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Good Yom Tov, Chag Sameach!
So let's return to Yom haMeyuchas. As the Jew approaches Har Sinai and
prepares to receive the Torah, it is tempting to apply Presentism. Yesterday I
was a human being like any other, a Noachide, and then, on the second day of Sivan,
Gd tells me, "You shall be a kingdom of priests, a holy nation,[8]"
and I become something new, a Jew, with a covenant and a set of expectations.[9]
It’s an instantaneous change, from Bnei Noach to Bnei Torah, from slaves of
human beings to freely serving worshippers of the Divine, and perhaps the
people we once were, pre-Torah, have no influence upon the people we are after we
enter the brit.
The same is true for the nation. The Jews who leave Egypt were formed
by three patriarchs and four matriarchs who bequeathed to them a legacy of
courage and faith and love and fire. They descend from siblings who quarreled
and spouses who persevered and slaves who refused to be beaten down but instead
embraced their beliefs and called upon Gd. This nation is Meyuchas! They have
so much to draw on.
Today, the second day of Sivan, has a special name, Yom haMeyuchas. People
often use the term "yichus" to describe special family connections,
but "yichus", literally, means "association", or
"relationship". The second day
of Sivan is called Yom haMeyuchas because it has good associates: Yesterday was Rosh
Chodesh, the first day of the month, a day of special status, and tomorrow is
the first day of the biblical preparation period before the Torah was given at
Sinai. That makes today Yom haMeyuchas, a day with illustrious associates.
The idea that a day can enjoy special status due to its neighbours is
not exclusive to the second day of Sivan; the Talmud[1]
lists several special days when we don't fast or we don't offer tearful
eulogies, because those precede or follow key celebrations. The days themselves
lack celebratory characteristics, but the status of their aristocratic neighbours
offers reflected glory.
In truth, the concept of Reflected Glory is not necessarily a good
thing. Look at our entire world, which appears to live in Yom haMeyuchas mode
in a most unhealthy way. We clamour for autographs from benchwarming
ballplayers, we drop the names of former classmates who have gone on to
greatness, we talk about great-uncles and third-cousins who have just published
a hit novel or who appear in a new movie, we go to great lengths to see and be
seen. [Case in point: My Facebook post here.]
But there is also a benefit to hanging around in good company: choose good friends, and they will influence you positively. This is not the pursuit of reflected glory; rather, it is the pursuit of personal glory, through glorious role models.[2]
But there is also a benefit to hanging around in good company: choose good friends, and they will influence you positively. This is not the pursuit of reflected glory; rather, it is the pursuit of personal glory, through glorious role models.[2]
[Derashah Mechanics note: I omitted the following paragraph when I spoke. It is on point, but keeping this in adds too much weight to the point about glorious role models, and I really want to spend the listeners' attention span on the point coming next, not this one.] This week, in the weekly cycle of Pirkei Avos, we learn the sixth chapter,
and the story of Rabbi Yosi ben Kisma, who was offered great wealth to move
away from his circle of talmidei chachamim and become a scholar in residence in
a city bereft of scholarship. Rather than embrace the opportunity with
pioneering spirit, Rabbi Yosi ben Kisma committed himself to remain in the
residence of sages from whom he could learn. Of course there is value in
outreach, and the tension between seeking good associates and creating
community independently is a good topic for discussion, but Rabbi Yosi ben
Kisma made a clear statement that being meyuchas, having good associates
and role models, was central for him.
So perhaps this simple idea is the message of Yom haMeyuchas: Associate
with positive role models. But it is also possible that Yom haMeyuchas has
another message for us, a deeper message.
Presentism[3] is
a school of philosophy found in some early Christian thinkers[4]
and among Buddhists,[5]
and even put to use by some Jews. According to Presentism, the past isn't real,
and the future isn't real either; at any given moment, the people alive, the
objects in existence, are the only things that are real.
Presentism is important in abstract philosophy in addressing questions
like how objects change and in calculating how many dimensions the universe
has, but I would like to borrow it from its context for a concrete application: Believing in
presentism allows me to declare that no matter who I was yesterday or the day
before, I am someone new today, and I will be someone new yet again tomorrow.
The past is empowered with neither veto nor vote over my identity; חדשים לבקרים,
each morning I become a new person.
This Presentist philosophy can be spiritually
healthy; it can encourage us to break with old habits, to re-set dysfunctional
relationships, to power our way out of a rut and chart a new course. Think of
the inspiring example of R' Elazar ben Durdaya, and the way Rebbe noted that a
single moment can change one's world.[6]
There is a certain reassurance that comes from dislodging the moment from the
timestream. It is not for naught that Jewish tradition has preserved, in various forms, the adage,
העבר אין והעתיד עדיין וההווה כהרף עין – דאגה מניין? – The past is nothing, the
future has yet to come, the present is the blink of an eye – so why worry? [For possible sources of this adage, see http://www.bhol.co.il/forum/topic.asp?topic_id=2393081&forum_id=19616.] Indeed, there is much to be said for Presentism - and on another day I might give a derashah praising it.
But Presentism is of limited use because it is an
illusion; of course yesterday impacts today, and of course today
impacts tomorrow! And so we turn to a different philosophy, which matches what
we experience in our own lives.
Eternalism, the
opposite of Presentism, is this philosophy. Eternalism argues that Time is a
continuity, each moment equally real. The past is real, the future is real;
they are just far away at the moment.
In the practical world, Eternalism makes significant
sense. As Rav Kook noted,[7]
everything that I do today is a product of my experiences in the past. There is
always an influence from yesterday to today. In a sense, what I do today passes
judgment on what I experienced in the past; if I do something good today, that
shows that my past was positive. Moving forward, what I do tomorrow will pass
judgment upon that which I did today. And so on.
Yom haMeyuchas, though, teaches us that the second
day of Sivan is not only the day when Gd tells us we are holy. It is also the
day after Rosh Chodesh, when we arrived at Sinai. It is also the day before the
period of intense preparation to receive the Torah. This day exists in an
influential chronological context.
_________ and __________, at the end of a recent day the sun set and the stars
came out and you turned from 12 to 13, but the past twelve years of your
existence, the many generations who preceded you on this planet, were not
erased. You are Meyuchas, you have great ancestors, a loving family, great
teachers, good friends, and twelve years of life and education. You are Meyuchas to each other, as twins, too! The teenage
years are a period of reinvention, as they should be, but draw on your past as
you shape your future.
And the same is true for all of us, us Meyuchasim – not only in terms
of learning from our past, but also in terms of planning our future. And more: The moves
we make today - speaking a kind word or offering a listening ear, picking up a
sefer, giving tzedakah, pausing to think before saying a berachah, thinking
about davening instead of turning to talk to a friend - all of these are not
only about today, but also about tomorrow. Today is not the only Yom haMeyuchas,
the only day influenced by its neighbours! Tomorrow will also be a Yom
haMeyuchas, for today will be its influence. Who do we want to be tomorrow, and
what are we doing today in order to get there?
Chag Sameach! Happy Yom haMeyuchas – and may our every day be a Yom
haMeyuchas, too.
Yom haMeyuchas Sameach!
[1] Taanit 17b-18b
[2] Cf. Avot 4:14, 4:15, and 6:9, as well as R' Elazar ben Arach in
Shabbat 147b.
[3] http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/temporal-parts/
[4] http://www.uky.edu/~dbradsh/papers/Christian%20Approach%20to%20Phil%20of%20Time.pdf
[5] http://myweb.facstaff.wwu.edu/wasserr/papers/the%20problem%20of%20change.pdf
[6] Avodah Zarah 17a
[7] Orot haTeshuvah
[8] Shemot 19:4-6
[9] Shabbat 86b-87a, within both points of view
Re: "העבר אין ... דאגה מניין"
ReplyDeleteWas that Rebbe Nachman miBreslov's line? The only good analysis of its origins that I was able to find (here) last time I wondered whether that (the philosophy and its phrasing) had legitimate Torah origins didn't even mention him (even as one a person it's traditionally [mis]attributed to).
Thanks for calling me on that, D. I did say "reportedly" because I remembered it attributed to him, but I have now replaced that with a link to a page offering various sources.
ReplyDeleteThe point of living in the present is to not become obsessed or overwhelmed by thoughts of the past or future. Regrets and worry can be overdone. To consider the past and future in a healthy way is something else.
ReplyDeleteBravo.
ReplyDeleteRHS, in the context of the modern State of Israel's inability to separate itself from its ancient past (despite some secularists' wishes otherwise), quoted RYBS as being opposed to the "he-avar ayin" saying.
Bob-
ReplyDeleteWhen I gave this derashah, I noted that on another day I could as easily give a derashah promoting Presentism. Both approaches have something to offer.
Shalom-
Yes, I thought I remembered hearing that.
"Both approaches have something to offer."
ReplyDeleteThat's because the right approach often depends on the person and his situation.
There's lots of good advice out there pointing in different directions. Out of the cloud of advice, the person, with the right introspection and guidance, has to pick out what he needs.