"You have distinguished Hashem today to be a God for you…and Hashem has distinguished you today to be for Him…" (Parashat Ki Tavo)
"I am to my Beloved as my Beloved is to me." (Shir HaShirim)
The Mishna tells us that just as the first of Nissan is the new year for the Jewish people, Rosh Hashana, the first of Tishrei, is the new year for every single being. If we are now preparing to relate to God as individuals, we are likewise relating to all of creation.
We began to orient toward the big picture during the season of Shavuot (Am Yisrael receiving the Torah from Hashem) and the following period in which we focus on the Temple (the role of Am Yisrael in the God's world). From this place of global consciousness, we each try to discern a vision for ourself in this world; now, we relate directly to God as one of His creations. Being attached to this all-powerful Source implies a potential to transcend our mentality, our endurance, and the circumstances of our life. This becomes evident, for example, as when one learns how to pray, he mysteriously comes to require less sleep.
As individuals, our flexibility is increased. This is therefore the time in which we let go of preconceived notions of ourselves and the world, and accept new-or rather, original, as "teshuva" suggests-visions of ourselves. This individual identity and self-realization allows us to go back and more realistically relate to a group, and indeed continues to the next Pesach when we begin to build our vision as a people and develop the soul tools toward that end.
But for now, "the King is in the field," enabling us to connect individually to the Giver of life and death, who inspires awe in our hearts to realize that He is the only real existence and you are dependent on nothing but Him.
Parashat Ki Tavo is famous for a vision of an Israel full of joy and bounty on her soil, and infamous for a graphic description of an Israel corrupted, fear-stricken, and exiled. Rabbi Noson Slifkin relates that Elul is the time for "teshuva from yirah" (awe, and sometimes translated as fear). This period involves refining our relationship to fear. As the power of cold approaches, we are to recognize the source of that cold is also the source of protection from it. This helps us connect to the awesomeness of God, putting the fragile truth of our existence in context and allowing a direct relationship with Him. This relationship simultaneously recognizes our fragility as individuals as well as our power as individuals when connected to Hashem. What we decide to think, say, and do makes a difference. This is the advent of global consciousness.
This week marked the second anniversary of the 9/11 attack. News and aftermath of the attack reverberated globally, and many blame it on "the Jews."This, despite the fact that in many ways, Jews were a primary target of the attack and, in fact, the property is owned by a Jew.
In light of this auspicious anniversary, the following words from our parashah seem to me to carry a profound message:
"Hashem will carry against you a nation from afar, from the end of the earth, as an eagle flies, a nation whose language you will not understand; a brazen nation that will not be respectful to the old and will not be gracious to the young…until the conquest of your high and fortified walls in which you trusted…"
"Hashem will carry against you a nation from afar, from the end of the earth…" In a few weeks, we read the Book of Jonah, on Yom Kippur. Jonah boards a ship to Tarshish in an attempt to escape his prophetic mission. Tarshish, described by the Midrash as being at "the end of the earth," was (in the known world) the nation furthest west of Israel and was associated with the pursuit of wealth. The United States, in so many ways an indispensable refuge for ours and other persecuted peoples, is, ironically through its very acceptance of us, the setting for what is often described as a "spiritual holocaust," as the Jewish population drops precipitously through intermarriage and low birth rates, and as ignorance of Jewish teachings and non-practice of Jewish tradition reduces the vitality of Jewish life there.
"…as an eagle flies…" The "eagles" and the towers they took down resulted in tremendous fuel for the fires of global anti-Semitism, despite the many Jewish victims and Jewish ambulances figuring in prominently.
"…a nation whose language you will not understand…" Could this not be Afghanistan, home to Al Qaeda, who speak a language of hatred and barbarism incomprehensible to much of the rest of the world, yet which reverberates with crystal clarity amongst their minions
"…a brazen nation that will not be respectful to the old and will not be gracious to the young…" - The attacks did not distinguish between their innocent victims.
"…until the conquest of your high and fortified walls in which you trusted…" Indeed, in his commentary on the Zohar, 18th century scholar and kabbalist the Vilna Gaon revised the date on which it was predicted three high walls would collapse in a "great city." He revised the date to 23 or 25 Elul, in the year 5761. Elsewhere, as recorded in the book Kol Hator, he advocated a return to Eretz Yisrael.
What can we learn from this? As the shofar blows through Elul, Sukkot, the season of the ingathering, approaches. During Elul, we try to understand and find unity in the many disparate events of our year. This requires the self-honesty that comes through listening to Hashem-in prayer, hitbodedut (lone communion with Hashem), Torah study, and even mitzvah performance. Hence, the parasha says "I have listened to the voice of Hashem, my God…" and "You have distinguished Hashem today to be a God for you…and to listen to His voice." This is the voice of the shofar, which wakes us to gather ourselves and marshall our spiritual resources. And the "Great Shofar" that "gathers the dispersed of Israel" echoes the ingathering of produce before Sukkot, just as it announces the fruit of the nations (the Jewish diaspora) is ripe and ready to be gathered in.
9/11 was a great shofar, and it echoes in France, Germany, Russia, Australia, and all the nations in which our brothers and sisters continue to be attacked. Our work "out there" is done. The light of the compassionate nation who make themselves holy and teach the ways of God is straining to be revealed. If you really want to think globally, it is time to come home. And that coming home is true on several levels. In the context of the Jewish people as well as a world citizen, you are invited to come home to your own loving vision born of your history and your destiny, guided by the sound of Hashem's voice and informed by your evolving insights.
Jonah's attempt to escape his prophetic mission failed, and ultimately he expanded his Hebrew myopia into an international activism. Our day is characterized by Jews steeped in the world at the expense of their heritage on the one hand, and Jews who see only the Jewish people on the other. Our generation of baalei teshuva, with the freshness of vision clarified by our varied paths and open relation to Torah, are a bridge and a key to renewal. Let us live up to our mission, each of us, as a messenger to the world in the name of unity and compassion. This Elul, we should be blessed with insight on the special role each of us plays and help on the path of rectification and healing each of us faces.