Wednesday, November 13, 2024
Laughter
THEY SAY THAT laughter is the best medicine. Though it is definitely not always the best medicine in every situation, it is certainly a good one in the right place, at the right time. Who doesn’t feel healthier after a good, hearty, endorphin-stimulating laugh?
Personally, I not only enjoy a good laugh, I really enjoy causing one. There is something very gratifying in making someone else laugh, especially when the humor is clean. Crude language and rude humor are just a result of a lack of self-dignity, evidence that a person is far more body-oriented than soul-oriented. As the Zohar says, “You can tell the quality of a person by how they speak.”
It is interesting how something seemingly as trivial as laughter should play such an important role in life, and in Jewish history. The name of our second forefather, Yitzchak, is chosen by God and based upon it. The announcement of his impending birth by God was met with laughter from his father and mother, albeit for different reasons. And later in the parsha, when Lot tries to warn his sons-in-law about Sdom’s impending doom, the Torah says that Lot seemed more like a comedian to them (Bereishis 19:14). Even God is said to laugh on occasion.
When Sarah Imeinu explains the meaning of her long-awaited son’s name, she says:
God has made laughter for me; whoever hears will rejoice over me. (Bereishis 21:6)
Laughter is both obvious and mysterious. It’s such an integral part of life, and yet so few people understand why. The’ll spend good money to have a comedian crack them up for an hour, but spend little time using laughter to get through life. That’s part of the mystery.
What is even more ironic is that Yitzchak represents the concept of humor, and yet he is the least humorous of the three Avos. He comes off being so straight and serious, and represents the trait of Gevurah which seems antithetical to the kind of laid-backness that humor seems to promote. But there is this one story that involves Yitzchak that kind of turns all of that on its head:
In the future, The Holy One, Blessed is He, will say to Avraham. “Your children have sinned against Me.” He will answer Him, “Master of the Universe! Let them be wiped out to sanctify Your Name!” He (God) will say, “I will tell this to Ya’akov who experienced the pain of rearing children, and maybe he will ask for mercy for them.” He (God) will say to him (Ya’akov), “Your children have sinned,” but he [too] will answer Him, “Master of the Universe! Let them be wiped out to sanctify Your Name!” He [God] will say, “There is no logic in old men, and no counsel in children!” So He will say to Yitzchak, “Your children have sinned against Me.” He will answer, “Master of the Universe! Are they my children and not Your children? When [receiving the Torah] they said ‘We will do’ before ‘we will listen’ before You, You called them, ‘Yisroel my son, my firstborn.’ And now they are my sons, and not Your sons?! Besides, how much have they [really] sinned? How many years does a person live? Seventy. Subtract [the first] twenty for which You do not punish a person, [and] fifty remain. Subtract twenty-five [years] for the nights, [and] twenty-five remain. Subtract twelve-and-a-half [years used] for prayer, eating, and personal needs, [and] twelve-and-a-half [years] remain [for sinning]. If You will bear all of it, then good. If not, half can be on me and half on You. And should You say they must all be upon me, I [already] offered myself up before You [at the Akeidah]!” (Shabbos 89b)
The piece of aggadata from the Gemora is interesting for a number of reasons, but at least two of them are how both Avraham, who challenged God on behalf of the wicked people of Sdom, and Ya’akov, who had risked everything to build his family, had been ready to let God destroy their descendants without even a fight. The other surprising thing is how Yitzchak Avinu, who never made light of anything while in this world, seems to make light of God’s willingness to wipe out his descendants in order to save them. Talk about a reversal of roles!
Laughter seems a lot like pain, except with the opposite effect. We automatically feel pain to warn us about situations that can harm us so we can avoid them. Laughter is also an automatic physiological response to specific stimuli and it says, “This is good. We should get more of this.”
The other thing about pain is that it focuses a person on the negative, and maybe even cause fear as well. Laughter makes life seem positive and results in a sense of calm. Pain makes a person forget about the good in life, and can make people lose their dignity and desire to continue. Laughter makes people feel good about life and themselves.
Interestingly enough, irony plays a central role in both pain and laughter. Irony, in its broadest sense, is the juxtaposition of what on the surface appears to be the case and what is actually the case or to be expected, to a person’s upsetting or uplifting surprise.
When the irony is negative, like Eisav when he later lost his blessings because he earlier willingly sold his birthright, pain results. When the irony is positive, like when Avraham and Sarah parented Yitzchak past the age for usually doing so, a person laughs. Many of the best jokes take advantage of such positive irony. But the real advantage of laughter, and its Divine importance, will have to wait until next week’s parsha, b”H…
Personally, I not only enjoy a good laugh, I really enjoy causing one. There is something very gratifying in making someone else laugh, especially when the humor is clean. Crude language and rude humor are just a result of a lack of self-dignity, evidence that a person is far more body-oriented than soul-oriented. As the Zohar says, “You can tell the quality of a person by how they speak.”
It is interesting how something seemingly as trivial as laughter should play such an important role in life, and in Jewish history. The name of our second forefather, Yitzchak, is chosen by God and based upon it. The announcement of his impending birth by God was met with laughter from his father and mother, albeit for different reasons. And later in the parsha, when Lot tries to warn his sons-in-law about Sdom’s impending doom, the Torah says that Lot seemed more like a comedian to them (Bereishis 19:14). Even God is said to laugh on occasion.
When Sarah Imeinu explains the meaning of her long-awaited son’s name, she says:
God has made laughter for me; whoever hears will rejoice over me. (Bereishis 21:6)
Laughter is both obvious and mysterious. It’s such an integral part of life, and yet so few people understand why. The’ll spend good money to have a comedian crack them up for an hour, but spend little time using laughter to get through life. That’s part of the mystery.
What is even more ironic is that Yitzchak represents the concept of humor, and yet he is the least humorous of the three Avos. He comes off being so straight and serious, and represents the trait of Gevurah which seems antithetical to the kind of laid-backness that humor seems to promote. But there is this one story that involves Yitzchak that kind of turns all of that on its head:
In the future, The Holy One, Blessed is He, will say to Avraham. “Your children have sinned against Me.” He will answer Him, “Master of the Universe! Let them be wiped out to sanctify Your Name!” He (God) will say, “I will tell this to Ya’akov who experienced the pain of rearing children, and maybe he will ask for mercy for them.” He (God) will say to him (Ya’akov), “Your children have sinned,” but he [too] will answer Him, “Master of the Universe! Let them be wiped out to sanctify Your Name!” He [God] will say, “There is no logic in old men, and no counsel in children!” So He will say to Yitzchak, “Your children have sinned against Me.” He will answer, “Master of the Universe! Are they my children and not Your children? When [receiving the Torah] they said ‘We will do’ before ‘we will listen’ before You, You called them, ‘Yisroel my son, my firstborn.’ And now they are my sons, and not Your sons?! Besides, how much have they [really] sinned? How many years does a person live? Seventy. Subtract [the first] twenty for which You do not punish a person, [and] fifty remain. Subtract twenty-five [years] for the nights, [and] twenty-five remain. Subtract twelve-and-a-half [years used] for prayer, eating, and personal needs, [and] twelve-and-a-half [years] remain [for sinning]. If You will bear all of it, then good. If not, half can be on me and half on You. And should You say they must all be upon me, I [already] offered myself up before You [at the Akeidah]!” (Shabbos 89b)
The piece of aggadata from the Gemora is interesting for a number of reasons, but at least two of them are how both Avraham, who challenged God on behalf of the wicked people of Sdom, and Ya’akov, who had risked everything to build his family, had been ready to let God destroy their descendants without even a fight. The other surprising thing is how Yitzchak Avinu, who never made light of anything while in this world, seems to make light of God’s willingness to wipe out his descendants in order to save them. Talk about a reversal of roles!
Laughter seems a lot like pain, except with the opposite effect. We automatically feel pain to warn us about situations that can harm us so we can avoid them. Laughter is also an automatic physiological response to specific stimuli and it says, “This is good. We should get more of this.”
The other thing about pain is that it focuses a person on the negative, and maybe even cause fear as well. Laughter makes life seem positive and results in a sense of calm. Pain makes a person forget about the good in life, and can make people lose their dignity and desire to continue. Laughter makes people feel good about life and themselves.
Interestingly enough, irony plays a central role in both pain and laughter. Irony, in its broadest sense, is the juxtaposition of what on the surface appears to be the case and what is actually the case or to be expected, to a person’s upsetting or uplifting surprise.
When the irony is negative, like Eisav when he later lost his blessings because he earlier willingly sold his birthright, pain results. When the irony is positive, like when Avraham and Sarah parented Yitzchak past the age for usually doing so, a person laughs. Many of the best jokes take advantage of such positive irony. But the real advantage of laughter, and its Divine importance, will have to wait until next week’s parsha, b”H…
Tuesday, November 12, 2024
Israel: The Way Forward
by Nils A. Haug
Fortunately for Israel, former US President Donald J. Trump was just re-elected to serve a second term. Trump is already creating seismic global changes within days, long before his inauguration on January 20, 2025. Pictured from left to right: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, then US President Donald Trump, Bahraini Foreign Minister Abdullatif bin Rashid Al Zayani and UAE Foreign Minister Abdullah bin Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan at the signing ceremony of the Abraham Accords at the White House on September 15, 2020 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)
Israel, under the heroic but much criticized statesman, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu – a leader praised by historian Andrew Roberts as "The Churchill of the Middle East" – appears to have brought threats from Hamas in Gaza, and Hezbollah in Lebanon, under control and can now focus Israel's attention and military forces on other fronts.
Incomprehensibly, at this crucial period in Israel's existence, the chaotic domestic political situation has been cooking up unnecessary problems for the nation's security. Internal turmoil in Israel just serves to stimulate the hope for victory in its enemies, and less hope for the quick release of Israeli and other hostages Hamas is holding. "Hamas," wrote JNS editor-in-chief Jonathan Tobin, "views the unrest inside the Jewish state as an asset."
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- Fortunately for Israel, former US President Donald J. Trump was just re-elected to serve a second term. Within hours, Hamas indicated that now might be a good time to talk about peace. Qatar, perhaps concerned that its days of double-dealing might be coming to an end, announced it would be "stalling" its role as a mediator between the US and Hamas. The landslide victory of Trump in the US election this week appears finally to be restoring deterrence.
- Israel's society is politically and ideologically split. On one side are Israelis who understandably want their relatives back, and have been hoping for a ceasefire. Sadly, they are probably unaware that Iran, Qatar and Hamas, are loath to relinquish the only bargaining chip they have, and will undoubtedly drag out releasing even one hostage as long as they can.
- [A]fter 13 months of futile ceasefire negotiations, many Israelis appear to have trouble realizing that if Hamas and its backers, Iran and Qatar, so wished, the hostages would be home by now.
- If the priority of Israeli progressives were to rescue the hostages, they would demand that Hamas release them. "The slogan for freeing the hostages," wrote British journalist Douglas Murray, "... should never have been 'Being them home.' It should be 'Give them back.' Now."
- Murray has also noted that for years, the Biden administration has put all its efforts into trying to oust Netanyahu when it would probably have been better off putting all its efforts into ousting the Iranian regime.
- Israel's progressives would also have called on the international community to pressure Iran and Qatar, rather than hector their own prime minister. Sadly, these Israelis, some of them in desperation to see their loved ones again, are playing into the hands of Hamas. Its leaders must be delighted to see a divided Israel turn against itself. Painfully, Israeli activists are doing damage to both their country and the hostages.
- Among Israel's most vocal protestors are prominent Israeli politicians, backed -- and some funded -- by the Biden administration. The US appears to desire someone more malleable in Israel's number-one spot: a person, one assumes, willing to do whatever the US dictates.
- The Biden administration's goal appears to be establishment of a terrorist Palestinian state on Israel's border. In addition, Iran will soon be able to produce nuclear weapons with which to bomb Israel to oblivion. This monumentally destabilizing objective was proposed by the Obama administration in its illegitimate 2015 "Iran nuclear deal," officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action. (JCPOA)...
- As American journalist Daniel Greenfield points out: "The appeasement lobby only has one big idea when it comes to Islamic terrorists and any other enemies: 1. Give them land..."
- Evidence shows that, unfortunately, this strategy does not work. The failure of the Oslo Accords only emphasizes that fact. The "ceiling" of each offer becomes the "floor" of the next one, as each concession is pocketed in the expectation of more.
- Meanwhile, in the USA, President-elect Donald J. Trump is already creating seismic global changes within days, long before his inauguration on January 20, 2025.
Fortunately for Israel, former US President Donald J. Trump was just re-elected to serve a second term. Trump is already creating seismic global changes within days, long before his inauguration on January 20, 2025. Pictured from left to right: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, then US President Donald Trump, Bahraini Foreign Minister Abdullatif bin Rashid Al Zayani and UAE Foreign Minister Abdullah bin Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan at the signing ceremony of the Abraham Accords at the White House on September 15, 2020 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)
Israel, under the heroic but much criticized statesman, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu – a leader praised by historian Andrew Roberts as "The Churchill of the Middle East" – appears to have brought threats from Hamas in Gaza, and Hezbollah in Lebanon, under control and can now focus Israel's attention and military forces on other fronts.
Incomprehensibly, at this crucial period in Israel's existence, the chaotic domestic political situation has been cooking up unnecessary problems for the nation's security. Internal turmoil in Israel just serves to stimulate the hope for victory in its enemies, and less hope for the quick release of Israeli and other hostages Hamas is holding. "Hamas," wrote JNS editor-in-chief Jonathan Tobin, "views the unrest inside the Jewish state as an asset."
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President Trump’s Middle East challenges: Reversible economic sanctions or irreversible regime-change?
“I’m not going to start wars, I’m going to stop wars,” proclaimed President-elect Trump in his November 6 victory message.
*Bolstering the US’ posture of deterrence is the most critical prerequisite for stopping/minimizing wars and terrorism. The US’ posture of deterrence is reflected by the size and structure of the US’ defense budget, avoiding appeasement of rogue entities, and dwelling on reality (as frustrating as it is) rather than alternate reality.
*The US’ posture of deterrence has been undermined by the State Department, which was evicted from the center stage of foreign policy formulations during President Trump’s first term. Trump opposes Foggy Bottom’s multilateral/cosmopolitan state of mind, which prefers a coordinated policy with the UN, international organizations and Europe, rather than a unilateral, independent US national security and foreign policy. The State Department has also subordinated Middle East reality to its own alternate reality, which has led to its systematic failure in the Middle East (e.g., the 1978-9 stabbing the Shah in the back, and facilitating the Ayatollahs’ rise to power; the embrace of Saddam Hussein until his 1990 invasion of Kuwait; the 1993 cuddling of Arafat and ushering him to the Nobel Peace Prize; the 2009 betrayal of the pro-US Mubarak and the courting of the anti-US Moslem Brotherhood; the 2010 reference to the Arab Tsunami on the Arab Street, as if it were an Arab Spring and Facebook Revolution; the 2011 military offensive on Qadhafi, which transformed Libya into a major arena of anti-US Islamic terrorism; and pressuring Israel to conclude a series of accords with – and refrain from demolishing – Hamas, which bolstered Hamas’ terrorism and led to the October 7 atrocities).
*The US’ posture of deterrence has been severely undermined by the State Department’s policy toward Iran’s Ayatollahs regime, which has been transformed – since the February 1979 toppling of the Shah – from “the American Policeman of the Gulf” to an arch anti-US venomous octopus, stretching its tentacles from the Persian Gulf through the Middle East and Africa into Latin America and the US soil. The Ayatollahs have become the major global epicenter of anti-US wars, terrorism and drug trafficking, threatening the US homeland and the survival of all pro-US Arab regimes, especially the Arab oil producers. The Ayatollahs aspire to control 48% of global oil reserves and key routes of global trade, which would deal a major blow to Western economy.
*The US’ posture of deterrence has been severely undermined by the delusion that the diplomatic option/negotiation, supplemented with mega-billion-dollar-gestures could induce the Ayatollahs to abandon their 1,400-year-old fanatical vision, conduct good faith negotiations and accept peaceful coexistence. The architects of the diplomatic option have ignored the fact that rogue regimes bite the hands that feed them, as documented by the Ayatollahs, who took over the US Embassy – a few months following the US support in toppling the Shah - held 50 American hostages for 444 days, and emerged as a leading threat to the US, globally and domestically.
*Thus, the 45-year-old diplomatic option has dramatically bolstered the capabilities of Iran’s Ayatollahs as the chief epicenter of global anti-US terrorism, drug trafficking, proliferation of advance military systems and mega-billion-dollars of money laundering. Just like the Moslem Brotherhood, Hezbollah, Hamas and the PLO/PA, Iran’s Ayatollahs have been driven by a fanatical vision, which transcends monetary considerations. Moreover, this vision has been codified by their Constitution, education system and mosque sermons.
*The Ayatollahs’ fanatical vision mandates the elimination of enemies, such as the “apostate” Sunni regimes, the “infidel” West, the “Great American Satan,” and the “illegitimate” Zionist entity, which they view as the US’ vanguard in the Middle East.
*The Ayatollahs consider negotiation as a means to advance their anti-US vision, and not as a means to advance reconciliation with the US.
*Therefore, the Ayatollahs should not be partners to negotiation, but a target for regime-change. The potential cost of regime-change would be dwarfed by the cost of facing a nuclear Iran.
*At the same time, a series of peace accords ended the state of war between Israel and Egypt, Jordan, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Morocco and South Sudan, because – unlike the Ayatollahs, Hamas, the PLO/PA and Hezbollah - the national vision/aspiration of each Arab country does not mandate the elimination of Israel. In fact, the Saudi “Vision 2030” considers Israel as a partner, militarily, technologically and agriculturally.
*President Trump’s first term featured “maximum pressure” economic sanctions, which crippled the Ayatollahs’ economy, and constrained their capability to bolster terrorism and wars. However, as demonstrated by the 2021 suspension and softening of the sanctions, economic sanctions are reversible by a succeeding President. They reduce/delay the wrath of war and terrorism, but do not eliminate the threat.
*On the other hand, regime-change is irreversible, eliminates the threat, and cannot be restored by a succeeding President. Furthermore, it would significantly bolster the US’ strategic stature (including in Latin America, the US’ soft underbelly), by removing the Ayatollahs’ machete from the throats of all pro-US Arab regimes, eliminate the chief supporter of global Islamic terrorism, and induce Saudi Arabia and Oman (and possibly Kuwait, Indonesia and additional Moslem countries) to join the Abraham Accords.
*The Abraham Accords were conceived by ignoring the State Department’s preoccupation with the Palestinian issue and focussing on the national interests of the individual Arab country, as was done with Israel’s prior peace treaties with Egypt and Jordan. Contrary to the State Department’s conventional wisdom – which produced a litany of peace proposals that failed to produce peace - the Abraham Accords came to fruition, because they bypassed the Palestinian issue, denying the Palestinians a veto power over the peace process. The Abraham Accords validate that the State Department has been wrong to assume that the Palestinian issue is the crux of the Arab-Israeli conflict, the crown-jewel of the Arabs and a root cause of Middle East turmoil.
*While the State Department has been obsessed with a proposed Palestinian state, all pro-US Arab countries have limited their support of the proposed Palestinian state to talk, while their walk has been indifferent-to-negative. Arab leaders pay more attention to the Palestinian rogue walk than to the Palestinian moderate talk. Therefore, they consider the Palestinians as a role model of intra-Arab subversion, terrorism and treachery, due to Palestinian terrorism against their hosts in Egypt (1950s), Syria (1960s), Jordan (1968-70), Lebanon (1970-82) and Kuwait (1990). In addition, they are aware of the Palestinian collaboration with Nazi Germany, the Soviet Bloc, Ayatollah Khomeini, international terror organizations, Moslem Brotherhood terrorists, North Korea, Venezuela, Cuba, Russia and China. Therefore, they have concluded that a Palestinian state west of the Jordan River would add fuel to the Middle East fire, toppling the pro-US Hashemite regime east of the River, transforming Jordan into an arena of anti-US Islamic terrorism, triggering rogue ripple effects in the Arabian Peninsula (as well as in the US), threatening every oil-producing Arab regime and Egypt. This would be a bonanza for the Ayatollahs, Russia and China and a blow to the US economy and homeland security.
*On the other hand, Israel has emerged as a unique force and dollar multiplier for the US, and a leading innovation center for the US commercial and defense high-tech sectors (e.g., 250 US high tech giants operate research and development centers in Israel). Israel is the “Triple-A-Store” of the US defense and aerospace industries (increasing US export), and the leading battle-tested laboratory of the US defense industries (saving many years of research and development), Armed Forces (enhancing battle tactics), the intelligence community, counter-terrorism agencies and the FBI. Israel has been the largest US aircraft carrier (as stated by General Alexander Haig, a former NATO Supreme Commander and Admiral Elmo Zumwalt, a former Chief of Naval Operations), which does not require Americans on board, deployed in a critical area between the Mediterranean, the Red Sea, the Arabian Sea, the Indian Ocean and the Persian Gulf, sparing the US the need to manufacture and deploy (to the Middle East) a few more real aircraft carriers along with a few ground divisions, which would cost the US taxpayer $15-$20BN annually.
Monday, November 11, 2024
Hamas Must Be Defeated, Not Legitimized
by Khaled Abu Toameh
By negotiating with Hamas about the future of the Gaza Strip, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas is legitimizing the Iran-backed terror group and sending a message to the Palestinians and the rest of the world that he sees no problem with dealing with murderers and terrorists who committed the most horrific crimes. Pictured: Abbas hugs Russian President Vladimir Putin at the BRICS summit in Kazan, Russia on October 23, 2024. (Photo by Maxim Shipenkov/Pool/AFP via Getty Images)
More than a year after the October 7, 2023 Hamas-led attack on Israel, the Palestinian Authority (PA) continues to view the Iran-backed Islamist movement as a legitimate partner.
Last week, representatives of the PA's ruling Fatah faction (headed by PA President Mahmoud Abbas) and Hamas held talks in the Egyptian capital of Cairo to discuss establishing a joint administration to rule the Gaza Strip. An Egyptian source confirmed that the Fatah-Hamas discussions aim at to create a committee to manage the affairs of the Gaza Strip, in addition to pursuing efforts to reach a ceasefire there.
Another Egyptian security source was quoted as saying that the talks "aim to unify the Palestinian ranks and alleviate the suffering of the Palestinian people." According to the source, the Fatah and Hamas negotiators "showed more flexibility and positivity towards establishing a committee to manage the affairs of the Gaza Strip."
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- Hamas should not be permitted to play any role in the Gaza Strip after the war. This would allow the terror group to rearm and regroup and prepare for another October 7-style attack on Israel.
- By negotiating with Hamas about the future of the Gaza Strip, Abbas is legitimizing the Iran-backed terror group and sending a message to the Palestinians and the rest of the world that he sees no problem with dealing with murderers and terrorists who committed the most horrific crimes... As we have seen most recently in the Chinese Communist Party, Iran and Afghanistan, negotiating with terrorists and their equivalents simply does not work.
- Ever since Hamas seized control of the Gaza Strip in 2007, thousands of Palestinians have been killed in wars they initiated with Israel. With the help of Europe, Qatar and Iran, Hamas transformed the Gaza Strip, home to two million Palestinians, into one of the largest bases for Islamist terrorism in the Middle East.
- The assumption that Hamas would voluntarily give up its control of the Gaza Strip because of any unity agreement with Abbas is just laughable.
- The Biden administration chose to turn a blind eye to Abbas's efforts to legitimize Hamas. The US offered it a lifeline. A terror group committed to the elimination of Israel should have no role in any Palestinian government -- not in the West Bank and certainly not in the Gaza Strip. Such a group should be completely destroyed militarily and politically, and not invited to join any Palestinian government.
- As long as Iran's regime remains in place, torturing both its own people and others... there regrettably will be no peace. That is the only way to secure a truly peaceful future, not only for Israelis but for Palestinians and the Free World.
By negotiating with Hamas about the future of the Gaza Strip, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas is legitimizing the Iran-backed terror group and sending a message to the Palestinians and the rest of the world that he sees no problem with dealing with murderers and terrorists who committed the most horrific crimes. Pictured: Abbas hugs Russian President Vladimir Putin at the BRICS summit in Kazan, Russia on October 23, 2024. (Photo by Maxim Shipenkov/Pool/AFP via Getty Images)
More than a year after the October 7, 2023 Hamas-led attack on Israel, the Palestinian Authority (PA) continues to view the Iran-backed Islamist movement as a legitimate partner.
Last week, representatives of the PA's ruling Fatah faction (headed by PA President Mahmoud Abbas) and Hamas held talks in the Egyptian capital of Cairo to discuss establishing a joint administration to rule the Gaza Strip. An Egyptian source confirmed that the Fatah-Hamas discussions aim at to create a committee to manage the affairs of the Gaza Strip, in addition to pursuing efforts to reach a ceasefire there.
Another Egyptian security source was quoted as saying that the talks "aim to unify the Palestinian ranks and alleviate the suffering of the Palestinian people." According to the source, the Fatah and Hamas negotiators "showed more flexibility and positivity towards establishing a committee to manage the affairs of the Gaza Strip."
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Rav Kook's Ein Ayah: Differences between this World and the Next
Ein Ayah: Physical deficiencies will disappear totally when existence will reach its ultimate level of shleimut (completeness). In this world, where we are to progress toward shleimut, there are actually deficiencies that bring on higher levels. In fact, they are irreplaceable in obtaining certain attainments without which the world cannot be sustained.
Three areas that, according to the values of this world, are considered positive things, are: 1) eating and drinking; 2) procreation; 3) commerce. In order that these sustainers of life as we know it will exist, there is a need for negative traits to sustain them.
The existence of eating and drinking and, for that matter, any of a person's needs, requires jealousy. If not for jealousy, no skilled activity would come to fruition and people would not obtain those things that they need. This is the gist of the pasuk: "I saw the toil and the skill of activity, that it is the jealousy of man against his counterpart" (Kohelet 4:4).
Procreation has to do with the system of families. In order for it to exist, there must be a concept of hatred, for there could be no love without the existence of hatred, as love can be discerned only in contrast to hatred. Without it, there would be no place for families.
Because it is necessary for people to be involved in commerce, there is a need for competitiveness, which is the pillar of commerce. Only in this way does one merchant try to improve on that which another merchant offers, regarding such things as quality of the product, its delivery, etc.
All of these things, though, exist only in this world, where things are considered advantages as if by chance, without intrinsic value. This is because the advantages are just relative to the deficiencies that exist at that time. In contrast, when the world will reach its ideal state of shleimut, it will be a world of good alone. Then all of the contributing factors will also be real ma’a lot (high levels).
The shleimut of humankind is when man perfects his power to choose well to the extent that he is capable of doing. A person should truly desire to see how all of the existence will perfect his power of choice to its fullest. One of the concepts related to the shechina(Divine Presence) is the fulfillment of the Divine desire by means of human choice. There is no way of estimating how great this success will be. For the idea of shleimut through choice is great and wonderful in a way that we will understand only when it will be achieved.
The great spiritual attainment which surpasses the natural world is called an atara (crown). That is why the gemara describes people in the world to come as sitting with crowns on their heads. In other words, they possess that which they acquired through good choices in addition to the personal shleimut that they had naturally. The enjoyment they have is from exposure to the aura of the shechina, in other words, from the pleasantness of realizing the value of fulfilling the Divine desire through human choice. Therefore, the more one is able to succeed as a human to improve and become greater, the greater the pleasantness in the world to come. The significance of the aura of the shechina depends on the level of recognition of the value of the shleimut they achieved through choice. The absolute knowledge of the value is indeed known only to Hashem. However, the level of human understanding increases as a person goes from strength to strength.
Yisrael and Yishmael
Nasi HaYeshiva, Kerem B'Yavneh
Translated by Rav Meir Orlian (From the book, “Me’Invei Hakerem: Sefer Bereisheet”)
Yisrael and Yishmael are the only two nations that contain G-d’s Name, as it says in Pirkei D’Rabbi Eliezer (ch. 29):
Bilaam said: Of the seventy nations that G-d created in His world, he did not place His Name in any one of them, other than Yisrael. Since G-d equated Yishmael’s name with that of Yisrael: “Oh! Who will survive in his days,” as it says, “Oh! Who will survive when He imposes these!” (Bamidbar 24:23)
Pirkei D’Rabbi Eliezer states further:
Why is his name called Yishmael? Because G-d will hear the sound of the [Israel’s] groan from what Bnei Yishmael are destined to do in the Land in the end of days. Therefore, his name is called Yishmael, as it says, “Yishma E-l ve’yaanem” – “G-d will hear and answer them.” (Tehillim 55:20)
Radal (R. David Luria) explains that although the name Yishmael was given because G-d heard the voice of Hagar and the voice of the lad, nevertheless, since the name Yishmael is in the future tense, there must be two meanings, one for the past and one for the future.
Israel’s enemies are the four kingdoms: Babylonia, Persia, Greece and Rome. The question is, where does Yishmael fit in? After all, it is impossible to ignore this tremendous mass! The Ibn Ezra writes in Daniel (7:14), that indeed Yishmael is the fourth kingdom, whereas Greece and Rome are considered as one kingdom.
The Ramban on Parshat Balak rejects this position, and writes that the Ibn Ezra erred in this, “because their fear fell upon him.” The Maharal also explains that the criteria of the four kingdoms is not only their hatred of Israel, but also the taking away of sovereignty from Israel. They fight against G-d’s Kingdom, which is represented by Israel. On the other hand, Yishmael’s very strength is because Avraham pleaded on his behalf, “O that Yishmael may live before You” (Bereishit 17:18), and G-d granted his request, “Regarding Yishmael, I have heard you.” (17:20)
Yishmael does not come to rebel against G-d’s rule, to add another element to divinity, as Christianity does. They believe in One G-d. Therefore the four kingdoms are compared (in Daniel) to animals, whereas Yishmael, to a person. Yet, a “pereh adam” – “A wild donkey of a man.” (Bereisheet 16:12)
Rav S.R. Hirsch explains that a wild donkey refuses to accept discipline and yoke, but rather is free: “Like a wild donkey accustomed to the wilderness.” (Yirmiya 2:24) Therefore, “His hand against everyone, and everyone’s hand against him.” (Bereisheet 16:12)
In Hebrew (unlike English), the noun always precedes the adjective, as in “adam gadol” (great man). Thus in the phrase, “pereh adam,” the noun is “pereh” and the adjective is “adam.” The Chafetz Chaim already wrote that since the Torah is eternal, Yishmael will always be wild, and he added, “Who knows what this pereh adam is still liable to do to Israel.”
This idea is expressed in the names Yishmael and Yisrael. Yisrael indicates, “yishar E-l,” that we straighten ourselves in the direction of G-d, to walk in His ways. Yishmael is on account of the fact that G-d heard their voices; they subjugate, as if, G-d for their needs. They think that all of what they do is the Divine will; their wars are Jihad, holy wars, and all of their actions – in the name of Allah.
Not long ago, there was a convention of the Islamic clergy to discuss the question of how to explain the fact that this “infection” of the Jewish state got stuck in the middle of the large Islamic region. Their conclusion was that G-d sent Israel into the midst of the Moslem region in order to make it easier to destroy them, what Hitler was unsuccessful in because of the Jews’ great dispersion.
There are those who explain that this attitude is a form of idolatry. They worship, “the dust that is on their feet,” believing that wherever they go, G-d is with them.
Pirkei D’Rabbi Eliezer (ch. 29) relates that Sarah saw Yishmael shooting an arrow at Yitzchak in order to kill him, and said, “The son of that slavewoman shall not inherit with my son, with Yitzchak.” (Bereishit 21:10) Why does the issue of the inheritance trouble Sarah so much?
The sefer, Minchat Ani (by the author of the Aruch Laner) explains that Sarah that Yishmael did want Yitzchak to inherit together with him, but rather he would inherit everything.
Rav Hutner explains that for this reason Yishmael hates Israel so much, since the children of the concubines received presents from Avraham, whereas Yishmael was chased away. Moreover, all of this was after he thought that he was the only child. Therefore, his disappointment was so great, and he burned with hatred.
Why did Yishmael think that everything was his? The Netziv explains that Sarah was punished by being taken to Avimelech’s house because she laughed to herself and said, “my husband is old.” (Bereisheet 18:12) There is an element of quid quo pro here. When she said, “my husband is old,” there was a lack of faith that Avraham was capable of fathering. Her punishment was that the skeptics of the time were given room to say that Yitzchak was actually not the son of Avraham, but rather of Avimelech, and that Sarah became pregnant from him. This was the meaning behind Yishmael’s mocking.
“The child grew and was weaned. Avraham made a great feast on the day Yitzchak was weaned. Sarah saw the son of Hagar, the Egyptian, ... mocking.” (Bereisheet 21:8-9) The Sforno writes: “He was ridiculing the feast, saying that she became pregnant from Avimelech.” “Sarah laughed in herself saying, ... and my husband is old.” (Bereisheet 18:12) Now she saw Yishmael mocking that Yitzchak is not his son.
This is the source of the Yishmaelites contention on our holding of Eretz Yisrael, since if Yitzchak is the son of the Philistine, then Eretz Yisrael belongs to the descendents of Avraham, who are the Yishmaelites.
With this we can understand Chazal’s teaching that Yishmael repented. Their source is from the pasuk, “Yitzchak and Yishmael, his sons, buried him” (Bereishit 25:9), that Yishmael allowed Yitzchak to go before him. What is the proof from this that he repented? Since Yishmael had claimed that Yitzchak was not Avraham’s son, by allowing him to go first, he acknowledged that Yitzchak is, indeed, a son following his father’s coffin.
The Zohar in Parshat Va’era teaches that Yishmael’s angel complained that he was rejected and that Yitzchak was chosen and received the inheritance of the Land, even though he, too, is circumcised. G-d answered that this was to distance Yishmael from the ultimate clinging, and He gave them a share in the Holy Land below. Thus, Yishmael is destined to rule the Land so long as it is empty, and they will prevent Bnei Yisrael from returning to their place, until the merit of the circumcision runs out.
Eretz Yisrael is the land of faith and Providence: “G-d’s eyes are upon it.” (Devarim 11:12) Only believers can dwell in it. So long as it is empty, believers like Yishmael can dwell in it, but when Israel, who are steadfast believers, arrive, their merit expires.
Therefore there is a double obligation to increase our faith in these times, to overcome Yishmael’s right to the Land.
Now we are approaching the end: “A dread! Great darkness fell upon him.” (Bereisheet 15:12) “A dread...” – these allude to the four kingdoms; “upon him” alludes to Yishmael, and over them the son of David will sprout, as it says, “His enemies I will clothe with shame, but upon him, his crown will sprout.” (Tehillim 132:18) R. Chaim Vital writes that all of the kingdoms wanted to convert us, and only through this came to murder, unlike Yishmael, whose goal is to eradicate Yisrael’s name from the world, and does not suffice with converting faith.
The Rambam writes in Iggeret Teiman that there was no nation worse to Israel than Yishmael, and about them David said, “Woe unto me, for I dwelled with Meshech, I dwelled with the tents of Kedar.” (Tehillim 120:5) Despite the fact that we bear their yoke without complaining, and their subjugation and their lies and falsehoods are more than we can handle, despite all this, we cannot be saved from the magnitude of their evil and recklessness. As much as we chase after peace with them, they chase us with war, as David said, “I am peace; but when I speak, they are for war.” (120:7)
Rav Kook on Parashat VaYeira: The Salt of Sodom
Washing after Meals
The Gemara makes an interesting connection between the evil city of Sodom and the mitzvah of washing hands at meals. Chazal decreed that one should wash hands before and after eating bread, as a form of ritual purification, similar to partial immersion in a mikveh. The rabbinical decree to wash hands before meals is based on the purification the Kohanim underwent before eating their terumah offerings.
The Gemara in Chulin 105b, however, gives a rather odd rationale for mayim acharonim, washing hands after the meal. The Sages explained that this washing removes the salt of Sodom, a dangerous salt that can blind the eyes. What is this Sodomite salt? What does it have to do with purification? How can it blind one’s eyes?
The Selfishness of the Sodomites
In order to answer to these questions, we must first understand the root source of Sodom’s immorality. The people of Sodom were obsessed with fulfilling their physical desires. They concentrated on self-gratification to such a degree that no time remained for kindness towards others. They expended all of their efforts chasing after material pleasures, and no energy was left for helping the stranger.
Purifying the Soul When Feeding the Body
A certain spiritual peril lurks in any meal that we eat. Our involvement in gastronomic pleasures inevitably increases the value we assign to such activities, and decreases the importance of spiritual activities, efforts that truly perfect us. As a preventative measure, Chazal decreed that we should wash our hands before eating. Performing his ritual impresses upon us the imagery that we are like the priests, eating holy bread baked from terumah offerings. The physical meal we are about to partake suddenly takes on a spiritual dimension.
Despite this preparation, our involvement in the physical act of eating will reduce our sense of holiness to some degree. To counteract this negative influence, we wash our hands after the meal. With this ritual cleansing, we wash away the salt of Sodom, the residue of selfish preoccupation in sensual pleasures. This dangerous salt, which can blind our eyes to the needs of others, is rendered harmless through the purifying ritual of mayim acharonim.
(Gold from the Land of Israel. pp. 44-45. Adapted from Ein Eyah vol. I, p. 21 by Rav Chanan Morrison)
Birth and Sacrifice: Akeidat Yitzhak and the Story of the Jewish nation
The story of the miraculous birth of Yitzchak to his ninety-year-old mother Sarah is not only one of the highlights of the parsha but it is one of the foundation narratives of all of Jewish history. Without Yitzchak there simply isn’t a Jewish people. The birth of Yitzchak is one of the triumphal moments of Jewish life, a reflection of God’s mercy and guidance in creating His special people.
It is therefore all the more surprising – indeed shocking – that the story of Avraham sacrificing Yitzchak appears in this very same parsha. In effect, this story of the binding of Yitzchak on the altar of Mount Moriah completely negates the miraculous birth of Yitzchak.
Of what necessity or purpose is the miracle of Sarah’s giving birth to Yitzchak if the entire matter will be undone by the succeeding story of Avraham sacrificing Yitzchak? What is the point that the Torah wishes to teach us by unfolding this seemingly cruel sequence of events? Is not God, so to speak, mocking His own Divine Will and plans by this sequence of events, recorded for us in this most seminal parsha in the Torah?
Much ink has been used in dealing with this most difficult issue. It has been the subject of much commentary in Midrash and Jewish thought throughout the ages. Amongst the many mysterious and inscrutable issues that God raises for our analysis in His Torah, this contradiction between the miraculous birth of Yitzchak and the challenge of his being bound on the altar ranks high on that long list of Heaven’s behavior that requires Jews to have faith and acceptance.
But is this not the nature of things in today’s Jewish world as well? After the most negative of extraordinary events of sadistic cruelty that we call the Holocaust, miraculous positive events have occurred to the Jewish people. The old woman of Israel, beaten and worn, was revived and gave birth to a state, to a vibrant language, to myriad institutions of Torah learning and good deeds, to the miraculously successful ingathering of the exile communities to their homeland, to a scale of Jewish affluence unmatched in Jewish history.
In short, the story of the Jewish people in its resilient glory over the last seventy-five years defies rational and easily explained historical logic. And yet the danger and tension of open hostility to the State of Israel, the threats to its very existence, the attempts to delegitimize it and boycott its bounty, all are evident in our current world.
In the story of Yitzchak, the Torah teaches that we have to live in a world of almost absurd contradictions. Logic plays a very small role in the events of history that occur to the people of Yitzchak. Yitzchak is a product of miracles and his very maturation and survival is also a product of supernatural stuff. So too is this the story of the Jewish people in our age. Just as Yitzchak survived and proved successful, so too shall we, his progeny, survive and be successful and triumphant.
It is therefore all the more surprising – indeed shocking – that the story of Avraham sacrificing Yitzchak appears in this very same parsha. In effect, this story of the binding of Yitzchak on the altar of Mount Moriah completely negates the miraculous birth of Yitzchak.
Of what necessity or purpose is the miracle of Sarah’s giving birth to Yitzchak if the entire matter will be undone by the succeeding story of Avraham sacrificing Yitzchak? What is the point that the Torah wishes to teach us by unfolding this seemingly cruel sequence of events? Is not God, so to speak, mocking His own Divine Will and plans by this sequence of events, recorded for us in this most seminal parsha in the Torah?
Much ink has been used in dealing with this most difficult issue. It has been the subject of much commentary in Midrash and Jewish thought throughout the ages. Amongst the many mysterious and inscrutable issues that God raises for our analysis in His Torah, this contradiction between the miraculous birth of Yitzchak and the challenge of his being bound on the altar ranks high on that long list of Heaven’s behavior that requires Jews to have faith and acceptance.
But is this not the nature of things in today’s Jewish world as well? After the most negative of extraordinary events of sadistic cruelty that we call the Holocaust, miraculous positive events have occurred to the Jewish people. The old woman of Israel, beaten and worn, was revived and gave birth to a state, to a vibrant language, to myriad institutions of Torah learning and good deeds, to the miraculously successful ingathering of the exile communities to their homeland, to a scale of Jewish affluence unmatched in Jewish history.
In short, the story of the Jewish people in its resilient glory over the last seventy-five years defies rational and easily explained historical logic. And yet the danger and tension of open hostility to the State of Israel, the threats to its very existence, the attempts to delegitimize it and boycott its bounty, all are evident in our current world.
In the story of Yitzchak, the Torah teaches that we have to live in a world of almost absurd contradictions. Logic plays a very small role in the events of history that occur to the people of Yitzchak. Yitzchak is a product of miracles and his very maturation and survival is also a product of supernatural stuff. So too is this the story of the Jewish people in our age. Just as Yitzchak survived and proved successful, so too shall we, his progeny, survive and be successful and triumphant.
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