My weekly Shabbat message ... It has been a week where our hearts and minds felt like they were in France. The photos of the four coffins of the Jewish victims in Jerusalem were chilling…. to say the least. (One of the men was the son of the Chabad Rabbi in Tunis.) Sunday’s Paris march of millions was very impressive and even emotional to watch. Did you know that French Prime Minister Manuel Valls denounced the rise of anti-Semitism in France before the country’s National Assembly? I bet you didn’t know that he shouted in anger that “We haven’t shown enough outrage!” The media hardly covered it. The question remains, does the world get it yet? Does the world WANT to get it? Frankly, I am still not convinced. When you read the-behind-the-scenes reporting it is very disturbing. They say France didn’t want Israeli PM Netanyahu to come but he insisted. And that France invited Abbas to come and gave him front row status. Abbas is a man who was himself a terrorist, and whose movement today still encourages and rewards terrorism. The hypocrisy is mind-boggling. No matter, we still live with hope and we pray for Europe and especially its Jews, our brothers and sisters whether in Paris or elsewhere. I’m sure most French Jews are pondering Aliya at this time. Please G-d, may it be for good reasons! I write to you from Queensland where I am here with my family for a little break. We have been having a lovely time with the kids (despite a few days of rain!). It’s nice to break your normal routine and spend some time with the children, time for catching up on reading and even studying. Save the date: The Chief Rabbi of South Africa, Rabbi Warren Goldstein is coming to Sydney for the last Shabbes in February. We look forward to hosting him on Friday night in Shule, and together with BINA following the service we will host a special Shabbes dinner with the Chief Rabbi. More details to come shortly. A wise man must have once said “Gratitude is an attitude. The Torah, in this week’s Parshah, demonstrates just how far Jewish tradition teaches us to be grateful and to remember our benefactors. Seven of the ten plagues occur in this week’s reading. Moses, messenger of G‑d, is busy bringing down these terrifying plagues on Pharaoh’s Egypt. Yet, interestingly, he calls upon his brother Aaron to be the agent for the first three plagues—blood, frogs and lice. Why did Moses not do these himself as he would do the others? The Midrash, quoted by Rashi, teaches us that this is because it was through the agency of the waters of the Nile River that Moses was saved as an infant when he was put in the basket. It would have been insensitive and inappropriate for him to strike those very waters in order to bring on plagues. Seeing as the blood and the frogs both came directly from the water, it was Aaron who struck the water rather than Moses. Similarly with the third plague, that of lice. The lice came from out of the ground, and the earth, too, had helped Moses to cover the body of the Egyptian taskmaster whom he had killed defending a Jewish slave. Therefore, it would have been wrong for Moses to strike the earth, and so for this plague, too, Aaron was the agent. What a monumental lesson to each of us on the importance of gratitude. Firstly, does water and earth have feelings? Would they know the difference if they were struck down, and who was doing the striking? How much more so should we be considerate of human beings when they have done us a kindness. How scrupulous we ought to be not to offend people, especially those who have come to our assistance. Secondly, Moses was 80 years old at the time of the plagues. These incidents with the water and earth occurred when he was a mere infant and when he was a very young man. Yet all these years later he is still sensitive not to strike the objects that had helped him. He did not say, as so many have after him, “So what have you done for me lately?” This little story of Moses, which is only an aside to the main body of the biblical narrative, teaches us to remember the kindnesses that are bestowed upon us—when they happen, and forever. If one who has been good to us in the past does wrong and needs chastising, let someone else volunteer for the job. He may need rebuking, but you’re not the one to do it. Once again, the Torah is teaching us not only religious ritual, but how to be better people—more sensitive, and yes, eternally, grateful human beings. I hope you have a wonderful Shabbes!
Posted on: Fri, 16 Jan 2015 02:42:03 +0000
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