KNOW YOUR TRUE WORTH
The Undefeatable Jewish Spirit
By Rabbi Yoseph Kahanov, Jax, Fl.
A little girl once asked her mother, “How did the human race appear on this earth?”
The mother replied: “You see my dear child, G‑d made Adam and Eve and they had children and so was all mankind made.”
Two days later the girl asked her father the same question. To her great surprise the father’s answer was entirely different: “That’s a very complex question my darling angel, let me see if I can put it in a nutshell: Many years ago there were monkeys. The monkeys gradually evolved into the human race. . .”
The confused girl returned to her mother and said, “Mom, how is it possible that you told me the human race was created by G‑d, and Dad said they came from monkeys?”
The mother answered, “Well dear, it is very simple. I told you about my side of the family and your father told you about his.”
The holocaust was such an inconceivable and mindboggling occurrence, it cannot be put into any type of rational perspective. In fact, I sometimes wonder how we as a people were able to move on so soon.
Sometimes I attribute this feat to our incredible greatness, our extraordinary resilience. But to be honest, at times I feel like it is human weakness that accounts for our ability to shrug off the nefarious and evil treatment of our immediate forebears and relatives and entirely recreate ourselves anew.
When I perceive my generation, the generation to immediately follow that dreadful era, so completely whole and reinvented, I flounder between pride and guilt. Is it our phenomenal stamina that is to be credited, or is it plain apathy, the result of selfishness and lack of consideration?
Yet while I struggle with the aftermath of the holocaust in terms of its lasting impression on the proceeding generations, or lack thereof, I do not struggle with the heroism of the victims and the monumental contribution they made to mankind.
Unlike others who question the courage of those holy souls, those who fault them for “going like sheep to the slaughter,” for not having staged a formidable resistance, I perceive them as the ultimate heroes. I credit them for giving the world the ultimate gift. I thank them for teaching the human race the true anatomy and fortitude of the Divine spirit within man.
The true nature of this Divine sprit, which is somehow more manifest in the Jew, has been questioned, challenged and denied from time immemorial. It lies at the core of every moral conflict and struggle from the very moment of creation, be it Ishmael, Esau, Amalek or their numerous contemporaries.
After three thousand years of blood and tears the end of this cosmic struggle has finally arrived. The undeniable and incontrovertible fact is that it is invincible. You can break the body and even destroy it, but you cannot destroy or break the Divine spirit in man.
This verdict of epic proportions, upon which the entire creation of the universe is hinged, has been resoundingly delivered by the self sacrifice and obdurate resistance of the holy holocaust souls.
Yes, they knew what the battle was about. They knew that this struggle was not about physical might or cleverness, they knew it was about the nature and value of the spirit. They also knew that no military victory can win this battle. The only way to win this ongoing cosmic contest was by proving the true value of the spirit over the body and they were willing to pay the price in order to deliver the victory once and for all.
This Shabbos we conclude the book of Leviticus with the reading of Bechukosai. The above phenomenon sheds light on this mysterious Parsha.
Fraught with terrifying warnings of unimaginable consequences, triggered by the wanton abandonment of Torah law, it’s no wonder that this portion is commonly referred to as the Parsha of “Tochacha” – rebuke. Each curse is more bone-chilling than the one preceding it.
Indeed, throughout the generations it has always been a challenge to find someone willing to be called to the Torah for the Aliyah in which these somber verses are read. In fact, it is the custom in many Synagogues for the Baal Korei – the one reading the Torah – to quietly take the Aliyah for himself without even being called up, so that no one is insulted.
It is curious to note that after concluding this petrifying section of rebuke, the Parsha abruptly shifts gears to a section dealing with the laws of “Arachin” – the dedication of the value of oneself or another person to the Temple. This narrative seems completely misplaced. What is the relevance of these laws to the rebuke which dominates the rest of the parsha?
Rav Mordechai Kamenetzky recounts an inspiring story which tends to shed light on this puzzle. During the Holocaust, when many of the horrifying curses of this week’s parsha were manifested before our very eyes, the Germans derived a particularly sadistic pleasure in torturing and disgracing the great Rabbis who served as pillarsrs of inspiration to the Jewish community in those harrowing times. The suffering endured by these righteous leaders is unfathomable.
In one particularly cruel incident, a number of malicious Nazi officers beat the Klausenberger Rebbe to the brink of consciousness. After enduring seemingly endless blows, the officers asked the battered and bloodied Rebbe if after all of this suffering he still believed that the Jews are G‑d’s chosen people. He responded unequivocally in the affirmative.
Infuriated by what they considered to be the Rebbe’s stubborn arrogance and audacity, they beat him some more. When the Rebbe continued, in between blows, to affirm his unshakeable belief in being one of G‑d’s chosen people, the miserable, frustrated officers scoffed in outrage: “Look at you! You are laying here on the ground bloodied and bruised; scarcely alive, and you call yourself chosen! Is this your idea of chosen?”
To this the Rebbe replied: “As long as I am down here on the ground declaring my unwavering faith in my G‑d and my principles, while you are up there doing what you’re doing – as long as I am able to maintain and express my faith in the face of cruel and G‑dless oppressors such as yourselves, I am indeed part of the chosen people.”
Applying the lesson of this story to our original question, the Kotzker Rebbe explains that after reading the terrifying curses contained earlier in the parsha and seeing how they have tragically been fulfilled throughout history; the Jew might begin to lose faith in his intrinsic value and self-worth.
As a nation, we have been persecuted more than any other people throughout the ages. Such intense personal and national suffering could easily cause a person to lose hope.
In order to counter this mistaken conclusion, the section outlining the painful times which will befall the Jewish people is immediately followed by the section dealing with the laws of Arachin. This section details how much a person is required to donate if he chooses to dedicate the “value” of himself or another Jew to the Temple.
This juxtaposition comes to remind us that even in the darkest moments, after enduring the most inhumane suffering fathomable, having been stripped of all dignity by our vicious oppressors, our intrinsic worth in Hashem’s eyes is eternal.
In fact, as difficult as it is to say, our true worth in the eyes of G‑d and man, would never and could never have been fully realized in absence of our tenacious faith and conviction in face of the brutal oppression and suffering throughout the millennia.
We have now passed the test by all accounts. We have demonstrated to G‑d and the world that our priorities are intact and that our faith is unshakable. In doing so, we’ve bequeathed humanity with the ultimate gift – proof that there is a higher existence that can never be denied or suppressed – a truth more real and critical than life itself.
At the same time we’ve adorned G‑d with the ultimate glory and honor – the purpose for which the universe has actually been brought into existence.
Our precious value is now known to G‑d and man beyond a scintilla of doubt. The mission has been accomplished – the test is over – the Golus has run its course. It’s time for Moshiach.
We have earned our reward and it is indeed commensurate with our true worth!
