The Short Vort
Good Morning!
Today is Monday the 20th of Menachem Av 5780 and August 10, 2020
Do You Remember Me?
On Shabbos while listening to Krias HaTorah something hit me, which I never noticed before.
The Torah tells us that the Jewish people will eventually reach the Holyland, their desired destination.
However, the Torah tells us that precisely then, when you finally have received all that you desired, there is a danger
"lest you eat and be sated, and build good houses and dwell therein, and your herds and your flocks multiply, and your silver and gold increase, and all that you have increases, and your heart grows haughty, and you forget the Lord, your God, Who has brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage, Who led you through that great and awesome desert, [in which were] snakes, vipers and scorpions, and drought, where there was no water; who brought water for you out of solid rock, Who fed you with manna in the desert, …and you will say to yourself, "My strength and the might of my hand that has accumulated this wealth for me." (Devarim 8:12-17)
This entire paragraph is perplexing.
The Torah is informing us that explicitly when the Jewish people return to their "spiritual home," it is precisely then that the danger of "forgetting" Hashem looms menacingly over them.
Yet, how can that be?
How can the Torah tell us that the Jewish people who saw the Manna come down daily from heaven and saw that Hashem "brought water for you out of solid rock"- how can it possibly be that these same people will "forget the Lord, your God?"
Can you imagine that the same people who were the beneficiaries of "water coming out of a rock" and the Manna falling from heaven, could eventually "forget" that it was Hashem who did this for them?
How Could they claim, and "you will say to yourself, "My strength and the might of my hand that has accumulated this wealth for me"???
The Manna was a heavenly gift that came six days a week.
The water from the rock was a constant miracle, and nevertheless, Hashem warns the people, "be careful, for you may "forget" that it was Hashem and not your "strength" that brought you all this.
Can people be so delusional as to forget about Hashem and believe it was their "strength" which brought this about?
How can this be explained?
It happens all the time.
We, by nature, can easily forget those that benefit us.
The American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee, also known as the Joint or the JDC, is a Jewish relief organization based in New York City.
Beginning in World War One, the American Jewish Relief Committee helped collect funds for the JDC. Several wealthy, Reform Jews founded the American Jewish Relief Committee on October 25, 1914.
After a few years, the JDC and the organizations assisting it had raised significant funds and were able to make a noteworthy impact.
By 1920, the JDC had set nearly $5,000,000 to assist the Jews in Poland. Between 1919 and 1920, during the emergency relief period, the JDC had disbursed over $22,000,000 to help in restoration and relief across Europe.
During October 1929, the Great Depression began in America, and most American citizens began to face financial hardship. Shortly after, the JDC felt the effect of the Great Depression. Their funding began to dwindle, as people had a hard time donating money to the organization. Due to their lessened resources, the JDC focused its efforts on the Jews who remained in Germany and could no longer help Jews in Eastern Europe.
One of the many beneficiaries of the largesse of the JDC were the Yeshivas in Eastern Europe.
After the depression which began in 1929, the JDC curtailed its help to the yeshivas.
At that point, there were those Jews who were concerned for the welfare of the yeshivos.
They went to complain to the Chofetz Chaim.
They claimed, "We received all this aid for so many years, we are entitled to it. What should we do with the JDC ?"
The Chofetz Chaim replied without hesitation, "What do you mean what should we do? We should say thank you for all the years of support. After all, these Jews were not Torah observant Jews and felt no obligation to help us, yet, nevertheless, for all of these years, they helped us. We had no "rights" to that money. Instead, we were beneficiaries of their benevolence. Therefore, our only reaction should be to say, "thank you."
The Chofetz Chaim understood that we were not "entitled" to anything; instead, he felt we must say, "thank you."
So is the way of man.
Once we become accustomed to being the beneficiaries of someone else's benevolence, we begin to feel entitled to the benefits of the benefactor.
We will even become angry and annoyed when the beneficence is withdrawn.
Therefore, we can now understand how the Jewish people, notwithstanding their being the recipients of the Manna from Hashem and water from the rock, nevertheless, when things were good, it was easy for them to forget Hashem's benevolence.
Such is the nature of man; when things are good, we forget our former benefactor, and so too when we become accustomed to philanthropy, we are annoyed when the relief is withdrawn as we feel entitled to the assistance.
This Wednesday, our Shul has our annual "dinner."
As you are aware, our Shul was closed for almost 100 days.
Many people complained during that time by telling me, "Rabbi, when are you going to open the Shul finally?"
Then the Shul opened, and there was a tremendous effort involved in making the Shul safe.
I (we) had to deal with congregants who felt we were too strict in mask enforcement (maybe we were?)
I also had to respond to congregants respectfully who felt we were too lax in our enforcement of masking and social distancing (maybe we were?)
Some have not returned to the Shul for various reasons.
Some claim they are still "not ready" because of their health, and some claim they are still "not ready" to wear a mask.
As always, you can never please everyone, nor do I expect to.
However, I do humbly request that those of you who have benefited from the Shul and its Shiurim, it's rabbinic staff, it's Minyanim etc. to please not "forget" about us.
Even if now all is good and you are in a backyard minyan and davening is beautiful and comfortable, please don't forget about the time the Shul was there for you to be it for a 5 AM Vasikin Minyan or a Midnight Maariv.
I humbly ask those of you who feel "cheated" that the Shul now requires a mask and claim, "It's not the same place as it was; I ask you to please remember the words of the Chofetz Chaim.
Indeed, we can no longer provide free coffee and no longer host 40 minyanim a day, however, please (as the Chofetz Chaim said) let's all say "thank you" and not forget about the Shul.
I feel very uncomfortable writing these words. However, I don't want anyone ever to tell me, "If only I had known…"
I can honestly say I have never favored a wealthy person over a non-wealthy person. Indeed, I have no access on my computer to anyone's financial status or even their member status.
I pick up the phone for everyone and anyone.
I attempt to treat every Jew (and non-Jew) with respect and love.
Yet, I must be brutally honest, the Shul is hurting.
Our Shul has no deep pockets to rely on.
The core of our Shul are simple hard-working Jews trying their best to make ends meet.
The last five months has seen the Shul's modest financial resources melt away.
The fact that the there were no rentals drained our resources.
There was no selling of aliyahs on Yom Tov, nor were there Mishabeirach's to help the Shul out..
There was no "dollar a day- pushka drive".
The money kept going out, and little was coming in.
And yet, when we finally opened, we realized for everyone's health we had to utilize the Main Shul, which usually sits 600 and reconfigure it to accommodate 100 people and keep the lights and air conditioning operating most of the day. (Something we had not done in the past).
We did this for everyone's safety and health.
Nevertheless, some people decided that since they are not coming for whatever the reason, they canceled their membership.
Many have come to me to commend the Shul and me for being so careful about everyone's health and safety. So far, not one of these "new-safe" people have joined the Shul.
Yet, those that have come to condemn me for being too careful, unfortunately, have withdrawn their much needed financial support.
I ask you, as we are 48 hours away from the Shul dinner, PLEASE do not forget us.
When times were good, we did our best to provide for everyone.
We had around the clock minyanim and around the clock coffee and cookies.
We had a Beis Medrash opened 20 hours a day, and we tried to make the Shul a welcoming and warm place.
If I (we) offended you by being too strict on the masking rules, I personally apologize and ask you to return as we have undergone "sensitivity" training.
If I offended you by not being strict enough, I also ask your forgiveness; it was not done intentionally.
Either way, I humbly ask you to please not forget about us.
Please go to ahavasisrael.org, and please remember us.
Please do not forget us.
I am thanking you in advance.
“If Not Now, Then When?”- Hillel
Ron Yitzchok Eisenman
Rabbi, Congregation Ahavas Israel
Passaic, NJ
