Parsha Tzav / Purim Blog — War, Religion and Politics

What happens when you have?

· War, politics, and religion in the discussion

· Add to that Cholent and whisky

· Add to that you have Parsha Zachor and Purim

You get a lively discussion. So, let’s start with Zachor

Remembering the Anti-semitism, progroms, Babi Yar massacre. The Ukrainians were very quick to help the Nazis.

Somebody shared with the following:

“Anyone who has visited Ukraine must have discovered the national heroes of the Ukrainian people, see. Their statues are in every square, and they are:

Bogdan Hermelnitzky

The leader of the pogrom against the Jews in the years 1848, where about 200,000 Jews were brutally murdered.

Maxim Zlizniak

The leader of the pogrom in Uman, in 1768, in which over 20,000 Jews were murdered.

Semyon Petliura

Leading the riots in 1919, in which hundreds of Jewish women were raped, Jewish property was looted, about 150,000 Jews were murdered.

Stefan Bandera

Responsible for the pogrom of the Jews of Lvov in 1941 and the massacre of the Jews of Wahlin.

The Ukrainians in the Holocaust murdered and inherited from about 1,500,000 Jews who were murdered in the pits in 1941–42, all murdered by Ukrainians under German command.

The Germans gave the instructions, but the execution was by the Ukrainians.

After the murders, the Ukrainians looted Jewish property.

The 1.5 million Jews who were murdered left about 500,000 homes full of all the good that the Ukrainians murdered and inherited.

The Ukrainian Ambassador to Israel called on Israelis: “Help us, as we helped Jews in the Holocaust”, really ridiculous !!!

Ukrainians at the UN have always voted against Israel and in favor of Palestinian terrorist organizations”

Can we just forget and forgive this, and just because they are now in War, need our help and compassion, and feel free sorry for them?

It is quite strange that Israel and Jews feature so prominently in this story.

Even Bennet’s trip on Shabbat to Putin was prefaced on the BBC — despite it being the holy Shabbat, Bennett flew to Moscow to help save lives.

Indeed in the Purim Megillah, we have the first reference to Jews — Mordechai Hayehudi.

We like to make light of the Megillah, but this was a war facilitated by weak and evil leadership. Let’s bully the Jews, take their possessions, and tax them. This is the way the world was and is run. It is the story of our history.

The Putin and the Purim does not make sense, and there are many comparisons. One was that both empires were on the decline and needed radical steps.i.e War to reverse their fortunes.

I read that War is started by leaders, but it is the average person who risks his life and suffers. Simply, most wars are immoral. We the people are puppets here. We think we have democracy and are free. Just look at the seizing of the assets of Oligorgs. Maybe justice is served — They stole or benefited from National assets that belonged to the masses, the people, They are like the to the local cardinal or lords of the old days.

The inspiration of Purim is that it charts a new path. Ok. You still have taxes, but you have lessons of caring for the poor and friendships I. e the Community.

We had Covid as a lesson in sharing and care. And now we have Ukraine where there is much opportunity for chesed. And a catalyst for change.

We have the notion of ESG or Impact investment. We have the talk, Cop26, net-zero pledges, end to world poverty. We have now seen the over-reliance on Russian oil, Ukrainian wheat wreaking havoc on commodity prices and highlighting how dependent we are on each other. The banking system is also under pressure, and this will further power Crypto.

The World is in need of a repair — Tikkun Olam

Gleaning from Rabbi Sacks and tying this back into the Parsha which refers to Animal Sacrifices.

“Girard’s theory confirms the view of Albo. Sacrifice (as with meat-eating) entered Judaism as a substitute for violence. It also helps us understand the profound insight of the Prophets that sacrifices are not ends in themselves, but part of the Torah’s programme to create a world redeemed from the otherwise interminable cycle of revenge. The other part of that programme, and God’s greatest desire, is a world governed by justice.

That, we recall, was His first charge to Abraham, to “instruct his children and his household after him to keep the way of the Lord by doing what is right and just” (Gen. 18:19).

Have we therefore moved beyond that stage in human history in which animal sacrifices have a point? Has justice become a powerful enough reality that we no longer need religious rituals to divert the violence between human beings? Sadly, the answer is no. The collapse of the Soviet Union, the fall of the Berlin Wall, and the end of the Cold War led some thinkers to argue that we had reached “the end of history.” There would be no more ideologically-driven wars. Instead, the world would turn to the market economy and liberal democracy.[4]”

https://mailchi.mp/rabbisacks/tzav-245583?e=a91d363574

Unfortunately, The Russian invasion of Ukraine is just one more example of this unending cycle.