Pesach 5778

Rabbi YY Jacobson

• March 25, 2018
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• 9 Nisan 5778
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  The Two Dips of Jewish History

  The Dip that Creates Exile; and the Dip that Ends It

  Rabbi YY Jacobson

  • March 25, 2018

  Just Kidding

  This exchange between a husband and wife happened last Wednesday.

  Wife: "How would you describe me?"

  Husband: "ABCDEFGHIJK."

  Wife: "What does that mean?"

  Husband: "Adorable, beautiful, cute, delightful, elegant, fashionable, gorgeous, and hilarious."

  Wife: "Aw, thank you, but what about IJK?"

  Husband: "I'm just kidding!"

  The husband, by the way, has been missing since Wednesday.

  His Side

  A child asked his mother, "How were people born?" So his mother said, "G-d made Adam and Eve; Adam and Eve made babies, then their babies became adults and made babies, and so on." The child then went to his father, asked him the same question and he told him, "We were monkeys then we evolved to become like we are now."

  The child ran back to his mother and said, "You lied to me!" His mother replied, "No, your father was talking about his side of the family."

  The Fifth Question

  I am going to ask today a fifth question. Here goes:

  Father, do you know the answers to all of the Four Questions? Can you tell them to me?

  We all know the Four Questions, by heart. We repeat them each year, and if you are blessed with a large family, you get to hear them numerous times, each time displaying the same excitement (or faking it, anticipating the spare ribs, which will come in two hours).

  Bu did you ever wonder what were the answers to those four questions. Let’s see.

  “On all other nights, we eat chametz and matzah. Why on this night, only matzah?” Toward the end of the Seder we address that. The Jews were expelled from Egypt so swiftly, they had no time to let their dough rise. One down.

  Next. On all other nights, we eat all vegetables. Why, on this night, maror? Again, at the end of the Seder we explain it. It is to commemorate the bitter suffering of our ancestors in Egypt (and of course in subsequent persecutions.) Two down.

  Why do we all eat reclined? This question is not explicitly addressed in the Seder; but it is intimated. “In every generation every person is obliged to see himself as though he himself left Egypt.” On the night of Pesach we must internalize the truth that the experience of the Exodus can be an ongoing on in our own lives today. Stretching out and reclining during the meal was the physical symbolism of freedom, as this is how kings and noblemen enjoyed their meals, unlike slaves of old who were not allowed to recline; they ate their meals standing, on the run, or sitting upward.

  But how about the fourth question? “On all other nights, we don't dip even once. Why on this night do we dip twice? One time, karaps—a vegetable—in saltwater; the second time, maror in charoses, bitter herbs (or Romaine Lettuce) in the sweet mixture of apples, pears, nuts and wine.” During the entire seder, it seems, we never get an answer to this question.

  Let’s address this question today. Why do we dip twice on the night of Pesach?

  If we study the text of the Haggdah carefully, we will find the answer. It is fascinating, tragic, empowering and most importantly, demanding.

  Who Runs the Show?

  In the section of the Haggadah where we recount the genesis of our history, we read these verses from the book of Joshua:

  יהושע כד, ב–ד : וַיֹּ֨אמֶר יְהוֹשֻׁ֜עַ אֶל־כָּל־הָעָ֗ם כֹּֽה־אָמַ֣ר יְהֹוָה֘ אֱלֹהֵ֣י יִשְׂרָאֵל֒ בְּעֵ֣בֶר הַנָּהָ֗ר יָֽשְׁב֚וּ אֲבֽוֹתֵיכֶם֙ מֵֽעוֹלָ֔ם תֶּ֛רַח אֲבִ֥י אַבְרָהָ֖ם וַֽאֲבִ֣י נָח֑וֹר וַיַּֽעַבְד֖וּ אֱלֹהִ֥ים אֲחֵרִֽים: וָֽ֠אֶקַּ֠ח אֶת־אֲבִיכֶ֚ם אֶת־אַבְרָהָם֙ מֵעֵ֣בֶר הַנָּהָ֔ר וָֽאוֹלֵ֥ךְ אוֹת֖וֹ בְּכָל־אֶ֣רֶץ כְּנָ֑עַן וָֽאַרְבֶּ֙ה  אֶת־זַרְע֔וֹ וָֽאֶתֶּן־ל֖וֹ אֶת־יִצְחָֽק: וָֽאֶתֵּ֣ן לְיִצְחָ֔ק אֶֽת־יַֽעֲקֹ֖ב וְאֶת־עֵשָֹ֑ו וָֽאֶתֵּ֨ן לְעֵשָֹ֜ו אֶת־הַ֚ר שֵׂעִיר֙ לָרֶ֣שֶׁת אוֹת֔וֹ וְיַֽעֲקֹ֥ב וּבָנָ֖יו יָֽרְד֥וּ מִצְרָֽיִם:

  Joshua 24:2-4: And Joshua said to the whole nation, "Thus said the Lord God of Israel, 'Your fathers dwelt on the other side of the river from earliest time, Terach, the father of Abraham, and the father of Nachor; and they served other gods. And I took your father Abraham from the other side of the river, and led him throughout all the land of Canaan, and multiplied his seed, and gave him Isaac. And I gave to Isaac Jacob and Esau; and I gave to Esau Mount Seir to inherit it; and Jacob and his children went down into Egypt.

  Can you notice something amiss in these verses? G-d, it seems, is turning all the wheels. “I took your father Abraham from the other side of the river… and gave him Isaac. I gave Isaac Jacob and Esau. I gave Esau Mt. Seir. All this is attributed directly to G-d. He is, no doubt, running the show.

  Beside the one last event: “Jacob and his children went down into Egypt.” Suddenly, it is not anymore, “I took Jacob and his sons to Egypt.” It is as though they did this themselves.

  For the former assurances, G-d assumes responsibility. “I did it.” For the Jews going down to Egypt, the buck is passed to the Jews themselves. They carry responsibility for this one.

  And this subtle nuance, captures the essence of the story. How did the Israelites get down to Egypt? Ten of Jacob’s sons abducted their brother Joseph and sold him into slavery. Joseph went down to Egypt and eventually, impelled by famine, the rest of the family followed. Because of Joseph, serving as Prime Minister of the land, they stayed in Egypt long after the famine had ended, making a comfortable home for themselves in Goshen. But, as they multiplied, the Pharaoh came to see them as a threat. Within a generation, they were enslaved. It was two hundred and ten years before they made their way out.

  But how did they manage to achieve this feat without Jacob figuring out what happened? The Torah tells us the story:

  Genesis 37:31-35: And they took Joseph's coat, they slaughtered a goat, and they dipped the coat in the blood. They sent the fine woolen coat, and they brought it to their father, and they said, "We have found this; now recognize whether it is your son's coat or not?"

  He recognized it, and he said, "It is my son's coat; a wild beast has devoured him; Joseph has surely been torn up."

  And Jacob rent his garments, and he put sackcloth on his loins, and he mourned for his son many days. And all his sons and all his daughters arose to console him, but he refused to be consoled, for he said, "Because I will descend on account of my son as a mourner to the grave."

  It was the dipping of Joseph’s coat into the goat’s blood that captured the depth of the tragedy and the profound split in the budding Jewish family. Had they just sold him into slavery, Jacob could go search for him and repurchase him from the master. But they covered up the story by the appearance of death. For their father, he was dead and it was pointless to search for him. Thus, Joseph remained in Egypt, and ultimately, this is how the entire family made their way down to Egypt as well.

  The Passover Blood

  To appreciate the centrality of this episode in Jewish history, come with me to the night before the Jews are about to leave Egypt. And you will discover a chilling reenactment of what the brothers did to Joseph, but this time in a different fashion.

  As the Jews are about to be set free from their oppression and slavery, on the eve of their redemption, G-d commands them conduct the first Passover Seder, eating matzah, maror together with the special Passover offering—a lamb or a goat, slaughtered on that very day, on the 14^th of Nissan.

  But this Passover offering came with a very strange commandment, never to be repeated again:

  Exodus 12:22-23: And you shall take a bundle of hyssop and immerse it in the blood that is in the basin (he blood of the goat or the sheep slaughtered), and you shall place the blood on the lintel and the two doorposts the blood that is in the basin… G-d will pass to smite the Egyptians, and He will see the blood on the lintel and on the two doorposts, and the Lord will pass over the entrance, and He will not permit the destroyer to enter your houses to smite you.

  What was this all about? G-d could not recognize their homes without the painting of some blood on the door posts and lintels of their homes? What is this, some voodoo?

  It is here that we discover an astounding connection in our early history. How did the entire Egyptian exile begin? What brought the Jews down to Egypt in the first place? They were following the lead of Joseph. But how did Joseph get there and stay there? It was through the brothers dipping their brother’s coat into the blood of a goat.

  Now, 232 years later,[1] it was time to leave this cursed place. How did the exile come to an end? By once again dipping something into the blood of a goat (or sheep).

  But this time around they were not dipping their brother’s tunic into the goat’s blood. Instead, they submerged “a bundle of hyssop” into the goat’s blood.

  Hyssop, the name of a bush, was common in the Middle East and was used as both a detergent and a laxative. King David cries in Psalms 51: “Purge me with hyssop, and I will be cleansed." The hyssop, or Ezov in Hebrew, represents cleansing.[2]

  The people of Israel, the descendants of the original sons of Jacob, once again took a goat, and instead of using its blood to camouflage their sale of their brother, they used the blood to paint the outside of their homes, publically declaring that they are part of one people, a unified nation, ready to embark on a journey toward freedom, a singular nation, comprised of all of the twelve tribes of Israel, with no fragmentation, hatred, and disdain.

  “And you shall take a bundle of hyssop and immerse it in the (goat’s) blood.” It is no coincidence that the Torah instructed them to fetch a “bundle of hyssop.” The original language that is used is “agudas ezov,” which comes from the root word “igud,” which means bonding and unity. The dipping of unity, which took place at the end of the Jewish Nation's slavery in Egypt, was a remedy for the dipping of Joseph’s coat into goat-blood, which had triggered their descent into Egypt.

  [And the unity of all Jews as belonging to one people emerged particularly in blood. We can argue all we want about everything under the sun, and feel divisive and fragmented. But somehow, when it comes to Jewish blood, no one is redder than anyone else. For our enemies, the blood of the most alienated Jew was as red as the blood of the most engaged Jew.]

  Only now, following this dip, could G-d liberate them, molding them into a single, integrated nation. If they would not have each other’s backs, there is no way they could survive as a people. If they could not learn the lesson from what happened with Joseph, they could not set themselves free from Egyptian bondage. Their internal rift would ensure their eternal vulnerability and weakness.

  Take a marriage as an example. What is the key factor which either makes a marriage work or dissolve? It is not that the couple does not fight, argue, and bicker. The research of the last 40 years has shown that this was not the key ingredient of enduring and satisfying marriages. It was something else: trust. I can think my husband’s or wife’s habits and behaviors are ridiculous; I can completely not relate to their MO. But if they trust each other, if they truly believe that the other one “has their back,” that their partner really loves them and will always be here for them, through thick and thin—then all else falls into place.

  The same is with us as a people. For us to become a nation, we did not have to agree and get along on everything. But we had to discover the unity—the sense of oneness, of unconditional support for each other. [3]  

  The Double Dip

  At last we can appreciate why “On all other nights, we don't dip even once. On the night of Pesach we dip twice.” The Seder is a journey through Jewish history. “Maschil begnus umesayem beshvach,” in the Mishnah’s expression.[4] The Seder begins with our disgrace, and concludes with our healing and renewal. This is also reflected in the “double dip.”

  If you check out in the dictionary the definition for a double dipper, you will find two options: 1. A person who collects two salaries; a person who collects both a government pension and a government salary. 2. A person who dips a chip or veggie into a dip or sauce after having taken a bite of the chip or veggie, thus risking the introduction of germs into the dip.

  But on the night of Pesach, we are all “double dippers”—in the most positive sense of the term.

  The first dipping happens at the opening of the Seder (right after Kiddush, so that we can eat something), even before we ask the Four Questions and start reading the Haggadah. This dip of the vegetable into salt water reminds us of the first time "dipping" is recorded in Jewish History: “And they took Joseph's coat, they slaughtered a goat, and they dipped the coat in the blood.” This “dip” has created so much salt-water, so many tears, for Joseph, for Jacob, and for the entire Jewish family.

  [There is a fascinating hint for this. When Rashi wants to explain the nature of Joseph’s special coat that Jacob made for him and was latter dipped in blood, Rashi says:

  רש"י וישב לז, ג: כתונת פסים: לשון כלי מלת, כמו כרפס ותכלת (אסתר א, ו)...

  Rashi Genesis 37:3 The term “passim” means fine woolen garments, like the term “karaps” in the Megillah, fine green wool.

  Which is why some commentators point out that the term karaps is also an acronym for these words: “klal reshon peh segor,” the first principle is: close your mouth! Don’t speak badly about others, which only creates discord and mistrust.[5]]

  This is the first dipping, at the opening of the Seder. As we reach the conclusion of the Seder, we are now ready for a second dip. We dip bitter herbs into the sweeter charoses. This symbolizes the second dipping recorded in Jewish history: “And you shall take a bundle of hyssop and immerse it in the (goat’s) blood.” This is the dip that represents Jewish unity, cohesiveness, and comradery. It is what allows the bitter herbs of Jewish history to be sweetened by the “charoses,” by the knowledge that we are here for each other, that each of us is privy to the unconditional support and love from our brothers and sisters, notwithstanding our differences and disagreements.[6]

  This is the dipping that heralds redemption. The Talmud states that[7] the Second Temple was destroyed due to the “baseless hatred” among Jews. How can the situation be reversed? The Rebbe would always say, through “baseless love” among Jews. Even if you have 100 reasons to hate, and be disagreeable, choose to love and give the benefit of the doubt.

  Seeing Good

  A lovely story is told about Rabbi Levi Yitzhak of Berditchev, who once saw a fellow Jew smoking a cigarette during Shabbos, something forbidden by Jewish law. Approaching the man, Rabbi Levi Yitzhak said, “You probably are smoking because you don’t know that it’s Shabbos?”

  When the man told him that he was aware of which day it was, Rabbi Levi Yitzhak responded, “You probably didn’t know that it’s forbidden to smoke on Shabbos?”

  When the man told him he was aware that smoking was forbidden on Shabbos, Rabbi Levi Yitzhak responded, “You probably are smoking because you think it is good for your health?”

  When the man told him that he wasn’t smoking for health reasons, Rabbi Levi Yitzhak looked up to the Heavens and cried out, “God, see how beautiful and honest your people are! Even when they commit a sin, they will never ever lie about it!”

  We always need to remember that everyone is somebody son or somebody’s daughter and has some good in them. We each have to remind ourselves that not only is everyone someone else’s son or daughter; everyone is my brother or sister!

  Optional section:

  The Blood Libel

  Rabbi Elchanan Wasserman was one of great Lithuanian Rabbis, who served as the head of a yeshiva in Baranovitch, Belarus. He was shot by the SS and their Lithuanian collaborators in the summer of 1941, in the Seventh Fort of Kaunas (Kovne) Fortress. He once shared a daring insight.[8]

  Of all the slanders that anti-Semites have used against the Jews over the centuries, one of the most recurrent lies has been the infamous Blood Libel.

  The origins of this anti-Semitic myth lie in medieval England. In 1144 a skinner's apprentice called William went missing in Norwich, England.

  When his body was found, the monks who examined the corpse claimed that the boy's head had been pierced by a crown of thorns. Some years later, a monk called Thomas began to gather evidence about William's death. His main aim was to establish the boy as a holy martyr and draw pilgrims to the cathedral. Almost as an incidental matter, he accused the Jews of Norwich of killing the boy. The blood libel spread across England and Continental Europe over the centuries, with hundreds of accusations, all based on hysteria rather than evidence.

  The most famous of all blood libel legends is that of the ritual murder of the child name Hugh of Lincoln, England in 1255. Thousands of Jews were murdered. This happened all over Europe for centuries.

  Why did Jews need Christian blood? For this, they came up with a few explanations. One, Jews suffered from hemorrhoids as a punishment for killing the Christian Messiah, Yashke, and drinking blood was the best cure for hemorrhoids at the time. Second, the theory went that all Jewish men menstruate and need a monthly blood transfusion. Third, Jewish men, when they're circumcised, lose so much blood because of that surgical procedure that they need to drink Christian babies' blood.

  Finally, the most famous explanation. Blood is the chief ingredient in matzah, and therefore prior to every Passover Jews would be requiring a large supply. Plus, the four cups of wine at the Seder are really blood of non-Jewish children.[9]

  In the 13th century the Church adopted the doctrine of transubstantiation. This is a mystical idea which maintains that when the priest says mass over the wafer and wine, these objects mystically change into the body and blood of Yeshu. Christians who consume the wafer and drink the wine are said to be mystically eating the flesh of Yeshu and drinking his blood.

  It's ironic that the Christian world, while engaged in the ritual of "drinking the blood of Jesus" would accuse the Jews who are forbidden to drink blood of this totally fabricated hideous crime.

  But then the accusations got even more insane. Starting in Switzerland and Germany in the 13th century, Jews were accused of kidnapping communion wafers from churches. Why would the Jews do this in Christian view?

  To torture it.

  Medieval documents tell stories describing how a Jew steals a wafer from a church, sticks a knife in it, and blood starts pouring out. And then he cuts it up into pieces and sends it to different Jews who all torture it.

  This would be funny, if not for a fact that thousands of Jews were slaughtered as a result of all these libels. The entire Jewish community of Berlitz, near Berlin in Germany, was all burned alive based on the accusation of torturing a wafer!

  There was another rash of Blood Libels in the late 19th and early 20th centuries in Eastern Europe societies gripped by economic transformation and political uncertainty, climaxing with the Beilis case of 1913. Even though the blood libel has been disproved countless times, it refuses to fade away. The charge has now gained currency in the Arab world. The former Syrian defense minister, Mustafa Tlass, has written a book repeating the accusation, while in many Muslim countries the Blood Libel is part of the rhetorical war against Israel.

  How could have this ever taken root? The last thing a Jew would ever eat is blood. The Torah categorically prohibits a Jew from eating blood. What is more, there is a heavenly DEATH PENTALTY (Kares) for a Jew eating blood! This is stated explicit in the Hebrew Bible, not once, but many times! How could it be that, from all people, we have been accused of this ludicrous, farcical, outrageous, and preposterous charge?

  You might argue, with absolute correctness, that anti-Semitism is not rational. It has always, and still does, rely heavily on heinous lies that have no basis in reality. During the last Gaza War, CNN Jewish correspondent Wolf Blitzer asked the Hamas spokesman if he believed that Jews used blood of non-Jewish children for their Passover observance. The Hamas spokesman would not deny that claim.

  Blitzer was pushing him to the wall to deny it, but he refused to do that. Imagine, in 2009, on CNN, in front of millions of viewers, a well-dressed politician cannot say that he is sure that Jews have not used Christian and Muslim blood for Passover!

  Go figure.  

  Yet, the question is, what is it about our behavior that on a deep, spiritual level allowed for such a vicious lie to take root?

  Our Role

  Reb Elchanan Wasserman suggested,[10] that this may be connected to that moment in Jewish history when, “they took Joseph's coat, they slaughtered a goat, and they dipped the coat in the blood.” At that moment, we have become tarnished with blood. Our long journey in exile must correct this wound. As long as this wound is not healed, we are susceptible to the slanderous libel that we use blood for our matzah.

  This does not mean, of course, that we are guilty for the crimes of Muslim and Christian villains. What it does mean is that our people, positioned at the spiritual vortex of the universe, were empowered to heal the world from its toxicity.  When we fail in our work, we often become its victims.

  Why Pesach?

  And it is fascinating that the blood libel was always associated with Passover. The libel claimed that the Matzah was baked with blood and the four cups of wine contained blood. Why did the infamous haters not say that we dip our Lulavim (palm branches, used on Sukkos) in blood? Or we put blood in our Chanukah menorahs and latkes? Or that we use blood for Shabbos Kiddush? Or that we put blood in the Shofar? As much sense as it is to claim that our matzah contains blood, it makes sense to say that our Esrog is dripping with Christian or Muslim blood?

  Some historians maintain that this was because during the Passover season, the snows and ice were melting in Europe, and many lifeless bodies were discovered in lakes and rivers, those that died in the cold winters.

  On a sub-conscious spiritual level, there may be a deeper insight. Passover celebrates the genesis of our identity as a unified nation. Which is why on Passover we do the double dipping, as we recall. For us to become a people, we needed to rid ourselves form the toxicity of internal Jewish fragmentation, hatred and strife. On the first Passover, and on each subsequent Pesach, the deep wound within Jewish consciousness resurfaces. As long as we did obliterate the plague of internal Jewish hatred, as long as we have not rectified the original sin that led to the Egyptian slavery, the blood libel reared its ugly head around the time of Pesach.[11]

  End of optional section

  Vishnitz Succession

  I want to share with you a recent story. For most of you, this story is from a very different type of community; but it is a story that effects thousands of Jews, and for me it was inspiring.

  In recent years, as Chassidic Rebbes pass on, many or all of their sons vie for the position of Rebbe, which often results in disputes, court cases, and splits. Usually, the movement splits into two or more fractions, and the siblings are often not on speaking terms.

  Three weeks ago, on Friday, 29 Adar, 5778, the Vishnitzer Rebbe from Monsey, Rabbi Mordechai Hager, passed on, at the age of 95. He had led his large Chassidic community, which numbers around 3,000 families (around 15,000 Jews), for the last fifty years, and was deeply beloved and cherished by his followers. He was known as a selfless and noble leader.

  He is survived by seven sons (his oldest died a few years ago.). Some years ago, he gave them each a position of spiritual leadership in various Vishnitz communities, in the US, Israel and Europe.

  As they stood up from Shivah, last week, there were now seven new Vishnitzer Rebbes’.

  The oldest surviving son, Rabbi Yisroel Hager, who has succeeded his father in Monsey, spoke to his six brothers on that very day. He told them these words:

  I want to ask of you two things. If anyone in the world comes to you and shares with you any information about any of your brothers, quoting them, or repeating a story about them, sharing something they said about you or your family, etc.—please do not believe them. People make up, or imagine stories, all the time. Call up your brother and verify it.

  Second, if any of your followers goes to visit one of your brothers and spends time with him, do not make a stink of it. Let it go. Let people choose freely where they want to go for inspiration and guidance. Do not allow your egos to be bothered by this.

  The seven brothers agreed—and they emerged from the home of their father united and cohesive, even if different and diverse.

  He is a wise man, I tell you. If only all of us can adopt this policy: Don’t believe the stories they tell you what XYZ said about you behind your back… Also, learn how to “fargin.” How to be tolerant if someone decided they need something else, outside of your company, at this moment of their life. Never become petty.

  Begin’s Greatest Achievement

  You know who did learn the lesson about the dipping of the coat in blood?

  A Jew by the name of Menahem Begin. And here I share with you an astounding story that happened seventy years ago.

  It was a bitterly divisive chapter in Jewish history. The embryonic days of the modern State of Israel saw the rise of two political opponents who would come to define Israeli politics for years to come: David Ben-Gurion, and Menachem Begin. The two had little tolerance for each another. Menachem Begin was a tough Russian Jew, from Brisk, a fighter, and a passionate Jewish leader. He had escaped the Nazis, was arrested and tortured by the Soviets, and only arrived in Palestine in 1942, while the horrific destruction of our people raged on back in Eastern Europe. The British Mandate of the day was notoriously unsympathetic to Jewish ambitions to settle their ancient homeland, but Begin had little patience for dealing with endless diplomacy. David Ben Gurion, who would become the country’s first Prime Minister, headed the more mainstream institutions that would go on to be the principal actors in the founding of the state, among them the Haganah – or as it was renamed – the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF). He aimed to the fill the role of the statesman, and was prepared to take a more conciliatory stance in dealing with the outside world, and the British.

  Soon after the establishment of the State on 14 May 1948, as the tiny new Jewish State fought for its survival against the united Arab armies, Begin agreed for his paramilitary force – the Irgun – to be absorbed into the IDF. But the tensions between him and Ben Gurion were far from over.

  Only a few weeks later, on June 20, 1948, a large shipment from France comprising hundreds of fighters, thousands of arms, millions of bullets, and even several lightly armored vehicles, all aboard the Altalena ship, landed on Israeli shores. The shipment had been arranged by the Irgun, and Begin intended that the munitions be used to supply the Irgun battalions now fighting under the banner of the IDF.

  Ben Gurion, afraid that Begin was attempting to undermine his military authority by creating an “army within an army,” refused, and delivered an ultimatum that the Altalena’s cargo be surrendered to the IDF.  At first Begin refused, and what followed was one of the most tragic events in modern Israeli history. As the ship was being unloaded, a fire-fight broke out between the IDF and Begin’s men. Jews were killing Jews. The Altalena continued to resist, in the hopes that she would be able to deliver the rest of her cargo to the Irgun. Ben Gurion then ordered the IDF to use heavier force against the ship. At first, some of his soldiers refused to fire on their brothers, an act of insubordination they later paid for with court-martials. But eventually, the IDF forces based in Tel Aviv, headed by the late Yitzchak Rabin, fired at the ship with artillery shells, and the ship was hit, caught fire. Afraid that the ship’s hold would explode as the fire spread, those still aboard raised a white flag and jumped into the water to swim aboard – where they were subject to more gunfire.

  By the time the guns were lowered, 16 men from the Irgun, and 3 from the IDF, were killed, and more wounded. Most of the war materiel was lost, along with the ship. The two forces fought each other throughout the city, and Begin‘s supporters began to desert the IDF, which in turn began to round up and arrest scores of Irgun members. Just as the young state was getting up on its two feet, it looked as though the risk of full-on civil war would bring everything crashing down into the sand.

  But just a few hours later, on June 22, Begin declared: “Milchemet achim—leolam lo! “A war between brothers—never.”

  A ceasefire was declared. Begin had managed to escape ashore and sent out a broadcast from his underground radio station: Do not fight back. There cannot be a civil war. Instead, he directed his people to continue to fight for the Old City of Jerusalem – against the Arabs, not other Jews.

  Menachem Begin would say many years later that his greatest accomplishment in life was not retaliating then and causing a civil war. Remember: He had fought against the Germans, the Russians, and the British; he became the Prime Minister of Israel in 1977; but in his eyes, his greatest achievement was to avoid Jews fighting Jews. He knew that nothing could be more important than this. Not his pride, not his power, and maybe not even his ability to fight the Arab forces that threatened the entire Jewish population of the Land of Israel. If we cannot be united, we are doomed anyway.

  In fact, in June 1967, he was part of a delegation which urged Ben-Gurion to return to the premiership. Following that meeting, Ben-Gurion remarked that had he known Begin at the time of the Altalena as he did in 1967, history would have unfolded very differently.

  The Name on the Back

  Perhaps it was Herb Brooks who said it best.

  Herb Brooks was the legendary coach of perhaps the most famous US ice hockey team in Olympic history. In 1980, his group of amateurs somehow managed to take on the then giants of international hockey – the Soviet Union – and win. The Soviets had won the gold medal in the past 6 out of 7 Winter Olympic Games. They were considered to be such a dominant team, so deeply stacked with the most supremely talented veterans of the game, that the US upstarts’ victory is still referred to today as the ‘Miracle on Ice.’

  It was Herb Brooks who got the young and inexperienced Americans over the line. His team was scattered, competing against each other, and divisive. He pushed his boys hard, making them skate until they could no longer. One night, he had them practice again and again and again, till their legs could not bear it any longer—and then he made them do it again.

  How much longer will you torture us? They asked him. Brooks responded: “Until each player understands that the name on the front of the sweater is more important than the one on the back.”

  The last name on the back of the jersey isn’t enough. Each player must be prepared to make sacrifices on behalf of the flag he skates under, and the team he plays for. For a team to succeed, it must overcome the individualist, selfish mindset. A winning team knows that we are in this together, “all for one, and one for all.” The name on the front must be more important than the name on the back.

  We, he Jewish people, have our name on the back and our name on the front. I am I. You are you. You have your life; I have mine. Indeed. But we also have our name on the front: We are one people. We have one large Neshamah, one awesome, Divine soul. We constitute one team. And what a team it is! A team that has been around longer than any other team, dedicated to heal a fractured world, dedicated to hit the round “puck” into the goal, to drive the globe into the warm embrace of its Creator.

  This remains the great message of Pesach. We suffered enough from the first dip; it produced mighty torrents of salt-water. We now need the second dip—the commitment to “baseless love,” to a genuine sense of Jewish unity, which will bring forth the long-waited redemption, Now![12]

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  [1] Joseph was in Egypt for 22 years before his family joined him. They remained there for 210 years.

  [2] Cf. Rashi to Numbers 19:22: The cedar is the highest of all trees, and the hyssop is the lowest of them all. This symbolizes that the one of high standing who acts haughtily and sins should lower himself like a hyssop and a worm, and he will then gain atonement.

  [3] See Likkutei Sichos vol. 30 Shemos, why Moshe feared that the sin of gossip would prevent the redemption from Egypt.

  [4] Pesachim 10:4 (Talmud Pesachim 116a)

  [5] It is also the combination of the two words “samach perech,” slave labor of 600,000. It was the first dip that brought this type of slavery.

  [6] This may also be intimated in the third dip of the egg in the salt water, which as the Ramah explains, commemorates the destruction. As we finish the Haggadah, and we begin the meal, yet we are still in exile, we mourn for the fact that we did not yet mend completely the internal hatred, we express our sadness and commitment to repair this blemish.

  [7] Yuma 9b

  [8] Kovetz Hearos 6:7

  [9] See Taz and Shlchan Aruch HaRav Orach chaim 475

  [10]  סוף קובץ הערות סי' ו' סק"ז: הנה ידוע כי כלל ישראל סובל תמיד מבחוץ מעלילות דם אשר הוא דבר נפלא מאוד, כי הרי הכלל הוא שכל שקר שאין בו קורטוב של אמת אינו יכול להתקיים, והשקר הזה של עלילות דם אין בו אמת אפילו משהו ובכל זאת הוא מתקיים זה אלפי שנה בכל העולם עד היום הזה והוא מפלאי ההשגחה. ודבר ברור הוא כי בוודאי העונש הזה על כלל ישראל הוא מכוון מידה כנגד מידה בעד איזה עוון שנפרעים עבורו כל הדורות. ולולי שאיני כדאי הייתי אומר, כי הוא מכוון נגד עוון של ויטבלו את הכתונת בדם, ואם שגיתי ה' הטוב יכפר בעדי.

   

  [11] I saw this explanation quoted in the name of Rabbi Matisyahu Salamon.

  [12] This essay is based on Ben Ish Chai (by Rabbi Yosef Chaim, Rabbi of Baghdad) on the Haggada (the symbolism of the two dips at the seder, reflecting the dips that began and ended the Egyptian exile. Likkutei Sichos vol. 30 Shemos (why unity was the prerequisite for redemption.) Kovetz Hearos Reb Elchanan Waserman (the spiritual source of the blood libel.) Commentary on the Haggadah by Rabbi David Forman (the hint in the verse of Joshua about Jacob and his sons coming down to Egypt.)

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