Dvar Torah for Young Members Shabbat

Tonight I’m holding a Young Members Shabbat dinner at my Shul for members in their 20’s and 30’s. It’s the second one we’ve done. I’ll be delivering a Dvar Torah. It’s based on the one I gave (and wrote about) last year when I hosted a Shabbat Dinner at home for my friends. Here it is…

This week we read Parashat Toldot. The portion is book ended by two stories that, on the surface, seem to portray Jacob taking advantage of others, an activity that is unbecoming of our Forefathers. We will see that when we delve deeper, not only is he not taking advantage of anyone, he is actually acting in a way that ensures the future of his people.

In the first account, we read “Now Jacob cooked a pottage, and Esau came from the field, and he was faint. And Esau said to Jacob, "Pour into [me] some of this red, red [pottage], for I am faint"; he was therefore named Edom. And Jacob said, "Sell me as of this day your birthright." Esau replied, "Behold, I am going to die; so why do I need this birthright?" And Jacob said, "Swear to me as of this day"; so he swore to him, and he sold his birthright to Jacob. And Jacob gave Esau bread and a pottage of lentils, and he ate and drank and arose and left, and Esau despised the birthright.”

The simple reading suggests that Esau was out hunting and came to Jacob “starving to death” and asked for some of the lentil soup that Jacob was making. Jacob sees an opportunity to get the birthright that usually goes to the firstborn, so he tells Esau that he will give him the soup in exchange for the birthright. Esau says “I’m starving to death here, what do I need a birthright for, give me the soup.” And the deal is made.

When studying a passage of Torah, there are always multiple levels of meaning to the text. The first level is to look at the straight reading of the text. At this level we have to ask a legal question; if Esau was starving to death, how can he enter into a contract? The key to understanding this is to remember the first fule of Torah study, the Torah is very stingy with words. Every word is there for a reason, and every word that is left out is left out for a reason. So here we have a deal to exchange a birthright for some soup, but then we read “And Jacob gave Esau bread and a pottage of lentils”, where did the bread come from? Surely the Torah doesn’t record every time someone eats bread with a meal, why record it here?

The bread is to resolve the legal dilemma. After agreeing to the deal, Jacob gives Esau some bread to satisfy his hunger. Then before giving the soup to seal the deal he asks Esau if he is sure, Esau agrees and the deal is done.

But on a deeper level, what’s really going on here?

Because of the division of the weekly readings, we loose some of the context of this episode. If we remember back to last week, the end of the parasha records the death of Abraham. This story immediately follows – this is all happening on the day of Abraham’s funeral. The lentil soup Jacob was making was the traditional food of mourning. Esau, with all his faults, was still a good person inside (story of his head), he was just confronted with the death of the greatest person he knew, when that happens, you often confront your own mortality. When he says “what do I need this birthright for, I’m going to die”, he wasn’t talking about an immediate death, he was talking generally. Esau’s live philosophy was “Eat, drink, for tomorrow we die” - a denial of the afterlife. The birthright is a spiritual blessing one that would not benefit him in his lifetime, but follow him for all eternity, what use does Esau have for that – he was interested in material goods. Going even deeper, Esau knew that the role of the first born was to be the family’s emissary in the Temple. The temple service required complete concentration – if your thoughts wavered for even a second, you would die on the spot. (That’s why there were so many High Priests in the Second Temple – they were never of good character and kept dieing on us.) Esau knew that if he (and his kin) was the family’s representative in the temple, he would not be able to do the job and would die. What does he need that tzuris for? What Esau was saying is that he has no use of the birthright; in fact he despises it and would happily sell it for even the smallest material gain (i.e. some pottage). Jacob knew that such a person could not carry on the mission of Abraham; such a person should not get the blessing of the firstborn.

Skip ahead to the end of the Parasha, and we come to the famous story of Jacob fooling Isaac into giving him the blessing meant for Esau. The simple reading is that Isaac wants to give a blessing to Esau, but Rebecca wants it to go to Jacob. Then Jacob and Rebecca conspire to take advantage of a blind, old Isaac and trick him into giving the blessing to Jacob. But this is Isaac we’re talking about, it’s hard to imagine being able to trick him.

The general understanding is that the blessing being fought over is the blessing of Abraham, to continue his mission. But let’s look at the blessing that are actually given. The text records two blessings; the first was intended for Esau (but went to Jacob), and the second was intended for (and went to) Jacob. The first blessing was: “And may the Lord give you of the dew of the heavens and [of] the fatness of the earth and an abundance of corn and wine. Nations shall serve you and kingdoms shall bow down to you; you shall be a master over your brothers, and your mother's sons shall bow down to you. Those who curse you shall be cursed, and those who bless you shall be blessed."

The second blessing was: “may the Almighty God bless you and make you fruitful and multiply you, and you shall become an assembly of peoples. And may He give you the blessing of Abraham, to you and to your seed with you, that you may inherit the land of your sojourning, which God gave to Abraham."

So we see that Isaac wanted to give Esau the blessing of physical strength, and give Jacob the blessing of spiritual strength. Rebecca wanted both to go to Jacob.

Isaac knew all along that Jacob was the one to carry on the mission of Abraham, but that mission would take more than just spirit, it would take strength. Isaac was afraid that if he would give Jacob the physical blessing it would corrupt his pure spirit. So Isaac’s plan was to give Esau the physical blessing and Jacob the spiritual one; they would work together to change the world. Rebecca knew that as long as Jacob was dependant on Esau, the mission would never get completed.

When Jacob comes before Isaac pretending to be Esau, he doesn’t fool his father; Isaac knows what’s going on. Isaac says “The voice is the voice of Jacob, but the hands are the hands of Esau.” These are not the words of a confused old man. Voice represents the soul, the intellect, this was Jacob’s forte. Hand represent physicality, this was Esau’s strength. By taking it upon himself and acting to get both blessings, Jacob showed Isaac that he had both the spirit and the physical will to carry out Abraham’s mission. He didn’t need Esau. So Isaac decided then that his wife was right all along and gave both blessing to Jacob. He would be blessed with both the spirit needed to change the world, and the physical assets to do it.

A mission that we all inherit and are responsible for carrying out.

Shabbat Shalom.

Does G-d change his mind?

At Shabbas Dinner last week, my brother posed a very good question. While reading Lech Lecha a few weeks ago, he read that G-d promised Abraham that Isaac would be made into a great nation; this promise was repeated in the next parashat when Sarah told Abraham to send Ishmael away. Why then, when G-d told Abraham to sacrifice Isaac, did Abraham not know it was a bluff? Why would Abraham think that G-d would go back on his word to make Isaac a great nation?

So I did some research, and here’s the response I emailed him (and posted to his blog, where he first posed the question)…

This is one of those questions that jump out at you, which leads many people have tried to answer it. The most common answer is similar to the one given above; even if Abraham had sacrificed Isaac, continuing Abraham’s linage through Isaac anyway would hardly be the greatest miracle in the Torah.

Such an explanation seems to be counter to the Jewish practice of “not relying on miracles”. Torah commentators do not like to resolve apparent conflict by saying the G-d would perform a miracle to resolve things.

So I did some more looking, and I can across an interesting Dvar Torah from a few years ago by one of my favourate Rabbi’s, Rabbi Ari Kahn. The full article can be found here, but I’ll summarize the key points.

In typical Jewish fashion, we’ll answer a question with a question. Before we can address this issue, we need to understand what Abraham’s test was in this story. Abraham was known for his kindness and for his love of G-d. His credo was “I’m willing to live, and if necessary die, for the reality of G-d”. There was no doubt in anyones mind (including G-d’s) that he would do anything that G-d asked of him. If he could do it so willingly, what then was the test, what then was the challenge?

Rabbi Kahn postulates, “Perhaps Abraham's challenge lay in the fact that he had previously been told that Isaac would be his spiritual heir. If Isaac would die, he could not inherit Abraham's legacy, he could not lead. More importantly, Isaac's death would indicate that the word of God could not be trusted.”

Rabbi Kahn continues,

“What God was asking of Abraham was not merely to sacrifice his son Isaac, but to sacrifice his own life's meaning. We can clearly appreciate that had the test been to entertain 50, 100 or 200 guests for dinner, Abraham would have risen to the challenge heroically, with a smile on his face and gladness in his heart. That would not have been a challenge. That would have fit within Abraham's world view as an act of kindness. Instead, God asked Abraham to perform the act which is the very antithesis of kindness, to kill his son. This may be the most difficult aspect of the story of the binding of Isaac. With one blow of the sword Abraham would be conceding to all his pagan neighbors that his mission had come to an end, and that instead of inspiring them to embrace his world-view, he was throwing in the towel and accepting their twisted rites and rituals. His life's meaning would perish along with Isaac.

Only when we understand that the greatness of Abraham was his kindness, are we able to appreciate the significance of this test. The first step toward religious development is taking one's capabilities, one's natural gifts, and utilizing them for a divine mission. What God wanted Abraham to gain from this challenge was the appreciation that man can go beyond his natural tendencies and skills. Therefore God calls upon Abraham to perform an act which is antithetical ' the complete opposite ' of his natural instinct.”

So we see (as we often do when we really study a Torah portion) that the seeming conflict that Ian raised is actually the main point of the passage. It’s this very conflict that G-d was using as a lesson for Abraham and for all who follow.

Parashat V’Zot Ha’Bracha

This week we read the final parashat of the Torah. The Torah ends with the following:

So Moses the servant of the Lord died there in the land of Moab, according to the word of the Lord. And He buried him in a valley in the land of Moab, opposite Beth-Peor; but no man knows his grave till this day. And Moses was 120 years old when he died; his eye was not dim, nor his natural force abated. And the people of Israel wept for Moses in the plains of Moab thirty days; and the days of weeping and mourning for Moses were ended. And Joshua the son of Nun was full of the spirit of wisdom; for Moses had laid his hands upon him; and the people of Israel listened to him, and did as the Lord commanded Moses. And there has not arisen since in Israel a prophet like Moses, whom the Lord knew face to face. In all the signs and the wonders, which the Lord sent him to do in the land of Egypt to Pharaoh, and to all his servants, and to all his land. And in all that mighty hand, and in all the great and awesome deeds which Moses performed in the sight of all Israel. (Deut. 34:5 to 34:12)

At the start of the book of Deuteronomy, I wrote about the divine authourship of the book – G-d dictated and Moses wrote. These last eight verses seem to pose a problem. They seem to be written after Moses’ death, so how could Moses have been the scribe?

The Talmud seems to give conflicting explanations about this. In one place it says that these last eight verses were actually dictated by G-d and written by Joshua (in a sense passing the torch) [Baba Bathra 15a]. In essence, the Talmud says the book of Joshua actually begins with these last eight verses. But that’s a problem, since these eight verses are part of the Five Books and thus are on a higher level of holiness.

In another place, the Talmud makes the difficult to understand statement that up until this point G-d dictated and Moses repeated and wrote, but for the se last eight verses, G-d dictated and Moses wrote with his tears [Baba Bathra 15a].

The Ritva resolves this issue beautifully. Moses had completed writing the Torah, expect the last eight verses when he was sent my G-d up the mountain to his death. Knowing that he had acted as G-d’s conduit for the last time he wept; his tears falling on the Torah scroll. G-d caused the tears to write the last eight verses (in invisible ink). Joshua was then called upon to go over the tear marks with ink, thus completing the Torah.

And with that, we conclude the annual cycle of reading the Torah, and along with it, we conclude my first round of Torah commentary. Writing these have vastly improved my understanding of Torah, on every level. G-d willing, my writings of the next year will be as fulfilling.

CHAZAK CHAZAK V'NITCHAZEK!

Shabbat Shalom.

Sukkot – Praying for what?

his is a busy time of year. We just finished the High Holydays and now we’re right into Sukkot. Since nothing in the Torah is there by chance, there must be some reason that Rosh HaShanna, Yom Kippur, and Sukkot fall so close together.

The relationship between Rosh Ha’Shanna and Yom Kippur is clear. On Rosh Ha’Shanna we’re judged based on how well we used our lot in the past year and on how we plan to use our lot next year. Then we have a chance to perform teshuva so that some of our transgressions can be undone on Yom Kippur. But how does Sukkot relate into this?

On the High Holidays, what we’re really praying for is life. Being inscribed in the Book of Life rather than the Book of Death. Who shall live and who shall die… Once that has been determined (and we’re hopefully in the book of life), we can start praying for other things; physical things. But it seems anti-Jewish to associate praying for physical wealth to be associated with a major holiday.

The holiday of Sukkot has always been associated with rain. It falls at the start of Israel’s rainy season, during Sukkot we start to add the line to the Amida “mashiv ha’ruach u’moriv ha’gashem” - “Who makes the wind blow and the rain descend”. What does it mean to pray for rain? In ancient Israel, having rain meant you would have plentiful crops, which means you would eat and be wealthy for the year. If it didn’t rain, you would be poor (and worst case – you would die from starvation). So praying for rain is really praying for wealth.

The Hebrew work for rain is gashem, which comes from the same root as gashmias, which means physical. Today, when we pray for rain, we’re really asking for quality of life.

Of course, at the same time as we’re asking for quality of life, we’re told to leave our luxurious homes and live in a temporary hut for the week. This puts everything into perspective, the only thing we really have, the only think that will really comfort and protect us is G-d. Once we have that correct mindset, there is no harm in being given a good quality of life on top of that.

So tonight, when we eat our first meal of the year in the Sukkah, lets appreciate the quality we have in our lives, and know where that really comes from.

Chag Sameach

Ready for Yom Kippur

Rosh Ha'Shanah is about generalities. We pray for favourable judgements for the entire Jewish people, all of humanity, and all creatures in the universe, because we all stand before G-d in Judgement that day. our actions of the past year, and plan for the new year are taken as a whole and we're judged based on that.

Yom Kippur is different. It's about specifics.

The central prayer on Yom Kippur is the Al Chet, where we bang on our hearts and ask for forgives for a variety of sins. We list out 44 different types of sins; sins committed through harsh speech, sins committed in business, sins committed with haughty eyes. Such a prayer forces us to think about the specific things we have done in the past year that we seek forgiveness for.

I decided that my Yom Kippur preparation for this year would be to study the Al Chet prayer. Through this study, I have made up a sheet that lists each line of the prayer, and under each line lists a specific items that I am asking forgiveness for. Sometimes it is a bad habit, or a character flaw I want to work on, other times it refers to a specific incident.

This sheet will be folded up and kept in my machzor, so every time we say Al Chet over Yom Kippur, I can take it our and read it along with the prayer. Every time I bang my chest I'll be asking G-d for forgiveness for a very specific sin.

This process has forced me to really examine myself. Some of the 44 sins were very hard to come up with an example for, but by forcing myself to find something about that type of sin that I need to work on, I have laid the groundwork for self improvement for the coming year.

May the gates of heaven be open to the teshuva of you all and all of your loved ones, so that you may be sealed in the Good Book of Life for the coming year.

Gmar chasima tova. Wishing you all an easy fast.

My theme for the new year – Selichah

Each year, I try to choose one character trait to improve on. Last year it was charity; the year before it was prayer. This year it will be selichah, forgiveness.

Usually when we think about forgiveness, we think about forgiving others when they have wronged you; not carrying a grudge. This is actually not something I generally have a problem with. I don’t tend to carry grudges; I forgive people when they ask for it; of course there is always room for improvement. There are three other aspects of forgiveness, which I feel I need to focus on.

First, I need to work on asking others for forgiveness. This is one of the hardest things to do. It entails saying you’re sorry and asking the injured party to forgive you. Saying you’re sorry is when you’re wrong (as apposed to when you accidentally did something) is very difficult, for everyone, including me. The problem lies in the fact that it means admitting you were wrong, and we all like to think of ourselves as perfect creatures living in an imperfect world. And there in lies the problem. Humans are not perfect; only G-d is perfect. Being able to admit our imperfections by seeking forgiveness is a way of sanctifying G-d’s name through the acknowledgement that G-d is the only perfect being in this universe.

Second is being able to ask myself for forgiveness. As hard as it is to ask others for forgiveness, it’s even harder (and more important) to ask yourself.

Finally, just as I grant forgiveness when others seek it of me, I need to be able to grant it to myself when I seek it. If I err, I need to acknowledge it, by asking myself for forgiveness, and then forgive myself so that I don’t tear myself up over it. Finally, I need to use that mistake as a stepping stone to improve whatever character flaw lead to the mistake.

I am going to try to use some the techniques of Mussar to improve this character trait. I’ll write about that later.

Parashat Ha’azinu – The greatness of Moses

This week, we read the second last parashat in the Torah. As we read the Torah’s closing chapters, we see Moses take a different course. Until now, Moses has either taught or re-taught G-d’s commandments, or rebuked the people for their misdeeds. In this week’s portion, Moses breaks into song.

This is not the first time that Moses sings; the most famous being Shir Ha’Yam, Song by the Sea, which Moses lead the people in singing after crossing the Sea of Reads. That song was in response to seeing a miracle of unparalleled greatness; it was a song of religious ecstasy. But the generation that sang with Moses at the Sea is now dead, and Moses knows he will soon follow. In that light, it seems like a strange time to sing. But there in lies the greatness of Moses.

Give ear, O you heavens, and I will speak; and hear, O earth, the words of my mouth. My doctrine shall drop as the rain, my speech shall distill as the dew, as the small rain upon the tender herb, and as the showers upon the grass. Because I will proclaim the name of the Lord; ascribe greatness to our God. He is the Rock, his work is perfect; for all his ways are justice; a God of truth and without iniquity, just and right is he. (Deut 32:1-4)

Here, Moses refers to G-d as “the Rock”, while not uncommon, if we remember that Moses’ downfall came when he tried to get water from the rock, it seems all the more surprising that Moses would choose to use this term to describe G-d.

In his song, which is sung immediately preceding his death Moses completely accepts Divine justice: He is the Rock, his work is perfect; for all his ways are justice; a God of truth and without iniquity, just and right is he.

Instead of avoiding this painful topic, Moses addresses it head-on, displaying absolute acceptance of God and His will. This is yet another indication of the spiritual level which Moses achieves.

When a Jew hears good news, they praise G-d with a blessing ending with Ha’Tov vHa’Metiv – who is good and does good. When we hear bad news we say the blessing ending with daan v’emet – the True Judge. The sages teach us that we are suppose to pronounce each of these blessings with equal enthusiasm, because in both cases we recognize G-d as the source of all and completely accept Divine judgment. Most of us find it very hard to do this – it takes a man of Moses’ level to be able to do it.

Shabbat Shalom

How did I do?

As we’re about to enter another Rosh Ha’Shanah, I though I should try to look back on the past year, and see how I did.

Last Rosh HaShanah, I proposed a theme for the new year. The theme was focused on improving myself through the performance of just one mitzvoh. The mitzvoh I choose was the very important mitzvah of tzdukah, charity. I wanted to give more and give better.

On year later, looking back on things, I can honestly say that the “year of tzdukah” was successful. I am giving more charity, I am actively looking for places where my charity will be best used and I am giving it out of joy, not obligation.

I am also giving in the form of my time, by volunteering for the Board of Governors and various committees at my Shul.

My theme also seemed to rub off on those around me. Mandy has always been very charitable, but now we are both paying attention to al the mass mailings we get asking for money, where as before they would have gone right in the trash. We both try to never turn away a request (as long as the charity is reasonable).

Of course, there is still much room to improve. My donation levels still fall well short of the 10% required by Jewish law, and I’m giving through agencies, rather than trying to help the needy directly. These are obviously things that I will continue to work on this coming year.

Shanah Tova

Rosh Hashanah

The concept that people generally relate to Rosh Hashana is that of reward and punishment. The idea being, that your relative levels of reward and punishment for the upcoming year, will be based on the mitzvoth and sins your committed in the past year.

The Talmud is quite clear, that this is not the correct way to look at things. The Talmud says that mitzvoth cannot be rewarded in this world; the commentators explain that there is not enough pleasure in this world to compensate you for the performance of even a single mitzvah.

The Book of Life and Book of Death don’t relate 1:1 to good and evil. Many good people die every year, and many evil ones live. Good people who have not yet earned the merit for entrance into the world to come are written into the Book of Life to compensate them for past good deeds, and to give them a chance to do more good deeds so that they can merit entrance into the World to Come in the future.

So then just what is the judgment being don e in Rosh Hashana? The best way to look at it is as an investment model. On Rosh Hashana it is decided how much Divine energy will be invested in you this year. Just like the amount of grant money that will be granted to a researcher is based on how well he used the money last year and how good a plan he has for the coming year; on Rosh HaShana, we all stand before G-d and are Judged on how well we used the opportunities of the past year, then present our plan to G-d on how we will use what is given to us this year.

Remember that the ultimate goal is to earn as much pleasure as possible in the world to come, and the way to do that is by performing mitzvoth in this world. So question is, will G-d hand us these opportunities, or will we have to work harder to find them?

This year, when we all stand before G-d may we receive a judgment that will afford us many opportunities to earn a favorable place in the world to come.

Regret vs. Guilt

On of the key steps in true teshuva is that we have to regret the mistakes we have made. Amongst Jews, the concept of regret is often confused with the concept of guilt. However, there is a fundamental difference between the two.

Regret and guilt are not the same thing. Guilt creates paralysis. Regret creates redefinition. Guilt is passive - e.g. I can't deal with this right now. I think I'll eat chocolate and go to sleep. Regret is active - e.g. I really feel terrible about what I did, what can I do to make things right. Regret leads to release from the prison of self-limiting behavior. Guilt goes nowhere, and is so unpleasant that we tend to blame anyone available -- just to liberate ourselves from its violent grip on our souls.

On Rosh HaShana, we should not feel guilt about the mistakes we have made in the past year, but we do need to regret then, because regret helps prevent you from making the same mistakes again.

Time Travel through Teshuva

The theme of the High Holidays is Teshuva (usually translated as “repentance”, but more accurately as “return”). According to tradition, before G-d created the world, he crated teshuva. The usual interpretation of this is that when G-d created the world, he knew that man was fallible, he would make mistakes, he would sin. So before G-d created the world, he put in place a process in which man can return to G-d after sinning.

This is a deep and meaningful interpretation, but there is another very interesting one, a metaphysical one, that I wanted to look at. If teshuva was created before the universe, then it is not bound by the limitations of the universe. Time, on the other hand, was created by G-d as part of this universe. So time is a restriction of the universe, and anything that is not bound by the universe is not bound by time.

This is why we say that G-d can see the future. G-d exists outside the limitations of the universe, so is not bound by time. It’s not that G-d can see the future; it’s that to G-d, there is no such thing as time. It’s a difficult metaphysical concept to understand, but fundamental to Jewish belief.

In the same way, teshuva exists outside of the bounds of the universe, so it is not restricted by the law that time only flows in one direction. While we’re not able to undo our past actions, through true teshuva, we are actually able to travel back in time and undo the negative effects of those actions. Through teshuva, we are not only forgiven for our sins; when we do teshuva honestly, God reverses time and opens doors that we may have locked years ago, erasing the negative impact of our choices.

In this way, we’re Rosh Ha’Shana is actually an opportunity to engage in time travel, but only if we do teshuva properly. Now if that doesn’t encourage people to come to Shul, I don’t know what will.

The Month of Elul – Why do we need to prepare?

The month leading up to Rosh HaShana is a time of soul searching and preparation. Ideally, I would have liked the month to have been filled with posts here at Pintele Yid, but my little Jonah has made regular posting difficult. But in the final few days on the month, I wanted to try to get some reflections committed in writing.

Rosh HaShana is the Day of Judgment, the day when we stand before G-d and he the actions of the past year are judged and a verdict rendered that will decide what our fate will be in the next year. Surely if you were on trial in a human court, you would spend some time preparing, and not just show up on the court date and wing it. The same reasoning should apply here, if we are to successfully plead our case before G-d, we need to be prepared.

So why don’t people prepare? My guess is that people view Rosh HaShana as the start of the case, not the end of it. They view Yom Kippur as the end. Whatever verdict is rendered on Rosh HaShana can be appealed on Yom Kippur. People rely on that. Of course, this technique would never be applied in a human court. “I’ll take my chances at trial, and if I don’t like the verdict, there’s always the appeal.”

By spending the month of Elul preparing for the Day of Judgment, we can obtain a favorable verdict, and then user Yom Kippur to further improve our lot for the coming year.

I challenge everyone to take these last few days to prepare. Examine your past year and see where you have made mistakes, understand what your are asking G-d to forgive. Then when you pray, pray for forgiveness of specific acts, not generalities.

This is the path towards being inscribes in the Good Book of Life.

Parashat Nitzavim – Vayelech

The week we read a double Torah portion, which marks the final section of the book of Deuteronomy, and the Torah. We have reached the last day of Moses’ life, and we read his final address to the people. It is here that the reigns of leadership are passed from Moses to Joshua.

While Joshua was a worthy leader, how can anyone compare to Moses? In comparing the two, the Talmud (and Rashi) describe Moses as being like the sun, and Joshua like the moon. The common interpretation is about the relative luminance of the two; the moon is the brightest item in the night sky, but it pales in comparison to the brightness of the sun. This is not what the intended interpretation. The Talmud was refereeing to the source of the brightness. The sun’s brightness comes from within, but the moon reflects the brightness around it.

The light of Moses -- the greatness of Moses -- was his status as representative of God. With his death that light would be spread out among the people. The only way to get the light to shine forth was when the people gather and form a whole. The light had now become the domain of the entire nation. This is represented by the mutual responsibility, and the spiritual reciprocity which it implies. All future leaders (including Joshua) would reflect that light. You could say that upon Moses’ death, the Jews went from being the people of Moses, to the nation of Israel.

This week’s portion is also significant because it contains the final of the 613 commandments of the Torah; that every Jew should write a Torah for himself. After giving 612 commandments on how to live, and how to bring G-d into the world, we are told that we must each write them down and bring them into our personal lives. The Rabbi’s teach that this commandment can be fulfilled by writing one letter of a Torah scroll, since if one letter in the scroll is incorrect, the entire scroll is invalid. Writing a Torah is a difficult process, one that not every one is trained in, so this mitzvoh can be fulfilled in a different way. By hiring a trained scribe to write the Torah on your behalf (or even one letter on your behalf), you have fulfilled the mitzvoh.

Earlier this year, I sponsored the writing of an aliya in the new Torah scroll that my Shul is commissioning. In such, I have fulfilled this final commandment of the Torah. In contrast, the first commandment in the Torah is to “be fruitful and multiply”, to have children with your wife. This commandment I also fulfilled this year.

As we approach Rosh Hashana, and we reflect on your actions of the past year, I can take pride in the fact that I have fulfilled the first and the last mitzvot in the Torah. With these book ends in place, I anxiously await the opportunity to fill in the intermediate mitzvoth in the coming year

Shabbat Shalom

Parahat Ki Tavo

This week’s Torah portion starts with an interesting commandment. Upon entering the promise land, the Jews are to take the first of the fruits and bring them as an offering to G-d.

Durring the 40 years in the desert, the Israeli people had a very clear world view; everything comes from G-d. This was clear because they saw it, the food came down from the heavens, a well of water followed them around, and their clothes did not wear out. In that type of environment, it is easy to understand that everything comes from G-d. But when they enter the land of Israel, things will change. No longer will their food come directly from G-d. They will now have to work the land to get grain and fruits; G-d, of course, still guides things to ensure that the land “flows with milk and honey”.

When the children of Israel entered the land, so close to fulfilling their destiny, the most crucial of questions emerged: Would they see the fruits of their labor independent of God? Or would they bring the fruits to Jerusalem part and parcel of their religious experience?

This is, of course, the fundamental question of Judaism. What is G-d’s place in the world? Does G-d exist in the spiritual realm, with the physical world being independent? Or does G-d permeate all aspects of the world? The Jewish position is the latter, but to many of us seem to live as if the former were the truth.

After the miraculous victory of the 6 Day War in 1967, the popular slogan heard amongst Jews was “By our hand and our might”. This was a complete denial of G-d role in the physical world. The near destruction of Israel in the 1973 Yom Kippur War was G-d way of sending a wake up call; “See how close to destruction you come by your hand.” It wasn’t until G-d intervened, that the war turned into another miraculous victory for Israel.

As the children of Israel prepared for their entrance into Land of Israel, they were given a strategy which will allow the stay to be enduring and meaningful. God provided the tools needed to create a society with a God consciousness -- a society which will have tents of study and fields of labor.

But no schism could exist between the two. God must be found in the fields, marketplaces and study-halls. Every day revelation would be experienced. Holiness would permeate the streets and fields. This is the goal of the commandment of the first fruits.

Shabbat Shalom

Parashat Ki Tetzei

This week’s Torah portion is made up of many different topics. But what I wanted to talk about today is the first part of the first sentence of the parashat; “When you go out to war against your enemies”. It then continues to talk about morality in times of war, specifically; it talks about how to deal with “beautiful women” among the captives taken during war.

There are many questions we can ask about these few words. First, G-d desires peace in the world, so why is he telling us how to act in war? Shouldn’t G-d be telling us how to prevent war? The main answer here is that the Torah is a set of instructions for living in this world, not some fictional ideal world. G-d recognizes that there is evil in this world, and sometimes war is required to deal with this evil.

Secondly, why does G-d tell us what we can do with females among the captives of war? Wouldn’t the moral thing to do be to free the female captives? Here, again, G-d recognizes the truths about the world and about human nature. “Raping and pillaging” in the aftermath of war seems to be human nature. We’ve seen it throughout history, and we see it today. While this is certainly not admirable behavior, G-d knew that if the Torah were to forbid it outright, the law would be ignored. So instead the law was written that you may take female captives, but you must treat them as a wife, with all the same rights and privileges as any other wife. Rather than outlawing human nature, the Torah controls it.

The concept of morality in war seems to be one that is very topical today. Much of the world criticizes the IDF for its actions against the Arabs, but the irony is that the IDF is the most moral army in the world.

When NATO was operating in the Balkans, it would routinely carpet bomb civilian centers in an effort to destroy military targets within. Five years later, the same generals who ordered those bombing runs, criticize the IDF for targeted killings of terrorist masterminds. When the IDF was faced with a similar situation to NATO, it decided to send in the infantry to Jennin, at great risk to Israeli solders, rather than carpet bomb from a safe height. This decision was made because the IDF wanted to spare civilian casualties.

We often talk about the corruption of power. Israel suffers from the opposite problem, the corruption of powerlessness. Jews had been powerless for so long, their survival dependant on the good will of their neighbours and host countries. When Israel was formed, and the Jews had an army, for the first time in 2000 years, they didn’t suffer from the normal desires of conquest, the suffered from the desire for acceptance. The IDF’s decisions are not based on military considerations, but rather on how the UN, White House and the rest of the world will react. This leads to behaviours that could be considered immorally moral. They are so concerned with morality, that they immorally risk the lives of Israeli soldiers.

Finally, with Rosh Hashana coming up, I wanted to touch on a different dimension of this first verse. A literal translation of the verse is “When you go out to THE war…”. There are two grammatically strange items here. First it’s talking in the singular, not about when the nation goes out to war, but when an individual goes out to war. Secondly, it doesn’t seem to be talking about war in general, it’s talking about a specific war, THE war. The mystical commentaries tell us that this is referring to the spiritual war that each of us must fight within ourselves.

Shabbat Shalom.

Parashat Shoftim – Bribery

As we near the end of the final book of the Torah, the Jews are getting closer and closer to entering into the land of Israel. This week’s Torah portion talks about some of the things the people will have to do once they enter.

The Parashat tells the people that once they enter the land, they must set up judges and police in all of their cities. It then instructs these judges to not pervert justice, not to play favorites, and not to take bribes; because brings can “blind the eyes of the wise and pervert the words of the richeous”.

It’s interesting to note the importance of this commandment to form courts, not only is it one of the 613 commandments that the Jews have to follow, it is one of the 7 Noahide laws that are binding on all people. The seven Laws of Noah are: no idol worship, no cursing G-d’s name, no murder, no theft, no sexual immorality, no eating the limb torn off a live animal, and setting up courts. G-d is saying that one of the seven basics of a moral society is the presence of a just legal system.

The prohibition against taking bribes is an interesting one, because it extends far beyond the realm of the legal system. Doctors being taken out to lunches by drug company reps, businessmen being taken out for a round of golf, these could all be viewed as judges. People say that these things are no problem, because they’re common practice, noting is expected in return, and that the “free gift” won’t sway their decision in any way.

Jewish teachings disagree. The story is told of a wise Judge who sends his assistant out to buy him some fresh tobacco for his pipe. Unknowingly, the assistant goes to buy the tobacco from a tobacconist who has a case being herd by the Judge the next day. The tobacconist assumes that the reason the assistant is buying the tobacco from him, is that the Judge is looking for a bribe (which he wasn’t), so the tobacconist gives the assistant a bag of tobacco and slips a bribe into the bottom of the bag.

The next day the Judge is sitting on a 3-judge panel and hears the tobacconist’s case. The other two judges convict, but our Judge acquits. Our judge has great respect of the other two judges on the panel, so he assumes that he must have misheard some of the evidence. He goes over and over the evidence, but every time he arrives at the same verdict, in favour of the tobacconist. After a few days of this, our judge finally reaches the bottom of his bag of tobacco and sees the bribe. He then realizes what has happened, and knows why he wasn’t able to see the fact straight. Even if you don’t know about it, a bribe will “blind the eyes of the wise and pervert the words of the richeous”.

Shabbat Shalom

Parashat Re-ei – Why Idolatry

In this week’s Torah portion, Moses asks the people to choose between two paths, the path of G-d and the path of idolatry. “I place before you on this day a blessing and a curse.” The blessing is if they follow G-d, and the curse if they do not.

It’s interesting to note, that it’s only in modern times that Jews fully choose the curse. We know from the writings of the prophets that even when Jews strayed from G-d, they did so by practicing idolatry in addition to worshiping G-d, not in place of. They ate Glat Kosher, fasted on Yom Kippur, kept the Shabbas, and then worshiped the idol Baal the rest of the week. Isaiah says “How long will you sit on the fence.”

The question is, if you have a blessing and a curse in front of you, why would someone choose the curse. The question can be paralleled by asking why would someone choose to take drugs when they know that they can cause serious physical and mental harm. The answer is instant gratification.

Everyone wants the good that comes with the blessing. We all want spirituality, meaning and happiness. But if I were to offer you a plan that would guarantee you get those things, and all you have to do is spend 10 years studying Torah, then 20 learning Talmud, then 20 more learning Kaballah, how many people would sign up of my 50 year plan. Even if you know it would work, most people choose not to take that path. People choose the path of instant gratification, even if there is no long-term gain (and potentially long term loss).

Idolatry is instant gratification. When the Jews entered Israel, idolatry was everywhere, on every mountain and under every tree; they were selling it on every street corner. It was a quick high. The Jews that partook weren’t ones who rejected G-d, they just needed a quick fix. They were looking for shortcuts to combine with their worship of G-d.

This choice is easier for Jews today. Because Judaism is not an integral part of so many Jew’s lives, when they want some meaning in life, when they need spirituality, it seems too hard to embrace their traditions, and they look for the quick fix.

Why do we need to pray everyday? Why do we need to follow all the commandments all of the time? What if things are going well and we don’t need G-d’s help. Can we put Juaism on hold and bring it back when we need it (since G-d accepts repentance)? The trick is, that if we let our relationship with G-d get stale, then when we need him, it’s going to be too chard to reconnect, and we’ll look for the quick fix. If we maintain that relationship, then when we need G-d, he’s right there for us.

Shabbat Shalom.

Jonah's Bris

Jonah's Bris was this morning, here is the speech Mandy and I made to our 150 guests.
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Mandy and I would like to thank everyone for being here today to join us in this simchah. The fact that so many people came out to participate in our fulfilling the mitzvah of Brit Milah, is an indication of the amount of love and warmth that will be with Jonah his entire life.

We’d like to thank out parents, for being such great role models. You’ve set the bar for parenting, and we’ll do our best to live up to it… and when we miss the mark, I’m sure one of you will be there to set us straight. We love you all very much, and it’s with great pleasure that we were able to make grand parents out of you. To the four of you, and all the uncles, aunts, cousins and friends, thank you in advance for the many hours of free baby-sitting that we’ll be taking advantage of as soon as possible.

Jonah arrived in a month full of simhahs. We just celebrated our 5^th anniversary. Mandy’s parents are about to celebrate their 40^th, my parents, their 35^th, and my sister is absent this morning, because she is preparing for her wedding, taking place this evening. Mazal Tov to everyone, and may we share many more together.

Naming a child is one of the most important decisions new parents make. The Talmud (Berachot 7b) teaches that a Hebrew name has an influence on its bearer. Hence, it was extremely important to name our baby after individuals with positive character traits who have led fortunate lives and have helped bring goodness to the world. Mandy and I had many such people to choose from. All of our grand parents would have been worthy choices. We all miss them dearly, and we know that while they are no longer with us in body, they are with us today in spirit, and their memory will now be passed on to a new generation.

It is said that parents are actually blessed with prophesy when naming their newborn babies so that they will choose names which aptly describe their children's personas and their destinies in life.

We named our baby Yosheph Aharon. Yoseph, after my Zada Joe (Z”L”), my father’s father, and Aharon, after Mandy’s Zada Harry (Z”L”), her father’s father. The tallis that my father wore while the Brit was performed, belonged to my Zada Joe, and has now been passed on to Jonah.

When a child is named after the deceased, the latter's soul is elevated to a higher realm in heaven and a spiritual affinity is created between the soul of the departed and the soul of the newborn child.

Master of the universe, may your spirit and the souls of Zada Joe, Zada Harry, and all of our loved ones watch over Yoseph Aharon ben Yerachiel Mayer and guide Mandy and I with strength and wisdom so that we may raise our son according to your will… Amen.

L’chaim!

Parashat Ekev – G-d’s Threats

In this week’s portion, Moses continues his farewell address to the Jewish people. This portion contains the second verse of the Shema, where G-d tells of all the good that will come if they follow G-d’s commandments, and the bad that will happen if they don’t

A friend was talking to me about the Shema. He told me that he has a lot of trouble with the second verse, and often he can’t bring himself to say it. His problem was that he didn’t like being threatened. In the verse G-d tells that if we follow his commandments, then we’ll have rain in the proper time, we’ll have cattle, crops, and everything will be good. But if we don’t, then we’ll get no rain, no crops, and we’ll be banished from the land. My friends feeling was that we should be serving G-d out of love, not fear. He said he doesn’t respond well to threats.

At first I didn’t know how to respond, I tried various things, showed him various commentaries on the passage, but nothing helped. He said “I don’t think that anyone can change my mid on this”. That’s when I knew what the problem was. When you hears a phrase like that, you know the person is stuck in a mindset, and to get them to see the other side will require them to look at the issue from a totally different angle. After thinking about it for a few days, here is my response to them.

Don’t look at this passage as a threat, think of it as a warning. The difference is subtle, but important. Consider this situation. A blind man is walking near the edge of a cliff. As he approaches the edge, you calls out and tells him to stop. You tells the blind man that if he walks towards your voice, you’ll grab his hand and take him to safety, but if he steps away from your voice, he’ll fall off the cliff and plummet to his death.

Are you threatening him, or warning him?

This is what’s going on in the verse. Israel is the blind man, and your voice was the voice of G-d in the second verse of the Shema. We are walking around the world oblivious to what is good and bad for our souls. G-d is telling us the facts of the world. Just as neglecting our body will cause us pain, so will neglecting our soul. G-d gives us his commandments, which are instructions from what is good for the soul. If we follow them, we’ll obtain pleasure, if we neglect them, we’ll experience the pain. It’s not a threat it’s a warning. Just as the blind man can’t sense the danger he was in if we would have walked away from you, we can not sense the spiritual danger we’re in if we walk away from G-d.

With this new outlook, hopefully my friend will be able to recite the entire Shema twice daily and continue to serve G-d out of love, not fear.

Shabbat Shalom.

Praying as a Father

This morning I davened Shacharit for the first time as a father.

I read the same words that I have read (just about) every day for more than 2 years, I find many passages take on a totally new meaning. There are two passages in particular that I’ve always felt have spoken to me, suddenly took on an entirely new meaning.

The first one is part of “Birkot Ha’Shachar”, the series of 15 blessings we say to start the service. The 10^th blessing is “Blessed are You, Hashem, Our G-d, King of the universe, Who provided me my every need.” I have always related to this in its corollary; “everything G-d has given me, I need.” I used this to keep in mind that everything comes from G-d, the good and the bad. This phrase helped me through the difficult time following our miscarriages. That too came from G-d, and for some reason I needed it.

But this morning, I related to that verse in a totally new way. G-d had just provided me with my son. My son is my every need. This verse now tells me how I have to prioritize my life. Work can be put on hold; other commitments can be put off. My priorities now lie with my son (and, of course, with G-d).

The second passage is towards the end of the service, it is “Blessed is my Lord for every single day he burdens us with his blessings.” I have always felt a connection to this verse, but was never able to put my finger on it. But now, with G-d giving me a son, and experiencing the “burden” of my new priorities, I understand the verse. My son is the greatest blessing G-d can bestow on me, and I thank G-d every minute for “burdening” me with this blessing.