I don't think it is any coincidence that the past few parashot leading us up to Rosh Hashana have repeatedly placed very clear decisions before us: Life or death. A blessing or a curse. Holiness or profanity. Good or evil.
The choices are black and white. There is no gray area. We often think of life as a spectrum, but the Torah does not do so in these cases.
Perhaps this is to help us get in the right mindset for the holiday season. To realize that it is never time for us to delay in our desire to refine ourselves, to become better people, to become more devoted to the Jewish way of life. It is human nature to rationalize - to say that tomorrow you will do better, to say that you have a whole life in front of you, to say that someone else will do it if you don't, to say it just isn't that important. The Torah portions leading up to Rosh Hashana remind us of this and gives us a time of year when we can reflect upon what we want to do differently in our lives. But it is not merely a time of reflection and resolutions. It is also meant to be the beginning of our change. This isn't a time of year to decide that tomorrow we will start giving tzedekah, or tomorrow we will start volunteering, or next time I will help the old person up the stairs, later I can start my Jewish education, or next month I'll start keeping Kosher, next time I won't drive on Shabbat. Now we must start those things. We must actually make the change in our actions, not just understand the need to change.
A rabbi that spoke at the Great Neck Kollel last week spoke about why Rosh Hashana is a yearly event -- why God calls us to judgement every year. It is because we are supposed to have changed. A judge doesn't judge the same case twice without a change in the evidence. We are supposed to grow from year to year as Jews. Having not improved is a step backwards. God wants us to come before Him a little bit better than we did the previous year. We are judged relative to our own selves last year, not on a universal scale. God wants to see that we have changed -- not that we've made a decision to, but that we actually have. That we are keeping Kosher, we are donating some tzedakah, we are watching what we say about others, we are working to put a smile on someone else's face.
The choices before us are clear: Life or death. A blessing or a curse. Holiness or profanity. Good or evil. They manifest themselves differently in each of us. We all have different areas in which we can and need to grow. The Jewish new year is a time that our growth as people must be reflected in thought and deed, as we strive to be the best possible version of our selves.
Shana Tova u'Metukah!
Monday, September 26, 2011
Thursday, September 15, 2011
Parshat Ki Tavo
I read very little on this week's parsha. What I did read, I found bland. But I particularly enjoyed the week's parsha, Ki Tavo, itself. As the Jewish people are on the verge of entering the land of Israel, we are forewarned of the impact of our actions on our lives -- it seems like common sense but is rarely internalized even today. The parsha contains a list of blessings God will shower upon us if we follow in His ways, followed by a list of curses should we fail to do so. One particular blessing and curse pair jumped out to me.
Another way in which these verses have meaning for me pertains to our status as lenders or borrowers. If we hearken unto God we will have abundant crops and the ability to lend to many nations. If we do not hearken, however, we will be forced to borrow from others. The ideal is for the work of our hown hand to sustain us and others. There are those who believe the opposite to be true in the Messianic age, but I find just the opposite attested to here as Moses speaks to the Jewish people this week. We need to work for what we earn - but must recognize that God is the ultimate source of everything we have. We must be grateful to Him and see His blessings in our life. But we cannot expect the blessings to come without putting fourth our own efforts as well.
And all these blessings shall come upon thee and overtake thee, if thou shalt hearken unto the voice of the Lord thy God.... The Lord will open upon thee...to bless all the work of they hand; and thou shalt lend unto many nations, but thou shalt not [need to] borrow. (Deuteronomy 28:2, 12)
But it shall come to pass, if thou will not hearken unto the voice of the Lord thy God, to observe to do all His commandments and His statues which I command thee this day; that all these curses shall come upon thee, and overtake thee.... [A stranger] shall lend to thee, and thou shalt not [be able to] lend to him. (Deuteronomy 28:15, 44)What jumps off the page for me is not the simple wording but the philosophical impact they have for our religious mindset. Too often, we get absorbed into a mindset of studying Torah that we forget to live Torah. I have often been critical of the "Kollel lifestyle" that places study of Torah at the forefront of one's life to the extent that families struggle to get by due to lack of income sources. But I can completely understand how someone can become so absorbed in Torah that they forget it includes more than study. It is addicting! Studying Torah makes me and so many others happy in ways that aren't even explainable. But when I read this week's Torah portion I felt a call to return to a true Torah way of living. A call to hearken to God's commandments through my work "in the city and in the field," "when I come in and when I go out." The blessings and the curses didn't pertain to our study of Torah; they pertained to our ability to live our day-to-day lives as farmers, merchants, bakers, weavers, potters, and builders as people who had lives guided by God. A life guided by God isn't reflected in most people primarily through their study of God, but just as much (if not more so) seen by acting in ways that reflect God's holiness.
Another way in which these verses have meaning for me pertains to our status as lenders or borrowers. If we hearken unto God we will have abundant crops and the ability to lend to many nations. If we do not hearken, however, we will be forced to borrow from others. The ideal is for the work of our hown hand to sustain us and others. There are those who believe the opposite to be true in the Messianic age, but I find just the opposite attested to here as Moses speaks to the Jewish people this week. We need to work for what we earn - but must recognize that God is the ultimate source of everything we have. We must be grateful to Him and see His blessings in our life. But we cannot expect the blessings to come without putting fourth our own efforts as well.
Monday, September 12, 2011
Parshat Ki Teitze
I'd like to briefly look at something from last week's Torah portion before moving on to Ki Tavo.
What intrigued me was the commentary on the commandment to send the mother-bird away from her nest before taking her young (Deuteronomy 22:7). In commenting on this verse the Talmud states that if someone prays to God, saying: "Have compassion on us, for Thou art the compassionate One, since Thy mercies reach even to a bird's nest," his prays are silenced. This seems like a horribly odd thing for someone to have their prayers silenced over. People pray for wealth and success, other vain and shallow things, but we don't hear that their prayers are silenced.
The Rambam gives an answer that the Ramban expands on. They say that a person who prays as written above is misunderstanding God's commandment. The commandments do not reflect God's mercy on the bird. If the Torah was a book of God's mercy for all creatures it wouldn't allow us to shecht (ritually slaughter) animals. In addition, it doesn't matter to God if we perform a mitzvah or sin. It is of no concern to Him what we eat, if we put on tefillin, etc. The Torah is a book given to the Jewish people by God to instruct us to live our lives with mercy and compassion, fulfillment and happiness. When performing all the mitzvot we must have this in mind: we are performing an act sanctioned (yes, by God) in order to make us better people. We are instructed to have compassion on the bird because of how it can transform us, not because of God's mercy for the bird.
As first I did not like this idea, but it has grown on me. The Torah was given to us, the Jewish people. It is our Book of Life. It instructs us. It certainly includes merciful attributes of God, but these are also to serve as a guide for our human actions. Based on the Rambam and Ramban I have come to realize that when we perform a mitzvah we aren't doing it for Him, but because of Him. We are doing it because God told us to, with the belief that whether we can understand the action or not, it will make us a better person because that is what God had in mind when He gave us the Torah.
What intrigued me was the commentary on the commandment to send the mother-bird away from her nest before taking her young (Deuteronomy 22:7). In commenting on this verse the Talmud states that if someone prays to God, saying: "Have compassion on us, for Thou art the compassionate One, since Thy mercies reach even to a bird's nest," his prays are silenced. This seems like a horribly odd thing for someone to have their prayers silenced over. People pray for wealth and success, other vain and shallow things, but we don't hear that their prayers are silenced.
The Rambam gives an answer that the Ramban expands on. They say that a person who prays as written above is misunderstanding God's commandment. The commandments do not reflect God's mercy on the bird. If the Torah was a book of God's mercy for all creatures it wouldn't allow us to shecht (ritually slaughter) animals. In addition, it doesn't matter to God if we perform a mitzvah or sin. It is of no concern to Him what we eat, if we put on tefillin, etc. The Torah is a book given to the Jewish people by God to instruct us to live our lives with mercy and compassion, fulfillment and happiness. When performing all the mitzvot we must have this in mind: we are performing an act sanctioned (yes, by God) in order to make us better people. We are instructed to have compassion on the bird because of how it can transform us, not because of God's mercy for the bird.
As first I did not like this idea, but it has grown on me. The Torah was given to us, the Jewish people. It is our Book of Life. It instructs us. It certainly includes merciful attributes of God, but these are also to serve as a guide for our human actions. Based on the Rambam and Ramban I have come to realize that when we perform a mitzvah we aren't doing it for Him, but because of Him. We are doing it because God told us to, with the belief that whether we can understand the action or not, it will make us a better person because that is what God had in mind when He gave us the Torah.
Friday, September 2, 2011
Parshat Shoftim
In Sefer HaHinuch, the middle-aged book of mitvah education, the 496th commandment is the negative commandment "not to disobey the word of the sanhedrin (great court)." This is based on Deuteronomy 17:11: you shalt not turn aside from the word which they shall declare to you, either to the right or the left. This seems fairly simple, but the author of Sefer HaHinuch expounds upon it in detail. In expounding upon a relevant Talmudic passage (TB Bava Metzia 59B) on an argument between Rabbi Eliezer and the majority of other judges of the day, he writes:
I think the answer can be found by looking at two other verses within this week's portion. First we find in commandment 491 (Deuteronomy 16:18) the need to appoint judges and officers in our communities. The judges and officers appointed were only those "wise and understanding in the Torah's wisdom, who also knew something of other [secular] fields of wisdom." According to our author, they underwent a thorough examination of character, intellectual ability, and morals before being appointed.
Secondly we read in Deuteronomy 18:13: Thou shalt be wholehearted with the Lord your God. I have no doubt that those appointed to the Sanhedrin were in line with this principle.
Rabbi Joel Roth, who taught my halacha class at the Conservative Yeshiva this summer stressed that in order to be a posek (halachic decision-maker) you have to be able to set aside your predispositions to want to answer halachic questions in a certain way. Of course he and nearly every rabbi that has ever been a posek is naturally predisposed to want to answer people in a certain way, especially in sensitive issues dealing with peoples' emotions. But, while rabbis certainly should deal with these issues compassionately, they must set aside all personal thoughts and decide halacha based solely on the Torah and Jewish precedents (i.e. within the already-developed system of Jewish law). This is how halacha can be seen as an expression of God's will -- because it stems from Sinai, not from our fleeting emotions and whims.
With this understanding of who the judges and officers were, I think we can better understand the Talmud's ruling that following the majority is more important than truth. All of the sages were concerned with truth. They served as poskim and the halacha is, most simply, an expression of God's will. And in determining God's will we are most concerned with, according to Rambam, truth. Given this, I think we must accept that at least the majority of our sages' hearts and minds were in the right place in determining halacha. They felt as if their opinion was truth.
All of the Sanhedrin's judges acted out of fear of God and love for the Jewish people, with the intent to determine God's will. Therefore, in cases of dispute, we follow the majority because, if everyone is "wholehearted with the Lord," we must put our faith in the majority to ensure unity of our nation. On occasion they may be wrong but as long as they are striving for Godliness in their work we do not need to fear being led astray.
The truth lay with R. Eliezer.... Yet even though the truth lay with him about this...[his opponents] brought proof from the law firmly set in the Torah -- for it commanded us always to follow the majority (in commandment 78), whether they speak truth or even err.I was, and am, a bit surprised by the author's word choice here. Why, if the "truth" of halacha was with R. Eliezer, do we follow the incorrect majority? Why are we following the majority even in matters known to be flawed. Today, we always hear of "truth" as the guiding principle in Judaism...isn't this contradictory?
I think the answer can be found by looking at two other verses within this week's portion. First we find in commandment 491 (Deuteronomy 16:18) the need to appoint judges and officers in our communities. The judges and officers appointed were only those "wise and understanding in the Torah's wisdom, who also knew something of other [secular] fields of wisdom." According to our author, they underwent a thorough examination of character, intellectual ability, and morals before being appointed.
Secondly we read in Deuteronomy 18:13: Thou shalt be wholehearted with the Lord your God. I have no doubt that those appointed to the Sanhedrin were in line with this principle.
Rabbi Joel Roth, who taught my halacha class at the Conservative Yeshiva this summer stressed that in order to be a posek (halachic decision-maker) you have to be able to set aside your predispositions to want to answer halachic questions in a certain way. Of course he and nearly every rabbi that has ever been a posek is naturally predisposed to want to answer people in a certain way, especially in sensitive issues dealing with peoples' emotions. But, while rabbis certainly should deal with these issues compassionately, they must set aside all personal thoughts and decide halacha based solely on the Torah and Jewish precedents (i.e. within the already-developed system of Jewish law). This is how halacha can be seen as an expression of God's will -- because it stems from Sinai, not from our fleeting emotions and whims.
With this understanding of who the judges and officers were, I think we can better understand the Talmud's ruling that following the majority is more important than truth. All of the sages were concerned with truth. They served as poskim and the halacha is, most simply, an expression of God's will. And in determining God's will we are most concerned with, according to Rambam, truth. Given this, I think we must accept that at least the majority of our sages' hearts and minds were in the right place in determining halacha. They felt as if their opinion was truth.
All of the Sanhedrin's judges acted out of fear of God and love for the Jewish people, with the intent to determine God's will. Therefore, in cases of dispute, we follow the majority because, if everyone is "wholehearted with the Lord," we must put our faith in the majority to ensure unity of our nation. On occasion they may be wrong but as long as they are striving for Godliness in their work we do not need to fear being led astray.
Thursday, September 1, 2011
On the Weekly Torah Portion
As a brief word of introduction to my new blog:
I have decided to start this blog for a variety of personal reasons, none more important than the simple fact that I love learning the Torah. As shaliach tzibbur (religious leader) at Hillel for my last two years in university I would often research and prepare a d'var Torah (sermon) on the parshat ha'shavua (weekly Torah portion). It was a great incentive for learning new things, and every time I reread the Torah portion it seems something new strikes me. I hope this blog will be a similar incentive.
Also - as I have just returned from a summer in Israel in yeshiva and am beginning to get acquainted with the "real world" and working I don't want to get swept up with "life" and forget the most important part of my life is my Judaism, which rests fundamentally upon the study of Torah.
From anyone that reads I would love to hear comments/feedback/questions.
I have decided to start this blog for a variety of personal reasons, none more important than the simple fact that I love learning the Torah. As shaliach tzibbur (religious leader) at Hillel for my last two years in university I would often research and prepare a d'var Torah (sermon) on the parshat ha'shavua (weekly Torah portion). It was a great incentive for learning new things, and every time I reread the Torah portion it seems something new strikes me. I hope this blog will be a similar incentive.
Also - as I have just returned from a summer in Israel in yeshiva and am beginning to get acquainted with the "real world" and working I don't want to get swept up with "life" and forget the most important part of my life is my Judaism, which rests fundamentally upon the study of Torah.
From anyone that reads I would love to hear comments/feedback/questions.
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