It’s been a while since anyone has marched on anyone else in Europe. The Balkans were somewhat like this, depending on your point of view, but that was a civil war. To walk across an internationally-recognized border has been a sort of Middle Eastern or Far Eastern thing to do after 1945.
What seems to move the Russia of Vladimir Putin is a need to be recognized on the grand strategy stage. It wants to be a contender again, like many has-been heavyweights. It has been ignored long enough, insulted long enough, and Ukraine -- which any self-respecting Russian knows belongs to it anyway -- is a convenient vehicle for showing that it can’t be ignored. It does not matter if Russia stays a short time or a long time. It has flexed its muscles, which is more than anyone else can say.
Oh, how much fun it is to catch a whiff of those glory days of superpowers and superweapons, the wonderful frisson of mutually assured destruction. It does not matter that what was once tragedy is now repeating as farce. No matter which way, as tragedy or farce, it reminds us of what occurs in cultures that should be foreign to us, where numerical superiority, in troop numbers or in tanks or in deliverable megatonnage, is the measure of who matters. East or West, it is all a reflection of the culture of Esav, in which Yesh Li Rav -- the culture of “I have lots” -- matters.
Parashat Shekalim is a reminder that we are supposed to be a different type of culture. Whereas Esav says, “Yesh Li Rav,” Yaakov says, “Yesh Li Kol,” I have all I need, no less and nor more. At the beginning of Devarim, Hashem is quoted as saying that it is not because of the plenitude of the Jews that He has chosen them. You are a small people, He says, which is not just an accurate description of them. It is a virtue in itself, because it embodies the rejection of the culture of big numbers.
The Midrash at the beginning of Parashat Vayeshav says that Yaakov Avinu was intimidated when he reflected on the growth of Esav. In the previous Parasha, this began with a confrontation between Yaakov and Esav in which the latter is accompanied by 400 men. That number is not accidental. When the Torah wants to represent a purely physical object, it speaks of four or 40 or 400. The completion of a physical process is in these numbers, like human gestation, which takes 40 weeks. An army of 400 is not just a number to intimidate Yaakov. It represents a full expression of physical plenitude.
By the end of that Parasha, Vayishlach, Yaakov hears the listing of so many descendents, so many Alufim, military generals. How is one to contend with them?
To which Hashem answers, through the prophet Ovadya, “Beit Yaakov Aish, U’veit Yosef Lehava, U’veit Esav l’kash -- the house of Yaakov is fire, the house of Yosef is a flame, and the house of Esav is so much Kash, so much straw. What does one need to defeat straw? One spark, the flicker of one small match, will destroy even enormous amounts of straw. Kash, straw, is a symbol of plenitude -- its Gematria is 400. But it is nothing against fire. As a metaphor, I have always liked that R & D takes place in Israel. Not manufacturing and not, of course, sales, but the R & D comes from Israel. The spark of an idea, and its development takes place in the small country.
At the beginning of Parashat Shekalim, the verse says, “Zeh Nitnu,” this will be given. “Zeh” always means that one is pointing at something. Rashi cites a Midrash that describes Hashem showing a Matbe’ah, a coin, of fire. A coin always means a symbol of value. But what is the value of fire? It is a value that defeats all other value, not out of numbers but because it represents more basic power than numbers. Fire turns everything around it into fire, it makes everything into itself. What we sometimes refer to as the fire of Torah is not destructive of individuals but it does destroy the view that numbers alone triumph.
Large numbers are impressive. It is hard not to be impressed. But that’s not the culture of Yaakov, and the fire of Torah will not allow it to triumph.
Israel must tread lightly in this conflict. It’s a small country choosing between much larger nations. Moreover, both sides have many Jews. Ukraine of course still has many Jews; Putin is many things but he is not an anti-Semite and has treated Jews well. But as the world tries to figure out how to end the war, our job is to avoid being impressed by the numbers, which are only so much straw.
