Efrat, Israel – And G_D spoke unto Moses: Take unto you sweet spices, stacte [nataf ], onycha [shelet] and galbanum [helbena], these sweet spices with pure frankincense [levona], all of an equal weight. (Exodus 30:34)
One of the most unique aspects of the Sanctuary, continued in the Holy Temples, was the sweet-smelling spices of the incense burned on a special altar and whose inspiring fragrance permeated the House of G_d. In the portion of Ki Tisa the Torah lists the different spices, and their names — in Hebrew or English — are strange to our modern ears. But stranger still is the Rabbinic commentary that one of those spices — specifically helbena — is hardly sweet smelling. On the contrary, as Rashi writes, helbena “…is a malodorous spice which is known [to us as] gelbanah [galbanum]. Scripture enumerates it among the spices of the incense to teach us that we shouldn’t look upon the inclusion of Jewish transgressors in our fasts and prayers as something insignificant in our eyes; indeed, they [the transgressors of Israel] must also be included amongst us” (Rashi, ad loc.).
Rashi is conveying a most significant Rabbinic insight. The community of Israel — in Hebrew a tzibur — must consist of all types of Jews: righteous (the letter tzadi for tzaddikim), intermediate (the letter bet for benonim), and wicked (the letter reish for resha’im), just as the incense of the Sanctuary included spices of unappetizing fragrance. Perhaps because we must learn to take responsibility for every member of the “family” no matter what their behavior, perhaps because what appears to us as wicked may in reality be more genuine spirituality, perhaps because no evil is without its redeeming feature or perhaps merely in order to remind us not to be judgmental towards other human beings, the message of the incense could not be clearer: no Jew, even the most egregious sinner, dare be dismissed with mockery and derision from the sacred congregation of Israel. Every Jew must be allowed to contribute, and only when every Jew is included does the sweet fragrance properly emerge.
We have already seen how the Torah portion of Ki Tisa contains another striking example of the significance of every single Jew in Israel in the aftermath of the great sin in the desert. We read that soon after the revelation at Sinai, Moses’ prolonged communion with the divine frightened the people into worshiping a golden calf. Our sages teach:
And G_d said to Moses, “Go down” (Ex. 32:7). Interprets R . Elazar: G_d was commanding Moses to descend from his elevated position. The only reason I gave you greatness is because of Israel, and now that Israel has sinned, what do I need you for?’ (Berakhot 32a)
G_d is reminding Moses that G_d’s covenant with Abraham was with every single Jew. No Jew dare be discounted; every Jew must be loved, taught, and at least given the opportunity to come closer to G_d and our traditions. Even the Jew who is serving idols must be spoken to, ministered to!
A month or so after this portion is read, the seder itself becomes a living demonstration of the necessity to include rather than to exclude any Jew. Take note of the proverbial four children: the wise child, the wicked child, the simple child and the child who knows not what to ask. It is instructive that the wicked child is not defined by the compiler of the haggada as one who eats non-kosher food or desecrates the Sabbath; the wicked child is rather the one who says “Of what value is this work for you?” Wickedness is defined as excluding oneself from the general Jewish community. And even if a person excludes herself — and is therefore called wicked — we dare not exclude her. Our seder table must always be welcoming enough to include everyone, no matter who.
Indeed, towards the end of the seder we are instructed to open the door for Elijah the prophet, forerunner of the Messiah. In the past I’ve commented that opening the door for Elijah seems superfluous given Elijah’s uncanny ability to visit every single seder in the world; anyone capable of accomplishing such a remarkable feat certainly would not be stopped by a closed door. One answer that I’ve proposed is that the opening of the door is not really for Elijah; it is rather a symbolic gesture of opening the door to the fifth child, the child who has moved so far from the Jewish people that he isn’t even at the seder! We must go out to find him — even if he is at a neighborhood disco or a Far East ashram — and invite him to come back in. And why is Elijah associated with this gesture toward the fifth child? The closing verse of the last prophet included in the canon, Malakhi, declares: “Behold I will send Elijah, the prophet, before the coming of the great and awesome day of G_d, and he shall turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers…” (Malakhi 3:23). No one, not the “wicked” child, and not even the “invisible” child, is to be excluded from the seder, the commemoration of our first redemption. Parents and children must all join together in a loving and accepting reunion.
There is a fascinating halakhic ramification of our desire to include rather than to exclude. The Talmud (Eruvin 69b) suggests that a public desecrater of the Sabbath is comparable to an idolater, whose wine cannot be drunk and who cannot be counted for a statutory quorum (minyan) for prayer. Does this mean that a Jew who does not observe the Sabbath laws and rituals forfeits his rights to belong to a proper Jewish congregation? One of the towering Torah giants of nineteenth- century Germany, Rabbi David Zvi Hoffman, raises this very question in his collection of responsa, Mellamed Leho’il (Responsum 29), where he resoundingly rules that the talmudic comparison no longer applies. He explains that during talmudic times, when the overwhelming majority of the Jewish people was observant, and when a Jew was defined in terms of their Torah observance, any Jew who publicly desecrated the Sabbath was effectively testifying to their exclusion from the Jewish people. Therefore, in talmudic times, a public Sabbath desecrator became the equivalent of an idolater; in effect, the perpetrator of such a public crime was excluding himself from the congregation of Israel and such a person was thereby relinquishing any rights to Jewish privileges. However, explains Rabbi Hoffman, when — sadly enough — the overwhelming majority of Jews are not observant (and today this is even truer than it was in nineteenth-century Germany), a Jew who publicly desecrates the Sabbath is not at all making a statement of exclusion from the peoplehood of Israel. On the contrary, the very fact that such a desecrater attends a synagogue (if only a few times a year) and is willing to partake in the service indicates a definite feeling of belonging and a will to belong to the historic community of Israel. Therefore, Rabbi Hoffman concludes, a Sabbath desecrater must not only be included in a minyan, but must be encouraged to become more involved.
Shabbat Shalom
Rabbi Shlomo Riskin
Founder & Rosh Yeshiva,
Ohr Torah Stone
Founding Rabbi of Efrat