Parshas Re'eh (5778)
This summer we took a family vacation in lovely upstate New York. One of the more interesting places we went to see was Howe Caverns, the second most visited natural attraction in New York State, after Niagara Falls (or so they claim!).
While we were enjoying the quarter-mile underground boat ride towards the end of the tour, I noticed in the boat next to mine a family of visibly Hasidic Jews, with the men and boys sporting neatly curled peiyos, or sidelocks, in classic Hasidic tradition.
Later that day, as we were driving on the New York State Thruway on our way back to Toronto, we stopped at one of the service areas, just to take a break from the driving. As I headed toward the washroom, I noticed what was clearly an Amish couple – him sporting a huge beard and her with a bonnet on her head.
The similarity between the Hasidic family and the Amish couple – and how they both “stuck out†among all the other “normal†people around them - reminded me of a great story I heard many years ago:
A Hasidic Jew with a long beard, a round black hat, and a long black coat was travelling on a train across rural Pennsylvania when a non-observant Jewish woman approached him and started berating him for dressing as though he had just come out of the 1800’s. She told him that he was an embarrassment to the Jewish people, and that he should abandon this ridiculous clothing and step into the New World just like everyone else around him. Wanting to teach this woman a lesson, the Hasid replied to her tirade, “I am sorry, but I don’t understand what you’re talking about! I am Amish!â€. The woman turned white and began to apologize profusely for her previous words. She told the man how much she respected the Amish for their old-fashioned ways, and how wonderful it was that they were preserving the ways of their ancestors even though it made them stick out in modern society. At this point, the Hasid revealed his true identity to the secular Jewish woman and began berating her for her inconsistency and her prejudice. He asked her why she respected the Amish for living in the 1800’s while she deemed it a great embarrassment to the Jewish people when it came to Hasidic members of her own faith doing the same thing.
I believe that the reason why the woman in the story was so inconsistent is because respecting the Amish and their old-fashioned ways involves no guilt for us as Jews, while being around Hasidim who are openly proud of who they are as Jews and are not afraid to show it – both in their mode of dress and in their general observance of Torah and Mitzvos - can sometimes make a less observant Jew feel a certain guilt about their own Jewishness which they would rather avoid.
Perhaps seeing Jews who have chosen to stay on the more traditional Jewish path triggers deep down an unpleasant feeling of regret in the hearts of some less-observant Jews that they could have made different choices in their own lives.
This helps to explain the phenomenon known as Bageling. Bageling is the act of deliberately projecting ones Jewishness when in close vicinity to another Jew; in an attempt to let the other Jew know that you are, in fact, Jewish too.
I can’t begin to count how many times I, a highly visible observant Jew, have been bageled, most often by less-observant Jews at the supermarket, and especially around Passover. “Morris, have you picked up the Manischewitz matzah and the borscht yet?â€
Why do some Jews feel the need to say Yiddish words like kayneh hara or chutzpah in earshot of more observant Jews as they pass them by on the sidewalk?
The answer is clear – it is all about Jewish guilt. Seeing a more-observant Jew makes some Jews feel guilty that they are not “doing Jewish†as much as their own Bubby did, so they feel the need to let the more observant Jew know that they too are Jewish and know Yiddish words.
Well, guess what? It’s never too late to do more Jewish no matter what choices one made in the past!
As we read in the beginning of this week’s Torah portion: “See, I am giving before you today the blessing and the curse†(Deuteronomy 11:26). In this verse, G-d tells the Jewish people that they have the bechirah, or free choice, to do good and receive the blessing, or to do bad and receive the curse.
[The Malbim explains the Torah’s choice of the word “See†at the beginning of the verse. He writes that the blessing and curse are not simply promises for the future. One can actually see that people who observe the Torah have a sense of accomplishment, fulfillment, and spiritual growth. The blessing is there for all to see.]
The Vilna Gaon points out that G-d says “I am giving†in the present tense to teach us a powerful lesson. Had it said “I gave†in the past tense, we would have thought that we only have free choice in the beginning of our lives, but once we already make bad choices, it’s too late. G-d therefore says that He is giving us free choice, in the present tense. We can always start over again and make different choices. And even if we didn’t take our Judaism so seriously up until now, it’s never too late to start. “Rememberâ€, G-d says, "I am giving you a chance now, in the present. Start over, I will always take you back!"
This Shabbos begins the Hebrew month of Elul, the thirty-day period of introspection and contemplation before Rosh Hashanah, the Day of Judgment. Let’s take this time to think and rethink our choices of the past year, and this way, we will all merit to have a sweet New Year.
http://www.torchweb.org/torah_detail.php?id=526