouraged Aliyah, while the tiny group who tried to encourage Aliyah was persecuted by their own brothers, much like the Jews of Yehuda and Shomron are persecuted today. The storm clouds loomed over Europe for many years before the Holocaust and if one truly believes that G-d orchestrates every detail of creation, then one must study the punishments in order to rectify our mistakes and prevent tragedy and encourage blessing.
Instead of understanding that Arabs or Nazis or Jew-haters anywhere, need no reason to kill Jews and that our only protection comes from our return to our land and the protection given us by our G-d in conjunction with a Jewish army. Instead of understanding that the Lands of 67, are as legitimate a claim to kill Jews as blood-libels were in the past, or pogroms. Instead of learning and understanding these lessons we continue to act like mice, willing to hand over other mice, hoping that now the cats will like us and give us permission to live.
But of course the cats only laugh at these foolish Jews and for the moment say ‘thank-you’. On the day that we learn the lessons of the Holocaust and begin to be ashamed of our behavior, on that same day we will realize that not only are we bound together because of Jewish rituals, language, traditions, or nationality. But behind these Jewish rituals is a ‘real’ G-d, who punishes by giving us the free-choice to betray our brothers, but also rewards us many times over, when we return to Him by supporting our brothers and answering all the cats in the world.
‘Yes, we are mice and we are tiny, but if you think because you are cats that you can stop us from doing what we have been commanded to do, or to appease you with the flesh of our brothers, you better be careful. Because behind us is our G-d and He is a lion, who will swallow all of you.’ At that point the cats will answer ‘what can we do to help’ and Moshiach will arrive.
Monday, April 26, 2004
Sparks From Israel
Yom Kippurim
It’s almost a year since I have made Aliyah, and there isn’t a day that has gone by that I haven’t thanked G-d for giving me a seat here. Of so many thousands and millions who are ‘occupied’ with other things, how is it that I have been so lucky as to be plucked out before the flood and given full membership in an unfolding prophecy called Israel.
I returned tonight to one of the places I had been to last year when I was still a visitor. Like every year on the eve of Yom Hazikaron, Rabin Square is filled with thousands of Israelis who remember the fallen. Top Israeli singers sing ballads and patriotic hymns inter-cut with videos of family members who recall a son or daughter that was murdered this year by our despicable enemies.
The music of this Nation is far superior to the shallow American music that I grew up with. The ballads that are sung, one after the other express the sadness and the glory of the Jewish soul reaching beyond death into something eternal. Although Israelis can be tough and abrasive and cloak themselves in all sorts of un-Jewish things that they embrace, this is one time when all the layers are set aside and the beauty of the soul of this Nation is revealed in all of its splendor.
This is the beauty I saw when I first arrived, and now a year later confirmed. There they sit, fathers holding their children and giving them tender kisses, boyfriends and girlfriends, the young and the old all of them brave soldiers, and all of them with tears in their eyes. This is more than a Nation it is a family, made up of members of every race and tongue. It is the essential family of mankind building the purpose of Creation.
I won’t dwell on the contrast of the religious version of Yom Hazikaron - Tisha B’av that mourns the loss of the temple and G-d’s presence. According to our Torah it is for this reason that all of the history of our nation is accompanied by tragedy. On that date rabbis give many musser speeches (speeches that inspire us to improve our character traits) but rarely does it conjure up the emotion and tears of the present day conquest of our land which is rebuilding the Temple before our eyes, in stages.
Yom Hazikaaron is not recognized by the religious world. Their observance focuses on the absence of G-d, and includes an abstract concept of a physical nation that once was, and will be again, while the other focuses on the absence of the dear ones we have lost in the building of this physical nation that exists before us in all of its glory, as it searches for it’s G-d.
They say that in the times of Moshiach, we will celebrate only one holiday – Purim. And even Yom Kippur will be a joyous holiday. Our rabbis say this is alluded to in the word Yom Kippur, which hints at Yom Ki Purim (a day like Purim). The thought occurred to me tonight, that the rabbis might not have meant literally Purim would be celebrated, but rather a holiday that was similar to Yom Kippur as well as Purim.
Wouldn’t it be interesting if the very holiday that is not recognized by the religious world today is in fact that final holiday that alone will be recognized. Yom Hazikaron is followed the next day by Yom Haatzmaut – Israel’s Independence Day. A day of sadness and remembrance, similar to Yom Kippur, followed by a day of the joy of liberation, similar to Purim. How awesome it is to see G-d’s hand shaping His Nation, and to be a part of this unfolding mystery, just by living here.
Yom Kippurim
It’s almost a year since I have made Aliyah, and there isn’t a day that has gone by that I haven’t thanked G-d for giving me a seat here. Of so many thousands and millions who are ‘occupied’ with other things, how is it that I have been so lucky as to be plucked out before the flood and given full membership in an unfolding prophecy called Israel.
I returned tonight to one of the places I had been to last year when I was still a visitor. Like every year on the eve of Yom Hazikaron, Rabin Square is filled with thousands of Israelis who remember the fallen. Top Israeli singers sing ballads and patriotic hymns inter-cut with videos of family members who recall a son or daughter that was murdered this year by our despicable enemies.
The music of this Nation is far superior to the shallow American music that I grew up with. The ballads that are sung, one after the other express the sadness and the glory of the Jewish soul reaching beyond death into something eternal. Although Israelis can be tough and abrasive and cloak themselves in all sorts of un-Jewish things that they embrace, this is one time when all the layers are set aside and the beauty of the soul of this Nation is revealed in all of its splendor.
This is the beauty I saw when I first arrived, and now a year later confirmed. There they sit, fathers holding their children and giving them tender kisses, boyfriends and girlfriends, the young and the old all of them brave soldiers, and all of them with tears in their eyes. This is more than a Nation it is a family, made up of members of every race and tongue. It is the essential family of mankind building the purpose of Creation.
I won’t dwell on the contrast of the religious version of Yom Hazikaron - Tisha B’av that mourns the loss of the temple and G-d’s presence. According to our Torah it is for this reason that all of the history of our nation is accompanied by tragedy. On that date rabbis give many musser speeches (speeches that inspire us to improve our character traits) but rarely does it conjure up the emotion and tears of the present day conquest of our land which is rebuilding the Temple before our eyes, in stages.
Yom Hazikaaron is not recognized by the religious world. Their observance focuses on the absence of G-d, and includes an abstract concept of a physical nation that once was, and will be again, while the other focuses on the absence of the dear ones we have lost in the building of this physical nation that exists before us in all of its glory, as it searches for it’s G-d.
They say that in the times of Moshiach, we will celebrate only one holiday – Purim. And even Yom Kippur will be a joyous holiday. Our rabbis say this is alluded to in the word Yom Kippur, which hints at Yom Ki Purim (a day like Purim). The thought occurred to me tonight, that the rabbis might not have meant literally Purim would be celebrated, but rather a holiday that was similar to Yom Kippur as well as Purim.
Wouldn’t it be interesting if the very holiday that is not recognized by the religious world today is in fact that final holiday that alone will be recognized. Yom Hazikaron is followed the next day by Yom Haatzmaut – Israel’s Independence Day. A day of sadness and remembrance, similar to Yom Kippur, followed by a day of the joy of liberation, similar to Purim. How awesome it is to see G-d’s hand shaping His Nation, and to be a part of this unfolding mystery, just by living here.
Sunday, April 25, 2004
Sparks From Israel
Yom Ha Shoa
Yesod Shel Gevurah
Yom Hashoah in Israel falls out on the sefirah of Yesod shel Gevurah. Yesod refers to the seed of a man, as well as the foundation of the world, while Gevurah means strength or strict justice . What is the connection? What is the seed of strength? What does ‘din’ strict justice give birth to?
The answer is catastrophes like the Shoa are born. And from this catastrophe, a Nation is born. Israel’s identity is rooted in the Shoa and the Warsaw ghetto uprising. A new Jewish religion was born based on the Jewish soldier. What appeared to be G-d’s representatives went quietly to their graves, while the fighters of the ghetto witnessed miracles as the whole German army was defeated for months by a handful of Jews.
In a way the birth of Israel was a rebellion against G-d to some. The Zionists had ‘enough’ of the pattern of Jewish history and would now change that pattern by taking destiny into their own hands and fighting back. Of course the problem arises, that if one takes the Shoa as a ‘last straw’ in a history of tragedy and beginning of the era of the ‘new Jew’ how does one come to terms with today’s battles. Don’t the Arabs give these ‘new Jews’ a déjà vu of the Warsaw ghetto? Are they too, not a handful fighting against a great army and succeeding?
It seems that Hashem has a sense of humor, or ‘irony’ as he forces these ‘new Jews’ to examine their ways and determine if indeed they have taken destiny into their own hands now, or if they were always part of His destiny that is shaped reflexively by the action of the Jewish people. If so, then of course we must answer the question of why the Almighty punished us so cruelly in the Shoa? The answer to this question lies in the same question as why Moshe hit the rock and the generation that might have entered the land, instead, died in the desert.
What would have been if those Tzadikim who represented G-d had not accused the people of being ‘rebels’ and understood that their thirst for water was legitimate? What would have been if they had joined the Zionists and told their flock to leave when they could have left, and seen the changing tides? Could they not see water coming from the rocks in Israel, and the desert turning into gardens? The rock was speaking to them, but did they see or hear? Imagine what influence they could have had on this generation? Instead modern history has been written parallel to our ancient history and only after the last of the desert generation dies out, will the truly ‘new Jew’ understand the mistakes of the past and be healed.
The Tabernacle had to be set up and taken down each day until the eight day when it finally stood. On that day the healing process began by the recognition of two great sins. Aaron brought a heifer representing the golden calf (the sins of the leadership), and a he-goat representing the sale of Yoseph (the sins of the Nation). The punishment of the rock was a culmination of previous sins where the leadership instead of sanctifying G-d's name as Chur did, appeased the angry crowd, and instead of giving a good report as Yehosua and Calev did where afraid to lose their ‘galut’ positions and lacked faith to enter the land. This culminated in the sin of the rock where there was even in the last moment a chance to mend this rift, but not seized.
The sins of the mob was the persecution of true leaders who in each generation selflessly tried to save their brothers from the approaching storm; like Chur and like Yehoshua and Calev. Instead they are hated, banned, persecuted and sold by them. And like Yoseph, in the end it will be understood upon whose shoulders the world stood. The chosen of the chosen who always kept the purest light burning and the completeness of Torah; a Torah which doesn’t exist without a soul nor without a body. The purest of the one fifth that left Egypt ‘armed’. Armed with Torah and mitzvoth, and also armed with weapons - a double-edged sword, not a single-edged sword.
The new Jewish religion of the Jewish soldier is missing its foundation and is therefore being undermined by an Arab mob that attacks the Jewish Achilles heel, making him feel guilty of his victories, and returning all the miracles because the faithless soldier feels small next to a world of giants. But the religious world should not pride themselves on his dilemma, for the ‘Jewish soldier’ is an important piece of the puzzle. It is not a complete piece, but a very important one. It is the religious world that could have elevated the generation and led them to safety, but instead where punished and to add salt to the wound, they refuse to do teshuva.
They who believe in punishment and reward say that this punishment cannot be understood and so they pat themselves on the back as they continue to wander through the dessert. There was one great luminary Rabbi Teichtal (z’tl) who lived through the times and understood them. He perished, but he left behind a book that should be in every yeshiva Em Habonim Somaycha.
The acquiring of the Land of Israel comes in stages. And so, on the sefirah of Yesod shel Gevurah, we witness Yom Hashoa day and are reminded of the process in which the land was originally acquired. First as a burial ground for Sarah (Yesod shel Gevurah) – from death came life, then as a heritage for Yoseph (Yesod shel Yesod) – from teshuva will come forgiveness, and finally by David (Yesod shel Malchut) to build the Beit Hamigdash – from completeness there is Geula. May the rifts be healed quickly and the Nation be united.
Yom Ha Shoa
Yesod Shel Gevurah
Yom Hashoah in Israel falls out on the sefirah of Yesod shel Gevurah. Yesod refers to the seed of a man, as well as the foundation of the world, while Gevurah means strength or strict justice . What is the connection? What is the seed of strength? What does ‘din’ strict justice give birth to?
The answer is catastrophes like the Shoa are born. And from this catastrophe, a Nation is born. Israel’s identity is rooted in the Shoa and the Warsaw ghetto uprising. A new Jewish religion was born based on the Jewish soldier. What appeared to be G-d’s representatives went quietly to their graves, while the fighters of the ghetto witnessed miracles as the whole German army was defeated for months by a handful of Jews.
In a way the birth of Israel was a rebellion against G-d to some. The Zionists had ‘enough’ of the pattern of Jewish history and would now change that pattern by taking destiny into their own hands and fighting back. Of course the problem arises, that if one takes the Shoa as a ‘last straw’ in a history of tragedy and beginning of the era of the ‘new Jew’ how does one come to terms with today’s battles. Don’t the Arabs give these ‘new Jews’ a déjà vu of the Warsaw ghetto? Are they too, not a handful fighting against a great army and succeeding?
It seems that Hashem has a sense of humor, or ‘irony’ as he forces these ‘new Jews’ to examine their ways and determine if indeed they have taken destiny into their own hands now, or if they were always part of His destiny that is shaped reflexively by the action of the Jewish people. If so, then of course we must answer the question of why the Almighty punished us so cruelly in the Shoa? The answer to this question lies in the same question as why Moshe hit the rock and the generation that might have entered the land, instead, died in the desert.
What would have been if those Tzadikim who represented G-d had not accused the people of being ‘rebels’ and understood that their thirst for water was legitimate? What would have been if they had joined the Zionists and told their flock to leave when they could have left, and seen the changing tides? Could they not see water coming from the rocks in Israel, and the desert turning into gardens? The rock was speaking to them, but did they see or hear? Imagine what influence they could have had on this generation? Instead modern history has been written parallel to our ancient history and only after the last of the desert generation dies out, will the truly ‘new Jew’ understand the mistakes of the past and be healed.
The Tabernacle had to be set up and taken down each day until the eight day when it finally stood. On that day the healing process began by the recognition of two great sins. Aaron brought a heifer representing the golden calf (the sins of the leadership), and a he-goat representing the sale of Yoseph (the sins of the Nation). The punishment of the rock was a culmination of previous sins where the leadership instead of sanctifying G-d's name as Chur did, appeased the angry crowd, and instead of giving a good report as Yehosua and Calev did where afraid to lose their ‘galut’ positions and lacked faith to enter the land. This culminated in the sin of the rock where there was even in the last moment a chance to mend this rift, but not seized.
The sins of the mob was the persecution of true leaders who in each generation selflessly tried to save their brothers from the approaching storm; like Chur and like Yehoshua and Calev. Instead they are hated, banned, persecuted and sold by them. And like Yoseph, in the end it will be understood upon whose shoulders the world stood. The chosen of the chosen who always kept the purest light burning and the completeness of Torah; a Torah which doesn’t exist without a soul nor without a body. The purest of the one fifth that left Egypt ‘armed’. Armed with Torah and mitzvoth, and also armed with weapons - a double-edged sword, not a single-edged sword.
The new Jewish religion of the Jewish soldier is missing its foundation and is therefore being undermined by an Arab mob that attacks the Jewish Achilles heel, making him feel guilty of his victories, and returning all the miracles because the faithless soldier feels small next to a world of giants. But the religious world should not pride themselves on his dilemma, for the ‘Jewish soldier’ is an important piece of the puzzle. It is not a complete piece, but a very important one. It is the religious world that could have elevated the generation and led them to safety, but instead where punished and to add salt to the wound, they refuse to do teshuva.
They who believe in punishment and reward say that this punishment cannot be understood and so they pat themselves on the back as they continue to wander through the dessert. There was one great luminary Rabbi Teichtal (z’tl) who lived through the times and understood them. He perished, but he left behind a book that should be in every yeshiva Em Habonim Somaycha.
The acquiring of the Land of Israel comes in stages. And so, on the sefirah of Yesod shel Gevurah, we witness Yom Hashoa day and are reminded of the process in which the land was originally acquired. First as a burial ground for Sarah (Yesod shel Gevurah) – from death came life, then as a heritage for Yoseph (Yesod shel Yesod) – from teshuva will come forgiveness, and finally by David (Yesod shel Malchut) to build the Beit Hamigdash – from completeness there is Geula. May the rifts be healed quickly and the Nation be united.
Thursday, April 15, 2004
Sparks From Israel
The Kenaidle
There is a story in the Gemorah of a wealthy man who loses all his money and is forced to ask a rabbi for community funds to purchase food for Shabbat. The rabbi asks him what he is accustomed to eating, and he answers ‘fattened hens and old wine’. The rabbi remarks ‘don’t you think that’s quite a burden for the community?’ He answers that he is not asking anything from the community, ‘everything comes from G-d,’ he says. At this point the rabbi’s sister, who has not seen him in ten years, arrives with fattened hens and old wine. The rabbi turns to him and admits that he learned a lesson of faith from this man.
With this story in mind I contacted a Jewish outreach organization in the Old City to see if they could set me up for a Pesach Seder. This would be the first time in my life that I would not be with my family for Pesach. I thought if I can’t be with the ones I love, at least I will make my Seder meaningful by going to Yerushalayim like the olden days, and I will find a Seder full of Torah learning. Indeed, my friends in the Old City promised me not to worry, they would match me up with a family that wasn’t just having a dinner, but where there would be a lot of Torah.
I was comforted to know that I had arranged a good Seder, but then I thought ‘What about minhags (customs)? I called again to ask if I could be sent to an Ashkenazie family and not a Sephardic one (Sephardim eat rice on Pesach and we Ashkenazi’s do not). They reassured me that I would have an Ashkenazi family.
As the Seder drew closer I called one more time and told them I would also prefer to be set up not with a Chassidic family, because they don’t eat ‘Gebracht’s’. (Kenaidels, and Farfel). I was reassured one more time that they could fix me up with someone.
Pesach arrived with holiness and prayer at the kotel. I saw a good friend of mine who is a Chassid and likes to eat. I joked with him that it’s too bad he doesn’t eat Kenaidels. He looked back at me with his Kenaidel challenged face as I departed telling him I would have an extra one and have him in mind.
As the rabbi directed each one from our group to a different family, I reminded him once more that I would prefer the Ashkenazi non-Chassidic family. ‘That’s right’, he said as he changed my group. ‘Here’, you go with this family’.
I was led outside the city walls to a small family in a beautiful new condominium complex. Instead of the aged rabbi with a long white beard I had envisioned, I was placed with a young family who’s Seder was led mostly by the wife, who is also an author with a PHD. She made some interesting comments but there wasn’t much time for discussion for the lights, which were set on a timer, went out before eleven.
As I made my way back to the old city I reflected on the evening. The doors of the hostel wouldn’t be open for another three hours, for all the other Seders were not scheduled to end before 2am. Why had Hashem thrown me out of the old city and sent me to a Seder that ended earlier than any Seder I had ever been to? Didn’t He know how much I wanted to sit all night and taste the depths of the Hagadah? When I thought back to the dinner I realized the joke that He had played on me. When my host opened the lid of the soup, she served me the biggest, and most delicious Kenaidel I had ever had.
I heard Hashem’s voice reprimanding me. ‘So you think you are such a big tzaddik that you wanted to learn Torah all night? I know the thoughts of every man, and in your heart was not a desire to learn Torah, nor was there a desire to have complete faith in Me. Your overriding desire was for one thing – a Kenaidel. And ‘that’ is what I gave you.
As I walked the cold and empty streets of the Old City feeling abandoned, a Breslov Chassid who had stepped out for some air saw me and asked me if I had a Seder. I told him I was locked out for a few hours and he insisted that I join his intimate group of family and friends. Here was the Seder table I had envisioned, full of wonderful tales and inspiring thoughts. Three hours later I parted from good friends that I had shared a wonderful experience with.
Of the many ideas we discussed, one remained with me as I walked home. The word in Hebrew for ‘Faith’ the Chassid said, comes from the Hebrew root ‘omanut’ – ‘art or ‘craft’. Faith is something we craft and shape over the years. It is a relationship. Just like a father who pushes away his loved one in order to teach him something, and then quickly rewards him when he cries and realizes his mistake.
Tonight was a lesson for me in the crafting of faith. Next year, I hope I will have more faith and trust, and let Hashem arrange my dinner without me calling back to make certain. Who knows, maybe if I had trusted Him I might not have gotten a Kenaidel, but maybe he had arranged for me instead to meet a ‘Maidele? To be continued - Next year in Jerusalem.
The Kenaidle
There is a story in the Gemorah of a wealthy man who loses all his money and is forced to ask a rabbi for community funds to purchase food for Shabbat. The rabbi asks him what he is accustomed to eating, and he answers ‘fattened hens and old wine’. The rabbi remarks ‘don’t you think that’s quite a burden for the community?’ He answers that he is not asking anything from the community, ‘everything comes from G-d,’ he says. At this point the rabbi’s sister, who has not seen him in ten years, arrives with fattened hens and old wine. The rabbi turns to him and admits that he learned a lesson of faith from this man.
With this story in mind I contacted a Jewish outreach organization in the Old City to see if they could set me up for a Pesach Seder. This would be the first time in my life that I would not be with my family for Pesach. I thought if I can’t be with the ones I love, at least I will make my Seder meaningful by going to Yerushalayim like the olden days, and I will find a Seder full of Torah learning. Indeed, my friends in the Old City promised me not to worry, they would match me up with a family that wasn’t just having a dinner, but where there would be a lot of Torah.
I was comforted to know that I had arranged a good Seder, but then I thought ‘What about minhags (customs)? I called again to ask if I could be sent to an Ashkenazie family and not a Sephardic one (Sephardim eat rice on Pesach and we Ashkenazi’s do not). They reassured me that I would have an Ashkenazi family.
As the Seder drew closer I called one more time and told them I would also prefer to be set up not with a Chassidic family, because they don’t eat ‘Gebracht’s’. (Kenaidels, and Farfel). I was reassured one more time that they could fix me up with someone.
Pesach arrived with holiness and prayer at the kotel. I saw a good friend of mine who is a Chassid and likes to eat. I joked with him that it’s too bad he doesn’t eat Kenaidels. He looked back at me with his Kenaidel challenged face as I departed telling him I would have an extra one and have him in mind.
As the rabbi directed each one from our group to a different family, I reminded him once more that I would prefer the Ashkenazi non-Chassidic family. ‘That’s right’, he said as he changed my group. ‘Here’, you go with this family’.
I was led outside the city walls to a small family in a beautiful new condominium complex. Instead of the aged rabbi with a long white beard I had envisioned, I was placed with a young family who’s Seder was led mostly by the wife, who is also an author with a PHD. She made some interesting comments but there wasn’t much time for discussion for the lights, which were set on a timer, went out before eleven.
As I made my way back to the old city I reflected on the evening. The doors of the hostel wouldn’t be open for another three hours, for all the other Seders were not scheduled to end before 2am. Why had Hashem thrown me out of the old city and sent me to a Seder that ended earlier than any Seder I had ever been to? Didn’t He know how much I wanted to sit all night and taste the depths of the Hagadah? When I thought back to the dinner I realized the joke that He had played on me. When my host opened the lid of the soup, she served me the biggest, and most delicious Kenaidel I had ever had.
I heard Hashem’s voice reprimanding me. ‘So you think you are such a big tzaddik that you wanted to learn Torah all night? I know the thoughts of every man, and in your heart was not a desire to learn Torah, nor was there a desire to have complete faith in Me. Your overriding desire was for one thing – a Kenaidel. And ‘that’ is what I gave you.
As I walked the cold and empty streets of the Old City feeling abandoned, a Breslov Chassid who had stepped out for some air saw me and asked me if I had a Seder. I told him I was locked out for a few hours and he insisted that I join his intimate group of family and friends. Here was the Seder table I had envisioned, full of wonderful tales and inspiring thoughts. Three hours later I parted from good friends that I had shared a wonderful experience with.
Of the many ideas we discussed, one remained with me as I walked home. The word in Hebrew for ‘Faith’ the Chassid said, comes from the Hebrew root ‘omanut’ – ‘art or ‘craft’. Faith is something we craft and shape over the years. It is a relationship. Just like a father who pushes away his loved one in order to teach him something, and then quickly rewards him when he cries and realizes his mistake.
Tonight was a lesson for me in the crafting of faith. Next year, I hope I will have more faith and trust, and let Hashem arrange my dinner without me calling back to make certain. Who knows, maybe if I had trusted Him I might not have gotten a Kenaidel, but maybe he had arranged for me instead to meet a ‘Maidele? To be continued - Next year in Jerusalem.
Sparks From Israel
How Do You Know You Are In Israel?Shkia (Sunset)
I asked the bus driver if he went to the kotel. He told me he gets there, but not as fast as a different bus, however he was leaving now. ‘You want to make Mincha?’ He asked me. ‘Yes’ I replied. ‘Don’t worry, shkia is at 7:15 tonight. You have lots of time. ‘Are you sure?’ I questioned. ‘Positive’ he replied and proceeded to show me his shkia calender. Imagine here is a bus driver who doesn’t wear a kippa, but he knows the time of the Mincha prayer. Is there such a Nation?
The Grocery Line
As the cashier began to argue with the customer who wanted to pay for 20 items in a 10-item cue, I turned to the American/Israeli man next to me and said ‘Just my luck, I’m in a hurry’. We began to list all the simple things that seem so difficult here, but concluded it was still the best place in the world. He imparted some wise words to me. ‘We have waited 2000 years for our own country. We can wait another ten minutes.’
How Do You Know You Are In Israel?Shkia (Sunset)
I asked the bus driver if he went to the kotel. He told me he gets there, but not as fast as a different bus, however he was leaving now. ‘You want to make Mincha?’ He asked me. ‘Yes’ I replied. ‘Don’t worry, shkia is at 7:15 tonight. You have lots of time. ‘Are you sure?’ I questioned. ‘Positive’ he replied and proceeded to show me his shkia calender. Imagine here is a bus driver who doesn’t wear a kippa, but he knows the time of the Mincha prayer. Is there such a Nation?
The Grocery Line
As the cashier began to argue with the customer who wanted to pay for 20 items in a 10-item cue, I turned to the American/Israeli man next to me and said ‘Just my luck, I’m in a hurry’. We began to list all the simple things that seem so difficult here, but concluded it was still the best place in the world. He imparted some wise words to me. ‘We have waited 2000 years for our own country. We can wait another ten minutes.’
