The Parents Of All Peoples

Is it good to be a proud Jew? Should one glorify in his or her Jewishness? Most of the people reading this are probably thinking "of course".

You're right.

But is that allll there is to it?? I mean, what about everybody else?? THAT is not my problem, right?

There is a very disturbing gemara in Brachos [13]. Avraham was originally Avram, meaning the father of Aram. Later he became the father of ALLLLLLL peoples, in the words of the gemara אב לכל העולם כולו [this is based on the pasuk אב המון גויים in Breishis 17].

Sarah, says the gemara, was originally the mother of her own nation ["Sarai"] but later became the mother of ALLLLLL peoples.

This is disturbing because I sorta wanted Avraham and Sarah for ourselves and didn't really want to share them with anyone else [like the Dominicans of Washington Heights]. What the gemara is saying is that they belong to everybody now. I'm disturbed. ["Hi Disturbed! My name is Josh, nice to meet you"].

Here is the secret. I love my family, right. I don't sleep at nights thinking about my children. What can I do to help Avi with .... And is Simcha ..... And what about Gila? I also think of my parents. This is wonderful, natural and classifies me in the category of "caring father and son". However, if I stop there then I am treading DANGEROUS territory. It is an obsession with myself because my family is naturally just an extension of me. We share the same genes [even though none of us wear jeans...] and have so much in common.

But what about my neighbors? Or the people down the block? Or in the next neighborhood? Do I worry about them? Do I care? When I see a child on the street, do I wish him well? Do I notice him at all? What about adults? Would I be happy if I heard that a new daf yomi shiur was starting in Boro Park from the beginning of Pesachim?? The problem is that most people are deeeeply absorbed in their own lives and the lives of those close to them that everybody else is merely a "footnote" in their lives. Everybody has their circle of family and friends and beyond that there is often little concern. Even people who do chesed will be concerned with the constituency of their "chesed circle" but not beyond. Rare is the person who is concerned with EVERYBODY.

Nationalism is WONDERFUL! But there is also an inherent danger of chauvinism, the feeling that all that matters is US. The gemara is saying something HUGE. Avraham and Sarah didn't constrict themselves to being the spiritual parents of the Jewish people alone but expanded themselves to serve as the parents of all peoples.

For me, on Erev Shabbos Kodesh Parshas Balak, that is an idea that causes the earth to shake, 12.1 on the Richter scale. Yes we read in this weeks parsha הן עם לבדד ישכון ובגוים לא יתחשב [if I hear the song I will be compelled to get up and dance]. We must be separate from the other nations. We must also appreciate that our love for our fellow Jews  must be most intense [see Orot P. 33 and 169 and Mei Marom Balak]. But concomitantly, we yearn for a world where everybody lives spiritually and materially fulfilling lives. [PLEASE see the Ayn Ayah Brachos 1 Page 69 and Siddur Olas Ri-iyah on the Pasuk אתה הוא האלהים אשר בחרת באברם].

A story to illustrate??

A state senator from New York once asked for a private meet­ing with the Lubavitcher Rebbe. After spending over an hour with the Rebbe, he came out excited. "Until now, I never realized what a great man your Rebbe is," he told Rabbi Laibel Groner, the Rebbe's secretary.

The senator explained that he had sought the Rebbe's counsel concerning certain issues involving the Jewish community. After offering advice with regard to these matters, the Rebbe asked if he could request a favor.

"'Here it comes,' I thought to myself," he told Rabbi Groner. "Just like all the others. He's looking for the payoff. But what did the Rebbe ask of me?"

"He said: 'there is a growing community in Chinatown. These people are quiet, reserved, hard working and law-abiding - the type of citizens most countries would treasure. But because Americans are so out-going and the Chinese are, by nature, so reserved, they are often overlooked by government programs. As a state senator from New York, I suggest that you concern yourself with their needs.'

"I was overwhelmed. The Rebbe has a community of thousands in

New York, and institutions all over the state that could benefit from government support. I was in a position to help secure fund­ing for them, but the Rebbe didn't ask about that. He was concerned with Chinatown. I don't think he has ever been there, and I'm certain that most people there don't know who he is, but he cares about them. Now that's a true leader!"

 

[Told by Rabbi Groner]

זכות הצדיקים יעזור ויגן ויושיע!!