Based
on a sicha by Harav Yehuda Amital
It
seems that even at the time of the Chashmonaim, Torah-faithful Jews
were faced with a weighty question: is it worth continuing to
illuminate the world and to spread the message of Judaism? The price
that the nation paid for its involvement in Greek culture was high -
almost unbearably high. But the miracle of the oil was seen and
continues to serve as a sort of Divine message that we should
continue to be a "light unto the nations" - even if not
always in the open and in public, at least the light should be placed
at the entrance to the house, and at a time of danger even a light
placed on the table inside will suffice.
In
our times, we are witness to various attempts on the part of
religious Jewry in Israel to influence the secular sector, with the
aim of inculcating basic Jewish values. For the past fifty years,
religious educators have sought an appropriate avenue of
communication with the secular community. One of the most popular
solutions is to talk about Judaism in terms of a "cultural
heritage," of sociological, national, moral messages, etc., but
without basing all of this in faith in God; the religious element is
left out.
Indeed,
this solution should not be rejected outright. We can certainly
derive from the Torah a very rich and wide-ranging "cultural
heritage," but we have to know that the price we pay for this
approach is high. The "soul" of Judaism is belief in God.
All of its power and loftiness are derived from this fundamental
faith. When we try to distill national, esthetic and folkloric
elements from within Judaism while ignoring its principal theme, we
empty it of its content, and ultimately these "secondary"
themes, which drew their strength from the power of our faith, are
likewise emptied of meaning and lose their value.
Thus
we have paid a price for the attempt to follow this educational
route. The first price relates to ourselves: we have accustomed
ourselves to using the language more appropriate for an attempt to
educate those who are distant from their religious roots. Words such
as "God," "Torah," and "mitzvot" have
been avoided, while instead we have begun speaking in "cultural"
terms - "tradition," "heritage," etc. We also
have paid a price from the point of view of our influence externally,
in that the secular population that we have tried to educate believes
that what it has learned is Judaism in its authentic form.
How
may we describe the situation today? There are some groups among the
secular population who are "seeking their roots." They
recognize the fact that that the cultural creation is diluted when it
is not anchored in the heritage of the past, in the Torah of Israel.
On the other hand, there are other groups that subscribe to an ideal
of absolute freedom - meaning, to their understanding, lawlessness:
an a priori rejection of any sort of authority or obligation; "Do
whatever you feel like doing."
With
regard to this latter group we can only hope that with the passage of
time they will also come to realize that the absence of a defining
framework creates a vacuum. The only language in which we can speak
to them at this stage is the familiar language of "personal
example." To this end we must build a religious community that
excels in three main areas:
i.
morality;
ii.
candor;
iii.
readiness to accept personal responsibility, and avoidance of the
"it's not my problem" phenomenon.
May
we be inspired by the example of the Chashmonaim and keep the pure
light of Torah burning for all to see.
(This
sicha was delivered on Chanuka 5753 [1992]. It was summarized by
Benny Holzman and translated by Kaeren Fish. From the Israel Koschitzky Beit Medrash)
