Spark of Jewish Experience

It disturbs and burns  me up when our fellow brethren are killed or maimed as a result of terrorism. Our heart bleeds seeing the widows of men who attended synagogue that awful day, seeing the mothers of the three boys kidnapped and murdered or any victims and their families of these barbaric acts. Having bad fortune can be a scary thing. My cousins in Israel are mortified in the thought of getting a knock on the door from the Israeli army informing them of tragedy of their sons status in the army. Unfortunately, my grandparents had such a knock sixty years ago, in Israel, informing them of the death of my uncle; it changed their lives forever. Adversity, in general, is something  that can rattle our lives if one lets it.

 One wonders how can this happen to us, we are G-d’s chosen people?  Doesn’t G-d love us?

There are people who preach “G-d loves his Jewish people”. They walk around constantly reaffirming “G-d loves me, G-d loves me”. It seems to me their reaction is slightly corny. I’m sorry to offend some people, however I was always one to passionately voice an opinion. There is a different way of looking at it. We are players in this world  and G-d dealt us our own tailor made deck and we have to know how to play the game; we have to do the commandments as best as possible….period. G-d loves everybody, but that’s irrelevant. Perhaps people need that extra boost of knowing G-d loves them. Hey, whatever motivates!

 However, after being made aware of a verse by Rabbi Yissachar Frand in this week’s parsha and numerous places in our holy Torah I’m retracting my approach that the existence of chocolate and coffee isn’t the predominant proof that G-d loves us.

Who is the biggest nation in the world today? It’s the Chinese. There are more Chinese in the world than any other people. The second largest nationality is the Indians.

 It seems like it’s a pretty sure bet that it’s not the Jews. As of matter of fact, in the course of history, it never was. Apparently, this is in contrast to many verses that in our Torah. When G-d told Avraham “I will make you into a great nation” [Bereshis 12:2] Avraham asked Him (according to the Medrash) “but You already have 70 nations who are descended from Noach, what will be so special about another nation?” The Almighty answered Avraham — “The nation that will descend from you is the nation about whom it will be said “For which is such a great nation?” (ki mi goy gadol) [Devorim 4:7] – that is the nation that will emerge from you.”

What is the meaning of “goy gadol” (literally, big nation)? There are approximately 12 million Jews in the world. Never have we ever been the “goy gadol”. So what is the interpretation of the aforementioned Medrash? What is the nature of this peculiar dialog between Avraham and the Almighty? We are no ware near the Chinese nor are we #2, the Indians.

  Similarly, at the beginning of our Parsha, G-d blesses Yaakov with the words “I am G-d, G-d of Avraham your father and G-d of Yitzchak; the ground upon which you are lying, to you will I give it and to your descendants. Your offspring shall be as the dust of the earth, and you shall spread out powerfully westward, eastward, northward, and southward…” [Bereshis 28:13-14].

The simple understanding of the blessing “Your offspring shall be as the dust of the earth” is that Yaakov’s descendants should be so plentiful that their numbers will be comparable to the dust of the earth.

       There are a number of other such similar  phrases  “Like the stars in Heaven” [Bereshis 22:17] and  that we should be “like the sand of the sea” (k’chol haYam) [Breishis 32:13]. All this connotes plentiful. It gives the notion of positive aura from G-d.

It seems like there is a deeper meaning to the references of G-d making us plentiful.

 There is a famouse Rashi in the begining of the book of Shemot referring to the consensus that was taken of children of  Yisrael. There have been many counts and Rashi gives a parable. Just like one who counts something precious over and over again, so too G-d counts his Jewish people over and over again. To further develop this idea, the verse in Bamidbar 1:2 says that G-d commanded Moshe to count the Jews according to the “number of names.” The Sforno says that this count was unlike any other national census. It’s true that the count kept track of how many Jews there were. However, as each Jew was counted, his name was given special consideration by G-d as well. The Sforno says that a person’s name reveals something deep about his essence. The fact that the counting involved considering each individual as a personality as well as a number shows us that G-d doesn’t only take great pleasure in counting us as a member of the Jewish people; He also loves just to see us and appreciate each of us as we are. Our personal strengths and even our struggles are very valuable to G-d and the count teaches us this concept.

The Torah uses interesting terminology when referring to the census. When Hashem commands Moshe to take the tally of the people He says “שאו את ראש בני ישראל” which literally means “raise the heads of the Bnei Yisrael.” However, the Midrash in Bamidbar Rabba 1:11 says that it can also mean “take off the heads of the Bnei Yisrael.” The Midrash explains that Hashem was hinting that if the Jews are worthy their heads will “be raised,” meaning that they will become successful and great. However, if the Jewish people do not merit, they will perish instead. A question to ponder on this Midrash is why did G-d choose to hint to this idea here? What does the census have to do with personal accountability?

The Sfat Emet, in the name of the Chiddushei HaRim, says that every person has a job in this world that only he can do. No one can do that job for him and he can’t do anyone else’s job. Every challenge and opportunity that one has in life is uniquely suited for him according to his strengths and weaknesses. The service G-d requires of each person is unique, and if a Jew fails to complete his mission in life he has deprived the entire world of all the things he had to offer. G-d specifically hints to this when commanding Moshe  to take the census. Every Jew should know that he matters a lot and his actions have a profound impact on the world. Therefore, the responsibility that being a Jew entails is enormous and ignoring one’s obligation deserves severe punishment.

 Furthermore being the descendants of Avraham, Yitzchak and Yaacov means we inherited their genes. The mold of leadership, ambassadors of the Almighty, their ability to overcome adversity and introduce G-d’s qualities to the world.

 Now, perhaps, we can understand what Gadol means. It’s a special connotation to the word “gadol”. “Gadol” does not mean “big” as in “numerically large”. Rav Dessler points out that the interpretation of “gadol” is revealed to us by its first appearance in the Torah [Bereshis 1:16] “et haMaor haGadol” (the great light, referring to the sun). “Gadol” means the ability to give to others. The sun is not called “gadol” because it is so big. The sun is called “gadol” because it provides light and heat for the entire universe.

Likewise, when Moshe  tells G-d “You have begun to show “Gadlecha” to your servant” [Devorim 3:24] what does “Gadlecha” mean? Rashi explains in Parshas V’Etchanan “this refers to the Attribute of your Goodness” (zu midat Tuvecha). The Almighty is the ultimate Giver. We give our uniqueness to the world.

Similarly, when we praise G-d in Shmoneh Esrei in the expression “haKel haGadol” the word Gadol does not mean “big”, it means He is the Master of Kindness and Goodness”. Another similarity is the meaning of “and Moshe became a Gadol and went out to see his brethren’s suffering” [Shmos 2:11]. Since Moshe was a “gadol” he wanted to become aware first hand of how his brethren were suffering and see how he might be able to help them.

The technical definition of “gadol” is “the capacity to do for others, to help others, to be concerned about others”.  When we talk about an “Adam Gadol” (a person who is a gadol), we are not speaking merely about erudition. It is not merely defining someone who knows the entire Torah. Every Gadol who we can think of was a person that was always concerned about the community. That is the definition of a Gadol.

Now we understand the dialogue between Avraham and G-d. There are plenty of nations in the world. There are 2 billion Chinese and a billion Indians. However, G-d promised Avraham that he would make him into a nation that is “gadol”, meaning a nation of people that care about others and have the capacity to give.

Rav Mordechai Kamenetsky gives an interesting interpretation of “Like the stars in Heaven”. The Almighty was not interested in having Avraham count the stars. He was showing him something symbolic. He wanted him to just look up at the heavens. Looking up at the heavens is looking at one of the great mysteries of the world. To this very day the stars, the heavens, the galaxies, the Milky Way fascinate man. They are one great mystery. The greatest scientists of our own generation are still baffled about what goes on in the deep recesses of outer space. Scientists will be studying the stars from now until the end of time.

The Almighty takes Avraham outside his tent and tells him “You don’t understand, Avraham, how your legacy will be preserved. After all, you have no children yet and you are an old man. I say that you will become a great nation, but you don’t understand. Go outside and try to understand the stars. If stars are one of the mysteries of this world that defy explanation — so too will your descendants defy explanation. Jews also are one of the great mysteries of the world.

Logically speaking, we should have been wiped off the face of the earth centuries ago. We are still around! This is a great mystery! Just like the stars and the heavens and the galaxies are a great mystery “so too shall be your descendants”.

The Medrash explains the very powerful significance of the choice of words “dust of the earth”. The blessing of “k’afar ha’Aretz” represents the history of the Jews. Everybody tramples over the dust of the earth, but in the end the dust of the earth always remains on top. That same dust ultimately covers those who trample it.

“From dust you are taken and to dust you will return” [Bereshis 3:19]. In the final analysis, the dust of the earth is always on top. This is the analogy and the blessing of “Your descendants will be like the dust of the earth.” Yaakov is told that his children will be trampled upon and spat upon, like the dust. But in the end, like the dust, they will remain on top.

G-d loves us and it shows from all the warm references throughout the Torah. However, we live by a higher standard then the other nations due to being the ambassadors of His Majesty. Therefore, our actions are scrutinized immeasurably by G-d as well as by other nations. We set the standards of humanity!

 Rabbi Akiva Grunblatt conveys to us an astonishing insight into Achashverosh searching for the next queen. Apparently, it wasn’t just Ester who was hiding from being selected for this contest. Most if not all of the nations of the world’ maidens were appalled by being selected. Apparently, once you are selected as a contestant, and they were tens of thousands, one is forbidden to be with another man for the rest of their lives.

This was a travesty, an enormous disaster decreed by a lunatic dictator…….and so it happened.

 Why!! It’s a major catastrophe of the time!!

 G-d runs the world and the Sages say the reason G-d allowed Achoshverosh to go forth with his plan is because when the Jews were expelled from Babylonia after the destruction of the first Temple, the nations of the world were making fun of the Jewish girls that they were tanned and ugly (today tan is preferred).. Here were the Jews devastated, destroyed and demoralized losing there spiritual essence, their temple and add insult to injury the non-Jews were ridiculing  them. Although the Jewish nation deserved being expelled nevertheless G-d protects the image of his chosen people.  As a result, many years later it was payback.

 There are many bumps in the road which delays our mission in this world or perhaps that is the mission and that is dealing with those bumps. But what we learn through the many references about G-d’ affection towards us, in the Torah, is that we are special! G-d has an insatiable love for us and He is there to help us with our mission. We have a special and responsible  mission, one that only we can uniquely accomplish!