Thursday, December 15, 2016

America, Donald, Yavan And Chanukah

לזכות פרנסה בשפע שנוכל לעבוד את השם כאשר עם לבבנו!!!

This is not a political statement but a sociological, moral and religious one.

Donald Trump deserves America and America deserves him. He is being sworn in right after Chanuka which is perfect timing. 

Let me explain....

What is America? America is materialism, physicality, financial prosperity. America is good food, entertainment, PLEASURE. America is tall buildings, large corporations, power, the right to say what you want, where you want and when you want. America is marital infidelity, getting beautiful women, having a good time. America is hotels, restaurants and vacations. America is sports. America is might and power. 


Nobody can deny that all of the above is Trump. Money. BIG money. Big buildings with his name on them. Corporations with lots of employees. Pompous, opinionated. One wife, found someone [probably lots more than we will ever know] more exciting, divorced her. Then eventually found another. Divorced her and then yet another. Not ugly women. He doesn't choose wives based on their I.Q. and emotional and spiritual depth alone.... Entertainer, reality shows, loves to have a good time. Thrives on having the camera on him and expressing his opinion to the world. If there are no cameras - then twitter will do. Twitter - all the superficiality you want in less than 140 characters. Religion? Hey, do whatever works for you. There is no absolute truth anyway. We are just here to have a good ol' time. His daughter converts? Hey - cool. Nice guy? That's fine. He has heavy money? That's GREAT. Doesn't matter what religion. Judaism? Hey - I do business with rich Jews all the time and when we are not busy trying to cheat each other we get along great:-). Sports? He owned a football team in the now defunct USFL. The New Jersey Generals aleihem ha-shalom.

That's Donald.

Is he all bad? No, of course not. America has a lot of positive to it as well. Many freedoms. The right to free enterprise. The right to worship as you wish. Law and order. The right of all men to pursue happiness. Government programs to help the less fortunate. Donald has done good deeds in his life as well.

But America remains America and Donald remains Donald. Is it any wonder that he was elected despite his "vast" political experience of not one day.  

Chanuka. Yavan. Spell it backward - נוי. Beauty. Spell it forward. יון. Three straight lines. No true depth. They might be smart but are missing the pnimiyus. Sports. Olympics. Games. You can have a moral code but of course you don't have to keep to it. [Like the philosopher who explained his inexcusable behavior by saying "If I were a mathematician - would I have to be a triangle?"]. Wars - גבורים ביד חלשים. They were so STRONG. America has a STRONG military. רבים ביד מעטים. They were so MANY. America is hundreds of millions of people. Tumah - they left the oil in the Beis Hamikdash but made sure to contaminate it. just like today - we have our yeshivos and shuls but everything is contaminated by the American Ethos [LOVE that word. I'll use it again. Ethos.]     

Sweet friends!! We are all in the same pot of cholent. Torah, Yiddishkeit and Western Culture all in one. Our job is to take the good and remove the bad. One is not allowed to count money by the light of the Chanuka candles [Shabbos 22]. Not EVERYTHING is money. We have to separate between kodesh and chol. We have to remember that there is more to life than lots of money and a good time. 

הנרות הללו קודש הם. The light we spread to the world is holy. אין לנו רשות להשמש בהם אלא לראותם בלבד - We have to look at these holy lights and through them see the differences between us and them. The darkness of Yavan and America is to be dispelled. 

Have a sweet day and a glorious Chanuka:-)!