Rabbi Doniel Staum, LMSW
Rabbi, Kehillat New Hempstead
Rebbe/Guidance Counselor – ASHAR
Principal – Ohr Naftoli- New Windsor
STAM
TORAH
PARSHAS
MIKETZ – CHANUKAH 5776
“ROCK
OF ISRAEL
The following is part of the text
of the Oxford 7 May, 2006 :
“I was
privileged once to meet David Ben Gurion, the architect of the State of Israel.
On April 13, 1972 ,
I received a telephone call from Ben Gurion. At the time, he was living in S’de
Boker, the desert kibbutz. He was a great admirer of the Tanach, and he called
to ask some questions regarding two passages in the Torah which he did not
understand. He asked if we could meet to discuss these issues at S’de Boker, as
rheumatism had made it difficult for Ben Gurion to walk. I considered
this a great honour indeed. When we met up, we discussed his questions for
several hours, but I had one question of my own.
““David”, I
asked, “For years I have been telling a story that I had heard about you during
the Period of the British Mandate of Palestine. I would like to confirm if this
story is true or not”.
““What is the
story in question?” asked Ben Gurion.
“I proceeded to
tell him what I had heard. It happened in 1937, at the time that the Peel Commission
was presiding over the British mandate of Palestine ,
as Israel Land
of Israel
“Everybody was
impressed by Ben Gurion’s testimony. Everyone, that is, except for Lord Peel. [By
the way, “Peel” means “Elephant” in Hebrew.]
““Mr. Ben
Gurion, may I ask you a question?” said Lord Peel.
““Of course you
can; that is why I am here”, replied Ben Gurion.
““Where were
you born?”
““Plonsk,” came
the reply.
““Where is
Plonsk?”
““Poland
“A large period
of silence came after the reply. Finally, Lord Peel said in the barest whisper,
“Very strange indeed. All of the Arab leaders who have appeared before me were
born in Palestine Eastern Europe .”
“Lord Peel
spoke up, saying “Mr. Ben Gurion, the Arab people have a Kushan entitling them
to this land.” A Kushan was an Ottoman land deed. “Do you have a document
saying that Palestine
“At that point,
Ben Gurion became aware of the Tanach in his hand that he swore upon whilst
taking the oath to be witness to the commission. He held it up triumphantly exclaiming
“Here is your Kushan; here is your document! It is the world’s most highly
respected book, and I believe that you British regard it with much respect too.
We must have this land.”
“Back in 1973,
I asked Ben Gurion in his desert home “Is this story really true? Did you hold
up a Tanach and say ‘Here is your document?”
“Ben Gurion
smiled and said “Emet Veyatziv”, it is true and it is certain.
“I had another
question to ask Ben Gurion. I asked, “Imagine you have a document that entitles
you to a land. Then you destroy it. You crumple it up, shred it, and tear
it. Try and present this document to a committee as proof of entitlement
for a piece of land. The committee will not accept it in its torn and tattered
condition. But look at the Jewish people. We pick and choose certain laws. We
consider some laws archaic. In effect, we are destroying our own document. How
can we therefore use it as entitlement to the Land of Israel
“David Ben
Gurion was a very smart man. So smart, in fact, that he refused to answer the
question!”
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
מעוז צור ישועתי לך נאה
לשבח" - My
fortress! The Rock of my salvation, to You praise is fitting”. The opening
words of the beloved hymn sung after lighting the Chanukah candles are well
known. We commence by emphatically stating that G-d is our Rock, the symbol of
consistency and strength, and it is only through Him that the Maacabees were
able to rout the Syrian-Greek forces.
Tragically, Chanukah has become a
grossly misunderstood and politicized holiday. It has become the symbol of the
weak striking back against its captors and oppressors. Chanukah has become the
symbol of the triumph of the underdog who seeks to stand up for himself,
despite the odds. In a sense, Chanukah has become a celebration analogous to
the Chicago Cubs winning the World Series[2].
It’s the loveable losers finally triumphing.
Truthfully however, Chanukah has
nothing to do with political or economic democracy. It was simply a battle for
the right to serve G-d and keep His Torah. The scholarly Maacabees felt that if
they were unable to keep the Torah life was not worth living. That (and that
alone) was the impetus for their mission.
In our culture fighting for religion is
certainly not in vogue. Movies and media promote stories of those who give up
everything, even religion, in the name of “love”[3].
Thus has the message of Chanukah been distorted and misunderstood. The holiday
which symbolizes our desire for pristine untainted Torah living, and observing
the Torah of Moshe Rabbeinu, has virtually come to represent the opposite idea.
Chanukah is not the only time that the
idea of “Tzur Yeshuasi – The Rock of my salvation” was distorted. The term was also
used in 1948 in the Israeli Declaration of Independence
as a compromise between religious and secular Jews.
In Tehillim (19:14) Hashem is
referred to as "צורי וגואלי – My Rock and
my Redeemer."[4]
The commentators explain that the "Rock" refers to G-d, who protects
the Jewish people and is the center of our faith, which defines our identity
and consciousness. The term indicates the trust and faith of our people in an
Immutable, Unfaltering, Omnipresent G-d. However, secular Zionists have
interpreted this term in a non-religious way to refer to the cultural and
historical heritage that has preserved Jewish community and identity over the centuries.
The term
"Rock of Israel" became a virulent subject of controversy just before
the promulgation of the Israeli Declaration of Independence on May 14, 1948.
The leaders present at the ceremony who were to be signatories of the
declaration believed that the declaration should express the fundamental values
and principles that would define the new state, which would give the Jewish
people a homeland in Palestine
The Jewish
religious leaders, led by Rabbi Fishman-Maimon wanted a clear reference
to G-d with the words " צור ישראל וגואלו The Rock of Israel
David
Ben-Gurion, who would become the country's first Prime Minister, spent the morning of May
fourteenth mediating the dispute between Rabbi Maimon and Zisling. After hours
of talks, Rabbi Maimon agreed to leave out the term "Redeemer" from
the text of the declaration and leave it “with faith in the Rock of Israel”.
The compromise allowed each side to define that term as they saw fit and it was
included without a final vote.
Later in his
life Ben-Gurion is said to have explained that to him, "Rock of
Israel" referred to "the Old Testament with its history and traditions", or the "Tzahal”[5].
Despite
Ben-Gurion's conviction that "Rock of Israel" was not necessarily a
religious term, the official English translation composed by Moshe Sharet,
and cited in official documents, rendered it as "Al-mighty G-d." It
was not until 1962 that the Israeli government changed it to the more literal
"Rock of Israel".
This tragic
encounter is at the root of the distortion of the message and symbolism of
Chanukah. Chanukah celebrates the eternal protection and connection that we
have with the ‘Rock of Israel’. But those who define the ‘Rock of Israel’ in
ulterior manners undermine the basis of our traditions and faith.
In the
Chanukah prayers we state that the Syrian-Greeks wanted, להשכיחם תורתך" – To make them forget Your
Torah.” How is it possible to force someone to forget something, especially
something so deeply-rooted as the Torah is to the Jewish people?
At the
conclusion of Parshas Vayeshev, the Torah relates the saga of Yosef in prision
with Pharoah’s Chief Baker and Chief Wine-Maker. They both had disturbing
dreams and could not understand their meanings. Yosef was able to explain to
both of them that each dream held an integral message about their fate; the
Chief-Baker would be hung while the Chief Wine-Maker would return to his post.
After interpreting the dreams Yosef requested that the Chief Wine-Maker
remember him and intercede on his behalf before Pharoh.
The verse at the end of Vayeshev concludes,
“And the Chief Wine-maker did not remember Yosef, and he forgot him.” It would
be another two years before the Wine-Maker ‘remembered’ Yosef and mentioned him
before Phroah, after Pharoah had two disturbing dreams that his ministers and
astrologers could not interpret. Clearly
then, the Wine-maker did not totally forget about Yosef because he ultimately
did mention him to Pharoah. If so, what does it mean that he forgot him?
Rabbi Moshe
Feinstein zt’l explained that a person remembers something when it makes an
impression on him. When one is emotionally moved he does not quickly forget the
impetus for that impression.
There was no
question that when Yosef interpreted the dreams correctly, the Chief Wine-Maker
was completely overwhelmed by Yosef, his charisma, and his ability to forsee
the truth. But the Chief Wine-Maker did not want to be impressed by a Jew. Therefore,
in his mind he belittled the events, rationalizing that Yosef had just ‘gotten
lucky’.[6]
That is what
the verse means that the Chief Wine-Maker ‘forgot Yosef’. He rationalized what
happened and attributed it to natural forces, causing him to ‘forget’ how
amazed he was and therefore forgetting about Yosef’s supernatural ability.
This is also
the meaning of our Chanukah prayer that the Syrian-Greeks sought to compel us
‘to forget Your Torah’. The Syrian-Greeks tried to ‘chill’ our passion and
utter devotion to Torah. They reasoned that Jew and Greek could live side by
side and enjoy each other’s wisdom and insight. By subtly decreasing our
commitment to Torah and its supremacy over every facet of our lives, the
Syrian-Greeks were successful in luring the masses towards their lifestyle and
culture. Without passion and devotion, our Torah observance inevitably becomes deficient.
That was the starting point which led to the perilous spiritual devastation of
that time.
How did the
Maccabbes vanquish the enemy’s spiritual attack? In the Al Hanisim prayer we
state that G-d delivered “וזדים ביד עוסקי
תורתך – the malevolent ones in the hands of those who engage in Your
Torah”. The Maccabean victory was bound to the fact that the revolters were
those who immersed themselves in Torah study. One only engages in meticulous
in-depth study of something if it is extremely valuable to him. Otherwise he
would not have the patience to painstakingly decipher every dimunitive nuance.
The exile of Greece
The holiday of
Chanukah celebrates our belief in the Rock of Israel. We await the day when all
of our bretheren will realize that the Rock of Israel refers to G-d, and He
Alone.
“My fortress!
The Rock of my salvation”
“In the hands of those
who engage in Your Torah”
[1] former Chief Rabbi of Israel and the youngest
survivor of Buchenwald [the famous picture displayed at Yad Vashem of a young
child with his hands up is of Rabbi Lau as a seven year old child]
[2] Which may
require a greater miracle than that of Chanukah...
[3] My
Rebbe, Rabbi Berel Wein, relates that the first nationally distributed feature film that included dialogue sequences as
well as music and sound effects talking movie
produced was ‘The Jazz Singer’ starring Al Jolson (1927). The protagonist of the movie, who
is a cantor, falls for an Italian gentile girl. At first he is banned from the Temple . But the story ends
with the protagonist leading the Kol Nidrei services with his mother and
gentile wife looking on approvingly. That message of Jewish-dominated Hollywood has not changed
in the decades since.
[4] The phrase beginning "Tzur Yisrael - Rock of
Israel" is recited immediately prior to the commencement of the Shemoneh
Esrei prayer.
[6] Truthfully,
this is something many people do on a constant basis. We become impressed or
emotionally moved by an unusual event, but after a few days we ‘get used to it’
and it loses its wonder and novelty, and we go on with life, leaving behind a
message.
0 comments:
Post a Comment