{"id":59136,"date":"2018-02-07T09:26:47","date_gmt":"2018-02-07T14:26:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/?p=59136"},"modified":"2018-02-18T04:35:53","modified_gmt":"2018-02-18T09:35:53","slug":"storms-move-us","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/inspiration\/storms-move-us\/","title":{"rendered":"The Storms That Move Us"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cIf you don\u2019t speak up, you\u2019re part of the problem.\u201d<\/p>\n

This sentiment appears in my Facebook newsfeed fairly regularly, in response to whatever atrocity has most recently been perpetuated against whichever individual\/group\/idea\/etc. And to be honest, it stresses me out. Sometimes it\u2019s obvious that whatever happened is indeed an atrocity, but sometimes I feel that I don\u2019t know enough about the case to speak out responsibly and accurately. And while I\u2019m being so honest, I\u2019ll confess that it\u2019s kind of exhausting to be called upon to take a stand about everything. How many of the world\u2019s issues can realistically be said to be my responsibility? True, my exhaustion pales in comparison to the suffering experienced by millions of people very day. But is it realistic to think I can help them all? And true, we have the maxim \u201cshtikah k\u2019hoda\u2019ah<\/em>,\u201d that silence is tantamount to agreement. But will people really think I agree with obvious atrocities if I don\u2019t actively speak out against them? Is it my task to search out everything in the world that anyone is doing wrong and blast my disapproval across social media, lest anyone think I agree?<\/p>\n

I encounter a similar dilemma with charity solicitations. We are blessed with an inordinate number of correspondents who want our money, probably dating back to the first time I made a donation to the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. I don\u2019t regret that donation, as one of my closest friends has CF and I know how important their work is, but I confess I was not thrilled to discover that it got me on the mailing lists of too many organizations to count, which all send me an astounding number of letters throughout each year explaining that this girl\u2019s cleft palate, or that grandmother\u2019s home care, or the other teenager\u2019s summer camp, are my responsibility. I am so susceptible to their calls for help that I make my husband sort the mail and be the one to figure out which go in the garbage and which we\u2019ll respond to.<\/p>\n

Because of course, we can\u2019t give to every cause. Just like I can\u2019t actively stand up for every cause. But how do we choose?<\/p>\n

We might find one poignant approach to this question \u2013 if not actually an answer \u2013 in the story of Gidon.<\/p>\n

As we discussed previously<\/a>, when Gidon is first greeted by an angel with the words \u201cG-d is with you,\u201d he responds \u201cAnd if Hashem is with us, why has all this found us? Where are His wonders, that our forefathers told us, saying, Did Hashem not take us out of Egypt? And now Hashem has abandoned us and given us over in the hand of Midian!\u201d (Shoftim 6:13) There are many ways in which G-d could have responded to this. For instance, I might have expected some anger: \u201cHow can you blame G-d? Don\u2019t you realize it\u2019s the Jewish people\u2019s own fault that He let Midian take over?\u201d Instead, He responds in verse 14 with the following surprising encouragement:<\/p>\n

\u05d5\u05b7\u05d9\u05bc\u05b4\u05e4\u05b6\u05df \u05d0\u05b5\u05dc\u05b8\u05d9\u05d5 \u05d4’ \u05d5\u05b7\u05d9\u05bc\u05b9\u05d0\u05de\u05b6\u05e8 \u05dc\u05b5\u05da\u05b0 \u05d1\u05bc\u05b0\u05db\u05b9\u05d7\u05b2\u05da\u05b8 \u05d6\u05b6\u05d4<\/strong> \u05d5\u05b0\u05d4\u05d5\u05b9\u05e9\u05c1\u05b7\u05e2\u05b0\u05ea\u05bc\u05b8 \u05d0\u05b6\u05ea \u05d9\u05b4\u05e9\u05c2\u05b0\u05e8\u05b8\u05d0\u05b5\u05dc \u05de\u05b4\u05db\u05bc\u05b7\u05e3 \u05de\u05b4\u05d3\u05b0\u05d9\u05b8\u05df \u05d4\u05b2\u05dc\u05b9\u05d0 \u05e9\u05c1\u05b0\u05dc\u05b7\u05d7\u05b0\u05ea\u05bc\u05b4\u05d9\u05da\u05b8:<\/p>\n

And Hashem turned to him and said, Go with this your strength<\/strong> and save Israel from the hand of Midian. Have I not sent you?<\/p>\n

What is \u201cthis<\/strong> your strength\u201d? Has Gidon expressed any strength? Sarcasm, perhaps. Sadness, maybe.<\/a> But strength? What does \u201cthis\u201d refer to, and in what way is it a strength<\/strong> that can be used to save the people?<\/p>\n

Commentaries offer a range of explanations, but one line in Malbim is particularly striking:<\/p>\n

\u05db\u05d7 \u05d4\u05d8\u05e2\u05e0\u05d4<\/strong>, \u05db\u05d9 \u05d0\u05d7\u05e8\u05d9 \u05e8\u05d0\u05d4 \u05e9\u05d8\u05d5\u05e2\u05df \u05d1\u05e2\u05d3 \u05e1\u05d5\u05e8 \u05d4\u05d4\u05e9\u05d2\u05d7\u05d4 \u05de\u05d9\u05e9\u05e8\u05d0\u05dc \u05d6\u05d4 \u05d0\u05d5\u05ea \u05e9\u05d3\u05d1\u05e8 \u05d6\u05d4 \u05e1\u05d5\u05e2\u05e8 \u05d1\u05dc\u05d1\u05d1\u05d5<\/strong>, \u05d5\u05d4\u05d5\u05d0 \u05de\u05d5\u05db\u05df \u05dc\u05ea\u05e9\u05d5\u05e2\u05ea\u05dd:<\/p>\n

The strength of complaint<\/strong>, for once He saw that he complained about the removal of Divine providence from Israel, this is a sign that this matter storms in his heart<\/strong>, and he is ready to save them.<\/p>\n

Malbim explains that far from being a weakness, Gidon\u2019s negativity is a strength. It demonstrates that the situation faced by his people disturbs him in his kishkes, moving him on a visceral level. At this point in the story, all he does with that roiling storm is lash out \u2013 but that lashing out shows the storm is there and can be directed into a strength. He just has to recognize that potential and act.<\/p>\n

I was blown away when I read this explanation by the powerful imagery of a storm raging in a person\u2019s heart. At the same time, I had to wonder: Was Gidon the only one who felt this way? Surely there were other Jews who were in pain over their situation; why was Gidon the one chosen to save them?<\/p>\n

Maybe for the same reason I take a stand on some issues, and give to some charities, but not others \u2013 even though I believe in the importance of all of them.<\/p>\n

I once had a conversation with a friend about the challenge of finding inspiring, motivating ways to teach our kids about prayer. She passionately shared some of her ideas about how our children\u2019s day school could enhance students\u2019 connection to Hashem and prayer, and I couldn\u2019t help but agree. Instead of going to the administration with the conversation, however, I encouraged her to do so. \u201cThis isn\u2019t my issue,\u201d I told her. \u201cI agree with you, and I need you to do it, because I can\u2019t do it like you can.\u201d The problem, and potential solution, were storming in her heart, not mine \u2013 even though I thought she was likely right \u2013 and that made it her strength, not mine.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s hard to know why some issues storm one person\u2019s heart while others storm another. I am moved to respond with passion to any number of issues, including but not limited to: singular\/plural agreement (this growing trend of saying things like \u201cthere\u2019s three of them\u201d is a blight upon our society!); the notion of shivim panim l\u2019Torah<\/em> (I\u2019ve been known to spend half a semester teaching different interpretations of just one pasuk<\/em>); and people starving (those are the solicitations I have the hardest time ignoring, even when I\u2019m not sure if the organization is even real). Are the things that move me the most important issues out there? On some level, I\u2019m not sure it matters; these are the ones that get my heart going, so these are the ones that I am best suited to address. And I am so grateful that others are moved by other things, because unity notwithstanding, I can\u2019t help thinking that the only way we can possibly tackle all the world\u2019s many problems, big and small, is if we split them up. I certainly can\u2019t tackle them all!<\/p>\n

Maybe these differences between us are part of the way G-d orchestrates His plans for the world. \u201cHave I not sent you?\u201d Has He not sent each of us, brewed a unique storm in each of our hearts to stir us to different types of contribution to the world? And sometimes on a smaller scale, to enrich our own lives and the lives of those close to us?<\/p>\n

Thinking about this line in Malbim, I was reminded of a college friend who was frustrated with the guys she had been set up with and their apparent lack of passion for\u2026 anything at all. \u201cCare about some<\/em>thing!\u201d she could be heard venting.<\/p>\n

Certainly, our storms can change. I have recently come to be much more aware of, and stormy about, an issue that just a few years ago barely registered on my radar. A storm might come upon us in an instant, or it might brew slowly, gathering wind and speed and ferocity. Either way, it has the potential to explode into a force for good, if we can recognize it as a strength that may well have been sent by G-d.<\/p>\n

That, of course, is where the real challenge lies: in recognizing both the storm and its potential. Gidon himself had no idea he was the one best suited to save his generation from Midian. Although he must have been aware of how he felt about the Midianite raiders, perhaps it had been going on so long that he had come to take both the situation and his feelings about it for granted. He needed a wake-up call, and he needed to be taught that his pain could be transformed into the strength that would allow him \u2013 yes, him, despite his persistent disbelief that he could really do it \u2013 to save his people from Midian.<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, few of us have angels show up to kick us in the pants. But maybe learning Gidon\u2019s story can remind us to search our own hearts, to recognize the clouds roiling, to feel the lighting charge us to correct people\u2019s grammar, discover eight different ways to read the same pasuk, feed the hungry, take a stand\u2026 To go wherever the winds move us, enriching lives and changing the world.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cIf you don\u2019t speak up, you\u2019re part of the problem.\u201d This sentiment appears in my Facebook newsfeed fairly regularly, in response to whatever atrocity has most recently been perpetuated against whichever individual\/group\/idea\/etc. And to be honest, it stresses me out. Sometimes it\u2019s obvious that whatever happened is indeed an atrocity, but sometimes I feel that<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":133529,"featured_media":59144,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_cloudinary_featured_overwrite":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[85],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-59136","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-inspiration"],"yoast_head":"\nThe Storms That Move Us - OU Life<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"They say that "if you don\u2019t speak up, you\u2019re part of the problem" but none of us has time to speak against every evil in the world. we can\u2019t give to every cause. Just like I can\u2019t actively stand up for every cause. But how do we choose? 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