vaetchanan2021

vaetchanan2021

Picking Up the Pieces – Vaetchanan

 

 כִּי תוֹלִיד בָּנִים וּבְנֵי בָנִים וְנוֹשַׁנְתֶּם בָּאָרֶץ וְהִשְׁחַתֶּם וַעֲשִׂיתֶם פֶּסֶל תְּמוּנַת כֹּל וַעֲשִׂיתֶם הָרַע בְּעֵינֵי ה' אֱ-לֹקֶיךָ לְהַכְעִיסוֹ.  הַעִידֹתִי בָכֶם הַיּוֹם אֶת הַשָּׁמַיִם וְאֶת הָאָרֶץ כִּי אָבֹד תֹּאבֵדוּן מַהֵר מֵעַל הָאָרֶץ אֲשֶׁר אַתֶּם עֹבְרִים אֶת הַיַּרְדֵּן שָׁמָּה לְרִשְׁתָּהּ לֹא תַאֲרִיכֻן יָמִים עָלֶיהָ כִּי הִשָּׁמֵד תִּשָּׁמֵדוּן. (דברים ד, כה-כו)

Sefer Devarim is a sefer of rebuke. Before Moshe Rabbeinu dies, like the Avot before him, he gathers his children and rebukes them. It is the hallmark of a loving father who wants only the best for his offspring, urging them to correct their flaws and become better people. Yaakov rebuked Shimon and Levi and as a result, Levi turned their inherent zealotry from something destructive into something positive, in the service of Hashem and became the holiest tribe in Am Yisrael, Shimon less so.

Moshe tells Am Yisrael what will happen when they settle in Eretz Yisrael. That they will stray from the path and their sojourn in the land flowing with milk and honey will not endure. Moshe knew this because he was a Navi, but you didn’t need to be a Navi, Moshe had ample opportunity to witness firsthand the stiff necked insubordination of Am Yisrael, to understand that there is a “ticking” character trait within us that predisposes us to self-destruct.

We are on the tail end of another Tisha Be’Av.

Am Yisrael, like 1951 years ago, is broken and scarred, we are not even conscious of it. The anxiety, the insecurity, the bluster and chutzpah we often use to overcompensate for and hide it. Two thousand years ago, it was the opposite extreme, Am Yisrael felt themselves to be invincible, which they were not and that led to the churban.

Our stiff necked tenacity, like the warlike character trait of Levi, if put to constructive use, can be a good thing. It has allowed us to survive 1951 years of exile, pogrom, annihilation and assimilation, a nation fragmented all over the globe, in “capsules”, forced to fend for themselves or perish.

1878 years after Yerushalayim collapsed in a conflagration, Am Yisrael arose from a different inferno, defying all logic and probability and began to pick up the pieces and return to Eretz Yisrael, thereby fulfilling the words of the prophecies.

And here we are in תשפ"א, a mere seventy three years since that reversal of history and look at us, look at what we have achieved in such a short time! The barren swampland of 150 years ago transformed into a first world country with a thriving, throbbing economy, agriculture, culture. We are the start-up nation of the world - leaders in hi-tech, bio-tech, agri-tech, securi-tech. Israel of today has more centers of Torah learning than any time or location in the last 1951 years. The Jewish Nation has more Nobel Prize winners per capita than any other nation on earth. We have more chessed organizations per square mile than any other nation, gamachim, amutot, volunteer organizations, etc.

Look at our nation and marvel at the wonder of the Twelve Tribes. We have Yissachar and Levi focused entirely on learning and teaching Torah. We have Zevulun, the merchants on the undulating seas keeping the economy afloat. We have the courageous warriors Reuven, Gad and Dan patrolling and protecting our borders from our enemies. We have Binyamin developing weapons to defend us. We have Yehuda, leading our nation on a municipal and national level taking care of infrastructure and expansion. We have Shimon, an army of sofrei stam writing sifrei Torah, Tfilin and Mezuzot to protect every home. We have Naftali, runners, sportsmen and women bringing us glory in international arenas. We have Asher, supermodels not just in exterior beauty, but in tzniut and family values. We have Yosef the statesmen and ambassadors representing us and shining our light amongst the nations.

In masechet Avot (1,2) it says –

על שלשה דברים העולם עומד, על התורה ועל העבודה ועל גמילות חסדים

Look at our nation and observe the פלא. We are like a chair with three legs, Torat Yisrael, Eretz Yisrael and Am Yisrael.  

The Charedim - upholding the leg of Yeshivot and talmudei Torah

The Dati’im Leumi’im - upholding the leg of hityashvut ha’aretz

The Chilonim – upholding the leg of social and human rights

ALL THREE legs are necessary for the chair to stand - one falls, all fall.

I have a vision. In my vision I see Chiloni farmers observing shmita. I see Am Yisrael from all over the world supporting the Chiloni (and not Chiloni) farmers so they will not have to work during the year of shmita. I see a Charedi man in Ramat Beit Shemesh, instead of throwing stones at a female jogger in short sleeves, happily wishing her a Shabbat Shalom and doing kiruv. I see Dati Leumi “settlers”, not only in caravans on hilltops in the Shomron, but also on the beaches of Tel Aviv engaging teenagers with piercings in their nose, teaching them why not to litter and all about kedushat ha’aretz. I see professors from Ben Gurion University collaborating with professors from Ariel University and inviting them to their homes for dinner. I see a combined demonstration of Meretz and Agudat Yisrael in Kikar Rabin in Tel Aviv, protesting child sexual abuse. I see Avraham Fried appearing together with Aviv Gefen in a concert. I see a Satmar Chassid in Me’ah She’arim, instead of burning down a billboard of a provocative fashion picture, covering up the offending parts in a tnziyus nightgown. I see a bus unloading a group of Chiloni school children from Ramat Aviv at the Kotel on Chol Hamoed Sukkot to join in Birkat Kohanim. I see Charedim in Yerushalayim not trying to kill anyone at a gay parade. I see Chiloni gays in Tel Aviv not having a gay parade. I see Charedi yeshiva bochrim in Mir doing 24/7 mishmarot of learning at the same time soldiers on the Lebanon border are doing 24/7 mishmarot on patrol. I see bleachers on Har Meiron allowing everyone to be עומדים רווחים ומתפללים רווחים and everyone giving רשות לזה לזה. I see a reporter from Ha’aretz newspaper saying something positive about Bibi. I see a reporter from Yisrael Hayom newspaper saying something positive about Naftali Bennet. I see the Charedi party Yahadut Hatorah demanding the Environment Ministry. I see Chilonim at Habima Theater in Tel Aviv, Charedim in a shul in Har Nof, Dati’im Leumi’im at a wedding in Shiloh, all properly wearing masks, trying to prevent people dying from Corona. I see Charedi children on korkinets (scooters) in Bat Yam riding alongside Chiloni children in the streets after Ne’ilah on Yom Kippur singing Leshana Habah biYerushalayim together.

(So far the Avraham Fried and Aviv Gefen part has come true. It won’t be long before the rest follows).

We are so close to Geulah, we just need the last push, the last hishtadlut.

We need to remind ourselves where we are. We are not in Sweden, we are in Eretz Yisrael, a land that has Kedusha in every grain of sand and every inch of pavement. How could someone litter or not clean up after their dog, knowing that? Summer vacation is here. Will we pick up our disposable cups after our picnic in the forest – not because that is what the Parks Department asks us to do, but because we remember where we are? We are standing on admat kodesh! Would you leave a smelly diaper on the floor at the Kotel? Have we waited 1951 years to return to Eretz Yisrael just to pollute our rivers and our subterranean water sources with toxic industrial waste and turn our ancestral heritage into a garbage dump? For all our bretheren over the seas, we have prayed for 1951 years to return to Tzion. Now is the time to return home, this is where we belong!

We need to learn to live together and respect the others’ differences.  We are the Twelve Tribes, we are not ALL the same! We each have our own niche to contribute to the whole. For those who have strayed from the derech, we need to do our best to mekarev them with love. Over 80% of Am Yisrael around the world today are bechezkat anshei Ninveh אָדָם אֲשֶׁר לֹא יָדַע בֵּין יְמִינוֹ לִשְׂמֹאלוֹ that if Mashiach came tomorrow and gave an irrefutable sign, would do tshuva. They are salvageable if we try the right way and try hard enough. I am referring to our assimilated bretheren over the ocean and here in Israel.  Yes there are even some reshaim in Am Yisrael. There is no greaterמעלה  than getting a rasha to do teshuva. How can we give up on our brothers and sisters just like that and discard them because we don’t agree with their derech? Moshe Rabbeinu told HKB”H to erase him from the Torah rather than to destroy Am Yisrael after חטא העגל and Am Yisrael at the time were not all innocent bochrei yeshiva from Mir!

We need to remind ourselves why we are here. Not (only) to enjoy the panoramic sunsets from our penthouse timeshare in Netanya. We are here to serve HKB”H the way He asked us to – בשמחה. If we can do that, then everything else will follow naturally. We don’t start by building the Mikdash tomorrow, we do it in baby steps and it starts with smiling.

We all need to smile more. We don’t realize how much we need to smile until we actually try - and see how DIFFICULT it is! Try smiling at the people in shul more, at people in the supermarket, in the bank – AT HOME! It actually pains some people to smile! The more it pains you, the greater your need is to smile. Smiling doesn’t cost you anything. It’s like sharing Torah – by sharing it with others it does not diminish you in any way, like transferring the light from one candle to another.

It is such a small thing and such a HUGE thing. It conveys to the person in front of you – you are not my enemy, I am not threatened by you. No, you do not have to agree with the Reform creed, you do not have to agree with the Likud creed, you do not even have to agree with your wife! But derech eretz and הוי מקבל כל האדם בסבר פנים יפות – smiling, is non-negotiable. Smiling does not convey compliance, agreement or even acceptance. All it means is that we can both live in this world without killing each other!

If we really want to mekarev the Geulah, we need to smile more. Start in your own home with your spouse and your children – and even yourself – do not take yourself so seriously. Smile when you say מודים in the shmoneh esrei. How can you thank HKB”H with a scowl or a blank expression on your face?

If we shomrei mitzvot would smile more, more of those who have lost their derech would want to be like us. If you truly believe and are happy in your derech, that should be reflected outwards. If you always have an angry, serious expression on your face, how attractive and appealing is that? Imagine a shidduch and having a date with someone that does not smile! Someone who does not smile is insecure about who they are, they do not radiate outwards and are not serving Hashem as he asked - בשמחה.

No, we cannot solve all of Am Yisrael’s problems overnight, what the Israeli’s call “Zbang vegamarnu”. It takes lots of baby steps and it starts with smiling. Not that smiling is easy either mind you – it takes continued, conscious effort, but beyond that it costs nothing and achieves everything.

If we take anything from Tisha Be’Av, it should be a conscious resolution to smile more, to make more effort to make Am Yisrael work, in ever expanding circles, starting with ourselves, our families, our communities and our nation.

That is how we start picking up the pieces of the churban and take the unprecedented reversal of history that began in 1948, to its ultimate happy-end conclusion.

You are also invited to watch my shiur “Lechem Hapanim and the Power of a Smile

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