Natan Sharansky is going to be at Beth Tfiloh on March 14. \u00a0At the beginning of his book \u201cFear No Evil,\u201d he recalls a memory from his childhood, the day that Joseph Stalin died. \u00a0Solemn music filled the streets form loudspeakers. \u00a0Everyone wore black arm bands. \u00a0Enormous portraits of Stalin were everywhere. \u00a0Sharansky was 5 years old at the time and he remembers his kindergarten teacher telling the children that there would be no laughing and playing that day, because our great leader and teacher had died.<\/p>\n
The name Stalin didn’t mean much to little Natan, other than being a line in the many songs that the and the other children were taught as part of their indoctrination. \u00a0But the message was clear. \u00a0It was a sad day.<\/p>\n
Then he got home. \u00a0His father, who was a journalist and had his own ideas, told Sharansky and his older brother the truth. \u00a0He told them that the man who died was an evil man who had murdered millions of innocent people and in his final years he had specifically targeted the Jews. \u00a0They should feel happy that Stalin was dead, but they were forbidden from telling this to ANYONE!<\/p>\n
That was the day that Natan Sharansky said that he learned that in order to survive in Soviet Society you had to function on two levels at once: what you really thought and what you allowed yourself to tell other people.<\/p>\n
Something this week made me think about this. \u00a0The death of Antonin Scalia, an American icon, contrasted with the death of Stalin made me appreciate how great it is to live in America.<\/p>\n
I didn’t think of this when I read about Scalia’s unfortunate passing. \u00a0I thought about it when I read a story about the relationship that Scalia shared with his fellow Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg. \u00a0They disagreed on virtually every conceivable issue, and yet they managed to be friends.<\/p>\n
How fortunate are we to live in a country where we can disagree with one another and yet still live together not just with civility, but with friendship, and most importantly, with mutual respect.
\nUnfortunately, not everyone who disagreed with Scalia shared Ruth Bader Ginsberg’s respect for him.<\/p>\n
All over the Internet you could read people posting in celebration that a man whom they considered to be evil incarnate was dead. \u00a0They were saying, “I disagreed with him, so I’m happy he’s dead.”<\/p>\n
Sometimes it seems that we are so polarized that it is as if there are two Americas. \u00a0The divide between conservatives and liberals in this country seems insurmountable.<\/p>\n
And it goes both ways. \u00a0How many of us have been the only conservative in a room full of liberals talking politics. \u00a0When they talk of some conservative icon and his immoral and evil ideas, we think to ourselves, “If I told them that I shared those ideas what would they say about me?”<\/p>\n
And how many of us have been the only liberal in a room full of conservatives talking politics. \u00a0When they talk about some liberal icon and her naive and idiotic ideas, we think to ourselves, “If I told them that I shared those ideas, what would they say about me?”<\/p>\n
So we keep our mouths shut, and we function on two levels at once: what we really think and what we allow ourselves to tell others.<\/p>\n
Jews love to argue. \u00a0From our forty years in the desert until today we were never shy to express our disagreements. \u00a0The Torah actually views this as a virtue, but it provides a system to facilitate these disagreements.<\/p>\n
Achad Ha’am wrote a seminal essay called Kohen vinavi – Priest and prophet – two different types of leaders.<\/p>\n
This week’s parshah, Titzaveh, is all about the Kohen. \u00a0 The kohen worked in the Beit Hamikdash for two weeks out of every year, plus on the holidays. \u00a0The rest of the year the kohen would live amongst the people. \u00a0His job was to teach Torah to young and old. \u00a0He fostered peace between friends and neighbors. \u00a0He loved peace and pursued peace. \u00a0He celebrated with you at happy occasions. \u00a0He comforted you when you grieved. \u00a0He was there for the people – all of the people. \u00a0That was his role and we elevated him with fancy inauguration ceremonies, and he dons the royal garments of fine linen and gold that can only be worn by the kohen gadol – for honor and glory.<\/p>\n
When he dies all of the people mourn for him. \u00a0The Torah tells us that the one who kills accidentally seeks refuge in the city of refuge so that the families of the victim cannot take vengeance on him. \u00a0But the killer goes free upon the death of the Kohen Gadol. \u00a0Some say this is because upon the death of the Kohen the whole nation mourns and the national loss causes all past grievances to be left in the past. \u00a0The Kohen was loved by the masses and he\u00a0brought the people together.<\/p>\n
Then there was the other type of leader. \u00a0The Navi. \u00a0He served a very different role. While the Kohen provided comfort to the afflicted, the Navi afflicted the comfortable. \u00a0The navi sees the world exclusively from the point of view of his own ideas, and he fights with all of his might for the attainment of those ideas. \u00a0The Kohen creates compromise, the Navi refuses to compromise. \u00a0The Kohen sees in shades of grey, the Navi sees only black and white. \u00a0“His gaze is fixed on what ought to be in accordance with his own convictions, never on what can be consistently with the general condition of things outside of himself.”<\/p>\n
If you are on one side of a controversial issue you want a Navi fighting on your side, and heaven help you if he is against you.<\/p>\n
But the Navi pays a price for his unyielding posture.\u00a0 He is usually not very popular.\u00a0 There is no fancy ceremony to inaugurate the Navi. \u00a0He is scorned and hated by those with whom he expresses his disagreement. \u00a0When he dies his adversaries celebrate his death.<\/p>\n
We want to have disagreements. \u00a0Disagreements are healthy. \u00a0We need the navi, but we also need the Kohen\u00a0to unite us despite our disagreements.<\/p>\n
His clothing symbolizes this. \u00a0Although the Torah forbids the wearing of wool and linen together, the Kohen Gadol wears the Ephod, the apron that is made of intertwined wool and linen.<\/p>\n
One understanding is because the prohibition against wearing wool and linen is meant to remind us of the first conflict in the history of mankind. \u00a0Two brothers, Kayin and Hevel. \u00a0One brought an offering from the wool of his sheep. \u00a0The other brought something that came from the ground that he could find no use for – the midrash says he brought flax as his offering. \u00a0When the two were brought together it caused a conflict that lead to the first murder. \u00a0So we keep these two elements separate as a reminder.<\/p>\n
But the Kohen Gadol is the man who symbolizes peace and harmony. \u00a0These two elements that are forever in conflict are brought together in a multicolor garment that bears the breastplate with the multicolored stones that have engraved upon them the names of all of the tribes of our diverse nation. \u00a0The ephod is a physical representation of the role that the Kohen plays. \u00a0He allows for the different ideas to maintain their integrity and compete with each other, but he unifies them and facilitates mutual respect.<\/p>\n
There is a place for both the Kohen and the Navi. \u00a0In America we certainly have our controversial and divisive icons in the tradition of the Navi. \u00a0But we lack the unifying figures in the tradition of the Kohen.<\/p>\n
England has both. \u00a0They have a divisive parliament just like our government. \u00a0But they also have the institution of the royal family. \u00a0When I was younger it always puzzled me why a modern western country would want to have a monarchy. \u00a0I think it is because the country likes to have an institution that stands above the fray of politics and can represent all of the people.<\/p>\n
We definitely lack something in America without such an institution.<\/p>\n
It is great to have the kohen who wears the breast plate with all of our names on it when he goes into the holy of holies to pray for us on Yom Kippur.\u00a0 He\u00a0represents each and every one of us, and each of us feels truly represented. \u00a0He leads us into battle and inspires all of us to put aside our differences,\u00a0uniting\u00a0us in times that we need\u00a0to face our common enemies, the real enemies\u00a0who threaten our lives and our way of life.<\/p>\n
It would be nice if our unelected judges could serve as Kohanim, but unfortunately there are no illusions that they are.\u00a0 We know exactly what we are getting depending on which side of the aisle appoints the judge.<\/p>\n
While we have a surplus of profits, we are suffering from a Kohen deficit.\u00a0 There are those\u00a0occasional icons who unify us, Natan Sharansky comes to mind as a great example which is why we should all come to hear him speak on March 14th.\u00a0 But\u00a0such icons are few and far between.<\/p>\n
Even so, better to live in a world with only prophets and no priest, than to live in a world with only priests and no prophets.<\/p>\n
While it sounds nice to have only Kohanim, everyone united, it would really be a form of extreme political correctness.\u00a0 It starts out as well intentioned, but\u00a0the suppression of any form of arguments is\u00a0by definition\u00a0tyranny. \u00a0Just look at our college campuses that seek to create “safe spaces” so that nobody is ever offended.\u00a0 Professors can’t teach what they want, comedians can’t tell jokes, and\u00a0students can’t question or challenge.<\/p>\n
Nevertheless, we need Kohanim.\u00a0 So in a place where there are no Kohanim, we must stand up and be the Kohen.\u00a0 At Mount Sinai Hashem did not command us to be a nation of Navis.\u00a0He said we should be a kingdom of Kohanim.<\/p>\n
Each of us in our personal lives needs to where the mantel of the ephod of the Kohen.\u00a0 We need to allow for people to express their opinions, create healthy debate and conversations, and when the conversation is over put it aside and unite to address the common issues that affect us all.<\/p>\n
Every day in davening we say multiple times Oseh shalom bimromav – May the One who makes peace in the heavens make peace among us and all of Israel.\u00a0 What does this mean?<\/p>\n
When the author of this most famous line looked up at the sky he saw that stars and clouds, fire and water, somehow both exist in the heavens together.\u00a0 The water of the clouds doesn’t extinguish the stars, and the fire of the stars does not evaporate the clouds.\u00a0 They both express themselves fully, and yet coexist in harmony.<\/p>\n
May we learn to do the same, vi’imiru, Amen.<\/p>\n
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Natan Sharansky is going to be at Beth Tfiloh on March 14. \u00a0At the beginning of his book \u201cFear No Evil,\u201d he recalls a memory from his childhood, the day that Joseph Stalin died. \u00a0Solemn music filled the streets form loudspeakers. \u00a0Everyone wore black arm bands. \u00a0Enormous portraits of Stalin were everywhere. \u00a0Sharansky was 5<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":133175,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[97,85],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-53230","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-community","category-inspiration"],"yoast_head":"\n