TETZAVEH 1987

In the Torah portion Tetzaveh we learn about the various garments that Aaron, the High Priest, was to wear when he served in the Temple.  It says in the Torah "and you should make holy garments for Aaron, your brother, for splendor and for beauty, and you should speak to all who are wise hearted that I have filled them with the spirit of wisdom and they should make the clothes of Aaron to sanctify him that he may serve Me."  The question could be asked, why do we need these two pesukim?  It says "you should make holy garments for Aaron, your brother, for splendor and beauty".  Why does it also say "you should speak to all who are wise hearted that I should fill them with the spirit of wisdom and they should make clothes for Aaron to sanctify him so he can serve Me"?  What we need these two sentences for?  It seems that there are two different elements here in discussing the clothes of Aaron: one reason or element seems to be for glory and beauty; the other seems to be to make him holy so he can serve Me.  The garments were to serve two different purposes: one, an outward purpose (for glory and beauty) and one an inward purpose (to make sure Aaron was fit inwardly to serve G‑d).
This Shabbos is also Shabbos Zochar and comes right before Purim.  In Purim we are given much this same lesson.  At Purim we learn that evil is real.  We know that Purim is a happy, frolicking, carnival-type holiday, but it has a very serious message, and that is that evil is real, and we have to confront it and overcome it.  We should not ever despair or confront it with the feeling that we are going to be defeated by it.  We can tear away its mask and see what it really is.  We should be joyous in our confrontation with evil, but we should never underestimate it.

Also, the world has accepted the Jewish ideal that peace, brotherhood, compassion, and kindness are what society should be based on.  The world, by and large, has, at least in theory, rejected a macho-type image where a real man is one who oppresses and hurts others and takes what he can.  This, of course, was Hitler's idea, that survival of the fittest demanded that the strong be able to take whatever they could take, and to heck with the weak.  The weak should be exterminated because they only made the human race weaker and less capable of surviving.  The world, by and large, has rejected Hitler's ideas and similar ideas.  Even engraved on the United Nations are the words from Isaiah about changing your swords into pruning hooks, etc., that peace, brotherly love, compassion should be the hallmarks of society.

However, the evil that we face in the world is real, and much of the evil we, ourselves, create.  We create it by failing to confront our problems, by failing to accept responsibility for what we do, by trying, many times, shortcuts in order to solve our problems, taking the less ethical route because it seems the easiest way to go at the time.  I know many times people come to my office feeling guilty about many things and wanting me to comfort them.  Usually they feel guilty about things they should feel guilty about.  They have acted miserably to their spouse or parents or children or their boss.  They have actually violated the standards their conscience, and they should feel guilty for what they have done.  In order to rid themselves of their guilt they do not need understanding, so to speak, and words telling them they did the right thing.  What they need is to confront the fact that they acted miserably, that they hurt people, and that because they did it they are going to change and not do it again.  Then, of course, there is forgiveness.  There is always understanding afterwards.  The point is to remember that man can do evil.  There used to be a lot of sensitivity-type organizations whose whole purpose was to get people to do things they knew they really shouldn't do, things that revolted them and really disgusted them.  Thank goodness, these organizations, by and large, have lost their influence.  People no longer feel that it is right to be selfish, to do disgusting things to themselves and others.
This, of course, is the message of Purim, too.  fie are supposed to remember what Amalek did on the road.  He attacked the weak and the helpless.  Then it says something very interesting.  It says, "Timche Zechar Amalek - You should wipe out the remembrance of Amalek".  How can you wipe it out if you are supposed to remember it?  The difference between Haman and Mordechai is very slight.  Haman and Mordechai looked, on the surface, to be both upstanding and outstanding people.  They seemed dedicated to all those values we hold dear.  That's why when it says you should drink enough on Purim so you can't tell the difference between "Bless Mordechai" and "Curse Haman", it doesn't mean you should drink a lot.  Just one or two drinks will make it very difficult for you to tell the difference between a Haman and a Mordechai.  After all, Haman was a very ambitious man, a family man, a dedicated man, a hard working man, a patriotic man.  He was willing even to pay King Achashverosh to rid what he thought was an enemy to the kingdom.  He had all those qualities which we, of course, praise in the middle class today.  He consulted his wife.  He was a good father.  He was a good man in the community.  He was a person who was hard working and diligent.  Yet, all these qualities Mordechai had, too, except that he used these qualities for evil, for doing the wrong thing.

That, of course, applied, too, to Hitler in our day.  Hitler, at first glance, seemed to be a very upstanding person, a person we would normally praise, but he was the most wicked man who ever lived.  Hitler, of course, was a vegetarian, he didn't play around with other people's wives, he was dedicated to Eva Braun, although he did not marry her until the very end, he never took a penny from the state (he was solely supported by the sale of his book, Mein Kampf), he was patriotic, he was ambitious, he was looking out for what he thought was the good of his country.  Here he was the perfect example of what we would think of an upcoming young person who was dedicated and devoted.  He, of course, was the most evil person who ever lived, much worse than Haman.  Haman only tried to kill Jews, but Hitler succeeded.  He killed over six million Jews.
Many times it is not these personal characteristics which are important when we judge people: whether they are studious, talented, diligent, family people, kind to animals.  What is important is what they do with their talents, what they dedicate them to.  Mordechai dedicated his talents to goodness, to compassion, to love of humanity.  Haman did the exact opposite.  Sometimes it is hard to tell the difference between them since, on the surface, they both look to be such dedicated, devoted people that you could trust.
That's, of course, why Aaron had two different reasons for his garments.  His garments were to show an appearance of beauty and splendor, but Hitler, too, showed an appearance of dedication and devotion.  There had to be something internal, too.  Clothes had to be sanctified to represent that he, too, was working for goals of peace and compassion and brotherhood, that his dedication and devotion were not misdirected.  Unfortunately, even today we find many people that it is very hard to tell whether they are good people or bad people, because you do not know what they are using their talents for, what they are using their dedication and devotion for.  They have to dedicate them to good causes.  That's, of course, what we learn when we say to remember Amalek.  Remember, when you judge people you have to judge them by their goals.  Are they attacking the weak and helpless?  Are they taking food away from the hungry?  Are they taking medical treatment from the sick?  Are they failing to take care of the elderly?  What are they doing?  What are they doing to children?  Unfortunately, in our country, too, there are people who do not want to help the poor and the helpless and the aged and the children of our country.  That's why it says to wipe out the memory of Amalek.  How can you wipe out the memory if it says you should remember Amalek?  The word in Hebrew "Timche" has other meanings besides wipe out.  It means to write a check, to dilute, to become an expert, to touch.  How do you wipe out the memory of Amalek?  We do it by confronting evil, not directly, unless, of course, the evil is attacking you immediately, but we do it indirectly by showing an example of a good life.  You write checks to charitable causes.  You dilute sorrow by being there when people need you.  You touch people lives by helping them when they need your help.  You become an expert in physics and chemistry and medicine so you can help solve the problems of the world.  This, of course, is the way we confront evil.  We confront evil by showing a positive example of goodness so people will see what it means to support good cause, what it means to be a moral, compassionate human being.

This Shabbos, too, we are honoring Hadassah.  Hadassah is a wonderful organization.  Originally it was called the Daughters of Zion.  In 1907 when Henrietta Zole joined this organization it was a study group which discussed different Jewish issues.  It was associated with the Zionist movement and still is.  Many people do not know that Hadassah is actually the women's branch of the Zionist movement of America.  In 1908 Henrietta Zole went to Israel.  She saw the terrible conditions there, especially the health conditions of the people.  Israel was a G‑d forsaken place then.  In fact, Mark Twain, who had gone to Israel 20 years before, wrote a book called Innocence Abroad in which he said that Israel was a G‑d forsaken land, and he could not understand how this could be the Holy Land because the living people were so poor and there were really not very many people in Israel then.  There weren't that many Arabs in Israel then either.  There were more than Jews but not that many.  There was a great deal of Arab immigration after the British took over in 1918, which has been documented now.  There was almost as much Arab immigration to Israel as Jewish immigration to Israel after 1918.  When Henrietta Zole came back she decided that, with the help of the daughters of Zion, they should do something about the health conditions in Israel.  In 1914 the chapters of the Daughters of Zion decided to change the name of their organization from the Daughters of Zion to Hadassah based on a sentence in the Torah which speaks about healing and also uses the word Hadassah, and also because Hadassah was the Jewish name of Esther.  In 1918 forty-four doctors and nurses and health experts were sent to Israel to help the people there.  That began the adventure of Hadassah with medical improvements in Israel.  They were instrumental in helping Hebrew University begin a biology department which would deal with diseases in Israel.  They helped fund a medical school.  Hadassah was very much involved with youth aliyah.  Henrietta Zole was the president of Youth Aliyah.  They were involved with JNF, with vocational training.  Hadassah has half a million women active in all aspects of Jewish life.  They are doing wonderful, wonderful work.  They are showing what it means to wipe out the memory of Amalek.  It means the values of Amalek, the ideas of Amalek.  We do that by being positive in our actions, by contributing money, by diluting the sorrow of people who are sick or have other problems, touching their lives by vocational training, by giving them guidance and positive examples, by having experts in the diseases of the area so we can cure them and overcome them.  Hadassah is doing wonderful, wonderful work, and I urge you all to support Hadassah whenever you can.  They, along with many other wonderful Jewish organizations like AMIT Women and ORT, are doing yeoman's work in the land of Israel.  They are truly telling us how to overcome evil in this world: by doing good.  That is the secret.

I am reminded of the story they tell about a rabbi who went to a class and asked members of the class, "What is the wonderful organization named that almost all your mothers belong to?"  No one in the class could answer.  The rabbi said, "I'll give you a clue.  It has something to do with Purim and Esther."  Still no one could answer.  The rabbi said, "I'm sure all your mothers attend its meeting almost every week."  Finally one little boy raised his hand and said, "I know, I know.  Weight Watchers."  Of course, weight watching is important.  Guarding your health is important.  As a human being it is very important that we man the ramparts against evil, that we do what we have to do to in order to make sure that people like Hitler don't come to the fore.  That each of us can do by promoting the values of goodness and compassion and kindness, and that we certainly do when we support Hadassah.