Wake up and Smell the Parched Earth

As I have pointed out many times, people are all too willing to place the blame for our problems elsewhere. It's the chilonim, the eirev rav, the Arabs, the Americans, maybe even little green men from Mars. We concentrate on digging up obscure Midrashic references to prove that such and such an enemy is Edom, or Gog, or some other enemy that the Nevi'im predicted. After all, goes the argument, we are close to the time of the Geula now, and it will come whether or not we deserve it, so lets just try to fit the current situation into the prophecies so we will know what to expect, and whom to hate the most.

I suppose I should be comforted that so many people know what God is thinking, but I'm not. I also think I have some small inkling into His thinking, but it differs radically from the others.

Let's skip the obscure Midrashim and look at the simple P'shat in the Torah. We just read the second paragraph of the Sh'ma, in Parshat Eikev. The main difference between the first two paragraphs of the Sh'ma is that this one speaks quite clearly of the concept of s'char v'onesh, reward and punishment. And it is very clear (as the Hebrew version of the saying goes, black on white) in what it is saying: (D'varim 11:13-17)

If you do the Mitzvot, you will have plentiful rain and plentiful harvests. IF YOU SIN, THERE WILL BE NO RAIN AND YOU WILL BE LOST FROM THE LAND.

It doesn't say, if the goyim hate you. It doesn't talk about a few apostates. It is talking collectively to ALL of B'nei Yisrael, meaning especially US, the ones who actually believe and claim that we are keeping the Torah!

(You will tell me it talks about idolatry specifically; however it is clear from all the sources in the Torah and Chazal that any major failure to listen to the Torah works the same way.)

As I pointed out in regards to Tochecha, Israel is in the midst of it's worst drought in modern times. (Here's a recent audio link from Rusty Mike Radio with good information.) Yet I have barely heard a peep from the finger-pointers about it! You can't blame this on Dubya or Obama; Arafat and Abbas didn't stop the rain; and Sharon and Olmert didn't 'disengage' the rain clouds from our skies. So who is left to blame? They don't want to say it.

Drought comes to Israel because of the sins of the Jews. Period. Yes, there is global warming involved, and yes, water is wasted here, and yes, the government could do more towards desalinization, but the bottom line is it hasn't rained much in five years. There can only be one reason.

One other point. Last year was a Sh'mita year in Israel. One of the causes, according to Chazal, for the first Churban and Exile was the neglecting of Sh'mita...the Tochecha speaks of the land finally getting it's rest while we are gone. (Vayikra 26:34-35) The Sh'mita year we just passed through was rife with an increase of sinat chinam, poor Rabbinic decisions leading to forged Kashrut certifications, people being hoodwinked to go against the beliefs of their own Rabbis, and more Israelis eating actual forbidden produce than any time since the chalutzim started returning to the land. So while more people were able to follow the laws as they were done in the time of Chazal, it was at the cost of all that evil. I don't think Hashem was very pleased with us last year. (I will try to find time for another post on this subject.)

How many wake-up calls do we need? As long as we frum people are full of hatred, as long as we cheat in business, as long as we do all the other sins that we like to cover up, the situation can only get worse. We need to start changing, NOW.

Sh'ma Yisrael -- Back to Square One

This week's Parsha, VaEtchanan, is the source of the Sh'ma, which we say in our davening at least twice daily...along with the Amida, it is the centerpiece. When we say it, we are supposed to concentrate on what it means, as well as on the fact that by saying it we are accepting upon ourselves Ol Malchut Shamayim, the yoke of the Kingdom of Heaven.

So what exactly does this little phrase mean? The words seem simple enough "Listen Israel, Hashem is our God, Hashem is One." But there are many, many interpretations as to what it is actually saying to us.

I would like to share one that I heard from Rav Shlomo Riskin at one of his Motzaei Shabbat T'shuva drashot in Yerushalaim. (I may have heard it earlier in my life, but this is the time that it stuck.):

"Listen Yisrael, right now Hashem is OUR God, but someday Hashem will be One for the entire world."

Our task in the world is to MAKE Hashem One for the entire world. (Like the end of Aleinu, quoting Zechariah 14:9 "...On THAT DAY Hashem will be one and His name One.") It won't happen until we make it so! That is the charge that Moshe gave us in the Sh'ma. We have the Torah as our tool, and we must become a true Or LaGoyim to bring it about.

We are not doing that job very well. But worse, I think we have fallen back and are now failing at the FIRST part, "Listen Yisrael." Israel isn't listening to Hashem!

I'm not talking about the non-religious. I'm talking about the large number of frum Jews who keep the mitzvot for themselves, but could care less about anyone outside of their communities. Treif they won't eat, Shabbat they won't break, but anyone different from them they won't care about. Or more likely they look down on them. Not just non-dati Jews or non-Jews, but any dati group that has a different level of observance.

Many years ago in New York, before he made Aliya, Rav Riskin spoke of "Kitzur Shulchan Aruch Jews." They carry around a checklist, he said, of the behaviors that they think you should have. If you match up with the checklist, you're acceptable, and if not you are to be looked down on. They think, he said, that they have God in their back pocket!

People who think they are in control of Hashem, instead of the other way around, aren't listening. And if they are not listening, then Hashem isn't even One for the Jewish people. In that case, how are we supposed to make His Name One for the entire world? So the entire Sh'ma is cast aside and forgotten, no matter how loudly they shout it in shul.

We need to go back to the beginning. Forget our own arrogant judgementalism (remember, I'm talking to myself here as well...I know what I sound like) and join with the rest of Yisrael in listening. That will make Hashem One for us again; then we can go on to make His Name One for the universe.