Talmudic Discourse 24: how to make New years resolutions stick...Jewishly

 Dear Rabbi Abrams and Talmudim:

 

I have a question. It is timely perhaps with the secular time of the year. In Talmudic Rabbinic Judaism it is a  daily concern.

 

We are read of New Year's resolutions. Many resolve to stop smoking, or stop over eating, or stop drinking, or be nicer to their loved ones, and the list is endless. And many can stick to these ideals for a month or so, but eventually fall back to old patterns.  A few lucky ones, can continue for their lives.

 

Why do we as Jews walk to flowing water on Rosh Ha Shana and throw bread into it, during the Tashlik ceremony, symbolizing casting away our defects, yet walk back up to dry land, with the same defects, resentments, and selfish thoughts, that we just supposedly cast away? Did the bread jump back into our pockets? We can symbolically clean our homes of every crumb of chometz pre Passover, but that bread in our pocket of our defects, be it Tasklik during the Jewish New Year, or during the secular New Year, doesn't want to leave.

 

What is the Talmudic step are we not performing, before Tashlik, or before making these December 31 resolutions?

 

The Chassidim say : ''The virtue of angels is that they cannot deteriorate; their flaw is that they cannot improve. Humanity's flaw is that we can deteriorate; but our virtue is that we can improve.''  We read : "Repentance: a fierce battle with the heart." [ Orhot Tzaddikim, 15C] and "Even if you be otherwise perfect, you fail without humility''. [ Talmud: Kalla Rabbati] and ''How is one proved to be a true penitent? Said Rabbi Judah: If the opportunity to commit the same sin presents itself on two occasions, and he does not yield to it.'' [ Babylonian Talmud, Yoma 86b]

 

Is that we are not doing the Talmudic steps of a complete moral inventory or a complete confession of our defects? Is it that we are missing the invaluable step of truly making teshuvah (repentance) to those we have harmed with our defects and resentments? Is it that in the longest journey in life, from the head to the heart, we truly do not find that which we state we which to cast away objectionable, and still wish to hold on to them, hence blocking that channel from our minds to our heart, but also block us from having a channel open to G!D, our Healer. Instead of being nevi (open...also the Hebrew word for prophet,) we are still narrow, (mitzriam, the Hebrew word for Egypt), and still wish to be in a bondage they we ourselves have created.

 

Is it that we lack humility, and truly do not have belief, faith and trust in G!D and try to depend on our own finite will power, instead of accessing G!D's healing infinite power, and hence we are doomed for failure, as the evil inclination, is greater than an one human?

 

I am interested in how my fellow Talmudim have grown, and continue to grow, and what Rabbi Abrams believes that Rabbinic Talmudic Judaism specifically speaks to us so that New Years resolutions, be they at Tashlik or on December 31, work.

 

Todah Rabbah.

Happy New Year.

Rabbi Dr. Arthur Segal

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Start the year off right. Easy ways to stay in shape in the new year.

Talmudic Discourse 23

 

Shalom:

 

Nice medical summary of the deleterious effects of steroid use by Chavar Tom. 

 

It can be followed with an other Talmudic observation long before our sages knew of steroids.

 

Steroids, as Chavar Tom, elucidated, puffs out the one who takes them. It makes him (or her) appear bigger and greater than they actually are and hence even perform this way.

 

When the Talmud discusses stealing, it talks about cheating. Not surprisingly, Judaism condemns cheating, but our tradition recognizes that cheating involves more than breaking the rules. A Hebrew phrase used in the Talmud to indicate cheating is geneivat da'at, which literally means the theft of the mind; in other words, cheaters who intentionally mislead or deceive others to gain undeserved goodwill are considered thieves. "There are seven kinds of people who are guilty of stealing," our sages teach. "First among them are people who misrepresent themselves to others" (Tosefta, Bava Kama 7:3).

 

Certainly, a puffed up exaggerated steroid user in professional sports fits this bill, no differently than a fellow  or gal in a $5000 business suit selling junk bonds or a $200 suit selling sub prime mortgages without full disclosure to a truly understanding client. All are 'con' men or women.

 

Chavar Tom's policeman friend's advice of 'following the money' (the same advice "Deep Throat" Felt gave to Woodword and Bernstein during their Watergate investigative reporting in the early 70s), is interesting in the above context, as the Mishniac word for money or riches, (mamon..."charity is the salt of mamon" {Kethuboth 66B]) has its Aramiac roots from the same root word as 'confidence,' which of course is what a 'con' man is entrusting one with.

 

As implied in my previous post, the problem with steroid use in Baseball, if indeed Baseball is as an American as apple pie and a microcosm of the USA, is the tip of the iceberg of  a nation and its people, who might be statistically the most church or synagogue 'belonging' people, but who truly do not have 100% faith, trust, nor even belief in God, and put their 'confidence' in mamon.

 

Our kesef may record  the words "in God we trust," but our image of the American diety, has emblazoned on it, "in riches we trust." Steroid use is our athlete's version of a Wall Street broker's insider trader or our politician's stealing an election. And 'there is nothing new under the sun,' {Eccl 1:9} as theft and worship of riches, have been taking place long before men (and women)  were rounding bases.

 

Shabbat Shalom:

Rabbi Dr. Arthur L. Segal

 

 

by tshafer3661

So is it time for ML Baseball to go the way of pro wrestling?  Could happen
I guess if the sport continues to be money and ratings driven.

I remember "rasslin' " from the early days on TV in the mid 50's.  Gorgeous
George and Haystacks Calhoun.  Back in those days they actually used to know
each other around to decide who won.  Of course, they had their show stuff
but when they bashed one another on the back with a chair it was  real
chair.

I made a friend a few years ago who "rassled" on the minor league circuit in
the Deep South.  He assures me there was some improvisation of showy moves
but no choreographed bouts.  He recalls vividly getting the stew knocked out
of him in several bouts he lost.

Nowadays there is total choreography of the bout.  It starts out week before
with mock tussling and arguments between the fighters, carefully scripted to
enrage the fans.  This is where the villain gets especially villainous and
die hard fans fear he will truly defeat their champion of truth, love and
the American way.  It build to a crescendo where they do fight in the ring
sort of.  Actually they stomp beside the other guy's head and break balsa
wood chairs on each other's back.  And they practice the bouts before hand
so all the carefully panned moves including the pin for final victory come
off perfectly.

Now these guys are finely tuned athletes.  They look like big muscle bound
men but actually are very talented gymnasts and actors.  Nothing as hard to
play as a fight scene.  It is just they are no longer competitors because
the final victor is determined before the bout by management as the outcome
best designed to keep the fans flared up and increase attendance and viewing
at the rematch bout.

Of course, the pro wrestlers use steroids too, lots of them.  They feel they
need to get that massive physique.  A cop friend of mine once told me if you
want to go where the action is in a case, follow the money and the drugs.
Good advice in life I am sad to say.

An interesting part of the discussion appeared in an editorial on sports
medicine in the Journal of the American Medical Association a few years
back.  The author pointed out that steroids really have minimal anabolic
intracellular muscle building effect unless your client had a low level in
the first place.  A high level can cause growth of things like brain tumors
and liver nodules but the determinant of muscle growth is how much the
muscle is stressed and worked.

Steroids do make the athletes more aggressive so they tend to do more and
faster reps when they work out, leading to muscle growth.  However the JAMA
author pointed out that you can accomplish the same thing with a good
trainer who pushes you beyond your self perceived limits.  And this is
without the danger of medical problems down the  road or more immediate
danger of injury due to excessive exertion.

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Start the year off right. Easy ways to stay in shape in the new year.

Talmudic Discourse (Jewish Business Ethics)

 

Dear Rabbi Abrams et. al.:

 

What a wonderful d'var Torah (sermonette) on business ethics (below)

Thank you!!

 

It needs to be repeated often, unfortunately.

 

While you were moved to write it by the use of steroids in Baseball, giving one an unfair advantage over others, i.e. cheating and defrauding, your d'var is apropos to those lenders involved in making mortgage loans to those who could not afford the balloon payments, or who they knew were borrowing the 20% elsewhere.

 

The days of Sandy Koufax not playing ball in game one of 1965 world series because it was Yom Kippur, have long gone. Koufax, now 71, is pitching for the Modi'in Miracles, of the Israeli Baseball League, which was formed in the spring of this year (07).

 

Our sages in our Talmud took the Torah admonition of ''not putting a stumbling block before the blind'', (Lev:19:14 lifnei iver lo sitten michshol) and said that this was clearly about business ethics. (Bava Kama 118B, Bava Metzia 5B, 75B, and Midrash Sifre Leviticus ). 

 

 We Jews have an obligation for full disclosure, even if the law of land, says we do not need to do so. Caveat Emptor, [let the buyer beware], is a Roman Pagan law, and is an anathema to Judaism.

 

We are to be rigorously honest, taking a bow to the old Kosher hot dog commercial, implying that we must go beyond the laws of the government (in that case, meat inspectors) because we yield to a Higher Authority.

 

Yet it is sad to still hear the worn out canard of the Jew being the perennial ''cheat'' in business.  I still remember the shock that ran through the audience and the gasp of my Bubbie [of blessed memory], and my mother and father, when we saw Roth's novella, "Goodbye Columbus," produced into a movie in 1969, and the nouveau riche Jewish father character, played by Jack Klugman,  stating that ''one needs a little gonef (thievery) to be in business.''

 

As you so wonderfully cited, our Talmud states that when we stand in front of Moses before the gates of Paradise, we will not be asked if we kept kosher, nor asked if we kept Shabbat, but will be asked if we were honest in business.

 

Our yetza ha ra, our evil inclination, is always chasing after us, literally to kill us. (Talmud Tractate Kiddushin 30B). The Talmud in Bava Batra 16A says it and Satan and are the same thing. Ibid 17A says that only three humans were not swayed by the yetza ha ra, (Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob) but my read of the Torah, shows them to have lied, cheated, and done other things, that all of us have done, or will do, in our human life times.

 

Indeed Tractate Sukkoth 52B, says we Talmud students have the worst chance of being influenced by the evil inclination. Chigigah 16A says that the inclination of our hearts is towards evil, always. And that G!D regrets creating it, in  Sukkoth 52B.

 

Yet without it, if we were all angelic, no one would go to work, houses would not be built, and babies would not be born. So we must work ethically, build homes with parapets on the roofs, (Deut. 22:8) and keep our sexual urges in check.

 

Of course, for the yetsa ha ra, G!D gave us the antidote, and it is Torah study and prayer. We are taught "Asei ritzono ritzoncho, Make His will, your will," in the Talmud in Perkei Avot. "Before you I have placed life and death... Choose life, so that you and your descendants may live." (Deut. 30:19)

 

But here is the trap and the dilemma. Using our own will, as Rabbi Abrams suggests, is not the Talmudic answer to beating back the yetza ha ra. The Hindus know this and eventually so did European ethical philosophers such as Schopenhauer.

 

Our own will comes from our ego. And we as humans can be the best rationalizers (lying to ourselves) than anyone else can ever lie to us. The Talmud teaches that one small sin leads to another, and we have all said to ourselves, in one way or another, 'ah, another piece of cake won't matter.'

 

No one wakes up one day and says "let me become a steroid junkie, throw away my multi million dollar  a year contract, my profession, my reputation and my liberty.'' But one does say "let me just take a little steroid, just this once.... after all 'everyone' is doing it.''

 

The Talmud teaches us that only by real Tephelia, [prayer which is self -judging], and asking G!d to negate our will, not give us more of our will power, and by asking G!D to give us His power, can we over come the yetza ha ra. Only by doing the Talmudic asked daily chesbon ha nefesh (inventory of soul) and daily vidui (confession of our defects and even thoughts of doing wrong to G!d and to another), can we beat this evil inclination, that is always at our door.

 

Self knowledge and our own will power is no defense against it, according to the sages.

 

Let me close with this recent personal experience. Back in the end of June, a fellow, not a Jew, but someone who for 5 years purported to me to be a good G!D loving Christian, asked me to join him in his 18 year old business. As with anything new, even dating, it takes a while until things become known. And they don't unfold like an instruction manual. After 3 months, I suspected him, to although being with in legal codes, not to be within ethical codes, and I got out, even though, I left a lot of money, and potential earnings as well. Doctor's order also played a part.

 

I could ONLY have done this with G!D's power. Left to my own, with my yetzah ha ra, sitting on my shoulder ready to pounce and kill, I would have continued to believe his lies, when I asked him questions, and continued working with him.

 

It was only because of the Study of Torah and Talmud, and prayer, that I knew what G!D expected of me, and was able to walk away.

 

Getting 'home,' be it to ''home plate'', or 'back to the garden' of Gan Eden, [ before we were given free will and a yetza ha ra], takes effort, but once we place our lives and will into G!d's hands, and pick up the yoke of G!D, the Talmud promises us, all earthy yokes, fall from our backs.

 

Again, thank you Rabbi Abrams, for this bit of mussar, (ethics), that really rang out to me. G!d bless you!!

 

Shalom.

Rabbi Dr Arthur Segal

 _________

How Do We Find Our Way Home?
Rabbi Judith   

 The revelations of this past week about the use of steroids in major league
baseball leave us feeling disgusted? Disappointed? Disillusioned?  Certainly
we feel a sense of loss regarding the honor and traditions that are so much
a part of baseball and its history.
So, how can we frame this experience?  Quite easily.  If major league
baseball is to be a legitimate sport something more than professional
wrestling ,then we should hold it to the standards that Judaism sets for
every single one of us in our businesses:  absolute honesty.

Rabbinic literature teaches us that we are required to be absolutely hone
st in our business dealings.  We may not mix two kinds of produce, even if the

difference between their worth is only a penny (Tosefta Baba Metsia
3:26//Sifre Deuteronomy 295)

not even if we sell them at the lower price.

Indeed, the very first question each person (not just Jews) will be asked
after they die and are facing judgment is, Were you honest in business
?
(Bavli Shabbat 31a).  It doesn't get much more basic than that.

I understand the temptation on the part of the players to achieve better
statistics.  I understand the management  desire to put on a better
show that leads to higher revenues.  We always struggle with our urges to have
more. But that  the point, we struggle with these urges.

We need the Evil Inclination to urge us to achieve, but it cannot rule us:

 

Once, the sages prayed for mercy, and the Evil Inclination was handed over
to them. God said to the sages:  If you kill the Evil Inclination, the world
will fail.  They imprisoned the Evil Inclination for three days, then looked
in the whole Land of Israel for a fresh egg and could not find one.
Thereupon they said:  What shall we do?  If we kill him, the whole world
would fail. They put out his eyes and let him go.  (Bavli Yoma 69b)

Perhaps the Evil Inclination was simply allowed to grow too strong.  So here
is the way back:  we make ourselves stronger than the Evil Inclination
again. We remember who the true hero is. The true hero is the one who
masters his or her Evil Impulse (Pirkei Avot 4:1).  We remember the high
level of honesty demanded of us and come back to it  feat of strength
that can only be accomplished through strength of will and spirit, not drugs.
  And through this exercise of will, we will be able to repair this situation and
baseball can return to its home in our hearts.

 

 

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Start the year off right. Easy ways to stay in shape in the new year.

Talmudic Discourse 21 Hanukah-Women

 Judy:

Off the top of my head, I seem to remember a woman who has seven sons die
during the Maccabbean rebellion.  Anyone else remember her?

 

DEAR RABBI JUDY et al:

There are two Chanukah women. This is a longer post, but I implore the reader to read it through.

 

One, (Hannah and her seven sons)  our rabbis left out of our Tanach because it is from the several books of Maccabees, whose Greek name is Hasmonean, and while Judah and his Maccabees were heroes, the later Hasmonean's were Roman Quislings, who killed so many Rabbis it is said they didn't have enough for a quorum to say the Berchot ha Mazon (3), and which cruel King Herod was married into their family.

 

The Catholic 'old' Testament has the books of the Maccabees as part of their canon.

 

The second is about Judith, told in the "Book of Judith," also left out of our Tanach by our sages.

 

The Hannah story however is read on Tisha B'av. Reform Jews, (and I am liberal) do not fast nor celebrate this day, as the restoration of the Temple is not part of Reform ideology, nor mine, but I fast, because of the spiritual significance. The Talmud tells us the Temple was destroyed, because of senseless hatred among Jews, and frankly tells a story of  a slight over a party dis-invitation. I see these things occur at synagogues today, and it is this I mourn, and pray to G!D to take away from us.

 

The Ballad of Hannah and her Seven Sons tells a story well known from the Apocrypha II Maccabees 6:12-17. During the persecution of the Jews in Syria at the time of Antiochus Epiphanes (d. 163 B.C.E.), the seven sons of Hannah were commanded to worship an idol. Each refused, and each in turn was slaughtered. The Babylonian Talmud Gittin 57b sets the story in the time of "Caesar," that is, at the time of the destruction of the second temple in 70 C.E. The ballad follows the medieval version of Jossipon in its account of the mother's death. The Judeo-Arabic ballad based on this story appears to have been very popular, and like so many of its type, is "known only in its variants." It is found throughout the eastern dialect area extending from Libya to Iraq, and the western dialect area has a different ballad on the same theme. In the past century or so, the eastern ballad has been printed in such far-flung spots as Calcutta, Bagdad, Aden, Tiberias, Leghorn, Tripoli and Tunis. The version translated here is that printed in Tunis in 1910 by Mardochée Uzan and brother, and sold by him at his "modern bookstore" in Rue Sidi Mardoum, Tunis. At that time Tunis had a large Jewish population, perhaps as much as one third of the inhabitants of the city.

The ballad is chanted on the Fast of the Ninth of Ab, which commemorates the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem on two occasions. On that day, Jewish tradition dictates that only sad and depressing materials may be read, and this includes this ballad which fosters the frame of mind suitable for the occasion.

In the Tunis version given here, Nebuchadnezzar is named as the tyrant. Other versions follow the Talmud and refer to "Caesar." Tradition places this at Hanukah time, as it is in the book of Maccabees and the heroine is named Hannah.  This is the eastern version which seems to have reached as far west as Tunis. Its language is somewhat adapted to the Tunisian dialect, but it is probably Iraqi in origin.

In form the poem is a zejel, a kind of poetry brought to its flower by the Spanish Arabic poet Muhammad ibn `Abd al-Malik ibn Quzman, who died in 1160. Characteristic of the zejel is its colloquial language, as well as a typical rhyming scheme: aaab cccb dddb where b rhymes with a constantly recurring refrain of one or two lines. In the version given here the number of syllables per line varies greatly. The strophe has four or five lines. After each strophe the refrain It is proper for us … is repeated.

The poem possesses a pathos which is simple yet compelling, and is somehow not marred by such illogicalities as Hannah's suffering in silence, although she is always talking, and the precociousness of a three year old who demolishes the king's ideology. There is constant contrast between the gruesome physical sufferings of the sons, and the mental anguish of the mother, and there is no doubt that the mother suffers more. Impressive too is the unshakeable faith of the martyrs, who never doubt the justice of God, the rightness of their cause, or the certainty of their reward.   

The Ballad of Hannah and her Seven Sons

I am Hannah. Listen to my speech, and look what happened to me.
I had seven sons, whom I cherished and honored and pampered.
Among them was a baby whose face brightened the night.
But they fell into the  unbeliever's hands who feared not Almighty God.
It is proper for us to weep all our nights and days!

Nebuchadnezzar spoke gently to them and said: "Worship my idol.
Come forward the eldest, intelligent Jew.
Worship my idol, and you will not be slaughtered and laid low.
Listen not to what others say   and disobey not my intent,
For if you disobey, woe to you. You will fall like a bird from the sky.
It is proper for us etc.

He answered him scornfully: "Listen, king,
I worship only God, creator of mankind.
You are nothing by comparison, for soon you will be in the dust.
Your idol does not profit, nor money, nor images."
He said: "Kill the unbeliever by my leave and on my responsibility."
It is proper for us etc.

They grabbed and held the poor man, and tied his hands behind him.
They pulled off his clothes, and threw him into a pit.
They brought his mother to see his severe torture.
He cried out: "Mother, have pity on me by enduring,
For where is the love we bore, Mother who pampered me?"
It is proper for us etc.

They brought the second one weeping, his tears running like a flood,
But his heart was strong in the Lord, creator of mankind.
Four men grabbed him, and dragged him to the king.
He said to him: "My child, obey me, get up, worship the image.
Do not listen to what other people tell you."
It is proper for us etc.

He answered him: "King, do not prolong your speech.
What are you, you miserable man, and what is your status?
Soon you will perish, and your affairs will be in disarray.
He will destroy all your wealth, and make nothing of your officers."
He said: "Kill the unbeliever, and do not annul my words."
It is proper for us etc.

They took the boy, and slaughtered him in his mother's presence.
She cried: "My child" and pressed him to her bosom.
She threw herself upon him, and wallowed in his blood.
She found no one to be close to her and exhort her to patience in her trouble.
"Be sad for me and dwell on my trouble and grief."
It is proper for us etc.

They brought the third handcuffed, and his tears were flowing.
He said to him: "My child, obey me in a single matter.
Arise, worship my idol and your days will be long.
We shall raise you to high rank, and give you great power.
If you hear and obey me you will be exalted over all my servants."
It is proper for us etc.

He answered him with fine speech. "Pay attention and listen.
Your idol is the work of man. He has ears and does not hear.
He has a nose and does not smell, eyes and does not see.
He has hands and does not grasp, feet and does not walk.
You are like your idol, you ignorant unbeliever."
It is proper for us etc.

He condemned him to death and said: "Bring a firebrand.
Take him and torture him, roast and fry his flesh.
He disobeys my religion, he constantly speaks arrogantly.
He despises my idol and mocks my deeds.
Bring his blood to me in haste, hurry up and do not delay."
It is proper for us etc..

They took the poor fellow, mutilated him, and stripped the skin from his head.
They cut off his hands and feet, and threw him next to his brothers.
His mother saw it with her eyes when they drew out his insides.
She could not say a word, but her soul was with his soul.
She wept and cried and said: "Oh, my babies."
It is proper for us etc.

They brought the fourth, poor fellow, apprehensive, heart-broken.
He said to him: "My child, obey me, do not disobey my order.
See what your brothers have become, lying unburied.
Obey me, listen to me, and you will escape and get great riches.
I will build you high castles if you do not oppose my will."
It is proper for us etc.

The boy spoke up and said to the king: "O tyrant,
We accept upon us the judgment of God, and all of us will die by your sentence.
On account of our sins he has caused this, and cast us before you.
We accept it and will not obey you, and will not serve your images.
We shall worship only our God, who is honored above the mighty."
It is proper for us etc..

The king gnashed his teeth and said: "Kill him speedily with an ugly death."
They slaughtered him in his mother's presence, but she was obedient to God.
They slaughtered the child in her presence, while she suffered in silence.
She looked at him, and was distressed, and said: "Oh, my babies."
It is proper for us etc..

They brought the fifth and he cried in distress:
"Mother, accept God's judgment and do not oppose his decision.
Though he destroy a thousand of us, we will not worship in his manner.
Let God judge as he pleases in all matters."
It is proper for us etc.

They stood the child before him, and he said to him:"My child, I inform you
That my idol will profit you and save you from your anxieties."
He answered him thus: "Do not rely on your images.
Soon you will die and pass away, you and all your counsellors,
You are like your idols, soon you will be burned in fire."
It is proper for us etc.

The king arose, and stamped his foot and said: "I will not retract."
They took the poor fellow, and tortured him, so that all his flesh felt pain.
In great torture, poor fellow, two days he agonized,
Stretched out two whole days and nights in the sun.
It is proper for us etc.

Then they brought the sixth, shackled with iron chains.
And when he saw the idol, his face changed.
He said to him: "O unbeliever, do not speak much to me, but do not overlook what I say.
Kill me quickly. The Lord will take vengeance on you.
I will die rather than disobey the command of God Most High."
It is proper for us etc.

The king spoke up and said: "Kill him, and let his mother see."
They slit his throat from ear to ear, and the tears flowed from her eyes.
And she cried out and wept, and her heart could not bear it.
And she cried out and wept and said: "My babies."
It is proper for us etc..

They brought the seventh, poor child, who was only three years old,
And he wept with flowing tears and said: "O master of the worlds!"
His mother bent down behind him and cried in a pleading voice:
"Do not obey them, my precious. Do not let them persuade you against what I say."
It is proper for us etc..

"Arise, young man. Hear and be obedient to my words.
Do not disobey my command and reject my idol and my images.
I shall make your rank high, and make you a leader.
A minister of the realm, a minister of state, you will be chief of my counsellors.
Everything will be yours, prosperity and wealth."
It is proper for us etc.

He answered him: "O evil-doer, you are afraid of created things,
And forsake God Most High, living and existing, who is all-powerful.
How can you tell me to worship your images made of wood from the street?
A pity for your intelligence. You have taken leave of your senses."
It is proper for us etc.

And he said: "O child, obey me in what I tell you.
I shall put down my ring among the soldiers, next to the idol, I shall throw it down for you.
Stoop and give it back to me, and repeat it twice.
Tell your mother to worship my idol, and you will not be killed or harmed.
Your brothers would be glad, since you are the youngest of all."
It is proper for us etc..

And the king said to the servants: "Bring Hannah before me."
"O Hannah, urge your child to do obeisance to my images.
And we shall make him chief minister, he will be chief of my counselors.
You shall live, your child shall live, only do not disobey my words.
Hannah, tell your child to listen to my commands."
It is proper for us etc.

She gave answer to the king: "Include me with my children."
"Precious, do not obey them, my breath, my life,
Look how you were nine months in my womb, my child,
I brought you up and reared you and fed you in my house
Day and night, year after year."
It is proper for us etc.

He answered her: "Mother, let me go to them.
Let them do what they want, and what their heart desires.
I am more precious to you than my brothers, so is my death than theirs.
I worship none save one God who is exalted over all others."
It is proper for us etc.

She clasped him to her breast, and wept and said:
"My child, my little one, accept the decree of your Lord.
Your place in paradise with all your forefathers is assured.
Our God will judge Nebuchadnezzar, and punish him severely."
It is proper for us etc.

They took him from her, and she wept and said: "My little one,
What are my sins, what my deeds, what my behavior?
My Lord has left me neither oldest nor youngest.
Fate has deprive me of them and taken my babies from me."
It is proper for us etc.

They slaughtered him in her presence, and she saw it with her eyes.
She fell upon him, and stamped her foot, and her spirit went up to God.
She died for what she underwent, and what happened to her children.
Praise be to Him who desired this. To him is the command and the action.
It is proper for us etc.

A voice went out from Heaven: "Happy are you, Hannah,
Paradise is open to you and your seven sons."
Soon he will build our sanctuary, and we shall dwell in it as we were.
All our enemies will perish, and he will pity all our people.
Elijah will come with good news  with Messiah, son of David!
It is proper for us to rejoice all our nights and days!

 

Judith's story is also linked with Hanukah.

Once Hanukkah festivities included the celebration of two heroes—Judah Maccabee and Judith. Although for several centuries the Rabbis included Judith in their Hanukkah narratives, her story, recorded in the Book of Judith, never made it into the canonized Bible. The Book of Judith promised that her "praise will never depart from the heart of those who remember the power of God," and she acted with a certainty that her legacy would "go down through all generations of our descendants." Neither she nor her contemporaries could have imagined a time when her story, as a story of courage in the face of enormous risks, would cease to be part of the story of the Jewish people passed from one generation to the next.

And yet today, Judith's story is a little-known part of the Hanukkah narrative. Who was she? What is her significance to us today?

In the second century B.C.E., as the powerful Assyrian army invades the Near East, the town of Bethulia is besieged by the cruel and domineering Holofernes, foremost general of the Assyrians  . If Bethulia yields, the whole country will fall into Assyrian hands. Discouraged, the city's elders agree to surrender the famine-stricken city if they are not rescued within a few days. Judith, a young widow and most unlikely savior, challenges them to take responsibility for the future of their community. She enters the Assyrian camp where Holofernes, smitten with her remarkable beauty, invites her to a banquet. Judith,   was a daughter of the Hasmoneans. She fed cheese to the leader of the enemies of the Jews. He was made thirsty by the cheese and began to drink much wine. When he grew quite drunk she cut off his head. For this reason, it was said, Jews eat cheese delicacies on Hanukkah  With the Assyrian army thrown into confusion, Judith inspires the Israelites to launch a surprise attack from which they emerge victorious.

Behind every successful man, there is a strong patient guiding  woman, and a surprised mother-in-law.

Many blessings,

Rabbi Dr. Arthur Segal

 

 

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Start the year off right. Easy ways to stay in shape in the new year.

Talmudic Discourse 20

 

Judy:
You're reading through romanticizing eyes.  R. Zera was on the road a
lot...a latter day road warrior traveling between Israel and Babylonia...she
was obligated.

 

Shalom Rabbi Judy et. al.

 

Indeed R. Zera's wife, and hence all women from the edict, became obligated to say what we today called the second Hanukah blessing, upon seeing a lit Chanukeah.

 

R. Zera was  a very serious rabbi and took the law and the emergence of Judaism quite seriously.

 

He is mentioned in the Talmud Bavli  in almost every Tractate and yet, the only time it is mentioned he went to Israel, was his first (and last time) when he made alliyah there.

 

Before going, he fasted for  a series (but not in continually) 100 days so he could forget the Bavli dialectic method and be 'pure' to learn the Palestinian Talmudic method of learning.

 

He had to keep his plans for emigration from his teacher R. Judah who disapproved of anyone leaving Babylon, which was considered the seat of higher learning, and of course, which today even, we use as 'the' Talmud and not the one from Palestine.

 

When he reached the Jordan River, he was so impatient to cross, he crossed wearing all of his clothes. A non-believer scoffed at him to which he replied " Why should I not be impatient when I pursue a blessing which was denied even to Moses and Aaron."

 

He made his living selling linen and was so honest he consulted R. Abbahu how far he could ethically go in improving the look of his linen without rendering  himself liable to the slightest degree of a charge of fraud.

 

We do not know his wife's name, but they were married during Sukkoth.

 

In the Tractate Rabbi Abrams begin this interesting discussion , on Shabbat  77b, R. Zera and R. Judah engage in one of the most humorous debates in the Talmud concerning everything from chicken's eyelids, the short tails of camels.

 

However R. Zera is quoted as saying he did not believe in laughing until the Messiah comes and creates a world of peace and justice. (Sanhedrin 59b).

 

Was he then serious when he asked : ''If a piece of meat resembling a donkey, falls from heaven, may it be eaten?'' To which R. Abbahu called him a yarod (an ostrich looking bird) and said,'' anything that comes from heaven is kosher.'' Zera's point was that a vulture could be carrying carrion, and drop it, and that would literally be traif.(road kill).

 

Rabbi Yirmiyah was always trying to get Rabbi Zera to laugh, by asking him the silliest of questions.

 

He asked R. Zera once "what is the law is the father receives an animal born from a woman as a token of betrothal. Is the person considered married to the animal?" ( R. Meir had ruled that if a woman aborts a fetus that looks like an animal (deformed) it is a valid abortion, and she is as ritually unclean as if she aborted a healthy fetus. Yirmiyah question is absurd because such an unfortunate child in that time would not live).(Niddah 23a).

 

 Yirmiyah was temporarily expelled from the Talmudic academy for his silly questions to Zera (Bava Batra 23b).( E.g.: The law is if a chick is found with in 50 cubits of its cage, it belongs to the owner, if it is found 51 cubits from the cage, it belongs to the one who found it. R. Yirmiyah asked: " what if one foot is with in 50 cubits and the other is with in 51 cubits?")

 

R, Zera was not one to hold his tongue either. He was known to rebuke his fellow rabbis and others. He once witnessed R. Abbahu swimming in a lake on Shabbat and brought this to the Academy's attention. While a guest at the  Exilarch's home, he rebuked a slave, over changing feathers in pillows on the Sabbath. (Shabbat 55a) On the other hand, he lived in a rough neighborhood in Palestine and prayed for, but never rebuked, the sinners near him. To them, he lead by example.  When he died, not having anyone to pray for them, they repented.  

 

He took the mitzvoth seriously, and once he and Rabbah got seriously smashed on Purim (one is to get so drunk on Purim that one cannot distinguish the between the names Haman and Mordechai ), and Rabbah slit his throat with a knife, accidentally.  R. Zera almost died but Rabbah prayed and R. Zera survived. (Megillah 7b)

 

R. Zera found his students studying Torah on Shabbat. He rebuked them and told them they were violating Shabbat by studying, as Shabbat is a time for pleasure, and they should go home and 'eat, drink and be merry."

 

"Ashrénu ma tov chelkénu umanayim gorolénu. "We are fortunate, how good is our portion, how pleasant our lot, and how beautiful is out heritage!"

 

Many Blessings,

Rabbi Dr. Arthur Segal

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Talmudic Discourse 19

 

Judy:
How is it extemporaneous?

 DEAR RABBI ABRAMS: THE POSITIVE MITZVAH, BEING INCUMBANT ON A WOMAN, OF SAYING A QUICK BRACHOT, UPON SEEING ANOTHER'S LIT CHANUKAH MENORAH, IS ''EXTEMPORANEOUS'' BY DEFINITION. 

 

 IF I UNDERSTAND THE GEMORAH DISCUSSED ON THIS   DAF, AND PLEASE REBUKE ME IF I AM INCORRECT, THE WOMAN, IS NOT BEING ASKED TO PLAN THE EVENT, NOR TAKE TIME AWAY FROM WHAT THE RABBIS CALLED HER 'MORE IMPORTANT' DUTIES, SUCH AS CHILD REARING, TO GO AND VISIT A CHANUKEAH AT A SPECIFIC TIME AND THEN SAY THIS BLESSINGS.

 

SHE IS ASKED TO SAY IT,    ONLY, IF IN HER NORMAL COURSE OF HER DAY, PERHAPS WHILE SHOPPING, ( IF I AM SOUNDING NON-FEMINIST HERE, I AM PLACING MY LANGUAGE CIRCA 2500 YEARS AGO, AND HENCE NOT SAYING, ''WHILE ON HER WAY TO HER PULPIT WHERE SHE IS A RABBI''), AND SEES A LIT CHANUKEAH, TO SAY  A PRAYER.

 

SHE DOESN'T HAVE TO LITE THE CANDELABRA. JUST SAY A 15 SECOND PRAYER. SHE COULD DO THIS WHILE NURSING TWINS, I IMAGINE THE SAGES THINKING.

 

ALSO, SINCE CHANUKEAHS ARE LIT AT NIGHT, IN ALL CASES DURING THIS TIME, WITH FEW EXCEPTIONS, THIS WOMAN, WOULD BE ACCOMPANIED BY HER HUSBAND, OR A PARENT, AND I SUPPOSED THE SAGES EVEN BELIEVED, THAT IF SHE WENT INTO LABOR, SHE COULD STILL MANANGE TO MUMBLE THE PRAYER WITH KAVENAH.

 

Judy:
Please...you dont really agree with Rambam here do you?  That on the whole, women are more spiritual, so they can do housework?!? GOSH NO RABBI JUDY. BUT UNTIL THE RAMBAM, FOR AT LEAST 1500 YEARS, JEWISH WOMEN WERE TOLD THEY WERE LIGHTING SHABBAT CANDLES TO MAKE UP FOR THE SIN OF EVE.

 

THAT IS A HEAVY BURDEN OF GUILT TO PLACE ON 1/2 OF OUR POPULATION, AND DOES A PRETTY NEAT TRICK OF KEEPING THEM IN THEIR 'PLACE'.

 

JUDAISM EVOLVES. THE WORLD HOPEFULLY EVOLVES, ALTHOUGH FOR THE LAST 7 YEARS WE HAVE TAKEN SOME STEPS BACKWARDS.

 

IT WASNT SO LONG AGO, IN THE USA, WOMEN COULDNT VOTE, AND NOW ONE IS HAVING A SERIOUS CAMPAIGN FOR PRESIDENT, AND THERE IS NO SILLY PRESS ABOUT A FEMALE NOT BEING UP TO THE JOB BECAUSE HER HORMONES MAY BE OFF, AS WE WOULD HAVE READ IN THE 1950S.

 

THE RAMBAM, SAYING THAT WOMEN LITE CANDLES BECAUSE EITHER A) THEY ARE TO DO HOUSE WORK ANYWAY, AND LITE CANDLES EVERY OTHER NITE (ONE HAD NO ELECTRICITY 1000 YEARS AG0), OR THAT WOMEN LITE CANDLES, BECAUSE THEY ARE MORE SPIRITUAL BEINGS THAN MEN, IS A MUCH KINDER WAY, THAN BLAMING 50% OF HUMANITY FOR ALL OF MALE'S CHARACTER DEFECTS.

 

ADAM DIDN'T PHYSICALLY DIE FROM EATING THE FORBIDDEN FRUIT, HE SPIRITUALLY DID. HE BECAME HUMAN WITH A YETZER HA RA. AND WOMEN WERE BLAMED, IN THE TALMUD, FOR THEIR HUSBANDS' STUPID ACTS.

 

MY WIFE AND I SPLIT HOUSE HOLD CHORES, EACH DOING WHAT WE ARE GOOD AT. I COOK. I CLEAN THE DISHES. SHE SETS THE TABLE, BECAUSE I STILL HAVENT FIGURED OUT WHERE THE THREE SPOONS AND 2 FORKS GO, AND DON'T CARE. LOL.

 

SHE LIGHTS THE SHABBAT CANDLES BECAUSE OF TRADITIONS WE SAW OUR BUBBIES ,OF BLESSED MEMORIES, DO.

 

AND WE USE TWO CANDLES, ALTHOUGH, THERE IS NO TALMUDIC RULE THAT SAYS WE MUST.

 

AS FAR AS WOMEN BEGIN MORE SPIRITUAL THAN MEN: ELLEN HAS MORE SPIRITUALITY IN HER PINKY THAN I HAVE IN MY ENTIRE BODY. I HAVE TO, NOT BECAUSE OF SOME RULES, BUT HAVE TO, PRAY AND MEDITATE THRICE A DAY, TO STAY SPIRITUALLY CONNECTED. SHE JUST IS.

 

BUT ON THE WHOLE, IT DEPENDS ON THE PERSON, AND HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH GENDER.

 

I WAS QUOTING, NOT PROMOTING.

 

THE TALMUD IS FULL OF QUOTES FROM SAGES WHO  SEEMED CLUELESS WHEN IT CAME TO THEIR WIVES, MOTHERS, OR SISTERS:

 

 The Talmud contains quotes that may be seen as both laudatory and derogatory of women. The Talmud states that:

• Ten measures of speech descended to the world; women took nine  Kiddushin 49b   
• Women are "light on raw knowledge" — i.e. they possess more intuition Shabbat 33b (our dafs this week) 
• A man without a wife lives without joy, blessing, and good; a man should love his wife as himself and respect her more than himself Yevamot 62b 
• When Rav Joseph heard his mother's footsteps he would say: "Let me arise before the approach of the Skenhinah ('divine presence')" (Kiddushin 31b)
• Israel was redeemed from Egypt by virtue of its righteous women (Sotah 11b) 
• A man must be careful never to speak slightingly to his wife because women are prone to tears and sensitive to wrong  (Bava Metzia 59b) 
• Women have greater faith than men (Sifre # 133) 
•  Women  have greater powers of discernment (Niddah 45b)   
• Women are especially tenderhearted (Megillah 14b)  

WHILE SOME OF OUR PEOPLE STILL KEEP WOMEN BEHIND MEKETZAHS AND NOT PART OF A MINYON, OTHERS ALLOW WOMEN TO BE RABBIS. IT IS THE LAWS THAT ASKED WOMEN TO DO THESE CERTAIN MITZVOTH, THAT HELPED US GET TO THE POINT WHERE RABBI ABRAMS COULD BE A RABBI. MOST OPINIONS BASED THIER POSITIONS ON AN ARGUEMENT THAT JEWISH WOMEN ALWAYS WERE, OR HAVE BECOME, LEGALLY OBLIGATED, TO PERFORM THE SAME MITZVOTH AS MEN AND TO DO SO IN THE SAME TIMELY MANNER. 

 

ONE OF THE BEAUTIES OF THE TALMUD IS THAT IT RECORDS MINORITY OPINIONS, AND WHEN IT DISCUSSES MINYONS, AND THAT IF TEN ADULT MEN ARE IMPOSSIBLE TO FIND, A CHILD HOLDING  A TORAH CAN COUNT, AND ONE WOMAN CAN COUNT. THIS OPINION OPENED THE DOOR, FOR WOMEN TO BE PART OF A MINYON, 2500 YEARS LATER,  AND IF THEY CAN PRAY WITH MEN,. THEY CAN STUDY WITH MEN, AND EVENTUAL LEAD TO THEM LEADING MEN AND OTHER WOMEN IN PRAYER AND STUDY, AS CANTORS AND THEN RABBIS.

 

SHABBAT BLESSINGS, RABBI DR ARTHUR SEGAL

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Talmudic Discourse 18

 1. Why do you think saying the blessing upon seeing the lights fell by the
wayside? 

FIRST, MAY I WISH ALL Y'ALL A HAPPY CHANUKAH AND A JOYOUS SHABBAT TONIGHT.

I WAS NOT AWARE THAT WE AS JEWS HAVE FORGOTTEN TO SAY "she-asa nisim la-avotenu ba-yamim ha-hem ba-zeman ha-zeh," WHENEVER WE SEE ANOTHER CHANUKEAH LIT.

 

 IT IS NOT A  BLESSING OVER LIGHTING THE CANDLES, BUT ONE THAT CAN BE SAID THRU OUT THE 8 DAY HOLIDAY AND WHEN SEEING ANOTHER'S LIT CHANUKEAH.

 

I WAS TAUGHT IT AS A CHILD AND I AM FROM A JEWISH LIBERAL BACK GROUND AND REMAIN SO TODAY.

 

IF IT HAS FALLEN BY THE WAY SIDE, AS MANY OTHERS OF OUR TRADITIONS AND MITZVOTH HAVE, IT IS DUE TO A NUMBER OF FACTORS WHICH I WILL LEAVE FOR ANOTHER DAY.

 

 Will you add this to your celebration of Hannukkah? 

I HAVE BEEN DOING IT FOR YEARS.

 

 Let me know
how it goes  ACTUALLY, RABBI ABRAMS, SADLY, I GET TO SAY THIS PRAYER, LESS AND LESS. JEWISH HOMES I WENT TO THIS WEEK, HAVE XMAS TREES, AND UNLIT CHANUKEAHS, IF THERE WAS A CHANUKEAH AT ALL. PERHAPS I SHOULD NOT CALL THEM JEWISH HOMES AS A RARELY SEE MEZUZOTH ON DOOR POSTS AS WELL. I END UP KISSING BARE WOOD.

 1. What do you think of women being bound to do this mitzvah? 

WONDERFUL, AS ITS EXTEMPORANEOUS AND NOT REALLY TIME BOUND.

 Does it
undermine the whole women dont do time-bound, positive mitsvot idea? 

NO.

 Can
you think of other examples?

iN BEROCHOT, MISHNA 3-3, WOMEN ARE OBLIGATED TO DO TEFILAH, MEZUZAH, AND BIRKAT HA MAZON. THEY ARE POSITIVE AND THE LAST TWO ARE TIMELY. THE FIRST, SHE MAY DO, AT HER OWN SCHEDULE.

 

 KIDDUSHIN 33B, GIVES WOMEN A PASS ON ALL NEGATIVE MITZVOTH EXCEPT TWO: TRIMMING BEARDS, AND VIEWING THE DEAD. HENCE A WOMAN CAN VIEW THE DEAD, AND IF SHE WERE ABLE TO GROW  A BEARD, SHE WOULD BE ALLOWED TO TRIM IT OFF.

 

WOMEN MUST DO THE RULES OF NIDDAH AND MICKVAH AS PER THEIR MENSES CYCLE AND THESE ARE POSITIVE COMMANDMENTS AND VERY TIME BOUND.

 

THEY MUST ON SHABBAT SAY KIDDISH ON THE WINE, AS THE 4TH COMMANDMENT  OF REMEMBERING THE SABBATH WAS GIVEN TO WOMEN ALSO. AND THEY MUST LIGHT THE CHANUKAH CANDLES.

 

WOMEN ARE OBLIGATED TO LIGHT SHABBAT CANDLES, AS PER SHABBAT 31B, BUT FOR AN ODD REASON. THEY ARE ATONING FOR EVE'S SIN OF BRINGING DEATH INTO THE WORLD, BY KILLING ADAM'S PURE SOUL, BY FEEDING HIM THE FORBIDDEN FRUIT.  PROVERBS 20:27 SAYS "THE CANDLE OF GOD IS THE SOUL OF MAN." SO A WOMEN MUST LIGHT SHABBAT CANDLES TO BRING LIFE AND LIGHT BACK INTO THE WORLD.

 

THE RAMBAM IN HILKHOT TEMDIM V'MUSAFIN CHAPTER 3 REPEATS THIS BUT ADDS THAT ITS A WOMENS DUTY ANYWAY TO DO HOUSE HOLD CHORES, AND MORE SO, WOMEN HAVE MORE SPIRITUALITY THAN MEN DO, SO THEY ARE GIVEN THIS SPIRITUAL MITZVAH.

 

WOMEN WERE OBLIGATED  TO MAKE THE THREE PILGRIMAGES, OFFER THE PASSOVER SACRIFICE, AND OFFER THE TODAH (THANKSGIVING ) SACRIFICE WHEN THEY GAVE BIRTH. THESE WERE POSITIVE COMMANDMENTS AND TIME BOUND, BUT SINCE 70 CE, WHEN THE TEMPLE WAS DESTROYED, NO LONGER CAN BE PERFORMED.
 
Happy Hannukkah! THANK YOU, AND TO YOU AND YOURS AS WELL. MANY BLESSINGS, RABBI DR ARTHUR SEGAL

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Start the year off right. Easy ways to stay in shape in the new year.

Judaism, Spirituality and Bluffton, SC

 

Judaism and Spirituality

 

Shalom Y'all!  Welcome to Bluffton Today's first regular column on Judaism.

 

 

 

It may be a surprise to some, but Jews are not new to the South, Bluffton or to the Low

 

Country. On July 11, 1733, 40 Jews arrived in Savannah chartering Mickve

 

Israel, America's third oldest synagogue. One hundred years later their

 

descendants and other Jews did business with Blufftonians.  In 1890, Abram

 

and Moses Patz settled in Bluffton opening Calhoun Street's Planter's Mercantile.

 

Affectionately known as the "Jew Store," it remained in Jewish ownership  and was in

 

operation until 1972. But only now does Bluffton have the first incorporated Jewish 

 

Congregation.  Oseh Shalom's over 350 members are celebrating its first anniversary.

 

 

 

 

 

This column will at times explore Jewish history as the experiences of the Jews are linked to

 

the development of their religion. It will explain Judaism, and help Jews understand their own

 

traditions, and help our Christian neighbors understand the religion of Jesus, and the roots of

 

Christianity.

 

 

 

 

Judaism has  roots in what some call the ''Old Testament'' but which Jews call the

 

Tanach, (Jewish Bible).  For the Jews, their covenant made by God  at Mount

 

Sinai, 3500 years ago, has not been obliterated. However reading  the Jewish Bible

 

illustrates that this is not how Jews conduct themselves religiously today. There is no

 

priesthood,  no animal sacrifices, nor thrice yearly pilgrimages to  Jerusalem's

 

Temple.  Certainly no Jew is slaughtering a lamb on  Passover, and no Jew is

 

sitting in darkness on the Sabbath nor being stoned for picking up  wood. What happened?

 

 

 

 

In 586 BCE, the Hebrews tribes of Judah and Benjamin were taken into captivity by the

 

Babylonians. They had no way to worship God. (The other 10 tribes were lost to the

 

Assyrians, 136 years before). They had no Temple, no sacrifices, and priests could not be

 

their intercessors. Within time, a new religion developed in Babylon, with Rabbis as

 

teachers, prayer, and new ways to celebrate Holy days. This was codified into the Talmud,

 

called Judaism. Jews were allowed to return to Jerusalem circa 50 years after their

 

captivity to rebuild their Temple as Hebrews.  Many remained in Babylon establishing

 

Talmudic Jewish academies and synagogues. 

 

 

 

Judaism speaks of a God of forgiveness and love. Followers are to emulate these

 

traits. The Rabbis abrogated many Hebraic legalisms. Future columns will elucidate this

 

spiritually centered religion.

 

(Dr. Arthur Segal, retired from practice in 1996 and moved to Hilton Head. He was ritual chairman at HHI's Temple Beth Yam , and became Scholar in Residence at Congregation Mickve Israel. He received Rabbinic ordination, after years of study, in 2007, and is a member of Oseh Shalom, in Bluffton. He can be reached at DrArthurSegal@AOL.COM to submit questions.)

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Talmudic Discourses 17

 

Shalom:

 

 Bringing Holiness in one's daily life is a recurring theme in the Talmud and in many great texts like Duties of the Heart by Ibn Pakuda, 1000 years old and which reads as fresh today, and has been translated into paperback for some years now.  The Cofetz Chaim's Ahavath Chesed, about 100 years old, is also wonderful showing us how we can spend our day doing acts of kindness and filling our life with Holiness.

 

You ask about wax, and it reminds be of Michelangelo looking for marble in the quarry, and making sure it was sincere, literally sin (without) cere (wax). Sincerity in our own lives, not filling void with wax, but facing defects with a Talmudic chesbon ha nefesh,  teshvuah and asking God to help us change, is daily Holiness

 

Wax drippings of a Chanukeah have no holiness. The flame does. The oil does.

 

The Rabbis of the Talmud juxtapose Holiness (i.e. Torah study) with the mundane (working):

 

Our Sages seek to define the relationship between the grand enterprise of Torah study and the necessity of earning a livelihood (B. Berachot 35b) and open by questioning the message of the verse: And you will gather your grain, your wine and your oil (Deuteronomy 11:14). One of the commentators explains the Talmud's question (Rabbi Ezekiel Landau, 18th century, Poland-Prague): Is it not obvious that once the rains have fallen in a timely fashion and the produce has grown, that we then proceed to gather the produce? What additional lesson is contained in this passage?

The Talmud tackles this verse by contrasting it with the Almighty's instruction to Joshua: This book of the Torah shall not depart from your mouth (Joshua 1:8). From the directive to Joshua, we might conclude that we may never cease studying Torah. If this were the case, a person would be precluded from earning a livelihood. The promise of gathering produce teaches us that the all-encompassing obligation to study Torah retreats before the responsibility of gainfully employment.

One commentator explains that those who study Torah while relying on others to provide sustenance will eventually abandon their Torah study (Rashi, 11th century, France). Indeed, elsewhere our Sages teach that Torah which is not combined with work ultimately comes to naught and leads to sin (M. Avot 2:2). Torah study and earning a livelihood form a relationship which can be described as commensalism, where Torah derives benefit from work without adversely affecting it. To ensure that this book of the Torah shall not depart from our mouth, the Almighty tells us that we will gather our grain, our wine and our oil.

The approach of Torah and labor rendered by Rabbi Yishmael is juxtaposed with an opposing view, that of Rabbi Shimon ben Yohai: "If a person plows at the time of plowing, and sows at the time of sowing, and harvests at the time of harvesting, and threshes at the time of threshing, and winnows at the time when the wind blows - what will become of Torah?" Rabbi Shimon ben Yohai was concerned that if people were so busy earning a livelihood, this preoccupation with worldly matters would prevent Torah study. The relationship between Torah and labor can only be described as parasitical, for work preys on every moment of the day and relegates the pursuit of Torah to an unrealized ideal.

Rabbi Shimon ben Yohai therefore suggested a different modus operandi: "When Israel do the will of God, their work is done for them by others and indeed Torah need not depart from their mouths." This is indicated in the prophetic verse: "And strangers will arise and shepherd your flocks" (Isaiah 61:5).

Conversely, "when Israel do not do the will of the Almighty, their work must be done by themselves" and thus you will gather your grain, your wine and your oil. Moreover, Israel will do the work of others, as per the biblically described punishment "and you will serve your enemies" (Deuteronomy 28:48).

This model was practically applied by Rabbi Shimon ben Yohai during his years of hiding in a cave from the Roman authorities (B. Shabbat 33b). As he and his son sat buried to their necks in sand and solely occupied themselves with Torah study, water and carob sustenance was miraculously provided for them.

Thus our Sages suggest two conflicting models of the relationship between Torah and labor. According to one approach, earning a livelihood facilitates Torah study and both should be pursued. According to the other, working comes at the expense of Torah study and therefore should not be considered.

Fast forwarding a number of generations and moving to Babylon, the Talmud records two responses to this argument. The first response of Abbaye is an observation: "Many did as Rabbi Yishmael advocated - combining Torah study with work - and were successful; others did as Rabbi Shimon ben Yohai suggested and they were not successful."

The second response is Rava's entreaty to his disciples: "I beg of you, during the days of Nisan - when the grain is harvested - and the days of Tishrei - when the grapes and olives are pressed - do not appear before me so that you will not be preoccupied with your sustenance the entire year."

It would appear that the Talmud concludes in favor of the commensal approach promoted by Rabbi Yishmael. A thought must be spared, however, for uninterrupted study and total devotion to plumbing the scholarly depths of a discipline without financial burden. In many institutes of higher learning, scholarships are awarded with the goal of providing the student with an environment free of fiscal stress and strain. The hope is that students freed from economic concerns will be able to reach greater heights of scholarship, thus contributing to our society.

In this vein, later commentators focus on the exact formulation of Abbaye's observation: Rabbi Shimon ben Yohai's course was not fruitful for the many who tried to walk that path. Yet for a chosen few this route is certainly advocated, and from the standpoint of society we desire individuals who can totally devote themselves to scholarship. Of course this approach is not appropriate for all; it is a path that should be open only to suitable candidates.

Such people should be able to follow in the footsteps of Rabbi Shimon ben Yohai, removing themselves from this-worldly pursuits and devoting their entire beings to fathoming the depths of our tradition and unraveling its mysteries. The majority of people, however, are encouraged to see their labor as a necessary and desirable tool for Torah study.

Rabbi Yishmael may not have been describing a relationship of commensalism. While the commentators explain that work can benefit Torah study, Torah should also positively impact work. In a poetic formulation, our Sages declared: "If there is no flour, there is no Torah; if there is no Torah, there is no flour" (M. Avot 3:17), thus describing a symbiosis between Torah and earning a livelihood, where mutual benefit is derived from the association between Torah and labor.

Simply put, as the Chasidem, taught, all acts that we do each day should be aligned with God's will, and then all our acts become Holy, so even when Tevah milks his cow, in the Shalom Aleichem stories, he blesses God for creating such a creature.

Happy Thanks Giving:

Dr. Arthur Segal

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Talmudic Discourses 16

 

Shalom Rabbi Abrams and fellow Talmudim :

 

It is quite tragic about the fires in California, but it does bring to mind the Talmudic teaching that when bad things befall us we are to look to see what we have done to cause such. This is not a ''blame the victim'' philosophy. We are to be  stewards of the earth, (Gen. 2:15), and "to guard it." We tend to cause our own problems, when we do not. Tractate Megillah  29a gives us eternal hope that whatever befalls us, including the Diasporas (of the residents of California and New Orleans?), God will be with us, giving us another chance.

 

1. How do we act in a crisis? Action first and prayer later. When Moses was at the banks of the Sea of Reeds with Pharaoh's chariots behind him, (Ex 14:15), he prays to God, who says :"Why do you cry to Me?" A Midrash tells that Moses was considering a day of fasting and prayer. God  says, "Now is not the time for prayer! Go into the sea and trust Me."

 

2. The question is begged: did R. Nakdimon pray for God to make the Sun come out in the night and stand still, (shades of Moses and Joshua) to show the Roman Governor that the rain that came was divinely sent , or did he do so to get back his silver? We really are not to pray to God for material things and should be instead thanking Him for what He has already given us. It is ironic that Leah, the Talmud teaches, is the first person in the Torah, who thanks God. The story of R. Nakdimon is in the Gemorah  of the Mishna of  Honi  the Rain Maker who would make circles in the sand, vowing he would not step outside of the circle, until God brought rain.(Taanit  3:8)

 

R. Nakdimon was one of the 3 richest men in Jerusalem and help support the Jews their during the Roman  occupation of Vespasian .  Yet we learn he lost everything, and his daughter was found picking barley seeds from the dung of Arab's donkeys because R. Nakdimon reneged on her dowry of one million gold dinars as he became impecunious.  (Tractate Ketubah  66b)

 

She explained to a shocked R. Yochanan  that her father when he walked from the Temple to his house and back, would have his servants, lay silk carpets along the streets for him to walk on. As an act of tsaddakah, R. Nakdimon, would then have his servants give the carpets to the poor. The Gemorah  chides R. Nakdimon for doing this act out of glorification and for his own ego, and further, while he was very generous, for a man of his wealth, he could have given much more.

 

R. Yochanan  ben Zakkai then burst into tears, and said, "Happy are you, Israel. As long as you perform the will of God, no nation or people can rule over you. But when you fail to perform the will of God, you are delivered into the hands of a humiliating nation; and not only the hands of a humiliating nation, but also into the hands of the beasts of the humiliating nation."

 

Honi's life was Nakdimon's upside down. When he was in his circle and it began to drizzle, he told God that this was not enough. When it began to pour, he told God it was too much. Finally it rained normally. Honi was about to be sentence by the Sanhedrin for charem (excommunication) until R. Simone, the brother of Queen Salome, intervened.

 

The circumstances of Honi's  death are described in the Talmud (Taanit  23a) : He fell asleep and awoke after 70 years, and when nobody would believe him that he was indeed Honi  the Circle drawer, he prayed to God and God took him from this world.

 

Now, the Gemorah , relates this story of prayer to juxtapose the prayer of R. Nakdimon . Honi was captured by the followers of Hycranus  II Hasmonean, a supporter of the Rabbis, in 63 BCE. He was commanded to pray for the demise of the priests backed by Astrobulus II Hasmonean. (The two were brothers). Honi  however prayed: "Lord of the universe, as the besieged and the besiegers both belong to Thy people, I beseech Thee not to answer the evil prayers of either."

 

Shabbat Shalom.

Dr. Arthur Segal

 

 

 

  1. New Study Materials:  The California Fires, Katrina and Two Prayers to Say
 
 
   At such times, sometimes our only
option is prayer.  The Talmud, naturally, gives us an example of what
prayers we might offer at such a time:
Our Rabbis taught: Once all Israel went up on pilgrimage to Jerusalem, an=
d
they did not have water to drink. Nakdimon ben Guryon approached a certai=
n
governor, [and] said to him: Lend me twelve wells of water for the pilgri=
ms,
and I will give you twelve wells of water. And if I do not give [them] to
you, I will give you twelve talents of silver. And he set a time for him.
When the time arrived and the rain had not fallen, he sent to him in the
morning: Send me either the water or the money you owe me. He sent to him=
: I
still have time, [for] the entire day is mine.
At midday he sent to him: Send me either the water or the money that you =
owe
me. He sent to him: I still have time left in the day.
In the afternoon he sent to him: Send me the water or the money that you =
owe
me. He sent to him: I still have time left in the day. That governor snee=
red
at him [and] said: All year long rains have not fallen, and rains will fa=
ll
now? He entered the bathhouse joyfully.
As the lord entered the bathhouse joyfully, Nakdimon entered the Temple i=
n
sadness. He wrapped himself and stood in prayer. He said before Him: Mast=
er
of the Universe! It is revealed and known before You that I did not do
[this] for my [own] honor, nor did I do [it] for the honor of my father's
house. Rather, I did [it] for Your honor, so that water would be availabl=
e
for the pilgrims. Immediately the sky became covered with clouds and rain
fell until the twelve wells filled and overflowed.
As the lord left the bathhouse, Nakdimon ben Guryon left the Temple. When
they met each other, he said to him: Give me the money for the extra wate=
r
which you owe me. He said to him: I know that the Holy One blessed be He,
did not shake His world except on account of you. But I still have a clai=
m
against you that I may collect me money from you, for the sun has already
set and the rains fell in my possession.
He went back and entered the Temple, wrapped himself and stood in prayer,
and said before Him: Master of the Universe! Make it known that You have
loved ones in Your world. Immediately the clouds dispersed and the sun
shone. At that time the lord said to him: If the sun had not broken throu=
gh,
I would have had a claim against you that I could have collected my money
from you [but now, I cannot]. (B. Taanit 19b-20a)
=20
I love this story about Nakdimon ben Gurion for so many reasons.  In the
present crisis, it=B9s a great example of leadership and proper prayer.
=20
Discussion Questions
1. Nakdimon first supplies what is needed, then he prays.  How can we use
this as a model for acting in a crisis?
2. Nakdimon=B9s second prayer is most poignant.  He does not ask for anyt=
hing
in specific=8Ahe can=B9t, as he is asking for something for himself and t=
hat
seems to go against his personal principles. Again, how can we use his
prayer as a model for prayer when we want to ask something of God but don=
=B9t
want to seem selfish?
=20
May the winds die down and the rains come soon!

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Start the year off right. Easy ways to stay in shape in the new year.

Talmudic Discourse 15

 

 

 

Shalom: Great question, Rabbi Abrams, and one of my favorite bits of Pesach Trivia. Thanks.

 

Rabbi Gamliel was a Talmudic Teacher of Rabbi Saul, aka Paul (see Tractate Shabbat 30B's characterization of Saul-Paul as a student;"impudence in learning,"),  and of Rabbi Simon- Peter.(Shimion-Cephas) As we know from Tractate Sanhedrin, a death sentence, cannot be carried out unless all 70 judges are unanimous , and sleep on the verdict over night, and if G!D speaks to just one of them, to be  merciful, and he announces such the next day, the death sentence is commuted.

 

 Well, historically from Flavius Josephus, Roman-Jewish historian, albeit somewhat inaccurate, we know that Gamliel saved Peter's life as being an Apostate, by following the Sandedrin's very rules. And Peter of course is said to be the first Pope. His name was Shimion, aka Simon, but Yeshua called him the Rock, Cephas in Aramaic, Petras in Greek, and Peter in English. And he is the 'rock' which the Church's foundation  was laid.

 

The records of the Catholic church actually record that Gamliel was an Ebionite, and a Jewish follower of Yeshuah, but did not believe in his divinity, which of course made Ebionites aka Evionem in Evrit, all apostates, and many exist today. But I digress.

 

Sometime after the death of Constantine One,  the Catholic soldiers, dug up Rabbi Gamliel's bones, (relics were a big thing in Catholic churches back then, with churches competing with 'who had the skull of James', or 'who had the finger of John'), and years later, eventually  buried him, with full Catholic ceremony and honors. And guess where? At the baptistery at Pisa, right next to the Leaning Tower, and after you buy your souvenirs of the Tower,   you can go inside and see the only Rabbi to be buried inside  a catholic church's crypt.

 

Up to 1956, Rabbi Gamliel was a Christian Saint, but Jewish lobbyists got him 'demoted' back to Rabbinic status and head of the Sanhedrin and a great sage.

 

"At Jerusalem, the finding of the body of blessed Stephen, protomartyr, and of the Saints Gamaliel, Nicodemus, and Abibo, through a divine revelation made to the priest Lucian, in the time of Emperor Honorius.Hierosólymis Invéntio beatíssimi Stéphani Protomártyris, et sanctórum Gamaliélis, Nicodémi et Abibónis, sicut Luciáno Presbytero divínitus revelátum est, Honórii Príncipis témpore."(393-423 CE).(from the Catholic Church's archives. )

 

The whole thing is ironic as it was Gamliel  who decreed  in the Talmud that we Jews should be buried in white linen with no pockets, in a plain pine box, as all Jews are equal in G!d's eyes, especially when we die.  (Talmud Tractate Gitten 27B)

 

1. Do you think this is a conflation in the text, i.e., that this is Rabban Gamliel retrojected into an earlier context? Conflations are everywhere in the Tanach and the Christian bible. At least something nice was said about a Jew on this page.

2. Why would Christian Scriptures portray a leading sage in such a positive light?  Who would have lobbied for the inclusion of this story in this light? Well, as mentioned above, as  we need to remember, folks who read the so -called Christian bible or at least heard the old tales before they were written knew of Hebraic as well as Talmudic law. A modern average Christian is clueless to Hebraic and Talmudic law when reading the texts and this has lead to some awful conclusions about Jews, whose rabbis, via the Talmud, changed our religion from a cult involving priests and animal sacrifices to one involving prayer and mitzvoth.

 

 Gamliel, via G!D talking to him that night, (and this doesn't need to be mentioned as it is understood to those of the time), let Peter and others live and hence, allowed the Church to be born.

 

 When the council of Nicaea, circa 325 CE with Constantine as its head decided what books to place in or out, and in what order, Gamliel's act, is central in justifying the Pope and the Catholic church, as being Universal and Correct.

 

This is not unusual, as our rabbis, made sure that they gave themselves authority, to make what we call today Talmudic law, by saying that G!D gave it all to Moses, who passed it to Joshua, who passed it to the Elders, who passed it Prophets, who passed it to the Great Assembly. And note that Moses' own brother, the High Priest Aaron, was not taught any of the 'oral law',  and neither were any Kings, not even David or Solomon! (Judaism and their rabbis were setting the stage to supplant the priests and move forward).

 

So, just as our Rabbis lobbied in Yavnah to keep the books of the Maccabees out because they had animus to the Hasmoneans, who made a real mess of things and actually invited the Romans into Judea to help them rule, Constantine had every reason to lobby the Gamliel story in, (and as well the books of the Maccabees).

 

3. How do you feel about having one of our sages in Christian Scriptures? Well, I am one of these post denominational Rabbis that looks at the Christian bible in many parts as cliff notes to our Talmud and Torah, except everyone is plagiarizing. So while they are not mentioned by name our Talmudic sages are mentioned by their words:.(taken from a web site a long time ago and I do not have the link. Sorry)

YESHUA   (Summaries in italics)	TALMUD (Summaries in italics)
The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. - Mark 2:27	Rabbi Jonathan ben Joseph said: For it is holy unto you; I.e., it [the Sabbath] is committed to your hands, not you to its hands. - Talmud: Yoma 85b
Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me. - Matthew 25:45	One who betrays his fellow, it is as if he has betrayed God. - Tosefta Sh'vuot, ch. 3
Insulting someone is like murder.- Matthew 5:21-22	He who publicly shames his neighbour is as though he shed blood.- Talmud: Bava Mezia 58b
But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart. - Matthew 5:28	One who gazes lustfully upon the small finger of a married woman, it is as if he has committed adultery with her.- Kallah, Ch. 1
That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust. - Matthew 5:45	Rabbi Abbahu said: The day when rain fails is greater than [the day of] the Revival of the Dead, for the Revival of the Dead is for the righteous only whereas rain is both for the righteous and for the wicked - Talmud: Taanit 7a
Take heed that ye do not your alms before men, to be seen of them: otherwise ye have no reward of your Father which is in heaven. - Matthew 6:1	In the case of the recital of the Shema', since everybody else recites, and he also recites, it does not look like showing off on his part; but in the case of the month of Ab, since everybody else does work and he does no work, it looks like showing off.- Talmud: Berachot 17b
But when thou doest alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth. - Matthew 6:3	What kind of charity is that which delivers a man from an unnatural death? When a man gives without knowing to whom he gives. and the beggar receives without knowing from whom he receives. - Talmud: Bava Batra 10a - 10b
But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking.- Matthew 6:7	If one draws out his prayer and expects therefore its fulfillment, he will in the end suffer vexation of heart, as it says, Hope deferred maketh the heart sick. - Talmud: Berachot 55a
Do not worry about where your food will come from tomorrow, or your drink. - Matthew 6:25-31	Rabbi Eliezer the Great declares: Whoever has a piece of bread in his basket and Says. 'What shall I eat tomorrow?' belongs only to them who are little in faith. - Talmud: Sotah 48b
Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof. - Matthew 6:34	A parable: [They were] like a man who was kept in prison and people told him: Tomorrow, they will release you from the prison and give you plenty of money. And he answered them: I pray of you, let me go free today and I shall ask nothing more! - Talmud: Berachot 9b
Let your Yes be Yes and your No be No. - Matthew 5:34-37	A righteous yes is a Yes; a righteous no is No. - Talmud: Bava Batra 49b   Let your yes be yes, and your no be no. --R. Abaye, Baba Metzia 49a
At that time Yeshua answered and said, I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes. - Matthew 11:25	Rabbi Johanan said: Since the Temple was destroyed, prophecy has been taken from prophets and given to fools and children. - Talmud: Bava Batra 12b
And if thy right eye offend thee, pluck it out, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell. And if thy right hand offend thee, cut it off, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell. - Matthew 5:29-30	Come and hear what was taught: Rabbi Tarfon said, 'If his hand touched the membrum let his hand be cut off upon his belly'. 'But', they said to him, 'would not his belly be split'? 'It is preferable', he replied, 'that his belly shall be split rather than that he should go down into the pit of destruction'. - Talmud: Niddah 13b
But be not ye called Rabbi: for one is your Master, even Mashiach; and all ye are brethren. - Matthew 23:8	Shemaiah used to say: love work, hate acting the superior, and do not bring thyself to the knowledge of the ruling authority. - Mishnah: Avot 1:10
Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh. - Matthew 24:44	Even as R. Zera, who, whenever he chanced upon scholars engaged thereon [I.e., in calculating the time of the Mashiach's coming], would say to them: I beg of you, do not postpone it, for it has been taught: Three come unawares: Mashiach, a found article and a scorpion. - Talmud: Sanhedrin 97a
Yeshua taught in a parable that they can please the king (God) by pleasing one another. - Matthew 25:40   And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me. - Matthew 25:40	Rabbi simeon said: if three have eaten at one table and have not spoken thereat words of torah, [it is] as if they had eaten sacrifices [offered] to the dead, for [of such persons] it is said, for all tables are full of filthy vomit, [they are] without the All-Present. But, if three have eaten at one table, and have spoken thereat words of torah, [it is] as if they had eaten at the table of the All-Present, blessed be he, as it is said, this is the table before HaShem. - Mishnah: Avot 3:3
Love your enemy. - Matthew 5:43 Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy. But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; - Matthew 5:43	They who are insulted but insult not back; who hear themselves reproached but answer not; who serve out of love and rejoice in their affliction--of them it is written in Scripture: They that love God are as the going forth of the sun in its might. - Talmud: Yoma 23a, Gitin 36b, Shabat 88b
For in the resurrection they neither marry, nor are given in marriage, but are as the angels of God in heaven. - Matthew 22:23-30	There will be no marital union in the world to come. - Ma'asrot 4:5-6
Therefore if thou bring thy gift to the altar, and there rememberest that thy brother hath aught against thee; Leave there thy gift before the altar, and go thy way; first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift. - Matthew 5:23-24	If a man said, "I will sin and repent, and sin again and repent", he will be given no chance to repent. [If he said,] "I will sin and the Day of Atonement will effect atonement", then the Day of Atonement effects no atonement. For transgressions that are between man and God the Day of Atonement effects atonement, but for transgressions that are between a man and his fellow the Day of Atonement effects atonement only if he has appeased his fellow - Mishnah: Yoma 8:9
Matthew 5:45 ... sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.	Talmud, Taanit 7a - God causes it to rain for the wicked as well as for the righteous.
Matthew 5:43 Love thine neighbor and hate thine enemy	Talmud, Yoma 23a, Gitin 36b, Shabbat 88b - They who are insulted but insult not back; who hear themselves reproached but answer not; who serve out of love and rejoice in their affliction--of them it is written in Scripture: They that love God are as the going forth of the sun in its might.
Matthew 5:23-24... first be reconciled to thy brother	Talmud, Yoma 85b - Yom Kippur atones for all sins, but first you must reconcile your conflict with others.
Matthew 6:14-15 For if ye forgive men their trespasses ...	Talmud, Rosh Hashanah 17a - Only if you forgive others will God forgive you.   Talmud, Shabat 151b - One who is merciful toward others, God will be merciful toward him
Matthew 6:19 Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth ...	Jerusalem Talmud, Pe'ah 15b - It happened that manobaz had squandered his father's wealth to charity. His brothers admonished him: "Your father gathered treasure and you wasted it all!" He replied: "My father laid up treasure where human hands control it; I laid it up where no hands control it. My father laid up a treasure of money; I laid up a treasure of souls. My father laid up treasure for this world; I laid up treasure for the heavenly world."
Matthew 7:1 Do not judge, or you too will be judged ...	Avot 2:14 - Do not judge your fellow until you have been in his place.   Avot 4:10 - Do not be a judge of others, for there is no judge but the one (God).
Matthew 7:2 ... with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again	Mishnah Sotah 1:7 - By a person's standard of measure, is he, too, measured.   Shabat 127b - How you judge others, does God judge you.   Sanhedrin 100a, attributes to Rabbi Meir the saying: "The measure which one measures will be measured out to him."
Matthew 7:3-5 Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye ...	Er'chin 16b - Rabbi Tarfon said, "I wonder if there be anyone in this era who will allow himself to be reproved. If someone says to another, 'Cast out the speck that is in your eye!' he will retort, Cast out first the beam that is in your own eye!'"   Kidushin 70a - He who condemns others, sees in them his own faults.   Bava Mezia 59a - Do not rebuke your fellow with your own blemish.
Matthew 7:6 Give not that which is holy unto the dogs	Ketubot. 111a - R. Levi said: "God made Israel swear that they should not reveal the [Messianic] end, and should not reveal the secrets of [of the Torah] to the idolators."
Matthew 7:12 Do to others what you would have them do to you ...	Shabbat 31a - What is hateful to you, do it not unto others -- this is the entire Torah, and the rest is commentary.
7:26 every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not ...	Avot 3:17 - One who studies Torah but does not do good deeds is likened to one who builds with a foundation of straw, so that even a minor flow of water will destroy it.
10:21 ... brother shall deliver up the brother to death	Talmud 49b - In the footsteps of the Mashiach, insolence will increase and honour dwindle; the vine will yield its fruit [abundantly] but wine will be dear; the government will turn to heresy and there will be none [to offer them] reproof; the meeting-place [of scholars] will be used for immorality; galilee will be destroyed, gablan desolated, and the dwellers on the frontier will go about [begging] from place to place without anyone to take pity on them; the wisdom of the learned will degenerate, fearers of sin will be despised, and the truth will be lacking; youths will put old men to shame, the old will stand up in the presence of the young, a son will revile his father, a daughter will rise against her mother, a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law, and a man's enemies will be the members of his household; the face of the generation will be like the face of a dog, a son will not feel ashamed before his father. So upon whom is it for us to rely? Upon our father who is in heaven.
Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy. --Matthew 5:7	He who is merciful to others, shall receive mercy from Heaven. - Shabbat 151b
Freely you receive, freely give. --Matthew 10:8	Just as I teach gratuituously, so you should teach gratuitously. - Bekoroth 29a
Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted. --Matthew 23:12	He who humbles himself for the Torah in this world is magnified in the next; and he who makes himself a servant to the Torah in this world becomes free in the next. - Baba Metzia 85b
Why do you see the speck that is in your brother's eye, but do not notice the beam that is in your own eye? --Matthew 7:3	Do they say, take the splinter out of your eye, he will retort: "Remove the beam out of your own eye." Baba Bathra 15b
The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few. --Matthew 9.37	The day is short, and the work is much; and the workmen are indolent, but the reward is much; and the Master of the House is insistent. Avot 2:15
	Sifri, Ekev No. 49 - As God is, so shall you be: As God is merciful, so shall you too, be merciful.

Shalom, and thanks for a great question, Rabbi Abrams:

 

Dr. Arthur Segal

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Start the year off right. Easy ways to stay in shape in the new year.