Friday January 26, 2023 – Judged By History and Ourselves
ט״ז שְׁבָט תשפ”ד
How We Will Be Judged, and How We Will Judge Ourselves
וַיִּקַּ֥ח מֹשֶׁ֛ה אֶת־עַצְמ֥וֹת יוֹסֵ֖ף עִמּ֑וֹ כִּי֩ הַשְׁבֵּ֨עַ הִשְׁבִּ֜יעַ אֶת־בְּנֵ֤י יִשְׂרָאֵל֙ לֵאמֹ֔ר פָּקֹ֨ד יִפְקֹ֤ד אֱלֹהִים֙ אֶתְכֶ֔ם וְהַעֲלִיתֶ֧ם אֶת־עַצְמֹתַ֛י מִזֶּ֖ה אִתְּכֶֽם׃ (שמות יג:יט)
And Moses took with him the bones of Joseph, who had exacted an oath from the children of Israel, saying, “God will be sure to take notice of you: then you shall carry up my bones from here with you.” (Exodus 13:19)
I write this week with a heavy heart after the devastating loss of 25 soldiers killed by a Hamas RPG in a building in Gaza. Those soldiers came from nearly every sector and community of Israeli society and their loss is felt by the entire country. We pray for an end to this war and that we will not have to wake up with another announcement of “הותר לפרסום…” (“cleared to publicize the names of the fallen…”).
Tradition teaches that this week is meant to be a week of joy. We celebrated Tu BiShvat, the New Year for the trees, and we read about our liberation from slavery to freedom with the “Song of the Sea.” There we read that the time had come to flee Egypt, the house of bondage, and shed the throes of slavery and subjugation.
With this war entering its 111th day, many are asking big questions about the war, the day after, the achievability of its initially stated goals, and the high price being paid in life and treasure.
I raise two overarching questions and view them through the lens of two famous midrashim connected to this week’s Torah portion.
- How will history judge us?
- How will we judge ourselves?