A Zionist Paradigm Shift in Parashat VaYera - Stop Talking "Security", Start Talking "Destiny"!

I've started guest blogging a weekly Parsha piece on "A Jewish Israel" so some of my post will appear there.

To see it, click here

Thomas Kuhn's Paradigm Shifter
What do you see?
Now - Paradigm Shift!

Why we named our daughter Aliyah Channa (plus a Chanukah story)

This past Tuesday, the 6th day of Chanukah and the first day of Rosh Chodesh Tevet, our daughter was born. We named her עלייה חנה (Aliyah Channa).
Channa, is for both Nitza's and my maternal grandmothers who shared that name.
Regarding the name Aliyah, it is almost self explanatory: The Hebrew word 'Aliyah' means 'to ascend' and has come to refer to the act of immigrating to Israel (though it first appears in that context already in the Mishna in Ktubot). The idea behind this term is that when one immigrates to Israel they are not merely relocating geographically, rather are ascending from a lower state of being to a higher one.
As we have done with our other children, we attempt to capture within our children's names the state of being we are in during the period of pregnancy and birth. With Matanel - gratitude to Hashem for having a child, with Edden - the return to Jerusalem and a Shabbat birth and with Ma'oz - the grounding of having our own home in Israel.
Anyone who knows Nitza and me, knows the degree to which we are dedicated to the promotion of Aliyah as a foundational aspect of being Jewish. This has been our raison d'etre of sorts for coming to Toronto and has underscored our work here. Be it by familiarizing people with Israel with anecdotes over a Shabbat meal, encouraging trips, answering questions, Israel Guidance and actively assisting people through their Aliyah process.
That is why we called our daughter Aliyah; to express our belief in the centrality of Aliyah to being Jewish as well as to solidify our own commitment of once again ascending back home to Israel.


I'd like to share with you the words (more or less) I shared with my High school Yeshiva students immediately following the naming.
"One of my strongest childhood memories is the Chanukah I spent in the hospital when I was 9. Due to frequent tonsillitis, I was scheduled to have my tonsils removed. Unfortunately, the procedure was to to take place during Chanukah at Bikur Cholim Hospital.
I say unfortunately as doing the surgery on Chanukah would mean missing out on several Chanukah activities (and foods) but more significantly, due to the hospital itself. Bikur Cholim Hospital, located smack in downtown Jerusalem, was an small, old and outdated hospital. At the time, the hospital had only 2 wards - infants and adults. 
After the surgery I was sent to the adults ward for recovery. When I woke from the anesthesia I discovered that the 'adult ward' was a large hall filled with 25 beds, surrounding the perimeter the room. After a few more moments of looking around the room more carefully I realized two additional facts. The first was that I was the only child in the room. The second was that I was the only Jewish patient in the room. More specifically, the only non-Arab patient in the room.
Approximately a week earlier, the first Intifada had broken out. Though I doubt I fully understood what that meant at the time, I was non the less nervous and a bit scared of the situation I found myself in; being the only child in a room filled with 20 adult, Arab, patients. Luckily, my mother was right there beside me the whole time which definitely helped.
That evening, the rest of my family came to visit and, being Chanukah, brought a Chanukiya with them. We lit the candles, sang HaNerot HaLalu and Ma'oz Tzur just like any other Chanukah night. We weren't trying to make a spectacle of it but weren't trying to hide what we were doing, either. Everyone in the room was looking at us, or at least it felt that way. I remember that even at the time, at the age of 9, I thought it was 'cool' that we were lighting Chanukah candles under those circumstances. I remember looking around the room, wondering what the Arab patients were thinking while we sang about how, throughout history we've defeated the enemies of the Jewish People. I remember feeling proud and defiant as though to say - 'we're lighting Chanukah candles and there's nothing you can do about it!'.
In retrospect, I realize that memory encapsulates and expresses so well the unique role living in Israel plays in the life of a Jew. What is special about that night was that there was nothing special about it. It took me years to even realize it is a story worth telling. My parents are the farthest thing from the type who makes public displays of principal in order to make a point.
What was amazing about that night is that it was obvious we were going to light candles. It was obvious to us, it was obvious to the hospital staff and it was obvious to the Arab patients. Torah and Judaism are the default in Israel. You don't have to go out of your way to feel Jewish, look Jewish, act Jewish. Judaism in Israel isn't something that you do, separating and distinguishing you from the world that exists around you, rather, Judaism is the context within which everyone and everything already exists. It is not only the difference between being a majority and being a minority (though that is part of it as well). It is more about the difference between having all the communal mechanisms - national, municipal, cultural, etc... being framed by Jewish existence, followed by Jewish tradition and observance (even if partial). 
That's what it means to live in the land and State of Israel in this day and age. It's the difference between being in a never ending struggle for Jewish survival and being part of the revival, rejuvenation, and flourishing of Am Yisrael and Torat Yisrael in Eretz Yisrael.
May our daughter, Aliyah, be a constant reminder to us all about what is expected of us as Jews - as well as what we we stand to gain by - ascending to Israel!"      

"I'M ALIYAH. HOW ABOUT YOU?"

  

Chanukah - I can't believe it!

Over the years I have come to belittle the significance of the (super-natural) miracle of the oil in contrast to the (natural) miracle of the military victory.
The rationalization was, among other things:
1. The fact that the military victory is more prominent in the earlier primary sources such as על הניסים and Josephus's writings
2. The oil miracle seems to rise to prominence only later, once - due to the exile - sovereignty and military victory were no longer relate-able (or possibly even understood)
3. As far as miracles go, the oil miracle doesn't stand out as unique in our long history of miracles.
I've attributed this leaning of mine to my over rationalist approach to Jewish thought resulting in de-emphasizing the unnatural as well as my ultra Religious-Zionist background, preferring the "human-as-a-vessel-of-the-divine" approach, to the "divine-as-nullifying-human-action", approach.
But a realization just hit me today that makes me wonder if my tendency to marginalize the miracle of the oil may not have gone far enough:    
If one were standing in front of the Menorah, during the 8 original days of the Maccabees, would it actually appear as a "revealed miracle" (נס גלוי)? Probably not.
At no point would you be faced with the obvious breaking of the laws of nature, (which tends to be how we define a "revealed miracle").
Only by looking at the broader context of 8 days and evaluating the appropriate ratio of oil per day could one deduce that they were witnessing a miracle.
Isn't that the definition of a "concealed miracle" (נס נסתר) - context, probability and other such intellectualizations?
I'm proposing this - there was no "revealed miracle" on Chanukah! rather two important events, part of the same continuum and narrative which, like all things to do with the history of The Jewish People, reveals some deeper aspect of reality as well.

Even if what I'm saying is true - that the miracle of the oil was indeed not a revealed miracle at all - it doesn't in any way take away from all of the Torah that has been said about the relationship between revealed and concealed miracles, which takes place revolving around many other areas of our traditions.
In my mind it just means this - Chanukah is all about the natural state of (miraculous) national Jewish life, with no need for the crutches of revealed miracles to make an otherwise obvious point.
It is the disease of Galut with its dissonance between what is and what should be, with its dichotomy between body and soul, with its existential sense of uncertainty and inherent doubt that gave birth to the prominence of a miracle that, to those who witnessed it, most probably was not miraculous at all.  

A Chanukah Same'ach to all.

Is the Torah "Pro Choice"?

Several years ago, a couple contacted me about their son who was becoming disenchanted with Torah U'Mitzvot and was gradually "shedding" observance. They described in detail how they had provided a loving and nurturing atmosphere for their children, how they tried to be good role models of love of Torah and Mitzvot, the excellent Jewish education their children received and the joy of Shabbat and Chagim in their house. 
They concluded their overview with a question that resonates with me as strongly now as it did back then - "Rabbi, where did we go wrong?" 
When trying to give them an answer, I reflected on Sefer Bereshit, in which the Torah discusses the most fundamental relationships of our lives: relationships between spouses, relationships between siblings and relationships between parents and children. 
It's interesting to note that all of the great figures in Sefer Bereshit seem to have a child who "strayed from their path." This was true for אדם, whose son, קין committed murder and נח, whose son חם committed incest. Similarly, we find that אברהם had ישמעאל and יצחק had עשיו, both of whom led lives of violence and immorality, far away from the ideals of faith and morality which were at the center of their father's lives and education. 
When it comes to sibling rivalries, the Torah is quite explicit with its reasons for it - jealousy and competitiveness. The same is true for spousal dispute, where the culprit was mistrust and deception. 
When it comes to parents and children, though, we don't find the Torah giving an explanation as to "what went wrong." I shared with the distressed parents this peculiarity and the message I think it includes: The Torah doesn't give a reason for the sons turning their backs on their parents' ways because there isn't always a reason. It is possible to be an אברהם, the greatest Jewish educator of all times, and still have a ישמעאל. Not because אברהם necessarily did something wrong, rather because it wasn't all up to אברהם!

As these parents were already after the fact, I felt it was an important they not beat themselves up over it and realize it could have nothing to do with them and how they raised their son.

I do believe there is another message there which may help us before that point of choice comes and that is the realization that we can only take our children so far in their relationship with G-d and Torah (or in life in general for that matter). At some point they have to make their own choices. We can't choose for them and we can't force them to choose. We can't assume that as long as we do all the "right things" (or whatever we imagine them to be) - they will just continue living a life consistent with how we raised them.

Does this mean there is nothing one can do but pray? Not at all. We need to do whatever we think are the "right things" but with the awareness of preparing them for that moment, or moments, when they will decide for themselves. They need to be accustomed, especially in their teen years, to making everyday religious (and otherwise) choices, not through coercion and deprivation of choice, rather the opposite, by allowing them the space and acceptance to make their own choices. That, coupled with the positive atmosphere, influences and learning will, with G-d's help, result in the right choices they will make themselves.

The Philosophy of Rav Kook - new lecture series

I've started a 5 part lecture series on the philosophy of Rav Kook. It will be taking place every Wednesday evening, starting October 9th, at the BAYT in Thornhill, Canada.
The first lecture dealt with Rav Kook's unique approach to the question of Torah and Science.
Part 1: "The Philosophy of Rav Kook; Torah and Science" can be viewed here on KosherTube .
Part 2: "The Philosophy of Rav Kook; Torah and Morality - a revolutionary reading of the Akeida" can be viewed here:
Part 3: The Philosophy of Rav Kook; "Freedom", can be viewed here