Rabbi's Derasha

We are often asked what is the distinction between the Written and the Oral Law.  One of the differences is that the Oral Law is that it is full of things one should not try at home.  Not the Halachic Midrash, which is full of derivations for the laws we live by.  But the Midrash about these stories is full of episodes which make for the background of these lives.  One of the reasons the Torah does not relate the backstories is because they are not necessarily to be repeated.  The way Avraham came to find Hashem, for example, is not for us to emulate.  We are not supposed to go searching for Hashem as though there is no tradition, no Mesora.  

This accounts for the fact that there are two basic approaches to listing the tests of Avraham Avinu.  One is the Rambam’s, which numbers only tests which you can find written in the Chumash.  The other approach includes stories before Lech Lecha, Midrashic stories.  That’s where the harrowing encounters with Nimrod -- the pre-history of Avraham Avinu -- are told.  According to the Rambam’s way of reckoning, why are these stories left out?  Because these struggles are not necessary once the tradition exists.

There are two prongs that inform Jewish life.  The first is a Mesora, a tradition, which is waiting for us, which gives guidance as to what Hashem wants from us.  This massive, enveloping framework for daily life, ritual life, family life, and business life is the birthright of every Jew.  There is also a vast literature which develops the outlook, the Weltanschauung, of a Jew.  Becoming literate in all of this allows one to connect one’s intellect with the Mesora.  But at the very least, becoming versed in its ways allows one to act with confidence as a Jew, and permits one to connect to other Jews with facility and warmth.     

The second prong of Jewish life is how we maneuver through the tests of our own lives and our times.  This is a distinctly personal challenge.  Our tests are different from Avraham’s and all who succeeded him.  They engage us according to our levels in terms of intellect and our personalities.  They are distinctly our own.  The capacity, the fortitude, to withstand these tests and to surpass them is also our endowment but the strategies and tactics will be our own.   

In the first blessing of the Amida we invoke all of the Avot.  But we end not on a note that includes all of them -- Magen Avot -- but only with Avraham.  R’ Shimon Schwab used to say that this first blessing covers both prongs.  The Avot are listed because they represent the Mesora, our heritage.  But the blessing ends with just Avraham because he is the model of maneuvering through the unique tests of life.   

We all confront different aspects of the tests of this time: An social isolation that has come even to the US, once one of the most welcoming of harbors in this long exile.  I spoke recently to one of the lawyers who is trying to help Jewish students at Stanford navigate what’s happening.  He said that the new reality is that there won’t be many antisemitic acts on campus because now students know something about the consequences.  There will be, instead, a gnawing isolation.  And that will amount to a challenge as to where one’s allegiances are.  If one wants friends, one will need to compromise on whether one wants to be too Jewish.  

This is not such a problem for students who are thickly connected to the Jewish community.  It will be harder for those who are not.  I recall once being quite distant from the official Jewish community when I was in college (before I went to Israel for the first time, when I was 20).  If someone had asked me if I identified as a Zionist, I would have had an easy time calling myself neutral.  This describes many Jews, and we must try to mitigate their isolation. 

This shift will manifest itself in many ways.  We must weather this test not meekly, but as Jews ready to confront the new reality with ingenuity and fortitude.