Masters of a Good Name

Rabbi Joel Fleekop

Saturday, June 23, 2007

Don’t do that or else you will get a reputation.

Those words have been uttered innumerable times by mothers and fathers. And in general, parents are correct in cautioning against activities and groups of friends that might earn someone a reputation. But not all reputations are bad. Judaism long ago recognized that the right one can be of great value. Proverbs 22:1 teaches, A good name is more desirable than great riches. Likewise, Ecclesiastes states a good name to be better than precious ointment.

We see these teachings actualized throughout the worlds of business and entertainment. If a company has a reputation for success, it is likely to do better when meeting with venture capitalists. Similarly, a reputation for putting on a great show will help a rock band sell more tickets. And of course a reputation for clutch performances will financially benefit a baseball player during free agency.

But the right reputation can help with more than just finances. In this week’s haftarah portion Jepthah’s reputation helps him gain something far more valuable than money. His reputation as a successful warrior allows him to reconnect with his half-brothers and the elders of Gilead who once scorned him as the offspring of a woman with a not so great reputation, and to earn for himself a place of honor.

Like Jepthah, Moses and the Israelites who wandered through the desert benefited from a reputation for being triumphant in battle. The Song of the Sea, the biblical poem from which the words of the Mi Chamocha prayer are taken, asserts that other nations were terror-struck by the assistance God offered the Israelites and dared not attack. Exodus 15:14-15 states, “The people have heard, they tremble; pangs have taken hold on the inhabitants of Philistia. Then were the chiefs of Edom frightened; the mighty men of Moab, trembling takes hold of them; all the inhabitants of Canaan are melted away.”

The fear and respect the ancient Israelites instilled in other nations is perhaps most vividly captured in the words of a Jericho inn-keeper named Rahab. Meeting with the two spies sent by Joshua, she states, “I know that the Eternal has given you the land and that your terror is fallen upon us, and that all the inhabitants of the land melt away before you. For we have heard how the Eternal dried up the water of the Reed Sea before you . . . and what you did unto the two kings of the Amorites . . . And as soon as we had heard it, our hearts did melt and the spirit went out of every man (Joshua 2:9-11).”

The Israelites reputation for divinely assisted military success, and the notion that this reputation was well known throughout the Middle East, makes the actions of the King of Arad in this morning’s Torah portion very curious. Numbers 21:1 states, “And the Canaanite, the King of Arad, who dwelt in the South, heard tell that Israel came by the way of Atharim; and he fought against Israel, and took some captive.”

Troubled by the way the King was seemingly unaffected by the Israelite’s reputation, the Rabbi’s ask “what could give the King of Arad the audacity to seek out an unnecessary military conflict with the Israelites?

In an anonymous statement, the Talmud suggests that the King was motivated by news of Aaron’s death, which takes place immediately preceding the attack. Masechet Rosh Hashanah Page 3a states, “He heard that Aaron had died and that the clouds of glory had dispersed . . . that permission had been granted for him to fight.”

Nachmanides offers another explanation, one which relies not on the misreading of divine signs but rather recognizing a lack of confidence in one’s enemy.

Commenting on the Torah’s description of what King of Arad heard prior to attacking, Ba Yisrael Derech Ha-atarim “that Israel came by way of Atharim” Nachmanides explains that Atharim is not a place name. Rather it is related to the Hebrew word Ha-tarim which means “the spies.” With this connection as his foundation, he teaches that the Israelites reputation, which 40 years later would motivate Rahab to cooperate with the spies sent by Joshua, had no affect on the King of Arad because he knew of the cowardly behavior of the spies sent by Moses, spies who when reporting back to Moses and the Israelites declared, “And we were in our own sight like grasshoppers, and so we were in their sight” (Numbers 13:33).

In other words, because the Israelites believed they could be defeated, the King of Arad believed he could defeat them. So long as the Israelites lacked faith in their abilities and God’s protection, their reputation was meaningless.

Each of us has talents and abilities for which we have earned a positive reputation, a Shem Tov. Some are known as talented musicians, excellent athletes, and academic geniuses. Others are successful professionals, loving fathers, and gifted mothers. And I hope all of us are known for being caring and compassionate human beings, for being mensches.

But as this week’s Torah portion teaches, no matter what our reputation, no matter what positive qualities and attributes others see in us, nothing matters unless we see those things when we look in the mirror.

Doctors and psychologists have taught us that a distorted body image is symptomatic of nearly all eating disorders. After all, how else could a woman who weighs 85 pounds think she is fat? But while we recognize this truth, many fail to realize that human beings are capable of distorting more than just our physical image of self. We also distort and diminish our levels of intelligence and independence, of competence and compassion.

I’d guess that the image each of us have of ourselves is somehow altered from reality; that in at least one part of our lives, we see ourselves as less than we truly are.

But this distorted self image need not be permanent. Just as the Israelites, who once viewed themselves as grasshoppers, were able to regain their confidence and with it their reputation, we too can come to see ourselves as we truly are.

May our actions, talents, and character earn for us a good reputation, a shem tov amongst our friends and family. And may we be Ba’alay Shem Tov, Masters of a Good Name who are able to see in ourselves the good that others see in us.

Shabbat Shalom.