Page 38 - HaMizrachi #10 Yom Yerushalayim - Shavuot 5779

Rabbi Chaim Navon
THU DER
AND LIGHTNING
When G-d came to give the
Torah at Sinai, all the
voices and sounds came.
This one said, the Torah will be given
in my voice, and that one said, the
Torah will be given in my voice.
The ring of the bells said, “There is
none more tender than I, and none
who brings happiness and joy more
than me. Our Torah is gentle and
joyous. The Torah will be given
through me.”
The tune of the violins said, “None is
more harmonious than me, and none
is more touching and moving than I
am. Behold, our Torah is harmonious
and touches the hearts of its students
and practitioners. The Torah will be
given through my voice.”
The chirping of the birds said, “There
is nothing more natural than me,
and there is none more pleasant and
romantic than me. The Torah will be
given through me.”
The thunder said, “I cannot speak
in this Midrashic format, but if you
let me speak normally, I will tell you
why the Torah should be given in my
voice.”
The chirping, the tune, and the ring
answered him with disdain: “Speak as
you please.”
“It is true,” said the thunder, “that
in our holy Torah there is joy and
harmony and grace and excitement.
But there will be a generation at
the End of Days that will need my
thundering voice. A generation that
if it does not receive the Torah in this became rude words, only the Torah
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voice, will never know how to look up
to G-d.”
In those days, the people will preach
that everyone needs only to listen
to his truth, do only what suits him,
that everyone is a winner, everyone
succeeds and the world bows at your
feet. Do not be mistaken, even in those of blessing and meaning.
days the world will remain what it is –
a world in which there is no ‘my truth’ Indeed, there are generations in the
but only Truth; a world in which one
who does only what suits him lives
a grievous life of loneliness, a world
where not everyone can be winners,
and no-one can always be a winner.
In that generation, from too much
discussion about self-fulfillment,
love, affection, and autonomy, parents
will be afraid to say clear things to
their children. Soft plants need a
brace, which they rely on as they
grow. If instead of providing support
to young people, their parents and
teachers tell them, ‘Do what you want,’ powerful shofar.”
instead of growing tall, their branches
will shrivel early. They will be too
embarrassed to say to the adults, “To
grow properly we must lean on you
and learn from you.
In this world of confusion, only our
Torah will remain. Torah that is not
ashamed to say what is forbidden and
what is permitted, what is proper and
what is invalid. A Torah that teaches
us what human nature is, and on the
one hand how humans can distort and
spoil this nature, and transcend it on
the other. In a generation imprisoned
in the terrible phrase ‘my truth;’ in
a generation in which good and evil
Photo: Oren Barkai
would say the eternal words that
pierced their path through the heart:
“See, I set before you this day life
and prosperity, death and adversity...
Choose life, so you and your offspring
would live” (Deuteronomy 30). There
is good and there is truth, and there is
also evil and lies. And whoever turns
his heart to the good will merit a life
history of Israel who would be happy
to find flowers and butterflies, violins
and chirpings. But for that special
generation, the generation of ‘my
truth,’ there must also be thunder
in our Torah. The Torah must be a
source of authority, not a source of
inspiration.
“For the sake of that generation,”
concluded the thunder, “the Torah
must be given in my voice, a great
thundering sound. And perhaps my
friend will join me, the sound of the
The chirping of the birds, the ringing
of the bells and the tune of the violins
had all been listening very attentively
and now they lowered their eyes.
And G-d nodded His head and said,
“This is how My Torah will be given.
There will be voices and lightning and
a very loud trumpet, for the sake of the
last generations. And I wish they will
listen.”
(This article first appeared in Makor
Rishon in Hebrew.)
Rabbi Chaim Navon is a renowned author
and educator