Know your History

Dear friends,

When I was a child (okay, also much later), I trusted the Euro-centric version of world history that you find in the textbooks. Things sort of began with villages, and then city-states, an assortment of empires and before you know it feudalism raised its head in what later became known as the Dark Ages. Don’t worry about the gloom. The Renaissance will soon come, bringing the Enlightenment along with it. Before you can sing Dixie (for those of you who are unfamiliar with the ditty, or who dislike the idea of non-Jewish music taking up valuable space in your mind, you can substitute Yonatan HaKatan. It takes about the same time), the Age of Exploration came by when Not Nice “People “discovered” and claimed populated areas of the world as their own. Take a deep breath, allow for the fall of monarchies, the birth of democracy and various other New Deals, and here we are! 

It was only later that I noticed that the majority of the world was barely mentioned, and that I learned a lot about the history of conquest and warfare. Yes, there are cultural overtones, but that’s just a response to the rest of the Eisovic (is there a better way to say, from Eisov? If there is don’t hesitate to tell me) version of the Story of the World.

The Torah tells you to ask your fathers and your elders how Hashem has ruled His world throughout time. Its theme is the consequences of moral choices both for individuals and for the world (as Ramban points out in his introduction to Breishis). The most significant episode in world history took place at Mount Sinai. The Parshah that tells you about it is named after Yisro.
The Shlah (and others) tell us that Yisro was a reincarnation of Kayin. Kayin’s mother, Chava, (Eve), gave him this name meaning, “I have acquired a man with Hashem”, thus linking his name with the word acquisition. To him, life was something to acquire, a gift, one to open and enjoy and most of all to own. He recognized that G-d was the Creator, but viewed His presence as that of an artist who made a work of art and then left the museum to the spectators. Yisro’s nature was was similar to Kayins. He too wanted to have it all. The difference is that his field of action was spiritual. He explored every spiritual path, worshipped every god. It was clear to him that G-d is a living presence, (and had not abandoned his masterpiece, the world) but the concept of His unity evaded him. This is actually not very surprising, when you consider how fragmented the world seems to be. Good. Evil. Joy. Tragedy. Almost all religions are baffled by this enigma and end up worshippin a multiplicity of forces – the god of light and of dark, the redeemer and the satan etc. Then something happened that changed Yisro.

He had heard of the miracles that had taken place in Egypt. He had already taken grave risks to tell Pharoah (who heard of him - his reputation for wisdom was widely known) that there was no Jewish Problem - and no need to find a final solution for dealing with this “problem”. The result was that had to escape Egypt to avoid death. He had (possibly through some level of the “spiritual grapevine” that would lead back to Avraham’s day) heard of the Jews, but to him they were another people, who had their own path and their own god. When all the waters of the world split, when the Yam Suf split, he reached a new conclusion. The G-d that split the sea for His people is not some major player among all of the gods in the cosmos. He is universal, aware of the world and all of its people. When the sun stood still during the battle of Amalek, this conclusion was strengthened.

Many of you know all of this, and may be wondering why I am writing about it.

It has to change the way you think about history, not just, as it occurred, but as it evolves day by day.
From the very beginning He gave us humans tools through which we could use our minds and hearts. There were people who made good choices. Avraham chose chessed and began a progression that ended with Yaakov recognizing that Hashem can be found both by doing battle with darkness and winning with devotion, mesiras nefesh and tefillah (Yitzchak’s path) as well as through chessed and emunah (Avraham’s path). He saw the whole picture. That’s what truth is about.

Life is about searching for truth. YIsro was willing to look hard. He discovered that Hashem is there to save the Jews, destroy evil, and do so at all times and in all places.

The Parshah with the Ten Commandments is named for an idol- worshipper who found truth. This is where you have to put yourself to really receive Torah.

What pleasure to find that the pieces all fit together! How wonderful it is not to be overwhelmed by good or afraid to walk the narrow bridge.
 
It was great to get back to outside world. It always is. You are part of history every time you make a choice.
​
Love,
Tziporah