Monday, February 25, 2008

Faith Soul

The episode that we read in Exodus, chapter thirty-five, takes place the day after Yom Kippur.

The full tale actually opens up a short while before when Moshe ascended Mt Sinai to receive the Word of God. Leaving his family and people behind Moshe climbed upward to the gateway of heaven. When he returned forty days later, Moshe was crushed as he discovered his people had crafted a Golden Calf. Moshe was beyond dismayed. Having just met God and emerging from the meeting glowing with the vestiges of the Divine encounter, Moshe finds Bnai Israel had utterly betrayed his trust. His faith in the people was misplaced. The tablets were shattered.

Moshe then went up to meet God a second time. The day when he returned to the people was on the tenth of Tishray, Yom Kippur.

Is this not auspicious? Forgiveness of the Great Betrayal was granted, sealed and completed on the Day of Atonement. When HaShem issued the second set of Commandments it was the ultimate signal that He had embraced the people once again.

A recurring question we ask about the Israelites is, how could they have turned on God? After everything that God did for them how could this nation forget so easily? The plagues? The sea? The manna?

Another question asked less often is, how could HaKadosh Barukh Hu forgive them? It would not have been a long leap of imagination to suggest that the people were not worth saving. The experiment failed. Why not just give up on the Israelites? The brit, the holy covenant, had been abrogated by them. God kept His side of the bargain. We reneged. What stopped God from saying; "Since you have abandoned Me, I am abandoning you?"

The only plausible response to this question is that God wants us. Just like we want our children and parents to be strong and well; so too, God wants us to succeed and overcome our worst impulses. Just like we do not jettison our loved ones, God does not abanondon us.

There is an old rabbinic conundrum of what to say when called upon to officiate at the funeral of a no-goodnik. What is there to say? He was a lousy provider. He stole. He cheated. The only answer is, he was good to his mother!

In much the same way we look at God and see the same hope from Above. He wants us to do well. God cheers for us. He hopes for the best. Even in our most awful, dark moments, God sees our potenitial. That is why the Holy One embraces us even when we have turned our backs on Him.

Here, in our parsha, God shows us how to forgive, even when the crime seems unbearable...

A thought: God Himself visits Abraham as he is ailing. Why does the Holy One visit the sick? To teach us how we must behave. Our responsibility is to visit people in pain.

In the opening chapters of the Torah, God makes clothes for Adam and Havvah. The Sages were not at a loss to tell us why God becomes a provider of garments: He wants us to imitate Him. God shows us how to care for the disadvantaged. As the Holy One clothes the naked so should we care for our brothers and sisters.

Going back even further, HaKodosh Barukh Hu designs a universe in seven days. Does the All Powerful One really need that length of time to create the cosmos? Cannot God cast a universe in a millisecond? Why seven days? He makes a universe in the span of one week to show us how to use our time. If the Omnipotent One refrains from creating on the seventh day then it follows that we need to imitate Him.

What is the first mitzva in the new era when the Torah was given? The Israelites are directed to build a Mishkan, a Tabernacle. Before any further instructions are given comes a warning: The first utterance before any construction begins is to not work on Shabbat.

The Holy One knew that the people would now be eager to please their Maker. After all, they had just been forgiven for the crime of the Golden Calf. Now was the time for contrition and proving that they were a faithful lot. They wanted to prove that they were worthy of God's forgiveness. Understanding their few-found zeal, God articulated that under no circumstances were the people allowed to do any kind of word on the Mishkan during Shabbat.

In the immediate next verses the work of the Mishkan is carefully delineated. The Rabbis throughout the ages looked at these passages and determined that if we are not allowed to do them on Shabbat for the sake of God, then we are most certainly not allowed to do them for any other reason on the holy Shabbat. These thirty-nine articulated labors then became the identifying features for prohibited work on Shabbat.

Two questions need to be asked:

1. Are there any features link the 39 labors together?
2. And what do these labors have to do to with the creation by God of the universe, i.e. refraining from creating on the seventh day?

1. The thirty-nine actions have in common with each other the idea that they build a comfortable, useful universe to suit our needs. All these items -- cooking, baking, making fire, sewing, etc.-- provide us with a more predictable and ordered world. Each labor changes the natural universe to make us more comfortable. In our time, the comparison might be mowing the lawn, working in the yard, using engines to change the environment.

Idea: nowhere in the Torah does it state that we must not "work" on Shabbat; that is, "work" in the traditional mode of doing what we get paid for. The halakha is far more complex.

2. What do these labors have to do with Shabbat?
Listen to the description of Man in Genesis. Of man it states that when God breathed into this first being His animating breath of life Adam became a living nefesh. Genesis 2:7

The nefesh becomes worn and depleted as we exercise our never-ending role of "dominator of the world."

That is why as the Torah is given another gift is offered by the Holy One. "...and on the seventh day he rested, "vayinfash." Vayinfash literally means "and he was soul-ed." S'forno reveals that God, at the same time that He presented us with His Torah, also presented us with an additional dimension to life, Shabbat. When we act within the universe, not as conquerors or overlords, we imbibe an extra soul. Or, at the very least, we become whole with our original self, our nefesh.

On Shabbat we are presented with the godly gift of becoming re-souled.

Friday, February 15, 2008

Self Definition

Self Definition
Order is important. When reading the Torah, chronology informs us of how people and a peoplehood develop. We watch as the life of Moses, for example, is first described in the opening chapters of Exodus. We then follow him as he grows, matures and changes through adulthood. Without this order we would have a faulty, sporadic view of how this redeemer/lawgiver came to be.

That is why this Torah parsha is so troubling. It is out of order. The Sages, of blessed memory, universally agreed that the narrative of the census belongs elsewhere in the Torah. They tell us that all the commandments enumerated here were given before the episode of the Golden Calf…yet they are placed after the event.

The Sages were unmoved by the conundrum. They figuratively shrugged their collective shoulders and said, “There is no chronology in the Torah.”

For those who sit and learn in the light of the Torah, carefully scrutinizing the Text for its many meanings, this is a critical issue that demands a response.

The scientific study of Bible yields its answer: the lack of order in the Writ shows bad editorial-ship. The Text, they tell, is actually a series of disparate fragments that were patched together, rather poorly as proven here, in a single volume. Each fragment may tell the story of the same people but each has a dissimilar viewpoint. Sometimes, the authors even lived in different centuries!

To the scientifically oriented the lack of chronology is not troubling. It simply reveals the human artistry and foibles of the biblical authors.

For the faithful, the lack of order is also not disturbing. They look at the world and stand in silent awe of a vast universe that holds secrets that can never be plumbed. The cosmos is too vast. As a tiny pebble on an endless stretch of beach, the believer looks out at the expanse and sees a mystery that will always lie beyond his reach.

For such a religious being the lack of chronology is a spur to study the hoary texts and scour them for clues to its meaning with every available piece of information from the present. And if they still cannot understand why the Bible is out of order? They accept that this is part of the plan of God.

Ultimately, they believe, He will unfurl the mystery when the time is right.

Every person is predisposed to see the world as befits their personality and outlook. Some are optimistic, others are pessimistic. Some are field with bleak despair, others brim with hope. We all search for what our heart yearns to find. Invaiably, we find what we want to find.

We choose the path which best suits our soul. For every student of Torah this question must be confronted: Which voice is stronger inside us? The empiricist who looks for scientific data? Or the person of awe who is in search of God? The answer to these questions is a clue to who we are truly are. More often than otherwaise, we see what we are predisposed to see. We find what we want to find.

Which are you? God centric? Scientifically focused?

-------------- ---------------------------------------------

Exodus 30:16 One-half shekel is given by every Israelite as atonement for their soul.
No one was all owed to give more or less than the stated amount. In the final analysis, while some people will accumulate great wealth and others will not raise themselves out of poverty, the value of a soul is the same.

Atonement: the silver that the brothers of Joseph received for selling him was divided between them. Each received one-half shekel as their prize.
For the sin of selling Joseph the Israelites carried the burden of that guilt until now. The half-shekel atoned for Joseph.

D'var Acher: (another approach): Some say the half shekel was a means of taking a census. In collecting one coin from each person, the elders would soon see how many Israelites would becomes the seeds of the new nation.

D'var Acher: after the rebellion of the Golden Calf many of the instigators and participants died. A census was needed to count the survivors.

Dvar Acher: when people are counted it brings on the ayin hara, the evil eye. For example, when King David took a count of his people the nation was afflicted with a terrible plague. 2 Samuel 24
In our time, as the Jews of the Shoah were numbered ad counted the fires of Gehenna were stoked. That is why one coin was given instead of counting heads.

D'var Acher: only men participated in the actual making of the Golden Calf. A man without a woman is termed a peleg gufa, half a person. For the crime of the men making the Calf, one-half shekel was demanded.

D'var Acher: "God does not reject the broken-hearted." Psalms 51:19
A shekel is a reminder that we are all tormented, fragile beings. Broken as we are – like the half-shekel – God desires us.

D'var Acher: Why was the atonement of the shekel required? We all need forgiveness.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Ki Tissa, this week's parasha, begins with God telling Moses to take a census of the Israelites.  The mechanism for doing so is to have each Jew give 1/2 shekel.  The shekels would then be counted and Moses would know how many people were part go the nation.  Why this convoluted way of counting people?   Maybe because, as has been suggested, that when we count people we somehow limit their scope.  In reducing them to a number we dehumanize them.  Sound familiar?  We, who live in the post Holocaust generation, know this far too well when our people were shorn of their names and given numbers engraved on their arms.  
Here is that by counting someone, we limit that person by imposing a cap or assigning a number to them. Didn't Haman make the same statement when he reduced people to an intrusion of numbers?  
As the holy Zohar points out, in Hebrew lispore means to count or cut.  Perhaps when we count people we "cut" them.    Even today when we need to ascertain that we have a minyan we avoid counting people by saying "not one, not two...".  Some refuse to do even that: they will recite the mah tovu, which has ten words, and say one word for each person.
Always think the best of others and you will bring out the best in them.

Tuesday, February 12, 2008

Defining Our Sacred Space

The parsha of Tetsaveh devotes great attention to the details of the vestments of the Kohen Gadol.

Why are these details so important? Ramban notes and stresses that kings also wore clothing that was not dissimilar to the Kohen Gadol. The Ramban then remarks that dress gives definition to our stature in the eyes of other people. In this instance, Bnai Yisrael became aware of the grandeur of its leader Aaron, through his specified and ornate clothing.

A commentator, Benno Jakob, believes that clothing connotes something far more powerful than dignity. Remember that the Holy One, blessed be He, personally made clothes for primordial man in the Garden. This act separated the man and woman from the beasts of the world. While the animals wore only their natural fur, shell or skin humanity was now cloaked in vestments that were foreign to their bodies. The clothes Adam and Havvah wore differentiated them from beasts. Of all the things that God could have given humanity – food, shelter, gifts of all sorts - He chose to make for them clothes.

What Benno Jakob is telling us is that not only do clothes change the way we are seen they also have an impact on how we view ourselves. They separate us from animals, lower life. Yet, it is not only clothes alone that separate us from the beasts of the earth because we could wear ornaments that would only magnify the worst aspects of animal instinct. Clothes can also have the ability to separate us from our worst, most base animal instincts. For this reason, Judaism places great emphasis on dress, how we present ourselves.

Modesty of dress is one avenue of connection to the world and to the Divine. Modesty means that we respect borders and privacy. The way that we dress, for one example, is about limiting others from accessing our privacy. It is the outward symbol of our desire to connect with other people positively and then as a result connect with the Divine One. That is why the prophet Micah urges us, "to walk with modesty before God." 6:8

Moshe personally clothed his sibling, Aaron. It was his task to appoint and dress the first Kohen. Moshe installed Aaron as the Kohen Gadol. When people saw Aaron wearing his Kohen garb they would accept him for his powerful office and high status. At the same time, Aaron would also feel special because the clothing would remind him that he was different.

Clothes are distinctive reminders of our being. A tale of Nachum of Chernobyl tells of when he once lost sensation in his legs on a Shabbat. He looked down and discovered he was still wearing his weekday trousers. The soul of the tzaddik was sensitive to Shabbat and the great division between the mundane and the kodesh. His subconscious was mindful of the holiness that his Shabbat clothes provided.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

This is the only Torah parsha -- outside of Genesis -- where the name of Moshe Rabbeinu goes unmentioned. After the sin of the Golden Calf Moshe begged the Holy One to not destroy the Jews for their unconscionable sin. He prayed to the Holy One to pardon his people. Moshe was so insistent that he said, … “if not, erase me from Your book." Exodus 32:32.

The Holy One did relent. He heard and accepted the plea from His faithful servant. Yet, the power of this leader was so great that while God forgave Israel the words of Moses remained. No word of a tzaddik is lost. Each utterance is of consequence. That is why the name of Moshe Rabbeinu does not appear in this Torah parsha.

Proverbs goes so far as to state that, "Death and life are in the power of the tongue." Through the example of Moshe we learn that when we speak every word is counted, each sentence has great import. How many times have you received an e-mail where you read and re-read the message looking for underlying clues of malicious intent? Even while we know there may have been no ill will we scour each word and wring it for inner meaning. Others have done the same to our letters. Such things can destroy relationships forever.

The same is true of words spoken. Sometimes they are remembered, dissected and found to contain meanings that we did not intend. We must be very careful before we write or speak.Torah believes that words spoken are not only important between people but that the Holy One also listens to each word and remembers.

On the other side, rich rewards sate very meeting where Truth is spoken. Hananya ben Teradyon taught: “When two people sit and words of Torah pass between them, the Divine Presence rests between them.” Avot 3.3 Godliness lies in the message.

Implicit in the Torah is the importance of every spoken word. In the tale of Noah God states, “Go into the tevah [the ark] with your household.” (Gen 7:1) Tevah is usually translated as “ark.” However tevah also means “word.” That is why the hidden meaning of the text regarding Noah is that we need to be vigilant about every word that we utter. Before we even open our mouth we ought to think about what we want to say and how it could be interpreted. Our commitment to travel into every “word” is of paramount importance.

There are words that are powerful builders of truth and there are words of waste and terrible destruction. It is a scared task to speak. In fact many traditional commentaries on Genesis explicate the hidden meaning of “man was created in the image of God.” They reveal that being cast in the image of the Holy One means being given the gift of speaking. Each word of the Torah is imbued with depth and meaning. So too is each word spoken by us.

Any word possesses the inherent ability to create or destroy. Our task is to use our God-given gift well. At all costs it must not be abused. The Kotzker Rebbe once said, “It is not enough to pass through the Talmud, the Talmud must pass through us.” Every word is sacred.

Tuesday, February 5, 2008

Mishkan, Terumah and Higher

On God.
These words are sung in the Shabbat and holy days during Musaf: Holy, holy, holy, the universe is filled with His radiance.

There is not quadrant or even an infinitesimal speck in the most remote regions of the cosmos that does not contain the essence of the Almighty. The universe is filled with Him.

In Terumah, there is an elaborate description on creating and maintaining a “Place” or Mishkan where the presence of the Holy One can be found. In fact the parsaha is devoted to sorting out the specific details of how to construct this dwelling place for God. Furthermore, we label the most proximate place of God as the Shechina. Shechina is the “Place “ where the Holy One, blessed be He, can be most strongly felt. Both words — the Shechina and Mishkan – have the same Hebrew root. They indicate a location where God is found.

Question: Did we not just say that there is no place in the universe where Divine sparks cannot be found? Why then build a Mishkan for God? Why specify a word indicting the presence of God?

The decision to have a Mishkan, or dwelling place on earth, dedicated to God was a reaction against the Golden Calf in the wilderness. Because the Jewish people acted on impulse to have an image of God, something they could point to as a physical presence of the Almighty, God responded by giving the specific dimensions of a Mishkan for the Shechina on earth thus satisfying this human need.

The Shechina is not limited to a space. It is only the human awareness of the Presence of the Divine One.

In Psalm 26 David asks, "Who will stand in the place Holiness?"
Note that the question is not, Who will ascend to the place of God? but, who will stand there? In other words, only if our eyes are truly open and yearning for God will find ourselves in a place of holiness. When we search for God every act will be elevated to the plane of holiness. We become souls aflame.

Midrash: A king had a daughter who fell in love and married a man from a distant town. The king, happy at the wedding, made a single request of his daughter. “I love you and will miss you. There is a part of me that wishes I could stop you from moving away but I know you must follow your heart, your love. Please set aside a room for me at your new home so that I may come to visit with you.”
This is the Mishkan.

On people. V-asu, "and they will make," is in the plural form. Every Jew was responsible to contribute toward the building of the Mishkan. The Mishkan was destined to be a structure that every member of B’nai Israel built and owned.

Further on, there is an opportunity to give more for the Mishkan. This time, unlike the last, is optional. The Torah states, "from every person whose heart moves him you shall take My portion.” (25:2)

Idea: Our self image is chiseled from the actions of our hands. We find self-definition by the things we do. When we act in harmony with God; when we choose the path of mitzvot; when we go beyond the boundaries of tzedaka and reach instead for gemilut hasadim,* acts of righteousness, we form an positive self image that makes us happy.

Working in synchronicity with God brings joy. Suggested by the Torah is that when we give our self toward a higher purpose our life becomes elevated.

That is why the Torah also says Vayikhu Lee Teruma, "Take for Me teruma." Rabbi Moshe Feinstein zl, explained that when we do acts of kindness our dark side, or Yetzer Hara, works against us. The building of the Mishkan taught that when we behave with generosity we grow in moral stature. That is why Feinstein interpreted this pasuk as, You will take as you will give. When we give we receive something far greater…..

As recorded in the Talmud, Baba Batra 11a, King Munbaz said, "My fathers stored their wealth below; I have stored mine above." King Munbaz knew that his life and spiritual side had so much more value when he acted out of goodness and with a full heart. His investment was not in his treasury but with God.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
* Tzedaka is our responsibility, our obligation. Gemilut Hasadim is a way of approaching life. Gemilut Hasadim means acting kindly, stretching beyond the boundaries of what is expected by doing good things.