From Shabbat Bishabbato Parshat Va-era [Translated by R' Moshe Goldberg]
| Holy & Secular > "The Shlezinger Tunnel" / Rabbi Amichai Gordin Yeshivat Har Etzion and Shaalvim High School |
Ephraim Kishon was trying to tell a joke to his friend, the "Yekki," Dr. Feinholtz:
- Did you hear (I began)? Two Jews were riding in a train...
- Excuse me (Dr. Feinholtz interrupted, putting on his glasses). Who were these Jews? - Just some Jews, it doesn't matter... - From Palestine? - It doesn't matter. Let's say they were. They live in Israel. Well... - Oh, I see. Are you, sir, trying to tell me that this story took place after the State of Israel was established? - Absolutely. But it doesn't make any difference. There they were, traveling in the train... - Where to? - What's the difference? Let's say to Haifa. Here's the main thing. The train suddenly went through a long tunnel... - I beg your pardon, but there is no tunnel on the route to Haifa. - Okay, so they were going to Jerusalem. It doesn't matter! Well... - There are no tunnels on the route to Jerusalem either. It is true that in 1923 there was a suggestion to dig a tunnel under the Kastel, but the Mandatory government... - It doesn't matter! Let's say there were not here but in Switzerland. So... - Oh, Switzerland! Might I ask which tunnel it was? Was it the Litsburg Tunnel or Simpleton? Or perhaps St. Guthart or Arlburg? - It doesn't matter (I shouted)! As far as I am concerned, it could have been the Shlezinger Tunnel! - The Shlezinger Tunnel! (Here Dr. Feinholtz burst out laughing.) Wonderful! What a fantastic joke! The Shelzinger Tunnel! I must tell this joke to my friends! The Shlezinger Tunnel...
[Based on Ephraim Kishon, "Yekki"]
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An important warning: The correspondence between Kishon's fantastic story and the subject of this essay is not perfect. I want to discuss the Tanach, and to declare that in the study of Tanach as in other subjects it is important to stick with the main elements and not to get sidetracked by the "Shlezinger Tunnel." It is important to emphasize that as opposed to a simple satire, every detail in the Tanach has an innate value, and it is important to study every detail of the Tanach.
However, even though every verse has its own value, it is important to invest more time and energy in understanding the verse "Do not stretch your hand out to harm the youth" [Bereishit 22:12] than is required for the verse "the sister of Lotan was Timna" [36:22].
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"And David was very angry at the man... I swear that any man who does this should be punished by death" [Shmuel II 12:5].
"And Natan said to David, you are the man... Why did you shame the word of G-d to do evil... And now the sword will never leave your house... I will bring evil on you from within your house... And I do this thing in front of all of Yisrael and in front of the sun." [12:...]. "And David said to Natan: I have sinned before G-d." [12:..].
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Natan the Prophet acted "by the book". First he made David angry about a rich man who took away the sheep of a poor man. And then Natan demanded that David turn his own anger against himself, deep within his soul. "You are the man!"
It is very doubtful if from the time of creation until this very day any human being has fully succeeded in accomplishing such a task – to accept sharp and humiliating criticism, to accept an unbridled ethical scolding, to hear that "the sword will never leave" his house and that his own son would humiliate him in front of the entire community. David was expected to hear all of this, to look straight at all the facts, and to declare: "I have sinned before G-d."
King David did not try to justify his actions. He did not explain that the poor man's sheep was one thing that his actions were something else. The King of Yisrael did not ask for special treatment because of his celebrity status. And he did not demand that the prophet speak to him with greater respect. The King made a simple declaration, a pure statement: "I have sinned before G-d."
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The controversy over the teaching of Tanach which erupted in the last year enhanced the rating of the story of David and Batsheva. But, unfortunately, in many cases the focus of the discussion has been in the wrong place. It is true that we must ask exactly what David's sin was. But that is not the main point. The main focus must be somewhere else.
We must not become too involved in the "Shlezinger Tunnel." On the path to understanding the greatness of the declaration, "I have sinned," we must not stop to wonder if there really is a tunnel between Haifa and Tel Aviv. The story of David and Batsheva is first and foremost a story about a giant of a man who succeeded at an extremely difficult moment to set his ego aside and to concentrate on the truth. That is the focus of the story, that is the main point. That is the ethical volcano that erupts from within King David.
The sin of David is the dark tunnel which leads to the great light of his declaration: "I have sinned before G-d." Is this the Shlezinger Tunnel or the Arlburg Tunnel? You know what? It really doesn't matter...
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