Grizzly bears have a much greater ability to cool down
tempers and dampen the spirits of agitators than a police
force armed to its teeth.
The recent G8 summit made up of the leaders of the most
powerful economic countries in the world decided this year to
hold their conference in the remote mountains of Canada
surrounded by trees and bears with only one road of access to
the venue. They had in the past too much aggravation from the
liberals and the Greens ("ecology" people) and the anti-
globalization groups at last year's conference in the USA
which took place in the heart of civilization in New York
City. There was too much violence from protesters and too
many confrontations with the police so they decided that
grizzly bears were the best protection against unwanted
guests.
Wherever you go these days, it is hard to avoid
demonstrations. There are so many issues in the world that if
you really want to make an impact it has to be made public.
Once it is public, it then becomes an incentive for forceful
dissent by the opposition.
Demonstrations in support of Israel or the Palestinians
always manage to elicit tempestuous opposition, and there are
always people who go beyond reasoned disagreement. However,
it is always questionable if there ought to be public
demonstrations, especially on our part in support of Eretz
Yisroel, even if there is no anticipated hostile
opposition. If there has to be some demonstration, it must
always come with the approval of our gedolei HaTorah.
Just to demonstrate or counter-demonstrate because the
adrenalin flows more generously through the veins of some
more than others is not the way.
There have always been hotheads within our people. There have
always been those who have relied upon their own judgment in
assessing how to deal with difficult situations, and this has
often led to violent acts which they believe are motivated by
highly charged spiritual intentions. Towards the end of the
first Beis Hamikdosh, there were zealots who did not
heed the words of the prophets, including Yirmiyohu, who
tried to hold out against the Chaldeans. Even after the
Temple was destroyed, the assassination of Gedaliah was
counterproductive and further exacerbated the exile of
Klal Yisroel.
The second Beis Hamikdosh was also not without its
zealots. Rabbi Yochonon ben Zakkai had to contend with
violent opposition which did not want to acknowledge defeat
by the Romans. The fortress at Massadah was manned by those
who had not heeded the words of the chachomim of the
time. They fought and died heroically, but it was not with
the approval of Torah.
It is not an easy matter to be a zealot, a "kano'i".
Young people tend more towards this characteristic than older
people. Deliberation before action often requires a deep
analysis of the problem, how to tackle the problem, and above
all, what the consequences will be. The head is supposed to
govern the heart and not the reverse. Where only the heart
governs, emotions often cloud over the truth.
Rav Dessler, zt"l, says (Michtav MeEliyahu 5)
that generally speaking, all "kano'us," passionate
zeal for an issue, has its roots in anger, and anger is not a
virtue to be condoned or cultivated. Anger, says the
gemora, is akin to idolatry.
The reason is because any anger shown against someone who has
offended, or a situation which has caused discomfort,
reflects an inner belief that the person or thing was the
sole cause of his distress, instead of acknowledging that
anything which appears to harm a person is the will of
Hashem. There is no reason to be angry or violent against the
source of the harm. However, explains Rav Dessler, anger
exhibited by excess zeal for "the sake of Hashem" cannot be
interpreted as idolatry because of the person's so- called
holy intentions. The person does, after all, believe he is
acting purely for Hashem's sake. That is a far cry from
idolatry. So why is the anger of excess zeal not generally
appropriate?
Rav Dessler explains that the genuine zealot acts totally in
an objective manner. His whole concern is that there should
not be any chilul Hashem. He is not concerned if he
lacks anything personally, because he accepts this as the
Will of Hashem. So he does not even perceive that anything is
missing.
What concerns him is that the world functions, and has been
functioning since the original sin of Odom Horishon, with
discrepancies and limitations. The world became an imperfect
place and we cannot be served everything on a plate without
any physical effort, as would have been the case had Odom not
sinned. Because of all these limitations such as the need to
search the world wearily for commodities, experiencing
inconveniences through the lack of availability of many
needs, the balance of wealth, and many other restrictions,
the power of Hashem seems to be curtailed. This is a
chilul Hashem and what is referred to as "golus
haShechinah" -- "exile" of the Divine Presence. It is
this which disturbs the genuine zealot.
So when he sees how the word of Hashem is disregarded in the
world or in Klal Yisroel, and we commit more and more
sins, chilul Hashem is further increased and the exile
of the Shechinah is perpetuated. This he cannot
tolerate and is filled with pain. He, therefore, seeks to
redress the situation by making a kiddush Hashem.
It is very difficult to gauge the level of genuine concern in
a zealot. Some masquerade as zealots, and transparencies
become clearly apparent after some time. The Bnei
Yisroel criticized Pinchos when he killed Zimri ben Solu
in an act of supreme zeal, believing his zeal to be tainted
somewhat by an inappropriate personal anger. It was not until
Hashem gave Pinchos the seal of "sheleimus" ("es berisi
Sholom"), pure intent, that the Bnei Yisroel
accepted the genuine nature of Pinchos' kiddush
Hashem.
Unfortunately many of those who generally exhibit piety in
violent acts "for the sake of Heaven," are not endowed with
an ardent desire to prevent a chilul Hashem. But even
those who might have had genuine motivation to do so, if
there is some inconsistency in their subsequent actions which
contradicts the original perceived aim of their zeal, the
"sake of Heaven" is somewhat diminished, and even profaned.
We see from Tanach (Melochim II) how consistency is
paramount in proving the genuine nature of zealous acts.
*
Yehu ben Nimshi was told by the prophet Elishah that he would
become king of the northern kingdom of Yisroel. He was to
destroy the House of Achav with all its idolatry. In his zeal
to eradicate all idolatry, he killed the king of Yisroel,
Yoram ben Achav, and the king of Yehuda, Achaziah, the
grandson of Achav, and the whole household of Achav. He
killed many of the followers of Baal and destroyed the places
of Baal worship.
Yet because he retained two calves in Dan and Bethel which
Yerovom had made, his act of kiddush Hashem became
tainted. Because of this, the zealous act of the original
bloodshed, the killing of Yoram, was shown retrospectively to
have not been perfect (Hoshea 1,4). So even with the
greatest people, "kano'us" must be perfect.
This is a far cry from our times. Throughout the world,
almost all violent demonstrations come from young people. The
combination of youth, immaturity and self- assertion does not
make for reasoned opinion. It is very difficult to be so
impartial as to be genuinely zealous.
There are countries in the world where the government is
ruthless and dictatorial, where dissension is suppressed and
those who denounce the government are never seen again. The
free world needs to take this in hand, but there is not
always the will to take on other people's wars because it
does not serve one's own purpose. Everyone has a "political
agenda." There is no "lishmoh."
We have so many examples of this that we as Torah Jews are
not short of lessons on how not to behave. We see within our
own community behavior which is not always creating a
kiddush Hashem. We should try to change this.
However, "divrei chachomim benachas hem nishmo'im," we
should effect change quietly. We are not all so perfect, so
"kano'us" has little place among us. As we improve
spiritually and practically in our own quiet way, we will
make the desired kiddush Hashem. Maybe then it will
not be too long before the Shechinah can come back
again to Eretz Yisroel and be delivered from the long
and inhibiting exile.
