[Avodah] Ufortzu Chomos Migdalai

[Micha Berger]

 From my blog.
-mi

Aspaqlaria
A Thought About Maoz Tzur

Posted: 20 Dec 2006 10:41 PM CST
http://www.aishdas.org/asp/2006/12/thought-about-maoz-tzur.shtml

One line in Maoz Tzur I particularly love. The 5th verse of Maoz Tzur
describes the Chanukah story. One phrase in this verse is ufortzu
chomos migdalai, which would be literally translated and they opened up
the walls of my citadel. Mentally, I always pictured breaking down the
walls of the Beis haMiqdosh, or perhaps a fortress. However, I found the
following Mishna in Middos (Ch. 2, mishnah 2 in the Yachin uBoaz edition,
mishnah 3 in Kahatis who splits up the YuBs mishna 1 into 2 parts). The
second chapter describes the Beis haMiqdosh as it would appear to someone
walking in from outside the Temple Mount to the Altar. This mishna picks
up right after you walk through the gate and onto the Temple Mount.

Inside of it is the soreg, 10 tefachim [appx 26] high. It had thirteen
peratzos (broken openings) there, that the Hellenist kings partzum (broke
open). They returned and closed them off, and legislated corresponding
to them 13 prostrations.

To help you picture what a soreg is, the root means woven. The Bartenura
describes the soreg as a mechitzah woven out of thin wooden slats running
at diagonals. The Bartenura compares it to the part of the bed used to
support the mattress, with plenty of open space inside the weave.

He goes on to say that the Hellenists opened up holes in the soreg
opposite each of the gates in the outer wall to let anyone see in. Note
the shoresh used /p-r-tz/, the same as in the piyut. The soreg marked the
limit for gentiles, they were not allowed in beyond that point. To the
Hellenist mind, this havdalah bein Yisrael laAmim, separation between
the Jews and the other nations, was repugnant. It ran against their
assimilationist efforts.

Chomos migdalei, the walls of my citadel, were not the mighty walls around
the Temple Mount or the walls of a fortress. They were a see-through
mechitzah, the realization that the Jew, as one of the Mamleches Kohanim,
has a higher calling.

(Everything above this point was published 8-Dec-2004. The following
is new.)

One possible reaction to assimilation is to build up the fortress
walls. We can hope to stave off negative influences by reducing out
exposure to the outside world. The idea that we need to stay distinct
is not necessarily one that isnt heard, but perhaps one that we are
overly stressing.

I think this too is a message of the soreg. Yes, there is a separation
between Jew and non-Jew, but it is only waist high and woven of slats
with far more space than wood. The walls of my fortress are a reminder,
not a solid barrier.

We are charged to be G-ds mamlekhes kohanim vegoy qadosh a country of
priests and a holy nation. We need to balance the separation implied by
the concept of qedushah with our role as qohanim, a priesthood providing
religious leadership. We can not be priests if we do not stay to our
special calling, but our special calling is self-indulgent if we do not
use it to serve others. Ki miTzion teitzei Sorah because from Zion the
Torah shall come forth. By wallling ourselves in we not only protect
ourselves, we prevent ourselves from teaching others.

This is an important facet of R SR Hirschs concept of Torah im Derekh
Eretz. Yes, it does mean that we are to import derekh eretz, the ennobling
elements of our surrounding culture and its sciences. But it also means
that we are are to be the worlds moral voice, to contribute to the
nobility of that society.

Noach blessed two of his sons, Yaft E-lokim leYefes, veyishkon beohalei
Sheim G-d gave beauty to Yefes, and dwells in the tents of Sheim. To
Rav Hirsch, this is a description of a partnership, Yefess mastery of
derekh eretz and Sheims spiritual gifts.

Unfortunately, by building up the fortress walls, we miss many
opportunities to act as a priesthood. It is a shame that its not the
most observant Jews who are most vocal about Darfur. If we accuse the
world for their silence during the Holocaust, then people who feel that
the events in Darfur do qualify as genocide can not stand by when it
happens to someone else. How much more so if we recognize ourselves as
kohanim to the world!

Similarly, helping out at the local soup kitchen. Earlier today I received
an invitation from a synagogue to serve meals there. I was disappointed,
although not surprised, to see that the synagogue was not Orthodox. Yes,
we need to worry about Jewish causes; there are far more people out there
to see to the general need. But I was proud of the local Young Israel,
who used to staff a similar kitchen on days like the upcoming Monday
(Dec 25th), when non-Jewish volunteers tend to have family obligations.

Antiochus breached the soreg in an attempt to unify his empire as a
melting pot, everyone Hellenized. This would have destroyed our goy
qadosh, our nations unique voice in the world. However, the ideal soreg
defines a distinction, not forces a separation. Once the tile that is
the Jewish people, our role as teachers, moral guides and a conduit
of sanctity, is protected and intact, then it can and must be part of
Hashems glorious mosaic. Only by having a serug can we balance integrity
and priesthood.

The word migdalai not only means my towers or my citadels, it can also
be read those things that make me great. Only by having both separation
and contact can the walls of our miqdashei meat, our synagogues and
batei medrash, truly be chomos migdalai.