From The Depths Of Our Despair

Words Of Torah Dripping With Sarcasm and Condescension

From The Depths Of Our Despair

שִׁיר הַמַּעֲלוֹת מִמַּעֲמַקִּים קְרָאתִיךָ ה׳

“A song of ascents. From the depths of despair I call You, Reboinoisheloilum.” (Psalms.130.1)”

We are living in troubled times. I do not like to use superlatives as they are all too often cheap caricatures, but October 7 was the worst single day for Israel in terms of abject horror in the history of the State and the pre-State era in the decades that preceded it. It was the worst single day of Israeli casualties - the majority of whom were civilians. It was a day of fire and rape and murder and brutality that brought to life the darkness experienced by many of our parents/ grandparents and ancestors. 

The hostages remain in Gaza, presumably underground. As of this moment, the deal negotiated by the US, Egypt and Qatar and agreed to by Israel has been rejected by Hamas. Israeli soldiers are being lost in battle on an almost daily basis. The situation in the North feels more tenuous by the day. There are terror attacks in Israel and the West Bank almost daily. Iran is almost at nuclear capability, and continues to push its agents to destabilize Israel. And the cacophony of anti Semitism around the world, even in the United States, is worse than most of us have seen in our lifetimes, and  strikes a primal chord within us. Beyond despicable words and actions from various corners, communities and constituencies, there has been a steady rise in the threat of violence against Jews.

And let’s not forget: We are part of a global world. There are many global challenges that impact all of human civilization: China. Russia. Korea. Ukraine. Not to mention climate change. 

We are living in troubled times. Our world is Farfukt.

It is fair to ask: Why is this happening?

One might respond, 

“This is happening because Benjamin Netanyahu, instead of cultivating a responsible Palestinian leadership over the last 15 years — which would require constructive engagement and compromise —chose to elevate an alternative leadership sworn to Israel’s destruction. He felt it was better to be able to point at Gaza and say ‘see, we can never make peace with those people’. He has managed the country in the same style he has employed to address every challenge in his life and career: Through guile. But, ‘Man Tracht Un Gott Lacht’ ‘Man plans and Hakadoishboruchhu laughs’. No human being, no matter how intelligent or gifted — whether bearing noble or ill intent — can control the weather or defy the laws of gravity, or has enough fingers to plug every hole sprouting throughout a leaky ship. The Meron disaster, the legal reform disaster, and, ultimately, October 7th, and its aftermath reflect a fundamental arrogance and narcissism that has brought about disaster.”

One might say that. It is an opinion. It is not necessarily correct. And there are many opinions.

Indeed, others might suggest, “Israel should never have withdrawn from Gaza. The physical presence of settlements ensures a higher level of security.”

Still others may say, “One can never make peace with a nation that hates us. Jews and Arabs can never peacefully do-exist.”

And others may suggest that Israel cannot be at peace until there is a political entity established that addresses Palestinian national aspirations.

These are all opinions. They seek to identify cause and assign blame. These perspectives may all be wrong… or they may all be true at the very same time.

We are indeed Farfukt.

As a regional and global conflict, the Arab-Israeli/ Israel-Palestinian conflict is similar to the game of Rock-Paper-Scissors. Sometimes the military response is the right one; for example, there is consensus in Israel that Hamas must never be in a position of power again. Sometimes the diplomatic response is the correct one; the Yom Kippur War led to confidence building measures which led to Sadat addressing the Knesset, Camp David, the return of the Sinai desert, and 45 years of a very stable - if not warm - peace. Sometimes the correct response is to do little or nothing — accepting the status quo as the best of the available alternatives. It depends on the scenario, the players, and many other factors. Rock wins… unless it opposes paper. Paper defeats rock, but loses to scissors. And scissors are destroyed by rock. 

Which approach should Israel employ, and when? Rock, paper, or scissors? There is no single go-to answer.  No one lever will work every time. Intuiting which approach to employ, and when, is the difference between success, a neutral outcome, or abject failure. 

But that is not what I am asking. I am not interested in rehashing the global, regional, and domestic policy questions, or Israeli (or American politics), or speculating  upon strongly held “certitudes”. Israel is fated to live alongside the Arab population wherever the borders are drawn and whatever the national, regional and global framework of that co-existence. It is not a matter of if, but of how and when. 

—-

But I am posing a very different question: At the cosmic and existential levels, and in the spirit of Jewish and human history, it is a natural instinct to contemplate why such a thing is happening to us. Why has the Reboinoisheloilum placed Klal Yisroel in such a precarious position at this juncture in our history?

We have all heard the absurd suggestions of the fundamentalists that the Shoah happened because one group of Jews abandoned the Toirah.  We are also aware of the absurd mythos that suggests that the Jews in the Shoah died because they were passive in the face of the human and technological blitzkrieg of the Nazis and their allies, which is essentially a “blame the victim” philosophy echoing classic anti Semitic tropes. Both are the product of horrific self righteous, self serving speculation. They may scratch an emotional, philosophical, or nationalist itch, but are insults to the dead and the survivors, as well as to Hakadoishboruchhu Himself. Is Rabbi X so brilliant as to understand the motivations of the Divine? Is Person Y so insightful as to be able to examine the incomprehensible and determine that the “correct answer” is 32? Such speculations are utter nonsense.

But in the grand tradition of the Toirah and the Neviim, the prophets, is there a cosmic reason why Klal Yisroel is being punished? And is there something that we can do differently that will in some way positively impact our collective fate on a cosmic level?

We understand that one cannot truly “know” the Divine intent. So what can we know?

Perhaps we are being punished for the acts of others. We are told by the Toirah, 

:ה׳ ה׳ אֵל רַחוּם וְחַנּוּן אֶרֶךְ אַפַּיִם וְרַב־חֶסֶד וֶאֱמֶת

נֹצֵר חֶסֶד לָאֲלָפִים נֹשֵׂא עָוֺן וָפֶשַׁע וְחַטָּאָה וְנַקֵּה לֹא יְנַקֶּה פֹּקֵד עֲוֺן אָבוֹת עַל־בָּנִים וְעַל־בְּנֵי בָנִים עַל־שִׁלֵּשִׁים וְעַל־רִבֵּעִים׃

(Shmois, Perek Lamid Daled, Pasookim Vuv and Zayin)

Aibishter Aibishter is a compassionate and gracious diety, slow to anger, abounding in kindness and faithfulness. Extending kindness to the thousandth generation, forgiving iniquity, transgression, and sin—yet not remitting all punishment, but visiting the iniquity of parents upon children and children’s children, upon the third and fourth generations.

(https://www.sefaria.org/Exodus.34.6-7)

Perhaps we are being punished for the sins of our ancestors. Perhaps they committed transgressions against Hakadoishboruchhu or other human beings. However, if we are not the cause of our current plight, we may perhaps be unable to repair the situation ourselves. 

However, we are also told by the Navi Yechezkel, the prophet Ezekiel, 

הַנֶּפֶשׁ הַחֹטֵאת הִיא תָמוּת בֵּן לֹא־יִשָּׂא בַּעֲוֺן הָאָב וְאָב לֹא יִשָּׂא בַּעֲוֺן הַבֵּן צִדְקַת הַצַּדִּיק עָלָיו תִּהְיֶה וְרִשְׁעַת (רשע) [הָרָשָׁע] עָלָיו תִּהְיֶה׃

(Yechezkel Perek Yood Khess, Pasook Khuff)

Only the person who sins shall die. A child shall not share the burden of a parent’s guilt, nor shall a parent share the burden of a child’s guilt; the righteousness of the righteous shall be accounted to them alone, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be accounted to them alone.

(https://www.sefaria.org/Ezekiel.18.20)

We are not prisoners to the flaws of others. We are not punished for the actions of our ancestors. Our fate “is not in our stars but in ourselves”. 

So if we cannot know the will of the Divine, and cannot fault our ancestors, how can we know the cause, and more significantly, how can we know what steps to take, what changes to make in our nation, our community, and/ or ourselves in order bring about an end to this period of darkness?

—-

I would like to suggest that we cast away our self-assuredness, and instead try to imagine that we are among the hostages. We are exhausted and scared and hungry. We are the mercy of the darkest forces imaginable. We are suffering deep psychological trauma, if not physical distress and abuse, every single day. We are underground. We have not seen the sun in days, if not weeks. We are having trouble breathing. We have no optimism. We have all but lost hope.

We need first and foremost to survive. Yet we also need to retain our dignity. If we are being held alongside other hostages, we need to care for each other, whether or not we come from the same “camps”, religious or secular, left or right, for we can only rely on each other. We are being held captive and abused by our mortal enemies, who are standing over us every moment of everyday everywhere we go. We may emanate from different communities, communities with deep philosophical or political differences. But we understand, in this Reboinoisheloilum-forsaken place, that such differences in perspective do not in any way make us mortal enemies.

We understand that what binds us together is far bigger and far richer than our differences. As a society it is important to have disagreements, for how else can we push ourselves and our nation to be better? But we must actively and diligently avoid descending into Sinas Chinum, rampant hatred within our own society, for as the Talmud tells us, 

אֲבָל מִקְדָּשׁ שֵׁנִי שֶׁהָיוּ עוֹסְקִין בְּתוֹרָה וּבְמִצְוֹת וּגְמִילוּת חֲסָדִים, מִפְּנֵי מָה חָרַב? מִפְּנֵי שֶׁהָיְתָה בּוֹ שִׂנְאַת חִנָּם. 

(Masekhes Yuma, Daf Tess, Amud Baiz)

However, considering that the people during the Second Temple period were engaged in Torah study, observance of mitzvot, and acts of kindness, and that they did not perform the sinful acts that were performed in the First Temple, why was the Second Temple destroyed? It was destroyed because there was Sinas Chinum, wanton hatred. 

(https://www.sefaria.org/Yoma.9b)

Ah Gutten Shabbos You Minuval

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Rabbi Pinky Schmeckelstein

Rosheshiva

Yeshivas Chipass Emmess

RabbiPinky@Gmail.Com

rabbipinkyschmeckelstein.substack.com