אתם עדי, נאום השם

Last Wednesday, Stephen Hawking, one of the most famous scientists in the world, passed away. His contributions to science have greatly impacted the world which we live in now, and his courage with which he faced his disease became an inspiration to so many. I truly admire his perseverance!

Hawking, on the other hand, had an ambivalent relationship with the State of Israel. He visited Israel many times, he participated with the Israeli scientific community and had a cordial relationship with the Hebrew State. But in the last 10-15 years years, this has changed. Hawking was no longer a great friend of Israel, but rather a participant in the BDS movement, an “anti-Semitic” organization that promotes not only the boycott of the State of Israel but also, albeit surreptitiously, its disappearance.

In 2013, for example, Hawking decided to boycott a conference held in Jerusalem in honor of the 90th anniversary of Shimon Peres, the former Israeli president. This attitude of Hawking provoked indignation in Israel and much of the Jewish world. The organizers of the conference wrote, “The academic boycott is, in our opinion, scandalous and improper, certainly for someone [like Hawking] for whom the spirit of freedom is based on his human and academic mission. Israel is a democracy in which all individuals are free to express their opinions, whatever they may be.The imposition of a boycott is incompatible with an open and democratic dialogue “.

And although many musicians and artists have previously refused to visit Israel, Hawking was the first scientist of his stature to openly support the boycott movement towards Israel. Many accused him of absolute anti-Semitism and others of cynicism, since the computer system through which Hawking could communicate worked on a chip designed by the Israeli team of Intel.

Why did Hawking become such an enemy of Israel?

Some newspapers write that this new negative attitude towards the Jewish state was due to the influence of Noam Chomsky, a very important scientist, founder of modern linguistics. Chomsky is a Jew, but an atheist activist, and infamous for his visceral antagonism and opposition to Israel.

This might be a valid reason…

In the next lines, however, I would like to contribute a personal idea about another possible reason for Hawking’s new anti-Israelism.

I had the opportunity to read many of Hawking’s works when I wrote my book “Awesome Creation”, where I deal with the biblical narrative of Creation vs. the Big Bang and other cosmological theories. In the first chapter, in a footnote I quote one of Hawking’s most famous expressions, in his “Brief History of Time” (1988) where he says that when modern scientists would be able to formulate the unified theory of physics, then we would be able to ” know the mind of God.” With that note I point out the arrogance of this statement and I compare it to what Bil’am (Balaam) declared. Balaam was the only man in the Bible who attributed himself to knowing the Divine Mind (although the Tora shows that Bil’am was not even able to understand the mind of his donkey …).

Now, although what Hawking said about God was arrogant, it was clear that Hawking DID believe in God (or at least he was an agnostic). But his belief changed over the years, perhaps due to his personal tragic disease. Hawking became a very influential voice for atheism when he published his book “The Great Design” (2010), which states that it is not necessary to invoke God to justify the existence of the universe. “There is no God”, he said, since “the laws of gravity may have created the universe without God’s intervention.” Now, explaining the origin of the laws of physics, is obviously as difficult as explaining the origin of the universe. Hawking’s statement, which Rabbi Jonathan Sacks categorized as an intellectual “fallacy”, would sound childish and almost silly, since it assumes that physical laws, gravity etc., pre-existed the appearance of the universe, and were not created , designed, calibrated, etc. But because Stephen Hawking was saying so, these superficial ideas that denied God’s intervention in the act of Creation gained some credibility…

Anyways, what I would like to analyze is another point. The relationship between “not believing in God” and the “opposition to the existence of the State of Israel,” particularly in modern Western society.

The Tora and especially King David in his Psalms, identified the enemies of Israel with the enemy of God. The existence of Israel, our miraculous departure from Egypt, the incredible journey of three million people through the desert, the providential conquest of the promised land, and especially the inexplicable survival of Israel in a hyper-hostile diaspora for almost two thousand years, can only be explained as a miracle or a series of miracles. If Israel exists, it is because God exists. But if Israel disappears, one could doubt His existence (ח”ו) .This concept was beautifully formulated by the prophet Yesha’ayahu who said (43:10): אתם עדי, “You – the Jewish people – are the witnesses, the living testimony of My existence. “

And what was true for 1900 years, became infinitely more true since 1948, when miraculously the same people who were systematically “exterminated” only three years before, were now establishing their own state in their original homeland. Something absolutely unprecedented !! Their children returned from all the countries of the world, fulfilling literally the oldest prophecies of the Bible. Israel fought against countless enemies, ALL her neighbors, in a ratio of 0.5 against 100 ! The countries that are antagonistic to the existence of Israel are rich, have the largest oil reserves in the world, and enjoy the support of 99% of the countries of the world. Israel is currently the only country on the planet whose existence is explicitly threatened, the only country permanently condemned and demonized by the United Nations…and despite all this, far from being a country in a state of emergency, corruption or desperation, Israel is a military, cultural, economic and technological “superpower”. Far from being a country where its inhabitants live in a permanent state of fear, tension and depression due to the dangers that they face, Israel is according to the new 208 statistics the 11th happiest country in the world! (USA ranked 18th)

THERE IS NO WAY to explain or justify the existence, survival, prosperity and happiness of Israel in a non supernatural manner, intelligent and informed people know it. And I think that this is why many people who do not believe in God, who are intelligent and well informed, resort to the last line of psychological defense that helps them sustain their atheism; demonizing Israel and directly or even indirectly, seeking its destruction.

When Hawking, Chomsky, Soros and many other atheist activists become the “irrational” enemies of Israel, they confirm once more the words of Yesha’ayahu: that our existence is a miracle. And that the people and the state of Israel, are the irrefutable testimony of the existence of God.

Why Spain? Why specifically Barcelona? Why “La Rambla”? Why attack with a van? These questions abound. But, why do these Islamic terrorists attack and kill whoever is in their way? What is the ultimate goal of the Islamic State? There is not much written on this topic. Or it is rationalized. I read an article that says that the Muslims attacked Barcelona because they want to reconquer Spain, which was Muslim territory in the Middle Ages. May be. But this does not explain the attacks in London, Paris, Brussels or Turku, Finland (as I am reading now, as I’m writing these lines).

These weeks we are reading in the Haftara, the text of the prophets that we read each Shabbat after reading the Tora, a passage from the book of Yesha’ayahu, chapter 54. These Haftarot contain a message of comfort for the Jewish people. And today I would like to share with you the commentary of Rabbi Don Isaac Abarbanel (1437-1508) on verse 17 of this Haftarah. This pasuq says that the Creator will intervene, so that the enemies of Israel will not prosper. Isaiah speaks of those who “condemn” Israel with words of premeditated evil (a subject we might address a another day) and those who attack Israel with their weapons.

    כל-כלי יוצר עליך לא יצלח וכל-לשון תקום-אתך למשפט תרשיעי

“No weapon that is made against you shall prosper; and every tongue that rises up against you, you will show its vileness. “

Don Isaac Abarbanel had a very hectic life. He was persecuted in Portugal, after having served loyally King Juan for many years. He was also forced to flee Spain after having served the Catholic Monarchs. At the end of 1491 Queen Isabel announced her intention to expel all the Jews from her kingdom, and that he could remain in Castile and maintain his fortune if he converted to Catholicism. Don Isaac Abarbanel rejected the offer and in 1492, in total poverty, he exiled himself in Venezia. Rabbi Abarbanel knew Christianity very closely, and since he was a man of government, he also knew Islam. In te past, he helped the crown of Spain in the battles against the Muslims, both in the reconquest of Andalusia and in the wars against the Ottoman empire in North Africa.

Commenting on this verse Rabbi Abarbanel describes the Muslims of his day: “The prophet [Yeshayhu] says that no weapon formed against you will prosper and every tongue that is raised against you, you must condemn. Today [1490?] There are religions that do not preach or debate, trying to promote their religion to others with words. These religion’s strategy [to proselytize] is to kill all those who do not profess their faith. The Ishmaelites [euphemism for muslims] belong to this category. “

These words were written more than 500 years ago, but they sound as if they were written yesterday. The ultimate goal of the extreme version of Islam, the Islamist utopia, is to “Islamize the rest of the world.” But unlike other religions, which do their proselytizing with words, Islamists do it with the sword. Their strategy to achieve this end is: to kill all the infidels that you can.

This sounds insane. And because of this, very few people can conceive, identify, recognize and articulate this idea. That is why you will not find in the main media many articles that are explicit about this. On the other hand, the perpetrators, are not ashamed to confess their intentions. In fact, a text was found last night, that reminds us of what Don Isaac Abarbanel explained. In that text Moussa Oukabir, the alleged main perpetrator of the attack, says: “I would kill all the infidels, and only leave practicing Muslims alive.”

As we all know, Israel also suffered and suffers attacks like that perpetrated yesterday in Barcelona. The perpetrators are the same: “Islamist suicides who want to kill infidels.” The excuses are different: the occupied territories, etc. But the real Israeli-Palestinian conflict, as I have written. Ore than once, has to do with religion, not with “territories.” Hamas, and the militant groups fighting against Israel (Hezbollah, Islamic Jihad, etc.) are as sincere as Oukabir, and openly declare that there is no place for dialogue and negotiations with Israel. For them, the destruction of Israel is neither negotiable nor conditional to the cession of territories.

Unfortunately many journalists and government officials , especially from European countries, etc. do not see, or do not want to see this reality. They refuse to acknowledge that Israel is the victim, and that it suffers from the same problem, only that much more serious, that Europe suffers. They declare that it is possible to reach a “two states” solution or something like that. Additionally, they do the most cynical and intolerable: they pressure Israel to make suicidal territorial concessions! They forget that even “moderate” Palestinian groups share these principles of intolerance for Israel. The evidence? While 60% or 70% of Israelis are willing to accept the idea of ​​two states, the Fattah or the Palestinian Authority, does nothing to promote the idea of ​​living in peace with Israel. They do not even express their willingness to recognize a Jewish state, even in exchange for territories. Everyone knows, but very few denounce, that the future map of the geography of the Middle East that the Palestinians teach their children, does not include Israel.

There is a psychological barrier which prevents us from conceiving seriously the insanity of extremism. This barrier, our own sanity, is very dangerous. When we do not take the delirium of the fanatics seriously, we try to look for “alternative theories”, more rational, but wrong, to explain these attacks. And we dangerously seek false solutions to prevent them in the future.

In these painful times, we cry for the victims of terror in Barcelona, ​​and we pray to HaShem to protect us, and save humanity from hatred and irrationality.

Halloween has unmistakable pagan origins, deeply rooted in ancient idol-worshiping practices. And although today its celebration might not be oriented toward idol-worshiping, Halloween still has many elements, too many, related to idolatry.

As we all know, idolatry or ‘aboda zara is the most serious offense in Judaism. In the Tora we are commanded to keep away from all forms of idol-worshipping. Idolatry consists of numberless rituals, superstitions, magic and mythical beliefs. “Death” was always considered the scariest mystery, which triggered extreme anxiety and agitation. Dead people, their invisible spirits, were often an object of fear, reverence, and especially cult. Halloween is no exception. “All-hallow-even” celebrates the “day of all (dead) saints”.

The ancient Celts celebrated Halloween at the end of the summer when they believed the evil spirits and souls of the dead visited the world of the living. The idol-worshipers considered the dead more or less as Hollywood considers today the “zombies”: bad and dangerous. Dead people came back to this world angry, revengeful and with the desire to recruit newcomers. Pumpkins, which resembled the unpleasant faces of the dead, were carved to welcome and appease them. Large fires would be lit to assist the dead finding their way into the world of the living. Food, particularly sweets, would be left outside the doors to feed the ghosts. All this favors to the dead were done because people believed that those who assisted the dead spirits, would be left undisturbed (“If I appease them, then they will not take me with them”).

Cats were especially important in Halloween because people believe cats could smell and warn of the presence of the invisible spirits. A black cat, however, was avoided (or killed) because witches or evil spirits reincarnated into black cats.

The devil himself would come the night of Halloween from the inferno. The Druids, the Celtic priests, wore masks to make dead people think they were one of them. These priests would knock randomly on the doors to request human sacrifices for the devil or the revengeful ghosts. If you don’t want to become a human sacrifice, at least, appease them with candies.

As you can see from this brief description, Halloween might look fun or even innocent, but it is deeply rooted in primitive idolatry and the pagan cult of death. In one way or another, most (or all) elements that were part of the ancient pagan Halloween celebration are still present in today’s Halloween. Therefore, we Jews should avoid participating in any way, active or passive, in Halloween.

As a side note, and thinking as an educator, Halloween might provide an excellent opportunity to educate our kids. How so? Idolatry was the norm in ancient days. We Jews fought against it since the day our father Abraham broke his father’s idols. But many times I find it so difficult to describe to my children the environment of idol worshiping, the real dimension of ‘aboda zara, its appeal to superstitious minds, the numberless fantasies and delusions around it, and how courageous was our father Abraham Abinu when he became the first iconoclast. It is difficult to appreciate Abraham did because primitive ‘aboda zara is almost gone…  Halloween is an opportunity to help our children to visually identify the superstitions of ‘aboda zara, and the importance of staying away from it.Observing Halloween “from the balcony” will surely make us proud and privileged to be the children of Abraham Abinu.

This year that is coming to an end, 5775, has been a Shemita year.  In addition to the restrictions of working the land in Israel and transacting with produce from the land of Israel,  the Tora also prescribes that each Jew shall renounce his or her right to recover a debt from any other Jew.  This means that, as soon as Rosh HaShana commences next week, if I have lent money to another Jew, I now will have the obligation to never charge this person this money.  It is a beautiful precept, and one that allowed Jews to start fresh.  It is a sort of biblical bankruptcy protection that allowed people to push the reset button at least once every seven years.

But, wait, so does this mean that cousin Jim will never need to pay back the $500 I lent him?

During the first century of the common era, before the Second Temple was destroyed, Hillel the Elder, the foremost sage of his generation and head of the Jewish Supreme Court at that time, realized that Jews were refraining from making any loans during the Shemita year.  After all, why lend money that becomes unrecoverable if not paid back before Rosh HaShana?  Actually, the Tora already foresaw this possibility, and warned us not to refrain from making loans during this year; but Hillel saw that people were still not lending.  Paradoxically, poor people were harmed by this precept because now there were no loans available.  Hillel came up with a legal device that permits lenders to recover on their loans even after the Rosh HaShana following Shemita.  The device is called “Perozbol,” (also “prozbol”, “prozbul”, or most people call it “pruzbul”) and we employ it to date.

In essence, the Biblical precept says that one needs to “let go” of the borrower (“Shamot Kol Ba’al Mashe Yado”) and refrain from demanding the repayment of the debt.  However, if a debt is recognized by a court (say, if the lender sued the borrower and the court agreed that the debt needs to be repaid), this “debt” is now in a way an obligation to the court, not to the lender.  It is a matter of justice more than a personal debt.

Hillel’s device then is to declare before a Jewish court the debt in question so that it is recognized officially by a court even before it is due.  If Jim owes me $500, I should then – after the loan but before Rosh HaShana – write a document to a Jewish court declaring before them that this money is due and that the lender intends to recover it whenever.  This declaration is called Perozbol.  By doing this, the debt survives the Shemita, and the lender is not transgressing the precept; after all, the lender will not demand the repayment of the debt – the court will – and so there will be nothing to be “let go” (“Shamot”).

A few notes:

· The Shemita debt forgiveness applies to actual loans, but not to debts that are owed due to services received, goods purchased or legal damages owed

· The Perozbol device is only permissible while the laws of Shemita are rabbinical (these laws will regain their biblical status once the majority of Jews live in Israel); otherwise, loans really need to be forgiven

· The borrower needs to have some real estate; this is so that the debt may be assigned to a court (the court can only assume a debt that can be attached to a real estate lien)

· The court to whom one delivers the Perozbol should be a court with authority to make liens and to seize property

· It is proper and appropriate to repay one’s debts next year even if the lender did not do a Perozbol; in such case, the borrower should be clear that this is not a repayment but rather a gift

· It is also proper and appropriate to forgive one’s loans, especially if the borrower could use the relief of not having to repay what is owed

by Rabbi Jacob Bittón

For Rabbi Sabato Morais (1823-1897), one of the most prominent orthodox Rabbis in 19th century America (see this), celebrating Thanksgiving was a no-brainer. In his view Thanksgiving is “a national holiday which connects Jewish people to their country and to their fellow Americans, irrespective of their creed.” (D.H).

Thanks to Mr. Daniel Harari, a passionate student of Rabbi Sabato’s works, and to Mr. Arthur Kiron, the Curator of Judaica Collections at the Penn Library, I got a copy of the original“Sermon delivered on Thanksgiving Day, Nov 27th 1851 by the Rev. Sabato Morais, Minister of the Congregation Mikvé Israel Philadelphia” which was published in the journal “The Asmonean” (החשמונאי).  I’m presenting here some selected paragraphs of it and a link to the full article. 

  

A Sermon delivered on Thanksgiving Day, Nov 27th 1851 by the Rev. Sabato Morais, Minister of the Congregation Mikvé Israel Philadelphia. 

“Sovereign of all ages [=רבונו של עולם], … bless this country, this people, their homes, their fields, their commerce, their productions; maintain among them harmony of feelings, indissoluble brotherhood, and unity of power, now and evermore.   Bless all of them, of whatever nation or creed, who have this day like us gathered to thank thy abundant goodness… and over their old and young, over the rich and poor, over their wardens and officers, over their schools and teachers, unfold Oh God, the pavilion of thy peace, may their religious conduct and future progress in the path of true wisdom, shine brilliantly over America and on Israel thy chosen ones. Amen. “ 

QUESTION FROM A READER: Since we came to America, we celebrate Thanksgiving, is it OK for my family and I to celebrate Halloween? 

There are significant differences between Thanksgiving and Halloween. Thanksgiving is a civil holiday which has its roots in historical events, and has no traces of any practices related to idolatry. Most rabbis I know would not be opposed to celebrating Thanksgiving in America.  

Halloween, on the contrary,  has unmistakable pagan origins, deeply rooted in ancient idol worshipping practices. And although in our days its celebration might not be oriented toward idol worshiping, Halloween still possesses many elements related to idolatry. As we all know, idolatry or ‘aboda zara is the most serious offense in Judaism. Idolatry consists of numberless rituals, superstitions, magic and mythical beliefs. One particular subject that might be considered the most prominent motif of pagan culture is “death”. The aftermath was a scary mystery, which triggered extreme anxiety and agitation. Dead people, their spirits, were often an object of fear and cult. Halloween is no exception. “All-hallow-even” celebrates the “day of all (dead) saints”. The Celts, that is as far as Halloween goes, celebrated Halloween at the end of the summer, a time when they believed the evil spirits and souls of the dead visited the world of the living. The idol worshippers considered the dead as Hollywood today considers the “zombies”: bad and dangerous. The dead came back angry, for revenge, or to recruit newcomers. Pumpkins, which resembled the unpleasant faces of the dead, were carved to welcome them. And large fires would be lit to assist the dead finding their way into the world of the living.  Food, particularly sweets, would be left outside the doors to feed the ghosts (those who assisted the dead would be left in peace by them…). Cats were specially important in Halloween because cats, they believed,  could smell the presence of the invisible spirits. A black cat, however, was avoided (or killed) because witches or evil spirits reincarnated into black cats. The devil himself will come that night from inferno. The Druids, the Celtic priests–who would wear customs to make the dead think they were one of them–would knock randomly on the doors to request sacrifices for the devil or the revengeful ghosts (preferable a young son or a virgin daughter).   

As you can see from this brief description, Halloween might look fun or even innocent but it is deeply rooted in idolatry and cult to death. In one way or another, most (or all) elements that were part of the old-pagan-Halloween are still present today.   Therefore, we should avoid participating in any way, active or passive, in Halloween.  

As a side note, I personally think Halloween provides a great educational opportunity. How so? Heavy idolatry was the norm in ancient days. We Jews fought against it since the day Abraham broke his father’s idols. But many times I find it very difficult to describe to my children or my students the environment of idol worshipping. And when you realize the real dimension of ‘aboda zara, the human sacrifices, the religious promiscuity and the numberless of superstitions and delusions, you really appreciate our aversion for ‘aboda zara, etc. Halloween is an opportunity to help our children identify and stay away from ‘aboda zara, felling proud and privileged of being the children of Abraham Abinu.  

Candle lighting in NYC:       5.33 pm

Shabbat ends in NYC:           6:32 pm