Yom Yerushalayim
In the circles that I travel, the world has begun to buzz with Yom Yerushalayim. We have begun showing the students videos about Yerushalayim, we've had a Yom Iyun about the city and its importance, and we are planning a tiyul on Thursday to Yerushalayim. (By the way, an excellent book on the topic is Six Days of War. Reads like a novel!)
I cannot say that our students are unfazed by it. They certainly view the city as important and they definitely understand the importance of the day and the war 39 years ago. Still, this is another example of getting used to something and therefore losing the ability to recognize its true value.
I've written before about getting used to things. This time, I quoted a story that I saw on Rabbi Neil Fleischmann's outstanding website. More specifically, I told them the story that he wrote on this post.
When we focus on the wrong thing, we miss the point.
The story worked very well and the kids got the message: the focus should not be on what we've lost, on what we don't have in Yerushalayim, on what we cannot do. Rather, the focus is on the wheelbarrow: look how far we've come! Look what Hashem gave us!
Ask someone who knows nothing about the Six Day War, "How long do you think it took Israel to become victorious against the Egyptian army?" His first answer would probably be, "You made a mistake. You meant to ask ''How long do you think it took Egypt to become victorious against the Israeli army? After all, they had more money, more tanks, more planes."
After telling him that, in fact, Israel won the war, he may do the following calculation: "The United States has been in Iraq with 130,000 troops for more than 3 years. I think it took Israel 10 years."
"Lower," you say.
"OK, 3 years."
"Lower."
"1 year, that's my final offer."
You say, "Throw in the Syrian Army. And the Jordanian army. And the financial, political, and military support of more than a dozen other nations."
If you said that Israel was victorious against these odds, your friend would think you're either drunk, joking, or stupid.......And you haven't even told him that it took 6 days.
Put in that perspective, it's hard not to recognize Hashem's hand in this most improbable victory. It's hard not to celebrate.
I cannot say that our students are unfazed by it. They certainly view the city as important and they definitely understand the importance of the day and the war 39 years ago. Still, this is another example of getting used to something and therefore losing the ability to recognize its true value.
I've written before about getting used to things. This time, I quoted a story that I saw on Rabbi Neil Fleischmann's outstanding website. More specifically, I told them the story that he wrote on this post.
When we focus on the wrong thing, we miss the point.
The story worked very well and the kids got the message: the focus should not be on what we've lost, on what we don't have in Yerushalayim, on what we cannot do. Rather, the focus is on the wheelbarrow: look how far we've come! Look what Hashem gave us!
Ask someone who knows nothing about the Six Day War, "How long do you think it took Israel to become victorious against the Egyptian army?" His first answer would probably be, "You made a mistake. You meant to ask ''How long do you think it took Egypt to become victorious against the Israeli army? After all, they had more money, more tanks, more planes."
After telling him that, in fact, Israel won the war, he may do the following calculation: "The United States has been in Iraq with 130,000 troops for more than 3 years. I think it took Israel 10 years."
"Lower," you say.
"OK, 3 years."
"Lower."
"1 year, that's my final offer."
You say, "Throw in the Syrian Army. And the Jordanian army. And the financial, political, and military support of more than a dozen other nations."
If you said that Israel was victorious against these odds, your friend would think you're either drunk, joking, or stupid.......And you haven't even told him that it took 6 days.
Put in that perspective, it's hard not to recognize Hashem's hand in this most improbable victory. It's hard not to celebrate.
posted by T.Y.I.I. at
Wednesday, May 24, 2006
4 Comments:
As it's said, "We teach the Torah we most need to learn."
Also, meant to mention, this reminds me of a story a friend told me about a student at West Point. Upon completion of a year-long course on war strategies and how battles were won to learn approaches for the future from the past, he approached the teacher and said ,"Why didn't you teach the strategy of the 6-day war?" The teacher answered, "Strategists studied that war from every angle and no matter how they made the moves, every which way, Israel should have lost. There was no way to win. Yet they did. This war the teacher said all the strategists(not Jewish) concluded was a war not conducted by man. Therefore, they decided there was nothing to teach about strategy for the future.
Like your blog fellow moreh.
Wow. I'm awed. Great application of the story. I once heard from Rav Noach Weinberg that the Malach touches us above our lip to cause us to forget everything we learned in the womb, as a reminder that the most important truths are right under our nose. Fellow Moreh's story is powerful as well. And I love the way you developed this idea. Please G-d may we be blessed to appreciate what we have.
"May we be blessed to appreciate what we have" and might I add, may H.K.B.H. make sure that we can keep what we have intact and never lose even an inch for a minute! Moreh Derech - what a heartfelt post... Though it dates me, I can remember (at least only vaguely) my first trip to Arzeinu Hakedoshah. I was only six years old. I was not able to go to the Kotel. Even at that young age, I was able to feel the void. Shortly after my return to the States we won the Six Day War and Yerushalayim was once again b'yadeinu. On my next trip I truly felt the fantastic gift that we had when I approached the Kotel for the first time. I remember feeling that it literally reached the sky and that it must surely be touching Ha-shem and the shamayim. (yes I was short, but not that short). I think the message that I am trying to give over is that we appreciate things that we have lost and refound. Additionally, that as one who still lives in galut realizes the lack of Kedushat Eretz Yisrael in the States and that Yerushalayim is Kadosh Kedoshim. May we never forget this!
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