AND ALL THE PEOPLE TOOK OFF THE GOLD RINGS THAT WERE IN THEIR EARS AND BROUGHT THEM TO AARON. THIS HE TOOK FROM THEM AND CAST IN A MOLD AND MADE IT INTO A MOLTEN CALF. AND THEY EXCLAIMED, "THIS IS YOUR GOD, O ISRAEL, WHO BROUGHT YOU OUT OF THE LAND OF EGYPT."

(Shemot 32:3-4)

 

This is your god, O Israel, who brought you out - Were they fools not to know that that the calf which had been made that same day did not take them out of Egypt? Rather, all idolaters realize that our God in heaven created the world. However, they were mistaken to believe that fetishes contain the spirit of impurity in the manner that prophets possess the holy spirit. They believed that the calf could give voice to the spirit of impurity as if speaking when inspired with the holy spirit from above. That is why they said, This is your god, O Israel, who brought you out - as if to say that it possessed the holy spirit, making it as if the holy spirit passed before them and in order to test Israel it endowed it with the spirit of impurity of witches, and a ghost and familiar spirit endowed it with the ability to spurn the celestial retinue and foretell the future, in order to see if they would be wholeheartedly loyal to the Lord their God, that there be no soothsayer, diviner or sorcerer amongst them, nor one who believes in the signs and wonders of the prophets of the spirit of impurity, as is written, for the Lord your God is testing you to see whether you really love the Lord your God... (Devarim 13:4).

 (RaShBaM on Shemot 32:4)

 

This is your god, O Israel - There is no fool in the world who could think that the gold which hung from their ears until that day and which was formed into a calf, had taken them out from Egypt. However, they did believe that the power of that form and the spirit residing within it had brought them up from there.

(R. Yitzhak Shemuel Reggio, ad loc)

 

 

And you shall walk in His ways: Just as He is compassionate, you too should be compassionate

Yohanan and Tzvi Flusser

The Holy One blessed be He reveals Himself in our parasha and discloses His attributes. The text invites two central questions:

The first is: Who is it who discloses God's attributes? Was Moses the one who cried out God's attributes, begging for God's mercy? Or did God Himself reveal His attributes? When we pray, we entreat God, "Lord, Lord, merciful and compassionate God, long-suffering God." The reader of our parasha might similarly assume that Moses addressed God with those words. Should we understand the text in this manner?

The second question is: Why are God's attributes revealed? Is there a message here for us as human beings?

When my son and I wrote his bar mitzvah derasha (for Shabbat Hol Ha-Moed of Sukkot) we typed Lord, Lord... merciful and compassionate... the computer automatically marked the first two words with a red underline, indicating that an error had been made: the words Lord, Lord should not be repeated. The verse Lord, Lord, merciful and compassionate God raises substantial questions. The late Prof. David Flusser, my father and my son's grandfather, once made a seemingly peripheral comment which we have only lately investigated. Even after checking it, we were left with questions and wonderment. As has been said in various connections, "The matter requires further study."

The verse Lord, Lord... merciful and compassionate in our parasha appears with slight variations in the book of Bamidbar (14:18) as well. In Bamidbar Moses quotes God as revealing Himself as He did in Shemot. However, there is an important difference between Shemot and Bamidbar:

 

In our parasha, Moses descends with the Tablets, sees Israel sinning, and in response breaks the Tablets of the Covenant. God commands him to make two stone tablets like the first ones. In an exceptionally dramatic event, God descends in a cloud. Moses ascends towards Him, while God descends towards Moses. God stands together with Moses in one place - there is reciprocity in the relationship between them. Next is written, and called in God's name. The Lord passed before him and called out. Who called out Lord, Lord, merciful and compassionate God longsuffering and abounding in kindness and faithfulness? The plain meaning of the text, as attested to by the division of the passage into verses and by the assignment of cantillation marks, may be interpreted as being that Moses cried out to the Lord, Lord, Lord, merciful and compassionate God!

The book of Bamidbar saves us from this error. It works like a camera, documenting the great event from an historical perspective. Today it would be called a "close-up replay" which, luckily, was filmed from a different angle. Moses himself serves as our correspondent on the scene, allowing us to hear a description from the "original source," from someone who was actually present. Moses' account has survived, and by reviewing it we can clarify all of our difficulties:

Bamidbar (14:17) presents Moses' plea to God: Now make great Your power as You spoke, saying: The Lord is longsuffering and abounding in kindness forgiving iniquity, transgression, and sin, yet He does no remit all punishment. Scripture emphasizes: as You spoke, saying: You, God, spoke thus saying. You spoke! And according to this passage, what did God say? The Lord is longsuffering and abounding in kindness, etc. This is proof that the division of verses in our parasha is not precise - in effect, the ambiguities I brought up earlier have been resolved. There is no doubt that God was the speaker. That is how Moses himself describes the event in the course of his retelling of the Israelites difficult times in the wilderness, a kind of reconstruction of the history laid out in Shemot. It is interesting that the commentaries remain indifferent to the possibility of using the passage in Bamidbar to understand Shemot. Taking the verses in Bamidbar at face value, we are confronted by a new question: Is there not something amiss in the way we read the verse Lord, Lord, merciful and compassionate God in our daily prayers and in the High Holy Days' liturgy? According to Bamidbar, the correct and fitting thing to say is, Lord, merciful and compassionate God. [The first word of the verse, Lord, becomes the last word of the previous verse, serving as the subject of the ambiguous clause and called out, making it the Lord called out.] The precise division of the words into verses should be:

The Lord passed before him and the Lord called out,

Lord, merciful and compassionate God longsuffering, and abounding in kindness and faithfulness extending kindness to the thousandth generation, forgiving iniquity, transgression, and sin...

It is God's Self-description. If we have tended to misinterpret this passage, it is due to the way the verses are divided.

All through the year and on the High Holy days, we are accustomed to read the verse Lord, Lord, merciful and compassionate God as a single unit. However, at the climax of the holiest day, in the Ne'ilah prayer we read:

Remember to us this day your covenant of the thirteen [attributes], as You made it know to the humble one [Moses] long ago, as it is written, The Lord passed before him and the Lord called out: Lord, merciful and compassionate God

In effect, if we believe the words of God and of His servant Moses as they appear in Bamidbar, in every prayer and holiday, we would recite the verse thusly: Lord, merciful and compassionate God... , and not Lord, Lord merciful and compassionate God...

To sum up: Even if we pay attention to the cantillation marks of our parasha, it seems that they lead both one who reads the Torah and one who listens to the reading to the conclusion that the passage should be read: And called out: Lord, Lord, etc. However, we have seen that the verses from Bamidbar make it clear to us that the words Lord, merciful and compassionate God were spoken by God when He described His own attributes. The idea that these words constitute God's own self-description makes them all the more powerful, and makes it all the more important for us to ask the second question: Why did God reveal His attributes? Does this revelation also impose duties upon us as human beings, who were created in the image of God?

Rabbi Yehudah Amital writes: "The only explanation for the astounding form of this revelation is that God wanted to teach us how to behave." God informed Moses of His attributes and "dressed-up" as a God-fearing human (as the Sages put it, "He wrapped Himself up in a tallit as if leading a congregation in prayer") in order to teach us the attributes which we ourselves must adopt. The significance of the thirteen attributes goes beyond a mere statement of fact - it requires us to imitate God's attributes. God revealed the attribute of mercifulness to Moses so that we might acquire those same attributes, including the attribute of mercifulness. Humanity's mission is to become like its Creator, for it was created in His image, and to make the attribute of mercifulness an integral part of itself. If only we would all take upon ourselves the commandment and walk in His ways as a duty, and we could al be granted to become merciful and compassionate longsuffering, and abounding in kindness and faithfulness towards all humans who were created in God's image!

Yohanan Flusser works in special education, he and his son Tzvi wrote this article together in honor of Tzvi's bar-mitzvah, which he celebrated in Sukkot of this year.

 

 

Readers reply: On the respect due to teachers and parents

In her enlightening analysis of the concept of the honor of parents and teachers, which appeared in the Mishpatim edition of Shabbat Shalom, Devorah Greineman relates to the four types of honor which I defined and presented in my book, A Matter of Honor: Israeliness and Human Dignity. As she describes it, hadrat kavod - "honor" - is a form of hierarchical and positional respect which grants its bearers status and social superiority relative to those around them. Hilat kavod is the honor of the Creator, a bit of which exists in each of us, as beings created in the divine image, who reflect Him and His honor. Kevod seguli - dignity - is the essence of one's humanity; it is the source of the basic human rights which are owed to every human being qua human being. Kevod hamehayeh is the respect owed to every human as an individual and/or as a member of a group. Greineman seeks in these four categories a basis for understanding the honor of parents and teachers, but reaches the conclusion that it cannot be found. I would like to suggest that the honor of teachers, like that of parents, is first and foremost a matter of hadrat kavod.

Class-honor, which is determined by one's position in the social system, is not a liberal, enlightened, or progressive notion (unlike kevod seguli, for instance). However, despite its long history in traditional societies, I believe that even today it remains important and even crucial in certain social situations. An army cannot function unless commanders are honored by those under them, and a school cannot function unless students honor their teachers. Hadrat kavod can appear in various forms. There are times and places where it is gained through aggressive behavior, and even through harm and humiliation. However, that is not always necessary: There are societies and contexts in which honor is not connected with machoistic militancy, but rather with restraint, self-control, and modesty. And there are contexts in which it simply reflects the acceptance of a hierarchical system, which can only function upon the acceptance of the societal burden. Not, God-forbid, a submissive, blind, or total acceptance, but a dignified acceptance.

Israeli society is, in many ways, an "honor" society. This is not necessarily a completely negative thing. The problem is that many Israelis hold traditional hierarchical systems in profound contempt (e.g., the educational system), and refuse to accept the rules of honor required by them. The anti-galut tzabar (native-born Israeli) rejects authority by rebelling against such rules. Instead, many Israelis adopt a much more aggressive and belligerent notion of honor, which rewards offensive, boastful, demanding, and unbending behavior with hadrat kavod. Lack of respect for teachers is only part of a much deeper phenomenon, which can be defined by the kind of "honor" which Israeli society has chosen for itself.

In addition to hadrat kavod, respect for teachers also involves kavod mehayeh, but that matter requires a detailed treatment that would go beyond the limits of a rejoinder, and I will seek an opportunity to deal with it.

Dr. Orit Kamir

 

Devorah Greinman replies:

I am honored that Orit Kamir saw fit to comment on my article, and it is pleasant to think that these pages find their way to people from beyond the expected readership of Shabbat Shalom, stimulating dialogue.

In my opinion, one of the elements of religion that people find attractive - and that even draws them into Orthodox and Ultra-Orthodox circles (not only in Judaism) - is the longing for lost honor, which has a spiritual foundation and which constitutes a central social and religious foundation in all aspects of life. This longing is so powerful that people (especially women) are willing to accept an inferior status, just so long as they can be integrated into the hierarchy of honor. In the religious world, honor is an independent value, and not just a means for achieving other ends (such as meaning) - and therefore it is easier to demand it. This value possesses several very dangerous facets, but it seems to be vital to the spiritual life and self-respect of many people in society. That is why I saw fit to emphasize - precisely in the context of Shabbat Shalom's liberal-religious readership - the need to strike a balance between the kinds of "egalitarian" honor described by Kamir - kavod seguli and kavod mehayeh - and the value of honoring parents and teachers. This is a balance which is not easy to achieve, as Kamir hints at in her own statement. It is a point of disagreement between religion and secularity, making the dialogue that has evolved here especially interesting.

 

 

 

 

 

 

If you enjoy Shabbat Shalom, please consider contributing towards its publication and distribution.

• Hebrew edition distributed in Israel $700
• English edition distributed via email $ 100

Issues may be dedicated in honor of an event, person, simcha, etc. Requests must be made 3-4 weeks in advance to appear in the Hebrew, 10 days in advance to appear in the English email.

In Israel, checks made out to Oz VeShalom may be sent to Oz VeShalom-P.O.B. 4433, Jerusalem 91043. Unfortunately there is no Israeli tax-exemption for local donations.

US and British tax exempt contributions to Oz VeShalom may be made through the New Israel Fund.

Contributions should be marked as donor-advised to OzVeShalom, the Shabbat Shalom project.

PLEASE NOTE THAT THE NEW ISRAEL FUND IS NO LONGER ACCEPTING DONATIONS UNDER $100.

New Israel Fund, POB 91588, Washington, DC 20090-1588, USA

New Israel Fund of Great Britain, 26 Enford Street, London W1H 2DD, Great Britain

 

About us

Oz Veshalom-Netivot Shalom is a movement dedicated to the advancement of a civil society in Israel. It is committed to promoting the ideals of tolerance, pluralism, and justice, concepts which have always been central to Jewish tradition and law.

Oz Veshalom-Netivot Shalom shares a deep attachment to the land of Israel and it no less views peace as a central religious value. It believes that Jews have both the religious and the national obligation to support the pursuit of peace. It maintains that Jewish law clearly requires us to create a fair and just society, and that co-existence between Jews and Arabs is not an option but an imperative.

Oz Veshalom-Netivot Shalom's programs include both educational and protest activities. Seminars, lectures, workshops, conferences and weekend programs are held for students, educators and families, as well as joint seminars for Jews, Israeli Arabs and Palestinians. Protest activities focus on issues of human rights, co-existence between Jews and Arabs, and responses to issues of particular religious relevance.

5,000 copies of a 4 page peace oriented commentary on the weekly Torah reading are written and published by Oz VeShalom/Netivot Shalom and they are distributed to over 350 synagogues in Israel and are sent overseas via email. Our web site is www.netivot-shalom.org.il

Oz Veshalom-Netivot Shalom's educational forums draw people of different backgrounds, secular and religious, who are keen to deepen their Jewish knowledge and to hear an alternative religious standpoint on the subjects of peace and social issues.

Oz Veshalom-Netivot Shalom fills an ideological vacuum in Israel's society. Committed both to Jewish tradition and observance, and to the furthering of peace and coexistence, the movement is in a unique position to engage in dialogue with the secular left and the religious right, with Israeli Arabs and with Palestinians.