Yaakov Hibbert Presents… Thank You for Being My Godparents

Knowledge of Jewish “choseness” is undeniably widespread. Several years ago, the University of California conducted a study of anti-Semitism. Non-Jewish Americans were presented with 18 unfavorable statements about Jews and asked whether they believed any of them. By far the most widely-held belief among those surveyed (59%) was that “Jews consider themselves to be G-d’s chosen people”.

Whether this is actually a cause of anti-Semitism is for another discussion. But the idea of the Jewish Nation being “supreme” does seem to be true. We are told in this weeks Sedra, “Hashem has distinguished you today to be for Him a treasured people . . . to observe all His commandments, and to make you supreme over all the nations that He made, for praise, for renown, and for splendor”.

Quite explicit is that the key to supremacy over the nations of the world is – only as a consequence of keeping the mitzvahs. Only through this will we be praised, renowned and seen as splendorous.

Similarly in Parshas Vo’eschanan we read about the nations of the world looking up towards us because of our mitzvah observance: And you shall guard and perform them, for they are your (source of) wisdom and understanding in the eyes of the nations, who will hear all these ‘Chukim’ – statutes and exclaim ‘what a wise and clever nation this nation is!’” Again we are told that the mitzvah’s are the source of the Non-Jews looking up to us and dubbing us as ‘highly intelligent’.

We can see that not only does Mitzvah observance make us supreme over the nations of the world, but that they recognize Mitzvah observance as a tremendous thing. Why is this?

The abovementioned verse seems to stress that it is specifically the statutes – the mitzvahs that are without any rhyme or reason – are to be the cause. The logical laws – are surely [if anything] the part that the non-Jews should look at and through comprehending them see our wisdom?

Rabaynu Bachay [13th century] explains that although outwardly and superficially the non-Jews mock the illogical mitzvahs that we keep, deep down they appreciate the greatness of being part of system that is orchestrated and dictated from something Divine. When we realise that ALL the 613 mitzvahs are from Hashem, then in truth even the logical mitzvahs take on a Divine therefore infinite dimension. Through keeping them we show that we are Divinely directed in our behaviour at work, in the street, or in the house.

Human beings crave order; they crave to be part of a well orchestrated system. Judaism is that perfect structure – every aspect of our lives is governed by Hashem. Deep down everybody – even the non-Jews – realise that this brings great meaning to all that we do. We don’t just do as we feel fit – or even as our own man made rules dictate – we act under a Divine Leadership, a Perfect Leadership.

Allow me to explain this idea through the writings of Rav Hirsch [1808-1888] with regard to educating children. Rav Hirsch is addressing the idea of implanting into the minds of very young children the concept of a higher being who has the authority of what can and cannot be done. The parent is that higher authority.

He then adds a deep [I think so!] point: “You should let the child know that the demands that you make of him are determined only by the requirements of absolute goodness, and that in making these demands, you yourself are acting in obedience to a Higher Authority”. I.e. you are educating him to a system not just of authority of parents wanting the child to be moulded to suit their ideals but to the ideals of a most perfect system – the fully comprehensive system that Hashem has set up.

There are two ways a child will learn that you yourself are acting in accordance with a higher authority. Firstly if your ‘rules’ are not born out of a temporary mood or of selfish desire. If a child senses that the rules are made up on whim then he too will behave according to his whims.

Secondly a child who sees his parents only giving commands and not practicing obedience will not sense the real Higher Authority. “Fortunately, truly Jewish parents have a powerful educational tool in this regard. In a Torah-observant home, on a constant basis, children see both parents happily [my bold underline!] obeying a Higher Will in many varied ways.”

Rav Hirsch has paved a path which he says will train children in the most fundamental virtue – happy, free-willed obedience to a higher will!

Just as children will be happy to be parented when the parents themselves obey a Higher Authority – so too the nations of the world will be ‘wowed’ by the Jews when they see our mitzvahs – even the statutes – that have come from a Higher Authority.

Interestingly Jews make up approximately 0.02% of the worlds populations yet have won a staggering 129 Noble Prizes (23%)! I’m not sure this is what the Torah meant when it said that the Jews will be seen as a source of wisdom and understanding, but perhaps there is a correlation between the noble prizes wisdom and the wisdom that comes about from following a Higher Source? Perhaps!

Good Shabbos, Yaakov