A.
In last week’s parasha, G-d told Moshe that His express purpose in freeing the bënei Yisra’él from Egyptian bondage and bringing them before Sinai had been to create a new nation: ועתה אם שמע תשמעו בקלי ושמרתם את בריתי והייתם לי סגלה מכל העמים כי לי כל הארץ: ואתם תהיו לי ממלכת כהנים וגוי קדוש וגו' (“And now, if you will diligently listen to My voice and keep My covenant, you will be more precious to Me than all the nations, for Mine is the entire Earth. And you will be a kingdom of kohanim [mamlecheth kohanim] and a holy nation [goy qadosh]....”; XIX, 5-6)
That what was coming into being was in fact a new nation is borne out by the wording just a few verses earlier: בחדש השלישי לצאת בני ישראל מארץ מצרים ביום הזה באו מדבר סיני: ויסעו מרפידים ויבאו מדבר סיני ויחנו במדבר ויחן ישראל שם נגד ההר: (“In the third month of the exodus of the bënei Yisra’él from the land of Egypt, on this day, they came [to] the Sinai desert. And they traveled from Rëfidim, and they came [to] the Sinai desert, and they camped in the desert; and Israel camped there opposite the mountain”; XIX, 1-2). It is less obvious in English, but every one of the verbs in the passage is plural, referring to the bënei Yisra’él, save the last one, referring to the unified nation of Israel. The contrast is very striking, and prompted Rashi to note that, on the eve of Mattan Torah, a group of disparate individuals united only by a common ancestry had become כאיש אחד בלב אחד, “like one man with one heart,” unified with a singularity of national purpose and resolve.
They had, in short, been transformed from mere bënei Yisra’él, descendants of a common ancestor, into the Torah-nation, which also bears the name Yisra’él, which must therefore be expressive of the nation’s nature and characteristics. What might they be?
B.
The addition of the name Yisra’él to our patriarch’s original name Ya‘aqov is mentioned twice. The first occasion is at the time of his struggle with the mal’ach. When Ya‘aqov bests his opponent and refuses to release him without receiving a blessing, the mal’ach proclaims: לא יעקב יאמר עוד שמך כי אם ישראל כי שרית עם אלקים ועם אנשים ותוכל (“Not Ya‘aqov will your name be said any more, but rather Yisra’él, for you were exalted [saritha] with G-d and with men and were able”; Genesis XXXII, 29).
Subsequently, G-d confirmed the additional name when Ya‘aqov returned to Har ha-Moriya, which he had named Béyth É-l (“G-d’s House”) because the Béyth ha-Miqdash would one day be built there: ויאמר לו אלקים שמך יעקב לא יקרא עוד שמך יעקב כי אם ישראל יהי' שמך ויקרא את שמו ישראל (“And G-d said to him, 'Your name [is] Ya‘aqov; your name will not longer be called Ya‘aqov, but rather Yisra’él will be your name'; and He called his name Yisra’él”; XXXV, 10).
Aside from the different venues, the two occurrences are distinguished by the fact that in the first, the mal’ach disclosed a reason for the name-change, whilst in the second, G-d mentions no reason.
Our parasha opens with the case of the ‘eved ‘Ivri, a formerly independent man who is sold by by the court, or who sells himself, into slavery. The maximum term for such a sentence is six years, after which he is to be restored to independence. Should such a person refuse liberty, and insist on remaining a slave, he is marked by having a hole bored in his earlobe (Exodus XXI, 6). The Talmud tells us why, in a statement which has two striking variations. First is that of the Bavli: אמר הקב"ה אוזן ששמעה על הר סיני בשעה שאמרתי "כי לי בני ישראל עבדים" ולא עבדים לעבדים והלך זה וקנה אדון לעצמו ירצע (“Said the Holy One, Blessed is He, 'An ear which heard on Mt Sinai at the time I said, "For to Me are the bënei Yisra’él servants" [‘avadim Leviticus XXV, 55], and not servants of servants, and this one has gone and acquired himself a lord!? He should be bored'” קדושין כ"ב:). The second occurs in the Yërushalmi: אוזן שמעה על הר סיני "לא יהי' לך אלהים אחרים" והלך זה ופרק עול מלכות שמים וקבל עליו עול בשר ודם ירצע (“An ear which heard on Mt Sinai, ‘You will have no other gods,’ and this one has thrown off the yoke of the kingdom of heaven and accepted on himself the yoke of flesh and blood; he should be bored”; ירושלמי קדושין פ"א ה"ב).
Israel’s national culture, then is he “yoke of the kingdom of heaven”; it is a culture of Divinely ordained ‘avoda, a word often translated “work” or “worship” but which is perhaps best translated “service,” derived as it is from the same root as the word ‘eved.
How does our twin characterization as a mamlecheth kohanim and goy qadosh relate to our ‘avoda? And what does the name Yisra’él add to the description?
C.
Focus first on the concept of the goy qadosh. What, precisely, is qëdusha? If we look at other uses of the root, we find, for instance, the word heqdésh, which describes anything dedicated to an exalted purpose, e.g., an animal designated as a sacrifice. As Rashi says in his famous comment on Leviticus XIX, 2: "קדושים תהיו" הוו פרושים מן העריות ומן העבירה (“‘You will be holy’ [means] be separated from sexual improprieties and from transgression”), blemishes of the soul to be avoided in much the same way as a sacrificial animal may not be blemished.
Hence, we find in our parasha, amidst its discussion of mishpatim, mitzvoth resulting from the application of the principles established in the ‘Asereth ha-Dibbëroth last week, ואנשי קדש תהיון לי וגו' (“And men of sanctity [qodesh] will you be for Me....”; XXII, 30), prompting Hazal to elaborate: כשהמקום מחדש מצוה על ישראל הוא מוסיף להם קדושה כו' כשאתם קדושים הרי אתם שלי (“When G-d originates a mitzva for Israel, He adds qëdusha to them... 'When you are holy, you are Mine'”; מכילתא, פרשתנו). Observing the Torah’s mitzvoth serves to induce this state of qëdusha.
If we now return to Ya‘aqov’s lonely fight with the mal’ach on that fateful night, we note (as Rashi, following the midrash, reminds us) that his opponent was none other than saro shel ‘Ésav, responsible for directing the fate of the nation which would arise from his evil twin, who, as we know, was completely sunk in the web of physical appetites and lusts (cf. e.g. Rashi on Genesis XXV, 29).
But Ya‘aqov was very different, as indeed he told his brother in the message he sent on his return to the Holy Land: "עם לבן גרתי" ותרי"ג מצות שמרתי ולא למדתי ממעשיו הרעים (“‘With Lavan I dwelt’ and I kept the 613 mitzvoth, and did not learn from his evil ways”; XXXI, 5, Rashi ad loc.). Hence, saro shel ‘Ésav was completely unable to prevail over him; this is what the mal’ach meant by the last word in his blessing, va-tuchal (“and you were able”): Ya‘aqov passed the test; his adherence to Ha-Shem’s will, to the culture of Divine service imbued him with such a level of qëdusha that he was able completely to resist the mal’ach’s efforts.
It was this, expressed in the perfective, which served as the basis for the exaltation to which the mal’ach refers, ki saritha, as implied by the first part of the new name Yisra’él. The verb sara implies dominion, dominance, high position, and from the same root is the word sar, a ruler, leader, prince (already encountered in the expression saro shel ‘Ésav). This is how Rashi understands the term mamlecheth kohanim: A kingdom of שרים כמה דאת אמר "ובני דוד כהנים היו" (“sarim, as you say, ‘And David’s sons were kohanim’ [II Samuel VIII, 18]”). Kohanim here are sarim, equivalent to sons of the royal family.
So Israel are supposed to be dominant in the world, leading the world to exaltation, to scale spiritual heights; that is our purpose. But that exaltation can only be accomplished on a firm basis of qëdusha; only when we are a goy qadosh, when the individual bënei Yisra’él are striving to be anshei qodesh, can we be the mamlecheth kohanim.
D.
The above goes far to explain certain otherwise inexplicable things which we see in the world.
The facts of Israel’s intended purpose are known instinctively and intuitively by every other nation in the world. It explains why it is that Israel, both the individual members of the Torah-nation and their communities throughout the world, as well as the component of the nation dwelling in the Holy Land, are held by those nations to far higher standards than any others. For with the subconscious knowledge comes a measure of resentment; as Hazal also tell us, Sinai is related to sin’a, “hatred.”
To the extent that we are striving to be the goy qadosh comprised of the anshei qodesh Ha-Shem intends us to be, to that extent does the world respect us, and look to us for moral leadership and guidance. They know instinctively, as indeed we should, what we are capable of doing. As saro shal ‘Ésav pronounced, va-tuchal; we are capable of the mission.
And to the extent that we are not moving in that direction, the world despises us, and seeks to fill the void which we are intended to fill. In such circumstances, they seek and find a cheap substitute for the mamlecheth kohanim, an Ersatz (to use the German term), such as the horrible caricature of the mamlecheth kohanim which the Nazi concept of the Herrenvolk, the “master race,” represented. Or, for that matter, the alternative, warped forms of religion which has set the world afire in our time.
Do we wish not to be supplanted in this way, and suffer as a result, we must step up to our purpose; after all, the mal’ach said tuchal – “you are able.”
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