The Art of Asking Questions

 

“The art and science of asking questions is the source of all knowledge.” – Thomas Berger
“A Wise man’s question contains half the answer.” – Solomon Ibn Gabirol

Last night was the first night of Pesach when Jews commemorate and celebrate our ancestors’ "Exodus" from Egypt, and the liberation from slavery. The “Seder,” is the festive meal that opens this especially important Holy Day, recalling, reminding, and educating our younger generation about the significant chain of events which preceded that momentous outcome. It is chronicled in the “Haggadah,” the book we read during that occasion.

I remember my childhood “Seders.” Being a curious child, I wanted to know everything about it. I sought to learn why the Seder plate had certain foods on it or why the table was arranged the way it was. I also wanted to know why we eat "Matzah," "Charoset," and other kinds of food which are consumed only on this night and this Holy Day. I was curious about some of the terms and the logic behind some of the customs. I was eager to learn why this night was different than any other night. In short, I had many questions.

“What a great question,” I remember my father commenting on some of my queries. “And another good one,” he would remark on others as he was caressing me with his soft eyes. “Don’t ever stop asking,” he kept encouraging me, “we learn about our world and our life by asking questions.”

As I grew older and delved deeper into the content of the “Haggadah,” I realized that it was not my wisdom or dexterity that prompted me to ask all those “good questions” which made my father so proud of me. Rather, it was the ingenuity of those who, so prudently, crafted the art of asking questions - the essence, and the fabric of the “Haggadah.” The way they outlined the “Seder” (order in Hebrew), sparked my strong sense of curiosity, and led me to ask those questions.

A bird’s eye view of the “Haggadah” will reveal to us that it is laced with distinctive symbolic acts and food. It is not happenstance. They were deliberately created and aimed at raising curiosity, interest and stimulating inquisitiveness.

The directive to tell and retell the story of the “Exodus” is mentioned in the Torah. Moreover, it is provided in the form of a commandment weaving a hypothetical conversation between parent and child: “If your son asks you in time to come . . . you shall say to your son, ‘We were slaves to Pharaoh in Egypt, and G-d took us out of Egypt with a strong hand.’”  D’varim (Deuturonomy) 6:20-21. The wise rabbis understood that the telling over of the story of the “Exodus” is meant and should be in a question-and-answer format.

These sages, obviously, recognized that at the core of asking questions is the desire to know, learn and understand. Questions are the fuel of growth and the best way to gain deeper acumens. Asking questions is, in itself, a creative activity, perhaps the epitome of human creativity. The skill of asking questions is, according to Jerome Brunner, the ability to go “beyond given information.” It grants us the opportunity to examine issues from a different angle. The greatest inventors and scientists in human history, people such as Isaac Newton, Albert Einstein and many others asked fundamental questions which eventually led to their marvelous breakthroughs.  Philosophers and thinkers devote their whole lives to asking questions about the meaning of life, morality, truth, human behaviour and the divinity of G-d.

Realizing the significance and developmental benefits of asking questions and since the “Seder” is all about provoking questions, the sages have also instituted a few unique rituals to be performed at the Seder table for the mere purpose of arousing curiosity among children, teaching and triggering them to probe for answers. The very fact that we are doing something different, they discerned, will lend itself to an additional question, answer, and further growth.

What a great legacy and what a blessing it is to be part of it.
Happy and meaningful Pesach.

Jews Have a Right To Be Offended

A wise man once noted that before one is respected and treated with respect, he must learn to respect himself.

And that goes for an entire people, an entire nation, as well.

Watching the way some Jews carry themselves, we wonder if the Jewish Nation really respects itself.

We are specifically referring to responses by some Jews to trends of repeated efforts by gentiles to define us. Some non Jews, unfortunately, take it even further and usurp our most precious Jewish ONLY symbols and great concepts, those that have kept us through hard chapters in our history.

Moreover, the indifference to such practices and, in some cases, even the condonation, enablement and support of such efforts by many Jews, leave some of us utterly aghast and dismayed. We see Jews attending a “Christian Seder” which distorts what a Seder is about, and smile with acceptance along with a self-deprecating joke about not really liking matzo or gefilte fish. When that Seder is later followed by an article, written by a Jew, lauding the commemoration of such a  “Seder” by Christians for whom the event amounts to no more than the celebration of the last supper of Jesus, we are dumbfounded. 

We see Jews facilitating the arrival of Christian missionaries to the Jewish Homeland and give them land in Eretz Yisrael where they set up tent. We see missionaries in Yisrael describe their mission as “bring the Gospel to the farmers of” Judea and Samaria.  We hear them sing to us about “The New Jerusalem,” and we spot them teach the Gospel at the Knesset.

Observing some of our own bending backwards to appease and pander to those who clearly want to hurt them, demean them and destroy them as a religious community, culture, and people is disheartening, to say the least.  There is no self-respect when what others do to offend Jews gets a sick kind of smile, no objection and in some cases condonation and support of it

How far will they go before someone says, enough, we don’t have to sit and smile and be nice about the theft of our heritage and the demeaning of what is ours?

We are all for cultural exchanges. At the same time, we realize that we cannot stop cultural appropriation and usurpation. It is as old as humanity. All of us are enriched by learning from other cultures, by adopting what is best of them all.  We all like good pizza, Brahms’ music, the latest clothing from New York.

 However, when cultural appropriation becomes cultural hijacking and calling it authentic, when taking the customs of great significance of one people and reinterpreting them for another to completely change them for some conflicting purpose, we are verging on deliberate efforts to erase lines between cultures, efforts that should be eliminated. 

Furthermore, why do Jews allow and accept Christian or Muslim interpretations of Jewish texts? Why do Jews remain silent when such interpretations come with demands to agree with them? Why do Jews just smile to such efforts and fear offending those that make demands on them?

Again, it is nothing more than a demonstration of a lack of self-respect.

Yes, we know, a lot of this is the result of 2000 years of developing defenses to existential threats. The ghetto leader whose daughter was kidnapped by the Lord of the Manor, raped and beaten and then returned to the ghetto, who thanked the rapist with a smile on his face for returning his daughter alive and not dead, was protecting his life and that of his whole community because under the circumstances there were no choices. That bought a few months of peace, not respect, and when it becomes a habit, long after the cause for the behavior is gone, that is just sad and sick and a drain on our survival today.

So, we ask these questions.  Do Jews have the right to be offended?  Do Jews have the guts to object to being offended?

And while we are at it when missionaries approach Jews in a city like Jerusalem, offending Jews by handing out their literature, which on more than one occasion distorts sacred Jewish writings, ask them why they are not doing it in Muslim areas and in Muslim countries. Or are they worried about offending them?

Ben-Gurion spoke of a time when Jews would be a normal nation. Being normal also means the right to be offended, the right to demand respect. Time for Jews to be normal and practice these rights.

This article was written jointly by Roger Froikin and Bat-Zion Susskind

"And You Should Tell Your Son....

Last night Jews around the world celebrated the Pesach meal, called Seder.

“Seder” is the Hebrew word for “order.” Anyone who has ever attended one, would understand why it is called “Seder.” There is a certain order in this ceremony, a logical sequence to each part of this observance. It is lined out for us in the Haggadah, the booklet we use to guide us through it.

It is also apparent to anyone who has ever partaken in a Seder that, during this special meal, unlike any other night, the table is laid out and set with unusual food items and symbols. They are all intended to raise our curiosity and intrigue our inquisitive minds.

Likewise, a bird’s eye view of the Haggadah will reveal that its text is written in a manner that is aimed at prompting us to ask questions. We have the Four Questions which answer the basic query of why this night is different than any other night. We have the segment listing Four Sons, each with their own questions as well as other ones.  

Questions are an important tool along the journey of growth and development of any human being. Questions are also important along the ontogenetic path of a nation. It is curiosity that has triggered human growth and progress throughout the ages.

Our Jewish sages must have known that. And that is where the directive “And you should tell your son” comes into play.

“Those who forget their past,” a wise person once said, “have no future.” This important principle was also known to our wise sages. Teaching and educating about one’s national, cultural and spiritual past is a very important tenet in our Jewish tradition.

There are different ways of teaching, as many would know. The Haggadah, as we saw, uses a common didactic method to achieve that goal, “Questions and Answers.” There is great value in asking questions, as any teacher would tell us. More importantly is the manner in which the questions are formulated. Our sages who wrote the Hagadah were great pedagogues. They framed the questions in a way that helps the readers master core concepts about our Jewish/Zionist past. The method in which the questions in the Haggadah are articulated, the way the facts and ideas are communicated help the listeners and readers develop their critical thinking skills.

Moreover, as one might notice, the Haggadah never asks more than one question at a time. It lets them sink in, one by one. Asking questions throughout the reading of the Haggadah, as during any lesson, not only makes the experience of learning more interesting, it also makes it more interactive.

Questions by themselves, though, are not enough. They need answers in order to complete the cycle of learning, growing, advancing and progressing. Above all, the answers need to provide the links that connect our past learning to our present and future lessons.

The Haggadah writers knew that well. And when the answers come, it is often in the form of a song or a symbolic act. Everyone partakes in them. They engage every participant in this beautiful and heartwarming celebration of Freedom and Jewish Nationhood culminating with the song “L’Shana Ha’Ba’ah Birushalayim,” Next Year in Jerusalem which seals the meal. 

This morning, I am still singing this song as I continue to bask in the greatest lesson of them all, the greatest lesson of our Jewish history - to be a Free Nation in Our Homeland, the Land of Tziyon and Yerushalayim. May we all enjoy this Pesach season of Freedom and live to experience it designed and intended lessons.

Chag Sameach

Moses nailed it!

The figure of Moses in the Torah is mostly remembered as the leader who took the Yisraelites out of Egypt

How many, though, are aware that he was also a Prophet?

A few days ago, I happened to read the Song of the Sea which Moses sang with the children of Yisrael after they crossed the Sea of Reeds. It was then that it dawned on me how his role as a Prophet was underestimated. The following verse from the song he sang struck me as so relevant to our times.

It describes the goal of an enemy, a threat to Am Yisrael and what it had wished to do to us.

אמר אויב: ארדוף אשיג אחלק שלל ......תמלאמו נפשי תורישמו ידי. (שמות ט"ו פס' ט')

“The enemy boasted, 'I will pursue, I will overtake them. I will divide the spoils; I will gorge my soul on them… .…..my hand shall inherit them.' (Exodus 15,9)

The ancient Egyptians may have been the subject of Moses's song. Today, however, it is not only those that wish to annihilate us that this verse is applicable to. Today, Jews have an enemy of a different kind, one that secretly weaves and stealthily preys upon Am Yisrael and the Jewish people with the aim of depriving us of our Jewish essence. They are the Christian missionaries. Their maneuvers are focused in the spiritual realm which poses no less of a danger than the one Moses was referring to in her song.

When addressing Yisrael’s enemies physical and spiritual with regards to Moses's song, I am particularly referring to the part where this verse mentions spoils, that which the enemy appropriates after it has triumphed. The Hebrew word for spoils is שלל (Shalal. Shin, Lamed, Lamed).

Our wise sages ((חז"ל suggest that this word is an acronym for מותיהם לשונם לבושםש, (Shmoteyhem, their names, Leshonam, their language, culture, Levusham, their garb).

Studying the manner in which the enemies of Yisrael operate, that is exactly how they go about their efforts to steal and destroy Jewish lives and souls.

They adopt our names, our titles.

Zionists, is one example of a name/title which belongs to Jews only (for various reasons which are listed in articles written by myself and others) is being usurped by various faiths while its members define it as they see fit. I have seen “Christian Zionists.” I have seen “Muslim Zionists.” I have even heard that there are some who suggest that Mohammad, since he claimed that Eretz Yisrael belongs to the Jews and since he came Before Herzl and his Political Zionism movement, is the original Zionist…..

The name “Palestine” is another example.

Though it was not Christian missionaries that adopted the name which was arbitrarily given to us and to Eretz Yisrael, the Land of the Jews, still the fact remains that someone else stole it from us and now tries to convince the world that this has been their homeland forever and a day.

As far as language is concerned, need I mention all the examples where Missionaries have given themselves and their organizations Hebrew terms, language in order to convince ignorant Jews that they are part of us and that one day we will all become one?

Let me start by mentioning a group called HaYovel. It is a clan of Christian Evangelicals who have joined hands with some Jewish enablers and moved to Eretz Yisrael where they have been given land. Though they claim that their sole purpose of coming to Yisrael is to help the farmers of Judea and Samaria with harvesting their crops, many of us suspect, based on their own words that there is more to it.

They adopted the name HaYovel (Hebrew for Jubilee) with the stated purpose to “share with them {Jews} a passion for the soon coming of the Jubilee in Yeshua, the messiah." 

(http://palmtreeofdeborah.blogspot.co.il/2017/05/waller-shocker.html)

A source called “Talmidei Yeshua Fellowship,” describes HaYovel on their FB page as: “a ministry that helps Israeli farmers farm and harvest their crops. As well as helping them work they also bring the gospel message to the farmers.”

It is not only our language that is being appropriated by those who wish to “pursue us, overtake us and divide spoils,” as Moses prophesied. It is also some of the symbols of our few millennia old and endowed culture that they have targeted.

Yerushalayim, Zion, the eternal capital of the Jewish people, the heart of the Jewish people has also been a subject to efforts by many to claim as their own. Islam has sanctified Yerushalayim for political rivalry reasons, according to Dr. Mordechai Kedar. Now, we also have Christian evangelicals claiming that Yerushalayim , rather, the “New Jerusalem” is where “Jesus Christ will reign for 1000 years and every knee will bow down to him.” (Pastor Hagee, March 2013).

Now if that is not usurpation, please enlighten me of what is.

How about all those evangelical Christians who observe Shabbat, or keep Kashroot?

We cannot tell anyone what to do or not do. However, it is important to note that Shabbat was given to Jews as a sign of the Covenant Am Yisrael made with G-d on Mount Sinai. Kashroot laws are part of the Torah which, again,  was given to Am Yisrael only (except for its moral code that was given to them AND to humanity).

Those who follow those laws, claim that they love us,  and insist that they are our friends. Friends respect that which belongs to friends and do not just take what belongs to them and claim it as their own. That is what enemies have done to each other throughout history with the spoils that they took after they had won the war.

Now we are getting to the last acronym of the Hebrew word Shallal (spoils). Targeting the garb.

I shudder each time I see a non-Jew wearing a tallit, a prayer shawl. The commandment to wear one was decreed for Jews only. It breaks my heart when I see non-Jews wear it and for the purpose of practicing Jewish customs which have been misconstrued by those who wear it either to deceive of to further their agenda of eventually removing the Jewish essence from Judaism towards their goal of making us “complete Jews.” They wear it, for instance, during  the “seder” which they conduct more as a commemoration of the last supper than the Exodus from Egypt.

“Look what they have done to my song ma,” is a song by Melanie from the early 70’s that comes into mind when I write these lines.

Unlike, Melanie’s song, however, the song of the Prophet Moses offers Hope for Am Yisrael. In verse 13, he says,

עד יעבור עמך ה‘, עד יעבר עם זו קנית, תבאמו ותטעמו בהר נחלתך.

(In your unfailing love, you will lead the people you have redeemed. In your strength, you will guide them to your holy dwelling).

Let our enemies be warned. We are the People of Eternity. The Eternal of Yisrael Shall Never Lie. We are named Yisrael for a reason. No matter what, we shall always prevail!

Shavua tov.

That which is Our Own

This article was co-authored by Roger Froikin and Bat-Zion Susskind-Sacks.

“Of course it is ok for non-Jews to adopt and use Jewish symbols and practices,” we hear many Jews say. “Isn’t it great that others find our Torah and its commandments so desirable that they decide to embrace them?” Others ask.

The Torah was given to Am Yisrael and the Jewish People, not to the world.  The Torah instructs Jews to wear a tallit, to use tefillin, to remember and to observe Shabbat. We are instructed to do that because as the Torah says G-d took us, Am Yisrael, not everyone else, out of slavery in Egypt with a “strong hand and an outstretched arm.” Jews alone were given the laws of Kashrut and the Mitzvah to celebrate Jewish holidays in a particularly Jewish way.  These experiences and customs are uniquely Jewish ones. They are related to and are an integral part of our unique Jewish history, the history of Am Yisrael.

Unlike what many Jews are taught nowadays, Judaism is not universal. Though many of the values, morals, lessons, of Torah and of Jewish history, are ones that all peoples can learn and benefit from, Torah, as we mentioned above, was given to the Jewish People. It is the story of the Jewish People, not of the whole world.  Even though various Gentile peoples have adopted what is Jewish, that does not make  G-d’s gift to the Jewish Nation, the Covenant with Am Yisrael, universal. 

After 2000 years of being subject to persecution, exclusion, hate, and all too often confiscations and violence by Christians, for the first time in history, some Gentiles, considering the roots of their own faith, have found an interest in Judaism and Jewish practices. Some because of sheer interest. Many more do it because it is a way, they believe, to understand and be closer to their religious roots.

So today we see some Christian ministers adopting the use of the Talit.  Others try the Kipah.  Some churches for the last several years have held Passover meals with matzah and traditional Jewish readings at their churches. 

We have no problem with Christians having an interest in learning and understanding the Jewish roots of their religion, to the degree that they exist.  It needs to be remembered, however, that Christians do it not to be Jewish or more like Jews, and not to be part of what is Jewish.  For example, when Christian Churches sponsor a Seder for Passover, they do it because Jesus did it and they interpret it through their own religious theology as being Jesus centered.  They do it not because they love the Jewish People or because they want to be like Jews.  They perform these rites for Christian reasons, to identify closer with their theological roots. 

We have no right to tell Christians what to do or what to believe within their theology. 

What we do have a problem with, though, is when Jews see Christians perform customs associated with Judaism and feel “Oh so flattered” and “Oh so happy” about it that they fail to see (or is it refuse to see) the rationale, the motives, behind it.  We do have a problem when Jews blur the differences between Jewish beliefs and Christian beliefs based on the Christian adoption of some Jewish forms and customs and when some Jews claim that we are all the same.

Because we are not. We are not better. We are not worse. We are just different.

To those Jews who are willingly and readily handing out slices of our Jewish heritage indiscriminately, we have this to answer. Will those same Jews allow strangers into their home, let them take, for example, a precious heirloom that has been running in their family for generations and let them walk out with it and declare it as their own? That, in our book, is usurpation! The difference is that when one takes a private possession it is between them and the owner. When one appropriates Jewish practices or symbols, it is between those who take it and Am Yisrael. That includes Jews like us who are unhappy about it. We cringe when we see reverends and pastors wearing talitot, Jewish prayer shawls, in their church services praying to Jesus when we all know that he is not part of Jewish tradition. We are unhappy when we witness a Pesach Seder conducted in a hybrid manner which celebrates the “Last Supper” more than the Exodus from Egypt

As much as we object to it and as much and we disagree with this reality, we cannot and should not try to stop others from taking on Jewish customs and practices while continuing to practice their own non-Jewish faith provided it stops there.

Unfortunately, it does not.

What we see unfolding in front of our eyes is a trend that we consider threatening to the future of our Jewish people. Many of those friends and supporters who adopt our customs and practices feel, much to our dismay, that with their interpretations of their “universal” nature, that they are compelled by their beliefs to spread their “gospel” to the Jews who, they believe, don’t seem to understand their own history or purpose. They then tell us what we should believe. They feel an obligation to educate us about our heritage and our tradition as seen through the lens of their own religious interpretations, in some attempt to define us, all with grave consequences to our future as a People.

Many of those who engage in such activities are charismatic leaders who whilst advocate for us, end up convincing Jewish youth, too often unprepared with a solid Jewish education, nor with any knowledge of the differences between Christianity and Judaism, of their interpretation of Judaism. They teach it through their own ethnic, religious and cultural eyes changing the meaning of the original Jewish values. We end up with Pied Pipers who allegedly came to our rescue but end up influencing a Jewish generation with a very misconstrued idea of what Judaism, Torah, Am Yisrael and Eretz Yisrael are all about.

The solution is not isolation, nor is it telling Christians what to believe.   Nor is it in suppressing freedom of expression.

The solution is in education of that which is our own. We need Jewish education that is more sophisticated than patterns that seemed sufficient in the 19^th century. We also need to coach and educate young Jews of how the Christian and Muslim see the world in order to ensure proper Jewish continuity. 

May we continue to have a blessed Pesach