“Ki Mitziyon Tetze Torah Udvar Hashem Mirushalayim” (From Zion Shall Torah come forth and Hashem’s word from Jerusalem) Part II

This is the second article addressing the Yisraeli Rabbinic authority and the relationship between Yisrael, Zion, the Spiritual Center of the Jewish people and the Diaspora Jewish community.

I believe many would agree that keeping a unified Jewish community has never been an easy task. However, it is sharing the same tradition, Torah, Written and Oral Torah as well as Halacha despite the differing customs and observations between Ashkenazi and Sefardi Jews, which has been the key to our survival as a nation.

The rulings made by the traditionally appointed Jewish authorities, rulings that were based on Torah and Halacha were not always to everyone’s liking. Some found them too harsh, painful, demanding and even unfair. Have Civil law and the rulings of the appointed Civil Court that made certain decisions always been to everyone’s liking? Did they always please all? What about those times when the rulings by both the Civil Court or the Rabbinical one were fair and even lighter than was called for because of mitigating circumstances?

Let me cite some examples of such rulings, some personal ones.

Both my parents, as many know, were Shoah survivors. They came from different backgrounds. My mother came from a modern, educated and wealthy family. My father from a religious one and a poor one. They met in the labour camps. My mother got pregnant during the war and gave birth to my brother three months after they were liberated. My brother was born out of wedlock, at least so I thought.

They moved to Yisrael in 1949. They were still unmarried. Did the Rabbinate ask them to rush to register to get married according to Jewish law? Did they torment them? Did they question them, forcing them to prove their Jewishness? Did they act in any inhumane way? NO!

 After the testimony of witnesses who testified that they had been together for several years, they were accepted as a married couple for all intents and purposes.

It was only when I was in high school that I found out that my parents never had a proper Chuppah. One day, I asked my mother to see their Ketubah. She told me they had none. It hit me like a thunder. I could not sleep that night. I had an exam the following day and asked to be excused from it. The fear that I may not be considered Jewish, that I am illegitimate, that I will never be able to be married in accordance with Jewish Law, tore me apart.

I decided to go to our town’s Rabbi, Rabbi Sokolover to ask his opinion.

“Your parents are considered married in accordance with Halacha,” he reassured me. “There are many couples like your parents. Halacha recognizes their marriage even if they do not have a Ketubah.” What a relief it was for me. I was Jewish. I was legitimate.

The Rabbinate was also accommodating on another issue that was close to me. One of the 613 Mitzvot (commandments) in the Torah prohibits against tattooing one’s body.    Vayikra (Leviticus) 19:28 commands us: “You shall not make gashes in your flesh for a dead person; you shall not etch a tattoo on yourselves. I am God.”

Again, I will raise the issue of the Shoah. What were Mr. and Mrs. Gutter, our neighbours and my parents’ closest friends, along with many other Shoah survivors supposed to do about the tattooed numbers branded on their arms when they were but children in Terezin? Would the Torah prohibit them from being buried in a Jewish cemetery? Did the Rabbinate compel them to go have their tattoos removed surgically because it was against Torah or Halacha?

Again, rabbinical opinions on the subject are as numerous as those expressing them. I will not list them here. I will, however, share with you one story which touched me deeply:
“A woman once asked Rabbi Ephraim Oshry (1914-2003), the well-known posek who wrote responsa during the Holocaust, if she could remove her concentration camp tattoo via plastic surgery. He advised Holocaust survivors not to remove their tattoos, but rather to wear them as badges of honor (Teshuvot Mima’amakim 4:22).”

One final example to prove my point of the humanness of the Rabbinate.  A couple of American friends of mine who emigrated to Yisrael in the 1980’s was childless. They decided to adopt two orphans from Brazil, a boy and a girl. Their mother was not Jewish which meant that the children were not.  The boy had to undergo a Brit Milah, naturally. However, did the Rabbinate pile a whole bunch of hurdles in front of my friends as far as declaring the girl Jewish? Did they make life miserable for them demanding that the girl go through proper Halachic conversion? NO!

My friends were invited to the Rabbinical Court where they were asked how they intended to raise their children. After a series of questions, the Rabbis decreed that the Jewish education which my friends were going to rear the children in was proper and satisfactory to warrant them Jewish status and they approved their request.

 There are many more such examples. I am certain, though, that for each example I provided here, many would rush to provide instances to prove the opposite. Indeed, the Rabbinate may not always make life easy for everyone but to portray it as the epitome of all evil is unfair and wrong.

Please stop and think. Do we, Jews, wish to keep our unique Jewish identity? Now that we have our own Jewish Homeland back, do we want to lose it by flooding it with those who may bring along with them foreign practices which might water down our strong and powerful essence, an essence that withstood the turmoil of time? “The proof is in the pudding,” as they say in English. And the pudding has proved to be the best one. Why then change its recipe? Why fix our well cemented national fortitude if it “ain’t broken?”

“Ki Mitziyon Tetze Torah Udvar Hashem Mirushalayim” (From Zion Shall Torah come forth and Hashem’s word from Jerusalem)

When I read about the growing gap between Jews in the Diaspora, mainly the U.S., and those in Yisrael, I am filled with a sense of loss, and great distress. Some have been unhappy about Yisrael’s policies toward the Palestinians. Recently, however, many American Jews have expressed hurt and humiliation with Yisrael’s conversion laws and other rulings by the Rabbinate.

Let us be honest, Jews have rarely been, internally, a united group. We all are familiar with the saying, “Two Jews, three opinions.” Being at odds with each other, questioning, debating and disagreeing has been part of who we were, are and forever will be.

Despite those traits, though, we have always shared one tradition and one set of guidelines about Jewish customs, dates of observances and commemorative events. It started on Mount Sinai where G-d commanded Am Yisrael to follow His laws, adhere to His Torah and set dates of the months and the years. Since Moses was the bearer of G-d’s commandments, the power to determine the interpretation of G-d’s Laws, decide when the Holy Days occur and other rulings was given to him and later to his successors, the Prophets, the Sanhedrin and the Rabbinical courts. Naturally, these decisions all originated in Eretz Yisrael, Zion where the Jewish religious authorities, past and present, have always been situated (except on a few occasions where these guidelines were still followed). Their decisions were uncontested and unchallenged.

For instance, in ancient times, the rabbis decreed that Jews in the Diaspora should celebrate Holy Days for two days. Some still do. There is a good reason behind it.

The Lunar Calendar which is what determines Jewish Holy Days was, at times, confusing. Prior to the arrival of the fixed calendar, the Sanhedrin, the Supreme Court, situated in Zion, Yerushalayim, the Spiritual center of the Jewish People would establish whether any month was 29 or 30 days depending on the first sightings of the new moon. Accordingly, if there was a Holy Day on that month, communities in Eretz Yisrael and the Diaspora would know when to celebrate and observe it.

Once the Sanhedrin found the testimonies of detection of the new moon legitimate and decreed that a new month began, the message was disseminated to distant Jewish communities outside of Eretz Yisrael via bonfires which were lit on pre-selected mountaintops. When spotted, lookout stations on other mountaintops would light their own fires to transmit the message to the Jewish communities in the Diaspora.

Unfortunately, a sect by the name of Samaritans which rejected Rabbinic authority and were opposed to their rulings started to light their own fires in an effort to manipulate the calendar and cause more confusion.

As a result and to avoid disorder, the method of communicating by fires stopped. Instead, messengers were dispatched to pass on the decree of the Rabbis to Jewish communities outside of Eretz Yisrael. Messengers were much slower than the fire lighting and resulted in confusion among distant communities concerning the precise date of the New Month. Due to the disarray surrounding the start of the new month, the Rabbis ruled that outside of Eretz Yisrael, every Holy Day should be celebrated for two days to ensure that at least one day of the observance of that Holy Day would be on the correct day.

Since the fixed calendar came into use in the 4th century CE, some may ask whether the need to keep the two days observance in the Diaspora is still relevant.

One answer is provided by Rabbi Hai Gaon who was an undisputed authority on Jewish law in the 11th century. According to him, the obligation to keep two Holy Days dates back to the days of the prophets.

And herein lies the root of what some may consider a problem. There is a general rule that once a rabbinical sanctioning has been made by the Sanhedrin and accepted by the entire Jewish people, it can be absolved only by a court in a similar prominence to the one that decreed it. However, finding nowadays a court that will equate the Sanhedrin in stature is almost impossible, let alone one that would equate with that of the prophets who were divinely inspired.

And that is but one example.

Which brings us back to the titular message. Tradition, as prescribed by the religious authorities in Tzion (Zion), has kept Judaism going for over two millennia. It is this tradition that has helped preserve us as a People that survived when many around us disappeared and forgotten. Do we wish to end up like them and enter oblivion? Do we want to re-form that which has proved to be the best form, one that withstood the storms of time, one that ensured our survival, one that has connected Jews the world over and forged us into the strong eternal entity that we are today?

Why Am I Not Surprised?

The recent decision by UNESCO to declare the Cave of Machpela (The burial place, according to Jewish tradition, of Avraham, Sarah, Itschak, Rivka, Yaakov and Lea, our Jewish Patriarchs and Matriarchs) as an “Endangered Palestinian burial site” did not come as a surprise to me. How come, you may ask.

For years now, Jews and the state of Yisrael have been giving not only chunks of our Land to strangers, but also slices of our Jewish Zionist identity and heritage to foreigners. Parts of Judaism, Jewish symbols and cherished concepts that have been ours for a few millennia are handed out as prizes, as spoils, as trophies to anyone who claims to love us and support us. So why should anyone be surprised when those to whom we so willingly hand out pieces of our essence, decide to wake up one day while we are still in a deep slumber and claim those as their own?

In case some find it hard to follow my point, let me be specific.

When the Romans arbitrarily renamed our Eretz Yisrael as “Palestine,” in order to add insult to injury and do all they could to disassociate Jews from this Land, those who resided in it were, as a result, renamed “Palestinians.” No, they were NOT Arabs. No, they were NOT Muslims. Those were not around here then. That name was given to us, Jews. It was an offensive name. Palestine was named after a heathen nation, the Philistines (meaning invaders), one of the worst enemies of Am Yisrael. We refused to take on this name and understandably so.

The name Eretz Yisrael along with the name “Palestine,” were later jointly used by the British during their Mandate over the area. The name “Palestinians,” however, was hardly used, if ever, during those years. Those that lived in the area were either Jews or Arabs. The name just laid there collecting dust until a group of Arabs, who moved here from surrounding countries, decided to adopt it and claim it as their own.

Personally, I have no problem with anyone calling themselves or crowning themselves with this or that name or title. I cannot stop them from doing it. I do have a problem, however, with anyone appropriating that which belongs/belonged to others and doing all they can to convince the world that that name, that title, that history was theirs from its inception. And that is exactly what is happening with the name” Palestinians.” They have engaged, sometimes with our backing, in efforts to re-write history to match their imaginary narrative and convince the world that they are the “original Palestinians.”

I am even more upset with those among us who have encouraged and supported such claims by them.

We have given them the keys to Har Habayit (Temple Mount), OUR Har Habayit, and openly. Why then was everyone caught by surprise when UNESCO declared that holy Jewish place as a “Palestinian” site?

We have enabled such a move.

It is not only the Muslims, though, that we have assisted in usurping that which belongs to us only. A year and a half ago, I read the following headline in “The Independent:”
“Joseph's Tomb arson attack: Jewish and Christian holy site in West Bank 'set on fire by Palestinians' I was dumbfounded. I knew that since the Oslo Accord, this Jewish Holy site has been under the jurisdiction of the Palestinian Authority. However, when in the world did Joseph’s Tomb become a “Jewish AND Christian holy site?” When did Jews hand out religious property shares in Joseph’s Tomb?

Yisrael is indeed a holy place to many. The Land, however, belongs to the Jews first and foremost (and please do not quote me prophecy which promises this Land to all!). Until such time as the Tanach prophesizes, foreigners are welcome to worship here who and what they please but only as guests. It breaks my heart when I read that Yisrael is selling land to external religious entities and thus giving them chunks after chunks of what is ours, only to see them one day claiming parts of our Jewish Homeland as their own?

Which brings me to another serious concern. We have been handing out titles which are part of our heritage only and are reserved to some only. I have read Jews labelling those who make money out of supporting Yisrael as “Righteous Gentiles,” a title that is saved for the select few special souls who saved Jews during the Shoah while risking their lives. What a spit in the face it must be for those brave individuals to see their memory being diluted.

Likewise, many of us have been letting those who claim to love us and support us call themselves “Zionists,” (as opposed to “Pro-Zionists”) when that hard-earned concept, that idea is one ONLY Jews have harboured and practiced for over two millennia. Hence, we get “Christian Zionists.” We get “Muslim Zionists.” We even get “Koranic Zionism” (which claims that since Muhammad declared Eretz Yisrael belonging to the Jews and since he came BEFORE Herzl, the founder of Political Zionism, he is the “original Zionist.”)

Zion and Zionism belong to the Jews only.  What concerns me is that many non-Jews who crown themselves with the title “Zionist” may be doing that for the purpose of paving their way to claiming parts of Zion as their own. Let me explain.

Some might have heard by now about an Evangelical missionary group called  HaYovel Ministries http://palmtreeofdeborah.blogspot.co.il/2017/05/hayovel-ministries-sowing-seeds-for.html Yes, they, too, call themselves “Christian Zionists.” Their enablers have even ensured that they get land to set up their encampment on Mount Grizim AKA Har Haberachah (Mount of Blessing). According to Tommy Waller (https://www.breakingisraelnews.com/51659/christian-zionist-family-in-israel-will-leave-you-amazed-biblical-zionism/#FEiibry7Ciubpjlb.97), their patriarch, “Many Christians make a mistake of thinking that Israel is just for the Jews.”

No, Mr. Waller it is NOT A MISTAKE, Eretz Yisrael is for the Jews, you are merely a guest in it.

They have already claimed themselves the holders of “New Jerusalem,” (which of course will replace Jewish Jerusalem!). It will be the one from which their messiah will rule when he comes back to earth. That, at least, is the message https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YcRYzssndgc  Caleb Waller bears to his fellow Evangelicals in Nashville.

Frankly, I am not surprised and I do not blame the Wallers and other Christian groups that have set base and camp in Yisrael. Their Jewish enablers and many others among us Jews have allowed them all to cloak themselves with the title Zionists, leading them to believe they have a stake in Zion.

How long do you, dear readers, reckon it will take before UNESCO or any other International body next declares Holy Jewish Site as that of others while we are asleep at the wheel?

Wake up Jews! Is this the legacy we want to leave to our future generations? Will we be able to look them straight into the eyes and say that we have done all that is within our power to ensure their future in Eretz Yisrael, and keep it as the Jewish Homeland?

These are the pressing questions that need to be addressed if you, like me, wish to preserve the Jewish soul.

The Art of "seeing"

“Do you see Palm trees?
I see no palm trees!
Do you see camels?
I see no camels?

Perhaps before my eyes a brief passing shadow -
I see nothing, I see nothing!

it is a sign that we have not yet got there
And the horizon is still far
And your heart is still open
To the four corners of the world
And one needs to continue to walk
And continue to march
And the road is still pulling
Long….”

Thus wrote, Naomi Shemer, the talented Yisraeli Poet, about road signs.
There are sights that one can see – palm trees and camels and a man resting under the fig tree. And if we still do not see them, it means that there is still a road to cross, a lesson to learn, a precision to be reached.
“Perhaps before my eyes a brief passing shadow,” says the wanderer. He means, “I notice that there is a reality that my eyes have yet to get accustomed to seeing.”

“It is a sign that we have not yet got there,” answers him the poet. In order to get there, one has to “see.”

What does one “see?”

Is it an anatomical or philosophical question?

Esref Armagan is a Turkish artist who paints beautiful paintings. Part of his talent is to explore new objects which he had not encountered earlier and interpret them in his pictures. Esref scribbles with pencil and paints with colours. His paintings are astonishingly harmonious.
Except  Esref is a blind man.

Already at birth, he was blind in one eye and later on lost his sight in the other. And still, he does wonders with his paintings. If asked, “Do you see camels?” he will answer, “Camels I do see, draw them and give them meaning.”

And please do not imagine that Esref only paints on paper as is customary in modern painting. He paints the object itself and his picture reflects accurately that which he paints.

Scientists were dumbfounded by the phenomenal painting skill of Esref. They put him through a series of tests, and MRI at different times. They discovered that only when he paints, not through any other cognitive action he engages in, his back brain with emphasis on his visual area functions.

Esref sees in his mind’s eye. He actually sees.

So many years of painting have trained his nervous system to visualize. Not with an eye but through sensual interpretation of what is being caught by the ear through hearing, by the hand though touching feeling and through his other senses, Esref’s brain interprets the pictures.

The power to see is stouter than the seeing eye.

In the Tanach, in Jewish traditions as well as Muslim ones, the prophet is referred to as “The Seer.”

Even Shakespeare planted in his plays such prophetic seers.

“Vision is stronger than the seeing vessels.

It is connected to the heart and the soul.

It is bonded to feelings and faith.

The eye allows it to see in the most basic form.
The other senses will give it volume and Life.”

A recent discovery by a team of Yisraeli researchers at the Hebrew Universiy, revealed that with the help of a newly developed camera, we can now see writings on ancient pottery, writings that until recently were invisible to the eye. A pot, dating back to the first Temple era, that was unearthed revealed the order of wine from a provider by the name of “Elyashiv Ben Oshiahu.” (Who would have imagined that thousands of years after his death, this man’s name would be revealed to us?)

“What is essential is invisible to the eye,” taught us The Little Prince as he was recalling his forgotten Rose on a faraway planet.

The Torah portion of a few weeks ago, “Parashat Shalach,” recounting the story of the spies who were going to tour the Land and see whether it is good.

To see if something is good is not a mission for the eyes only. It is a mission for the heart, the senses, the soul and the great spirit.

Looks are misleading, perhaps a passing shadow and the eye misses camels, palm trees and amazing beauty. Here, Esref Armagan, one blind painter sees more than any eye could see because his heart, the heart is in the right place.

So why do the spies return from the Land and recount a story which gets more and more extreme?
Why did their eyes see only the scary giants and how were they even able to know that they were seen like grasshoppers?

And what really did their eyes see and how much of it was their heart’s fears and concerns?

This story tells of the fear of the new good, about the comfort of habits.

On the physical level, the eye that sat in the darkness will painfully shrink when it is suddenly exposed to the Light. Likewise, the eye that was exposed to bright light will be filled with darkness if it enters a dusky place. In both cases, the eye needs time to get accustomed to the new reality.

Seeing (ראה in Hebrew) which is considered the most factual (and it is not in vain that the legal term for exhibit, fact = ראיה =  in Hebrew is derived from the same root), is indeed conservative, hangs on to the familiar and fears changes.

The well known philosopher Emmanuel Kant, in his work “Critique of Pure Reason,” noticed the distinctions between man perception of reality and reality itself. All of our knowledge, Kant, claims, never stems from the object itself but rather from the traits that characterize it. The eye, the ear, the senses of taste of smell and touch are all tools to teach us about the object while the object itself remains unknown to us. Therefore, the senses that absorb the information and contribute to man’s knowledge of the object  are the result of the manner in which man’s knowledge and thought process operate, and accordingly interpret that which they take in.

So what have we actually learned?
When Am Yisral, while still in the desert, asks to send spies to see for them the Land, the mission is accompanied by fear of change and the notion that the receiving eye accepts only that which the heart feels and is ready to absorb only that which emotion guides it.

Hence is the command : שלח לך!"”Bamidbar, 13 ;2 (Shelach Lecha! Numbers 13;2) “send for yourself.” At the end of the day, each mission of “seeing” for others, can be yours and yours only. It stems from you, from your interpretation of it. The other who have sent you, had he gone by themselves, would have evidently seen what their heart told them to see.

And here is the message to us all. Anyone who has inscribed “mission” on their banner needs to know that testimonies which we gather on the road of our mission are ours only and that the scene, the sight is much broader than what our senses can grasp.

In order to see the deeper picture, one needs a special camera like the one developed by the Hebrew University researchers, or an eye that is powerful and talented like that of Esref Armagan . Or perhaps the knowledge and the realization that there is more, much more, is sufficient, promising and will adjust the mission for the best outcome.

The Iftar meal, celebrating the Holy Ramadan, does not center around the food. Rather it is the gathering of the family and friends, time for unity and love. Our Shabbat meal, likewise, does not surround the food but the bringing together of family and friends. Time for unity and love.
This gathering of our teachers is not about the meal that we are sharing. It is about the gathering of friends, time of unity, love and sharing. It is time of genuine brotherhood. And we know how to see that which we have and not only that which we don’t.

And when I gather all the sights that I see along the road of my mission, I want to come back to them, to Am Yisrael waiting in the desert and tell them:
“The Land is very bountiful. The Land is very good, its sights are breath taking, blessed is its fruit. Mostly, how wonderful and great is its People, how beautiful are its people, all of its people and how amazing and blessed are its many beautiful messengers.”

Shabbat Shalom

(A friend and a colleague of mine who wishes to remain nameless delivered this amazing and very enlightening speech a couple of weeks ago to a group of us. It was delivered in Hebrew. I decided to translate it and share it with the world.
Feel free to share. Thank you.)

One Hundred Years Later.....

This year, on November 2nd, will be the 100th Anniversary of the Balfour Declaration.

The Declaration, for those who are unfamiliar with it, stated "His Majesty's Government view with favor the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people, and will use their best endeavors to facilitate the achievement of this object, it being clearly understood that nothing shall be done which may prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine, or the rights and political status enjoyed by Jews in any other country".

The declaration does not provide a map or borders of the proposed state nor any other details of its size or its nature other than a “National Home for the Jewish people,” – a Jewish Homeland.

The following is a map of the area called Eretz Yisrael (AKA “Palestine”) during the times of Lord Balfour

This is also the area part of which was promised to the Jews, in the Balfour Declaration and in San Remo (1920) where a National Jewish Homeland would be founded.

The Balfour Declaration and the San Remo Accord were also the basis for UN Resolution 180 when, thirty years after the issue of the Declaration, in 1947, it voted on a partition plan for Palestine,

Had the Arabs accepted this UN Resolution, there would have been established an Arab State for the Palestinian refugees and the map of the middle east would have looked like this:

But since, in the words of Abba Eban, “The Arabs never miss an opportunity to miss an opportunity,” they rejected this plan and instead attacked the newly founded, Yisrael, the Jewish State.

The Following is a map which is the result of the 1949 Armistice agreement, a map whose borders were never recognized by any International entity and are hence illegal and any call to return to them as expressed by president Obama, for instance, are not in line with International Law:

The ongoing efforts by Arabs state to drive the Jews into the sea (my childhood nightmare which pushed me to force my parents to get me swimming lessons!) eventually plunged them into a reality which made them realize the opportunity they had missed twenty years earlier.

In June 1967, almost 50 years to the day after the Balfour Declaration, Yisrael, subsequent to being pressed into a corner by Egypt, Syria and Jordan, elected to engage in a pre-emptive. That move, the Six Day War, ended with Yisrael getting closer to the attainment of the area allocated for a National Jewish Homeland by both the Balfour Declaration and the San Remo Accord, both of which are anchored in International Law.

It resulted in this redrawn map:

Before anyone jumps to the wrong conclusion that Yisrael entered this war with the desire to reach the borders of the aforementioned Jewish Homeland, let me propose that it was the Arabs in their irrational hatred of Jews and their desire to complete that which Hitler was unable to, that brought about the near implementation of the Balfour plan.

I grew up in Yisrael during the years that preceded the 1967 war. I was a teenager. We did not want that war. If not for Jewish ingenuity and superb military ability, that war would have cost us, according to projections, thousands of dead and tens of thousands of injured. We were happy with the tiny strip of land that we ended up with after Yisrael’s War of Independence.

Furthermore, let me share a secret with you. We would have been happy with the implementation of the UN Partition Plan of 1947. My parents, both Shoah survivors and many like them, along with their children, would have been happy with that.

But not the Arabs! One more state which they could have had then without the bloodshed without the millions that their leaders have amassed while their population of refugees are held as pawns, is what they want now!

Will someone please explain to them that History is NOT a dress rehearsal? Would someone please explain to them that one hundred years of history cannot be washed down the drain, forgotten and replaced by narratives?