Vaetchanan: The Eternal Strategy

A story would be fitting to start this week’s Parshah thought. A band of men gathered together in their den discussing their plan for the future. Their goal was to topple the government they so despised, but fear gripped them for years and none of them had the courage to do more than complain. Over and over again they would have talks among themselves about how dishonest and deceitful their taxes were being spent and the services promised and guaranteed to them were never delivered. It was at this defining moment that the leader of the group called for a meeting.

He didn’t disclose his true intentions as he reached out to each individual. Rather, his message was discreetly worded. It read as follows: “This group is formed for likeminded individuals. People who are respectful and understanding of your situation in life, who wish to walk the path to peace.” The meeting commenced three days later. The circle was formed with some food and pleasantries, and then came the big question to the coordinator. “What is the purpose of this meeting?” he was asked.

He began. “We won’t be toppling the government, and we won’t even be crying over them. Actually, our sole purpose is to stop doing that altogether. But you may ask, ‘What if it still bothers me?’ and for that I’ll answer, ‘It won’t!’ The Government asks for compliance and adherence, and as long as they feel that they have the authority to impose they will do so without a vote, but we are coming to take away their authority from them.”

“Toppling them would ask us to change minds, build communities, change the education system, and even create a governing body of our own which may ultimately lead to being toppled itself. Of course such a plan would require boldness and audacity, as far as being sentenced as traitor and being put to death. Over the years we have all been too afraid to raise our heads above the water for more than a moment to catch our breaths. We’re not on a suicide mission. Ours is one that is eternal, and eternity has enough time.”

“I know that we all want redemption to be tomorrow if not sooner, but since we’re working the long game we will simply be living our lives for the next fifty years, but we will be living it under their rule and find a way to change our minds first! Our influence will be an example to those closest to us, like our families, friends and communities, and from there we will have a chance to make a difference that will change the entire country if not the entire world. We will topple the stronghold the government has on us, for the rest of our lives, and albeit our environment will not yet be free, we will be!”

“What is our ethos?” A’ner, the first person to his right, asked. “Our ethos is to bring a breath of fresh air into our lives. For countless hours each day we’ve struggled with bad thoughts, scheming and planning destruction, wishing and dreaming of building, all while cast under the spell of the dark cloud hovering over us. We need to find that fresh breath, the one that releases the tension stuck in our chests. It is something minute, something small, something ahhh! All we need is to bring a smile to our face and glimmer to our eyes. Overtly we will be the same people, but from the expression on our faces people will be curious to find out our secret.”

Eshkol, sitting on his left, drew a smile to his face. The leader saw and said, “Yes! This, this is what we will do! We will learn how to smile. We may have to fake it for a while, especially when faced with things that we wholeheartedly abhor, but we must remember that we are doing it because we have a mission deep down that will bring about the destination of peace. The start to our path begins with a smile!”

“We must envision the future, although it is something we will never see in our lifetime, but our children and theirs may come closer and in just a few short generations we will have succeeded. But most of all, our success will be the smile we carry on our faces for the next few years. Let us convene once more in six weeks and we will discuss how smiling through your day has changed your hearts.”

At the second meeting, Mam’rei, who always sat adjacent to the leader, started saying how each time he saw a pothole on the road, he simply smiled and the bad thoughts stopped instantly. He also noted that since he wasn’t entertaining those angry thoughts he also felt calmer and hasn’t gotten into worthless arguments with others regarding the faulty leadership, or regarding anything else for that matter. He spent more time with family and added a smile as he sat with his kids during playtime. He laughed more with his wife and actually forgave her for hurting him a few years back.

A’ner and Eshkol both had similar stories to convey. They looked at their friend and admired his leadership, and among themselves started referring to him as “The Great Father.” Months turned into years. Their work never ended as they still had to face the empire surrounding and scrutinizing their every move, but the Great Father’s son knew nothing but the ways of his father. It wasn’t by choice that he spoke of freedom and redemption. It came to him naturally. He spoke of the smile his father always carried around with him, and how this simple and genuine gesture kept peace flowing through the household. He spoke of strangers showing up to his doorstep and watched them cry just by seeing a person who has found peace.

But by now it was too late for the government to do anything. There was no rebellion and there were no bullets ringing out in the streets. All that changed was that after a few short years there were people smiling in the streets and even some government officials were curious to find out more. “This cultural shift must be quashed if we are to hold onto our power!” Proclaimed Nimrod the desperate despite. “We must kill their ‘Great Father’ and then they will learn their lesson!” He ordered the capture and prepared him for his death.

Before his planned execution “Av-ram” exclaimed, “You are fighting a war that will outlast you and your corruption. You’re trying to kill a smile, but the world will not grieve me since they are all trained to smile at every situation, even my death.”

This government shows up in many areas of our life. Sometimes it is the actual government running the nation, sometimes it is the home owners association, sometimes it is the education system, etc. We wish to change them, but the path we take to defeat them is one where we become the change ourselves. They will win when we fear them. They will succeed when we allow them to live rent-free in our minds, because angry thoughts have never changed anything.

The long game is what we learn in Vaetchanan. Moshe brilliantly describes the ethos of the Jewish nation in this week’s Parshah. Deut. 5:6-17: Aseret Hadibrot, 6:4: Shema, 7:7: Lo Mei’ribchem. Those words are the bedrock to our nation and they are what those in the original meeting believed. They saw peace through the eternal work they have before them. But instead of being caught up in the current moment to fight a momentary evil, they chose to establish something that will outlast Nebuchadnezzar and Hitler.

Eicha and Vaetchanan have much in common, especially chapter 3 of Eicha. Eicha 3:24: “My soul said, my portion is Hashem, that is why I hope to Him:” Vaetchanan, Devarim 3:24: “Hashem my Lord, You have started to show your servant Your greatness and strong hand, for who is a [strong] Lord in the heavens and earth who can do like your works and powers?:”

Notice how they are both in the same exact location in their respective books. But besides that anomaly, the Hebrew words used are identical as well. על כן אוחיל לו, and אתה החילות להראות. Hoping and starting share the same root in the Holy language, to prove our story’s legacy right. We must first hope for peace, but we also have to start the path. The change will follow and it will be much greater than what we would accomplish were we to force our way today. And this is exactly what Hashem tells Moshe in 3:26: “…and Hashem said to me (enough) much is to you don’t talk to me more about this topic (of going into the land).”

Rashi explains these words, “Much is to you in the world to come, much more than what you wish for now!” The world to come is the future yet to come. Olam Haba is the existence that we cannot yet fathom, but only hope for. It is to come only because it began by the changing of one person, and his family. And yes, that breath of fresh air he wished to bring into the world actually became part of his name as he became “Av-R-ahh-ham!” (See Bereishit Raba 12:10, the “Hey” being like a breath!) 

Shabbat Nachamu Shalom

David Lemmer

LemmerHypnotherapy.com