In this parashah – as well as in the parashah following it – we will deal with that special day that we merited in our contemporary generation, the day of our nation’s resurrection, Yom ha-Azma’ut. We will study this topic specifically now, when the clouds of confusion and weakness spread upon the face of the land, in order to reiterate and reinforce that which is already known.

1. “You are completely beautiful, my love; there is no blemish in you.”

In the recent weeks there has been increasing public criticism – yet before contemplating the criticism we must take a moment to consider the fundamental appreciation that forms the basis of all criticism. An appreciation that is alluded to a number of times in Shir ha-Shirim.

There, in one of the verse the Lover says to His Beloved:

“You are completely beautiful, my love; there is no blemish in you.”

(Shir ha-Shirim 4:7)

This statement is rather peculiar, for it seems to repeat itself, adding no further information to its first assertion. For if the Lover states that his Beloved is “completely beautiful,” why then add “there is no blemish in you?” Having stated that the Beloved is “completely beautiful” and perfect – need he state that His Beloved is not disfigured?

All the commentators recognize this difficulty, and thus devote of their commentaries to this verse. Rav Avraham Yizhak ha-Kohen Kook comments of this verse, stating that this verse teaches us the correct manner in which to offer criticism.

The basis of all criticism must primarily rest on the appreciation that “You are completely beautiful, my love.” If one understands this, then he may offer even the most severe criticism, and his criticism will be accepted. If, however, he offers criticism which does not stem from a loving heart, if his words do not originate from a heart full of “And you shall love your fellow as yourself,” (Vayikra 19:18), then his words will never be accepted. One certainly need not flatter an evildoer, and when he must be rebuked, it is an obligation to rebuke him, however this must be founded on a basis of deep, true love – for only then will it be truly accepted.

In the words of Rav Kook:

“‘You are completely beautiful, my love; there is no blemish in you.’ – The greatest love with which we love our nation must not blind our eyes from criticizing its blemishes. However, even after the freest and most unrestrained criticism we find its essence as ‘You are completely beautiful, my love; there is no blemish in you.’”

(Olat Re’iyah, Shir ha-Shirim 4:7)

 

2. Faith is not doubts - àîåðä àéððä ñô÷åú

Lately we have heard what may be termed a cry of despair running through our people, despair of the State, and doubts of our derekh, (literally “way,” i.e. approach to life in general as religious Jews.) Shortly before the Six Day War, Rav Zvi Yehudah ha-Kohen Kook answered a great Rabbi who questioned him as to the nature of Yom ha-Azma’ut. This Rabbi stated that indeed great miracles had transpired on this day, yet it was in no way a ‘yom kadosh’ – a holy or sanctified day.

Rav Tzvi Yehudah answered him that sanctity is something of a factual reality, and that he (Rav Kook) was saddened that there were so many who did not believe in God’s deeds.

Rav Kook’s vehement words were:

“There is a lack of faith here, heresy that adorns itself with the dress of Haredi’ut, (“Haredi-ism,” i.e. ultra-Orthodoxy) and saintliness. They denounce the deeds of God, terming other (feats) as such; and whoever denounces (another) - denounces (in him) precisely his own flaw, (Cf. Kiddushin 70a.)”

(Li-Netivot Yisra’el 2, “Mizmor 19 li-Medinat Yisra’el.”)

Rav Zvi Yehudah then adds:

“Even in our (Religious Zionist) circles there are those who hesitate, fearing to fall into doubts. Yet we must recall that (having) faith is not (tantamount to) doubts, ‘Whose name is “Certainty,” such is His praise,’ (Rosh ha-Shanah repetition of morning Amidah, ‘Ve-khol ma’aminim,’) and when Yisra’el subjugate their hearts to their Father in Heaven – there is redemption.”

(ibid.)

Let us recall that when we left Egypt on Pesah, we recited Hallel. Afterwards when we traveled through the desert and it was arduous for us – we did not cease reciting Hallel. Even this Hallel which many doubt does not cause us any uncertainty, for when our Sages established the reciting of Hallel on Hannukah there were also those who questioned this decree, and their opinions were legitimate, yet we must remember our derekh in the wake of our Rabbis.

We must remember that if Yom ha-Azma’ut requires the recitation of Hallel, then this Hallel – like the Hallel recited on Hannukah – cannot be recited solely in part and not in full, thus the requirement to recite the Hallel is not compromised in any way. If we appreciate the Divine process in the manner in which our Rabbis instructed us, the obligation to recite Hallel applies in its full validity, and is not diminished or curtailed even when the times are difficult. Now that we may not withdraw from our basic premise defining Yom ha-Azma’ut, we may certainly assess matters, and even offer the harshest critique – yet we must never allow confusion to set in, for “faith is not (tantamount to) doubts,” and if we are to criticize, we are to first fill ourselves with love.

Rav Y. B. Soloveitchik told of how he met with a number of professors in America during the Holocaust years. They told him how with all the empathy they felt for the Jewish Nation, the Jewish Nation was receiving its due punishment for its persecution of Jesus. Rav Soloveitchik said that from the Creation of the World there had never been such a great Hillul ha-Shem (Desecration of God’s name) as occurred during the Holocaust when the non-Jews proclaimed: “This is God’s nation, and they have left His land.” In those years it certainly seemed that Christianity had triumphed. Rav Soloveitchik added that from the Creation of the World there had never been such a great Kiddush ha-Shem (Sanctification of God’s name) as when the State of Israel was established, when the entire world witnessed the resurrection of God’s nation.

Now we may note that sometimes we are simply to stand by and observe – for even when our nation experiences the greatest challenges and tribulations, we are the children and grandchildren of those who survived the murderous valley of death in Europe, who then escaped the cruel clutches of the Arab nations. How just sixty-years later we are firmly established in Jerusalem, which for generations was the subject of so many Jewish dreams. This must not blur the trials that we are to experience on the way, nor is this to obscure the obligation of critical analysis – but we must found our critiques in the appreciation that “You are completely beautiful, my love,” for sanctity exists in all of us - a collective sanctity as God’s nation.

This is also the lesson which we learn in the opening verses of our parashah:

“And God spoke to Mosheh, saying: ‘Speak to all the congregation of Benei Yisra’el and say to them, “You shall be holy; for I, God your Lord, am holy.”’”

(Vayikra 19:1,2)

Without entering into the nature of this command, “You shall be holy,” we will consider the motivation for this command – “for I, God your Lord, am holy.” Certainly the intention is not that God requires that we attain the same level of sanctity as God Himself! (In other words we cannot explain the term “for I, God your Lord” as denoting “just as.”)

This is what prompts Hazal to comment on this verse, in a manner which is set forth by one of the first Hassidic Sages, the author of the “Ma’or va-Shemesh.”

“This is as it states in Midrash Rabbah: (‘You shall be holy’) – Might one think (that this infers to be holy) as Me? The verse (thus) states: ‘for I… am holy,’ My sanctity is elevated above yours.”

(Ma’or va-Shemesh, ibid.)

The Ma’or va-Shemesh then elucidates further:

“The significance of ‘Might one think (that this infers to be holy) as Me?’ is that man will desire to be entirely alone, thinking that in this manner he will attain the loftiest sanctity.”

(ibid.)

Therefore the words of Hazal in the Midrash address those who feel that the manner in which to attain the loftiest levels of sanctity by withdrawing from society. And thus the lesson is as follows:

“‘The verse (thus) states: ‘for I… am holy,’ My sanctity is elevated above yours.’ For it is only the Creator alone Who is singular and unique. However if a person desires to bring upon himself the sanctity of the Creator, Blessed is He, it can only be attained through congregating together and serving Him as one brotherhood.”

(ibid.)

In other words, if a person desires to attain the loftiest levels of sanctity, he can only do so with others, a congregation, in a collective with all its differing units. This is also the unique nature of this specific commandment which was given to the nation as a community – “Speak to all the congregation of Benei Yisra’el and say to them.” This directive, “You shall be holy,” was not conveyed in the regular manner whereby Mosheh hears the Divine command, and then he transmits it to Aharon, and then onwards to the elders of the nation, and so on; for this mizvah teaches the connection and strong ties to the collective nation.

5. “When you lend money to My nation.”

When the appreciation of the place and value of the collective takes hold in one’s mind, his entire private moral world changes. All his day-to-day dealings which seem nothing more than dreary routine take on a whole new meaning. For example, regarding the relationship of the lender to the borrower the Torah commands:

“When you lend money to (any of) My nation… you shall not be as a creditor to him…”

(Shemot 22:24)

The Or ha-Hayyim notes a fundamental principle on this verse. Firstly, God establishes that the borrower is “My nation” – His nation. God is not describing the relationship between these two business parties as a relationship independent of Him, the Torah does not state: “When you lend money to any of your nation,” but rather the verse depicts Divine intimacy with that borrower, and the Torah commands “you shall not be as a creditor to him.” The Or ha-Hayyim comments that one may not say that since I am wealthy and he is poor – this is the way God desires it, and thus I must not endeavor to change this reality, for the contrary is true. God tells the wealthy individual that he is nothing more than a clerk!

God has entrusted the wealthy individual with financial means in order to use them appropriately. Having loaned money to a needy individual – the wealthy Jew may not “be as a creditor to him,” for the funds are not truly his, therefore he may not act as a creditor in relation to the loan! This understanding and appreciation of the fiscal system can only be possible when the nation is in its land, wherein the collective unit may fully become manifest.

6. It is not permissible for us – rather it is our obligation

The nature of the feeling of responsibility toward the collective unit, our nation, can be gleaned from a responsum of Rav Zvi Yehudah in response to a very interesting question.

“I was asked: ‘Is it permissible for us, as religious Jews, to support the demands for a Jewish State?’

My answer is: ‘It is not simply permissible for us – rather we are obligated to do so!’”

(Li-Netivot Yisra’el 1, “Yahadut ha-Torah – li-derishat ha-Medinah ha-Yehudit.”)

Yet such an approach holds within it many dangers, for there are various forces involved in the national resurrection, many who choose to ignore their religious heritage. Indeed this is the concern of the questioner:

“Regarding your question: ‘We have no assurance that the state will be run in accordance with the Torah;’

I answered: ‘We have a stipulated assurance. The assurance of this can be attained not from he who is on the outside, not from some Jewish or foreign forces who themselves have no interest in the Torah and religious values of our State, but rather from us ourselves! As much as all of us, all of Yisra’el and the faithful of its Torah, come with a complete heart and pure faith with increased sanctity and convicted fear (of Heaven) to build the House of Israel in its land, and to establish our State there, so we will be more and more assured – even merely by the importance of our actions therein as a result of our spiritual and material influence over our brethren who are distant from Torah and their deeds, and also in the manifestation of assistance from Heaven and the revelation of the inner power of the sanctity of the Land (of Israel) and its settlement – that Erez Yisra’el and our State will be fittingly built and managed in accordance with the Torah.’”

(ibid.)

In other words, regarding the concern that the State is not administered in complete adherence to the Torah, Rav Zvi Yehudah answered the questioner that one is not to withdraw from the process, but rather to join with all those who seek to build the State and with them attempt to elevate the national resurrection. It is not correct, and moreover it is possibly unethical, to refrain from any involvement in a cause, yet to then offer criticism from the outside as to how matters should be conducted. For it may very well be that the state of affairs is owing to those positive forces who have chosen to remain on the outside, not participating in the national effort.

In the past, Rav Zvi Yehudah lamented the fact that the tremendous Torah forces did not heed the call of our Sages who initiated the national resurrection, calling for the return to our Land to rebuild and resettle – many years prior to Herzl’s birth. How the call of the Torah greats – Rabi Eliyahu Gutmacher, a student of Rabi Akiva Eiger, Rabi Yehudah Alkalai, and Rabi Zvi Hirsch Kalisher went unheeded by the Torah multitudes. It is not difficult to imagine what would have transpired had this call been heeded, how the character of the State would e entirely different, and possibly how the terrible Holocaust may have been prevented…

Rav Zvi Yehudah responds to the questioner with the obvious response that indeed, the State will not be founded on the laws of the Torah if he is to remain on the outside. To the contrary, the involvement of the powerful forces of the Faith will begin the process which will ultimately lead to the great revolution in the young Jewish State that had just been reborn.

7. The fifth of Iyar – the miraculous Declaration of the State of Israel

Amongst the Torah Greats who supported the institution of the recital of Hallel as a result of the renewed sovereign independence of Yisra’el, there waged a great debate as to when the recital is to take place. As we all know, the fifth day of Iyar was established as the day for the recital of Hallel. However – as many of the Torah authorities themselves asked – the miracle of the salvation of the Jews of Erez Yisra’el did not occur on that day, for although this was the date of the Declaration of Independence, at that very moment seven Arab nations declared war against the fledgling state. Why, then, is it this the day which has been established as the commemoration of our salvation, as opposed to another more auspicious day when the salvation had been completed with a ceasefire, for example?

Rav Zvi Yehuda was amongst those who supported the institution of the fifth of Iyar as the day on which Hallel was to be recited. He writes:

“Behold, after the tremendous, horrific sacrifices in the Land (of Israel) and in the Diaspora, through all the miracles and wonders that were manifest in our military and political battles, we have reached this time and attained these circumstances. Indeed the miracle of miracles and the wonder of wonders, the foundation and basis of all these that God has shown us is the nature of this day: the declaration of the decision that the State of Israel has been founded and will exist (from now onwards,) that our independent rule of the land of our forefathers, our inheritance and heritage, has been firmly established.”

(Igrot ha-Re’iyah 2, 194; Li-Netivot Yisra’el 5727)

Rav Zvi Yehudah explains that the great miracle, or the essential miracle of Yom ha-Azma’ut, is our own renewed faith in ourselves, the declaration “that the State of Israel has been founded and will exist,” that on the eve of the historic declaration the nation’s leaders knew that the probability of this new state’s birth concluding in peace, and thus the new born state being able to develop and grow, was almost zero. For the moment the State was born, the Arab nations moved to completely annihilate the Nation of Israel as had been expected. But the Divine salvation occurred, the Israeli heroes were miraculously strengthened with power from God, and the tremendous Arab armies were wondrously repelled by the smoldering remainder of European Jewry, who had been “bloated by famine, and consumed by fire,” (Devarim 32:24.)

The festival of Pesah is unique in that it holds within it two Yamim Tovim (literally “Good Days,” i.e. ‘Festivals,’ days akin to Shabbat on which no melakhah may be performed,) one at its start, and one at its conclusion. These two Yamim Tovim illustrate the mutual relationship between God and His children.

The first day of Pesah relates our faith in God, the Redeemer of Israel, who extracted His nation from within the clutches of another nation. Then we reach the seventh day of Pesah, when the Jews had left Egypt and were encamped upon the banks of the Sea of Reeds. The Jews looked back and saw the approaching Egyptian armies, crying out of despair to Mosheh:

“Were there not sufficient graves in Egypt that you have taken us to die in the desert?”

(Shemot 14:11)

In its moment of great despair, out of tremendous fear, the nation suggest to Mosheh that it may have been better to remain in Egypt, for in Egypt too they were being murdered, yet at least there they had some chance of surviving. And those who had died in Egypt were at least accorded the final honor of a grave site – yet now in the desert sure death awaited them, with no possibility of any burial. The nation was also divided into a number of groupings and sects, some desiring to return to Egypt, with others desiring to cast themselves into the ocean! (There were many other suggestions as to the best course of action, as Hazal record in the Midrash.) This illustrates the great confusion and chaos that had taken hold of the nation.

Mosheh Rabbenu cries to God for salvation, yet God’s response is:

“Why do you cry to Me?”

(Shemot 14:15)

Now is no time for prayer! Then, as despair and the greatest fear and turmoil was spreading in the nation, no doubt stirring many of the sects and groupings to cynicism, Nahshon ben Aminadav understands the secret of the redemption. He believes in himself and in his nation – or more accurately he believes in his God who dwells amongst the nation – and he leaps into the ocean! He leaps into the ocean, into the ocean which represents the material bounds of reality, and the sea is split! Specifically at the moment of the greatest crisis, the deepest dispute, specifically then, when it seemed that every real chance for success had been lost, the true appreciation that the salvation stems from that which is beyond the material reality.

This is exactly akin to our contemporary salvation, and it is not mere coincidence that Yom ha-Azma’ut occurs on the same day as the final day of Pesah. As we mentioned, then too, the odds were at their most difficult, and the existence of the entire Jewish population in Zion was precariously in the balance. David Ben Gurion had before him the most pessimistic predictions and forecasts, yet the independence of the State of Israel was declared, and despite all the complications and difficulties, and the internal and external crises, it developed into the strong nation that stood firm against its enemies.

Rav Zvi Yehudah probes this further:

“… this heroic courage and strength of spirit of our leaders, who gathered together on the fifth of Iyar in the museum of Tel Aviv, and announced to the entire world and its (various) governments that there is a State of Israel… this heroic courage, with self-sacrifice and devotion of the spirit, which breathed the God of our fathers, the Reader of the Generations, into our midst, is the source and root of all the miracles and wonders after this revelation to us, as we reached this time and reality.”

(ibid.)

Thus, the question that was posed to Rav Zvi Yehudah, “But the state will not be run in accordance with the Torah” is a question of the Diaspora! To the contrary, rise up you, who poses the question – together with us – and participate! We must take part and affect change!

Let us now return to our opening words.

Indeed, there are moments when doubts cloud our skies, yet it is specifically at these times that we must intensify our convictions and faith. Faith, “emunah,” as we all know, stems from the word “amen” used as “lihyot amen” – “to in charge of,” or “responsible for.” Knowing that God is our trustee and we are in His charge - specifically when it is more difficult, we must hold one with greater force. This is the basis of faith – ‘faith is not a sum-total of doubts’ – and we can thus say that our faith in the Divine processes which occur around us is not swayed by the actions of any one government, which is soon to be succeeded by another and yet another.

Our faith remains in that same process which brought the “lion cub of Yehudah” to resurrection. Our recollections of the exile, of the bloodbaths, and of the floods of annihilation which burst forth during our exile will never be forgotten, and it is they which will remind us even during the most painful birth pains that this miracle is termed “The State of Israel.” We must know that our love for our nation is boundless and infinite; we will not fear to analyze and criticize when necessary, yet we must always remember that “even after the freest and most unrestrained criticism it is free of every blemish, ‘You are completely beautiful, my love; there is no blemish in you.’”

Translated by Sholem Hurwitz.

Copyright Keren Yishai/Rav M. Elon.