Egypt

                                                                                                            B-H

Last Friday I was informed that my book will be ready to pick up on the coming Monday.

I hope this will be the truth, but as long as it’s not being sold, this post will still be about something other than the first reactions of this new publication.

The Egyptian revolution is unbeatably the first topic all around the world, every place that information can circulate without restriction, meaning where there is no dictator, junta or any other power able to keep a gag on people’s mouths and make sure that their eras hear and eyes see only what the rulers want them to perceive.

Egypt is on its way to becoming a society without such powers, it’s on the way but not there yet.

On the seventh of Adar at the Al Tahrir square of Cairo, the city of Maymonides, the Muslims were getting up from their knees after their evening prayers as their dictator stepped down.

On the seventh of Adar year 2368 from creation, the greatest son of Egypt was born, and on the same day 120 years later he died - Moses the Lawgiver – Moishe Rabayni.

Is there any correlation between these two historical events besides for the date?

I’m to small and to uneducated to see more than just the date but I know that there are no co incidents, it is not merely some philosophical knowledge, as I learn throughout my own life.

I was thinking and talked about this with my family and friends over Shabbos but besides the maybe farfetched link between Moishe Rabayni and the Egyptian revolution I find no other relationship between those two events.

Before the Jews emerged as a nation there was only one way that nations and governments were born. It was what Darwin called – by the way of ‘natural selection’ or ‘survival of the stronger’. It was not a matter of survival however, when the first dictator in the history of the mankind submitted subjects to himself, but until then people were free individuals. Nimrod was smarter than others perhaps, and certainly stronger. Over all, his Gava, his ambition was bigger than any one else’s. He was the first ruler, first king, and first dictator. After him all other nations of the world followed his ways. Rulers kill the enemies, scare others to became loyal, and with them have power over the population. Than they fight with everyone who could endanger the position of the dictator. Those are only a few recipes of how to control societies, this tactic was used in history again and over again, by almost every ‘Nimrod’.

This was the mode that was picked up by the one who killed Nimrod, he - Esaw, was stronger in this; by this ‘Nimrod’ like behavior, we can characterize all his spiritual decedents including the most important one of them - Amalek. This is “the way” until today, its how ‘Esaw’ nations are dealing with the rest of the world.

The Jews were the first and only nation in the history of the mankind to emerge not only without their own land but with a different kind of leader than all the other nations.

It was not a warrior or knight; it was not a king or a ruler who stood above his people, it was a teacher. Moishe - a man who tired, working day and night and many times was ruined by his pupils, but none than less he taught them the laws of Almighty.

Rav Hirsch in his comment on Parshas Amulek explains that this was precisely the reason why Amulek attacked the Yiden when they – Amulekim, learned about the different character of this new nation - Jews; a nation whose existence and survival was not depending on their might, power, military or even political skills, but on the fulfillment of Gods law. Amulek saw it as an endangerment for their justification to use power as they wanted, to enslave the people and subject them to his philosophy. Amulek can not stand the fact that a free person from his free choice guided only by the teachings and not by power, can lead his life toward a perfect freedom of serving G-d. Amulek is furious at seeing people talking rather than fighting, it takes away all justification for Amuleks existence.

The same Rav Hirsch explains that the reason behind creating seventy nations instead of one humanity was so that they should learn from each other in peace, an oneness in the plural.

He gives a Similar and beautiful explanation for the fact that there were twelve Shvutim – tribes within one Klal Yisruel. Every Shavet, by performing a different task, serves in a reality the same goal of submitting this nation to the Creator and by this service, the Jews are giving an example to all the other nations.

Ulayni or Alenu if you prefer -  it is our mission to bring all humanity to the recognition of one Creator and his service by setting a positive example, by giving an alternative to the ways of Amulek. It takes time for us to understand this and to learn to achieve this, it also takes time for others to recognize the greatness of the nation of Torah but this is our goal and ultimate destiny.

For almost a quarter of the century I was living under a dictatorship. I had to watch what I’m saying and to whom, what I do and where. I was part of a controlled society without hope for any change in our lives. When in desperate attempts of a scream for freedom I was building barricades and fighting communist police on the streets of my city, I knew that if communism will fall it will happened only if we walk in blood up to our knees. The Bolsheviks revolution was a street riot compared to how much blood must be spilled in order to gain political freedom.

Soon after that my life changed and I began to seek a much grater freedom, a freedom of living for my Creator.

Eight years later the communist were pushed to talk with opposition. It is impossible to explain for someone who never went trough a similar experience, what we felt when we saw the Polish round table, the Berlin’s wall cracking and when finally we were able to enjoy freedoms that the democratic world takes as something guarantied.

All of this was without bloodshed, without destroyed goods, and without war so common in European history. Something changed. Some new value, new spirit, was in the air. People learned to live together despite their differences and sometimes even animosity. Did the education of the Jewish Torah started to work? I don’t know but I sure do hope so.

So I good luck to Egypt and its people, as one more time I saw the powers of Amulek on its way to being erased from the memory of mankind!

Matys Weiser