The Isbitz-Radzin Institute

What Is Chanuka?

2007-12-04T14:17:00.000+02:00

Chasidic Discourse, or “derashot” go deep into the inner meaning of the texts of the Bible and the Talmud. Below we find a prime example of Chassidic “drash” on the subject of Chanuka in the words of one of the recognized geniouses among the Chassidic Rebbes, Mordechai Yosef of Isbitsa. His explanations serve to reveal the messianic illuminations and their obsidian glow within in the well known laws of Chanuka and verses from the Psalms. Such “derashot” are focus-points for meditation which leads the open hearted into worlds of light they only dreamed of.

A Chassidic Discourse on the meaning of Chanuka by Rav Mordechai Yosef of Isbitza (1800-1854) Translated and Adapted by Betzalel Edwards

The Talmud asks, “What is Chanuka?” (Shabbat 21b) We find it written in the Psalms (119: 105), “Your word is a candle to my feet, and light for my path.” “A candle to my feet,” meaning that God illuminates into us the Torah in a way that we may know how, “His Kingship in all of His dominion,” (Tehillim, 103:19), and be aware of God’s dominion in each detail of action. “A light for my path,” means that God illuminates a special recognition also in a general way, for, “the kingdom is His.” We can understand the imagery of the candle and light a little better now, because a candle is a specific, even private illumination, and light is a general, all-inclusive illumination.

God created the world in general, and divided it into three categories - time, place, and person. We find the Psalms (139:16) saying, “He fashioned days, and it is in one of them.” (This is generally understood as meaning that when God created each of the six days of creation He knew everything, every detail, that would ever happen in that day for all time to come.) From this verse we can see how in these three categories, God the choicest element chose in particular through which to illuminate in a revealed way a specific light and the recognition of His sovereignty.

In the category of place we find concentric circles of sanctity. God created the world in general, where the land of Israel is sanctified above the whole earth (See Mishna Kelim, Ch. 1:6), Jerusalem sanctified above all the land of Israel, the five hundred square cubits of the temple mount sanctified above Jerusalem, and the courtyard and the chamber of the Holy Temple sanctified above them all. God commanded us to light the Menorah in the chamber of the Holy Temple in order to shine His light at the choicest level of sanctity of place.

In the category of time He created the six days of creation, in particular the day of Shabbat, and then we also find the commandment to kindle the light of Shabbat.

In the category of person He chose specifically the nation of Israel out of all the nations. For now, until the final refinement (birrur) in Israel, He chose the tribe of Levi, and among them the Cohanim, and among them the High Priest, and gave him in particular the commandment to light the Menorah. In the days of the Hasmoneans, the Holy One, blessed be He, shined into them with an illumination from the future, for at that time the Cohanim merited sovereignty (Malchut). In the same way, with the coming of Moshiach ben David, when the process of spirit refinement will be complete, it will become apparent that then the chosen tribe is Yehuda (the tribe of King David and the Messianic lineage). So then, when the Hasmonean (Cohanim, from the tribe of Levi, and not of the tribe of Yehuda) merited this sovereignty (Malchut), the light that recognizes the chosen status of each individual soul in Israel shined with great intensity. The miracle of the Menorah established an individual “candle” or illumination to mark the chosen status of each individual soul in Israel.

This is as King David said in the Psalms (87:6), “God will count, when He writes down the nations, and for Zion He will say each one born to her.” “Count, when He writes down the nations,” for with the nations, God’s Providence is only for the endurance of the species, like other parts of creation. “And for Zion He will say each one born to her,” is that for Israel the Providence of the Holy One, blessed be He, is for each individual soul, each individual one born to her. The verse continues, “and He will establish her at the highest,” means that for every one born to Israel, immediately upon birth, there is a recognition that the choicest soul has been born anew, and this is as it is said, “a candle for every one.”

This is hinted at in the difference of opinion between the house of Shammai and the house of Hillel about how to light the menorah. Shammai teaches us to start with all of the eight lights, and reduce one each night until on the eighth night we light only one. Hillel teaches us to light one candle on the first night and add a candle each night, so we end up with eight candles on the eighth night. We follow the practice of the house of Hillel. What they are really arguing about is how the final, “birrur,” the spiritual refinement necessary for the messianic age, will take place in Israel.

The house of Shammai asserts that we light all eight on the first night, and remove a candle each night, which represents the refinement as destroying the waste, decreasing and continuing until the Kedusha (holiness) remains, completely clarified. The house of Hillel asserts that we add and continue, adding a candle each night, for here the principle is to cause the Kedusha to spread forth at all times, and from this it follows that the waste will be nullified. This is also of the meaning of the Halacha for the time of lighting the candles, “from the setting of the sun until the foot – regel, in Hebrew- finishes from the market, (meaning at the time they would close the Market in ancient days, just after nightfall). Homiletically, or “on the inside” this is saying that (when we light the candles) no force of habit – “hergel,” in Hebrew - will be found in any soul in Israel. This is the mitsvah to light it in the doorway of the house from outside, meaning that the candle – this recognition discussed above – should shine a light so that every step we take is for the sake of Heaven.

There is another version of the time for candle lighting, based on the statement in the Talmud (Shabbat, 21b), “(You can light) until the wood-sellers will leave the market (who would stay after everyone else had left to gather leftover wood, meaning later into the evening).” This hints at the time when the final clarification in Israel will be complete. Concerning this it is explained in the Tractate Yevamot (17b), “they established six thousand archers (who went and raped the daughters of Jerusalem at the time of the destruction),” meaning that their seed was mixed into Israel. Such a mixture of external influences among Israel is the principle reason for the lengthening of the exile.

When this becomes clarified, then the will of God will be explicit before us, and this is, “from the setting of the sun,” for the sun hints at the principles of the words of Torah, and in the future these principles will not be necessary, (meaning you won’t need to look into the Torah or ask a Rabbi), but rather God will cause an effluence of explicit understanding to each one in Israel for each specific action. This is as it is said, “a Chanuka candle that is placed above ten cubits is invalid,” which is true for a sukkah and a “mavoy,” (an open street or alley, concerning its width in the laws of Eruvin, symbolic Shabbat boundaries). (So for the three general divisions of existence) the Chanuka candle represents person, sukkah represents place, and the mavoy (in the laws of Shabbat) represents time, for the choicest of times is Shabbat.

Health and Healing. Shevet MiYehuda on VaYishlach

2007-11-21T12:38:00.000+02:00

“If you possess Da’at, than you lack nothing.” (Midrash Rabba, Vayikra)

What is the connection between Sabbath Observance, the Torah, and mental health? Below we will discover not just hints at health and healing in the Bible, but the health benefits hinted at in the practice and study of the Torah. The assumption is that there is a spiritual source to physical wellbeing. If you do not believe that health has anything to do with a man’s inner world or spirit, or that the teachings, even the very letters of the Torah are the root and source of the spiritual live of the Jews and many among the nations of the world, then there may be little point in continuing to read this blog. But first, some key background information.

In the second and third centuries of the Common Era the Rabbis of the Talmud in the Land of Israel and in Babylon would say “Shabbos keeps us from crying out in pain, and healing will soon come.” (Talmud, Shabbat, 12a) when visiting a sick person on Shabbos. Observant Jews through the ages have used these words when praying for a person to be healthy on Shabbos, and also in order to give a word of comfort and encouragement to a sick person on Shabbos. And we still say it today.

Another time honored mitzvah is the public reading of the Torah. The five books of Moses are divided into 53 sections, and one section, called the Parsha, is chanted in public in the Synagogue every Shabbos. (the beginning of every Parsha is also chanted publicly in the morning service every Monday and Thursday.) Dedicated Jews do not only hear the Torah being read in public, but they take care to fulfill the mitzvah of studying the parsha independent of the synagogue ritual. At the very least, they read it themselves.

Everything is included in the Parsha. That is to say, if you reflect upon your life while reading, or even better, studying the Parsha, then you will hear God speak to you. This does not mean that you will hear a supernatural voice, or a voice from heaven. If you do, I would seek counseling. But if you listen carefully, you will hear that little voice that everyone has which we vaguely call thoughts of personal reflection. Some might call it a conscience. (I once asked some Jewish children from a modern assimilated background if they believed in God, and they answered me, “we don’t believe in God. Our grandmother taught us to believe in the conscience.” To this I asked them, “In the beginning, did your conscience create the world?”) Torah belief teaches us that God looked into the Torah, and created the world. Therefore, everything that happened or will happen is rooted in the letters of the Torah, and if you listen and reflect, you can hear it. Whether you call it your conscience or the voice of God, there is a hint of everything you need to know in the words of the weekly Parsha.

Specifically, the Parsha contains hints about health and healing. Rabbi Avraham Eiger, may his memory be for a blessing, was a Torah scholar from Lublin, Poland in the beginning of the twentieth century. His great grandfather was Rabbi Akiva Eiger, Zts’l, one of the pre-eminent Talmudic scholars of all times. Rabbi Avraham knew a life of sickness and suffering. In the midst of physical hardship, he took refuge in the holy study of Torah so as to reveal the roots of healing so abundant, yet so hidden, in every passage of the Torah. His refuge was not only for his own selfish interests, but in writing and teaching, it was a selfless act of giving Torah to others. Because of his suffering, he was only able to complete his discourses on hints of healing in the Parsha’s of the book of Genesis and the book of Exodus. But what words, what revelations!

What follows is my translation of a passage in his book, the Shevet MiYehuda. I must add that in his great humility and out of respect and love for his father, the great Chassid and Scholar, Rabbi Yehuda Leib Eiger of Lublin, Zts”L, Rabbi Avraham’s name appears nowhere in his holy book. Shevet MiYehuda means, “Tribe of Yehuda,” and is titled in reference to his father, Rabbi Yehuda Leib Eiger, affectionately known among the Chassidim as “Reb Leible.”

Shevet MiYehuda.
Parshat VaYishlach
This discourse was delivered at the Second Meal of Shabbat, 5667 (A Saturday in November, 1907)

“Shabbos keeps us from crying out in pain, and healing will soon come!” (Talmud, Shabbat, 12a)

On this Shabbat, Parshat Vayishlach, healing will come quickly especially for those who need “shleimut hada’at,” healing and completeness of mind, completeness of consciousness. (In modern language, we might call this, “mental health.”) Completeness of mind is the very principle of the kedusha (sanctity) of Shabbos. True completeness of mind is when one possesses the consciousness that, “Ani Hashem Mekadishchem – I am God who sanctifies you.” (Exodus, 31:13) This consciousness is particularly strong in this weeks Parsha, Vayishlach, where Yaakov Avinu says (Genesis, 33:11), “for E-lohim has been gracious with me and I have all that I need.”

The statement, “chanani - has been gracious [kind] with me,” directly represents Yaakov Avinu’s completeness of mind. According to the Kabbalah, Yaakov Avinu represents consciousness [Da’at], as it is known that the three Patriarchs represent the three upper sefiros, or Godly luminations, of intellectual capabilities, Chochma [widsom], Bina [understanding], and Da’at [consciousness, or synthesis]. Yaakov’s statement, “chanani E-lohim, God has graciously bestowed upon me,” hints at the completeness of consciousness, for he has an absolute knowledge that from his own side he has no consciousness, no Da’at, rather all he possesses comes from the One who is, “chonen adam Da’at – graciously bestowing consciousness unto man.” (This is the fourth blessing we say in the Shmonei-Esrei – the Amida prayer, blessed is God who bestows [chonen] consciousness unto man.) Knowing and appreciating such a gracious gift from God is the consciousness of Shabbat, knowing, “I am God who sanctifies you.” This is why he followed this statement by saying, “and I have all that I need.” This is as our sages say (Midrash Rabba, Vayikra), “if you possess Da’at, than you lack nothing.” This is, “God has been gracious in giving to me,” for the One who graciously bestows consciousness unto man has given me the mind which knows that I lack nothing, “and I have all that I need.”

It was taught by my father, the holy Rav (Yehuda Leib Eiger), that any event possessing kedusha (sanctity) that happens on any day of the week has its source and root in the previous Shabbat. Shabbat is the source of all blessing, and all kedusha comes forth from it, in particular the kedusha of a soul of Israel who becomes a bar Mitzvah, at the age of thirteen when he takes upon the responsibility of Mitzvot. A bar Mitzvah goes out of his childhood and becomes an adult, which means he possesses Da’as, (consciousness, knowledge, or the power of reconciling contradictions.)

The root and source of the power of Da’as in the holy Shabbat, which itself represents and is considered as equal to the entire Torah. All of the 613 commandments are included in Shabbat. (This is evinced from the statement in the Talmud, “If you keep Shabbos according to the Law, it equivalent to keeping the entire Torah. Keeping Shabbos means not going to work, not driving, not cooking, and refraining from doing many other things in order to show proper respect for God. For more on Shabbos observance, see, Shemirath Shabbath: A Guide to the Practical Observance of Shabbath 3 Volume Set, by HaRav Yehoshua Y. Neuwirth. B.E.) In particular, this week’s Torah Portion, Parshas Vayishlach, clarifies the, “shelimut haDa’at,” the completeness of mind, according to our explanation of the verse, “E-lohim has graciously given to me.”

Furthermore, the first thing Yaakov Avinu had his messengers say to Eisav was, “eem Lavan garti – I have stayed with Lavan, (Yaakov’s father in law and uncle) and have delayed my return until now.” This statement also represents the entire Torah, as we know from Rashi, who comments that the word, “garti – have stayed,” is the same letters and the numerical equivalent of “613 - tar”iyag,” meaning the 613 commandments of the Torah. This is to say, even though I have been living with Lavan, which was a morally bereft environment, still I have kept the 613 commandments. Therefore, Eisav, do not think that you can rule over me since you are the first-born. The yetser hara (evil inclination) is also like the first-born, since it is born into all men immediately upon birth, but the yetser tov (inclination to morality and observence) “delays its return” and enters man at age thirteen. This is known from the holy Zohar.

The first struggle of the Tsaddik, the righteous man, is when he is beset upon by his own evil. He investigates it, and his yetser tov grows stronger within him. Then when the Tsaddik grows into adulthood, the power of his natural desire is clean from sin just as it was his youth when he did not even have the power of natural desire that overwhelms the adult. Before the age of thirteen, he is exempt from punishment, for he has not yet been commanded with active performance of mitzvot. This is why the blessed God first gives man the yetser hara in is youth, so then when he is an adult, and the power of desire comes to him from his yetser hara, he will then know that he can be on the level of his youth, when even thought he had a yetser hara, he was nonetheless free from all sin.

Yaakov Avinu was saying to Eisav, this was my whole occupation in the house of Lavan, “I stayed with Lavan,” like a man from his birth to age thirteen when he becomes a bar Mitzvah, where in this period he has no yetser tov to assist him with kedusha. He lived only with the yetser hara, and still, “I kept all of the 613 commandments,” with no hindrance from the yetser hara, represented by Lavan the Aramite, whose job is to cheat and tempt man, as is known from the holy Zohar. (Midrash haNe’elam, Parshat Vayeira, 111b) This is the reason why he said, “I have delayed my return until now.” He delayed so long in order that he could always be on the level of his youth as described above. This is why he said in his prayer (Genesis, 32:11), “I am not worthy of all the kindness You have shown me.” “I am not worthy,” is, “katonti,” “I am small,” like, “katnut,” or youth, meaning that I am on the level of youth when although I have a yetser hara, I kept the Torah by means of, “all the kindness You have shown me.” In this way even as an adult I can serve the blessed God with both my good and evil inclinations, which is the secret of what it says in the Shema’, to serve God with, “all your hearts (pl.),” with both the yetser tov and yetser hara. So may we all merit serving God with complete hearts. Amen.

Parshas Toldos - Sources of the Mei HaShiloach

2007-11-08T14:40:00.000+02:00

"And truly, everywhere that one enters himself into uncertainties in the service of God and into matters that need clarification, if the matter is clarified for the good then he is greater than one who just removed himself from all doubts. Yet this is only for the seed of Yaakov..." (Mei HaShiloach)

Betzalel, slightly ticked off after a long day in his Ancestral Homeland somewhere between Jericho and Jerusalem. All Jews have an ancestral homeland. Some Jews even live there. When will you?

Dear friends. The chassidic writings do not exist in a vacuum. They are a response to a history of Bibilical Commentary going back to Sinai. So in order to know why the writings of the Chassidic masters, such as Rav Mordechai Yosef of Isbits, were such a novel conception (a "chiddush, in Hebrew) you need to develop the patience to study the classical commentaries, such as, with our example below, Rashi, Ramban, and Rabeynu BaChayei. Then your yield from the Masters of Chassidus will be all the richer.

Ramban, Introduction to the Book of Exodus.

The book of Genesis is the book of creation. The actions of the Patriarchs are a kind of creation of their progeny. This is because all of their actions are pictures of things to come, hints that tell of all future events. Then after the creation is finished, He started a new book to show the events that emerge from those hints in the stories of the Patriarchs.

(Keep the above in mind when considering how the qualities of the Jew were hinted at in the personality of Yaakov, and how Chazal saw the seeds of the behoavior of Roman and later european society in Eisav.)

Genesis. Chapter 25

And the children jostled to and fro within Rivka’s womb, and she said, “why is this happening to me?’ and went to ask of God. (She went to the house of study and asked the wise Shem, who told her God’s answer.) And He said, “there are two peoples in your womb, and two nations shall separate from your loins. One nation shall struggle with the other, and the older one will serve the younger one.”

As Rav Shlomo Carlebach once said, "you can't really learn the chumash without the Mei Hashiloach, (the commentary of Rav Mordechai Yosef of Isbitza.)" From the classical commentaries, we receive a fairly black and white picture, Esav BAD, Yaakov GOOD. but having the patience to get through the classical commentaries and to the bottom of the page with the Mei HaShilaoch, you will see that it is not so simple.

Rashi

Separate from your loins – one will go to wickedness and the other to honesty.
One nation will struggle with the other – they will not be equal in greatness. When one rises the other shall fall. This is as it is written (Ezekiel, 26), “I will fill the ruin.” Of which our Sages said, “Tsur (a Roman – or Edomite - city) was only filled from the destruction of Jerusalem.” (Only when Jerusalem and the Jews were defeated, did the Roman city of Tsur became great.”)

Genesis, Chapter 25, continued.

And the boys grew, and Eisav became a hunter, a man of the field. And Yaakov was a simple, honest man, sitting in the tent. And Yitschak loved Eisav because of the catch in his mouth, and Rivka loved Yaakov.

Rashi

A man of the field – He was an idle man, hunting birds and animals with his bow and arrow.
Simple, honest – Yaakov was not expert in all of these (forms of deception), but rather spoke his heart. Anyone who is not clever in the ways of deception is called, “tam.” Simple, whole hearted, or honest.

Rabeynu Bachayei

Eisav would hunt in two ways. He was literally a hunter of animals, but he would also trap people with his words. When he saw his father he would ask him clever questions, such as, “do you have to tithe salt and straw?” In this way he tricked his father into being proud of his sun, the hunter-scholar. He asked Eisav, “where have you been all day,” and Eisav would answer, “in the houses of study learning such and such a law and such and such a matter.” At that moment, Yitschak’s holy spirit (Ruach HaKodesh) would scream out, crying, “He who dissembles with his lips and lays up deceit within him, when he speaks fair, do not believe him, for there are seven abominations in his heart.” (Mishlei, 26:25)

Ask yourself, "If Yitchak was a prophet, how could it be that he did not know that Eisav was just currying favor with him? How could he not have known that he was an evil man?"

Now, with the above commentaries in mind, consider the following teaching of the Mei HaShiloach.

“and Yitschok loved Eisav because of the taste of the meat he would trap (or, he would trap with his mouth),” (Bereshit, 25:28)

This is explained (Bereshit Rabba, 63:10), “that he would deceive his father into thinking that he was a scholar with fancy dilemmas in Torah, like how can one tithe salt and straw.” You can not understand this explanation literally, for surely Yitzchak Avinu was not mistaken in thinking he was actually genuine, when he was clearly cheating him. Yet from the beginning, Yaakov and Eisav were equal in their greatness. However, Eisav decided to make himself make himself more appealing in his father’s eyes, so as to find favor in his father’s sight. This accomplished, Yitzchak would pray to G-d to give his son Eisav more wisdom. Yaakov, however, went in the way of simplicity and said, “what need have of this? If I am worthy in the sight of G-d, He will cause the heart of my father Yitschok to pray for me.” Eisav’s way was not honest in Yaakov’s view, for this way needs clarification (“birrur”), for who can say if this way will be accepted, and perhaps he is only doing it to deceive. Since Yaakov Avinu had separated himself from all uncertainty, his heart trusted only in G-d.

And truly, everywhere that one enters himself into uncertainties in the service of G-d and into matters that need clarification, if the matter is clarified for the good then he is greater than one who just removed himself from all doubts. Yet this is only for the seed of Yaakov, since they have found a stronghold in G-d, that He will clarify all for the good, so it is permitted for him to enter into uncertainties. Yet whoever does not have this stronghold, it is forbidden for him to enter into uncertainty, in the way that Eisav entered himself into matters that were later clarified as being evil.

For the Holy One, blessed be He, will make it clear that all of Israel's actions are for the good, as is explained on the verse, “it will be tsedaka for us.” (Parshat Vaetchanan) For all who are not from the seed of Yaakov, it is good before Him for them to limit themselves with all kinds of constrictions, as is explained concerning converts, for whom it is forbidden for them to enter into uncertainties.

So therefore, when Yitzchak saw that Eisav was entering himself into these matters, he said that if they are clarified for the good, then Eisav would become greater than Yaakov, yet the blessed G-d then bared witness to him that Eisav’s intentions were not for the sake of Heaven.

Also within Israel, we find that there are some souls who may permit themselves to enter into uncertainty more than others, even though they both come from the seed of Yaakov. Take, for instance, Shimon and Dinah. Levi did not want to take her because he feared that maybe his intentions were not completely for the sake of Heaven, as all the tribe of Levi exist with the fear of G-d before them always, taking care to remove themselves from all doubts. This as it is said (Malachi, 2:5), “וָאֶתְּנֵם-לוֹ מוֹרָא וַיִּירָאֵנִי - and I gave them to him for the fear, etc.” Because of this He brought out of them Cohanim who would enter, “before Me and inside (the Holy of Holies),”and therefore their life was clarified immediately as explained in Parshat Korach (with the tribes, on the verse “and G-d said”). Shimon, however, entered himself into uncertainty, saying, “G-d forbid I would consider myself licentious,” and marrying Dinah. Thus he entered himself into a situation that needed clarification, saying he trusts that G-d will make it clear that it was good, that his intention was not only to take her out from Shchem and all his intentions were for the sake of Heaven. Therefore the tribe of Shimon needed all these kinds of clarifications, such as Zimri who also said that his intention was good, as explained in its place (Parshat Balak). And in the future, when the tribe of Shimon will be clarified, its level will be greater than Levi.

Sod Yesharim, Parshas Vayeira

2007-10-26T16:52:00.000+03:00

Sod Yesharim, by Rav Gershon Chenoch of Radzin.

The Class in the Sod Yesharim takes place every Tuesday night, from 7 to 9 pm, at Yeshivat Simchat Shlomo, 18 HaGilboa Street, Nachlaot, Jerusalem. Israel
(The class is not free. Please speak with the administration about payment.) (02) 622-1456

Parshas Vayeira.
Translated and Annotated by B. Edwards

וַיֵּרָא אֵלָיו ה' בְּאֵלנֵי מַמְרֵא וְהוּא ישֵׁב פֶּתַח הָאהֶל כְּחם הַיּוֹם:
“And God appeared unto him by the oaks of Mamre, and he was sitting in the tent in the heat of the day.”
The Gemara (Baba Metzia, 86b) tells us that this was on the third day after his circumcision.

(And then at the end of the Parsha we find it written) “On the third day, He saw the place from afar.”[1]
It is written, “After two days He will revive us, on the third day He will raise us up, that we may live in His presence.”[2] This is the third day of the shvatim, the tribal ancestors , the children of Jacob.

And Joseph said unto them the third day: This do, and live.[3]
On the third day of Revelation:
And it came to pass on the third day, when it was morning.[4]
On the third day of Joshua’s spies:
And hide yourselves there three days.[5]
On the third day of Jonah:
And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.[6]
On the third day of those returning from the Babylonian Exile:
And we abode there three days.[7]
On the third day of resurrection:
After two days He will revive us, on the third day He will raise us up;
On the third day of Esther:
Now it came to pass on the third day, that Esther put on her royal apparel (Est. V, I)
She put on the royal apparel of her ancestor.
For whose sake did the relief and rescue come on the third day? The Rabbis say: For the sake of the third day, when Revelation took place.
R. Levi maintained: in all of these instances, relief came on the third day in the merit of what Abraham did on the third day, as it says, “And it was on the third day, He saw the place from afar …”
What did he see?
He saw a cloud enveloping the mountain, and said: ‘It appears that that is the place where the Holy One, blessed be He, told me to sacrifice my son.’
When explaining “shlishi l’milah,” the third day after circumcision, The Holy Isbitzer teaches us that by the third day it is fixed permanently. The Orlah (foreskin) has to be completely removed. This represents things that man has no use for and has to totally remove from his life. The second component of Milah is “Priah,” separating and moving the thin inner membrane to the side. (In the performance of a bris milah this is actually done before the removal of the orlah.) Priah is not the orlah, it is just adjacent to it. This represents klipas Noga, of which it is said in the book of Mishlei (4:15), פְּרָעֵהוּ אַל תַּעֲבָר בּוֹ שְׂטֵה מֵעָלָיו וַעֲבוֹ- avoid it, do not pass by it, turn from it and pass on.

The Radziner Rebbe mentions the discussion in the Talmud, Yevamos, 21b, about the decree of “divrei sofrim”) of certain marriages called, “shniyos l’arayos,” or secondary levels of forbidden marriages. Examples of “shiyos l’arayos,” are marriages between a man and his grandmother, or between a man and his child’s daughter in-law. The verse just quoted in Mishlei – where it says, avoid it - is the proof text for this rabbinic prohibition. The idea is as follows. A primary level of prohibition (Isurrei D’Oraita) is antithetical or even detrimental to the Jewish soul. A secondary level is no less forbidden, but its prohibition comes by close association with the primary level. (Of the rabbinic commandments we say, “your goodness is sweeter than wine.”) At the third level, we are not only free from danger, but enriching our souls. .

(The Sod Yesharim continues) Therefore at the third level, the kedushah is permanently instilled in the Jewish soul. At the third level, mans desires are in total agreement with the service of God.
This is as it is said in the Zohar (Kedoshim, 87a) on the verse “And in the fourth year, all of the land’s produce shall be holy and giving praise to God.” (Vayikra, 19:24), “The earth only gives its fruits because of another power that acts upon it, just as a woman does not give birth except by the power of the man. … Come and see! The fruit of her womb is only complete after three births.” (Re: Yehuda. Bear in mind that this is a spiritual idea regarding how forces in the upper world are created, and should in no way cast aspersions on people who only have two siblings or less, or on parents who have only had three children.)

The Zohar writes (Vayera, 97a),
“And God appeared to him by the oaks of Mamre, and he sad in the entrance to the tent in the heat of the day.” “Rabbi Chiya opened. “The buds are seen on the land, the time of pruning has come, and the voice of the turtledove is heard in the land.” (Song of Songs). “The buds are seen on the land.” When God created the world, he suited the perfect strength to each part of creation. Everything was in the land, but the land did not bring forth its fruits until man was created. Once man was created, all of the powers of creation appeared and the land brought forth its produce. In a similar way, the heavens did not give their powers to the land until the arrival of man. This is as it is written in Parshas Bereshis, “and all the plants of the fields had not yet grown from the land, and all the grasses of the field had not yet bloomed because Hashem Elokim had not brought the rains, and there was no man to work the land.” All of these generations were hidden and not revealed. The heavens were prevented and the rains did not fall because man was not on the land at that time … “The time of pruning has come,” (Zamir means both pruning and singing.) He established the power of singing in prayer before God, a power that was not there before man was created. “The voice of the turtledove is heard in our land,” this is the word of God that was not present in the world until man was created. (It was thought that) since man was there, everything was there. But when man sinned … the land was cursed. “when you work the land, it will not give of its powers, your efforts will grow thorns and thistles … Then Noach came and established with his plows and pruning hooks. He planted a vineyard and got drunk, exposing himself in his tent. Men came in the coming generation and sinned before God (with the tower of Babylon and the idolatry of Terach’s generation.) The powers of the earth departed once more. …
And then with the coming of Avraham, “the buds are seen on the land, the time of pruning has come, and the voice of the turtle dove is heard in our land.” The time of pruning refers to the bris Milah. When the time of this covenant arrived, the power was given to Avraham he circumcised himself. This bris Milah was the fulfillment of these words in the Song of Songs. The earth was sustained, and it bloomed. This revealed God’s word.

(The Sod Yesharim continues.) The world was created when God sent forth His word from His simple desire to create. In the place of His greatness, He brought forth His modesty and meekness. That is to say, He wanted rule over the lower world, known as the physical earth. He hid His Godly desire in the garments of the creation (with garment after garment) to the point where His Godly desire became completely hidden. He hid Himself with covering after covering, concealment after concealment, down to the creation of physical matter. The treasure of God’s desire was hidden so deeply in physical matter that the creation could not raise itself up and return face to face to unite with its source in God. For this reason God created man. Man was created so that the buds could be seen and the time of pruning and prayer could come to pass. That is to say, man was created in order to bring the power of the earth back God. He does this by using worldly and material existence, and raise them up through the path of Avodas Hashem. (Food is a simple example.)
Adam HaRishon’s sin (and the source of all deviation from God’s path) flowed from his mistaken belief that since the world is indeed conducted through man (Not just God’s partner, but as the direct creation of God, as Adam was God’s own handwork, as it were), then therefore he has a separate power to ascend, and also to elevate the entire creation. He mistakenly believed that there was nothing that he could not elevate and every place and every time. (This is “Tekifus.”)
Consider the commandment not to eat from the fruit of the tree of knowledge. The Pri Eytz Chaiim of the Arizal explains that this fruit was only forbidden until the onset of Shabbos. Once Shabbos came, it was to be permitted. This hints as how man becomes perfected through Avodas Hashem. (Practice makes perfect.) Completeness and perfection involves man taking the powers in the created world and using them in the service of God.
Everything in the creation is lacking. (See Sod Yesharim, Lech Lcha. People cannot exist without other people or without the powers of the earth.) This is as Isaiah said, “For with Yud Hei, Hashem formed the worlds.” (Why not with the complete four letter name? It is in order to show how the creation is incomplete.) This was in order to allow man to complete creation through his active service. “Everything that was created in the six days of creation needs fixing or preparation. Turmus (a kind of bean) needs to be cooked seven times before it can be eaten. It starts off inedible, and through man’s efforts, becomes sweet and nourishing.” We see how man needs to farm, mill, and make bread. He needs to grow flax and cotton in order to make clothing. In a similar way, God has to prepare His word in order for man to receive it. God’s word starts of as pure light (and light is only an analogy, we have no concept of God’s pure power), and is then dressed in layer after layer of concealment in world upon world, sefirah upon sefirah. The downward linkage and process of greater and greater concealment (tsimstusm) is the way God makes His word comprehensible to man.
Time is also a garment, or a force of concealment and preparation. God’s word must also pass through the garment of time. This is hinted at in Shabbos, the seventh day. Shabbos hints at the attribute of Malchus SHamayim, the sovereignty of Heaven. It is, “Reshis Chochma Yiras Hashem,” “the beginning of wisdom is the fear of God.” (Yirat Hashem means refraining from action based the awe of the Almighty, or at least, the belief that God is faithful to punish all wrongdoing. Refraining from work on Shabbos is an expression of Yiras Hashem. The Idea is that we can only have any real wisdom if we stop and look see how God is in charge.) Yiras Hashem causes man to serve God. Man realizes that all power comes from God, and without God’s power, the creation would be nullified. This is Malchus Shamayim, when we feel God’s leadership in all facets of our life. Of Malchus Shamayim, the Zohar tells us, “d’leit lei megarma clum – it does nothing and effects nothing.” (Malchus is a vessel which is filled by God, whose whole life and existence depends on receiving from God.) God does not need the creation. He is not beholden to the creation in any way. He creates us purely because He wants to and not because He needs to. From our point of view, from the point of view of Malchus, we could forget that we are created, and all the power of our life could return and be subsumed within Godliness. (Re: story of moth and flame, lehavdil.)
Therefore, man needs a constant awakening of Avodas Hashem. This comes with the consciousness knowledge that God is always renewing the power within the creation, and without God’s providence on all details of creation the world would cease to exist. There is no life in the foundation of creation unless man wakes up and looks (hebit) towards the Creator. This consciousness is revealed on Shabbos, because on it God ceased from all of His work. This cessation also nullified all forces which conceal and darken the light of God’s constant creation. This is the Gate of Heaven that man needs to enter, where he may look into all places that the power of God’s creation spreads forth, and there see the Pride of God’s Majesty. (Hashem malach, Geut lavesh - see Psalms.)
This is how the Arizal explains the sin of Adam. Adam wanted to enlarge the crown of Zeir Anpin before Shabbos, when there is still the “power of work.” At this time, Zeir Anpin did not yet have mochin (spiritual intelligence). When man still has the power to work (and think that he is doing the work), then his mochin is not complete. Mochin Mochin has to do with the light that we receive and gives us the ability to return and look at the (source of the light.) As it was with Zeir Anpin in the metaphysical realm, so it was with Adam HaRishon. He did not have the power of awakening needed in order to know that nothing can exist without receiving a constant flow of God’s abundance and power.
The Arizal also says that Adam also sinned with regards to the female. The female power is the power of reception. In the upper worlds, the female was not yet face to face with the male. When the force of reception does not stand face to face with God, the source of giving, then man thinks that he is separate from God, and has his own separate power. He makes the mistake of thinking that God created him with a separate power. Since all forces of creation need a vessel like man to receive their power and use them, then (God’s power within) creation cannot exist without him. (This was his mistake.)

However, when he stands face to face, then he has a connection to the supernal light. He then knows that his existence is just a gift of God’s Chesed. God desired to improve His creation. All of his power is only at the time when he receives God’s light.

This is the mystery of the case that the moon brought before God:
R. Simeon b. Pazzi pointed out a contradiction [between verses]. One verse says: And God made the two great light, and immediately the verse continues: The greater light . . . and the lesser light. The moon said unto the Holy One, blessed be He, ‘Sovereign of the Universe! Is it possible for two kings to wear one crown’? He answered: ‘Go then and make thyself smaller’. ‘Sovereign of the Universe’! cried the moon, ‘Because I have suggested that which is proper must I then make myself smaller’? He replied: ‘Go and thou wilt rule by day and by night’. ‘But what is the value of this’? cried the moon; ‘Of what use is a lamp in broad daylight’? He replied: ‘Go. Israel shall reckon by thee the days and the years’. ‘But it is impossible’, said the moon, ‘to do without the sun for the reckoning of the seasons, as it is written: And let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days and years’. ‘Go. The righteous shall be named after thee4 as we find, Jacob the Small, Samuel the Small, David the Small’, On seeing that it would not be consoled the Holy One, blessed be He, said: ‘Bring an atonement for Me for making the moon smaller’. This is what was meant by R. Simeon b. Lakish when he declared: Why is it that the he-goat offered on the new moon is distinguished in that there is written concerning it unto the Lord? Because the Holy One, blessed be He, said: Let this he-goat be an atonement for Me for making the moon smaller. (Soncino Translation)

The case of the moon is compared to the sin of Adam. The moon was blemished in order that the power of reception in creation would feel its own incompleteness. When man feels his own incompleteness, he understand that from his own side he has nothing, and how God doesn’t have to sustain us, but rather He desires to sustain us and improve us. This is why there are different seasons. Summer will see that the world does not always have to be summer, it could also be fall or winter. The world can change and still exist. In this way, man was created incomplete to drive him to go back and look at the word with God’s light.

[1] Gen. XXII, 4
[2] Hos. VI, 2
[3] Gen. XLII, 18
[4] Ex. XIX, 16
[5] Josh. II, 16
[6] Jonah II. 1
[7] Ezra VIII, 32

Kever Rachel and the late Yitschak Rabin

2007-10-25T11:41:00.000+03:00

Today, I heard an interesting story about Rachel's tomb and Itschak Rabin. Rachel was the wife of the Patriarch Jacob, and together with Leah, is the matriarch of the Jewish people. Her tomb, a holy site in Israel, is just south of Jerusalem in Bethlehem, a town in the land of Judea. Jews offer prayers to God every day and night by her tomb, which has been renovated into a synagogue and yeshiva.

The aniversary of her passing, or yahrtseit, is on the eleventh day of the month of Cheshvan (around october). On her yahrtzeit, thousands of devoted and righteous Jews flock to her tomb to pray for the welfare of Israel and the whole world. We call the yahrtseit of a Holy man or woman a "hillula," or wedding, as the power of the holy man to pray and intercede before the One and only is increased when he or she has shuffled off the mortal coil and reuintes with God in Heaven.

On one such "hillula" of the Matriarch Rachel I went with my wife and a friend of ours to pray at Rachel's tomb. Standing room only is an understatement. All of the devout were cleaved together and prayingwith one voice, filling the room with light and tears of fire.
When we got back to the car, we turned on the radio. Yitchak Rabin had just been assasinated. This was the last time I visited Rachel's tomb.

This is that was repudedly said on the Israeli Radio in an interview with Chanan Porat, a former knesset member, and a founder of the national religious party (Mafdal). Rabin had just signed and agreement with the Arabs to give away certain terretories of the Jewish homeland. The land of Israel was to be divided into three areas, area A (under full Israeli soveriegnty), Area B (under Arab control but under Israeli military control), and Area C (Arab conrol and no Israeli Military presence). The Tomb of Rachel was designated as area B. Chanan Porat made and appointment to meet with Rabin in order to try to convince him to keep Rachel's tomb under full Israeli sovereignty (Area A). As he reached Rabin's office, he saw Rav Menachem Porush, a knesset member and leader of the Agudat Israel (charedi) Party. Rav Porush asked if he could join Porat in the meeting with the prime minister, to which Porat gladly agreed. As they sat before Rabin, Porat took out a number of maps and set out to work convincing Rabin to reconsider, to which Rabin responded by saying that the deals were already signed and sealed and there is no return (Of course, as a third hand story, I don't know exactly what was said.)
After several minutes of claims and counter claims, logical arguments and sighing about tied hands, Porush grabbed the prime minister by his shoulders, shook him and cried out from his broken heart, "reb yitchak, die mamae rachel vilst du ibber lozin bie die araber - Reb Yitschak, are you going to give our mother Rachel to the Arabs!!" Rabin started to cry together with Porush. After things calmed down, and the meeting ended, Rabin called the foriegn minister, who was at that time Shimon Peres, and discussed the possibility of renegotioating to place Rachels tomb in area A. Peres was against it, saying again how its already a done deal, signed and sealed. After Peres's rejections, Rabin told him, "look, he (Arafat) needs us more than we need him."

Chanan Porat and Rav Porush succeded in covincing Rabin, and it seems that Rabin covinced Peres. Rachel's tomb is an enclave of Area A just across the border from the Jerusalem municipality. All Israelis and visitors have free and unfettered access to go there and pray day and night. Rachel's tomb, bordering the Judean desert just down the road from Kibbutz Ramat Rachel, where I taught my kids how to swim. Someday I will take them to the synagogue at Rachel's tomb and Die heilige Mamme Rachel will teach them how to pray.

I don't know what God is trying to tell us, but who could not pause in wonder at how Rabin was killed on the same day that Rachel Imenu left the world, and the role he had in providing Jewish access to the tomb of their anscestor.

I was told by a student of a well known Rabbi, "the posek of chortkov," (I forgot his name), that Yitchak Rabin, of blessed memory, would "always," call the Rabbi when making significant decisions. What kinds of situations, what kind of questions? The student could not tell me.

Show me Yourself

2007-10-19T11:39:00.000+03:00

Question: How do you translate the verse in the Torah, "haster astir es panai?"
Hester means concealment. The intensive "doubled form," one of God's favorites, takes a verb and intensifies its meaning by saying it twice, as in Deut: 'and it will be if you surely hearken (shamoah tishm'eu)," Or at the end of the song of ascents, "when God returns the captives we will be like dreamers" where he says, "he who is going and crying (haloch yelech, doubling the HL"Ch root)," meaning going with angst or intensely. And then in the next verse, "bo yavo," "he will surely come carrying his sheaves." This is literally translated, "come he shall come."

But I don't want to translate it as, "surely" because I keep thinking about that stupid joke from the movie, "Airplane," where one guy says, "Surely youre joking!!" and the other answers, "no I'm serious, and my name isn't Shirley." Yuk Yuk.

So what is the best way to translate, "haster astir es panai?"

"Hide will I Hide My face ..."

I will mammash hide My face ....

I will really really hide my face ....

I will hide my face to the max ....

None of the above .....

This has to do with the discoure of the Rebbe of Radzin in his work, Sod Yesharim, Parshas Lech L'cha. At the end of the discours, (in the previous post,) he talks about intense levety. Actually its more than that. Its scoffing and deriding the Torah and its followers ostensibly in order to entertain one's peers or even one's self. As a former clown (I am an old professor of goofing off,) well, not so former, this subject is close to home. As a kid, it became clear that making others laugh was not just a special gift that was prized at school and in the culture at large, but it was a power and a way to wield power. It was also a great way to hide from the world which I had determined was a nasty place. So lets roll up our sleeves and get into one of the deadliest subjects on the face of the planet, the "Theology of Humor."

In the last post I translated the following:

(King Solomon wrote in Misheli (proverbs), “(If you have been wise, you have been wise for yourself,) and if you are scoffer, you alone will bare it.” This is a case where a man holds on to concealment and amnesia. Scoffing (leitsanus in Hebrew) is the garment of concealment, where God’s light is not seen. The AriZal Calls it, “batei Elokim” (houses of Elokim - or a second outer shell which surrounds concealment. This is about as far as man can seem to be from God.) The powers that God dressed in the garments of creation are called “Elokim.” There are 120 permutations of the five letters of “Elokim.” The power of kedushah reaches as low as these levels, where God’s light may still be perceived. The garments where God’s light may not be seen are called, “Elohim acherim,” or false Gods. Wherever Gods light may not be seen is not “in the power of kedushah.” Even though God created all of the powers, as it is written (Isaiah,54), “I created a destroyer to destroy.” True, man must remove all of these garments, and illuminate the darkness, and when the light reaches so low, he will see how all is from God.

The doubled or intensive grammatical form in the Torah is not just a way to say, "surely," or "really." The classical commentaries, and "drashos" of the great Rabbis often explain a point about the repetition, or two levels, in order to show how there are two things going on, and this is hinted at in the repetition of the word. So God hides in the world He created. Take food, for instance. Once you have finnished the graduate seminar in Advanced Spiritual States, mazal Tov, you are now one of the cognoscenti, (and dont think for a Jerusalem second that just because I am scoffing at the Universities now by using what MW describes as "obsolete itallian," that this idea is also obsolete.) YOU KNOW that whenever you eat, God is sustaining you through the nutrients in the food. If you are a materialist, or as you might say, "the living dead," then you will say, "its chemical compounds sustaning an organism." But this would be shallow. How does something grow, how does a living organism live? No one really knows, but since we are alive, and life must be sustained somehow, so we see how, "God sustains all." We call the life force, "God's energy or soul." It is not God, God is hidden. The force which sustains life is an emanation flowing out of the source of all existence we call "God."

God's power or the soul that emanates from the source is hidden in the food we eat.

This is one level of concealment. The "Houses of Elokim" mentioned in the above quotation, based on the AriZal, Rav Luria, of blessed memory, are the second level of concealment, where not only is the Godly power concealed, but the living dead who poke fun at such ideas, with a hearty rotgreen laugh, are using their antagonism in the form of humor to deny it, that is to say, conceal it even further. Elokim equals 86 in jewish numerology. so does the word for "the nature," or HaTeva. The meaning is, "God hides in nature." This is Elokim. Scoffers (Leitsanim) conceal it even further. This is why God sighs in heaven, He who has no form, Raises His mighty arm that brough us out of Egypt, now used not as a sign of strenght but "netilas yadaim," or a sign of surrender, and says, "Hide I will hide my face when the clowns among you deride my Torah and my people." The study of Chassidus, in particular, the Chassidus of Isbitz-Radzin, is a way to console God, "NAchamu, Nachamu Ami." God is saying, console me that I have to hide my face in order for you to get credit for your belief and efforts in My service, and console me a second time when I hide my face in Divine shame because my creations insult Me. But I will be silent and thereby achieve atonement for having to be hidden at all. Chassidus is a path that breaks down the wall.

Once upon a time, the Maggid of Mezerich, Rav Dov Baer, was in his kitchen, and heard his little boy crying from inside a cabinet. He opened the door, and underneath a blanket, found his five year old boy sobbing. He picked him up in his arms and said, "my son, why are you crying? Why are you hiding in the cabinet?" "Father, we were playing hide and go seek. I hid here in the kitchen, and I hid so well, that the other boys gave up and stopped looking for me. I have been in here for an hour, Tatee, and they went to play somewhere else."

Tears started streaming down the Maggids cheeks. He cried and said,"Master of Heaven and Earth! Do you see what You have done! You have hidden your face from us. You hid yourself so well that your children have stopped even trying to find you. You have hidden Yourself so well that they have not only stopped looking for you, but they have forgotten that You are even there!"

Let me hear Your voice, let me see Your form,
for Your form is lovely ....

Rav Gershon Chenoch of Radzin - Parshas Lech L'cha

2007-10-17T15:12:00.000+03:00

BS”D

Sod Yesharim.
Rav Gershon Chenoch of Radzin ZTs”L. Known as, "The Radziner Rebbe."
Here is one of his discourses on Parshas Lech Lcha (The story of Abraham.) The dude to the right is the blogger, if anyone asks.

It is written in the Torah ....
“And God said to Avraham, go from your land, from your birthplace, from the house of your father, to the land that I will show you.”

Zohar, Parshas Lech Lcha, 15b

Rabbi Abba opened (with the verse), “Listen to me, you stubborn of heart (abirei lev), who are far from righteousness (tsedaka).” (Isaiah, 46:12) How hard are the hearts of the wicked, who see the ways and paths of the Torah, and do not look into them! … Those who are far from tesdaka distance themselves from the Torah. Rabbi Chizkiya said, “they are far from haKadosh, Baruch Hu.(God) …
Come and see. Avraham wanted to come close to haKadosh, Baruch Hu, (and bring others close), and in doing so he brought himself close. This is as it is written (Tehilim, 45:8), “You love righteousness, and hate wickedness; (therefore God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness above your companions.” The Zohar tells us that this statement in the psalms is in reference to Avraham)

(The Sod Yesharim explains.) “the stubborn of heart,” refers to those who rely on their foundations but have no actions. They assert that since God created a world where the Divine presence is concealed, then God must want it this way. God hides in a hidden garment (RE story of the Maggid and “hide and seek.”) His desires are not apparent in the garments of the world. If God wanted to reveal His desires with clarity, then why did He create these garments of concealment?

We find the following discussion in the Gemara.

Hearken unto Me, you hard-hearted, who are far from righteousness. Rab and Samuel — according to others, R. Johanan and R. Eleazar — interpret this differently. One says: The whole world is sustained by [God's] charity, and they are sustained by their own force. The other says: All the world is sustained by their merit, and they are not sustained even by their own merit. This accords with the saying of Rab Judah in the name of Rab. For Rab Judah said in the name of Rab: Every day a divine voice goes forth from Mount Horeb (Sinai) and proclaims: The whole world is sustained for the sake of My son Hanina, and Hanina My son has to subsist on a kab of carobs from one week end to the next. This [explanation] conflicts with that of Rab Judah. For Rab Judah said: Who are the ‘hard-hearted’? The stupid Gubaeans.

(The Sod Yesharim continues.) Truly they are both true. (Abirei Lev means has the pejorative connotation of callous and heard-hearted, as well as the positive connotation of righteous and brave-hearted.) On the one hand, there is no shortage of heard hearted people who believe that since God created all kinds of pleasures in the world, then He must want us to extend ourselves in whatever suits our fancy. They put forth erronious ideas, saying, "If God had not wanted us to extend ourselves, then He would not have made the ways in which He is concealed so enticing to mortal men." In this sense they are, “far from righteousness,” for as we have found in the Zohar, “far from righteousness" means not wanting to come close to haKadosh Baruch Hu, and this is tantamount to not wanting to come close to the Torah. “Since they are far from tsedaka, they are far from Shalom, and they have no peace.”

“Tsedaka,” means connecting to another person in order to shine into a place that was lacking light. A poor person lacks sustenance and is forced to receive it from a person who is able to help. God arranged the entire creation on this principle. Everyone is incomplete. Everyone must necessarily receive from other people in one way or another. The Midrash teaches us that even the heavens is in need of peace. (Midrash Rabba, 96:9) God arranged the creation where completeness is only possible when people come together. When there is a willingness to give, then God shines his light into this place of giving and receiving. This is as it is written (Yeshayahu 6), “and they called out one to another,” where the Aramaic translation reads, “and they received one from the other.” (Received permission from the fellow angels in the heavenly choir to proclaim God’s holiness). Only when they received one from the other does God illuminate them with His light.

For this reason, God created a general incompleteness among his creation. God created the attribute of concealment (hester) – which is in itself Malchus Shamayim (the Sovereignty of Heaven), of with the Zohar tells us, “d’leit lei megarma clum – it does nothing on its own. (Malchus effects nothing from its own side, but rather is all about receiving from above. Malchus, or the Shechina, is a vessel for God’s abundance and light.) Only after the creation as a whole reaches a spiritual refinement (through Avodas Hashem, Tefilla, and Torah) and thereby returns to see the creation with God’s light (uses God’s light to see within the concealment of the garments), then, from the side of the creation, light will be drawn into that particular middah (sefirah) and facet of creation.

Man will then see that this concealment is also one of God’s creations and has an essential purpose. The concealment, like everything, is also created for God’s glory and honor. The greatest Glory of Heaven comes from seeing in this way. It all happens because the creation is lacking, and desires to unite with the source in order to fill the lack and reach wholeness. In this way the darkness is illuminated. This consciousness inspires Avodas Hashem and the desire to return and see the world with God’s light even amidst the greatest darkness. Now is becomes clear that the darkness is filled with God’s light.

For God’s point of view, the whole world is a complete unity, without any separation at all. Separation is only from the side of the creation. All who desire God’s light are filled with a giving spirit for the entire creation. This is because one who sees in this way is closer to the source, and at the source there is a complete wholeness and oneness. It is the, “Clall.” The closer you are to the source, the more you feel how you are a part of the source. The one who is closer to the source sees how the source also includes the concealment (and its purpose). He then sees how no matter how dark the evil, nothing in the world is not illuminated by God’s light.

Even one who thinks he is “his own man,” going after the desires of his own closed heart, and acting upon his own free choice, is unknowingly being led by God in a place beyond his comprehension. (this is the ohr makif – the surrounding light, which is akin to the phrase in the psalms, “yarumu selah” – it is above and beyond”)

Then he understands that even his Avodas Hashem is only something he is doing with regards to himself. This is as it is said, “If you have been wise, you have been wise only for yourself.” (Mishlei, 9:12) The Isbitzer Rebbe explained this by saying that if a man succeeded in understanding a matter of Torah, and reached even a sublime level of wisdom, he only really merited for himself, in the sense that he sees how the root of his own soul is in the wisdom of Torah that he revealed. Yet he did not add one iota to the Torah and its knowledge. For truly, all new understanding of the Torah, “even that which a seasoned scholar devises,” was already revealed to Moshe Rabeynu, who is the Daas (knowledge or consciousness) of All of Israel, meaning that it is all included in the words of Torah. That which David HaMelech said, “(Tehilim, 71), “I will always yearn, and I will add to Your praises (to the Torah),” In this case, David HaMelech is only illuminating within the darkenss, and showing how even there exists the light of the words of Torah. God then rewards him for his efforts in revealing the light, measure for measure, as it is considered the work of man’s own hands.

(The verse in Mishlei continues), “and if you are scoffer, you alone will bare it.” This is a case where a man holds on to concealment and amnesia. Scoffing (leitsanus) is the garment of concealment, where God’s light is not seen. The AriZal Calls it, “batei Elokim” (houses of Elokim - or a second outer shell which surrounds concealment. This is about as far as man can seem to be from God.) The powers that God dressed in the garments of creation are called “Elokim.” There are 120 permutations of the five letters of “Elokim.” The power of kedushah reaches as low as these levels, where God’s light may still be perceived. The garments where God’s light may not be seen are called, “Elohim acherim,” or false Gods. Wherever Gods light may not be seen is not “in the power of kedushah.” Even though God created all of the powers, as it is written (Isaiah,54), “I created a destroyer to destroy.” True, man must remove all of these garments, and illuminate the darkness, and when the light reaches so low, he will see how all is from God. Therefore, with Rabbi Chanina ben Dossa, even though power of his merit and Avodas Hashem sustained the whole world, he only saw how everything is only from God. This is called, “sustained by their own force.” (see Gemara Berachos above) He saw how everything was in the hands of Heaven, and did not want to enter into any worldly concealment. For this reason he did not want to benefit from his own portion. He did not even want to benefit from the fruits of the world. …..

Sod Yesharim - Parshas Noach

2007-10-10T22:55:00.000+03:00

BSD

PARSHAS NOACH
A discourse by HaGaon Rabeynu Gershon Chanoch of Radzin ZTs"L
(The photo to the left is of a friend of Isbitz-Radzin in Israel Today.)
“These are the generations of Noach. Noach …”

Zohar, Noach, 59b

“Rabbi Chiya opened and said, “And Your people are all righteous – they will forever inherit the land. They are the bud of My planting, the work of My hands in which I will take pride.” (Isaiah, 60). Fortunate are you, Israel, who study the Torah, and know the ways of the Torah. For this you will inherit the world to come. Come and see. All of Israel has a portion in the world to come. Why? Because they guard and receive the covenant which the world exists upon, as it is written, “If it were not for My covenant day and night, I would not have established the laws of heaven and earth (that is to say, the laws of nature.)” (This verse tells us that Torah observance of the Jews does no less than make the laws of nature possible. However, you may understand the “laws of heaven and earth in a different way.) …

Rabbi Elazar said, “when the verse says, “these,” (as in “these are the generations of Noach”), it comes to disqualify whatever came before. What came before in Parshas Bereshis that “these” comes to disqualify? “And a river came forth from Eden to water the garden, and from there it divided into four branches (“heads.”) The river flowed forth and entered the garden, watering above, satisfying it, allowing it to produce fruits (souls) and increase its seeds. In this way the river satisfied the garden, and in doing so satisfied itself. (Providing for the fruits gave the river contentment.) This is the meaning of the two verses (in the second chapter of Bereshis), “for on it He rested,” (meaning the river), “and He rested on the seventh day.” (Meaning the garden). This is the secret of how it (the river) brings forth generations and no other.

(The River watering the Garden is the secret of the zivvug of Yesod and Malchus)

Questions on the Zohar.

2. “What does Noach and his generations have to do with the way the existence of the world depends on the fulfillment of the covenant, which we call, ‘the Torah?’ ”

3. According to the Zohar, what does “these” in first verse in parshas Noach come to disqualify from parshas Bereshis, and why?

4. According to the Zohar, what is the connection between the river which flowed forth from Eden and the mention of rest in parshas Bereshis?

While learning this passage of the Sod Yesharim, consider the questions,

1. What is the difference between the covenant that God made with Noach, the covenant that He made with Avraham, and the covenant at Mount Sinai?

2. What are human actions that last forever? What does it mean to be connected on the inside, and what does it mean to be connected on the outside?

Sod Yesharim, Continued.

With this, the Zohar is explaining the difference between the covenant that God made with Noach and the covenant that God made with Avraham Avinu. Desire is a part of life. Man's desire drives him to satisfy physical pleasures, magnify his wealth, and increase his honor. If you limit your own desires, and give honor to God and His desires, then measure for measure, God will send the Shechina to rest upon you. The more you give honor to God, the greater you will experience a revelation of Godliness in your life. The people of Noach’s time, hedonists par excelance, were prodigious in running after their own desires and pleasures. They were the epitome of selfishness. The thought of restricting your own desires and fulfilling God’s desire was considered ludicrous. Noach was the only one of his own Generation who put himself and his desires aside in order to give honor to God. This is why Noach is called an, “Ish Tsaddik Tamim,” a whole-hearted, righteous man. This is why God chose him to be the sole progenitor of mankind.

(Examples of limiting man's own desires in deference to God's desires is really very simple. God's desires are one and the same with the commandments, the seven noachide laws which are binding upon all of mankind, and the 613 laws commanded to the Jewish people. Let me offer a simple example. If I want to drive to the beach, but it is saturday, then refraining from using the car out of respect for God's law is a way of limiting my own desire and fulfilling God's desire. If I just ate meat, and want to drink milk an hour later, but my religious senseblility keeps me waiting the full six hours required by the Rambam, then again, I am limiting my own desires and giving honor to God.)

However, the progeny of Noach was not connected to the inner light. Noach’s descendants (until Avraham) where just the garments, even though from God’s point of view even the garments contain eternal life. Yet from man’s point of view, man can only acquire something in which he has a deep grasp and tangible understanding.

(On 8 oct. 07 Rav Brandvine Shlit"a discussed how the surrounding light, or as the Sod Yesharim puts it, the "garments," represents a general feeling of sanctity without any deep understanding of the meaning. The inner light is a deep understanding of the meaning.)

This has an Halachic application. The Rosh brings the following scenario. (Baba Metzia, quoted in the hagahaos oshr”i, ch. 2, siman 9) A Jew bought tin from a Gentile supplier to make his roof. He and the supplier both assumed that it was tin. He changed his mind and sold it to a different Jew. After the transaction, the second Jew discovered that it was tin plated silver. Rabbi Eliezar of Mitz said the second Jew was exempt from returning the metal, since the Jew who bought from the Gentile didn’t know, and had no intention in buying the silver. Rabeynu Tam agreed with Rabbi Eliezar of Mitz.

The point is that his acquisition reached only as far as his knowledge of what he was acquiring. He paid him the rate for tin (and not for silver.) This case in the Rosh is based on the mishna in Baba Metzia (second chapter, or in the B.T. on daf 25b), “If he found a treasure in a pile of stones or in an old stone wall, he can keep it. (he has acquired the lost treasure.)” The Gemara explains, “if you bought a house, and then you found a treasure in one of the walls, or in a pile of stones on the property, then you don’t have to return it to the previous owner, because it could have been there for ages. ”

Noach didn’t have a real apprehension in the depths of the covenant because the birrur in the world was not yet complete. (Birrur is the refinement, or the clarification between the significant and the extraneous, between good and evil.) Noach only had an understanding of the garments, the external elements of the world. Still, Noach merited eternal life. The internal aspect of life was apprehended with the covenant that was forged with Avraham. It is an all-encompassing covenant (not only external), and it endures forever. This is as it is said of Avraham (Bereshis, 18:19), “For I know him, that he will command his children and his household after him, (and they shall keep the way of God, to do justice and judgment …)”

A permanent acquisition was rooted in Avraham whereby he would only be content with something that was eternal and all-encompassing. (Eternal actions are actions that fulfill the desires of the Eternal One.) We see that this is not the case with Noach, for the moment he left the Ark and saw that he had a future (was a “ben olam haba”), the moment he was sure that he would not be decimated by the flood, his mind was put at ease. But this ease and surety actually disturbed him, as we see, “he made wine (and became drunk.).” All of his contentment was in the wine, even though wine is only a temporary enjoyment. Therefore most of his descendants were also given over to temporary enjoyment. Many wicked men came from his descendants, which is something we do not find with the Patriarchs. Even though Yishmael came from Avraham, still, Yishmael is not called, “the seed of Avraham,” but rather a decendant of Noach, for God said to Avraham, “your progeny shall be called through Yitschak.”

We find that Avraham always limited activities that were not, “eternal.” This is why the Zohar in parshas Noach begins with the verse, “and Your people are all righteous, the will always (eternally) inherit the land ...” and follows by commenting, “Fortunate are you, Israel, who study the Torah, and know the ways of the Torah. For this you will inherit the world to come. Why? It is because they guard the covenant.” This distinguishes Israel from the peoples of the earth. Every way in which Israel limits themselves (in avodas Hashem) is an expression of their connection to the source. They are united (devukim) with the Torah, and the Torah is the center column (which unites all of the sefiros). By virtue of Israel’s connection to the source which is all-inclusive, they only delight in matters which are eternal and all-inclusive. Truly, God rewards all the people of the earth for good behavior, as we find in the Talmud, “God does not withhold the earnings of all of his creations.” God is absolutely fair, and does not defraud anything or anyone. Noach, too, rejoiced in his portion.

The creation of the world, and the generations of Adam were like a fruit that only ripened with the coming of Avraham. With Avraham, the time was ripe to forge a deeper covenant with God. (This is a covenant that allows deeper understanding of God's desires as expressed in the Laws of His Torah. The fullfilment of such laws with fear and love allows a man to know God.) Avraham received the reward of all of the generations from Noach until his lifetime, including the reward of Noach. All of Noach’s reward was that Avraham would be born ten generation later among his descendants. In the merit being Avraham’s progenitor, Noach too merited the world to come. (Avraham was Noach’s “future.”) Only because of Avraham, Noach was also “eternal.” However, the light and the understanding was given only to Avraham, so the main acquisition of the inheritance of God and the knowledge of God in the world was exclusively with Avraham. This is why Rabbi Chiya opened parshas Noach by saying, “and Your people are all righteous,” because the covenant that God forged with the Patriarchs includes all of Israel, and in the merit of this covenant, “nothing will be pushed into exile.” (See Shmuel 2, 14:14) and they will forever inherit the land, meaning that the covenant that God formed with the Patriarchs is an eternal covenant, as opposed to a temporary agreement.

Mei HaShiloach: Parshat Ha'azinu

2007-09-11T22:03:00.000+03:00

A view of the Heavens above the earth of the Judean Desert in Israel, (which if anyone asks, happens to be a part of the Jewish Homeland.) Somewhere in the distance (in what is now Jordan) is Har Nevo, the unknown resting place of Moses, who spoke the verse below in a place not far from the view in the picture.

The Mei HaShiloach

From Living Waters: The Mei Hashiloah
Translated by B. Edwards. Rowman Littlefield publishers

הַאֲזִינוּ הַשָּׁמַיִם וַאֲדַבֵּרָה וְתִשְׁמַע הָאָרֶץ אִמְרֵי-פִי

“Give ear, O heavens, and I will speak, and the earth shall hear the sayings of my mouth.” (Devarim, 32:1)
It is said in the Midrash (Sifrei Ha’azinu Piska 1), “Since Moshe Rabeynu was close to the heavens, he called on the heavens to listen. And Isaiah, who was close to the earth, called on the earth to listen (Which is evident from Isaiah's word order, placing the earth before the heavens, in chapter 8:9, “וְהַאֲזִינוּ כֹּל מֶרְחַקֵּי-אָרֶץ - give ear, all the expanses of the earth.”).” Why does Moshe call upon the Heavens first, and Isaiah call upon the earth first? Moshe Rabeynu is the mind and wisdom of all of Israel, and this is called, “the heavens.” Man's mind has the ability to receive even things which are as tough as sinews. Isaiah is the heart of all of Israel. The heart constantly cries out for salvation. It can only accept comfort. We see this in the very name Isaiah, Yeshayahu in Hebrew, which means God's salvation. So when Moshe Rabeynu said, “Give ear, O heavens,” he was invoking the great powers called the heavens, evoking the brain and its power to accept everything. Moshe continues his sentence with the words, “And I will speak.” When the Torah uses the word, “speech,” or “dibbur,” in Hebrew, the Torah is speaking about something difficult (and is therefore used here with, “heavens”). “And may the earth hear the sayings of my mouth,” for, “saying,” “amirah,” in Hebrew, always denotes softness. In other words, when you will call to the heart, called the earth, which is always thirsty for salvation, then you use the language of softness and comfort. The verses continue, “יַעֲרֹף כַּמָּטָר לִקְחִי - My doctrine shall drip as the rain,” (“dripping,” “עֲרֹף - arof,” in Hebrew, sounds just like the word for the back of the neck). When you or I resist coming close to the Torah, it will clutch us by the back of the neck, (our "stiff-necks") so to speak, and we will have to accept the yoke of the Torah against our stubborn wills. But then, immediately upon accepting it, “תִּזַּל כַּטַּל אִמְרָתִי - my saying will flow like the dew,” meaning that the words of Torah will then be with him in comfort and joy.

Reflections on the Mei HaShiloach.

This piece in the Mei HaShiloach brings up a number of issues. The first one that comes to mind is the resistence. A simple question is, "if the Torah is good and light, then why doesn't the whole world run to observe it's laws?" "Shveir zein a Yid! It is difficult to be a Jew!" What is the difficulty? Strap some leather boxes on your arms and spend a few more dollars on kosher meat. If it were only so easy. It is hard enough for a man to use his logic, so how are we to expect him to do something that makes no logical sense but is purely an expression of faith? Elsewhere in the Mei HaShiloach, in his commentary on Devarim 7:12, he writes:

... In the future the blessed G-d will reveal to each soul in Israel the understanding that no statute or law in the Torah, no matter how inscrutable, was without meaning. At present, all the difficulties that Israel suffers over the fulfillment of mitsvot are due to an inability to understand the depth of the good contained in the mitsvot. It appears to them that these statutes are without meaning, and therefore suffer from them. Yet when it becomes perfectly clear that everything was done in justice for the benefit of Israel and were not without meaning, then “our mouths will be filled with laughter,” (Psalms, 126:2) and we will be in a state of simcha.

The second issue is that of free will. What is Torah obsevance worth if a man does not freely choose to serve? Are we robots, just doing what we do because that is how God programmed us? So when the Rebbe of Isbitz says, "When you or I resist coming close to the Torah, it will clutch us by the back of the neck, (our "stiff-necks") so to speak, and we will have to accept the yoke of the Torah against our stubborn wills," it flys in the face of free will. .

This reminds me of the prophet Yona, who tried to escape the destiny that God had in store for him, but ended up learning that you cannot escape the plans that God has for you. The secret is the ability to see how it is allways good.

It seems as if God takes away our free choice at times, "grabbing us by the back of the neck with the Torah," in order to show us some meaning. We think it is impossible, or highly undesiralbe, and we resist. Then, for some reason, even against our wishes, we do a mitzvah. After doing it, God grants us a greater level of understanding. The idea of a doctrine grabbing me by the back of the neck is an unpleasant one. Would I want a communist doctrine to "grab me by the back of the neck," in the form of the KGB? Or have a born again christian "grab me by the back of the neck," and dunk me in the river in the name of his god? Well, frankly, no. But "its ways are ways of pleasentness," and either you believe it or you dont, either you have seen how the Torah , every mitzvah of the Torah, is a path of pleasentness, or you have not.. As a man of faith, as a man of fear and love, I welcome such a grab. Sure I have doubts, this is the world of doubt, and as the grandson of the Radziner Rebbe said, "the only one who knows for certain is God Himself in Revealed Glory," but we are in the world of concealment where it is only natural to have doubts. So I will inevitably try to get away from the Torah at times even if it is against the interests of my soul. So it is reassuring that, "My Doctrine (The Torah,) shall drip as the rain, " , or "Grab me by my neck," and jump start me on a pleasant path. GSGY and Gemar Tov!! sdf

Choose Life! Seforno on Love

2007-09-03T02:07:00.000+03:00

“Today I call the heavens and earth as witnesses concerning you, I have placed before you the life and the death, the blessing and the curse. And you shall choose life, in order that you and your progeny after you may live.” (Devarim, 30:19)

The Seforno tells us that the life is everlasting life. And you shall chose life in order to live a life in which you express you love for God. God is telling us, when you choose life you are not doing it in order to get some kind of reward from your good behavior. Rather I ask you to choose it because it is real, true life, as opposed to fleeting, “here today, gone tomorrow,” existence. How do I know that any action expresses eternal life? I know that your actions endure forever when they express your love for God, actions with show an appreciation for God’s goodness and greatness.

This is more or less directly translated from the Seforno. What am I going to do for God? If my father asks me to get him a glass of water, and I do so, it may not be simple obedience, but a way I express my love for my father. If a man does for others purely out of a sense of duty, he will most likely end up hating his actions. But if he does for others out of love, he will come to love his service.

Who wrote the Book of Love? Well, Maimonides, of course. In the Sefer Ahava (the Book of Love), he provides the laws of Tsitsit, Tefillin, Reading the Shema, the Recitation of the Torah in the Synagogue, the Amida prayer. What is love? Love is when I am so connected to another person that I will go out of my way to do things for that person. I will be not just thinking about him or her, but doing things to show how I care. Love is a mode of operation where you say, “If it is important to you, then, my love, it is important to me.” So God tells us to do crazy things. Run out into the desert without shoes. Where will the water come from, where will the food come from? The desert is a dangerous place, better stay by the flesh pots of Egypt! No! We are in love, and that means we will do some crazy things. We will write verses on parchment made from animal skins, and fold them up and put them into boxes and strap the boxes onto our arms and heads while we stand and speak to the Hidden of all Hiddens. We will stand and cry and move our lips like a drunken woman. Why? Because we are in Love! Because if it is important to You, God, it is important to me.

What, then, does it mean that these actions last for ever? When you show your love, the one who you love will remember it, and feel your love. God remembers every tefillin, every Tefillah, every good word and thought, even if it never saw the light of day. And it all increases the love in heaven and earth.

Repairing Worlds: Reparation and Tikkun

2007-08-27T02:31:00.000+03:00

The Isbitz-Radzin Institute is proud to present the following article by noted psychotherapist and writer Joseph H. Berke. It is the first in what we hope to be a series of guest articles exploring expressions of Chassidus and Kabbalah in psychology and other fields. Doctor Berke studied under R. D. Laing and is the founder and and director of the Arbours Crisis Centre, London. He has authored numerous books on psychology, most recently Malice: Through the Looking Glass.

This excerpt is taken from the final chapter of his forthcoming book, written together with Stanley Schneider, entitled Centers of Power: The Convergence of Psychoanalysis and Kabbalah, to be published by Jason Aronson, fall 2007.

Tikkun has to do with correction, restoration and renewal. It is the core concept, the raison d’être of Kabbalah and coincides with the impetus for reparation, perhaps the most significant psychoanalytic formulation of Melanie Klein and her followers.

As in Kabbalah, Klein set out to describe how to overcome fragmentation and loss, evil and exile. But her terms of reference were different. Klein was concerned with the self in relation to ‘internal objects,’ internalized representations of significant persons, and, to a lesser extent, ‘external objects,’ actual life-important people. For her, exile meant separation from Mother, while evil equaled death. For Kabbalists, however, evil means fragmentation of the soul and separation from God.

Reparation is the will, means and action of repairing an inner world shattered under the pressure of destructive impulses and an outer world of damaged relationships, peoples and things. Reparation, like tikkun, is both a goal and the movement towards this goal. According to Kleinian psychology, reparation is never complete, rather it is an active process of striving towards completeness, whether of the head or heart or entire being. It is intimately related to its Kabbalistic counterpart, which is also a constant ongoing process, but with a larger purpose: to unify the universe.

How can one put back together a loved one, loved ones, after we have hurt them? And how strong are our reparative capacities when, as R. D. Laing has noted, “the dreadful has already happened?”

It is fitting to conclude this extended study of psychoanalysis and Kabbalah with a discussion of tikkun. Essentially tikkun has to do with healing -- physical, emotional and spiritual. For ‘man’ this has to do with healing the rifts within himself and between himself and others, in order to gain and regain shlaimoot- wholeness and shalom - peace (of mind).

Essentially, the Kabbalah teaches that when a person restores his self-balance, that is, restores the proper weight of his thought, feelings and actions on a personal scale, he will simultaneously perform a tikkun ha-olam, a transformation of the cosmos. Therefore, what happens internally will happen externally, what happens on a micro scale will also happen on a macro scale. So we learn that there is a continual interplay between the ultimate goal of creation, which is to bring completeness to the world, tikkin ha-olam, and the action or personal praxis that has to be taken, to bring this about.

Noah Feldman: Wiped Out.

2007-08-20T22:09:00.000+03:00

"It would be more dramatic if I had been excommunicated like Baruch Spinoza, in a ceremony complete with black candles and a ban on all social contact, a rite whose solemnity reflected the seriousness of its consequences. But in the modern world, the formal communal ban is an anachronism."

Noah Feldman, our own modern Spinoza. But I trust that you understand why it was not so dramatic with your case. You are not exactly playing with the big boys.

(His full article can be seen at http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/22/magazine/22yeshiva-t.html?em&ex=1186804800&en=5912c1b9af1ce42d&ei=5070, where He tells the tale of how he graduated from a "Modern Orthodox" Jewish High school, and was then distubed to find out that his face and the face of his Gentile wife were airbrushed out of an alumni photo.)

I've got to hand it to you, Mr. Feldman, you possess superior intelligence, an articulate style, and a whole lot of issues to work out. Not only about modern orthodoxy, but about simple, faithful, Torah observance. Your successes, intellect, and ego all score such high marks, but sadly, you seem to be having difficulty with one of the basic ingredients of all Torah observance, modern or not. This basic and essential component is called the love and fear of God.

I do not consider a Jew who marries a Gentile to be lacking faith. He may have tremendous belief in God. It is just that he doesn't see any good enough reason to believe that the law had him and his own best intersts in mind. Such a non-observant believer lacks Yiras Shamayim, the fear or awe of God’s great presence and majesty. Yiras Shamayim, the only thing God asks from us (Deut. 10:12) as a people, is a way of putting your money where your faith is. Yes, I believe. But do I refrain from doing anything in my life simply because God is the Boss, or at least because God is always faithful to reward observance and punish disobedience? Yiras Shamayim, or the Fear of God (as it is usually, though incompletely, translated) separates those who believe in God from those who live a life enriched by this belief.

Lets look at some of Professor Feldman's words before they have been forgotten by the public, which I generously estimate at five weeks. By then some choice derisions of Mitzvot will most likely have made their way to KKK.com.

“Since the birth of modern Orthodox Judaism in 19th-century Germany, a central goal of the movement has been to normalize the observance of traditional Jewish law to make it possible to follow all 613 biblical commandments assiduously while still participating in the reality of the modern world. You must strive to be, as a poet of the time put it, “a Jew in the home and a man in the street.” Even as we students of the Maimonides School spent half of every school day immersed in what was unabashedly a medieval curriculum, our aim was to seem to outsiders and to ourselves like reasonable, mainstream people, not fanatics or cult members.”

The first thing that comes to mind is the error of thinking that Orthodox Jews follow 613 commandments. Unlike the commandment not to marry outside of the Jewish community (as mentioned in Deut. 7:3), a law vital to the life of our nation and the continuation of our tradition, there are many commandments that most Jews cannot fufull. Some are only for Cohanim, some are only for the King, some are for slaves, and many of them require a fully functional Temple in Jerusalem. Less than one hundred of the famous “613” are applicable to most Jews today.

But this is besides the point. The real error is saying that Modern orthodoxy means to be a “Jew in the home and a man in the street.” Modern Orthodoxy means that a religious Jew can take part in the modern world. He can go to university, play golf, be a law professor and even see a movie, provided that it’s kosher. I would not be proud of penning these poetics of "a man in the street." The point of Modern Orthoxody is that observance of the law does not force a Jewish man or woman to live in a ghetto. He is not just a “man in the street.” He is a Torah-observant participant in the modern world.

Then later Feldman writes, “Lieberman’s overt normalcy really is remarkable. Though modern Orthodox Jews do not typically wear the long beards, side curls and black, nostalgic Old World garments favored by the ultra-Orthodox, the men do wear beneath their clothes a small fringed prayer shawl every bit as outré as the sacred undergarments worn by Mormons. Morning prayers are accompanied by the daily donning of phylacteries, which, though painless, resemble in their leather-strappy way the cinched cilice worn by the initiates of Opus Dei and so lasciviously depicted in “The Da Vinci Code.””

Catholics take the Eucharist, “take this bread for it is my body, drink this wine for it is my blood.” American Indians have rituals like the sweat lodge and the peace pipe. I am not going to list all of the rituals and traditions of all the peoples of the world that men of logic and normalcy define as outré (or bizarre, thank you, Professor, for teaching me a new word.). Feldman’s point seems to be, “how can you be modern and do all of this crazy stuff?” If you want to live your life purely according to the human intellect, then as a Christian you won’t take the eucharist, as a Muslim you won’t bow in prayer to Allah before the Kabba, and as a Jew you won’t follow Hashem’s command by wearing Tallis (“fringed prayer shawl”) and Tefillin (“Phylacteries”). In other words, Professor Feldman seems to be ashamed about doing anything that resembles those crazy things that religious Christians, Muslims, Mormons, or American Indians do. Yet his comparison of Tefillin to the scene in the DaVinci Code comes short of comparing it to “S&M” attire. This is a comparison whose only logical use would be in a KKK or Hamas web site. Using it in the New York Times is only preaching to the converted, as the secular (non affiliated) Jewish readership, due to an incomplete educaton, have long entertained such bewilderment at the commandments cherished by their own religion. I would suggest the modern enlightened reader to go shvitz in a sweat lodge and smoke the peace pipe. After all, the intellect can be satisfied with the peace pipe and the sweat lodge because the American Indian body sends a message to his intellect saying, “it feels good.” (but the pious native Americans probably wouldn’t let your uninitiated lilly white hides shvitz with them, anyway.)

Freedom of Religion is one of the great things about America. Follow whatever religion you choose, and be careful not to punch anyone because of God. However, if Modern Orthodox Judaism is your choice, it requires dedication to the Torah’s commandments and the Rabbinic tradition throughout the ages that has so lovingly and zealously guarded that tradition back to Mount Sinai. However, it allows greater leniency that the “Ultra-Orthodox,” or Charedim, are willing to allow, and tolerates less leniency, or, lets face it, abandonment of the commandments, practiced by conservative and reform Judaism. Mr. Feldman, pick your camp. If you want religious sanction and acceptance with your wife and children, then you would be with open arms in many conservative and all reform congregations. You want your teachers and friends to accept you. So do I. So do most people. I am sure you found out who your real friends are, Noah. One person you will not be friends with, at least not as long keep complaining as you do in your article, is King David. “I am a friend to all who fear You and keep your Commandments.” (Psalms, 119:63)

Our sages tell us to judge all men meritoriously. In the fulfillment of this sagely advice I will assume that your wife and children are sweet, wonderful people. But in the big scheme of things, you are ending your own Jewish lineage. I think being airbrushed out of the alumni magazine should be the smallest of your concerns. And sadly, there is a Jewish woman who you could have married who might just never get married now, at least not bear your children. Perhaps its better that way, if they might have learned to add insult to injury, abandoning and then publicly deriding God and His Torah as you have. But there is hope. For your sake, I bless your children or even your grandchildren to convert, no doubt to a Chassidic sect in Mea Shearim, where they might delight in every letter of the Torah and the Talmud, wearing their “outré” tallis katan and “leather-strappy” Tefillin.

You may have been wiped out of your alumni photo, but this is small potatoes. The only thing that is being wiped out here is your contribution the building of Israel. I'm not talking about your generous financial contributions. This is admirable. But Israel is best built through enduring generations that love of God and His Torah.

God willing, I will tackle Feldman’s next quote (printed below) at a later date. But here is a start.

He writes: “Food restrictions are tight: a committed modern Orthodox observer would not drink wine with non-Jews and would have trouble finding anything to eat in a nonkosher restaurant other than undressed cold greens (assuming, of course, that the salad was prepared with a kosher knife).The dietary laws of kashrut are designed to differentiate and distance the observant person from the rest of the world. When followed precisely, as I learned growing up, they accomplish exactly that. Every bite requires categorization into permitted and prohibited, milk or meat. To follow these laws, to analyze each ingredient in each food that comes into your purview, is to construct the world in terms of the rules borne by those who keep kosher. The category of the unkosher comes unconsciously to apply not only to foods that fall outside the rules but also to the people who eat that food — which is to say, almost everyone in the world, whether Jewish or not. You cannot easily break bread with them, but that is not all. You cannot, in a deeper sense, participate with them in the common human activity of restoring the body through food.”

As an orthodox Rabbi, I will go on record as willing to share a salad and a few beers with any decent Jew of Gentile, provided he has had a bath and knows some good jokes, and, of course, doesn’t have a big problem with Israel. Do I think of him as treif? Hey, some of my best friends are Treif eating Israelites. And why should I fault a Gentile for doing something that the Torah never forbade him? In the immortal words of Will Rodgers, “I never met a man I didn’t like.” It just takes eyes to see it.

Sichos Chullin - Rav Adin Even Yisrael

2007-08-09T02:15:00.000+03:00

By the waters of Babylon-Boston,

Last thing the Rav said to me before I left, "Boston, I have been there. It is an interesting town. Don't get too spoiled there in Boston."

And here I am, its a nice place to visit. Lovely trees, parks, some nice people. I feel like such a stranger. After a superb shabbos meal complete with my improvised, "peanut-butter and jelly" baked chicken (sauteed in Thai peanut oil, olive oil, olives, Rasberry perserves, or Marmalade, or something along those lines, and red wine), after going on just a little too long, we finished and I walked E&N back to their house through the plush streets, 12 midnight, muggy air and affluent brookline houses, stuffed with shabbos, and E. asked me, "how does it feel like to be a brookline baal a boos?" We are swapping our place in Jerusalem with this fantastic house, much thanks to E&N's reccomendation and our generous swappers, so I am kind of pretending to be a local. A fleishige brookline orthodox Jew, "dont get too spoiled there in Boston."

But we are a little homesick. Rav Adin SHilita is fond of telling about a new immigrant to Israel, american, who came to him with looking for advice as to how to cope with his own spiritual strife. THe Rav said to him, "Just walk around Jerusalem and speak to simple people, Israelils who don't know any English. Just speak to them in simple hebrew and listen carefully to how they respond." (I don't think he meant to ask the simple Israelis about the meaning of life and theological issues, but just to force himself to carry on simple conversations, or "small talk." Such conversations could have profound results.) The Rav said that the man did this, and found many answers to many of his spiritual questions in the words of the simple Jews of Israel. I heard the Rav tell over this story two or three times, once telling me that my teshuvah would be complete the day I quit speaking English and speak only Hebrew. ANd zug ich, some people use the hebrew language like a holy cow, but, with God's help, I don't think that will be my problem. Heaven help us all to reach into our past and in so doing, re-align our futures -
In Hebrew.

Freezing with the Sheep in Syria

2007-08-07T15:08:00.000+03:00

Dear Friends,

Who had the most difficult life? Was it Avraham, Yitschak, or Yaakov? Everyone goes through difficult times, but some more than others. Some have greater physical or financial difficulties, and others are more beset upon by strife of the spirit. Avraham was tested with ten tests, from the first test of being tossed into the fire by cousin Nimrod to the last test of the Akeida, the binding of Yistchak. However, the legends also teach us that Avraham was the wealthiest man of his generation, based on the verse in Genesis describing him "laden down" with heards and gold, "and God blessed Avraham with everything." If it were not for the blessing of God, you might say that Avraham's great wealth caused him great suffering, because after all, "the more properties, the more worries." (Avos)

Yitschak, inherited his father both spiritually and financially, including the mastery over the illustrious progeny of Hagar. The Ohr HaChaiim's legal argument for such a proprietership, or ownership, if you will, if interesting, is problematic. I must remind the Talmudic scholars who subscribe to the Ohr HaChaiim's arugment that slavery has been abolished in most countries across the globe, "dinna d'malchusa dinna," and one would be hard pressed to find a Rabbi who doesn't oppose the the sale and purchase of human beings, though a few nostalgic chauvanists might relish the thought of its renewal. Furthermore, Avraham then married Hagar as a full-fledged wife after the passing of Sarah. I don't have the Ohr HaChaiim in front of me, so either supporting or disagreeing with his argument would be foolish. And yet, would that all Jews today were aware and comfortable with being the direct recipients of the spiritual and physical inheritence, the Torah and the Land, that was passed on from Avraham to Yitschak and from Yitschak to Yisrael. If this were only so, I personally would forefeit most of my share of the slaves. 55 percent, at least. But seriously, our basis for this claim is the Torah, which tells us, "Avraham gave everything he had to Yitschak," and, "Your seed will be called in the name of (the descendents of) Yitschak." "And Yaakov said (to Eisav), swear to me as the day, and he swore to him, and he sold his birthright to Yaakov." Interestingly enough, the Ohr HaChaiim HaKodesh also makes great and brilliant efforts to show how this sale, just as Yitschak's inheritence, was also legally binding. But let us save the issue of inheritence for another time, and return to the question of suffering, a problem than needs to be tackled in order to enjoy the promise and the inheritence.

Yitschak suffered a near death experience and saw his brother (there are no half brothers in Jewish law) banished to the desert of Be'r L'chai Roi, otherwise known as Beer Sheva. This was one of Yitschak's favorite places for prayer, medetation, and communing with God (See Ramban, Genesis, 24:62), perhaps because the angel appeared there to Hagar. A more psychological interpretation might say that he was trying to work out his feelings about how he was first nearly sacrificed by his father, and then how his father nearly brought about the death of his brother. Remember that we are speaking about a great prophet who lived around 4000 years ago, a personality and a time the modern man is hard pressed to understand even minimally. But still, I may offer that sometimes intense souls such as he was go back to the, "scene of the crime," to try to figure out why it had to be, and what was really happening on the inside.

Our forefather Yitschak suffered at the hands of the jealous Philistines, vandalously filling up the wells that he had dug, trying to remind him that he is an outsider. He and his father paid for these wells with gold, silver, or camels, just as they paid for the land they lived on. They aquired their lands in the way of the world even though it was promised to them by God, because such promises don't hold up in the courtroom so well. But it seems that in ancient times, as it is with their modern namesakes, the Philistines were not so careful about honoring agreements.
But in the evaluation of suffering, I cast my vote with Yaakov Avinu. His twin brother, a hardened criminal, plans to murder him. Even though they grew up in a rich family, Yaakov lives a rather ascetic existnce with his scrolls in the tent, concerned more with matters spiritual than rape and murder. He probably was disturbed by how his brother' Eisav went off the track, after all, he loved his brother dearly. In the little I have seen in the classical comentaries, I did not see anything to suggest that Yaakov ever did anything to try to reform his "big" brother, (born minutes before Yaakov), he could have given him a hug and told him, "your not really a killer, you could be a holy man, a great force of the spirit, an example to the world. You have what it takes and you know right from wrong." (R.S.) But that might be too much to expect from a child.

Yaakov Avinu had to run for his life with nothing but the clothes on his back and his walking stick. He then had to work for seven years as a shepherd in order to marry Rachel, only to have her switched under the chuppa with her sister Leah. Yes, their father Lavan was a cheat, but in his deception he saved Leah from falling into the hands of Eisav, her designated husband. Regardless, in the shocked eyes of Yaakov, the simple, whole hearted man, who might once have naievely assumed that just as he is honest so will others be, such a ruse from Lavan is another rude awakening. Now he has to look forward to another seven years of freezing in the dark of winter on the Syrian plains, burning under the hot middle-eastern sun, and having his wages changed ten times to suit the will of his father-in-law whose main concern is number one.
Later his favorite son will be sold into slavery by his less favorite sons (which teaches us, at least, not to play favorites), his daughter raped, and his prophetic powers removed from him as he sinks into despair. Yes, it must be Yaakov who suffered more that his father and grandfather.

Running away from Eisav, forced out of his fathers house, Yaakov Avinu prayed to God, "I raise my eyes to the mountains, from where will my help come?" (Psalms) The midrash tells us, "Instead of reading mountains (harim), vocalize the word as horim (parents, progenitors)." Look at Avraham, called "the mountain," and Yitschak, your father. The Mei HaShiloach, Rav Mordechai Yosef of Isbitz (1800-c. 1850) reminds us that Avraham and Yitschak were wealthy and had many servants to take care of their fields and buisness. They had more time for study and the service of God. Yaakov Avinu didn't have that luxury. He felt that his power or prayer and level of scholarship, truly his whole level of Avodah (spirit-work) was far less than his father and grandfather. After all, they were free to pursue spiritual matters and he was off to chase sheep for twenty years. The Midrash says, "should I give up hope in my Creator?" Yaakov's despair must have been overwhelming, thinking to himself, "I dont even have a choice! I will have to work, chasing the sheep through hill and vale, so I had better forget forget about being a Tsaddik, forget about being a scholar. What happened to my dreams, God? I spent fourteen years studying Torah with Shem and Eiver, reaching the pinnacle of scholarship, learning the mysteries of creation and the Charriot, and now I have to spent twenty years doing menial labor! (and the Midrash on the Psalm continues), "God forbid that I give up hope in my Creator! My help comed from God, maker of Heaven and Earth!"

Rav Mordechai Yosef Zts"l says that God was telling Yaakov, "don't worry. Just because Avraham and Yitschak had it easy, so to speak, and logged in countless hours of study and davening, it does not mean that their service is more precious than yours, Yaakov. The twenty minutes you have for Shacharis, the fifteen minutes you spend on your mishna in the morning, break the heart and illuminates the mind of Heaven! You can learn all the mystries of creation in the by the troughs and the staves (Gen. 30:38), and I will speak to you from the sheepfolds. You are the living Torah! Your life creates the Torah! (See Meor Eynayim). You sat in the Yeshiva of Shem and Eiver, and there you may have learned the Torah. But now, my servant Yaakov, in the long, cold, syrian nights, you will live the Torah. Now you will truly learn how to serve Me!"

"Maker of Heaven and Earth," you will now learn how to bring the spiritual world into the physical world. (Y.L.)

Sometime before his days drew to a close, Rav Eliezar ben Hyrcanus, known as Rabbi Eliezar HaGadol (the great), left a list of spiritual practices for his son. This is the Tsava'at Rabbi Eliezar HaGadol, his last will and testiment. In it he says, "be particularly careful about Ma'ariv, the evening prayer (even thought it is reshus), because it was established by Yaakov Avinu, the greatest (nivchar, or selected, or chosen) of the Patriarchs." Praying into the black of the night, serving the One and Only amidst the darkness, holding on the the faith and knowledge that dawn will come, and you will win your battle with the angel, standing before God even when no man, no angel, not even the Master Himself, requires it of you, a man of awe and a man of truth, - this is Yaakov Avinu, the recipient of the inheritence and the master of the service of God. And this is why we say at the end of the evening prayer, "I raise my eyes to the hills, from where will my help come? May help comes from God, maker of heaven and earth."

Going Home

2007-08-05T14:12:00.000+03:00

"Why don't you live in Israel?"
(long pause)
"The Ribono SHel Oloam has different plans for everybody."

Question of the blogger and answer of Rav I. Twersky, Zts"l, in 1996

"Fields, springs, streets bathed in golden light, big hearted men selling vegetables in the Shuk, sweet and tough uzi-totting girls in uniform chit-chatting with each other, spaced out baal teshuvas with a hint of a fanatic glint in their eye smiling and walking to the kotel, Wizend old men with their canes making their way through the lanes of mea She'arim, self-righteous liberals peering at you from behind the wheel or their status-jeeps, sanctimonious Shas-niks walking fast in the street with their black hats tipped down so as to look serious, sun-baked kotel beggers half-crazed and dancing in ancient ruins, and harder to see, real, normal people (who could be one and the same with the BT and the liberal and the Shas-nik) living and working to support their families, real people who would put their lives on the line for you if the call to action sounds ..."

"And you shall drive out (the inhabitants of) the land (the seven Cana'anite nations) and dwell there, for I have given the land to you, in order to inherit it." (Numbers, 33:53)
"In my opinion, this is a positive commandment, God commands them to live in the land and inherit (or take possession of) it, for it was given to them. They shall not despise the inheitence of God. And it shall not occur to them to go and conquer the lands of Shinar, or Asshur or any other land (such as USA, or Europe, or Australia, or South Africa), and to live there. He who does so violates a positive commandment." HaRav Moshe ben Nachman. (Ramban).

Just go, and it will all work out.

Parshas Ekev - Babylon and Back

2007-08-03T12:44:00.000+03:00

Dear Friends,

I am writing from the waters of babylon. Well, some may call this a high-falutent way of saying I am in Boston, Massachusetts, but I am sick of appoligizing for the way I wish to express myself. When the author of this Psalm used this expression in Psalm 137 he was desribing the feelings of the Jews who had been taken in shackles out of their land and placed in one of the most technologically advanced cities of its time, complete with an intricate system of canals. "How can we sing our father's song in a strange land?" This was a tremendous theological dillema, essentially asking if it is possible to observe the laws of the Torah outside the land of Israel. The Ramban answered this by teaching us that all mitvos practiced outside of Israel are only a kind of safeguarding and preparation for their eventual authentic fulfillment in the borders of the land of Israel. The first thing that comes to mind after hearing this is the centrality of the land of Israel in Jewish life and observance. Clearly it is possible to be a Jew even outside the land of Israel, but the corrolary to the Ramban's ruling is that it is an incomplete existence.

I feel such a rush of excitement thinking about our land. The hills and the springs, the streets of Jerusalem, the Tsaddikim, Beynonim (common men), and even the Rashayim (wicked) if not all holy, are nothing less than the holy of holies (R.S.C.) imbued with a special merit of being in their own land and accepting God's tremendous gift of a home. This is not a case of "Patriotism is the last refuge to which a scoundrel flees," nice-guy nationalism, or airheaded love blind to the anger, hatred, and suffering that mars the contemporary Israeli society. Every individual and the nation as a whole will eventually succeed in throwing away the peel and eating the fruit, as the expression from the Talmud goes. As for me personally, I live my life, raise my children, work, play, study, and pray all with the confidence that I am in my own place and the only place the God has truly granted me or any one of my people here on earth.

God bless you all to stand up to the challenge and try to make your home in Israel. If you are religious, you can then feel satisfied that you are fulfilling one of the 613 commandments. (See Ramban on Numbers, 33:53, and his gloss on Rambam, sefer hamitzvos, #4.) Clearly we rule according to the Ramban on this issue, "for Torah shall go forth from Zion," and if this blogger was not trembling with fear he would question the authority or a Rabbi who never lived in the land of Israel to rule as to whether or not settling the Land is or is not one of the 613 commandments, for it may be construed as a case of "morei heter l'atsmo," or making a legal ruling in order for the lawmaker to justify his own behavior. But we agree that the system of the oral law cannot be undermined by suspicion that its great Rabbis were tainted in their rulings by hidden agendas. I trust in God that lawmakers compromised by personal agendas never make it into the Shulchan Aruch (code of Jewish Law). And we can also assume that the claim that it is a violation of Jewish law to live in the land of Israel under a largely secular government is unacceptable. Owing to the great resurgance of the great Torah academies in Israel and the descent of the great yeshivas in the diaspora, we must again follow the lead of the great Rabbis of the land of Israel over the great exilic sages.

Everyone has their excuse why not to go on the voyage. My job, my friends, my children, my parents, my house. Even, "I was in Israel and I just didn't like way people behave." Well, my friends, come spend a shabbos at our house and maybe we can hook you up with some new chevre. (friends).

I was sitting with the Stretner Rebbe, SHlita, in Jerusalem at his tish one day after davening (He makes a tish just about every day at 7:45 am with a few of his Chassidim and is quite accesable). Chaim David brought a friend of his to meet the Rebbe. This man, a righteous american, proffessed his love for Israel, and how much he really wants to make aliya, but sadly, his 15 year old daughter just doesnt want to move. He then cited studies which showed how children of new religious "Olim" (immigrants to Israel) tend to reject a Torah lifestyle. Furthemore, the Gerer Rebbe and other "gedolim" advised him to stay in the US. Unable to contain myself, I went through the roof. How dare he defile the land with his gedolim. I didn't say this, right now I can't remember what I said, but whatever I did say, the Gabbai, Yoel, told me not to be sarcastic. The Rebbe responded quietly, and my own pain at hearing such slander precluded me from hearing the Rebbe's response. (Maybe he will hold back next time.)

When Ezra called the children of Israel back to rebuild the Temple after the babylonian exile, there were righteous and mighty families that refused to join him. After all, they were pious, of good lineage, and succesful in their new found homes. It was the rabble, the irreligous, and in their eyes mongrel Jews who joined Ezra to return to the land. THe truly frum stayed in babylon. As time is short, I can only say one thing to those who snub the land and its rabble. A pox on your noses. And if for whatever reason, you excuse yourself from the challenge, the mitzvah, of living in our land, the least you can do is not slander the land and its people, however, "un-frum" they may be. I pray to the One and Only to send you an awakening, giving you the confidence to stand up to the challenge.

Looking in the Mirror

2007-08-02T13:07:00.001+03:00

As I drove Rav Scheinberger Shlit"a back from Reb Dovid Zeller Zts"ls funeral he told me a story that caused me to reflect, or not to, as the case may be.
Reb Velvel is an elderly Chassid, a "Kotel man" who has been seen for many years exercising the rare privelege of walking back and forth during the prayer services at the western wall collecting charity from the Jews there davening. He is small, hunched over, pushing a hundred and still friendly. One day, not so long ago, Reb Velvel was walking around at the kotel and fell, getting his face dirty. His grandson, who was accompanying him, found a pocket mirror that some daveners use to check that their "shel rosh" (Head Phylactary) is in the proper position, not relying on the right hand middle finger which does not lie. When Reb Velvel looked in the mirror, he burst out into laughter. "What's so funny?" His grandson and some other concerned congregants asked him. "HA! Since I was ten years old I have never looked in a mirror! It was just so funny to see how I looked."
I asked Rav Sheinberger how this could be. He said that some people are quite serious at a young age, and when they learn a law, they do it, because that is the whole point of the law.
Well, Rav Sheinberger taught me a law, or stricture, as it appers to me, and since that ride back from the funeral, I havn't looked in a mirror without laughing a little inside while remembering this story.

Jason Aronson and Buisness Ethics

2007-07-23T14:02:00.000+03:00

8^th of Av, 5767. Rebuild the temple, fill the city of Zion.

Dear friends, Jews, Righteous Gentiles, no matter how much, and countrymen ( except for Romans who can go hang yourselves.)

I received the following comment from a famous character from the Bible that I decided to respond to at length.

I enjoyed it, esp the Shteinzalts stuff. Perhaps you should ask him about his friends at Jason Aronson... why no one gets paid...

you fan...
Korach

Dear Korach.

I hope you don’t mind me turning your comment into a blog entry, but it gave me a few thoughts. Rav Adin Shilta is indeed a joy, for what greater joy could there be that pure Torah? I am not sure if he has any friends at Jason Aronson publishers (JA). I spoke to Rav Shteinsaltz about him. The Rav said that, “he is a real person, you can talk to him.” The point being he is not some demon cloistered in his corner of hell, but a human being that can be gotten to. The Rav, who published a number of his books in English through JA in the Kurtzwiell days (now I don’t know who publishes the Rav’s English books. I think he uses a few different publishers.) told me, “JA sends me a check once in a while.” Great, the rich and famous get paid, but the regular rabble gets shafted.

What I really want to know is, how succesfully are the lawsuits against him? Who succeeded in getting paid and how much did he have to pay his lawyer for the privilige of getting to JA honor his word?

Like so many others, I too was taken for a ride by JA. It takes the Berdichever to say something good about him, so in that spirit I will say that they do great layout, published by book in under a year from when I submitted the manuscript, and even paid me a few dollars in the first half year. For the next five years they completely forgot about me. I called JA personally and asked him why he doesnt pay me or most other authors who signed a contract with him, and he stammered something about having to check with his bookkeeper. Three years ago he sold all of his judaica contracts to Rowman Littlefield, ostensibly to raise money to pay his poor authors. It’s a decent bluff. RL is pretty honest, but they don’t seem to strive for excellence in their Judaica division, and the whole reason I make such a judgment is because for the past three years they don’t find it fiscally worthwhile to pay for a corrected, retranslated edition of the Mei HaShiloach. In all fairness I have never opened any other Judaica book that they publish, so on what basis can I judge their overall excellence. But still, I think it is high time to revamp the Living Waters. If only someone else could do the work for me, I am currently occupied with the Introduction to Chassidus and Kabbalah or the Radziner Rebbe. (Hakdama l’Beis Yaakov.) Maybe you want to take a stab at it, Korach?

Be well,

Betzalel

Sichos Chullin: Rav Adin Steinsaltz, Shilta, on Shabbos

2007-07-22T23:55:00.000+03:00

Attention. This picture was not taken on Shabbos.
And furthermore, the views presented below, though gleaned from nudging a great Torah scholar during davening, are a product of Betzalel Edwards memory and writing efforts. Some points may not precisely represent the views or exactly reproduce the words of Rav Adin Steinsaltz. Be aware that this blog is supported by a team of 64 lawyers and 70 angelic forces.

Rav Adin Steinsaltz Shlit”a (Even Yisrael) on Shabbas, Parshat Devarim, 5767
Tsemach Tsedek shul, Old City, Jerusalem

The Rav arrived before Barchu. There were three children of a chabad Shaliach (outreach emissary of the Lubavitcher Rebbe, Zts”l) sitting in Rav Steinsaltz’s makom kavuah (regular place). The Shaliach was standing next to his children. When the Rav arrived I signaled to the shaliach to take his children. Rav Steinsalz said, “no, let the children stay. They can sit here, but you can’t. You are a shaliach! You should be standing up there,” and he signaled to the front of the Shul by the holy Ark.

I asked the Rav about the “refaim”, who the parsha makes reference to a number of times. As Ruach Refaim means ghosts in modern Hebrew, I asked if they were spirits. He said no, they were Giants living in the land of Ammon (on the east bank of the Jordan River.) I asked him about the place where he lives, of Emek Refaim street in the German Colony of Jerusalem. He said that it used to be the border, and he used to tell his children when they were younger, “go out and see the border,” meaning Emek Refaim street. “A border between two peoples,” he said.

I told him that on thurdsay night and Friday morning I was in Tsefat, praying at the Grave of the Ari”zal, Rav Yitschak Luria. It was his Yahrtzeit, the anniversary of his passing in the year 5332. I told him that it was a strange experience, trying to push through the crowd while retaining some dignity, for me and those I was navigating through. And then right next to the grave, at two in the morning, a mass of arms and legs, laughing and crying. The Rav said that it would be good to redirect the plumbing to send a flow that would clean out the cemetery in Tsfat, or perhaps it could be done by creating another magnetic site, to pull the people away from the Ariza’ls grave. I asked him how that could be achieved, and he said that someone else would have to die. Clearly that Rav is critical of these “hillulot” (spiritual weddings) and Yahrtziet festivals fueled by the power of Tsaddikim. I tried to defend them, saying that there are places and times that have special significances and are more effective for prayer. He said that a man could pray in most other places and achieve the same thing. (He may have been referring to the Arizal’s own teaching that you do not have to be at the Grave of the Tsaddik in order to perform the meditations or cavanot of prostrating upon the graves of the Tsaddikim. You could do it a million miles away in your own armchair.) I mentioned that the Arizal wrote that it is an ancient Jewish custom to pray at the graves of the Tsaddikim. Truly, the Rosh Yeshiva of beit El, Rav Hadaya, Shlita, was against being a “tourist” of praying at graves, and said that it was a special event that should be done once or twice a year.

I tried to defend the power of simple Jews saying Tehillim, which needs no defense and he wholly accepts. He just seemed quite down on Yahrtzeit festivals, and being genius and one of the leaders of world Jewry today, I am inclined take his criticism seriously.

Rav Steinsaltz is under the impression that most people use the Arizal’s grave as a supermarket. “Imaging a crowded supermarket, where no one has any money to buy anything.” Then he told me a story about Rockefeller, the richest man in America in his day, who when he was quite ill would spend about a dollar a day to take care of his needs, such as food, and so forth. This was because he could barely eat or enjoy anything. The Rav called this, “a tremendous mussar heskel (ethical teaching).” The Rav suggested that an amulet could be more effective than praying at the Ari’s grave on his Yahrtzeit. But for me, the amulet that I would find most effective is the green one that says on it, ‘In God we trust.’

These are the words, Judging Others, Judging Ourselves

2007-07-17T20:55:00.000+03:00

Devarim (Deuteronomy)

The fifth book of the Bible opens with the verse, “And these are the words (“devarim”) which Moshe spoke to all of Israel on the east bank of the Jordan river in the desert in the plain over against Suf between Paran and Tofel and Lavan and Chatzerot and Di Zahav.” The first question on has upon reading this verse is, “why does the Torah make the effort to mention all of these place names?” Furthermore, Rabbi Yochanan, the great third century Palestinian Israeli Talmudic sage (d. 279) tells us that he went over the entire Bible with great care and did not find any mention of a place called, “Tofel” or “Lavan.” Rashi tells us that Moses’ intent in giving the 36 day speech before passing into eternity was in order to rebuke the people for their erroneous ways, such as speaking contemptuously (TaFLu) about the Manna, which was white (lavan), for instance. However, out of the deepest respect for the holy people of Israel, Moses did not want to shame his flock by overtly mentioning their sins, but rather just alluded to their sins by mentioning the names of the places where these sins took place. The moral lesson we learn from the Torah’s careful choice of words is clear. Even if you feel you must point out another person’s wrongdoing, you must find a way to do it that will not shame the person, but will still get the point across. Shaming or embarrassing another person is a way of killing them spiritually, and one who shames another is guilty of a kind of murder.

And "zug Ich," I say.

I say.

When a man is, God forbid, shamed, he either gets red in the face with embarasment, or becomes pale, or white (lavan). Where is a place beween Tafel and Lavan? There is the main point, and things that are not so relevant. In Hebrew, when something is besides the point, or not to the point, it is called, "Tafel." Yes, people make mistakes right and left, and yes, people are breaking the law and sometimes even know that they are breaking it. But this is besides the point, this is not the main point. This is "Tafel." When we get caught up in other people's mistakes and errors, and forget to see how precious they really are, and all the good that if they are not doing, surely have the capability of doing, and positively and gently reinforcing this potential goodness, or appreciating the good things others do every day, then we have been in a place called "Tafel." After a stint in Tafel, it is not so hard to move on to "lavan," a kind of murder, as in "My father was almost destoyed by an Aramean (Lavan)," shaming another, God forbid and help us to fix our eyes to see what's really important, and how great our brothers and sisters really are.

But Rashi does not say this.

A human being is so precious, created in the image of God, who has no image, but whose form and behavior indeed hints at sublime mysteries of creation in the concatenation flowing out of the formless Infinite. Who dare shame God’s creation?

The Talmud teaches us that we are supposed to imitate God’s attributes. Just as God is merciful, so should you be. And just as God is jealous for His law, so shall you be. The Zohar, the immensely popular collection of teachings about Jewish Law, belief, and Mysticism, takes all of the anthropomorphic scenes of God wearing Tefillin, praying, visiting the sick, and so forth and tells us, “this is the image of God.” When a Jew wears Tefillin, prays, visits the sick, or any one of the directives of the Torah, he is at that moment, “created in the image of God.”

Jewish Theology has God doing all of the six hundred and thirteen commandments in some Divine sort of way. For instance, there is a commandment where if a Jew is given the choice between being killed or committing the three cardinal sins of murder, idolatry, or incest, he must chose martyrdom and offer his life. How does God fulfill this commandment, of “giving over one’s life?” In the book of Numbers, the suspected adulteress goes to the temple, and must drink the “bitter and cursing waters.” The scribe writes the passage of the Torah about the suspected adulteress (“sotah”) with ink on parchment, and then pours water over the letters, washing the ink into a vessel. The suspected adulteress must then drink these waters, made from the erasures of God’s very name. God erases his very name in order to make peace between man and wife, for if she was guilty and lied about it, she is duly punished, and if she was indeed innocent, the inky waters bless her with a new child.

But justice has it that evil should be shunned, battled against, and destroyed. Who is to say what is a sin and what is just? Aside from gray areas on the moral barometer, we have the Torah to tell us what is evil. Amalek is evil. Idolatry is evil. Abusing others is evil, and self-abuse is evil.

Sadly though everyone is an expert in identifying abuse, most people dont have even the slightest idea how to define Amalek, Idolatry, or even beloved Moshiach, for that matter. But still they bandy these words about like fourth of july barbeque grilled meats assuming you've been eating them all your life.

Ever since we ate from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil we have been wandering around this prison planet judging everything around us and sometimes even ourselves against the scale of good and evil. Sure, there is evil in the world. Every evil is punished and every good deed is rewarded, either in this world or in the next, because God is absolutely just. But the real question is, who is to say that the sinner has the choice not to sin? Determinism is a slippery slope, which could lead to moral anarchy. But still, there is a strong philosophical argument which leads us to see how everything is in the hands of Heaven, including the choice to fear the One who created the heavens … or not. A divine voice called down to one of the greatest Rabbis of his generation, Alisha ben Abuya (born some time before 70 of the common era), and said, “return ye backsliding children, except for Acher (the alias of Elisha b.Abuya).” In other words, be good little boys and girls, and follow the law, but not you, Elisha. You can do whatever the heck you want.” So bear in mind that if Elisha b. Abuya was branded a heretic and given the pejorative name of, “Acher,” it is nothing other than the hand of heaven that reaches down and points the finger of blame back at the Boss.

(The Agra d’Kalah by Tvi Elimelech of Dinnov opens with the teaching of Rav Yaakov Yitsack Horovitz, the Seer of Lublin, who invokes the Talmudic dictum, “when you are a guest, do everything your host tells you except, ‘leave.’ ” God was telling Acher, “leave, I don’t want you to serve me anymore.” So Acher was not supposed to listen to God. He was supposed to go against God and keep the Torah. Then he would truly be serving God from his kishkes, a pure service out of his own free choice, and with no ulterior motives of reward.)

At times I have suprised myself by acting like a religious hot head who becomes red with righteous indignation when confronted with unrepentant sinners. As an american, I have been taught to, "not be judgmental." But as a believing, religious person, I find it very easy to judge others. There is good and there is evil, and God gave us the Torah to distinguish between the two. But it is not so simple in a world where good and evil are so easily confused. And after all, the Mishna in the Ethics of the Fathers teaches us, "don't judge a man until you have stood in his place."

I, like many, also get particularly upset when I hear about pervert rabbis. However, I will put my money where my mouth is and admit that it just might not be in their ability to refrain from, in the words of Elvis Costello, “putting a hand up the fleece of their flock.” But just because such deviants are not in control of their actions, it doesn’t mean that they should not rot in jail.

Everyone sins in one way or another, and as a nation we all sinned while wandering around in the desert trying to figure out what it means to be a Jew in the post exodus world. We also probably did a lot of good stuff, too, but it makes for a much more boring story. Remember those place names in the beginning of this talk? We find in the Mei HaShiloach:

“…in the plain over against Suf…” (Devarim, 1:1)
Why does the Torah discreetly mention the sins of Israel only by making reference to the names of the places where the sins occurred rather than by mentioning the time when they occurred? This is in order to keep you from thinking that the sins were done according to their power of choice, and that they had the choice to remove themselves from the sin. The matter of place hints at this, for it was not possible for them to guard themselves from the sin and move to a different place.

Parshas Pinchas

2007-07-01T21:18:00.000+03:00

The affair of Cosbi and Zimri in Parshat Pinchas as explained by the Mei Hashiloach may be quite difficult for many to accept. What is on the table? The removal of the last vestige of free choice. What are the stakes? The breakdown of the Torah's authority and the free reign of religious anarchy. And yet, in trying to honestly grapple with the Mei HaShiloach's message in parshat Pinchas, one thing must be clear: is not so simple.

The Mei Hashiloach says, "far be it to judge Zimri of being guilty of niuf, or adultery, for the Torah would not include a parsha devoted to niuf. There are ten levels of znut (licentiousness). The first level is where one intentionally commits the sin, deliberately inviting the evil inclination upon himself. After that there are nine other levels, where with each progressive level man's power of free choice is taken from him a little more. Then on the tenth level we find a man whose level of morality is of the highest order, where he does all that is within his power to refrain from znut. And yet he still succumbs. On the tenth level, when his evil inclination overpowers him, his action is unquestionably the will of God. Such was the case with Yehuda and Tamar, for she was his true soulmate (as Rashi alludes to on the verse, "she is more righteous than I." Where God announced that He had determined the affair in order to bring the Davidic line through their offspring Peretz). This is also the case here, for Zimri was on the very highest level of guarding himself from giving in to his evil desires. Since it was impossible for him to remove himself from the action, he concluded that she was his true soulmate. Pinchas believed that the opposite was true, that Zimri still had the power of free choice and could have refrained from the sin."

There is some discussion of people in positions of religious authority, rabbis and such, who may point to the Mei Hashiloach as a license to feed their desires. Not everyone is Zimri. I am no one to judge, and the Mei Hashiloach in parshat Emor on the near impossibility of rebuking someone who I think is sinning well advises me to shy away from judging. But perhaps the Mei Hashiloach style "Zimri wanna bee's" out there would do well to carve onto their hearts the words of the same author on the verse on the Psalms, "I have placed God before me always", where he says, "in a place where a man greatly desires something he should make great efforts to be positive that it is truly the will of God, but must not assume that because he desires it so much that it is in fact is the will of God. In other words, it is much more likely that one is deluding one's self, that actually being like Zimri.

It is important to stress in trying to understand this teaching of the Mei HaShiloach that he is not only talking about whether one has the choice to refrain from promiscuity or not. He is looking deeper into what is behind any transgression, and compelling us to know that the motivation is never so simple or transparent.

As said, clearly an individual cannot assume that he is on the level of Zimri. It must be known that Zimri was on a very high level, spiritually, morally, and yet he convinced himself that he had no choice, that he was fufilling what God wanted him to do. In truth, he was not. On the other hand, who can say that he is on the level of Pinchas and take the liberty to go and horse whip (or execute) the would be Zimri? There are, also, natural limits of morality. It is easy to boil over with anger upon flagrant immorality even for secular people. A friend of mine once told me of a story from the time before he had became Torah observant. He was playing bass guitar in a band for a crowded dancing audience in the Lampoon building of Harvard university. During the concert an amorous young couple on the dance floor decided that the time was ripe to fornicate. My friend playing the bass told me that upon seeing this, he had to do everything in his power to keep himself from removing his bass and using it to bash in their skulls. "Haboel aramite, Kanaim pogim bo." Torah Law teaches that the zealot, witnessing a Jew fornicating with a Gentile, may attack them in the heat of his zealotry, and need not consult the court.

In the Kitvei HaAri, after explaining the sources of the roots of the souls of Cosbi and Zimri, Rabbi Chaim Vital writes the following. "She was his soulmate, yet he, 'ate an unripe fruit,' meaning that the time had not yet come for them to be together; All the actions of our biblical forebears, and all that is mentioned in the Torah, is not to be understood according to a simplistic meaning and is not governed by chance, God forbid. So do not think that Shlumiel (Zimri), who was the second greatest prince, the chosen of the generation of the desert in the days of Moses, was rushing out to commit forbidden sexual acts, as is understood by the small minded and foolish. I have not come to explain all the necessary verses and homilies, for time would end and not the verses, for the Torah is not, "old wives tales," or the chatter of birds, God forbid. This will suffice for those who understand. And if this will fall into the hands of one with no brain in his cranium to understand, he will just speak insolently, for fools do not desire wisdom. Though these matters appear strange they stand in the furnace that fuels the universe (civshano shel olam)."

There are two levels operating here simultaneously. There was a reason for the affair of Cosbi and Zimri. Perhaps it is along the line of the Mei HaShiloach's teachings that the sins in the Bible serve a higher purpose. Aharon and Miriam's "loshon hara" or speaking against Moshe in the end of parshat Behalot'cha served the purpose of showing the greatness of Moshe Rabeynu, so all would know that he spoke to God face to face. Korah's rebellion served to show us the greatness of Aharon the Cohen and his family. Tslofchad, the first one to violate the Shabbat (and be put to death for it) showed the true greatness and Kedusha of Shabbat. And maybe Zimri, by bringing the licentiousness that was rampant at his time out into the open, showed us the true greatness of modesty and sanctity in conjugal relations. Zimri was a vessel used by God to teach us something. And rabbi x y and z is most likely not Zimri. The Mei Hashiloach notes that Moshe Rabeynu did not get involved in punishing Zimri for his actions. Moshe Rabeynu knew that Zimri was no ordinary case. And though Pinchas did not see the true level of Zimri, God in the end agreed with Pinchas and his act of zealotry. Pichas stresses to us never to assume that because you desire something so great that it is God's will. Pinchas - there is free choice. Zimri - it is beyond choice.

Beis Yaakov, Parshas Balak

2007-06-25T21:04:00.000+03:00

(talking donkey)
No, not Billam and Balak, chas ve'shalom, but thats me on the
right with the striped tsitsit shirt and Ely, who Shlomo Carlebach
dubbed, "the Mei HaShiloach of Boston," standing in the Mei Hashiloach
in Jerusalem.

Teachings from the Beit Yaakov,
(The Rav, the Genius, the Famous branch of the Most Precious) the son of Mordechai Yosef of Isbitz, the, "Mei HaShiloach," ZTsuKLLH"H,
may their merit protect us.
Good Shabbos!

Parshat Balak

“And Balak son of Tsippor saw…” (Numbers, 22:2)
This is understood through the verse (Psalms, 85:9), “but I wish to hear what G-d the Almighty will say when He will proclaim peace for His people and for his devoted one.” (Tr. Hirsch) The prophet, in his prophetic understanding, wanted to know what the Holy One, blessed be He, was thinking to Himself. He then understood that He is only involved in the well being of Israel. This is explained in the explanation of the Mei Hashiloach (the author’s father), of this verse in the Psalms. Even at a time when G-d effuses the spirit of prophecy unto the prophet, this is not a proof that this is what is going on in G-d’s mind, as it were, at that time. It could be that it is the prayers of Israel that influence the prophet to make this prophecy, and also that the prophet wants the well being of Israel. However, from this Parsha, we see that the evil Bilaam wanted to curse them, and exerted himself greatly towards this. But nonetheless, he was forced to pronounce great blessings over Israel even against his will. This is proof positive that the Holy One, blessed be He, is only involved in the well being of Israel.

And thus, concerning the day of Shabbat, which G-d gave us for rest, it is written (Vayikra Rabba, 34:16), “one does not pray for his material needs on Shabbat. If so, why do we say in the Grace after meals, ‘Our Shepherd, sustain us, give us sustenance?’ Because this is the language of the formula for blessings.” If the Holy One, blessed be He, were not occupied on Shabbat with the material well being of Israel, then the language of the formula for blessings would have been different. And truly, the Holy One, blessed be He, is always occupied with the betterment of Israel, yet on Shabbat, He is giving the divine flow of His goodness for the entire week. In this way the divine flow of blessing is much stronger on Shabbat. Therefore we do not pray for this on Shabbat (as the blessing is already there in great intensity).

So it is, every day, at the time when Israel accepts upon them the yoke of the kingdom of Heaven and delivers all their souls, hearts and wealth (cf. The Shema) over to G-d. Then they even deliver over the power of prayer within them over to G-d, in order not to pray for something that is not according to His will. And then, at that very moment, G-d gives them power for the entire day. Then he bestows upon them the power to pray before Him properly. This being done, when they later go after the ways of the body, there too G-d will protect them as not to deviate from His will. This is all because they crowned G-d as their King, truly and with a full heart, with all their souls, hearts, and possessions.

However, with the nations of the world, they do not have the power to truly crown G-d over them as their King. It seems as if they deliver themselves over, like Bilaam saying, “the word that G-d puts in my mouth I will say,” but still, he only asked for the power of prophecy, thinking that later he could succeed in changing G-d’s mind. This is the matter of sorcery, which denies the decree of the Council on High. (Chullin, 7b) (And the very word in Hebrew for sorcery, “KeshaFiM,” is an abbreviation of, “Kechish Famalia Ma’ala – deny the Hosts of Heaven.”) In any place where there is not, “hashgacha pratit,” or individual providence and involvement, there is a little bit of the ability to change things according to how we see them. This is called, “Nachash,” or divination, which teaches of an artificial manipulation of the way life seems to be. This was Bilaam’s occupation. This is as it is written in the holy Zohar (Balak, 199a), “bless at this level, and then curse the wick.” The Holy One, blessed be He, is the light. The Torah is the oil. And Israel is called the wick. (Tikunei Zohar, Tikun 21) Bilaam asserted that he could bless G-d, and then simply separate the wick from the oil. This is as it is said in the holy Zohar (ibid. on Numbers, 22:6, “come now, I pray thee, curse the people,” with, “come now,” being the letters of, “lecha,” or, “to KO.” “Ko,” meaning, “thus,” as in the statement of the prophets, “thus spake the Lord,” contains mystical significance explained in the Zohar.), “I will call out to KO (thus), and I will conduct and draw to this level.” This is as it is explained later in the holy Zohar (Balak, 211a), “I will call out to this KO and I will uproot this KO.” “KO,” represents the formation of the covenant which G-d wrought with our forefathers, with the words of G-d to Avraham (Genesis, 15:5), “KO – thus will be your progeny.” “KO,” is also numerically equivalent to twenty-five, and thus also represents the unification of G-d in the twenty five letters of the, “Shema Yisroel.” (Tikkunei Zohar, Tikkun 5, at the end.) In these twenty-five letters, Israel is unified with G-d.

Bilaam thought that he could nullify the covenant which the Holy One, blessed be He, wrought with forefathers. He saw how G-d had formed a covenant with Noach, and then later formed a covenant with Avraham. This was possible because the covenant formed with Noach concerned proper conduct, but not the words of Torah, as is explained in the Mei Hashiloach (the author’s father, in Vol. 1, Parshat Noach). Later, the covenant that G-d formed with Avraham concerned the words of Torah. Bilaam believed that the covenant wrought with Israel could be nullified, and then G-d would form a covenant with him. He did not realize that the covenant formed with Avraham was established to last forever, for it concerned words of Torah. The essence of the covenant formed with Avraham was in order to forever bind the hearts of Israel to G-d, and how could this be nullified?

G-d now showed Bilaam that he is not doing anything with completeness (as was the covenant with Avraham). When Bilaam accepted upon himself the yoke of the Kingdom of Heaven, he was only doing this in order to deceive, to receive power from G-d, and then go with it to do whatever his heart desired. This is as it is written in the Gemara (Menachot, 110a), “they call Him, ‘the G-d of gods.’ ” This means that they know that they surely must crown G-d as the Sovereign of the Universe, but they are then deluded into thinking that they still have the power of action (based on the idolatry of lower created power). The princes of the nations call G-d in this way for the purpose of deception. (In this way, they can claim allegiance to monotheism and continue to serve idols.)

Bilaam had witnessed the miracles of the Exodus from Egypt. At that time he had advised Pharaoh to destroy Israel (Sotah, 11a). Then when he saw how they were redeemed, his wrath was kindled. Then, when he saw how he successfully cursed Moav, he assumed that he was G-d fearing, and that G-d would do his will. However, he feared cursing Israel at the outset, because he saw how Israel was beloved of G-d, as they were victorious over Sichon. Therefore he sat and waited for one of the nations to hire him, thereby having an excuse to fulfill his desire to go and curse Israel.

Specifically in the ninth verse of this Parsha it is written, “and Bilaam said to G-d, Balak son of Tsippor, the king of Moav, sent for me.” The ninth verse of every Parsha contains a deep intention, as is explained in the Mei Hashiloach. (see Parshat Devarim, under the verse, “I alone cannot bear you.” There, the Tashlum, or emendations on the Mei Hashiloach say that the ninth hints at the attribute of Yoseph the Tsaddik, {the sefirah of} Yesod-foundation, and there is something hidden within it. This is as it says in the Holy Zohar {Bereshit, 3a}, ‘{because nine is the Hebrew letter tet, the first letter in “tov” or good} letter tet, your good is closed within you and hidden within you.) G-d said to Bilaam, “only the word which I place in your mouth shall you say.” This was in order that he not believe he could deviate from the will of G-d. This is proof that G-d only desires the well being of Israel. (That is, in telling him, no matter how much you want to curse them, I will make sure that you only bless them, because I only desire their well being, and I want to show this to the world. This is the deep intention of the ninth verse of this Parsha.)

It is written in the Gemara (Baba Batra, 14b), “Moshe wrote his book (the five books of Moses), Parshat Balak, and the book of Job.” This is proof that within the entire Torah there is no awakening of the promise of Israel’s welfare from the side of Moshe, but only from G-d alone. (In other words, Moshe wrote of events that he was not even involved in, as in Parshat Balak and the book of Job. Therefore he was only an instrument of G-d, not writing from his own mind. Therefore the promises in the Torah are also only from G-d.) Even in places where some wanted to deviate from the will of G-d, they could not. G-d’s will remained fixed permanently in the heart of Israel as the inheritance of their forefathers. This is the essence of the formation of the covenant, that the heart of Israel was always cleaving G-d. So too, in the future, the real test between Israel and the nations will be the commandment of the Succa (Avoda Zara, 3a). This is explained in the Mei Hashiloach (Vol. 1, Parshat Emor). The mitsvah of Succa requires one to leave a permanent dwelling and live in a temporary dwelling. This means that man must nullify his own consciousness before the consciousness of G-d. All of man’s own desires must be nullified (and he must go wherever G-d takes him). This is impossible for the nations. The Gemara explains that G-d offered the Torah to the nations first, and they said, “first tell us what is in it.” He said, “there is a small mitsvah that you must do, and it is called Succa.” So they made temporary booths and moved into them. Then G-d took the sun out of its sheath and made it too hot to sit in the Succa. Upon leaving the Succa, the nations kicked it, disgusted by it, thinking, “G-d gave us a mitsvah, and now it is impossible to fulfill it, so therefore we revile the mitsvah.” But the Jew he is only concerned with what G-d wants from him, and will gladly leave the Succah in order to fulfill the will of G-d.

JCC Day of Isbitz, Manahattan, Jan 21.

2007-01-25T19:37:00.000+02:00

It was an interesting trip. Lets start with the second anual Mei HaShiloach conference, called, 'A Day of Isbitz,' which took place on Sunday, January 21st in at the JCC, Manhattan, amsterdam avenue on the upper west side. The three speakers were Rabbi Naftali Citron, Professor Shaul Maggid, and yours truly. The Mei HaShiloach has been described as subversive. This is due to its radical stance on the nature of law and determinism. Is everything from God? Does God grant free will for man to make his own choices, thereby meriting the ability to earn his own reward and deserve his own punnishment? At the very highest level, what we call, 'from God's point of view,' even the ability to fulfill or transgress one of the commandments of the Torah is bestowed by the Almighty. The question is, if I give a poor man a dollar, is God secretly controlling my action and causing me to give some charity, or did I do it out of my own volition?

The Gemara say, 'all is in the Hands of Heaven except for the fear of Heaven.' God determines all of the external circumstances of my life. WHether I am tall or short, smart or stupid, rich or poor, is all determined by God in His infinite wisdom. But the book of Deuteronomy tells us, 'what does God ask of you but to fear Him?' implying that he gives us a choice. He leaves it up to me whether or not I do a mitzvah or transgress the Law. He want us to choose, and says so quite plainy, 'I have placed before you good and evil, death and life ... Choose life!'

But this knowledge is just mans own understanding from his own point of view. If we can be as bold as Rav Mordechai Yosef (1800-1854, Poland), the author of the Mei Hashiloach (the Isbitzer), we can see clearly now that just because we are largely in the Dark, that does not mean that God is, too, and he would forbid keeping himself from knowing a thousand times over. 'Everything is in the hands of heaven, INCLUDING the fear of heaven (meaning, including free choice). God knows all, and sees all, and orchestrates all, and even micro-manages all, and does a wondrous job at it to boot. So If I lift my little finger, He knew about it from the beginning of time and makes it happen. If I deside to lift my index finger instead of my little finger, then He decided that as well. logic may seem to say that if God's will determines all actions, then man has no free choice, but this in not really the case. God is beyond time, and the past, present and future, so for all intensive purposes, whatever God decides, it is as if He has always decided it. If I chose to pet the dog, then God determined from the beginning of time that I was to pet the dog, and if I change my mind and choose to chase the cat, the that action, that point in time, turns out exactly as God planned it.

To be continued ... I have been writing this from Joe Berkes computer in London, and I have to get back to Jerusalem. Thanks, Joe, you da best. WOOF!

Rebbe Nachman

2007-01-19T15:16:00.000+02:00

Rebbe Nachman on Parshat Vaeira (Toras Nosson)

I appeared unto Avraham, Yitschak and Yaakov as El Shaddai, but I did not make myself known unto them with my Name Havaye ....

Moshe had just asked God why he had forsaken his people, especially right after God had appointed him to lead the Jews out of Egypt.
Rabbi Simon said, when God wanted to create Adam, the first man, all the angels got together for a big debate. Some groups of angels said,
create him, and some said, "dont create him," This is as it is written in the Tehilim, "Lovingkindness and truth have met, righteousness and peace have kissed." Lovingkindness, known as Chesed, said, "create him, for man is kind to others." Truth said, "don't create him," for he is filled with lies." What did God do? He took truth and threw him to the earth.
We see that the world is a place of lies. People decieve each other right and left in order to fulfill their own desires. But the angel of truth made a mistake, as even the angel of truth does not fully understand the intentions and the ultimate purpose God has for man in the world.
How so? First of all, God forced Moshe into the job. He saw the difficulties., the inflexibility of and increasing cruelty of Pharoah, and the eventual unruliness and rebellion of the Israelites.
Truth is an unfolding process, the truth becomes a little more clear after a life's struggle and many trials and tribulations. Our goal is to get to emes l'amito, the deepest level of truth, but it is a nearly impossible task, perhaps ocasionally granted by God to a few select individuals, (great judges such as the Talmudic sage Rava, for instance, in the story of "Rava's cane.")
Truth comes from the power of choice, by means of our choices, we make a clarification of the truth, this is good and true, this is destructive and false.
Moshe was spending a lot of time with the angel of truth. Consider Moshe's situation. First of all, he didn't want the Job as leader of the Jewish people because of the truth. He knew that even once he took them out they would not listen to him, he knew that God would give His greatest treasure to Israel only for Israel to abandon it time and time again. And Moshe thought that this was the real expression of humility and meekness before God. "Who am I to be such a leader, and If I cant change them, then why bother asking me!!"
All doubts and reluctance to be the hero of the story flows from this accusation of the angels with the creation of the world, "what is man that thou art mindful of him" This is the yetser hara. this is the force that causes man time and time again to shoot himself in the foot.
Even the greatest of Tsaddikim have to toil and sweat for years in order to clarify the truth. and they are in great competition with the evil ones who always dress their words in the truth. Pharoah said "why do the Jews want to go and serve God? this is a big lie! God does not want you to serve Him! God wants you to redeem yourself by makeing bricks, working hard for the boss, working here on earth for your own physical well being." Pharoah tells us, "If God wanted you to serve Him, he would give you a great inspiration and all the Jews and all the Egyptians would see Him and feel a great awakening to serve Him! But it is not happening. If God wanted you to serve him, he would make it easy for you and make it happen automatiically.

Pharoah said "Al yesha'u b'divrei sheker!" Dont contemplate false matters! Be in the world, look at reality, thats life and stop dreaming about airy spiritual matters. Sitting in Yeshiva? Feh! Get back to work and be real!"
But all of these cities, pithom and Ramses, were really uselsess cities. They were cities dedicated to a dead body, a sarcaphagos, and a momentous lie inventied in order to do nothing more than tourture the Jews. And today, the mindless pursuit of more, the feeling once you made your first three milliion that you are not going to be satisfied until you have made your first thirty milliion, your first three hundred million, it never stops, but the desire keeps growing and growing, what is this? THese are huge cities dedicated to the dead,

Pharoah wants us to believe that Moshe and Aharon are lying to us when they are calling us to serve God. Pharoah wants us only to serve him, and Pharaoh is in each generation to this day. Pharoah wants us to think that he loves us more than Moshe and Aharon love us. "I am giving you a job and a reason to get out of bed in the morning, where Moshe and Aharon are fobbing off baselsess dreams and fantasies."
Then Moshe starts to believe Pharoah, belive the angels that say "dont create man, he's filled with lies." And how do we know that moshe starts to belive these mistaken notions? Moshe says, "why are you harming this people! Why are you bringing the Jews suffering instead of redeeming them as you have promised!"
Too much truth causes even the great tsaddilim to make mistakes, to give up hope and loose their faith.
So thats why it says in the beggining of this weeks parsha, "ANd E-lohim said to Moshe, I am Hashem." Elohim is the aspect of judgment, harsh truth, Hashem is the aspect of mercy and kindness. All of this suffering, all of this judgement, it is really kindness, it is really God leading the world in the best possible way. THe man of doubt doent see the ultimate purpose. THe man of faith knows that no matter how difficult the situation, God never forsakes us and never abandons us. Bad things happen to good people, but most likely we will not have the privilege of knowing why. Shema Yisrael Adonai Eloheynu, Adonai Ehad, God's judgement is Gods mercy, they are both one. We cannot percive it with out senses or with our intellect, just as we cannot perceive God's essence.
So why did he appear to Avraham, Yitschak, and Yaakov as El Shaddai, the Almighty, but But God did not make his name Havaye known to them only to Moshe? God began to reveal his Divinity to the patriarchs, but it was just a begining. But you cannot reveal everyting all at once! It is a process of slow revelation in the world of Choice that takes a life time, many lifetimes, all generations until the moshiach! Truth is revealed through choice. God is one and His name is One, all good, all kind, all kadosh. But from our point of view, we only know and see that goodness and kindness according to how hard we work to see it, even in the difficult times, even in the times of suffering, This is real work! Everyone will see it according to his efforts.
"Noda be'shearim Ba;lah" beshearim is like estimation , "mesha;arim," you know God according to how much you let him in your heart, according to how much you want to know him and strive to know him.
El Shaddai, this is the numerical equivalent of Metat"" the leader of the angels. God said to Moshe, "I will send and angel before you to lead the children of Israel to redemption." Moshe refused, and said, "NO God, I only want you. It is you or nothing." This angel, Metat" had becom indistinguishable from the name E-L Shaddai, they are the same number. But this is a great danger. The angel is not God, we cannot ever confuse a created force for the ultimate force, God forbid, we are only led by the essence. The essence, is, however, hidden from our view, and we need rather to ascend in faith, and the higher you go in faith, the more your faith becomes knowing. Moshe only went after the name of God's infinite and hidden essence, Havaye, which is not onloy all truth and all good, all kindness and all mercy, It is beyond, mammash beyond. Dont think that it is so bad to go after El Shaddai, the beginning of the revelation where God is still largely hidden! The great tsaddikim, like Avarham, Yitschak, and Yaakov, also went after El Shaddai, but they knew it was just the beginning and there was so much more to know.

Moshe says to God, "why have you harmed the people." God says, "Look at Avraham, who even though I had given him the land of Israel had to deffer to Bnei CHeth and pay a huge sum of money for a grave that was rightfully his! Look at the problem that Yitschak had with the his own wells that were stolen from him, Look at how Yaakov paid for the field next to Schem, "Vayikon et chelkat hasadei" and not one of them questioned me, accused me and said that I am being unfair and going back on my promise!"
So now that I you know that I am Havaye, the God of mercy despite the suffering and the judgements, if you think that you will know it, feel it, and see it all right away, then think again! You, Moshe, are stil far from the truth. All you need to now for the time being is that the more you know, the more you know how much you don't know, how infinitely much more there is to know. It will unfold, it will come to you, but it will take days, years, lifetimes.
God promises us and Moshe, "I have heard your suffering, I feel your pain, But do not be afraid, because I always keep my promise. You will get to the promised land, you will serve Me and witness my presence in the Holy Temple, but you must be patient. It will not all happen at once." And it will happen, he remembers the the kindness of our forefathers, and he will bring a Redeemer to their children's children, all for the sake of His name and with love."

Remember the difficulties Avraham had with the people of his day, running out into the wildreness when they only mocked him and derided him, after he bent over backwards all day to show them kindness and teach them to bless God. God said to Avraham, "you have been struggling with them for a few hours and now you give up. But I have been struggling with them for all the years of their lives, and I have not given up on them." And God never gives up.

If only they could fear me all of their days ...

2007-01-17T14:11:00.001+02:00

See Devarim, 5:26

If only their hearts were with me in this way, revering me and guarding My commandments all the days, so it will be well for them and their children forever. Go and tell them, 'go back to their tents.'

This fatherly reaction, God looking at us after we recieved the Torah, where we had become purified like angels, and thinking, "wow, if only the children of Israel could stay on this level all the time," God knows what is best for us, but he wants us to learn our own lessons, and choose the good for ourselves. Why did God make man who could act with his own free will and transgress God's commands? It is as the Holy Kotsker said, that God has enough holy angels; what he really wants is holy men. And the Kotsker's talmid chaver, his soul brother, his adversary, his friend, Rav Mordechai Yosef knew that God wants us to act with love in the world, to be loving and help others, and when you act with love you cant be so holy and separate.
For instance, if you see someone's car stopped on the side of the road with a flat tire, and you want to stop and help him change the tire, you are going to have to get your hands dirty. Fasting is an ancient way of cleaning one's soul, but only if done in the right way. I heard from my Rebbe Reb Brandvine, Shlita, that the Chassidim where not big fans of fasting. At best, when you fast, you are only helping yourself, but when you eat, at least you have the strength to help others. When you fast, you are helping yourself not only to control your appetite but to do teshuvah, to return in Joy to God's law. And still, it is only for yourself. Mazal Tov. What about putting your holy arrogance aside and helping another person? So perhaps you see what Rav Mordechai Yosef, the Mei HaSHiloach, meant when he said that acting with love in this world necessitates that wont be able to keep so clean - reserved for God and removed from the world. But don't think that there is any contradiction here between the Kotsker and the Isbitser (Mei HaShiloach), a holy man will eat in a reasonable way so he has the strength to help others. A holy man will get his hands dirty and change the tire. Sitting in Yeshivah is great, if only we could all spend an hour every day and night trembling with joy over the Gemara and the holy books, but a baal chesed - a man of kindness and generosity, a man with a heart, will overcome his own nature and do for others.

"Go back to your tents." This statement is commonly understood that the celebicy practiced by the children of Israel that was needed in order to receive the Torah was no longer neccesary, and the men could, "go back to their tents," and be intimite with their wives. But it is saying more. God was saying, "Do you see the tremendous vision you had, where you were so holy that your souls went out of your bodies and witnessed visions of God to last for all generations? Take that vision and that lofty level of holiness and bring it into your tents, conduct yourselves in the bedroom as if you were standing before me. You were standing and your souls where united in divine intercourse with the Shechina. It was not a physical experience, you did not do it to satisfy a lust, but rather to unite with the source of all in a moment of fertility that will give birth to the ability of man to connect to God for all genrations hence. Now take that higher purpose and divine union, and know that I fill the whole world with My glory, I am in the bedroom no less than I am in the synagogue or at the Kotel. So conduct yourselves in a reasonable and holy way in private just as you strive to in public.

So, if I may be allowed to say it, and May God forgive me if I am wrong, the verse, "if only they could fear me all their days ... go back to your tents," means that at times you need to strive for an other worldly holiness, fasting, silence, abstinence, nullifying yourself before God. These are all found in the ways God commanded us and in the course of the Jewish year. But you were not meant to be an angel, you were born in order to struggle to be an holy man, and at times succeed. Take all your love for God, all of your desire for holiness and purity, and put it into your daily and physical life, wereby you can truly transform the physical and saturated it with kedusha and spirituality.

Reb Shlomo Carlebach, Hoshannah Rabba

2006-10-30T12:42:00.000+02:00

Reb Shloimile, Where are you, heiglege Rebbe!

(on the net, for one.)

Here is a video of Reb Shlomo leading Hallel on Hoshanna Rabba, at his shul, Kehillat Yaakov, Manhattan, (w. 79th st and west end avenue.) If anyone could tell me the year that this took place, I would appreciate it.

http://www.tsofar.com/zofar/mashtap/show.asp?id=43

Important Announcement, Get Out Your Calenders!

Dear Friends, I will be a guest Rabbi at the Carlebach Shul on parshas Vaeira, January 20. I would be thrilled to have you join Reb Naftali, Shaul Maggid, the chevre, and yours truly, and what can I say, with a little help from the Ribono shel Olam could make it the sweetest of the sweet.

And the following sunday, Jan. 21, We are scheduled to hold the second annual Isbitz conference at the JCC Manhattan, where IR"H Rav Naftali Citron and myself, along with two spectacular professors will be giving over the mysteries of Isbitzer Chassidus. You are cordially invited.

Be Well,
Betzalel

Smoking at Har Sinai?

2006-10-24T17:48:00.000+03:00

It has been a difficult forty days. Forty days ago I made up my mind to give up smoking for at least forty days. Why forty days? Last year, when I told my Rebbe, Rav Brandvine, that I wanted to give up smoking, he suggested that I try doing it for forty days. He based this figure on the advice of his holy ancestor, Rebbe Elimelich of Lyzhensk, who wrote in the “tsaytil hakatan” that if a person wants to take upon himself a way of good behavior, either doing something good or refraining from something bad, he should strive to do it for forty days. Truly, it is quite a daunting task to do or not do something for forty days. After Reb Shlomo Calebach, of blessed memory, gave a “learning” (kind of a combination concert-Torah class get high on God and Judaism get together with friends), my mother said to the saintly Rabbi that she wanted to take it upon herself to spend less of her husbands hard earned dollars. Reb Shlomo said to my mom, “you know, Brenda, Reb Nachman says that when you make a vow, make it for an hour.” If you take it upon yourself not to do something, start by not doing it for just and hour, no strings attached. Don’t say, “I vow never to beat my dog again as long as I live.” Because chances are you will be breaking that vow, if you are a problem dog-beater. But if you say, “it’s just an hour,” then you can handle it, and keep your word. And we all know how important it is for a person to keep his word, even to himself. Then when he sees that he can do it for an hour, he can go on and continue to do it for another hour, for a whole day, for a whole month. And it that way it is a lot more effective.

You can say many things about God, and many things about God that you cannot prove. But if there is one thing you can truly say about God, it is that He always keeps his promise. And we are told all the time that God is All-Powerful. That He can do anything. But remember, my friends, remember that there is one thing the God cannot do. He cannot break his promise.

So it seems that doing something for forty is reminiscent of Moshe Rabyenu’s forty days on Mount Sinai. I am sitting in the Keshet Restaurant here in the Jewish Quarter of the Old City of Jerusalem, run by ex-kibbutzniks Ori and Gina. Working in the kitchen we have the tie-dyed Tsaddik Yehuda Witt. When Gina mentioned that modifying behavior for forty days is derived from Moshe’s forty days on Sinai, I mentioned that specifically quitting smoking for forty days is learned from Moshe’s forty days, because everyone knows that he didn’t have a single cigarette the entire time he was up there. Then Yehuda piped in and said, “what do you mean! The Torah says har Sinai ashan culo – Har Sinai was all smoke!” So mazal tov, it was one huge forty day spliff of spiritual reception.

And now, a heart attack later, Rav Brandvine, may he live long, has also quit smoking. And I believe that he quit before the heart attack. He once told my how he decided to quit. He said, “It was in the middle of the night, and I couldn’t find a match at home. So I went down to the boiler room in the basement of the building to try to light the cigarette off of the pilot light of the boiler. When I got there, it turned out that the pilot light was hard to get to, and I had lie down flat under the boiler with my arm outstretched in order to light the cigarette. After I crawled out from under the boiler and went upstairs, I looked at myself in the mirror, and I was covered with black soot from head to toe. All this for a cigarette, so I thought to myself, is it worth it?.”

Will Betzalel have a smoke tomorrow, on day forty-one? Tune in next time, for another exiting adventure of – the Shadow.

Yom Kippur and the Mikveh

2006-09-30T23:00:00.000+03:00

Bob at the Wall.

Sod Yesharim, Yom Kippur,

Teaching number 40
By Rabbi Gershon Henoch Hainech of Radzin, ZTs”L,
Translated by Betsalel Edwards

“Rabbi Akiva said, fortunate are you, Israel! Before whom do you purify yourselves? And who is it that purifies you? Your Father in Heaven! As it is said (Ezekiel, 36:25), ‘and I have poured pure water on you and you have been purified,’ and it is said (Jeremiah, 17:13), ‘God is the mikveh of Israel (God is the hope of Israel. The Mishnah is referring to the double entendre of “mikveh,” which means both “ritual bath,” and “hope.”).’ Just as the mikveh purifies the impure, so too does the Holy One, blessed be He, purify Israel.” (Mishnah, Yoma, Chapter 8, Mishnah 9) (This is the final teaching in the section of the oral law dealing with Yom Kippur.)

We will discuss the inner meaning of the purification of the mikveh (ritual bath). It is written in the Midrash (Exodus Rabba, 15:7), “In the beginning the world was water in water. And God wanted to establish worlds, but the evil ones would not allow Him to do so. What do the writings say about the generation of Enosh? (Genesis 4:26) ‘Then men began to profane the name of God.’ (This translation follows Rashi. Others simply say, ‘began to pray with God’s name.’) The waters rose up and washed them away, as it is said (Amos 5: 8), ‘He makes the Pleiades and Orion... He calls for the waters of the sea, and pours them out upon the face of the earth.’ The generation of the flood was also evil. What is written of them? (Job, 22:17), “they said to God, go away from us!’ The waters came up and did not allow Him to place the foundations (of the earth) on them, as it said (Job, 22:16), ‘who pours out the foundation as a stream.’ ” (The Midrash continues to explain how when the Patriarchs came into the world, nature began to, as it were, comply with God’s wishes.)

The Divine Will brought about the paradoxical situation where greatest peace of mind (“yishuv hada’at”) actually comes about through the greatest experience of anxiety. Water represents great harassment and anxiety. We find in the Gemara (Tamid, 32a), “It is better to dwell on dry land, because those who set out to sea are never free from anxiety till they reach dry land again.” For this reason, the (experience of) anxiety will actually bring about the greatest realization of the Glory of Heaven, as it says in the Zohar (Tetsave, Vol. 3, 32a), “light is only that which comes out of darkness,” and (Vol. 2, 184a), “There is no service of God other than that which comes out of darkness.”

Concerning this recognition of God’s presence in the world which is a very product of anxiety, it is said in the Midrash (ibid.), “the waters cry out, ‘Glorious is God in the Heavens!’ ” That is to say, that God is exalted above and beyond all anxiety and situations that cause anxiety, and the Glory of God can be recognized even within these very states of anxiety.

These states of anxiety are called, “deaf servants who speak with their gestures.” To this it is said (Genesis, 1:9), “And God said, Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together to one place, and let the dry land appear, and it was so.” This means that God made room for man’s understanding. (“Dry land” represents a place which is comprehensible to man. The waters represent anxiety, where God’s order, presence, and “peace,” also exists, but not in a way that man can normally comprehend.) However, this place which is made for man’s understanding (“dry land”) is really just a garment, for all of the creation is really just a garment dressing the will of God. This is as our sages said, “darkness is a garment for light.” We find that the source of God’s will, which is hidden in all of these garments within the grasp of man’s understanding, is really much higher that the apprehension itself. Water hints at Supernal will, higher that man’s understanding, which has not yet dressed itself in the realm of man’s comprehension. This is because water also hints at anxiety, and all of these anxieties are above the grasp of man’s consciousness. They are hidden from the mind’s grasp.

This is why we completely immerse ourselves in the waters of the mikveh When a person is completely covered in the waters of the mikveh, it represents how man immerses his whole being in the essence of concealment, which is itself is only a result of God’s supernal will. The whole purpose God had in creating such concealment (in, for example, anxiety) was in order to provide a way for man to come to the greatest peace of mind. (If you can find God in the “chaos” of the waters, if in the midst of stress and disorder you know that God is there, running everything according to His wisdom, taking care of mankind and you in particular, then your faith is strong and you truly have peace of mind.) This is a great comfort to man’s consciousness. Then it follows of itself that man is purified. At the moment of immersion in the concealment he realizes that he is actually standing on the depth of God’ will which originally established the concealment.

Regarding this, the Zohar says (Vayikra, 23b), “When one wakes up at night and studies the Torah, his transgressions are revealed to him, but not in a way of stern judgment.” Night represents concealment. When man brings himself close to the source of God’s will by bringing himself back into the essence of concealment that God established, he is then shown all the ways of purification. The root of impurity is that which man does to distance himself from the source. But after, when man ascends to the depths of the will of God, he finds himself standing before the source of God’s will. From this he achieves retroactive purification for all the actions that were done as a result of the darkness, concealment, and great anxiety. It is then seen in retrospect that all the anxiety he suffered was only a result of the statute of God’s supernal will (something human understanding cannot understand) which formed the realm of concealment as a vehicle to achieve the greatest confidence and reassurance of man’s mind that it is possible for him to know. Man from his side only entered into the concealment according to how much God willed it.

In the mystical intentions of immersion in the mikveh as taught by the Ari”zal (Rabbi Isaac Luria, 1534-1572), he teaches that while immersed one is to envision the holy name, “Aleph Lamed Dalet.” These three letters actually hint at the intentions we have presented above. “Aleph Lamed,” or “E-l,” meaning, “God the Powerful,” in the sense of His loving kindness, hints at the power which God delivers to the one experiencing being a part of His creation. It is written, “the loving kindness of E-l all the day.” The letter Dalet represents how we have no strength inherent within us, rather it all emanates from God. “D’leit lei m’garma cloom,” translates, “it has no effect whatsoever (from its own side, but is rather acted upon by God),” (Dalet is the name of a letter, but also represents the “sefirah” of Malkhut- that attribute of Sovereignty or Kingship, which is pure reception. Dalet sounds like “Dala” which means “poor,” in the sense that it only has what it is given from God.) The intentions of the Ari”zal go on to say that after one immerses in the mikveh the letters, “Aleph Lamed Dalet,” are transformed into the holy name, “Aleph Lamed Gimel Aleph.” (Both equal 35.) The Dalet turns into Aleph Gimel. The Ari”zal is saying this. Gimel teaches of the force of expansion. This is found in the Gemara (Shabbat, 104a), “for what reason is the face of the letter Gimel turned torward the letter which follows it, Dalet? For it is the nature of those who do acts of kindness (“gomlei chassidim – the same letters as “Gimel”) to run after the the poor (poor, “dal” is the same letters as “dalet”).” The letter Aleph hints to us that by means of the state of, “D’leit lei m’garma cloom,” “it has no effect whatsoever,” man can ascend to the root of God’s Supernal will together with all his states of expansion and all his experiences of harassment.

(If one looks into this very “kavonnah” in the Sefer Baal Shem Tov, Parshat Yitro, section 12, one will find instructions for the very opposite of the above. AGLA – representing the source of all stern judgments, is “sweetened,” by being transformed into ALD. See there. With the greatest of respect for the Rebbe of Radzin, I would still recommend starting by visualizing AGLA, and then after, as a way of sweetening the severe judgments, visualizing ALD.)

This is as it is said in the Torah regarding Yom Kippur (Leviticus, 16:30), “For on that day the Cohen shall make atonement for you, to cleanse you, that you may be purified from all your sins before God.” That is, all purification for Israel is drawn from the place that God’s will established, a place which is called, “before God.” Truly, how could one ever say, “before God,” using a term denoting a spatial relationship. He has no corporeal or physically spatial attributes. The Zohar explains this from the verse (Jonah, 1:10), “for the men knew that he had fled from the presence of God.” Who could flee from God? But the secret is in the wording of, “from before – milifnai,” and not, “before – lifnai.” He knew that the experience of prophecy happens, “from before,” somewhat removed, as God is by definition not confined to spatial limitations. Prophecy does not happen actually, “before.” This, “from before,” is a place established by God’s will. It is exactly like (Exodus, 33:23), “you shall see My back, but My front you shall not see.” Again, is not God by definition beyond the terms, “front,” and, “back”?

It all goes back to the original idea. God made a realm of concealment which is within man’s ability to comprehend. This realm of concealment is called, “from before God.” The expression in Exodus, “and you shall see My back,” also refers to this realm of concealment. This is as the Zohar points out, “from before,” and not actually, “before.” Meaning, the only way it is within the ability of man to flee or conceal himself from God is if he enters into a state of spiritual strife, a harassed consciousness, which is well within his power of comprehension. This is, “from before God,” as if to say that he will not have a clear experience of the Supernal light of God. (But in truth, it is only something of which he has managed to convince himself.) It is only according to his limited human understanding that he has succeeded in hiding himself from God. This explains what was said of Jonah, “he had fled from the presence of God.” “From the presence,” but not actually hidden, “before,” the presence. It is impossible to flee from God.

This then explains the verse concerning Yom Kippur, “you will be purified before God.” Man will achieve purity according to that which he refines himself in the scope of his own consciousness until he reaches the essence of God’s will within the concealment. The Divine will established a situation where concealment is something that man can comprehend, and this is called, “lifnai Hashem – before God.” All forms of purification for Israel are drawn from this very Will.

A Discourse on Rosh HaShannah by Rav Gershon Chenoch of Radzin, a 19th Century Chassidic Master

2006-09-05T09:52:00.000+03:00

May you all be blessed with a sweet new year, inscribed in book of life. May all who need healing be healed, all who need sustinance find success and wealth, all the brides should find their bridgrooms, all those who long for children be answered and this time next year be serenaded with the sweetest cries, and all the gates of Torah be open wide for all who do and do not want to know. May God answer all the requests of your heart for the good.

The Sod Yesharim:
Rosh Hashanah

It is written (Psalms, 68:35), “Give strength (‘oz’) to God, His pride is in Israel and His strength is in the heavens.” And in the Zohar (Vayikra, 18b), “Said the Holy One, blessed be He, My children, do not be afraid, for I am standing in the doorway (protecting you), only brace yourselves on this day, and give Me strength. How shall you give me strength? By sounding the Shofar.” Also in the Zohar (Lech, 84a), “what is, ‘Your strength’? (‘uzcha,’ As in Psalm 86, “give Your strength to Your servant.”) This is God’s supernal strength.”

When God shows us His strength He is showing us His supernal strength. How does this become apparent? He does this by showing us that Israel was the first thought in God’s consciousness before He brought the creation into being. This is, “oz ‘ila’a,” God’s supernal strength, and when this kind of light is revealed to man, all spiritual accusers and negative forces are driven away. And here, God commanded that we give Him strength for all that He formed in the work of creation, as all of the creation is only a garment for God’s will, dressed in different hues, different forms and attributes. At a time when God’s inner will is in a state of concealment within the garments, then man has a portion in all of the garments, i.e. it is to his credit that he does not move as much as a hair’s breadth (away from God’s will). This is the inner meaning of the verse (Ecclesiastics, 7:20), “there is no one who is perfectly righteous in the land, who does only good and does not sin.” (This means that when God’s will is concealed, one would expect that, “there is no one who is righteous,” so at such a time, when one nevertheless connects with God’s will, God considers it as if the man himself has a portion in his fulfillment of God’s will.) And surely, when the Source of Life is revealed, for God is called, “the Living God,” and the Divine conduct in the world is not on, “autopilot,” but a vibrant, living connection from the Source of Life, then when He judges the hearts of mankind, naturally God will find the depths of the heart of Israel connected to His will.

This is the meaning of the above passage in the Zohar, “My children, do not fear … only give Me strength, with the Shofar.” It is also the meaning of another passage in the Zohar (Bo, 32b), “Rebbi Elazar opened and explained the verse (Job, 1:6), ‘And there was a day when the ‘bnei elohim’ (a kind of angel) came to stand before the Hashem, and Satan came also among them.’ This ‘day,’ he said, ‘was Rosh Hashanah, on which God sits in judgement on the world. The, ‘bnei elohim’ are the supernal beings who are appointed to watch the actions of mankind … and when man’s actions are proper, they (the angels) bring strength to God, as it is written, ‘give strength to God.’ ”

The day of Rosh Hashanah is called, in the phrase of the Psalms (81:4), “(blow the Shofar in the month) in the covering of the day of our festival.” The plain meaning is that Rosh Hashanah is the one festival that falls on a new moon, when the moon is concealed (covered). There is a hint in this as to the nature of Rosh Hashanah. On the new moon, the moon is not influenced, or illuminated, by the light of the sun. This represents a state of being where God’s light is not apparent in occurrence or action. Even though God “dressed” His light in actions and the performance of mitzvoth, still it rests there in a state of concealment. It is “dressed” within every action. Through Divine service, or the performance of mitzvoth with the intention of serving God, this light can be aroused. So too, at times which we call, “mikraei kodesh,” or Holy Festivals, this light can be awaken through Divine service, and then man can see how inherent in the performance of God’s commandments it the light of His holy will. And indeed, on the day of Rosh Hashanah, this light is in a great state of concealment, so much that the only mitzvah that can assist in waking the power of the light of life is the mitzvah of the sounding of the Shofar.

This is as it is written in the Zohar (Tetsave, 184a), “(the sounding of the Shofar) is in order to break the covering which conceals the moon…” On this day, all of the creation recedes and conceals itself in God’s primordial will, which preceded the creation of the world. It preceded the dressing of the Divine Utterances of Creation within the letters of the work of creation. Therefore on this day we find great accusations from all the promulgation of the powers of creation. This is called, “bnei elohim,” the kind of angels mentioned above. This is because the whole point of creation was to be able to return (Divine effluence) face to face before God, and rejoin it to God’s primordial will. This happens only when the creation is in a pure and refined state, without the slightest deviation from God’s will. However, when the creation is drawn after the garments which are distanced and concealed from the light, how can it then return and be included in God’s will?

For this reason it is said, “give strength to God,” meaning that Israel shall serve God with actions that give strength to all the powers of creation. For truly, any action performed in this world, no matter how incredibly refined and pure, can not be included in the realm above, for the heavens can not stand even an infinitesimal amount of “this (material) world.” This is discussed in the Zohar (Vayakhel). When God established the creation in a way that (His will) would be dressed in actions, even the very foundations of creation were then distanced from the source. Israel needs to intensify the power of her Divine service so greatly in order to fix the very foundations of creation at their source. This is because all actions need fixing at their roots, as they were lacking in the brilliant clarity of light at the source of creation. Israel can only fulfill this vital function when Israel returns in Teshuva to the way of God, through proper action and Divine service. Once done the creation can then be returned face to face before God, may He be blessed, and this can only be done through the sounding of the Shofar.

Through the act of prayer, which is called, “the service of the heart,” one can crown God as Sovereign over his own thoughts and will. This done, it will follow that at a time when man’s mind is clear in this aspect, then his head, which is the power of his thought, reigns over his whole body. But still, the acceptance of the Divine sovereignty (“kabbalat ‘ol malkhut shamayim”) during prayer happens through an order and through a process of gradated levels. It is known that when something is received in this world through such a gradated process (called “the hishtalshelut” the downward linkage from the Infinite into the creation, with myriad upon myirad levels of greater concealment), even though it touches the highest and most sublime levels of Divinity, nonetheless, its gradient aspect means that there is a dividing entity separating the passage to each successive level.

However, with the blowing of the Shofar it is different. The Shofar also represents an acceptance of Divine sovereignty, as in the words of the Gemara (Rosh Hashanah 34b), “and on Rosh Hashanah you shall crown Me over you. And with what? With the Shofar.” The deeper meaning is that with the Shofar, man completely delivers over to God his actions and the entirety of his powers and capabilities. With the blowing of the Shofar, man delivers over his very being. This of course means that also the inner nature of his mind is then delivered over to God without any separation or, “dressing in garments,” whatsoever. There is a power in the blowing of the Shofar which is greater than the power of thought. The Shofar causes the power of action to ascend up to the Divine in its pristine and undressed form. The result is that all the powers within the creation then voice their support for the salvation and success of Israel in the world. This is because they then know that the only way they can experience ascension to their source in the Divine is through the actions of Israel.

This day is, “Rosh Hashanah,” which means literally, “the head of the year.” In calling the New Year as the head, we are acknowledging that it is the supernal head, the control center, over the whole year, just as the head of man, containing the control center of the nervous system and thoughts, has control over the body. So too, this day contains the power of intellect and thought over all the actions of the coming year. By fulfilling the mitzvah of blowing the Shofar on Rosh Hashanah, we are including and imbuing all the actions of the coming year in the power of mitzvah.

This is the meaning of the phrase in Psalm (68:35) from the beginning of this teaching, “His pride is in Israel.” With the Gentile nations, God shows His pride in that when it is revealed, all the powers of the earth are nullified. This is as it is written in the song at the splitting of the Red Sea (Exodus, 15:1), “for He is greatly exulted,” “gao ga’a,” an intensive form of expressing God’s pride. Onkeles’s Aramaic translation of this is revealing, saying, “He prides Himself in His exaltedness, and loftiness is His.” In this vein, He prides Himself in Israel, as they are included in God's very exaltedness, for truly, Israel is a very portion of the Divine (cf. Deuteronomy 32:9). God with Israel is like a king among his people. He is the exalted one among them, and included in him is their entire consciousness and intellect. Similarly, Israel’s function in the world is like God’s own vessel of action. The day of Rosh Hashanah can be compared to a time when man’s consciousness is complete, and he is not involved in the performance of any action. At this time all the powers of his body and soul are included in his mind powers. Similarly, on the day of Rosh Hashanah, Israel (God’s “vessel of action in the world”) is completely included in God’s will.

This is as our verse in Psalm 68 ends, “and His strength is in the heavens.” “His strength,” as the Zohar explains, is God’s highest, supernal strength. Meaning, when Israel delivers all their actions over to God, recognizing clearly that all the workings and events of the world are only resulting from the inner power emanated unto them at each and every moment, and without the power of God there is no power of action for any part of the creation, then by means of this God makes it clear that the recognition of His glory in the world is only through and resulting from Israel. Based on the actions of Israel, it is seen how God’s exaltedness and pride is upon them and within them.

“And His strength is in the Heavens.” From the Divine service of Israel, and with complete clarity and recognition, God shows the power of His strength in various contradictory actions, which seem in this world to be contradictory. This is hinted at in the word, "Heavens,” “Shekhakim,” in Hebrew. According to the Kabbalists, this word represents the Divine emanations of Netsach (eternity, victory) and Hod, (Splendor, Majesty), corresponding to the right and left legs in man. The Zohar states that all miracles are a result of Netsach and Hod. What is lower down in the “Tree” of Sefirot is more revealed. Netsach and Hod are the lowest and most revealed attributes of the right and left columns. They are a kind of revelation in the form of action of God’s higher attributes of Hesed (lovingkindness) and Gevurah (strength), which are directly above Netsach and Hod. They appear in this world as two opposites, one on the right, one on the left, and perhaps externally appear as very different attributes in how they manifest themselves in action. Yet truly, in the words of the Zohar, they are, “two halves of the same body.” At times when God hides the power of His strength, Netsach and Hod appear as two opposites. However, when God illuminates them from His strength and light, it is seen clearly that there is really no contradiction between them.

This is reminiscent of the story in the Gemara (Ta’anit, 25a), about Rabbi Chanina ben Dosa. “Once on a Friday eve he noticed that his daughter was sad and he said to her, ‘My daughter, why are you sad?’ She replied, ‘My oilcan got mixed up with my vinegar can and I kindled from it the Shabbat light.’ He said to her, ‘My daughter, Why should this trouble you? He who had commanded the oil to burn will also command the vinegar to burn.’ A Tanna taught, the light continued to burn the whole day until they took of it light for the Havdallah.” In this world, oil and vinegar are two opposites. Vinegar is good for you in hot weather (Shabbat, 113b). And yet, through the power of Rabbi Chanina ben Dosa’s Divine service, he was able to draw from the supernal light at the source of the Divine attributes. So for him, there was no contradiction or opposition in the attributes whatsoever.

This concerns the passage in the Gemara (Rosh Hashanah, 34b), “On Rosh Hashanah, say before verses expressing My Sovereignty, Remembrance, and the Shofar. Of Sovereignty, that you should appoint me as King over you. Remembrance, so that the memory of you should come before me for the good. And with what shall you do this? With the Shofar.” These two aspects are a good example of what was explained above. When we crown God sovereign with the Shofar, so to will the memory of Israel come before Him. This is just as was explained concerning, “give strength to God.” There we made a distinction between accepting God’s Sovereignty during prayer, and appointing God as Sovereign with the Shofar.

Concerning the sacrifices (Karbanot), the Zohar says, “The mystery of the Sacrifices. How high do they reach? To the Eyn Sof, to the very Infinite.” This was explained by the Holy Izbitser Rebbe, the Mei Hashiloach, may his merit protect us. He said, all the mitzvoth and Divine service of Israel reaches the Infinite. Yet the difference between the sacrifices and other Divine service, such as prayer, is that with each other form of service (avodah), each avodah reaches the spirit world above it. From there it continues upward, all the way to the Eyn Sof, but to get there it must go through a gradient series of levels and dividing entities. However, with a sacrifice, it the very physical action ascends above. The material bull ascends with the bull in the Supernal chariot. (See Ezekiel 1:10, As for the likeness of their faces [of the Angels in Ezekiel’s vision of the Divine chariot] … and the four had the face of an ox on the left side …”) Together they ascend to the Infinite with nothing to separate them at all, for it breaks all the veils, going higher and higher.

And in this way, the sounding of the Shofar breaks though all levels of concealment more than anything else, until man can see that God is constantly active within the garment of the souls of Israel. The act of blowing the Shofar is a complete connection. Man from his part is doing very little. In blowing the Shofar he is merely attaching an instrument to his voice, and it is the voice of man that ascends on its own.

On this day the creation was completed, “And God blew into the man’s nostrils the breath of life.” This is as it is written in the Sefer haKaneh, “He who blew the breath, from His very essence did he blow the breath.” God blew life into man from the very spirit of life, which was made out of His pure will. It was not caught up in any garment or separating entity. This is a mitzvah where man raises up his whole inner essence. The natural result of this is that man then sees that only God is the force of action in the world. This is as it is written in the Sifri (Beha’aot’cha, 41), “ ‘And on that day he will blow on the great Shofar.’ (Isaiah, 27:13) But I do not know who it is that is blowing! (It says, "he," but the verse does not specify who "he" actally is.) Thus it is written (Zechariah, 9:14), ‘and God will blow on the Shofar.’ ”

With a sacrifice, man sees how his roots are above. There is his whole being. With the sounding of the Shofar, man sees that when God created man, He created within him the deepest inner aspect, which is God dwelling within the soul of man. This is why it is written in the Gemara (Rosh Hashanah, 34b), “if on Rosh Hashanah you have a choice of going either to a town where the blessings are being said (the Rosh Hashanah service, with the Chazzan singing, praying the liturgy before the congregation, but with no Shofar) or to a town where the Shofar will be blown (But without a Chazan), go to the place where the Shofar is being blown.” All prayers and acceptance of God’s sovereignty are included in the sounding of the Shofar.

A Discourse by Rav Dov Baer, The Great Maggid of Mezerich

2006-09-01T15:38:00.000+03:00

Dear Friends,
Back from vacation. The Cape was great, Bob Dylan was awesome, and I don’t mean to brag, but the trees in Massachusetts were noble and vibrant. The Americans have many fine roads and many full shopping malls. But we have it all here in Israel, beautiful trees, fine roads, and shopping centers. Really the only difference is that in the US it is great, but it isn’t ours. Here in Israel, God gave it to us. He made it ours.

Parshas Ci Teitse

Teaching of the Great Maggid, , (Maggid Devarav L’Yaakov, “rimzei Torah”, page 110 [55b]) Everything in parenthesis are my own additions.

“You shall surely send away the mother bird, and take the chicks for yourself.”

Rav Yisrael Baal Shem Tov explained the Gemara “convert me on the condition that you teach me the entire Torah while I stand on one leg.” Man is a portion of God on high. (Man’s soul is Godly, and flows from the Eternal.) But concerning the Eyn Sof (the Eternal), you cannot describe it as being divided into parts. God fills all of the worlds, and this happens on its own accord and independent of the influence of man’s service. (In Hebrew we say, it happens, “mimeile,” or by itself.)

Sometimes a man descends into low and despicable states of being, and there he entertains vain fancies. “God tests the righteous,” (Tehilim, 11:5) meaning that God is giving man a test, a mission, and this mission involves sending him to evil states of being in order to raise the inner sustaining vitality hidden within such states back up the Holy One, blessed be He. God esteems this test and mission very highly. Therefore, even if a man gets to a place of evil, he needs to understand that it is all for the good.

When Rabbi Akiva was traveling in the wilderness, and his fire went out, and a lion ate his donkey, all he said was, “this is also only for the good.” And truly, all of his troubles were only for his benefit, as his “misfortunes” saved him from being attacked by bandits. This is, “convert me on the condition that you teach me the entire Torah while I stand on one leg.” “While I am standing on one leg,” means “while I am always on a good level.” (The potential convert wanted to know the mystery of the inner orientation of all experience. "Standing on one leg," meaning, "I want to see what my experience stands on, what supports it. I want to know as much as I am allowed to how God holds up my world." When one looks deep inside, usually when he views his experience in retrospect, or if his faith is strong it could even be in real time, he will see the deep purpose that God has in the situations God puts him in. The principle is that God always wants mans benefit and amelioration. Yet since God’s light is hidden and does not show His hand, we experience suffering. Even if the Chassid follows the path with a pure heart and indeed reaches enlightenment, he will still experience trials and tribulation, but he will know how to deal with them, and keep his mind and heart on the big picture. He will have, “mochin d’gadlut,” an expanded consciousness. This will allow him to see the purpose in everything that happens to him.)

Rabbi Akiva’s answer to the potential convert was, “that which you find evil, don’t do to someone else.” He was saying, “in life, you have to deal with descents into evil.” A good man has to fall in order to raise another up. (In Chassidus we say, “if you come upon a man whose wagon is stuck in the mud, you have to get into the mud in order to help him out.”) And Rabbi Akiva was the son of converts, and after all, he was, so to speak, “uprooting mountains and grinding them together,” with his avodah and his Torah. “Mountains,” hints at the middos. (These are the seven lower sefirot, the source of life’s contradictions, conflicts, as well as mediation and resolution.) Mountains are also hinting at the Patriarchs. (The Patriarchs – Avraham, Yitschak, and Yaakov – are compared to mountains, based on a similarity in the Hebrew words for mountains and parents, “hareem” and “horeem”. So the “mountains” are also the middos, the sefiros of love as exemplified by the attributes of Avraham, fear as exemplified by the attributes of Yitschak, and Tiferet – Beauty, Balance, and Pride, as exemplified by the attributes of Yaakov.) He raised the middos up on high. (This means he raised up all the behavioral contradictions in life up to the realm of Wisdom, Understanding, and Consciousness, where difficulties and judgments can be sweetened by the power of the intellect. “Uprooting mountains and grinding them together” means deep introspection into God’s final purpose in all events that He deals out to man in His infinite and hidden wisdom. ) It was a greater delight since he was the son of converts (Here the great Maggid says, “It is like the well-known parable,” but it is not known to me. Perhaps since Rabbi Akiva was the son of converts he saw how he was raising up the level of mankind by living the Torah.) This is, “be silent, for this is how it rose up in My mind.” That is to say, he brought everything up to the level of thought.

(The Great Maggid is referring to the following story from the Talmud, Menachot, 29b. Rab Judah said in the name of Rab, When Moses ascended on high he found the Holy One, blessed be He, engaged in affixing crowns to the letters. (“Crowns,” or “thorns,” are slight vertical ink strokes drawn on the top of many of the 22 Hebrew letters.) Said Moses, ‘Lord of the Universe, Who stays Thy hand?’ (Isn’t Your Torah already perfect? Why do You need to add crowns the letters?) He answered, ‘There will arise a man, at the end of many generations, Akiba son of Joseph by name, who will expound upon each crown heaps and heaps of laws’. ‘Lord of the Universe’, said Moses; ‘permit me to see him’. He replied, ‘Turn thee round’. Moses went (into the future,) and sat down behind eight rows (in Rabbi Akiva’s class.) Not being able to follow their arguments he was ill at ease, but when they came to a certain subject and the disciples said to the master ‘Whence do you know it?’ and the latter replied ‘It is a law given unto Moses at Sinai’ he was comforted. Thereupon he returned to the Holy One, blessed be He, and said, ‘Lord of the Universe, Thou hast such a man and Thou givest the Torah by me!’ He replied, ‘Be silent, for such is My decree’. Then said Moses, ‘Lord of the Universe, Thou hast shown me his Torah, show me his reward’. ‘Turn thee round’, said He; and Moses turned round and saw them weighing out his flesh at the market-stalls. (Rabbi Akiva was martyred by the Romans, his skin flayed from his bones while still alive.) ‘Lord of the Universe’, cried Moses, ‘such Torah, and such a reward!’ He replied, ‘Be silent, for this is how it arose in My thought.’)

This is, ‘send away the mother bird.” Even if the Shechinah (represented by the mother bird) is not hovering above your head. “And take the chicks for yourself,” that you should have the middos of love and fear (even in difficult times. The “offspring” of the Shechina are the real feelings of loving and fearing the Almighty.)

Sichos Chullin - Rav Adin on Shabbos

2006-08-14T10:57:00.001+03:00

i {One of the great and holy Rebbes.}

Between (and sometimes during) the Aliyot
A selection of “sichot chullin” by Rav Adin Even Yisrael Shilit’a in shul on Shabbos.
Tsemach Tsedek Shul, Old City, 18 Av

We were talking about the shul’s criteria for getting called up to the Torah. Rav Adin said, ‘the Gabbai has a special sense of smell.” He added the following joke. “God said, “mine is the siver and Mine is the gold,” and the Jewish People answered, “Unto You, God is the Greatness, and the Strength, and the Beauty...” He said that this is one of the saddest jokes he knows and I should think about it. He is a cynical man. This attitude has caused a lot of anti-Semitism.

On Monday morning I told this to Rav Brandvine, the holy Strenter. He said that that is the sign of a good Gabbai. (The Gabbai is the man who arranges the services, but the title literally means, “the one who collects.”) I told Rav Brandvine that I liked his style as a Gabbai more. He If anyone knows one thing about the Stretner’s minyan in the old city, he knows that Rav Brandvine is careful to honor almost everyone. The ones who get the most enjoyment out of standing up to lead the services are invited to lead, and the new faces at the service are usually called up for to the Torah. Everyone who has something to say is invited to say something at the informal shmuzes. It’s quite impressive. Rav Brandvine said, “really, the mark of a truly skilled gabbai isn’t knowing how to give the honor of coming up to the Torah to the rich people, but knowing how to get the money out of them afterwards.”

If you allow me, I will kill the joke by unpacking it a little. After the seventy years of Babylonian Exile, the Jews were worried because they couldn’t find all the gold and silver necessary to make the newly refurbished Temple in Jerusalem as splendorous as it was before. God said to the prophet Chaggai, “Mine is the silver,” meaning, don’t worry, all the money and wealth in the world truly belongs to me, so I will bring it about that those with silver and gold will donate it to the Temple. The second verse, “Unto you God, is the greatness, and the strength, and the beauty,” were said by King David (Chronicles 1, 29:11) while he was planning the construction of the Temple with his son Shlomo.
But the point of the joke is the tragic misunderstanding. God was saying, don’t worry about money. Some have a lot, some have a little, but it all comes from God and it is all good. If you have trouble making a living, then besides all the “legwork” you need to do and all the tactics you have to use to do something to fix the problem, you have to pray your living daylights out, maybe even bang your head against the wall, because all wealth comes from God, it all comes from the source of all, and one man’s wealth and another mans poverty is only his own doing according to his own mind. It is really all coming from God.
The Jews may have understood that all comes from God, but, to put it simply, they erred in the conclusion that it is proper to honor a rich man more than a poor man. Who deserves honor? Someone who does something good is deserving of due recognition for his efforts. And yet, even if a person doesn’t do anything, there is something about just being a human that requires him to be treated with dignity, and about being a just being a Jew that allows him to get called up to the Torah. Being a simple guy who has just enough to live on, you already know that I have never been given an aliya at the Tsemach Tsedek shul in the ten years that I have frequented it. I don’t hold it against the Gabbai, hey, minhag yisrael Torah, right? That’s the way it goes in Cincinatti. I actually go to Rav Bloy’s minyan an the Kotel by Vasikin on Shabbos (to translate, a prayer service at the western wall in Jerusalem early in the “sunrise service” on the Sabbath), and they are quite fair and don’t make a big deal about cash.
If someone can tell me the deeper inner reason why Chabad is so into big cash deals, please let me know. I know it is probably a more general problem.

Let me sign off with some hot votrlich from the Heilige Ropshitzer, Reb Naftali. Someone told the Ropshitzer about a little gematriya that was going around. If a man wanted God to send him parnassa (rubles from heaven) he should have in mind on Rosh Hashannah and Yom Kippur when he gets to the words, “ten pachdecha – Put Your fear, Hashem, on your people,” that the word, “pachdecha - Your fear,” is the exact numerical equivalent of the word, “geldt.” If a man did so, he would be assured of “alfei zahav ve’cesef” in the coming year. The holy Rav Naftali replied, “I don’t see anything wrong with having in mind geldt when your say pachdecha. The problem is that when it’s “and give GELDT your fear GELDT Hashem GELDT on GELDT Your people GELDT.”

Dear friends, you can’t always get what you want, but if you try sometimes GEVALDT!!!

Two Arabic Voices:Defense of the Jews, and Voices of Hatred.

2006-08-10T15:01:00.000+03:00

Here is a Little snippet from an Arabic News Broadcast. If anyone could let me know who this lady is, and who here cleric opponent is, I would appreciate it.

http://switch5.castup.net/frames/20041020_MemriTV_Popup/video_480x360.asp?ai

This next one is a clip from a hizbollah" political science" symposium that took place at a Lebanese university.

http://www.memritv.org/search.asp?ACT=S9&P1=962#

Buisness as Usual

2006-08-08T10:43:00.000+03:00

The hill in the distance is the cliff from which the scapegoat was thrown on the day of Atonement (Yom Kippur) in temple times. it was brought by an "eesh eatee," ("the man of the hour") from the temple to this location ten miles east of Jerusalem. He would be accompanied on his mission by the leaders and most honored members of the nation. As they went on their way through one of the most inhospitible deserts in the world, they would stop at several huts along the way where the man of the hour could eat or drink. Tradition tells us that he would always die within that coming year.
There is the eater, and the eatee.

I just got back from the beis midarsh here in the Old City. After the prayer we sit around the table with the Stretner Rebbe, Rav Avraham Brandvine, four or five of us, eating and talking. Today was the Yahrziet (anniversary of the passing) of our friend, Mayim Chayim David Hillel ben Shraga Feivel, known as David Herzberg. He was a great presence, one of the funniest people I have ever known, a great scholar with a great power of innovative Torah teachings. He took care of his friends, (found two jobs for me personally), and was ready for a fight with his detractors. When he led the services at the Kotel his face would burn in holy fire, like the High priest coming out of the Holy of Holies, an awesome, fearsome angel of Hashem Tsvaos (.the Lord of Hosts).

In the street, he greeted everyone, made jokes with everyone, always charged with humor and life. May his memory be for a blessing.

Rav Brandvine said that we are suffering deaths in vain, “korbonot shav”, the Israelis publicize that they are reaching this target and achieving that goal, but the bombs still fly. It is not worth it any more. Too much senseless killing. There will be a cease-fire agreement and the Hizbollah will proclaim a victory.

(the rest is not necessarily the views of Rav Brandvine) Then Olmert and his buddies will say, “we have shown that we are tough with the arabs, now lets get together on the “convergence,” and get tough with the Jews.” His plan is to go ahead and bash in his own people again in the interests of peace. But it will not bring peace, because the Arabs then have another front from which to launch attacks from.

Soon it will be Rosh Hashanah, and we will cry out to God with all of our strength, “Teshuva (return to God’s way), Tefillah (Prayer), and Tsedakah (charity) will take away the harsh decree.”

Israel at War: Hearts Bleeding only for Lebanon

2006-08-04T19:11:00.000+03:00

Israel at War: The bleeding Heart and Somber Reality Well it seems from my glance at yesterday’s headlines in the Jerusalem post that the Israelis are indeed invading Lebanon. Interesting that the headlines read something like, “Israel to stage three-pronged invasion,” as if the generals would just hold a press conference and announce their battle plans. Being someone totally ignorant of military strategy or press relations, who knows, maybe they do this kind of thing. The reasoning might be like this. If a neighbor keeps throwing stones at your house and breaking your windows, your first response might be to break some of his windows in return. It doesn’t sound so civilized. So put a letter in his mailbox saying, I am coming over there. I will bring my brass knuckles and you should prepare to have the Akhbar beaten out of you.” Not so much more civilized, but perhaps more effective, if you have the ability to put your money where your mouth is. The most elegant solution would be some sort of computer generated revenge, like hacking into his credit files or bank account. But it’s so hard to do these days with all the fancy encryption. Heck, I can’t even use this darn mouse.

Anyhow, I have been thinking a lot about the morality or immorality of war, the web, anti-war activists who carry the badge of, “all war is inherently evil,” the fine line between leftist doctrine and Jew hating, and am waiting for you, my four or five readers, to choose one. But until then, I will turn my attention to all of the above.

One thing must be clear। These days you can disagree with Israel. You can claim that all war is inherently evil, and the Jews are just as guilty of war crimes as Muslim militants. But there could be different reasons for your views. It may be because you have a philosophy which states that everyone is judged equally. Just as the Muslim has his right to his religion and his land, the Jew also has the right to his religion and his land. This is a very American attitude. But it could also be that your view of Israel as the aggressor and the war criminal are just the fruits of good old fashioned Anti-Semitic Jew hating. “The Jews are the cause of all the wars in the world.” Jean-Paul Sartre in his classic, “Anti Semite and Jew,” has clearly shown us that Anti-Semitism is irrational. There is no rational basis for Jew hatred, it just seems to be a dark existential characteristic of unenlightened. A Jew ripped me off, a Jew killed my brother. The action of an individual does not speak for a whole nation. Anyone who hates a man for the sole reason that he is a co-religionist of another man who wronged him is either a chauvinist who had been driven mad by hemorrhoids, extremely allegiant to his clan but of a rather low IQ, but no matter how you slice it, categorically unreasonable.

What about when a foreign army enters your country, killing people, blowing up houses, and destroying infrastructure? Are you allowed to hate that army? It sounds reasonable to hate the actions of such an army. Yet demonizing the citizens of the country that sent that army, and possible even the soldiers themselves, is not a solution. Demonizing the civilians who have that army brought upon them as a result of their own militants aggression and, let’s face it, fanaticism, is also not viable. To the contrary, demonizing only perpetuates hatred. People are not usually born demons; they learn how to be like this. It is not only in the realm of fantasy that the same people could have learned to love instead of hate, tolerance and instead of terror. Man is after all the ultimate learning animal. If a man from his childhood is treated like a dog, he will act like a dog. But if you treat a man like a prince, he will eventually start acting like a prince.

The Jews are not just a people, they are also a religion, and an ethnicity. They are a people unlike any other deeply and spiritually connected to a land unlike any other. The Bible tells us that the Jews were taken out of Egypt by God’s strong arm and after a forty year womblike period of gestation, give the land of Canaan as an eternal inheritance. Though its "political correctness" comes into question, they were Divinely ordained to conquer and kill the inabitants of Canaan. (From Joshua to the last Kings of Judea, the Bible makes it clear that the Tribes of Israel were not able to completely fulfill this commandment.) With the conquest, the nations told us, “you are thieves! marauders! You stole the land from the Canaanites and the other six nations that were already there.” The Israelites responded to the world and said, “the earth belongs to God. It is not ours. He gives it to whoever He wants to, and He decided to give it to us.” (Rashi, Commentary to the Torah, Genesis, 1:1)

We had many nations conquer us, exile us, but we keep coming back. After seventy years of Babylonian exile, we came back. Then the Romans conquered the land and burned our temple. After two thousand years of "Roman" exile, we came back. You cannot change the laws of nature. And it seems to be that just as the law of gravity dictates that when you drop a ball it will fall to the ground, the biblical law of return dictates that the Jews will always come back to their own land against all odds.

Bear in mind, I have mostly been studying and translating sacred texts in Jerusalem for the past ten years. Finally, I decided to take a look at the world wide web's political markets, partucularly views opposed to my own. It was a little disconcerting.

I am specifically addressing the case of Juan Cole, (http://www.juancole.com/) professor of Middle Eastern Studies at U Michigan, who is heart is bleeding for all the innocent civilian killings. [1] In his articles, I do not see his heart bleeding for Israeli blood (perhaps it is not as thick as Arab blood and not worth the tears? He is a professional academic, a clever man, well read, and has created a first rate website to share his knowledge and promote his views. As mentioned, he is very sensitive to the plight of the Arabs, and fairly ignorant of the plight of the Jews. For him, the Israelis seem to be misguided, bloodthirsty hordes stealing the ancestral home of the Arabs. They are, in his words, “killing little children every day.” He claims that the Israelis are systematically destroying many villages in southern Lebanon. “They are blowing us every home in Kfar Kana.” Did he witness this? Is his source telling the truth? The 21 out of the "37 " dead children at Kfar Kana seem to have dissapeared. Maybe only half of the houses were bombed? Still, I get the feeling that the Israeli army is opening the gates of hell, but let’s face it, they have been opened for a while now. In the past I have personally have heard the explosions of numerous homicide bombings in busses and restaurants. I even knew some of the victims and and have been to too many of their funerals. (In credit to the Israelis, they warned the villagers to get out of southern Lebanon on July 25th, a week before the bombing. Did the homicide bombers every phone in where and when they would be blowing up? Oh, I’m sorry, they told us years ago to get the hell out of “Palestine.”) Of the Israeli campaign, Cole writes, “This tactic is both collective punishment and ethnic cleansing all at once.”

Waving the flag of pacifism, he makes it sounds like the Israelis are Nazis. If only he would write so vociferously against Hamas and Hezbollah. Since the Israeli unilateral pullout from Lebanon in 2000 (?) it is hard to argue that the Israelis have been the aggressors in southern Lebanon. Hezbollah , on the other hand, has made sporadic rocket attacks in the past few years, and now lobed over a thousand Katusha Rockets in their own efforts at ethnic “cleansing” by sending 500,000 people either into bomb shelters or headed south to stay with friends, family, and helped by what would be erroneously viewed as the kindness of strangers. But among Jews, we now see that there are no strangers, only family.

For the Israelite, if one Jew is harmed, it is like harming the entire nation। If one or two Jewish soldiers are taken hostage, it is enough of an emergency to wage a fierce war on the captors and everyone who supports them. Former PM Barak didn’t seem to get that principle when he had his hostage crisis, but maybe he had information that they were killed in the capturing. Regardless, the current dedication not only to the hostages but to a courageous and what we hope will be a death blow to the Hizbollah is impressive. So much of the Israeli public has united on this issue and managed to get together in a way that makes me truly proud to be a Jew and an Israeli. The Israelis are truly pulling together in the face of Hezbollah's war crimes.

For such a clever guy, Cole doesn’t seem to be capable of understanding that the Katushas flying south, which as of August 12 reached a range of 70 kilometers, are not just a response to the Israeli campaign to create a buffer zone up to the Litani river. That is the short-sighted view. In their grand scheme, Hezbollah supports the eradication of Israel, and would gladly bomb all of Israel given the means and the opportunity, like right now. Hezbollah's bombs have displaced families, destroyed homes, squelched the economy, and sent those who cannot or will not move into bomb shelters. It is the express ideology of the Hezbollah, clearly announced to the whole world by their Iranian patrons, to throw the Israelis into the sea. For them the land of Israel is a land that the Israelis stole from the Arabs. Hezbollah claims that the Israelis have not right to live in the land they call, “Palestine,” and they must be forced out. I think that it is rather obvious that the Hezbollah , which is supported by over a million Lebanese, is a political, ethnic, and religious movement which actively pursues an ideology that includes ethnic cleansing and collective punishments. Hezbollah and Hamas (whatever you want to call it, they sound to me about as different as Episcopalians and Methodists, or the Steelers and the Raiders) have sent numerous suicide bombers to board busses, go into restaurants, stand in crowded downtown areas, and kill and maim as many men, women and children as possible. They do not just support collective punishments and ethnic “cleansing,” what used to be called Genocide. They are pursuing a Genocidal campaign.

What the Israelis are doing is not Genocide. It is a brave action of defense against a guerilla army that preaches and practices Genocide. The Israelis would prefer to live and let live, but they are being fired upon by barrage after barrage of missiles. So let the storm of war rage over all their miserable little villages. If they can dish it out, they’d better be prepared to take it. You may call it ethnic cleansing, I call it, like most other Israelis these days, “milchemet eyn brirra,” a war that we are forced into. It’s a military tactic which includes the forced transfer of a largely hostile population. As I have never met a southern Lebanese villager, I cannot begin to take the pulse of the people, even if I was such a doctor. But Cole teaches me that over a million Lebanese, largely comprised of Shi’ite Muslims, support the Hezbollah. When Professor Cole throws terms around like, “ethnic cleansing,” which when read between the lines sounds an awful lot like, “the Israelis are Nazis,” he fails to compute the fact Israel, after making a unilateral withdrawal from south Lebanon, was willing to let the Arab Lebanese live there in peace. Yes, Professor, I conceed that the Israelis are guilty of "ethnic cleansing." It happened time last summer when they made Gaza Judenrein. But this summer in suprising moment of clarity, the Israeli government has realized that they cannot live with a population overrun with Islamic militants armed to the teeth and lobbing missiles across the border into northern Israel. The real clarity is, a thousand Hizbollah katushas have woken up Israel to use the appropriate force against their sworn enemies.

Cole's article "who is Hizbollah," tries to identify the ethnicity of the Lebanese villagers। Before we get to Palestinian Arab geneology, lets identify their land. Lebanon is in the northern sector of the ancestral homeland of the Jews, according to the Bible, which professor Cole, at least in his blog, doesn’t seem to evoke as he does his beloved Koran. He writes, “The Israelis have an Orientalist myth that the Arabs are Bedouin and not attached to their ancestral villages. Nothing could be farther from the truth. Palestinian refugees in Lebanon still group their neighborhoods around their camps in accordance with the geography of their former villages.” How sweet. History is a little more complex, professor. In the nineteenth century, the Ottoman empire ruled the lands of Israel and Lebanon. With nationalism on the rise and imperialism under attack, the Ottoman government was interested in fending off such a nationalist uprising among its “Dhimmi.” They were worried about a Jewish state emerging in Israel or Christian-Arab state in Lebanon. Though there have always been Jews in Israel in vacillating populations, sometimes at severe lows like after the Roman Conquest, the real “growth spurt” came in the end of the Nineteenth and throughout the Twentieth century, under the British and the Israelis. The Ottomans, seeing the beginnings of significant Jewish immigration back to their homeland, decided to bolster the Muslim population as part of a wider policy of strengthening their rule. “From the nineteenth century into the twentieth, a continuous stream of more than two million Muslim colonists from the Crimea and the Balkans were settled in Anatolia, Armenia, Lebanon, Syria, and Palestine by the Ottoman government, hoping thereby to counter the dhimmis’ indigenous national aspirations by a massive Islamic colonization.” [2] I want to know just how many Muslims in Lebanon as well as Israel still group their neighborhoods around their camps according to their ancestral villages in Serbia. True, the Arabs of southern Lebanon may not all be nomadic Beduins, yet according to the last time I read my Torah, they are living on Israeli soil. This being so, it would have been prudent for them not to break the law. I want it to be clear. I try to assess people as individuals, based on their actions and words, so I don’t “hate” the Arabs. As a Rabbi, I look to the Bible, which tells us, “lovers of God, hate evil…” But what is evil? Killing children and killing civilians are two things that come to mind. But in the radical militant Islamic mindset, killing children is not evil. it is war. After all, it is our land, the evil satanic bloodthirsty Jews have stolen it from us, right? They must be brought to their knees and submit to the will of Allah, or at least to us, His right hand masked men, right? And how is this done? Raise your children to be suicide bombing martyrs. Wait a second! Sending civilian children (they are usually between the ages of 20 and 30 by know) to go blow themselves up in crowds of innocent Israelis? That, according to a sane definition, is evil and morally reprehensible. But no, answers my Hamas or Hezbollah interlocutor. You don’t seem to get it. There are no innocent Israelis. In the words of the popular Gazan cleric Sheik Mudaires, which he shouted at the Sheik Ijlin mosque in Gaza on May 13 2005, “Allah has tormented us with the people most hostile to the believers, - the Jews. … With the establishment of the state of Israel the entire Islamic nation was lost, because Israel is a cancer spreading through the body of the entire Islamic nation, and because Jews are a virus resembling AIDS, from which the entire world suffers … you will find that the Jews are behind all the civil strife in the world. The Jews are behind the suffering of the nations. … Listen to the prophet Muhammad who tells you about the evil end that awaits the Jews. The stones and trees will want the Muslims to finish off every Jew. …”

This is a repeat of Nazi propaganda। True, the Israelis are clobbering Lebanon. Truly. an effect of the tactics of the Israeli army – crippling Lebanon is a part of crippling the Hezbollah’s military capability - can be described as a collective punishment. But in a perfect world the civilians would be here and the terrorists there. Israel’s army is not targeting children, Israel is trying to cripple the Lebanon that contains over a million Hezbollah supporters and is sick or foolish enough to wreak havoc and destruction on sovereign Israeli soil. In the world of prisoner exchanges, the Arabs often equate one Jewish captive soldier to hundreds Arabs in Israeli detention. So by that logic, you shoot one rocket, we shoot hundreds. You kill one of us, we destroy a hundred of you. One may be inclined to call this a collective punishment. It can equally be called the use of overwhelming force and is just response to a militia of militant “majnun” who are demanding a war. You want a war, Israel will give you a war.

And if you really want peace, tens of thousands of displaced Israelis from Gaza is proof positive that Israel is crazy enough to cut of its right arm to make peace। Sadly the displacement of 20,000 Israeli Jews from Gaza, their homes destroyed, their synagogues reduced to rubble, and their businesses collapsed, has not brought peace. It has rather inspired the Gazan Arabs to continue to fire rockets at Israeli civilians. "Here, Muhammad, were going. Bashing your face in didn't seem to solve the problem. Have a state. Rule yourselves.' "No thank you, Moshe, I would prefer to continue trying to bash your own face in."

The Talmud teaches, “be the first one to say Shalom।” Be the first one to offer peace. The biblical law even requires Israel to first offer peace to a besieged city in its wars. But on a personal level, how many times can you say shalom to someone who has no interest in making peace with you? And what do you do when they attack, sit around and say it’s our fault anyway? Turn the other cheek? Jews don’t turn the other cheek. [3] “The Lord my God is a vengeful God.” And his people, at least now, know how to take vengeance and defend themselves. Eliminate the enemy at all costs.

Juan Cole thinks this is a no win situation। He says that both the Israelis and Hezbollah will have to learn the hard lesson that war is not the answer, but the only lasting solution is dialogue and agreement. I would, however, remind professor Cole that there is really no one in Hezbollah, Hamas, or Al Kaida, who is at all interested in chatting, let alone honoring deals. It's all about getting rid of Israel. A negotiation may lead to a temporary "hudna" (cease fire) but the war goes on until the Islamic flag flies over Jerusalem, God forbid. My old professor, Former ambassador Herman Eilts, often reminded us in class that history is heavy on the backs of the Middle Easterners, Jews and Arabs. Americans have this misconception that ecumenicalism, the attitude that says live and let live, can be imported to the Middle East. As an Israeli with a hand on the pulse of the people I see that all we really want to do is live and let live. We would prefer to turn Israel into Switzerland. But our little holy Switzerland went up in a puff of katusha smoke. Hezbollah just can't resist a fight. As the Israeli government is filled with foolish and soft hearted seekers of lovingkindness, the will undoubtedly offer them an untimely peace, sooner or later. But Hezbollah is only interested in offering us the Koran or the sword.

I agree that the one who kills more civilians is not considered the winner. Surely the bigger killer looses the moral high ground, at least in the leftist camp, no matter how justified they seem to be. Israel will have won the campaign when Hezbollah can not longer fire missiles at Israel, and is no longer willing to take hostages. May God help them to do this and do this swiftly. This battle is crucial. But remember, Israel is teaching them a lesson that they will not soon forget. Sadly, reverse psychology might have it that the more we clobber them, the stronger their resolve to clobber us back. So goes the war of attrition. And yet, the Talmud teaches, “if you know that someone is planning on waking up early to kill you, get up earlier and go kill him first.” This doctrine of pre-emptive self defense is logical, but more importantly, it is ethical. We will leave turning the other cheek for the Christians. With all the blood that has been spilled in the name of Jesus it seems hard to believe that he every recommended turning the other cheek.

Children, civilians? An ethic of war (something like the Geneva convention, a document that I have heard mentioned many times but never actually read) that all civilians are to be spared. But sadly, Hezbollah prides itself in the blood of martyrs. All Muslim extremists these days dream of being Shahidim, holy martyrs. Poor Muslim women kiss their children goodnight with prayers that they will someday blow themselves up on a crowded Israeli bus. So in this mindset, civilians are not human shields, they are potential holy martyrs. Rather than call them human shields, call them "holy" public relations weapons. Every dead Arab child is not just a martyr but a blowout in the press. Personally, I can’t justify the killing of children, but Hezbollah should be an expert at it by now.

[1] It is possible that having been raised in a "peripatetic military family" (that's wandering soldier dad, to you non-professors) has left him with a disdain for war, soldiers, and all things military, but you will have to ask him that. A lot of people never connected to the millitary also hate war. I'm sure the Israeli soldiers in lebanon hate it, but are mature enough to know when it is of vital interest. [2] Bat Ye’or, page 105. The Dhimmi, , Farleigh Dickenson, 1985, [3] Despite the verse in Proverbs, “if someone who hates you is hungry, feed him, if he is thirsty, give him water, for thus you put hot coals on his heart.”

Yearning to be in Your Own Land

2006-08-03T11:26:00.000+03:00

An Israeli child of my Tribe having fun in his country and ancestral homeland on Independence Day, in the "Britania Park" next to the Eylah Valley, where David defeated Goliath as told in the First Book of Samuel.

Beit Yaakov

(the House of Jacob)

by Rabbi Jacob Lainer

“And I pleaded with G-d at that time saying, A-donai E-lohim! Your who have begun to show Your servant Your greatness and Your power…” (Deuteronomy, 3:23)
“And it will be, before they shall cry out, I will answer. And while they are still speaking, I will hear.” (Isaiah, 65:24)
Crying out means yearning and desire. When the Holy One, blessed be He, desires to receive a man’s prayer, He first sends understanding to the man’s heart; he needs to to understand why he yearned for this at the depths of his heart to begin with. (The advice is to deeply contemplate why it is that he has such a great desire for the things that he prays for. Betsalel) In man’s limited understanding it seems to him that there are prayers which are not accepted, yet it seems this way only because he never asked why he yearned for them in the first place. Thus it appears as if his prayers are not accepted. This is because God investigates his heart, and sees that he did not pray over the very matters that arose in his consciousness.
This is the meaning of, “and I will answer.” That is, I will give him the space in which to arrange his prayers (and the reasons for his prayers). By means of this, “while they are still speaking, I will hear.” (Hearing often means understanding.)
It says in the Gemara (Ta’anit, 25b), “What is the (highest and most accepted) praise of the congregation? When they say, ‘He makes the wind blow,’ and the wind blows. When they say, ‘He makes the rain fall,’ and it rains.”
When one is answered before he opens his mouth to pray, it is a sign that God does not want to receive or hear his prayer. (This is not the case with the above passage in the Gemara, where they are answered easily immediately after they pray.) This is as it is written (Deuteronomy, 7:10), “And He will repay those that hate Him before them (to their face)…”
Truly, Israel has a hand and portion in the upper worlds. This is as it is explained in the Midrash (Bereshit Rabba, 1:4), “Israel arose in God’s thought even before the creation of the world.” This is as it is written (Deuteronomy, 32:9), “Yaakov is the cord of His inheritance.”
Every soul of Israel, even before a man’s soul was created, is a portion of G-d above. the soul descended into the world was in order for it to be incomplete, needing to cry out to G-d, and be answered. This is the main principle of completeness.
This Parsha is a testament to the great brazen sanctity (tekifut) of Israel. The Gemara anthropomorphically describes G-d as wearing Tefillin (Berachot, 6a). However, in the Tefillin of the Master of the World differs from ours, in that in His, it is written (Chronicles 1, 17:21), “Who is like you, Israel, one unified nation in the land.” The word Tefillin teaches of connection. This is as it is written (Genesis, 30:8), “great wrestlings (naftulei in Hebrew) with G-d have I wrestled.” (And Naftulei is the same letters as Tefillin. Connection, in that two wrestlers must be closely connected.) The glory of God will never be disconnected from Israel! This is as it is written (Deuteronomy, 4:7-8), “for who is a nation so great as to have G-d so close to them… who is a nation so great with such laws and judgments.” In the Tefillin of Israel it is written (Exodus, 13:9), “in order that the Torah of G-d should be in your mouths.”
So too, all of the passages written in the Tefillin express the deep connection of Israel to G-d. And both of them (The Tefillin of G-d and the Tefillin of Israel), teaches us that God answers the Jews whenever they cry out to them. Clearly it seems as if even the greatest Israelites pray and are not answered. That’s why is says, “Va’etchanan, And I pleaded to G-d,” as is explained in the Mei HaShiloach. (At the end I have inserted the entire teaching refered to from the Mei HaShiloach, the father of the Beit Yaakov.) Yet truly, all those who ask are answered. This is why it says, “(And I pleaded to G-d) at this Time, to say,” for whenever it is written, “to say,” it means clear and explicit to the eyes of man.
God gives desire to man. By means of that desire one could achieve anything, for all depends on desire, all depends on will. God effuses the words of Torah to the depths of the heart of man in order that necessarily he will be given all kind of effluence. This is the meaning of (Haggai, 2:8), “Mine is the silver (Kesef in Hebrew, like Kisuf, meaning yearning), and Mine is the Gold, says God.” In this way God gives effluence to man. The pure and simple will of God (ratzon hapashut) only necessitates that He gives something pure and simple like it.
Therefore, all drawing of effluence depends on really wanting. When the Holy One, blessed be He, sends his saying (clear communication) in his desire down to the earth, this of itself necessitates that He give all kinds of effluence. And man will surely know why the Holy One, blessed be He, gives him this strong desire. Man will turn from this understanding, and know how to incline it to its proper place. By means of this, he will be successful with everything that he asks for.

(Mei HaShiloach, Parshat Va’etchanan.)
“And I pleaded to G-d at that time, saying.” (Devarim, 3:23)
Why did Moshe Rabeynu’s tell these words to Israel? Even though on the surface it seems as if his prayer had no benefit whatsoever, nonetheless, he caused them to understand that his prayer was not in vain. (It is as if he is saying to them,) even in the course of actions in the land of Israel I am your teacher and Rabbi, and likewise he showed them that his prayer was effective. This is why “Vaetchanan,” Hebrew for, “and I pleaded,” (the verb for giving mercy, “chanan,” is intensified into meaning imploring for mercies,) because he was made full of entreatment for G-d’s mercies, and his prayer flowed naturally from his mouth. This is a kind of proof that God sent him the awakening from below to pray. Therefore he surely would not be turned away empty handed. This is hinted at in, “at that time,” for even though G-d had already promised me that I would not enter the land, still it did not prevent me from praying. This is as it is written in the Gemara (Berachot, 10a) of Hizkiyah king of Yehuda who said to the prophet Yeshayahu (who had just prophesied that he would die), “Son of Amots! Stop your prophecy and leave, for thus I have received from my father’s house (David, that even in the face of certain death), never to prevent oneself from praying for G-d’s mercies.” For there is nothing that stands to prevent one from the mercies of G-d. (And that it said that Hizkiya turned his face to the wall to pray,”) The Gemara learns from this there should be nothing separating one from the wall, meaning that there should be nothing preventing one from prayer, and not to loose heart even if it seems that the decree has come from G-d, for “wall,” teaches of the source of life. (As in Yirmiya, 4:19 where the same word for wall, “Kir,” is used for the chambers of the heart, hence the source of life.) Even though it may seem that there is no salvation from the source, one may not prevent himself from G-d’s mercies.

Parshat Balak

2006-07-07T15:51:00.000+03:00

This Photograph was taken in the Judean desert, east of Jeursalem, and some ten kilometers west of the northern tip of the Dead Sea and near Jericho. Two somewhat rectangular shapes in the midde are actually the remains of ancient corral enclosures, "sheepfolds,"("gidrot tsone" in Heb.) which are mentioned an number of times in the Bible, such as First Samuel, 24:3, "And he came to the sheepfolds by the way, where there was a cave; and Saul went in to relieve himself; and David and his men remained in the back of the cave."

“For there is no divination in Jacob and no magic in Israel, thus in time it will be said to Jacob, what has God wrought?” (Numbers, 24:23)

The story is well known. Bilaam, arch sorcerer of the ancient world, master of the black arts, just about the scariest magi--mafioso in the middle-east three and a half thousand years ago, was hired by Moabites to curse the Jews. Just about a sure thing, as everyone had seen that the fate of Bilaam’s curse was worse that the fate of a frog zapped in the microwave (a purely hypothetical situation, didn’t never happened ‘round these parts, no way, no how, and may the Almighty continue to protect us). So all of the middle easterners, Moabites, Midianites, Ammonites, you name it, were having this huge shpielkess, mammash plotzing, after hearing about the miracles that were performed for by God for the children of Israel with the exodus of Egypt. To make a long story short, Balak king of Moab hires Bilaam to curse the Jews, so they build a bunch of altars on mountaintops overlooking the holy encampment of the twelve tribes around the Tabernacle. It must have been a sight and a wonder to behold. And Bilaam’s getting good money, mammash millions, gold krugerands, endless wads of greenbacks, diamonds, rubies, you name it, and honor, woah, there, he’s invited to all the posh events with the movers and shakers and policy-makers whose one goal is, “destroy the Jews.”
So what happens? He offers all the bulls on the on the mountaintops, raises his hands to the Almighty who has made him the official prophet for the nations of the world, and then, wonder of wonders, when he opens his mouth to curse the Jews, the most beautiful praises of Israel come out of his mouth. He’s miraculously transformed into the best friend Israel ever had. It is as if Bin Ladin sent a videotape from his sumptuous cave in Waziristan praising Israel and urging the world to support the Zionist Redeemer.
Now one of Bilaam’s praises was:

“For there is no divination in Jacob and no magic in Israel.”

Reading this simply, it is interesting that the greatest sorcerer of his day, with the possible exception of Pharaoh, would praise Israel by saying that they are either not practitioners of magic and witchcraft or not effected by it. It sounds like he is repudiating his own profession. What is Bilaam saying about the intrinsic qualities of Israel? The answer to this question can be found in Rashi. Rashi was Rabbi Shlomo ben Yitschak of eleventh century France, who besides being the all time master biblical commentator and Talmudic master of his day, knew how to make one heck of a good barrel of wine. And this is what he said: “There is no divination in Jacob – because there are no diviners or sorcerers among them they are thus worthy of blessing.” In other words, since Israel is a pure nation, since they lead their lives according the Torah of God and are not wasting their time with séances voo-doo orgies, God is thereby pleased with them and blesses them.
There are several places in the Pentateuch (Five Books of Moses) that forbid magic and witchcraft. One is Deuteronomy (Devarim) 18:10, which says, “When you come to the Land that God is giving you, do not learn how to do the abominations of those nations. There shall not be found among you one who passes his son or daughter through the fire, one who uses divination, a soothsayer, and enchanter, a witch or a necromancer. For all of these things are an abomination to God, and because these nations are involved in such abominations is God driving them out of the land before you.”

The Mei Hashiloach, true to all divinely inspired geniuses, explains the terms divination (nachash) and magic (qesem) in a different way. His analysis of the specific choice of terminology and word-matching found in the verse reveals an understanding of the character traits of the Israelite. This teaching is consistent with the Mei HaShiloach’s entire philosophy of vertical illumination, by which I mean the ability of certain worthy individuals to know what to do directly from God. The moral instruction is a call for man to know who he is, where he stands with God, and to be honest with his choices based on that assessment. In short, after you have gone through a process of earnest spiritual and moral refinement, “killing yourself over the fulfillment of the Torah,” so to speak, then when you absolutely know that something is from God, you cannot hesitate. Rather, you must follow that understanding as if you were standing at the foot of Mount Sinai, listening to the voice of God from the mouth of “Gevurah.” This takes the quality of “tekufut,” which means not holding back, but knowing that your will and God’s will have reached a synthesis and you glorify God by following your heart. If you are not sure, and I add, based on other teachings in the Mei HaShiloach, if you have not gone through the process of refinement, then don’t act rashly or impetuously, rather follow the Talmudic Dictum, “shev ve’al ta’ase,” meaning, sit down and take a breather, look around, and wait for some kind of sign to lead you the way. And you will be shown the way …

What follows it the translated words of Rav Modechai Yosef of Isbitza, the Mei HaShiloach.

“For there is no divination in Jacob and no magic in Israel ...”

(The italics are my own notes on the translation)

“ Divination” (nachash, in Hebrew) is stubbornly holding on to something without letting that thing go out of your mind. Magic (qesem, in Hebrew) is the opposite. (The meaning of qesem presented here has nothing to do with conjuring or supernaturally manipulating nature.) When man equivocates over something, wondering whether to do it or not, he is advised to wait and see how it turns out. If it turns out well, he does it, and if it doesn't, he refrains. This is qesem or waiting to see how something will act of its own accord. Both modes of behavior (qesem and nachash) are forbidden when not used in their proper place. This means that at a time when one knows God's will with clarity, it is forbidden for him to remain silent and let things happen of their own accord, but must rather strengthen himself like a lion and act with strength. In a place where one is uncertain of something it is forbidden to act with force, but rather to consider how the action may come out of it's own accord without his mental input. This is as we find in the Gemara, (Chullin, 95a), “Rav observed a ferry-boat,” for when he reached a river the boat just came to him, without any effort of his own. From this he understood that it was from God, and without this sign he would not have traveled. Therefore it is written the word usually translated as “divination” (nachash) with really means not to hold back, but just to do, is associated with the name Jacob, for, “Jacob,” is called a man who is not yet in a state of completeness and whose heart is not yet drawn after G-d's will. We find that when the prophet is expressing the smallness of Israel he calls it in the name of Jacob, as in (Amos, 7:2), “how shall Jacob stand for he is small?” Therefore he said that there shall be no nachash “unbridled, unencumbered resolve” in Jacob, for at a time when a soul in Israel is uncertain about something he must not act stubbornly, but rather remove all affliction from himself, and see that however G-d acts, that is how he will act in the matter. (When the Mei HaShiloach says, “removal of affliction,” he means that his action is not a veiled outlet for an animal desire, meaning his decision is not based on a desire for the adultery or murder made famous by “the Ten Commandments” before Hollywood.) And when the verse says, “no qesem in Israel,” it refers to one whose heart is completely drawn after God. Then whatever thought falls into his head is nothing less that God’s own desire and has been divinely bestowed upon him. Acting upon this thought would not be irresponsible, but should rather be done with force. If he is on the level of “Israel,” and his desire is an expression of the Divine will, then rejecting his refined desire would be rejecting God. Thus Bilaam praised Israel, showing us how every Jew, whether he is on the level of Yaakov (unsure) or Israel (absolutely positive), recognizes his value and acts accordingly.

Pilot's Spring in the Jerusalem Hills

2006-07-04T09:46:00.000+03:00

5/10/2006

here's something from two months ago .... I went for a long walk today in the hills outside of Jerusalem today, hot sun, feeling that I am eating too much and not exercising, feeling like, what’s the literary term, well, basically, i think it is something like,.... a blog. I had two hours before i had to pick up Ilana at the mental hospital. (she works there, incase you were wondering.) There are all these trails and dirt roads in the hills next to the hospital - this hill is dedicated to an air force memorial monument. I was looking for the "pilots spring," somewhere down the hill. I went down, down, the dirt road winding around the hill, getting worried after half an hour that I would be late for Ilana.I got to musing about how useful this road would have been in the war of independence. Starting to fantasize, if I was there in '48, in that same place, fresh out of Buchenvald, gun in hand, running into a Jordanian soldier. . and the fantasy went up in a puff of smoke (though i was not smoking). over twenty minutes of walking on the dirt road and i start to burn off a little fat. ... so I reached ayn hatayasim (pilot's spring) and someone had made it there by car. As i am climbing up the path, I hear the chatter of young Israeli women. lovely spring, but it was taken over by a four lovely young ladies, and i didn’t feel so much a part of the chevre (crowd).

But it is an absolutely beautiful spot I came back several times since the first visit I am in the middle of describing - pine forest, wild rosemary, wild sage. no parsley. Wild forest chickens running along the path, and the birds! You would not believe the sweet music they sing, forget Beethoven, forget Bach, and definitely forget Messian the bird man. (a French composer with a thing for JC and birdcalls) Snake slithered into a hole in the rock on the side of the dirt path. I am running along shadow boxing and singing the theme to "Rocky." The spring itself is ancient, I have not idea, at least a thousand years old, maybe two or three. two by four meters filled with a school of centimeter long fish, and one big orange fish - the Tsaddik - wonder who was so privileged to be reincarnated into this Eden! When I would stand still for a minute and then move the hundred of them would all jolt as one, making a delicate splatter on the surface of the water like reverse raindrops. I would strip down and jump in, grossed out by the mud slithering in-between my toes at the bottom of the pool (it is a little over a meter deep) , perform my ritual ablutions while visualizing the proper names of God, and then get out, hoping no tourists would catch me bare-assed, get dressed wet, and then sit in bliss at the side of the pool looking at the fish and the reflection of the green boughs and splatters of sunshine rippling on the surface of the ritualarium. Silent, soaking my feet in the cool water, listening to the music the wind plays in the trees and the birdsongs, loving God and envisioning His name, and feeling a scent of a whiff of prophecy that used to descend on these parts in another age when this spring was much the same as it is now ...

So back to the story of monday, 5/10/06
so i kept on up the steep path, up, up, bitch-slapped (what does this expression really mean, folks?) by the hot sun on the back of my neck, my bald forehead fried, gasping for air, small near empty bottle of water in one hand and watch in the other, realizing that blobs like me should really take it easy on their first time out. , rock, bush, sun, dirt, tehillim, tehillim, (no, i am not about to die)/ shir hama'alot. mi',maamakim kraticha Adonai (a song of ascents, O God! I cry out to you from the depths) ..... and by the time I got to the last verse i can truly say that i have never said it with such pure honesty, because I just didn’t have so ,much air... v'hu yifde et yisrael micol avonotav (He will redeem Israel from all their sins.) Then i started davening for Jews in trouble, "may He be merciful with them, and take them out from darkness to light, from trouble to safety..." and i start thinking. am I saying this for myself? This is totally ridiculous, is this how my life is supposed to end, passing out from heat exhaustion and falling down a mountain in Israel? No, stop fantasizing, stop dreaming, you are fine! You are saying this for people with real troubles, stupid! and I made it up the hill to the car - hot car hot middle eastern sun British planted forest soaked with sweat and feeling great - and picked up Ilana five minutes late ....

Parshat Chukat

2006-06-26T10:20:00.000+03:00

Purim, Jerusalem, 5765

I am back. So little time and so much to do, but unlike the white rabbit, (sorry folks) I will not go jumping down any wackey wells. This week's Torah portion (parsha, to you hebrew experts) deals with the biblical remedy for the problem of what is mistakenly called, "ritual impurity."

A note on rituals. A booring ritual ofen leaves me feeling "impure." But done in the right way around the right people, such "rituals" turn into an exilarating experience, what my old galus rabbi from Boston, Rav Pollack, used to call, "the choreography of memory," influenced, no doubt, from his good buddy Elie Wiesel. It may mean that when we do these ritual actions, like a dance, that activates something deep in our collective memories, what Jung I think called, "central energy."

You can find at www.schuelers.com information on the "Jungian models of the psyche" page, and I quote, "The central energy runs through all subsequent differentiations; it lives in them all and cuts across them to the individual psyche; it is the only factor that remains unchanged in every situation. There is a level of central energy that is the “deepest part of the collective unconscious that can never be made conscious.” It is the substratum or bedrock of the psyche."

I have a feeling that ritual has to do with an action that stimulates central energy. But perhaps it is more than that, ritual is a potential doorway to expanded consciousness and/or divine inspiration.

Anyway, mom (hi mom, could you please remember to send those clothes for the kids) said that the blog was, and I quote, "really interesting, but jeepers, I just don't have the background to understand what youre saying." So mom is reminding me that just because I understand something, (and of course, that is questionable) it doesn't mean that everyone else does. And the only other critique I got was from Michael Abraham, who said I was, "long winded." So to you MA, I say, better long winded upstairs than down. And furthermore, you say, "long winded," but others say, "lotta spirit." Sometimes weaker minds dont have the patience to work out all the details, present company excluded. So for you PHD's in kabbalah out there, this may bore you, so you can go and soak your heads for a while and then get back after I finnish explaning to the moms, kids, and most everyone else.

Ahem. ./.. Impurity from the dead. We all got it, there can be no denying. Shlomovitz dies, doctor, nurse, and maybe the hospital air conditioner repair man all come in contact with Shlomovitz's deceased flesh. Doctor goes home and kisses his wife and kids, and presto! They are all impure with "TOOMAT MEETTA" the impurity of the dead. Kid goes to school, plays tag. Taps teacher on the shoulder, bumps into custodian, (this is getting ridiculous) And soon enough the whole school is contaminated. The impurity is transfered by physical contact, but wait! Not only with people, but also certain objects that can absorb impurity are also either receiving Tumat Meeta or giving it to those who touch them. What does Tumat Mita feel like? I dont know. Go to a funeral and see how you feel. Maybe it is like that feeling of waking up after a deep sleep whereupon just about everyone in the world feels a need to wash. This is a hint. The talmud tells us that sleep is one sixtieth of death.

Remember, we are talking about a dead human being here, and as I recall, a dead jewish human being. A dead animal or gentile does not contaminate with tumat mita. The law of ritual purity are one of the most complex sections of the Talmud, and require careful study.

But we have spoken enought about the impurity, lets get to the purification. The bible provides us with an enigmatic precept called, "the sprinkling of the ashes of the red heifer." The ancient israelite priests (the proper term is Cohanim, so as not to be confused with the guys in the white collars at the vatican) Take a perfectly red heifer, burn it down to ash on the mount of olives, throw some hyssop and cedarwood in the fire, mix the whole megillah with some fresh spring water, et voila! La Vrai Chose, bien sur. Gourmet "efer para aduma." (ashes of red heifer). Then the Cohen would take some of this water and ash mixture and sprinkle it onto someone who had become impure through contact with the dead. The impure dude would become pure and the pure Cohen woud alas become impure, by virtue of his act of sprinkling the water on the impure dude. Then he would have to go through his own purification proccess of which I can't describe to you.

Rashi (and always start with Rashi, who was a true holy man, and all time great explainer, of whom Rav Shimson Ostrapoler ZTSL HAYAD once said, "for every drop of ink of Rashi's commentary, you have to count seven clean days." Meaning, you have to be so pure to understand the tremendous depths of Rashi) brings the midrash (Torah legend), "since the Adversary and the other nations try pick an argument with Israel, trying to disprove our law, saying, "what is this commandment, what meaning could it possible have?' Rhetorical question, as the nations have decided that these strange things Jews do like ashes of red heifer and tefillin are a lot of hooey. They are not on the level of knowing, and you know what folks, with such enigmantic commandments, neither are we. There are commandments that a man can readilly understand with his intellect, like not killing or steaking, even belief in God and prayer, but there are many enigmatic laws, called, "Chukim (pronouncd: choo-keem)," or statutes, that simply boggle the mind. So Rashi continues. and says, don't bother trying to explain to your gentile friends and debate partners the nature of Chukim, statutes like the sprinkling of the ashes of the red heifer to purify from contact with the dead. just dont bother getting into it, mostly because you probably dont understand it either. Just hold onto simple faith, the simple faith that God created the world. brought the jews out of egypt, Gave us the Torah, gave authority to the holy prophets and rabbis, and watches over us and protects us every second of every day. And with that pure faith, say to your Goyishe budds, "Ashes of the Red Heifer? I dont know what meaning it could possibly have, but I do know this. God is the Master of Heaven and earth, He is the King of Kings, the Creator of all, and He made a decree which we cannot doubt or question, and that decree is to 'Take a perfectly red Heifer ... and burn it ... and sprinkle the ashen water on the third and seventh days of the week of a man's purification,' and the rest, say what you will, but God said it, we believe it, and that settles it.

Yes, this Rashi was embellished, but believe me, that's what he meant.

Now we can move on...

From the Mei HaShiloach

"They shall unto you take a perfect red heifer ..."
(Bamidbar-Numbers, 19:2)

In the future the blessed G-d will reveal His glory to Israel without any separation whatsoever, meaning that with the final redemption, man will behold the revelation of G-d in all things, and G-d will not be concealed, as He is now, for the most part. The ashes of the Red Heifer have been lost for eighteen hundred years, with the possile exception of the Arizal finding them in sixteenth century Safed, Israel, as coroborated by the CHidda. So the whole exilic state of God being concealed is all caught up in the absence of having a way to be purified from death by the ashes of the Parah Aduma. So when the Rebbe says, "In the future," he also means in the future when, with the final redemption, the laws of purity and the ability to regain freedom from the debilitating power of death will return to the world. for now this (reality of) life exists in the depths of Israel, yet it is revealed in outer "garments." These garments are the Torah and mitsvot, for one may only enter into the depths of the will of G-d through the Torah and mitsvot (for more on this see the Tanya, Liqutei Amarim, Ch. 4). All commandments, like giving charity, loving your neighbor, learning Torah, putting on Tefilin and not cheating your fellow man (you can go and find the other 608) are Garments for life. This means that just as a person is percieved through the grament of his body, because of course, a person is more than skin and bone, so to is Godliness accessed through behavior, beliefs and rituals that God commanded us. Each time God asks us to do something, he is giving us a little doorway to His desire, and saying, do this, and you will know something of what I want. Though God fills the whole world with His glory, He is only accessed throught what we loosely call, "torah and mitzvot," which could actually include a trip to the museum, depending on how it is done and what your adgenda is. But simply put, Gods will is only found in Torah and mitzvot. This is "they shall take unto you a heifer," which stands for life, as is known, a young fresh living cow in its first year, mammash l'chaiim! and at the present moment we are commanded that this life be clothed in garments, that is, the Torah and mitsvot. "Perfect red," meaning explicit strengths, without any separation or defect, explicit strengths, or "holy Chutzpah" is the kind of strength a person feels when he knows that God is leading him and protecting him, or even more than this, when he knows that he has purified his behavior and thought to suche a level in the service of the Lord that his very actions are determined by God, and then whatever he does will be God's will. This is the feeling that Adam the first man had in the garden of Eden before the sin, when he knew that he was the handwork of the Deity and everything he did or felt was God's own desire. Before the final redemption, reaching this level of explicit Divinely ordained strength (tekifut, in Heb.) is only accessable through the performance of Mitzvot and the study of the Torah, because only then, in the act of serving God in the way of the Torah and the Code of Jewish law, can one be sure that he is doing the right thing. Provided he knows how to do a mitzvah propeperly, and this is a major condition. But after the final redemtion, we will see clearly how everything, even things outside of the aegis of Torah and Mitzvot, we do will be according to Divine directive. "with no blemish in it," means that no foolishness would be found in any action (for as the Isbitser later mentions, just as a mentally deficient Cohen, once called a "fool," is disqualified from service, so any action done in foolishness is deficient), Living in the exile carries with it a kind of inane "black comedy" (nothing to do with negroes) subtext. We have been jaded, hardened to the world, and revert to meaningless comedy as a way of laughing at everything. Futile actions often make for good comedy. But the absence of meaning in all of this black comedy of our lives is really rooted in feelings of despair and hoplessness. "The redemption" means a time when God sees fit, either based on our merit or not, to free us from blindness to the meaning of life. In other words, on that great day, we will all know what is really going on. With the messianic redemption, and for little moments even before, a great God consciousness will fill the world, as the prophet Isaiah said, "and the knowledge of God will fill the world as the waters cover the sea." "which never carried a yoke on it's back," this teaches that Israel (at the depths) never experienced helpless agonizing and effort, as it is said in Zechariah (4), "two olives" standing solid, on either side of his vision of the menorah, standing for the, "anointed ones standing by the Master of all," moshiach. Perhaps what the holy Isbitser is saying is that just as the two olives stand solidly and effortlessly so will it be clear with the redemption that all the toil and strife was as nothing, that we were always receiving G-d's providence and God was always caring for our welfare, something that we are myopic to in the exile when consciousness is greatly limited. All of this is now hidden in the Torah and mitsvot, yet in the future the blessed G-d will show it to us without any separating "garments." In the future with the total redemption, God will break down the barrier between God and man. As it is said in the Midrash and in the Gemara (Nidda 61b), "the mitsvot will be nullified in days to come (of the final redemption),” and the blessed G-d will show us that we never really suffered under the "yoke" of a power in this world since He, may He be blessed, controls them all, yet all is in a state of concealment. This is the meaning of, "that never had upon it a yoke." All doubt will be erased, all problems of theodicy be solved (meaning we wil know the reasons and get the answers to the question of why do bad things happen to good people, why do the righteous suffer, the problems that perplexed even Moses the Lawgiver.) We will completely re-evaluate our understanding of evil, for we will not only have the ability to know the absloute difference between Good and evil, but God wil eradicate evil, and "death will be swallowed up forever," and no more shall we die.

From the haRav haGaon haKadosh haMefursam Choter Geza Tarshishim

the Beit Yaakov

ZTsuKLLH"H,
may his merit protect us.

Beit Yaakov, Parshat Chukat

“And G-d spoke to Moshe saying, This is the statute of the Torah, which G-d commanded, saying, speak unto the children of Israel, that they bring a perfectly red heifer, without blemish, which never carried a yoke on its back.” (Numbers, 19:1-2)
This can be understood through the verse (Isaiah, 26:4), “Trust in Hashem forever, for Y-aH Hashem is everlasting strength.” From this energy, the power of trust (bitachon) can enter into man, since the world was created with Y”aH, the first two letters of G-d’s name Y”HVH (Midrash Tanchuma, Chayei Sarah, 63). This hints that this world is only the beginning, and nothing is yet finished. And therefore, “there is no one possessing perfect righteousness in the land,” (Eccelesiastes, 7:20) concerning all matters. Thus fear overpowers in the world, even with the tsaddik (the righteous), for the very difficulty of perfecting anything in this world creates fear. And indeed, trusting in G-d (bitachon) has also increased in strength in this world. This is because evil is not entirely evil from one side to the other.
The, “Parah Adumah,” the red heifer, teaches of this. In this passage, the Holy One, blessed be He, teaches Israel the order of, “Tahara,” purity, and how far it reaches. The principle element of life is choice. The level below this is the world of plants, as explained in Parshat Korach. Therefore, when one touches the dead (and must be purified), it means that he feels that his own choices have no effect in the world, and this expresses itself in the action of coming into contact with the dead. The advice the Torah gives for this is to take the Parah (the heifer), which, as a cow, represents stubborn action done without choice. This is because the knowledge that the blessed G-d is the One who gives all life has been concealed from him. This is as it is written in the holy Zohar (Chukat, 180b), “this Parah which comes to purify, to purify the impure, has received from the left side. And who is on the left side (in Ezekiel’s vision of G-d’s chariot)? ‘The face of the Ox to the left.’ ”

Beit Yaakov, Parshat Korach

2006-06-20T19:33:00.000+03:00

A view of the Judean desert from atop the cliff from where the scapegoat was thown on Yom Kippur in the Temple times.
The Beit Yaakov - Yaakov of Isbitza, son of the Mei HaShiloach

Parshat Korach

“And Korach took…”(Numbers, 16:1)

The affair of Korach and his rebellion against Moshe can be understood through the verse (Ecclesiastes, 9:10), “all that your hand shall find to do, do with your strength, for there is no deed, thought (bill of reckoning), or knowledge, or wisdom in the grave, where you are going.”

Before presenting the commentary of of one of the great spirit masters of the Ninteenth Century, Rav Yaakov of Isbitza, Poland, let me share with you the classical commentary on this verse brought to you from King Solomon's wisdom in the book of Ecclesiastes. Because one of the really interesting things about the Chassidic masters was the great creativity they used in their novel conceptions {"chidushim"} of the Torah. And their mastery of and respect for the classical sources was complete. So, my friend, if you want to really understand the words of the Chassidic masters, you have no choice but to know the classical commentaries that they were dealing with. Otherwise, you will not appreciate their creativity and innovative minds. The more you understand the classical commentaries, such as the Talmud, the legends (midrash), Rashi, and so forth, the more you will understand and esteem the Chasidichse Rebbes.
The translation attributed to the Talmudic sage Yonatan ben Uziel of the the above verse, Ecclesiastes, 9:10, tells us, "spend all of your energies to help the poor, because sooner or later you will be in the grave ("sheol," or the underworld), where there is no deliberation, or knowledge, or wisdom, lets face it, bub, there aint no way you gonna help no one, no how. (this is my own translation, and it is infact reliable) And after you die, it is not only the righteous acts you did in your lifetime that you will need to help you." At first glance, the only really difficult thing to understand from Rabbi Yonatan ben Uziel's rendering is the question, "what else do I need to help me in the world to come?" It seems to an unlearned fellow as myself that maybe there are people who fancy themselves as saints simply because they are washing lepers in the black hole of Calcutta. King Solomon, through the lense of Rabbi Yonatan, might say that everything you do in your life has significance for the state of your soul after it leaves the body. One who helps the poor, that's great, that is a huge mitzvah, but it is not enough. Everyone in the world is commanded seven commandments, (Belief in One God, Don't insult (Blaspheme) God, Don't Kill, No immoral sex acts, Don't steal, Uphold a Judicial system, and don't eat the flesh taken from a living animal - see www.thirdtemple.com), and anyone born of a Jewish mother is commanded 613 laws (of which about 80 or so can be performed by all Jews, as some laws are for kings, some for Cohenim (members of the priestly family), and some only while the temple is standing. And everything we do to follow God's will and enlighten ourselves and our communities determines the relative health or, God forbid, the opposite, in the world to come. So basically, King Solomon is saying, it's your world to come, you can do with it whatever you want to. Just dont come whining before the heavenly court that you volunteered in a soup kitchen for fifty years and that exempted you from putting on your tefillin and saying the Shema Yisrael, that that exempted you from learning Torah, from having to go to the mikveh, from having to get rid of your leaven products on passover. It's all essential, and it's all possible, because God does not make his commandments impossible, He is not a tyrant. Well, there's my five cents worth.

And Rashi, who can learn a verse without Rashi?? Cant be done. He was not just some Rabbi with an additude, my friends, he was the holy of holies and, as it were, heard the voice of God speaking from between the wings of the two Cherubim on the Ark of the covenant. That settles it. But will ultimate respect for Rashi, let me explain his words to the best of my abilty and God help me if I'm wrong. He says that the verse tells us, "do the will of your Master in your lifetime with all of your strength, and if you succeed you won't be plotzing at the big bill waiting for you in the afterworld." Rashi also tells us that the word, "cheshbon," which means "bill of reckoning," or, "account," is refering to the rightous, and the words "action, thought, knowledge, and wisdom," refer to the wicked. I see Rashi as saying, "On the one hand, there is no action, or knowledge, or wisdom that is of any use to those who messed up in their lifetimes, because you can't change the past. (You had your chance, bub. But don't despair, its reincarnation time for you.) And on the other hand, if you did the right(ous) thing you need not worry, you will have no "cheshbon" or account to pay in the world to come. Meaning, you are not going to have to go through the painful court deliberations that your poor mistaken friends will." Then Rashi says that if you don't want to say that "chesbon" refers to the righteous and the rest refers to the wicked, then, Cheshbon means simply "thought." He tells us, "in the afterlife, is there anything you can possibly do to get aquitted?" (On the slim chance that there is someone out there reading this who didn't get that this is a rhetorical question, go to someone who you think is, "smart," and ask them about the meaning of a, 'rhetorical question." Then get back to your computer and finnish this blog and you will be blessed with the power of perseverance {"a strong-willed and stubborn student." dont worry, son, its a good thing}.)
With that all said, and "with perseverence," we can turn to mammash a Gevaldt (way cool) piece of Torah. Here we go.

Translation of the Beit Yaakov.

“all that your hand shall find to do, do with your strength, for there is no deed, thought (bill of reckoning), or knowledge, or wisdom in the grave, where you are going.” (Ecclesiatstes, 9:10)

“Your strength,” hints at the right, or the right arm, the principle power of action. “Your hand,” hints at the left, an action that is not greatly based on choice. In this light, “all that your hand shall find to do, do with your strength,” means that the left should be included within the right, as is mentioned in the holy Zohar (Korach, 178a).
God created man as a greater being than all of His other creations, because He created him with the power of choice. This is man’s superiority over all other creations. Below man is the animal, for though the animal has the ability to freely move all of his limbs as he pleases, this is not a choice based on knowledge. Below the animal is the plant, which can not willfully move itself. However the plant has the ability to move and spread forth based on its very growth. Minerals and inanimate objects, however, stand in their form and are greatly limited in the power of movement.
And therefore, all of these receive life from man. (Meaning, man, with his conscious choice, can elevate lower life forms by using them in the service of God.) Inanimate object also possesses the power of life, but in a hidden way. Because of this, the power of choice became so important in the world. But sometimes a man does an action without knowledge or choice (meaning, he just does something without thinking - "brainless"), and the Holy One, blessed be He, agrees with the action. In this case, the power of this choiceless and brainless action was greater than one done with knowledge and deliberation. God alone was the source of this action, without man’s consciousness. And can one compare the consciousness of man with the consciousness of God? This is what King David meant when he said (Psalms, 146:2), “I will praise God with my life.” God desires the life of man, and wants man to serve God with his human power. This is (Psalms, 88:6), “among the dead I am free,” that God no longer wants my service. Even though certain good ones are set apart (meaning there are souls of certain tsaddikim in the world to come who, as we are told by our tradition, can pray and intercede on behalf of us folks down here in the world, swaying God's will), and they are truly great, still, since they do not have the power of action. living human beings are still greater, because they can still distinguish themselves by means of their service. “Fortunate is the once who the God of Jacob helps,” (Psalms, 146:5) meaning one who does not sin against God’s wisdom. This is because the attribute of Yaakov Avinu was to take care to act with justice (or to "establish equity" - See Psalms, 112:5) so that his actions would not need further clarification. This is why this verse (Psalms, 146:5) says, “his hope is in Hashem E-lohav,” for the name, “E-lohim,” teaches of wisdom.
The Midrash Rabba explains the words, “And Korach took.” What is written in the preceding passage? “Tell them to make for themselves tsitsit (fringes)... and that they put with the tsitsit of each corner a thread of techellet (sky-blue dyed wool) (Numbers, 15:38). Korach jumped up and asked Moshe, ‘If a cloak is entirely of techellet, what is the law as regards its being exempted from the obligation of tsitsit?’ Moses answered him, ‘It is subject to the obligation of tsitsit.’ Korach answered, ‘A cloak that is entirely composed of blue cannot free itself from the obligation, yet the four threads of techellet do free it!’ ”
The Tallit (Prayer shawl) represents something that encompasses man. Korach’s assertion was that since the light of God surrounds his being, and without God man cannot perform even the smallest action, then why is it at all necessary for man to continue to perform the service of God? The tsitstit hint at the service and fear of God. The place where the corner goes outside of the circle represents a time when the path of God is hidden, for it has gone outside of the boundary. In both situations, within and without, the service of God is necessary. If one sees clearly how God is governing the world, and that without His governance, nothing could be done, this would not oblige one to perform the service of God. What would he achieve with all his service? Also, if one has deduced that the world is not run under any higher governance, God forbid, this would also negate the power of service. It is rather when man knows that God is running the world, yet His way is hidden from man, this is when his heart is awoken to serve God.
God created night and day. “Day,” is when man imagines that he has the power of action. This is because the intellect is in control during the day. “Night,” is the time of sleep, when man sees that he has no power of action. One is required to wear tsitsit during the day, for then he could imagine that the power of action is all his, and therefore he (does not) need service. However, at night, when he sees that he has no power of action, then he is not required to wear tsitsit. This is like the saying of the Ari”zal, that at night the tsitsit is covered within the tallit, for it does not go outside of its boundary.
This was Korach’s assertion. Since he is encompassed by the kedusha (sanctity) of God, as he comes from the seed of the Patriarchs and kedusha is even like a part of his body, within him, as he said (Numbers, 16:3), “for God is within them,” then what use does he have for service? This is also his intention in saying, “a talit made entirely of techellet.” Since man is totally encompassed in kedusha, and his own choice will have little consequence, for it is not within his power to surpass his boundaries, then why would he continue to need to wear tsitsit? This is also true for his second assertion, “a house that is full of holy books does not need a mezuzzah on the door.” This being true, why would one need to actively serve God? Is he not full of the awesome power of kedusha to begin with?
This is why Moshe answered him (Numbers, 16:5), “in the morning, God will make it known.” When man serves God with his intellect, it is called, “tahara – purity.” When man does an action without his conscious knowledge, and later God makes it clear that the action was done from the depths of his kedusha (sanctity) which is imprinted within him, it is called, “kedusha – sanctity.” Kedusha is greater than Tahara. Yet now, while the kedusha is not yet refined, and the Tahara is not yet refined, man needs to actively serve God. This is because (Ecclesiastes, 9:10), “there is no deliberation, or knowledge, or wisdom, in the underworld.” Explaining this, the holy Zohar says (Korach, 178a), “an action that is done with knowledge (consciousness) and deliberation will not fall into hell.” In the future, the Altar itself will be greater than its accessories. (See Menachot, 99a) The kedusha which is permanently imprinted in man is called, “gufo shel mizbeach – the Altar itself.” Yet in this world, the accessories to the Altar (that which is offered upon it) are greater. This is because for the sake of the Altar itself one would not desecrate the Shabbat, for, “the act of building the Temple itself does not require the suspension of the laws of Shabbat.” (Yevamot, 6a) The, “Accessories,” however, meaning the sacrifices, the service itself, supercede the Shabbat. (Yoma, 85b) All the while man is alive, he can make the consciousness of God his help by means of crying out in prayer. When his pieces come apart, however, then he no longer has the power to enter and exit. Then his actions are fixed without his ability to redefine them (“what I meant by this was…”)
In the explanation of the Mei HaShiloach on the verse (Genesis, 4:7), “sin crouches at the door,” he quotes the Gemara (Eruvin, 19a), “even on the threshold of hell, the wicked do not return to the way of God.” “In hell,” itself, need not be said, for hell is a place of complete absence and loss, a parched and desolate land. In such a place, the consciousness of teshuva (return to God’s way) can not exist. An action done with such consciousness will not fall into hell. However, something done without consciousness, will remain without consciousness in its new home in hell. No matter how much Korach and his congregations scream from hell, “Moshe is true and the Torah is true,” it will not save them. (Baba Batra, 74a) This is because they are not crying out from the depths of their hearts. In their hearts they are still rebelling against Moshe.
Thus, even though in the future God will make it clear that actions that were done without consciousness emerged from the depths of kedusha, this is only a long way off. This is as it is written in the Kitvei Ari (Liqutei Torah, Tehillim), the last letters of the verse (Psalm 93:13), “TsadiK c’tamaR yifraCh – the righteous will bloom like the date palm,” spells the name, “Korach.” The date palm, the Tamar, teaches of something that will not happen for a long time in the future, as it is the last in the Torah’s enumeration of the seven species of the land of Israel. (Deuteronomy, 8:8, and also because the word Tam within Tamar means whole and perfect, and such perfection is only with the final redemption) Also, that it is read from the, “final,” letters, this itself teaches of something that is due a long time in the future.
King David fixed the actions of Korach. We see this in the Psalms attributed to the sons of Korach, and that they are not called by name, but just as, “the sons of Korach.” If it were, God forbid, bad for them, they would not have been called in their father’s name. The King Messiah will fix it all completely.

2006-06-20T18:36:00.000+03:00

Introduction to the Mei HaShiloach (the Waters of the Shioah), a commentry on the Torah by Mordechai Yosef of Isbitza.

Here is one version of the story.[1] Reb Tsadok haCohen of Lublin was travelling to various Rabbis in Poland to sign a, “heter mea rabbanim,” the consent of a hundred Rabbis in order to divorce his wife. At that time Reb Tsadok, famous as a genius, was one of the most illustrious members of the, “mitnagdim,” the opponents of Hasidism who favored cerebral study to ecstatic devotion as the true form of divine service. Eventually he reached the house of the, “Mei Hashiloach,” Reb Mordechai Yosef in the town of Isbitza.[2] “The Rebbe’s class would begin at midnight by wrestling with revealed matters in a passage of the Talmud. By the morning light the discourse reached the secret of the furnace which powers the universe. In their discussion they arrived at the fundamental point: How does one arrive at the knowledge of the will of G-d through the actions of man, and at the revelation of G-d’s presence through the study of the Torah and the fulfillment of its commandments?”
Reb Tsadok stayed to discuss the lesson with the Rebbe of Isbitza after the class. “The Mei Hashiloach suddenly broke off the discussion of the lesson, turned to Reb Tsadok and said: ‘Here we are, involved in the study of this passage of Talmud according to our own minds and wills, as if the very law that we are discussing is our own wisdom. At the same time we are saying from our own understanding that the Torah is the blessed G-d’s, and hidden within it is His very will, may he be blessed, in a way that through the process of Torah study we may merit to know the will of the blessed G-d at every moment, at every second. Together with this we may then feel the presence of the Shechina which rests everywhere. Our sole objective is to ask: What in our study this evening has shown us the will of the Holy One, blessed be He, and what of it can proclaim the glory of heaven to the world? What of it can we use to fulfill our obligation to sanctify and love the Name of G-d in the world?’ In hearing the words from the mouth of the Mei Hashiloach, dread descended on Reb Tsadok’s heart, and he began to tremble in his entire being. He asked the Rebbe:
‘How can we understand the will of the Creator?’
‘By means of the study of Torah!’ answered the Mei Hashiloach. He continued, ‘A man who studies Torah must feel as if his feet are standing at the foot of Mount Sinai and he is hearing the Torah from the very mouth of the All Powerful. Then he knows that it is His blessed will.’
Reb Tsadok stood for a while, immersed in his thoughts. Days later, he would say of this conversation, ‘I felt as if he had placed burning coals on my heart.’ ”
As a result of this meeting, Reb Tsadok then became one of the principle students and Hasidim of the Rebbe of Isbitza and his way, so remaining for the rest of his life.
“Many years later, it is told that in Reb Tsadok’s old age, the famous genius Rabbi Yosef Rojin, the ‘Illui’ of Rogatchoff, visited the house of Reb Tsadok in order to engage the Cohen in, ‘pilpul,’ heated discourse in the law. Reb Tsadok said, ‘Your honor would like to know if I am a scholar. How will G-d be glorified in any way from this? This is not the reason why the sages of the great assembly instituted the blessing, “Blessed is G-d who grants man wisdom.” In my youth, I too was involved in such, “pilpul,” over the law, but I arrived at the understanding that the only way to achieve knowledge of the Torah is through the gates of Hasidism which the holy Baal Shem Tov had opened for us.”[3]
Who was Reb Mordechai Yosef of Isbitza, and how did he arrive at the revolutionary conception of the Torah found in his teachings? He was born in the town of Tomashov in Poland in 1800 (5560) to a rabbinic family. The introduction to the, “Beit Yaakov,” the teachings of his son, traces the families lineage, each generation a leader of his community, back to Reb Moshe Issralis, the, “Ramo,” and thus further to Rabbi Shlomo Yitchaki, Rash”i, the leading Medieval Torah commentator. Rashi then connects his lineage back to David haMelech. But as always, the fame of his family is not important. We are concerned with who he was. He grew up together with Rabbi Menachem Mendel Morgenstern, later to become, “the Kotsker Rebbe.” The two were childhood friends and together were students and Hasidim of Reb Simcha Bunem of Pshiske. It was from the Rebbe of Pshiske, the famous disciple of Yaakov Yitschak Horowitz, the, “Seer of Lublin,” that the two received from the wellsprings of the teachings of Rabbi Israel, the Baal Shem Tov, the founder of the Hasidic movement.
In the introduction of the second volume of the Mei Hashiloach, it is told that when the young Reb Mordechai Yosef first met his teacher, Reb Simcha Bunem, the teacher said to him, almost joking, “come, let us see who is taller.” He motioned that they should compare height by standing back to back. This was peculiar, because where Mordechai Yosef was quite small in physique, Reb Simcha Bunem was of a large, strapping form. The Pshisker then said to him, “Now I am taller than you. But you are still young, and in the days to come you shall grow.” It was the Rebbe of Pshiske who gave Mordechai Yosef the name, “the Mei Hashiloach,” the, “waters from the spring of Shiloach.” This is the underground spring which flows from under the temple Mount in Jerusalem and through the ancient city of David, now called Silwan. This was the place where the kings of the House of David were anointed. The meaning is akin to, “still waters run deep,” which is the sense Simcha Bunem received from the quiet intensity of his young student. The Pshisker said, “he is like the waters of the Shiloach which flow slowly and search out the deepest depths.”[4] This is reminiscent of the verse in Kohelet, “It is deep, exceedingly deep, and who can fathom it?”
When the Pshisker left this world, Reb Menachem Mendel became his successor, moving the center of operations to the town of Kotsk. Here in Kotsk, Mordechai Yosef, already his friend and study partner, became his disciple. There is much to say of this period, but it will not be said here. After some time the Kotsker closed himself in his room adjacent to the house of study, and there remained for the next twenty years until his death. When he would occasionally appear in his doorway, it was as the revelation of a Holy Seraph of G-d. In short, Mordechai Yosef objected to the Kotsker’s self-imposed confinement, and left for the town of Isbitza, taking ninety percent of the Kotsker Hasidim along with him. How many Jews were remained in Kotsk? A minyan (ten). He then sent a message back to Menachem Mendel, saying, “I promise to pay you back with children and grandchildren until the coming of the Messiah.”[5] Of this whole period, you will hear different versions depending on whether if comes from Kotsk family history, or Isbitza family history. The version of Isbitza follows in the next section, the introduction from the, “Dor Yesharim.” As a young student in Pshiske, it is told that he basically lived in the house of study, even sleeping there. He would return to visit his family for holidays.
As mentioned below in the, “Dor Yesharim,” the Mei Hashiloach never wrote down his insights into the Torah. Even his students refrained from writing, but would rather commit his words to memory and later discuss the meaning of the Rebbe’s teaching. This was also the case with the Baal Shem Tov. A story is told of the Baal Shem Tov seeing one of his students writing down his words of Torah. He looked at the writings and said, “not a word of what I have said have you written.” The introduction to the second volume of the Mei Hashiloach describes how the book was written. “Indeed a number of years after he was taken from us, a number of the students of the Mei Hashiloach took it upon themselves to collect that which they remembered from the teachings and commit them to writing. Then future generations will also benefit from the light of his holy teachings. They pleaded with the son of the Mei Hashiloach to help them in this endeavor, and he entrusted the task to his own son, Reb Gershon Chanoch Hainech (the first Radziner Rebbe.)” That the words of the Isbitser Rebbe were written from memory during the twenty years following his death accounts for their terse, distilled character. This is not a work of literary merit, it is purely concerned with content. One must bear in mind that the writer of Mei Hashiloach felt as if he was writing what he remembered from the time he stood at Mount Sinai. Furthermore, the lessons were delivered in Yiddish, the Hebrew of the Bible and the Aramaic of the Talmud and Zohar. Thus all that was Yiddish was then translated into Hebrew. Reb Gershon Chanoch published the first edition, an unedited of parts of the first volume, in the year 5620 (1860), four years after the Isbitzer left the world. It is told that the first printing of the Mei Hashiloach was done in a Gentile press and without any approbations from famous Rabbis of the generation, quite unusual for books of Hasidic discourse to this day. The second volume of the Mei Hashiloach was put in writing and printed by Reb Gershon Chanoch’s brother, Reb Mordechai Yosef Elazar.
Who studies this work? I once met with Reb Yaakov Lainer in Boro Park, Brooklyn, The son of the late Radziner Rebbe and a direct descendant of the Mei Hashiloah. He is the current publisher of Isbitza books in America. He told me that thirty years ago, his father, of blessed memory, would sell some twenty copies of the Mei Hashiloach each year. It was like a dinosaur. He told me that it that at that time it was only really studied by Jews who came from certain towns in Poland. Then in the late sixties, Reb Shlomo Carlebach, may his memory be blessed, began his work of traveling seven continents to light Jewish hearts with the fire of Hasidism. In his suitcase there was always a copy of the Mei Hashiloach. You could say that wherever he went, he took with him the light and profundity of the Isbitzer Rebbe, giving it to thirsty souls. I once heard him say, “you can not understand the Chumash (five books of Moses) without the Mei Hashiloach.” In my conversation with Reb Lainer, he gave Shlomo Carlebach the credit for popularizing the Mei Hashiloach in our generation. In the six years I spent with Shlomo Carlebach, not a learning, not a Shabbos went by without some light from the Isbitzer. Today it is found in every Hebrew bookstore, and is taught in every Yeshiva of new young spirit seekers seeking inspiration from the Hasidic masters. I used to spend much time in the shadow of Reb Yitschak Asher Twersky, of blessed memory, the Talner Rebbe of Boston. He is known as the pre-eminent scholar of Maimonides in this century. Sitting before him I always felt as if I was sitting before the Rambam. During one of his Drashot at the third meal of Shabbat, Parshat Beshalach in 1997, he quoted a teaching from the Mei Hashiloach on, “Who is like You among the powers, Hashem.” He then said that he wanted to find time to teach a regular shiur (lesson) devoted to the Mei Hashiloach. But sadly, he was summoned to the world of Truth before he could realize this desire. I remember Rabbi Shlomo Riskin in Efrat, Israel, during his drash for Shabbat haGadol, the week before Passover, mentioning before seven hundred people a teaching from the Mei Hashiloch. Also in Efrat, I happened to walk into a class with Rabbi Chaim Brovender with a copy of the Mei Hashiloach under my arm. He noticed it, and said, “Be careful. If you learn enough of this you may burn up!” I mention these examples just to show how widespread the prevalence of the Mei Hashiloach has become for those receptive to the teachings of Hasidism, whereas fifty years ago the name, “Mei Hashiloach,” would have gone unnoticed.
I beg forgiveness for doing something as brazen as trying to summarize the main principle of the Mei Hashiloach in a few sentences. First and foremost, everything is in the hands of Heaven. Everything that we receive in our lives, we are receiving directly from the blessed G-d. It is then the work of man in the world to develop a mind that is conscious of this reality. On top of a general unwavering dedication to the Torah and its laws, man must specifically work, through the study of the Torah and Avodat Hashem, the service of G-d, to know what G-d wants of him specifically in his life. He must also then know that G-d’s will could change at any time, and must constantly look to G-d to illuminate into him what He wants of man at any particular moment. This also necessitates that he not assume that what G-d wants from him is the same as that which he wants from another. Even if he sees another transgressing the Torah, he may not assume that the other is rebelling against G-d’s will, for he has no way of knowing the private relationship between the other and G-d. Thus, through personal refinement in according to his illumination of the will of G-d, he develops the consciousness of the presence and intentions of G-d. In this way, redemption is really just a change of consciousness. Then his conduct based on this new redemptive consciousness serves to glorify and sanctify the Name of G-d in the world. Now we must look in the text to find examples of these ideas.
It is written in the Gemara (Berachot, 33b), “all is in the hands of Heaven, except the fear of Heaven.” Rashi comments, “everything comes to man from G-d, the length of his life, whether he is poor or rich, whether he is simple or wise. However, whether he is good or wicked does not come from heaven, this is a choice delivered into the hands of man, where two ways are placed before him, and he shall choose the fear of G-d.” However, as the Mei Hashiloach writes in Parshat Vayeira, under, “and Sarah denied it,” that this only applies to the limits of the understanding of man’s intellect. It is in fact necessary for man to believe that he chooses to serve G-d so he has the desire to perform, and then the service can be called the work of his hands. However, in reality, he is, “taking from the treasure house of the King and giving back to the Kings,” in the saying of the Zohar (Shmini, 38a). So if all that man does is a result of the constant Providence of G-d, then even the sins of Israel are part of G-d’s greater plan. Needless to say that this is in the large view, and can not be taken before the action as a license to act recklessly. The Gemara (Avoda Zara, 4b) claims that Israel sinned in making a golden calf only to encourage the proper repentance of later generations. Though they went ahead and made the idol, they made atonement and their repentance was accepted. As a result, the tribes were given the mitsvah of giving the half-shekel. If the result of their sin was the performance of their mitsvah, which is meritorious in G-d’s view, certainly G-d takes pleasure when every Jew returns to His law. And if even the sin is transformed into merit, how much more pleasing is it when Israel performs acts that from the outset are meritorious! Thus the Mei Hashiloach repeats several times the words of the Gemara (Gittin, 53a), “one can not uphold the Torah unless he has failed in it.” After the fact, the failure only serves to deepen ones appreciation of the essence of the commandment.
There is a level beyond man’s choice, and this is clearly expressed concerning the verse, “in the plain over against Suf.” (Devarim, 1:1) There it is written, “Why were the sins of Israel discreetly mentioned through the names of the places where the sins occurred rather that by the mention of the time when they occurred? This is in order that man does not think that the sins were done according to their power of choice, and that they had the choice to remove themselves from the sin. The matter of place hints at this, for it was not possible for them to guard themselves from the sin and move to a different place.”
So too, we find the entire Davidic line, the very Messiah, as a result of the incest of Lot and his daughters. Also with Yehuda and Tamar, when he admits and says, “she is more righteous than I (mimeni),” the Gemara (Sotah 10b) says, “here G-d was saying, ‘the whole incident came forth from Me (memeni}.’ ” In Parshat Vayeishev, under, “and Er,” the Mei Hashiloach writes, “For the Holy One, blessed be He, conducts all the structures of the kingdom of the House of David, according to structures such as these, even though at the time of the action it seemed like a sin … The secret of the House of David is greatly concealed, even from the prophets.”
So truly, all that we are receiving in this world is coming from the blessed G-d. On the verse, “Mercy and Truth will not abandon you,” (Mishlei, 3:3) the Mei Hashiloach comments, “The verse is not formulated, ‘do not abandon Mercy and Truth,’ for truly the effluence of the blessed G-d descends constantly without interruption. Only man, from his side, needs to refine his heart and stand ready to receive, and not turn his back on this effluence, G-d forbid. But in His goodness the blessed G-d constantly effuses His effluence, and the man who longs for His Mercies shall not forsake them.”
Now it is up to man to develop a mind which constantly looking to the will of G-d to guide his actions. (Though this very effort must a direct effect of G-d’s influence in the world.) This can be seen in all of the actions of Yaakov Avinu, but particularly when he went to bless the sons of Yosef. Yaakov said, “Elo-him who guided me all my life until this day.” The Rebbe of Isbitza explains, “for every action I do, no matter how small, I need the blessed G-d to illuminate His will into me. I even need it with this action (blessing Menashe and Efriam), where I saw how it is His will to change it (to bless the younger before the older), nevertheless I need to see even the second time how it is His blessed will. Truly in this matter Yaakov was the greatest of the Patriarchs, for to have the blessed G-d constantly lead ones actions is a great level. This was the prayer of King David (Tehillim, 23:1), “G-d is my shepherd, I will lack nothing,” meaning that the Providence of the blessed G-d will not be lacking from me, for He will always guide me, and I will be ever aware that the blessed G-d is guiding me.”
Two characters are presented in the Mei Hashiloach. One is typified by Yosef, or Efriam, and this type always looks to the judgment of the Torah in every matter. So too does this type feel a sense of holy rage when confronted with transgression of the Torah, as with Pinchas, who descended from Efriam. The other type is Yehuda, who constantly looks to the blessed G-d to tell him how to act. This appears in Parshat Vayeishev:

This is as it is said (Yesahya, 11:13), “Efriam shall not be jealous of Yehuda, and Yehuda shall not distress Efriam.” These two tribes were always opposing each other, for the force of life which the blessed G-d gave to Efriam (from Yosef) was of the nature that it always looked to every action regarding its judgement and law, without moving from it. Therefore, when the writings warn Israel against sinning, then the aim of the Torah will be to say (Amos, 5:6), “lest the house of Yosef should prevail like fire,” meaning that they should concern themselves that there should be no opponents to their actions. The root of life for Yehuda, however, is to look to the blessed G-d regarding the course of every action. Even though he sees where the judgment leans, still he looks to the blessed G-d in order to see the depth of the truth of the matter.
So it is with all matters, and this is the root of life for Yehuda, to look to G-d in everything and not to act simply in a way that is accepted or habitual. Even though yesterday he acted in such a way, yet anyhow, today he does not want to rely on his former response, only that the blessed G-d should illuminate His will into him anew. This matter sometimes necessitates even doing something against the law, for, “it is a time to do for G-d, the Torah has been suspended.” (Tehillim 119:126)

So upon understanding this, one must be flexible with the will of G-d, for the vessel only illuminates from that which is shined into it. For the Mei Hashiloach, this is the essence of the commandment concerning the scriptural commandment of temporary vows, as explained in Parshat Mattot:

It occurred (with all of the prophets other than Moshe) in their prophetic spirit that whichever particular word of prophecy they were speaking was enduring for all eternity. Yet truly, there existed changes according to the quality of each generation. On this, “Moshe Rabeynu’s level of prophecy was superior to them all, prophesizing with ‘this is the word.’ ” This means that he understood the prophecy according to its time and place, understanding that a prophecy is only relevant for a particular time, and later G-d may desire something else … Therefore it is said, “this is the word,” for one must understand that the particular action is only temporarily forbidden to him, and that the blessed G-d can give him the power to receive all the good of the world without being disconnected from the service if the Divine.

Then, if G-d’s plans require different processes and limitations for each individual, then this changes the way on will view another’s way of acting in the world. “The blessed G-d allotted to each one goodness and life, and one is not similar to his fellow.” (Parshat Bamidbar) In Parshat Va’etchanan:

As for the meaning behind the commandments, each one feels the unique meaning of a commandment that another does not feel, nor does he have the understanding of his fellow. We find an example of this in the Gemara (Pesachim, 53b), “even though one says to light, and another says not to light, they both had the same intention.”[6] For at first it seemed as if one disagreed with the other, yet truly there was no disagreement for they both intended the same thing. Thus one does not call to question the attributes of his fellow, for he understands that his fellow can only keep the mitsvah in his own way, and not in his way. Therefore it says (in verse 19), “to cast out all your enemies from before you,” which is referring to those involved in fierce disagreements in Israel. Yet the meaning is not that they should be destroyed, G-d forbid, but rather to cast out their kind of service from before you, so as not to disturb you from your own service.

Furthermore, the Isbitser re-evaluates the entire matter of the commandment to rebuke ones neighbor in his interpretation of the verse, “you shall surely rebuke,” in Parshat Behar:

Even thought the blessed G-d commanded man to reprove his neighbor and to try to distance him from all evil as much as is possible, this is only possible in a place where he knows he can help him by bringing him to the good, or through prayer which will arouse compassion upon him to return him to the path of ethical behavior. However, if he can not remove him from his errors, then he must judge him meritoriously, and not accuse him. Thus one can not judge his neighbor as guilty, for perhaps his neighbor’s yetser hara (inclination to evil) is greater than his own. Or, perhaps what he sees as an error or sin is actually permitted to his neighbor, for there are many things that are forbidden to one but permitted to another.

Once one has gone through this process of personal refinement, and refining the way he sees the world, he is capable of experiencing redemption. This is because the nature of exile is really the exile of man’s consciousness, when he can not see the presence of G-d in his life. But if he can remove the veil and see how, “all really is in the hands of heaven,” then no matter what transpires it is all part of the direct involvement of G-d in order to bring about redemption, where the knowledge of G-d is sensed with utmost clarity. The classic example of this is found in Parshat Vayigash, where a simple change of consciousness in a second can bring Yehuda from believing that he is facing a life of incarceration by a foreign king to standing before his lost brother who will save his entire family from famine and be reunited with his father:

For all these verses (at the beginning of the Parsha) are a claim against the blessed G-d, with Yehuda supposing all the while that he was standing before and arguing with a gentile king. Then when the blessed G-d sent them the salvation, then they saw that even in retrospect they were never in danger, for truly they were arguing with their brother. Thus it will be in the future, when the blessed G-d will save us and redeem us, then G-d will show us that we were never in exile, and that a foreign nation never ruled over us, only G-d alone. This is the meaning of the verse (Tehillim, 37:10), “and a little more, and there is no evil one, and you considered his place, and there is nothing there,” meaning that very soon evil will be banished. “And you considered,” meaning the understanding of the heart, for if you want to understand its place, “there is nothing there,” meaning that in it there was no power of governance over you.

In this way, redemption is just a change of consciousness. To do this is a difficult path, requiring constant re-evaluation of how G-d’s will illuminates into each one of us. No matter what I think I understand, I have to go back and look again, for every letter in the Torah is infinite, and, as the Mei Hashiloach tells us, there is a depth far deeper in the words of Torah than the human consciousness can conceive.

Betsalel Philip Edwards, Old City, Jerusalem, 5760 – 2000

[1] This story is taken from, “b’heichal Isbitza – Lublin,” “In the chamber of Isbitza – Lublin,” by S.Z Shragai. Page 8.
[2] In the tradition of Torah scholars, Reb Mordechai Yosef is called in the name of his book, as the, “Mei Hashiloach.”
[3] Shragai, Page 9.
[4] Introduction to Vol. 2 of the Mei Hashiloach. This phrase appears but once all of scripture, Yeshaya {Isaiah} 8:6, "for as much as the the people refuse the waters of Shiloah that flow slowly, and rejoice in R'tsin and the son of Remaliyahu."
[5] I heard this from the mouth of Reb Shlomo Carlebach, Zts’l.
[6] This is discussing whether or not to leave a candle lit on the eve of Yom Kippur. One say that if there is light his is less likely to engage in intimate relations, and another says if it is dark and he does not see his wife, then he will be less likely to succumb. Both opinions are in order to distance one from sin.

2006-06-20T18:26:00.000+03:00

The Mystery of the Upright by Rav Gershon Chenoch

2006-06-13T21:59:00.000+03:00

Sod Yesharim. Parshat Vayigash
Rabbi Gershon Chenoch Lainer, ZTs”L, the Rebbe of Radzin
Translated by Betzalel Edwards on 7 tevet, 5763, the Yahrzeit of the Mei HaShiloach

It is written in the Zohar (206a), Parshat Vayigash, “For behold, the kings are coming together (Psalm 48), they are Yehuda and Yosef, who were summoned to dispute with one another, this one arguing over Binyamin, and this one arguing over Binyamin.”
Binyamin constantly needed to be strengthened, as did his entire tribe. This is as the Holy Rebbe said (Either his father the Beit Yaakov, or his grandfather the Mei HaShiloach), concerning the Zohar’s statement (Beshalach, 44b), For the one who comes from the side of Nukva (the feminine), death precedes him.” This is why when Binyamin was born, his mother Rachel, who died from the childbirth, wanted to call him, “Ben Oni – the son of my suffering,” whereas his father Yaakov called him, “Ben Yamin – the son of my Right arm, the son of my strength.” Yaakov gave Binyamin assistance from God’s lovingkindness, which is called, “Yamin – the right arm.” Therefore in the account of, “Pilegesh in Giv’ah” in the 20th chapter of the book of Judges, it is said of the army of the tribe of Binyamim, “Among all this people there were seven hundred chosen left handed men; every one could sling stones at a hair, and not miss.” (In other words, it is the nature of Binyamin to express the stern judgments of the left, however, Binyamin’s rectification comes when this power is brought into the right.) In the end of this war, the warriors of Binyamin were decimated. Here Binyamin fell into grave danger, risking total annihilation.
It is taught that Binyamin always comes in to the good attributes from among the nations, and bring them into Yisrael. We find this with the tribe of Mordechai, who entered the attribute of, “mishloach manot,” the gifts sent on Purim, as mentioned in the Mei HaShiloach in his explanation of the tractate Megillah. Mordechai, from the tribe of Binyamin, is called the, “Ish Yamini,” the right handed man. He discerned this attribute by examining the deficiency in the nation of Eylam. This is as the Mei HaShiloach explains in parshat Ci Teytsei, that it is precisely the desire that a nation has for that which it lacks that needs to be entered into Yisrael. The nation of Eylam suffered from a stingy nature, where their true desire was to be generous (study this Mei HaShiloach further).
In order for attributes to be brought into Yisrael, they must undergo great refinement. This was in order that they do not go astray in these attributes. Therefore, this process needed constant help from the aspect of Yehuda, who would always take the deep inner nature of the attribute, and not the external garments of that form of good. Yosef also had a constant need for the tribe of Binyamin, for Yosef would himself descend in order to bring forth the goodness from the nations and enter them into Yisrael. Therefore Yosef always needed the attribute of tsimtsum, constriction and delineation, in order not to go after the expansions of the nations, who receive all of the goodness with a rush of lust and indulgence.

As the Holy Rav (either the Beit Yaakov or the Mei HaShiloach) said, the whole root of Binyamin is - that which he enters into Yisrael, is really the capacity to expand the power of the vessel of Ysrael’s reception. All of the attributes that he enters into Israel are only vessels to receive goodness. This is because the good itself is not among them (the nations) (as said above, it is only their desire to receive). If he (Binyamin) is not illuminated from the attribute of Yosef, then it will seem as if he has no light with which to fill the vessel. He would then bring in vessels that are not appropriate for him. This is why it seemed as if Binyamin stole the chalice, which hints at a vessel of reception.
These were the claims of Yehuda and Yosef against each other. For truly, all their claims were really their disputes before God, even though they were not conscious of this, and the reality that Yosef was alive was hidden from them. Yet their hearts felt the deep roots of their soul, and this produced claims that emerged from the depths hidden within them. This is as the Holy Rebbe, the Mei HaShiloach says, that Yehuda claimed that it was Yosef that caused Binyamin to sin in stealing the chalice (and even though it was orchestrated by Yosef, it expressed a deep truth about Binyamin, and all was revealed to their souls). This is because all the while a person’s deficiency is not connected to an action, he can not be punished for it. So it was Yosef who caused Binyamin to be uprooted from his father’s house and taken on a stressful journey, whereby causing the sin to come into action.
For this, Yehuda claimed that by virtue of his own light and love of God, he could illuminate all of Yisrael, and then achieve an elevation of all of their attributes above all the matters of the physical world. Because of this, Yehuda thought he had a greater and more necessary connection to Binyamin.

“And Yosef said to his steward, Arise, follow after the men… And they said to him … how then should we steal from your lord’s house silver or gold? If any of your servants is found to have it, let him die, and we also will be my lord’s slaves. And he said, Now also let it be according to your words; he with whom it is found shall be my servant…”
All the brothers were Yosef’s servants. For Binyamin held the power of the vessel of reception for all of Israel, as mentioned above, and if he constantly needed Yosef, then if follows that all the brothers are enslaved to Josef. This was so until Yehuda arose in his awesome power and drew from the strength of his of love for God, deep in his heart. For if he exerts himself from his power of prayer, of the love of God, then it is revealed to him that also in this world he is never separated from God’s will, and it would be necessary to reveal that Yosef is alive.
This is as it is written in the Zohar (206b), “when two worlds (Zeir Anpin and Malchut, or Yosef and Yehuda) join together as one, and are summoned together as one, this one can open the treasure house, and this one can gather up that which is in it. Two holy world, the upper world and the lower world, ‘pass through as one.’ (Psalm 48)The secret of this is, when they join together as one, in this way, they, ‘pass through as one,’ for all the sins of the world are not forgiven in atonement until they are brought together as one. This is as it is written in Micha, “He passes over iniquity.’ ”
The source of Yosef is to draw Divine effluence, understanding, and to enter into the attribute of connection for all of Israel by means of that which he illuminates unto them from his attribute of tsimtsum – constriction, for all matters, so as not to expand out more than is proper. Therefore this attribute gives way to a great increase of souls and goodness, for all birth is a product of tsimtsum, and therefore the effluence is brought down with great strength, as it comes from a place of great contractions.
Yehuda receives all the goodness for all of Yisrael. When these two attributes, Yosef and Yehuda, come together, it is the complete zivvug (union)of Yesod and Malchut, and then God effuses all kinds of goodness with great love, with no spirit of accusation whatsoever.
This is the Zohar’s connection with, “passing over iniquity.” In the thirteen rectifications of the Beard of Arik Anpin, the Zohar, in the Idra Rabba, locates this attribute as the vertical path directly under the nose that is free of hair. It is the channel which connects the judgments of the nose down to the holy mouth, which pronounces the words, “I have forgiven.” It transforms “PeSh’A” (iniquity) into “SheF’A” (Divine abundance or effluence) (Same letters). The Eyts Chaiim teaches that the channel from the nose to the mouth is only in order to draw supernal Chochma (wisdom) down through the path of Chesed (Lovingkiness). This is called the light of Abba. This only happens after great clarifications. This is also like the translation of Tsora’at (leprosy) as, “s’geeru” Aramaic for, “closing,” meaning that the affliction is a result of closing off the lights of Chochma, or Abba. This is why the channel must be beneath the nose, which inhales the breath of life. This causes an illumination of the face, for scent is that which is brought close from afar. This is why the sacrifices are called, “reyach nichoach – a sweet savor (scent).”
Then the mouth finishes. The faculty of speech is the completion of any action. When something reaches speech, there is no more room for free choice. If the mouth is connected to that which is above it, then Divine Providence will never be removed from the mouth, and one will not be able to do anything outside of God’s will. Then there will be no room for natural laws, but all will be seen as a product of Divine conduct. Then it follows that there will be no residue of sin.
This is as the Zohar says (206b), R. Hiya said: ‘This is the mystery of the sacrifices, for when a sacrifice is offered up and each section receives exactly that which it needs, then there is a bond of union effected between all, and all faces are illuminated … and they are all brought together to atone for sin.” This is as the Holy Rebbe explained concerning the sacrifices, that a sacrifice brings worlds together, because a man and his property are one. The only difference is a difference in physical space. This is in order that his property can then come to him only by means of his own efforts. The more he refines himself, and arrives at the understanding of the words of Torah that are fixed in his heart, then just how his property is his inheritance and a part of his soul is revealed to him. Therefore, when one sins, it is seen on his possessions. Then when he clarifies the matter, subduing his consciousness before God, he then can bring together all the worlds, to the extent where even in this world he can sacrifice his property to be included in the supernal fire. This is as he explained in parshat Vayikra, that all the worlds come together, since the concealment and the separating veils are revealed.
This is the joining together of Yehuda and Yosef, which brings about a revelation of the depth hidden in all things. But it is only after the concealment, when man meditates on how God’s light is hidden from him because of sin, and then he will return and see how even this was a result of God’s providence. He then sees how God’s light exists in the darkness as it appears to him. He then manages to bring worlds together. He sees that God’s light is included in all places.