Page 13 - HaMizrachi #29 Yom HaAtzmaut 2021 USA

MIZRACHI SCHOLARS-IN-RESIDENCE TORAT MIZRACHI

looking at you and soon translators will people who said ‘I wrote you letters.’ • ּורֹמ ְ ׁש ִּ ת י ַ תֹת ְּ ב ַ ׁש ת ֶ א ְ ו – You shall
come up here to translate the questions, People from many countries, including keep My Sabbaths.
because you do not even have a common the countries you come from. Men and
language between you... So what unites women, young and old, housewives and • ּובֹנ ְ ג ִּ ת אלֹ – You shall not steal.
you all? professors, Rabbis and even those who • ֹותי ִ מ ֲ ע ַּ ב ׁשי ִ א ּור ְּ ק ַ ׁש ְ ת אלֹ ְ ו – neither
did not know aleph bet. Each person dif-
I was once a Prisoner of Zion. I lived shall you lie to any of your
in a country that, Baruch Hashem, ferent from the other, but united. They neighbors.
no longer exists – the Soviet Union. I knew there was a Jew out there whom • ך ֲ ע ֵ ר ת ֶ א ק ׁש ֲ ע ַ ת אלֹ – You shall not
ָ
ֹ
taught Hebrew and Judaism. I did not they didn’t know, and perhaps would oppress your neighbor, nor rob
have knowledge like yours, but I knew never know, but they had to fight for him.
a little, and that was enough to teach his release.
other Jews in secret. It did not end well. We do not need false unity, but true unity, • לֹ ׁש ְ כ ִ מ ן ֵּ ת ִ ת אלֹ ר ֵּו ִ ע יֵנ ְ פ ִ ל ְ ו – Do not
I was put in jail and then in a labor camp. and you already have it – unity around put a stumbling block before
I was completely disconnected. I knew the most authentic common denomi- the blind.
nothing about what was happening
outside, beyond the barbed wire fence, nator we have: the Book of Books, the • ט ָּ פ ְ ׁש ִּ מ ַּ ב ל ֶ ו ָ ע ּוׂש ֲ ע ַ ת אלֹ – Do not per-
at the end of the world in Siberia. One Bible. I ask you, on Yom HaAtzmaut: vert justice.
day we returned from hard labor in the keep spreading this common denomina- ָ
woods. After 11 hours in the freezing tor of ours. If we know it and internalize • ך ֶ תי ִ מ ֲ ע טֹ ּ פ ְ ׁש ִּ ת ק ֶ ד ֶ צ ְּ ב – Judge your
cold, I crossed the camp with a row of it, we will achieve true unity.” neighbor justly.
inmates when the officer in charge of For the Glory of the State of • ךי ֶּ מ ַ ע ְּ ב לי ִ כ ָ ר ך ֵ ל ֵ ת אלֹ – You shall not
ָ
ְ
discipline – a man you wanted to avoid Israel | Perhaps we should ask gossip among your people.
– called me out. 4 ael the typical birthday ques- ָ ָ
Isr
I approached him and he said: ‘Just so tion: What do you want to be when you • ך ֶ ב ָ ב ְ ל ִּ ב ךי ִ ח ָ א ת ֶ א אָנ ְ ׂש ִ ת אלֹ – You
shall not hate your brother in
you know, the safe in my room is full of grow up? After birth and adolescence, your heart.
letters for you from all over the world.’ after the wondrous physical construc-
ָ
ָ
Then he smiled such a sadistic smile tion of the State, where are you going • ך ֹומ ָּ כ ך ֲ ע ֵ ר ְ ל ָּ ת ְ ב ַ ה ָ א ְ ו – Love your
and said: ‘By law, you are not allowed now? What are your aspirations and neighbor as yourself.
to receive letters from abroad and you goals? It seems to me that in Parashat
will not see a single letter.’ Kedoshim we have part of the answer. Sounds like an excellent manifesto for
We may know the verses by heart, but the glory of the State of Israel.
No-one could have been happier than I in Iyar we can read them again as the
was at that moment. basis for building a regenerated Jewish

He didn’t know it, but thanks to him society. Here are just a few examples: Sivan Rahav Meir and Yedidya Meir are pop-
ular Israeli media personalities and World
I suddenly learned that Jews from all • ּוי ְ ה ִּ ת םי ִ ׁשֹד ְ ק – You shall be holy. Mizrachi’s Scholars-in-Residence.
over the world were writing me letters.
He was right, this sadist. I never did see • ן ֵ קָז יֵנ ְּ פ ָּ ת ְ ר ַ ד ָ ה ְ ו – You shall respect A member of the Mizrachi Speakers Bureau
a single letter, but later I met a lot of the elderly. mizrachi.org/speakers

| 13