15 Elul 5776
The Torah's laws instruct us on how to live our lives and build a society in perfect balance between chesed and gevurah - mercy and justice.
Our world is currently dangerously out of balance and believe it or not, it appears to be weighted too far to the side of chesed.
Chesed is represented by water. But, just like water needs the boundaries of a vessel (a cup, a bucket, a tank) in order to make it useful instead of destructive, so does chesed need to be bound by the limits of gevurah. Unrestrained chesed manifests in the world like these floods...
Some people think: mercy = good, justice = bad. That's what we have absorbed from the corrupt common culture. Unrestrained chesed says anything goes - complete freedom - do anything you want. There are no limits.
That is what we see expressed today in the laws and culture of Eisav and so teaches Eisav's religion (Xianity) which says it doesn't matter what you've done, mercy has already been extended via a free ticket to Heaven.
As a result of the permissiveness of Xianity, Islam came into the world to bring it back into balance with strict sharia (Islamic) justice. One extreme breeds its opposite and neither one alone is healthy for us as individuals, as communities or as a global society.
The world is in desperate need of a Torah example to follow in order to bring it back into the perfect balance of mercy joined to justice.
But, that is the job of the Jewish People in Eretz Yisrael. However, although we live among a majority-Muslim Middle East, we have attached ourselves culturally and in matters of law to the hedonistic West. And this is a large part of our problem with the Islamic world.
Everyone has heard the term Judeo-Xianity (God forbid!), but whoever heard of Judeo-Islam? Both concepts are a disaster for us and for the world. But, there is no denying the truth that the former exists (God forbid!). In days past, it was called Hellenism, but I digress.
A Jew who wants to follow the Torah in its fullness - with all its parts intact - the merciful as well as the just, is not about to sign up with ISIS or trying to create a Jewish Taliban (God forbid!). The fact that anyone could think so shows just how confused and ill-informed he is about Torah Judaism.
If the Torah is followed as instructed to Moshe Rabeinu and passed down to the Jewish Sages until today, there are built-in checks and balances which guarantee the success of all who follow it and the most balanced approach to law that human beings can take. This will curb excesses and result in health and balance and happiness for all.
I wanted to add this, but the post had already been seen a few times so I'm putting it here where everyone will hopefully see it. Quoting from the Ramchal's Derech Hashem, Part 2, Chapter 8, Section 2:
ReplyDeleteThe true optimum state of the world [primarily involves man's spiritual state. It] exists when man grasps the path of wisdom and is engaged in devotion to his Creator. In such a world, truth is obvious and unambiguous. The wicked are prosecuted and subjugated, and deception no longer exists. Everything in such a world involves some aspect of devotion to God, and all good qualities are maintained and strengthened, while all evil ones are repelled and rejected.
As a result of this, security and tranquility prevail, and there is no longer any pain, suffering or injury. God openly projects His Glory on such a world, and He rejoices in His handiwork. In a similar manner, His handiwork is happy and rejoices before Him.
The opposite of this optimum world exists when man becomes overwhelmed by the pursuit of physical desires, rejecting wisdom and furthering himself from it. [In such a world,] little if any attention is given to true devotion. Truth is ignored, wickedness is reinforced and prevails (Ex."same gender marriage"), and deception and error increase. It is a world of false values, where good qualities are eclipsed and evil ones prevail. As a result of this, tranquility ceases to exist, and there is no security, while there is much suffering and injury. God hides His Glory from the world, and it goes on as if left to chance, abandoned to the laws of nature. God neither rejoices in His handiwork, nor does mankind rejoice in Him. Man neither realizes nor recognizes even what it means for creation to rejoice before its Creator. In such a world, the wicked become strong, and the good are deprived of all status.
As the Midrash says: "He who is merciful to the cruel will ultimately become cruel to the merciful."
So, despite the fact that everyone is being urged to pray for more mercy on this world, is more mercy really what we need right now???
We need to put limits to ourselves, limits to our search of pleasures and honor. Limits to our envy for what our neighbor has. Limits in our relations so we can havenhealthy families and friends. Limits in our work, it's not OK to work for free all the time. There is Jesed of Abrajaham and there is Jesed of Lot. This last one it's very wrong. We have to put limits in our time: time to work, time to stop.- Shabat. Limits in what we see, limits in what we listen, limits in what we eat, limits in what we talk. Limits between what it's ours and what it's not, Limits between jehudim and goim. Limits between what is kodesh and what is jol... Maybe this way the waters will stay where they have to stay, in the rivers and in the sea. And Hashem will order them to respect the limits of the sand. And orthther the clouds to give the world rains of beraja. All of this restoring the power of gevura.
ReplyDelete. .
100%.
DeleteAll well and good; but who is listening and heeding these wise words of wisdom, if not those who are in the know already, those who have wise minds and will immediately see the truths. All those who are so self-righteous to say everything is loshon hara are either fools or completely void of common sense. There are erev rav amongst us and in positions of power who are out to destroy Torah Judaism, the fear of H' and the true Jewish people. Those who make up stupid rationalizations about 'speaking loshon harah' so all this wickedness is not exposed are either fools or wicked themselves and are of the Erev Rav.
ReplyDeleteThe 2000 years of galut has produced Jews who cannot even think as Jews; even those who are observant. Their mindset is twisted because of the good life amongst the nations and even before by being persecuted to such an extent that they have the Stockholm Syndrome. They have to wake up and use their G-D given common sense and using only the Torah as their Guide and then they will understand what normal righteousness and truths are and in an instant Moshiach would appear!
Ely
Yep. Makes total sense. And, speaking of "Judeo-Christian Values..." (written to a previous head of the English Dept. at Arutz 7)
ReplyDeleteIsaiah 1:27 - "Tziyon will be redeemed by justice; and those in her who repent, by righteousness."
ReplyDeleteP.E.