BRIT MILAH (Jewish Circumcision) – My thoughts/shpil the day before my son’s BRIT

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BRIT MILAH

As I write, I am in the midst of preparations for Shabbat services and the upcoming BRIT celebration for our new baby. It is now close to midnight on Thursday and I decided to pause, sit in front of the computer and share with you why these days of preparations for the BRIT are some of the happiest days in my life.
On the same note, I cannot ignore the fact that for Avia, the day of the BRIT is considered among the worst. She doesn’t accept most of what I’m going to write, or as she used to respond when I talk about the BRIT – “Amram, you’re talking nonsense. The only reason I allow you to observe it is because HASHEM, unfortunately, commanded us to do so”. For that, I guess Avia’s share in Gan Aden is greater than mine (fulfilling the commandment although it’s so hard for her).

That being said, let me begin:

The first commandment

Whereas the first Mitzvah (commandment) in the Bible, to all living creatures is to procreate “And God blessed them, saying, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the waters of the seas, and let the fowl multiply upon the earth.”, BRIT MILAH is the first commandment given to the Jewish people and the first one a Jewish boy observes- on his eighth day.

More than anything else, the BRIT, this covenant of the flesh, symbolizes our eternal relationship with HASHEM our G-d.

It’s not easy to fight for the good

The foreskin symbolizes the Yetzer HaRa – evil inclinations, human urges and cravings. The BRIT symbolizes our will to follow what is beyond that. (See “Why interfere with  G-D’s perfect creation?”, below).

By observing the BRIT, we are actually saying it is not easy to be Jewish, not easy to be part of this big role given to us. In a world that so easily gives in to desires and mischief, we, as Jews, are to chase after Tzedakah (Righteousness) and Chessed (Acts of Compassion), and live a moral life of sanctity.

During the ceremony we recite the verse from Ezekiel: ’and I said to you, with your blood, live,’ and I said to you, ‘With your blood, live.‘ It is not easy to fight for a better world; never in our history has it been easy, it’s just that there is no other way.

Significance of the BRIT, especially at the 8th day

Let’s clarify something first: one’s Jewish identity is determined according to the mother. Jewish mother = Jewish babies….. with or without the BRIT.

Shulchan Aruch, the guide of Jewish practical laws, adds an additional description over the clause of BRIT: “It is a Mitzvah of the father to perform the BRIT over his son, and this Mitzvah is greater than any other positive commandment”. (Yo”de 160, 1)

Can we wait a little until the baby is older?
It is said in the Torah: “And on the eighth day, the flesh of his foreskin shall be circumcised.” (Vayikra 12,3). It is so important to observe the BRIT on the eighth day, that we will even break the rules of Shabbat and Yom Kippur in order to perform the BRIT on time.
Q. What happens if an important family member cannot make it on time? A. Even if the one absent is the father, we will not delay the BRIT, not even by one single day.

There is one exception: PIKU’ACH NEFESH. This Jewish law is very strict about endangering lives. So if the BRIT might be even slightly dangerous for the baby (most often it is a baby that has jaundice), although it is only a small risk, we are not allowed to take that risk. The baby can have BRIT some other time, whereas a lost soul cannot be replaced. (Shulchan Aruch Yo’de 163, 1-2)

Why interfere with G-D’s perfect creation?

Why are we interfering with nature?! HASHEM created this beautiful baby with this piece of foreskin, why not leave it there? If HASHEM really didn’t like it, He shouldn’t have created boys with foreskins in the first place.

A similar question was asked by the Roman Tornus Rofus to Rabbi Akiva (Babylonian Talmud, Batra 10):  ‘If your God loves the poor, why does He not support them?’ He replied: ‘So that we may be saved through them from the punishment of Gehinnom.’… ‘I will illustrate by a parable. Suppose an earthly king was angry with his son, and put him in prison and ordered that no food or drink should be given to him, and someone went and gave him food and drink. If the king heard of it, would he not send him (the one who provided the food) a present? And we are called “sons”, as it is written, ‘Sons are ye to the Lord your God.’

It is the same with the BRIT MILA. Certainly, HASHEM could have created baby boys without the foreskin and thus without any bad urges. But this was not the purpose of the Creator in this world. Our duty is to co-partner with HASHEM in perfecting the world; to complete the non-perfect world, to do good deeds like tzedekah, while removing and avoiding the bad urges.

The orlah (foreskin) symbolizes the evil inclinations that we naturally have. It is an extra piece of skin that expresses the temporary luxuries of life – the opposite of true and non-conditional love – the foundation of life. By removing the foreskin, we start the process of purifying ourselves, accepting the true morals of life, and we reinforce our eternal covenant with HASHEM.

 

Frequently Asked Questions

Introduction to FAQs: In every generation there are those who fight against Judaism and its traditional ways. The fact that they oppose specific commandments may as well indicate that somehow these forces foreshadow some intrinsic spiritual flaw in them. Along with the objection to BRIT MILAH usually comes the objection to Shechitah (Kosher slaughtering).
As the former chief Rabbi of Israel, Rabbi Yisrael Lau, the youngest survivor of Buchenwald said, “…it is somewhat absurd to see that nowadays, the leaders of this battle against Judaism, are no less than European countries such as Germany, who just cannot tolerate the sight of ‘blood shed in vain’…”

Q. Why do we place this new born at risk?

A. Both the World Health Organization (WHO) and the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recommend circumcising every baby boy. Circumcision reduces the chances of contracting Aids and other infectious diseases. Babies circumcised closer to their date of birth have been found to have a smaller risk of penile cancer later in life.

Although the medical benefits are not why we observe BRIT MILAH, still, they are good to know…

Q. Isn’t it a form of abuse?

A. The foreskin is an extra and unnecessary skin with relatively low innervations. Over the years, I have observed two things about the procedure: 1) the baby crys less than when he gets an injection, and he cries for a shorter time. 2) Earlier BRIT babies recover more quickly than when it is performed at an older age.

Q. Does the BRIT harm the future sexual functioning?

A. No. (Some research even indicates the total opposite)

Q. Why not let the boy decide for himself?

A. We do not let children decide most important things. Do you ask your children if they want to get vaccinated? Do you ask if they want to go to school? Do you ask what language they would like to speak? Do you let them choose their siblings or parents? Do you ask if they would like to be born Jewish? Do you ask the most basic thing that we did without consulting them – would you like to be born at all and live in this world?
The covenant of the flesh is part of our identity; we should not get rid of it, or make them go through a more complicated and painful procedure later in life.

Q. How to choose the Mohel? 

A. There are two variables: First, the mohel should be a most experienced and efficient man with the procedure. Second, he should be as observant and righteous as possible.
Experience gets priority over level of observance and righteousness. Of course, we speak that both are important to the procedure according to the traditional Hallacha (see further question).

Q. A Mohel or a Doctor?

A. The level of efficiency comes mostly with experience. In most cases, this being his job, a Mohel is more experienced than a Doctor.

If a Mohel was chosen over the royal physician to perform the procedure on Prince Charles, what more can we say?

Notice that most circumcisions performed by Doctors are not considered Kosher at all!

There are three minimum requirements for a Jewish BRIT MILAH. (The medical procedure, usually done in the hospitals, meets only one of the three.) Doing the BRIT for religious reasons, but not in the proper Hallachik way – is simply baby abuse! (the only decision would between a Mohel and a Doctor, who performs the ritual according to the tradition)

WE THANK YOU FOR SHARING IN OUR SIMCHA

AND THE RITUAL OF BRIT MILAH

Amram and Avia Maccabi

Psalm 55 – SING & LEARN

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Gladly I added Victoria’s analysis to chapter 55. A different point of view from an English literature professor.  Below the analysis you can find the historical background. Last, there are few short comments i remember we brought up in the study.

Enjoy !

— Psalm 55 – Analysis

Three images dominate the poem: the VOICE of the enemy, the WINGS of the dove, and the CITY.
Voice: the image in verse 4 leads to verse 10 to verse 22. The poet fears not his enemy but his voice; accordingly, he calls upon God not to defeat his enemy and his followers in battle but to confound their speech. Verse 22 makes clear that the poet’s enemy makes a weapon of words; that is, his deceitful, lying words are poisonous, are an assault upon the poet. [* Historical background under]
Wings: the poet does not wish to transform himself into a bird but rather to affix upon his body the wings that would allow him not merely escape but a means of elevating himself above the sinful city in which his enemy dwells.
The city: in contrast to the VOICE and the WINGS, the CITY is not a single part of an entity but a solid, physical whole. Surprisingly, the voice and the wings, abstractions in contrast to the city, do not represent states of mind. Yet the city, inhabiting an actual space of land, is perceived by the poet as the dwelling of an unchanging state of immorality. The city, disregarding time, is violent and savage both day and night. That image, verse 11, of the city, is caught up in verse 18 as the poet vents his anguish throughout the evening, morning, and noon. Thus the raucous cries of the city rise into the air in chorus with the anguished laments of the poet.
The poet’s trust in God frees him in the final verse, in contrast to his enemies whom he sees as cast into a pit, a trap for wild animals, a fitting end for those who have shown themselves bestial in thought and deed.
The VOICE and the WINGS both have, as their element, the air; both are airborne. The poet finds his wings in his trust in God, which brings him the escape he yearns for. But the cries of his enemies will dissipate in the air.
The poem closes with the poet’s hopeful prayer that his enemies will descend downwards, to captivity and death. While the poet, on the wings of his trust in God, will fly upwards, to elevation and freedom within the confines of the Covenant.
———-
Historical background to Psalm 55, we can find in Shmuel 2, chapter 15. (Rash”i Tehillim 55:1))
As we see in our chapter (55) in verse 4, King David’s fear is not from his enemies sword, but from their ‘voice’ – evil speech – people who speak badly and lies against him.
In short: Abshalom (King David’s son) wants to take over the kingdom in his father’s life. The rebellion started, and to Abshalom’s party joined Achitofel, one King David senior advisers and a close friend. Psalm 55 verse 13-15 indicates the close relationship between Achitofel and King David, what makes the pain much harder harder.
– After King David escapes the city, Achitofel gives Avshalom two advises:
1) to sleep with his father’s wives,
2) don’t stay at the palace, don’t postpone the battle against David, but hit now while you still have the upper hand and David is weak and weary.
— Shmuel 2, chapters 15-17 — Achitofel’s advises against king David:
1 And it came to pass after this, that Absalom prepared him a chariot and horses, and fifty men to run before him.
2 And Absalom used to rise up early, and stand beside the way of the gate; and it was so, that when any man had a suit which should come to the king for judgment, then Absalom called unto him, and said: ‘Of what city art thou?’ And he said: ‘Thy servant is of one of the tribes of Israel.’
3 And Absalom said unto him: ‘See, thy matters are good and right; but there is no man deputed of the king to hear thee.’
4 Absalom said moreover: ‘Oh that I were made judge in the land, that every man who hath any suit or cause might come unto me, and I would do him justice!’
5 And it was so, that when any man came nigh to prostrate himself before him, he put forth his hand, and took hold of him, and kissed him.
6 And on this manner did Absalom to all Israel that came to the king for judgment; so Absalom stole the hearts of the men of Israel. {P}
7 And it came to pass at the end of forty years, that Absalom said unto the king: ‘I pray thee, let me go and pay my vow, which I have vowed unto the LORD, in Hebron.
8 For thy servant vowed a vow while I abode at Geshur in Aram, saying: If the LORD shall indeed bring me back to Jerusalem, then I will serve the LORD.’
9 And the king said unto him: ‘Go in peace.’ So he arose, and went to Hebron. {P}
10 But Absalom sent spies throughout all the tribes of Israel, saying: ‘As soon as ye hear the sound of the horn, then ye shall say: Absalom is king in Hebron.’
11 And with Absalom went two hundred men out of Jerusalem, that were invited, and went in their simplicity; and they knew not any thing.
12 And Absalom sent for Ahithophel the Gilonite, David’s counsellor, from his city, even from Giloh, while he offered the sacrifices. And the conspiracy was strong; for the people increased continually with Absalom.
13 And there came a messenger to David, saying: ‘The hearts of the men of Israel are after Absalom.’
14 And David said unto all his servants that were with him at Jerusalem: ‘Arise, and let us flee; for else none of us shall escape from Absalom; make speed to depart, lest he overtake us quickly, and bring down evil upon us, and smite the city with the edge of the sword.’
15 And the king’s servants said unto the king: ‘Behold, thy servants are ready to do whatsoever my lord the king shall choose.’
16 And the king went forth, and all his household after him. And the king left ten women, that were concubines, to keep the house.
17 And the king went forth, and all the people after him; and they tarried in Beth-merhak.
18 And all his servants passed on beside him; and all the Cherethites, and all the Pelethites, and all the Gittites, six hundred men that came after him from Gath, passed on before the king. {S}
19 Then said the king to Ittai the Gittite: ‘Wherefore goest thou also with us? return, and abide with the king; for thou art a foreigner, and also an exile from thine own place.
20 Whereas thou camest but yesterday, should I this day make thee go up and down with us, seeing I go whither I may? return thou, and take back thy brethren with thee in kindness and truth.’
21 And Ittai answered the king, and said: ‘As the LORD liveth, and as my lord the king liveth, surely in what place my lord the king shall be, whether for death or for life, even there also will thy servant be.’
22 And David said to Ittai: ‘Go and pass over.’ And Ittai the Gittite passed over, and all his men, and all the little ones that were with him.
23 And all the country wept with a loud voice, as all the people passed over; and as the king passed over the brook Kidron, all the people passed over, toward the way of the wilderness.
24 And, lo, Zadok also came, and all the Levites with him, bearing the ark of the covenant of God; and they set down the ark of God–but Abiathar went up–until all the people had done passing out of the city. {S}
25 And the king said unto Zadok: ‘Carry back the ark of God into the city; if I shall find favour in the eyes of the LORD, He will bring me back, and show me both it, and His habitation;
26 but if He say thus: I have no delight in thee; behold, here am I, let Him do to me as seemeth good unto Him.’ {S}
27 The king said also unto Zadok the priest: ‘Seest thou? return into the city in peace, and your two sons with you, Ahimaaz thy son, and Jonathan the son of Abiathar.
28 See, I will tarry in the plains of the wilderness, until there come word from you to announce unto me.’
29 Zadok therefore and Abiathar carried the ark of God back to Jerusalem; and they abode there.
30 And David went up by the ascent of the mount of Olives, and wept as he went up; and he had his head covered, and went barefoot; and all the people that were with him covered every man his head, and they went up, weeping as they went up.
31 And one told David, saying: ‘Ahithophel is among the conspirators with Absalom.’ And David said: ‘O LORD, I pray Thee, turn the counsel of Ahithophel into foolishness.’
32 And it came to pass, that when David was come to the top of the ascent, where God was wont to be worshipped, behold, Hushai the Archite came to meet him with his coat rent, and earth upon his head.
33 And David said unto him: ‘If thou passest on with me, then thou wilt be a burden unto Me;
34 but if thou return to the city, and say unto Absalom: I will be thy servant, O king; as I have been thy father’s servant in time past, so will I now be thy servant; then wilt thou defeat for me the counsel of Ahithophel.
35 And hast thou not there with thee Zadok and Abiathar the priests? therefore it shall be, that what thing soever thou shalt hear out of the king’s house, thou shalt tell it to Zadok and Abiathar the priests.
36 Behold, they have there with them their two sons, Ahimaaz Zadok’s son, and Jonathan Abiathar’s son; and by them ye shall send unto me every thing that ye shall hear.’
37 So Hushai David’s friend came into the city; and Absalom was at the point of coming into Jerusalem. {S}

 

1 And when David was a little past the top, behold, Ziba the servant of Mephibosheth met him, with a couple of asses saddled, and upon them two hundred loaves of bread, and a hundred clusters of raisins, and a hundred of summer fruits, and a bottle of wine.
2 And the king said unto Ziba: ‘What meanest thou by these?’ And Ziba said: ‘The asses are for the king’s household to ride on; and the bread and summer fruit for the young men to eat; and the wine, that such as are faint in the wilderness may drink.’
3 And the king said: ‘And where is thy master’s son?’ And Ziba said unto the king: ‘Behold, he abideth at Jerusalem; for he said: To-day will the house of Israel restore me the kingdom of my father.’
4 Then said the king to Ziba: ‘Behold, thine is all that pertaineth unto Mephibosheth.’ And Ziba said: ‘I prostrate myself; let me find favour in thy sight, my lord, O king.’
5 And when king David came to Bahurim, behold, there came out thence a man of the family of the house of Saul, whose name was Shimei, the son of Gera; he came out, and kept on cursing as he came.
6 And he cast stones at David, and at all the servants of king David; and all the people and all the mighty men were on his right hand and on his left.
7 And thus said Shimei when he cursed: ‘Begone, begone, thou man of blood, and base fellow;
8 the LORD hath returned upon thee all the blood of the house of Saul, in whose stead thou hast reigned; and the LORD hath delivered the kingdom into the hand of Absalom thy son; and, behold, thou art taken in thine own mischief, because thou art a man of blood.’
9 Then said Abishai the son of Zeruiah unto the king: ‘Why should this dead dog curse my lord the king? let me go over, I pray thee, and take off his head.’ {S}
10 And the king said: ‘What have I to do with you, ye sons of Zeruiah? So let him curse, because the LORD hath said unto him: Curse David; who then shall say: Wherefore hast thou done so?’ {S}
11 And David said to Abishai, and to all his servants: ‘Behold, my son, who came forth of my body, seeketh my life; how much more this Benjamite now? let him alone, and let him curse; for the LORD hath bidden him.
12 It may be that the LORD will look on mine eye, and that the LORD will requite me good for his cursing of me this day.’
13 So David and his men went by the way; {S} and Shimei went along on the hill-side over against him, and cursed as he went, and threw stones at him, and cast dust. {P}
14 And the king, and all the people that were with him, came weary; and he refreshed himself there.
15 And Absalom, and all the people, the men of Israel, came to Jerusalem, and Ahithophel with him.
16 And it came to pass, when Hushai the Archite, David’s friend, was come unto Absalom, that Hushai said unto Absalom: ‘Long live the king, long live the king.’
17 And Absalom said to Hushai: ‘Is this thy kindness to thy friend? why wentest thou not with thy friend?’
18 And Hushai said unto Absalom: ‘Nay; but whom the LORD, and this people, and all the men of Israel have chosen, his will I be, and with him will I abide.
19 And again, whom should I serve? should I not serve in the presence of his son? as I have served in thy father’s presence, so will I be in thy presence.’ {P}
20 Then said Absalom to Ahithophel: ‘Give your counsel what we shall do.’
21 And Ahithophel said unto Absalom: ‘Go in unto thy father’s concubines, that he hath left to keep the house; and all Israel will hear that thou art abhorred of thy father; then will the hands of all that are with thee be strong.’
22 So they spread Absalom a tent upon the top of the house; and Absalom went in unto his father’s concubines in the sight of all Israel.–
23 Now the counsel of Ahithophel, which he counselled in those days, was as if a man inquired of the word of God; so was all the counsel of Ahithophel both with David and with Absalom. {S}
2 and I will come upon him while he is weary and weak-handed, and will make him afraid; and all the people that are with him shall flee; and I will smite the king only;
3 and I will bring back all the people unto thee; when all shall have returned, [save] the man whom thou seekest, all the people will be in peace.’
4 And the saying pleased Absalom well, and all the elders of Israel. {S}
5 Then said Absalom: ‘Call now Hushai the Archite also, and let us hear likewise what he saith.’
6 And when Hushai was come to Absalom, Absalom spoke unto him, saying: ‘Ahithophel hath spoken after this manner; shall we do after his saying? if not, speak thou.’ {S}
7 And Hushai said unto Absalom: ‘The counsel that Ahithophel hath given this time is not good.’
8 Hushai said moreover: ‘Thou knowest thy father and his men, that they are mighty men, and they are embittered in their minds, as a bear robbed of her whelps in the field; and thy father is a man of war, and will not lodge with the people.
9 Behold, he is hid now in some pit, or in some place; and it will come to pass, when they fall upon them at the first, and whosoever heareth it shall say: There is a slaughter among the people that follow Absalom;
10 then even he that is valiant, whose heart is as the heart of a lion, will utterly melt; for all Israel knoweth that thy father is a mighty man, and they that are with him are valiant men.
11 But I counsel that all Israel be gathered together unto thee, from Dan even to Beer-sheba, as the sand that is by the sea for multitude; and that thou go to battle in thine own person.
12 So shall we come upon him in some place where he shall be found, and we will light upon him as the dew falleth on the ground; and of him and of all the men that are with him we will not leave so much as one.
13 Moreover, if he withdraw himself into a city, then shall all Israel bring up ropes to that city, and we will draw it into the valley until there be not one small stone found there.’ {P}
14 And Absalom and all the men of Israel said: ‘The counsel of Hushai the Archite is better than the counsel of Ahithophel.’ {S} –For the LORD had ordained to defeat the good counsel of Ahithophel, to the intent that the LORD might bring evil upon Absalom. {S}
15 Then said Hushai unto Zadok and to Abiathar the priests: ‘Thus and thus did Ahithophel counsel Absalom and the elders of Israel; and thus and thus have I counselled.
16 Now therefore send quickly, and tell David, saying: Lodge not this night in the plains of the wilderness, but in any wise pass over; lest the king be swallowed up, and all the people that are with him.’
17 Now Jonathan and Ahimaaz stayed by En-rogel; and a maid-servant used to go and tell them; and they went and told king David; for they might not be seen to come into the city.
18 But a lad saw them, and told Absalom; and they went both of them away quickly, and came to the house of a man in Bahurim, who had a well in his court; and they went down thither.
19 And the woman took and spread the covering over the well’s mouth, and strewed groats thereon; and nothing was known.
20 And Absalom’s servants came to the woman to the house; and they said: ‘Where are Ahimaaz and Jonathan?’ And the woman said unto them: ‘They are gone over the brook of water.’ And when they had sought and could not find them, they returned to Jerusalem. {S}
21 And it came to pass, after they were departed, that they came up out of the well, and went and told king David; and they said unto David: ‘Arise ye, and pass quickly over the water; for thus hath Ahithophel counselled against you.’
22 Then David arose, and all the people that were with him, and they passed over the Jordan; by the morning light there lacked not one of them that was not gone over the Jordan.
23 And when Ahithophel saw that his counsel was not followed, he saddled his ass, and arose, and got him home, unto his city, and set his house in order, and strangled himself; and he died, and was buried in the sepulchre of his father.

Few more interesting comments we discussed:

– Verse 12: “Destruction is within it, and blows and deceit do not move out of its square.” – King David is certain about his justice, because he sees that the ‘new kingdom’ doesn’t really do good to the city. It is full of secrets and deceits.  Interesting to see how even in such circumstances King David is measuring himself, makes sure he is really right..

– Verses 7 and 10, reminds the beginning of Bereshit (Genesis):

Psalm 55:7 “And I said, “If only I had wings like a dove! I would fly away and be at rest.”  Reminds the story of Noach and the ark in the generation of the great flood. There the dove is a sign that the grat flood is over and it will be safe to get out of the ark.

Psalm 55:10 ‘Destroy, O Lord, divide their tongue, for I have seen violence and strife in the city.’ uses the same expression of the generation after Dor HePalaga – the generation of the tower of Babel, there the whole mischief was solved by ‘dividing the tongues of the people.

– A hint for the connection between chapter 55 of Tehillim and Achitofel’s advise, one can find in verse 14, and in Avot (Ethic of the fathers) 6:3 ‘Alufi U-meyudai’ (Hebrew אַלּוּפִי וּמְיֻדָּעִי) refers to Achitofel.

Leyning – Torah reading notes study

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Shalom Leyners,

For your convenience:

The tutorial below is a recording of the Te’amim (Torah reading notes) we will practice – both the symbols, melody and finger-gesture-signs.

Please notice, that under the Youtube tutorial of the Leyning notes, there is an additional link – it is a ‘friendly printable version’ of of the learning sheets ,in case something happens to the ones I printed out…

For ‘friendly printable version’, click here: finger gestures Leyning – print

Psalm 51 – SING & LEARN – Teshuvah

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below the recording of the song (Psalm 51:12) you’ll find a summary of our discussion, the Chapter itself and the story behind the Psalm that I googled out from some website (didn’t check it, so if you find it not a proper translation.. please tell me)

The subject is Teshuva, remorse and the principles of repentance.

– Historical background for Psalm 51 is King David’s sin with Bat Sheva as appears in Samuel 2:11-12. In short, King David desires one of his soldier’s wife (Uriah), thus sends him to the front line of the battles, a place where you usually don’t come back alive from.. This in order to marry Bat Sheva later on.
David’s action was displeasing to the HASHEM, who accordingly sent Nathan the prophet to reprove the king.
After relating the parable of the rich man who took away the one little ewe lamb of his poor neighbor (Samuel 2 12:1-6), and exciting the king’s anger against the unrighteous act, the prophet applied the case directly to David’s action with regard to Bathsheba.
The king at once confessed his sin and expressed sincere repentance: “And David said to Nathan: “I have sinned against the Lord.” And Nathan said to David, “Also the Lord has removed your sin; you shall not die.”

– The chapter expresses the remorse King David has because of this sin, as the second verse says: When Nathan the prophet came to him when he went to Bath-sheba (Psalm 51:2).

– (Q.) Saying the above raises a wonder about the beginning of the chapter (Psalm 51:1). “For the conductor a song by David“. Speaking about a misfortune of falling to a pit of a sin, we would expect a different opening than ‘a song’ ,maybe  ‘lamentation’ or anything else, surly not a happy song..

– (A.) We mentioned that there are 4 stages while doing Teshuvah: Leaving the sin (of course the repentance is meaningless if one still holds the wrong behavior), Regret (confrontation with the sad truth, that you fell in a wrong deed, what brings with it feelings of shame and embarrassment over the sin-hence, regret) , Vidui-Confession before HASHEM (expression of the fact that one desires to be totally detached from the ‘bad side of the sin’), and Acceptance for the future.

At the beginning of the Teshuvah process, one might (should?) be in a place that is close to sadness, pain, remorse and maybe even depression, this is a ‘time for ‘lamentation’ rather than a ‘song’.
We suggested that King David, at the time of writing this chapter, with (maybe: because of) the hard feeling of remorse, is also aware of the fact that there is ‘a way back’, that he can do Teshuvah = return to what he was before the sin, and maybe even become stronger at the end of the process. (Teshuvah- תשובה in Hebrew comes from the root ‘return’).

We suggested a way to explain the radical idea of Teshuvah, and how does it happen that a person might even be bigger than before the sin: He/She makes such a change in oneself, that in a spiritual way there is a new person here. By essence we are created good and pure, when we do a sin, it is like an external stain is stick on us. Following the process of Teshuvah, we must climb to a spiritual level that refer to the goodness we really are, what makes us “more the pure us” and “less the external sin” that got stuck on us.

We spoke a bit of an idea that is much bigger than the 40 minutes of Psalm study, Teshuvah, so back to the current discussion: How come King David is ‘singing’ about a sin? – He is singing because he is at the end of the Teshuvah process.

 

– Second point we mentioned, is the interesting fact that King David does not try to hide the ‘accident’. Non like other kings and rulers who try show in public only their perfectness and lack of failures, King David continues the Biblical way of confronting the humanly mistakes (we previously even saw that it is part of the Teshuvah process).
Being human who can make mistakes doesn’t make our heroes lesser. On the contrary, no human born is divine, we are great because we struggle for it. We are greater when we succeed in getting up again after we fall.

At Psalm 51:5 King David is even pointing out that, although the sin now is not part of him anymore (As Nathan the prophet states: ‘Also the Lord has removed your sin’), he never forgets it, so he won’t fall again in sin. “For I know my transgressions, and my sin is always before me”. (Psalm 51:5).

~ For your convenience below is the Psalm 51, afterwards the chapters from Samuel with the story of King David and Bat Sheva ~

Psalm 51

1 For the Leader. A Psalm of David;
2 When Nathan the prophet came unto him, after he had gone in to Bath-sheba.
3 Be gracious unto me, O God, according to Thy mercy; according to the multitude of Thy compassions blot out my transgressions.
4 Wash me thoroughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin.
5 For I know my transgressions; and my sin is ever before me.
6 Against Thee, Thee only, have I sinned, and done that which is evil in Thy sight;
that Thou mayest be justified when Thou speakest, and be in the right when Thou judgest.
7 Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me.
8 Behold, Thou desirest truth in the inward parts; make me, therefore, to know wisdom in mine inmost heart.
9 Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.
10 Make me to hear joy and gladness; that the bones which Thou hast crushed may rejoice.
11 Hide Thy face from my sins, and blot out all mine iniquities.
12 Create me a clean heart, O God; and renew a stedfast spirit within me.
13 Cast me not away from Thy presence; and take not Thy holy spirit from me.
14 Restore unto me the joy of Thy salvation; and let a willing spirit uphold me.
15 Then will I teach transgressors Thy ways; and sinners shall return unto Thee.
16 Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God, Thou God of my salvation; 
so shall my tongue sing aloud of Thy righteousness.
17 O Lord, open Thou my lips; and my mouth shall declare Thy praise.
18 For Thou delightest not in sacrifice, else would I give it; Thou hast no pleasure in burnt-offering.
19 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit;
a broken and a contrite heart, O God, Thou wilt not despise.
20 Do good in Thy favour unto Zion; build Thou the walls of Jerusalem.
21 Then wilt Thou delight in the sacrifices of righteousness, in burnt-offering and whole offering; 
then will they offer bullocks upon Thine altar.

 

Shmuel chapter 11 and 12, the story of King David and Bat Sheva:

It happened in the spring of the year, at the time when kings go out to battle, that David sent Joab and his servants with him, and all Israel; and they destroyed the people of Ammon and besieged Rabbah. But David remained at Jerusalem.

2 Then it happened one evening that David arose from his bed and walked on the roof of the king’s house. And from the roof he saw a woman bathing, and the woman was very beautiful to behold. 3 So David sent and inquired about the woman. And someone said, “Is this not Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite?” 4 Then David sent messengers, and took her; and she came to him, and he lay with her, for she was cleansed from her impurity; and she returned to her house.5 And the woman conceived; so she sent and told David, and said, “I am with child.”

6 Then David sent to Joab, saying, “Send me Uriah the Hittite.” And Joab sent Uriah to David. 7 When Uriah had come to him, David asked how Joab was doing, and how the people were doing, and how the war prospered. 8 And David said to Uriah, “Go down to your house and wash your feet.” So Uriah departed from the king’s house, and a gift of food from the king followed him. 9 But Uriah slept at the door of the king’s house with all the servants of his lord, and did not go down to his house. 10 So when they told David, saying, “Uriah did not go down to his house,” David said to Uriah, “Did you not come from a journey? Why did you not go down to your house?”

11 And Uriah said to David, “The ark and Israel and Judah are dwelling in tents, and my lord Joab and the servants of my lord are encamped in the open fields. Shall I then go to my house to eat and drink, and to lie with my wife? As you live, and as your soul lives, I will not do this thing.”

12 Then David said to Uriah, “Wait here today also, and tomorrow I will let you depart.” So Uriah remained in Jerusalem that day and the next. 13 Now when David called him, he ate and drank before him; and he made him drunk. And at evening he went out to lie on his bed with the servants of his lord, but he did not go down to his house.

14 In the morning it happened that David wrote a letter to Joab and sent it by the hand of Uriah.15 And he wrote in the letter, saying, “Set Uriah in the forefront of the hottest battle, and retreat from him, that he may be struck down and die.” 16 So it was, while Joab besieged the city, that he assigned Uriah to a place where he knew there were valiant men. 17 Then the men of the city came out and fought with Joab. And some of the people of the servants of David fell; and Uriah the Hittite died also.

18 Then Joab sent and told David all the things concerning the war, 19 and charged the messenger, saying, “When you have finished telling the matters of the war to the king, 20 if it happens that the king’s wrath rises, and he says to you: ‘Why did you approach so near to the city when you fought? Did you not know that they would shoot from the wall? 21 Who struck Abimelech the son of Jerubbesheth?[a] Was it not a woman who cast a piece of a millstone on him from the wall, so that he died in Thebez? Why did you go near the wall?’—then you shall say, ‘Your servant Uriah the Hittite is dead also.’”

22 So the messenger went, and came and told David all that Joab had sent by him. 23 And the messenger said to David, “Surely the men prevailed against us and came out to us in the field; then we drove them back as far as the entrance of the gate. 24 The archers shot from the wall at your servants; and some of the king’s servants are dead, and your servant Uriah the Hittite is dead also.”

25 Then David said to the messenger, “Thus you shall say to Joab: ‘Do not let this thing displease you, for the sword devours one as well as another. Strengthen your attack against the city, and overthrow it.’ So encourage him.”

26 When the wife of Uriah heard that Uriah her husband was dead, she mourned for her husband.27 And when her mourning was over, David sent and brought her to his house, and she became his wife and bore him a son. But the thing that David had done displeased the Lord.

12 Then the Lord sent Nathan to David. And he came to him, and said to him: “There were two men in one city, one rich and the other poor. 2 The rich man had exceedingly many flocks and herds. 3 But the poor man had nothing, except one little ewe lamb which he had bought and nourished; and it grew up together with him and with his children. It ate of his own food and drank from his own cup and lay in his bosom; and it was like a daughter to him. 4 And a traveler came to the rich man, who refused to take from his own flock and from his own herd to prepare one for the wayfaring man who had come to him; but he took the poor man’s lamb and prepared it for the man who had come to him.”

5 So David’s anger was greatly aroused against the man, and he said to Nathan, “As the Lord lives, the man who has done this shall surely die! 6 And he shall restore fourfold for the lamb, because he did this thing and because he had no pity.”

7 Then Nathan said to David, “You are the man! Thus says the Lord God of Israel: ‘I anointed you king over Israel, and I delivered you from the hand of Saul. 8 I gave you your master’s house and your master’s wives into your keeping, and gave you the house of Israel and Judah. And if that had beentoo little, I also would have given you much more! 9 Why have you despised the commandment of theLord, to do evil in His sight? You have killed Uriah the Hittite with the sword; you have taken his wifeto be your wife, and have killed him with the sword of the people of Ammon. 10 Now therefore, the sword shall never depart from your house, because you have despised Me, and have taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your wife.’ 11 Thus says the Lord: ‘Behold, I will raise up adversity against you from your own house; and I will take your wives before your eyes and give them to your neighbor, and he shall lie with your wives in the sight of this sun. 12 For you did it secretly, but I will do this thing before all Israel, before the sun.’”

13 So David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the Lord.”

And Nathan said to David, “The Lord also has put away your sin; you shall not die. 14 However, because by this deed you have given great occasion to the enemies of the Lord to blaspheme, the child also who is born to you shall surely die.” 15 Then Nathan departed to his house.

And the Lord struck the child that Uriah’s wife bore to David, and it became ill. 16 David therefore pleaded with God for the child, and David fasted and went in and lay all night on the ground. 17 So the elders of his house arose and went to him, to raise him up from the ground. But he would not, nor did he eat food with them. 18 Then on the seventh day it came to pass that the child died. And the servants of David were afraid to tell him that the child was dead. For they said, “Indeed, while the child was alive, we spoke to him, and he would not heed our voice. How can we tell him that the child is dead? He may do some harm!”

19 When David saw that his servants were whispering, David perceived that the child was dead. Therefore David said to his servants, “Is the child dead?”

And they said, “He is dead.”

20 So David arose from the ground, washed and anointed himself, and changed his clothes; and he went into the house of the Lord and worshiped. Then he went to his own house; and when he requested, they set food before him, and he ate. 21 Then his servants said to him, “What is this that you have done? You fasted and wept for the child while he was alive, but when the child died, you arose and ate food.”

22 And he said, “While the child was alive, I fasted and wept; for I said, ‘Who can tell whether theLord  will be gracious to me, that the child may live?’ 23 But now he is dead; why should I fast? Can I bring him back again? I shall go to him, but he shall not return to me.”

24 Then David comforted Bathsheba his wife, and went in to her and lay with her. So she bore a son, and he  called his name Solomon. Now the Lord loved him, 25 and He sent word by the hand of Nathan the prophet: So he  called his name Jedidiah, because of the Lord.

 

 

Let’s talk about brothers (Shalom Magazine Dec 13)

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“And Cain spoke to Abel his brother, and it came to pass when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother and slew him.” (Genesis 3,8)

And that was the end of a promising beginning.

On the onset of Genesis, at the beginning of the first book of Moses, there are two brothers born to Adam and Eve.

One becomes a Sheppard. The other- a vegetables farmer. Being the first born children in the world makes everything they do exciting and virginal.

One day they come up with the idea to bring an offering to the LORD; to the creator of their wonderful new world. However, one of them, Cain, made a mistake in the process and therefore “…and the Lord turned to Abel and to his offering. But to Cain and to his offering He did not turn…” (Genesis 4:4-5). Cain needed to make some sort of a change, an improvement, so next time his offering will be accepted. Moreover, God Himself turned to him (to Cain) and encouraged him not to give up!

 

The next thing we learn is the following verse that is quoted at the beginning of this article: “And Cain spoke to Abel his brother, and it came to pass when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother and slew him.” (Genesis 3,8)

Halt. Let us re-read. After all, these are the words of God. Each verse, every word, nay, even each and every letter bears meaning; carries a message for us to decipher if we only pay attention. Upon re-examination it might seem that something is missing in the verse “And Cain spoke to Abel his brother,{what did he speak? What did they say???} and it came to pass when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother and slew him.” (Genesis 3,8)

 

While investigating this chapter in our weekly study, we suggested that there could have been an easy and obvious way for the story to continue: “And Cain spoke to Abel his brother: Hey Abe! How did you prepare your offering? Because something in the way I did mine was not right. And Abel answered: Sure big bro’ this is what I did… and Able showed him the proper way of bring an offering…and they lived happily ever after..”

 

But it never happened!

Something was said (“And Cain spoke to Abel his brother, and it came to pass when they were in the field…”) but what?  WHAT DID THEY TALK ABOUT?? What was their last conversation before Cain murdered his brother?

I argued that there must be a purpose for the Torah to omit this discussion. There must have been nothing of relevance said in those last minutes, before that outrageous crime. Cain spoke about the weather maybe, the crops of the season… everything that will disrupt Abel from what is going to happen, about everything else rather than what really needed to be discussed. The Torah does not record what he said because it was as if he didn’t say anything!

In essence, the last thing Abel heard, when he looked at his brother’s face before the rock went down on him was… silence. Plain. Gurnisht.

“And Cain spoke to Abel his brother [???silence], and it came to pass when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother and slew him. “

 

In our weekly Torah portion we are reaching the completion of Genesis, and tragically it almost ends with a similar story of Josef and his brothers. Again the disability to talk things through can bring the worst of all:

 

“And his brothers saw that their father (Jacob) loved him (Josef) more than all his brothers, so they hated him, and they could not speak with him peacefully… So now, let us kill him, and we will cast him into one of the pits, and we will say, ‘A wild beast devoured him,’ and we will see what will become of his dreams.” (Genesis 36:4,20)

When God created Man, He blew into him that extra piece of soul that separates man from animal. That extra wind, or spirit, is defined by our sages as the ability to converse. (“Ruach memallela”- Rashi/Unkelus) That is what steps us up from all other creatures. When we do not converse we are not anything above the lowest creature. Unfortunately, when man behaves like animal, it is in the worst sense, in the most inhumane manner.

Baruch Hashem, the story of Yoseph and his brother ultimately ends differently. How did that come to be? Yehuda approaches Yoseph and speaks to him! He tells the whole story. He explains the situation. This crucial moment is epitomized by the Torah naming this Parasha with one single word that marks the turning point: Vayigash. In English: And he approached. There is a halt to the flow of events. Yehuda stops the development of a new tragedy by making a point to approach Yoseph with his point of view; with speaking to him, talking it out! His words dissolve the wall between the lost brother and his siblings. They weep, they make peace and the Jewish nation continues to grow from that point on, teaching us its lesson on the way:

 

If you love your brother and you have an un-finished business with him – you talk it through.

Speak it out because it’s the only way to solve real problems.

Converse because you care and because we all share collective responsibility. When we see our Jewish fellow about to commit a sin, we have a moral obligation (from the Torah) to persuade him not to do it. In a respectable manner, with caring words, with humbleness and sincere intention we are to talk him out of it.

Challenge the other’s ability of understanding and maybe forgiveness.

 

If it comes down to it, loud confrontations might not be a pleasant thing, but then again, unplaced silence can kill.

Psalm 37 – SING & LEARN

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As we conversed in the last session, the verse of Psalm 37:25 is a very hard one to understand. If we look around us, we see all the time righteous people whom are ‘forsaken’, ‘begging for bread’.
We suggested a different way to read the verse (with accordance to the one that follows – Psalm 37:26).  While we wait for the summary to be uploaded 🙂 here is the recording of the song we learned:

In the meantime, here is the link for the first half of Psalm 37., there we spoke about the other side of the coin – the prosperity of the evildoers.

 

Cheers!

 

Study about ‘Vegetarianism in Judaism’ (Resource sheet)

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Shalom Chaverim,
Please print out the following resources before the study.  Limud Pore 🙂

1) B’reshit 1:29- Initially what we’re supposed to eat.

“And God said, “Behold, I have given you every seed bearing herb, which is upon the surface of the entire earth, and every tree that has seed bearing fruit; it will be yours for food.”
2.1) B’reshit 1:30 – How are the herbs described?

“And to all the beasts of the earth and to all the fowl of the heavens, and to everything that moves upon the earth, in which there is a living spirit, every green herb to eat,” and it was so.”

2.2) Rash”i comments:

it will be yours for food. And to all the beasts of the earth: He equated cattle and the beasts to them [to man] regarding the food [that they were permitted to eat]. He did not permit Adam and his wife to kill a creature and to eat its flesh; only every green herb they were all permitted to eat equally. When the sons of Noah came, He permitted them to eat flesh, as it is said (below 9:3): “Every creeping thing that is alive, etc.” Like the green herbs, which I permitted to the first man, I have given you everything. — [from Sanh. 59b]

 

3.1) B’reshit 6:12 – Torah for human as they are, instead of how they should be (R Yossef Albo)

“And God saw the earth, and behold it had become corrupted, for all flesh had corrupted its way on the earth.”

3.2)  B’reshit 9:3-4  Among other crimes, people started to eat limb torn from a living animal, then came one of the Noahides commandments:

“Every moving thing that lives shall be yours to eat; like the green vegetation, I have given you everything.  But, flesh with its soul, its blood, you shall not eat.”


Q. Is it a temporary/ permanent situation?
4) B’reshit 9:2 – The change in the animals – humans’ relations.

“And your fear and your dread shall be upon all the beasts of the earth and upon all the fowl of the heaven; upon everything that creeps upon the ground and upon all the fish of the sea, [for] they have been given into your hand”
5) B’reshit 9:4  Fleyshick kitchen: ‘added Mitzvot’ or ‘Bad spiritual situation’?.

“But, flesh with its soul, its blood, you shall not eat.”

 

Same with:

– Laws of a proper slaughtering.

– Not mixing with Dairy.

– Waiting until the next Dairy meal.
– Not even all animals are permitted to eat in the first place.

Q. Can the blessing over meat indicate something?
Thought:

One verse after, the Torah writes the prohibition of humacide, as customary to explain by our sages: “But your blood, of your souls, I will demand ..” (B’reshit 9:5)

– Is it just a coincidence?

 

 

6) Sh’mot 16:15, B’midbar 11:7 The Manna – A second attempt for vegetarianism?

“..and Moses said to them, It is the bread that the Lord has given you to eat.”

“Now the manna was like coriander seed, and its appearance was like the appearance of crystal.”

 

7) B’midbar 11:3-34 Israel’s urge for meat, described as ‘Graves of craving’.

3: “But the multitude among them began to have strong cravings. Then even the children of Israel once again began to cry, and they said, “Who will feed us meat?”

5: “We remember the fish that we ate in Egypt ..”

10: “Moses heard the people weeping with their families,each one at the entrance to his tent. The Lord became very angry, and Moses considered it evil.”

19-20 “You shall eat it not one day, not two days…But even for a full month until it comes out your nose and nauseates you. Because you have despised the Lord Who is among you, and you cried before Him, saying, “Why did we ever leave Egypt?”‘”

31: A wind went forth from the Lord and swept quails from the sea and spread them over the camp..”

32-34: “The people rose up all that day and all night and the next day and gathered the quails. [Even] the one who gathered the least collected ten heaps. They spread them around the camp in piles. The meat was still between their teeth; it was not yet finished, and the anger of the Lord flared against the people, and the Lord struck the people with a very mighty blow.  He named that place Kivroth Hata’avah [Graves of Craving], for there they buried the people who craved.”

 

8) D’varim 12:20 The final permission for eating meat. ‘Meat of lust’.

“When the Lord, your God, expands your boundary, as He has spoken to you, and you say, “I will eat meat,” because your soul desires to eat meat, you may eat meat, according to every desire of your soul.”

 

9) D’varim 8:7-10 The promised land, description.

7: “For the Lord your God is bringing you to a good land, a land with brooks of water, fountains and depths, that emerge in valleys and mountains,  a land of wheat and barley, vines and figs and pomegranates, a land of oil producing olives and honey,  a land in which you will eat bread without scarcity, you will lack nothing in it, a land whose stones are iron, and out of whose mountains you will hew copper.  And you will eat and be sated, and you shall bless the Lord, your God, for the good land He has given you.”

 

10)  Isaiah 11:6-9  In the days of Messiah.

“And a wolf shall live with a lamb, and a leopard shall lie with a kid; and a calf and a lion cub and a fatling [shall lie] together, and a small child shall lead them.  And a cow and a bear shall graze together, their children shall lie; and a lion, like cattle, shall eat straw.  And an infant shall play over the hole of an old snake and over the eyeball of an adder, a weaned child shall stretch forth his hand.  They shall neither harm nor destroy on all My holy mount, for the land shall be full of knowledge of the Lord as water covers the sea bed.”

 

11)  Hosea 2:20  In the days of Messiah

“And I will make a covenant for them on that day with the beasts of the field and with the fowl of the sky and the creeping things of the earth; and the bow, the sword, and war I will break off the earth, and I will let them lie down safely.”

Psalm 37 – SING & LEARN – Do not compete with the evildoers. Why not?

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Summary for the first verse (psalm 37 1), please see below the video:

לְדָוִד אַל תִּתְחַר בַּמְּרֵעִים אַל תְּקַנֵּא בְּעֹשֵׂי עַוְלָה

Of David. Do not compete with the evildoers; do not envy those who commit injustice (Psalm 37:1)

We started the study by posing the question: Why not compete (and maybe also defeat..) the evil-dowers?  Why not let room for envy on their success? if G-d wants us to “behave properly”, shouldn’t there be some sort of compensation for doing so, while avoiding the ways of evil?  Isn’t there some sort of approval for their wicked ways, expressed by their prosperity?

We said the following four ‘replies’:

1) As the chapter continues (rest of Psalm 37), the prosperity of the wicked is something temporary, the end of every thief- is to be captured…, actually the verse right after (Psalm 37:2) refers to it: “For they will be speedily cut off like grass and wither like green vegetation.”

We mentioned that this is a repeating motif throughout the book of Tehillim whenever the question regarding the wicked’s success is posed.

2) By ‘competing’ with the evil, one already relates him/herself to the evil.  You think / talk / dream / consider it’s ways , and this is already giving the evil effect on you.  Long time after even the evil-dower finished with…his things, you are left with the pain of it (how bad it affected me.. why didn’t I do the same..  maybe the evil one is the right path… etc.) ,  you might be left with the rage and frustration – the wrong did now became even bigger than the actual did.

3) With ‘competing’ comes also the ‘comparing’.

Meaning: Surly the righteous is much more, much better than the wicked. But not only better, rather it is two separate worlds that supposedly have nothing in common – good and bad.  If both are being compared, it is as if saying: we have a common ground, it might be better to be good, but it is not so bad to ..bad (what is certainly wrong!).

This is a known marketing strategy, for a low level product, in order to emerge into the market of the ‘high end’ products, they come out with a comparing research between one of the fine products and the new-lesser one.  All what the article is doing sums up by telling the truth, but when people see the two items together in the same article, the difference for the two becomes less emphasized, and in many cases just a matter of time till most won’t realize that there is any difference at all.

4) By going into ‘competition’ with the evil-dowers, the evil ways are more familiarized to people, creating ‘buzz’, and being more ‘accessible’ for some who otherwise won’t even dream to consider anything to do with it.

Kristallnacht – Night of Broken Glass (speech given 2013)

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The source of the name Kristallnacht, is the failure of the world to prevent the worst crime in history that man ever committed against his fellow man. Let me explain:

During the night between the 9th and the 10th of November 1938, a so called ‘spontaneous’ pogrom started in the streets of Germany.    During this pogrom, over one thousand Synagogues were destroyed. The shards of glass from their windows and chandeliers covered the floors– this is the source of the romanticized name Kristallnacht.  As if to say, it was just a bunch of uncontrolled radicals, misbehaving in the streets.

The truth is, this is an example of the world’s sin of keeping silent, of acting normally, in non-normal times, at the beginning of a dark time in history.

 

By referring only to the broken glass, ignores the facts that over 90 Jews were murdered, and over 30,000 more were sent to concentration camps, denied their freedom, stripped of their dignity, and in most cases losing their lives. The name Kristallnacht removes the focus, from the most troubling things that happened, or more accurately did not happen; there was no outcry, no protest from the rest of the world. The world sinned, by letting it pass, with only silence.

But there is an excuse; it was spontaneous!?

 

But how spontaneous could it have been, capturing 30,000 Jews in one single night, by following accurate lists with names and addresses and having transport trains ready to go.

Read the newspapers of that time. Not one country recalled its ambassadors or dismissed the German ambassador assigned to them.

–          No German embassies were stoned;   no repercussions were taken, not even by the Jewish people at that time.

The world sinned, by letting it pass, with silence; the sin of silence.

 

This night marked the beginning of the Holocaust! when the world did not protest, and by not doing so, gave a green light to Hitler and his Nazis to proceed with their plans, with the knowledge, that the world would not interfere.
The sounds of broken glass, succeeded in overcoming the cries of the murdered and exiled; for them, it became the night of silence.