All we are saying is give peace a chance. Typical
of many songs of the Sixties this one seems to place the responsibility of
peace firmly on the shoulders of the Establishment. According to many lessons
from the Torah the opposite is true.
As the summer progresses the Torah portions outside of
Israel are still out of sync with the ones read in the Holy Land. This past
Shabbat we read Chukat. The rest of the world will be reading how Moses hit the
rock and was denied entry into the Promised Land only this week.
There is no lack of commentaries as to why Moshe
deserved such a harsh punishment. Recently I learned a new one that spoke to
me. According to my understanding of a lecture I heard from Rebbetzin Rickie
Rabinowitz, Moshe’s main mistake was saying to the Jewish people: hear now
you Rebels, chapter 20, verse 10. He was punished for speaking badly about
the Jewish people and branding all of them as rebels.
Already in nursery school children learn about lashon
hara, the commandment not to speak badly about individuals. Included in the
prohibition, however, is also the need to refrain from negative speech about
groups of people. All we need to do is spend five minutes in front of a news
screen to know we need to internalize this part of the commandment much better.
How many times have I talked about “those people’,
focusing on a group’s race, religion, political orientation, or birthplace? How
many times have I read an article in which the journalist has done the same?
How many times have I believed the gross generalizations?
Last week, just two days before we read Chukat in
Israel, we entered the month of Tammuz. A
summer month, it should be full of picnics, outings, and swimming. Sadly, though,
a little more than halfway through the month we have a fast day. This fast
begins the three weeks of mourning in which we remember the destruction of both
the first and second Holy Temples.
Our sages teach us that the first Temple was destroyed
due to idol worship, immorality, and murder. Somehow, the Jewish people were
able to repent of those major sins rather quickly and seventy years later the
second Temple was built. We are taught it was destroyed due to senseless hatred
caused by lashon hara. Two thousand years later we’re still speaking
badly of each other and waiting for the third Holy Temple to be built.
In the Sixties the folk tune, Where Have All the
Flowers Gone, another anthem for peace became very popular. Its last line
mournfully asked: When will they ever learn? There’s a big
problem with this question. The onus for peace is not on they but rather
on we, or even more accurate on me.
I need to learn from Moshe, our greatest teacher, to
watch my words carefully. Before I can fix the world I need to fix
myself. When I stop thinking badly of individuals or groups I can create a
ripple effect. When I stop speaking lashon
hara I can influence others to do the same. We all must learn. We all can
give peace a chance.
My novel, Growing With My Cousin, a good summer read, is available at Jewish bookstores and on line at http://www.feldheim.com/growing-with-my-cousin.html or
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