One of the great mysteries of history and sociology is the persistence of the nation of Israel despite persecution, pogrom and close to 2,000 years of exile. I was even invited to lecture at the other end of the world - before the universities of Beijing and Kaifeng, China - on the mysterious and miraculous survival of Israel. And those universities provided me with the topic. Even Bilaam, the Gentile Biblical prophet of the nations of the world, recognized this unique character of Israel - and attempted to define its source.
"How can I curse the nation that is not cursed by G-d, and how can I express anger against the nation that G-d does not get angry at? It is because I see them from the head of the mountains and I look upon them from the valleys." (Numbers 23:8, 9)
Our classical commentary, Rashi, interprets Bilaam's insight: "[In order to understand the mystery of Jewish existence] I must look upon Israel's heads [beginnings, forefathers) and the origin of their roots. I see them established and strengthened, like these mountains and valleys, by their patriarchs and matriarchs." (Rashi, ad loc) It is precisely because our nation continues to derive its nourishment from the ideals and teachings of its Biblical forebears that Israel has a unique message, quality and power, so that, "Behold it is a nation that can dwell alone, without taking account of or being accounted as worthy by the Gentile nations." (ibid 23:9) In other words, we have an independent, self-starting and self-continuing ideology, which enables us to go strong despite world anti-Semitism.
In a perhaps apocryphal incident, during the first year of the Jewish State, President De Gaulle of France came to Israel as the guest of Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion. The "lion of Judea", remembering the tree-lined Champs Elysees of Paris, hurriedly instructed the police force to chop down trees from the Galilee and to set the trees up along Dizengoff Street, where the prime minister of Israel would ride together with the president of France in a special cavalcade. Unfortunately, although the streets were aligned with cheering Israelis, the high winds caused tree after tree to fall to the ground, causing not a little cynicism and a good deal of laughter.
An amused De Gaulle turned to his host and said, "Apparently your trees are not yet rooted in your soil."
Responded Ben-Gurion, "That may be so, but our nation has been rooted in our soil for the past 4,000 years."
And the fact that Ben-Gurion regularly hosted a Bible class in the Prime Minister's Office, and a Talmud class in his own home, only confirmed the truth of his comment.
This significant idea - indeed, the very secret of our national eternity - is magnificently expressed in a section of the second chapter of the Ethics of the Fathers. The Mishnah records that Rabban Yohanan ben Zakai sent out his five best disciples to discover the single most important character trait. Rabbi Eliezer said a "good eye," Rabbi Yehoshua said a "good friend," Rabbi Yose said a "good neighbor," Rabbi Elazar said a "good heart," and Rabbi Shimon said "one who sees what will be born (in Hebrew, nolad)." He then sent the same five out to discover the worst character trait from which individuals must distance themselves. Each gave the opposite of what he had said before (with Rabbi Eliezer saying an "evil eye" and Rabbi Yehoshua saying an "evil friend," etc.). Rabbi Shimon said, "One who borrows and does not pay back."
Clearly, Rabbi Shimon does not seem to be in synch with his colleagues. Why in the second instance does he not say that the worst characteristic is one who does not see what will be born, one who does not recognize in advance the results of his actions?
Allow me to give an alternate explanation of the Hebrew phrase "ro'eh et hanolad" (as first suggested to me by Rabbi Shalom Gold). Perhaps it does not mean "one who sees what will be born," but rather, "one who sees from whom he is born," one who realizes that he did not emerge from a vacuum, but rather from glorious ancestors who gave gifts of universal morality and optimistic faith in the ultimate perfection of society as their legacy for the future.
We believe that it is precisely our Jewish adherence to the ideals of our past that has enabled us to continue to live in a way in which we can still envision an even more significant future. And if, G-d forbid, we forget our moorings, if we forsake the very roots of our existence and the teachings of our classical texts, then we shall have cut ourselves off from the very soil that nourished us until now and enabled us to live until this point in history. If we become guilty of national Alzheimer's, then we will truly be like those who have borrowed from others and not paid them back; in such a case, we shall have been responsible for the end of Jewish history and the cessation of Jewish eternity.
It is to be hoped that this is not the case, and that we understand that the Tomb of our Matriarchs and Patriarchs in Hebron, Mother Rachel's gravesite and the burial place of Joseph are much more than pieces of real estate that can be overlooked and traded away. It is no accident that the Hebrew word for "grave" is also used in rabbinic literature to mean "womb": continued Jewish future will only be possible if it is rooted in Jewish past.
"How can I curse the nation that is not cursed by G-d, and how can I express anger against the nation that G-d does not get angry at? It is because I see them from the head of the mountains and I look upon them from the valleys." (Numbers 23:8, 9)
Our classical commentary, Rashi, interprets Bilaam's insight: "[In order to understand the mystery of Jewish existence] I must look upon Israel's heads [beginnings, forefathers) and the origin of their roots. I see them established and strengthened, like these mountains and valleys, by their patriarchs and matriarchs." (Rashi, ad loc) It is precisely because our nation continues to derive its nourishment from the ideals and teachings of its Biblical forebears that Israel has a unique message, quality and power, so that, "Behold it is a nation that can dwell alone, without taking account of or being accounted as worthy by the Gentile nations." (ibid 23:9) In other words, we have an independent, self-starting and self-continuing ideology, which enables us to go strong despite world anti-Semitism.
In a perhaps apocryphal incident, during the first year of the Jewish State, President De Gaulle of France came to Israel as the guest of Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion. The "lion of Judea", remembering the tree-lined Champs Elysees of Paris, hurriedly instructed the police force to chop down trees from the Galilee and to set the trees up along Dizengoff Street, where the prime minister of Israel would ride together with the president of France in a special cavalcade. Unfortunately, although the streets were aligned with cheering Israelis, the high winds caused tree after tree to fall to the ground, causing not a little cynicism and a good deal of laughter.
An amused De Gaulle turned to his host and said, "Apparently your trees are not yet rooted in your soil."
Responded Ben-Gurion, "That may be so, but our nation has been rooted in our soil for the past 4,000 years."
And the fact that Ben-Gurion regularly hosted a Bible class in the Prime Minister's Office, and a Talmud class in his own home, only confirmed the truth of his comment.
This significant idea - indeed, the very secret of our national eternity - is magnificently expressed in a section of the second chapter of the Ethics of the Fathers. The Mishnah records that Rabban Yohanan ben Zakai sent out his five best disciples to discover the single most important character trait. Rabbi Eliezer said a "good eye," Rabbi Yehoshua said a "good friend," Rabbi Yose said a "good neighbor," Rabbi Elazar said a "good heart," and Rabbi Shimon said "one who sees what will be born (in Hebrew, nolad)." He then sent the same five out to discover the worst character trait from which individuals must distance themselves. Each gave the opposite of what he had said before (with Rabbi Eliezer saying an "evil eye" and Rabbi Yehoshua saying an "evil friend," etc.). Rabbi Shimon said, "One who borrows and does not pay back."
Clearly, Rabbi Shimon does not seem to be in synch with his colleagues. Why in the second instance does he not say that the worst characteristic is one who does not see what will be born, one who does not recognize in advance the results of his actions?
Allow me to give an alternate explanation of the Hebrew phrase "ro'eh et hanolad" (as first suggested to me by Rabbi Shalom Gold). Perhaps it does not mean "one who sees what will be born," but rather, "one who sees from whom he is born," one who realizes that he did not emerge from a vacuum, but rather from glorious ancestors who gave gifts of universal morality and optimistic faith in the ultimate perfection of society as their legacy for the future.
We believe that it is precisely our Jewish adherence to the ideals of our past that has enabled us to continue to live in a way in which we can still envision an even more significant future. And if, G-d forbid, we forget our moorings, if we forsake the very roots of our existence and the teachings of our classical texts, then we shall have cut ourselves off from the very soil that nourished us until now and enabled us to live until this point in history. If we become guilty of national Alzheimer's, then we will truly be like those who have borrowed from others and not paid them back; in such a case, we shall have been responsible for the end of Jewish history and the cessation of Jewish eternity.
It is to be hoped that this is not the case, and that we understand that the Tomb of our Matriarchs and Patriarchs in Hebron, Mother Rachel's gravesite and the burial place of Joseph are much more than pieces of real estate that can be overlooked and traded away. It is no accident that the Hebrew word for "grave" is also used in rabbinic literature to mean "womb": continued Jewish future will only be possible if it is rooted in Jewish past.