Guest Post by Rabbi Dovid Landesman
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| 850,000 people participated in Rav Ovadia Yosef's funeral |
The Ramchal [R. Moshe Chaim Luzzato, author of Mesilat
Yesharim and Derech Hashem among other works], speaks of our obligation to
develop a perspective regarding the historical events we experience. Quoting the passuk
in parashat Ha-azinu, he explains that the dictum “sh’al avicha v’yagedcha”
[ask your fathers and they will explain] entails trying to understand – through
the eyes of those who are more experienced – the implications of events that transpire.
Our memories can be divided into two forms. One is on the individual
level; we recall major events that marked changes in our lives; the birth of a child, the day we married or
the passing of someone dear to us. I would suggest that in regard to this type
of memory there is no need to consult with our elders to determine their
significance.
Then there are the memories of historical events which we
have experienced as a group. Many can recall in great detail where they were on
9/11 when they heard the reports of the destruction of the twin towers. Those
of us who are a bit older remember the moon landing or the assassination of JFK
or the attack on Pearl Harbor. These were not simply historical occurrences;
they were game changing events that transformed the society of which we are
part.
Pearl Harbor and 9/11, for example, represent the loss of the innocence
and isolation that America believed protected her from the ills of the rest of
the world. Fortress America was not immune to the maladies that threatened the
rest of the world. The moon landing ushered in an age of technology in which we
believed that we were bright enough to accomplish any goal we chose to pursue.
Those of us who participated in the levayah of Maran HaRav
Ovadiah Yosef ztk”l last week were witness to a historical event of no less
import, an experience that must remain inscribed in our essence. Eight hundred and fifty thousand
people [according to broadcast reports by the Israeli police] participated in
an event arranged within the space of less
than four hours. Eight hundred and fifty thousand people – that represents
approximately 14% of the Jewish population of Israel - jammed
the streets of Geulah and Sanhedriah to demonstrate their respect for and
identification with the life work of a single man.
I am not qualified to describe Rav Ovadyah’s greatness in
halachah and learning. Nor is it my place to evaluate his leadership role in
returning the crown of Torah to Sefardic Jewry. But participating in the
overwhelming demonstration of kavod ha-Torah, on a scale probably not matched
since ma’amad har Sinai, has engraved itself indelibly in my psyche. Rav
YisreoL Meir Lau shiltah expressed it so well in his hesped; the hundreds of
thousands gathered – as well as the hundreds of thousands of others who might
have come had there been more time – were the most eloquent expression of klal
Yisrael’s strong link to the Torah.
The Talmud in Bava Kamma [83a] quotes a derasha of Rav
Dustai of Biria on the passuk “shuva Hashem rivevot alfei Yisrael” explaining
that the Shechinah does not rest upon less than an assembly of twenty-two thousand Jews. Tosafot poses a
question from a gemara in Sanhedrin which suggests that the Shechinah is
present even among an assembly of ten Jews. They answer that there is a
qualitative difference between the presence of the Shechinah when ten jews are
present and when twenty-two thousand are present.
Torah Temimah offers an alternative response. Indeed, the
Shechinah is present when ten Jews gather to learn or pray. But when twenty-two
thousand Jews gather, the Shechinah is present even without prayer or study. If
you participated in the levaya, or if you watched the live broadcast, you were
witness to a gathering almost forty times the size of what is necessary to
bring the presence of the Shechinah to rest amongst us! If you heard the
crowd’s thundering recital of Shema and Hashem hu ha-Elokim after the hespedim,
you were witness to what may very well have been the largest kabbalat ol
malchut shamayim in history!
Can we remain ambivalent in the face of what our eyes saw
and ears heard? Or must you – and I – reflect on what truly represents the
essence of klal Yisrael. Rav Ovadiah ztk”l was a unique gift granted our
generation, not only because of his incomparable mastery in every field of
Torah, or by virtue of his extraordinary lifelong efforts to reach out to every
single Jew and bring them closer to Torah. The legacy he leaves us is that
despite the travails we face, as a people we remain strongly committed to our
heritage. The fact that Jews from all walks of life and representing the entire
spectrum of the Israeli population were able to join together, k’ish echad
b’leiv echad, bodes well for our future. Ashrechah Rav Ovadiah – your merits
are great for what you accomplished.
Mi yitein temurato.
