Parshat Eikev: Clouds and Mushrooms

The cloud took on the familiar shape of a mushroom head and for a moment, it appeared as though nature had intervened in realpolitik to create a perfect combination of trigonometry and science. What followed has led to the deaths of at least one-hundred-and-thirty-five people, along with thousands injured (at the time of writing) in Beirut, Lebanon on Tuesday, 4th August 2020.

When the 'mushroom cloud' first appeared, no-one had seen its likeness.  Soon enough it would become a key moment in the history of the Twentieth Century.  Seventy to eighty thousand people were killed instantly.  This equated to thirty percent of the population of Hiroshima, on Monday morning, 6th August 1945 (seventy-five years ago today, when I'm writing this Drasha).  Many died later as a result of burns sustained and radiation poisoning.

A horrific equation was created which could be written down as 'Mushrooms+Clouds=Death.'

In the latter, the USA bombed Hiroshima to put an end to the ongoing war with Japan.  It took another attack on Nagasaki three days later for the objective to be successful.  Japan surrendered on the 15th of the month.

In the former, it appears that this was a tragic accident (are there any other kinds?) which should have been avoided by the Lebanese Authorities.

Nevertheless, in both cases, the 'mushroom clouds of death' will never be forgotten.

In his song, 'Hurricane Eye' (2000), Paul Simon refers to 'nature in the cross-hairs'.

It is as though we take a gun, pull up the scope and look at nature, ready to shoot the first thing that appears in our sight.

How can a 'cloud', which can protect us from blazing sunlight and bring much needed rain to our gardens and fields suddenly take the shape of a 'mushroom' and become a harbinger of death? How can something so beautiful, transmogrify into a receptacle of tragedy?

The 'cloud' and 'mushroom' may have been artificial, but their virtual combination was anything but.  Humanity's attempts to master science demonstrates in both cases how the very chemical combinations that were married together proved their combustibility to devastating effect.

In this week's Parsha, we recite the famous second paragraph of the Shema, a prayer that our mouths have chanted since childhood:

דברים י״א

(יג) וְהָיָ֗ה אִם־שָׁמֹ֤עַ תִּשְׁמְעוּ֙ אֶל־מִצְוֺתַ֔י אֲשֶׁ֧ר אָנֹכִ֛י מְצַוֶּ֥ה אֶתְכֶ֖ם הַיּ֑וֹם לְאַהֲבָ֞ה אֶת־ה' אֱלֹֽהֵיכֶם֙ וּלְעָבְד֔וֹ בְּכָל־לְבַבְכֶ֖ם וּבְכָל־נַפְשְׁכֶֽם׃ (יד) וְנָתַתִּ֧י מְטַֽר־אַרְצְכֶ֛ם בְּעִתּ֖וֹ יוֹרֶ֣ה וּמַלְק֑וֹשׁ וְאָסַפְתָּ֣ דְגָנֶ֔ךָ וְתִֽירֹשְׁךָ֖ וְיִצְהָרֶֽךָ׃ (טו) וְנָתַתִּ֛י עֵ֥שֶׂב בְּשָׂדְךָ֖ לִבְהֶמְתֶּ֑ךָ וְאָכַלְתָּ֖ וְשָׂבָֽעְתָּ׃

Deuteronomy 11 

(13) If, then, you obey the commandments that I enjoin upon you this day, loving the LORD your God and serving Him with all your heart and soul, (14) I will grant the rain for your land in season, the early rain and the late.  You shall gather in your new grain and wine and oil— (15) I will also provide grass in the fields for your cattle—and thus you shall eat your fill.

The message is simple.  Gd is telling the Bnei Yisrael/Israelites that if they listen to His commandments, obey His laws, treat each other respectfully, honour their parents, love their neighbours, act towards their fellow human beings decently...then, all will be fine.

The clouds will provide the rain they need at the correct time:

• The early winter rains which fall after the sowing of the seeds and which saturate the earth and the seeds therein and

• The second set of rains, which fall upon the fields just before the harvest, to help the wheat grow in their individual stalks (Rashi).

Nature works in harmony with the people's requirements.  You can't have grain, wine and oil if there is no rain.  Your cows won't have grass to eat if it’s unable to grow.  Gd will provide everything that we need to sustain ourselves.  The clouds He has donated to our world will move the rain to where it is required and perhaps, even (non-poisonous) mushrooms will grow and these can help to flavour the food we eat!

But:

דברים י״א

(טז) הִשָּֽׁמְר֣וּ לָכֶ֔ם פֶּ֥ן יִפְתֶּ֖ה לְבַבְכֶ֑ם וְסַרְתֶּ֗ם וַעֲבַדְתֶּם֙ אֱלֹקִ֣ים אֲחֵרִ֔ים וְהִשְׁתַּחֲוִיתֶ֖ם לָהֶֽם׃ (יז) וְחָרָ֨ה אַף־ה' בָּכֶ֗ם וְעָצַ֤ר אֶת־הַשָּׁמַ֙יִם֙ וְלֹֽא־יִהְיֶ֣ה מָטָ֔ר וְהָ֣אֲדָמָ֔ה לֹ֥א תִתֵּ֖ן אֶת־יְבוּלָ֑הּ וַאֲבַדְתֶּ֣ם מְהֵרָ֗ה מֵעַל֙ הָאָ֣רֶץ הַטֹּבָ֔ה אֲשֶׁ֥ר ה' נֹתֵ֥ן לָכֶֽם׃

Deuteronomy 11

(16) Take care not to be lured away to serve other gods and bow to them.  (17) For the LORD’s anger will flare up against you, and He will shut up the skies so that there will be no rain and the ground will not yield its produce; and you will soon perish from the good land that the LORD is assigning to you.

On the face of it, it appears that this message is plain in its meaning.  Namely, if you choose to forsake Me and turn to other gods, bring the immorality that I have warned you against, into your midst, your punishment will be thus.

And indeed, it was, as witnessed by the subsequent destruction of not one, but two Batei Mikdash (Temples) and exile to the far-flung corners of the globe.  For nearly two thousand years, it was immaterial to most Jews whether or not the skies over Israel were open or closed, whether it rained or not because, who thinks about the weather system in a country that is nowhere near the horizon they happen to be facing?

The Torah was given to the Jewish People at Mount Sinai and our role, as a 'light unto the Nations' has always been to share its content and lessons, teachings and morals with the rest of the world.  We Jews always 'marched to the beat of a different drum'.  Whilst others sacrificed their children to the god Moloch, we sacrificed lambs and goats to our Gd in Jerusalem.  Whilst others engaged in immoral sexual practices, we built Mikvaot (Ritual Baths) and held onto the ancient laws of Niddah (family purity).  Where others placed leisure activities at the forefront of their minds, we placed education at the forefront of our actions.

We were, are and we will always be different.

And where others participate in the creation of virtual 'mushroom clouds' of destruction, we use science to find cures to cancer, Covid-19 and polio.

J.  Robert Oppenheimer and Einstein may have been key to the creation of the Atom Bomb but neither man ever forgave himself for the repercussions of the work they had contributed to in its creation (https://www.mentalfloss.com/uk/history/27802/10-inventors-who-came-to-regret-their-creations).  

We are programmed to create, not destroy.

In the two examples I have given, Gd is reading us the terms and conditions of our contract with Him.  If we behave properly towards each other and Him, He will reward us with the sustenance we need, through the granting of rain.  If we don't, we, the Jewish people and by extension the rest of the world, will be punished.  

If we do our job properly, other nations will also recognise the one true Gd as being the provider of everything that we need.  

According to a Pew report from 2012 (https://www.pewforum.org/2012/12/18/global-religious-landscape-exec/), 55% of the world's population adhere to one of the three monotheistic faiths and of the others, many people from different religions hold similar views when it comes to living moral lives and respecting one another.  We have eradicated idol worship (in the classical sense) from our global society and are able to witness astounding technological advancements in a myriad of ways.

The world though, is far from perfect and there is sadly a significant divide between wealthy and impoverished nations.  However, the valuable work being carried out by caring people working and volunteering in NGOs in many nations, is impacting on the lives of many of those who could not have envisaged their ancestors leading the same quality of life.  We have come a long way as inhabitants on Planet Earth but we still have much to improve upon.

 I don't have an answer to my previous question as to the connection between the creation of 'mushroom clouds' and death, because tragically, seventy-five years between the appearance of unwelcome 'clouds' in the skies of Hiroshima and Beirut seem to have taught us very little.  Perhaps, if humanity could focus on establishing societies based on the model presented in the Torah or Bible or Koran or any other Holy Book, it would ensure that the preservation of life is the most important principle in any society.

Without these approaches:

• A country which embarked on a policy of aggressive expansion at the commencement of the Twentieth Century found itself being written into infamy as the first recipient of its enemies' most powerful creation.

• A person or group of people were responsible for situating highly combustible materials near densely populated areas leading to the killing of hundreds of people.

If you want real clouds to bring rain for your crops and mushrooms for your recipes, respect the provider who blesses you in the first place.  Where there is respect for Gd, life can flourish.  When you play god, the results are devastating, particularly in this month of August.

Our planet and our fellow homo sapiens deserve so much better.

May Gd grant us rain in its season, and may we all be blessed to gather in the food we need to sustain us until the Moshiach arrives, may he come swiftly in our days.

Amen.

Shabbat Shalom.