Have you ever looked at an ice-cream cone and thought that it was a boa constrictor? Or maybe you’ve seen a dog and thought it was a pencil? Or perhaps you’ve observed a car and thought it was a tuna-bagel sandwich? Of course not! The reason why all these examples sound completely absurd and ridiculous is because they are completely absurd and ridiculous. No one in their right or left minds would ever make the mistake and think that an ice-cream cone is a boa constrictor, or a dog is a pencil, or a car is a tuna-bagel sandwich. It just doesn’t make any sense. That is, unless a person is blind. Someone who is blind, sadly, cannot see, and as such, it is entirely possible for them to think of something that’s not the truth.
When we observe the absurd and ridiculous events that are happening today, watching how seemingly “normal” people can support a terrorist organization, we are reminded that the people of the world have not gone bad, but even deeper, their evil nature has been revealed. People have not gone blind towards truth, rather, their inherent blindness to truth has been unraveled and exposed.
The fine line between truth and falsehood is not so fine any more. It is so clear and obvious. The difference between אמת and שקר in today’s environment is as clear as day. This term, “clear as day” has its source not only the Torah, but in our very Parshah. In Parshas Toldos, Chapter 25, Verse 31, amidst the tension between Yaakov and Eisav regarding the sale of the firstborn rights, Yaakov Avinu says: מכרה כיום את בכרתך לי – Sell me your birthright so that I own it indisputably like daylight! Rashi says: כיום שהוא ברור – like the daytime which is clear.
Whereas nighttime represents darkness, confusion, and lack of clarity, the daytime represents brightness and clarity. Although in their younger years, the difference between them was not obvious and clear, there reached a certain point, at the age of 13, where the difference between Yaakov and Eisav became abundantly clear.
My friends, today, it has become abundantly clear who is living and speaking the truth, and who is seething falsehood, hate, and lies. We, the Jewish people, the Children of Yaakov Avinu, must use the same word our great forefather used and in a world of darkness, shout: כיום! It is as clear as day who is in the right and who is in the wrong! It is as clear as day the importance of being connected to Hashem Yisborach and the Jewish people. It is as clear as day what is אמת and what is שקר. It is as clear as day that the Jewish people are different from everyone else. And, most importantly, it is as clear as day that נצח ישראל לא ישקר (Shmuel 1 – 15:29) – the Eternal One of Yisroel will not lie nor change His mind…
We can also understand this passuk as follows: The eternity of the Jewish people doesn’t lie! The very fact that we are still around and thriving after thousands of years of oppression and antisemitism, is the greatest proof that we are the Chosen Nation, the people of truth!
Am Yisroel Chai and have a holy Shabbos!
