1.
If I told you that a day would come when "Shabbat Zachor" would be an opportunity to connect people who are very far from Torah and mitzvot, from all over the world, to observe Shabbat, what would you say? If I were to claim that there is a rare momentum to call them to observe for the first time in their lives precisely the Shabbat in which the people of Israel engaged in the subsistence of Amalek, how would you react to the idea? You would probably say that I understand nothing, neither in Torah nor certainly in branding.
Taking the most racist, most violent, most politically incorrect mitzvah, a mitzvah that even we dosis don't exactly find easy to digest (I have a theory that says that's why Jews escape on this Shabbat to deal with the question of how to pronounce the word "Zachor," in the reading of Zachor, in the sul or in the zirah), and precisely around it to try to get the masses to keep Shabbat?
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If anything, we will try to promote "Shabbat and honor" founded by the late Uri Orbach in the parsha of "Kedoshim," to honor the elders in the community on Shabbat, when the commandment is recited, "For the sake of the return of the dead, rise up, and honor the face of the aged." This is something that can go well even among secular humanists. It is a consensus. It is easy to connect with that.
But what can you do, consensus and political correctness are ultimately fashion. And fashion is something that changes. After Simchat Torah, we saw that many opinions and worldviews that were considered the height of fashion instantly became pathetic. Chic or trendy. And vice versa: What was considered the preserve of delusional and extremist people suddenly became mainstream.
2.
And after all that, nothing prepared me for the viral video by comedian Guy Hochman that went viral this week: "Listen, I may not be religious, but I am a very proud Jew. And we all remember, and we should remember the seventh to the tenth. Next Shabbat is Parashat Zachor. 'Remember what Amalek did to you.' Shabbat before Purim. I intend to observe Shabbat for the first time in my life. Not for the redemption. For unity with Israel. For our heroic soldiers on the front lines.".
Yes. It is precisely Shabbat Zachor. Or as Hochman calls it, 'Shabbat Zachor.' It is precisely she who speaks to him and to thousands more. And he continues in his direct language: "Today, the hearts of most of the people of Israel are in the right place. Their hearts are kosher. And I say: We keep Shabbat... because on Shabbat they murdered us, because we are Jews. On Shabbat we will rise up and say: We are proud to be Jews. So that all our enemies who thought of us as some kind of disintegrated people will know: The eternal people will not be broken so easily. The eternal people are not afraid of a long road. Flow with me. Let's bring a hundred thousand Jews to keep Shabbat for the first time. Like me. Show our enemies what kind of people we are. On Shabbat they rose up to slaughter us, on Shabbat we will rise up and say: We are proud to be Jews. Remember what Amalek did to you!".
3.
Let's continue. If I were to tell you that a day would come when, of all the commandments and regulations of the Sages, multitudes of Israelis, most of whom are very far from observing the commandments, would connect themselves specifically to fasting, that is, to the most difficult thing in Judaism: not eating for an entire day. Not "not eating prey," right? Not eating at all. Not drinking either. Not even coffee. You would say that I don't understand anything, not in the Torah and certainly not in branding. After all, this is a very difficult task even for those who are religious by birth. In my case, it's a real nightmare. And by the way, one of the fasts that is most difficult for me is the Esther Fast. Not because of the length, of course. Because of the timing.
So try to get the masses to fast during the Fast of Esther? Well, really. Want to connect them to the Purim mitzvot? Please. Let's do a campaign this year on the mitzvot of "gifts to the poor." It's much easier to do. And also much easier to explain in these days when so many people are displaced from their homes. "Gifts to the evacuees" sounds like a great initiative.
But how do we explain the Fast of Esther? After all, it is not even a memorial to a national disaster that happened to us, like Tisha B'Av and the rest of the fasts. The Fast of Esther, has one thing in common: belief in the power of unity around prayer. In the power of a common cry. Our enemies wanted to destroy us, Esther understood what the arena in which true influence is, so she fasted and prayed and called on all the people to join her, and then a divine miracle happened. That's the story.
And so the Sages established this fast for generations: to remember and remind us that in times of trouble, the address is the Lord of the universe.
How does Rabbi Eliyahu Ki-Tov write in the Book of Knowledge? "Whenever the Jews gathered to wage war against the enemies of God and the enemies of Israel, they would fast on the Day of Assembly and ask God to overthrow their enemies before them in battle. And the fast – to show that it is not by human strength that one prevails, nor by the prowess of their war – but by the fact that they raise their eyes in prayer to heaven, and from heaven they have mercy on them and give them the strength to win the war." End of quote. Well, go explain that today, during a war.
But here, too, as you know, a video has come that has broken the internet. A series of women, not really douchebags, who speak with great emotion about the idea of this great day and explain why they are going to fast on it for the first time: "About two thousand years ago, one woman risked her life and led an entire community to fast in order to save lives. Since then, the people of Israel have been fasting every year on the eve of Purim on a day named after her – the Fast of Esther. This year, I choose to fast not as a political act or a religious act, but as a Jewish act. Jewish tradition offers me a way to express pain and identification. Like then – Esther asked and the people were granted. 'Let my soul be given at my request and my people at my request.' A fast in which the soul is tortured and cries out for its brothers and sisters. For a few hours, from sunrise to sunset, to feel discomfort and a little of the distress of hunger. This year, I choose to fast.".
Wow. Why am I crying? I think it's not just because of the cello and piano that accompany the video with such mournful and moving music.
4.
So, what is the next commandment that people will suddenly wake up to observe for the first time in their lives? I don't know. Honestly, I'm not even trying to guess. I can't guess. Oh, wait, I have: Is there a possibility that after Pesach the "no shaving, no listening to music" initiative will take over the entire Omer? (What about vocal music? Well, that's already harder than the Fast of Esther).
And what about the holiday after that? Shavuot, the holiday of the giving of our Torah? Is there a chance that we will receive the Torah? Not as a political act and not as a religious act, right? As a Jewish act!
Let there not be a single sound of disdain for all the surprising initiatives. I am not disdainful. On the contrary. I am excited. If I disdain anyone, it is people like me who are constantly looking for only "pretty" commandments to publicize to the people of Israel, without understanding that the connection of a Jew, of every Jew, to the Torah and the mitzvot, is the most internal, the most soulful thing. That does him the most good. So it is a shame to remain in the discourse of "unity between different sectors" without understanding that the event here is completely different. The hundreds of thousands who joined these initiatives this week demand that we rise to the occasion.
Do you understand? I come to Guy Hochman with a friendly unity, and his soul screams at me: Shabbos! I want to keep Shabbat! Talk to me about halacha, about holiness, about practical commandments.
So who am I to know what's next, what mitzvah will touch the soul of some Jew? As Hochman said with his captivating simplicity: "Today, the hearts of the majority of the Jewish people are in the right place. The hearts are kosher... flow with me.".
Flowing with you. With you and all those with kosher hearts. Shall we meet on Passover Eve in the Fast of the Firstfruits?
•
This column often deals with the beginning of a new tractate in Daf Yomi, but today is a different story. Yesterday, Daf Yomi students reached the chapter "These Are the Realities," the second chapter in Tractate Baba Metzia.
That easy and simple chapter with which every child begins studying the Gemara. That chapter that reminds us of our initial learning experiences as children in school with that gray booklet.
Well, so how was your fifth grade experience with the Gemara? I didn't have a problem. Thanks for asking. And I didn't have a problem with the yeshiva either.
And that's probably why the moment I finished the yeshiva chapter of my life, I closed the Gemara, and didn't open it for years. What can I do? It's not for me. It's in Aramaic, it's in small, dense writing, it's difficult, and it reminds me that I'm actually someone who absorbs quite slowly. And not just in Aramaic.
But time passes, you grow up, and you realize that unpleasant memories are not an excuse that can last a lifetime. Certainly not when you yourself already have a child who is starting to learn "These are realities." Well, so what will you tell him? Sorry, I don't study with you, because thirty years ago I had a hard time in fifth grade with the difficult Aramaic words in the gray booklet, so I gave up? And what will your son say to his son? "In fifth grade, it was hard for Grandpa, so...".
And besides, today's Gemara is not the Gemara of our childhood. That is, the text is of course the same text, but in recent years it has become accessible, explained, translated, and even punctuated. As non-gray as possible.
So this week, as Daf Yomi students reach this initial chapter, which throws us back to childhood, we have a once-in-seven-and-a-half-year opportunity to make a correction. Correction 2024. To encounter the Gemara anew, from a different place. As big children.
You don't need to commit now to finishing the entire Shas, not even the entire tractate. Just open a Gemara Mengisha (or a Mengisha lesson from the large variety on the Daf Yomi portal), at the beginning of the "These Are Reality" chapter and try again. Just one page.
These are realities – yours!
P.S.
And for those who want to follow this correction to the end, and connect to learning from a place of great joy: I highly recommend that you sample the lesson of Rabbi Eli Stefansky from the 'Daf Yomi Center', with all the thoughtful presentations and funny video clips. This is not a Daf Yomi, this is a daily party. A lesson that is broadcast live from Beit Shemesh to tens of thousands of viewers around the world. A global phenomenon that is worth a column in itself. I am proud to say that I had a part in the fact that he was recently convinced to do his daily show in Hebrew as well. It took some time, but from now on, not only English and Aramaic speakers can enjoy it.
