Jewish Spiritual Renewal:Shabbat 1/24/09;Hebrew College,MA;Torah;Talmud;TaNaK
Shalom Chaverim v' Talmidim:
Shavuah Tov.
We are now into the second Parasha of Exodus. For many of us it the details we hear about each year at Passover. This portion takes us up to and including the 7th plague upon Egypt.
Some Talmud to start us: "The highest form of wisdom is kindness." Talmud Bavli Tractate Beracoth 17a.
Some Torah: If we notice, so many of our mitzvoth for social justice are linked to our being enslaved in Egypt. For example: Ex: 23:9: ''Never oppress foreigners. You know what it's like to be foreigners because you were foreigners living in Egypt.''
The whole of Torah it is said is to teach us ''chesed'', kindness. It begins and ends with acts of chesed. God clothes Adam and Eve. God buries Moses.
Yet we can remain arrogant and unkind to one another.
Some more Torah: Ex. 5:2 :"Who is God that I should listen to Him?," asks Pharaoh in his arrogance. Yet do we not as Jews ask the same question, maybe not out loud, when we ignore His command to love kindness and to love our fellow as ourselves?
Some more Talmud: Bavli Tractate Sanhedrin 38a : "The fly proceeded you in creation," we are to tell the arrogant man. This is why God created humans last, to teach us humility, the sages teach us.
Even some more Talmud: Bavli Tractate Pirkei Avot 3:12 : '' He whose good deeds exceed his wisdom, his wisdom endures; but he whose wisdom exceeds his good deeds, his wisdom will not endure.''
I, or you, especially our rabbinic students, can study, write, publish, as much as we can, but if we are not spending more time doing mitzvoth of chesed, our Torah and Talmud knowledge are for naught.
This is why each morning for Shacharit, when I don my tephillin, I place it first on my hand/arm and then on my head. And when I am done with tephila, I take the head piece off first, and then the hand/arm piece. The head tephillin , which represents wisdom, is never worn without the hand/arm tephillin, representing action. Wisdom is only worthwhile if accompanied by action.
Judaism is a religion, a way of life, of action. We can pray for peace and justice, but we are commanded to ''pursue'' [rodef] it. We as Jews do not just wait for acts of injustice or acts of war , or makloket, strife, between people, to come our way. We are to seek these arenas out and bring about a world of peace and justice.
Our time in Egypt and the continual reminding us of it, in our daily prayers, and not just at Passover, is for a spiritual reason.
Some TaNaK: Micah 7:8 : ''Rejoice not against me, O my enemy: when I fall, I shall arise; when I sit in darkness, the Lord will be a light to me.''
Our sages comment on this in the Midrash Tehillim :'' If I had not fallen, I would never have arisen, if I had not dwelled in darkness, He would never have been a light for me.'' Our time in Egypt, our personal times of misery, if we learn from them, and become better people and not bitter people, or vengeful people, make us spiritually awakened and able to see injustices done to others, and keeps us from doing injustice to others. Our time in the bondage of Mitzraim, and our escape, leads us to be kinder people, spiritually attached to God.
Some Torah: Ex. 2:23: ''And the sons of Israel sighed because of the bondage, and they cried out; and their cry for help because of their bondage rose up to God.'' God heard us because our cries for aid were not just any cries; they were cries and they were sighs, because of the heavy burden of bondage.
Our last bit of Talmud: Bavli Tractate Pirkei Avot 5:26: ''Rabbi Ben Heh-Heh used to say: According to the effort is the reward.'' No pain, no gain. We have suffered and chances are we will continue to do so. When we have the chance, the free will, let us be kind and loving to each other.
A d'var Torah follows.
Shavuah Tov!
Many Blessings,
Rabbi Arthur Segal
Hebrew College, Newton Centre, MA, USA
Via Shamash Org on-line class service
Jewish Renewal
Jewish Spiritual Renewal
Hilton Head Island, SC;Bluffton, SC, Savannah, GA
Rabbi Arthur Segal
Hebrew College, Newton Centre, MA, USA
Via Shamash Org on-line class service
Jewish Renewal
Jewish Spiritual Renewal
Hilton Head Island, SC;Bluffton, SC, Savannah, GA
"Tell Ol' Pharaoh Let My People Go"
In this Torah portion, in lines 6:06-6:08, God promises to redeem us from Egypt in four ways. These four ways are remembered in the four cups of wine that we drink at our Pesach (Passover) seders. Rabbi Bachya says: "I shall take you out," in reference to God removing us from slavery while in Egypt. The slavery ended in Tishrei, but we were not allowed to leave Egypt until Nissan six months later.
The Rabbi says: "I will rescue you," referring to God taking us out of Egypt and formally ending our bondage and sojourn in Mitzraim. He further states that "I shall redeem you," alluding to the splitting of the sea of reeds when God crushed Egyptian power totally. Lastly, when Rabbi Bachya says: "I shall take you," he speaks of the climax of the Exodus – the giving of the Torah at Mt. Sinai. God says He will give us a Heritage (06:08), which is more than a mere inheritance. It is a sacred possession to be continually passed to our children. In the Haamek D'var, this heritage is said to mean the land of Israel and our eternal deed to it. Others posit that this heritage is Torah. Most others say it means both.
Modern Jews are quite aware of the Torah's rituals and its cult of priests and sacrifice. The Talmudic Rabbis in 586 B.C.E., with no Temple while in Babylonian exile, took it upon themselves to reform and continually reevaluate, question, amend, and form Judaism out of the ashes of Hebraism. We have not abandoned our Heritage of Torah, but tightly hold on to its wonderful timeless principles.
We have a duty each day to be the best that we can be, and to develop redeeming qualities. We are in charge of our own daily redemption and Spiritual Renewal. There is a Midrash that says when we go to Olam Ha Ba, the world to come, we will not be asked "were you like Moses or David?" but "were you the best YOU?" We cannot use the excuse that we are in a society of moral decay or materialism and therefore find it hard to be a good modern Jew. Rabbi Hillel writes in the Mishna Pirkei Avot, Chapter 2:06: "In a place where there are no leaders, strive to be a leader." This was written during the Roman occupation of Judea circa 100 B.C. E.
If we wish, we can take ourselves out of the rat race – slaves to our schedules, credit card bills, big screen televisions, Blackberrys and email. If we wish, we can release and rescue ourselves from the subjugation of abusive or hypercritical people and acquaintances who vex our spirit. We can choose to spend time with those who are supportive of our lives and our interests and help us be the best we can be. We tend to spend the most time on those who appreciate us the least. We have within us the power to rescue ourselves from these uncomfortable situations.
If we will it, we can redeem ourselves forever from bad habits and self-destructive behaviors that keep us from reaching our potential. We can make a concerted effort to stop our loshan ha ra (gossiping, literally, the evil tongue) and petty jealousies that not only do not belong in any synagogue, but do not belong in our lives at all. We can successfully substitute positive behaviors if we deem it our will.
Lastly, we can take ourselves to Torah, Talmud and other spiritual texts of our people, and read the great principles they have set forth. We can try to emulate the characteristics of God, Who is our Creator. We can be kinder, more honest, more patient, and we can be more understanding. We can be better friends, better spouses, better parents, better Jews, and better people. We can decide to make Jewish study a regular part of our week, and eventually part of every day. We can decide to attend a spiritually God based synagogue more than we may have in the past. We can decide to light Shabbat candles and reflect on our Holy heritage. We can decide to take time out for rest and reflection.
Moses saw how our people could not understand him due to "their shortness of breath and hard work" (06:09). So take time out for reflection and Shabbat rest this year. Get to really know your family again. Get in touch with your best self again and finally develop that spiritual oneness with your personal God that will help you always.
Yasher Koach! (Go from strength to strength.)
Shabbat Shalom!
Rabbi Arthur Segal
Hebrew College, Newton Centre, MA, USA
Via Shamash Org on-line class service
Jewish Renewal
Jewish Spiritual Renewal
Hilton Head Island, SC;Bluffton, SC, Savannah, GA
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