Shavuot I: A Gathering of One
The LORD said to Abram, “Go forth from your native land and from your father’s house to the land that I will show you.
It started off with a single person who received a command from Gd in Harran, south-western Syria.
Hitherto this verse, we know the following salient facts about Abram from the written Torah:
When Terah had lived 70 years, he begot Abram, Nahor, and Haran.
Now this is the line of Terah: Terah begot Abram, Nahor, and Haran; and Haran begot Lot. (28) Haran died in the lifetime of his father Terah, in his native land, Ur of the Chaldeans.
... the name of Abram’s wife being Sarai...
Now Sarai was barren, she had no child.
Terah took his son Abram, his grandson Lot the son of Haran, and his daughter-in-law Sarai, the wife of his son Abram, and they set out together from Ur of the Chaldeans for the land of Canaan; but when they had come as far as Harran, they settled there.
To sum up.
The Torah
tells us the following:
Abram is born in Ur, Southern Iraq. He has two brothers, one of which dies and leaves a son. His father moves the family north-westwards to the Harran in Syria, and they settle there. Sarai is unable to bear children.
That's all we are told in the plain reading of the Torah.
When we next meet Abram, he is seventy-five years old and Gd is commanding him to leave everything he has ever known, to go on a trip to a "land that I will show you". He's not even given a destination. One man, his wife and nephew and brother-in--law (Rashi adds that Sarai and Lot were siblings) along with some slaves and handmaidens that they had 'acquired for themselves.
And that's it.
At the
centre of the family is one single man, Abram.
He is the driving force propelled by a revolutionary and as yet (if we set aside the Midrashim for a moment) virtually untested belief in one single entity that we call Gd. Monotheism at time, where the concept is simply unknown.
Who amongst his peer group could even conceive of the idea of one single god?
Yet, within three generations, three men, Abraham (he changed his name by Divine Deed Poll), Isaac and Jacob and four women, Sarah (co-recipient of Gd's decision), Rebecca, Rachel and Leah (with help from their hand-maids) have altered the landscape of human belief for eternity.
To the point that sometimes later, they are referred to as the sons of Israel:
|
(5) So
Jacob set out from Beersheba.
The sons of Israel put their
father Jacob and their children and their wives in the wagons that Pharaoh
had sent to transport him; |
(ה) וַיָּ֥קָם יַעֲקֹ֖ב מִבְּאֵ֣ר שָׁ֑בַע וַיִּשְׂא֨וּ בְנֵֽי־יִשְׂרָאֵ֜ל אֶת־יַעֲקֹ֣ב
אֲבִיהֶ֗ם וְאֶת־טַפָּם֙ וְאֶת־נְשֵׁיהֶ֔ם בָּעֲגָל֕וֹת אֲשֶׁר־שָׁלַ֥ח
פַּרְעֹ֖ה לָשֵׂ֥את אֹתֽוֹ׃ |
From one,
there came many.
Seventy souls travelled down to Egypt.
The solitary believer had spread his ideas and beliefs to sixty-nine other people and the nascent Nation of Israel was on its way to creating our story.
Our history.
Today, on Shavuot, over 3,300 years later, we recall the giving of the Torah (Matan Torah) at Mount Sinai, which took place in front of what would conceivably be something in the range of three million people (when you consider that the Torah only enumerates the two hundred thousand males over the age of twenty).
The directive that one man had received in private communication from Gd (the Bible's version of a P(rivate) (M)essage) had now been transformed into the world's first example of mass communication.
Gd was no
longer providing short bursts of text, in the style of "leave your home
and I will be your Sat-Nav"!
Here, He listed the concrete foundations to building a moral and just society.
○
Where the importance of recognising and worshipping one
Gd, was in absolute harmony with the imperative to avoid killing.
○
How honouring your parents was just as important as being
faithful to your spouse.
○ Where the human tendency to be jealous of anything your friend valued, from his family make-up to his house was as unacceptable as misusing the Holy name of Gd.
When the Israelites encamped at Mount Sinai in the days leading up to the giving of the Torah, the text tells us something fascinating:
|
Having
journeyed from Rephidim, they entered the wilderness of Sinai and encamped in the wilderness. Israel encamped there in front
of the mountain, |
(ב) וַיִּסְע֣וּ מֵרְפִידִ֗ים וַיָּבֹ֙אוּ֙ מִדְבַּ֣ר סִינַ֔י וַֽיַּחֲנ֖וּ בַּמִּדְבָּ֑ר
וַיִּֽחַן־שָׁ֥ם יִשְׂרָאֵ֖ל נֶ֥גֶד הָהָֽר׃ |
The Torah
tells us twice that the Bnei Yisrael/Israelites encamped. Firstly, when it
informs us that they were "encamped" in the wilderness, it uses the
plural of "vayachanu". Then, it
specifies the exact location - "in front of the mountain" and but it
uses the singular form of "vayichan"
which literally means "and he encamped".
Rashi states something beautiful about this:
"The singular 'vayichan' is to be interpreted as one man with one heart/mind - ke'ish echab be'lev echad - but all the other encampments (over the subsequent journeys through the desert) were with complaints and strife."
The Israelites at Sinai were unified in a way that they have seldom been before or since. It was as though three million little hearts joined together to create one massive human heart.
e pluribus unum or 'out of the many, one'
Over Shavuot during this difficult year, we will be many but many of us, will be one.
At times, it may feel as though no-one else around is celebrating the festival which marks our spiritual journey as a nation to where we find ourselves today. We will hopefully bask in a fine weather and see flowers blooming around us, but they won't be the kind that we would usually admire in shul.
We may read the Book of Ruth, but it might seem strange not to do so in the company of the person who would usually sit next to us.
This year, like Abram, we might feel that we are the only person that Gd is speaking to.
It will be a challenge.
However, if we see ourselves instead as one of those people - one of the individual hearts that comprise the massive heart that is the Jewish people in 2020 - we should realize that out of the many, we are one.
One people, with one heart.
One nation with one shared history.
And ultimately, one shared prayer that very soon, we will be together again in health, peace and joy.
Wishing you
a Chag Sameach.
Shavuot II: Yichus
The Hebrew (and laterally, Yiddish) term 'yichus' is a significant term.
On a superficial level, one can say that it refers to one's pedigree/lineage, but in practice, it is essential, particularly when it comes to arranged marriages or 'shidduchs', as practised by our esteemed Haredi brethren. Every shadchan/matchmaker worth her salt will include it in her lexicography. She will readily tell you that "Every 'bocher' (eligible bachelor) should have good yichus if he wants to find a young lady worthy of him". Many a young man has not been matched up with a potential partner because his yichus wasn't up to scratch and the same works vice-versa.
A friend of
mine had a wonderful saying:
"Yichus is like potatoes - the best bits are underground!"
Its origins can be traced to the Book of Nehemiah in the Tanach (originally, the root was spelled yud-chet-sin but now we use yud-chet-samech:
|
(5) My Gd
put it into my mind to assemble the aristocrats and the nobles and the
people, in order to trace their lineage. I found the Book of Lineage of those who were the
first to ascend, and there I found written: (6) These
are the people of the province who came up from among the captive exiles that
Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, had exiled, and who returned to Jerusalem
and to Judah, each to his own city... |
(ה) וַיִּתֵּ֤ן אֱלֹהַי֙ אֶל־לִבִּ֔י וָאֶקְבְּצָ֞ה
אֶת־הַחֹרִ֧ים וְאֶת־הַסְּגָנִ֛ים וְאֶת־הָעָ֖ם לְהִתְיַחֵ֑שׂ וָֽאֶמְצָ֗א סֵ֤פֶר הַיַּ֙חַשׂ֙
הָעוֹלִ֣ים בָּרִאשׁוֹנָ֔ה וָאֶמְצָ֖א כָּת֥וּב בּֽוֹ׃ (פ) (ו) אֵ֣לֶּה ׀
בְּנֵ֣י הַמְּדִינָ֗ה הָעֹלִים֙ מִשְּׁבִ֣י הַגּוֹלָ֔ה אֲשֶׁ֣ר הֶגְלָ֔ה
נְבוּכַדְנֶצַּ֖ר מֶ֣לֶךְ בָּבֶ֑ל וַיָּשׁ֧וּבוּ לִֽירוּשָׁלִַ֛ם וְלִיהוּדָ֖ה
אִ֥ישׁ לְעִירֽוֹ׃ |
Yichus is therefore by no means exclusive to the Jewish people.
Each member
of the Royal Family is keenly aware of their own yichus when it comes to
the 'Line of Succession' and who can forget the tragic tale of Anna Anderson
who believed herself to be The Grand Duchess Anastasia of the Romanoff dynasty?
The thought she had the right yichus (or alternatively, could have rightfully awarded an Academy Award for Best Actress). As it turned out, she was wrong!
Which brings us to the heroine of Shavuot, Ruth who though a princess (as I will shortly explain) was not blessed with the most advantageous yichus.
She came from Moab (known these days as the Kingdom of Jordan) and her ancestor, after whom the kingdom was named was none other than the result of an incestuous relationship between Abraham's nephew lot and his eldest daughter.
(36) Thus, the two daughters of Lot came to be with child by their father. (37) The older one bore a son and named him Moab; he is the father of the Moabites of today.
We would not call this "an auspicious start".
Further down the line and his descendent is none other than Balak, the king of Moab whose employs the wicked Balaam to curse the Israelites. With Gd's deft actions, both men fail and Balak returns to his country an angry, frustrated and no doubt bitter man.
He has a son whom we meet further on in the Sefer Shoftim/The Book of Judges and his name of Eglon. The Bible tells us:
(15) Then the Israelites cried out to the LORD, and the LORD raised up a champion for them: the Benjaminite Ehud son of Gera, a left-handed man. It happened that the Israelites sent tribute to King Eglon of Moab through him. (16) So Ehud made for himself a two-edged dagger, a gomed in length, which he girded on his right side under his cloak. (17) He presented the tribute to King Eglon of Moab. Now Eglon was an obese man.
(20) and when Ehud approached him, he was sitting alone in his cool upper chamber. Ehud said, “I have a message for you from God”; whereupon he rose from his seat.
I won't detail how Ehud vanquished Eglon because it's described in a very graphical and disturbing manner, but Rashi notes something interesting with regard to the way Eglon reacted when Ehud entered his Royal Chamber:
He rose from the throne. He therefore merited that Ruth was descended from him.
Chazal (our Sages) tell us that Ruth was Eglon's daughter, which would make her Balak's granddaughter.
Looking at her yichus, she has a very interesting 'back story'.
If we set aside the disturbing origins of her tribe, both father and grandfather are minded to attack the Israelites and subjugate them. Yet, in Eglon's case, his actions in standing up to respect a messenger from Gd, resulted in the merit of fathering one of the greatest heroines in Jewish history. But why does Balak given such an honour?
The Talmud tells us the following:
Rav Yehuda says that Rav says: A person should always engage in Torah study and performance of a mitzva even if he does not do so for their own sake, as through engaging in them not for their own sake, he will ultimately come to engage in them for their own sake. Proof for this can be cited from the example of Balak, as in reward for the forty-two offerings that Balak sacrificed, even though he sacrificed them to facilitate the destruction of the Jewish people, he was privileged and Ruth descended from him. Rabbi Yosei bar Huna says: Ruth was the daughter of Eglon, son of the son of Balak, king of Moab.
In
Twelfth Night (Act II, Scene V), Malvolio says:
"In my stars I am above thee, but be not afraid of greatness. Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon 'em."
Both Balak and his son may have been kings but this didn't necessarily make them 'great'. Like each of us, they chose how to behave and in doing so, exhibited flashes of greatness, whether-or-not (particularly in the case of Balak), this was intended as a tribute to Gd.
One individual may be fortunate enough to be born with yichus. However, another behaves in a way that will result in its creation for their descendants because of their actions.
Did either Balak or Eglon achieve greatness?
Having been born into the Royal Moabite Line (which sounds like a cruise ship), they certainly had a measure of greatness thrust upon them. It was the way that they used their powers which eventually impacted on their descendant. Ruth was born from the same genetic line that produced her ancestors Moab, Balak and Eglon.
Her biological yichus may have been steeped in royal blood, but what really mattered at the end of the day was not the titles of her father and grandfather but how they chose to use their esteemed positions. In both cases, somewhere in their psyche, they realized that there was a certain way to act, to honour Gd. It is in this merit that Ruth was their descendent and ultimately, she, through her actions and behaviour was honoured with being the great-grandmother of Kind David, the Davidic Line and ultimately, Please Gd in our time, the Messiah.
In conclusion, whereas I am not discounting the importance of yichus, because it is significant, in Judaism, it's what we do that matters, not as much as where we came from. There are many instances (especially in the Bible) of great men whose descendants were not worthy of their title and as we see from the story of Ruth, the opposite is also applicable.
The joke that I quoted at the start of this drasha is more than just a humorous aside. Sometimes, the best (and worst) bits are buried underground, but if we want to create yichus for our own descendants, we have the opportunity to do so.
At the end of the day, the decision is ultimately up to us.
Wishing you
a Chag Sameach and Shabbat Shalom.
