Torah Gems - June 13th Parashat Beha'alotka

Torah Gems - June 13th

This week's TORAH GEMS were prepared by Sam Tarlin

Beha'alotka

This parsha ends with the famous critique of Moses by Miriam and Aaron: "Has the Lord spoken only through Moses? Has He not spoken through us as well?" Miriam is punished by God with tza'arat. Moses says nothing.

In an earlier passage Joshua hurls a related critique at Moses. The people complain about a lack of meat. Moses calls to God for assistance. God replies that Moses should gather 70 elders at the Tent of Meeting and that God will "draw upon the spirit that is on you and put it upon them; they shall share the burden of the people with you, and you shall not bear it alone." The elders gather and the spirit is somehow distributed amongst them. Two elders, Eldad and Medad (two additional or two of the seventy-it's unclear) remain in camp and begin to prophesize. Moses, with Joshua at his side, is summoned and Joshua interjects, "My Lord Moses, restrain them!" Moses scolds Joshua: "Would that all the Lord's people were prophets, that the Lord put His spirit upon them!"

Moses quickly defends Eldad and Medad, but he is entirely silent when Miriam criticizes him! God punishes Miriam, but does nothing following Joshua's similar criticism. Isn't Joshua's critique as worthy of punishment as Miriam's?

What is different about the critiques of Joshua and Miriam/Aaron? Joshua defends Moses' status; Miriam and Aaron challenge Moses' status, and they challenge the manner in which God chooses to make God's will known.

In Richard Friedman's commentary on the Torah he points out that when Aaron pleads with Moses to intercede with God on behalf of Miriam, Aaron defers to Moses calling him "my lord." Friedman notes that only other occasion in which Aaron refers to Moses this way is during the episode of the Golden Calf. In both instances Aaron is humbled and his language indicates it. We see when Joshua addresses Moses in the Eldad and Medad episode, he too addresses Moses as "my lord". Joshua's critique is couched in humility, in full deference to Moses and by extension in full deference to God.

It is no accident that the two critiques by Joshua and Miriam/Aaron are separated by the culmination of the story of the people's complaint about meat. God causes a month's worth of quail to fall. The people eat so much that they are poisoned by the meat and die. "That place was named Kibroth-hattaavah [lit. 'graves of craving], because the people who had the craving were buried there."

There are physical cravings and spiritual cravings. Both have the capacity to injure and to kill. What's the medicine that protects Moses from craving? What protects Joshua? What spiritual strength does Aaron embrace to save his sister? The answer is humility. To be humble is not always easy - for even our great prophets Miriam and Aaron lacked it at times. Humility is the trait most associated with Moses and is perhaps the most valuable for us to try and emulate.

SHABBAT SHALOM

Torah Gems - June 6th Parashat Naso

Torah Gems - June 6th

This week's TORAH GEMS were prepared by Charles Radin

This week's parasha, Naso, is closely associated with Shavuot, and is always read on the Shabbat adjacent to the holiday.

But why? What is the connection between the exalted experience of receiving the Torah and detailed listings of the duties and the censuses of the Levites, and the details of ritual purity and sacrifice of which Naso is largely composed?

Perhaps it is that Judaism encourages us toward two types of person transformation - /khidushim/, transformative insights, and tzedek, transformative action.

Shavuot is mainly about the former: We come to Sinai, we see, we hear, we experience - in the modern day we study and meditate -- and through the insight thus gained we are transformed. Partially.

Parasha Naso is about doing. The distinctions of Kohathites, Gershonites and Merarites have passed from relevance, but the ideal of communal groups that bear responsibility for preserving the apparatus of the faith and that help their fellow Jews, in /functional/ ways, toward the highest standards of ritual and personal uprightness is a cornerstone of who we are and how we organize ourselves as a community.

The proposition that this - not the minutia of an ancient division of labor - is what the text is about is supported by the section of the parasha that lays out the relationship of the clergy to the congregation and its offerings, and also by the section that deals with the administration of the three-fold priestly blessing.

The former passage (Ch. 5, v. 9-10) establishes the right of Jews bringing an offering in Torah times to give it to the priest of their choice, who in turn has the right to keep the offering - as opposed to sharing it with the priesthood generally, or with the priestly hierarchy. It seems analogous the freedom of Jews ever since to discuss, debate and choose for themselves their path and their leader. [What we would do with this tradition if the temple were restored is a subject for another day.]

Similarly, while it is a principal duty of the priests to bless Israel, the text makes clear that this blessing is from G-d, not from the priests -- even though many of us now commonly refer to these verses as ``the priestly blessing.'' The blessing may be delivered by the priests, but G-d in His own voice makes clear (Ch. 6, v. 27) that ``they [the priests] shall link My name with the people of Israel and */I/* will bless them.'' For Jews, the clergy in their official roles, then and now, are technicians. Transformative insights and transformative deeds are the work of G-d and of people.

The blessing itself is both simple and fascinating. The three blessings are in a poetic form, a rising progression of three, five and seven words. The beginning and end -- ``The L-rd bless you and grant you peace'' - are of an equal number of syllables and summarize the essence of the poem.

The Jewish Publication Society Torah Commentary notes that the first part of each blessing invokes the movement of G-d toward the people and the second projects His activity on their behalf: bless and protect, shine and be gracious, bestow favor and grant peace.

An interesting question raised by this structure is whether these are six actions initiated by G-d, or whether there is a cause-and-effect meaning intended - that G-d's blessing brings protection, that His radiance brings grace and His bestowal of favor brings peace.

Whatever the case, it is our good fortune now as individuals to be able to extend this blessing to our children every Shabbat. In so doing, we can experience a potentially transformative insight - that we can be the technicians of a link between our G-d and our offspring - and we also be transformed by the act pronouncing this beautiful and poetic formula.

SHABBAT SHALOM

Torah Gems - May 30th BaMidbar

Torah Gems - May 30th

This week's TORAH GEMS were prepared by Francine Aron

The first parsha of the book of Numbers, Bamidbar, discusses the census of the men of military age; the arrangement and order in which the people were to proceed on their journey; and the work of the Levites.

There is an interesting connection between the census and the work of the Levites. The census of the men of military age was to be done personally - by a head count. They were to pass before Moses and Aaron and give their names. This is an extremely respectful way of counting. It is God's way of showing the importance of each individual, and showing that each individual should be looked at carefully and seen clearly. This is appropriate looking.

Concerning the work of the Levites which was to take care of the Tabernacle and its furniture and guard it and carry it, Moses and Aaron are told several times to take great care that only those whose job it is may look at the Tabernacle and its contents. Chapter 4 goes into very great detail about how the parts of the Tabernacle were to be wrapped when in transit, so that no danger would befall the Kohatites, whose job it was to carry the Tabernacle. If they were to see the actual items uncovered it would be considered inappropriate looking and the punishment was severe. Why? One commentator (Hirsch) says the danger is that the object might come to be considered more important than the spirit which it represents - thus losing sight of what really matters. We are shown how extremely important it is to see to the heart of the matter.

In between the census and the work of the Levites, is the arrangement of the group and the order in which they were to journey. They are to proceed in a formation which surrounds the Tabernacle - each tribe having its specific place in the outer square, and the Levites in the inner square, with the Tabernacle, which is the heart of the people, in the center. God, like a good parent, shows the people how to maintain order, so that they will be seen as a group which knows what it is doing, and a group to be respected and taken seriously, and therefore a group which will succeed.

SHABBAT SHALOM

Torah Gems - May 23rd

Torah Gems - May 23rd

This week's TORAH GEMS were prepared by Dr. Rob Lindeman

"All tithes of the herd (bakar) or flock - of all that passes under the shepherd's staff, every tenth one - shall be holy to the Lord. He must not look out (lo yi-vaker) for good as against bad, or make substitution for it" (Vayikra 27:32-33)

In adjacent verses the root bet-kuf-resh produces two words with disparate meanings: bakar (herd), and yi-vaker (look out for). In fact, these words rest on a single conceptual foundation. Bet-kuf-resh means "to cleave" or "to open" (Genesius, 1906). This notion applies to plowing, as in bakar (cattle, animals that perform plowing). It also applies to inspecting or looking into, as in li-vaker (to inquire). The third sense is breaking forth and arising of light, as in the familiar boker (morning).

All three senses of bet-kuf-resh suggest more than merely cleaving or opening; they suggest opening for the purpose of caring for or tending to something. A bakar opens ground for the planting of seeds. Li-vaker always implies opening inquiry with intent to aid or comfort, as we will see. Boker opens the day, making human activity possible.

In our verses, lo yi-vaker implies that the shepherd should not look into or investigate the kashrut of the bakar. Such an investigation requires close inspection with careful, intimate contact. Similarly in Vayikra 13:36, the priest examining a patient for presence of tsaraat needn't "look for (yi-vaker) yellow hair". In other words, the priest does not need to get up close and look carefully at the skin. Yi-vaker implies a deep inspection that requires looking into the essence of a thing and making a careful judgment (or, as in these cases, refraining from looking into the essence of a thing!)

Bet-kuf-resh also appears in a verse from the Psalm of David that we sing during the penitential season (Tehillim 27:4).

One thing have I asked of the Lord, this do I desire:

That I may dwell in the house of the Lord

All the days of my life,

To behold the graciousness of the Lord,

And to enter into (li-vaker) His sanctuary

(translation from the Silverman siddur)

It appears the Silverman misses the full meaning of li-vaker. David has already asked to dwell in God's house and to look upon God's graciousness forever: why would he ask now to enter or visit? Furthermore, if David had been asking merely to enter God's sanctuary, he might have said la'voh b'haichalo (from the shoresh bet-vav-hay). Instead, by saying li-vaker, David is asking God's permission to care for His sanctuary. This is more in keeping with David the poet king who danced before the Holy Ark!

The mitzvah of Bikur Cholim is usually translated "visiting the sick", but the mitzvah requires more than mere visitation: The foundation of the mitzvah of Bikur Cholim is to visit a sick person and to inquire after his or her needs. If one merely visits, but does not inquire, he does not fulfill the mitzvah (Y.D. 335)

An additional law of Bikur Cholim shines light on all three senses of bet-kuf-resh (cattle, inquiring, and morning). We must avoid visiting a sick person during the first three hours of daylight. The reason given is that the sick person feels relatively well at this time and might not be inclined to ask for your help. But I might suggest another reason:

There isn't much light during the first three hours of the day. A shepherd tends to his cattle when the light is good enough for him to inspect them closely and to see which animals need his help. Similarly, we visit the sick person in the light of day, when we can see the patient and we can see to his or her needs. Clearly it is no accident that it is our custom to perform Bikur Cholim in the morning.

SHABBAT SHALOM

Torah Gems - May 9th Parashat Emor

Torah Gems - May 9th

This week's TORAH GEMS were prepared by Adam Solomon

This week's parasha is Emor. It covers a great deal of ground. When I started studying it this week I was struck by the idea of how much of Judaism is encapsulated in this one parasha. In this one parasha we learn some of the rules regarding the kohanim needing to maintain ritual purity and we're given commandments surrounding Passover, the counting of the omer, Shavuot, Sukkot, and Yom Kippur. Keeping Shabbat is also mentioned. It seemed that if there was only one parasha you could have from the Torah, you could do a lot worse than to pick Emor.

One detail that I'd like to pull out, though, is one that might seem less relevant to today's world. Kohanim are commanded to avoid exposure to the ritual impurity which emanates from the deceased. Exceptions are made for first degree relatives. The kohen gadol however does not even get these exceptions, he was not allowed to even attend the funeral of a parent.

Rashi, the prolific medieval French commentator, notes that there is a case where even kohen gadol is obligated personally to attend to the burial of an individual. This is the case of the "met-mitzvah", an abandoned dead body (see B.T. Nazir 48a). Every Jew, including the kohen gadol, who encounters a met-mitzvah is obligated to ensure that the met-mitzvah has a proper burial.

Rabbi Eli Mansour of the Syrian Jewish community in Brooklyn expands on this by noting that even on Yom Kippur when the kohen gadol is going to atone for the communal sins of the Jewish people, if he encountered a met-mitzvah he would have been obligated to personally perform a proper and dignified burial. This would necessarily disqualify him from performing the Yom Kippur rites which would then be carried out by another kohen who had been prepared for such a contingency.

Tractate Nazir also notes that in the case of a nazir and a kohen encountering a met-mitzvah, the kohen would be obligated to bury the met-mitzvah and not the nazir. If a nazir becomes ritually impure he has to restart his period of nazirute from the beginning and bring an appropriate sacrifice. The kohen merely needs to wait a week and then immerse in mikvah to return to a state of ritual purity (see B.T Nazir 47).

So how is this relevant to us?

I think that it demonstrates the critical nature of acts of lovingkindness (gimilut chesed) in Judaism. Here we have a scenario of the kohen gadol on the holiest day of the year - the Sabbath of Sabbaths as it is called in this week's parasha - and he is obligated to attend to an anonymous person who clearly cannot repay his kindness.

I would hope that for all of us our Torah would be a Torah of lovingkindness in this spirit.

SHABBAT SHALOM

Torah Gems - May 16th Parashat Behar

Torah Gems - May 16th

This week's TORAH GEMS were prepared by Emma Starr (with Rabbi David Starr)

Parashat Behar

This week's parasha discusses agricultural laws and also commands us to behave responsibly for one's neighbors. One particular verse teaches "Do not deceive one another, but fear your God; for I am the Lord your God." (Lev 25:17)

What does it mean to fear God? We may fear God's power in the world, believing that He sees what we do when we interact with other people. That's the easy part, to correct what others can see, including God. But what about what others cannot see, what we think and feel inside? We wonder if God knows all of our secrets, our deepest darkest thoughts and feelings that we're afraid to share with others. Sometimes it's easier to be honest with other people than it is to be honest with ourselves.

Rabbi Bunum of Pryzscha, a famous Hasidic master, understood this. That is why he explained that this verse from Behar refers to a truly pious person, a hasid. That person does more than the law requires, does more than be honest with others, does more than fears God for seeing what we do out in the world. Rabbi Bunum would say: "Now, this is the law: 'Do not deceive one another, but fear your God; for I am the Lord your God.' A hasid goes beyond the letter of the law; he will not even deceive his own self!"

We must be honest and fair with others. Sometimes it's even harder, and more important, to be honest with ourselves.

SHABBAT SHALOM

Torah Gems - May 2nd

Torah Gems - May 2nd

This week's TORAH GEMS were prepared by KI Rabbinic Resident Chaim Koritzinsky

BE HOLY, LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR-BUT HOW???

This week's parasha contains one of the most famous passages in all of Torah: "Love your neighbor as yourself- I am the Lord." "V'ahavta Le'Reicha Kamocha, Ani Adonai" (Leviticus 19:18). In fact, this passage is so well known that it has become known as the Golden Rule and a variation of this passage can be found in almost all faiths.

This passage is quoted so often that it's easy to forget that it is actually a mitzvah, a commandment. After all, how can a person be commanded to love another person? What does it mean to love someone kamocha, like yourself? Isn't the commandment then dependant on how much one loves oneself? And what does God have to do with this commandment? Why does God need to remind us that Ani Adonai (I am God) in the same breath as commanding us to love our neighbor?

Contextually, we read this passage as part of a larger parasha that begins Kedoshim Tehiyu (Be Holy). The parasha goes on to describe all the mitzvot that one must follow in order to live up to this standard of holiness. Loving one's neighbor is one piece of this larger Holiness Code.

This week, we also read this parasha and this passage v'ahavta le'reicha kamocha, Ani Adonai (Love your neighbor as yourself, I am the Lord) with the backdrop of Yom Ha'shoah (Holocaust Remembrance Day). As my classmate Shayna Rhodes pointed out, the combination of last week's parasha "Achrei Mot" (After Death) with this week's parasha "Kedoshim Tehiyu" (You shall be holy), spells out a way that we can honor the memory of those who perished as well as inspire each of us today in fulfilling this commandment anew.

In this spirit, I offer various interpretations of this passage followed by a beautiful essay by one of my teachers and the founder of the Hebrew College Rabbinical School, Rabbi Arthur Green:

Hillel on One Foot
Once there was a gentile who came before Shammai, and said to him: Convert me on the condition that you teach me the whole Torah while I stand on one foot. Shammai pushed him aside with the measuring stick he was holding. The same fellow came before Hillel, and Hillel converted him, saying: That which is despicable to you, do not do to your fellow, this is the whole Torah, and the rest is commentary, go and learn it."

Babylonian Talmud, Shabbat 31a

Maimonides
It is a mitzvah for every human to love each and everyone from Israel as he loves his own body. As it is written, "Love your neighbor as yourself", therefore one must sing his praises, and show concern for his financial well-being, as he would for his own well-being and as he would for his own honor. Anyone who aggrandizes himself at the expense of another person has no portion in the world to come.

From Hilchot Deot: Laws of Counsel

Nachmanides
The reason behind, "be loving to your neighbor like yourself" is in fact an overstatement for no human heart can accept loving a command to love one's neighbor as oneself. And furthermore Rabbi Akiva already taught that "your own life comes before the life of your friend." Why is the passage written LE'reicha , meaning "to" or "towards" your neighbor (as opposed to the use of et, indicating a simple direct object)? For sometimes a person will love his neighbor in certain matters, such as doing good to him in material wealth but not with wisdom and similar matters. But if he loves him completely, he will want his beloved friend to gain riches, properties, honor, knowledge and wisdom. However [because of human nature] he will still not want him to be his equal, for there will always be a desire in his heart that he should have more of these good things than his neighbor. Therefore, the Torah commanded that this degrading jealousy should not exist in his heart, but instead a person should love to do abundance of good for his fellow-being as he does for himself, and he should place no limitations upon his love for him. It is for this reason that it is said of Jonathan's [love for David}, for he loved him as he loved his own soul (Samuel I 20:17)

Debate between Rabbi Akiva and Rabbi Azzai

"Love your neighbor as yourself." Rabbi Akiva said: this is the most important principle in the Torah. Ben Azzai said: More important is the principle: "this is the book of the generations of Adam; on the day when God made humans they were fashioned in the image of God" (Genesis 5:1).

From Midrash- Sifra Kedoshim 45

Rabbi Tanchuma brings in the Divine

Rabbi Akiva said: "Love your neighbor as yourself" is the most important principle in the Torah. Lest you say: because I was cursed so let my fellow be cursed, because I was despised, so let my fellow be despised, Rabbi Tanhuma said: If you behave in this manner, know whom you are despising for you were created in God's image.

From Midrash Genesis Rabba 24:7

A Christian Take

"He (one of the scribes) asked him (Jesus), which commandment is the most important of all? The most important is 'Hear O Israel the Lord our god, the Lord is one, you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind, and with all your strength. The second is this: 'you shall love your neighbor as yourself.' There are no commandments greater than these."

From Mark 12:28

A Contemporary View

A short essay from Rabbi Arthur Green who picks up on the debate quoted above between Rabbi Akiva and Ben Azzai as to what is the most central precept in the Torah.

IN GOD'S IMAGE

The second mitzvah of Creation is that of treating every human being as the image of God. The very core of our self-understanding as Jews and as persons calls upon us to see each man and woman as a lens through which the Divine is reflected. This simple statement is the basis for all Jewish interpersonal ethics.

When Rabbi Akiva claimed that "Love your neighbor as yourself; I am the Lord" (Lev. 19:18) was the basis of the entire Torah, his colleague Ben Azai replied that "This is the book of the generations of Adam; on the day when God made humans they were fashioned in the image of God" (Genesis 5:1) was a more basic principle than that.

The discussion is a crucial one for understanding the place of ethical conduct within Judaism. Akiva is the great believer in love, both human and divine. Akiva sees the Song of Songs as the central metaphor for the relationship between God and Israel; he is willing to allow human ethics to base themselves on the commandment to love. Ben Azai is more realistic. Even where there is no love, he tells us, there is still the divine image. Every person is the bearer of that image and is entitled to the esteem and reverence in which we hold the face of God.

All the decisions we make in the interpersonal realm need to bear this principle in mind. The decision to open ourselves to another in love is one of sharing that divine spark within us, that of seeking out the face of God within the other. The realization that every human being is God's image makes an unambiguous demand upon us. Each person has the right to be known and loved for that divine image that is his or her most profound and often hidden self.

Each image of God in the world also has the right to exist in dignity, to engage in meaningful labor, and to live at peace. The role of governments and political parties is to see that this happens; it is to this standard of our religious respect for human dignity that they are to be held up.

In our individual lives as well, we constantly face the question, "Am I treating human beings- myself as well as others- as the image of God?" This demand will shape and restrict our actions rather clearly in attempts at the "use" of other human beings- whether as sexual objects, as tools to help us gain money on political power, or as fulfillment of some other need we have. We even ignore the divine image when we place people in depersonalized categories, relating to them only professionally, as "clients" of our therapeutic practice, or as "congregants" of our synagogue.

When applied to the way we treat ourselves, it will restrict both those activities that harm the human body, and those that lead us into situations of personal degradation. It is the basis of that hard-to-define term menschlichkeyt, or decent humanity, that sets the agenda for the instinctive ethics of many Jews, even those cut off from the theological moorings of their own values. The value of tselem Elohim, seeing humans as God's image, is also key to some of the most wrenching and difficult decisions we face in our lives. Some of these decisions, such as those involving abortion and euthanasia, are still difficult and morally ambiguous, even where we do seek full regard for God's image. Consideration of the human as divine image does not necessarily tell us which way to turn in such situations. Even there, however, it is a principle that guides us away from steps that might otherwise be undertaken too lightly.

But the matter of treating each person as the image of God extends beyond all these examples of moral demand. If we really live as though each person were God's image, we necessarily find every human being to be of interest to us. "There is no person who does not have his hour"- every human life has something unique and valuable about it, a contribution to be offered that can be fulfilled by no other. Each messenger brings back a unique portrait of the king, one that only he or she could paint. To take seriously our faith that each person is God's image is to treat every person with a spiritual dignity and caring that would transform all of our lives. Surely none of us lives this mitzvah to the fullest, but there can be no Judaism that does not constantly attempt to make it a reality.

From Seek My Face, Speak My Name: A Contemporary Jewish Theology (Jason Aaronson, 1992)

Shabbat Shalom