RABBI ARTHUR SEGAL:JEWISH RENEWAL:JEWISH SPIRITUAL RENEWAL:HARRY POTTER+TALMUD

 RABBI ARTHUR SEGAL:JEWISH RENEWAL:JEWISH SPIRITUAL RENEWAL:HARRY POTTER+TALMUD

 

 

RABBI ARTHUR SEGAL: HARRY POTTER, MAGIC, ASTROLOGY, MYSTICISM, AND TALMUDIC JUDAISM

 

Shalom: First of all I  need to  admit that I am no die hard fan of Harry Potter books nor have seen a movie of Harry Potter.

 

Perhaps it is because there are mitzvoth for us to not to consult yid'onim (wizards) (Lev. 19:31), or not to practice nachesh (doing things based on signs and portents; using charms and incantations) (Lev. 19:26) or not to practice kisuf (magic using herbs, stones and objects that people use) (Deut. 18:10) or not to practice kessem (a general term for magical practices) (Deut. 18:10) or not to inquire of a yid'oni (wizard) (Deut. 18:11) , et. al.

 

I do not want to lead someone to think that these practices are OK for us Jews by having a Jew see me coming out of a Harry Potter movie. (Ma'arit ayein), as it is also a mitzvah not to lead someone to sin. (Talmudically {Lev. 19:14} 'do not put a stumbling block before the blind,' has been interpreted to mean this [Pesachim 22b, Nedarim 62b, Bava Metziah 75b, Moed Katan 17a]).

 

Or perhaps the emet may be more that I cannot get rid of the image burned into my mind of the ultimate sorcerer as Mickey Mouse and I am just too stubborn to allow myself to read about or view another.

 

I was asked if fathers' love differ from mothers' love in Judaism.

In truth there should be no difference between a love a father has to his child and a love a mother has to her child. Societal norms set variances into motion. In our Hebraic-Torah culture, we find the father stern, dominate, many times unforgiving, while the mother is nurturing and protective and many times not mentioned at all.

 

Not much if anything is said about the parenting of Adam and Eve, but we do know that Abel grew up correctly and Cain was flawed. And they tried again, had Seth, on whom they placed the hope of world by called him the 'appointed one.'

 

We do not know much of Mrs. Noah but we know Noah was a drunk who had sex with two of his three sons, and the Midrash implies he took 'animal husbandry' to a new level while on board. The raven came back quickly to the ark, as he didn't want Mrs. Raven to be alone with Noah.

 

Sarah was over protective of Isaac, forcing Abraham to push his son Ishmael out of his home. But the Midrash tells us that Abraham went into the desert each day to feed and give water to Hagar and her son. Abraham was willing to kill Isaac, and Sarah died upon hearing this (Midrash).

 

Jacob gives stern 'blessings' to his sons on his death bed, while it is "Rachael who weeps for her children." (Jeremiah 13:14.)

 

It was Tzipporah who circumcised her sons as Moses was too busy dealing with 'stiff-necked' Hebrews.

 

And this archetype of a nurturing mother versus a judging father is carried out in Greek, Roman and Hindu mythology as well. And Freud and Jung and early psychiatrists base their theories of mental disease and cures on this notion, to the ultimate complexes of Oedipus and Antigone. Christianity has Mother Mary, and Chinese and Japanese religions have Kuan Yin and Kannon as maternal gods.

 

However, cultural anthropologists discovered in the early 20th century that many tribes have the exact opposite culture where in the father is the stay-at-home loving parent, and the mother is the stern judging parent. One tribe in particular, the father is out of the picture, and the uncle is the stay-at-home loving parent.

 These different human father and mother vis a vis child relationships manifests itself in Hebrewish and then in Talmudic Judaism.  

 

We traditionally call God 'Him' and refer to Him as Avenu, our Father and Malkenu, our King. Those stuck with a bar or bat mitzvah level of education of Judaism, never get beyond the concept of a God who is so stern, He causes a flood and wipes out all but a shipful of humanity, destroys cities, wipes out nations, and will even strike you dead if you bring in the wrong formula of incense into His Holy of Holies.

 

God is the stern father, the smoter. And then, God grows, or better said, Judaism evolves and our conception of God grows. Hebrewism becomes Talmudic Judaism. God the smoter, now wears a non-smoting patch.

 

God now has 13 attributes of mercy. But they are still masculine king-like qualities of a divine benign enlightened dictator. Talmud Bavli Tractate Rosh ha Shana 17b lists them:

 

1. God is merciful before someone sins, even though God knows that a person is capable of sin.
   
2. God is merciful to a sinner even after the person has sinned.
   
3. God represents the power to be merciful even in areas that a human would not expect or deserve.
   
4. God is compassionate, and eases the punishment of the guilty.
   
5. God is gracious even to those who are not deserving.
   
6. God is slow to anger.
   
7. God is abundant in kindness.
   
8. God is the God of truth, thus we can count on God's promises to forgive repentant sinners.
   
9. God guarantees kindness to future generations, as the deeds of the righteous patriarchs have benefits to all their descendants.
   
10. God forgives intentional sins if the sinner repents.
    
11. God forgives a deliberate angering of Him if the sinner repents.
    
12. God forgives sins that are committed in error.
    
13. God wipes away the sins from those who repent.
    

Slowly God evolves a feminine side in Judaism, standing 50/50 with his masculine side. We read of this in the Zohar where for example judgment is tempered with mercy, and we have God's Holy, (feminine) presence, the Shechinah, abiding with us.

 

Hence our relationship to God is one of our ParentS. If we need comforting, God will provide us this. If we need sternness from Him when we beg Him to allow us to change, He will provide this as well.

 

The above is somehow lost on many Jews and non-Jews today as I still hear and read about how Judaism is a religion of a God of laws and strict justice, and Christianity is a religion of a God love and forgiveness.

 

 

What is most unJudaic about Potter, is that in Potter, remorse is enough to cure spiritual problems, while in Judaism teshuvah, and real Jewish spiritual renewal is needed.

 

Remorse is the first step in realizing we did wrong. If we stop there, it is nothing more than another selfish act. It is still ''all about me." It is from the Latin "to bite again." It is a gnawing distress arising from a sense of guilt for past wrongs. It makes us uncomfortable. Most of the world, takes this discomfort, drinks it away, or pops a pill, or goes watch a movie.

 

Judaism demands action. It is not enough to ask God for forgiveness for those fellow humans we have harmed. We have to approach them, at least 3 times, and not only say 'Selicah...I am sorry' but do teshuvah, make them whole again, to the place they were before we harmed them.

 

If we stole someone's car, bringing back the car is not enough. We must pay for the lost nights of sleep, the time they spent looking for the car, their rental car fees, etc.

 

Some deeds are impossible for which to do teshuvah. How does one do teshuvah for being drunk and driving and killing someone's child?

 

Repentance is then able to be done with God when we truly find our pesha, chet, and avon to be objectionable to us. With God's aid we can cast these upon moving waters, and one day at a time, resist doing these 'sins.' Eventually, the Midrash tells us, we know God has forgiven us for our sins, when we have the opportunity to sin, and we do not.

 

 

This Potterism and Judaism is the difference between Judaism and a Hollywood feel-good movie pushing magic. People do not change with a potion of a dried toad and a mouse's eye ball. Jews do not change by throwing a piece of bread on the water and going home with the same resentments and urges to do sin as they did when they walked to the water.

 

Spiritually and culturally, Jews are supposed to be on a spiritual path of getting better each day. We are not saints. A righteous man sins 7 times a day, (Prov. 24:16) yet, admits such, and tries to do better. The rest of humanity, sins and doesn't care to improve and lives a life of selfishness and self-centeredness.

 

Learning not to judge and leaving that up to God was something which I only truly learned in October 01. Rabbi Ben Azzai 'also used to say: Despise no man and deem nothing impossible; for there is no man who does not have his day and there is no thing that does not have its place." (Mishna Pirkei Avot 4:3.)  I can discern but not judge. I have no true idea, of why people do what they do, even with my own wife, parents or sister. Peoples actions are between them and God and years of situations that I can never ever truly understand.

 

Since we are all bound up with God and are all His children, being upset with anyone, is being upset with myself. Looking back at the people I was upset with, I found that I was projecting and finding faults in them that I had, but it was easier for me to be upset with them, than to concentrate with fixing, with God's aid, what was wrong with me.

 

At this stage in my life, I am resentment free, give everyone the benefit of the doubt, and if I have a question, I asked it of them directly, and do not gossip.

 

That being said, since most folks are not spiritually awakened, even the one's who say the believe in God, and even many who are rabbis, it would be nice to have  the benefit of the doubt from some others. who still judge, many times based on their delusions based on loshan ha ra and false information, but I do not need it. Other people's opinions of me do not matter at this stage in my life. God and my opinion of me, via true tefilah, self honest judging, is what matters.

 

 

I do a chesbon ha nefesh each day. And if God forbid I harm another, I make immediate teshuvah. I still fail to treat my wife as lovingly as she deserves to be treated.

 

When we try to live a life walking with God, this does not mean the slings and arrows of others are still not going to be aimed at us. There is a Talmudic prayer from Tractate Beracoth, in our Shacharet service, that asks God to protect us from "harsh judgment" from people who are 'in the covenant and who are not in the covenant.'  IF the Sages who wrote the Talmud had loshan ha ra said of them, why would I be immune?

 

Talmudically and spiritually, other people's opinions of me are none of my business, if I am doing the best I can with God.

 

Moshe Rabbanu  and Davod ha Melech  and Ha Shem HimSelf  couldn't please every one and neither can I. People damn God more each day on this Globe that they do fellow humans. What folly!!!

 

What I pray for, is not that I be given the benefit of doubt by others, but that those who do not give the benefit of doubt to others, learn to do so, and understand that God is not happy when others play god.

 

Shalom.

Rabbi  Arthur Segal

THE ABOVE TALMUDIC DISCOURSE BROUGHT A RESPONSE STATING THAT THE TORAH IS FULL OF MAGIC. I DISAGREED AND SAID MYSTICISM, BASING IT ON DEFINITION, AND ON BELIEF IN GOD.

HERE IS THIS RESPONSA:

 Shalom;

Rav A-----: Magic is important in Judaism.

 

Rav Segal: By the definition of magic as sorcery it doesn't belong in the tenets of Judaism. Let us agree to call it mysticism or in some cases even 'sleight of hand.'

 

 Rav A------: Anyone who doesn't think so is sadly  misinformed.

 

Rav Segal: We are disagreeing on semantics, not on practical usage. I am misinformed on many things, and have an open mind. If God is omniscient, how much knowledge is left there for me? So, I plead ignorance. Basically God wants me be to be happy, joyous and free. So, I am not sad when I find that I need to learn something or discard an old thought and substitute a new one.

 

Rav A----:  Please check out Joseph Naveh and Shaul Shaked's Magic Spells and Formulae:  Aramaic Incantations of Late Antiquity or  Scholastic Magic:  Ritual and Revelation in Early Jewish Mysticism by Michael D. Swartz. How about Aaron's flowering rod?  If that's not magic, I don't know what is.  Or Moses' hands being held up during the battle, how about
that? This reminds me of the time we toured Beit Alpha synagogue (5th c.  C.E.) in Israel.  The guide carefully described the panel of the  Akeidah and that of the Temple symbols.  When I asked about the  astrological panel (the largest by far) he said, "Oh, that's just  decoration."  Please.

 

Rav Segal: I too was at the Beit Alpha ancient synagogue on Lake Kenneret.

 

The Zodiac signs were not there for decoration and of course, Rabbi A___you knew your guide was misguiding.

 

Judaism survived because of its methods of synchronicity, taking something from a religion before it, and using it, but giving it a Judaic spin.

 

Astrology was a major influence in Babylon and the rabbis did not shy away from it.  Rabbi Johanan mentions it in, and in a negative vein, in the Babylonian Talmud (Tractate Shabbat 156a): "Israel is immune from planetary influence," basing his view on the verse in Jeremiah 10:2, "Thus said the Lord, learn not the way of the nations and be not dismayed at the signs of the heavens."

 

However, the zodiac is  mentioned in the Talmud and  in Jewish sources in Sefer Yezirah (the earliest extant Hebrew text of systematic, speculative thought, with discussions of a distinctively mystical nature; written sometime between the 3rd and 6th centuries), where the names given to the 12 signs are direct Hebrew translations of the Latin names. A later publication, the Yalkut Shimoni (best known and most comprehensive anthology of midrashim, dating somewhere around the 12th-13th century) associates the 12 signs of the zodiac with the 12 tribes of Israel. In a medieval Midrash on the festivals of the year (Pesikta Rabbati), a passage occurs which explains the names of the signs homiletically in accordance with Jewish history.

Although around the 15th century we find the zodiac signs illustrating hymns related to the Prayer for Rain recited on Shemini Azeret, these hymns were excluded from most modern mahzorim (special holiday prayer books.) Today, the only Jewish context where we find the signs of the zodiac is in calendars.

 

Chronology was a chief consideration in the study of astronomy among the Jews; sacred time was based upon the cycles of the Sun and the Moon. The Talmud identified the twelve constellations of the zodiac with the twelve months of the Hebrew calendar.  The correspondence of the constellations with their names in Hebrew and the months is as follows:

1. Aries - aleh - Nissan With this ram being identified as the Pascal lamb.
2. Taurus - Shor - Iyar
3. Gemini - Teomim - Sivan
4. Cancer - Saron - Tammuz
5. Leo - Ari - Av
6. Virgo - Betulah - Elul
7. Libra - Moznayim - Tishrei With the scale being identified with God's judging us on Yom Kippur.
8. Scorpio - 'Arab - Cheshvan
9. Sagittarius - asshat - Kislev
10. Capricorn - Gedi - Tevet
11. Aquarius - D'li - Shevat
12. Pisces - Dagim - Adar

The first three are in the East, the second three in the South, the third three in the West, and the last three in the North; and all are attendant on the sun. According to one account, in the first three months (spring) the Sun travels in the south, in order to melt the snow; in the fourth through sixth months (summer) it travels directly above the earth, in order to ripen the fruit; in the seventh through ninth months (autumn) it travels above the sea, in order to absorb the waters; and in the last three months (winter) it travels over the desert, in order that the grain may not dry up and wither.

According to one conception, Aries, Leo, and Sagittarius face northward; Taurus, Virgo, and Capricornus westward; Gemini, Libra, and Aquarius southward; and Cancer, Scorpio, and Pisces eastward. Some scholars identified the twelve signs of the zodiac with the twelve tribes.

The four solstices (the Te'ufot of Nissan, Tammuz, Tishrei, and Tevet) are often mentioned as determining the seasons of the year; and there are occasional references to the rising-place of the sun (TractateEruvim 56a). Sometimes six seasons of the year are mentioned (Midrash Genesis Rabbah xxxiv. 11), and reference is often made to the receptacle of the sun by means of which the heat of the orb is mitigated (Midrash Genesis  Rabbah. vi. 6, and elsewhere). The Moon was also a part of the calendar: "The moon begins to shine on the 1st of the month; its light increases until the 15th, when the disk is full; from the 15th to the 30th it wanes; and on the 30th it is invisible" (Midrash Exodus Rabbah xv. 26).

But with all of these, [and I can write pages upon pages about Talmudic Judaism and astrology], but will end it with our blessing of Mozel Tov, meaning "good constellations," and is a direct blessing of the pagan Babylonians our Talmudic rabbis lived among, Judaism always put the spin of the Divine, mystical if you will, but never magical (magi or magus meaning sorcery).

Regarding Aaron's flowering rod of Numbers 17;21: Let us review the text. Korach just staged a messy unsuccessful rebellion. More than 14 thousand Hebrews were smote. The rest were scared to death. And were still kvetching. And God says to Moses that every tribal leader should bring his rod, and leave it over night, and the rod that blossoms, will be the leader (spiritual) and the kvetching better stop or there will be more smoting. Aaron's rod represented Levi.

And these rods were kept over night. Unwatched. And Aaron's rod bloomed a bud with almonds. Magic? No, at best a work of God appointing Aaron and his descendants as priests. At worst, sleight of hand sticking a flower bud and an almond into symbolic phallic looking rod with bud (lingam) over night, signifying power.

Regarding Moses raising his hands in Exodus 17:11: ( Did I once read a Midrash of baby Moshe parting the milk in his cereal bowl by raising his hands?) Moses raises his arms and hands with Hur and Aaron's help and the Israelites do well in battle. When Moses arms get tired, and they drop, the Ameleks do well in battle. Magic? Watch any college Basketball game and see that coach out there running along side the foul line supporting his team. And then watch what happens if the coach is sitting on the bench, on his cell phone, not paying attention to his team. Its not magic, its human nature. Even so, Judaism assigns it to the Divine, as it is not the hands, but Moses's 'faithfully' praying to God until sunset. Further, so as to leave no doubt Who is control over our lives, Moses decries that "God is my miracle."

Freud's Totem and Taboo in discussing Judaism pre dates Schwartz's and Naveh's works. My thesis is NOT that mysticism, nor totems, nor incantations did NOT take place amongst our people, in the past or present (my friend's ex-mother- in- law tied a red ribbon around my friend's ex-wife's underwear on their wedding day to keep the evil eye away, and  she tied a similar red ribbon around her baby grandniece's  crib to keep Lilith away and made an incantation as well to the  3 angels Sanvai, Sansanvai and Semanglof to bring Lilith back to the Red Sea and away from the child. She also slapped my friend's wife's face when she was a teen and had her first menstruation and planted a tree), but that it is either folk lore, not halakah, or given a Divine, not magical (i.e., sorcerer's) root.

Rabbi  Arthur Segal

Hilton Head Island, SC

Bluffton,SC

JEWISH RENEWAL:

JEWISH SPIRITUAL RENEWAL

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RABBI ARTHUR SEGAL:She-kachah lo-ba'olamo:U'gevurato malei olam:College Fjord

RABBI ARTHUR SEGAL:She-kachah lo-ba'olamo:U'gevurato malei olam:College Fjord

 

Shalom:

 

A while back, I received an email from a rabbinic colleague who described their trip to Alaska and the wonders of God that they saw. And in seeing those wonders, they said:  the shehecheyanu (the prayer we say on seeing things for the first time) and she-kachah  lo-ba'olamo  (That thus it is in His  world," the blessing we say upon seeing beautiful things of nature).

The email described the awe of seeing College Fjord, named by Edward Harriman in 1899.   College Fjord.  

 

The email further described how when the glaciers calved, splitting off ice, into the water, with ''white thunder.'' a prayer of: 
"u'gevurato malei olam" "Blessed is the Lord our God, ruler of the universe, whose strength and might fill the world." The email from my rabbinic colleague said:'' This blessing is said when witnessing lightening and thunder and I thought the sages would have prescribed it upon hearing this sound and seeing this sight."" 

 

I responded:

 

One Brachah which I repeatedly say when I travel internationally or when I leave my Island home is the Wayfarer's Prayer. These blessings are more than 2500 years old and are all listed in our Talmud Bavli's first tractate, Beracoth. I am pleased, my friend, that God 'lead you toward peace, placed your footsteps toward peace, and made you reach your desired destination for life, gladness and peace."

 

I am happy you got to Alaska.  Ellen and I have been blessed to be there twice, the last time in June 06, and we were exactly where you were. The first time was 15 years ago. The mountains were snow capped, not covered with greenery. The Glaciers were tall and wide, and blue, and not receding, shallow and brown. I am glad you saw some blue ones and witnessed some calving.

 

( The Edward Harriman  mentioned is the very same one that is mentioned in the movie Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid as the commercial baron who, annoyed by how frequently the eponymous bandits stole money from trains traveling Harriman-controlled frontier railways, sent bounty hunters after the pair. His son Averell, among other things, being a member of the Skull and Bones society at Yale, brokered the deal with the Anglo-Iranian Oil company, placing the Shah in power and was complicit in the '63 assassination of the Vietnamese President Ngo Dinh Diem.)

 

King David told us to bless G!d at least 100 times a day. At one time this seemed like an impossibility to me but as a grew in love of God,   the opportunity for blessings, thank, praising, and showing gratitude to God for his bounty is actually endless.

 

Shehecheyanu 's are not just for when we see things for the first time, but when we eat a fruit for the first time in that season, or when doing a mitzvoth for the first time that is tied to that  season. We bless God for our first breath in the morning but in reality, we show gratitude to Him for each of our breaths all day. We praise God even when our bowels are functioning, because as anyone knows, if one of these organs or 'tubes' get blocked, we cannot stand before God to do His will. We praise God upon seeing unusual animals. Any trip to the zoo would have us reciting that prayer over 100 times. We praise God on seeing lightening or hearing thunder, or when we see a large lake, river, or ocean. We praise God when we see comets, beautiful people or nature, or odd looking people. We praise God when we meet a Torah scholar or a secular scholar as all wisdom comes from God. We all know we praise God before and after we eat, and before we study Torah and Talmud.

 

As Jews,  the derivation of our very name comes from Leah calling her 4th son Judah, Yahuda, literally meaning, 'thanking God.' As Jews, what better thing to do each day, but to thank God and be grateful to Him for everything He has granted us. So there are brachoth opportunities for all of us, millions of times a day. Remember also that the word bracha is not derived from the word for prayer or blessing, but comes from the word for 'bending our knee'. As the book of Daniel (6:10) reminds us , we Jews prayed on our knees, thrice  a day, as a sign of humility and knowing Who our Father and King is.

 

When you mentioned you were happy that you knew the brachoth ahead of time is important to me as well. But if one truly has love of God and understands everything flows from Him, and thanks Him every moment throughout the day with an attitude of gratitude, doesn't  help us appreciate nature any more than we already have.  This is clearly answered in Talmud Bavli Tractate Beracoth. Any reciting of a prayer by memorization is discouraged as there is no spiritual intention, called kavenah. The rabbis are so clear in this that they would rather one say a blessing to God in his own words, from his heart, in his own language, then mumble something in Evrit which he doesn't understand.

 

 In other words, one saying sincerely, "Far out God, I am so grateful to You for creating these wonderful gorgeous whales and I will do my best to do Tikun Olam to try to maintain this Earth which You have  given mankind dominion over to protect," is much better than trying to remember a prayer in Hebrew and losing what we are feeling in our hearts to God.

 

However, by studying Tractate Berachot, we can learn how our rabbis were teaching us to appreciate every little thing about life. That even in captivity in Babylon they were able to praise God. They are teaching us to look at the world not as a cup half empty, and not even as a cup half full, but as a carafe over flowing with God's divine never ending love and care for us.

 

Even in Alaska, Ellen and I dovened in Juneau with the Frozen Chosen. The opportunities for prayer and the places in this world we can do such, from our homes, to shuls in every corner of this earth, to watching a sunrise over the Grand Canyon, are endless. Can I get a Baruch Ha Shem?

 

Have a delightful Shabbat.

 

Rabbi Arthur Segal

Hilton Head Island, SC

Bluffton, SC

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