Several days ago, I sat with my family at the shores of Lake Huron enjoying a picturesque sunset. The sun descended over the water in a spectacular ball of fire and painted the cloudless sky in deep hues of purple and red. Enchanted by the majesty of the moment, my daughter quietly asked, "Will there be a splash when it falls into the lake?"
I explained that the sun wouldn't actually descend into the lake; it would
simply dip below the horizon. Night would fall in Ontario but the sun would
continue to shine over provinces and countries due West from us.
Musings of a Child's Mind
I thought about how difficult it must be for a child to understand such
complexity. She saw the sun fall into the lake and, as far as she knew, waters
extinguish fire. Now she is told that the sun somehow slipped in behind the lake
rather than drowned within it!
The second part of my explanation must have been even more perplexing. Night
had fallen and we were enveloped by darkness, yet she was told that the sun
continued to shine and that skies elsewhere were ablaze with cheerful rays of
light!
At that moment I thought of King Solomon and how he addressed these concerns
in a manner that is relevant to our generation. King Solomon wrote that "Great
waters cannot extinguish love"1 and that "The sun rises
and sets but on the morrow it will rise again."2
These verses reflect a dual commitment between G-d and us. We pledge
our undying love to him and he pledges to protect us at all times.
Water cannot Extinguish Love
Within every Jewish soul rages a fire of love for G-d. When our conscience is
flooded by the riptides of assimilation, these passionate flames are subdued but
deep within our hearts, in chambers heavily concealed, the embers of these
flames continue to smolder.
The flood waters of assimilation seem at times to encompass and even
extinguish this fire as the lake seemed in my daughter's eyes to encompass and
drown the setting sun. But the sun didn't drown--it was merely concealed. The
next day my daughter saw the sun rise again, and when it did, its rays glistened
upon the lake and inspired a new morning with fresh beauty.
This is what King Solomon meant when he wrote that "Great waters cannot
extinguish the love," The waters of assimilation and the storms of persecution
cannot wrest us from our embrace with G-d. The allure of materialism coupled
with the perils of suffering can temper our love and cause the flames to
temporarily recede, but the embers will one day flare up again. And when they do
they will bathe our soul in the glow of love.
A Tale of Sunrises and Sunsets
Our sages explained this verse in reference to Jewish history. Our history
comprises a tale of sunrises and sunsets. "Before the sun sets upon one
generation it rises upon the next. On the day Sarah passed on, Rebecca was born.
Before the sun set upon Moses, it rose upon Joshua. On the day Rabbi Akiba
passed on, Rabbi Judah was born."3
This trend continued in the post Talmudic era. After the passing of Rabbi
Judah (compiler of the Mishnah) the focus of Torah study shifted from the Holy
Land, where Rabbi Judah lived, to Babylon. Students from communities across the
globe migrated to Babylon to study in the great Babylonian academies of Sura and
Pumbedita.
When the illustrious Reb Sadya Gaon passed on, the Babylonian academies were
weakened. These academies was the only viable center of Torah study for nearly
six centuries, but just as their doors were closing new academies sprung up
almost overnight.
Jewish history tells a tale of four Babylonian Torah scholars who were taken
captive on the high sea and ransomed to fledgling Jewish communities in Egypt,
North Africa, Morocco and Spain. What had seemed like a tragedy at the outset
was in hindsight nothing short of miraculous.
These rabbis established reputable Torah academies in their new communities
and when the great Babylonian academies fell into decline the new academies were
in a position to offer credible alternatives. Once again, the sun rose on a new
generation even before it had set on the previous one.4
History of Sunsets
On many occasions the nations of the world have had cause to assume that the
sun had indeed set upon our people.
Nebuchadnetzer of Babylon thought so when his armies battered the walls of
Jerusalem, torched the temple and exile our people. Haman of Persia thought so
when he secured a royal verdict to annihilate the Jewish nation. Antiochus of
Syria thought so when he outlawed Jewish practice and succeeded in winning over
a great number of Jews to Hellenism. Titus and later Hadrian of Rome thought so
when they conquered Judea and flattened Jerusalem.
Ferdinand of Spain thought so when he expelled the Jews from Spain and
prohibited observance of Jewish ritual. Bogdan Chmelinitzki thought so when his
mobs led bloody pogroms across Eastern Europe. Hitler thought so when he
attempted to "solve the Jewish question." Iranian President, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad,
who is currently building a nuclear arsenal, thought so when he only last week
called for the destruction of Israel.
My Daughter's Fears
Every so often our sun appears to set. But despite the gathering clouds and
impending doom, it continues to shine. It may temporarily slip below the horizon
while the forces of darkness converge, but dawn always prevails, our sun always
rises and the gathering gloom is always dispersed.
My daughter had no cause to fear. For even as night fell and darkness
descended, she could rest assured that the sun would continue to shine. We, the
Jewish people, are G-d's little children and we, too, have no cause to fear. For
even when our sun dips below the horizon we may rest assured that soon, very
soon, we will rise and shine again.
