That Path is forYour Steps Alone (Robert Hunter&Jerry Garcia - "Ripple")

When I reached certain milestones in my own life, I never thought much of it. Yes these milestones such as: Bar Mitzvah, graduation, or marriage were sources of joy, pride, and accomplishment. However these milestones never gave me pause to look back out over my life with a sense mortality, or existential angst. However when my children started having their own milestones, such as being born, their first day of school or their Bar/Mitzvah or their graduation; these milestones gave me moments for pause. These milestones reminded me of my own mortality. These milestones forced me to wonder how will I afford a Bat Mitzvah, college tuition let alone weddings. These milestones invariably force me to look back over the course of my life and realize that, in some respects, vast spiritual, emotional and physical distances have been traveled and, Im Yirtzeh Hashem (With God’s help) there is more distance left to travel. Just recently, my wife and I have begun on the second Bat Mitzvah Party circuit. Having safely negotiated this with our eldest daughter, we now begin negotiating this phase with our 2^nd eldest daughter. Because we have maintained close friendships in both New Jersey and San Diego, our daughter has a wonderful opportunity to acquire frequent flier miles. At least, she hopes that she can acquire frequent flier miles. Her first opportunity came last weekend when she was supposed to go to New Jersey for her first Bat Mitzvah party. Admittedly, I was having a hard time accepting the fact that my wife and I had now entered this stage of parenting. Admittedly I was having a hard time accepting both the cost in dollars and time that this phase of parenting could potentially become. However something happened as she was about to go to New Jersey. The weather failed to cooperate. A freakish snow storm hit South Eastern New York, North Eastern Pennsylvania, and North New Jersey (the exact route we were to take to the Bat Mitzvah). We couldn’t go.

This week's Parsha is Lech Lecha. In it, God commands Abram to leave his father, his homeland and everything he has ever known and go to a place where God will show him later. Abram does. He heads down towards Egypt because of a famine. Eventually, Abram leaves Egypt with money, flocks, servants, and wealth. Lot, Abram's nephew, and Abram decide to part ways since each their respective flocks not only become intermingled but their hired hands fight among each other. Abram then fights against several kings in an attempt to protect Lot. Then his wife Sarai, who is barren, tells Abram to make Hagar (the maidservant) the surrogate mother. Abram listens and Hagar has a son named Ishmael. She runs away and then returns. God tells Abram a prophecy. Abram will become the father of a great nation, and that nation will become enslaved for several centuries and then will return to the land that God promised Abram. Then God instructs Abram to circumcise himself, his son Ishmael and all the males of his household. All these events are linked together by the theme of "Lech Lecha" of going, of travelling.

The Zohar, the rabbinic book of mysticism, comments upon the first verse "Lech Lecha Mei'Artzecha uMimoladtcha, U'mibeit Avicha El Ha'Aretz Acher Areka- Go for yourself from your land, from your relatives, and from your father's house to the land that I will show you (Gen 12:1). Instead of a physical journey, the Zohar explains that Abram was commanded to embark upon a spiritual journey. The soul, while residing in the World to Come, exists in close proximity to God. Because of the spiritual clarity and intensity revealed there, no free will and no chance for spiritual growth and advancement can occur. Like the angels, the soul in the World to Come is called an Omaid, a standee. In this World however, we know that a person has Free Will. This means that we all have the opportunity to advance spiritually as long as we remain in this World. The soul in this world is call a Holiach, a walker, someone who goes, much like Abram went.

Like Abram, we are all commanded to Lech Lecha. We are all commanded to leave our homes, our birthplaces and face the world. We are all commanded to face the challenges of this World and retain our integrity, our ideals and our sense of purpose. The challenge is to enter the physical and material world and retain the priorities consistent with the world from where our Neshama, our soul came, the spiritual world. Abram walked and traveled, and so did Lot. Yet Abram epitomized the individual who retained his integrity and ideals despite the difficulties of life, and despite the growing cynicism brought on by age. Abram managed to remember that God is the end and everything else is merely a means to that end. However all the wealth and all the prosperity are not ends in and of itself.

In verse Gen 12:8 we read Va'Yeit Ahalo - "and he [Abram] pitched his tent". Rashi points out that we read "his tent", but it is written as "her tent". This means that he pitched his wife's tent first and only then did he pitch other tents. Also the word tent is written in the singular. For Abram, his travels through life were about first doing for others then for himself. Abram's wealth was only a means of satisfying the basic needs of food, clothing and shelter. Otherwise wealth was to be use for the betterment of his camp, of his family and his tribe. About Lot we are told in Gen. 13:5 that "Lot, who went forth with Abram, had flocks, cattle and tents." Lot had accumulated wealth. He had not used his wealth for any significant or fundamental purpose. Each had to make his way in the world and each had dealt with hardship and each had accumulated wealth. However one remained with God and one chose the fertile valley near Sodom and Gomorrah in order to increase wealth. One handled hardship with grace and dignity never losing faith in God. One drifted so far from God that he eventually chose to live in an utterly amoral community who cared more for his own guests than his own daughters (Gen. 19:6-8).

The realization that I just reached a milestone occurred that evening when we tucked our daughter in to bed. She was a little bit teary eyed and saddened by the fact that we couldn’t bring her to her friend’s party. However our daughter grew up in front of us. She handled the disappointing news with grace and maturity. When I told her how proud I was of her for the way she handled the disappointing news, I realized that this little girl was growing up preparing for her own journey.

Peace,

Rav Yitz

Still I Know I Lead the Way (John Barlow & Bob Weir - Estimated Prophet)

Sometimes the old saying is true. It can be lonely at the top. Hard and unpopular decisions must get made which may mean losing a popularity contest every now and again. Sometimes a leader must be proactive or take up a cause. Sometimes a leader must sit his/her hands and wait for the right opportunity to act or have enough patience and not react. Sometimes a leader needs to have confidence to let things work themselves out with minimal invasiveness and without causing tumult, anguish or divisiveness. Perhaps the great leaders are the ones who know when to sit on his/her hands and knowing when to be aggressively proactive. Noach is an excellent case in point. Certainly he was proactive. He prepared for the Mabul, the Flood. However he didn’t enter into the Ark when the first drops arrived. He waited until the last possible second when there was no hope of saving anymore of God’s creation.

This week we read Parshat Noach. Noach’s should be familiar to all of us. God sends a flood as a means of dealing with the growing disappointment in mankind abysmal behavior. However one man, Noach, is deemed Ish Tzadik B’dorotav – a righteous man in his generation and God makes a covenant with him and his family. As a result, Noach, his family, and the male and female of every species will be saved in order to re-create after the flood. God instructs Noach to build a Tevah, an Ark. So Noach becomes proactive and begins building. According to the Midrash Tanchuma, it took Noach 120 years to build the Ark. Also, the Ark was built atop a mountain in order to give Noach the greatest amount of time to complete the project. This meant hauling all the materials up a mountain. Imagine spending roughly 1/8^th of your life preparing for the future. Imagine spending roughly 1/8^th of your life engaged in a single endeavor. Imagine putting off gratification for 1/8^th of your life and then knowing your sense of accomplishment is predicated on the destruction of so much. Imagine spending 1/8^th of your life hauling Gopher wood up a mountain. Every day Noach spent his time engaged in one activity, building the first aircraft carrier. Eventually the project would become the purpose of living. During this time, Noach’s life was not so easy. In fact, from a practical perspective, Noach’s life seems quite depressing.

According to Midrash Tanchuma, Noach faced ridicule from others and he was threatened with death. Yet despite it all, he continued building even though the gratification from the project would not occur for many years. For us, Judaism is much like the Noach building the Ark. For many, observance of Mitzvot is an uphill struggle. While it is human nature to demand results and savor the fruits of one’s labor sooner rather than later, putting off this sense of accomplishment is not exactly immediate. One must have a strong sense of self, a strong sense of purpose, and a sense of mission to know when to be aggressively proactive and know when to let all that pieces that one worked so hard to prepare to fall into place. For all of us, Judaism works the same way. The observance, prayer and Torah study provides purpose in our life. It allows us to create a balance between charging ahead like a bull in a china shop and waiting patiently and confidently for the right moment.

On this Shabbat Rosh Chodesh, may we learn from Noach’s patience and perspective. May we have the courage and wisdom to derive joy from the time we invest in learning Torah and observing Mitzvot. May we have faith to face down the ridicule, both the external and the internal variety of ridicule, as we make Judaism part of our life, just as the Ark became part of Noach’s life.

Peace,

Rav Yitz

Thought He'd Call It Planet Earth (Weir- One More Saturday Night)

As an American living in Toronto, I always find it entertaining listening to Canadians talk to me about American Politics. Among the most entertaining aspects of the discussion occurs when the discussion veers towards the level of ignorance of the American electorate. Canadians are shocked when I agree with the assessment that the American electorate is essentially uninformed, remarkable unscientific, and proud of their ignorance. Even worse than the American electorate's pride in its ignorance is the pride of many officials who seem genuinely proud of their own ignorance. I am not at all proud of this long tradition of anti-intellectualism in the United States. Nowhere is this more evident than in the underlying debate within the Republican Party. One of the candidates is adamant about teaching Creationism in the school as a viable alternative to evolution, suggesting that evolution is not conclusive. Several weeks ago there was an editorial cartoon about the state of Texas teaching “Creationism” in the schools as an alternative to evolution. There was a picture of girl sitting at a table. With a pencil in her hand and paper on the desk; she was clearly taking notes. A book was open, and on the spine of the book it said “Holy Bible” and there was a cross next those words. Clearly the girl looked as if she had a Bible assignment. Her father is walking out the door and says the following, “Gee, I would really love to help you with your SCIENCE homework, but I am not familiar with your new science textbook.” Quite clearly, there is a natural tension between the scientific explanation mankind’s origins and the biblical explanation of mankind’s origins. This issue, of course, is merely symbolic of the role that science plays among the most socially right wing members of the American electorate. One of the candidates has even criticized the Republican Party suggesting that their “anti-scientific” fear mongering will cost them the election.

This Shabbat we read from Parshat Breishit. It is the first Parsha of the first book of the Torah with the same name, Breishit. In the course of five chapters we encounter numerous narratives some of which seem unrelated and some of which seem contradictory and all of which seem to be at odds with our scientific understanding of the beginning of life here on earth. In the first chapter we read of a creation narrative that begins with nothing and culminates in the creation of mankind. In the second chapter we read a narrative that begins with the creation of Mankind. In the third chapter we read a narrative about the serpent convincing Adam v’ Chava to eat from the forbidden Tree of Knowledge and the resulting expulsion from Gan Eden. In the fourth chapter we read a narrative about the next generation, Cain and Abel, sibling rivalry and fratricide. The parsha concludes with the genealogical listing of the ten generations between Adam and Noach.

While the narratives seem distinct and unconnected; they are all bound by one significant theme. Each narrative reminds us of why there is no tension between these narratives and science. Each narrative deals with the nascent awareness of God’s presence within the world and within human life. Science is not concerned with mankind’s awareness of God’s presence within human life. In the first chapter we read Vayivarech Otam Elokim Vayomer Lahem Pru u’Rvu UMilu et Ha’Aretz – And God blessed them and he said to them, “Be Fruitful and multiply and fill the earth” (Gen.1:28). When receiving a blessing, the receiver is keenly aware that there is something more powerful. In the second chapter we read the verse, Vayipach B’Apav Nishmat Chayim Vayehi Ha’Adam L’Nefesh Chayah- And breathe into his [man’s] nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul (Gen 2:7). From this text we learn that creation is not a necessarily a physical concept but rather a spiritual concept. God infused mankind with a soul, a godly aspect that is very different than the purely physical aspect or scientific aspect. In the third chapter we read of Adam v’ Chava’s explicit awareness of God’s presence, Vayishmu et Kol Adoshem Elokim mit’haleich BaGan L’Ruach Ha’Yom – and they heard the voice of the Lord God walking in the garden in the breeze of the day…(Gen 3:8). One could only “hear the voice of God walking” if one already possessed some type of spiritual awareness. Once Adam and Chava ate from the tree of Knowledge, the souls they were infused with were now “turned on”. Finally in chapter 4, we read Va’Yavei Kayin Mipri Ha’Adama Mincha La’Adoshem. V’Hevel Heivi Gam Hu Mib’Chorot Tzono – Kayin brought of the fruit of the ground an offering to the Lord. And Avel, he also brought of the firstling of his flock (Gen. 4:3-4) God’s presence is not only felt, but by the end of the Parsha, mankind is reaching out to God.

Creation is the story of our awareness of God’s presence. It is a story of spiritual enlightenment in its most primitive sense. As we celebrate the first Shabbat of the new cycle of Torah, we have an opportunity to experience creation again. We have the opportunity to participate in creation, to renew our relationship and to improve our awareness of God’s presence in our lives.

Peace,

Rav Yitz

She Can Make Happy any Man Alive (Hunter, Weir - Sugar Magnolia)

Well in typical weather related irony, we have experienced a beautiful Indian summer for the past two weeks from the Shabbat after Rosh Hashanah through Yom Kippur and right up until Sukkot. Now that our Sukkah is up, decorated and the table is set for one of my wife’s delicious Yom Tov meals, we are expecting rain. Why couldn’t we have Indian summer for Sukkot? Why couldn’t it be sunny and beautiful while we are eating in the Sukkah? My wife of course, has divided her time between cooking and asking these questions. Yes, we have all noted the irony of the weather. We can control our preparation for Yom Tov. We can control our how we express our joy and happiness during Sukkot. We can control many things that enhance our Sukkot experience. But we all have limits to the extent of that control.

Among the most spiritually difficult and often perceived as harsh texts is the Sefer Kohelet the book of Ecclesiastes. We read it in its entirety once a year on Shabbat Chol HaMoed Sukkot, the Intermediate Sabbath of Sukkot. According to the tradition, Shlomo HaMelech, King Solomon, towards the end of his life, wrote this Megillah, this scroll. Tradition has this perspective because the language is not one of optimism but rather realism. This is a person who as “seen it all” – Ein Kol Chadash Tachat HaShemesh – There is nothing new under the sun! And yet there is a certain harsh realism and a certain sense of harsh optimism. The author provides us with a no holds barred sense of comfort. He does not coddle us. He does not baby us. Rather the author shoves our faces in this “reality” and gives us a perspective on how to deal with a world that is not as wonderful a place as we might have thought of in our youth, or even a few weeks ago. The question that so many of our sages have asked, is why is such a text, a text that does not offer such explicit hope, a text that does not offer explicit comfort, and is universally recognized as a “downer” of a text, why is such a text read on the holiday that is commonly regarded as Zman Simchateinu – the time of our joy?

In Eretz Yisroel, the Autumn Harvest is complete. We unabashedly celebrate our joy on a physical level because of a successful harvest. We also unabashedly celebrate our joy for having been judged favorably by God, (Rosh HaShanah), having been the recipients of God’s mercy (Yom Kippur). On Sukkot we are commanded to Samachta b’Chagecha – celebrate in your holiday. Yet this text tempers our celebration. While the nature of the Sukkot holiday is to celebrate our unrestrained joy in receiving God’s blessing, we also know that very often it is human nature to forget God and celebrate our achievements and ourselves. Kohelet reminds us that, like the fragile nature of the Sukkah itself, not everything is as much in our control as we think. V’Zerach HaShemesh U’Vah HaShemesh – the sun rises and the sun sets- no matter what we do, no matter how much control we may perceive that we have, at the end of the day, we are ultimately powerless. God is the ultimate cause of all things. The sun rises and sets because of God, not mankind. Kohelet helps us maintain our perspective. Kohelet reminds us that we are not the center of the world. Kohelet reminds us that for all the physical pleasures we seek, for the all the material comforts we work hard to afford, such things are fleeting.

So how can such a text offer us comfort? Well if we have the perspective of Kohelet, then we can understand how an elderly person, who has seen everything: man’s goodness, man’s evil, the joy of life and the futility of life, offers us comfort. With control comes responsibility. With power comes responsibility. Kohelet teaches us that we should celebrate the fact that we have so little control. Kohelet teaches us that we should derive joy from the fact that we don’t need to worry about the sunrise or the sunset. We shouldn’t be so terribly joyous when life comes into the world or upset when life leaves the world. Intellectually speaking, life and death is not within our control. Living our life is within our control. Living the best possible life is within our control. Living a life that has spiritual meaning and the acquisition of wisdom is the crux of our existence, the purpose for our living. Struggling to acquire anything else is futile. Torah is the embodiment of Wisdom. Sof Davar Ha’Kol Nishmah et Ha’Elohim Y’rah v’Et Mitzvotav Shmor Ki Zeh Kol HaYamim- The sum of the matter, when all has been considered: Fear God and keep his Commandments, for that is man’s whole duty. By doing so, we don’t need to worry about another Judgment on Rosh HaShanah; we don’t need to worry about God’s showing us mercy on Yom Kippur. We will have guaranteed that we have done everything in our control to make our lives meaningful. The joy in our celebration is the joy in our opportunity to acquire wisdom and internalize it.

Peace,

Rav Yitz

Higher and Higher, Goin' Straight for the Light ( Barlow & Weir - I Want to Fly Away)

There is no question that the highlight of our family's week is Shabbat. The house is cleaned; the kitchen smells of my wife's delicious cooking. When our children return from school, there are showers to take, clothes to put away, a table to set and lights to be programmed. With so much to do, what do our children do? They take off their shoes, grab a snack, and sit down to watch TV. With so much to do, they actually have the chutzpah to watch TV acting as if they have so much leisure time! Eventually everyone is ready for Shabbat. Candles are lit, blessings are made, and food is served, and eaten. Songs are sung Birkat Hamazon is said, and the table is cleared. Kids go up to bed. My wife reads, I study the weekly Torah portion read and then go to sleep. On Shabbat, again the combination of the physical and the spiritual occur. We go to Shul, I have a L'chayim or two of single malt scotch, enjoy a piece of shmaltz herring (I am beginning to sound like my 95 yr old grandfather), and then go home to lunch. We eat, we sing songs, and we say Birkat HaMazon. If the weather is nice, we take a walk and visit friends, if not, the kids play quietly in the basement and I close my eyes for a few minutes. I then go back to Shul for Mincha and Maariv. Shabbat is a very unique day in which the physical and the spiritual combine in a perfect symmetry and create the opportunity for a truly wonderful day. Ever mindful of our physical existence, Shabbat is the day where our physical existence is infused with spirituality. Shabbat is the day where we bring Olam Habah, and Gan Eden down to us and our physical existence.
This Shabbat, Jews throughout the world will be celebrating Yom Kippur –The Day of Atonement. The name of the day does sound rather solemn. For most Jews, Yom Kippur is considered a rather somber sort of day and a day in which we are supposed to “afflict” ourselves. In Masechet Yoma (the Talmudic tractate that focus on Yom Kippur), five afflictions are mentioned as part of Yom Kippur. These five afflictions are: fasting (no food or drink from sunset to sunset); washing; anointing; wearing of leather, and marital relations. While Shabbat is the day we do not afflict ourselves, when Yom Kippur falls on Shabbat, Yom Kippur supersedes the laws of Shabbat. Only Yom Kippur supersedes Shabbat in terms of importance. It is known as Shabbat Shabbaton – the Sabbath of all Sabbaths. How can a day in which we physical afflict ourselves supersede the one day of the week where we miraculously bring the spiritual world down to our physical world?

Maybe we need to re-examine those afflictions as well as what the objective on Yom Kippur is. The Midrash explains that Yom Kippur is the day that Moshe Rabeinu re-ascended the mountain and received the second set of the Aseret Dibrot, the second set of commandments. Remember, the first set was destroyed when Moshe saw Bnai Yisroel worshipping the Eigel Zahav, the Golden calf. In his anger, Moshe smashed the first set of stone tablets. During this second revelation, this more private sort of revelation, Moshe had begged God to be permitted to see God’s face. While God rejected Moshe’s request, God did in fact allow Moshe to see God’s back as God passed (Exodus Chapter 33). During this 4o days and nights, (beginning on Elul 1 and concluding on Yom Kippur), Moshe fasted. On the one hand, he experienced a physical affliction due to the lack of food. On the other hand, he had the opportunity to be as near God as was humanly possible. In that moment he had become more spiritual than physical. Yes we afflict ourselves. However, the “afflictions” are base on the desire to be more spiritual than physical. The “afflictions” are based upon our desire to be as close to God as humanly possible. Our “afflictions” are based upon our desire to experience God from the exalted position of the Angels without care or concern to our physical existence. The Atonement therefore is not the sole purpose of the day. The ultimate purpose of the day is to be as close to God as possible. How can we be close to God if we are ensconced in the physical realm? How can we be close to God if we need to atone for our spiritual shortcomings (our Chetaim –sins)? Our spiritual shortcomings are just that, short of God. Atonement allows us to be closer. Closer to God is a good thing. Closeness to God is the main objective of Yom Kippur. When we achieve this, we should be totally happy, at ease in utterly in awed just like Moshe was when he descended the mountain the second time with the second set of tablet. God’s spiritual light emanated from Moshe. Who wouldn’t be happy if that happened to each and every one of us?

Rather than thinking of Yom Kippur as so somber and serious, it is the one day of the year where we purposefully supersede Shabbat. Rather than bringing HaKadosh Baruch Hu down to us, Yom Kippur is the day that we elevate our souls towards the Kadosh Baruch Hu. The experience should be much more than somber. That experience ought to fill us with awe, joy, and leave us radiating light as well.

Gmar Chatima Tov -May we all be sealed in the Book of Life

Peace,

Rav Yitz