Yesterday I wanted to talk about the teaching and what was different and what was the same. Today I want to spend a few moments thinking about our host city Budapest (which I will now correctly, and pretentiously, pronounce Buda-PESHT.) Although I have traveled to quite a few places in America, the only foreign places I have been are Israel and Canada, and Canada doesn’t really count. This being my first trip to any city in Europe so there are some things that are striking here, in particular how old things are. About a hundred and twenty years ago the kingdom of Hungary celebrated the country’s 1000 year anniversary. While it’s true that much of the city was destroyed during the Second World War, it was mostly rebuilt with the same architecture and the same flavor. So many of the buildings here are much older than our republic.
Before we came people told me that the city is a beautiful one and they didn’t exaggerate. The architecture is striking and distinct. The parts of the city we’ve been in have been clean, well-lit, fashionable and modern. And with at least 3 Kosher restaurants here (300% more than in Sharon Massachusetts) there are plenty of places for us to eat. There seems to be very robust public transportation. Although we haven’t used them, I see trolleys, light rail, and buses all over. Museums and parks and hotels all over as well. So from that perspective this city is probably as vibrant as it ever was.
And yet.
It’s hard not to spend time thinking about the reason that we’re here. Hungary was once a country with and extremely robust Jewish scene. This is the home of many Hassidic movements, including Munkatch and Satmar. This was the home of the Chasam Sofer, his dynasty and an entire system of yeshivos he inspired. It was the home to many highly organized Jewish communities and hundreds of years of our holy ancestors building loving families and vibrant businesses. Reflecting on that I can’t help but think of the words of our Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur liturgy – [life is] “a passing shade, a dissipating cloud, a blowing wind, flying dust, and a fleeting dream.” Hundreds of years filled with thousands and thousands of Jewish souls and all that’s left is a few plaques and a couple of shuls.
The work we’re doing is holy and important but we’re also playing a really long game. We’re hoping to strengthen the school and thereby strengthen the community. That’s not the kind of work that is going to show results in a year or two. This is going to take a generation.
So the yin and yang of this aspect of the trip is that it’s a really beautiful city in a really dark shadow of history. It would be enough for me to almost think this endeavor is hopeless but . . .
I came across a great piece from Rav Soloveitchik that set the day in perspective for me. “World history is a chronology of cause and effect: event A occurs and, as a result, event B follows- a process known as etiology. Jewish history is not pushed by the mechanical events in the past but rather pulled by a Divine promise about the future, toward a glorious destiny. Thus Jewish history is not etiological but teleological: events take place according to design and purpose rather than cause and effect.”
In the context of our being here seeing this quote from the Rav makes me even more aware of the holiness of our work. I feel like am literally an actor with the Divine in setting the Jewish nature of this city back on track. The work we are doing is nothing less than playing mankind’s part in moving this town, and all the Jewish people, toward “a Divine promise about the future and toward a glorious destiny.
