Lend Your Voice- Don’t Give it Away

In Parshat Shelach we read about the episode of the spies. Upon hearing the evil report from most of the spies, the Torah tells us the reaction of the nation:

Vatisa kol Ha’eidah Vayitnu et Kolam, vatyivku ha’am balayla hahu” (14:1)

“The entire assembly raised up and issued their voice, the people wept that night”

The bolded words above seem strange. What does it mean that the people literally “gave their voice”, and not just “raised their voice”?

Perhaps the Torah is alluding to one of the major mistakes perpetrated by the Jewish People in regards to the Meraglim affair. Instead of maintaining their own judgment, they “gave their voice” to the spies with the evil report. They chose not to think independently, but rather to blindly follow what the gang was saying.

We must be careful to never blindly give our voices to others. Groupthink ignores each person’s unique perspective and eliminates nuances among people’s opinions. We protect keep our voices so that our voices reflect who we truly are and what we actually believe.  Our voice is too precious and too powerful to simply hand over to someone else. We can lend our voices to others and on behalf of others, and we can amplify our voice by joining together with others on a common cause. However the story of the meraglim teaches us to be very wary about giving our voices over wholesale to someone else. 

Our Words Create Our Reality

In Parshat Behaalotecha we read how Miriam is punished after speaking about her brother Moshe. Later in the Torah (Ki Teitzei 24:9) we are commanded to always remember what Miriam. This is one of the Shesh Zechirot, 6 events that we are supposed to remember on an ongoing bases. The other five events are: Exodus from Egyot, Matan Torah, Amalek’s attack, the golden calf, and Shabbat. Why is this sin of Miriam’s worthy of remembering?

The story of Miriam is critical to remember daily because it reminds us of our power of speech. We are aware of the evils and dangers of lashon hara, even if we do not apply those lessons to our lives often enough. But the story of Miriam highlights a lesser appreciated power/ peril of our speech:

How we talk about someone/ something will impact how we relate to them (even if that person never finds out). The Torah’s concern about what Miriam said was really a concern about how her words would impact how she (and possibly the rest of Bnei Yisrael) would relate to Moshe.

The sin of Miriam is her challenge to Moshe’s level of prophecy. Whatever the complaint was, part of it was that Miriam equated Moshe to all other prophets, herself included. A principle of our faith is that Moshe is singularly unique in his level of prophecy. This must be the case- otherwise there is the possibility of a future prophet abrogating the Torah, by claiming that he is more qualified than Moshe. Now can we fathom that Miriam meant to hurt Moshe? Of course not- this is his older sister, who risked her life to save Moshe when he was a baby. Nevertheless, how she talked about him impacted how she related to Moshe- the real concern.

How we speak also has a profound impact on those whom we influence: peers, friends, children. The story of Miriam concludes Parshat Behaalotcha. Parshat Shelach begins with the sin of the spies. Rashi quotes the Midrash that the juxtaposition comes to teach that the spies did not learn from the sin of Miriam. I think one can go a step further and suggest that the juxtaposition teaches us that the spies, leaders of the people, learned from the speech of Miriam. They did not hesitate to speak disparagingly against the Land of Israel because their role model Miriam did not hesitate to speak disparagingly against the Prophet of Israel.

Let me end with a poem on this topic of the power of our speech, author unknown:

What are you saying; are your words good or bad,

Positive or negative, happy or sad?

The words of your mouth lead to failure or success.

Do you ever wonder how you got into that mess

You are in charge of the words that you speak.

Will you be strong, or will you be weak?

Do you speak words of sickness, or words of health?

Do you speak of poverty, or are your words of wealth?

What you say each day is what comes to pass in your life.

Are your days full of peace, or are they full of strife?

Your life will reflect the words that you say.

Speak positive, uplifting words and life will manifest that way.

Speak negative, depressing, 'Oh, poor me' kind of things...

Then the road to failure is what these words will bring.

It's your choice; it's up to you.

What are you saying; what will you do?

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A Nazir Sipping Wine?

On Tuesday Rav Gershon Edelstein, Rosh Yeshiva of the Ponovezh Yeshiva in Bnei Brak, died at age 100. Referred to as the Gadol Hador within charedi circles, Rav Edelstein was one of the first students when the Ponovezh yeshiva opened in Israel- and he never left. On Tuesday morning he awoke early to pray and prepare his shiur, even writing notes for the shiur. At this point he passed away suddenly, the page of notes still next to his bed as testimony to his determination to study until the last minute. In a remarkable picture from the ICU in Maayanei Hayeshua taken just hours before Rabbi Gershon Edelstein’s passing, the Rabbi can be seen doing what he had done for 75 years daily: giving his shiur on the Gemara to his devoted students. Despite all the tubes and wires surrounding him, the rabbi, fully attired and wearing a tie as befits the honor of the Torah, appears unperturbed and continues the schedule of study he has maintained for eight decades.

Rav Edelstein encouraged schools and teachers to educate each child according to his/her needs and abilities. Rav Edelstein directed his followers to abide by the restrictions imposed during the CoVID pandemic, and he told people to get vaccinated. Current Member of Knesset Benny Gantz was Israel’s Defense Minister during much of the CoVID pandemic. After Rav Edelstein’s passing he tweeted, “I will never forget his call to his believers: ‘Reading the Torah in public — will be a sin. For someone who prayed in public his whole life, this statement to his many believers was an extraordinary magnanimity that saved many lives. In this way, he revealed himself not only as great in Torah, but also as a lover of people.” In some ways Rav Edelstein was viewed as a moderate compared to some of his colleagues and predecessors. When referring to non-observant Jews, Rav Edelstein moved away from calling them “wicked”, and he acknowledged positive attributes denonstrated by secular Israelis. For instances, he said regarding secular Israelis, “If they give their souls to save others out of love for others, they have a place in the World to Come….” The ruling is also viewed by some as having opened the door to service in the army for Chareidi soldiers.

Rav Edelstein is a shining example of the idea that a life spent learning Torah and internalizing Torah values is synonymous with a life of sensitivity, responsibility, and concern for others. A Torah persona is expressed not just in the Beit Midrash, but also, and especially, outside of our formal study. In Parshat Nasso we read about the Nazir, a person who commits to a more ascetic life for a period of time. When that period ends the Nazir undergoes a process that involved cutting his/her hair and offering sacrifices. Then the Torah says, (Bamidbar 6:20) “Afterwards, The Nazirite may drink wine.” On one level, this verse makes no sense. If the person is drinking wine, then they are no longer a Nazir. The Torah is telling us that a successful Nazir is one that is impacted by the experience, even after it is over and the Nazir is once again drinking wine. We should always be on the lookout for enriching and uplifting experiences. But we must also think about how those experiences will continue to uplift and inspire us once they are over.

Mount Hatred

Midrash Rabba notes that Har Sinai is called 7 other names in Tanach. According to R. Abahu, the actual name of the mountain was Sinai and all the other appellations were nicknames based on what happened there when Hashem gave the Torah.  Rabbi Yossi ben Chanina (Shabbat 89a-b) believes that the actual name of the location was Chorev and Har Sinai teaches us something about what happened during Matan Torah: Sheyarda Sinah L’Akum Alav.” Sinai is related to the word Sinah- hatred.

There is a difference of opinion as to who hates whom. Rashi explains that due to the Jews’ acceptance of the Torah, G-d’s special relationship with Bnei Yisrael was accompanied by G-d’s (relative) unfavorable predisposition towards the other nations. This is similar to how the Torah refers to Leah as “hated” in comparison to Yaakov’s love for Rachel. Ramban suggests that the Talmud here is saying that as a result of Matan Torah the other nations of the world began to hate the Jews.  Jews became hated due to our chosen status and promotion throughout the world of objective morality.

Why are we talking about hatred on Shavuot? And if the name Sinai is associated with the word Sinah then why not routinely call the mountain by one of its other many names?

I think Har Sinai is remembered forever as a mountain of hatred to teach us that it’s OK to be different. Our religious values may garner discomfort in those that do not share them. Some may even take it to the level of hatred. But that’s Ok- that’s part of what the Torah expects to happen.

If our religion is practiced and described in such a way that it does not evoke any discomfort from non-Jews, if it is so politically correct that it no longer causes any heated questions or a little antagonism - than we should begin to worry about our Judaism. A pareve religion that evokes no strong opinions from outsiders is probably one that people would not be willing to sacrifice for: not only their lives (which is not something that comes up all that frequently today, thank G-d) but their autonomy, their modern sensibilities, their otherwise limitless choices. A religion that does not ask us to sacrifice and embrace our difference is not sustainable because it’s not easily transmitted to future generations. A universally beloved religion does not force us to stop and think, as Torah wants and expects of us.

Nobody likes to be hated. But being hated is no reason to back down from our convictions. If anything, resistance to our worldview and our way of life indicates that the stakes are high and the fight is worthwhile.

Har Sinai was the backdrop for some hatred. And that’s not such a bad thing. It forces us to strengthen our resolve and our sense of purpose. This hatred forces us to think long and hard about what Torah really means to us and what life is really supposed to be all about. May we continue to be defined and animated by the events of Har Sinai, and may Hashem give us the wisdom and fortitude to benefit from the Matan Torah that we re-experience again on this Shavuot.

The Miracle that We Celebrate on Yom Yerushalayim

In honor of Yom Yerushalyim I want to share with you a quote of Rav Soloveitchik from a special Torah session that he presented at the Rabbinical Council of America convention on June 27, 1967 at the Pine View Hotel in Fallsburg, NY. The lecture was dedicated in memory of the Rav’s wife, Dr. Tonya Soloveitchik, who had passed away a little over three months before. Rav Soloveitchik spoke for about two and a half hours; mostly about his wife but also took the opportunity to comment on the significance of Israel’s victory during the Six Day War. This quote can be found in the new volume of the Rav’s addresses, The Return to Zion, recently published by OU Press (pp. 224-225) in time for Israel’s 75^th birthday. 

When we study Chazal and the prophets and we search for a criterion by which we could determine whether certain events are related to redemption or just to success- because not every success can be called redemption, not every victory is redemption and not every battle won on the field is considered a battle for redemption…. What is the criterion by which we can recognize or discriminate between success and redemption, between victory and redemption? Chazal said….that redemption-related events must excite universal wondering and amazement. They must puzzle the people of the earth, they must fascinate them and also frighten them. Many will admire, some will envy, and some will begin to hate the Jewish people with a greater intensity and greater fury, but everybody must be somehow involved in the great events. “Then shall they say among the nations ’The Lord has done great things for them.” (Tehillim 126:2) is the criterion by which we may identify events related to redemption. 

Of course, “The Lord has done great things for them” lends itself to a double interpretation: to an affirmative statement- that will really acknowledge the historical reality and exclaim “The Lord has done great things for them”! It may also suggest to us a question that some nations will say to each other incredulously: ‘Is it true, is it really true- what do you read, what do you hear- that the Jewish people have triumphed over a hundred million enemies? Is it possible? “The Lord has done great things for them”?! Is it possible, is it feasible that the cowardly Jew, who used to fight by proxy and hated military service, has smashed the mighty armies? Is it true that “the Lord has done great things for them”? No, it is not true, and if it is true let us make the triumph untrue, convert it into an illusion, into deception, into mirage. 

Of course we answer all those …….who question and doubt our great historical metamorphosis, which took place in the unfolding of our historical destiny. Our answer to them is firm and articulate, non-equivocal: Yes, “The Lord has done great things for us”. Willy-nilly, you will have to acknowledge, you will have to consent, concur with us that “the Lord has done great things for us”. And we are ready to perpetuate His great miracle and to rejoice in it for many years to come- “and we shall celebrate.” 

(RYW: Let’s keep this idea in mind when we recite these words, quoted by the Rav, before Birkat Hamazon in Shir Hamaalot, over Shabbat and Shavuot: אָ֖ז יֹֽאמְר֣וּ בַגּוֹיִ֑ם הִגְדִּ֥יל ה לַֽעֲשׂ֥וֹת עִם־אֵֽלֶּה: 

הִגְדִּ֣יל ה לַֽעֲשׂ֣וֹת עִמָּ֑נוּ הָ֜יִ֗ינוּ שְׂמֵחִֽים                    

Out of Control

In Parshat Behar (25:39) the Torah commands a Jew from abusing his/ her Jewish servant, and after 6 years (or in the Yovel Year- whichever comes first) that Jewish servant must be set free. Towards the end of the Fist Temple Era the Jewish people violated this commandment. The prophet Yirmiyahu warns the people that they will be punished and expelled from their land because of their unwillingness to let their Jewish servants go free as commanded by the Torah (Jeremiah Chapter 34). The Talmud Yerushalmi (Rosh Hashanah 3:5) teaches that right before Yetziat Mitzrayim, Hashem commanded Bnai Yisrael in the mitzvah of freeing Jewish servants after 6 years. God hoped that with the hardships of slavery still fresh in their experience, the people would better internalize and obey this commandment. From both of these sources it is clear that letting Jewish servants free was never easy for people to do. While the availability if inexpensive domestic help might have been part of it, Rabbi Dr. Abraham Twerski z’l writes that the real reason why this is such a difficult mitzvah to observe is because it requires a person to overcome their desire to be in control. The Sefer Hachinuch (331) writes that on Yom Kippur of Yovel, the shofar would be sounded (this is the source for our blowing shofar every Yom Kippur at the end of Neilah). The reason the shofar was sounded was because Jewish servants were supposed to be freed on Yom Kippur of Yovel, and the shofar blast was supposed to appeal to the masters’ emotions and spirituality to actually go through with it and grant the servants their freedom. Rabbi Chaim Zaichek notes that it was difficult to fulfill this mitzvah because people like to be in control, and people hate to yield control that they have.

Feeling in control of one’s own life can be healthy and necessary. Of course, upon further analysis we realize just how little control we have over our lives. This realization can enhance and elevate our relationship with Hashem, especially as it relates to Emunah, Bitachon and Tefilah.  Nevertheless a sense of agency, a belief that we have some control over what happens to us – or at least over how we respond to what happens to us- can be a very comforting and empowering feeling. However the need to feel/ be in control over others is very damaging. Controlling personalities are very alienating and can often devolve into abuse. Our relationships with others should be built on love and mutual respect and not control.

While the mitzvah of releasing Jewish servants may no longer be technically relevant, the importance of not exerting control (and relinquishing when appropriate) remains critical today. In general the phrase “out of control” is used to describe something ominous or dangerous. However we must not forget that always trying to be “in control” can be just as dangerous, albeit in different ways.

You Are Not Alone

Widespread loneliness in the U.S. poses health risks as deadly as smoking up to 15 cigarettes daily, costing the health industry billions of dollars annually, the U.S. surgeon general said Tuesday in declaring the latest public health epidemic. About half of U.S. adults say they’ve experienced loneliness, Dr. Vivek Murthy said in an 81-page report from his office. “We now know that loneliness is a common feeling that many people experience. It’s like hunger or thirst. It’s a feeling the body sends us when something we need for survival is missing,” Murthy told The Associated Press in an interview. “Millions of people in America are struggling in the shadows, and that’s not right.” Research suggests that this “loneliness epidemic” has many causes, including the fact that people have become increasingly less engaged with religious institutions, community organizations and even their own family members. The crisis worsened during the COVID 19 pandemic when millions of people isolated even more from family and friends, and many have never resumed their previous levels of social interaction.

May is Mental Health Awareness Month. Mental health challenges are exacerbated when a person feels that s/he is alone, ie they are the only person in the neighborhood or in the shul that struggles with anxiety, depression, OCD, addiction, relationships strains, or any challenge that exists. I am proud that we are hosting Dr. Norman Blumenthal this Shabbat, in partnership with OHEL, as part of our commitment to bring awareness and provide education about matters related to mental health. This Shabbat will be a success if even one person comes to realize that 1) they are not alone in their mental health struggles and 2) there are resources and strategies available to help

Last week at the opening plenary of the World Orthodox Israel Congress in Jerusalem I had the privilege to hear Natan Sharansky. He mentioned that he really found religion while in prison in the Soviet Union. And it was in the gulag that he began to fully understand the verse in Tehillim Chapter 23:

לֹא־אִ֘ירָ֚א רָ֗ע כִּי־אַתָּ֥ה עִמָּדִ֑י, I will fear no evil for You are with me”.  Sharansky told us that in prison he understood “Ata” as referring to not only Hashem, but also to the Jewish People. He gained much strength when he realized that he was not alone, that he was never alone. Society is suffering from a loneliness epidemic. Our shul can provide an antidote for this loneliness; by providing opportunities to connect and by assuring each other that even when it feels like it, we are never really alone.