פרשת תולדות-תשע"ג "בן יכבד אב ועבד אדוניו; אם אב אני-איה כבודי? ואם אדונים אני-איה מוראי? אמר ד' צבקות לכם הכהנים בוזי שמי..." נביאים the last of all of the,מלאכי The prophet -who functioned during the time of the Second Temple הפטורה in this morning s כהנים -rails against the behavior of the He accuses the priests who are in charge of the rituals in the בית המקדש of profaning G-d s name -of defiling His service -of offering maimed and sickly animals as sacrifices -animals they would never bring as gifts to their political leaders And the prophet goes on to remind the כהנים of why they were chosen "להיות בריתי את לוי...בריתי היתה אתו-החיים והשלום...תורת אמת היה בפיהו ועולה לא נמצא בשפתיו..." I made a covenant with the tribe of Levi-a covenant of life and peace; true teaching was found in his mouth and no injustice was to be found upon his lips.. It is, truthfully a puzzling message that מלאכי gives to the people?כהנים If, indeed, the people have become corrupt-why this focus upon the Was the disregard of proper ritual really the worst corruption of the newly-returned nation? Did not earlier prophets decry the emphasis on ritual and demand a return to moral living -helping the poor -sheltering the homeless -strengthening the weak Why then this focus on the ritual functionaries rather than the immoral masses? כהנים The answer can be found if we understand the most basic responsibility of the The כהנים were chosen to be more than simple ritualistic functionaries -they had a far greater job mission: with their לוי blesses the tribe of משה רבינו "יורו משפטיך ליעקב ותורתך לישראל "- - they will teach Your laws to Jacob, Your Torah to Israel There were not to be mere functionaries -they were to have the greatest of all responsibilities: -to teach Torah -to spread G-d s word -to pass down the Holy tradition -to be the religious leaders of Israel It was in this capacity especially that the כהנים of s מלאכי time failed -which is why the prophet emphasizes this priestly obligation at the conclusion of the words: with the הפטורה 1
"כי שפתי כהן ישמרו דעת ותורה יבקשו מפיהו כי מלאך ד' צבקות הוא " The lips of the כהן must safeguard knowledge and people should seek Torah from his mouthfor he is an agent of Hashem This then is the charge given to religious leaders - to speak the truth תורת אמת היה בפיהו - - to pursue life and peace החיים והשלום - - to combat injustice ועולה לא נמצא בשפתיו - For when you leaders do your job as described by Hashem the people will follow you -and the people will reject corruption and violence and death מלאך ד ' צבקות It is then that you will be -the agents of G-d But when you do not -when you speak falsehood -when you preach hatred and violence -when you encourage war and killing -when you even idealize death itself! -then you become agents of evil and corruption I stand before today-once again-as our families -our brothers and sisters, sons and daughters, grandchildren and friends -suffer under a constant barrage of enemy fire Once again, our beloved State of Israel -who wants no more than to be allowed to live -is fighting for its very right to exist Once more the painful decision must be made: -to go to war or refrain from sending our boys into harm s way -to fight to protect our people or bow to international pressure and show restraint And once more I wonder: -What thoughts can I share with you about this situation that you have not yet heard? -What arguments can I present that you have not read? -What ideas can I tell you that you do not yet know? And, truthfully, I was seriously considering saying nothing תהילים I would have stood before you, as I do now, and simply led you in the recitation of -pleas that our people need so much at this time But I know that so many have come hoping to hear some words of wisdom -or comfort -or direction 2
And so, with hopes that my words will enter your hearts, I turn to this week s פרשה for inspiration. And, when I do, I face the same puzzle I did last year (and previous years) in trying to.יצחק understand this enigmatic-almost mysterious figure named The second of our patriarchs and, seemingly, the most passive. The Torah dedicates only one פרשה to him -and for half that time, he is frail, old, blind -and victimized by his sons and wife. So why was he so hated by the local population? Isaac s son,,יעקב was well-known in Canaan -he was the Hebrew whose existence was accepted by the locals He grazed his flocks throughout the land שכם -his sons could take the sheep as far as the city of -which they, after all, conquered -and return safely, with no fear of the surrounding people. He was an accepted part of the population Isaac s father אברהם was also well-known amongst the aboriginal settlers of the land -and he was given great respect the Philistine regent, urges him to stay in his land,אבימלך- -he gives him gifts -he protects him נביא Abraham the father is called a "נשיא א'לוקים " a refer to him as חברון -the people of -a prince of G-d He was greatly honored יצחק But now we read of -the quietest of the patriarchs -one who, it seemed, should have offended no one. יצחק who welcomed Abraham- chases away אבימלך And yet, the same He who saw אברהם as a prophet-sees יצחק as a threat(!) And Isaac states this quiet clearly when he confronts the suddenly contrite Philistine king: "למה באתם אלי-ואתם שנאתם אותי ותשלחוני מאתכם?" Why do you come to me now when you hate me and chased me away? HATE ME!! Why would anyone hate the mild Isaac? What did he do that was any different from his father or son -and would lead an entire population to hate him? The answer is actually quite simple -and the Philistine reaction to him was, for us today, almost predictable. 3
Abraham was a shepherd His wealth was in his livestock -so great was that wealth that his nephew Lot had to separate from him in order to find sufficient grazing pastures for his own flocks He came in as an outsider to this land "גר ותושב אנכי עמכם "- When there was a famine, he left the land and went to Egypt And as a shepherd Abraham traveled from place to place "ויאהל עד סדם "- -his tents spread over the pastures and were moved from one grazing place to another So the local people were not threatened Abraham was, therefore, accepted and respected The same was true of יעקב who, although born in the land, left it for 20 years He, like his grandfather,אברהם raised livestock And, like,אברהם he too moved around And, again like Abraham, when there was a famine, he took his family and went to Egypt יצחק But not so Isaac was different He was born in the land And he never left the land "גור בארץ הזאת "- -he is told by G-d that he must remain in this land Even in a time of famine he remains in that land promised to him And although he too had great wealth in the many flocks he possessed -he did one thing no other patriarch did: "ויזרע יצחק בארץ ההיא " -he planted in the land -he laid down roots -he showed that he would possess the land -and to make things even worse, in the eyes of the Philistines: "וימצא בארץ ההיא מאה שערים "- -in a year of famine, when nothing would grow, he harvested 100 X the average yield -and when the Jew makes the desert blossom -when he dries up the swamp land -when he turns a place that was ignored for 2,000 years into an economic miracle Then the Philistines start to hate!!! 4
And how they hate!! Listen to their own words after they block up the wells dug by Abraham -and now claim the rights to those wells uncovered by Isaac: "ויריבו רועי גרר עם רועי יצחק לאמר: לנו המים - - The shepherds of Gerar argued with Isaac s shepherds saying: The waters is ours! Note how they don t argue that the wells are theirs -rather, המים" "לנו the water is ours -we own everything-even the water -it is all ours! -you get nothing! While Abraham dug wells and drew water for his flocks-there were no fights Even when Isaac used the water to slake the thirst of his animals-we read of no argument But as soon as יצחק plants in the land -as soon as he settles in and works the land as his -as soon as we read of his success in the land. -we read of jealousy, argument and, yes, hatred This is the story of Isaac -and the history of Israel *************************************************************************** When looking at the conflict in the Middle East today, there are many who believe that improving the economic lot of the Palestinians will bring an end to the bloodshed Now, I am sure that many Palestinians would welcome an upturn in their economy -and the easing of financial stress might, indeed, help many -but it would not end the conflict Some see the friction as a reflection of the nationalist fervor in the Palestinian world -they believe that, were the Palestinians to have a state of their own there would be no state of war -but they too are mistaken The source of the conflict in the Middle East is neither the economy nor nationalism The source of the conflict is far more basic: This is a religious war -and it is not simply solved It is a conflict between those who love life and those who idealize death -between those who protect their children and those who use children to protect them -between the those who dream of peace and those who thirst for blood And if we wish to put an end to this endless violence there is but one place to turn: -the same people the prophet addressed this morning כהנים Go to the 5
Turn to the religious leaders -for there is where the fault lies Those leaders who encourage the bloodshed Those imams who call for the jihad Those holy men who are willing to wage war until the last drop of someone else s blood For it is they who speak falsehood -they who preach hatred and violence -they who encourage war and killing -and they who even idealize death itself! Only if the world is courageous enough to speak out against these agents of evil will this situation change Only if the world will convince the blinded followers that their priests have brought only death will there be hope for peace Cease fires will only delay the next round of bloodshed Negotiations will invariably lead nowhere For only by exposing these agents of death can peace begin to reign "כי שפתי כהן ישמרו דעת ותורה יבקשו מפיהו כי מלאך ד' צבקות הוא " When we finally silence these voices of evil the message of G-d s true agents will be heard And until then, we will pray that those who purvey violence and bloodshed -those who claim ownership of every accomplishment -every well -every drop of water -will, like the Philistines of old, become no more than another layer in the ash heap of history. 6