To sit or not to sit ...not

This week’s Haftarah (parshas Ki Siso) quotes Prophet Elijah: “Ad mosai atem peis’chim al shtei asifim” – How long will you be jumping on two swords!? This was prompted by various divisions and conflicts within the Jewish people and had much to do with the Jews’ involvement in idol worship at that time. Elijah gathered together all the prophets of Baal and confronted the Jews “How long…” At first glance it would’ve been more appropriate for Elijah to have said - “Until when will you be following Baal, it is time you stopped worshipping Baal and proclaimed “Hashem Hu HaElokim”! This will be understood by examining the differences between ordinary idol worship and the type referred to by Elijah as “Until when…” or “sitting on the fence”.

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The Rambam writes that the origins of idol worship lie in the fact that early on people mistakenly ascribed powers to heavenly bodies in the belief that they controlled material wellbeing and sustenance. The truth is that, even though Divine influence is channeled through stars, etc., they are no more than “an axe in the hands of the Chopper”

Torah explains that to extend any kind of recognition to stars and constellation is a crime. This sin is particularly severe because the worshipper in essence denies the entire Torah. It turns out that although the primary motive for idol worship was for one’s material needs, in essence the Jewish people had no desire to deny the Torah. It is just that they thought that idol worship was not a “real” worship at all.

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So although idol worship really stems from one’s desires for material comforts, we can trace two distinct modes within it. One is Avoda Zora – “strange worship”, the other being “jumping on two…” or the “fence-sitter” type.

Avoda Zora is a situation when a person does believe that the idol will provide him with his material needs. So, although his motivation is strictly personal gain, he seriously and sincerely believes that the stars and constellation will provide. The “ fence-sitter” type is in contrast. based on a doubt and those that are involved in it can be divided into two groups:

One – this includes those who are in doubt and once in a while begin to realize that
idol worship lacks any substance at all while at other times such individuals are akin to to those who involve themselves in idol worship “ for real”. The other type are those who believe in a type of a partnership, they do believe in G-d and at the same time resort to idol worship.

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From this we can see that in many respects, “sitting on the fence” is more egregious than Avoda Zora. Yet, although “pure” Avoda Zora is a more severe transgression than “fence sitting”, from the perspective of tshuva, it is harder to repent for a fence-sitter than for a “plain” idol worshipper.

The reason for this is as follows

1. The “pure” idol worshipper has an easier time repenting upon realization how mistaken he was. The “sitter” on the other hand, is more conflicted, he does not realize the full severity of his descent and calms himself by thinking that he always had doubts about his idol worship. He thus is unable to fully repent.

2. The “pure” idol worshipper (no partnership) is completely decadent and believes that the Baal is the true G-d. Still, the possibility exists that, although he is separated from the true G-d, he somehow maintains some measure of spirituality.

The “sitter”, on the other hand , by virtue of his sin, demonstrates that not only does he not have a connection to Hashem, moreover, he has no connection with the spiritual. The proof lies in the fact that even though he realizes that Hashem is the true G-d, he is ready to betray Him when it comes to material concerns. The sitter is also dangerous in that, outwardly, he has the “look and feel” of an observant Jew and is thus capable of misleading others.

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The Talmud states that the drive for idol worship in its pure form has largely dissipated whereas the “sitters” continue to exist.

The Haftarah concludes that the Jewish people repented and declared twice “Hashem Hu HaElokim” as opposed to a single declaration during the giving of the Torah when G-d declared ‘I am Hashem your G-d”. It’s explained that when a Jew repents, he reaches a level that is much higher than that before the sin – “twice the strength” And twice - not in a numerical sense but in the sense that the second time is incomparably greater than the first. Likewise, every “sitter” needs to return to G-d with “twice the strength”. This will not only influence the “sitter” but will have a positive effect on all who may have been negatively influenced by him as is known “all Jews are responsible for one another”.

Based on the Purim sicha, 5716

Slip Slidin...this way

The name of every weekly Torah portion encapsulates its meaning. The opening verses in every chapter are not merely words, they convey what the chapter is about to address. This week’s chapter’s name is Ki Siso – “when you take a count of the children of Israel...”

The plain meaning is a taking and elevation of the children of Israel. Yet the events that unfold in this chapter – the Sin of the Golden Calf, the breaking of the Tablets run counter to those exalted goals. And overall, the chapter is somewhat strange in that it opens up by telling us about the first set of Tablets being made by Hashem, the holiest set of items imaginable, then we’re confronted with the Golden Calf episode followed by the destruction of the Tablets and the giving of a second set, this time authored by Moshe Rabbeinu. How are we to tie all of this together?

A wondrous chapter.

The Rebbe tells us that this weekly portion is “wondrous” in that it contains the entire Torah and the whole world. When G-d set out to create the world, He put in place a set of strict rules: every created entity would contain within it three stages: a beginning, a middle, and a finale. This is connected to absolutely everything, including Creation.
At the outset G-d looked into the Torah - the blueprint for Ceation. The second stage involved the creation of a world that would contain undesirable elements alongside positive ones. The final stage is the effort of the Jewish People collectively to fix and refine the world to bring about the Final Redemption..

This process is reflected in this week’s chapter. Initially G-d Himself created the first set of tablets. This was followed by the Golden Calf and the breaking of the tablets. Why? So that the Jews would repent and merit the second set which was much more “valuable” as it contained the Jewish Law, the Midrash and Aggada. In other words here we have a beginning, a descent, action and redemption reflective of the three stages.

Mission Accomplished

Unfortunately the road to the final Redemption involves descent and difficult, unfortunate situations due to the sins. This is applicable to everyone, when descent occurs, one must utilize that falling down in order to garner new strengths and keep moving forward. People tend to think that descent is something completely negative and undesirable, something that should not, ideally, occur and once it has occurred, it must be used for elevating oneself.

The Rebbe tells us something completely different: all that had been planned out by G-d to begin with. G-d had decided that this is how events and circumstances should unfold for the sake of the Ultimate Redemption. The Rebbe emphasizes that those negative situations are in reality part of the process with a clear goal leading to the ultimate good.
Tfoo wit, for a Jew, a falling down is only “permitted’ to take place for the sake of a greater ascent and thus it is a part of that subsequent elevation!

A happy ending

Every Jew possesses certain powers that enable him to fulfill his mission completely, from the moment he wakes up to the time he goes to bed at night. Where do those powers come from? From the Moses of our generation who will usher in the Final Redemption.