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Rabbi Joel Lehrfield
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| The Rabbi's Study |
| October, 2002 |
Now that the Holydays are over and I have a moment to reflect, I noticed an interesting Rabbinic remark. The sages say that our prayers on the Holyday of Sukkot (the last of the pilgrimage festivals), focus on the whole world's need for Hashem's grace. After all, it is not only we who are in need of compassion; the whole world suffers from a lack of it. It is not only we who need nature's bounty delivered through Hashem's Chesed, e.g., the rain in its season and in proper measure; the sun in its glory at appropriate times - the whole world needs it. Therefore, our tradition tells us, as a small human segment of the world, we pray for the world's health and welfare. |
But on the last days of the Holyday, the days that we call Shemini Atzeret/Simchat Torah, our prayers are directed inward, and the Holyday period culminates in joy at our having received the Torah that marks our unique understanding of our relation to Hashem and to our people. |
| It is essential that we, at the end
of the Holydays, focus upon ourselves and upon what it is that enables our
creative juices to flow. One of the great teachers, under whom I was privileged
to study, was Rabbi Dr. Eleazer Berkowitz. Professor Berkowitz, who passed
away some ten years ago, was one of the seminal Orthodox thinkers of our
time. It was he who posited the truism that the Jewish community has as
its basic goal, to live the moral life as set out by the Halacha, in response
to Hashem's commandments. The moral behaviors are not only demanded of us
as individuals, but of our nation/people as well. It was his argument that
this pursuit of what it means to be a moral community under G-d can only
take place when we, the Jewish people, live as a sovereign state, dealing
with problems faced by real nations - from defense to taxes. It is only
in this state of being, that we can serve as an example of how a moral nation
might act. Judaism can only deliver its message within the corporate body
of the Jewish people, living freely, and determining its own destiny. |
In the Diaspora (Galut), we were barely capable of staying alive. Time and time again, we were threatened with destruction (and in reality were partially consumed). We kept the dream alive, the hope that we would freely seek Hashem's ways as a free nation, no matter what the external circumstances were. We incorporated this fervent desire in our daily prayers with such statements as: |
| "And redeem us swiftly for
the sake of Your name, for You are a powerful savior."
"And the plantings of David may You cause to flourish and may You lift his strength with his salvation." "And may our eyes see You return to Zion in mercy." |
All these quotations have been our daily reminders through centuries of knowledge that only in the context of Jewish nationhood, can the quest that Hashem placed upon us come to fruition. Torah needs a partner and the partner is the Jewish people, living in a Jewish reality of their own construction. |
For millennia, we have had no say in the conditions of our lives. Indeed, our survival itself has been miraculous. Our daily existence, until the rise of the State of Israel, has been imposed upon us. |
| There is much talk about
Israel being a "light unto nations", but it can only do that when
it is a physical reality. Our enemies are not interested in coming to terms
with Israel. They would like us to retreat to the days when Judaism and
all of its moral obligations could be conceived of in terms of a secondary
faith, organizing the lives of individual Jews in scattered communities.
Their aim (and this I believe is the aim of all our Arab neighbors and fellow
travelers in the European community) is to see the destruction of the physical
reality of the State of Israel. It is our challenge - to see that this never
occurs. |
| Hence, as the Holydays
are over the sages say: Enough of worrying about the whole world. So as to fulfill Hashem's message. |
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