Apples

April 20, 2024

Author(s): Rabbi Wes Gardenswartz,

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Shabbat Hagadol – Parashat Metzora
Apples
April 20, 2024 — 12 Nissan 5784
Temple Emanuel, Newton, MA

            Do you remember where you were last Saturday night when we learned that Iran was firing more than 330 drones and cruise missiles  into Israel?  Shira and I spoke to several Israelis, and they used three words to describe last Saturday night.

            One word was apocalyptic. We spoke with an Israeli woman living in Boston who spoke to her Israeli sister living in Tel Aviv, and the sister said the sirens are blaring, we are going into the bomb shelter, and I do not know what will be on the other end of this attack, whether Israel will be, whether we will be.  Please know that I love you.  The Israeli sister who received this called it apocalyptic. Can you even imagine what it would be like to make or to receive a call like that?  Thank God, Israel and Israelis survived.  Thank God, there were no fatalities from Saturday night.    But the Israeli sister who went with her three young children and husband into the bomb shelter did not know that at the time, nor did the Israeli sister in Boston.

            Then there was a second word: surreal.  We spoke with our brother and sister-in-law in Jerusalem.  They said the night was surreal. When the sirens were sounding, they went to their safe room where they could not sleep.  When the sirens were not sounding, since they could not sleep anyway, they cleaned their kitchen for Pesach for the umpteenth time.  Their kitchen has never been so clean.  And the morning after, it was over, the missiles and drones had been shot down, the sun was shining, and people went about their Sunday, seemingly as if they had not been attacked by 330 drones and missiles.  Surreal.

            And then a third phrase, courtesy of Micah Goodman.  Radical uncertainty.  There is radical uncertainty about the narrative that best captured Saturday night and its aftermath.

            One plausible narrative: This was an evening of miraculous strength and success for Israel. After all, virtually all 330 drones and missiles were shot down by Israel’s defense systems, and by Israel’s partnership with its allies–America, England, and other unnamed regional partners.  They worked in concert to produce a biblical miracle. 330 fiery agents of death, zero deaths.

            But there is a second narrative, also plausible.  Israel was attacked by Iran in a brazen way.  Israel’s citizens were forced to scurry to shelters. This time they emerged okay, who knows about next time.

            Which leads to the next radical uncertainty: what to do next? Again, plausible and conflicting narratives.  Israel should exercise restraint.  Israel must retaliate. 

            As Micah pointed out, the conflicting narratives and questions about what Israel should do now are all plausible.  Israel’s leadership must decide what to do without knowing how it will play out.  I asked Micah what he would advise the Prime Minister to do, and he said, I have no idea.

            Apocalyptic. Surreal. Radical uncertainty.  And war unresolved.  In his most recent For Heaven’s Sake podcast, Donniel Hartman asked the question why is this year different from any other year? His answer: this year, the Jewish people, the State of Israel, are unredeemed.  We have not gone from darkness to light.  We have not gone from slavery to freedom.  We have not gone from suffering to redemption. We are still as yet unredeemed. What do we do with that?  What is asked of each of us in this heavy moment?

            Today is Shabbat Hagadol, and we are to look for wisdom from our Haggadah. I want to focus on a single item, haroset.  The usual explanation of haroset is that it is a symbol of bondage, the mortar that was used to make the pyramids.  But there is a midrash that offers a whole different take.

            Many Ashkenazi recipes for haroset use apples.  Why apples?  The midrash teaches that the Israelite men had given up on life.  They were sick and tired of being slaves. They were the sons of slaves.  They did not want to be the father of slaves.  Why bring children into the world who are going to be slaves.  So the Israelite men had decided that they would not have relations with their wives.  In response the Israelite women seduced their husbands under the shade of apple trees so that the Jewish people could continue.  According to this midrash, the haroset is not a symbol of bondage.  Just the opposite.  It is a symbol of resistance to bondage.  It is a symbol of resilience, of never giving up on life, despite it all.

            Here is the thing about this midrash.  The Israelite men were not wrong.  In fact, they were right.  They were slaves, and their children, should they bring them into the world, would also be slaves.  Enough with being slaves.  So in some sense they were acting rationally.

            This posture of the Israelite men can easily be found today when it comes to Israel.  When I spoke to Micah after the Iranian attack, he said that Israel has three bad cards in its hand.

            The first bad card is that Israel’s government has lost the confidence of a lot of Israelis.  The crowds are again numbering over a hundred thousand in Tel Aviv demanding a change in leadership.

            The second bad card is that Israel’s name has taken a big hit as a result of the war in Gaza.  We all know that to be true.

            The third bad card is that Israel’s enemies are emboldened.  Hamas is still not destroyed. Iran was brazen enough to do what it did. There is Hezbollah and the Houtis, both emboldened.

            In the face of these bad cards, the resignation and defeat of the Israelite men in the midrash might be understandable.  But that is not what we are called upon to do.  We are called upon to channel the Israelite women who say that despite it all, we are going to transcend this moment.   That is why our haroset has apples in it.

            Finding our own apples, adding our own resilience, is what we are all called to do now.  

            I want to tell you a story about an Israeli apple; a story about an American apple; and leave you with a question.

            The Israeli apple, the Israeli version of resilience in the face of adversity:  Micah Goodman’s institution for helping 20 and 30 something Israelis post-army rediscover meaning in their Judaism and in their Zionism, called Mabua, which is Hebrew for a wellspring of flowing water and positive energy, announced that one of the sites for their Elul program, the 40 days before Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, will be the Gaza Envelope.  They have never done that.  Why the Gaza Envelope now?

            I remember talking to Micah on October 7.  He said there could not be an Israel unless Israelis were prepared to live in the Gaza Envelope again.  Micah, and his institute, and his teachers, and his students, are not going to ask other Israelis to live and work in the Gaza Envelope.  They are doing it themselves.  That’s an apple.

            Here is the American apple.  Last Saturday night, our member Mike Isman was in Israel on a JNF mission. Mike gave me permission to share his words:

While I was eating dinner, my friend texted me to be ready for sirens that night. When I got back to my hotel, the receptionist showed me how to get to the shelter in the basement and showed me an app that would alert me if there were sirens in Tel Aviv. I went to sleep fully dressed on top of the sheets. 

I woke up at midnight to a call from Emily asking if I was ok, as she had seen the news about the attack from Iran….I spent the next 4 tense hours on the phone with Emily, my parents, my siblings, and a couple friends…

I heard a few faraway explosions and many airplanes flying overhead, but no sirens. I stayed away from the TV and social media because the videos of the rockets was too much for me. Around 4am I got word that the  assault was over, and I was able to fall back to sleep for a couple more hours.

I woke up around 7 and the sun was shining. The full Israeli breakfast was ready in the lobby. I packed my suitcase and walked along the beach to my new hotel. There were people out running, surfing, getting coffee. If I didn’t have a smartphone, I could have woken up thinking nothing out of the ordinary had happened. And that’s how it’s been since Sunday morning, life is completely back to normal…

I imagine the next two days are going to be among the most emotional and meaningful in my entire life. I am excited and energized, and ready to cry with, sing with, dance with Israelis and the other Americans on the trip…

I have seen and heard from Israelis how alone they feel in the world, and how much they appreciate us being here with them.

            What is the resonance of Mike’s mission to Israel during this surreal and apocalyptic evening?  What is the resonance of all the JNF volunteers, and the 8th grade of Solomon Schechter Day School that was there with its students and teachers and guides, as the missiles and drones were in the air?  How do we measure impact?  Again, the midrash about apples calls out to us.

            The Israelite women could not solve the problem of their enslavement.  They could only control what they did about it. Their attitude. Their next step.   They could seduce their husbands under the shade of an apple tree.  They could bring new life into a world that was far from ideal.  They could not give up.  So too, Mike Isman and his fellow JNF volunteers, our 8th grade Schechter students and their teachers, could not stop the missiles and drones from falling.  But they could make Israelis feel less alone.  They could make Israelis feel the power of our love.  They could show that they were not giving up on Israel by being in Israel.

            We cannot control the big problems Israel is facing. 

            But that does not mean that we can do nothing but worry.  We can follow the example of the Israelite women and act, even now, with courage and clarity.

            So here is our question. Consider it the 5th question of the seder:   In this season when we are unredeemed, when we have not yet gone from darkness to light, what are we going to do for Israel, and for the Jewish people?  What is our apple?  Shabbat Shalom.