Timeless Torah

I am confident. If our great-grandparents did it, then there is no reason we can’t either. With no experience in organizing a building campaign or constructing a Synagogue, our ancestors built the first Jewish Temple. Their holy facility was to be the paradigm of all sanctuaries to follow. All we need to do, it seems to me, is follow their lead.

With that in mind, let’s turn to the Bible for a copy of their instructions. It begins with these words, “Speak to the children of Israel and have them take for Me a gift offering.”

An interesting choice of words. Especially considering the term, “Take a gift,” when the word ‘give’ would have been more appropriate.

Eveyone is familiar with the story about Yankel the Cheapskate. It didn’t matter how important the cause. No one could crack him. He just wouldn’t contribute.

One day, Yankel was crossing the river in a small boat. Suddenly, a huge storm broke out and his boat capsized.

Luckily, a fellow in another boat called out, “Give me your hand. Give me your hand.” Yankel could barely hear him over the strong winds and the roaring waves.

He heard only one word. Over and over.

“Give. Give.” And poor old Yankel couldn’t help himself.

He yelled back, “Sorry, I don’t give.”

There’s an important Jewish perspective about charity. It’s an opportunity to help others, a privilege.
And that every time we give...we are really getting.

This is especially true when it came to the charitable cause of the desert Temple. Wealth alone cannot create a structure magnificent enough to contain the Almighty. Indeed, what can we give that He already does not have? Therefore the Biblical manual reads, “Take for Me.” This implies our recognition that we open not only our pockets but our hearts, and that the more we desire Him to take, the more we gain ourselves.

I am afraid. Afraid that Americans do not comprehend living where mortars fall every day, where bullets are shot, buses attacked, cafes targeted, and people murdered.

Every day, I click on my internet to read the latest from Israel. The headlines that tell of the suicide bomber who murdered dozens elicits my first groan. But I don’t stop there. I scan further down the screen and come across the soldiers in Balata that were wounded, the police uniforms and explosives discovered in the Erez tunnel, and on it goes. Considering the rough neighborhood the Middle East has recently become, this ‘short’ list means that it has been a relatively quiet day.

Then it struck me. Virtually all of the reported accounts are written in the passive, as though there’s a consistent effort to avoid assigning blame. For example, “Bus # 14... was targeted in a shooting attack,” as opposed to (what would likely appear in American media) “Terrorists targeted bus #14...”

Why do Israeli journalists write in the passive tense? We know who is to blame. But maybe it is not just the media. Perhaps we are all guilty. A few years ago, when it was clear that the Palestinians had Kassam rockets, a leading Member of Knesset said that if the Arabs dared to fire them, it would mean war. Today, almost daily, rockets target Israeli communities.

What do we do? Bulldoze empty buildings. More than 950 innocent Israelis have been killed in the last three years . That is roughly the equivalent of 55,000 Americans. We know what America did. They declared war. What does Israel do? It reports the news passively.

It is wrong to say that Jews were bombed and shot. We must place the blame where it belongs, and grab the world’s attention. No longer will we write, “TWENTY KILLED,” but, “PALESTINIAN SUICIDE BOMBER MURDERS TWENTY”. It is time for us to stop accepting the incessant attacks, and to add insult to injury, taking the blame. The time has come to give back.

I am not overconfident, but neither do I despair. I am however hopeful that we can distinguish between building a House for G-d and creating a country that protects Jews. The first is an act of charity. The second is a call to destiny. In the first instance, how much we allow G-d to take from us decides our personal merit. In the second scenario, how much we give to the enemy determines the fate of another Jew’s life. In Judaism, give or take is not always the same.