Parshas Yisro
February 5th-6th, 1999
20 Shevat, 5759

The Kollel expresses a sincere Mazal Tov to the entire Tirey family, on the occasion of the bar mitzvah of Nathan.

A PLUG FOR IDEALISM

I once read an essay by a rabbi who had veiled words of criticism for segments of our people (read: Orthodox) who allegedly are not tolerant enough in their attitude towards less religiously exacting Jews.  His point wasn't even so much that these people act arrogantly, for I would have been in full agreement with disapproval on that score; gahveh--pride--is one of the root causes of all sin, of course, and to display it in a manner that slights or offends others is forbidden...besides being lousy outreach to the less observant.  How the Torah wants us to assess ourselves with respect to others is summed up by Ramban (Nachmanidies) in his famous letter of ethical instruction to his son:        

"Let all men seem greater than you in your eyes.  If another is more wise or wealthy than yourself, you must show him respect.  And if he is poor, and you are richer or wiser than he, consider that he may be more            righteous than yourself: If he sins it is the result of error, while your transgression is deliberate."  (From A Letter for the Ages, by Rabbi Avrohom Chaim Feuer; Artscroll.)

Such is the level of humility for which we are expected to strive.

No, the rabbi's point wasn't really that some act arrogantly.  It was more that there is a kind of arrogance in maintaining and promoting standards that tower too high over us, a wrongheadedness in not just accepting that--to paraphrase only slightly--we're all, for better or worse, "a bunch of schleppers."  As if to say: for the sake of shalom bayis, we should just all resign ourselves to spiritual mediocrity. 

I thought immediately of this parsha, when Moshe Rabbeinu brings to the Jewish people the offer to accept the Torah.  I could recall nothing about schleppers in G-d's conception of what the Jewish people are meant to be in the world, of the ideal and standard that we as a people--all of us--were chosen to accept and exemplify:  

"And now, if you hearken well to Me and observe My covenant, you shall be to Me the most beloved treasure of all peoples, for Mine is the entire world.  You shall be to Me a kingdom of ministers (mamleches kohanim) and a holy nation (goy kadosh)."  (19, 5-6; Artscroll translation.)

What do these two phrases in bold mean?  Here are the unmatched comments of Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch, the great German leader who made it his life's work to combat all efforts to modify or lower the eternal standards of the Torah:

"Mamleches kohanim--each and every individual of you is to become a kohen, a priest, insasmuch as he is to allow all his actions to be 'regulated' by Me, to take the ol malchus shamayim [yoke of the Heavenly
Kingdom] faith-fully on his shoulders and become a true kohen who by his word and example spreads the knowledge of G-d and loyalty to Him...And goy kadosh--just as individually you are to appear priestlike, so is the impression which Israel as a nation is to make on the world to be one of holiness to G-d.  You are to be a unique nation among the nations, a nation which does not exist for its own fame, its own greatness, its own glory, but the foundation and glorification of the Kingdom of G-d on Earth, a nation which is not to seek its greatness in power and might but in the absolute rule of the Divine Law--the Torah--for that is what kedushah [holiness] is."  (Commentary on Exodus, p. 251)

A kingdom of priests, each and every person loyal to G-d and His Law.  A holy nation, unique in the very basis of its existence--to carry out the Torah, and through it, bring about the Kingdom of G-d on Earth.

I know that it sounds a bit AWESOME, and perhaps even daunting to some. We certainly need to be tolerant, compassionate and good-humored with ourselves and others as we slowly and gradually schlep--er, traverse the path that leads (from the secular wasteland below?) to the lofty summit on high.   

But one thing's for sure, in this age of non-idealism: we need to start looking more at the summit.  To focus on the nobility of the Torah ideal, to see clearly the very goal and purpose of our Judaism, the Big Picture--which is not to "stay committed" or "attend synagogue," or "maintain Jewish continuity," but to be a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.  Rather than bring the Torah down, let's strive to raise ourselves up to its level...for the sake of truth, and of the greatness that is, truthfully, within us--Children of Avraham, Yitzhak and Ya'akov. 

If there's any parsha which lends itself to getting in touch with the grandeur of our Torah and its blessedly uncompromising standards, it's parshas Yisro.  May Hashem help us to become duly inspired.

GOOD SHABBOS!!!

Insights Into Genesis
Insights Into Exodus

Rabbi Yosef Edelstein is Director of the Savannah Torah Education Project (STEP). Phone: 912-355-0157;
fax: 912-354-9923; e-mail: Yosef18@aol.com

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The Holocaust, and its Connection to Purim--This Tuesday night, February 9th, 7:45, at the J.E.A., as part of Rabbi Yosef Edelstein's, "Issues in Jewish History."

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