The Tower of Babel and "The Twilight Zone." Parshat Noah

This past Shabbat's Torah Portion of the Week was Noach, or Noah. There are lots of topics in this Parsha, the flood, rainbow, Tower of Babel, antecedents of Abraham and Sarah and more. At our "Parshat Shavua Group," led by a neighbor, we discussed the sin that angered Gd in the "Tower of Babel" story.

In all honesty, I can't quite remember all the details, since my mind kept exploding with inspiration and ideas as she and others spoke. She read from an article that the late Rav Neria had written about it in which he mentioned the difference between  אחדות ואחידות, achdut viachidut, unity and uniformity. Unity is good, but uniformity אחידות achidut isn't. In both Hebrew and English both words seem almost the same. They are from the same linguistic roots meaning "one."

I was warned not to get into politics. You must know that a mantra of mine in recent years is:

Liberals aren't liberal.

We see this all over the world. Those who ascribe to the Liberal philosophies are horrendously intolerant. Socialism evolved into Communism which ran countries with very tight fists and forbade religions. And today Leftist leaning universities, politicians etc call those who disagree with their philosophies and leaders "wrong" rather than respecting the rights of others to other opinions.

When I was still a rather impressionable youngster, I'd watch the iconic and legendary television show The Twilight Zone. One episode has stayed strongly rooted in my mind for over half a century. It was set in the "future." This was a very regimented time, when even home libraries were limited to "approved books only." And not only were books censured, but people had to dress and look in the required way. At a certain age everyone was to choose a certain face from a catalog and submit to surgery. The episode told of a family of rebels which had forbidden books, and their daughter refused to submit to the surgery. They refused to conform to the uniformity of society. Finally the authorities seized the daughter, brought her to the hospital and operated. As I remember it we were shown her reactions as the bandages are being removed. She looks in the mirror for the first time at her new face:

"Oh, how pretty I look." She said sounding amazed and pleased. Then she looked at the woman who was holding the mirror for her and continued. "And best of all, I look just like you."

Light faded; the show ended. I'll never forget it. When they gave her the uniform catalog face, they also changed her brain, her independent mind implanting something to make her a complete law-abiding conformist.

Gd created us humans with Free Will, even though it meant that not all humans would follow Gd's laws. We're challenged by Gd to overcome our Evil Inclinations, which tempt us to conform to human philosophies and ideologies, rather than Gd's laws.

We're supposed to be united under Gd, for Gd and help others. The Sin of the Tower of Babel was that they made their own language, laws and morality. By creating a new language and building a tower they considered godly, they rejected Gd as Supreme Being and Commander.

We must unite under Gd not unify to defy Gd.

In Matan we learn as one, unified, united but not in a uniform. No uniformity

On Being Treated Like Some "Foreign Alien"

Call this a rant or call this a plea, but please listen, comment and share, thanks.

Recess at Ohel Shiloh
boys school

I moved far across the ocean with my husband almost forty-five, 45, years ago to live as a Jew in the Jewish Homeland, the State of Israel. We never saw the 1949 Ceasefire Lines as holy, certainly no holier than the locations depicted in the Bible where our Jewish Religion/People/Culture/Nation etc was formed and developed.

Shiloh

Anyone with even a minimal knowledge of the Bible, the first Jewish History Book, or any collection of atlases can attest to the fact that borders change, usually due to wars. The winner becomes the ruler of whatever land its army holds. Why should the 1967 Six Days War be considered any different?

Biblical Wikipedia

© 2005 Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs

History of Israel – Israeli Wars – The Six Day War 1967

But for some horrible malignant to the unity of the Jewish People reason, there are many who consider us, those Jews, Israelis who live in the Land of Israel liberated by the IDF, and G-d's miracles, in 1967 to be some foreign alien "other."

The other day I caught an Israeli Television news talk show and was horrified to hear how the "panel" referred to me and my neighbors as if we're some unwanted foreign enemy. They're perfectly happy to take our blood donations from the Magen David Adom Blood Bank, and they don't mind that our sons and daughters volunteer and even excel in the most dangerous and difficult IDF Israeli Army units in disproportionate numbers. They accept, as if their entitlement that our non-military serving kids contribute their time and energies in development towns and hospitals. They don't mind being on the receiving end of what we contribute to Israel society.

I'll never forget one of the first times I came up against this "other-ment." My husband was speaking to a group, and I had been asked to be part of the audience. During "comment" and question time one of the audience spoke of "those people," meaning me, my family and neighbors, in such a negative and nasty way I wanted to stand up and take the floor saying:

"I'm one of those people. Do I look or seem different from you? How can you refer to me, as if I'm a strange enemy alien?"

But I didn't get up. I said nothing but was very upset and left the room with friends.

We are all part of the Jewish Nation/People/Religion, and unity is the secret of our survival.

If you look at Jewish Prayers, there's something very important to notice. Our prayers are in plural. And that is to remind us that we're not alone; our fates are totally entwined. May G-d give us the wisdom and strength to tear down the barriers that separate us and allow us to function as one united and strong People.

We Need Unity, Not Protest Rallies!!

We Jews here in the Holy Land are under great danger, and G-d is getting very impatient.  This year's winter weather is a sure sign that G-d is angry with us.  We haven't had enough rain. Our rainfall and other weather conditions are indications of how The Almighty has graded our behavior, most especially towards Eretz Yisrael and bein adam v'chareiro, fellow Jew.

U.S. President Barack Hussein Obama is back on his theme that we had better sign a deal quickly, even though the vast majority of Israelis know perfectly well that all of these proposed "deals" will just further endanger us.

Speaking to Bloomberg’s Jeffrey Goldberg in an interview published Sunday, Obama warned that time was running out to negotiate a peace agreement.
Obama further claimed that PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas “is sincere about his willingness to recognize Israel and its right to exist.”
“We are coming to a point, though, over the next couple of months where the parties are going to have to make some decisions about how they move forward,” he said. “And my hope and expectation is that, despite the incredible political challenges, that both Prime Minister Netanyahu and Abbas are able to reach past their differences and arrive at a framework that can move us to peace.”

Instead of separating themselves from most Israelis and the State of Israel, chareidi leadership should be working hard to unite with us, find solutions good for all.

COURTESY ISRAEL POLICE

If only these strong masses of good Jews would use their power to work together with other Israelis instead of holding themselves as if they are a separate people. Davka in recent years you can see chareidi Jews in more and more jobs and positions here in Israel.  That should be their aim, and that's the only way to influence, through darchei noam, gently more and more Jews to live Torah observant lives.

Photo Credit: Kobi Gideon / GPO /Flash 90

Instead of protesting against the State of Israel and the IDF, chareidim should have spearheaded a rally to encourage Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu to be strong against American pressure. The Public Letter by Women in Green's Nadia Matar and Yehudit Katsover  is on the right track, and chareidi leadership should be joining them.

Dear Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Today you are your starting out on your complex mission to the United States and may you have Heaven’s support and the support of the Land of Israel. He who turns history presents you with the challenge of your life at an optimum point in time. A quick glance at what is happening around us reveals how international attention has passed from Israel to the Ukraine and everyone is alert and prepared to see if the weakness of the American president’s policies will lead to the collapse of the United States’ international standing. The experience of the recent past in Syria teaches us that Obama has not kept his promises about the red lines that he himself stated. In Egypt as well as in Libya Obama supported the wrong side and his failed policy has brought the entire Middle East to a state of instability and shock. Who better than you knows that in the Iranian question as well, Obama made declarations, promises and commitments about his commitment to the security of Israel while in effect, gave a green light to continue the Iranian nuclear program. Mister Prime Minister, every child understands today that we must not depend on the Obama administration and we must not submit to his decrees. The eyes of the People of Israel accompany you in your travels. Up until now you have maneuvered yourself wisely, and indeed, we hope that you will have the wisdom to take advantage of the momentum that has been presented to you to raise Israel’s esteem in the world and repair the long-range damage to the consciousness that were done by the declarations in your Bar Ilan speech. The damage that was done by that declaration must and can be repaired now. At this juncture, when the entire world is alert and everyone realizes the importance of maintaining the sovereignty of Ukraine, this is the time to clarify in a great voice to the entire world that we intend to guard our sovereignty in the Land of Israel like the pupils of our eyes. We must impose Israeli sovereignty over Judea and Samaria and the Jordan Valley. From your long years of acquaintance with the Arab “partner” and the blood-soaked history that our people has experienced, you know well, Mr. Prime Minister, that the Arabs have never recognized and will never recognize Israel as the state of the Jewish People, regardless of any borders. We are at a decisive time in which it is possible to strengthen our position. As you leave Jerusalem, the Women in Green movement and the Forum for Sovereignty are with you and will accompany you with a very large poster that will be placed at the exit from Jerusalem for the coming weeks and it reads: “YES to Sovereignty over Judea, Samaria and the Jordan Valley”. In a discussion on the expulsion from Gush Katif and northern Samaria that was held in Ariel a few days ago, Eyal Arad claimed that the Right failed because it did not present an alternative. This is not true. There is an alternative! A realistic, Zionist plan does exist – application of Israeli sovereignty. This plan is indeed accompanied by difficulties but the difficulties associated with sovereignty are preferable to the physical and spiritual destruction entailed in the establishment of a terrorist Palestinian state in the heart of our Land, a stone-throw away from Ben Gurion Airport. We must not think in terms of survivalism, rather we must aspire to realize our hold on the Land and our sovereignty in the Land of Israel. This will bring calm to our Arab neighbors, economic growth and an improvement in the security situation. From the city of our forefathers we send you the greetings of Caleb ben Yefuneh: Let us ascend, for we can succeed. Yehudit Katsover and Nadia Matar Women for Israel’s Tomorrow – Women in Green – Sovereignty.
Read more at: http://www.jewishpress.com/news/breaking-news/have-a-good-us-visit-bibi-please-dont-bring-home-any-surprises/2014/03/02/0/

Chodesh Adar Tov, May All the Evil be Reversed and Turned into Good!