B'nei Menashe Suffers First Fatality in the War Against Hamas

Gary Gideon Hanghal's resting place at Mt. Herzl, Jerusalem.

(September 20, 2024) Staff Sergeant Gary Gideon Hanghal, 24, a soldier from Nof Hagalil, serving in the Kfir Brigade's Nachshon Battalion of the IDF became the first fatality from the B'nei Menashe community in the nearly one year long war that began on the 7th October when Hamas breached the border on Israel's south killing 1,200 and kidnapped over 200, including women, children and the infirmed. Hanghal was killed instantly when a fuel laden truck driven by a rogue driver rammed his outpost at Asaf Junction near Beit El. 58-year old assailant Hayil Dhaifallah was shot by the IDF troops but survived and is being treated at a hospital in Jerusalem. Lhanghal and his family made Aliya in 2020, pass the conscription age but insisted on enlisting in the IDF to serve his country, his mother recalls tearfully. "He was a sweet child, obedient hardly caused any trouble or mischief", she continued. He was the youngest of four siblings consisting of a brother and two other sisters. They are from the township of Lamka, in the erstwhile state of Manipur. Lamka has the largest B'nei

Menashe population in India. It may be recalled that the state had seen widespread conflict when the state supported and carried out an ethnic cleansing pogrom against the KukiZo tribes to which the B'nei Menashe belong. It has almost been a year and half but violence, the state of war between the KukiZo and the majority Meiteis sees no sign of abatement.

Hanghal was given a full military burial at Mt Herzl, Jerusalem, last Thursday, 12th September. 2024. The funeral was attended by over a thousand people that included B'nei Menashe from all over Israel, fellow soldiers and some officials. In addition he was given a gun salute, an honor worthy of a hero of Israel. Degel Menashe's project director, Yitzhak Thangjom and his wife attended the funeral along with friends and well-wishers to place a wreath on behalf of the Indian Jewish community and the Indian Jewish Heritage Center (IJHC). Degel Menashe's chairman, Hillel Halkin and Rafi Bhonkar, president of the IJHC, visited the family during the traditional mourning period, shiv'a, to offer their condolences.  

The moment of impact.

Hanghal is one of the 300-odd B'nei Menashe soldiers serving in the IDF, consisting of regular conscripted soldiers as well as reservists. Most of whom serve in combat units often with distinction. He was the fourth casualty the community had suffered. (Our newsletter had reported about the other three who were injured earlier. Interested readers may view articles published on October 19th & 26th, 2023, December 20th, 2023 and December 24, 2023.) It was sad loss that has permeated down to each and every one in the B'nei Menashe's close-knit community. The burial site at Mt. Herzl overlooks Sha'are Tzedek Hospital where the assailant is being treated after being shot. Ido Touthang, himself a father of four and a reserve soldier commented, "Here is a soldier who gave his life for our country is being buried at Mt. Herzl and across the road doctors are fighting to save the life of the man who murdered him. Isn't it ironic?"

Parshat Ki Teitzei

Parshat Ki Teitzei - I’m looking for a man in finance

The speed of modern social media memes is breathtaking. It's nearly impossible to know which memes are current or passé.

A sales professional, Megan Boni, saw her life change overnight. Inspired by thoughts on single women, including herself, who vent frustrations about relationships while holding unrealistic expectations of men, Boni created a song purely as a parody.

She sang, “I’m looking for a man in finance. Trust Fund. Six-Five. Blue Eyes.”

On April 30, 2024, she posted a short 19-second video with the caption, "Did I just write the song of the summer?" The catchy lyrics and upbeat tempo took only minutes to create. 

In just three weeks, her TikTok video exploded, amassing over 26 million views and igniting a wave of remixes across the platform. Here is a link to one of literally hundreds of remixes: https://youtu.be/wpIQt57vT_A?si=JyCvD1IQO6LAutjA. I chose this one because you can see Ms. Boni’s original video before the remix begins.

Our culture coined the phrase “Finance Bro” for young men working on Wall Street and elsewhere who embody an ethos where money rules everything, including friendship, family, and community. Every generation has its finance bros. In the 1990s, Michael Lewis’ Book Liar’s Poker captured this Finance Bro Culture at the Wall Street firm Salomon Brothers. 

As you emerge into the workforce, you will be challenged to understand your relationship to your inner Finance Bro - we all have one.  Our Yetzer Harah will always push us to seek to maximize our financial transactions with others. 

In our Parsha, we are told not to charge interest when we lend money to fellow Jews—it is a prohibition among the 613 mitzvot. We read in Chapter 23, Verse 20, as Moses says, “You shall not give interest to your brother, [whether it be] interest on money, interest on food or interest on any [other] item for which interest is [normally] taken.” This is the third time we have been given this mitzvah in the five books.

Rashi teaches that this is a warning to the borrower that he should not pay interest to the lender. Earlier in Leviticus 25:36, we read that one should not charge interest to a fellow Jew. Therefore, prohibition flows both ways.  

Moshe’s admonition about charging interest doesn’t come in a vacuum. In the verses preceding this one, our parsha, we read about how our new nation in Israel is to treat the stranger, the convert, the orphan, and the widow.  Moshe reiterates positive and negative mitzvot that teach us to honor these individuals, not exploit them. 

Rabbi Avishai Milner, writing at the Ohr Torah Stone website, adds, “Naturally, these people are prone to exploitation and unfair treatment and for this reason the Torah cautioins us to not take interest from these vulnterable persons.”

He goes on to quote Rashi, in his commentary on the same prohibition when it appeared earlier in Exodus, saying “Neshech (interest) is like the bite (neshichat) of a snake that bites one’s heel, leaving only a tiny bruise.  At first, one feels nothing, but then the venom flows and reaches the head.  Such is interest.  At first, one does not feel it, but then the interest inflates and deprives one of much money.”

Rashi offers a powerful reminder of how painful and lasting the impact of interest can be. However, Rabbi Miler adds that the parsha this week isn’t referring to charging interest to the oppressed; instead, it's about our fellow Jew, regardless of her status. 

Milner quotes Ramban, saying that there is nothing wrong with charging or paying interest. In fact, it's how the free market works. We don’t charge our fellow Jew interest because he’s our brother.

The Ramban and others speak to this prohibition as a mitzvah. We are commanded to forego the interest. This act of tzedaka, of treating our brothers with kindness, is not just a commandment but a source of inspiration and promise of something bigger. When we forego interest and treat our brothers with kindness, Gd will reward us and bless the labor of our hands.

Regarding non-Jews, Verse 21 clarifies that the opposite is also true. It reads, “You may [however,] give interest to a gentile, but to your brother, you shall not give interest, in order that the Lord, your God, shall bless you in every one of your endeavors on the land to which you are coming to possess.”

Rambam, in his Laws of Kings 6.8, as quoted in the Rebbe’s Chumash, states, “In principle, the Torah would require us to charge interest to any borrower.” It says charging interest is ethical and universally accepted. Rambam adds that failing to charge interest would violate the Torah’s prohibition against wasting money. It is only because Gd has deemed it so critical that we waive interest in transactions with our fellow Jews. 

Rav Hirsch provides additional context in three ways.  He compares the mitzvah prohibition against charging interest to a fellow Jew as similar to the Schmittah (the sabbath year for the land) and the Sabbath itself. All remind us that our possessions aren’t ours. It is Gd who is the master of all property.

He also adds that the prohibition against charging or paying interest among Jews means this mitzvah sits above our normal mitzvot related to justice. This is nothing less than an act of homage required by Gd.  Paying or charging interest is incompatible with serving Him.

Finally, he adds that this verse comes at a moment when the Jews are about to settle the land of Israel. Commerce and land management require lending to be successful. The duty not to charge interest or pay it is meant to foster a positive influence on social relations—that we are all in this together.

In an interview about what she was really looking for in a man, Ms. Boni was a bit more serious.  She said, “I’m looking for someone who understands my humor, lets me shine a little, and balances me out. 

Whether it's dating or building a society together, we are in a pitched battle with our Yetzer Harah. It wants us to disregard the humanity of others for the sake of personal gain. When building a Jewish nation, this prohibition is a decisive step to remind us that it takes all of us to complete the work, to balance each other out, and to help each other shine.

Parshat Shoftim

Parshat Shoftim - Pursuing Justice

By Dan Cohen

Earlier this year, civil rights pioneer Rev. James Lawson passed away. He is noted for teaching nonviolence to Martin Luther King after learning it by traveling to India to see Gandhi practice it there. He put all of his efforts into building a more just society.

Quoted in his LA Times obituary, he said that in the pursuit of justice, “Instead of giving in to anger, we must respect the inherent dignity and nobility of those with whom we disagree. We must listen. We must make connections rather than instigate separation, recognizing that violent thoughts, words, and actions only incite more violence.”

The piece added that Lawson also related his own experience with a young man who spit on him during a protest. He wiped his face and asked the young man about his motorcycle. A conversation began; the conflict was averted.

The third verse of our parsha is “famous” in American Jewry. I bet any socially active Jew can even recite it (in English).

Chapter 16, Verse 20 says, “Justice, justice shall you pursue, that you may live and possess the land the Lord, your God, is giving you.”  In Hebrew, its said, “Tzedek Tzedek Teerdof.” 

It's the rallying cry of every Jewish social justice movement in the US. I remember it as the basis of our shul youth group’s work on social action for Soviet Jewry and Ethiopian migration to Israel - significant issues in the 1980s.

We don’t read this Parsha in a vacuum. We usually read it when the calendar turns to the first Shabbat of Elul. This month, before Rosh Hashanah, is the month of our return, when we are urged to self-reflect. During this month, we are asked to use the daily call of the shofar to reflect on teshuvah (repentance), T’filah (prayer), and tzedakah (righteous giving). 

At the root of the word tzedakah is tzedek - justice. The parsha informs us that we need judges and an incorruptible legal system to enact justice. Justice also calls on us to think about how to give of ourselves righteously in the service of others.

Maybe one of the reasons many activists (Tikkun Olamers, like I used to call myself) are drawn to this is the interplay between the fire of the Torah and how it is realized in the rule of law in society. Rav Hirsh says, “Justice…is to be the one supreme goal sought purely for its own sake; a goal to which all other considerations must defer.” In a way, without justice, we have nothing.

He adds that if Israel is successful in establishing justice as a social institution, we have done everything within our power to secure our physical and political existence here. How does pursuing justice through social activism connect with this parsha’s call for a society with justice at its core? Rav Hirsch shares some insight.

First, as a reminder, we continue with Moshe’s speech to the nation here in Devarim. He says, “Justice justice shall you pursue.” This isn’t past or present tense. It's future tense. Moshe and the Torah imply that work remains to be done. 

Moshe teaches that while Israel will gain possession of the land, we will only retain it if we prioritize justice. Hirsh points out the giant “if” in this notion. Our possession of this land can be called into question at any time, and we must continually take ownership of it only through the full realization of justice.

That’s a lofty imperative.  Hashem tells us that yesterday’s work pales compared to the work we must do today to build a just society.  We cannot rest on the work of our elders, nor can we assign it to our children. We have to do the job.

Second, the verse repeats the words Tzedek Tzedek. Hirsch summarizes the Gemara in Sanhedrin 32b. He says calling out justice twice urges us to perform each judicial activity impartially, whether it decides the law or arranges a compromise—justice can be either outcome. It is a mitzvah to illuminate the law and/or to bring amicable compromise between parties.

The Gemara gives these examples. “Where there are two boats traveling on the river and they encounter each other, if both of them attempt to pass, both of them sink, as the river is not wide enough for both to pass. If they pass one after the other, both of them pass.

And similarly, where there are two camels who were ascending the ascent of Beit Ḥoron, where there is a narrow steep path, and they encounter each other, if both of them attempt to ascend, both of them fall. If they ascend one after the other, both of them ascend.”

It dawned on me today that Israeli drivers have probably never read this page of the Gemara or Dr. Seuss’s North-going Zax versus the South-going Zax. (See: https://youtu.be/dZmZzGxGpSs?si=53d7gvyLCfL-ZFJi)

Justice, whose root is in tzedakah, can mean righteously giving in a bit to achieve compromise. When I used to think about justice, it was an all-or-nothing proposition. Here, we learn that a just and fair solution is ideal.

Third, a famous phrase says, “The end justifies the means.” It is a paraphrase of the political philosophy of Niccolò Machiavelli. It means that if a goal is morally important enough, any method of getting it is acceptable.

Throughout my life, I’ve met many social activists who felt so strongly about their goals that any means to achieve them was applicable. Even many civil rights activists fought Rev. Lawson on this very point - urging drastic and sometimes illegal actions to achieve racial justice.

We are taught differently. The Stone Chumash quotes R. Simcha Bunam of P’shis’cha and adds an obligation on all of us who pursue justice. He says one should pursue righteousness (and justice) only through righteousness. The Torah does not condone pursuing a holy end through improper means.

I am attracted to leaning on Tzedek Tzedek as a core tenant of my activism and even part of my Jewish identity. We Jews are restless in the pursuit of making things better and improving the world day by day. We are created in Gd’s image, and it is on us to help perfect the imperfections around us.

The Torah and examples like Rev. Lawson guide us on gracefully actualizing and doing this work. First, we must continue the work in the present, regardless of the past. Second, in civil matters, we must pursue justice through the rule of law and compromise, not stridency. Third, we must seek justice using our best ideals, not our most expedient actions.