Some Kabbalists have organized the months from Nissan to Tishrei according to the different Sfirot (Divine Attributes). As we know, all of the holidays which come from the torah happen in between Nissan and Tishrei. After Tishrei, there are still rabbinical holidays but no holiday from the Torah.
The way the holidays were organized are as followed:
The month of Nissan is the month of Hessed. (Mercy) When we were first taken out of Egypt, we were taken out by pure Hessed, mercy. Sure, there are those who bring up the fact that we needed to bring a Korban Pessah and put blood on our doors in order to have a minimum merit to get out, however, this was truly the minimum merit. So much so that afterwards, the angels asked God how he could favor us to the Egyptians – we were both idol worshipers! Therefore, this redemption was almost completely based on God's mercy and not on our own merit. It was what we call “Hiterouta De-leila”, something which came from God towards us.
We will get back to the month of Iyar. The month of Sivan is the month of the Tiferet, Splendor. It is the month in which we recieved the Torah, the “splendor” of the Jewish People.
Then comes the month of Tammuz, the month of Netzah. Chazal teach us that Netzach is Jerusalem. The month of Tammuz was the month on which we were meant to first enter Jerusalem. We were supposed to get the tablets from Moses on the 17th of Tammuz and then march on quickly, in 3 days, towards Jerusalem and establish on Kingdom. Unfortunately, things went wrong and we sinned with the Golden Calf. However, when the calendar will once again be as it is supposed to, this month will no longer be one of mourning.
The Month of Av, Hod, is representing the Beit Hamikdash. Unfortunately, during the exile, in this month it is quite the opposite which happened as we lost both our temples on that month.
Finally, the Month of Ellul is the month of Yessod, foundation, since it acts as a foundation to our service on the month of Tishrei, the month of the Malchut – kingship of God on this earth, which is our ultimate goal.
Of course, I have just breifly surveyed these different concepts which deserve much more explanations to be appreciated but I want to concentrate on the month of Iyar, which is, according to this system, the month of Gvurah – which can be roughly translated as courage. This month is the month which is representative of the Jewish People's ability to take their destiny in their hands. It is representative of the Jewish People's ability to have the courage to seek things for themselves. Unlike Hessed, which comes solely from God without much of our merit, Gvurah describes a reality where we, the Jewish People, are the ones who take the initiative and then, with God's help, we are able to arrive through this courage to Tifferet.
The only holiday which exists from the torah in this month is Pessah Sheini. Pessah Sheini is a very interesting holiday. This is a day which was not created by God. No. Instead, people who could not each the korban pessah because they were in a state of ritual impurity, or because they were far away, asked to get a “second chance”. This holiday comes from the people themselves! It is our own initiative. It is quite incredible that we can, through our own initiative, establish a holiday similar to the holiday of Pessah! This is the power of our initiative.
On this month, we also have seen in history the story of the death of the students of Rabbi Akiva. There is a disagreement as to what exactly killed those students. The gemara says it was a sickness which came to them because of their lack of respect for each other. However, an interesting Midrash claims that the reason for their death was that they lost during the rebellion of Bar Kochba. As we know, Rabbi Akiva was not just a yeshiva rabbi, he was a warrior who faught in the Bar Kochba Revolt. However, this revolt was not successful. The Midrach claims that lack of unity caused the revolt to be badly organized which caused the death of the 24 000 students of Rabbi Akiva on the front. Regardless of the reason of the death, one thing which is obvious is that the students of Rabbi Akiva represent the courage of a Jew to stand up and take his destiny in his own hands, and then hope that God will help him complete this initiative. When we mourn the students of Rabbi Akiva, we also mourn the fact that this initiative might, maybe, have been successful if not for dis-unity. We praise the courage and initiative of those students and mourn their loss. The only way I know how to describe this feeling is by comparing it to Yom Hazikaron, a day in which I described my feelings as “mourning with pride”.
On the month of Iyar, it is also the only shabbat mevarchim in which ashkenazi congregations say “Av Harachamim”, because of the killing of Jewish communities during the period of the crusaders which happened during this time. Once again, this is a tragic story. However, once again, its a story which really shows us the courage, the gevurah, of the Jewish People in their own show of love to God, even when his presence is not as revealed.
In our generation, a new miracle happened – the declaration of independance of the state of Israel! There is a halachic discussion as to what date Yom Haatzmaut should be established on. Some people claim it should be established on the day the war of independance ended, not on the day independance was declared! However, Rav Tzvi Yehuda used to say that those who make this claim do not understand what happened on Yom Haatzmaut. The miracle we celebrate on Yom Haatzmaut is the fact that the Jewish People once again had the courage to take the initiative in rebuilding their homeland. We once again found our Gevurah! The month of Iyar which showed Gevurah only in tragic circumstances throughout our exile was once again taking become the joyous month of Iyar. We stood up and took our self-determination, not only asking for it. The fifth of Iyar was, in one day, a representation of a whole generation- survivors of the holocaust returning to the land of Israel and rebuilding the land. This declaration of independance was against all logic! King Abdullah had told Golda Meir a few hours before that if Israel would declare independance, a war would start which would unite all arabs countries. The Jews had weapons for only 3 days of fighting. American and Russian Jews begged Ben Gurion not to declare the state of Israel warning him that even their influence would be of no help. And yet, Ben Gurion made the declaration. Sure, the win of the war is a huge miracle, but its declaration, the fact that a Jew can stand up after 2000 years of exile and have the courage to say “This is our land and we will be rebuilding it!”, is the greater miracle for which we say Hallel on Yom Haatzmaut.
Rav Mordechai Elon Shli”ta writes;
אייר הוא לא רק חודש, אייר הוא גם דור שלם, אייר הוא הדור שלנו, דור שלפעמים לרגע יכול לשכוח שהוא בעצם מעביר העולם מהחסד אל התפארת, ומשם הלאה אל הנצח וההוד . אשרינו שזכינו להיות דור אייר, יהי רצון מלפניו יתברך כי נהיה ראויים לזכות זו שזכינו לה.
Iyar is not just a month. Iyar is also a whole generation. Iyar is our generation, a generation which can sometimes forget that he is bringing the world from Hessed (mercy) to Tifferet (Splendor), and from there on to Netzach (Eternity) and Hod (Majesty). Praised are we that merited to be a generation of Iyar, and may it be Your will, our God, that we be able to merit that which we have merited.
Our generation is one which is not afraid to stand up and take intiative for the good of Klal Israel. Our job is to ensure that the direction we give to Klal Israel one which will lead it towards the Splendor, Eternity and Majesty so that, slowly, slowly, and with a lot of patience, without pushing things too quickly, we can translate this amazing courage which was demonstrated on Yom Haatzmaut into a Mamlechet Kohanim VeGoy Kadosh, a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.
Tzipiyah.com opened in January and is already an extremely popular voice in the Jewish World. We average close to 100 unique readers a day and 200 page views!
In order to keep our growth moving forward, we have removed some of the inactive bloggers from our lineup. This creates an opening for new bloggers who would be interested in contributing to our website.
Our blog is religious zionist in nature. However, these words are open to a very wide interpretation by different people and we, at tzipiyah.com, keep this interpretation pretty wide. Therefore, bloggers with different perspectives will be accepted and there is no need to conform to one definition as long as one can somehow define himself within this circle.
Our blog is more focused on inspirational messages than political criticism. While I know that these things sometimes go hand in hand, we try to keep things positive over here and be as inclusive as possible. For example, instead of criticizing a certain problem, a tzipiyah blogger would usually concentrate on inspiring towards the solution to that problem. Once again, this is describing the general tone and voice of Tzipiyah while recognizing that criticism is sometimes needed.
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This past Yom Ha'atzma'ut, and related events, have really made me think about Israel. A theme I've heard from a few people, which resonates a lot within me, is that while Israel is certainly not perfect, it is also so beautiful, so wonderful, and the greatest blessing for us, the Jewish People. Through my passion for Israel, I've tended towards cynicism and a more negative outlook over the past few months, a mindset mostly fueled by some unfortunate events and trends specifically within the more politically related contexts. (Then again, what isn't politically related in Israel?!) But lately, especially since Yom Ha'atzma'ut, I've been heading back towards the side of positivity, joy, and pride in the abundant good in Israel, despite the very real 'bad' things that are there too.
Jacob Richman (check out his site) sent out a wonderful email to his subscribers. It's an article written by Barbara Sofer on the Jerusalem Post: a list of 61 reasons, in no particular order, why she loves Israel. I'm sure that a lot of us have read similar lists, and are probably familiar with some of the facts, but I learnt a lot, and was inspired and moved by some of her facts. It adds fuel to my personal passion of making Aliyah, which is happening in a few months! And it makes me really proud of Israel, of the Jews living in Israel, and of Jews in general. This is great stuff. Here it is:Top 60 plus one reasons I love Israel
The original article on JPost can be found here.
by Barbara Sofer
May 8, 2008
Why do I love Israel? Let me count the whys. Here, in no particular
order, is an updated list, with new additions and highlights of recent
years.
1. Jerusalem is so quiet on Shabbat that you can hear birds singing
even on the main streets.
2. We change our calendars on Rosh Hashana, not January 1,
because that's the real new year
3. Just hours after leading his Chelsea team to its first Champions
League final, Petah Tikva-born coach Avram Grant joined the March
of the Living in Auschwitz, and told all of Europe that his pride at
Israel's emergence from the horrors of the Holocaust surpassed
any football achievement.
4. We serve kosher food in the trendiest malls.
5. Streets bear the names of prophets and medieval poets.
Our communications satellite is called "Amos."
6. Land of milk and honey: Big news when Israeli archeologists
recently discovered evidence of the beekeeping industry - even
beeswax - that goes back 3,000 years.
7. Land of milk and honey: We're so successful at making milk
products that we have hundreds of choices of cheese and advise
New Zealand about making sheep cheese.
8. The Nahariya-based Strauss company, started by dairy farmer
immigrants from Germany in 1936, together with the Elite company
started by a candy-maker immigrant from Riga in 1934, are the
largest coffee manufacturers in Central and Eastern Europe, and
second biggest in Brazil. Aviv Matza exports its unleavened bread
to Egypt.
9. We have laboratories to check for the biblically prohibited mix of
linen and wool, shatnes, and we're the first country to make men's
suits from recycled plastic bottles, for sale soon at Sears.
10. At Jerusalem's Biblical Zoo, the loudspeaker announces
"afternoon prayers (minha) are now being held near the elephants."
11. The Biblical Zoo is kosher for Pessah. The primates eat matza;
the parrots get rice.
12. Every kindergartner knows that frogs are the second plague in
the Haggada, but our "save the frogs" campaign was launched at
the Biblical Zoo on Passover.
13. Mega investor Warren Buffet's first investment outside the US
($4 billion) was in Israel's Iscar company. He got so much positive
publicity that he told Iscar's CEO: "I was nobody before I bought
your company."
14. Sixty years after statehood, even young people refer to something
old-fashioned as "from the days of the (British) Mandate."
15. Theodor Herzl's bearded image welcomes visitors to hi-tech
Herzliya, and we celebrate Herzl Day.
16. My five-year-old grandson can tell you all about Theodor Herzl.
Also about Spiderman.
17. Combat soldiers aren't embarrassed to phone their moms and
grandmothers.
18. While Intel Haifa workers were working in an underground shelter
because of the missile attacks in the Second Lebanon War,
Intel announced the new multi-core processor developed there.
19. Entire families show up for military graduations, and bring
enough food to feed an army.
20. Name droppers. The poet Chaim Nachman Bialik named the
Egged bus company and also the Tishbi winery
21. Youngsters travel far to visit the Kibbutz Kinneret cemetery
where poet Rahel and national song laureate Naomi Shemer are
buried.
22. First graders read the Bible in the original Hebrew, and celebrate
with a party.
23. We follow the level of the Kinneret more faithfully than we do our
stock portfolios.
24. We have only one Pessah Seder but Purim, our dress-up holiday,
lasts three days. In Jerusalem on Purim, it's hard to tell who's in
costume and who isn't.
25. We have the highest concentration of hi-tech companies outside
Silicon Valley, and also the most yeshivot anywhere.
26. After a calamity, police have trouble keeping away bystanders
who want to help.
27. Thousands of free-loan societies flourish. You can borrow wedding
dresses and pacifiers.
28. Despite the tensions and political dissension, Israel has the
highest Jewish birthrate in the world.
29. Despite the tensions and political dissension, Israel is the
fastest growing Western country in the world.
30. "Jerusalem of Gold" is still voted the favorite national song.
31. We have timeless cuisine: You can order Israeli breakfast,
business lunch and dinner simultaneously at Israeli cafes.
32. Our pilots fought over the honor of taking part in a fly-by over
Auschwitz 60 years after liberation.
33. Israeli fighter jets accompanied tourists safely home from
Mombasa after they were threatened.
34. We have 120 members of the Knesset because that's how many
were in the ancient Great Assembly.
35. We first developed candy-sweet cherry tomatoes as a
TV-watching nosh.
36. On Remembrance Day and Holocaust Remembrance Day,
the act of remembering halts traffic. Even kindergartners stand
silently, and understand why.
37. While dining rooms are shrinking in Western homes, Israeli
dining room tables are getting longer.
38. We invite strangers for a home-cooked Shabbat meal.
39. An Israeli artichoke farmer with a sore back developed the
sophisticated Hollandia beds and exports them from Sderot to
many countries, including Holland.
40. Strangers feel free to tell a parent to put a hat on the baby in
a country where we wear scarves, snoods, spodiks, streimels,
wimples, fedoras, berets, tarbushes, homburgs, kippot and keffiyot.
41. While other Western nations debate immigration, we absorb
more immigrants per capita than any other country in the world.
Almost immediately all learn the Hebrew word for patience, savlanut.
42. Our street musicians can play in symphony orchestras;
our supermarket clerks know calculus.
43. Our biggest shopping seasons precede Rosh Hashana and
Pessah.
44. Municipalities' decorating contests feature succot, not trees.
The Succot holiday is high season in Israel; book hotel rooms
a year in advance.
45. Even politicians from anti-religious parties say "Baruch Hashem."
46. "Where were your grandparents from?" is a common question.
Where else would anyone care about my grandparents?
47. We celebrate Mother's Day, now Family Day, on the yahrzeit of
Henrietta Szold who, with Recha Freier, organized Youth Aliya but
who had no children of her own.
48. For all the talk about the greening of the planet, we're the only
country in the world that started the 21st century with a net gain of
trees. (Thank you, Jewish National Fund)
49. During the Second Lebanon War, JNF rangers stayed in the
forests during Katyusha attacks to save the trees
50. We're among the most Internet-connected people on the planet.
We invented the cellphone, instant messaging, the chat room and
the silent prayer, but still talk best with our hands.
51. Before Purim, the TV weather forecast relates specially to the
day the kids go to school in their costumes. For a week before
Yom Kippur, the weather report focuses on the upcoming fast.
52. We love children, and have more IVF per capita than any other
country. It's free up to the first two children.
53. We celebrate Independence Day with a Bible Contest.
54. Israelis developed both the system to see photos from Mars and
cameras to monitor crime on buses in Brazil.
55. Despite our soul connection to chicken soup, per capita we're
the world's biggest eaters of healthier turkey, bigger even than
America. Go figure!
56. We're among the first to help countries that experience
disasters, and the first to have our field hospitals up. When Israel
helped Turkey after an earthquake, an Israeli doctor made an
incubator from a matza box.
57. Jewish soccer players for Bnei Sakhnin compete against
Arab players for Maccabi Tel Aviv.
58. Childbirth and burial are free. Even the homeless have health
insurance.
59. On Saturday night, the radio summarizes the news for all those
who don't listen on Shabbat.
60. We're agricultural high achievers, producing seven times the
output with the same water we used 25 years ago. Our date trees
average 182 kilos - 10 times more than the average in the Middle
East. One date tree is growing from 2,000-year-old seeds found in
Masada.
And, as on a birthday cake, one for next year:
61. We come from more than 100 countries and dream in Hebrew.
Image of the bumper sticker from here.
"כולך יפה רעייתי ומום אין בך"“You are completely beautiful, my love; there is no blemish in you” (Shir ha-Shirim 4:7)
Rav Kook answers a question many have when reading the above-quoted passuk. First of all, why the repetition of compliments? Why not just say “you are completely beautiful, my love”? More then that, while the first partof the passuk is definately positive in its formulation, the second part is not really the best formulation of a compliment. As my rav, Rav Mordechai Elon, said in a shiur, this is not the type of compliment that one is suggested to give to his beloved - “there is no blemish in you”. It's not exactly the most romantic language, and yet, it is found in the centre of one of the most romantic texts ever written.
Rav Kook explains that this passouk comes to teach us the way one should approach constructive criticism of Klal Israel. The first step is a recognition that “you are completely beautiful, my love”. First, one must understand the value and perfection of Klal Israel. One must understand that whatever the shortcomings, the full picture is positive. One must understand that there is so much to celebrate. Then, and only then, after accepting this basic fundamental premise, one can start evaluating the blemishes and seeing how we can enhance the representation of Klal Israel in this world. Then, and only then, can we start constructive criticism on the best way to bring down the light of Klal Israel in this world. If one rebukes an evildoer in Klal Israel, and sometimes there is a mitzvah to do so, it must be done from a strong feeling of love for Klal Israel, and therefore a strong feeling of love for this evildoer who is a part of this incredible body of Klal Israel.
“‘You are completely beautiful, my love; there is no blemish in you.’ – The greatest love with which we love our nation must not blind our eyes from criticizing its blemishes. However, even after the freest and most unrestrained criticism we find its essence as ‘You are completely beautiful, my love; there is no blemish in you.’”
(Olat Re’iyah, Shir ha-Shirim 4:7)
With Klal Israel returning to its land, there is so much cause to celebrate. Yet, there is alot to criticise. Each of us can make a long list of criticisms on each and every one of the leaders (past and present) of Klal Israel. Each of us can make a long list of criticisms on the way our state, reishit tsmichat gueoulatenu, is run. However, these criticisms must come from an appreciation of the fact that 'You are completely beautiful, my love; there is no blemish in you.' We must be very careful not to engage into criticism which will put into question this very premise.
As we move away from the Kedusha of Yom Haatzmaut, I think the most important lesson to keep in mind is that this holiday is here to stay. Even with all the hardships in the desert, the Jews who left Egypt never stopped saying Hallel. Oh, Moshe had a lot of criticism for them. But he never stopped saying Hallel. We too will never stop saying Hallel on this great day which God has given us. The criticism is needed, but it does not take away from the big light which is being projected in our generation. I started this peice speaking of a small shadow hiding some of the light. This is a wrong approach. The light still shines just as brightly. The shadows do not take away from the light. They are present and must be dealt with. Criticism is important. “The greatest love with which we love our nation must not blind our eyes from criticizing its blemishes”. However, the light itself will forever shine.
This week’s parshah covers a wide range of topics. Chapter 23 primarily speaks about the different holidays throughout the Jewish calendar, and since we find ourselves in the special weeks between the holiday of Pesach and Shavuot, it seems fitting to analyze the verses that describe this period that we find ourselves in presently.
Briefly, the Torah commands us to bring a special barley offering to God (in the Temple) the day after (the first day of) Pesach; this offering is known as the “Omer” offering. After the Omer offering is brought, we are then commanded to count 49 days, and on the 50th day we bring a special bread offering. This 50th day is known as the holiday of “Shavuot”, and it celebrates the day that we received the Torah at Mount Sinai.
Because the Beit Hamikdash (the Holy Temple) is not standing in our time, we are not able to bring the special barley and bread offerings which we were commanded. However, we still observe the practice of counting 49 days between Pesach and Shavuot. Therefore, every night in synagogue, at the conclusion of the evening services we recite the special blessing of “Sefirat HaOmer” (“The counting of the Omer”) and then count the day by announcing what day we are presently on.
Assuming we are counting 49 days until Shavuot, it would seems sensible to announce on the first day: “There are 49 days left until Shavuot”, and on the second day: “There are 48 days left until Shavuot”, and so on. This way would seem logical because we would be expressing our yearning and excitement for the day of Shavuot to come. However, this is now how we count. On the first day we say: “Today is one day of the Omer”, on the second day: “Today is two days of the Omer”, and so on. Why do we count in such a way?
Clearly, we are not counting how many days are remaining until Shavuot, rather we are counting how many days have passed since we have brought the Omer offering. This is why it is called “Sefirat HaOmer” (“The Counting of the Omer”). But why do we keep relating back to the Omer offering, rather than counting towards Shavuot, the day which we received the Torah? What does this represent?
As mentioned before, the Omer offering consisted of barley, which is an animal food, and the offering brought on the 50th day consisted of bread, which is a human food. The reason for this is because it represents the transition the Jewish nation underwent between coming out of Egypt and receiving the Torah at Mount Sinai. The Rabbis tell us that upon leaving Egypt we were steeped in the 49th level of immorality, and all our actions stemmed from our animalistic tendencies and desires; therefore the offering at this time was that of animal food (barley). However, we experienced a purification process in the desert that lasted 49 days, and by then we had completely removed ourselves from our corrupted ways and became closer to Hashem. By the end of the 49th day we were on the level of “men” and were ready to receive the Torah; therefore the offering we gave at the end of this period was human food (bread). (*Please see footnote*)
But this makes our question even stronger! If the Omer represents our lowly state upon leaving Egypt, why should we be relating to it daily when we count!? Why should we remind ourselves everyday throughout this period of our impure and deficient condition upon leaving Egypt!? We should focus on improving ourselves throughout these days, not dwelling upon our past iniquities and mistaken ways!
I believe that the answer to this question is quite simple. When undergoing repentance, there are generally two ways one can follow. One way would be to go forward right away and forget about your past entirely. You simply want to start off on a clean slate and do not want to have to undergo the guilt and suffering of reflecting upon your past sins. This can be seen as “repentance of action”. The other form of repentance would be to spend serious time and effort to contemplate your past mistakes and only then proceed in your path of repentance. Through deep introspection and analysis of your past sins, you teach yourself what to stay away from in your new path towards self redemption and repentance. Throughout every step you take in your goal towards self-correction, you continuously remind yourself of who you used to be, which helps you develop into who you want to become. This can be seen as "repentance of thought".
This latter form of repentance is what Sefirat HaOmer is all about. Day by day we continuously work on ourselves, attaining higher and higher levels of self-improvement, by reminding ourselves of our lowly “barley” state; during these 49 days we are continuously working on how to remove ourselves farther from the Omer offering. After these 49 days we are meant to ultimately reach a refined and perfected state, and only then can we truly encounter God and receive the Torah. (**Please see second footnote**)
May we truly merit to refine ourselves during these weeks that follow the Omer offering, and ultimately celebrate Shavuot as new individuals.
Good Shabbos,
NZL
*Another interesting note about the Omer offering: What does “Omer” mean? “Omer” is merely a term of measurement used in Holy Scripture; the word “Omer” does not relate to barley in any way, it merely describes “how much” barley is brought. In this week’s parshah, we are not even told that the offering is to consist of barley, all we are told is “…you shall bring of an Omer from your first harvest…” [Leviticus: 23: 10] Imagine I were to ask you “Please bring me a pound of food”! The first question you’d ask is “What sort of food do you want?” Why does the Torah not even tell us about the barley!?
I think that this represents another symbolism of the Omer offering, relating to our state upon leaving Egypt. By leaving out “barley”, the Torah is presenting us with an undefined offering. This “undefined” offering relates to the “undefined” state of the Jews upon leaving Egypt. At the time of the Exodus we were completely empty and void of any connection to God and were on the lowest level of impurity; this is represented by the “undefined” description of the Omer offering.
**Two other reasons for reminding ourselves of the Omer offering during these 49 days: The Torah was meant to be given in a state of humility; this is why it was given through Moses, the humblest of all men, and it was given on Mount Sinai, the lowest (in height) and humblest of all mountains. The constant reminder of our lowly “Omer” state was meant to serve as a humbling experience during the 49 days leading up the giving of the Torah through Moses on Mount Sinai.
Another reason for constantly remind ourselves of our lowly “Omer” state was in order to cultivate within ourselves a sense of self-appreciation. Every day in the 49-day period was used for extreme self-growth and development. So at the end of each day, by looking back at how we were at the beginning, in our “Omer” state, we truly recognize how far we’ve come and how much we’ve accomplished.
Both of these qualities, humility and self-pride, are meant be brought together in order to maintain a healthy balance in our lives. This is not the time to expand upon this, but we have spoken about this before in our essay on the weekly portion of “Metzora”.
A short thought from my dad:
"The problem with today is that many people forget that although Israel is 'independent', it is completely dependent on God. When Israel celebrates its dependence on God, then we will be truly free!"
מֵאֵת יְהוָה, הָיְתָה זֹּאת; הִיא נִפְלָאת בְּעֵינֵינו
This is Hasmem's doing, it is wonderous in our eyes
זֶה-הַיּוֹם, עָשָׂה יְהוָה; נָגִילָה וְנִשְׂמְחָה בוֹ
This is the day which Hashem has made; we will rejoice and be glad in it/Him (?)
-Tehillim 118
Part of The Yom Haatzmaut Project
I'll be honest, it's taken a long time and a lot of bugging from Dan to get me to write this post. Clearly, it's not because I'm not a Zionist... (I don't think I'd be writing for Tzipiyah if I wasn't!) and it's definitely not because I don't have anything to say. It took me so long because I view Israel, and it's history, as an entity that is impossibly split up. Each event is a cause for the next; each accomplishment is a product of it's predecessors. It's really difficult for me to find any moment in Israel's history that can possibly stand alone. Having said that, I do need to answer the question. So I will.
I would like to explain what I see as the true "accomplishments" of Israel. In backwards order of precedence, they are:
4. Falafel, Beaches, Children, Heat.
These are the physical aspects of Israel. They are the smells and the sites and the sounds and the feelings that hit you in the face as soon as you step out of the Ben Gurion airport. They are the sun rising over the Judean Hills. They are the smell of the trees that line the roads into Jerusalem. They are the loud Hebrew bartering that you hear as you pass the Machane Yehuda Shuk. They are the 12 o'clock sun that melts your back when you walk through the old city. They are the taste of the Western Wall when you put your lips to it. This accomplishment of Israel is the unique sensory experience... the one that can be found only in glimpses in other parts of the world, never in such a complete way as is found in Israel.
3. Yeshivas, Books, "Little Women" in Hebrew
The next accomplishment is that of the intellectual. Israel is full of knowledge. The streets are lined with book stores, both new and used. People sit on benches and read. Yeshivas, high schools, elementary schools, universities, and preschools are packed and expanding. The fact that there are over 50 American Yeshiva/Seminaries in the Jerusalem area alone reminds us that those are not just Israeli's spending time learning in Israel. People go to Israel just to learn! They pack up their lives wherever they were living and take a year just for that purpose. Books are translated from Hebrew to other languages and back again. I even found an old and worn out copy of Little Women in Hebrew when I was there last year. The point is, Israel is a country that can't stop learning. Learning is education, and education is success. To me, this is an awesome accomplishment.
2. Shloimie, Yitzy, Chava, and Yardena.
The Rosh Yeshiva of the seminary I was in last year used to talk about how everyone in Israel is one big family. This might sound super cheesy, but put in context it makes incredible sense. People often joke about the rudeness of Israeli culture, and how the word "polite" doesn't seem to be part of their lexicon. Israeli;s are rude, they push, and they add in their own two cents, whether or not it was asked for. I have distinct memories of the lady in the Jerusalem post office actually scolding me for having carried a big box down the street all by myself, because I may have hurt my back. To me, this is what it means to feel completely comfortable with the people around me. To have the chutzpah to lecture me about carrying heavy boxes means that lady was not just a post office lady. She was someone who cares about me because we are members of the same family tribe. This family strength is felt in a magnified way in times of terror and distress. This is the emotional accomplishment of Israel. It allows Israel to be the only place in the whole world where I feel comfortable and at home with almost all of the people around me.
1. God.
The most important accomplishment of Israel (though the word accomplishment seems inappropriate in this particular context) is its spirituality. God is the spiritual connection that elevates Israel to such an astounding level. As a country divinely chosen for a divine people, Israel radiates with holiness and with pride. I believe that it is this holiness that allows for accomplishments 4, 3 and 2 to exist.
May we all have the merit of experiencing the holy Land of Israel in it's entirety, as a physical, intellectual, emotional and spiritual whole. Moadim L'Simcha! -Elana
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While it’s true that tonight starts the 2nd day of Iyar, not the 4th which is when we normally celebrate Yom HaZikaron, Israeli remembrance day, the Rabbis felt they should move it all up making today Yom HaZikaron.
So since today is Yom HaZikaron, a day when we remember Israel’s fallen heroes, i thought i would tell you a little bit about just one of them... it’s a personal story VERY Close to my heart.F.jpg)
Yehoshua (Jason) Friedberg (HY"D) was born and
raised in Montreal, not far from where I was raised and continue to live. Yehoshua went through the religious school system in Montreal, and upon completion, left for Israel to study in a hesder yeshiva and complete military service as a Chayal Boded (literally a lonely solider), a foreign volunteer in the prestigious Golani Brigade (Gdud 51... KAVOD!). He was planning to enter the officer's training course, he was three days short of completing his initial enlistment, when on Purim, 15 years ago, he was kidnapped by Palestinian terrorists and shot with his own weapon. His body was dumped by the side of a highway where it was found three days later, after a massive manhunt by Israeli General Security Service personnel. F1.jpg)
Yehoshua was the embodiment of true Zionism. He left the comfort of a safe North American city with a sizable and influential Jewish community so that he could contribute to the defense and development of the Jewish state. He enrolled in an institution of higher religious education to further encourage himself with the traditions that are meant to guide Jews and Israelis, and then set out to defend those traditions and those people simply because he was one of them.
Yehoshua was a very special young man. Poorer students would often ask him for a loan which he gladly gave. When the student came to repay the loan, Yehoshua would show in his notepad that the amount was already crossed out and refused to take the person's money! Yehoshua was very careful about saying or hearing lashon hara (evil speech). When people said something derogatory in his presence, he would simply walk out of the room to show his displeasure. Yehoshua loved learning and teaching Torah, and when he was home, he volunteered to teach Gemarra to the members of our shul. He was a natural communicator, and people marvelled at his teaching abilities. Yehoshua was once a member of my community, the son of my parents’ friends and it was in his merit that I was blessed with the chance to go learn in Israel.
May G-d avenge his blood, which should be immortalized. Yehi Zichro Baruch.
It is amazing how today we will sit, in Israel there is no school, the soldiers, seminaries, yeshivas and high schools all go to Har HaZaitim, where the soldiers are buried... and we all pay our respects. We daven at their graves and we cry for our fallen heroes. Our brothers, our sisters, mothers, fathers, cousins, uncles and aunts, boyfriends, girlfriends and best friends we remember that they did not fall in vain, and we PROMISE them that they will be remembered. Today we reflect on all they did for us, we have a moment of silence where we thank them and remember them. Then as soon as the sun goes down at a moment when all becomes dark again, we celebrate all that the did for us... we have fireworks and BBQs and parties. We do all this, because we will not sit around and be sad, they did NOT die for no reason... so as we say 'vayehi erev vayehi boker' (first it was night then it was day) we have sadness and despair in the darkness of the night... but it is always followed by the joy and hope of the day. So today we are sad... today, we remember with tears and reverence... and tomorrow we remember with celebration... telling them that we will continue to live the life they fought for us to have... we WILL continue to LIVE
You may think that was a sigh of despair. And in a way it was. But more importantly, I think, it’s a sigh of concern—of deep distress.
Last Shabbat while reading the Chareidi magazine Mishpacha, I came across an interview with three influential Chareidi rabbis on the “Burning Issues of Chareidi Jewry”. A prominent section of the article discussed the respective rabbis’ positions towards the Reform, Conservative and Modern Orthodox movements. Here’s a bit:
“Members of the Conservative and Reform movements are all from our beloved Jewish brethren, may they one day merit to see the truth. The movements themselves, though, cannot, in all honesty, be viewed as Jewish movements. Since the goal of their movements is to distort Judaism, eliminate belief in Hashem, and eliminate mitzvos and Torah, there is no other way to view them.
Our approach to Conservative and Reform Jews should be to speak to them, let them know we care about them, introduce them to Torah, and try to get them to understand how much they are missing by not having Torah.
Before World War I and World War II, Orthodoxy joined the other movements in certain organizations to empower the Jewish community before the government, perhaps for the sake of the Jews overseas.
...But there are more problems created than solved when such bodies represent the Jewish people in the eyes of the government.
Number One, it gives them legitimacy in their own eyes and makes us recognize them. Inevitably, we will be sitting down with them at the table and calling them “Rabbi this” and “Rabbi that” when they possess no scholarship, and are utterly undeserving of being called a rabbi in any way.
…Number Three, giving them recognition causes us to stop and look at them as people who are lost and in need of being healed and helped. We will stop looking at ourselves as rescuers, and begin to see ourselves as their equals, or just another sect.
...I would say that Modern Orthodoxy is not a Torah movement, but I wouldn’t say it doesn’t have Torah value.”
I was stunned.
(Admittedly, I did include the excerpts that emphasize the impact of the expressed opinions and I do recommend that you check out the website where the article should appear by the end of the week; yet the potent shock and paradox is undeniable.)
And then yesterday I came across this article posted on the Haaretz website professing that “We have had it up to here with the ultra-Orthodox”:
“These are painful statements, but they must be said loud and clear: Two peoples live in this land, both Jewish - they and we. They are the ultra-Orthodox, who see themselves as emissaries of God on earth. We are all the rest - secular, traditional and religious. It is not that we have suddenly separated; we never were one people. We tried to delude ourselves that we were. They knew all along that we were not.
What did we not do to preserve unity? We were ready to admit that they personified the true Judaism; we accepted marrying and divorce according to the laws of Moses and Israel based on their version; we accepted - willingly or gritting our teeth - limitations on our lifestyle; we agreed to ignore the status quo agreement that was wrung from us as hush money, so that they would not show up before the United Nations investigative committee and persuade it to prevent the establishment of the Jewish state; we sent our young men and women to defend them, while they spend their time at yeshivas or just wandering the streets; we agreed to support them, since after all they do not have time to work for a living; we even came to terms with their spitting at us, we whose "wagon is empty" while theirs is full.
All these things did us no good. They continued to take the fruits of our goodwill from us, while giving nothing in return. A unilateral treaty was created in which we give and they take.
…Therefore we have had it up to here with their insults. We are no worse Jews than they are. On the contrary: Good manners come before Torah. Humanness is not the antithesis of Jewishness, but rather stems from it."
Again—stunned.
But then I took a moment to understand: the attacks are coming from both sides. They are hurtful and often unfounded; they are piercing and unnecessarily blunt; and although I do see elements of truth in each argument the truth remains irrelevant. What concerns me is the form in which each author presents the facts: verbal wars are certainly not conducive to meaningful reform. Tasteless words and biting phrases will certainly hamper progress.
In this splintered society we must disregard focusing on the differences and attempt to produce a network of empathy and understanding. We can no longer assume a position of superiority and importance: I believe that there is truth in my way; yet that does not preclude belief in the other way— a belief in both ways.
We have a common tradition; a text: we have the Torah. From there arises dissention as a plethora of interpretations produces an even greater number of opinions. We must, however, trust the proclaimed intentions of the other and validate every individuals desire to forge a relationship with God.
The approaches are each very different; yet the complexities that produce a system of customs—the very habits, symbols and values that characterize one group—are a means of personal expression and demand appreciation.
At the end of the day, though, we must expose mutual ground. I do recognize that nice thoughts and happy ideals are partially meaningless. And this is where you come in. The question remains: how do we alleviate this tension? How can we create a common living ground which honors the respective differences? Even if there is dialogue—what issues shall be discussed?
It seems it’s always someone: Arab and Jews; Religious and Secular; Modern-Orthodox and Ultra-Orthodox.
Oy.
Deep down I am hesitant to post these articles. Perhaps they will only exacerbate the present schism rather than alleviate the discord. Ultimately, though, change and productivity result from awareness.
So here it is. It all depends on us.
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