Our Brother's Keeper?

bs"d

The following two excerpts were taken from the NY Times February 12th report of the speeches of the frontrunning candidates for the American presidency.

Please refer to Genesis 4:1-17 when reading the first of said speeches. Then compare how the "brother's keeper" metaphor sizes up with the speech of his counterpart on the same day; a counterpart who just happens to contain the name of the author of that statement within his name!

I.e. could the upcoming McCAIN-Obama duel be somehow a replay, or perhaps correction, of mankind's original social conflict? Obama does, after all, portray himself as supremely ABLE to atone for America's sins (as per Abel being the first human to offer a successful sacrifice)!!

G-d Willing, I'll offer more inside-Torah perspective in a coming post. In the meantime, bear in mind while you peruse these speeches the saying of the Talmudic Sages:

"If someone says to you there's wisdom among the gentiles -- believe.

Torah among the gentiles -- don't believe!"

(Midrash Eicha Rabba 2).

I.e. when a major gentile politician quotes Torah, every believing Jew should begin to question. And certainly the UNbelieving Jew...

(bolds and three-dots are mine)

******


Obama

"That is our calling in this campaign: To reaffirm that fundamental belief – I am my brother's keeper, I am my sister's keeper – that makes us one people, and one nation. It's time to stand up and reach for what's possible, because together, people who love their country can change it.

"Now when I start talking like this, some folks tell me that I've got my head in the clouds. That I need a reality check. That we're still offering false hope. But my own story tells me that in the United States of America, there has never been anything false about hope.

"I should not be here today. I was not born into money or status. I was born to a teenage mom in Hawaii, and my dad left us when I was two. But my family gave me love, they gave me education, and most of all they gave me hope – hope that in America, no dream is beyond our grasp if we reach for it, and fight for it, and work for it.

"Because hope is not blind optimism. I know how hard it will be to make these changes. I know this because I fought on the streets of Chicago as a community organizer to bring jobs to the jobless in the shadow of a shuttered steel plant. I've fought in the courts as a civil rights lawyer to make sure people weren't denied their rights because of what they looked like or where they came from. I've fought in the legislature to take power away from lobbyists. I've won some of those fights, but I've lost some of them too. I've seen good legislation die because good intentions weren't backed by a mandate for change.

"The politics of hope does not mean hoping things come easy. Because nothing worthwhile in this country has ever happened unless somebody, somewhere stood up when it was hard; stood up when they were told – no you can't, and said yes we can…

"Yes we can reclaim that dream.

"Yes we can heal this nation."

******

McCAIN

"Hope, my friends, is a powerful thing. I can attest to that better than many, for I have seen men's hopes tested in hard and cruel ways that few will ever experience. And I stood astonished at the resilience of their hope in the darkest of hours because it did not reside in an exaggerated belief in their individual strength, but in the support of their comrades, and their faith in their country. My hope for our country resides in my faith in the American character, the character which proudly defends the right to think and do for ourselves...

"When I was a young man, I thought glory was the highest ambition, and that all glory was self-glory. My parents tried to teach me otherwise, as did the Naval Academy. But I didn't understand the lesson until later in life, when I confronted challenges I never expected to face.

"In that confrontation I discovered that I was dependent on others to a greater extent than I had ever realized, but that neither they nor the cause we served made any claims on my identity. On the contrary, I discovered that nothing is more liberating in life than to fight for a cause that encompasses you, but is not defined by your existence alone. And that has made all the difference, my friends, all the difference in the world.

"I do not seek the presidency on the presumption that I am blessed with such personal greatness that history has anointed me to save my country in its hour of need. I seek the presidency with the humility of a man who cannot forget that my country saved me. I am running to serve America, and to champion the ideas I believe will help us do what every American generation has managed to do: to make in our time, and from our challenges, a stronger country and a better world.

"I intend to do that by fighting for the principles and policies I believe best serve the interests of the American people: for a government that takes and spends less of your money and competently discharges its responsibilities; that shows a proper respect for our rights and values; that provides a strong and capable defense; that encourages the enterprise and ingenuity of individuals...

"As I have done my entire career, I will make my case to every American who will listen. I will not confine myself to the comfort of speaking only to those who agree with me…

"I will fight every moment of every day for what I believe is right for this country, and I will not yield.

"Thank you and God bless you."

***************

Soaring Souls

Here's another ode to this unbelievable double-month of Adar, as kicked off by parshas Truma and Tetzaveh. I wrote it back in 2003 / 5763, two double-Adars ago, in response to the traumatic death of the first Israeli astronaut, Ilan Ramon, in the horrifically eery destruction of his spacecraft on its way down to Earth.

Though the world had thought he was a typical secular Israeli Jew who, while being proud of his nation had no particualar relationship with Judaism, he proved us all wrong.

UNNNNbelievably wrong.

As just a couple of examples (there were really quite a few, as indicated below), earlier that week he had declared in response to the media's question to him about the new year, that "Jews had a different New Year: Rosh HaShona!" He also proudly displayed a miniture Torah Scroll that had been salvaged from the Holocaust by a Jew who had promised his Rabbi to keep it near the heart of the Jewish people.

Now can anyone consider such a Yid "secular??"

I, like many religious Jews, was deeply touched by this story and mourned for him. But then something occured in my family that made me reflect on this experience on a much deeper level. Much deeper than I can ever express. But I did write a poem about it, which I now feel is time to launch into a different space...

WHEN HEAVEN

TOUCHES


EARTH



A reflection on a parallel loss



*

It all happened in a flash.

A hero was being born.
An Israeli; a scientist; a humanitarian;
a Jew.
A hallower of six million
sacred martyrs.

We heard about him, suddenly,
over the last couple of months.
Expectations sky rocketed
along with his spaceship.

Then, on his way down,
he’s whisked away.
As if snatched back
by a heavenly hand.
In a flash.

Who was this masked man?

Streaking out of the inferno
of our holy people’s degradation,
he plodded the path that so many cherished
and prayed
was the Purpose of it all:
A fighter; a mensch;
accepted
as among the best
of mankind.

He broke completely out of the mold
of Jew
as stranger
to the world.

Until
the moment of truth
when he courageously claimed
that his heretofore neglected religion
transcended all.

Not just a flag, but Kiddush.
Not just a drawing, but a holy scroll
no bigger than the heart which held it close
throughout the fires
of Hell.

When wished a good New Year
he stood straight and declared
that Jews have their own
Rosh HaShona.

His response to viewing Jerusalem
from on high
was nothing less
than praying: SH’MA YISRO’EL!

This was one Jew
who discovered his heavenly roots.


*


It all happened in a flash.

A child was being born.
A pure soul;
a defiance to our fading youth;
a blessing.
His presence graced us
suddenly
over the last two months.

High hopes thrilled our hearts
as we began to feel his.
Then, on his way down,
he’s whisked away.
As if snatched back
by a heavenly hand.

In a flash.

My unborn child has come and gone.
We’ve waited for eight long years.
Not in desperation,
thank G-d,
as we’ve been blessed
with other wonderful children.
But when that direct, heavenly input ceased,
the loss was felt
within the depths of our soul.

Where have you gone,
Oh precious one?
What did you find
during your brief time down here
which scared you so?
Are you, too, mourning
or are you relieved
that your brief sojourn with us
did not imprison you
within the confines
of this world?

I can’t shake
the parallel.

What would have been
if this newly awakened Jew
would have returned
to earth?

How could he have translated
his taste of heaven
into the language of man?

Perhaps he too
was only meant to be with us
for a mere wink
in time?

Perhaps he too
would remain a Jew
best
while straddling the heavens?

Don’t get me wrong.
I’m not so quick to let go
of either of them.
I believe their lofty souls
brushed past this world
at exactly the same time
for a Reason.
I’m just not quite sure
who was not ready for whom.

Indeed
when Torah enters the fray
it’s no coincidence:

“Make for Me a Temple
and I will Dwell amongst them,”
the weekly parsha instructs.
Dwell where? Not in the Temple?!
No – amongst them.
The people.
The Temple is the prism
through which each and every Jew
finds G-d
within his heart.

Got it.

We had been hoping that our heroes
would do all the work.
Our ambassador in space
and my miracle child
would be the Temples
through which we’d escape
our personal confrontations
with G-d.

But now I know
that Jewish unity and youth
are not invincible
commodities.

Now I know
that even the holiest Temples
can crumble
if not inhabited first
within our hearts.

May we be ready,
dear Father,
next time.






* * *

Between ShOVaVYM and Adar

bs"d

There's a wonderful new saying flying around the Torah world these days. It's transpiring behind all the fanfare of political posturing and slick advertising that characterizes so much of Western society, certainly within the American election year. It occurs far beyond the intellectual power struggles driving the typical Yeshiva scene; far beyond the subtle self-pity and illusions of grandeur that storm within so many praying hearts.

Aye, it's a saying with no known origin. It simply happened, sometime over the last few weeks as far as I know, tossed ever so humbly off the tongue of one Jew, slipping straight into the heart of another, singing its truth with such affectionate jubilance that you can be sure it's coming straight from Heaven. It came to me something like this:

"Shoilem. How're you?"

"Baruch HaSh-m {thank G-d}, doing well. And by you?"

"Couldn't be better!"

"Really."

"You didn't hear? {The Jewish month of} ADAR's here!"

"Ah, that's right. Thanks for reminding. 'When Adar enters, joy increases' {as per the Talmudic dictum}. And this year we get TWO of 'em {due to the leap year}."

"Hodu L'HaSh-m ki tov {praise G-d}…….

Y'hear the latest about two Adars (breaks out with bright smile)?"

"No (I smile back in contagious response), let's hear."

"Well, two months add up to 60 days. And the Halacha {Jewish Law} says, batul b'shishim {non-kosher food falling into kosher is 'nullified in %60' of the mixture}, so too it must be that this year atzvus {sadness} is batul b'Adar!!"

"Pshhhhhhh........."


Cute, right. But it really goes deep. When there's a leap year, the mystical period known as Sh.o.v.av.y.m. {after the first 6 weekly Torah portions read in the Book of Exodus} extends two more weeks, now known as Shovavym-Ta'T. The addition is in reference to the next two portions, Truma and Tetzaveh (Ex. 25-30:10). These particular Scriptural readings introduce the construction of the Tabernacle, the Mishkan, which is the desert model of the Holy Temple, the Mikdash. When we begin to understand a little something of the meaning of what our secular brethren often derisively refer to as the "Temple cult" aspect of Torah life, we begin to experience the power of serving G-d with joy.

So let us ask: How in the world are these readings about the Mishkan-Mikdash relevant to us who live in the age of learn-from-everyone-and-everything-at-the-push-of-a-button Virtual Enlightenment? To review humanity's classic narrative about how a meek people miraculously climbed their way out of an excruciatingly oppressive exile is one thing. We ALL have personal exiles about which we need liberation. But re-reading the details of how that weird structure for animal sacrifice and incense was constructed?? All that jabber about beams and curtains and hooks and cherubs and a dye of this color and a dye for that, and and and.

Isn't this a little anti-climax?!

The opposite. These parshas of ta't are THE time for applying what we've done (or hoped to do) during Shovavym. It's the time to translate all the incredible gratitude we feel about our personal Exoduses into building a HOME for our Maker. That means sanctifying our physicality, explains the Nesivos Shalom, which includes sacrificing the exilic mentality that is fixated on immediate gratification and sensational thrill. It means re-dedicating ourselves (a concept related to the root of Mikdash) to giving UP our entire beings.

"Make for Me a Sanctuary and I will dwell among them" states the famous verse in parshas Truma (Ex. 25:8). The Sages explain that we might have thought it should say among IT (the Tabernacle). But the Holy Torah is precise: Among THEM means each and every person involved in the construction. You build it, His Presence will animate YOU!

That's called "un-believing."

Believing in G-d is about receiving from Him; depending on His grace. He comes, dispenses blessings, and goes. But becoming an unbelievable Jew is about giving back. About blessing G-d. As virtually every Jewish prayer begins: "Blessed are You, L-rd our G-d."

When we do that, sincerely, all sadness evaporates.

ALL sadness.

Try it. Never fails. Giving back to your Creator means closing Eternity's circuit, about which a healthy soul feels no greater joy.

Especially when assisted by the parshas of Sh.O.V.aV.Y.M.-T.aT. and double Adars.