February 5, 2021
This Dvar Torah comes from my archives and is being shared for the first time. It is especially timely.
It
is also noteworthy the way different people can witness the same
events, in which the truth is abundantly clear, yet react in completely
opposite ways. We see this all around us on a daily basis.
Yisro is the paradigm for a truth-seeker. He "experimented" with every avoda zara
in the world, realized that these ideologies were false, and continued
searching until he discovered the truth. His search was an honest one,
and he was willing to suffer the inconveniences of discarding old ideas,
the frustrations of continuing to search, and the social consequences
of going against the grain, because reconciling with falsehood was
unacceptable to him. He realizes that God runs the world, and runs to
join His people.
Amalek, conversely, is the
paradigm for falsehood. His skepticism is not one of honest
truth-seeking, but intended to cast doubt on the truth, even in the
existence of objective, Godly truth. Amalek
sees the sea splitting for the Jews and says it might have been a lucky
coincidence.
He portrays himself as an intellectual, a "fact-checker", yet he is the
ultimate enemy of truth.
We see Amalek ruling the world today like never before, which we know
precedes their ultimate downfall. May it be soon, and may God
strengthen us in our fight against Amalek when everything is stacked
against us.
יתרו
וישמע יתרו
There
is a disagreement as to when Yisro's
visit actually occurred. One opinion is that this parsha
is in chronological order, and thus his visit occurred before matan
Torah,
while another opinion is that his visit occurred some time after
matan
Torah.
Q:
What would compel anyone to suggest that this parsha
is written out of order?
Parenthetically,
this is a question we must ask ourselves whenever it is posited that
a certain parsha
in the Torah
is chronologically out of order. While we are taught that
אין מוקדם ומאוחר בתורה
(the Torah is not always in chronological order), this does not mean that the Torah
is a jigsaw puzzle for us to rearrange at will. Unless there is a
tradition or an otherwise compelling reason to believe otherwise, we
must assume that the Torah
is
in chronological order, for it would be senseless for it not to be.
So,
again, what would lead anyone to suggest that this particular
narrative occurred after matan
Torah?
A:
The immediately preceding parsha
contains the battle with Amalek.
The nation of
Amalek waged
war with us without any provocation; they were not threatened by us,
and in fact travelled a great distance to the desert just to pick a
fight with former slaves. Why did they do this? Because Hashem
had revealed to the world that we were His special nation and that we
were to be His ambassadors on this earth. Amalek,
as the root of all evil, was determined to fight us to the death, and
thereby “eliminate” Hashem
from this world.
Consider:
Hashem
had just performed the most awesome miracles, revealing Himself to
the world in an obvious, overt fashion. Yet how did Amalek
react to this revelation? By waging war against Hashem's
ambassadors and, by direct extension, Hashem
Himself.
A
casual reader of this narrative might easily come to the conclusion
that the nations of the world are utterly hopeless. What more could
anyone do to get through to them, to demonstrate to them that Hashem
is, was, and will always be in charge? Yes, we might easily come to
the conclusion that all the goyim
are utterly hopeless like Amalek,
and thus, like Amalek,
must be entirely eliminated.
The
Torah
informs us that this is not the case by juxtaposing the story of Yisro
with the story of Amalek.
Yisro
witnessed the same events that Amalek
witnessed, yet he reacted in an entirely different fashion, in an
entirely positive fashion. Yisro
is clear proof that there is indeed hope for the nations of the
world, and it is the continuing mission of the Bnei Yisrael
to
actualize this hope. It is Amalek
that is the exception; for all others there continues to be hope that
they will choose the path of Yisro.
While
it is unresolved when the story of Yisro
occurred, there is indeed a compelling reason to suggest that the Torah
recorded it out of chronological order, to drive home this most
fundamental lesson.
*
I
offered my dose of the Pfizer vaccine to their executives and board
members, who graciously wanted me to be first in line, but as of now
they have still not taken it. So instead I am offering my dose to the
Torah-observant Jew who can provide the best answers to the following
questions.
Please
note that conspiracy theorists and anti-vaxxers are NOT eligible for
this offer! It is only for Torah-observant Jews who follow the experts
and are darn proud of it.
1.
The majority of experts now agree that people can change their gender
any time they feel like it. Explain how you have reconciled this new
scientific truth with the Torah, and if you have not done so, explain
why not.
2. If a majority of math experts agree that 1+1=3, will you defer to their expertise? If not, why not?
3. If we must never concern ourselves with minority opinions, of what value is minority opinions?
4.
If the opinions of the highest-ranking "experts" are all that matter,
of what value are the opinions of lower-ranking people? By what right
can anyone but the highest-ranking expert even HAVE an opinion,
especially one that differs from the head honcho?
5.
How do you decide who is the head honcho? If it is the person who most
people have decided is the head honcho, then is it little more than a
popularity contest? If it is the person that other experts decided is
the top expert, what formal process is there for this? Please explain.
Best answers win my dose for you or your loved one! Don't miss this opportunity!
*
If a 6-year old doesn't believe in Santa Claus, his classmates will bully him.
If a 16-year old hasn't stopped believing in Santa Claus, almost everyone will bully him.
Now you understand why adults are acting the way they are. They were conditioned a long time ago.
*
"Head of Shas, Min Aryeh Deri, called on the government to provide
local municipalities personal details of individuals who have yet to
vaccinate.
Deri suggested authorities go "house-to-house" vaccinating those who haven't voluntarily undergone the treatment."
It will only get worse until there is a mass uprising against the tyranny.
If anyone comes to my home with needles, they better bring a lot of armed thugs.
You
don't need to know anything about the science or the Torah, nor do we
need to make this complicated. If clearly evil people want so badly to
inject you with something, it probably isn't good for you.
