September 22, 2024|י"ט אלול ה' אלפים תשפ"ד Operation Pager, Pride and Vidui Maasrot By Rabbi Jonathan Muskat

We are all feeling proud—proud of Israel, proud of Operation Beeper, or Operation Pager—whatever name is ultimately given to this extraordinary mission from last week. The story reads like a scene out of a spy thriller. The Mossad created a fake company, manufacturing and delivering thousands of explosive pagers labeled as Taiwanese "Gold Apollo" devices. It’s simply mind-blowing! Hezbollah must be terrified right now. I saw a short video clip that captured this perfectly. In it, two men pretending to be Hezbollah members speak about their new reality. One of them refuses to make hot coffee because he’s afraid the coffee machine is rigged, saying, “Cold coffee is just as good as hot coffee!” Another is about to step onto a digital scale but hesitates, convinced it could explode. So, he shrugs it off, “No need to weigh myself—I already know how much I weigh!” Finally, one asks, “Should we turn on the air conditioning? It’s hot,” to which the other replies, “No, we’ll just open the window!” Hezbollah is spooked, and we are feeling pretty good about ourselves.

But here’s the question: how should we feel? Is there a Torah perspective on feeling pride about our accomplishments, about our military and technological genius? Is it a Jewish value to feel proud? Or is our tradition about working hard, doing the right thing, and leaving pride out of the equation?

As we approach the Yamim Noraim, Sephardim have already begun reciting selichot, and Ashkenazim will soon follow. We’ll soon be saying the lines of the vidui – ashamnu, bagadnu, gazalnu, dibarnu dofi—acknowledging our sins, one by one. It can feel like we’re meant to see ourselves as failures, lowly and ashamed. But in this age of positive psychology, where we encourage self-esteem and growth, is this really the message we should internalize? Should the Yamim Noraim make us feel small, broken, and unworthy?

In 2016, Rabbi Avi Weiss drafted an upbeat, alphabetical vidui—not ashamnu bagadnu gazalnu, but rather: ahavnu, berachnu, gadalnu, dibarnu yofi—we have loved, we have blessed, we have grown, we have spoken positively. He goes through the entire Hebrew alphabet listing positive actions. And he wasn’t the first. Rabbi Binyamin Holtzman, a graduate of the Gush and a Rav in Kibbutz Maaleh Gilboa, composed a similar prayer in 2012. Now, I’m not suggesting that we add another vidui to Yom Kippur, but I wonder: is there a place for a positive vidui in our lives, alongside the guilt-ridden ashamnu? A more upbeat, confident vidui to acknowledge our accomplishments?

This week’s parsha gives us a clue. We encounter the mitzvah of vidui maasrot, a declaration that after we’ve separated the tithes in the third and sixth years of the shemitta cycle, we say aloud:

בִּעַ֧רְתִּי הַקֹּ֣דֶשׁ מִן־הַבַּ֗יִת וְגַ֨ם נְתַתִּ֤יו לַלֵּוִי֙ וְלַגֵּר֙ לַיָּת֣וֹם וְלָאַלְמָנָ֔ה כְּכָל־מִצְוָתְךָ֖ אֲשֶׁ֣ר צִוִּיתָ֑נִי… עָשִׂ֕יתִי כְּכֹ֖ל אֲשֶׁ֥ר צִוִּיתָֽנִי:

"I have removed the consecrated portions from my house, and I have given them to the Levite, the stranger, the orphan, and the widow, as You have commanded me... I have done everything You commanded me."

Chazal, our Sages call this declaration a vidui, or a "confession," but unlike other viduim, this one is not about sin—it’s a declaration of success, of doing the right thing. Why call it a vidui? Isn’t vidui supposed to be negative? The Minchat Chinuch suggests it’s only recited if one missed the deadline to distribute the tithes, but the simple reading of the Torah text doesn’t support that. Others, like the Seforno, suggest that this declaration reminds us of an earlier national sin, the Golden Calf, which led to the Levites replacing the firstborns in the Temple service. However, Rav Kook offers a radically different approach.

In Ein Aya (Masechet Brachot II, Maaser Sheni 5:10), Rav Kook writes:

צריך האדם שישמח גם כן לפעמים גם בביטוי שפתים על מעשה הטוב אשר עשה... על כן כשם שיש תועלת גדולה לתיקון הנפש בוידוי העונות, כן יש גם כן תועלת לפרקים קבועים, שאמנם רחוקים הם ואינם תדירים כל כך כוידוי של החטאים... אבל לפרקים תמצא תועלת לעבדי ד' ישרי דרך גם כן בוידוי המצות, למען ישמח בהם בלבבו ויחזק ארחות חייו בדרך ד'

“A person must also, at times, express verbally the good deeds that they have done... Just as there is great benefit in confessing sins for the soul’s repair, there is also benefit—though less frequent and not as regular—in confessing mitzvot. This allows one to rejoice in their heart and strengthen their path in the service of God.”

Rav Kook teaches that just as we confess sins to take ownership of our failures, it is also important at times to give ourselves a pat on the back, to acknowledge when we’ve done good. Confessing mitzvot is about reinforcing our commitment to goodness and strengthening our resolve to walk in God’s ways. Where do we learn this value of acknowledging the good that we’ve done? Says Rav Kook, from vidui maasrot. From this section in the parsha.

But why is this positive vidui placed specifically here, in the mitzvah of maasrot? There are so many other mitzvot where we could declare our success. Why of all the mitzvot in the Torah, are we commanded to express pride specifically in this case?

Perhaps because vidui maasrot follows the mitzvah of bikkurim—the bringing of the first fruits to the Temple, where we also express gratitude. The Torah is teaching us that pride must follow gratitude. We can take pride in our accomplishments, but only after recognizing that they are ultimately gifts from God. Gratitude keeps our pride in check, ensuring it doesn’t turn into arrogance. We remember that our success is built on the foundation of divine assistance, the support of others, and the blessings we've received.

I’m not sure if it’s appropriate to recite a positive vidui during the Yamim Noraim, but I do understand the message of positive self-esteem—grounded in gratitude. It means that whenever we celebrate something, whether it’s a promotion or a significant accomplishment, we offer a heartfelt prayer to God thanking Him for helping us achieve success, and we think long and hard about all those who contribute to our success and thank them, as well. In this way, we maintain healthy self-esteem and pride anchored in a sense of humility and gratitude.

So, yes, we can take pride in what we’ve accomplished. It’s good to feel proud of Israel’s military brilliance, of Mossad’s daring operations. But our pride must be grounded in gratitude. We must remember that behind every victory—whether it’s a brilliant military strike or personal success—there is a higher power guiding us.

And that’s what the vidui maasrot reminds us of. After we express our pride, we conclude vidui maasrot with a prayer for God’s help in the future (Devarim 26:15):

הַשְׁקִ֩יפָה֩ מִמְּע֨וֹן קׇדְשְׁךָ֜ מִן־הַשָּׁמַ֗יִם וּבָרֵ֤ךְ אֶֽת־עַמְּךָ֙ אֶת־יִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל... אֶ֛רֶץ זָבַ֥ת חָלָ֖ב וּדְבָֽשׁ:

“Look down from Your holy abode, from heaven, and bless Your people Israel... a land flowing with milk and honey.”

We acknowledge that our success is not complete without God’s blessing. We are strong, we are capable, but we are never alone. We are supported, blessed, and guided by something far greater than ourselves.