Rabbi's Blog

To my knowledge there are two major places where a ceremonial
changing of the guard takes place: Buckingham Palace and Arlington
National cemetery. For whom and for what reason is there even a
single guard in a national cemetery? The guards are at the tomb of
the Unknown Soldier who died in battle. Who gets the honor to guard
this grave?

The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier is guarded 24 hours a day, 365 days a
year, regardless of the weather, by Tomb Guard sentinels. Sentinels,
all volunteers, are considered to be the best of the elite 3rd U.S.
Infantry Regiment (The Old Guard), head quartered at Fort Myer, Va.
After members of the 3rd U.S. Infantry Regiment become ceremonially
qualified, they are eligible to volunteer for duty as sentinels at
the Tomb. If accepted, they are assigned to Company E of The Old
Guard. Each soldier must be in superb physical condition, possess an
unblemished military record and be between 5 feet, 10 inches and 6
feet, 4 inches tall, with a proportionate weight and build. An
interview and a two-week trial to determine a volunteer's capability
to train as a tomb guard is required.

The colloquial phrase “changing of the guard” had found its way
into our lexicon of speech. We particularly find the phrase being
used in the changing of leaders of society and in organizations. In
my estimation there is a changing of the guard in synagogues and
religious institutions about every ten years, about half the time of
a ‘generation’. Many shuls and schools are run by a board of
directors each of whom can be considered the guardians of the
institution. Typically, people serve for many years. As they age they
step down, allowing the new generation to take their places. There is
always some frustration and adjustment required from both the old and
the new, the young and the old. There is a certain talent required of
the board president, CEO, or, in the case of a shul, the rabbi in
order to navigate the meetings and successfully blend together the
old and new, the old and young.

A basic question can be asked of the potential guardians of the
institutions: are you responsible to take up your position? And if
the answer is yes, to what extent or how far does your jurisdiction
range? While there is no clear-cut answer to either of these
questions, I believe there must be insight into the direction that
guardians of anything must keep in mind. I would like to suggest a
primary source of responsibility placed upon individuals to guard and
watch comes from this week’s Parsha Hashavua.

Within the sequence of the Torah there is a concept called ‘Smichos
Haparshios’ which is the connection and continuity from one parsha
to the next. There is a hint of a message that connects seemingly
unrelated concepts. In my opinion one can also find a connection
between the beginning and the end of the parsha. In the opening verse
in this week’s Parsha Shoftim Devarim 17:18 the Torah states:
“Shoftim V’Shotrim Titen L’Cha B’Chal Sh’Arecha Asher
Hashem Elokecha Nosein L’cha Lishvatecha V’Shaftu Es Ha’am
Mishpat Tzedek”. “Judges and officers shall you appoint in all
your cities- which Hashem, your God, gives you – for your tribes;
and they shall judge the people with righteous judgment”. The third
to last verse in this week’s parsha Devarim 21:7 states: “V’Anu
V’Amru, Yadeinu Lo Shafchu Es HaDam HaZeh, V’Eineinu Lo
Ra’oo”. “They shall speak up and say, “Our hands have not
spilled this blood, and our eyes did not see”. This last section
discusses the laws of an individual who was found murdered on the
road between two cities. After measuring which city the corpse is
closest to, the Elders of that nearest city bear responsibility. They
go through a procedure/Mitzva called Eglah Arufa and confess that
they had nothing to do with this murder nor are they responsible for
killing this man.

The Mitzva of Egla Arufa (Breaking the calf’s neck) is recorded in
the Babylonian Talmud and quoted by Rashi with the words, “Our
hands have not spilled the blood of this man”. Has it occurred to
anybody to think that the elders of the court are spillers of blood?
Rather, the confession of the elders is that they did not see him
leaving the city at night, nor did they send him off with food and
without escort. The Jerusalem Talmud Sotah 9:6 has a different angle
regarding who the elders are confessing about. The Yerushalmi says
the confession that they, the elders, “did not kill the man” is
not referring to the victim but rather to the perpetrator - the
killer himself. The commentaries explain that the elders of the city
did not see that he was a dangerous and suspicious person. They did
not see or look into his background or even his record to determine
whether he really deserves the death penalty for some other murder he
committed and has now gone to commit another. The responsibility of
the judges and officers are not only to stop an act of terror or a
crime; it is rather to prevent the crime from happening in the first
place.

Unfortunately, human nature shows that we tend to become complacent
in many areas of life. In our case, people who volunteer for Jewish
community life eventually lose their drive to be pro-active but
become reactionary to most situations. The changing of the guard
gives new perspective, a fresh outlook of meaning and purpose. It is
not easy to maintain the concentration necessary to be on guard ALL
the time; we naturally tend to waver a little here and there. A
younger person and an individual who is refreshed can trouble shoot
before the problem occurs. In the case of the Eglah Arufa, the Elders
or judges perhaps were the same old, tired ones from the beginning of
the parsha. Perhaps there was no changing of the guard and therefore
according to the Yerushalmi’s understanding missed their
responsibility to prevent the murder by not giving capital punishment
to the murderer of a previously-committed crime.

We in our generation need young, new, energetic, people to take part
in the changing of the guard. It is very difficult, particularly in a
shul where the ‘old guard’ feels threatened that these young
people are taking over. Please don’t view it as taking over but
rather, just as the current guard had experienced change when they
took over leadership from the previous board, so too the future
requires that we see a current changing of the guard. The future of
the Jewish people is dependent upon having judges, officers, board
members and volunteers. Keep in mind that volunteers must be in the
best shape physically, mentally and spiritually. If they are lacking
in some areas it is a sign that we need a “Changing of the
Guard”.

Ah Gut Shabbos

Rabbi Avraham Bogopulsky