Black or Blue and White

“Eish al machanahu v’eish al diglu” Bamidbar 1:52

Each man in his camp according to his banner. Forgive me for saying this, but the last time the Jews were collectively under one banner or color was when they all wore yellow stars. It really didn’t matter where you came from or what you believed in you pretty much were the same.

It is not like that anymore. In some of the circles that I traveled in when I was single certain questions were asked about a person when looking for a prospective mate. For example, does the boy keep shabbos, kosher or put on tfillin everyday? Does the girl want to cover her hair or go to the mikvah? It may seem silly to ask these things but these are real issues at hand. Not like the color of the table cloth on the table.

However, now days it seems more and more one defines his religious affiliation by the flag he flies. I am not even talking about the type of hat, up or down, the color of the shirt the length of the skirt. I mean the real flag. The one with one star and a few stripes.

More and more people are defining their religion based on the flag of the state of Israel. If it is in the school they are one type of Jew. If a person buys an Israel bond they consider that being a good Jew. On one such encounter I noticed that the Israeli flag was in a union hall of workers in New York City. I inquired about it and was told the jewish members were having a meeting tonight. I asked what does the flag of the government of Israel have to do with being a jew in America. If the Pakistani members had a meeting would they have the flag with a 7-11 on it for the meeting?

My point is has this object of blue and white clouded the reality of so many people as to what it should mean? It is found in almost all non chareidi schools all over the world. It is such a defining object of who people are they tend to forget that there was real religion 58 years ago.

The last Samurai

All things parallel

Over the past few days, the movie The Last Samurai has been aired several times on AMC network. The story is about Emperor’s pursuit of modernization of Japan at the end of the 19th century. Employed by the Japanese government is a washed up Civil War hero who is enlisted to go to Japan to train the emperors army in the way of combat that was used in the western world as it was known at that time.

In addition to the that aspect of the movie, the Emperor and his advisors felt that there is no longer a need for Samurai warriors, who for thousands of years were the knights of feudal Japan, keeping order amongst the city states and warring for the now defunct warlords of the regions.

Under the new Japan, it was now against the law for the thousands of Samurai to walk proudly through the streets wearing their traditional swords. What was once a symbol of pride and strength was now looked upon as shame, disgrace and antiquity.

Our washed up captain, on a routine squabble with the samurai is injured in battle and is taken prisoner by the Samurai and is kept there in their camp until he is well enough to return to his post. Over the course of his stay he has endured the trials and tribulations of being their prisoner or guest as you may see fit. The interesting thing is what he went to destroy as a mercenary he later became the advocate for. The film continues with his internal struggle between right and wrong and eventually leads the Samurai into battle against the forces of modernity. As the only survivor, the captain relates to the Emperor that the Samurai fought with honor and died bravely in the quest to preserve their tradition and culture.

Upon hearing how the battle went, and that all the Samurai we wiped out, the Emperor then realized that it was indeed a great blunder to try to eradicate the Samurai in the pursuit of modernity and later realized that the two could coexist in the new Japan. His words were “We have built railroads that unified the lands, we dress in the clothes of the West, we do business with many countries. But if we cannot remember our past and how we got here then there is no future.”

Every time I watch that movie I can’t help but see the parallels of our own people and culture. Could the Samurai be the rebbes of Europe Devoted to tradition of the avos giving over the mesorah that they got from fathers and so on? Are the Emperors and his advisors the modernists who feel that the old ways just don’t work anymore?

Once the last pre Churban Europe rebbe is gone we will loose an important part of our past. Who will pass on the sword to the next generation? What does the government of Israel have in store for the chariedi brothers who are living the ways of the Samurai?

I’m really to scared to know.