Adath Israel San Francisco | Modern Orthodox Synagogue in San Francisco | A Welcoming Shul and Jewish Community

A Universal Truth

I’m sure you are well aware of Israel’s early morning preemptive strike last Sunday on Hezbollah’s long-range missiles that were about to wreak havoc, destruction and death on the center of Israel. Unfortunately, shorter-range missiles and drones did do some damage, but thank G-d there was no loss of life. What you might not be aware of is how Israelis typically cope with these situations. There’s a system developed by the Home Front Command that provides the residents of each area with guidelines. Last Sunday’s at 12:30pm looked like this:

However, early Sunday morning, the same type of notification came out limiting activity in “Gush Dan,” which includes Tel Aviv and all the cities that surround it. Typically, people follow the guidelines and go on with their lives. It is quite amazing to see how people adapt. 

In my travels around the country (except for the far North and the area around Gaza) life is going on almost as usual. You wouldn’t easily know that there’s a war going on, although there are a significant number of people doing reserve service.    

I’ve gone to national parks, malls, and other public venues with my grandchildren, and it is truly beautiful to watch how traditional, Orthodox, ultra-Orthodox, secular, right-wing, left-wing and every other type of Jew (and non-Jew) are comfortable coming together in the same place with no problems whatsoever.  

Everyone is respectful of each other. This kind of atmosphere can be nurtured if people take to heart the first sentence of this week’s Torah reading.     

This week’s parasha begins with the word “Re’eh” (see), which is written in the singular, but then the verse shifts to “lifneichem” (before you), which is written in the plural. Why the grammatically inconsistent shift? R. Efraim Luntshitz (1550-1619) in his commentary on the Torah called Kli Yakar suggests that the answer can be found in the Gemara (Kiddushin 40b), where we are told that each person should see himself as 50/50 merits and demerits and his very next action will sway his destiny. Furthermore, he should look at the world as 50/50 and that his actions will impact the whole world. This possibly is why Moshe highlights the singular and the plural. We are responsible for our own actions, but we also have the ability to impact the whole world. This idea is not just metaphysical. Every action we take impacts others in the real world. They look at what we do and we serve as either a positive or negative influence.