Rabbi Stephen Weiss
Sukkot 2016
Dylan also should get credit for being one of Israelâs most effective advocates.
How many roads must a man walk down
Before you call him a man?
How many seas must a white dove sail
Before she sleeps in the sand?
Yes, and how many times must the cannon balls fly
Before they’re forever banned?
The answer, my friend, is blowin’ in the wind
The answer is blowin’ in the wind.
Yes, and how many years can a mountain exist
Before it is washed to the sea?
Yes, and how many years can some people exist
Before they’re allowed to be free?
Yes, and how many times can a man turn his head
And pretend that he just doesn’t see?
The answer, my friend, is blowin’ in the wind
The answer is blowin’ in the wind.
Yes, and how many times must a man look up
Before he can see the sky?
Yes, and how many ears must one man have
Before he can hear people cry?
Yes, and how many deaths will it take ’til he knows
That too many people have died?
The answer, my friend, is blowin’ in the wind
The answer is blowin’ in the wind.
Bob Dylanâs antiwar, civil rights ballad, âBlowin in The Windâ is probably one of the best-known songs on the planet today. Â In a simple yet eloquent way that only Dylan could pull off, it reflects on the indifference of society to suffering in the world and the seemingly immovable social system that allows that suffering.
What does it take to change our world, how long before we finally open our eyes to the need for that change? The answer, says Dylan, is Blowin’ in the Wind. Like the wind, it is right in front of us, and still we cannot seem to grasp it. And yet we know that the white dove that sails will eventually sleep in the sand and the earth of the mountain will ultimate be washed to the sea. In the same way, we have faith that one day people will all be free. Change seems to take an eternity, but change is inevitable. The song holds us because at one and the same time it expresses our frustration with the status quo and the reality that everything is changing. It inspires us to want to be a part of that change.
This week we hope that our sukkot will not be blowing in the wind. The rabbis ordained that to fulfill the mitzvah the sukkah must not be blowing in the wind. A sukkah must be able to withstand a normal wind. There is great symbolism in this. The sukkah represents Godâs shelter. In psalms we read ufros aleinu sukkat shlomecha â which finds its way into the Hashkivenu prayer — so the sturdiness of the sukkah represents Gods ability to shelter us from the winds that buffet us in life. Like the sukkah our lives are very fragile. It is Gods protection that sustains us.
At the same time, Jewish law also requires that a sukkah must be a temporary structure, and this fact itself implies a recognition of the role of change in our lives. Even the timing of the festival of Sukkot reflects its focus on change, with the change of seasons and colors of the leaves and their falling reminding us of the fragile nature of our existence and that nothing lasts forever.
The sukkah also reminds us of Godâs protection and that we in turn should seek to serve God. Dylan sang:
But you’re gonna have to serve somebody, yes indeed
You’re gonna have to serve somebody,
Well, it may be the devil or it may be the Lord
But you’re gonna have to serve somebody.
We can serve many gods, including the gods of materialism. The temporary nature of the sukkah reminds us that we should not become too attached to our material possessions. Everything we gain in life should be used in the end to serve God.
It is appropriate for us to celebrate Bob Dylanâs Nobel Prize in Literature on the festival of Sukkot. Many American professors of literature might have asked, using his own iconic lyrics, how many times could literary scholars nominate Robert Allan Zimmerman before he would be recognized? Scholars of literature have nominated him many times. One â Professor Gordon Ball nominated Dylan every year for the past twelve years!
The criteria for the Nobel Prize is that it the awardee must have conferred the greatest benefit on mankind. It is unusual for a songwriter to win the Nobel, but as the committee said that Dylanâs work followed in the tradition of the great poets. His words challenged us to confront the ills of society. He was the voice of the generation of the mid-1960s and his words inspired major social change. Few artists or writers have had as profound an impact.
The values that shaped Dylanâs music came from his Jewish tradition. He was raised in a kosher, observant home and attended Camp Herzl as a child. Though for a number of years Bob Dylan had become Christian, he ultimately left Christianity and returned fully to his Judaism. He even studied extensively with Chabad rabbis. His son became Bar Mitzvah at the Kotel, and many of his lyrics were filled with Biblical allusions. He famously sung âHava Nagilahâ in a Greenwich Village club in the 1960s. His song âHighway 61 Revisitedâ is a take-off on the Akedah (the story of the Binding of Isaac found in the Torah). Another song, âAll Along the Watch Tower,â is based on the prophet Isaiahâs description of the fall of Babylonia and the end of Jewish exile. His song âForever Youngâ is a beautiful interpretation of the Birkat Kohanim (priestly blessings) that parents recite over their children every Friday night at the Shabbat dinner table.
Dylan also should get credit for being one of Israelâs most effective advocates. It was shortly after the Bar Mitzvah of his son at the Kotel that Dylan wrote âNeighborhood Bully,â which appeared on his 1983 album Infidels. The song uses sarcasm to defend Israel’s right to exist. The title bemoans the way Israel and the Jewish People are treated by the media, always being made out to be the bad guy.
The song recalls the Six-Day War, Israel’s bombing of the Osirak nuclear reactor near Baghdad and Israelâs bombing of terrorist bomb making facilities. Events in the history of the Israelites as a whole are mentioned, such as being enslaved by Rome, Egypt, captivity and exile at the hands of the Babylonians. Events in modern Jewish secular history are noted as well, such as the ridiculing of holy books by anti-Semitic groups like the Nazis and the Soviet Union, and Jews’ historic role in the advancement of medicine. Historic restrictions on Jewish commerce are mentioned as well. Here are the lyrics:
Well, the neighborhood bully, he’s just one man
His enemies say he’s on their land
They got him outnumbered about a million to one
He got no place to escape to, no place to run
He’s the neighborhood bully.
The neighborhood bully he just lives to survive
He’s criticized and condemned for being alive
He’s not supposed to fight back, he’s supposed to have thick skin
He’s supposed to lay down and die when his door is kicked in
He’s the neighborhood bully.
The neighborhood bully been driven out of every land
He’s wandered the earth an exiled man
Seen his family scattered, his people hounded and torn
He’s always on trial for just being born
He’s the neighborhood bully.
Well, he knocked out a lynch mob, he was criticized
Old women condemned him, said he could apologize
Then he destroyed a bomb factory, nobody was glad
The bombs were meant for him. He was supposed to feel bad
He’s the neighborhood bully.
Well, the chances are against it, and the odds are slim
That he’ll live by the rules that the world makes for him
‘Cause there’s a noose at his neck and a gun at his back
And a license to kill him is given out to every maniac
He’s the neighborhood bully.
Well, he got no allies to really speak of
What he gets he must pay for, he don’t get it out of love
He buys obsolete weapons and he won’t be denied
But no one sends flesh and blood to fight by his side
He’s the neighborhood bully.
Well, he’s surrounded by pacifists who all want peace
They pray for it nightly that the bloodshed must cease
Now, they wouldn’t hurt a fly. To hurt one, they would weep
They lay and they wait for this bully to fall asleep
He’s the neighborhood bully.
Every empire that’s enslaved him is gone
Egypt and Rome, even the great Babylon
He’s made a garden of paradise in the desert sand
In bed with nobody, under no one’s command
He’s the neighborhood bully.
Now his holiest books have been trampled upon
No contract that he signed was worth that what it was written on
He took the crumbs of the world and he turned it into wealth
Took sickness and disease and he turned it into health
He’s the neighborhood bully.
What’s anybody indebted to him for?
Nothing, they say. He just likes to cause war
Pride and prejudice and superstition indeed
They wait for this bully like a dog waits to feed
He’s the neighborhood bully.
What has he done to wear so many scars?
Does he change the course of rivers?
Does he pollute the moon and stars?
Neighborhood bully, standing on the hill
Running out the clock, time standing still
Neighborhood bully.
I felt certain irony in the fact that the author of Neighborhood Bully won the Nobel Prize in Literature in the same week that UNESCO condemned Israel once again, and denied any connection between the Jewish people and the Temple Mount, the Kotel Plaza, the Cave of Machpelah (Cave of the Patriarchs) in Hebron and the Tomb of Rachel. Almost 35 years after Dylan wrote that song, we continue to be denied our most basic right to historical legitimacy, continue to be demonized for the sin of existing.
The resolution is beyond outrageous and reflects what we have long known to be true: that the United Nations in general and UNESCO in particular have been and remain a hotbed of virulent anti-Semitism. It is important that we do not let such resolutions pass unchallenged. Next week I will be traveling to Chicago as I do most years to participate in the AJC Diplomatic Day and meet with Consul Generals of dozens of countries to talk about Israel and Jewish concerns and you can be sure this will be at the top of the list, most especially with those countries that voted for or abstained from this despicable resolution.
But in the words of Dylan, the times they are a changing:
Come writers and critics
Who prophesize with your pen
And keep your eyes wide
The chance won’t come again
And don’t speak too soon
For the wheel’s still in spin
And there’s no tellin’ who
That it’s namin’
For the loser now
Will be later to win
For the times they are a-changin’.
Yes, the times they are a changing. Though our enemies still control UNESCO and other UN bodies, slowly UN sentiment toward Israel has been changing. Though the resolution passed, there were more abstentions than votes in favor, showing that many counties were not comfortable with the resolution. In what I believe was a first, the Chair of UNESCO actually blasted the resolution, calling it deplorable and saying she hoped for time for a dialog before resolution move do the UNESCO board for final approval. She explicitly condemned the resolution for denying the historic Jewish connection to these sites. We must hope and pray that her words, along with Israelâs new ties in Africa warming relationship with Saudi Arabia are all signs of a new reality slowly emerging. But we must remain vigilant on Israelâs behalf. The war of delegitimization continues.
Sukkot is a time for optimism. We march with our lulav to show God will forgive and bless us in the coming year. So, let me end with a blessing, in the form of Dylanâs version of our Friday night Shabbat blessing:
May God bless and keep you always
May your wishes all come true
May you always do for others
And let others do for you
May you build a ladder to the stars
And climb on every rung
Forever young, forever young
May you stay forever young.
May you grow up to be righteous
May you grow up to be true
May you always know the truth
And see the lights surrounding you
May you always be courageous
Stand upright and be strong
May you stay forever young
Forever young, forever young
May you stay forever young.
May your hands always be busy
May your feet always be swift
May you have a strong foundation
When the winds of changes shift
May your heart always be joyful
And may your song always be sung
May you stay forever young
Forever young, forever young
May you stay forever young.