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Sivan 23, 5768, 6/26/2008
Bye Bye, Complainers
Apparently, there is a Jewish gene for complaining. In any crowd, there are always the Complainers who have to spoil things for everyone else. In this week’s Torah portion, we meet them again, Korach and his Crowd of Complainers. This time, they complain about the leadership of Moshe and Aaron. Two of them, Datan and Aviram, are longtime Complainers. They complained about Moshe in Egypt; they complained about the travel accommodations in the wilderness; now they are complaining again that Moshe has led the Jews out “of a land flowing with milk and honey to kill us in the wilderness” (Bamidbar, 16:13). What chutzpah! Look how they turn things around. Eretz Yisrael is called the land flowing with milk and honey, but they describe Egypt in this way! Sound familiar? Over our history, Complainers have rejected Eretz Yisrael and found their own lands of milk and honey in Spain and France and Germany and America and Japan. The Torah commentator, the Abarbanel, reveals what was really at the core of their rebellion. In a last ditch effort to save the situation and give the Complainers a chance to repent before the test of the incense, Moshe sends for Datan and Aviram, but they stubbornly answer, “We will not come up” (Bamidbar, there). The simple meaning is that they will not come up to the Mishkan to meet with Moshe, but the Abarbanel teaches that their declaration "ìà ðòìä" was a call of rebellion, meaning “We will not make aliyah to Eretz Yisrael.” They remained adamant in their opposition to G-d’s plan for the Jewish People, that even if G-d were to forgive them for the sin of the Spies and allow the generation to enter the Land of Israel, “We will not come up.” This was the source of their rebellion against the leadership of Moshe, who was committed to bringing the Jews to Israel. They wanted the milk and honey of Brooklyn and Paris and Mexico City, where they could remain important people, and not Eretz Yisrael, where they would be just another worker of the Land. "Fishman and his blogs are true!"
We all know the rest of the story. The earth opened its mouth and swallowed up all the Complainers. Hikers traveling through the Sinai today, can still hear their screams emanating from the bowels of the wilderness, “Moshe and his Torah are true!” Just like the Complainers of today will one day proclaim, “Fishman and his blogs are true!”
Shabbat Shalom
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Sivan 19, 5768, 6/22/2008
You Don't Have To Be Gay
Gay parades are not the only problem we have in the Holy Land. It is summertime and immodest fashions imported from America and Europe can be seen everywhere. Question:
Our family is modern Orthodox. I try to instill in my wife and daughters an appreciation for the laws of modesty, but it always leads to arguments. My wife says that wearing a blouse that reveals the cleft of the chest is the unspoken dress code in the office where she works, and my daughters always answer that all of their friends dress according to the going fashion and they don’t want to be the ugly ducklings in their crowd. My question is, how strict can I be if it leads to tension and quarrels at home?
Answer:
The renown Torah scholar, Rabbi Shalom Elyashiv, says that the issue of modesty is not to be seen as a demand from a man to his family, but rather a halachic requirement like all of the other laws in the Torah. This means that if there is a question of what is the proper style of clothing to wear, a qualified rabbi must be consulted, just like when there is a question in any other detail of the law.
Also, since daughters are influenced by the behavior of their mothers, it is important that the mother conform to the proper, halachic standard of dress for her daughters to follow. If she dresses in opposition to the ways of Jewish modesty, then it is not reasonable to expect that the daughters will behave otherwise. If this means that the mother might lose her job, this is a risk that must be taken in order to safeguard the Jewish law and the sanctity of the family and the marriage.
Getting one’s wife and daughters to agree to follow the laws of modesty should not come as an angry decree that must be followed blindly, but rather the women in the house should be taught to appreciate these laws and understand the consequences of breaking them. There are books on the subject of modesty that they can be encouraged to read. There are also classes and tapes on the subject that present the rewards and dangers in a palatable light.
It is important to inspire one’s family to understand that the principles of Judaism far outweigh any passing fashion. It is important to teach one’s family that it is more important to please Hashem, then to please the men in the office, or the guys and girls at school.
The halachic authority, Rabbi Moshe Shaul Klein, emphasizes that women should be made aware that infractions in modesty have not only personal consequences, but public consequences as well. A woman who goes out to the street wearing clothes that draw attention and show off her body, not only brings punishment on herself for violated a commandment, but she also brings others to sin. Regarding this it is written, whoever brings the multitude to sin will not be afforded the chance to repent. For if this woman causes a man to stray from the right path by triggering fantasies and forbidden actions, even if the woman repents for her errant behavior, all of the sins of the men she tempted still rest on her head. When she appears before the heavenly tribunal at the end of her life, she will have to give an accounting for all of her deeds, and she will discover that she is accused of myriads of transgressions, things that she never even thought to do. And when she asks, “What is this? What’s going on here? Isn’t this supposed to be the world of truth? I never committed these sins.” The heavenly tribunal will answer her, “Yes, these are all your doings, because you went about in immodest attire and caused thousands of men to sin. For whoever causes another person to sin receives all of his punishment. Therefore the responsibility for a woman to dress in a proper fashion isn’t a private matter alone, but a public concern, and a responsibility that affects all the Jewish nation, determining whether the Presence of G-d will dwell amongst us.
Furthermore, the masters of Kabbalah have longed warned us that one of the major causes of the tragedies and sufferings that come upon us is due to breaches in modesty. When women dress in opposition to the tenets of Jewish law, destructive angels are created that wreak havoc in revenge. Then it is too late to ask, “Why has this tragedy come upon us?”
By explaining these things in the proper fashion to one’s wife, and according to the age and intellectual capacity of one’s daughters, in order to enlighten, and not to invoke thunderbolts and lightning from out of the sky, a new respect and appreciation for the laws of modesty can be achieved in the home, for the betterment of the family and the Jewish People as a whole.
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Sivan 15, 5768, 6/18/2008
Become Believers!
I apologize from the beginning, but it’s time once again to read the Torah portion, Shelach, this Shabbat, the portion that tells the sad and tragic story of the Spies. What can I do? I didn’t write the Torah. Perhaps it would be better to forget this disgraceful episode in our history when the Jewish People rebelled again Hashem in the wilderness by refusing to make aliyah. But apparently, by keeping it in the Torah, and having us read about it year after year, Hashem wants us to learn its lessons. If there are readers who have a chip on their shoulder about not living in Israel, and know in advance that they will be offended by what I have to write, then please, don’t read this blog. There are many interesting articles to read on the Internet. Be my guest and read them instead.
Our Torah portion has two main themes: the saga of the Spies, and the commandment of wearing tzitit. Before we explain the connection between them, let’s give a capsule summary of the episode of the Spies for readers who may not be familiar with the Torah portion.
After the Exodus from Egypt, before entering the Promised Land, Moshe sent Spies out on a surveillance mission to check out the nature of the Land, its fortifications, and the strength of its inhabitants. To carry out the undertaking, he chose the leaders of the tribes, the premiere Torah scholars, the most important men in the community, confident that they would return with superlative praises for Hashem’s Holy Land that would inspire the nation to continue on with their journey. But the very opposite occurred. Instead of seeing the good in the Land, they saw the negative, and their report of great fortified cities and giant enemies undermined the will of the Jewish people. Two valiant men, Yehoshua and Calev, believers in Hashem, argued with them, declaring that the Land was indeed a good Land, and that Hashem would surely lead them to victory, but the whining report of the other Spies traveled from house to house, demoralizing the spirit of the camp until the people refused to journey on to Israel. Their disobedience of G-d, and their refusal to abide by His command to make aliyah, brought about the death of the entire generation, who were doomed to another forty years of wandering in the wilderness, until a braver generation could arise, born into freedom, a new type of Jew who didn’t know the fear of the gentile that comes from being a minority in gentile lands.
That’s the story, right? I didn’t exaggerate. I didn’t change things. Everyone can read it for themselves. I won’t even bother to make comparisons to today. See what a good boy I am!
So what does this tragic tale have to do with the commandment that follows right afterward, that a Jew wear fringes on his four-cornered garments, called tzitzit? First, here is the commandment:
“And the L-rd spoke to Moshe saying, Speak to the children of Israel, and bid them that they make fringes in the corners of their garments throughout their generations, and that they put on the fringe of each corner a blue thread; and it shall be to you as a tzitzit, that you may look upon it, and remember all the commandments of the L-rd and do them [INCLUDING THE MITZVAH OF LIVING IN ISRAEL] and that you not go after your own heart and you own eyes after which you go astray; that you may remember and do all the commandments [INCLUDING THE MITZVAH OF LIVING IN ISRAEL] and be holy to your G-d.”
This commandment tells us that we are supposed to wear tzitzit. It tells us that we are to remember and do all the commandments. And it warns us not to go after our own desires and eyes which lead us astray. (Bemidbar, 15:37). This was the cardinal mistake of the Spies. They went after their own desires, preferring to live in galut, rather than in Eretz Yisrael. They went after their eyes, seeing only the enemy fortresses and giants, rather than relying on Hashem. There are two types of vision; an external superficial vision that sees only surface matters, and a deeper inner vision that sees the inner essence. The Spies saw only the outer contours of the land, the walled cities, the formidable warriors, the funerals wherever they went, reporting that “It is a land that eats up its inhabitants.” In contrast, the inner vision, the vision of Yehoshua and Calev, is a vision of faith. It is a vision that understands that the Land of Israel, the Land of Hashem, is not just another geographic region, like any other country, with mountains, and streams, and valleys, but that the Land of Israel is as inseparable to the mission of the Jewish People as the body to the soul. Outside of the Land of Israel, the Jewish people are like the dry, scattered bones of Ezekiel’s famous prophesy. Only into the Land of Israel, on our own holy soil, can the Israeli Nation come alive and lead the world back to the service of Hashem, even if there are problems, even if this takes time until all of the Jewish People rally to fulfill the will of their Maker. The Spies were sent to spy out ìúåø the Land. The mitzvah of tzitzit comes to rectify this sin, as it says, “that you not go after úúåøå your own heart and you own eyes after which you go astray.” Today, like in the days of the Spies, there are a handful of people who only see the surface matters when they look at Israel, the political corruption, the proliferation of foreign ideologies, the lack of inspired leadership (as if these exist anywhere else!) Instead of seeing the inner Israel, the Israel of faith, the Israel of Yehoshua and Calev, the Israel that Hashem commands us to live in, EVEN IF THERE ARE GIANTS IN THE LAND, they see only the problems. Like the Spies, in choosing foreign habitations, they despise the cherished Land. Like the Spies, they speak out over the Internet, spreading their slander to home after home, discouraging others from following G-d’s eternal command that a Jew should always live in the Land of Israel. “Remember!” Hashem commands them. “Look at your tzitzit! Don’t follow what your eyes see! Don’t worry about the problems! Rise up to MY vision! Follow ME! Live in My chosen Land!” Yes, there are many Jews who would like to come to Israel and can't, for a variety of justified reasons. We are not addressing them here. Rather, we are referring to those who could, but choose not to, and actively discourage others from coming. May Hashem guard us from their poisonous counsel. Amen. A Jew wearing tzitzit in the Land of Hashem
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Hollywood to the Holy Land
by Tzvi Fishman
Tzvi Fishman was awarded the Israel Ministry of Education Prize for Jewish Creativity and Culture
Before making Aliyah to Israel in 1984, Tzvi Fishman was a successful Hollywood screenwriter. He has co-authored 4 books with Rabbi David Samson, based on the teachings of Rabbis A. Y. Kook and T. Y. Kook.
His other books include: The Kuzari For Young Readers and Tuvia in the Promised Land. His most recent book, Secret of the Brit, can be found at JewishSexuality.com, along with an abbreviated online version. |
