“You’re a bit out of touch Rabbi Grylak ” a reader from New Yorkgently explained to me in a phone call following last week’s column. “Why are you telling us about the Yom Kippur experience of some chiloni journalist now? Aren’t you aware that in less than two weeks we’re having national elections here inAmerica which will seal our fate for the next four years? Haven’t you got anything to say about this charming pair Obama versus Romney something to help us see which of them is better for the Jews religious Jews in particular and most of all for you over there inJerusalem?

“Couldn’t you be a bit more topical Rabbi Grylak? Yom Kippur comes every year but these elections are once in a lifetime.”

***

Nevertheless my dear reader with all due respect I believe that I’m being more “topical” than you in writing what I wrote raising the question I raised at the end of my article. You would like to read one more commentator’s two cents about which candidate belongs in the White House and who in my opinion is more fit to rule over the free world for the next four years.

What can I tell you? I believe in the dictum of Chazal which I learned from my teachers that “the heart of kings and ministers is in the hand of Hashem.” So regarding the fate of this earth’s population the American people and especially regarding Am Yisrael it is my confirmed belief that world leaders do not act by free choice. They can do neither good nor harm except in accordance with the Divine Will and therefore viewed from the angle of the truth expressed by the Torah and Chazal it doesn’t matter who sits in the White House let him be white or black Democrat or Republican -- because whoever is elected we the people will get good or bad government commensurate with our deeds and our deeds will be judged by the Ruler of all creation.

Rav Dessler writes in Michtav M’Eliyahu that all this preoccupation with the veneer of politics — who will be elected and who not and what will happen next — is really like saying “Let’s all talk in the language of madmen.” This is not the place to delve into why we are obligated nonetheless to do our hishtadlus and vote for whoever seems to be the better candidate; that is another aspect of the subject. But for the benefit of the “topical” reader who phoned me the other day I have managed in passing to get in a little political commentary from Rav Dessler.

***

I do believe though that my column last week was about as topical as you can get. To the best of my recollection what I wrote was somewhat different from what my honored reader understood. My article wasn’t about Yom Kippur; it was meant to highlight the fact that a large number of our non-observant brothers and sisters are yearning — to a greater or lesser degree — to draw closer to Yiddishkeit and that this yearning extends beyond those who actually interested in becoming baalei teshuvah. Guy Maroz the secular journalist who I wrote about was exploring the question of why “we [secular Israelis] love Yom Kippur ” despite the discomfort of abstinence from food drink cigarettes etc. whereas Shabbos has no such place in the secular heart. Why the difference he asks. Why do we chilonim cling to Yom Kippur and totally disregard Shabbos? And he goes on to admit feeling a deep need for some form of Shabbos observance and to call upon his fellow secular Jews to reconnect with Shabbos if only in a limited way. This is certainly an interesting turnabout in secular thinking.

It indicates a more favorable atmosphere a change in the non-observant community’s attitude toward Shabbos. It is more noticeable here inIsraelthan in the Diaspora; here we are all living together on a small land mass whereas there the Jews are widely dispersed among the non-Jewish majority making it hard to discern whether the same phenomenon exists or to what extent.

In any case we know that as shmiras Shabbos increases things will improve for the Jewish People on all levels. Chazal have promised us that if the Jewish People will keep two Shabbosos they will immediately be redeemed. Is it any wonder then that I felt this was a topic of immediate relevance?  Shouldn’t we be listening to these voices from our people asking for Shabbos on a “free-trial” basis and considering what we observant Jews can do to help them find their way? Do we not have some responsibility here in terms of kol Yisrael areivim zeh lezeh? Surely this is topic of current interest in my opinion more important than whether Obama gets four more years in the Oval Office or the Republican candidate wins entrance to the White House.

***

Not that the reader from New Yorkexpressed the unanimous opinion of all my readers. By no means. There were some who took the issue seriously. Among these nearly everyone agreed with me that we have some degree of responsibility for the klal. However the prevailing view was that since there doesn’t seem to be anything effective that we can do we have no obligation to do anything.

What can I tell you? I see it differently. It’s true that we have no practical way of turning our secular brethren’s yearning into living reality. But on the spiritual plane we can definitely bring about change.

Many years ago I heard Maran Rav Yitzchak Zev of Brisk ztz”l say that the reason why the deep impression of Yom Kippur still remains is that the children could see the reverent fear of judgment on their parents’ faces on that holy day while on Shabbos they saw a more compromising lukewarm attitude. Those are sharp words but they have a strong grip on reality. We all know about the use of “Nisht Shabbosdig geret but…” as a magical formula by which Jews would permit themselves to conduct business dealings on Shabbos without noticing that the children were taking it all in and unmindful of the influence it would have on them as adults. Those children didn’t see Shabbos taken with the same seriousness that they saw as they walked with their parents to shul for Kol Nidrei. The result is that even now a few generations later the awe of Yom Kippur remains intact while Shabbos is in need of rachamei Shamayim. In other words Jews who showed a degree of contempt in their shmiras Shabbos 150 years ago were the cause of their great-grandchildren’s blatant Shabbos desecration. Harsh but true.

Those sharp words from the Brisker Rav bring us to Rav Yisrael Salanter’s incisive remark that if a rabbi in Moscowtalks during prayers it could cause a Jew in Paristo leave the fold. How does this work on a practical level? When a Jew sees the rabbi disregarding a halachah he will not only follow suit but he will start becoming lax on other points of halachah too and those who see that he isn’t meticulous will emulate him with additions of their own until eventually this chain reaction results in a Jew giving up the faith altogether chalilah.

Thus our responsibility really extends far beyond our immediate surroundings. And the reason for this is deep. Shlomo HaMelech in his wisdom wrote the following pasuk: “As in water a face reflects a face so is the heart of man to man” (Mishlei 27:19). The Vilna Gaon and the Ohr HaChaim explain the verse in terms of the neshamah. People’s souls they say communicate with each other on subtle levels. If I exert myself to love another person that change will automatically be reflected in the other person’s heart and without knowing why he will begin to love me too. There’s nothing mystical about this. It is reality backed up by many sources and non-Jewish researchers have done some fascinating experiments in which they found it to be demonstrably true.

In other words we have the power to change others by changing ourselves. Much more could be said on this topic; space won’t allow me to cover it here in depth. For now suffice it to say that in this area there is a great deal we can do. This is what Rav Yisrael Salanter himself did when the wall of Shabbos was breached in Kovno. He told his talmidim to study the halachos of Shabbos in depth and strengthen their own adherence to every detail. His talmidim asked why he made this demand of them and he answered “If we were keeping hilchos Shabbos meticulously Jews wouldn’t be opening their stores on Shabbos in our city.” There is a spiritual connection between what I do and what other Jews do as we learn from that pasuk in Mishlei. And on that basis I say that we — all of us — could apply Rav Yisrael Salanter’s advice and bring our brethren closer to Shabbos observance by learning one halachah of Shabbos every day or every Shabbos and putting it into practice. This will set off a positive chain reaction in the heart of our people.

Anyone who feels a sense of responsibility for his fellow Jews can now make a significant contribution toward the restoration of Shabbos to the Jewish people. He won’t see how or when it comes about but he has a guarantee that the changes he makes within himself will be faithfully reflected: “As in water a face reflects a face so is the heart of man to man.”

Could anything be more topical than recreating a Jewish reality for the Jews?

As a famous American put it: Yes we can. And we cannot help but echo Yes we really can.

Food for Thought

When you look at the world

you look at the Creator

(Baal Shem Tov)