“RABBI’S MUSINGS (& AMUSINGS)”
Erev Shabbos Kodesh Parshas Noach 5785
Shabbos Rosh Chodesh MarCheshvan
1 Cheshvan 5785/ November 1, 2024
DON’T JUST STAND THERE
On Chol Hamoed Succos I took my family to visit an old neighbor, in fact,
a very old neighbor. I had never met the neighbor before, but my wife and I
felt it was worth a visit. Although the neighbor doesn’t say anything and just
stands around staring into space, people travel from far and wide to see her.
The fact that she’s completely green doesn’t seem to deter them at all.
Until I was eight years old, I grew up on the Lower East Side of
Manhattan. Although the Williamsburg Bridge was our closest neighbor, the
Statue of Liberty was a pretty close neighbor as well. As is often the case,
during those years I never visited the statue though it was a brief ferry ride
away. Over the years and decades since we moved to Monsey, even during the tens
of Chol Hamoed outings, we had never visited Liberty Island.
This year, we decided to finally visit my old green neighbor. Together
with our cousins from Teaneck, we took the ferry from Jersey City first to
Ellis Island.
It was a moving experience seeing the place where some of our ancestors
first arrived in America. We were so enraptured by Ellis Island that we missed
the ferry we wanted to take to Liberty Island and had to wait a half hour for
the next one.
When we finally came to Liberty Island we went straight to the entrance
of the pedestal. We arrived at the entrance at 3:30 pm, just in time for the
island staff to tell us they closed at 3:30. I tried to reason that it was
still 3:30 and there was no reason they should deny us the opportunity to
enter. When I finished making my point, the snarky guard replied that it was
then 3:31 and we were too late.
It was quite disappointing to say the least. We took the customary
pictures in front of the statue, but not being able to climb the pedestal put a
damper on our trip.
We headed back to the ferry and came very close to mistakenly taking the
one to Manhattan instead of Jersey City. It was that type of day. At least we
enjoyed a wonderful Chol Hamoed supper with our cousins in their Succah in
Teaneck.
I must add that although
I enjoyed seeing the statue up close, it didn’t evoke the same feelings of
American patriotism that it may have a few years ago. The events of the past
year have done a great deal to remind me that, as a Jew, my feelings of
nationalism are primarily elsewhere.
The haftarah of Parshas Bereishis contains the poignant words of Yeshaya
HaNavi (perek 42-43) regarding the destiny of the Jewish People. He refers to
us as “A light for the nations” and then adds, “You are My witnesses,” says
Hashem, “and My servant whom I have chosen so that you know and rely on Me, and
understand that I am He: before Me, no god was formed; nor shall there be after
Me.”
Like it or not, the Jewish people are always held on a proverbial
pedestal and the world is always looking towards us. Somehow our relatively
minuscule nation and land is always the subject of major headlines.
The Netziv writes (Ha’amek Davar, Bamidbar 14:21) that the goal of
creation is that Hashem’s glory fill the earth. That is accomplished when all
human beings recognize Him.
The Torah states that the miracles of the splitting of the Sea were
performed in order that “the Egyptians should know that I am
God” (Shemos 7:5). Ibn Ezra adds that the Egyptians referred to
were those who drowned. That means that the Splitting of the Sea was warranted
even for the few seconds of recognition of Hashem by the drowning Egyptians.
The Netziv explains that the Jewish people could have served as a light
unto the nations while living in Eretz Yisroel. We could have inspired the world
through awareness of the miraculous Divine Providence that guides the Jew in
his land. When we were exiled, however, it became necessary to spread the
knowledge of Hashem by living among the nations and their witnessing how we
sacrifice ourselves for His Name. Our survival as a solitary lamb among 70
hungry wolves points to the existence of a Divine Creator, whose Divine
Providence guides and protects His nation.
More than 300 years ago, King Louis XIV of France asked Blaise
Pascal, the Christian philosopher, to prove to him the existence of G-d. Pascal
answered, “Why the Jews, Your Majesty, the Jews!”
The Midrash (Vaikrah Rabbah 6) says, “‘And he is a witness,’ this
refers to the Jewish people, as it says, ‘You are my witnesses, says God, and I
am your Lord…’ If you will not testify, you will carry His sin.” If you
do not relate My existence to the nations, says Hashem, I will exact punishment
from you. The nations of the world should ideally work in unison with us to
proclaim and acknowledge the Creator.
Rabbi Zev Leff notes that the scorn of the nations of the world is not a
sign of our perfection, but rather that something is lacking in our service of
God, that we have failed in our role of leading a life of holiness separate
from the nations and their lifestyles. The metaphysical law that “Esav
hates Yaakov” guards us from assimilation and spiritual self-destruction.
But when we fulfill our role properly, the entire world will also want to share
in our service of Hashem.
We missed an opportunity to climb the pedestal of the Statue of Liberty.
However, it’s a reminder that we as a people stand on a pedestal constantly
with the goal of inspiring the world. They can taunt, persecute and abuse us.
But it’s impossible for them to not be awed by us.
The one question we were left wondering is whether Fredric-Auguste
Bartholdi, the designer of the Statue of Liberty, was unaware of the effect of
oxidation on copper? Did he not realize that the statue would inevitably turn
green, which it did within 30 years? Or perhaps he thought green is an
attractive color for a female statue reaching 151 feet in the air? Either way,
as long as she doesn’t drop the golden torch or the green book she’s doing
okay. And as long as we clutch the Torah close to our hearts and continue to
hoist its flame above for all to see, we’re doing okay as well.
Shabbat Shalom
& Good Shabbos,
R’ Dani and
Chani Staum
Strivinghigher.com
