Parshat Beha'alotecha

Beha’alotecha - Hidden Agendas

There is an old adage that one can describe Jewish History in three sentences:

1. They tried to kill us.

2. We won.

3. Let's eat.

On the face of it, an episode in this week's Parsha seems to suggest our love of food is as ancient as our Nation itself. However, with a little investigation, this is not as straightforward as it may appear in the Torah.

Numbers 11 (4) The rabble that was among them felt a gluttonous craving; and then the Israelites wept and said, “Who will feed us meat?  (5) We remember the fish that we used to eat for free in Egypt, the cucumbers, the melons, the leeks, the onions, and the garlic. (6) Now our life is parched. There is nothing at all! We have nothing to anticipate but the manna!

במדבר י״א:ד׳-ו׳ (ד) וְהָֽאסַפְסֻף֙ אֲשֶׁ֣ר בְּקִרְבּ֔וֹ הִתְאַוּ֖וּ תַּאֲוָ֑ה וַיָּשֻׁ֣בוּ וַיִּבְכּ֗וּ גַּ֚ם בְּנֵ֣י יִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל וַיֹּ֣אמְר֔וּ מִ֥י יַאֲכִלֵ֖נוּ בָּשָֽׂר׃ (ה) זָכַ֙רְנוּ֙ אֶת־הַדָּגָ֔ה אֲשֶׁר־נֹאכַ֥ל בְּמִצְרַ֖יִם חִנָּ֑ם אֵ֣ת הַקִּשֻּׁאִ֗ים וְאֵת֙ הָֽאֲבַטִּחִ֔ים וְאֶת־הֶחָצִ֥יר וְאֶת־הַבְּצָלִ֖ים וְאֶת־הַשּׁוּמִֽים׃  (ו) וְעַתָּ֛ה נַפְשֵׁ֥נוּ יְבֵשָׁ֖ה אֵ֣ין כֹּ֑ל בִּלְתִּ֖י אֶל־הַמָּ֥ן עֵינֵֽינוּ׃

The Israelites have been wandering around the desert for over a year. They have been fed with the manna, which the midrash tells us could taste of anything they desired, watered through the miracle of Miriam's well, protected from the sun, sand, scorpions and snakes by the Ananei Hakavod, the Divine Clouds of Glory and had their every whim answered.

So why are they complaining and looking at the complaint, why do there seem to be some strange anomalies? Firstly, they are asking for meat and then immediately, they talk about the fish that they describe as eating 'for free' in Egypt. As far as I recall, they didn't get anything gratis there. They even had to make their own bricks!

Even if you can appreciate their complaints, the entire paragraph is quite puzzling…and who is this ‘rabble’?  Our Sages were also troubled by this passage and their first priority was to identify the rabble.

We have met these people before. Let's look at the Exodus from Egypt:

Exodus 12:38 (38) Moreover, a mixed multitude (‘erev-rav’) went up with them, and very much livestock, both flocks and herds.

שמות י״ב:ל״ח (לח) וְגַם־עֵ֥רֶב רַ֖ב עָלָ֣ה אִתָּ֑ם וְצֹ֣אן וּבָקָ֔ר מִקְנֶ֖ה כָּבֵ֥ד מְאֹֽד׃

Rashi explains whom the 'mixed multitude' were:

Rashi on Exodus 12:38:1

ערב רב - A mixed multitude/erev-rav were a mingling of various nations who had become proselytes.

When do we meet these people next? When Gd tells Moses to go back to the Israelites who are encamped at the foot of Mount Sinai.

Exodus 32

(7) The LORD spoke to Moses, “Hurry down, for your people, whom you brought out of the land of Egypt, have acted basely.

Rashi, quoting the Midrash (Shemot/Exodus Rabbah 42:6) informs us that:

‘Your people have corrupted themselves’. It does not say the people have corrupted but [it says] your people — "the mixed multitude whom you received of your own accord and accepted as proselytes without consulting Me. You thought it a good thing that proselytes should be attached to the Shechina/Holy Spirit — now they have corrupted themselves and have corrupted others"

If we look back at Beha’alotecha, we read the following:

Numbers 11 (4) The rabble in their midst felt a gluttonous craving; and then the Israelites wept and said, “If only we had meat to eat!

במדבר י״א:ד׳ (ד) וְהָֽאסַפְסֻף֙ אֲשֶׁ֣ר בְּקִרְבּ֔וֹ הִתְאַוּ֖וּ תַּאֲוָ֑ה וַיָּשֻׁ֣בוּ וַיִּבְכּ֗וּ גַּ֚ם בְּנֵ֣י יִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל וַיֹּ֣אמְר֔וּ מִ֥י יַאֲכִלֵ֖נוּ בָּשָֽׂר׃

Rashi writes the following:

והאספסף/and the rabble: This was the mixed multitude that had gathered themselves to them (i.e. the Israelites) when they left Egypt (the word is from the root אסף, “to gather”) (Midrash Sifrei Bamidbar 86). The next words of the Biblical text must be inverted to read: 'and the children of Israel also wept together with them.'

Rashi has presented a watertight case for the prosecution against the erev-rav, the 'mixed multitude' whose constant desire was to cause the Israelites to rebel against Gd and Moses.

It wasn't enough for them to initiate the construction, idolatrous and immoral worship of the Golden Calf. They had seen the way Gd and Moses dealt with that situation. Now, they were actively causing the people to complain again, this time through the medium of food.

The eminent Medieval Sephardic commentator, Sforno (d.1150) tells us something revealing about their request for meat:

מי יאכלנו בשר? (who will feed us meat?), They said this to test if He would permit incestuous relations to His people...

 

So, according to the Sforno, the request for 'meat' was never really about the food. It was in addressing their lustful desires. He refers back to the first verse of this chapter:

Numbers 11 (1) The people took to complaining bitterly before the LORD...

במדבר י״א:א׳ (א) וַיְהִ֤י הָעָם֙ כְּמִתְאֹ֣נְנִ֔ים רַ֖ע בְּאָזְנֵ֣י ה'

 

‘Complaining’, on account of the difficulties of the journey. They did not actually complain in their hearts as they had nothing to complain about. They only voiced complaints as a form of testing Gd.

If we add up all the pieces, we can see that the erev-rav are not interested in the food per se. They are actively inciting the Israelites to test Gd and at the same time influence them to return to their idolatrous Egyptian ways. After all, these troublemakers were never really interested in converting - as Rashi quoting the Midrash writes about Gd's comments to Moses: "You thought it a good thing that proselytes should be attached to the Shechina — now they have corrupted themselves and have corrupted others."

And if we examine the strange comment about receiving "free fish" in Egypt, Rashi rounds off his argument by adding:

We remember the fish which we did eat in Egypt for free: If you say that they meant that the Egyptians gave them fish for nothing (without payment), then I ask, “But does it not state in Exodus 5:18: [Go, therefore, now, and work], for there shall no straw be given you”? Now, if they did not give them straw for nothing, would they have given them fish for nothing! — What then is the force of the word חנם? It means: free from (i.e. without us having been burdened with) heavenly commands (Midrash Sifrei Bamidbar 87).

Along with testing Gd and attempting to entice the Israelites, the 'coup-de-grace' were their attempts to wrest the Israelites away from the Torah and its commandments. Their grumblings were simply a calculated way to attack the very soul of the nascent Israelite Nation and how did they go about it? By appealing to their most basic instincts. Witness the continuation of the verse:

Numbers 11:5

.....the cucumbers, the melons, the leeks, the onions, and the garlic.

The best way to influence people is to appeal to their basic desires. By focusing on the various foods and mentioning them by name, they have succeeded in diverting the Israelites' attention away from the manna. Not only that, you make the food itself seem as unappetizing as possible. The Torah proves this by telling us in the next verse that:

(6) Now our gullets are shrivelled. There is nothing at all! Nothing but this manna to look to!” (7) Now the manna was like coriander seed, and in colour it was like bdellium [a fragrant resin related to myrrh which is used in perfumes].

(8) The people would go about and gather it, grind it between millstones or pound it in a mortar, boil it in a pot, and make it into cakes. It tasted like rich cream.

The Torah is reminding us of the miracle of the manna as a counterpoint against the argument presented by the erev-rav.

Gd was providing everything the Israelites could wish for, but they were trying desperately to deny the existence of Gd, His Torah and his ability to sustain the entire Nation, which underscores the commentators' explanations proving that this battle of wills never was focused on the food. At the heart of the conflict was a struggle for the very soul of the Israelites between Gd and the erev-rav.

These last few weeks have witnessed a similar situation in our times. Following the brutal and racist killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis, the grassroots Black Lives Matter (hereafter referred to as 'BLM') movement have justifiably vented their anger and disappointment at their treatment by a number of Police Officers. 

Anyone who cares about equality and fairness can empathize with their feelings of resentment and frustration, particularly considering Mr Floyd's barbaric detention and murder. However, the modern-day equivalent of the erev-rav have attached themselves to the movement and in doing so, have deliberately and cynically used this discontent as an excuse to commit crimes. These include the burning of shops and looting; daubing a synagogue in Los Angeles; breaking the window of another in Richmond, Virginia along with cynically linking the murder of Mr Floyd to Israel by accusing the country of training the US Police Force in using in the kind of tactics that were employed against Mr Floyd. This is nothing short of a blood libel, the type employed frequently against Jews in the past.

Other branches of this contemporary erev-rav have used the death of Mr Floyd as an excuse to deface and destroy statues in this country. This includes daubing the statue of Winston Churchill in Parliament Square and covering a statue of Queen Victoria in pink paint in Leeds. In doing so, they are bringing the cause espoused by BLM campaigners into disrepute and flooding the fields as it were, instead of building the bridges that are so needed to heal our communities. It is therefore extremely gratifying to see that members of the BLM movement are doing their best to repair the damage and make amends for actions that took place in their name without their consent.

The Israelites of the past should have sent the erev-rav back to Egypt. Had they done this, the episode described in this week's Parsha could have been easily avoided. With the beautiful gift of manna provided by Gd Himself, they really had nothing to complain about.

In a similar vein, BLM possesses a genuine desire to improve the lives of the people they represent. If they wish to succeed, they must work stringently to distance themselves from those who seek to harm their cause.

Whilst we let these members of the erev-rav 'take over the show' in whichever guise they present themselves, we compromise the advances that we have made and set our agenda back significantly. A movement as important as BLM cannot afford to host those of its 'members' who have a hidden agenda. Not in the Arabian deserts described in Torah nor in any of our modern cities.

Shabbat Shalom.

Parshat Naso – Why Shul is a Beit Hamikdash

Numbers 7

(1) On the day that Moses finished setting up the Tabernacle, he anointed and consecrated it and all its furnishings, as well as the altar and its utensils. When he had anointed and consecrated them, (2) the chieftains of Israel, the heads of ancestral houses, namely, the chieftains of the tribes, those who were in charge of enrolment, drew near (3) and brought their offering before the LORD: six draught carts and twelve oxen, a cart for every two chieftains and an ox for each one. When they had brought them before the Tabernacle, (4) the LORD said to Moses: (5) Accept these from them for use in the service of the Tent of Meeting, and give them to the Levites according to their respective services.

This week's parsha is the longest single reading of the entire year. In total, there are one-hundred-and-seventy-six pesukim/verses, eighty-nine of which encompass the whole of Chapter seven. As quoted above, it describes the extraordinary gifts bought to the Mishkan/Tabernacle by the prince of each tribe, a tribe per day for a total of twelve consecutive days. The readings are repeated during Shacharit over the eight days of Chanukah.  In the desert, the tribes showed their love for the Mishkan, the prototype Temple through their dedication and donation of gifts whilst the Maccabees demonstrated their love for the Temple by recapturing it from the Seleucids and reigniting (quite literally), the Jewish flame via the Menorah. Naso provides that commonality.

A famous question asked by Chazal is why the Torah goes to such lengths to describe the identical gifts brought by all twelve princes. Would it not have sufficed to mention the first gift and then add a pasuk explaining that the other eleven princes brought exactly the same amount? In describing each tribe's donation, the Torah is teaching us that they were all equal in the eyes of Gd. What is just impressive is the fact (as per Rashi's observation) that the funds were paid for by the princes themselves. They did not want their brethren to feel that they had to contribute. Each gift was therefore given with the utmost love and selflessness. They wanted to show that the Mishkan was at the heart of their lives and it was therefore befitting of their greatest generosity. 

Let us fast-forward four-hundred-and-eighty-years later. King Solomon, in the fourth year of his reign starts the process to build the Beit Hamikdash, the Temple. It takes seven years.

I Kings 8

(1) Then Solomon convoked the elders of Israel—all the heads of the tribes and the ancestral chieftains of the Israelites—before King Solomon in Jerusalem, to bring up the Ark of the Covenant of the LORD from the City of David, that is, Zion. (2) All the men of Israel gathered before King Solomon at the Feast, in the month of Ethanim—that is, the seventh month. (3) When all the elders of Israel had come, the priests lifted the Ark (4) and carried up the Ark of the LORD. Then the priests and the Levites brought the Tent of Meeting and all the holy vessels that were in the Tent. (5) Meanwhile, King Solomon and the whole community of Israel, who were assembled with him before the Ark, were sacrificing sheep and oxen in such abundance that they could not be numbered or counted.

Does this seem familiar? The leader initiates the ceremony and the people demonstrate their love by bringing gifts.

However, what Solomon does next is remarkable. He makes a long speech and describes how, although his father, King David was not allowed to build the Beit Hamikdash, he had been given this honour. He continues by inviting Gd to come to His house and asks of Gd:

I Kings 8

(29) May Your eyes be open day and night toward this House, toward the place of which You have said, ‘My name shall abide there’; may You heed the prayers which Your servant will offer toward this place. (30) And when You hear the supplications which Your servant and Your people Israel offer toward this place, give heed in Your heavenly abode—give heed and pardon.

The King continues with the following requests:

I Kings 8:33-40

(33) “Should Your people Israel be routed by an enemy because they have sinned against You, and then turn back to You and acknowledge Your name, and they offer prayer and supplication to You in this House, (34) oh, hear in heaven and pardon the sin of Your people Israel, and restore them to the land that You gave to their fathers.”

(35) “Should the heavens be shut up and there be no rain, because they have sinned against You, and then they pray toward this place and acknowledge Your name and repent of their sins, when You answer them, (36) oh, hear in heaven and pardon the sin of Your servants, Your people Israel, after You have shown them the proper way in which they are to walk; and send down rain upon the land which You gave to Your people as their heritage.”

(37) “So, too, if there is a famine in the land, if there is pestilence, blight, mildew, locusts or caterpillars, or if an enemy oppresses them in any of the settlements of the land. “In any plague and in any disease, (38) in any prayer or supplication offered by any person among all Your people Israel—each of whom knows his own affliction—when he spreads his palms toward this House, (39) oh, hear in Your heavenly abode, and pardon and take action! Render to each man according to his ways as You know his heart to be—for You alone know the hearts of all men— (40) so that they may revere You all the days that they live on the land that You gave to our fathers.”

No-one present at that ceremony could have been in any doubt that they were indeed blessed to be there, at that moment and at that time. It was and remains one of the highlights of our history.

And centuries later, it was a smouldering pile of rubble.

But not quite, because its legacy lives on in our Shuls.

The Bimah that we pray from is symbolic of the platform (Bamah) from which the Cohanim recited their prayers. In fact, the three verses preceding the dedication of the Mishkan consist of the ancient the Priestly Blessing:

Numbers 6:24-26 (24) The LORD bless you and protect you! (25) The LORD deal kindly and graciously with you! (26) The LORD bestow His favour upon you and grant you peace!

במדבר ו׳:כ״ד-כ״ו (כד) יְבָרֶכְךָ֥ יְהוָ֖ה וְיִשְׁמְרֶֽךָ׃ (ס) (כה) יָאֵ֨ר יְהוָ֧ה ׀ פָּנָ֛יו אֵלֶ֖יךָ וִֽיחֻנֶּֽךָּ׃ (ס) (כו) יִשָּׂ֨א יְהוָ֤ה ׀ פָּנָיו֙ אֵלֶ֔יךָ וְיָשֵׂ֥ם לְךָ֖ שָׁלֽוֹם׃ (ס)

The Ner Tamid, the everlasting light that illuminated the entrance to the Binyan (Holy building) can be found in all of our shuls, lighting up our Arks.

The perochet or curtain in front of the Ark reminds us of the one that separated the Kodesh (the Holy area) from the Kodesh Hakodashim (the Holy of Holies) and indeed our Arks containing the Holy Torah Scrolls are symbolic of the Aron Habrit, The Ark of the Covenant - the box which held both sets of Ten Commandments.

Our Shuls are therefore our very own Batei Mikdash/Temples and the prayer that King Solomon recited, lives on in our hearts. When we go to Shul, we ask Gd to protect us from war, hunger and plague. And when we don't go, our hearts and minds are focused on the amount of time it will take until we can re-enter our very own Temples.

This week, the Chief Rabbi set out a plan to enable us to return to our Shuls once it is safe to do so. It will take time and our memories may be all that can muster at present, to remind of us how sacred and important a role our Shuls play in our lives. Just as the Beit Hamikdash was reconfigured as a different model and became the Synagogue, so too will we be able to return to our own Temples, even if this means ‘conducting business’ slightly differently.

May Gd make this happen at the right time and may He grant us, all of us protection from the natural forces that could deter us from returning. They will not succeed.

Gd said the following when he instructed Moses to commence the building of the Mishkan:

Exodus 25:8

“And let them make Me a sanctuary that I may dwell among them.”

He is still with us and His sanctuary in Staines awaits our return, b'shaah tovah - at the right time.

Shabbat Shalom.

 

Shavuot Drashot

Shavuot I: A Gathering of One 

Genesis 12.1

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:

Genesis 11:26

When Terah had lived 70 years, he begot Abram, Nahor, and Haran.

Genesis 11:27-28

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.

Genesis 11:29

... the name of Abram’s wife being Sarai...

Genesis 11:30

Now Sarai was barren, she had no child.

Genesis 11:31

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:

Genesis 46:5 (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;

בראשית מ״ו:ה׳ (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:

Exodus 19:2 Having journeyed from Rephidim, they entered the wilderness of Sinai and encamped in the wilderness. Israel encamped there in front of the mountain,

שמות י״ט:ב׳ (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:

Nehemiah 7:5-6 (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...

נחמיה ז׳:ה׳-ו׳ (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.

Genesis 19:36-37

(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:

Judges 3:15-17

(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.

 

Judges 3:20

(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:

 

Rashi on Judges 3:20:3

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:

Sanhedrin 105b

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.