Bearing Witness has become my medicine. It’s one of the ways I take action. It’s part of the good trouble that I’m trying to make. Most of this work, so far, has been focused on bearing witness to the terrible things our fascist American government has been doing. But I think we also need to witness what iS beautiful, so we are working towards something — not just fighting against something.
וַיַּ֤רְא אֱלֹהִים֙ אֶת־כׇּל־אֲשֶׁ֣ר עָשָׂ֔ה וְהִנֵּה־ט֖וֹב מְאֹ֑ד וַֽיְהִי־עֶ֥רֶב וַֽיְהִי־בֹ֖קֶר י֥וֹם הַשִּׁשִּֽׁי׃ {פ}
And the Almighty saw that everything He had made was working in harmony and unity, bearing witness to His unity, and He considered it very good. And there was evening and morning, the sixth day.(עפ"י מלבי"ם, ראה הירץ.)
לֹ֥֖א תִּֿרְצָ֖͏ֽח׃ {ס} לֹ֣֖א תִּֿנְאָ֑͏ֽף׃ {ס} לֹ֣֖א תִּֿגְנֹֽ֔ב׃ {ס} לֹֽא־תַעֲנֶ֥ה בְרֵעֲךָ֖ עֵ֥ד שָֽׁקֶר׃ {ס}
The sixth commandment: “You must not murder.” The seventh commandment: “You must not commit adultery, i.e., conduct extramarital relations with a married woman.” The eighth commandment: “You must not steal people, i.e., kidnap.” The ninth commandment: “You must not bear false witness against your fellowman.”
לֹ֥א תִשָּׂ֖א שֵׁ֣מַע שָׁ֑וְא אַל־תָּ֤שֶׁת יָֽדְךָ֙ עִם־רָשָׁ֔ע לִהְיֹ֖ת עֵ֥ד חָמָֽס׃
Thou shalt not utter a false report; put not thy hand with the wicked to be an unrighteous witness.
וְנָתַתָּ֖ אֶל־הָאָרֹ֑ן אֵ֚ת הָעֵדֻ֔ת אֲשֶׁ֥ר אֶתֵּ֖ן אֵלֶֽיךָ׃
And you are to put in the Coffer the Testimony that I give you.
כִּֽי־יָק֥וּם עֵד־חָמָ֖ס בְּאִ֑ישׁ לַעֲנ֥וֹת בּ֖וֹ סָרָֽה׃
If an unrighteous witness rise up against any man to bear perverted witness against him;
הַעִידֹ֩תִי֩ בָכֶ֨ם הַיּ֜וֹם אֶת־הַשָּׁמַ֣יִם וְאֶת־הָאָ֗רֶץ כִּֽי־אָבֹ֣ד תֹּאבֵדוּן֮ מַהֵר֒ מֵעַ֣ל הָאָ֔רֶץ אֲשֶׁ֨ר אַתֶּ֜ם עֹבְרִ֧ים אֶת־הַיַּרְדֵּ֛ן שָׁ֖מָּה לְרִשְׁתָּ֑הּ לֹֽא־תַאֲרִיכֻ֤ן יָמִים֙ עָלֶ֔יהָ כִּ֥י הִשָּׁמֵ֖ד תִּשָּׁמֵדֽוּן׃
I call-as-witness against you today the heavens and the earth, that you will perish, yes, perish quickly from off the land that you are crossing the Jordan thither to possess; you will not prolong days upon it, but you will be wiped out, yes, wiped out!
הַעִדֹ֨תִי בָכֶ֣ם הַיּוֹם֮ אֶת־הַשָּׁמַ֣יִם וְאֶת־הָאָ֒רֶץ֒ הַחַיִּ֤ים וְהַמָּ֙וֶת֙ נָתַ֣תִּי לְפָנֶ֔יךָ הַבְּרָכָ֖ה וְהַקְּלָלָ֑ה וּבָֽחַרְתָּ֙ בַּחַיִּ֔ים לְמַ֥עַן תִּֽחְיֶ֖ה אַתָּ֥ה וְזַרְעֶֽךָ׃
I call-as-witness against you today the heavens and the earth: life and death I place before you, blessing and curse; so choose life, in order that you may stay alive, you and your seed,
וְ֠הוֹשִׁ֠יבוּ שְׁנַ֨יִם אֲנָשִׁ֥ים בְּנֵֽי־בְלִיַּ֘עַל֮ נֶגְדּוֹ֒ וִיעִדֻ֣הוּ לֵאמֹ֔ר בֵּרַ֥כְתָּ אֱלֹהִ֖ים וָמֶ֑לֶךְ וְהוֹצִיאֻ֥הוּ וְסִקְלֻ֖הוּ וְיָמֹֽת׃
and set two men, base fellows, before him, and let them bear witness against him, saying: Thou didst curse God and the king. And then carry him out, and stone him, that he die.’
וְאֵלּוּ הֵן הַפְּסוּלִין, הַמְשַׂחֵק בְּקֻבְיָא, וְהַמַּלְוֶה בְרִבִּית, וּמַפְרִיחֵי יוֹנִים, וְסוֹחֲרֵי שְׁבִיעִית. אָמַר רַבִּי שִׁמְעוֹן, בִּתְחִלָּה הָיוּ קוֹרִין אוֹתָן אוֹסְפֵי שְׁבִיעִית, מִשֶּׁרַבּוּ הָאַנָּסִין, חָזְרוּ לִקְרוֹתָן סוֹחֲרֵי שְׁבִיעִית. אָמַר רַבִּי יְהוּדָה, אֵימָתַי, בִּזְמַן שֶׁאֵין לָהֶם אֻמָּנוּת אֶלָּא הִיא, אֲבָל יֵשׁ לָהֶן אֻמָּנוּת שֶׁלֹּא הִיא, כְּשֵׁרִין:
And these on the following list are the ones who are disqualified by the Sages from bearing witness due to their unseemly behavior, as they are considered wicked individuals guilty of monetary transgressions: One who plays with dice [bekubbiyya] for money, and one who lends money with interest, and those who fly pigeons, and merchants who trade in the produce of the Sabbatical Year, which may be eaten but may not be sold as an object of commerce. Rabbi Shimon said: Initially, people would call them: Gatherers of the produce of the Sabbatical Year. Once the tax collectors grew abundant they would then call them: Merchants who trade in the produce of the Sabbatical Year, as the Gemara will explain. Rabbi Yehuda said: When are the people listed above disqualified from bearing witness? It is when they have no occupation but this one. But if they have an occupation other than this one, although they also make money by these inappropriate means, they are fit to bear witness.
שְׁבוּעַת בִּטּוּי נוֹהֶגֶת בַּאֲנָשִׁים וּבְנָשִׁים, בִּרְחוֹקִים וּבִקְרוֹבִים, בִּכְשֵׁרִים וּבִפְסוּלִין, בִּפְנֵי בֵית דִּין וְשֶׁלֹּא בִּפְנֵי בֵית דִּין, מִפִּי עַצְמוֹ. וְחַיָּבִין עַל זְדוֹנָהּ מַכּוֹת וְעַל שִׁגְגָתָהּ קָרְבָּן עוֹלֶה וְיוֹרֵד:
The oath of utterance applies to men and women, to relatives and non-relatives, to those qualified [to bear witness] and those not qualified, [whether uttered] before the court, or not before the court, [but it must be uttered] with a man’s own mouth. And he is liable, for intentional transgression, lashes, and for unintentional transgression, a sliding scale sacrifice.
הקב"ה אם בקשת להעד העד, ואם לאו אני מעיד, שנאמר והוא עד, ומנין שנקרא הקב"ה עד, שנאמר ואנכי היודע ועד נאום.
The Holy One said: If you want to bear witness, bear witness; but if not, I will bear witness. Thus it is stated (ibid.): WHEN HE IS A WITNESS. And where is it shown that the Holy One is called a witness?
Midrash Tanchuma Buber, Vayikra 15
אני עלי את השמים ואת הארץ בין גוי בין ישראל בין איש בין אשה בין עבד בין שפחה הכל לפי מעשיו של אדם רוח הקדש שורה עליו.
I bring Heaven and Earth to bear witness that the Divine Spirit may rest upon a gentile and a Jew, a man and a woman, a slave and a maid—all depends on the deeds of that particular person.
Yalkut Shimoni on Nach 42
Sefaria Community Translation
אבני ביתו של אדם וקורות ביתו של אדם מעידין בו שנאמר (חבקוק ב יא) כי אבן מקיר תזעק וכפיס מעץ יעננה
The stones and the timbers of his house will bear witness against him, as it is said (Hab. 2, 11) For the stone will cry out of the wall, and the beam out of the wood (work) will answer it.
Ein Yaakov (Glick Edition), Khagigah 2
Samuel Hirsch Glick, New York, 1916-1921
זש"ה והיה כי תמצאן אותו רעות רבות וצרות וענתה השירה הזאת (דברים לא כא)
And it shall be, when you find yourself in great distress and tribulation, this song shall bear witness against you (Deuteronomy 31:21).
Aggadat Bereshit 60Sefaria Community Translation
יאמר החכם שמעו כל הכשרים להעיד:
The sage should say: "All those present who are qualified to testify should listen and bear witness".
Shulchan Arukh, Even HaEzer, Seder HaGet
Sefaria Community Translation
והעידו להם מה עדות אתם רואים מה אני עושה לקלסתר פניו של יעקב אביכם שהיא חקוקה על כסא כבודי כי בשעה שאתם אומרים לפני קדוש קדוש קדוש כורע אני עליה ומנשקה ומחבבה ומגפפה וידי על זרועותי בשעה שאתם אומרים לפני קדוש קדוש קדוש ה' וגו':
“And bear witness to them, witness of what ye have seen, what I do to the feature of the face of Jacob your father which is graven for Me upon the throne of My glory, for at the time when you say before Me, ‘Holy,’ I bow down upon it and clasp it and embrace it and kiss it and My hands rest upon its arms three times as against the three times that you say before Me, ‘Holy.’” (As it is said, “Holy, holy, holy.”)
On a broader level, she continued, one doesn’t “possess one’s own truth”; rather one has to bear witness to it through one’s reading, through an alert reading. One reaches it obliquely, one begets it—as Moshe joins Aharon to beget the truth together with him—to bring out the hidden dimension of the text through use of one’s own life situation. Interpretation and finding truth are not, then, merely saying what one already knows. Instead, they are a dark, oblique process. In the obscurities and dark spaces, one finds an unpredictable truth. And that indeed is the way of Torah.
Torah of the Mothers
*Paraphrase of an unpublished lecture given by Avivah Gottlieb Zornberg in Jerusalem, February 16, 1998.
They thrust him out, telling him: You must live and bear witness to our suffering.
To live and bear witness to their suffering, to live and give meaning to their suffering is a command by which all post-Holocaust Jews stand bound.Tradition in an Untraditional AgeChapter 7; The Holocaust in Jewish TheologyJonathan Sacks
My own view, arrived at after long reflection, is that Jews have been called on to bear witness – in their faith, history, and way of life – to certain fundamental truths of the human condition: that we are free, and thus responsible, and therefore charged with becoming God’s partners in the work of redemption; that life is sacred and therefore human rights are nonnegotiable; that civilizations become invulnerable only when they care for the vulnerable; that freedom depends on education and the emotional intelligence that comes from strong families and communities held together by the bonds of shared memory and responsibility
Jonathan Sacks Haggadah, Essays
https://www.sefaria.org/The_Jonathan_Sacks_Haggadah%3B_Essays%2C_Time_as_a_Narrative_of_Hope.29?ven=english|Koren_Publishers,_Jerusalem,_2013&lang=bi&with=About&lang2=en
Kavana for the Day
Give animate qualities to an inanimate building. Take the Kotel in Jerusalem and have it speak. What would it say to the people who come there to pray? What history has it seen and how has it understood it? To what would it bear witness? Use your imagination to give feelings to the stones and crevices. In the voice of the prophets, write down what observations, what anguish and wisdom it would offer us today.In the Narrow Places: Daily Inspiration for the Three WeeksErica Brownhttps://www.sefaria.org/In_the_Narrow_Places%3B_Daily_Inspiration_for_the_Three_Weeks%2C_%5BDay_Sixteen%5D_3_Av%3B_Personifying_Tragedy.8?ven=english|In_the_narrow_places,_Erica_Brown._New_Milford,_CT._Maggid_Books,_2011&lang=bi
† [עוּד] vb. denom. (Gerber 42 f.) bear witness;—Qal Impf. 1 s. sf. אֲעוּדֵךְ La 2:13 Kt; < Hiph. Qr Bu.Hiph. Pf. 3 ms. הֵעִיד 2 K 17:15; Mal 2:14; הֵעִד Gn 43:3; 2 ms. הַֽעִידֹ֫תָ Ne 9:34; הַֽעֵדֹ֫תָה Ex 19:23; 1 s. הַֽעִידֹ֫תִי Dt 4:26; Je 42:19; 3 mpl. הֵעִ֫ידוּ Ne 9:26, etc.; Impf. וַיָּ֫עַד 2 K 17:13; Zc 3:6; 3 fs. sf. וַתְּעִידֵ֫נִי Jb 29:11 + 15 times Impf.; Inf. abs. הָעֵד Gn 43:3 + 4 times; Imv. הָעֵד Ex 19:21 + 2 times Imv. Pt. מֵעִיד Dt 32:46.— 1. testify, bear witness, c. sf. against one 1 K 21:10, 13; in favour of Jb 29:11; La 2:13 (Qr); c. בֵּין Mal 2:14; c. בְּ + כִּי Dt 8:19. 2. cause to testify, take as witness, c. acc. pers. Is 8:2; Je 32:10, 25, 44; call as witness, invoke, c. acc. ואת הארץ את השׁמים + בְּ against Dt 4:26; 30:19; 31:28. 3. protest, affirm solemnly, warn: subj. men, abs. Je 6:10; Ne 13:15; c. בְּ pers. Gn 43:3(×2) (J) Ex 19:21 (E) 1 S 8:9(×2) 1 K 2:42; 2 Ch 24:19; Ne 9:26; 13:21; Je 42:19; Am 3:13; exhort solemnly, admonish, charge, י׳ subj., c. בְּ pers., Ex 19:23 (J) 2 K 17:13; Ne 9:29, 30; Je 11:7(×3); Zc 3:6 ψ 50:7; 81:9; enjoin solemnly, c. בְּ pers. + acc. rei עֵֽדְוֹת 2 K 17:15 Ne 9:34, דברים Dt 32:46.Hoph. Pt. 3 ms. וְהוּעַד consec. Ex 21:29 (E) impers. and protest be entered, c. בְּ pers.
סהד to bear witness, testify. — Pi. - סִהֵד he bore witness, testified. — Hiph. - הִסְהִיד (of s.m.). [Aram.-Syr. סְהֵד (= he bore witness, testified), BAram. שָׂהֲדוּתָא (= testimony), Arab. shahida (= he bore witness, testified). cp. שָׂהֵד.]