Healthy regeneration or illusion
Parsha and its fulfillment - Parshat Tazria – Parashat HaChodesh - Rabbi Eliezer Shenvald - 5769
Parashat Tazria opens with the laws of a parturient woman and the renewal of life that comes into the world. The creation of a new world. This year's Shabbat Tazria is also Sabbath HaChodesh, which falls on Rosh Chodesh Nissan, in which we read about the commandment of Kiddush HaChodesh:
"הַחֹ֧דֶשׁ הַזֶּ֛ה לָכֶ֖ם רֹ֣אשׁ חֳדָשִׁ֑ים רִאשׁ֥וֹן הוּא֙ לָכֶ֔ם לְחָדְשֵׁ֖י הַשָּׁנָֽה׃
This month shall mark for you the beginning of the months; it shall be the first of the months of the year for you. (Shmot 12:2)
Because of its importance, it was fitting to be the first of the commandments of the Torah: "Rabbi Isaac said: The Torah which is the Law book of Israel should have commenced with the verse “This month shall be unto you the first of the months” which is the first commandment given to Israel. (Midrash Tanchuma Bereshit, Siman11).
The mitzvah of Kiddush HaChodesh and renewal of times is related to the cycle of lunar regeneration. Which became the symbol of the eternal renewal and progress of the Jewish people, as we mention in the blessing of the sanctification of the moon: " And to the moon He said that it should renew itself as a crown of beauty " (Sanhedrin 42a). This is a constant move, a constant, continuous and gradual renewal that takes place every month.
These two dimensions complement one another and create a continuum of progress and development over time.
In both personal and national life, both elements, innovation and stability are needed. On the one hand, stability, routine and permanence are necessary to institutionalize the existing and produce its finest fruits. But sometimes it becomes an aging fixation that causes fatigue and weariness and threatens to stop the progress of life.
Healthy regeneration makes it possible to continue to progress and develop. It energizes and gives vitality and freshness. And stimulates enthusiasm. People and society need to be rejuvenated in a timely fashion. First and foremost in their states of mind. And in the belief in the ability to renew, and "open a new page."
But innovation and change must be done in a calculated and controlled manner. Healthy regeneration is examined in that it constitutes an additional floor above what already exists. In the sense that "the old will be renewed and the new will be sanctified" (Igrot HaReiyah Part 1).
So that the desire for renewal will not lead to "being bald from here and from here" (Rabbi Yitzḥak Nappaḥa said to them: I will relate a parable. To what can this be compared? It can be compared to a man who has two wives, one young and one old. The young wife pulls out his white hairs, so that her husband will appear younger. The old wife pulls out his black hairs so that he will appear older. And it turns out that he is bald from here and from there, i.e., completely bald, due to the actions of both of his wives). (Bava Kamma 60b).
To change what exists and transform it into something new that is worse. Regeneration should be carried out while maintaining stability and permanence anchors. Without them, the renewal will cause anarchic undermining of the foundations and frameworks. In which case the renewed thing will be shaky and will not last for long.
Sometimes the longing for change and renewal of the individual and the public comes out of frustration with the existing situation. Whether justified frustration or not. Whether the current situation is bad in reality or whether it just seems to be, or that there is an illusion that it could have been better than what is possible. In such a situation, the yearning for something new may reach the point of asking for change at almost any price. This is a problematic situation because the hope of changing the existing situation is likely to disrupt the mechanisms of criticism. A kind of temporary blindness that may lead to choose novelty over, although it does not really solve the previous situation, and is nothing but illusion and false magic. A bad substitute that would be even worse than the current situation. And may even undermine the foundations of the existing situation.
Usually, there will be people in the immediate vicinity who will warn that this is a delusion. But the yearning for change intoxicates the senses and will not admit it. Those who yearn for change convince themselves and refuse to recognize reality. A kind of self-disobedience.
Unfortunately, disillusionment comes only in a later stage. After the illusion is shattered to the bottom of reality and caused frustration and disappointment. Not only did the desired change not happen, but the situation worsened.
In recent decades we have experienced such phenomena in the national arena vis-à-vis the complex security situation. The yearning for quiet and routine brought large parts of the public to gamble on an illusion and a vain charm of solutions that shattered into reality at a heavy price.
Such phenomena are repeated in almost every election campaign. Parties based on situations or protest are formed, and ride on the waves of frustration from the complex situation of our lives. Some give them their votes out of frustration and a real longing for change. However, in this situation, it is difficult to be critical and to examine whether the change proposed by these parties will indeed bring about the desired change. Is the solution realistic, or just a conglomeration of theoretical ideas that cannot be applied to the complex reality that exists and will not stand the test of reality? The collapse of the illusion comes sooner or later, and the party disappears. But the lesson is not taken. And repeats itself in the next elections.
Parshat Tazriya – Rabbi Eliezer Shenvald
Our Parsha opens with the mitzvah of circumcision. "Speak to Bnei Israel and say to them: a woman who gives birth to a male…on the eighth day his foreskin must be circumcised." (Vayikra 12:2)
Let us look into the ramifications of Brit Milah (circumcision) regarding the covenant between Am Israel and G-d. How did the mitzvah of circumcision have a decisive and strategic effect on the preservation of Jewish identity over thousands of years?
By way of Brit Milah, Am Israel enters into a covenant with G-d: "And G-d said to Avraham: and you shall keep my covenant, you and your children after you to your generations. This is the covenant that you will keep between Me and you and your generations after you: circumcise every one of your males. And you will circumcise the flesh of your foreskins and it will be the sign of the covenant between Me and you." (Bereshith 17:9-11)
From our parsha we learned that Brit Milah, when performed on time, also supersedes the prohibitions of Shabbat and Yom Kippur: "On the eighth day his foreskin must be circumcised." The Talmud (Shabbat 132a) explains that this holds even when the eight day is Shabbat. Even preparations necessary for the circumcision are permitted.
There are many facets to Brit Milah, and more of them are concealed (meaning above immediate human understanding) than are revealed. It is written in Tehillim (25:14) "G-d's secret is (revealed) to those who fear Him, and He will make His covenant known to them."
One of the most powerful forces, both in the physical world and in society, is that of equilibrium and assimilation. The temperature of a hot or cold object, over time, will resemble that of its environment. Also, the pressure inside an object will equalize with outside pressure, and so on. Sociologically as well - over time a group of people with foreign customs and culture will assimilate, and their behavior will be like that of the surrounding society.
Am Israel differs from the nations around it in many ways: in its spirit, its faith, its culture, its lifestyle and its identity. Over the thousands of years of our existence, powerful, world-shaking revolutions have changed human culture. In certain places and during certain periods, these cultures succeeded, to a certain extent, to affect and mitigate Jewish identity. Nevertheless, Am Israel succeeded in keeping its unique identity and culture in a way unparalleled by any other nation.
The mitzvah of Brit Milah has been a strategic factor in preserving Jewish Identity over the generations. The circumcision is a mark stamped into our flesh, an identifying sign which sets us apart from all the nations. The difference which is stamped in our bodies as well as our souls influences our entire worldview and consciousness, and strengthens the awareness of our uniqueness.
"One of the roots of this mitzvah, is that G-d wanted to inscribe in the nation which He chose to be called on His name a permanent sign on their bodies, to set them apart from the rest of the nations in the (physical) form of their bodies just as they are different in their souls, that their source and their purpose are different." (Sefer Hachinuch, Mitzvah 2)
This Jewish "identity tag" serves as a focus for communal identity: "And in my opinion, there is another very important issue in Brit Milah, that all who hold this belief, namely, faith in one G-d, have one physical sign that unites them all. And an outsider, who is not of them, cannot claim that he is one of them. Since it is possible to do this (to adopt the sign of a another nation) in order to receive a benefit or to persecute the adherents of that religion…but no person would do this act (circumcision) to himself or his son without clear intention, because this is not a scratch on the thigh or a burn on the arm, but it is something that is exceedingly difficult." (Rambam, Moreh Nevuchim)
And so circumcision is one of the mitzvot that allow a convert to join the Jewish Nation: "Israel entered the covenant by three things: circumcision, immersion and sacrifice." (Rambam, Issurei Biyah 13:1)
The mitzvah of Brit Milah is an exceptional positive commandment in that the punishment for violating it is karet (spiritual cutting-off): "And an uncircumcised male who will not circumcise the flesh of his foreskin, that soul will be cut off from his nation, he has violated My covenant." (Bereshith 17:14) So we can understand why not performing it in Egypt brought Am Israel to the brink of destruction: "But all abandoned circumcision in Egypt except for the tribe of Levi." (Shemot Rabbah 19:5) And we also see why someone who wanted to assimilate among the nations would "pull his foreskin."
When the nations of the world wanted to influence Israel's identity by force, they decreed specifically against Brit Milah. But the self-sacrifice of Am Israel for this mitzvah over all the generations served to strengthen that self-identity. "Rabbi Shimon Ben-Elazar says: Every mitzvah that Israel sacrificed their lives for at a time of decrees of (wicked) kings - like idol worship and circumcision - they still hold on to them." (Talmud Shabbat 130a)