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TETZAVEH 5784
The Olive Effect
Rabbi Andrew Shaw Chief Executive, Mizrachi UK
I am currently in Los Angeles as the last leg of my 12 days in America, having also been to New York and Miami where Mizrachi UK are speaking to schools and shuls about bringing some of our successful projects such as Yehudi and our shows to an eager American audience.
Apart from discussing similar educational challenges, we have also been discussing the sickening rise in anti-semitism and the shocking similarity to the responses of the establishment on both sides of the pond to calls for the genocide of the Jewish people in Israel
I am sure everyone remembers the pathetic responses of the three heads of supposed elite universities Yale, Harvard and MIT Rep Elise Stefanik asked them whether the genocidal chants heard on campus, such as “Long live the intifada” and “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free” violated these universities’ own policies against bullying or harassment.
To Stefanik’s mounting incredulity and disgust, the three refused to give a straight answer and said it all depended on the “context”. What conceivable context can there be to nd acceptable any calls for the genocide of the Jews?
And now we can add the pathetic Met Police to the growing list of weak and ineffectual organisations across the west. As many of you will know, 'From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free' was projected onto Big Ben in London this week by anti-Israel protestors, with Met Police in attendance – yet no arrests were made. When questioned, the police released a statement:
“This is a chant that has been frequently heard at pro-Palestinian demonstrations for many years and we are very aware of the strength of feeling in relation to it While there are scenarios where chanting or using these words could be unlawful depending on the speci c location or context, its use in a wider public protest setting, such as last night, is not a criminal offense,”
Once again, we need context. The Met Police should hang their heads in shame.
We live in worrying times.
Yet what should our response be? What has been our response since the escalation of anti-semitism post October 7th?
I was discussing this today with my host Rabbi Pini Dunner who shared the following beautiful idea with me which goes to the heart of our current situation
A Midrashic passage at the beginning of Parshat Tetzaveh offers a deep, allegorical explanation of both the struggles and the strength of the Jewish people, as represented by the olive tree.
The rst verses of Tetzaveh describe the process of producing the purest olive oil possible for the Temple menorah The use of olive oil for this holy duty is no accident, says the Midrash – because the Jewish nation is compared to an olive tree, based on a verse in Jeremiah(11:16): משׁ’הארק
– “God has called you a green olive tree, fair, with wonderful fruit.”
The Midrash queries this comparison. “Is Israel only compared to an olive tree? Haven’t they also been likened to all sorts of beautiful and commendable trees?” The Midrash lists several other trees used by scripture as an allegory for the Jewish people: vines, g trees, palm trees, cedar trees, walnut trees, and pomegranate trees. So why is the olive tree considered the primary allegory?
The Midrash explains that “what is so unique about the olive[is that] while it is in the tree, they beat it; and afterwards they bring it down from the tree and it is beaten [again]; and after being beaten, they take it to the press, and they put them in the mill; and afterwards, they grind them, and then they bind them with ropes, and bring stones,
and then they extract its oil So too Israel – our enemies come and beat us from place to place, and tie us up, and force us into collars, and bind us in chains. And then they repent, and God answers them.”
The Midrash is using the metaphor of an olive tree to illustrate the resilience and enduring faith of the Jewish people. Just as an olive tree goes through a process of beating, pressing, and grinding to produce oil, so too the Jewish people constantly endures suffering and oppression – but in the nal analysis, it always leads them to return to God.
There may be other trees that resonate with Jewish identity, but the olive tree is singled out speci cally because of the laboured process required to produce oil. The evocative allegory emphasizes the idea that through hardship and adversity, the Jewish people’s true essence and faith emerge more strongly, just as the precious oil is extracted from olives through pressure and adversity
October 7th has been transformational for the world in both a negative and positive way It has illuminated the hatred and the evil of our enemies, may of whom run our universities, act in our theatres and appear on our TV screens. These are people who align themselves with Islamists and Hamas supporters, who not only hate and despise the Jewish people, they hate and despise the liberal west, which is seemingly too weak and cowardly to stop the vile language and actions of these people
However, the effect on the Jewish people has been astounding. I have heard and seen it all across America over the last twelve days. More Jews coming to shul, previously unaf liated Jews coming back to Judaism, a sense of pride and connection to Israel and Judaism, previously unheard of pre October 7th.
The olive effect is happening.
As Rabbi Dunner concluded:
If anything has become clear over the past few months since October 7th, it is that we Jews – wherever we are and whatever we have had to endure – contain magni cent olive oil within us, in great abundance and of the highest purity And the more the antisemites come at us, the clearer this becomes.
Shabbat Shalom
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