Shabbat-B'Shabbato – Parshat Vayeira

No 1596: 18 Cheshvan 5776 (31 October 2015)

AS SHABBAT APPROACHES

The Binding of Yitzchak - by Esti Rosenberg, Head of the Midrasha for Women, Migdal Oz

"He suppressed his pity in order to perform Your will with a complete heart. So let Your mercy suppress Your anger against us."

These words from the "Memories" section of the prayers for Rosh Hashanah are an expression of an abstract of the Binding of Yitzchak – the human ability to overpower our natural mercy and our desires when they come up against the obligations and the commands of the Creator of the World.

The Holy One, Blessed be He, demands that man must be willing to abandon some of his own inclinations, and sometimes even be willing to give up his life and to overcome his natural feelings of mercy as part of our acceptance of the yoke of heaven. This main element of the link between the Creator and His creatures first appeared in the way that G-d tested Avraham. In the end Yitzchak was not offered as a sacrifice, but the essence of personal sacrifice in response to a command and to the will of the Creator was born on Mount Moriah, and it remains the basis of our religious lives.

What did Avraham feel at the time when he began to understand this very significant point? What emotions did he experience when he climbed Mount Moriah?

Two world giants tried to describe Avraham's emotions at this point. Rav Kook writes, "Avraham did not lose any sleep that night, because of the clear knowledge that had come to him through the word of G-d. He did not have any feeling of being dull, of negligence, or depression mixed in with the yearning of his pure soul. The remainder of his sleep went by with rest and the joy of holiness, and the time for waking up came to him in its normal way..." [Olat Re'ieya]. Rav Kook describes pleasant sleep together with a great joy of harmony while Avraham was on the way to observe G-d's command. Avraham's emotions and the will of the Creator meshed into one.

In his essay, "On the Love of Torah and the Redemption of the Soul of the Generation," Rav Soloveitchik gives a different picture. "I demand from you the greatest possible sacrifice, I want your one and only beloved son. Don't delude yourself that after you obey the command and offer your son as an Olah Sacrifice I will give you another son in his place... I am interested only in your son, whom you love and will always love. You will spend many sleepless nights when you will search through the wounds in your soul... Your life will become an endless chain of torture of the soul, but I still demand this sacrifice from you." There is no harmony in Avraham's mind on the way to the Binding. There will be no peaceful sleep and a rest for the soul – rather, there will be sleepless nights and many questions to ask the Creator of the World. This will deepen the gap that sometimes exists between the desires of man and the will of G-d.

Both the Avraham of Rav Kook and the Avraham of Rav Soloveitchik overcame their feelings of mercy, in silence and with dedication. Without asking any questions, they both performed the will of G-d. However, the descriptions of the raging emotions within them are very different.

These two different religious experiences in the face of the Divine command of the Binding form the basis for two very different religious approaches in our daily life.

POINT OF VIEW

Do the Judges of the Supreme Court Live in Switzerland or the Hague? - by Rabbi Yisrael Rozen, Dean of the Zomet Institute

"And [Sarah] said to Avraham, Expel this maidservant and her son... And G-d said... Whatever Sarah tells you to do, listen to her voice" [Bereishit 21:10,12]. "This teaches us that in prophecy Avraham was minor as compared to Sarah" [Rashi, based on the sages].

Do the judges of the Supreme Court live in Switzerland or the Hague? And what about the Chief Rabbinate?

The Battle over Morale and Hasbarah

The citizens of Israel are standing up, with tremendous courage, against individual terrorism, with no clear target for fighting back. The State of Israel stands, in a very weak stance, against a communications attack in the world media based on lies. The god of our Moslem enemies is a god of murder, evil, and stage-managed falsehood which have been concocted to pull the wool over the eyes of the world. There are two main realms where this despairing battle is taking place: National morale and international "hasbarah" – advocacy. To our great sorrow as a nation, we also suffer in this struggle from serious obstacles at home, including two enterprises which reign supreme in their respective realms: The Supreme Court (together with the State Attorney) and none other than the Chief Rabbinate.

With great pain, I will expand on this general statement.

We are at war! It reeks of blood and it is filled with tears. An important element in our ability to withstand this attack is national morale, since after all the main warriors in the current struggle are regular citizens, who must stand up against a rioting group of riffraff. Many advisors, led by security experts, propose to destroy the houses of the terrorists, as a security act of war and not on a basis of military or civil punishment. It has also been proposed that we rescind the citizenship of close relatives of the terrorists, confiscate their property, and expel them to the broad "oceans" of the Islamic world. It is eminently clear even to the youngest children, but not to the judges of the Supreme Court who lounge in their comfortable chairs, that such measures are not meant as punishment but as psychological deterrence, in order to lift up our national morale and to depress that of the enemy. But the Supreme Court does not allow it! It would destroy the very foundation of democracy! It is eminently clear to every child, but not to the judges of the Supreme Court and the State Attorney, that a battleground has different rules than normal life. It is clear to every child, but not to the judges of the Supreme Court and the State Attorney, that these suggestions are meant for a time of crisis, when it is not possible to maintain the "Swiss" laws and rules relevant under normal circumstances. It is clear to every child that every delay by the Supreme Court and the State Attorney brings us a step closer to national suicide on the altar of the religion of the Hague, as a mirror image of the Shahidim who kiss their Islamic swords.

I am well aware that the effectivity of such moves is a matter of dispute, and in the short run it will not be possible to prove that there they lead to positive results. However, in my eyes it is a national tragedy to see the Supreme Court put legal sticks into the wheels of our security, thereby helping in a roundabout way to sacrifice our young men and women to the idol of democracy.

I call out to the Supreme Court to come down from its ivory tower and from its couches, and to remove itself in practice (not necessarily in a public declaration) from any judgement against the national security forces, based on a rationale of a lack of jurisdiction during war, or using any other convoluted legal device, a procedure at which they have great expertise...

The Chief Rabbinate Indirectly Supports Enemy Lies

And this leads me to the second front of this war: International advocacy in the realm of detestable lies. Every child knows that the libel of Jewish attempts to gain control over the Temple Mount can be listed as one of the legends of Ali-Baba and the Forty Thieves, along with the other stories of the Arabian Nights. What is going on is a holy war by incited Moslems who are fighting against imaginary Crusaders who want to destroy their mosque on the Temple Mount. And now, the Chief Rabbinate has joined in the fray just at this point by publishing a declaration, "a prohibition by 100 rabbis" to enter the Temple Mount, playing directly into the hands of the enemy, almost as if to say, "Our call to Jews to retreat from the occupied mountain is justified." This is clearly the point of this declaration, because otherwise why did the Chief Rabbinate find it necessary to publish a halachic ruling at this time? The proof of this is a parallel declaration by a hundred (religious?) academics, not to visit the Mount at this time and upset the Moslems. In addition, if the declaration of the Rabbinate is non-political, why doesn't it refer to the halacha prohibiting the entry of all Gentiles onto the Temple Mount?

In general, since when does the Chief Rabbinate publish halachic rulings in matters of public interest, while gathering the signatures of city and neighborhood rabbis for support? It could easily collect "a declaration of 200 rabbis" against Hesder yeshivot, against army prep schools, against the "heter mechirah," against boys and girls meeting together in youth groups, against women giving halachic advice, against minyanim with greater equality of the sexes, against and against more and more. Has the Chief Rabbinate ever used this device before, except for the matter of entering the Temple Mount, which has direct political consequences? We could understand if there was some possibility that such a declaration might have an effect in deterring people from going up to the Temple Mount, but every child knows that nobody will be influenced by the proclamation, since those who do enter the Mount do not see their rabbis among the signatories. I checked, and I found only two prominent religious Zionist rabbis who might have some influence, and three more who are members of the "Har-Hamor" yeshiva. I conclude that this proclamation was created as a political message (similar to the prohibition of making Aliya to the land from many years ago) and not as a halachic ruling for people who have asked for guidance. It was created in order to echo in the realms of the government in its hesitation and for the world media, as if to say, "We also prohibit going onto the Mount," in response to the loud cheers of the Israeli left. I cannot identify even one "consumer" who will be interested in this proclamation.

I therefore recommend to the Chief Rabbinate to make use the principle of "sitting idly by and not making any proclamations," even if this halachic ruling is real and seems to the Rabbinate to be important. Just look what happened in our media, so thirsty for Israeli blood, in reaction to the correct statement by our Prime Minister that the Mufti of Jerusalem helped to push along the "Final Solution" in the time of the Holocaust.

SWEETNESS FOR THE SOUL

Serving G-d from Narrow-Mindedness - by Rabbi Itiel Gilady, Lecturer in the School for the Soul and Editor of the Writings of Rabbi Yitzchak Ginzburg

Right now I do not have a head for study, my heart is clogged from praying, I do not have the strength for anything else. The situation is threatening, everything is upsetting, all the exalted and beautiful words seem very far away, not connected to me at all right now. I have no patience for ideals, I want to snuggle under a blanket, to get by one day at a time – just a little bit of quiet would be fine, thank you. In short, all I have on my mind is small stuff.

There are times when a person recedes into a narrow-minded state without any particular reason, and sometimes the external events help to create an atmosphere of tension and pressure. No matter what, the situation is that the person is caught up in his natural inclinations, can worry only about himself, and is angry at anybody or anything which he perceives as causing him harm (often, he sees the entire surroundings as a threat which is trying to put pressure on him).

However, one of the main principles taught by our mentor the Baal Shem Tov is that it is necessary and possible to serve G-d in every situation. "On a good day accept the good, but on a bad day, note that G-d has made this and also the other..." [Kohellet 7:13].

G-d appears everywhere. This refers not only to physical places but also to mental states. Faith in this idea gives us the strength to tolerate every possible situation, to struggle with it, and to serve G-d from within it. Moreover, G-d supervises everything with personal guidance. G-d not only accompanies us in a state of narrow-mindedness, He is the one who brought us to this state, with the expectation that we will be able to manage somehow. He gives me the strength to pass His test and to serve Him even in this case. In the end, He will rescue us from the crisis, "With great wealth" [Bereishit 15:14].

By taking this idea one step further, we discover an important key in our struggles against situations of narrow-mindedness. We must strengthen our belief and faith that the Creator, our merciful Father, will get us out from the straits into the wide open spaces. Tomorrow I will no longer be in this place! At the same time, I must be aware that today, in this position, I can do something especially pleasant for the Holy One, Blessed be He, which I will no longer be able to do after today. G-d is happiest of all to hear the cry of a heart that is lost in darkness, yearning from a position of great difficulty – showing dedication and good will even when the mind and the heart are clogged and limited. Tomorrow, with G-d's help, I will no longer be here, so I have an opportunity to grab whatever I can from my temporary small-minded situation.

This approach is not merely a way of gathering strength in order to struggle or a pleasant method of encouragement. While these are also worthy goals, it can by itself be a source for freedom and a way to rise up from within. In a state of narrow-mindedness a person is stuck deep within himself and acts based on selfish feelings, pushed by motives that are not "in the name of heaven." However, the thought of the pleasant reaction of G-d to narrow-mindedness can itself help to bring the person out of his mood. Suddenly, instead of thinking only of himself, about present difficulties, and the worthiness (or unworthiness) of his actions, he remembers G-d, and in an effort to please Him, he reverts to being aware of "intentions in the name of heaven."