Listen & Do

By Rabbi Pinchos Lipschutz

We have something unique that no other nation has. We have the Torah that empowers us with the ability to soar above all, to transcend everything and touch eternity.

On Shavuos, the Creator shared with us His essence, the Torah. He began proclaiming the Aseres Hadibros and called out, “Anochi. I am your G-d.” Through those divine words at Sinai, we were given the means to connect to the eternal Source of life. Torah is a unique gift. It is our national and personal identity and credo, as well as our birthright.

The malochim wanted to keep the Torah in shomayim, but Hakadosh Boruch Hu declared that Torah would descend to the lower realms and find a home amongst His mortal creations of flesh and blood who are challenged with shallow desires. And until this very day, it’s the light of our lives, the length of our days, the only meaning in a hollow world. We have the means to reach the heavens if we tap into the power of Torah.

The Torah (Shemos 20:14) writes concerning the sounds that were heard and seen at Har Sinai, “Vechol ha’am ro’im es hakolos,” in the present tense. Those who apply themselves and study Torah properly can channel those sounds and sights until this very day.

Hashem offered the Torah to the world. It was rejected by all before it was presented to Am Yisroel. When the Jewish people were asked if they wished to subject themselves to the strictures and blessings of Hashem’s written word, they responded as one, “Naaseh venishma.” With those two immortal words, they rose beyond the level of angels and became Hashem’s eternal people.

Following that response, malochim placed two crowns upon the head of every Jew, one corresponding to the proclamation of “naaseh” and the other for their resounding cry of “nishma” (Shabbos 88a).

We might understand why we merited a crown for proclaiming that we would follow Hashem’s commandments when we said “naaseh,” but what is so great about the response that we would listen, expressed by “nishma,” which doesn’t convey any obligation to accept what we hear?

We often find the words “vayishma” and “tishme’u” in the Torah. For instance, in Parshas Re’eh, Hashem says, “Behold I am setting before you today blessings and curses. Es habrocha asher tishme’u… Vehaklalah im lo sishme’u…” Those who listen will be blessed and those who don’t will be cursed. Obviously, we are required to do more than hear in order to earn the Divine blessing.

In Parshas Yisro, the Torah tells us, “Vayishma Yisro,” Yisro heard what transpired to the Jewish people as they left Mitzrayim and in the battle with Amaleik. What was so great about the fact that Yisro heard the news? He wasn’t the only one who heard what happened. In fact, the entire world heard about it.

There is another place where the Torah uses the word “vayishma” to indicate that a person heard something that should have also been heard by others. Describing the chet ha’Eigel, the posuk (Shemos 32:17) states, “Vayomer Moshe kol anos anochi shomeia.” Moshe Rabbeinu told Yehoshua that he heard terrible sounds when he descended from Har Sinai with the Luchos in his hands. The Meshech Chochmah (ibid.) cites the Gemara (Taanis 21a) that relates that Rabi Yochanon and Ilfa were together, and “Rabi Yochanon shoma, Ilfa lo shoma.” Rabi Yochanon heard something that Ilfa didn’t hear. Rabi Yochanon told him that it was incumbent upon him to act, since he was the one who heard it.

The Meshech Chochmah explains that Moshe Rabbeinu was telling Yehoshua that although they were standing there together, since only Moshe heard the sinful sounds, it was incumbent upon him to take action.

In this context, vayishma doesn’t just mean to hear. To be a shomei’a is not only to hear, but to act upon what one has heard.

Many people heard about Krias Yam Suf and milchemes Amaleik, yet only one person took the news to heart and decided to do something about what he had heard. Yisro left the comforts of his home and went to visit the Jewish people in their desert encampment. By doing so, he earned the eternal reward of having a parsha in the Torah named for him.

In Parshas Re’eh, Hashem promises the Jewish people that those who take His words to heart and act upon them will earn brocha. The people who ignore the words of Hashem will be cursed. Everyone heard what Hashem said. Some observe the mitzvos and others choose to ignore them.

Naaseh venishma omru k’echod. Each member of the Bnei Yisroel responded in unison, “Naaseh venishma,” they would make every effort to hear Hashem’s words with the intention of acting upon those words. It wouldn’t be merely cursory listening. They would follow and act. Hence the greatness of naaseh venishma.

We can reinforce this interpretation with the Zohar quoted by the Bais Halevi in Parshas Mishpotim that “nishma” was an implicit acceptance to study the Torah. We can explain that they were promising to hear and study Hashem’s words so that they may properly follow them.

Rabi Shimon ben Elozor teaches (Megillah 31b) that Ezra Hasofer instituted that the klalos of Parshas Bechukosai would always be read before Shavuos and those of Parshas Ki Savo to be lained before Rosh Hashanah. The Gemara explains that Shavuos is considered a Rosh Hashanah, because on that day we are judged on “peiros ha’illan,” the fruits of the trees.

Many seforim, based upon the Shelah Hakadosh (Shavuos 30b), discuss the idea that just as the world is judged on Rosh Hashanah because it marks the completion of creation, so are we judged on Shavuos, because on that day the Torah was delivered to us. Every year on Shavuos, Hashem reviews whether we have kept our promise of naaseh venishma, properly studying and following the Torah He gave us on this day.

Hashem created a world for the sake of the Torah. By dedicating ourselves to its study, we affirm our role in creation and in Torah. Just as on Rosh Hashanah we seek zechuyos to be granted life, so too, on Shavuos, we must examine our actions, because on Shavuos we are judged on what we will be able to achieve in Torah.

In their response of naaseh venishma, the Jewish people indicated that not only would they faithfully follow the word of Hashem, as indicated by naaseh, but they would also work to understand what He would tell them, nishma, dedicating their lives to studying His Torah and observing its commandments.

The Torah proclaims, “Vayichan shom Yisroel neged hahar.” Chazal emphasize that the Torah uses the singular verb vayichan, because the people stood as one at Har Sinai, ke’ish echod beleiv echod. They gathered not as hundreds of thousands of individuals, but as one mass of people. A prerequisite for Torah is that we be unified. When Jews are split, when Jews fight and squabble it interferes with our ability to connect with Hashem and His Torah.

The Medrash Tanchuma Hakadum states that when Hashem saw the people who were about to become Am Yisroel standing at the foot of Har Sinai in complete unison, He declared that they are worthy to receive the Torah.

At this time, while we are recovering from the severe wounds we suffered during the ongoing pandemic and seeking to safely break out of our quarantines and imposed isolation, we need to embrace our brethren to merit an end to the virus and renewed invigorating Torah study.

In our times, along with the assault on decency and values, middos, refinement, tznius, modesty and gentleness are seen as archaic. Arrogance and intemperance are hailed as virtues. We must ensure that we do not dilute that which makes us great or take refuge in the land of easy excuses for inaction. We must treat each child as if he were our own and treat our own as we wish to be treated ourselves.

In good times and in those of difficulty, we should never become embittered and turn to hatred and rancor.

Excellence should be our goal and motivator in all we do. The way we conduct ourselves, with middos tovos, is the prerequisite for receiving the Torah. Those values ought to govern the language we speak and the way we act, as well as what lies unspoken but is felt in our hearts and minds.

Rav Chaim Vital famously asks why, if good middos are so important, there is no specific commandment in the Torah to behave properly. He answers that the Torah was only given to baalei middos, those who display a tzelem Elokim. Middos are the hakdamah, the precondition, to making oneself worthy of the Torah.

This, explains the Maharal, is what is meant by “Atem kruyin adam.” Adam Harishon embodied the properties of tzelem Elokim, as the Mishnah says, “Choviv adam shenivra betzelem.” However, when he sinned, Adam fell from that lofty plateau. Tzuras ha’adam had been defiled.

Then, at Mattan Torah, man returned to those original heights of tzelem Elokim. Thus, Chazal state that only you, Yisroel, are referred to as adam, because only you, Yisroel, protect and project the tzelem Elokim, once you have received the Torah. On Shavuos, after we had forgiven each other and became united as one, we were returned to the heights of the Avos and Imahos. We were embraced by the Creator and given the means - the Torah - by which to remain in His embrace. On this day every year, we are judged anew on our potential for greatness in achieving the levels of naaseh and nishma and earn for ourselves G-dly crowns if we have successfully modeled ourselves in Hashem’s image.

Remaining connected to Har Sinai means remembering why that mountain was chosen as the location to deliver the Torah to the Jewish people. Hakadosh Boruch Hu overlooked towering peaks and soaring crests, instead selecting a humble mountain on which to transmit his treasure to the Chosen People. He chose as his messenger Moshe Rabbeinu, the humblest of men.

To become one with the Torah, we must achieve the 48 steps that Chazal teach are prerequisites to Torah study. Many of them involve the way we deal with our fellow man. To rise in Torah, we must be humble and kind, elevated and refined. Ostentation and the pursuit of honor and glory must be anathema to us. If we become conceited, we squander everything. If we look down at other people and treat them with disdain and arrogance, we demonstrate that we are not motivated by the Torah, but by physical temptation. The conceited are neither great nor worthy of greatness.

The late rosh yeshiva of Tchebin, Rav Avrohom Genechovsky, reflected on the famed success of Rav Shmuel Rozovsky as Ponovezher rosh yeshiva.

“Do you know why Rav Shmuel Rozovsky became the supreme teacher of Torah of his time?” he asked. And he answered with a story.

Rav Genechovsky was one of the early students of the Ponovezh Yeshiva. Alongside the yeshiva, the Ponovezher Rov established a bais yesomim, a home for children orphaned during the Holocaust. He said that the foundation of Torah is chesed, and in order for the yeshiva to succeed, it needed to be grounded in chesed. What greater chesed could there be than providing a home for children with no parents and no home, refugees in a strange land?

During the day, there were various classes and activities, designed to educate the children and emotionally rebuild them, but they were lacking a parent with whom to review their lessons in the evening.

Rav Genechovsky recounted that every evening, Rav Shmuel Rozovsky would arrive at the orphanage and sit with the children, reviewing with them in a sing-song voice, “Kometz alef, oh. Kometz bais, boh.”

This would continue until the Ponovezher Rov would arrive to bid the children good night, telling Rav Shmuel, “Ihr kent tzurik gein in bais medrash,” that he could return to the yeshiva.

“Can you imagine how pleasing Rav Shmuel’s Torah was when he went back to the bais medrash?” exclaimed Rav Genechovsky. “The special chein of his learning with the Aibishter’s kinderlach stamped his learning and made it beloved to his own eventual talmidim.”

By combining his Torah greatness with humility, kindness and love, Rav Shmuel achieved the highest levels of greatness. Because it wasn’t beneath him to learn Alef-Bais with fatherless children, he merited to be quoted by the greatest Talmudic minds.

That has always been the mark of Torah.

On Shavuos, we reaffirm our commitment to Torah and its ways, accepting it with gratitude and joy, reminding ourselves of what Torah living entails. Let us reaffirm to treat everyone, of all ages and backgrounds, the way we want to be treated. Let our ambition be to achieve greatness in Torah. Let us resolve for our intensive labor to be in perfecting ourselves and observing the mitzvos.

May Hashem look down upon us now and witness our dedication to the Torah and each other. As we approach Shavuos, we ask Hashem to look at how Jews helped and are helping each other during this awful period of the coronavirus and declare us worthy not only of Torah, but of His ending of the plague He brought upon us. Let Him look down upon us and see how dedicated we are to learning and davening, going out of our way and, despite inconveniences, obstacles and barriers, continuing our commitment to that which sustains us and our people.

May all the sick be granted a refuah sheleimah, may those suffering be comforted, and may the people in desperate financial straits be redeemed.

May we merit the geulah hasheleimah vehakrovah bemeheirah beyomeinu. Amein.

Our Identity

By Rabbi Pinchos Lipschutz 

There is a debate raging in this country that affects every one of us. Should the country reopen or should it remain shut? Should virtually everyone be locked in their homes or should people be allowed to work, shop and enjoy life, while doing their best to protect themselves and others? Is this country primarily a capitalist democracy where people have the freedom of choice and are trusted to conduct themselves and their businesses in a responsible way?

The other side contends that the government has the authority to declare a state of emergency for as long as it wishes, despite the financial, spiritual, and mental costs. The government’s opinion is superior to that of the citizens, who have no right to protest and are trusted to be able to conduct their lives in a safe way.

It started when the coronavirus came to these shores. The opinion of certain medical experts, adopted in this country and in the majority of countries around the world, was that the best way to contain the virus is to lock everyone in their homes. A shutdown ensued. People were told that the virus is so contagious and so deadly that it could kill upwards of 2.2 million Americans and therefore it was obligatory for everyone to stay at home, avoiding all human contact. Schools were closed, as were shuls, stores, businesses, entertainment venues, courts and offices. Basically everything with a door lock was sealed shut. Certain places that were deemed essential were allowed to remain open.

America was told that the virus would make so many people sick that hospitals everywhere would be overwhelmed, so citizens needed to stay home to keep the virus from spreading from one person to another. All elective surgery was cancelled as hospitals emptied to make room for the avalanche of virus patients. People who needed surgery sat home growing sicker.

In fact, for the most part, it never happened. Hospitals across the country sat empty.

Some hospitals in hard-hit places such as New York City were initially flooded with corona patients and proved incapable of caring for them. Tent facilities quickly went up to contain the multitudes of sick who would be supposedly come down with the virus. Ships were sent floating to New York and huge arenas were retrofitted into hospitals at huge expense. All those emergency facilities stood virtually empty. Hospitals lost so much money that they have been forced to lay off doctors, nurses and other personnel and are begging for bailouts.

The American people were told that once the virus would be under control and the curve of sickness flattened, the country would reopen and people would be able to leave their homes and resume their previous lives, while maintaining social distancing and other guidelines designed to keep them safe.

The virus is deadly, and it is real, but 98% of the people who got it recovered. Most deaths occurred in a few states, and in those states, many of the deaths were in nursing homes. In Pennsylvania, 75% of the 3,800 tragic deaths occurred in nursing homes. Fifty percent of the deaths in New Jersey were in long-term adult care facilities. In Maryland, 793 of the state’s 1,338 victims, almost 60%, were people in nursing home type institutions. It is said that nationally, one-third of corona deaths were patients and staff of long-term care facilities. In New York, Governor Cuomo mandated that nursing homes admit Covid patients into their facilities. This contributed to New York’s 5,300 nursing home deaths, out of 22, 619; close to 25%.

In the U.S., 1.52 million people contracted the disease and some 90,000 died, It is very tragic, but nowhere near the 2.2 million deaths doomsday victim number experts and their models initially predicted.

The shutdown has thrown the economy into a depression. Thirty million people have lost their jobs. Businesses forced to remain closed are going bankrupt and shopkeepers are unable to feed their families. Entire industries are on the verge of collapse, as their income has disappeared. Nobody knows what the next day will bring.

Meanwhile, by now, a study of the numbers clearly indicates that the curve has been flattened. The number of people succumbing to the disease has dropped precipitously across the country and around the world.

People have had enough and are staging protests, demanding that their state reopen. In fact, several states have reopened, and as stores reopen and people slowly return to work, money has started trickling in.

But there is an obvious split here. The only states that have responded to the dropping numbers and fearful economic data are those led by Republican governors. Democrat-led states, in which a majority of this country’s Jews reside, largely remain closed. Governor Andrew Cuomo in New York says that it is too dangerous to reopen and is only slowly permitting portions of the state to resume activities.

New York City is closed, draining the people, industry and tax base of the state, with no end to the lockdown in sight. Not only the people, but also the police and prosecutors of the city have had enough and have said that they will not enforce the mayor’s rules on social distancing and the wearing of masks. The mayor of Los Angeles has promised to keep L.A. shut for at least another three months. Michigan’s governor has gone to radical ends to enforce her stay-at-home order. New Jersey’s governor says life cannot return to the state’s workplaces, downtowns and main streets until a proven vaccine is widely available.

At the same time, Republican governors have successfully begun opening states such as Ohio, Indiana, Georgia, Florida and Texas.

States are desperate for relief, but the Democrat governors are reluctant to give up their power. People are desperate to make a living and pay their bills, but instead they are lectured by the same people who placed the virus into nursing homes, causing thousands of elderly people to die.

There is genuine distress in this country. Americans are sick of being confined. They are sick of not being able to take care of their needs and they are sick of having their rights taken away from them.

The people followed instructions and together flattened the curve of the disease. In return, government has flattened small business owners and people who live paycheck to paycheck who lost their jobs. There is terrible suffering in our community, as people scavenge for sources of income. Many have joined the ranks of the poor, taking handouts and accepting free food to keep themselves going.

Yet, perhaps more importantly for us is the fact that schools and shuls remain closed. The chinuch of our children is the prime objective of our lives and a cause to which we dedicate much of our time and money. The shul and bais medrash are the axis around which our lives as frum Jews evolve. Permit me for being blunt, but how much longer can we go on like this?

We cannot wait anymore for the politicians, who have no incentive to open schools. They don’t care. It’s not important to them. Apparently, it is more important to them to keep the economy suppressed so that the hated president’s poll numbers continue dropping and their party has a chance to beat him in the November election. They will continue to come up with different numbers and excuses, but the bottom line is that if schools remain closed, then parents cannot return to work. For all practical purposes, as long as schools are closed, the state is closed.

Let us be honest. School being closed has taken a big toll on parents, but children are suffering much more. Students are regressing. They are not learning as they should be. Students are falling behind academically, in gaining knowledge, in learning how to get along with other people and how to advance in life. Young people are missing social connections. They are missing having friends and people their age with whom to talk and play – and fight. Does that make any sense to anyone? We are in uncharted territory. Nobody knows much about this virus, yet they know that everything must remain slammed shut in states controlled by Democrats until at least November.

I have no medical education. I don’t know how to create computer models. But I do know that all the computer models that predicted Armageddon were wrong. The virus is dangerous, it has killed many people, but countries all over the world are opening up, so why aren’t we?

Israel had one of the most effective lockdowns, and thanks to much siyata diShmaya, they lost under three hundred people. The comparison to New York City, which has a similar population, is staggering. And while New York City remains shut and schools and shuls are closed, in Israel schools are open, yeshivos have reopened, stores are operating, weddings are taking place, and the country is getting back to work, with strict measures in force to prevent a return of the deadly illness.

What is going on here?

You could be forgiven for concluding that it’s not the virus that’s causing the permanent closings of businesses, but the way government has chosen to deal with it.

When you meet people in government, or if you listen closely to them, you find out that they are not any smarter than anyone else. There is nothing more intelligent about them, nothing that qualifies them to make decisions that affect the lives of millions of people. They are surrounded by “yes men,” sycophants who offer them accolades for their heroic work.

And our children are suffering. So are we. We were supposed to flatten the curve, not the kids.

How long can they continue learning over the telephone, or on Zoom? It is not practical, and even if it is working now, it will not work until November. Children are bored. They don’t have what to do all day, and when children are bored, nothing good can come of the situation. Not every child lives in an optimal family situation. Their parents are frustrated. Everyone is stressed. The father or mother may have lost their job and money is tight. Being cooped up in the house can lead to a breakdown in shalom bayis and abuse often ensues. The children have nowhere to escape to, nobody to cry to, no friends to hang with, and nobody to help them along in their studies. They begin a downward spiral.

Children who were doing well in their studies are now falling behind, and the longer they stay out of school, the harder it will be to get them back on track and where they belong. The knowledge they are lacking and the personal interaction with their rebbi, morah or teacher they are losing out on will take a long time to replace. Many children will need special help that their parents will not be able to afford. New problems are being created every day. New issues are popping up and the emotional health of our children is at stake.

Bochurim who were shteiging in yeshiva, adhering to a schedule and a learning framework, are now playing it loose. Learning with a chavrusah on the phone in your bedroom is not the same as being part of a pulsating bais medrash, with lively back and forth under the guidance of a beloved rebbi. They have to be self-motivating and be able to inspire themselves to keep to sidrei hayeshiva, starting with davening in the morning and continuing with keeping the sedorim at home or in a shul that allows them to study there surreptitiously. Not everyone is up to the challenge.

We value life. We place a premium on life. But if we don’t put the genie back into the bottle soon, it will be increasingly difficult to get our children back to where they need to be on a scholastic level and on a Yiddishkeit level. It is time to figure out how to do it in a safe and responsible manner. Torah is our lifeblood. It is our essence.

If bars and restaurants and businesses of all types located in Republican states can figure out how to safely reopen, then surely the am chochom venavon should be able to figure out how to open our mosdos with proper social distancing, safety measures and guidelines.

New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy was holding one of his regular press conferences last week when he announced that the Jersey Shore will be opened in time for Memorial Day. How is it that the governor of one of the hardest hit states, who has resists opening stores and businesses and has insisted on keeping his stay-at-home order in place because of his overwhelming concern for public safety, decided to open the beaches?

Listen to what he said: “The Shore is central to our identity and we want to ensure that families can safely enjoy it this summer.”

Their identity is The Shore, the beach, and therefore they will do what they must to have it open, “so that families can safely enjoy it.”

I ask you: Is our identity any less important than a beach? Are our children less important than the seashore? Is our future less important than the boardwalk?

The time is now to reopen that which is central to our identity and our families’ physical and spiritual wellbeing.

Be Optimistic

By Rabbi Pinchos Lipschutz

Chazal say that we live in an “alma deshikra,” a world of lies. Truth plays a small supportive role, if at all, in what goes on in this world. It has always been that way, and it is that way today as well, but we often need to be reminded not to take seriously what is reported in the media. Much of what is propagated there are lies designed to promote their agenda.

So now we find out that the story about Trump’s collusion with Russia was bogus, as we have articulated all along. The news is not that the Republicans didn’t collude with Putin. The news is that the Democrats also knew that there was no collusion, yet they set up investigations and congressional hearings, knowing quite well that the Russians played no role in the election of President Trump.

There never was any evidence that Trump had worked with the Russians, but that did not stop his enemies from putting together a story and selling it to a believing populace. They used a work of fiction paid for with Democrat money and filled with fake stories planted by Russians and a washed-up British spy who was available for the highest bidder. They used his narrative to press ahead with attempting to overturn a legitimate election, because they did not like the outcome. For three years, the media drummed into the American psyche that Trump is an evil unbalanced person who was able to beat Hillary Clinton only because he had outside help.

Robert Mueller and his Democrat prosecutors set out to destroy the president and anyone who stood in their way. Recently released documents prove that an army general who had risen through government was targeted for destruction and, through the misconduct of investigators and prosecutors, lost his job, reputation and home. He pleaded guilty to a crime that investigators thought he did not commit, and he was awaiting sentencing when the Department of Justice dropped all charges against him and recommended that his conviction be thrown out.

The entrapment of General Michael Flynn was part of the investigation into the president’s collusion with Russia that occupied much of Washington’s oxygen and attention for the better part of Trump’s presidency.

It now emerged that the lawmen, who presented themselves as paragons of virtue as they bashed the president for working with Russia to get elected, knew all along that it never happened.

John Brennan, who was director of the CIA, and James Clapper, who was director of National Intelligence, repeatedly appeared in the national media, castigating Mr. Trump, informing the American people that Russian President Putin had interfered on his behalf. Clapper repeatedly referred to the president as a Russian asset.

The minutes of the sworn testimony before the congressional committee headed by Rep. Adam Schiff investigating the collusion were released last week. The testimony of Brennan and Clapper, as well as other Obama administration heads, indicates that they knew that what they were telling the American people was a lie.

In the words of Clapper, “I never saw any direct empirical evidence the Trump campaign, or someone in it, was plotting or conspiring with the Russians to meddle with the election…”

Committee member Trey Gowdy testified, “Every witness would say the exact same thing.” He said that he would ask the witnesses if they had any apparent evidence that the Trump campaign colluded with Russia. They all gave the same answer: “The answer was none.”

While very few of those who are reading this column have ever met President Trump, many are convinced that he is a mentally unbalanced egomaniac. How did that come about if not by the way he is constantly portrayed in the media? Even those who do not read the secular press are influenced by it, as the information they hear from other people often traces its way back to the agenda-driven media.

What was done to General Flynn is clearly documented, yet the media went apoplectic, blaming Attorney General William Barr for “perversion of justice” for doing the right thing and dropping the charges brought against an innocent man.

The media and Democrats are furious at Barr for saying that the Russia investigation is “one of the greatest travesties in American history.” He added, “We’re not dealing with just mistakes of sloppiness. There was something far more troubling here, and we’re going to get to the bottom of it.”

No less an authority than former President Barack Obama has weighed in. He said regarding the Flynn case, “There is no precedent that anybody can find for someone who has been charged with perjury just getting off scot-free. That’s the kind of stuff where you begin to get worried that basic - not just institutional norms - but our basic understanding of rule of law is at risk. And when you start moving in those directions, it can accelerate pretty quickly, as we’ve seen in other places.”

He went on: “What we’re fighting against is these long-term trends in which being selfish, being tribal, being divided and seeing others as an enemy - that has become a stronger impulse in American life.”

After slamming the administration’s response to the Covid-19 pandemic, Obama said, “That’s why I, by the way, am going to be spending as much time as necessary and campaigning as hard as I can for Joe Biden.”

It’s all about advancing the agenda. It’s all about power. Beware of smug, arrogant, pompous people who covet honor and control, presenting themselves as public servants.

We are still in the throes of a pandemic, and while Eretz Yisroel appears to be recovering from the worst of it and is undergoing the slow process of reopening, many in this country are resisting returning to normal. They say that the country is not yet ready, and while that is true about certain areas, it may not be true about others. People are frustrated, scared, and not trusting their leaders.

On Tuesday, we celebrated Lag Ba’omer. We cut our hair, shaved, trimmed our beards, and let the music play. The mourning customs that Klal Yisroel observes between Pesach and Shavuos were paused. We wonder what is special about this day that causes an interruption in the mourning for the 24,000 talmidim of Rabi Akiva who perished in a plague.

Rabi Akiva was the greatest of his generation; it is said that he was the shoresh of Torah Sheba’al Peh. The chain of transmission of the Torah from Har Sinai runs through Rabi Akiva and his talmidim. When his 24,000 students died, it was a cause of despair. How would the chain continue? Who would provide the light of Torah to future generations? How could so many great people ever be replaced? How could a grieving nation on the run from Roman persecution be consoled for the loss of so many talmidei chachomim so crucial to their spiritual survival?

Picture the people at that time when 24,000 giants were cut down. The urge to say, “It’s all over,” must have been overwhelming. The less faithful and more pessimistic among them must have been ready to give up. But Rabi Akiva recovered from the devastating loss to transmit the Torah to his and future generations through a new group of five students.

The joy of Lag Ba’omer is generated by the knowledge that it was on this day that Rabi Akiva began teaching Torah to his new talmidim. The seeds he planted that day led to the rejuvenation of Torah study and allowed the chain to continue until our time.

On this day, we commemorated the renewal. We celebrated the determination. We cheered the cessation of the plague. We foresaw a future bright with hope and determination.

On this day, the great Tanna Rabi Shimon bar Yochai passed away, but it was also on this day that he gifted the world with the Zohar, which lit up the world and continues to provide light, inspiration, and knowledge until this day. It is the study of his work and the secrets he transmitted that will lead to the coming of Moshiach.

On Lag Ba’omer, the plague ceased. On Lag Ba’omer, Rabi Akiva remained optimistic, knowing that netzach Yisroel lo yeshaker.

As the centuries pass, and as the Romans of every period seek our destruction and annihilation, we look to Rabi Akiva and Rabi Shimon bar Yochai for inspiration. We note how they looked the enemy in the face and persevered, thus ensuring that our nation and our Torah are alive and flourishing to this very day. In the wake of a tragedy that would have felled lesser people, Rabi Akiva strengthened himself and set about ensuring that the chain remains unbroken.

As the golus continues, as our situation becomes more and more precarious, and as the coronavirus festers, we must not weaken in our devotion to Torah. Noting how many giants our people have lost over the past couple of months, we must remain optimistic and work hard to replace them. As botei medrash and shuls are closed, and as yeshivos here are operating in unconventional ways, we must do what we can to keep the fire of Torah brightly lit. Our tefillos and our learning should be going up a notch or two to fill the voids that have been created.

Lag Ba’omer rejects melancholy. It proclaims to us to be optimistic in the face of plagues and hostile governments. Lag Ba’omer reminds us that we will be returning to the botei medrash and shuls, and that meanwhile, we have to endeavor to maintain and grow greatness.

“Im bechukosai teileichu.” We won’t get there by being lazy. We won’t achieve success by slackening off in our Torah learning. “Shetihiyu ameilim baTorah.” If we will dedicate ourselves to Torah, Hashem will reward us with much blessing and will remove the plague from our midst.

In a world where all is fiction, the only truth is Torah. In a world where people are crass and busy with foolishness, the only eternal values are those found in the Torah. In a world where the leaders are deceitful and dishonorable, the only honesty and sincerity are found in Torah. In a world of fraud and superficiality, the only sincerity is in Torah. In a corrupt world, the only fairness and justice are in Torah.

Ignore the rest. Throw yourself into learning. Occupy your mind with Torah. Seek to understand and internalize its messages, and you will find happiness as you forge another link in the glorious chain going back to Rabi Akiva and Rabi Shimon bar Yochai, all the way back to Har Sinai.

These days leading up to Shavuos, the Yom Tov of Kabbolas HaTorah, are the perfect time to get working on it.

It’s the Jews Again

By Rabbi Pinchos Lipschutz

Along with the tragic deaths and debilitating illnesses brought on by the Chinese virus there is repackaged, recharged anti-Semitism. The allegations don’t have to be true, they don’t even have to make sense, but if someone has to be blamed, the Jew is the time-honored perfect scapegoat. Throughout history, plagues have been an especially dangerous time for Jews, as the general populace always attributed the epidemic to them.

There is no doubt that the virus currently plaguing the world emanated from China, but that country is very far away and most people can’t relate to it on a personal level. Jews are everywhere. They are despised. They always were and always will be. Usually, there are no consequences for blaming them unfairly for the problems of the day, and generally people feel better after having found someone to blame for their problems.

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio has lots of problems. He is losing his grip on the city, where he is hugely unpopular. The vaunted subway system has degenerated into a filthy homeless encampment on wheels. The pandemic has hit his city especially hard, and the economic mess the shutdown created is impacting the city severely. His stringent lockdown orders are being ignored by frustrated citizens, including the mayor himself. Nobody seems to like or appreciate him, and everyone, including the governor, mocks him.

So De Blasio went after the Jews, thinking that his comments bashing “the Jewish community” in a recent tweet would hit only Chassidic Williamsburg, please his detractors while sparking no flak. He couldn’t have miscalculated more. His tweet targeting, blaming and threatening the Jewish community was so egregiously out of line that everyone from Senator Ted Cruz to local machers responded. The tweet made news everywhere.

What happened?

Following the passing of a local rebbe, Williamsburg askonim met with leaders of the local police precinct, with whom they had a fine working relationship, to let them know that the rebbe had died. They discussed how to hold a respectable funeral while maintaining social-distancing. The police set up cones and barricades, closing several blocks to accommodate a small crowd. Speakers were set up along the way for people to be able to listen to the hespeidim.

Something went wrong, the speakers were shut off, and the large crowd began surging forward toward the shul. The people were no longer separated, and police began trying to break up the gathering. Word reached the hard-working mayor and he decided to go to the scene himself and make sure that the Jews were dispersed. Apparently, that didn’t go well.

The furious mayor got home, and as politicians are wont to do nowadays, he went mad tweeting.

NY Times to the Mayor’s Defense

While everyone else was busy bashing the mayor, the New York Times defended him. In their report of the mess, the Gray Lady wrote, “De Blasio spent much of Wednesday on the defensive over his handling of the funeral and his use of the phrase ‘Jewish community’ in his public criticism of the mourners. But the episode also underscored the challenges that officials have faced in addressing the flouting of social distancing rules in insular and close-knit Hasidic neighborhoods around the New York region. People in these neighborhoods have long voiced distrust of state and local authorities, even as they have been able to band together to exert political power. Hasidic Jews have been disproportionately affected by the pandemic, which has killed hundreds in their community, including influential religious leaders.”

The Times dredged up the metzitzah libel, saying that “the mayor has run into frequent political headaches related to public health issues in the ultra-Orthodox community, including the measles outbreak and his policy on a circumcision ritual, metzitzah b’peh, that led to multiple children becoming infected with herpes.”

As we have written many times, that is a lie. There is no scientific proof tying metzitzah to sick children.

How hypocritical for the same newspaper to bash the president and others for mentioning the anecdotal evidence of the effectiveness of the malaria drug hydroxychloroquine in the treatment of the coronavirus in an attempt to save lives. The Times repeatedly mocked Donald Trump for promoting a medicine that has not yet been scientifically proven.

The paper is adept at finding Jews to bash Jews.

“The mayor has boxed himself into a corner with the Orthodox community to the point that he has had trouble when it comes to policing necessary regulations that are designed to prevent the spread of communicable diseases,” said Menashe Shapiro, a political consultant and founder of Shapiro Consulting Group. “Whether it’s measles, coronavirus or the bris fiasco, he has demonstrated a tremendous weak spot with this community.”

Never mind that until this fiasco, the mayor has had a fine working relationship with the Jewish community, which supported him financially and politically and loyally stood by him as his popularity tanked.

Taking Aim at Shuls

The tweet was not the first time the mayor went after the religious community. A couple of weeks prior, he threatened to permanently shut down shuls if they weren’t keeping to the corona guidelines. His comments then didn’t cause anywhere near the backlash the tweet caused because he didn’t single out religious Jews, but lumped them together with church-going Christians.

This is what he said: “I want to say to all those who are preparing the potential of religious services this weekend — if you go to your synagogue, if you go to your church and attempt to hold services after having been told so often not to, our enforcement agents will have no choice but to shut down those services. The NYPD, Fire Department, Buildings Department, and everyone has been instructed that if they see worship services going on, they will go to the officials of that congregation, they’ll inform them they need to stop the services and disperse. If that does not happen, they will take additional action up to the point of fines and potentially closing the building permanently.”

The corona threat is real. It has killed thousands of people and is not yet done. Until there is a vaccine and a cure, we need to practice distancing and do whatever we can to protect our lives and the lives of others. The government has an obligation to protect its citizens, and the citizens need to follow the guidelines and the law for their own protection and for the welfare of others.

The problem is when politicians enact policies for their own political benefit and not for the benefit of the people. The problem is when politicians abuse the power they are given and begin to act as dictators without regard for constitutional protections and the needs of the people.

When Your Target Fights Back

Governor Andrew Cuomo also went searching for someone to blame for the state’s problems, but if you do not blame the Jews like the mayor did, there is always the danger of pushback from your target. Initially, Cuomo blamed the president, but he was forced to make up with the most powerful man in the country, if not the world. Last week, he tried blaming Florida, of all places, for the state’s economic mess.

In one of his daily press conferences, he said, “New York state bails out [Florida] every year.” Addressing Florida Senator Rick Scott, he said, “How long are you going to play the American people and assume they’re stupid? They are not. And they can add. And they know facts.”

Scott shot back, saying, “It’s irresponsible and reckless to take money from American taxpayers and use it to save liberal politicians like Cuomo from the consequences of their poor choices. Floridians shouldn’t have to backfill New York’s state budget and pension fund.”

Adding further insult, he taunted Cuomo, saying, “Florida has made the tough choices that New York has refused to make for decades and can get through this crisis without a bailout.”

Scott reminded everyone that New York has two million fewer residents than Florida does, but its budget is “twice the size of Florida’s” – the same Florida where lots of New Yorkers have been fleeing to escape onerous taxes.

The “Non-Essential”… Bill of Rights?

New Jersey’s governor admitted on a national news program that he hadn’t considered the Bill of Rights when he issued his executive order locking people in their homes. Fox News host Tucker Carlson asked Phil Murphy to explain the constitutionality of his executive orders that kept liquor stores open because they are essential but shut businesses and houses of worship because they aren’t.

This is how the conversation went. Carlson asked, “Fifteen congregants at a synagogue in New Jersey were arrested and charged for being in a synagogue together. Now, the Bill of Rights, as you well know, protects Americans’ right, enshrines their right, to practice their religion as they see fit and to congregate together, to assemble peacefully. By what authority did you nullify the Bill of Rights in issuing this order? How do you have the power to do that?”

“That’s above my pay grade, Tucker,” Murphy answered. “I wasn’t thinking of the Bill of Rights when we did this.”

At least he was honest!

Rightly or wrongly, the American people have had enough of this and are pushing back. Many states are gradually reopening, and in those that aren’t, people are slowly leaving their homes and gathering in parks or other places that are accessible as the weather improves.

Interestingly enough, the same day that the Williamsburg levayah took place, Navy planes flew in formation over New York City to honor healthcare workers. New Yorkers fled their apartments and, without distancing, craned their necks to view and photograph the awesome display. De Blasio was quiet - no tweets, no threats, nothing. He let out his frustration on the Jews.

Over the past weekend, when New Yorkers congregated in city parks, those without masks were not ticketed. Instead, the police gave them free masks. Residents of Williamsburg and Borough Park were not afforded the same courtesy. Following the fracas over the tweet, the mayor dispatched police to those Jewish neighborhoods and proceeded to give out $1,000 summonses to people not wearing masks, in some cases even if they were not within six feet of any other person.

Hashem’s Ambassadors

That being said, we must always remember that we are in golus and are judged by a double standard. We must always act in a way that will not provide excuses for people to hate and bash us. All our actions must bring honor to our people and to Hashem.

We learn in this week’s parsha, “Velo sichalilu es Sheim kodshi.” Hashem says, “You shall not defile My holy Name.” In other words, we are commanded not to act in a way that will cause people to mock Jews and Hashem (Vayikra 22:32).

The Rambam (Hilchos Yesodei Torah 5:11) writes that “if a talmid chochom acts in a way that can allow people to suspect him of acting improperly, even if he has not committed an aveirah, he has perpetrated a chillul Hashem.”

Lest you discover humility and say that you are not a talmid chochom, the following story repeated by Rav Avrohom Pam may be illuminating. The Chofetz Chaim admonished his son not to act in a certain way, telling him that it is improper for a talmid chochom to act in that manner.

The son responded, “But father, I am not a talmid chochom. Why are you admonishing me?” The Chofetz Chaim replied, “To cause a chillul Hashem, you are enough of a talmid chochom.”

We may not view ourselves as talmidei chachomim, whose every act is judged by people who are watching us as representative of the way Jews act, but those who are around us view every person with a yarmulka and a beard as a rabbi, as an Orthodox Jew, as one of “them.” We are all Hashem’s ambassadors. We are shluchim of our rabbeim and our actions have to be reflective of what the Torah demands of us. We must never do things that bring about a chillul Hashem. The less often we appear in the press, the better off we all are.

We are living in a very dangerous time. Let’s make sure we are doing all we can to remain safe and above reproach.