If Bilaam had Learned from the Middot of Avraham Avinu

[My apologies to those who understand only English, since the Hebrew and Judaic Midrashic material to which I have referred in this post does not always translate well into English, and may not be clear to those who do not understand the original Hebrew (and, additionally, I sometimes simply transliterate the original Hebrew without much explanation in English).]

As I discussed the Parshah with my family on this Shabbat (the fourteenth of Tammuz, on which we read Parshat Balak from the Torah), I hit upon an interesting idea, which I think can teach us a great deal regarding how to excel in our Middot (proper behavior attributes).

As Parshat Balak portrays, Bilaam wanted to accede to the request of Balak, king of Moav, to curse Am Yisrael (the people of Israel); and, by the way, I once heard an interpretation (based upon some hints and similarities in the verses about the two men) that Bilaam was actually Lavan (or possibly his great-grandson, as Moshe is Yaacov's great-grandson) who was known to want to destroy Am Yisrael. However, though it is clear that Bilaam acted in a most evil manner by trying to curse Am Yisrael, I do not believe I have ever seen a clear portrayal of what Bilaam SHOULD have done instead of attempting to curse Am Yisrael.

We know that the Middot of Avraham our forefather and Bilaam are contrasted in the Mishnah (Avot, 5:23), with Avraham's positive outlook, of course, being presented as the righteous way to behave. So I believe that we can learn from this how Bilaam should indeed have acted if he had behaved righteously!

In the Parshah (Numbers, 22:6), Balak describes Bilaam's power as "Whoever you bless is blessed, and whoever you curse is cursed", making it clear that Bilaam also has a tremendous potential to bring blessing into the world. It is also known that Am Yisrael did not desire war with Moav (and, in fact, avoided it, despite Balak's attempt to harm them), so that Moav had nothing to fear from Am Yisrael.

However, even if the Moabites feared Israel, if Bilaam had been willing to act righteously he would have blessed Moav that they should succeed in having a peaceful cooperative relationship with Am Yisrael. Such a blessing could easily have been fulfilled if the Moabites, and their king, Balak, had been willing to promote the positive spiritual message which Am Yisrael bore.

In such a scenario, Bilaam, instead of being a Rasha (evil person) would have learned from the Middot of Avraham to bring blessing into the world and Moav would have assisted Am Yisrael in their mission (as Moshe's father-in-law Jethro [according to some interpretations a non-Jew who promoted the ideals of monotheism] did) immediately, rather than having the world wait until a single Moabite woman (Ruth) joined Am Yisrael (and promoted the mission of Am Yisrael by becoming the great-grandmother of King David).

This should teach us today, when so many disputes among religious Jews, and between religious Jews and others, result in the sides spewing curses at each other, that when any trouble or dissension arises we should be blessing each other that the true light of the Torah should be clear to all, rather than cursing others with all sorts of epithets for "being on the wrong side of the argument".

Perhaps, if we, too, could learn this lesson, we could hasten the coming of Mashiach (the Messiah), who is a descendant of David, great-grandson of Ruth of Moav!

The Completely Halachic House, A Parable

Many years ago I heard this parable:

It is said that a very rich Jew in Los Angeles decided to build his new house EXACTLY according to every stricture of Halachah. The man hired a very knowledgeable Rabbi, paid him well, and ordered all of those involved in building his house to follow the Rabbis instructions to the letter.

Eventually the house was completed, and all that remained was to affix the Mezzuzah upon the doorpost of the house; so the man made a lavish housewarming party, the climax of which was to be the affixing of the Mezzuzah upon the doorpost, and invited his friends and acquaintances.

At the climax of the ceremony, the man pronounced the blessing for affixing the Mezzuzah and, with a hammer, banged in the nail which affixed the Mezzuzah upon the doorpost of the house, at which point the entire house collapsed.

Crestfallen, the man went over to the Rabbi, and said, "Rabbi, why is it that, after I have built this house exactly according to all of the stringencies of the Halachah, when I affixed the Mezzuzah to the front doorpost, the entire house collapsed?"

To which the Rabbi replied, "You know, the Tosafot asks the same question!"

[This is a humorous parody, but it does, rather effectively, convey the flaw in following only theoretical Halachah, and fulfilling all of the different stringencies, to whatever end this may lead, without tempering it with a practical, moral foundation.]

Possibility of a Mediated End to the Emmanuel Dispute

I just saw an article online which indicates that the two warring Chareidi groups in Emmanuel may have agreed to mediation by an apparently neutral group. I hope that they can find a reasonable way to work out this problem without bitterness for the benefit of all. Here is the link:

http://www.ynet.co.il/articles/0,7340,L-3910593,00.html

Another Great Latma Satire Against Israel's Enemies

I almost forgot to post the link to a great satire from Latma. This one features a parody with three of Israel's enemies as opera singers praising terror. Here is the link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VmffgIqlAYA&feature=channel

Inconsistencies in the Chareidi Bet Din's Claim to be Neutral Arbiter!

The article at this link:

http://www.ynet.co.il/articles/0,7340,L-3908431,00.html

cites the evidence which Rav Yaacov Yosef has presented that the Chareidi Bet Din claiming to be neutral arbiter in the case of the warring Chareidi factions in Emanuel is actually very biased in favor of the "Ahkenazi" extremist side.

I suppose that it is no surprise, but it is disappointing, that a supposedly neutral arbiter, in a case where neutral arbitration could help things a whole lot, is actually biased in favor of the extremists. Chareidi extremists are always claiming that they have rights to which no one else is entitled, so why shouldn't they "stack the deck" when they finally agree to supposedly neutral arbitration?

The entire situation in Emanuel should not have gotten to the stage where the disadvantaged side felt it had to file an Israeli Supreme Court case in order to get justice. Why do Chareidi extremists feel that they can flaunt everyone else's wellbeing both spiritually and physically to achieve their aims? Where is the Ahavat Yisrael which is supposed to be part of their actions as religious Jews?

And most disheartening, where is the Chareidi leadership on this issue, and on any issue where the Chareidi extremists cause grief to all other Jews? Why is there only one Chareidi Rabbi (to my knowledge, and he is in the USA) who is even willing to deal with such issues? More unanswered questions!

Chareidi Leadership Where Are You?

The article at this link:

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3908682,00.html

states that "Dozens of ultra-Orthodox attacked a vehicle traveling through Jerusalem's Mea Shearim neighborhood Sunday evening because it had "Electra" stickers on it."

The Eidah Chareidit has a dispute with the Electra company, claiming that Electra is responsible for desecrating Jewish graves. Whatever the basis (or lack of basis) for this claim, it is certainly no justification for attacking vehicles, destroying property, and possibly harming people!

Why is it NEVER made clear in a manner that does not allow for misinterpretation (as far as I have seen in all my, more than thirty, years here in Israel) that whatever disagreements the Eidah Chareidit has with other Jews, this does not justify, in any way, the use of violence? It is always claimed that whoever violently supports the Eidah Chareidit views must be "misguided"; but it behooves all Chareidi leadership, and especially that of the Eidah Chareidit, whose "misguided" supporters often seem to be involved in violence, to issue a loud and clear statement that they consider anyone practicing violence to be violating HaShem's Torah in the worst way and to be worthy of all of the punishments which HaShem brings upon those who violate His Torah in such a way (the way they state about all sorts of other things which they consider extremely repugnant).

Where is the Chareidi leadership on this issue? Why don't other Chareidi groups take the Eidah Chareidit to task for this? Why doesn't the Eidah Chareidit itself deal with this forcefully? Many unanswered questions!

We are All Jews

Now that Sefardi Rav Yaacov Yosef (son of Rav Ovadiah Yosef) has been threatened by Ashkenazi Chareidi extremists, who, his son claims, attempted to attack him physically; he has announced that he is withdrawing his support for the Sefardi Chareidi side in the battle over the school in Emanuel, as noted here:

http://www.ynet.co.il/articles/0,7340,L-3907528,00.html

If a great Torah scholar such as Rav Yaacov Yosef is being threatened with physical violence against himself and those he holds dear, it is clearly time for those who claim to support Torah values to reevaluate the means that are considered valid to promote those values. No matter what each of us thinks about the dispute between the rival Chareidi factions in Emanuel (or anywhere else), threats of physical violence are clearly do not conform to Torah standards! Baruch Hashem, no violence resulted, as far as I have heard, from the demonstrations on the Emmanuel issue last week; and let us hope that no violence will result from any of these other actions which fan the flames of hatred even if they are disguised as "religious actions".

We should all be spreading Ahavat Yisrael, especially those who claim to be especially strong in their Judaism, NOT threatening physical abuse to Torah scholars who disagree with us!

We MUST remember, even when we disagree among ourselves, that WE ARE ALL JEWS!

Promoting Ahavat Yisrael NOT Divisiveness

As most of us already know, two Chareidi factions in the town of Emanuel (one ostensibly Sefardi and the other ostensibly Ashkenazi) are battling over the lack of acceptance of a Sefardi Chareidi girl to an Ashkenazi Chareidi institution.

Rav Yaacov Yosef (son of Rav Ovadiah Yosef) supports the Sefardi side, and encouraged a representative of that side to file a court complaint about the matter. The Israeli Supreme Court recently decided that this complaint was justified and ordered the Ashkenazi Chareidi institution to accept the girl. Since then, all sorts of manipulations have been attempted to avoid the Ashkenazi Chareidi institution's having to comply with the court decision.

Of course, the Ashkenazi Chareidi leadership (or at least the extreme elements in that leadership) have called for demonstrations, and we all have seen enough evidence as to how these demonstrations promote Sinat Chinam and usually lead to violence that none of us will be surprised if that is what happens here. In fact extremists have already invaded a Torah Shiur given by Rav Yaacov Yosef and disrupted it, and his supporters claim that the extremists threatened violence.

I do not know why the two factions handled their disagreement in a manner which included a court case. This does not seem to me to be the most productive way to handle the issues involved. I had thought that they could have resolved it somehow with a discussion between the Torah scholars supporting each side; but then again I am totally unconcerned with the warring Chareidi factions in Emanuel, and I do not know their motivations and underlying concerns.

However, I do know from our nation's previous experiences with this type of situation that the demonstrations proposed by Chareidi groups will only promote divisiveness and fan the flames of hatred, and will probably lead to violence. While this violence is officially opposed by the organizers of the demonstrations, there are some suspicions that some of those officially opposed to violence may actually desire a violent reaction!

Whatever the exact details are, I am certain that nothing good can result from these types of demonstrations, and I hope that all people who take their Ahavat Yisrael seriously will steer clear of these demonstrations!

Remember, we are all Jews!

Rav Yuval Sherlo Emphasizes a Very Important Point

Rav Yuval Sherlo Rosh Yeshivah of the Petach Tikvah Hesder Yeshivah (and member of the Tzohar Rabbinic Organization) has publicized an article (in Hebrew) which, to my mind, brings out a most important point: How Israeli society is full of different outlooks which "speak different languages" as it were (though all in Hebrew), and rarely understand each other.

Rav Sherlo's article is about the Israeli Supreme Court's recent ruling against the special payments to Collel families whose income is below the minimum wage, and it may be seen here:

http://www.ypt.co.il/show.asp?id=38939

A Program for African Émigrés/Refugees in Israel that is Both Practical and Humane

I have a somewhat detailed proposal on how to deal with the Africans who flee their countries of origin and enter Israel, and I think that my proposal is the wisest plan for dealing with the African refugee problem, and will also gain Israel some positive PR. I prefer to use the term "émigrés" in order not to enter the sub-debate between people who call them "infiltrators" and those who call them "refugees"; since it DOES NOT MATTER what you call them, they have a right to life and freedom, though it does not have to mean that they must live in Israel.

Too many politicians are fixated upon seeing either the problem Israel has with not enough resources to actually absorb all of these émigrés, or seeing the paramount humanitarian problem; that they cannot find the middle ground which I am suggesting.

I encourage everyone to pass these ideas on to other people you know who could possibly influence our government to put such a proposal into practice.

The points which I am trying to convey to as many people, especially Knesset members (and government members) as possible are:

1. We in Israel do not have to make this a debate between humanitarians who want to save the Africans who are running from their countries, and "practical people" who want to close the gates altogether because Israel does not have the resources to absorb hundreds of thousands of émigrés.

We can simply say that we will accept anyone running away, TEMPORARILY, until he can be absorbed in one of the rich countries (like Venezuela, Japan, etc.) which always states that it is in favor of saving refugees.

2. We DO NOT have to give these people citizenship or permanent residency just because we save them from being shot by the Egyptians. We just take them in, and Israel simply becomes a way station for them, and after a short period (I suggest six months) they should go to a country where they can live permanently (many of these countries are looking for able hands to work for them anyway).

3. We gain something in our public relations in the world, since we emphasize that we want to save whoever is fleeing, and many of these émigrés are black people (many of them Christians) fleeing from Muslim oppression.

4. Many of those who are not technically refugees are fleeing extreme economic deprivation (usually caused by the leaders of their countries hoarding all of the resources for themselves and not allowing the common people to benefit very much from those resources), and, if they have run to us, we should not refuse them entrance (though they need not remain with us permanently). However, whatever the true status of these people, we can take them in temporarily because we are passing them on to other countries who will deal with them in the long run.

5. If we refuse these people entrance, we end up looking very bad in the public eye (even when there is some justification for refusing many of them entrance); so why not reverse the situation and be the GOOD GUYS, who are accepting everyone who is fleeing, but living within our limitations as a small country which cannot absorb these people permanently, and therefore demands that the rest of the world "put their money where their mouth is" and absorb these émigrés.

Even if many of the countries who always proclaim their loyalty to the ideal of saving refugees are simply hypocrites, some, at least, should be too embarrassed to refuse to participate in such a clearly humanitarian program as this one, and maybe even some countries will participate out of true dedication to the ideals of humanitarianism.

I think that I have excellent points here, and that a program built on those points could actually help these people who are fleeing from Africa, while also being good for our PR, without forcing us to absorb thousands (or hundreds of thousands) of non-Jews with whom we are not equipped to deal!

I have also composed my proposal in Hebrew, and those who prefer to read it in that language can see it at this Web address:
http://vehashalomvehaemmet.blogspot.com/p/blog-page.html

A Kotsker Rebbe Quote

The Kotsker Rebbe (Rabbi Menachem Mendel of Kotsk, 1787-1859) is known for his Middat HaEmmet (attribute of truth, i.e., getting to the core of the truth of a topic). I apologize in advance to those who cannot follow the Hebrew, or all of the Jewish prayer references, but  I may not manage to make this clear in English.

The Kotsker Rebbe is reputed to have said:

In the introductory prayer said by some before the regular morning prayers, which is usually read:

לעולם יהא אדם ירא שמים, בסתר ובגלוי, ומודה על האמת

(which translates to: Always should a person be Heaven-fearing, privately and publicly, and acknowledging the truth),

we should actually punctuate it differently and read:

לעולם יהא אדם; ירא שמים, בסתר ובגלוי, ומודה על האמת!

And we should interpret it as "cutting to chase" of our Middot (behavior attributes) and telling us:

Always, BE A MENTSCH. [And then,] Heaven-fearing etc. [will come naturally to you. But, first of all, be a Mentsch, because without that the other attributes cannot be true]!

Baseball and the Creation of the World

Since baseball was mentioned in the previous post, I will now quote the famous "God is a baseball fan" joke:

How do we know that HaShem is a baseball fan? Since he created the world in the Big Inning! 

The Great Baseball Player Pete Rose may have Cheated to Achieve a Record

As far as dealing with lack of truth and integrity in the world (one of the purposes of this blog, which is why I have the Hebrew word "Emmet" as part of the blog's name), there is an online article which cites claims of proof that Pete Rose used a corked bat in his chase to break Ty Cobb's hit record (which he only broke by 67 hits!).

There are questions as to whether cork in the bat actually helps a player get more hits, but it was certainly against the rules to use such a bat when Pete Rose was playing (and I believe that it is still against the rules). It is simply disgusting that even in sports people lacking integrity look for dishonest shortcuts to win and set records; and these days, with the steroids scandals, there are so many baseball records that are in question that, in my opinion, it becomes very demeaning to the sport.

Here is a link to the online article which brought this to my attention:

http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/blog/big_league_stew/post/Does-it-really-matter-at-this-point-if-Pete-Rose;_ylt=Am9G8hNK0UZ.mHwP.4dDW1IRvLYF?urn=mlb,246560

Jerusalem Post Editorial on Rav Mordechai Eliyahu's Legacy

Rav Modechai Eliyahu, of blessed memory, passed away on Monday (7/6/10); and yesterday the Jerusalem Post online edition had an editorial on his legacy.

In my opinion, the editorial presents some important ideas, though I am not certain that they are all part of Rav Eliyahu's "legacy". However, I doubt that he opposed any of the positive developments mentioned in the editorial.

In any case, here is a link to the editorial:

http://www.jpost.com/Opinion/Editorials/Article.aspx?id=177884

Rabbi who Posted Hellen Thomas' Comments Receiving Death Threats

As most of us know, Hellen Thomas was forced into early retirement at 89 years of age after making obnoxious remarks about the Jews, as I posted yesterday.

Now, however, Rabbi David Nesenoff, who interviewed Thomas on video and publicized her obnoxious remarks on the internet, is receiving hate mail and death threats, apparently for supposedly ruining her career:

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2010/06/09/rabbi-receives-death-threats-helen-thomas-video/

Somehow, the anti-semites always make it the Jews' fault! May HaShem bestow upon them all that they deserve!

Hellen Thomas, and Jay Lenno's Retort

As most of us know, Hellen Thomas was forced into early retirement at 89 years of age after making obnoxious remarks about the Jews:
http://www.jpost.com/Home/Article.aspx?id=177755

Kudo's to Rafi G's "Life in Israel" blog for publicizing a video of Jay Lenno's comedy routine which included a great retort on the Hellen Thomas situation:
Life in Israel: Jay Leno on Helen Thomas (video)

I'll repeat the main part here.

Jay Lenno got to the core of Hellen Thomas' problem that forced her into early retirement at 89 years of age. He put it this way in his comedy routine:
She said, "Jews should leave the Middle East and go back to where they came from." The problem is: that's where they came from, it's the Middle East, okay. It's in a book it's called, "The Bible"; and a great movie too!

Does the Public Want the Truth or Just Quick Answers to be Able to Rest Easy?

Here is a thought-provoking article from a columnist in the Israeli financial daily "Globes"; the article is interrupted in the middle by advertisements, so be sure to look at the conclusion after the advertisements:

http://www.globes.co.il/serveen/globes/docview.asp?did=1000564551&fid=980

Rioting for Settlements, Lo Alenu!

Unfortunately, Lo Alenu ("may it not happen to us"), some of the Jews in the community of Bet El (located in the Shomron) actually physically attacked our police officers and civil administration officials who came to dismantle structures in that settlement which are considered illegal, as reported in the Jerusalem Post online edition:

http://www.jpost.com/Israel/Article.aspx?id=177837

I really must stress how self-defeating this is, in addition to being absolutely wrong from a moral standpoint! Of course, morally it is wrong to attack officials of the government who are just doing the job they have been assigned. These are our fellow Jews whose job is to carry out the policies of the government. While I agree that those policies are totally incorrect regarding "the settlements", physically harming those who implement them is simply hooliganism, and can even, Chas VeShalom (Heaven forfend), lead to civil war, or at least Sinat Chinum (causeless hatred) between Jews! If the policies are wrong, then we must politically challenge the government about them and get those misguided policies changed; but there is NEVER a political reason to physically harm another Jew. All of the arguments that some political decision, as flawed as it may be, will eventually cause us to be attacked by Arabs, and therefore we must beat upon other Jews to stop this; all of those arguments are TOTALLY SPECIOUS! As much as I am extremely concerned about the welfare of our nation and our land, I have NEVER seen such a justification which actually stands up to simple common sense!

Additionally, as I mentioned above, these types of actions are self-defeating. If we can justify holding ourselves above the law because we are certain that this policy is wrong, then the left-wingers who are certain that having ANY settlements is morally wrong can easily justify themselves illegally uprooting settlements by any means they can find; and then social order totally breaks down when, as illustrated by the Mishnah (Avot 3:2), each person will swallow his fellow citizen alive!

These types of actions are also counterproductive and self-defeating because the purpose of having settlements is to expand our control over the land of Israel by having Israeli government control extend to each settlement. However, if we create "pirate" settlements, not legally recognized by the government of Israel, and if we physically battle with the bureaucrats and the police and the soldiers sent to dismantle such settlements; we actually distance Israeli control from those areas, since we increase government antagonism toward having settlements there! The only productive way to expand Israeli control over our land is to take the battle to the government institutions and make it a political and ideological battle, not a physical one! We have to make it clear to our government and our Knesset members why it is important to have Israeli control over these territories of our land, and, since there are many cogent reasons for this, we should not be doubting our ability to win the battle in the political and ideological arena! We must remember that if we use violence against our own brethren to force our point of view across, it is as if we have declared that Jewish Sechel (reason) is not strong enough to convince the Jews to do the right thing, and we are forced to use the evil tools of Esau to achieve the goals of Israel!

Let's hope that all Israelis will remain law-abiding citizens, and that we will be able to use our political acumen to direct our government into more productive policies!

Pro-Israel Groups Must Adapt to the Changing World, and an Example of Such Adaptation

The founder and president of The Israel Project, which educates reporters and leaders about the Mideast, has some suggestions in the Jerusalem Post online edition, which are worth some serious thought, about improving the portrayal of Israel in the world, and the way we "do business" with the world:

http://www.jpost.com/Opinion/Op-EdContributors/Article.aspx?id=177766

One group which is trying to think "outside the box" about dealing with those who oppose Israel in the world is Israel’s National Student Union which is working on a ‘reverse flotilla’ sailing toward Turkey to remind the world of Turkish hypocrisy as reported in the Jerusalem Post online edition:

http://www.jpost.com/Israel/Article.aspx?id=177789

Let's hope that pro-Israel activists will continue devising creative ideas to promote Israel's position on the issues which confront us!

Popular Israeli Singer Sarit Hadad has Refused to Perform at the Festigal on Shabbat!

Rafi G's "Life in Israel" blog notes that the popular Israeli singer Sarit Hadad canceled her performance at the Festigal, which is a very significant Israeli performance festival, when she realized that she would be required to perform on Shabbat if she wanted to perform in the Festigal!

http://lifeinisrael.blogspot.com/2010/06/hotd-sarit-hadad-and-shabbos.html

This is very impressive coming from someone who is not formally religious. Kol HaKavod to her for honoring the Shabbat, the Jewish day of rest!

Kudos to Rav Yaacov Haber for his Pashkevil to End All Pashkevilim

Rav Yaacov Haber of KSY (Kehilas Shivtei Yeshurun, at the corner of Dolev and Yarden in Ramat Bet Shemesh Alef) has contributed something important to Ahavat Yisrael in Bet Shemesh with his Pashkevil to end all Pashkevilim:

http://www.torahlab.org/haberblog/the_pashkevil_to_end_all_pashkevil/

Both Rafi G's "Life in Israel" blog,

http://lifeinisrael.blogspot.com/2010/06/interesting-posts-163.html,

and David Morris' "Tzedek-Tzedek blog,

http://tzedek-tzedek.blogspot.com/2010/06/mother-of-all-pashkevilim.html

have noted this positive development. I hope to see more "positive energy" generated by Rav Haber, displaying true leadership as he has done this time, in the future.