For over a century, people have been repeating the famous maxim that “a lie travels around the globe while the truth is putting on its shoes,” or it travels “halfway around the world before truth can get its boots on.” And the corollary is that it takes the truth longer to catch up with the lies, if ever. This, of course, was said before the Internet made this literally true and long before unlaced slip-in Sketchers make the case even stronger. Mark Twain and Winston Churchill have been credited with the statement, although Twain died before the statement was allegedly made, and Churchill didn’t become famous until afterward.
The daf yomi to be cited below doesn’t address this even indirectly, but provides a solution very directly.
In a world saturated with the stench of antisemitism, with the allegation of genocide by Israel having a similar effect as the Protocols of the Elders of Zion, the Gemara puffs a pleasant breath of fresh air:
“Rav Nachman, son of Rav Chisda said what is the [homiletical] interpretation of “Your ointments have a goodly fragrance (Song of Songs 1:3)?” This is a metaphor for a Torah scholar. “To what is a Torah comparable? To a flask full of a fragrance. When it is open, its scent diffuses” and is widely savored; “when it is closed, its scent does not diffuse” to the benefit of all, or of any (Avodah Zarah 35).
Rashi interprets this as “When you teach Torah to others, you suffuse the air with a wonderful aroma,” the aroma of Torah.
The Gemara continues, “And furthermore,” when a Torah scholar spreads or shares his knowledge, “matters that are hidden from him are revealed to him, as it is stated, ‘Maidens (alamot) love you’” (Song of Songs 1:3), and one may read into this, “the hidden (alumot)” (Avodah Zarah 35). What would otherwise be missed is figured out and shared.
So what is the relevance of this Gemara to Jews of all countries today, whether they are Torah scholars or not?
Nothing less than the most important lesson of our troubled times. Anyone who knows how to prove that Israel is not genocidal, but that Israel is the most anti-genocidal force in world warfare and history, has an obligation not only to read about it and to write articles about it, but also, and above all, to share this information with the world.
The easiest way to do so is to Google “John Spencer Newsweek,” and then to circulate, on paper and via all media, the article that will pop up, written by the chair of Urban Welfare Studies at the Modern War Institute at West Point:
“Israel Has Created a New Standard for Urban Warfare.” (I believe that nobody has better credentials to make this case and does so as well, but if the reader believes I’m wrong, he or she is requested to please share alternate presentations.)
Somehow repeatedly warning Gazan civilians how to avoid receiving lethal collateral damage in more ways than ever done before, with the highest high tech and the lowest low tech, does not exactly sound like genocide.
Most of us Jews take it for granted that the Jews of Israel are the opposite of genocidal, but when we take it upon ourselves to convince non-Jews and Jews who get their news from antisemitic supporters of people who want us to be exterminated that they have been misled, we are making the world a better place, not just for Jews, but for all who seek fairness and decency.
A recently circulated viral “debate” between super lawyer Alan Dershowitz and an artificial un-intelligent influencer illustrates how convincing a misleadingly “programmed” person can be even when facing the ultimate philo-semitic debater.
If Israel and the Jews and other decent people around the world will fail to convince the young people and regressives who get their news from people who claim to be progressives about the mischaracterization and perversion of the term genocide, the Torah scholars – like all other Jews – will have a harder time being able to survive and thrive, G-d forbid, let alone to share their Torah with the world.
“And furthermore, the Angel of Death loves [the Torah scholar], as it is stated: ‘Maidens (alamot) love you,’ and one may interpret this [the one appointed] ‘over death (al mot) [loves you],’ among other interpretations” (Avodah Zarah 35).
Of course satisfying the Angel of Death may not sound like a good thing, were it not for the fact that every angel is serving G-d. The bottom line is that if we just keep our thoughts bottled up like the unopened flask referred to above, we will not overcome the perfidious outrageous allegation that Israel is guilty of genocide, and the Angel of Death will love its work, G-d forbid, on more than one level.
May we spread the truth first, so that any further lies on the Internet and elsewhere will be effectively blocked before they can be spread, and may nobody feel that the angel of death struck prematurely.
