Page 19 - HaMizrachi #10 Yom Yerushalayim - Shavuot 5779
P. 19
Allen Fagin
Recreaדtiחnָ g ֶאthבe ֵלMְּבoדm ָחeאnֶ tְּכ ִאיׁש
The giving of the Torah at Mount
Sinai was the seminal moment ֹלא ָמ ָצא ַה ָּקד ֹו ׁש ָּבר ּו ְך ה ּוא ְּכ ִלי ַמ ֲח ִזיק ְּבָר ָכה Shavuot is a time to take stock not
in our nation’s history and the ְל ִי ְ ׂשָר ֵאל ֶא ָּלא ַה ׁ ּ ָשל ֹום, “G-d did not find only of our covenantal relationship
pillar on which the Jewish faith rests. a vessel that can contain blessing with G-d, but of our relationship to
It was then that G-d entered into an for Israel, save for peace.”5 Peace, our fellow Jews. Shavuot is a time to
eternal covenant with His people, and mutual respect and communal civility strive to recreate that sublime moment
we became bound to Him forever. comprise the prescription for G-d’s in our history when we stood together
But there is another covenantal bountiful blessings in this world. at Sinai – like one man with one heart.
relationship that was formed at Sinai,
one that is often overshadowed by our Unfortunately, in the current As Jews, we should serve as an
covenant with G-d – the covenant that environment, the vision of ַא ְחד ּות example of the ideals of peace and
every Jew made with every other Jew. ( ִי ְ ׂשָר ֵאלJewish unity) has been sorely mutual respect that the Torah teaches,
Chazal teach us that at Mount Sinai taxed. Our communities are often and the honor and dignity due to
we became ֲעֵר ִבים ֶזה ְל ֶזה, “responsible fragmented and disconnected. Civility every man and woman. The word
for each other.”1 At that pivotal and mutual respect have been replaced ְיר ּו ׁ ָש ַל ִיםcontains within it the root
moment in history, when we stood at by ever-escalating diatribes and for both “whole” and “peace,” and it
the foot of the mountain ְּכ ִאי ׁש ֶא ָחד ְּב ֵלב the demonization of any who hold is ְיר ּו ׁ ָש ַל ִיםthat represents the ideal of
ֶא ָחד, “like one man with one heart”2 viewpoints contrary to our own. Just peace we aspire to. When the Temple
– we became bound to each other in a year ago, the president of a leading stood, Jews from all walks of life, from
unity and mutual obligation forever. international Jewish organization, multiple communities, would join
himself a noted and remarkably together in a common cause and unite
In fact, the ( ל ּוח ֹות ַה ְּבִריתthe two generous philanthropist, wrote a New in the shared experience of ֲע ִל ָּיה ָלֶר ֶגל.
Tablets) themselves demonstrate the York Times op-ed decrying “Israel’s
duality of our fidelities. The first five capitulation to religious extremists.” ְיר ּו ׁ ָש ַל ִים ַה ְּבנ ּו ָיה ְּכ ִעיר ׁ ֶש ֻח ְּבָרה ָּל ּה ַי ְח ָ ּדו,
commandments etched on the first He later apologized. The former “Jerusalem built up, a city knit
tablet instruct us in our relationship president of one of America’s largest together.”6 Today we are privileged to
with G-d, while the additional five Jewish organizations wrote in Haaretz once again see Yerushalayim rebuilt
etched on the second tablet instruct that “the ultra-Orthodox political and reunited, and may the festivals
us in our relationship with our fellow leadership” in Israel were destroying of Shavuot and Yom Yerushalayim
man. These tablets, side by side,3 the State. Is this what G-d expected of inspire us to come together as one
jointly remind us that our relationship us at Sinai? nation with one heart, to merit the
with our brothers and sisters is words of the Psalmist:
just as vital and compelling as our What is most unfortunate is that it
relationship with G-d. Perhaps even often takes tragedy to give us reason ְי ִהי ׁ ָשל ֹום ְּב ֵחי ֵל ְך ׁ ַש ְל ָוה ְּב ַאְר ְמנ ֹו ָת ִי ְך, “May
more so. to unite, and when we do, we come there be peace within your walls and
together with the passion reserved wellbeing within your citadels.”7
Chazal teach us that the people were for the meeting of long-lost relatives
righteous in King David’s generation. or friends, where warmth and love 1 Shevuot 39a, Sanhedrin 27b, and see
Yet they suffered casualties when for our fellow Jew are exuberantly Midrash Tehillim 8:4.
they went to war. In contrast, the expressed. Terrorist attacks in Israel,
generation of Achav were idol- a hurricane in Houston, mass murder 2 Rashi, Exodus 19:2.
worshippers, yet they were victorious in Pittsburgh or a shooting in Poway
when they went to war. The difference – at such times we unite as one, as the 3 See Ramban, Exodus 20:12.
was that in David’s generation there family the Jewish people are and have
was communal discord, while during committed to being. But must we wait 4 Yerushalmi, Peah 1:1.
Achav’s generation there was peace.4 for tragedy and suffering to remind us
that we are one people? 5 Mishna, Uktzin 3:22.
6 Psalms 122:3.
7 Psalms 122:7.
Allen Fagin is the Executive Vice President
of the Orthodox Union
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