Shema Ya'avirehnu: Communal Welfare
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ShareMichael Oren, recently penned an article
The founding of the State of Israel seemed to signify an end to tribalism. Jews from seventy different nations, scarcely sharing a common culture and language, were ingathered into our homeland and declared citizens of the state. All carried the same passport, saluted the same flag, and chatted in colloquial Hebrew. A Jewish army, united for the first time since the Maccabees, fought off external enemies.
Or so we thought. “Israeli society has become divided between four tribes,” declared then-President Reuven Rivlin in June 2015. He listed them as secular Jews, national religious Orthodox Jews, ultra-Orthodox Haredi Jews, and Arabs. Between those tribes, Rivlin warned, there existed rising levels of “tension, fear, and hostility,” and far from a shared sense of destiny.
The eight years since have witnessed a wider and deeper fragmentation of Israeli society. ....Today, perhaps no less than 3,000 years ago, the specter of inter-tribal violence looms ominously over Israel.
The events in Israel weigh heavily on the hearts and minds of concerned Jews all over the world.
A special aspect of Rosh Hashana, unique to this year, a Rosh Hashana that falls on shabbos, is instructive in addressing a religious response the disunity and discord that is tearing our beloved Israel apart.
The founding of the State of Israel seemed to signify an end to tribalism. Jews from seventy different nations, scarcely sharing a common culture and language, were ingathered into our homeland and declared citizens of the state. All carried the same passport, saluted the same flag, and chatted in colloquial Hebrew. A Jewish army, united for the first time since the Maccabees, fought off external enemies.
Or so we thought. “Israeli society has become divided between four tribes,” declared then-President Reuven Rivlin in June 2015. He listed them as secular Jews, national religious Orthodox Jews, ultra-Orthodox Haredi Jews, and Arabs. Between those tribes, Rivlin warned, there existed rising levels of “tension, fear, and hostility,” and far from a shared sense of destiny.
The eight years since have witnessed a wider and deeper fragmentation of Israeli society. ....Today, perhaps no less than 3,000 years ago, the specter of inter-tribal violence looms ominously over Israel.
The events in Israel weigh heavily on the hearts and minds of concerned Jews all over the world.
A special aspect of Rosh Hashana, unique to this year, a Rosh Hashana that falls on shabbos, is instructive in addressing a religious response the disunity and discord that is tearing our beloved Israel apart.
(כד) דַּבֵּ֛ר אֶל־בְּנֵ֥י יִשְׂרָאֵ֖ל לֵאמֹ֑ר בַּחֹ֨דֶשׁ הַשְּׁבִיעִ֜י בְּאֶחָ֣ד לַחֹ֗דֶשׁ יִהְיֶ֤ה לָכֶם֙ שַׁבָּת֔וֹן זִכְר֥וֹן תְּרוּעָ֖ה מִקְרָא־קֹֽדֶשׁ׃
(24) Speak to the Israelite people thus: In the seventh month, on the first day of the month, you shall observe complete rest, a sacred occasion commemorated with loud blasts.
(א) יוֹם טוֹב שֶׁל רֹאשׁ הַשָּׁנָה שֶׁחָל לִהְיוֹת בְּשַׁבָּת, בַּמִּקְדָּשׁ הָיוּ תוֹקְעִים, אֲבָל לֹא בַמְּדִינָה.
(1) With regard to the Festival day of Rosh HaShana that occurs on Shabbat, in the Temple they would sound the shofar as usual. However, they would not sound it in the rest of the country outside the Temple.
While the Gemorah first presents an option that sees this restriction to blow on shabbos as a Torah law, ultimately, it presents the position of Rava, who views the concept of not blowing as a rabbinical one.
אֶלָּא אָמַר רָבָא: מִדְּאוֹרָיְיתָא מִישְׁרֵא שְׁרֵי, וְרַבָּנַן הוּא דִּגְזוּר בֵּיהּ כִּדְרַבָּה. דְּאָמַר רַבָּה: הַכֹּל חַיָּיבִין בִּתְקִיעַת שׁוֹפָר, וְאֵין הַכֹּל בְּקִיאִין בִּתְקִיעַת שׁוֹפָר, גְּזֵירָה שֶׁמָּא יִטְּלֶנּוּ בְּיָדוֹ וְיֵלֵךְ אֵצֶל הַבָּקִי לִלְמוֹד, וְיַעֲבִירֶנּוּ אַרְבַּע אַמּוֹת בִּרְשׁוּת הָרַבִּים.
Rather, Rava said: By Torah law one is permitted to sound the shofar on Rosh HaShana even on Shabbat, and it was the Sages who decreed that it is prohibited. This is in accordance with the opinion of Rabba, as Rabba said: All are obligated to sound the shofar on Rosh HaShana, but not all are experts in sounding the shofar. Therefore, the Sages instituted a decree that the shofar should not be sounded on Shabbat, lest one take the shofar in his hand and go to an expert to learn how to sound it or to have him sound it for him, and due to his preoccupation he might carry it four cubits in the public domain, which is a desecration of Shabbat.
Truly fascinating. The Torah tells us to blow. There is a chiyuv do'orisa to sound the shofar even on the shabbos and yet the rabbis came along and they said no!
No?? really? and why? cause some person who was not so knowledgeable or aware may come to carry it in a public domain without an eruv. Are you serious? In a regular year, our whole forgiveness on this day of judgment is based on god remembering the Akeidat Yitzchok with the blowing of the shofar, and because of our concern for the one guy who doesn't get the memo, and might forget, we are going to cancel the entire mitzvah? We are willing to forfeit the most powerful weapon in our arsenal of seeking repentance for this concern alone? Seems difficult to comprehend.
The answer is a resounding yes. Specifically on the Yom Hadin, we are judged in terms f our commitment to communal responsibility. Of seeing ourselves not only as individuals but more importantly as a Tzibur with responsibilities of one to the other.
According to the Zohar, when it says the word Hayom in the Torah, the reference is to the Yom of Rosh Hashana. Together with a comment of the Ohr Hachaim in Parshas Nitzavim, our vision of this day of Judgment and its demand for communal responsibility is expanded.
No?? really? and why? cause some person who was not so knowledgeable or aware may come to carry it in a public domain without an eruv. Are you serious? In a regular year, our whole forgiveness on this day of judgment is based on god remembering the Akeidat Yitzchok with the blowing of the shofar, and because of our concern for the one guy who doesn't get the memo, and might forget, we are going to cancel the entire mitzvah? We are willing to forfeit the most powerful weapon in our arsenal of seeking repentance for this concern alone? Seems difficult to comprehend.
The answer is a resounding yes. Specifically on the Yom Hadin, we are judged in terms f our commitment to communal responsibility. Of seeing ourselves not only as individuals but more importantly as a Tzibur with responsibilities of one to the other.
According to the Zohar, when it says the word Hayom in the Torah, the reference is to the Yom of Rosh Hashana. Together with a comment of the Ohr Hachaim in Parshas Nitzavim, our vision of this day of Judgment and its demand for communal responsibility is expanded.
(ט) אַתֶּ֨ם נִצָּבִ֤ים הַיּוֹם֙ כֻּלְּכֶ֔ם לִפְנֵ֖י יְהֹוָ֣ה אֱלֹהֵיכֶ֑ם רָאשֵׁיכֶ֣ם שִׁבְטֵיכֶ֗ם זִקְנֵיכֶם֙ וְשֹׁ֣טְרֵיכֶ֔ם כֹּ֖ל אִ֥ישׁ יִשְׂרָאֵֽל׃ (י) טַפְּכֶ֣ם נְשֵׁיכֶ֔ם וְגֵ֣רְךָ֔ אֲשֶׁ֖ר בְּקֶ֣רֶב מַחֲנֶ֑יךָ מֵחֹטֵ֣ב עֵצֶ֔יךָ עַ֖ד שֹׁאֵ֥ב מֵימֶֽיךָ׃ (יא) לְעׇבְרְךָ֗ בִּבְרִ֛ית יְהֹוָ֥ה אֱלֹהֶ֖יךָ וּבְאָלָת֑וֹ אֲשֶׁר֙ יְהֹוָ֣ה אֱלֹהֶ֔יךָ כֹּרֵ֥ת עִמְּךָ֖ הַיּֽוֹם׃
(9) You stand this day, all of you, before your God יהוה —your tribal heads, your elders, and your officials, every householder*householder (10) your children, your wives, even the stranger within your camp, from woodchopper to waterdrawer— (11) to enter into the covenant of your God יהוה, which your God יהוה is concluding with you this day, with its sanctions;
On this day of Rosh Hashana, Moshe gathered the Bnei Yisrael L'hachnisam Ba'Bris., to bring them into the covenant. What Bris? what covenant does the torah refer to?
The Torah after all had already mentioned a covenant to observe mitzvos, what was the purpose of this second covenant that took place according to the zohar on Rosh Hashana?
The Torah after all had already mentioned a covenant to observe mitzvos, what was the purpose of this second covenant that took place according to the zohar on Rosh Hashana?
(א) אתם נצבים''' (ב) ונראה כי כוונת משה בברית זה הוא להכניסם בערבות זה על זה כדי שישתדל כל אחד בעד חברו לבל יעבור פי ה' ויהיו נתפסים זה בעד זה,
1) אתם נצבים היום, "You are standing today, etc." (2) It appears that what Moses wanted with this new covenant was to make the Israelites responsible for one another in their מצוה-performance. Each Jew has to see to it that his fellow Jew does not stumble and commit sins.
The Ohr Hachaim answers להכניסם בערבות זה על זה כדי שישתדל כל אחד בעד חברו לבל יעבור פי ה'
The reason for this covenant was make the children of Israel responsible for each other in their mitzvah performance. That each person would ensure that the othert would be able to fulfill the word of G-d. Hashem in giving the Jewish people the torah not only bound each individual with a person covenant to fulfill the Torah and its commandments. Hashem had bnei yisrael enter into a second covenant, one that would bind the people together through a communal covenant to ensure that each individual would assist their friends in their personal fulfillment of the Torahs obligations. The bris of Nitzvim, of Hayom , this day of Rosh Hashana, is not a covenant of the individual. It is a covenant of the community, binding each other together, with a demand for shared responsibility.
The reason for this covenant was make the children of Israel responsible for each other in their mitzvah performance. That each person would ensure that the othert would be able to fulfill the word of G-d. Hashem in giving the Jewish people the torah not only bound each individual with a person covenant to fulfill the Torah and its commandments. Hashem had bnei yisrael enter into a second covenant, one that would bind the people together through a communal covenant to ensure that each individual would assist their friends in their personal fulfillment of the Torahs obligations. The bris of Nitzvim, of Hayom , this day of Rosh Hashana, is not a covenant of the individual. It is a covenant of the community, binding each other together, with a demand for shared responsibility.
Only a few weeks ago, the world lost a Torah Scholar of great prominence, Harav Ahron Schechter, the Rosh Yeshiva of Yeshiva Chaim Berlin. He was a great uncle of a YIW member. I recently heard a story that touches upon this concept of Bris Arvus.
Rabbi Nate Segal was extremely close to Rav Aharon Schechter, after he established a Shul in Staten Island that focused on outreach to unaffiliated Jews, Rav Aharon Schecter remained his advisor and sound board for everything shul related. Rabbi Segal shared the following story that highlight the unity that Rav Aharon Schechter, or as Rabbi Segal called him, the Rosh Yeshiva, showed towards his fellow Jew.
Rabbi Segal’s oldest daughter was getting married. After the Chupa, the Rosh Yeshiva sits down, and all of the Shul members line up to give him a Shalom Aleichem. Rabbi Segal introduces each member to the Rosh Yeshiva, then he gets up to a certain person, and says “this person davens with me 6 mornings a week, with the most Kavana of anybody in the Shul.” After meeting the man, the Rosh Yeshiva asked Rabbi Segal, what happened to 7th morning? Rabbi Segal answered back, the 7th morning is Shabbos, and this man has to go to work.
Two hours later the Rosh Yeshiva calls over Rabbi Segal and says I want to talk with you privately. He said I spoke with your member. Which member? The one that is not religious. Which one that is not religious? The one that davens with you 6 days a week. Rebbe you spoke to him?
Rabbi Segal found out later, that the Rosh Yeshiva who could have sat in his seat of honor the whole night, got up and walked around the wedding hall. At every men’s table he asked is this table from Rabbi Segal’s Shul? Finally, he found the right tables. Then he started asking who is the man who davens with the Rabbi 6 days a week? The man stands up.
The Rosh Yeshiva told Rabbi Segal, that he and the man had a long conversation. It was clear to the Rosh Yeshiva that this man was not ready to keep Shabbos, so the Rosh Yeshiva decided to go over his entire daily schedule for Shabbos, and showed him where he could lessen his Chillul Shabbos.
What did this man do for a living, he worked for a Grocery store in a rough section of Staten Island. The Rosh Yeshiva, asked him, do you have workers, let them handle the cash register, why do you have to deal with it, and like this went over the whole day.
The next morning Rabbi Segal walked into Shul, and the man told him, Rabbi Segal your Rabbi really loves me. Six months later he walked into his boss and said, “you could fire me, but I’m not working on Shabbos or Yom Tov anymore, I’m becoming religious.” The boss allowed it. This man, his wife, and two children, and today the grandchildren are all religious Jews. It does not end there, 11 years ago, the Shul gave this man a ticket to the Siyum Hashas, he had never seen the inside of a Gemara. The day after the Siyum, the man says to Rabbi Segal, I think I’m going to do this. One month ago, the man finished Shas for the 2nd time. When Rabbi Segal came back from Rav Aharon Schechter’s funeral, he went to his Shul for Mincha, and there was a guest Rabbi there. Rabbi Segal said to the guest, come I want you to meet a product of the Rosh Yeshiva. The guest rabbi turned to the man and said, do you remember meeting the Rosh Yeshiva? He said, remember..? I still feel the love of his holding my hand, that night at the Rabbi’s daughter’s wedding, I still feel it.
Rabbi Nate Segal was extremely close to Rav Aharon Schechter, after he established a Shul in Staten Island that focused on outreach to unaffiliated Jews, Rav Aharon Schecter remained his advisor and sound board for everything shul related. Rabbi Segal shared the following story that highlight the unity that Rav Aharon Schechter, or as Rabbi Segal called him, the Rosh Yeshiva, showed towards his fellow Jew.
Rabbi Segal’s oldest daughter was getting married. After the Chupa, the Rosh Yeshiva sits down, and all of the Shul members line up to give him a Shalom Aleichem. Rabbi Segal introduces each member to the Rosh Yeshiva, then he gets up to a certain person, and says “this person davens with me 6 mornings a week, with the most Kavana of anybody in the Shul.” After meeting the man, the Rosh Yeshiva asked Rabbi Segal, what happened to 7th morning? Rabbi Segal answered back, the 7th morning is Shabbos, and this man has to go to work.
Two hours later the Rosh Yeshiva calls over Rabbi Segal and says I want to talk with you privately. He said I spoke with your member. Which member? The one that is not religious. Which one that is not religious? The one that davens with you 6 days a week. Rebbe you spoke to him?
Rabbi Segal found out later, that the Rosh Yeshiva who could have sat in his seat of honor the whole night, got up and walked around the wedding hall. At every men’s table he asked is this table from Rabbi Segal’s Shul? Finally, he found the right tables. Then he started asking who is the man who davens with the Rabbi 6 days a week? The man stands up.
The Rosh Yeshiva told Rabbi Segal, that he and the man had a long conversation. It was clear to the Rosh Yeshiva that this man was not ready to keep Shabbos, so the Rosh Yeshiva decided to go over his entire daily schedule for Shabbos, and showed him where he could lessen his Chillul Shabbos.
What did this man do for a living, he worked for a Grocery store in a rough section of Staten Island. The Rosh Yeshiva, asked him, do you have workers, let them handle the cash register, why do you have to deal with it, and like this went over the whole day.
The next morning Rabbi Segal walked into Shul, and the man told him, Rabbi Segal your Rabbi really loves me. Six months later he walked into his boss and said, “you could fire me, but I’m not working on Shabbos or Yom Tov anymore, I’m becoming religious.” The boss allowed it. This man, his wife, and two children, and today the grandchildren are all religious Jews. It does not end there, 11 years ago, the Shul gave this man a ticket to the Siyum Hashas, he had never seen the inside of a Gemara. The day after the Siyum, the man says to Rabbi Segal, I think I’m going to do this. One month ago, the man finished Shas for the 2nd time. When Rabbi Segal came back from Rav Aharon Schechter’s funeral, he went to his Shul for Mincha, and there was a guest Rabbi there. Rabbi Segal said to the guest, come I want you to meet a product of the Rosh Yeshiva. The guest rabbi turned to the man and said, do you remember meeting the Rosh Yeshiva? He said, remember..? I still feel the love of his holding my hand, that night at the Rabbi’s daughter’s wedding, I still feel it.
Rav Moshe Shternbach records that just as we daven in sincere prayer for ourselves, we need to pray for others as well. Not just for their health or parnasa but more importantly on behalf of their spiritual lives. Based on the posuk of not standing idly by while the blood of your friend is spilled, we need to pray on behalf of others. On Rosh Hashana, we need to reflect on our own commitment to the spiritual needs of those around us, and to know that even our own actions, the mitvos that we do, the torah that we study, the chesed which we perform , have an impact on the world around us. So many of the tefilos that we recite during musaf, focus on peace in Israel and the world and the acceptance of Hashem is the one true sovereign King. Being honest with ourselves, we need to ask, how focused are we on these prayers?
I want to share with you something that I came accros this past summer. I found it truly inspirational.
IDF soldier Corporal Hillel Nehemiah Ofen, was 20, we he died this summer during a training exercise. He hailed from the community of Karmei Tzur, near Hebron,. Drafted just five months ago, he served in the Combat Engineering Corps’ Yahalom special operations unit. The day after his funeral, prominent writer and journalist Tsur Ehrlich publicized on Facebook a special poem, titled “I Belong,” that was found in Hillel nechemiah's backpack. This note, according to his brother’s testimony was composed by Hillel himself, with incredible maturity.
It reads as follows:
“I belong!
I belong to a family, a community, a society, a nation.
I belong to the country, to the homeland.
I belong to humanity, to conscience, to honor.
I belong to history, to the future.
I belong to joy, to pain, to expectations, to fear.
Everything that has passed and will pass over me and my people, everything that has been created My identity, who I am, I belong to it.
And it is my duty to preserve, protect and maintain all of these.
To see to their permanence as much as I am able.
And now, for this duty, I am yours.
I belong to weapons, to what is necessary for victory, to the battle.
I belong!”
I would just add that this Rosh Hashana, being inspired with these words of ani shayach
all of us need to add Ani shayach l'bris arvus. We all belong to the covenant of shared responsibility.
It reads as follows:
“I belong!
I belong to a family, a community, a society, a nation.
I belong to the country, to the homeland.
I belong to humanity, to conscience, to honor.
I belong to history, to the future.
I belong to joy, to pain, to expectations, to fear.
Everything that has passed and will pass over me and my people, everything that has been created My identity, who I am, I belong to it.
And it is my duty to preserve, protect and maintain all of these.
To see to their permanence as much as I am able.
And now, for this duty, I am yours.
I belong to weapons, to what is necessary for victory, to the battle.
I belong!”
I would just add that this Rosh Hashana, being inspired with these words of ani shayach
all of us need to add Ani shayach l'bris arvus. We all belong to the covenant of shared responsibility.
Such a proud Jew understood his mission of being a part of the community. And we too need to embrace that lofty mission.
On Rosh Hashana, we remind ourelves of this most important lesson. Though the shofar is a Mitzvah D'oriysa, A Torah law, this biblical commandment is suspended by the rabbis when Rosh hashana falls on shabbos. Why? Shema Ya'avirenu, because maybe a person will carry the shofar in a public space. Out of a concern for one jew's potential violation of the shabbos, the Rabbis restricted the blowing of the shofar in total, displaying an amazing degree of responsibilty for the overall community.
For the Ohr Hachaim, this covenant of responsibility was forged as a bris of Arvus, shared responsibility which bounded Jews together with an obligation and commitment to each other's spiritual needs.
This Rosh Hashana, with all the discord and division throughout Israel and the world, in not hearing the call of the shofar, let us internalize the message of Shema Ya'avirenu, and let us proudly proclaim, "Ani Shayach,.... I and you, belong!
Shana Tova
On Rosh Hashana, we remind ourelves of this most important lesson. Though the shofar is a Mitzvah D'oriysa, A Torah law, this biblical commandment is suspended by the rabbis when Rosh hashana falls on shabbos. Why? Shema Ya'avirenu, because maybe a person will carry the shofar in a public space. Out of a concern for one jew's potential violation of the shabbos, the Rabbis restricted the blowing of the shofar in total, displaying an amazing degree of responsibilty for the overall community.
For the Ohr Hachaim, this covenant of responsibility was forged as a bris of Arvus, shared responsibility which bounded Jews together with an obligation and commitment to each other's spiritual needs.
This Rosh Hashana, with all the discord and division throughout Israel and the world, in not hearing the call of the shofar, let us internalize the message of Shema Ya'avirenu, and let us proudly proclaim, "Ani Shayach,.... I and you, belong!
Shana Tova