By Yochanan Gordon
The news is the entertainment of the day. I would like you to allow that to sink in a little. The reality is that we are feverishly drawn to dozens of news outlets, trying to get a hold of what is going on that we don’t stop for a second to analyze our own behavior or realize what we are pursuing.
What is the news? At its origin, the news was meant to report on what is going on although this is not the reality of what is really happening.
On a regular day, most people are not really interested in the events the news outlets are reporting. The average person might tune in to the news during the evening or morning report, but certainly not by refreshing their devices all day, following the action in real time. Only these days, in the advent of a pandemic or an all-out war in Eretz HaKodesh, when there is earth-shattering news from one minute to the next, are we drawn to the full circuit of stations throughout the day in order to be apprised of the changes as they occur.
King Solomon, the wisest of all men said, “Ein kol chadash tachas hashemesh,” which means there is nothing new under the sun. As such, I wondered why it was that the news is named such (or “chadashot” in Hebrew), when in fact there is nothing new under the sun. It then occurred to me that while the occurrences themselves may not be new, there is a newness in the way they are being reported that keeps us drawn to them. Which is exactly how I opened, by saying that we are not drawn to the stories, but the manner in which they are reported. So, although it is normally the job of the newscaster to interview the newsworthy personalities when bringing the stories to the consumers, I will spend the allotted space by interviewing the interviewers or analyzing the sources of the news rather than the stories which comprise it.
I was sitting in shul on Shabbos during the kiddush when a friend asked me if I found myself being weighed down by the events of the day. My initial reaction was no. He interjected before I could explain, saying that there was no right or wrong answer to the question, but he wondered why, or more precisely how, I was capable of functioning given the severity of what was going on all around.
My initial response was that anyone who is impacted by the news in a way that doesn’t allow them to function and perform their daily routines as a parent or spouse is in an unhealthy place. He then wondered whether we have a responsibility as a conscientious people to know what is happening with our brothers and sisters on the front lines of battle. I found the timing of the question quite fascinating because it was a question I had been thinking about a lot lately, and it was then and there that I resolved to address it here this week. My answer to him was that it was not our responsibility or a symbol of our empathy to always know what was occurring on the front lines. Without predicting what occurs at the other end of this conflict, there is a messianic backdrop to this narrative. It isn’t imaginary or a matter of delusion. The Gemara itself teaches that at the sound of war one should anticipate the footsteps of Moshiach. The sad reality is that many people are disillusioned by the notion of Moshiach due to a lack of education. I’ve written about this in the past, and I will make this statement without getting carried away. My own children have expressed fear and anxiety over Moshiach’s imminent arrival because of things they had heard from their rebbeim in yeshiva, and that is a travesty. The fact is that we pray for the arrival of Moshiach through a spirit of mercy. At the outbreak of the war, Reb Itche Meir Morgenstern from Eretz Yisrael asked his students to establish a daily study of Zohar based on the teaching of b’hai chibura d’lach yafkun beih min galusa b’rachameih. There is a tradition that in the merit of the study of Zohar, which are the teachings of Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai, we will merit to be redeemed mercifully. Even the conservative talk show hosts like Glenn Beck and others have contained strong murmurings of Gog and Magog as the direction in which this conflict is heading. And there is no doubt in my mind that this is what is partially weighing on many a mind as they scroll feverishly from one channel to the next.
Reb Itche Meir Morgenstern taught in the name of the Kabbalists that all the doomsday prophecies predicted with Moshiach’s arrival can be fulfilled spiritually rather than physically. But, in order to effectuate the prophecies, we have to live in the spiritual dimension. In a shalosh seudos derashah on the week of Parashas Noach, he taught that the news itself and the desire or the feeling that we have to always know what is occurring is itself a pivotal part of the spiritual war that is the backdrop of the physical war that is being fought on the battlefield. This is an important point that we must bear in mind. There is a belief that the war is being fought on the battlefield and we are merely spectators to what is taking place in Gaza, Lebanon, or Syria. Nothing could be further from the truth. The Chazon Ish, whose yahrzeit was just observed, told David Ben Gurion in a famous encounter that it was the students in yeshiva who protected the soldiers on the front lines. This sentiment has been expressed by soldiers currently on the front lines who related that the yeshiva students are the spiritual iron dome that protects the soldiers in battle. Just like the soldiers themselves who don’t need to follow the news because they are living it, we too are all part of the story currently unfolding. If the news of what is going on demoralizes you to the point of dysfunction then it certainly is detrimental in addition to being a dereliction of one’s duties on the front lines of this spiritual battle for our homeland.
Rav Morgenstern learned that the dimensions of Noah’s ark were three hundred amos long, fifty amos wide, and thirty amos high, corresponding to the sefiros of Chabad (Chochmah, Binah, and Daat), which is related in the works of the Arizal and the Baal Hasulam, not hierarchically, but rather in depth wherein one moves progressively deeper within reality rather than higher, aloof, and unrelatable.
The Haftorah says, “For a split second I will leave you and with great mercy I will gather you.” Reb Yonason Eibeschutz explains this refers to the coming of the redemption where our belief in the salvation of G-d to the exclusion of all else will usher in the coming of Moshiach with mercy.
The Zohar and Baal Hasulam explain that the dimensions of Chabad in the side of unholiness corresponds to Eisav, Yishmael, and the Eirev Rav. Yishmael is on the right axis of chochmah, Eisav on the left axis of binah, and Erev Rav in the center axis. The Gemara teaches that the son of Dovid won’t come until people lose sight of him. The way the Shomrei Emunim understands this is that it is talking about a time of war when we will merit the coming of Moshiach when we lose sight of the daily goings on in battle, and we place our full trust in Hashem who we feel is fighting the battle for us. Someone who is constantly busy with the news is seeking a strategy, trying to figure out who will help Israel in the war when in fact G-d is the one fighting the war for us, and we should place our trust in Him alone. He goes on to say that if we are hoping for a spiritual manifestation of the doomsday prophecies we need to live on a more spiritual plane because we can’t have it both ways.
In closing, the word “chadashot,” which is news in Hebrew contain the same letters that spell “chashadot,” which means suspicions, and “shachadot,” which comes from the term “shochad,” which means bribery. So, on top of everything else, too much attention to the news compels us to see reality in the skewed way in which they view politics, which makes it very hard to work on ahavas Yisrael and all the other good middos that are crucial towards winning this battle.
Yochanan Gordon can be reached at ygordon5t@gmail.com. Read more of Yochanan’s articles at 5TJT.com.