SETTING THE WORLD ON FIRE WITH OUR EYES

Lag B'Omer, is a Jewish holiday celebrated on the 33rd day of the "Counting of the Omer," the forty-nine days between the Jewish holidays of Passover and Shavuot as stated in the Hebrew Bible: Leviticus 23:15–16.  It occurs the 18th day of the Hebrew month of Iyar.  This year LagB'Omer falls on the evening of Wed, May 22, 2019 – through the evening of Thu, May 23, 2019.

In Israel on Lag B'Omer tens of thousands of Jews go to the burial place of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai, for whom the holiday is about, in the small town of Meron in northern Israel where they have great celebrations of his legacy.  Very religious Jews sing and dance around campfires and totally whoop it up.  

But most Americans have never even heard of this significant holiday.  To be frank, I hardly even considered it, let alone understood it until recently.  And, now that I do, I think the message of the holiday is profoundly important to today.  

The Parsha of Lag BaOmer is extremely timely to current events related to the battles raging this very week over Alabama's new highly restrictive abortion laws.  In my personal opinion, Alabama law makers have gone too far!  But I want to zoom out to the more broad meaning of the holiday and then you can make your own associations. 

For many years now, politics is becoming increasingly partisan. The debates are very often between parties on the two ends of the extreme on many issues, whether it is gun control or abortion or illegal immigration, or whatever.  I believe the holiday of Lag B'Omer can teach us something very important and that we need to correct today.

I've posted the Hebrew and English translation of Lag B'Omer, below if you care to read the scripture.  There are also some remarks inserted by a Rabbi that I study with throughout the week, Rabbi David Fohrman's. For brevity sake, I'm going to get right to the conclusion about the meaning of the holiday, which I agree with. 

In the beginning Rabbi Shimon looked at the world with very harsh critical eyes - so harsh was his vision that it would set what he stared at on fire. After further study and consideration, Rabbi Shimon saw the world differently and he looked at the world with healing eyes.  

At that point in the scripture, Rabbi Shimon told is his son: די לעולם אני ואתה. "You and I are enough for the world."  According to Rabbi David Forhman,  what Rabbi Shimon found is "a new way to look at other people. The rest of the world, sure, they're crazy, and they're wrong, and it's an unimaginable tragedy that they're wasting their lives the way they are. But it doesn't mean we need to confront the tragedy and stomp it out. די לעולם אני ואתה – the two of us can just live our lives the right way, and let that be enough."

According to Rabbi Forhman, this became Rabbi Shimon's basic approach: "I can bear other people's existence, as long as I just accept that they're woefully misguided, and learn to expect nothing from them. I'm very tolerant." 

But the story doesn't end with just a message of tolerance, because Rabbi Shimon has one more encounter – Rabbi and his son meet an old man carrying myrtle branches just before Shabbat. This time, they don't just observe and judge or even tolerate. They are curious!  They ask questions and listen in order to try to understand the old man's perspective. As a result, they come to appreciate the old man's different way of serving God. 

The moral from Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai's life is that zealotry is not so good. We need to listen and respect different opinions. We need to see and try to understand other perspectives that are different than our own, rather than setting the world on fire with our eyes.   

I believe our world today would be better off if politicians and many citizens took a lesson from Lag B'Omer. Instead of moving to the outer extremes of the issues today, and holding fast to our zealous positions, we need to ask questions, listen more and have a more open mind.  The extreme partisanship in politics and the media today has gotten so viscous that is destroying everything in it's sight. 

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The Story of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai:

The story, found in Masechet Shabbat, is set at a point in history when the Romans were occupying Israel. The Romans hear that Rabbi Shimon was criticizing them, and they sentence him to death. So Rabbi Shimon and his son, Rabbi Elazar, go into hiding in a secluded cave, where they spend their days doing nothing but studying Torah and praying. They're in the cave for twelve years, miraculously sustained by a spring of water and a carob tree, until one day, Eliyahu haNavi, Elijah the prophet himself, informs them they are no longer being pursued.

Now let's see what happens when they leave the cave, and reenter the world:

נפקו

They emerged

חזו אינשי דקא כרבי וזרעי

And they saw people plowing and sowing seeds. But Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai doesn't like what he sees:

אמר מניחין חיי עולם ועוסקין בחיי שעה

He cried out, "These people are abandoning eternal life for life of this world! They're putting aside Torah study, to work their fields – worthless, earthly pursuits!"

He couldn't imagine why anyone would do that.

כל מקום שנותנין עיניהן מיד נשרף

And suddenly, any place Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai and his son would turn their gaze, it immediately went up in flames.

יצתה בת קול

A voice from Heaven called out to them,

ואמרה להם

And it said,

"להחריב עולמי יצאתם?"

"Did you come out here to destroy My world?"

"חיזרו למערתכם!"

"Go back into your cave, before you cause any more damage!"

After this Heavenly rebuke, Rabbi Shimon and his son return to the cave for one more year, and then emerge once again. But this time, things go a little differently.

נפקו

They came out.

כל היכא דהוה מחי ר' אלעזר הוה מסי ר"ש

Whatever Rabbi Elazar damaged, Rabbi Shimon repaired.

In other words, Rabbi Elazar is still burning things left and right. But for Rabbi Shimon, something has changed. Not only is he not spitting fire from his eyes anymore; all the damage that his son causes, he's able to undo. Rabbi Shimon then turns to his son and says:

די לעולם אני ואתה

"My son; you and I, we're enough for the world."

One Friday afternoon, as the sun was setting and Shabbat was arriving,

חזו ההוא סבא

Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai and his son saw an old man

דהוה נקיט תרי מדאני אסא ורהיט בין השמשות

And he was holding two big bundles of hadassim, fragrant myrtle branches, and running at twilight.

אמרו ליה

They said to him

הני למה לך

Why do you have these branches in your hands?

אמר להו לכבוד שבת

He responded: They are in honor of Shabbat.

(Apparently, hadassim were the second-century version of a fragrant bouquet of flowers.)

ותיסגי לך בחד

They asked him: Wouldn't one bundle be enough?

חד כנגד זכור וחד כנגד שמור

The old man explained: One bundle corresponds to Zachor – the commandment to remember Shabbat; and the other, to Shamor – the commandment to guard Shabbat.

In other words, he seems to be saying that since the Bible uses two different words when it commands us to observe Shabbat, it deserves a double honor.

א"ל לבריה חזי כמה חביבין מצות על ישראל

After hearing this, Rabbi Shimon turned to his son and said: Look how beloved the commandments are to the children of Israel. Finally,

יתיב דעתייהו

Their minds were put to ease, and they lived happily ever after.

THE TORAH AND THE RUSSIAN COLLUSION HOAX - ARE THEY RELATED?

This sums up the Russian Collusion Hoax against Trump.  Now the tables have turned on the haters. 

Spygate evidence is overwhelming and damming.  But it has taken years to expose because the conspirators held top positions in the highest powers of our Land - the DOJ, FBI, CIA, IRS, and Executive Office.  

To begin with, culprits destroyed huge volumes of evidence with bleach bit and hammers AFTER IT WAS SUBPOENAED.  Then they purposely botched investigations into their candidates illegal acts.  Plus, it has taken years and dozens of court orders to get thousands of the critical documents released.

When AG Barr obtains indictments they won't be based on rumors and lies.  They won't be on unrelated crimes in order to get insiders to perjure themselves.  They will be based on the highest crimes against America ever committed!

Democratic and Deep State haters violated the central tenet of the Torah from Leviticus.  They "hated in their heart" and protected their hate by holding a grudge.  AND then they brought a sin upon themselves!  

The Commandments in Kesdoshim, last weeks Torah portion (parsha) is the first time in the Torah that G-d formally addresses the entire Nation of Hebrews.  YOU KNOW IT as the Golden Rule.  "LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF, I AM YOUR G-D."

There is much more to Pasha Kedoshim and the "Golden Rule."  I wrote about this passage from Leviticus last week. 

D'var for Parsha Kedoshim 

By Jonah Ritter 5/8/19

With all the talk of hate and stopping hate that we hear these days, I'm pleased to have this opportunity to do the D'Var because true to form, the Parsha and the Torah has relevance to our lives.  

This week's Parshat, Parsha Kedoshim, contains one of the most famous verses in the entire Torah: ve'ahavta lere'acha kamocha, "love your neighbor as yourself." According to Rabbi Akiva. "this is the great principle of the Torah."  

According to the Sages, Kedoshim is the first time in a formal gathering that the entire nation (hak’hel) as a whole is commanded to “be holy,” The whole society is to be governed by love, without resentments or revenge.  “Judaism is fundamentally an equality of dignity. We are all equal citizens in the nation whose sovereign is God.”  Such an important message for today, where allegiances are to Political parties, and there is so much hate.  
  

In my D'var rather than focusing on the commandments in Leviticus 19:1 - 20:27, regarding holiness, ethical behavior, and sexual transgression, I'd like to focus on the actual versus in Leviticus chapter 19. 

I'm going to start from verse 17. Lo-tisna et-achicha bilvavecha, "do not hate your brother in your heart." Hoche'ach tochiach et-amitecha, "reprove your fellow." You see somebody doing something wrong, tell them about it. Hoche'ach comes from the word 'to show, to point out.' Velo-tisa alav chet, "and do not carry upon yourself a sin." Lo-tikom velo-titor et-benei amecha, "do not take revenge, do not nurse a grudge against your people." Ve'ahavta lere'acha kamocha ani HASHEM, "and love your neighbor as yourself, for I am God." 

When you look at how the phrase "AND love your neighbor as yourself" follows the other points, it can almost be viewed as a "therefore" or "so you can" 

Let's break this down.  

Part #1: Lo-tisna et-achicha bilvavecha, "do not hate your fellow in your heart."  -  Does the Torah consider it okay to hate someone?  The Torah doesn't forbid us to hate. It doesn't say "don't hate your fellow," it says "don't hate your fellow in your heart." What does "in your heart" add?

According to Moses ben Nahman, commonly known as Nachmanides, and also referred to by the acronym Ramban: Things go wrong between people. Things make you annoyed, it is okay to feel hatred. What's not okay is to smile when we feel hatred is to: 

• Keep it in your heart. 
• To bury it deep inside
• To pretend that everything is fine. 
• To deny our feelings.  
• To rationalize bearing the hatred.  

The Ramban says that Hatred likes to be secretive, to bury itself.  But Ramban tells us not to give in to that impulse.  We must resist the inclination to nurse a grudge. The Hebrew lo-titor means "to protect, to nurture."  

What's the alternative?  That's revealed in the next phrase - Hoche'ach tochiach et-amitecha, "reprove your fellow."  

If someone is doing something wrong we need to be upfront. Find a way to tell them about it. 

One way or another it will come out.  It will either come out overtly in the form of revenge, or it will come out covertly in the form of a grudge that lurks behind your smile.  

Which is why in Kedoshim we are told, Velo-tisa alav chet, "and do not bear a sin upon yourself." 

We are also told, Lo-tikom velo-titor et-benei amecha -- "do not take revenge, do not bear a grudge."

As we all can appreciate, telling someone you hate them can be risky, to say the least.  Rashi provides us guidance.  

Rashi says we must be careful in how we show our feelings of hate.  For one thing, we must not do it in a way that causes us to transgress. Don't cause sin upon yourself by how you handle the hate. So even if someone has sinned against that is a way to handle it - there are rules to follow. Don't embarrass them in public. Don't express your hate in way that's meant to be hurtful. We need to be constructive - to figure out a way that they can hear what it is that you want to tell them. 

So, if you want to hate, fine! But don't hate them in your heart. You can hate, no problem, hate away!  You just have to lay out carefully and constructively, in the best way you can, what it is that's bothering you. 

But whatever you do, don't bury your hatred and hate your fellow in your heart while you smile on the outside. If you do that, your hatred is doomed to come out as revenge or as a grudge.  Put your cards on the table; that's the way hatred gets dissipated.

The section concludes, ve'ahavta lere'acha kamocha, "love your neighbor as yourself." The Torah is giving you a path to love your neighbor as yourself.

Sometimes bad stuff happens with people you like. The Torah is giving you a recipe for love in the face of bad stuff.

That's how you get to love, love that works through the problem and takes the misunderstandings of the little slights and all of the little things that can destroy love, and instead turns them into building blocks for a true love that's not built on a smile pasted upon resentment but that is true affection, through and through.

"Real friends will tell you the ugly truth, not pretty lies."

"A true friend will say good things behind your back and bad things to your face."

TRUMP BEING TRUMP. CHINA BEING CHINA.

Brinkmanship is a classic negotiating tactic, one that Trump is famous for. 

In order for Trump's threat of tariffs to be effective, with the Chinese or others, he must be credible for following through. Otherwise it is perceived as a bluff and he loses in the negotiations and his reputation suffers.

A prime example of a brinkmanship failure is Obama and his infamous failure to enforce the "Red Line" in Syria. Contrast that to Trump who reversed that failure at the very start of his Presidency.  By launching Tomahawk Missiles against Syria without hesitation after another poisonous gas attack, Trump immediately earned "street cred." 

Trump leveraged his negotiating credibility and the tactic of brinkmanship in negotiating the USMCA trade agreement with Canada and Mexico. He did the same with NATO and N. Korea. Those were all important in their own right. But they were also a setup for his next and tougher target, CHINA.  And ultimately, for what's to come with the Israel and the so called "deal of the century."

The Chinese are tremendous negotiators.  They turn brinkmanship into a game of chicken. By raising the stakes, as they typically do, they scare their opponents into backing down. It has worked for them time and again.  But Trump is a different negotiator and leader than the Chinese have had to deal with before. He is predictably unpredictable - which drives them crazy.  By they same token, I suspect they respect Trump the way they respect Sun Tzu (Art of War.)

The China trade negotiations are extremely significant and important. The USA has to protect it's intellectual property and cyber security.  The outcome of these negotiations will have profound impacts on both of our economies and the world. The USA can not afford to fail. Trump knows that. He has spoken passionately about this for decades, long before he ran for President.  He is not going to let America lose.

I don't know if my thoughts fall into the category of sanguine.  I think of my view as pragmatic. Both the USA and China need one another - we both need a deal.  Which one needs the other more is debatable - and it is akin to chasing one's tail. Or arguing who would win a nuclear war based, based on the number of missiles.  

Some say time is on China's side.  And, the fact that Xi doesn't need to win an election let's them wait us out.  There's so many arguments, pro & con, on behalf of who wins a tariff war.  But I don't believe China flew over this time to save face.  They flew over because they want to save the deal.  They are testing the boundaries of the deal.  Trump said we're in "no rush to make a deal."  That was the smartest thing he could have said.  The tariffs hurt everyone .... but once a USA a manufacturer moves sourcing out of China, Xi knows it is hard to get it to go back.  

HAMAS ACTS OUT OF DYING DESPERATION

AT A TIME WHEN MANY ARE POISED FOR A BOLD NEW APPROACH TO PEACE IN ISRAEL, HAMAS IS ACTING OUT OF DYING DESPERATION.

Hamas wanted to get in some last licks on the cusp of Ramadan.  They also tried to steel the focus away from a huge Israeli public relations success -- Euro Vision coming up in Israel in just days.

Hamas's missile attacks this weekend against Israeli's are like distress flares.  They are a painful sign that Hamas senses their time is running out - their days are numbered.

The President's Senior Advisor Jared Kushner is expected to announce a new peace plan very soon.  Kushner has been working behind the scenes for over a year.

Hamas has read the writing on the Western Wall, pardon the pun, and they know that the imminent new peace plan spells their demise. 

Tangentially, Jews around the world are counting the Omer, the days until Revelation. Shavuot, the Jewish holiday which celebrates receiving the Torah at Mount Sinai, is in our sights since Passover.  And so is a hopeful new day for the Palestinians and Israelis.

It is no coincidence that Kushner has been privately going around to Arab countries, laying the ground work.  In my opinion, Kushner is collecting "gold & silver" to build a better future in Israel for both the Palestinians and the Israelis. There are practical physical things going on to prepare for a miracle - Peace.

I HAVE HIGH HOPES . . .

I look forward to the announcement of a bold new plan with a very different and exciting approach.  I expect Kushner's plan to have significant practical elements which create great opportunities for prosperity, a better quality of life and a fresh start.

The time is right and the stage is set for a brilliant new paradigm that finally alters the way we perceive the future for the two sides and how the Palestinians and Israelis can coexist and thrive together. 

If the plan is as promising as I hope it will be for the Palestinians especially, it will cut the legs right out from underneath Hamas, and force Fatah's hand.

I believe in the court of world public opinion, and more importantly with the Palestinians, Hamas is about to lose any remaining leadership credibility and expose itself by how it responds to the new peace plan.  Once and FOR ALL Hamas's words and actions will lay bare how corrupt, destructive, hateful and lying their organization is.

The choice that the Palestinian people will have to make, between new leadership with a fresh new vision, verses the failed Hamas and Fatah leadership, will be the ultimate test of the Palestinians. 

What could be truly amazing is the reaction to the new plan by Israel's Middle Eastern neighbors, particularly Egypt, Jordan and Saudi Arabia.  I would not be surprised for them to privately, if not publicly, support Kushner's bold plan in words and deeds.

I stand with Israel, but we all would be glad to see the Palestinian people living happy, peaceful and productive lives in harmony with the Israeli people. That is the future they must choose!

TIME WILL TELL AND ITS TIME! NISSAN HAS ARRIVED -- LET'S ALL HOPE/PRAY FOR A MIRACLE.

MY PREDICTION OF POSSIBLE PLAN:
First a preface - With the Israeli election decided and Netanyahu serving another, and historic term, Bibi can take decisive actions to deal with the Palestinians that were not likely prior to the election.

In addition, with the Mueller investigation closed and no collusion found, let alone with the tables turning on the accuser's after Barr's accusations of spying, Trump is in the strongest position he has been in politically since being elected, even after losing the House.

The stage is set for Netanyahu and Trump to announce the long promised and highly anticipated Trump/Kushner Peace plan.

The big question is what will they be offering the Palestinians in exchange for peace.  Most of the attention has been on whether the offer of a two-state solution is still on the table.  I predict the centerpeace of the plan that Kushner has devised is a NEW ELECTION.  I'll explain.

SEVEN STEPS TO A BRIGHTER FUTURE FOR PALESTINIANS AND ISRAELIS:

I believe the deal will contain the following elements:

1. Israeli's IDF will re-enter Gaza in order to ensure a process whereby a fair election can be conducted by the Palestinians.

2. Very shortly a Palestinian opposition party and candidates will emerge to compete against Hamas and Fatah.  Israeli IDF forces will provide them protection against Hamas leaders who otherwise would "eliminate" them.

3. Such opposition candidates will have the backing of several Arab countries, including Egypt, Saudi Arabia and possibly Jordan.  I believe Kushner has been working on such arrangements over the last two years and the very recent visit of Egypt's President to meet privately with Trump was to finalize details for the Plan.

4. The USA and other Western allies, as well as perhaps even Russia, will support the new Palestinian party candidates.

5. Thanks to prior commitments of support from Arab countries and the USA*, the new leader will be able to make an incredibly rich and wonderful offer to the Palestinians. (E.g. new schools, new hospitals, jobs, greater freedom to move about, and peacefully coexistence within Israel.)

* The USA halted hundreds of millions in support for the U.N. and Abbas.  That money can be redirected to the new party and projects to help Palestinians if they win the election.

6. I do not have a strong sense of whether they will be offering actual Statehood, but I do believe the Palestinians will have greater freedom of governance.

7. In the spirit of the Jubilee year, which Jews have not celebrated since the destruction of the Temple and the diaspora which scattered the 12 Tribes of Israel, I have one more possible element.  An element of Biblical dimensions.  What about a provision in the plan that allows any Palestinian who can trace their family ancestry back to ownership of a specific plot of land in Israel, being given the right to apply to purchase back their ancestral land.  Perhaps a fund could be set up with millions donated by Arab countries, that would support such a plan.

Again, the point in all this is that the CENTERPIECE of the peace plan is an ELECTION.  The Palestinians will be given the opportunity to chose their fate.

In order for there to be a fair election process in Gaza, in which true opposition of Hamas can rise up, the Israeli IDF must move into Gaza and seize control.

Hamas just gave the Israeli Army the reason it needed with this weekend's massive rocket attacks.  By virtue of Hamas's dying act of desperation they have set in motion the next steps that will be their demise.

Hamas will run on it's record, which as we all know promises only greater pain and misery.  Or the Palestinians can make the only sensible choice - The NEW Plan.  And when the Palestinians choose the new party they are not only choosing a bright future, they will also be rejecting IRAN!!

In the process, the world will have no choice but to accept the United States and Israel's newest ally - the new Palestinian government!

Such a peace plan could be even greater than the "deal of the century" Trump would love to land. It would be worthy of higher praise than the cheapened Nobel Peace Prize.  This could be what Jews and Christians have waited thousands of years for.  With the annexation of the Golan and the West Bank, ALL of the Kingdom of Israel is restored. Is it time to take a roll call for the Ten Lost Tribes?