DIN Musings

 

This past shabbos was כ"ו אייר, the 26th day of the Jewish month of Iyar.  For those who delve into Kabbalah,  כ"ו אייר   is always "יסוד שביסוד"..(I won't go into the significance of this now)

It is also my Jewish birthday!

This year כ"ו אייר fell on Shabbos, and I was born on Shabbos. 

When I was born, my mother must have been torn between being thrilled and being sad as כ"ז אייר the day after, was the Yurzeit of practically her entire family that were brutally murdered in Auchwich just a couple of years prior.

I cannot imagine the pain searing thru her heart when she decided to name me after her eldest brother, whose wife and nine children (one survived) were also victims to the Nazi beasts!

It was  the Parsha of Behar- Bechukoisai, the parsha where Hashem warns us of all the curses that would come upon the Jewish people if they fail to observe the mitzvos that they had agreed upon at Har Sinai!

Growing up amongst survivors one could feel the sadness in the air and of course in the homes of my friends and family because it was during those weeks just a couple of years prior that Eichmann ym"s deported the Hungarian Jews in 1944; and when this time of Pesach & Shevuois came around, the families would all be  observing the Yurzeits and it was these weeks that would conjure up all that pain. 

No one was talking about the Talmidim of Rebbe Akiva that died in a  plague during this very time, they had their own martyrs to mourn.

I remember survivors gathering minyanim in the corridors of the Shuls, outside on the streets, in basements, so they could get the amud. ....there was no such thing as "one main minyan and only one davens.." not with those who just lost entire families ...these "yekkeh" rules went out the window, faster than a snowball melts in hell.

My bar-mitzvah fell smack into these sad weeks and I remember that we had a family friend who was a known Chazzan who walked in the pouring rain many blocks to our Shul , and my father z"l wanted  him very much to daven for the amud to enhance the simcha, but my father z"l was given flack by the survivors, who wanted the amud themselves, because they had Yurzeit..I remember my father z"l saying that" a simcha trumps a Yurzeit" and besides, our family had Yurzeit that shabbos as well; he won out at the end. They all also wanted Aliyas because they had Yurzeit ... and even though we had two parshiyois, we couldn't cut it up so that more could get aliyois because the bulk of the "tochcecha" is in Parshas Bechukosai...... so don't ask ...I could go on and on..

So when this parsha of Behar/Bechukoisah comes around, I pay special attention...

In Parshas Bechkoisa, the Torah predicted the Meron Tragedy .... 

(ויקרא, כ"ז:לז)

וכשלו איש-באחיו כמפני -חרב ורדף אין

"They will fall over one another as if chased by the sword, even when there is no one pursuing"

See Rashi:

כשירצו לנוס יכשלו זה בזה כי יבהלו לרוץ

"When they will run to escape they will stumble over one another, because they will run being confused"

Chilling isn't it?

and the Torah predicted not in "tochaca" but at "matan Torah" that the leaders would be useless!

 and not take the initiative... 

(שמות, פרשת יתרו, י"ט:ז)

ויבא משה ויקרא לזקני העם וישם לפניהם את כל הדברים האלה אשר צוהו  ה', ויענו כל-העם יחדיו ויאמר כל אשר-דבר ה' נעשה וישב את- דברי העם אל- ה'

"Moshe came and summoned the elders of the people, conveying to them all that Hashem had said.....all the people answered as one and said "All that Hashem has spoken, we will do."Moshe brought the people's reply back to Hashem"

So Moshe tells the leaders the "ziknei ha'am"  all that Hashem told him .....

 and what? Hellllllllllllow? What?

Crickets ..... they say nothing... nada ...zilch..gurnisht!

Who answers after hearing the very same thing? 

The "people" the regular guy with the baseball cap and jeans, that works like a dog all day  comes home grabs a bite and runs to his daf....that's the guy who said "we will do" he answers immediately ... he doesn't stop and learn "pshat" .. he heard the words of Hashem and he steps up to the plate ...

Yes...yes.. you can learn different pshat in the pasuk... yes yes ...

but the end of the day

אין המקרא יוצא מדי פשוטו

Yes you can call me an "apikoras" yes...you can twist your "gruber finger" in all directions ..yes you can say that "ha'am" includes the "ziknei ha'am" but the pasuk needs to be understood on its own merit and stands all by itself ..

The Torah is teaching us an important message ....that yes we need leaders.. absolutely.... you see that Moshe called them in first... but the leaders were probably not sure what the people would say, they weren't strong enough .they had to take a poll first ....and we see that back when they were still in Mitzrayim, they chickened out when Moshe and Aharon faced Paro, they backed out slowly until no one was left...

The Torah is telling us that the "pusheter yid" is the one that Hashem is counting on .... the Yaavetz points out that it was the leaders that were by in large the ones to convert during the inquisitions... the regular Jew who was unlearned didn't succumb to any of the pressures, they gave their lives  before they would convert.....they had "Amuneh Pshuteh" they had faith with no" ifs ands or buts" they weren't looking into the Rif, the Ran in the back of the gemaarah on what it means to have faith ...they had it in their hearts and we are the descendants of these Jews..  Read the Bio of Shabsai Tzvi and you will see that most of  the Rabbonim sided with him.. that's why Artscroll and Feldheim will never ever put out a book detailing these historical events, they are afraid that you will learn the truth ..

So what do we do today?

Firstly I want to bless all of you and my haters too, that we begin this year with Simchas, with Health, and Yiddish Nachas from all our children, that we embrace and love each Jew.... (that doesn't mean I will stop giving my opinions or to call someone out)

 and that we respect our leaders but follow Ronald Reagan's advice: "trust but verify"

If you have a Rav who criticises Israel and I don't mean Israeli politics like "Likkud vs Lapid" etc but says in public that one should wait until "Moshiach comes" until making Aliyah or if he brings proof against the State of Israel...then run the other way and remember that it was the Gedoilim the "ziknei Ha'am"who sided with Korach against Moshe just weeks after Matan Torah ...it was the gedoilim the "ziknei Ha'am" that were the meraglim .....it was the "ziknei Ha'am" that heard what the rest of the Jews heard from Moshe but remained silent ...

if the Rav says that there is no Mitzvah of Yishuv Eretz Yisrael Be'zman Hazeh.... run like hell!

If the Rav asks you to join any protest against the State of Israel that is the home of close to 6 million Jews, run like hell....and should he ask you "why did you leave"?  Politely direct him to Parshas Shlach, direct him to Parshas Korach .... then politely ask him if 6 million Jews would have been slaughtered if there was a State... and if he answers that it was a "gezirah min ha'shamyim" tell him that the founding and the establishment of the Jewish State was also a "gezirah min ha'shamyim" 

KINDLY SUPPORT OUR BLOG BY BROWSING THE ADS

THANKS SO MUCH,, IT MEANS THE WORLD TO US IN THESE DIFFICULT TIME