Be a Light – But Not Too Flashy

My maternal grandfather was born in Sprendlingen, Germany and immigrated to the United States in the early 1930’s. His parents and younger brother were still in Germany during Kristallnacht. I remember hearing from my Opa and his brothers on more than one occasion that Jews in the Diaspora should be mindful about exhibiting our wealth when we find financial success. Being flashy or ostentatious is bound to raise the eyebrows and the ire of our non-Jewish neighbors which can only bring about problems, if not worse. I am sure that this family sentiment was influenced by the Goldschmidt family’s personal experience of living for centuries in the same house in a small German town only to one day wake up to a drastically changed environment, one from which they ultimately were lucky enough to flee.

However this Jewish sentiment predates my grandfather, who was born in 1915. Rabbi Meir Simcha of Dvinsk lived during the second half of the 19^th century. In his commentary on Chumash, Meshech Chochma, he writes (Parshat Bechukotai) that there is a trend that one can trace throughout the two thousand year history of the Jews in the Diaspora. Jews will settle in a location for a century or two, during which they become successful. This success enables those Jews to assimilate into the majority host culture and forget the precarious nature of exile. Just when this assimilation appears to threaten the continuity of Judaism and the Jewish People (ie “when Jews think that Berlin is Jerusalem” in the words of the Meshech Chochma), their fortunes would abruptly turn worse and they would be persecuted and forced to find a new place to live. Rav Meir Simcha points out that while this sounds like a curse, the bright side is that the ongoing relocation of the Jews has ensured the continuity of the Jewish People and the perpetuation of Torah values and observance. For every time Jews are expelled from a host country we “circle our wagons” and strengthen our Jewish identity and bonds to the Jewish community, the only resource upon which we can reliably rely.

The idea that ostentatiousness can be dangerous for the Jewish People even predates the Meshech Chochma. Rabbi Shlomo Ephraim Luntschitz lived in Prague at the beginning of the 17^th century. In his commentary to Chumash, Kli Yakar, he suggests a homiletical interpretation to the verse in Parshat Devarim (2:3): רַב־לָכֶ֕ם סֹ֖ב אֶת־הָהָ֣ר הַזֶּ֑ה פְּנ֥וּ לָכֶ֖ם צָפֹֽנָה: “You have circled this mountain long enough; turn Tzafona, northward.” Here Moshe is describing the Jews’ travels after leaving Egypt. Kli Yakar quotes a tradition that this is also advice for any time the Jews are in exile. Tzafon means north, but it also means “hidden” or discreet, like the step at the seder called Tzafun ie when the hidden piece of matzah is brought back to the table. The Kli Yakar explains that the Torah here is hinting that when Jews are in exile we should be inclined towards discretion. As Kli Yakar puts it, whenever Jews finds success, “Eisav”, ie the non-Jews, get jealous because Yaakov stole the blessings of success from his brother. It is therefore prudent to be careful when celebrating our success and try to downplay it when possible.

Many feel that the Jewish experience in America is fundamentally different than all other past exile locations and that it does not follow the patterns or rules of other exilic hosts. If America is different, the argument goes, then the advice to be discreet is not relevant for American Jews. While Jews in America have been blessed in unique and unprecedented ways, it is still prudent advice not to be ostentatious and to value discretion. The prophet encourages us to walk modestly with Hashem, which implies that modesty is a value that Hashem appreciates. Perhaps the challenge for 21^st century American Jews is to find the appropriate balance between the attention seeking necessary to be a light onto the nations, tempered with an appreciation for the lesson of modesty and discretion that have been taught and lived by Jews throughout the ages.