The Current Situation Needs a New Narrative in Emuna

I see that the tzibbur is struggling with a central point in Emunah so we will proceed slowly. We are in the midst of a global crisis, which requires a different approach, from an Emunah perspective, than a personal or even a community tragedy.

I would like to show you an important yesod in Emunah. You will see it in one of the most well-known quotations in all of Jewish literature; one that you have all seen countless times, but never understood. “עינים להם ולא יראו…” — we all knew the text, but we never saw what it actually says.

*Emunah is built on a story*

The background of this vaad is that Emunah is built according to a story, a narrative. Developing Emunah is not simply a matter of importing more and more facts. That’s why the Ramchal, in the beginning of the Derech Hashem and Daas Tevunos, writes that first we must appreciate the entire picture, and only then deal with the details of Emunah. This is unlike other areas of Torah study. When we learn Gemora, for example, we do not first check the conclusion of the sugya, and only then begin to learn. It’s the opposite — we want the learning to be open-ended; the conclusions should come only after we have evaluated the facts. Emunah is built differently. The facts alone will not make you a believer; they need to be part of a story.

*Ke’neged Arba Bonim Dibra Torah*

We read every year from the Haggadah Shel Pesach, “כנגד ארבע בנים דברה תורה אחד חכם, אחד רשע, אחד תם, ואחד שאינו יודע לשאול”. (See also Rashi, Parshas Bo.) How do you understand that? Every year at the Seder, people say something like, “Look, you have to explain to every child according to his abilities and personality, etc.” That’s true. But the Torah which is speaking here is the Written Torah. The Written Torah does not explain itself to the reader. Of course, there are multiple explanations and levels of understanding, but that’s part of learning and teaching.

Of course, when you teach Torah, you explain to each child differently. If you want to explain “שנים אוחזין”, you speak to a big Lamdan one way, and to a child aged ten in another. But that’s a basic method of teaching; that is not what the Torah is teaching us here.

“Ke’neged arba bonim dibra Torah” means something else, something shocking. It means that according to a person’s situation, the “story” of the Torah changes. Not that the story remains the same, and the explanation changes. Rather, there is a completely different story for each person. That is “Ke’neged arba bonim dibra Torah”– each child requires a different Sippur Yetzias Mitzrayim!

As we said, Emunah is built not on facts, but a story. There are the facts of Yetzias Mitzrayim, and then there is the narrative, the story. What we are seeing here is that the narrative changes for each son. That’s a tremendous surprise. Normally, there is one lesson, only with different interpretations and depths. You can find entire worlds in one word of the written Torah, but there is only one word. The entire Torah works that way. Yet, when it comes to Emunah, the actual story changes according to the listener. There are multiple stories. That’s a tremendous chiddush, isn’t it? I don’t know why in Emunah it’s different, but that’s what it is. The story of the ben hachochom is different than the story of the tam. It’s not a different explanation, it’s a different story.

We see this in Parshas Chayei Sarah. Eliezer gives the jewelry to Rivka even before she identifies herself. That in itself is a story is of Emunah. He was confident that Hashem had guided him to the right person. But when he relates to Besuel what happened, he switches the story around; he says that first she identified herself, and only then he gave her the jewelry. Rashi writes that he did not want to be caught up in his words; that they would ask him afterwards why he gave her the jewelry before he knew who she was. Rashi does not mean that Eliezer was simply avoiding trouble. The story of Eliezer was inappropriate for Besuel, because his Emunah was not strong enough. Besuel needed a different story. And that story was a powerful one: he said “Me’Hashem Yotsa Hadovor”. The story told to Besuel was a different one than the story for Eliezer, because in Emunah, the story of the Torah changes, not only the explanation.

Changing the narrative- it is not about Se’char Ve’onesh

That is the Yesod: in Emunah, there can be different stories. The narrative changes according the person and his circumstances. We have to understand that the situation in which we find ourselves in today, as a people, requires a new story. Many people are unable to see that.

People are stuck in the story of Emunah known as “שכר ועונש”– reward and punishment. Se’char Ve’onesh can be an excellent story. You see these people who were killed, and you say this is their punishment, because they were mechalel Shabbos. But you are unable to see anything else.

We are seeing now, with what is happening in the world, that it’s not a question of reward and punishment. Given current events, the story has to change. I am speaking now, just after I read the Swiss newspaper. There is a tremendous amount of antisemitism right now in the world. It’s very frightening. Yidden all over the world are experiencing that; it’s not always so comfortable to go out into the street. There are protests, people are screaming to gas the Jews. And no one says anything, because there’s freedom of speech. They can say to chop off everyone’s head, and it just goes over — freedom of speech.

Let’s think about this. They killed Jews, no? I don’t understand — they killed Jews! They killed Jews in a way which even the Germans did not. Why is antisemitism growing more and more extreme? It makes no sense. The Borei Olam is doing something here. And it’s not reward and punishment. The story here is not that in New York they did aveiros, so there is Antisemitism. And in Berkeley for sure they did aveiros, so there is Antisemitism. And in Australia they did aveiros, and in Germany they did aveiros, and in London they did aveiros. So no, it’s not a question of reward and punishment. You see, we have to find a different story.

Up until Shemini Atzeres, “reward and punishment” was a great story. But the narrative must change. What will happen when the Israeli army actually enters Gaza? The danger in chutz la’aretz will be ten, hundred, thousand -fold more. What will these people say? “Now we don’t only scream… we will take actions the way you took actions.” It’s crazy. It’s crazy what’s going on in Harvard University. These are crazy people- absolutely crazy people- but what will be when the soldiers enter Gaza? Then, they won’t only be crazy, and it will be much more dangerous. In several weeks, the entire world has turned over and become anti -semitic. People tell me, “No, but the state is very pro -Israel.” I tell them, “Okay.” I don’t want to scare them. I could tell them, “Okay, someone will be killed, but he will have a beautiful funeral organized by the state.” The state? Don’t worry, you will not be killed in the U.S. embassy or on Capitol Hill. No, it will be in the streets. And then the state will make a very nice declaration and you will be zoche to a very nice funeral.

So now the story has to change. “Ke’neged arba bonim dibra Torah”. That doesn’t mean that you explain the story differently. We need to find a different story: not Se’char Ve’onesh. Emunah needs a story.

A new story: How Hashem is connecting to the world

The story here in Emunah is a story of how the Borei Olam is connecting to the world. That’s what I see. How is the Borei Olam entering the picture? I’ll give you an example. Those of you who know me personally, know that every once in a while, Leuchter is in a bad mood. You know: just stay away from that guy. That means I connect to the world in an awkward, skewed way.

Reward and punishment won’t help then. You can try to be the nicest guy and to do everything just right, but I am in a bad mood. It might even make it worse. Of course, the Borei Olam doesn’t have a mood. But there is the question of how the Borei Olam relates to the world. At times, He so to speak takes the initiative, and connects in a certain manner. He is not solely reacting to our actions, as in Se’char Ve’onesh. The Borei Olam now is not just reacting to what we are doing. He is not. We see the Borei Olam entering the picture on a global level; this is not just a reaction. It cannot be that He reacts in Australia in a certain way. And in the same way in Germany, and the same way in France, and the same way in London, and the same way in New York, and the same way in Detroit. Everywhere, the same way. Like we said, there is another story going on. It’s not the story of Sechar Ve’onesh. It’s a story of how the Borei Olam is connecting to the world; on His initiative, not as a reaction.

When that is the story, we have to find ways to deal with that depth of Hashgacha. What are the things which influence the way the Borei Olam connects to the world, how He enters the picture?

Just like in the example of my bad mood, you have to know what helps. Se’char Ve’onesh doesn’t help but perhaps something else will.

*Torah and Tefillah affect how the Borei Olam connects to the world*

The Nefesh Hachaim writes that there are only two things which affect how Hashem connects to the world: Tefillah and Torah, not mitzvos. (Klal Hamitzvos do that, but that’s not our topic.) Tefillah, the Nefesh Hachaim discusses in Shaar Beis. The entire Shaar Beis is built around how Tefillah connects the Borei Olam to the world. Torah, that’s in Shaar Daled, Chapter 26; you can see it there.

The Borei Olam gave us two things, which reach the depth of His connection to the world: Tefillah and Torah. Now, our Tefillah and Torah has to take on a new dimension. That is something to consider when you daven. Right now, Hakadosh Baruch Hu is connecting to the world in an extremely harsh way for the Jewish nation. And as we said, not only in Eretz Yisroel, but in the whole world. And your davening can affect that.

*An important caveat*

There were people who heard this vaad and made a big mistake. Leuchter just said that the ONLY things we can do are to daven and to learn. People make a mistake and understand that in the context of “us” and “them”. “Us” meaning the Yeshiva world, and “them” meaning the soldiers. So, people think that Leuchter is saying that even though the soldiers are going into Gaza, really, it’s all about “us”, with our Torah and Tefillah. Charedim think that way at times. “Really, we are the real thing!” And now Leuchter is saying it too: only two things help, Torah and Tefillah.

I don’t know whether there is a medical doctor listening to this shiur; most probably there is. A medical doctor knows that most patients die from the symptoms of the disease, as opposed to the actual root of the disease. If someone is running a high fever, and the fever rises, up to forty degrees, forty-one, forty-two — that fever needs to be treated because otherwise, the patient might die. The doctor will not say, “But I have to treat the root of the illness, don’t bother me now with the high fever — that’s a symptom.” Because then the patient will die. If you don’t deal with the symptoms, the symptoms kill. For example, I have diabetes. You can try to deal with the root of the illness, to improve the functioning of the pancreas. But if someone has a wound which doesn’t heal, chas vasholom, it will poison the whole body, and he will die. You can’t ignore the symptoms.

So it’s true, Hamas is only a symptom; Hamas is not the root of the problem. The heart of the matter is how the Borei Olam is relating to the world. But when you don’t deal with the symptom, the symptom will kill you. People don’t understand this, and it’s really very childish, extremely childish. Because for sure you have to deal with the root of the problem, to daven and to learn. As we said, these are the only two things which have that depth, which affect how the Borei Olam relates to the world. But that doesn’t mean that that it’s all about Torah and Tefillah. No, you have to deal with the symptom too. Hamas is the symptom. Otherwise, the symptom will kill you. So, you have to work from both sides; everyone has to do his own job.