Community Magazine September 2019

18 Community Magazine 800.366.2217 sales@franklingroupusa.com www.franklingroupusa.com integrated marketing & printing solutions The Midrash explains that Kayin told Gd something along the lines of, “Look, You’re the One who watches over, guards and protects all creatures. If You didn’t want Hevel to die, then You should have protected him! It’s Your fault!” The Midrash draws an analogy to a thief who manages to sneak his way past a guard post and robs the neighborhood the guard was supposed to be protecting. When the thief is caught, he says, “Don’t blame me – blame the guard! My job is to try to steal, and his job is to stop me. I did my job, but he didn’t do his!!” Similarly, the Midrash explains, Kayin claimed that he was not to blame for what he did to Hevel – because Gd should have stopped him! What the Midrash is teaching us is that human nature leads people to refuse to accept blame, to deny responsibility, to find excuses for their misconduct. One of the hardest things a person can do is to say, “I failed. I made a terrible mistake. I was wrong.” It is so difficult that after Kayin killed Hevel, since he had nobody else on whom to cast the blame – after all, the only other people alive were his parents, who certainly did not want their son to die!! – he blamed Gd for not preventing him from perpetrating this crime. This is how far a person will go to absolve himself of accountability for his mistakes! More Grievous Than Sin Kayin was punished severely for killing his brother – but he could have escaped punishment had he acknowledged guilt and accepted responsibility. Gd is willing to forgive our mistakes. He created us, and He knows we are frail, fragile human beings. But what He is far less willing to forgive is our refusal to own up to our failures, to admit we were wrong, and to take responsibility for our actions. The same thing happened one generation earlier, when Adam ate from the forbidden tree. When Gd confronted him, Adam cast the blame on his wife, Havah: “The woman that You placed beside me – she gave me [fruit] from the tree, and I ate” (Beresheet 3:12). Adam could have saved himself and the rest of humanity from the devastating punishment for his sin, had he taken responsibility for what he did, instead of passing the blame onto his wife. Gd is prepared to forgive – but as long as we admit that we acted wrongly. Another famous example is the story of King Shaul, who was commanded to wage war against the hostile nation of Amalek and destroy all its property. But Shaul violated the command, bringing Amalek’s herds of cattle back with him so they can be offered as sacrifices to Gd. The prophet, Shemuel, approached Shaul at Gd’s behest and asked himwhy he brought the animals with him. Shaul blamed the people, saying that it was their decision to keep the animals alive and bring them back. Shemuel then conveyed to Shaul Gd’s message that he was fired – he could no longer be king, as he violated Gd’s word and refused to own up to it. Gd can tolerate our sins, but He does not tolerate our excuses. Gd says through the prophet Yirmiyahu (2:35), “ Hineni nishpat otach al omrech lo hatati – I am hereby taking you to judgment for 18 COMMUNITY MAGAZINE A man once came into the synagogue, sat down near me, stretched his arms and legs out as far as they go, and let out a loud – and probably exaggerated – yawn. It was pretty obvious that he was waiting for a comment about how he was very tired. I didn’t want to disappoint him, so I acknowledged his apparent fatigue. “Yeah, rabbi,” he said. “E very night, I wake up in the middle o f the night to recite tikkun hatzot ,” referring to the midnight prayer bemoaning the exile, which is recited mainly by Kabbalists and especially devout individuals. He then continued, “And then I go back to sleep and wake up early for Shaharit .” It doesn’t take an advanced degree in psychiatry to understand what this fellow was doing. He came into the synagogue looking for a way to publicize is noble practice of reciting tikkun hatzot . This is an example of phenomenon which I fear is becoming more common in today’s day and ag – the tendency “advertise” one’s piety and religious devotion, to not fe l content with being devout, nd to inste d s nse he ne d to make people aware of it. A Different Kind of Tzeniut This month, we read a portion from the Prophets that warns against this tendency. The haftarah (section from the Prophets) read on Shabbat Parashat Balak comes from the Book of Michah, and speaks of our indebtedness to Gd, how kind He is and how grateful we must feel for all that He has done for us. At one point in this prophecy, Michah brings as an example the story told in Parashat Balak – the story of the Moavite king who summoned the gentile prophet Bilaam to place a curse on Beneh Yisrael and annihilate them. Gd foiled the plot, transforming Bilaam’s curses into beautiful blessings. But what is of interest to us in this context is the final verse of this prophecy, in which Michah concludes by asking, and ans ering, the question that we should all be sking ourselves each and every day – an perhaps ach and every moment! – of our lives: “What does Gd want from you?” Considering all that Gd has d ne for us, the prophet tells us, He does not ask for very much. All He d mands is three thin s: Words of Rabbi Eli J. Mansour “The Torah ideal of 'tzeniut' has as much to do with our behavior on social media as it does with hemlines.” לעילוי נשמתם של משה בן עליזה, יצחק הלל בן עליזה, והנרייט לאה בת עליזה, דוד בן גילה, רבקה בת גילה, יהושע בן גילה, משה בן גילה, שרה בת גילה, יעקב בן גילה, ואליאנה בת גילה. ולרפואה שלמה ליוסף בן אהובה מסעודה, שילת אהובה בת עליזה, ודניאל בן עליזה. Masquerading Greatness