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Sermon for Sidra Chukas
July 2008
by Rabbi Geoffrey Hyman

We can be proud of the incredible support for last Sunday’s Israel’s 60th Anniversary Rally at Trafalgar Square; it’s sad that it did not gain the national interest that it warranted – but there you go – that is the situation in the U.K. presently. May we pray, that together we will march to Eretz Yisrael speedily in our day.

We are deeply saddened by the horrific bulldozer attack which took place in Jaffa Road, Jerusalem on Wednesday. Our hearts go out to those injured and our thoughts are with them and their families and to the families bereaved. Oh how we need to keep praying for peace!

This week’s Sidra once again contains a post bag of complaints from the Bnei Yisrael about the lack of food and water.

Moshe is then commanded: “ Take your rod and gather the congregation" – he is commanded by G-d to speak to the rock in front the people and it will give forth its water. Moses and Aaron take the staff from before G-d as commanded, they assemble the people and the verse states:

“And he said to them, please listen rebels" - and he goes on to strike the rock with his rod and the water comes gushing out, the people and the flocks drink. So they’re happy, but G-d is not happy with Moshe – G-d rebukes him and tells him: “Since you have not believed me, to sanctify Me in the eyes of the Bnei Yisroel therefore you will not bring this congregation to the land.”

So what did he do wrong? He hit the rock instead of speaking to it – so terrible?

Says Rashi: If you would have spoken to the rock and the water would have come out – I would have been sanctified, for they would have said, if a rock which is an inanimate object keeps the command of G-d how much more so should we listen to G-d's command.

In other words it was a lost opportunity to demonstrate the importance of obeying the words of G-d.

Within Orthodoxy, we run our Shuls according to the halachah, as handed down to us in the definitive Shulchan Aruch together with its commentaries and the collections of Responsa literature, that is our commitment of obeying the commandment of G-d. We cannot change the laws or modify them to suit our needs.

It was with this belief, that Rabbi Schochet penned his article in last week’s J.C. highlighting the “status problems” that can befall young people in the dating scene. He did not attack the reform, but simply wanted to issue a "spiritual health warning" - to all parents who want their children to marry within the halachah – to research their dates”.

This is an issue that personally I’ve felt has been lost in the reform/orthodoxy debate – the huge problem of Jew status which divides our people. That is a problem that has not been created by orthodoxy.

But just bear in mind that his article was to make orthodox parents aware of the problems when their children date. Nothing more, nothing less. And as he said, “it is by no means an uncommon scenario that many orthodox Rabbis come across”.

So may I ask what is the wisdom of the responses by reform Rabbis, Mark Goldsmith, Romain and Morris, Masorti Rabbi Chaim Weiner in which they all totally ignored his point of view of the status problems they have created for orthodoxy, as Rabbi Schochet wrote:

"To be sure, I regard every Jew equally, irrespective of their synagogue affiliation. But the movement per se that can wreak so much havoc in the Jewish world is one I will always take issue with. They don’t have to pick up the pieces, so perhaps they won’t appreciate the depths of the problem. But any of their leaders with sufficient integrity will appreciate the dilemma faced by a traditional Jewish family, which looks to maintain the standards of traditional, historical Judaism, where their grandchildren can be considered Jewish right across the religious spectrum."

Indeed he wrote prophetic words: “So perhaps they won’t appreciate the depths of the problems.” For in all their letters they totally ignored the fact that we cannot compromise on our commitment to the halachah because we believe in the halachah as handed down by the Rabbis, as did world Jewry, before the advent of the Reform Movement.

In the meantime, I pray that our orthodox members pay heed to Rabbi Schochet’s warning.

May the Moshiach come speedily and resolve all such disputes. Amen