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VAYERA 5785
Censorship and Victimhood
Rabbi Andrew Shaw
Chief Executive, Mizrachi UK
I am looking at it now – and it makes me smile
It is something I used to use almost every day when I was a child at North West London Jewish Day School
And it has an amazing message about this week’s parsha and a remarkable link to what is happening in the world today.
Let me explain.
The object I am talking about is the famous Magil Linear School Bible from 1899.
We used it at school to help with translations. It really was a tremendous study aid to learn Biblical Hebrew.
However, there was something very amusing about it (well - amusing to a 10-year-old)
https://archive.org/details/magilslinearscho00magiuoft/page/n53/mode/2up
As can be seen in the above link, the bible has the Hebrew on the right and next to it, almost always was the English translation. However very rarely, there was just Hebrew, and as 10-year olds we knew exactly why!
The introduction states written in 1899: The intention of the translator to make the Linear Bible a school book… has rendered it necessary to leave certain passages not suitable for translation from the modern standpoint of nicety
Basically, whenever we saw just Hebrew we HAD to nd out the translation!
And the rst untranslated passage appears in this week’s sedra. Just six verses. Chapter 19, verses 31 – 36. The story of Lot and his daughters, after the destruction of Sodom.
31. The older daughter said to the younger, “Our father is sold, and there is no man in the world to marry us in the usual manner.
32. Come, let us give our father wine to drink, and lie with him, and thus produce offspring from our father.”
33 That night, they gave their father wine to drink The older daughter went and lay with her father, but he was so drunk that he was not aware that it was she when she lay next to him. But when she arose, he was sober enough to realize that it was she.
34. The next day, the older daughter said to the younger, “Last night it was I who lay with my father. Tonight, too, let us give him wine to drink, and you go and lie with him, and we will produce offspring through our father.”
35. That night, they again gave their father wine to drink. This time, the younger daughter got up and lay with him, but again, he was so drunk that he was not aware that she had lain down or arisen.
36. Thus, Lot’s two daughters conceived from their father.
Of course, what we saw was just verse 30:
30 Lot went up from Tzo’ar and settled on the nearby deserted mountain together with his two daughters, since he was afraid to remain in Tzo’ar, and he and his two daughters lived in a cave.
And then verse 37-38:
37 The older daughter gave birth to a son and named him Moab[“from father”]; he is the ancestor of the people of Moab until the present day.
38 The younger daughter also gave birth to a son and named him Ben-Ani [“son of my kindred”]; he is the ancestor of the people of Ammon until the present day.
And that was ne for 10 year olds!
However, it raises questions which are very relevant to today. The Magil Bible practised a form of censorship – its very own ‘family friendly lter’. We constantly hear about the need to censor things, and people trying to stop certain views being heard and written
The Torah is not a sanitised read, there are some very uncomfortable and challenging texts, but all are part of the glorious tapestry of the Torah, the word of Hashem We are meant to learn from it all.
What is so beautiful, is that the rst passage, from this week’s parsha and the fourth ‘censorship’ passage, which comes from Vayeshev – provide a powerful antidote to a world view that is so damaging to the world today.
The two passages deal with the seduction of Lot by his daughters and the incident with Yehudah and Tamar.
What is one of the myriad lessons the Torah is conveying with these two seemingly unconnected passages?
One of the fundamental ideas in Judaism, is the concept of Mashiach The Rambam in Mishnah Torah explains that the Mashiach has to be descended from King David. The origins of David Hamelech are recorded at the end of Megillat Ruth.
And may your house be like the house of Perez, whom Tamar bore to Judah, with the seed that the Lord will give you from this maiden. And Boaz took Ruth, and she became his wife, and he was intimate with her, and the Lord gave her conception, and she bore a son. Ruth 4:12-13
Rashi comments on: like the house of Perez - from which you are descended.
The book ends with the descendants of Ruth and Boaz
And these are the generations of Perez: Perez begot Hezron. And Hezron begot Ram, and Ram begot Amminadab. And Amminadab begot Nahshon, and Nahshon begot Salmah. And Salmah begot Boaz, and Boaz begot Obed. And Obed begot Jesse, and Jesse begot David. Ruth 4:18-22
Rashi adds: Since he traced David’s genealogy on Ruth’s name, he returns and traces it on Judah’s name.
It is clear that David is descended from two unholy unions. The incestuous union of Lot and his daughter (Moav, ancestor of Ruth) and the ‘prostitution’ of Tamar to Yehudah (Perez ancestor of Boaz).
Yet the product eventually is David Hamelech and the ultimate mashiach. The message is clear. Anyone can rise to greatness; we don’t need to have the perfect lineage. We can be great, despite our origins
Victimhood, which is so prevalent today, teaches the opposite. It claims that everything is purely nature, once one is disadvantaged, one is always disadvantaged. We are told that certain groups cannot succeed because of historical troubles. Rather than inspiring the individual to work and strive and achieve, it teaches that you are a victim and so shall you always be.
The Torah recognises the challenges of situations, and of course directs us to act with correct and moral behaviour at all times in all relationships, but it also believes in the power of a new creation, unburdened by the past, and with the ability to build a life and become great. It will not be easy, but the Torah tells us, it can be done.
The ideology of victimhood traps us.
The ideology of the Torah empowers us.
Looking back at that Magil Bible, what it did more than anything was connect me to the Torah and create a love of learning.
Back then I was grateful for the translations and found the untranslated parts amusing
Now I realise how grateful I am for both – and for the lessons contained within. Those lessons which are censored out for a younger audience, demonstrate to a more mature audience the deeper message of how a person is in control of their own destiny, no matter where they come from. They can come from two unholy unions and still be the most important character in history.
May we merit the coming of Mashiach Ben David.
Bimheira B’yamenu.
Watch: Am Echad B’Lev Echad >
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