This essay is about inspiring a Torah-based revolution in the most counter-intuitive way possible. This is so because this revolution centers on the very term for counter-intuition in the Talmud, ipcha mistabra.
Literally it means, “the opposite is understood.” In the Talmud it usually appears in reply to a conclusion arrived at by one of the sages. To the preliminary conclusion the Talmud replies with this phrase, which means: “On the contrary, the opposite should be arrived at.” But once we conceptualize this term, we begin to arrive at results that can be applied to any situation at any time.
For one, this phrase has the same numerical value as the Hebrew words “ba’al teshuvah” (someone who has turned to a life of Torah observance). What this numerical equivalence reveals is that a person who wants to be a ba’al teshuvah has to reach a new conclusion about the world. And from this conclusion–that what they observed is not true–they immediately resolve to begin doing the opposite.
This is the first ingredient of a revolution. To see something in the world is not right, not the way it should be according to Torah, and flip it.
Flipping the World
We began with the Talmud, the Oral Torah, but where do we find this concept in Tanach? The term is found in Megillat Esther, and according to some, is the central world of the entire Megillah. The world is venahafoch, “to turn upside down,” and has the value of 167, which is the exact number of verses in the entire Megillah!
How do we say revolution in Hebrew? Mapeichah (מַהְפֵּכָה) from the same root as venahafoch (וְנַהֲפוֹךְ). If we want to know how to create a Torah-based revolution, to turn the world upside down, we need to study the revealed and inner dimension of Megillat Esther. Specifically the word “to turn upside down,” and the need to stand tall like Mordechai in the face of the adversity of non-Torah culture.
This means to protest Haman, the Amalek within ourselves and the world at large.
Protesting Evil
Amalek represents the essence of evil. The essence of evil is different than evil in that if the person does not get his evil way, he is willing to kill. This is what we are commended to destroy. The Almighty promises us that if we do our part to eradicate the essence of evil in ourselves that we recognize, then He will finish off the rest. This also applies to the evil that lurks outside. As long as our intention is to eradicate the essence of evil, the obvious Amalek within ourselves and outside, then God promises to do His part and destroy the evil both inside and outside that cannot be seen.
The verb “to obliterate” in Hebrew also means to “protest.” So one example of our task to create a Torah-based revolution is to protest against the evils of society, even if we do not think that by doing so we can get rid of the root of the evil. If we do our part, God will do his.
That Mordechai was not willing to bow down before evil symbolizes the ability of our psyche not to bow down to the evil that we are conscious of. But when it comes to the evil that we do not recognize consciously, we not only bow down, but are willing to fully prostrate ourselves before it. This is especially true when it comes to the non-Torah culture that surrounds us, where we are not even aware that its deep roots start with Amalek.
Since the Ba’al Shem Tov taught that Amalek has the same numerical value as the Hebrew word for “doubt,” I thought to present an example of doubt-fostering in our present day.
According to all that we have said, when Amalek introduces doubt and contradictory understandings, Jews have the power to say “ipcha mistabra,” the opposite is true! This is the chutzpeh of holiness that only a Jew has, and we received this chutzpah from the miracle of Purim.
Flipping Seth Godin’s Tribes’ Book Celebration
How does Amalek manifest today in business? You start off with ideas that you think are good and correct, and then some known personality states emphatically that this is not the case. They plant seeds of doubt, and from these seeds, they try to convince you that to be successful, you need to subscribe to their newsletter, buy their books, etc…
Combatting Amalek doesn’t mean that everyone who disagrees with you is evil. It means sensing who to listen to, and who to do the opposite of. It took some time, but eventually I realized that Seth Godin was someone to flip.
If you Google search the word “blog,” Seth Godin’s URL comes up as number #5. Needless to say he is a known personality, but as mentioned, not necessarily someone to be listened to.
There are many examples of activities of his that require flipping, but the example that I personally involved myself with most was flipping was the release of his Tribes book in 2008.
He was promoting a day to gather around and celebrate his new book Tribes in NYC, encouraging participants to come with pen and paper in hand, with video cameras, on this auspicious day of October 22nd, 2008… the calendar day that coincided Simchat Torah (a Jewish holiday where writing and videotaping is forbidden).
He didn’t say this explicitly, and there is a possibility that he didn’t know this consciously, but still this event needed flipping.
Flipping requires two completely opposite extremes. So whatever the intentions, the challenge was to flip from Seth Godin’s celebration for his Tribes’ book, to the true celebration for the tribes of Israel, the people of the book, the Torah.
You can read more about when I wrote Seth here.
The lesson that I learned then, and what I’d like to share now, is that in order to start a revolution you don’t have to fight and you don’t have to see the results. Just flip. Do ipcha mistabra, venahafoch, on something that is the complete opposite of how it should be according to Torah, and God takes care of the rest.