Where do we find hope in difficult times? In the acceptance of responsibility for our deeds as individuals and as a people, not in blaming others or making excuses that let us indulge in self-righteousness. Accepting responsibility is empowering. That is the central theme of the High Holydays and that is what teshuva – repentance means. We expect that of our national leaders as well.
There is no leadership without responsibility.
But accepting responsibility is but the first essential step. (See: Maimonides, Mishnah Torah, Chapter 2 of Hilchot Teshuva for an elicitation of the process). We need direction, vision. Without some idea of what a better future might look like and without guiding principles for action on the way, we are caught in a cycle of violence, mourning and regret in this world of ours. That is a central purpose of Torah – to provide us with vision, and of the mitzvot - to provide us with principles for action to realize that vision.
In the Book of Genesis, we read the story of Cain and Abel, the first murder, and the question Cain asks of God reverberates through the Torah, becoming a rhetorical call to responsibility demanding a response. "Am I my brother's keeper?" (Genesis, 4:9) he asks. This basic principle in Jewish tradition is clear. Yes, you are responsible! A Jew must be responsible for his actions. Every human being reflects the divine image in the world the rabbis teach us. This appears in the opening narrative of Genesis several times and then is developed further by the Talmudic rabbis See, for instance, the warning given to witnesses before testifying in a trial for a transgression for which there is capital punishment in Tractate Sanhedrin of the Babylonian Talmud.
We read the story of the Akedah on Rosh Hashana. I understand the message of the narrative to be that ultimately God did not want Abraham to sacrifice his son. The sacrifice of human life is an abomination the prophets tell us repeatedly when faced with that practice in society. We are not to follow the way of those who did that to appease their God, who sacrificed their sons and daughters to Moloch. We must not follow the path of those peoples who ignored the value of human life because of their religious or ideological extremist passion and imperialistic utopian dreams. Certainly not in pursuit of bloodthirst for revenge and/or political advantage.
The vision of the prophet Isaiah of a world without war, a world in which all accept the Kingdom of God is ultimately the answer to Cain's question. It is referred to by implication in our Declaration of Independence (The vision of the prophets for peace and justice), and in our prayers during the High Holydays and from there has become an intrinsic element in our daily liturgy (Aleinu) throughout the year
"And they shall beat their swords into plowshares
And their spears into pruning hooks:
Nation shall not take up
Sword against nation;
They shall never again know war….
The wolf and the lamb shall graze together,
And the lion shall eat straw like the ox".
(Isaiah 2:4, 11:6, 7)
We are approaching this coming Monday the anniversary of the terrible traumatic events that overwhelmed us on 7th October and led to the present war and devastation. The future looks bleak to those of us who accept the value of human life as a guiding principle and hope to realize that prophetic vision of peace quoted above, all the more so considering the frightening messianic theology of some of the present government ministers and the population that supports them We must not descend into despair.
But we are now in the beginning cycle of a new year, the days of Tishrei. Standing once again before God, we must take responsibility for our behaviour over the past year. Have we done enough to save human lives? To protect life? Have we pursued justice and peace?
It is a time for renewal, a time for reviving our sense of purpose, a time to renew our commitment to that vision of a future for our people and for humanity.
As the prophet Hosea says in the haftarah we read this Shabbat: "Return, O Israel, to the LORD your God, for you have fallen because of your sin. Take words with you and return to the LORD". (Hosea 14:2-10)
Wishing us all a better year!
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Rabbi Yehiel Grenimann was ordained as a Masorti rabbi at the Schechter Seminary in Jerusalem (1991), graduated from the Hebrew University with an MA in Holocaust history and Jewish education in 1979. He served as a congregational rabbi for ten years, specialized in teaching modern Jewish Thought for adult education. He was a field activist and senior staff member and is now active in the organizations Rabbis for Human Rights and Tag Meir, and an active congregant of Kehillat Yedidya in Jerusalem. Before retiring he taught at the Massuah Holocaust memorial centre, served as director of the Ot VeEd institute for Holocaust education and as a high school teacher in Jewish history and civics for ten years. In recent years he has authored two novels: "Far Away From Where?" and "The Partisan's Coat" (Mazo Publishers).
There is no leadership without responsibility.
But accepting responsibility is but the first essential step. (See: Maimonides, Mishnah Torah, Chapter 2 of Hilchot Teshuva for an elicitation of the process). We need direction, vision. Without some idea of what a better future might look like and without guiding principles for action on the way, we are caught in a cycle of violence, mourning and regret in this world of ours. That is a central purpose of Torah – to provide us with vision, and of the mitzvot - to provide us with principles for action to realize that vision.
In the Book of Genesis, we read the story of Cain and Abel, the first murder, and the question Cain asks of God reverberates through the Torah, becoming a rhetorical call to responsibility demanding a response. "Am I my brother's keeper?" (Genesis, 4:9) he asks. This basic principle in Jewish tradition is clear. Yes, you are responsible! A Jew must be responsible for his actions. Every human being reflects the divine image in the world the rabbis teach us. This appears in the opening narrative of Genesis several times and then is developed further by the Talmudic rabbis See, for instance, the warning given to witnesses before testifying in a trial for a transgression for which there is capital punishment in Tractate Sanhedrin of the Babylonian Talmud.
We read the story of the Akedah on Rosh Hashana. I understand the message of the narrative to be that ultimately God did not want Abraham to sacrifice his son. The sacrifice of human life is an abomination the prophets tell us repeatedly when faced with that practice in society. We are not to follow the way of those who did that to appease their God, who sacrificed their sons and daughters to Moloch. We must not follow the path of those peoples who ignored the value of human life because of their religious or ideological extremist passion and imperialistic utopian dreams. Certainly not in pursuit of bloodthirst for revenge and/or political advantage.
The vision of the prophet Isaiah of a world without war, a world in which all accept the Kingdom of God is ultimately the answer to Cain's question. It is referred to by implication in our Declaration of Independence (The vision of the prophets for peace and justice), and in our prayers during the High Holydays and from there has become an intrinsic element in our daily liturgy (Aleinu) throughout the year
"And they shall beat their swords into plowshares
And their spears into pruning hooks:
Nation shall not take up
Sword against nation;
They shall never again know war….
The wolf and the lamb shall graze together,
And the lion shall eat straw like the ox".
(Isaiah 2:4, 11:6, 7)
We are approaching this coming Monday the anniversary of the terrible traumatic events that overwhelmed us on 7th October and led to the present war and devastation. The future looks bleak to those of us who accept the value of human life as a guiding principle and hope to realize that prophetic vision of peace quoted above, all the more so considering the frightening messianic theology of some of the present government ministers and the population that supports them We must not descend into despair.
But we are now in the beginning cycle of a new year, the days of Tishrei. Standing once again before God, we must take responsibility for our behaviour over the past year. Have we done enough to save human lives? To protect life? Have we pursued justice and peace?
It is a time for renewal, a time for reviving our sense of purpose, a time to renew our commitment to that vision of a future for our people and for humanity.
As the prophet Hosea says in the haftarah we read this Shabbat: "Return, O Israel, to the LORD your God, for you have fallen because of your sin. Take words with you and return to the LORD". (Hosea 14:2-10)
Wishing us all a better year!
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Rabbi Yehiel Grenimann was ordained as a Masorti rabbi at the Schechter Seminary in Jerusalem (1991), graduated from the Hebrew University with an MA in Holocaust history and Jewish education in 1979. He served as a congregational rabbi for ten years, specialized in teaching modern Jewish Thought for adult education. He was a field activist and senior staff member and is now active in the organizations Rabbis for Human Rights and Tag Meir, and an active congregant of Kehillat Yedidya in Jerusalem. Before retiring he taught at the Massuah Holocaust memorial centre, served as director of the Ot VeEd institute for Holocaust education and as a high school teacher in Jewish history and civics for ten years. In recent years he has authored two novels: "Far Away From Where?" and "The Partisan's Coat" (Mazo Publishers).