This week’s Torah portion, Bamidbar
translates as “In the wilderness.” God
speaks to Moses Bamidbar Sinai – in the wilderness of Sinai. This morning, I want to begin by unpacking
the meaning of Midbar/wilderness. Those of us who are blessed to live
in the beautiful state of Colorado understand the beauty and power of spending
time in the wilderness. We know that a
key feature of getting away from the hustle and bustle of everyday life is that
when we are amid the beauty of nature, we remove ourselves from the past and
the future and revel in the immediacy of the present. When we walk in the wilderness, we are aware
of what’s around us – our senses are highly tuned – alert to both the wonders
and the possible dangers that surround us.
In the Midrash, we find the
following passage relating to the fact that God gave the world Torah in the wilderness.
Adonai spoke to Moshe in the wilderness of Sinai...(Numbers 1:1): Why
[was Torah given] in the wilderness of Sinai? From this the Sages taught: Torah
was given to the accompaniment of three things: fire, water, and
wilderness...Why was the giving of the Torah marked by these three features? To
indicate that as these are free to all in the world, so also are the words of
the Torah free...Anyone who does not make herself as open [hefker/ownerless]
as the wilderness, is not able to acquire wisdom and Torah. (Numbers Rabbah 1:7
I’ve always loved that
midrash. It speaks to me on a number of levels. But this morning, I want to
recognize that there are different types of wilderness that we will encounter in
our lives
First there is the natural
wilderness – the wide open spaces that inspire us to be more open, creative and
appreciative of God’s creation
But we also will encounter wildernesses of intellect and ideas. These emerge when we encounter individuals and movements that are based completely on the present – without any relationship to the past. These are wildernesses without perspective. They are the result of a lack of desire to look
deeply into the world around us – oftentimes because of laziness or preconceived
notions based exclusively on how we wish the world would be – rather than how
it really is. We have see this in many
places:
- The Anti-vax movement that relies on half-truths
and shoddy research to inspire fear and distrust.
- The past year has shown us how deep, divisive
and deadly racism can be. Those
who cling to a preconceived notion of racial superiority are blind to the
history and devastating consequences of these beliefs.
- We have seen the intellectual wilderness of a Mob
mentality - the kind of wilderness that would cause a group of people to believe
in a conspiracy theory that caused them to attack our nation’s capital and
question the legitimacy of an election.
Today, we are seeing another
example of the wilderness of ideas - playing out in the press, on social media and daily conversation as cries of
condemnation rise up against the State of Israel in this tragic time of war and
violence.
It is difficult to watch the
scenes of carnage playing out in Israel and Gaza. I weep as I see my family and
friends scrambling to bomb shelters as thousands of Hamas’ rockets are fly over
their homes – 90% of which as disabled by the Iron Dome system – thanks to the
partnership between our nation and Israel – but that still leaves hundreds of
rockets that find their targets. The
psychological toll on parents and children – and even those of us who watch
from afar – will be difficult to measure in the weeks, months and years that
are to come.
I cry in horror as the IDF
retaliates against Hamas in Gaza with air raids against strategic targets - taking out terror cells, underground
tunnels and ammunition depots – while, at the same time, killing innocents who
were caught up in the carnage.
It is unbelievable to see
mobs of angry Arabs and Jews fighting in the streets of Akko, Jaffa, Haifa, Lod
– synagogues being burned, mosques looted, Jewish businesses that for decades
stood side by side with their Muslim and Christian Neighbors – overnight torn
down and destroyed….
And as we sit with baited breath on our safe perches here in America we hear the cries of condemnation and hatred emerging from Social Media
where the clarion call of intersectionality is being used to
manipulate and obfuscate arenas of injustice and hatred with those of a
complicated and multi-dimensional conflict that cannot be reduced to tweets,
memes and Instagram posts.
While the suffering of the
Palestinian people is real, while the blood that is shed in Gaza is no
different from that of Sderot, Ashkelon, Beer Sheva, Tel Aviv, Akko, Jerusalem
or any other city in Israel where violence and terror is raging, in order to
fully comprehend the evil that has caused this most recent conflict, we need a
sense of perspective. We cannot live in
the wilderness of an Eternal Now – that has no ability or desire to explore how
this current tragedy came to be in the first place.
Let me be clear: there is blame to be cast on all
sides of this conflict:
- The leadership
vacuum caused by multiple elections, scandal and distrust in the current
government of Israel has paved the way for extremists on all sides of the issue
to have their hatred amplified.
- The presence of
avowed racists in the Knesset.
- The powder-keg of the confluence of Ramadan, Jerusalem Day and the complicated and multi-layered court case around the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood of Eastern Jerusalem all combined to provide extremely fertile ground for propagandists to promote their agenda of hatred – on all sides.
- The tensions rising in the lead-up to and, subsequent cancelling of elections in the West Bank – where the Palestinian Authority’s increasing insignificance in the eyes of the Palestinian population and Hamas’ political gains all have played into the hands of those who wanted nothing more than to sow chaos
- The refusal of the current Israeli Government to seriously engage the idea of a 2 State solution,
And
these are only a few variables in what has become a Gordian Knot of a
complicated equation of life and death, violence and a rapidly shrinking
potential for peace.
For
those who would defend Hamas’ actions – I want to read a section of the Hamas Founding
Charter that speaks of the Jewish people and the Jewish State:
Our struggle against the
Jews is very great and very serious. It needs all sincere efforts. The
Islamic Resistance Movement is but one squadron that should be
supported...until the enemy is vanquished and Allah's victory is realized. It
strives to raise the banner of Allah over every inch of Palestine...It is
one of the links in the chain of the struggle against the Zionist invaders...
....There is no solution
for the Palestine question except through Jihad. Initiatives, proposals and
international conferences are all a waste of time and vain endeavors. Palestine
is an Islamic land.
Zionist organizations
under various names and shapes, such as Freemasons, Rotary Clubs, espionage
groups and others...are all nothing more than cells of subversion and
saboteurs. The Islamic peoples should perform their role in confronting the
conspiracies of these saboteurs.
Our enemies took control
of the world media. They were behind the French Revolution and the Communist
Revolution....They were behind World War I, when they were able to destroy the
Islamic Caliphate, making financial gains and controlling resources. They obtained
the Balfour Declaration, formed the League of Nations through which they
could rule the world. They were behind World War II, through which they made
huge financial gains by trading in armaments, and paved the way for the
establishment of their state. It was they that instigated the replacement of
the League of Nations with the United Nations and the Security Council to
enable them to rule the world through them. There is no war going on any where,
without [them] having their finger in it[i].
Let me be clear: those who
are launching rockets onto Israeli soil are not seeking freedom and liberation.
That could have been granted a long time ago if they had demonstrated a
willingness to find a pathway to peace. Hamas’ goal is not to coexist with the
Jewish State, they will never stop until Israel is destroyed. Period.
Israel has the military
might to defend herself against this enemy – and others who sit poised on her
border – supported by the terrorist regimes in Iran whose proxies promote the
hatred and rhetoric of Hamas.
But the quandary that Israel
faces is that every time the IDF is called on to defend her Israeli citizens -
every time that soldiers stop an attack or act in retaliation, the cries of
condemnation that reverberate through the unfiltered mess of propaganda found throughout social media expose a wilderness of intentional ignorance that is oblivious to the fact that a sovereign state has both the right and
responsibility to defend itself against an existential threat to its people.
Israel is facing multiple
crises today. The fact that the electoral process has failed to produce a
viable coalition government - while the
current Prime Minister is on trial for corruption – does not bode well for
either stability or the prospect of a negotiated peace leading to a two state
solution. Crisis, as we know all too well, causes people to lose perspective.
It plays into the hands of those who would sow chaos in order to gain power. I
pray for all those whose lives are in balance. I fear for Democracy and hopes
for peace in a land that I love and for whom I weep when I see despair.
Pray for the peace of
Jerusalem. Pray for the peace of Gaza. Pray for the ability to gain perspective
that will lead us out of the Wilderness into a promised land of understand,
coexistence and hope.
AMEN - Shabbat shalom
[i] https://embassies.gov.il/holysee/AboutIsrael/the-middle-east/Pages/The%20Hamas-Covenant.aspx
