A Message from a 19th Century Teacher For Us!

I’ve spent a good bit of this summer exploring 19th-century Lithuanian Jewish life. And, I have done it from the Berkshire mountains in Western Massachusetts. After staring at two volumes on my growing shelf of Mussar books for several years, I decided that this was the summer during which I was going to take the plunge. And so, I pulled the two volumes ff my shelf and I dove into Professor Immanuel Etkes’ Rabbi Israel Salanter and the Mussar Movement: Seeking the Torah of Truth, and Rabbi Geoffrey Claussen’s Sharing the Burden: Rabbi Simhah Zissel Ziv and the Path of Musar. These biographies of the Founder of the Mussar Movement, Rabbi Yisrael Salanter (1809-83), and of one of his primary disciples, Rabbi Simchah Zissel Ziv (1824-98), grounded and expanded my own appreciation of and interest in Mussar. They shed new light for me on some of the realities and tensions within 19^th century Eastern European Jewry. Reform Judaism and Hasidism, for that matter, were not the only innovations in Jewish life resisted by the more traditional Yeshiva-oriented world of that time and place. More about that another time. I found my visit to 19^th century Lithuania to be enlightening, uplifting and inspiring in a number of ways. Along the way, I uncovered many new insights, and I happened upon a number of new sources, resources, and teachings which have now been added to my growing reading list.

Today I write to share one such teaching, which I uncovered just a few days before the start of our Hebrew month of Elul. This month is a time of spiritual preparation for our coming High Holy Days which begin with Rosh Hashanah (this year on Sunday evening, September 9^th). Courtesy of Rabbi Claussen’s work I was introduced to a short piece which Rabbi Simcha Zissel Ziv posted on the door of his Talmud Torah (study hall) in Kelm during this month of Elul sometime in the 1860’s. As I read this notice from another time and place, I was struck by how much Rabbi Simcha Zissel Ziv’s missive could have been written for us in our time. Rabbi Geoffrey Claussen published a translation of the piece in the Jewish Review of Books in 2013, from which I share a few excerpts here as we prepare ourselves for the coming Holy Days.

Rabbi Simcha Zissel Ziv’s message opens: “As is known, the Sages taught [that God commanded]: “recite verses of Sovereignty (a reference to a section of the Shofar Service on Rosh Hashanah) before Me . . . so that you make me Sovereign over you” (Babylonian Talmud, Rosh Hashanah 34b). When we meditate upon the power to maintain a kingdom [ruled] by [a sovereign of] flesh and blood, [we find that] the kingdom is maintained only when the sovereign’s subjects are all like one person in their service to him. And if . . . division was to emerge among the subjects of the king, the knot of the kingdom would be untied, and (God forbid) the world would be destroyed. As our Sages of blessed memory said, “were it not for the fear [of the government], a person would swallow his neighbor alive” (Mishnah Avot 3:2). Thus [it is] the unity of the subjects [which] maintains the kingdom.”

As I read these words from a teacher in 19^th century Lithuania, speaking no doubt to the divisions within the Jewish community of his time, I was struck by their resonance, both for our Jewish community in this 21^st century, but also their resonance for us as Americans in these days.  And Rabbi Simcha Zissel Ziv’s missive continues ... “There is an obligation upon us, prior to the Day of Judgment, may it come upon us for good, to occupy ourselves during the entire year with the positive commandment “You shall love your fellow as yourself” (Lev. 19:18). And through this, there will be unity among the subjects of the Blessed Ruler, and [God’s] Sovereignty will come into our hands well ...

“If God forbid, the sin of hating people is on our hands, how can we not be ashamed and disgraced to be speaking lies . . . when we ask, in prayer for God to ‘rule over the entire world, in Your glory’? We have not prepared ourselves to do what is essential for maintaining the kingdom of heaven . . . And so we must accept upon ourselves the work of loving people and of unity. With this, one’s path will slowly, slowly improve—and, in any case, one will already have turned a little bit toward repentance. And, if we merit a community that is immersed in this work during the entire year, who can measure the greatness of the merit for us and for the entire world?

“No one should say that this work is too difficult. It is not only the decree of [our God], but we hope that when one works at this, with appropriate reflection, it will slowly, slowly, become easier, and one will find great joy in it . . . This message should remain before our eyes all year long. And so may we all merit to be written and sealed for good [in the Book of Life] with the whole people of Israel. Amen— may this be God’s will.” 

My friends, these are, I believe, words worthy of our contemplation in these days of prelude and preparation for our Days of Judgment, our Days of Awe! They come to us from a teacher in another time and another place. But they easily could have been written for us. May we use these days to reflect, prepare for the work of Teshuvah- of repentance, and the work of healing ourselves, our relationships, and I pray, our world!

Conduct Unbecoming

Boy is it hot!! Indeed, cities the world over are experiencing record temperatures. Daily we read of wildfires, tornadoes, extreme heat waves and all the while summer is streaming forward towards Labor Day, our Jewish Holy Days, and a new “academic” year. For many, these lazy, hazy summer days provide some respite as many take off for vacations, relaxing and renewal. For me, summer seems to be flowing by all-too-quickly.

As the weeks roll by, our newsfeed fills up with seemingly all-consuming prognostication on this November’s midterm elections. All the while, our President continues his drumbeat of denigrating – his opponents, the news media, leaders and countries the world over, those who serve our country in leadership and security roles, in short, anyone who does not buy his rhetoric and his precise view on any subject. Of course, since his views and interpretations change with the wind, it’s nigh impossible for anyone who might be inclined to agree with him to choose and hold a position, or an interpretation. He surely doesn’t. Yet, it seems that there are many who hold firm with him as he careens from insult to insult, from denial to explanation.

Spending my summer in the Berkshires, without cable TV, and with infrequent Wi-Fi access, has its plusses. It allows me to unplug – at least somewhat, which is a good practice for summer (and probably throughout the flow of the calendar.)  Nonetheless, I am not without any access to news and updates. As I briefly tuned in to check on the news over the past week a few days ago, I was delighted to see that my Red Sox are enjoying continued success despite a recent spate of injuries. I noted that the Patriots and other NFL teams are beginning to prepare for their coming season. And, I was happy to hear that NBA star LeBron James (of whom I am not a big fan) is doing good for the folks in his hometown of Akron, Ohio. Though not a fan, I admire his good works that have been reported in recent days.

Of course, reading about Mr. James’ acts of generosity, of both spirit and tangible resources, led to my learning about the President’s unnecessary and shameful attack on LeBron James, and CNN anchor, Don Lemon for an interview Lemon conducted with James about his gift. I also learned about the recent string of insults and statements of denigration that the President has let fly – against Rep. Maxine Waters of California; against media figures from both ends of the spectrum and from across the news channels; of actors; of military leaders who disagree with his “strategic assessments;” of those engaged in the investigations of possible infractions in the 2016 elections; of political consultants from both major parties; and of course of immigrants; and generally, anyone who does not buy his malarkey.

Catching up on the hideous stream of invective I was struck by a notion – couldn’t we hold the President as guilty of “Conduct Unbecoming” – unbecoming a Commander-in-Chief, unbecoming the leader of a major political party, unbecoming the occupant of the highest office in our nation, and by extension a place of prominence in our world, unbecoming a person who holds unlimited access to the Bully Pulpit of our Nation. I could go on. Of course, a Google search alerted me to the reality that this notion, which only struck me in the last week has already been raised over recent years by others.

Our leaders in our Nation’s Capital are on summer break. For some of them, it’s a shortened break owing to political realities and exigencies. Nevertheless, I wish that our elected officials, irrespective of political party, would step back from the fray and recognize that silence in face of the President’s shameful behavior and hateful expressions are, in fact, a silence of complicity to his Conduct Unbecoming.

Last week I wrote about my experience seeing the film that is playing around our country based on the life of Fred Rogers, Won’t You Be My Neighbor?” In my piece, I expressed this wish that all our elected official would avail themselves of the opportunity to see this film, which asks us critical questions about our lives, our actions, and our stance towards those around us. Since publishing that piece I’ve listened to an audiobook about Fred Rogers, and I have become increasingly aware of the latest string of hatred pouring forth from the fingers and mouth of our Commander-in-Chief.

I am grateful that summer still has some run left in which to step back and away. I truly hope that we, as individuals, as community members and as “neighbors” in this great nation, irrespective of our political persuasions, will step back and consider the behavior of our highest official. He is, I believe, truly and daily, guilty of Conduct Unbecoming. I pray that our leaders, from the right and the left, from the Blue States and the Red States, from all parties, will step forward from whatever break they have managed, to bring us back together as a nation rather than allow the antics and infantile behavior of this  narcissist, who should be held as guilty of Conduct Unbecoming any aspect of the high office he occupies, to continue to drive us apart and sow discord across our country – and around our world.