TO GOD IS THE VENGEANCE

During the week-long vigil that took place at the site of the Bondi Beach Chanukah Massacre, Australian actor and media personality Nathaniel Buzolic (Nate Buzz), shared a message of support with the traumatised Jewish community of Sydney. Buzolic is a religious Christian who has been outspoken in his support of Israel since 7 October 2023. This is a selection from his message:

“And I want to say this to all the New South Wales police and the non-Jewish people here tonight. Pay attention to how this community has responded to evil darkness. Pay attention to how this community has come together. Pay attention to what this community has spoken about, what they celebrate and what they stand for. And ask yourself the question, what side should you choose to be on? Because whether you like it or not, we have to make a decision. I was one of the few people that went out to Israel after the 7th of October. I’ve seen the evil that the pro-Palestinian movement inflicted on the Jewish identity in Israel. And today I stand in a place where that same movement has inflicted the same violence once again. And my heart within me is broken. But I want to tell you this, those who oppose you, they are united in hatred. They come together in hatred. But the Jewish identity, whether it’s here in Sydney, the UK, France, Israel, South Africa, I’ve gone all over the world to speak to different communities and time and time and time again, I see you come together because of Hashem. You’re a people chosen by God. And here in this space, I want to remind you of the unique relationship and responsibility that you have to show a dark world who He is through your lives. And you’re doing that right now. It is an honour and a privilege as a non-Jewish person, as a Christian, to stand before you today and say, I am amazed at your ability to face the worst kind of darkness and still reflect light, to still believe in light. You are a people who has historically experienced this kind of evil from century to century. And yet somehow you rise above it time and time again. I’ve met some of the best that this community has to offer. And I want to remind you that you are an amazing, incredible, kind, compassionate people. I choose to stand with you, not because it’s on the right side of history, but because it’s on the right side of humanity.”

Buzolic contrasted the way in which the Jewish community reacts to tragedy with that of their enemies.  Their enemies react with cries of vengeance, with calls to war. They bay for blood. I have watched (with nausea) a number of videos of pro-Palestinian marches, including those that have taken place in Cape Town.  They are aggressive, the language the speakers use is full of vitriol and calls to violence. They are openly supportive of Hamas and its allies and they call for the destruction of the State of Israel. On the other hand, I have attended a number of solidarity gatherings since the 7^th October 2023. These are always peaceful events. Participants wave flags and sing inspirational songs and speakers (including former hostages) share tales of resilience and fortitude under conditions of unbearable suffering. I don’t recall anyone screaming for revenge. I don’t remember incendiary language or expressions of hatred. Of course this is purely anecdotal but I think one would be hard-pressed to find any pro-Israel gathering anywhere in the world that resembles a pro-Palestinian demonstration in any shape or form.   

In our parsha, Yosef reveals his true identity to his brothers. They are shocked and rendered speechless.  They cannot believe that the young man they sold as a slave is now the viceroy of Egypt. They are mortified and embarrassed of their prior behaviour. Yosef reassures them (Bereishit 45:5 & 8), “And now, be not distressed, nor reproach yourselves for having sold me here, for it was to be a provider that God sent me ahead of you… And now: It was not you who sent me here, but God; He has made me a father to Pharaoh, master of his entire household, and ruler throughout the entire land of Egypt.” Despite his assurances, his brothers still harboured a nagging doubt that Yosef might take vengeance upon them. This suspicion intensified when their father Yaakov passed away (Bereishit 50:15), “Yosef’s brothers perceived that their father was dead and they said: Perhaps Yosef will nurse hatred against us and then he will surely repay us all the evil that we did to him.” They sent a delegation to Yosef begging his forgiveness. They then presented   themselves to him. Yosef replied (ibid, 19-21), “But Yosef said to them: Fear not, for am I instead of God?  Although you intended me harm, God intended it for good; in order to accomplish – it is clear as this day – that a vast people be kept alive. So now, fear not – I will sustain you and your young ones. Thus he comforted them and spoke to their heart.”

Yosef could so easily have taken revenge on his brothers for their maltreatment of him. He had many opportunities and he certainly had the wherewithal to do so. But he chose to leave any vengeance to God.  “For am I instead of God?” he asked his brothers. He could see clearly how God orchestrated events so that he would come to Egypt and eventually be the one to sustain an entire nation. He had no need for vengeance.

I am reminded of an incredible comment of Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch (Germany, 1800-1888) in his Siddur Teffilot Yisrael. His words appear in the context of the Av HaRachamim prayer that we recite in memory of martyrs on Shabbat morning. In the prayer we ask God to avenge the blood of His servants.  Rabbi Hirsch writes: “They knew that God would never forget the blood of innocent men that had been shed, particularly if it was spilled in the cause of His service and for the sake of loyalty to Him. Knowing this, and given new confidence by this allusion to God’s promise, our people throughout the ages have committed to God and to God alone the task of avenging the blood of their murdered fathers and mothers, wives and children. This promise sustained them and kept them free of bitter and burning lust for vengeance against their oppressors and murderers, and it made them strong enough to suppress every impulse of vengefulness and thus, even as the most persecuted of peoples, to remain the meekest nation on earth. They left vengeance to God and never lifted up their own hands to avenge themselves or their own. Such is the fruit yielded by these prayers in which the worshipper views God as the Avenger of the innocent.”

Lee, Chani Merryl & Naomi join me in wishing you Shabbat Shalom!

Rabbi Liebenberg.

YouTube message: https://youtu.be/Go4plDoSAdk?si=b5dCQCR8Qlec309A

THE FAST OF THE TENTH OF TEVET

The Fast of the Tenth of Tevet which commemorates the beginning of the siege of Jerusalem by the Babylonians, which led to the destruction of the First Temple and the exile of the Tribes of Yehudah and Binyamin, is this coming Tuesday 30 December. In 1949, the Chief Rabbinate of Israel declared the Tenth of Tevet as Yom HaKaddish HaKlali, the day on which Kaddish should be said by family members for victims of the Holocaust whose yahrzeits are not known. The fast begins at 04h06 and terminates at 20h22. Shacharit is at 08h00 and Mincha at 18h15. There are many videos explaining the meaning and background of the fast. Here is one: https://youtu.be/rRg3nEQvLp0?si=zmrzmwQdbC65LUS1