Holidays & Others

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    The Destruction of the Temple and Israel’s Government of Destruction

    ByDavid Harbater

    The opening words of this week’s haftarah are among the most shocking in the Bible:“Hear the word of the Lord, rulers of Sodom;give ear to the teaching of our God, people of Gomorrah.”Isaiah is not addressing Sodom and Gomorrah. He is speaking to Jerusalem—to its leaders and its people.They attend the Temple, offer sacrifices, observe Shabbat and the festivals, and raise their hands in prayer. Outwardly, they appear deeply religious. Yet God rejects their worship:“What need have I of all your sacrifices?”“Your incense is an abomination to Me.”“Though you offer many prayers, I will not listen—your hands are full of blood.”Isaiah’s accusation is not that they have abandoned religion, but that they have corrupted it. They preserve its rituals while betraying its moral demands. They invoke God while tolerating injustice, corruption, and bloodshed. Their worship does not redeem their conduct; it makes that conduct even more offensive, because religion has become its disguise. It is difficult to hear these words when we begin to confront the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple—without thinking of what many Israelis now call ממשלת החורבן—“the government of destruction”.

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    Destruction, Exile and My Magical Hat

    ByDavid Harbater

    This week, we commemorate the destruction of both Temples and the long exile of our people. According to the Torah, life in exile—if it can be called life at all—is characterized by deep fear and uncertainty:
    “The Lord will scatter you among all the peoples from one end of the earth to the other… among those nations you will find no quiet… The life you face shall be precarious, and you will be afraid night and day, with no assurance of survival…” (Deuteronomy 28:64–66).
    For much of Jewish history, this grim portrayal tragically rang true. But for those of us who came of age in the Western world during the late 20th and early 21st centuries, such fears felt like remnants of a distant past.

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    Matan Torah (The Giving of the Torah): What Is the Torah About?

    ByDavid Harbater

    In conversations with friends or family, it is not uncommon to ask whether they have read any good books lately. And if they have, we naturally ask what the book was about. Most people can summarize its central theme in a sentence or two without much difficulty.

    Each year, I begin my course on Jewish thought for students attending a Zionist gap-year seminary in Israel with a similar exercise. After asking them to summarize a book they have recently read—a task they complete with ease—I then pose a second question concerning another book they have studied throughout their lives: What is the Torah about?

    This question proves far more difficult for them to answer.