“Who We Are Impacts What We See”

Parashat Pinhcas 5766  June 16, 2006
Rabbi Judith Schindler

There are times when I am driving in the car and my kids’ questions will catch me totally off guard. On Tuesday morning, my little Max asked me the following. “Mom, you know how some people do this?” And he gestured making a cross with his hand.

“Yes Max,” I said, “They are Christian and they are making a cross, just like the cross on that Church over there.” And being in Charlotte, with a church on every corner, there was cross within sight for me to point at.

“Mom,” he asked. “Can I make that sign?”

“No Max,” I responded, “That sign is for those who believe in Jesus. And that’s not part of our Jewish belief.”

And here’s where the foolish words came forth from my mouth. “Max, if you really want to make a sign,” I said, “I suppose you could make a Jewish star.”

It was a silly thing to say. I said it because I know that my four and six year old boys really like everything to be the same… every dessert they share has to divided “even Steven” right down the middle.

But when it comes to comparing religion that notion is wholly irrelevant. For the multitude of faiths that exist have a multitude of beliefs on sin, salvation, sacred scripture and so much more. Different groups look at the world through different eyes.

Just as Jews and Christians understand the theological world in different ways, so does this week’s Torah portion teach that men and women can understand the laws of inheritance in different ways.

At the end of this week’s parashah called Pinchas, five daughters of a man named Tzelophechad band together to address Moses. They draw near to Moses to bring their complaint surrounding the laws of inheritance. “Our father has died, leaving no sons,” they said. “Let his name not be lost just because he had no sons! Give us, his daughters, a holding among our father’s kinsmen. Let us inherit his land.”

Moses listened to their words, brought their plea to God and their argument was accepted. In this parashah, God forever changes the laws of inheritance… if a man dies leaving no son, his property shall be transferred to his daughters.

Who we are, what we believe, and what we have experienced cause us to see the world in different ways.

This has certainly been the case the past three weeks, as Israel has been drawn into in a new wave of conflict with the Palestinians. Passionate editorials are flying through the media filled with caustic attacks blasted from one side to the other.

Last Saturday in the Observer, a former visiting professor of Davidson College, Dr. James Zogby, wrote a particularly damaging one-sided hate filled article with attacking accusations against Israel. And there have been other equally biting articles on the flip side, blaming the entire populace of Palestinians for the acts of Hamas.

Just as Jews and Christians see God differently, and just as the daughters of Tzelophochad see the law differently, so do Palestinians and Jews see the current crisis through different eyes.

We see the Palestinians as using their resources not to build up a Palestinian State but to tear down an Israeli State. We left Gaza almost one year ago, and in place of building up schools, roads and hospitals, the Palestinians built up their artillery, continually shooting rockets over the border -- targeting Israeli civilians, and digging a 300 yard tunnel to the border in order to attack Israeli soldiers and bring back a hostage. Their brothers in terrorism in Lebanon, have killed and captured more Israeli soldiers, showering further rockets on Israeli settlements and cities in the North.

Yet there are others in the world who see the current crisis differently. In their eyes, Israel has been attacked for oppressing the Palestinian people – accused of harshly and unfairly punishing an entire Gaza population by bombing power stations and cutting off essential supplies. Opponents claim that Israel has created such a stronghold that the Palestinian people can barely survive, no less thrive.

All of us can agree that the history and present conflict is complex. It reflects decades of struggle and decades of actions and reactions. As you read the world’s response, I would discount any article that makes sweeping one-sided generalizations without taking into account the long cycle of responses and intolerable conditions that each side has endured.

Here is the reality: as American Jews, we are not Israeli politicians. We do not need to strategize. Instead, we are ambassadors. We are representatives. We need to understand. We need to educate those around us. We need to support Israel in all ways that we are able.

As we struggle to make sense of this crisis, let us learn from this parashah. We are told that in bringing their complaint “Vatikravnah bnot tzelophochad – and the daughters of Tzelopochad drew near to Moses.”

What enabled the daughters of Tzepholochad to bring about this revolutionary change in inheritance laws is that they came not with confrontation and aggression, but they came softly, plainly stating their case. And in this way, Moses and God could listen and respond.

In the coming weeks let us do the same. Let us read the editorials, let us listen to the newscasts, let us approach those who see the world differently from ourselves and let us state our cases softly and perhaps in such a way, may we find understanding through our neighbors here and may they find understanding through us. And may that understanding create bridges that will lead to a greater peace. Amen.