Shabbat Gathering: Rabbi Jonathan Sacks and how he taught Torah.
Dear Chevra, as is our custom, we will gather tonight at 5.45p ct to welcome Shabbat. These are the coordinates:
Zoom
Meeting ID: 963 5113 1550
Password: 1989
Phone: +1 312 626 6799
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Before we get started, I want to take advantage of this platform to let you know how much I appreciate the outpouring of support I've received following my mother's death. I am touched by the generosity of your spirit and am lifted up. Thank you.
Here we go.
Trigger Warning: Sexual violence.
Some of the things about England are very different from the U.S. of course. We don’t have a king. We don’t have a parliamentary system. And we don’t have a chief rabbi for all the Jews in the country. Can you imagine having a chief rabbi in the U.S.? There would be open rebellion in the streets. Rabbi Jonathan Sacks, z”l was the chief rabbi of England from 1991 to 2013 and did a great job of representing and ministering to Jews in his country. He was an amazing intellect and a kind man who filled the position with poise and grace. Rabbi Sacks left a legacy of many great books and drashes. Here’s Rabbi Sacks’ take on this week’s parsha.
Vayishlach and Dina.
This week’s Torah portion is Vayishlach. Vayishlach has a lot of different parts to it but, for the sake of this newsletter, we’ll take a look at the rape of Dina, the daughter of Leah and Jacob.
Jacob’s family was new in town, the city of Shechem that was ruled by Hamor and Dina wanted to take a walk, pick up the vibe, and maybe make some new friends. Hamor’s son notices Dina, lusts after her, grabs her, and rapes her in front of his friends. (According to Rashi, it was even worse than that.) Then, he decides that in addition to lusting after her he loves her and wants to marry her. Dina’s brothers go to Hamor’s son to straighten things out and they hatch a plot: They tell Hamor’s son that they will allow the marriage only if all the men of Shechem agree to be circumcised. Everyone agrees and proceed to get circumcised. Then, on the third day after the circumcision, when the pain is at its worse, Simon and Levi, Dina’s brothers, and their soldiers go into Shechem and kill everybody. When Jacob hears about this, he is upset and tells Simon and Levi that they have made a terrible mistake, that the Canaanites and the Perizzites will hear about what happened, seek retribution, and wipe out the Israelites.
After Jacob makes his point about the Canaanites and the Perizzites, Simon and Levi say to Jacob, “Should he have treated our sister like a prostitute?”
Who was right?
The question Rabbi Sacks poses is, “Who was right?” Was Simon and Levi right to avenge the rape of their sister or was Jacob right that they went too far? Sacks draws from Maimonides, Nachmanides, and a few others to drill down into the question.
Sacks says that Maimonides believes there is the principle of collective responsibility. The town did nothing to either prevent the rape by the son of Hamor nor did they try to punish him afterwards. Therefore they were culpable in the crime. And this warranted the destruction of the city.
According to Sacks, Nachmanides disagrees. Nachmanides says that there’s no such thing as collective responsibility, that there is no such thing as a death sentence for the citizens of Shechem for not punishing the son of Hamor. Nachmanides goes on to say that, if Simon and Levi were right, why did Jacob disagree with them in the moment and why, on his death bed, did Jacob curse them for what they did?
Rabbi Sacks notes that there is the concept of collective responsibility in Jewish law but that law may be specific to the Jewish people.
And it doesn’t take Rabbi Sacks long to reach the example of the Shoah. Of course the perpetrators of the Shoah were guilty but how about the bystanders who permitted the atrocities to be committed?
Rabbi Sacks ends his drash with this:
There may, he says, be actions which can be vindicated but are nevertheless accursed. That is what Jacob meant when he cursed his sons.
Collective responsibility is one thing. Collective punishment is another.
I admire Rabbi Sacks’ skill. He’s able to tease apart the argument into a thesis and antithesis and then create a synthesis that doesn’t really resolve the two opposite opinions but lets both of them live together.
Rabbi Sacks passed away in 2020 at the age of 72. He left behind a large body of work that is freely available on his website. I highly recommend taking a look and taking away some of his insights that are both good for the head and the heart.
And may it be for all of us a blessing.
See you tonight!
Gut Shabbes!
All my love,
brian.
PS
How to make an egg cream.
The first time someone explained to me what an egg cream was I was confused, to say the least. First, there are no eggs or cream in an egg cream. Second, the combination of the ingredients sounded unappealing. My late father, my ex-wife, and I were at Sammi’s Romanian Restaurant, now sadly defunct. After enjoying too much food, my father and I weren’t in the mood for desert, but at the urging of my ex and the waiter, we agreed to try the egg cream. In for a penny, in for a pound.
The waiter brought out a cold carton of milk, a frosty siphon of seltzer, a bottle of U-Bet chocolate syrup and three tall glasses. I would describe how the waiter made our egg creams, but it was an ineffably exquisite ballet of culinary motion and science creating a light, frothy, and delicious concoction that hit the spot after a heavy meal.
My Jewish Learning has a blog called The Nosher and it recently wrote about how to make an egg cream. Personally, I think the recipe goes to too much trouble. I don’t think it’s necessary to make one’s own chocolate syrup from scratch, for example. But maybe that’s just me. Either way, try it and enjoy it.