Tuesday, January 31, 2012

A Voice So Sweet And Clear (Barlow & Weir "Gloria Monday")

We just returned from spending Shabbat and the weekend in Philadelphia. I did my undergraduate work in Philadelphia (actually the Philly suburbs), so in a sense, I experienced a lot of déjà vu. The bar mitzvah was very nice and it was terrific seeing our San Diego friends. On Sunday, as we began the 9+ hour drive home to Toronto, the discussion turned to the inevitable. Our eleven year old daughter will have a Bat Mitzvah sometime this summer and early fall. We are still designing the whole bat mitzvah concept. We are planning a trip to Israel, I have started learning text with our daughter specifically Hilchot Tzeddakkah – the Laws of Charitable Donations. Our plan is to have an informal get together on this continent so she can share with us what she has learned as well as to have a type of Siyyum for her completion of this course of study. While so many details need to be worked out, we are all in agreement that our daughter needs to speak, she needs to share with us what she has learned as well as to explain how she has incorporated the learning into some type of mitzvah project.

This Shabbat is known as Shabbat Shira (Shabbat of Songs) because of the "songs" or prose in both the Parsha, Beshallach, and in the Haftarah. In the Parsha Beshallach, B'nai Yisroel finally leaves Egypt. Pharaoh sends them out and they hurriedly leave. Three days later, B'nai Yisroel arrives at the Yam Suf, the Reed Sea, which is along the Mediterranean coast. With Pharaoh's army behind them, and the Sea in front, B'nai Yisroel is trapped. Then the sea opens up, B'nai Yisroel crosses through and arrives safely on the other side. The Egyptian army gets caught in the sea - bed as the waters comes crashing down. Out of joy and relief, B'nai Yisroel composes Shirat HaYam, the Song of the Sea. No sooner are they finished celebrating, then they begin complaining about the lack of water and food. God provides water and Manna. However, B'nai Yisroel is still not safe. Now they are attacked by the indigenous tribe, the Amalakites. B'nai Yisroel must put aside its hunger and thirst and fight for their lives. They do, and they are victorious. The Parsha ends with God commanding Moshe to blot out the very existence of the Amalakites.

When we read and study Torah, we notice that there are not a lot of narratives about women. When woman are mentioned it is in a context that is somewhat tangential to the main story line, i.e. Dinah, Tamar, Lot's wife turning into a pillar of salt, Leah and even Rachel. The mention of women is either associated with the birth of children or in the context of someone or something else. Even when we read the genealogies we should notice that it is traced through the man. However in Parsha Beshallach we read about Miriam and B'not Yisroel in a very different context. They are not mentioned in the context of childbirth, nor are they are not mentioned in the context of marriage. V'Tikach Miryam Hanavi Achot Aharon et Hatof B'yadah-Miriam the prophetess, the sister of Aaron, took her drum in her hand, Va'Teithenah Chol Ha'Nashim Achareha B'Tupim U'Vimcholot- and all the women went forth after her with drums and dances (Ex 15:20). Miriam is being mentioned in her own right and not within the context of someone else. Miriam is mentioned in the framework of the story. B'nai Yisroel finishes the crossing. They sing their song. The waters swallow up Pharaoh’s army. Miriam leads the women in celebratory song and dance. V'Ta'an Lahem Miryam Shiru L'Adonai Ki Ga'oh Ga'ah Sus v'Rochvo Ramah VaYam - Miriam spoke up to them "Sing to G-d for He is exalted above the arrogant, having hurled horse with its rider into the sea (Ex 15:21). Miriam is given a public voice. She is given a forum for public expression. Except in the Haftarah, when another prophetess named Devorah has a similar forum, nowhere else do we read of a woman given such a public voice and public expression. How empowering this moment was for Miriam. She not only led women but La'hem (to them) refers to both men and women. She spoke to and convinced everyone to sing praises to God.

Our perception of Miriam is that of a strong female character. Our perception of Devorah is that of a strong character. Our perception of the matriarch Rivka is that of a strong female character. Miriam and Devorah had occupied a very public forum for their voices. Rebecca's forum existed in the confines of the family. All three spoke out, all three were listened to. All three were given a voice in the Torah. From this we learn just how vital it is for woman to have voice, to have opinion, to have a forum and a means to express their voice.

As our daughter prepares for her bat mitzvah, I have already noticed a change in her voice, a change in how she deals with life and voices an opinion. She is starting to be a little more thoughtful, a little more insightful, and a little less superficial. Her voice has started to get stronger and with that, we have started to add more responsibility to her plate. Hopefully, by the time of her Bat Mitzvah she will have discovered her voice and a way for us to hear it in the young adult she is soon to become.

Peace,

Rav Yitz

Monday, January 23, 2012

Fatal Flowers of Darkness Bloom From Seeds Of Light ( Hunter & Garcia "Blues for Allah")

Among the small inconveniences that I endure as a New York/ New Jersey guy is that I have to read the New York newspapers including the Times and the Post on line. While there is nothing like holding the newspaper in your hand and folding it just so, I have learned to make to do. Last week on January 20th in the op. ed. section an editorial appeared entitled: Lechery Immodesty and the Talmud by Rabbi Dov Linzer. The editorial, citing Talmudic opinion about women and the public domain, was Rabbi Linzer’s opinion on the events that occurred in Beit Shemesh a few weeks ago. Then, a young girl walking to school with her mother, dressed in modest typically orthodox looking clothing was spat upon by fundamentalist Chareidi Jews who felt that this 8 year old girl wasn’t dressed modestly enough. Rabbi Linzer points out that this fundamentalist perspective of Jewish Women, the public domain and how to deal with it if at all was based upon the same Dark Age mentality that grips the fundamentalist Muslim world. That is to say, from this fundamentalist perspective, women have no place and no role in the public domain.

This week's Parsha is Bo. The ten plagues culminate with locusts, darkness and finally the killing of the first born. On the night of the last plague, God instructs Moshe to tell B'nai Yisroel to slaughter a lamb for each family. The blood should be painted onto the door- post. The sacrificed lamb must be completely eaten that night with no leftovers. The command continues with God instructing Moshe to reiterate this story to the children of each family. The Parsha concludes with the command to sanctify the first born, remember this night, remember what God did for B'nai Yisroel, and how B'nai Yisroel eventually returned to the land.

Parts of the Parsha are read on Pesach. Those parts dealing with the Paschal sacrifice, as well as the Mitzvah of "Telling" the child about the impending redemption, are read. However there is one phrase that is particularly interesting and revealing. The second to last plague is Choshech, darkness. Vayomer Adonai el Moshe N'Teih Yadchah al Hashamayim - And God said to Moshe "Stretch forth your hand toward the heavens, Va'Yehi Choshech al Eretz Mitzrayim- "And there will be a darkness upon the land of Egypt , Vayameish Choshech - and the darkness will be felt (Ex. 10:21). What does it mean that the darkness will be felt? What will it feel like? Will it be hot or cold, wet or dry? Maybe it will thick like some type of fog. Maybe it will be the horrible emptiness as if one is falling through an abyss with nothing all around. Whatever kind of darkness it is, it can be felt. It is noticeable and therefore extraordinarily different than the standard night -time or even an eclipse. Bnai Yisroel still had light in their dwellings while the plague occurred. Pharaoh could not stand it anymore and told Moshe to take everyone including the children and leave. It must have been some darkness.

After reading following the story in Beit Shemesh, the response by the non chareidi orthodox world, the secular Israelis and Rabbi Linzer editorial, I finally realized what the plague of darkness must have felt like. It is a plague that continues to permeate in the fundamentalist Chareidi world where a culture of exclusion permeates society, where women not only raise children but support husbands who spend their days in the kollel studying instead of working and help raise children. For such women, one should never be seen and certainly their male counterparts don’t want to hear from them. Instead they are invisible and without hope. Imagine being a young women a society where going to school is filled with the fear of being spat upon because some narrow minded ignorant man views an 8 year old girl as a sexual being that needs to be covered even more than she is?. Imagine young person separated from the world of ideas. Imagine being a young person without any care for the future. This must be what slavery is like: an existence void of hopes, void of prospects for a future, and void ideas and thought. To be a slave means being stuck with no healthy form of recourse. Those Jewish fundamentalist that follow the soulless and ugly version of Judaism are living in Darkness. It is a darkness that is incredibly tangible. That kind of darkness weighs heavily upon the soul. That kind of darkness kills a soul. It is the kind of Darkness that permits a man to spit upon a child because he thinks she is dressed immodestly. This young girl and her mother and those like them represent B'nai Yisroel who had light in their homes during that plague. The Young girl and her mother, like B'nai Yisroel, embody the warmth and the light that should always be the best of Judaism.

On this Shabbat, may we all peer into the dark corners of our souls. Those corners darkened by ignorance, closed mindedness and fear. May we see its coldness, its emptiness, its narrowness, its fundamentalism void of faith and hope. Then we should shudder from such darkness. After peering into that darkness may we look around and appreciate and celebrate the opportunity for the light we can allow in our lives. We have been blessed with a wonderful opportunity to bring in the light of Shabbat, the warmth of family, and a life filled with hope, faith, education and wisdom.

Peace,

Rav Yitz

Wednesday, January 18, 2012

Believe It If You Need It Or Leave It If You Dare (Hunter & Lesh "Box of Rain")

A congregant once came into my office crying. “Rabbi, Rabbi, I have horrible news and I don’t know what to do!” Immediately I began thinking of all the possibilities of what constitutes “horrible news”. Perhaps she discovered that she had a terminal illness, or maybe her husband was having an affair, or maybe one of her children was addicted to drugs. I was very concerned since this was an extremely generous family, generous with their money and their time. They were in Shul all the time. Both children were, smart observant, active in their respective communities, and embodied mentschlekite. For the life of me, I could not imagine what possible crisis could bring this distraught woman brought into my office. “What is it?” I asked in a concerned manner. She answered, “My son, Josh, who is in his sophomore year of college, called me last night and he told me that he didn’t believe in God anymore.” I breathed a sigh of relief.” So, Nu? What’s the problem? What’s the crisis?” She could not understand why I was smiling. To her, a son’s declarative statement that expressed a disbelief in God, apparently made her feel inadequate as a parent, and challenged the foundation of her own belief system. I explained that for an intellectually honest and curious college student to think and express such thoughts is not only healthy and normal, but also vital to the process of developing and strengthening faith. Not too many 19-year-old young men feel mortal or limited. Everything is possible, they are all powerful, and they can “handle anything”. In such circumstances, wondering where God would fit in is a legitimate question. Most 19-year-old not only thinks that they are the center of the world, but they are not limited by its restrictions. There is no reason to believe in God as long as he believes in himself.

This Shabbat is Parsha Va’Eira. In this Parshah, God reassures Moshe after Pharaoh and mocked and dismissed both he and Aharon. God explains the plan to Moshe that Pharaoh’s heart will be hardened after each plague but eventually Pharaoh will capitulate. God explains the various stages of redemption. The plagues begin. We are supposed to understand that each of these first seven plagues is more severe than the previous plague: Blood, Frogs, Lice, Wild Beasts, Animal plague, Boils, Hail. Moshe requests that Pharaoh allows B’nai Yisroel to worship God for three days, Pharaoh sometimes acquiesces sometimes he doesn’t. Sometimes he asks Moshe to pray on his behalf and sometimes he doesn’t. One thing is clear, that whenever Pharaoh gets his way (a plague ceases), something that would clearly indicate the power of God, Pharaoh acts almost like a child. He returns to his arrogant self-centered nature. Finally at the very end of the Parsha, after the plague of Hail has devastated the land and killed anything that was outside, Pharaoh expresses the evolution of his belief system. Vayishlach Paroh Va’Yikrah L’Moshe U’le’Aharon Vayomer Aleihem Chatati HaPa’am Adonay HaTzaddik v’Ani V’Ami Harsha’imPharaoh sent and summoned Moshe and Aaron and said to them, “This time I have sinned; Hashem is the Righteous One, and I and my people are the wicked ones (Ex. 9:27). Was Pharaoh really contrite or was he putting on an act? Why was Pharaoh more contrite now compared to any other time previously? Pharaoh asks Moshe to pray on his behalf to end the plague. He seems to be genuine in his belief. According to the Midrash: Pharaoh felt contrition because he was comparing his own actions with God’s actions. Indeed God was the Righteous One because God warned the Egyptians to save lives by bringing the people and the livestock indoors. Pharaoh and his minions were the wicked ones since he let his people remain in the field where they were harmed. When the plague of Hail ends, Pharaoh stops comparing his actions to God. At that point, with no benchmark for evaluating righteousness, Pharaoh’s only standard becomes himself. Again, he refuses to let B’nai Yisroel leave. Now Pharaoh chooses to ignore that which he has come to legitimately accept. Now Pharaoh is not only aware of God’s presence but has accepted God’s presence even if it was for a short time. The Parsha concludes with Pharaoh committing the sin of ignoring God based upon stubbornness not ignoring based upon the failure of recognition.

Pharaoh, like the 19-year-old college student, obviously believes he is the center of the world. Time and History starts and ends with him. Pharaoh, like the 19 year old believes he is immortal and without limitations. Pharaoh’s process is the 19-year-old college student’s process. It is our process as well. We constantly question and wonder about God. Like Pharaoh, ultimately our belief in God is not tied up in miracle after miracle. Rather our belief, our complete and devoted faith to God will evolve from the small things in life. Unlike Pharaoh, hopefully the 19-year-old college student will figure that out as he grows older. God willing we as continue to grow spiritually and through experience our faith in God will continue to evolve and strengthen.

Peace,

Rav Yitz

Tuesday, January 10, 2012

It Sounds So Sweet; I Gotta Take Me A Chance ( "Around And Around" - Grateful Dead cover, music/Lyrics by Chuck Berry)

We just bought a computer for our children. Now they won’t have to use the one that my wife works on. All their music, all their pictures, all their school work will be their computer. This computer combined with the fact that they each have their own iPod, their own email, and means that my 11, 9 and 7 year old are becoming more and more connected to the world. They email their sister at college, they Skype with their cousins and grandparents. Now with the cloud technology they will be able to instantly take music and pictures and put it into their computer or iPods. This hyper connectivity is an awesome responsibility and can be quite unnerving. While all my children embrace it my wife and I become wary of it. Our children want cell phones like their college age sister. My wife and I have made it clear that there will be no phone for a while. We both know that with a cell phone means that our children will always be connected. They will always be on line. If they wind up having a smart enough cell phone then they will have email, phone, texting, Skype, Facebook, instant messaging, instant everything with them all the time. I am concerned that my children, like all of us, will be plugged in anywhere and everywhere. Of course the disadvantage is that my children, like the rest of us could even become enslaved to this device. We might even belief that we might not be able to live with out it. If this doesn’t sound at all plausible or possible; just look around. We are already enslaved by technology, and many of us are already enslaved by popular culture. It is a subtle form of slavery. It happens gradually. No one argues that technology has positive qualities. As a result, we incorporate technology into our lives. We gradually feel as though we cannot live without this technology. Then we suddenly realize that our lives have been invaded, and to a degree, this life is not our own. Enslavement is a slow gradual process. Then you wake up one morning and you feel trapped in life, you feel stuck, and you become spiritually empty.

This week, we begin the Book of Shmot, the Book of Exodus. The first few verses essentially recount the ending of the Book of Genesis. Shmot re-iterates the fact that Yaakov and his sons came to Egypt, Yaakov dies, and the next generation, Yaakov’s sons (including Yosef) pass away. A new king assumes the mantle of power and does not know of Yosef’s great deeds. Instead, the new Pharaoh believed that this foreign population was tantamount to a fifth column. Therefore this tribe must be enslaved in order to prevent their uniting with Egypt’s external enemies. Vayavidu Mitzrayim et B’nai Yisroel B’FarechThe Egyptians enslaved B’nai Yisroel with crushing harshness. Vai’Mareru et Chayeihem Ba’Avodah Kasha B'Chomer Uvilveinim Uvechol Avodah Ba’Sadeh Eit Kol Avodatam Asher Avdu Bahem B’FarechThey embittered their lives with hard work, with mortar and with bricks, and with every labor of the field, all their labors that they performed with them were with crushing harshness (Ex. 1:13-14). These two verses strike me as problematic. Why does the first verse tell us that enslavement was with “crushing harshness”, when the second verse goes into great detail as to what constitutes crushing hardness and then concludes with “the labor that they performed with them with crushing harshness. Either the verse seems redundant, or superfluous. Perhaps the best solution would be to eliminate the word b’farech in the first verse and keep it in the second verse. So it would read: the Egyptians enslaved B’nai Yisroel. They embittered their lives…. How do we understand the use of the extra B’Farech?

The second use of B’Farech is defined for us by the verse. Hard work, embittering lives, every labor of the field constitutes crushing harshness. The issue is the use of B’Farech in the previous verse. Perhaps the crushing harshness is not to be taken literally. In Hebrew Bfarech means “in a crushing manner” the slavery ground them into the ground. Farech can be divided into two words Peh and Rech. Peh means mouth and Rech means soft. Figuratively “soft speech” means persuasively or persuading via the “soft sell” as opposed to threats. With this in mind we can understand that there were to steps to slavery. First convince B’nai Yisroel that they were part of Egypt. Explain to B’nai Yisroel how much they are needed by Egypt. Incorporate them into the Egyptian work force. Make it easy to be Egyptian. Encourage assimilation. Once B’nai Yisroel willingly gave up their “separateness”, once they gave up their identity, one piece at a time, they relinquished their freedom one piece at a time. The first verse could therefore be understood as Egyptians crushing slavery as the dominant culture and society overwhelming or crushing the minority culture. Once assimilation occurred, once B’nai Yisroel had assumed the bondage of the popular culture; putting them into chains and crushing them with backbreaking work became inevitable.

Technology, to a certain degree, has enslaved us. Because we are now so accessible to everyone, we begin to feel answerable to everyone. Ironic isn’t it? The one being to which we are answerable, God, is the least technologically oriented relationship. Without cell phones, wireless communication etc.; we always know where God is and God knows where we are. Perhaps that is why Shabbat is the one day of the week that we are most free. We are not answerable to the phone. We are not dependent upon technology. We are separate ourselves from the popular culture by being in Shul and praying. We separate ourselves from the popular culture by studying Torah. We separate ourselves from the popular culture by participating in Shabbat meals and spending time with our families. On Shabbat and in observing Mitzvot we prevent our own spiritual enslavement.

Peace,

Rav Yitz

Wednesday, January 4, 2012

Going Home, Going Home (Hunter, Garcia-"Brokedown Palace")

Well, we are in the first week of 2012. On my way to the gym this week, I was listening to the local news radio station. Interestingly enough, there was a little story about News Year’s resolutions. The most frequently made resolution? Losing Weight. Good thing I was on my way to the gym as I begin taking the first steps of my New Year’s Resolution – Losing Weight. Several psychologists were interviewed explaining that the number one cause for people’s failure to fulfill their resolution is that the resolution itself was unrealistic. Instead of setting a goal of losing 50 pounds over the course of a year, maybe a more realistic goal would be 25-30 pounds. I thought about what this psychologist said and thought that maybe a more realistic goal, a goal that I still needed to work for, but realistic nonetheless, would be a much better idea. BY aiming for something more realistic there would be no negative sense of failure and quitting that would invariably follow from the sense of failure. As I was on the elliptical machine, I began to think about resolutions in general and specifically a resolution’s close proximity to a vow or a promise. The biggest difference of course is that a resolution does not seem to be binding like a vow or a promise. Nevertheless, a resolution does indicate a conscious decision focused upon one’s self as opposed to a promise or a vow to another.

This morning we read from parshah Vayechi. This is the final Parshah in the book of Breishit. The parshah begins with Yaakov calling Yosef and making him swear an oath that he will not be buried in Egypt. He also blesses his grandson’s Ephrayim and Menashe. He gathers his sons together and offers each son a blessing or a prophecy. Yaakov dies and his sons take him out of Egypt and fulfill their vow. They bury their father in Hevron alongside Avraham and Yitzchak and Sarah Rebecca and Leah. Afterwards, the brothers fear that Yosef will finally take vengeance for their mistreatment of him. Yosef doesn’t, and the brothers and their families continue to grow and prosper in Goshen. As Yosef prepares for his death, he makes his brothers vow to take his bones out of Egypt and bury his bones in Eretz Canaan.

Yaakov’s final dying wish is to be buried in Canaan, in the Caves of the Machpela with his ancestors, Avraham/Sarah, Yitzchak/Rivka and Leah his wife. Yaakov shares this wish with Yosef. Given his position within Egypt, Yosef would be the most likely of the son’s who would be able to arrange this final wish. After sharing his final wish with his beloved son Yosef; Yaakov asks Yosef to swear to him that he will carry out this final wish. To demonstrate one’s “swearing a vow” Yaakov tells Yosef: Im Nah Matzati Chein M’Einecha If now I have found grace in your eyes Sim Nah Yadcha Tachat Yereichi put, I pray of you, your hand beneath my thigh v’Asita Imadi Chesed v’Emet,and deal kindly and truthfully with me. However Yosef does not do as his father asks; Yosef does not put his hand beneath his father’s thigh as an indication of swearing and oath. Rather, Vayomer [Yosef] said, Anochi Eseh ChidvarechaI personally will do as you said. The text clearly conveys that Yosef did not make a “vow” to Yaakov. Yosef did not put his hand beneath his father’s thigh as an indication of making a vow. Rather his said that he would take care of the matter personally. Rabeinu Chananel, a tenth century Egyptian Talmudic commentator, briefly and succinctly explains Anochi Eseh M’AtzmiI will take care of it myself hence there is no need for swearing an oath. Rav Ovadia Sforno – the 16th Italian Renaissance Torah Commentator adds a more in depth comment regarding Yosef's hesitancy to swear an oath to Yaakov’s final request. Anochi Metzad Atzmi Eseh Kidvarecha B’Chol ChaiAs far as I am concerned, I will do as you say with all my power. Yosef’s response suggests an excuse in case he cannot fulfill the dying father's wish. “I will do everything in my power” suggests that if Yosef entreats Pharaoh to let him bury his father in Canaan, and Pharaoh refuses; then Yosef still fulfilled his father’s final wish since Yosef did everything he could. Yaakov senses he hesitation and tells Yosef: Hishava LiSwear to me, Vayishava Lo and He [Yosef] swore to him [Yaakov]. Yaakov does not want any excuses nor does he want Yosef to have to rely solely upon his own relationship Pharaoh. Pharaoh will understand a son’s swearing an oath to his dying father and would never refuse a request of that nature.

Clearly the commentators saw something in Yosef’s hesitancy. Why would Yosef hesitate about taking swearing an oath to his father? How could the favorite son hesitate and not swear an oath to his dying father? The last time we saw an old man asking someone to “swear an oath” to him in the Torah was Avraham asking his servant to put his hand beneath Avraham’s thigh and swear that he would bring back a girl from Avraham’s tribe in order to marry Yitzchak. The servant unhesitatingly swore the oath to Avraham. The Midrash explains the difference between Avraham’s servant’s behavior and Yosef’s behavior: HaEved Asa K’Avadoto Uven Chorin asah K’ChirutoRabbi Yitzchak said: The servant acted like a servant and the free man acted as a free man, The servant acted like a servant, as it is says ‘And the servant put his hand beneath his [Avraham’s] thigh; While the free man acted as a free person: ‘And he said, I will do as you said’’ As a free individual, Yosef is only bound by his conscience. He is free to question. The servant on the other hand, has no such ability. He is bound to fulfill his obligations whether forced or unforced. The Malbim, the 17th century commentator explains that Yosef was acting like a son should. Yosef was trying to act out of filial responsibility, based upon his own free will rather than a servant who is bound by oaths.

However there are moments where one’s own volition is not enough in fulfilling a final wish. So Yaakov makes Yosef swear the oath so that way when dealing with Pharaoh it is clear that he is acting as a servant to his father. Yaakov wanted Yosef to be completely powerless and act solely on behalf of his father. Under normal circumstances, according to our ChaZaL – our Talmudic sages, we are already bound by Torah; there is no need to accept artificial/external bonds. The bonds of Torah and mitzvot should be enough. The bonds of Torah and mitzvot are designed to be reachable goals, objectives that require a little effort but are all within the realm of the possible. There is no need to pile on and make observance more difficult and more taxing.

So I finished my first workout of the year feeling better about myself knowing that my goal for weight loss will and maintaining the weight loss is much more attainable, and more possible. Now I just need to have the resolve to observe it.

Peace,

Rav Yitz