THEY JUST DON’T MIX
Our Sages teach us that the rise of Antiochus and his evil decrees occurred because there was an overwhelming hisrashlus (lack of passion and alacrity) in our performance of mitzvos. It is noteworthy that Chazal do not say that there was diminished observance, only a diminished passion. As long as the mitzvos are being performed why is passion so critical? Also, how did it diminish?
Historically, the period preceding the rise of Antiochus was the first time our people encountered the threat of assimilation. Until that time, even though we lived among the Babylonians and the Persians we were never attracted to their culture. However, with the arrival of the Greeks and their culture of mathematics, music, poetry, the sciences and even sports, we became attracted to them. Many of our people began associating with the Greeks and identified themselves more as Greeks than as Jews.
An integral part of the performance of mitzvos is the passion and love with which it is done. The function of mitzvos is to connect us to HaShem. It therefore follows that when mitzvah performance is filled with a passion to connect to HaShem it becomes an extremely powerful mitzvah. That mitzvah becomes a vehicle by which the one performing it connects to Hashem. If, on the other hand, the performance is done out of rote, with no sincere interest to connect, that mitzvah will be limp and the one performing it will fail to connect.
The tragedy of assimilation begins much before any abandonment of Torah and mitzvos occurs. The tragedy of assimilation directly diminishes our passion to connect with HaShem. As we assimilate and associate our identity with other cultures, cultures that do not connect to HaShem, we lose our desire and drive to participate in the performance of His Torah and mitzvos. Even as we perform the mitzvos, because that is what our society expects from us, those mitzvos are hollow and contain no kedusha, they fail to attach us to Him. As time goes on, we can expect an abandonment of the mitzvos entirely.
We have become accustomed to measuring assimilation in terms of the rate of intermarriage. Given that assimilation begins with a process of diminished passion, perhaps we should measure assimilation by the degree of diminished passion. Intermarriage certainly quantifies assimilation at the far end of the spectrum, however, if we could ascertain the degree in which our passion to observe mitzvos diminishes we would be able to more accurately chart the rate of assimilation.
What is the solution? If assimilation occurs when we identify ourselves more with our neighbors’ culture than with our own Torah culture, then the solution should be to create a wedge between ourselves and our neighbors’ culture. As we become distanced from the latter we will naturally gravitate to our natural selves, to our Torah culture.
The miracle of Chanuka is celebrated with the menorah and the oil with which it is lit. Olive oil and its insolubility with other fruit juices is the analogy of the relationship of the Jewish people and the nations of the world. The juices of all fruits mix with one another with the exception of the olive. No matter how much you mix and stir them, the two will separate and the olive oil will return to its original state.
How appropriate it is that there is much talk about anti-Semitism in recent days. Although anti-Semitism often invites trouble for our communities and individuals, nevertheless, there is a silver lining. If we can harness that anti-Semitism to create a wedge between us and the others’ culture and way of life, we can turn it into a life-giving force. We can turn to our own Torah culture and imbue our families with what is ours. We can leave the dreams and aspirations of the nations for them and accept for ourselves and our families the dreams and aspirations that the Torah has set for us.
Have a very wonderful Shabbos and a lichtige Chanukah.
Paysach Diskind