The Holiness of the Jewish People
By Rabbi Joel Rembaum, Sukklot First Day 5784
(THIS READING TEXT OF MY SERMON IS LONGER THAN THE TEXT FOR SPEAKING THAT WAS PRESENTED ON SEPTEMBER 30, 2023. IT CONTAINS MATERIAL NOT INCLUDED IN THE SERMON. THE SPEAKING TEXT WAS WRITTEN IN “ALL CAPS” FORMAT BECAUSE IT IS EASIER TO READ. GIVEN THAT THE SPEAKING TEXT COMPRISES THE BULK OF THE READING TEXT, THE “ALL CAPS” FORMAT IS CARRIED OVER.)
SUKKOT IS CALLED ZMAN SIMHATEINU — THE TIME OF OUR REJOICING. AFTER A SERIOUS EFFORT AT TESHUVAH LASTING A MONTH AND TEN DAYS (ELUL THROUGH YOM KIPPUR), A BURDEN OF GUILT HAS BEEN LIFTED, AND WE CELEBRATE WITH JOY AS WE APPRECIATE GOD’S GIFTS TO US.
THE AUTHORITIES OF THE 2ND TEMPLE IN JERUSALEM MADE SUKKOT INTO HAG HA-URIM, THE ORIGINAL “FESTIVAL OF LIGHTS.” TORCHES WERE LIT IN TEMPLE’S COURTYARDS, AND THE PEOPLE REJOICED IN ALL NIGHT CELEBRATIONS.
THE PHARISEES INTRODUCED THE SIMHAT BEIT HA-SHO’EVAH, A WATER LIBATION CEREMONY IN THE TEMPLE ACCOMPANYING A PRAYER FOR RAIN IN THE COMING FALL AND WINTER. THIS HOPEFULLY LOOKED FORWARD TO ABUNDANT RAIN AND CROPS IN THE SPRING, SUMMER, AND FALL. THIS WAS THE PRECURSOR OF OUR GESHEM AND TAL BLESSINGS.
THE KIDDUSH OVER WINE THAT WE RECITE, THE SUKKAH IN WHICH WE EAT AND SLEEP, AND THE ARBA’AH MINIM WE WAVE, ALL ARE SYMBOLS OF GOD’S BLESSINGS FOR WHICH WE ARE SO GRATEFUL.
AND WE CANNOT FORGET THE SPIN-OFF CELEBRATION FROM SUKKOT, HANUKKAH, CALLED IN THE BOOK OF SECOND MACCABEES “THE FESTIVAL OF SUKKOT OF THE MONTH OF KISLEV,” WHICH WE ALSO CALL HAG HA-URIM.
AT THE SAME TIME, SUKKOT HAS A SERIOUS SIDE:
WE ARE TOLD THAT WE HAVE UNTIL HOSHANAH RABBAH, THE LAST DAY OF THE FESTIVAL, TO CONFRONT THE WRONGS WE WERE AFRAID OR UNABLE TO ADDRESS BEFORE THE HAGGIM AND DURING ASERET Y’MEI TESHUVAH. ONGOING DEEP INTROSPECTION, STEELING OURSELVES FOR THE TASK OF SEEKING FORGIVENESS, AND THEN CHANGING OUR BEHAVIOR DURNG THE WEEK OF SUKKOT ARE HIGHLY RECOMMENDED. THIS TO BE DONE INDIVIDUALLY AND COLLECTIVELY.
WE JEWS TAKE PRIDE IN THE FACT THAT OUR TRADITION HAS GIVEN TO THE WORLD A MYRIAD OF POSITIVE VALUES THAT SHAPE OUR RELATIONSHIP WITH BOTH GOD AND GOD’S CREATURES. AT THE SAME TIME, IT WOULD BE DISHONEST TO SUGGEST THAT IN OUR 3000 YEAR OLD RELIGION THERE ARE NO PRINCIPLES THAT WE WHO LIVE IN THE 21ST CENTURY FIND TO BE HIGHLY PROBLEMATIC. INDEED, ALL IS NOT PERFECT IN OUR ANCIENT SYSTEM. I WILL NOTE A FEW SUCH IMPERFECTIONS:
- PATRIARCHY, THE PRINCIPLE OF THE RULE OF THE ALPHA MALE, AND ALL LAWS IN OUR JEWISH LEGAL SYSTEM BASED ON THAT PRINCIPLE, SHOULD BE CONSIDERED AN ANATHEMA AND SHOULD BE CONSERVATIVE JUDAISM HAS MADE GREAT STRIDES IN ADDRESSING THIS ISSUE, BUT WITH THE RISE OF A MILITANT ULTRA-ORTHODOXY, THIS PROBLEM REMAINS ON THE TABLE AND THE EFFORT TO EXCISE PATRIARCHY MUST NOT STOP.
- SLAVERY — THERE ARE UPWARDS OF 35 MILLION SLAVES IN THE WORLD. WHILE I AM AWARE THAT, IN HIS ARUKH HASHULHAN, RABBI YEHIEL EPSTEIN (1829-1908) WROTE, “THE LAWS OF SLAVERY WERE FOLLOWED IN ANCIENT TIMES, BUT NOW THE LAWS OF SLAVERY ARE NOT IN FORCE AT ALL, FOR THERE ARE NO SLAVES IN OUR COMMUNITIES” (YOREH DEAH, AVADIM, 267). HOWEVER, WERE THERE SLAVES, WHAT WOULD EPSTEIN HAVE RULED? ALSO, THE
DEFINITION OF SLAVERY HAS BEEN BROADENED OVER THE PAST HALF-CENTURY. I AM UNAWARE OF THE EXISTENCE OF A SERIOUS, SCHOLARLY, IN-DEPTH TESHUVAH FROM AN AUTHORIZED RABBINIC LEGAL BODY THAT CATEGORICALLY STATES THAT SLAVERY, IN ALL ITS EXPRESSIONS — THEORY, LAW, AND ACTIONS — MUST BE REMOVED FROM JUDAISM AND, INDEED, FROM THE THE FACE OF THE EARTH.
AND, TO THAT END, ITEMS PRODUCED BY SLAVE LABOR — UN-PAID OR HORRIBLY UNDERPAID — ARE NOT TO BE BOUGHT OR SOLD.
- WE DO, INDEED, TAKE PRIDE IN OUR JEWISH UNIVERSALISTIC PRINCIPLES. A PRINCIPLE OF THE SUPERIORITY OF THE JEWISH PEOPLE, HOWEVER, HAS BEEN EMBEDDED IN OUR TRADITIONAL SOURCES FROM BIBLICAL TIMES UNTIL OUR OWN AS AN OPERATING PRINCIPLE THIS MUST BE EXPUNGED, AND ANY TEACHING OR ACTIONS TAKEN BASED ON THIS PRINCIPLE MUST BE CONSIDERED AN AVEIRAH — TRANSGRESSION — OF THE HIGHEST ORDER.
THIS LAST COLLECTIVE SIN HAS CAUSED ME GRIEF OVER PAST FEW MONTHS, AS I HAVE READ A NUMBER OF REPORTS THAT MAKE IT CLEAR THAT THS BELIEF AMONG JEWS IS ALIVE AND WELL IN THE 21ST CENTURY. FIRST, BACKGROUND:
THE ROOTS OF JEWISH SUPERIORITY ARE BIBLICAL. IN THE TORAH WE FIND TWO EXPRESSIONS OF THE NOTION OF THE HOLINESS OF AM YISRAEL: ONE IS ASPIRATIONAL, AND ONE IS EXISTENTIAL. THE ISRAELITE ASPIRATIONAL HOLINESS TAKES THE FORM OF A GOAL TOWARD WHICH THE PEOPLE MUST STRIVE, AND IT IS CONTINGENT UPON THEIR BEING DILIGENT IN FOLLOWING GOD’S LAWS:
EXODUS 19:5-6
NOW THEN, IF YOU WILL OBEY ME FAITHFULLY AND KEEP MY COVENANT, YOU SHALL BE MY TREASURED POSSESSION AMONG ALL THE PEOPLES. INDEED, ALL THE EARTH IS MINE, BUT YOU SHALL BE TO ME A KINGDOM OF PRIESTS AND A HOLY NATION. THESE ARE THE WORDS THAT YOU SHALL SPEAK TO THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL.
LEVITICUS 19:2, 37
SPEAK TO THE WHOLE ISRAELITE COMMUNITY AND SAY TO THEM: YOU SHALL BE HOLY, FOR I, YOUR GOD YHVH, AM HOLY.
YOU SHALL FAITHFULLY OBSERVE ALL MY LAWS AND ALL MY RULES: I AM YHVH.
LEVITICUS 20:26
YOU SHALL BE HOLY TO ME, FOR I YHVH AM HOLY, AND I HAVE SET YOU APART FROM OTHER PEOPLES TO BE MINE.
IT IS INTERESTING THAT IN THE FIRST FOUR BOOKS OF THE TORAH THE ONLY MENTION OF ISRAEL AS ALREADY BEING A HOLY NATION IS FROM THE MOUTH OF THE DEMAGOGIC REBEL, KORAKH:
NUMBERS 16:3
THEY COMBINED AGAINST MOSES AND AARON AND SAID TO THEM, “YOU HAVE GONE TOO FAR! FOR ALL THE COMMUNITY ARE HOLY, ALL OF THEM, AND YHVH IS IN THEIR MIDST. WHY THEN DO YOU RAISE YOURSELVES ABOVE YHVH’S CONGREGATION?”
FOUR TIMES IN DEUTERONOMY, HOWEVER, MOSES SAYS THAT ISRAEL IS, EXISTENTIALLY, A HOLY PEOPLE. AS OPPOSED TO THE PASSAGES CITED ABOVE, MOSES IS, IN EFFECT, SAYING: BECAUSE YOU ARE A HOLY PEOPLE, YOU MAY NOT VIOLATE THE LAW OF YHVH, AND IF YOU DO, GOD WILL HOLD YOU LIABLE FOR PUNISHMENT. THIS IS CLEAR IN DEUTERONOMY 11 AND IN THE CURSES FOUND TOWARD THE END OF BOOK. THIS SAME IDEA IS EXPRESSED IN DIFFERENT WORDS BY THE PROPHET AMOS (3:2): WITH YOU ALONE HAVE I BEEN INTIMATE OUT OF ALL THE FAMILIES OF THE EARTH—THAT IS WHY I WILL CALL YOU TO ACCOUNT FOR ALL YOUR INIQUITIES.
AND SO, MOSES SAYS:
DEUTERONOMY 7:6 [FOLLOWING A STRONG PROHIBITION OF ISRAELITE MARRIAGE WITH THE PAGAN WOMEN OF CANAAN…]
FOR YOU ARE A PEOPLE HOLY TO YOUR GOD YHVH: OF ALL THE PEOPLES ON EARTH YOUR GOD YHVH CHOSE YOU TO BE GOD’S TREASURED PEOPLE.
DEUTERONOMY 14:1-2
YOU ARE CHILDREN OF YOUR GOD YHVH. YOU SHALL NOT GASH YOURSELVES OR SHAVE THE FRONT OF YOUR HEADS BECAUSE OF THE DEAD.
FOR YOU ARE A PEOPLE HOLY TO YOUR GOD YHVH: YOUR GOD YHVH CHOSE YOU FROM AMONG ALL OTHER PEOPLES ON EARTH TO BE A TREASURED PEOPLE.
DEUTERONOMY14:21
YOU SHALL NOT EAT ANYTHING THAT HAS DIED A NATURAL DEATH; GIVE IT TO THE STRANGER IN YOUR COMMUNITY TO EAT, OR YOU MAY SELL IT TO A FOREIGNER. FOR YOU ARE A PEOPLE HOLY TO YOUR GOD YHVH. YOU SHALL NOT BOIL A KID IN ITS MOTHER’S MILK.
DEUTERONOMY 26:19
[THE COVENANT IS BEING AFFIRMED BY THE PEOPLE AND GOD AS A MUTUAL AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE TWO PARTIES, BASED ON LAWS GIVEN BY GOD AND RECEIVED BY THE PEOPLE. THEREFORE, FROM THIS DAY FORWARD…]
…[GOD] WILL SET YOU, IN FAME AND RENOWN AND GLORY, HIGH ABOVE ALL THE NATIONS THAT [GOD] HAS MADE; AND THAT YOU SHALL BE, AS PROMISED, A HOLY PEOPLE TO YOUR GOD YHVH.
ECHOING DEUTERONOMY, THE FIFTH CENTURY B.C.E. SPIRITUAL LEADER AND TEACHER OF THE PEOPLE IN JERUSALEM, EZRA THE SCRIBE, TELLS US:
EZRA 9:1-3
WHEN THIS WAS OVER, THE OFFICERS APPROACHED ME, SAYING, “THE PEOPLE OF ISRAEL AND THE PRIESTS AND LEVITES HAVE NOT SEPARATED THEMSELVES FROM THE PEOPLES OF THE LAND WHOSE ABHORRENT PRACTICES ARE LIKE THOSE OF THE CANAANITES, THE HITTITES, THE PERIZZITES, THE JEBUSITES, THE AMMONITES, THE MOABITES, THE EGYPTIANS, AND THE AMORITES. THEY HAVE TAKEN THEIR DAUGHTERS AS WIVES FOR THEMSELVES AND FOR THEIR SONS, SO THAT THE HOLY SEED HAS BECOME INTERMINGLED WITH THE PEOPLES OF THE LAND; AND IT IS THE OFFICERS AND PREFECTS WHO HAVE TAKEN THE LEAD IN THIS TRESPASS.” WHEN I HEARD THIS, I RENT MY GARMENT AND ROBE, I TORE HAIR OUT OF MY HEAD AND BEARD, AND I SAT DESOLATE.
EZRA THEN INSTRUCTS THE LEADERS OF THE COMMUNITY TO SEND AWAY THE WOMEN, AND THEY DO AS ORDERED. OTHERWISE, THE “HOLY SEED,” INNATE WITHIN THE JEWISH MEN, WOULD BE DEFILED.
THERE WAS NO PROCESS FOR CONVERSION AT THAT TIME
THE RABBINIC SOURCES FROM THE FIRST THROUGH THE EIGHTH CENTURIES C.E. ARE RICH WITH UNIVERSAL AND TOLERANT STATEMENTS REGARDING NON-JEWS. ONE CAN ALSO FIND VERY BLUNT ANTI-GENTILE EXPRESSIONS. RABBI REUVEN HAMMER, z”l, CITES NUMEROUS EXAMPLES OF EACH OF THESE PERSPECTIVES IN HIS PAPER, NOTED TOWARD THE END OF THIS DRASH.
YEHUDAH HA-LEVI (SPAIN, 12TH CENTURY), IN HIS BOOK, THE KOZARI, WRITTEN IN ARABIC BUT TRANSLATED AFTER HIS DEATH INTO HEBREW, USES A WIDELY ACCEPTED PHILOSOPHICAL CONCEPT TO DEFINE WHERE JEWS STAND VIS-A-VIS NON-JEWS. THE BOOK BEGINS WITH THE CONVERSION OF THE KING OF THE KHAZARS TO JUDAISM. HE INVITES A RABBI FOR A (PLATONIC STYLE) DIALOG REGARDING HIS NEW RELIGION. HE ASKS ABOUT THE SEEMING LOWLY STATUS OF THE JEWS IN THE WORLD. THE RABBI RESPONDS THAT THIS IS A RESULT OF THE JEWS MISMANAGEMENT OF THEIR OWN AFFAIRS. HE PROCEEDS TO EXPLAIN
THE ACTUAL REALITY OF THE STATUS OF THE JEWISH PEOPLE. HE LAYS OUT THE VARIOUS LEVELS OF THE CREATURES IN THE WORLD: THE LOWEST ARE THE ROCKS. ABOVE THEM ARE THE PLANTS. ABOVE THEM ARE THE ANIMALS. AND, ACCORDING TO THIS PHILOSOPHICAL NOTION, THE FOURTH LEVEL ARE HUMANS. HE THEN TAKES IT ONE STEP FURTHER AND EXPLAINS HOW THE JEWS ARE ACTUALLY THE FIFTH, AND HIGHEST, LEVEL OF CREATION. HE SHOWS THE KING HOW, ACCORDING TO THE BIBLE, THIS CAME ABOUT. THE JEWS ARE AT A SPIRITUAL AND INTELLECTUAL LEVEL EVEN HIGHER THAN THAT OF THE PHILOSOPHERS: JEWS ARE THE PEOPLE OF PROPHECY WHO HAVE SOULS THAT ALLOW GOD TO SPEAK TO THEM DIRECTLY. HE TELLS THE KING THAT, AS A CONVERT, HE IS ACCEPTED AS A MEMBER OF THE JEWISH PEOPLE, WITH ALL ITS RIGHTS, PRIVILEGES, AND RESPONSIBILITIES; HE CANNOT, HOWEVER, RECEIVE PROPHECY BECAUSE HE DOES NOT HAVE A JEWISH SOUL. HA-LEVI WAS A PHYSICIAN, AND HE KNEW MEDIEVAL SCIENCE. HE USES A QUASI-GENETIC THEORY OF HOW DISTINCTLY JEWISH ATTRIBUTES SKIPPED GENERATIONS PRIOR TO THE ENSLAVEMENT IN EGYPT. IT WAS THERE THAT JEWISH IN-BREEDING ALLOWED THE ATTRIBUTES TO BE SPREAD WIDELY TO ALL THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL. (PART 1, PARAGRAPHS 92-103.)
IN SUBSEQUENT GENERATIONS OF JEWS THIS NOTION BECAME WELL KNOWN. IT APPEARS TO HAVE INFLUENCED MYSTICS WHO SHAPED WHAT CAME TO BE KNOWN IN THE 13TH AND 14TH CENTURIES AS KABBALAH.
THE FOUNDATIONAL TEXT FOR THE KABBALISTIC TRADITION IS THE ZOHAR, WRITTEN IN SPAIN, ca. 1290. THIS IS AN EXAMPLE OF HOW THE ZOHAR UNDERSTANDS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A JEWISH SOUL AND GENTILE SOUL, BASED ON GENESIS 1:20, 24:
RABBI ABBA SAID: “‘NEFESH HAYYAH (GENESIS 1:20), SOUL OF THE LIVING BEING,’ NAMELY ISRAEL, FOR THEY ARE SCIONS OF THE BLESSED HOLY ONE, AND THEIR SOULS DERIVE FROM HIM. THE SOUL OF OTHER NATIONS
— WHENCE DOES IT COME?” RABBI ELEAZAR SAID, “FROM THOSE IMPURE
ASPECTS OF THE LEFT (DEMONIC POWERS FROM THE LEFT SIDE OF THE SEFIROT), DEFILING THEM AND ANYONE APPROACHING THEM.” GOD SAID, “LET THE EARTH BRING FORTH NEFESH HAYYAH [LIVING BEINGS], ACCORDING TO THEIR KIND (GENESIS 1:24).” RABBI ELEAZAR ADDED, “THIS SUPPORTS WHAT WE HAVE SAID, ‘NEFESH HAYYAH, SOULS OF THE LIVING BEING (GENESIS 1:20)’ — ISRAEL, WHO ARE THE ‘SOULS OF THE’ SUPERNAL, HOLY ‘LIVING BEING.’ ‘CATTLE, CRAWLING THINGS, AND LIVING CREATURES OF THE EARTH (1:24)’ — OTHER NATIONS, WHO ARE NOT ‘SOULS OF THE LIVING BEING,’ BUT RATHER ‘FORESKIN,’ AS WE HAVE SAID.” (FROM DANIEL MATT, ZOHAR (STANFORD, 2004), 1:252.)
NO COMMENT IS NECESSARY. THE ZOHAR FIRST CAME OFF THE PRINTING PRESSES IN ITALY IN THE 1550’S, AND THIS ALLOWED ITS INFLUENCE TO SPREAD. GIVEN THE IMPACT OF ZOHARIC IDEOLOGY ON SUBSEQUENT GENERATIONS OF JEWISH THINKERS, IT IS NO SURPRISE THAT THIS NOTION OF THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN JEWS AND NON-JEWS SHAPED HOW JEWS IN MANY COMMUNITIES VIEWED THEIR GENTILE NEIGHBORS.
THE ARI, R. YITZHAK BEN SHLOMO LURIA ASHKENAZI (16TH CENTURY, TZEFAT), AS CITED BY R. HAYYIM VITAL, HIS DISCIPLE, PROVIDES THIS INTERPRETATION OF THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A JEWISH AND A GENTILE SOUL:
SO WE FIND THAT ISRAEL POSSESSES THE THREE LEVELS OF SOUL (NEFESH, RUACH, NESHAMAH) FROM HOLINESS1….THE GENTILES, HOWEVER, POSSESS ONLY THE LEVEL OF NEFESH FROM THE FEMININE SIDE OF THE KLIPOT2…FOR THE SOULS OF THE NATIONS, WHICH COME FROM THE KLIPOT, ARE CALLED ‘EVIL’ AND NOT ‘GOOD,’ ARE CREATED WITHOUT THE DA’AT (KNOWLEDGE), AND THEREFORE THEY ALSO LACK
| 1 Ha-Kadosh Barukh Hu. This term, along with YHVH, Tiferet, and others, are some of the names of the central sefira of the Kabbalah’s sefirotic lower extension of God. |
| 2 Kelipah, (pl. kelipot): (Lit. “shell” or “shard’) the outer covering which conceals the Godly light within all creation; hence, the unholy side of the universe. Lurianic Kabbalah teaches that when the universe was created, vessels containing this light shattered. |
THE RUACH AND NESHAMAH.” (R. HAYYIM VITAL, EITZ ḤAYYIM, PORTAL 5, CH. 2.)
THE MAHARAL OF PRAGUE, MOREINU HA-RAV YEHUDAH LEVA BEN BETZALEL (16TH-EARLY 17TH CENTURIES), WAS A TRUE POLYMATH WHO PEPPERED HIS STUDIES OF JEWISH SOURCES AND TRADITION WITH SCIENCE, PHILOSOPHY, AND KABBALAH. HE KNEW THE ZOHAR.
WHAT FOLLOWS, HOWEVER, WITH ITS FORM/MATTER PERSPECTIVE, REFLECTS MORE OF A PHILOSOPHICAL INFLUENCE:
…FOR EVEN IF ALL HUMAN BEINGS HAVE A COMMON SHAPE, THERE STILL IS A DISTINCTION…THERE ARE NATIONS WHO HAVE MORE OF A TENDENCY TOWARDS THE PHYSICAL AND THEIR ACTIONS TESTIFY TO THIS, FOR THEY ARE INCLINED TOWARDS LUST AND ABOMINABLE THINGS. THIS IS EVIDENCE OF THEIR MATERIALISTIC NATURE…AND AS WE FIND ANIMALS, WHICH ARE LIKE AN INTERMEDIARY BETWEEN MAN AND THE REST OF THE ANIMAL WORLD, SUCH AS THE MONKEY…LIKEWISE THERE EXIST MEN–WHO ARE NOT COMPLETELY MEN. THEREFORE HE [RABBI SHIMON BAR YOHAI] SPOKE OF THE COMPLETE MAN WHO DOESN’T GRAVITATE TOWARDS MATERIALISM TOO MUCH — THESE ARE THE JEWS, FOR THEY POSSESS THE COMPLETE FORM WITHOUT A TENDENCY TOWARDS MATERIALISM. HOWEVER, AS FOR THE OTHER NATIONS, THEIR FORM IS NULLIFIED BY THEIR MATERIAL ASPECT, UNTIL THEY, SO TO SPEAK, CEASE TO BE ‘MEN,’ BECAUSE THEIR MATERIAL ASPECT IS PRIMARY AND THEIR FORM IS SECONDARY — AND IN EVERYTHING WHICH HAS BOTH A PRIMARY AND A SECONDARY ASPECT, THE SECONDARY ASPECT IS ALWAYS NULLIFIED BY THE PRIMARY ASPECT. WITH THE JEWS, HOWEVER, THE OPPOSITE IS TRUE, FOR THEIR FORM IS PRIMARY AND THEIR MATERIAL ASPECT IS SECONDARY, AND IS THEREFORE NULLIFIED.” (GEVUROT HASHEM, CHAPTER 44.)
THE TANYA, WRITTEN BY RABBI SHNEUR ZALMAN OF LIADI, THE FOUNDER OF CHABAD HASIDISM, WAS FIRST PUBLISHED IN 1796. IT IS A COMPENDIUM OF R. SHNEUR ZALMAN’S KABBALISTIC IDEOLOGY. IT CONTINUES TO BE WIDELY STUDIED IN OUR DAY. THIS IS FROM TANYA, LIKKUTEI AMARIM, END OF CH. 1. IN IT, R. SHNEUR ZALMAN CITES R. HAYYIM VITAL BY NAME:
RABBI CHAIM VITAL WROTE IN SHAAR HAKEDUSHAH THAT EVERY JEW, WHETHER RIGHTEOUS OR WICKED, POSSESSES TWO SOULS, AS IT IS WRITTEN, “AND NESHAMOT (SOULS) WHICH I HAVE MADE.” THESE ARE TWO NEFASHOT—TWO SOULS AND LIFE-FORCES. ONE SOUL ORIGINATES IN THE KELIPAH AND SITRA ACHARA3. IT IS THIS NEFESH [WHICH ORIGINATES IN THE KELIPAH AND SITRA ACHARA] THAT IS CLOTHED IN THE BLOOD OF A HUMAN BEING, GIVING LIFE TO THE BODY, AS IT IS WRITTEN, “FOR THE NEFESH OF THE FLESH (I.E., THE NEFESH THAT SUSTAINS PHYSICAL AND CORPOREAL LIFE) IS IN THE BLOOD.” FROM [THIS NEFESH] STEMS ALL THE EVIL CHARACTERISTICS, DERIVING FROM THE FOUR EVIL ELEMENTS WITHIN IT.… FROM THE SECOND SOUL STEMS THE GOOD TRAITS INHERENT IN EVERY JEW’S CHARACTER, SUCH AS COMPASSION AND BENEVOLENCE. FOR IN THE [CASE OF THE] JEW, THIS SOUL OF KELIPAH IS DERIVED FROM THE KELIPAH CALLED “NOGAH,” WHICH ALSO CONTAINS GOOD; AND THE GOOD WITHIN THIS NEFESH GIVES RISE TO THESE POSITIVE NATURAL TRAITS. [THIS KELIPAH] IS FROM THE ESOTERIC “TREE OF KNOWLEDGE [WHICH IS COMPRISED] OF GOOD AND EVIL. THE SOULS OF THE NATIONS OF THE WORLD, HOWEVER, EMANATING FROM THE OTHER, UNCLEAN KELIPOT, WHICH CONTAIN NO GOOD WHATSOEVER, AS IS WRITTEN IN ETZ CHAIM, PORTAL 49, CH. 3, THAT ALL THE GOOD THAT THE NATIONS DO IS DONE OUT OF SELFISH MOTIVES. SO THE GEMARA COMMENTS ON THE VERSE, “THE KINDNESS OF THE NATIONS IS SIN”—THAT ALL THE CHARITY AND KINDNESS DONE BY THE NATIONS OF THE WORLD IS ONLY FOR THEIR SELF-GLORIFICATION. (TRANSLATION FROM CHABAD.)
ONE OF THE GIANTS OF THE JEWISH COMMUNITY OF THE ERETZ YISRAEL YISHUV IN THE PRE-STATE PERIOD, R. AVRAHAM YITZḤAK HA-KOHEN
| 3 Sitra Akhara: “The Other Side,” the dark side of the universe from which evil forces emanate. |
KOOK (1865–1935), WAS THE FIRST CHIEF RABBI OF PALESTINE. THIS IS WHAT RAV KOOK WROTE:
THE JEWISH PEOPLE ARE SUPERIOR TO ALL NATIONS OF THE EARTH. THIS IS NOT ONLY SO WITH REGARD TO THE [GENTILE] FOOLS WHO ARE ABOMINABLE IN THEIR WAYS THROUGH MURDER AND OTHER GREAT ABOMINATIONS. RATHER, THE JEWS’ SUPERIORITY IS DUE TO THEIR SANCTITY… WHICH IS SUPERIOR EVEN WITH REGARD TO THOSE WHO ARE THE WISEST AND MOST SAINTLY AMONG THE NATIONS. THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE JEWISH SOUL, ITS SELF, ITS INNER DESIRES, ITS OVERFLOW, ITS CHARACTER, ITS STANDING, AND THAT OF ALL THE NATIONS, AT ALL THEIR LEVELS, [THAT DIFFERENCE] IS GREATER AND DEEPER THAN THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE [GENTILE] HUMAN SOUL AND THE SOUL OF AN ANIMAL. BETWEEN THE LATTER, THERE IS MERELY A QUANTITATIVE DISTINCTION; BETWEEN THE FORMER, AN ESSENTIAL QUALITATIVE DISTINCTION PERTAINS. (MIDBAR SHUR (JERUSALEM, 1997), 300; OROT (JERUSALEM, 2005), 156.)
YET, RAV KOOK ALSO TEACHES THAT JEWS MUST LEARN TO —LOVE ALL CREATURES, ESPECIALLY HUMANS OF OTHER NATIONS: FOR ONLY UPON A SOUL RICH IN LOVE FOR CREATURES AND LOVE OF MAN [I.E. A JEWISH SOUL] CAN THE LOVE OF THE NATION RAISE ITSELF UP IN ITS FULL NOBILITY AND SPIRITUAL AND NATURAL GREATNESS. THE NARROWNESS THAT CAUSES ONE TO SEE WHATEVER IS OUTSIDE THE BORDER OF THE SPECIAL NATION, EVEN OUTSIDE THE BORDER OF ISRAEL, AS UGLY AND DEFILED, IS A TERRIBLE DARKNESS THAT BRINGS GENERAL DESTRUCTION UPON ALL BUILDING OF SPIRITUAL GOOD WITHIN JEWISH SOUL, FOR THE LIGHT OF WHICH EVERY REFINED SOUL HOPES. (MUSSAR AVIKHA (JERUSALEM, 1985), P. 58.)
THIS DOES NOT CONTRADICT THE PASSAGE I FIRST READ. IT IS A GENEROUS NOBLESSE OBLIGE STATEMENT. PLEASE NOTE, HOWEVER, THAT R. KOOK EMPHASIZES HOW LOVE OF ALL CREATURES BRINGS GREAT BENEFIT TO THE JEWISH SOUL.
DURING THE DECADES FOLLOWING RAV KOOK, THE CONCEPT OF JEWISH SUPERIORITY CONTINUED TO PERCOLATE. A NEW, NUANCED APPROACH EMERGED IN THE THOUGHT OF RAV KOOK’S SON, R. ZVI YEHUDA KOOK, WHO HAS HAD A PROFOUND INFLUENCE ON THE THE SETTLER MOVEMENT. AND, THE RACIST TEACHINGS OF R. MEIR KAHANE ENTERED INTO ULTRA-NATIONALIST RELIGIOUS CIRCLES AND CONTINUE TO BE OPERATIVE. AN EXCELLENT STUDY OF THESE AND OTHER TRENDS IN THE RELIGIO-POLITICAL CULTURE OF THE STATE OF ISRAEL IS AMI PEDAHZUR’S THE TRIUMPH OF ISRAEL’S RADICAL RIGHT (OXFORD, 2012).
THIS BRINGS US TO THE 2IST CENTURY. WHAT FOLLOWS WAS REPORTED IN THE TIMES OF ISRAEL, APRIL 2019 (BASED ON A SCREEN SHOT OF A VIDEO CAPTURED BY ISRAEL TV CHANNEL 13). RABBI ELIEZER KASHTIEL IS THE HEAD OF A MILITARY-PREP YESHIVAH IN THE WEST BANK SETTLEMENT OF ELI. THIS IS WHAT HE TOLD HIS STUDENTS:
“THE GENTILES WILL WANT TO BE OUR SLAVES. BEING A SLAVE TO A JEW IS THE BEST. THEY’RE GLAD TO BE SLAVES, THEY WANT TO BE SLAVES… INSTEAD OF JUST WALKING THE STREETS AND BEING STUPID AND VIOLENT AND HARMING EACH OTHER. ONCE THEY’RE SLAVES, THEIR LIVES CAN BEGIN TO TAKE SHAPE….ALL AROUND US, WE ARE SURROUNDED BY PEOPLES WITH GENETIC PROBLEMS. ASK A SIMPLE ARAB ‘WHERE DO YOU WANT TO BE?’ HE WANTS TO BE UNDER THE OCCUPATION. WHY? BECAUSE THEY HAVE GENETIC PROBLEMS, THEY DON’T KNOW HOW TO RUN A COUNTRY, THEY DON’T KNOW HOW TO DO ANYTHING. LOOK AT THEM….YES, WE’RE RACISTS. WE BELIEVE IN RACISM…THERE ARE RACES IN THE WORLD, AND PEOPLES HAVE GENETIC TRAITS, AND THAT REQUIRES US TO TRY TO HELP THEM4.
THE LAST WORDS SOUND LIKE A MIDRASH ON R. KOOK.
SO, HOW ARE WE TO DEAL WITH THIS? IT IS OBVIOUS THAT THIS IS A SIGNIFICANT PROBLEM. IT IS ALSO OBVIOUS THAT IT’S SOLUTION REQUIRES THOUGHTFUL STRATEGIZING.
| 4 Presumably by enslaving them, as R. Kashtiel explained above. |
AS A FIRST STEP, A MUST READ IS “THE STATUS OF NON-JEWS IN JEWISH LAW AND LORE TODAY,” BY R. REUVEN HAMMER — A RESPONSUM APPROVED UNANIMOUSLY BY THE RABBINICAL ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON JEWISH LAW AND STANDARDS ON APRIL 21, 2016. HERE IS THE LINK:
https://www.rabbinicalassembly.org/sites/default/files/public/halakhah/teshuvot/ 2011-2020/HammerTeshuvah Final.pdf .
ALSO HELPFUL IS: “THE SOUL OF A JEW AND THE SOUL OF A NON-JEW; AN INCONVENIENT TRUTH AND THE SEARCH FOR AN ALTERNATIVE,” BY R. HANAN BALK. ḤAKIRAH, THE FLATBUSH JOURNAL OF JEWISH LAW AND THOUGHT. LINK: https://hakirah.org/Vol16 Balk.pdf .
I WILL CALL THE RABBINICAL ASSEMBLY AND ASK THAT THIS ISSUE BE ADDRESSED BEFORE IT GETS OUT OF HAND, AND I WILL SUGGEST WE USE R. HAMMER’S RESPONSUM AS OUR ROADMAP. A MEANINGFUL STRATEGY MUST BE FOUND.
SO WE STILL HAVE TIME TO DO TESHUVAH. THERE IS GREAT KEDUSHAH — HOLINESS — IN TESHUVAH. IT IS A PROCESS THAT IS BUILT ON CONTROL OF ONE’S EGO — WHETHER THAT EGO IS INDIVIDUAL OR NATIONAL. IT RECOGNIZES THAT ONE CANNOT BE WHOLE IF ONE DISREGARDS THE OTHER “ONES” THAT ARE PART OF OUR LIFE: GOD — THE MOST SACRED ONE, AND THE SACRED ONES WHOSE LIVES ARE ENTWINED WITH OUR OWN, DIRECTLY OR INDIRECTLY — FROM THE MEMBERS OF OUR HOUSEHOLDS TO ALL OF HUMANKIND, AND, INDEED, TO ALL CREATION. IT REQUIRES HUMILITY, A HALLMARK OF A TRUE SEEKER OF HOLINESS.
IN JEWISH TRADITION, WHO IS THE GREATEST HUMAN BEING WHO EVER LIVED? MOSES. IN THE COURSE OF CASTIGATING MIRIAM AND AARON FOR “BAD-MOUTHING” THEIR BROTHER, HERE IS WHAT GOD SAID ABOUT HIM. WE READ IN NUMBERS 12:
NOW MOSES HIMSELF WAS VERY HUMBLE, MORE SO THAN ANY OTHER HUMAN BEING ON EARTH….AND [GOD] SAID, “HEAR THESE MY WORDS: WHEN PROPHETS OF YHVH ARISE AMONG YOU, I MAKE MYSELF KNOWN TO THEM IN A VISION, I SPEAK WITH THEM IN A DREAM. NOT SO WITH MY SERVANT MOSES; HE IS TRUSTED THROUGHOUT MY HOUSEHOLD. WITH HIM I SPEAK MOUTH TO MOUTH, PLAINLY AND NOT IN RIDDLES, AND HE BEHOLDS THE LIKENESS OF YHVH. HOW THEN DID YOU NOT FEAR SPEAKING AGAINST MY SERVANT MOSES?!”
HUMILITY, NOT HUBRIS, IS A FOUNDATIONAL ELEMENT OF TRUE HUMAN GREATNESS.
AND WE READ IN MICAH 6:6-8:
WITH WHAT SHALL I APPROACH GOD, DO HOMAGE TO GOD ON HIGH? SHALL I APPROACH WITH BURNT OFFERINGS, WITH CALVES A YEAR OLD? WOULD GOD BE PLEASED WITH THOUSANDS OF RAMS, WITH MYRIADS OF STREAMS OF OIL? SHALL I GIVE MY FIRST-BORN FOR MY TRANSGRESSION, THE FRUIT OF MY BODY FOR MY SINS?
YOU HAVE BEEN TOLD, O MORTAL, WHAT IS GOOD, AND WHAT GOD REQUIRES OF YOU: ONLY TO DO JUSTICE AND TO LOVE KINDNESS, AND TO WALK HUMBLY WITH YOUR GOD.
HUMILITY, NOT HUBRIS, PAVES THE WALK-WAY TO GOD.
I CONCLUDE WITH MISHNAH SANHEDRIN 4:5:
THEREFORE, ADAM WAS CREATED ALONE, TO TEACH YOU THAT WITH REGARD TO ANYONE WHO DESTROYS ONE SOUL IT IS AS IF HE DESTROYED AN ENTIRE WORLD; AND ANYONE WHO SUSTAINS ONE SOUL THE WRITTEN WORD [TORAH] ASCRIBES HIM CREDIT AS IF HE SUSTAINED AN ENTIRE WORLD. AND, THIS [ADAM HAVING BEEN CREATED ALONE] WAS DONE TO MAINTAIN PEACE AMONG PEOPLE, SO THAT ONE PERSON WILL NOT SAY TO ANOTHER: MY FATHER IS GREATER THAN YOUR FATHER.
ALL OF HUMANKIND IS ONE GREAT FAMILY, AND ALL OF US ARE OBLIGATED TO HUMBLY CARE FOR ONE ANOTHER.
SHABBAT SHALOM AND HAG SAMEACH.