This week’s parashah, Behaalot’cha (in Israel, the parashah is Shelach), is full of complaints, disputes, and grumbling from the people. They want different food. They want to go back to Egypt. Instead of acknowledging all the kindness that has been done for them, they see only what is lacking.
Our Sages ask us to note that most of the time during our journey through the desert, the problem is not an external enemy but our internal state: our unity, our faith, our motivation. When these are absent, it is impossible to keep moving forward.
Last week, a friend sent me a video featuring the Greek Minister of Health being interviewed on Greek television. In case you didn’t see it, this is what he said: “Really, is there a nation like the Jews? These people took a strip of desert land, smaller than half of our Peloponnese Peninsula, and they have a GDP of 500 billion. If you go there, you see that they produce abundance out of nothing. They are at war with Lebanon, with Iran, with Yemen, with Hamas, with Syria, and they have 3% GDP growth! And when they ask who the happiest people in the world are, they are in the top five. And here in our Greece, the weather is perfect, everything is beautiful, and whoever you ask how he is responds: ‘Misery, sadness.’ Stop for a moment: he has rockets on his right, rockets on his left, and he says, ‘How happy I am to live in Israel.’ And by us? Here, everything is black. Do you have an explanation?” The minister concludes: “There is no explanation. This requires a psychological explanation!”
Beautiful. The problem is that the friend who sent me the video attached the following sarcastic line: “Yay, Micronesia is not alone!” In other words, tiny Micronesia, the only country that supports Israel, has now been joined by a Greek official. The whole world is against us.
Who is telling Israel’s story?
Who made her think that way? Who makes us focus only on negativity, on the criticism directed at us, and not on the deep and widespread appreciation that exists as well? Just like in the parashah, who is telling us the story, and who is providing the interpretation of those events?
I sent her back a few video clips from the past week or so to illustrate my point.
Elon Musk, the richest man in the world, was supposed to visit Israel for the Ministry of Transportation’s Innovation Conference. In the end, he traveled with Trump to China, but he still made the effort to join from there by video call for half an hour. This is what he said: “I am a big fan of Israel. I think, objectively, you are number one in the world.” Applause was heard in the hall, and he continued: “You achieve incredible results relative to the size of your population. I take my hat off to Israel for its innovation and for everything it does.”
It turned out that my friend and many others had not heard about this event at all. I sent her another clip, this time showing Mathias Döpfner, an important German publisher and the CEO of a media group that owns Bild and Politico, among other outlets. Just two weeks ago, he said in a speech: “Zionism is racism? No. Anti-Zionism is racism! Zionism is a natural response to thousands of years of persecution, expulsion, and genocide. What seems illogical to me is that Zionism is an idea embraced only by Jews. I am a gentile and a Zionist. Wholeheartedly. With conviction and passion. Israel is our values.”
She hadn’t seen this powerful video either. But there’s more.
In a video that went viral in Britain, Kemi Badenoch, the leader of Britain’s opposition and head of the Conservative Party, discussed antisemitism: “I go to Jewish schools and see security guards outside, and I don’t see that at other schools. I go to Jewish businesses whose windows have been smashed. We need to stop pretending this is not happening. We don’t want the 1930s to come back again.”
Someone interrupted her, saying, “What about attacks on Muslims? Isn’t that important?”
Support for Israel and Jewish institutions
Badenoch was not confused. “The people who died were Jews murdered in a synagogue! Let’s not pretend. This is all about Jews. You can say what you like, but I am not blind. That is my position, and you will not intimidate me. What I am doing is supporting Jews in the face of the ignorance that people like you spread. I will not allow hate to spread in Britain.”
That clip, too, was unfamiliar to my friend. I told her that I would show her one more thing: a new video from the Koum Family Foundation. Jan Koum is one of the founders of WhatsApp. He recently announced an unprecedented $200 million philanthropic gift to Shaare Zedek Medical Center in Jerusalem. Koum, who is Jewish, explained that the connection to Jerusalem, medicine, tradition, and the future moved him deeply. The donation will be used to build a new, advanced, 24-story inpatient tower, which will be named Koum Shaare Zedek. “This is a statement of hope,” he said.
This time, my friend surprised me. She had heard about it. How? Through the protest of a Tel Aviv City Council member who released a video addressing Jan Koum: “Why are you donating to a religious-haredi institution?” (I hope Koum didn’t see that!)
I have many more examples, but the point has been made. In the parashah and in life, the story begins with us: the information we focus on, and how we interpret it.
In this week’s parashah, after all the harsh complaints, God asks Moses to appoint another seventy spiritual leaders and educators to help him educate the people and lift their spirits.
It is worth checking out who is educating us, too.
Want to read more by Sivan Rahav Meir? Google The Daily Thought or visit sivanrahavmeir.com