RABBI ARTHUR SEGAL:JEWISH RENEWAL:JEWISH SPIRITUAL RENEWAL:PURIM:ZACHOR:AMALEK

RABBI ARTHUR SEGAL: JEWISH RENEWAL: JEWISH SPIRITUAL RENEWAL: PURIM: ZACHOR: AMALEK

 

 Short Snap Shot of Rabbi Arthur Segal

Rabbi Arthur Segal

United States

I am available for Shabbatons, and can speak on various aspects of Jewish history, (from the ancient past to modern day, and can be area specific, if a group wishes), Spirituality, developing a Personal Relationship with God, on the Jews of India and other 'exotic' communities, and on Talmud, Torah and other great texts. We have visited these exotic Jewish communities first hand. I adhere to the Mishna's edict of not using the Torah as a ''spade'', and do not ask for honorariums for my services. I am post-denominational and renewal and spiritually centered. 

 

 I am available to perform Jewish weddings, and Jewish inter-marriages (Jewish intermarriage, Jewish inter-marriage, Jewish interfaith weddings) and other life cycle events, ONLY IF, it is  a destination wedding and the local full time pulpit rabbi is unavailable, or if there is no local full time pulpit rabbi,  or it is in my local area and all of the full time pulpit rabbis are unavailable.

 

 My post-doc studies in Psych from Penn helps tremendously when I do Rabbinic counseling. My phone number and address will be made available once I am sure of one's sincerity in working with me.

 

Rabbi Segal is the author of three books and many articles on Torah, Talmud and TaNaK and Jewish history. His books are : The Handbook to Jewish Spiritual Renewal: A Path of Transformation for the Modern Jew, A Spiritual and Ethical Compendium to the Torah and Talmud, and  Spiritual Wisdom of our Talmudic Sages. The first two are published by Amazon through their publishing house, BookSurge.

 

For information on how to purchase these, please contact RabbiSegal@JewishSpiritualRenewal.net and visit WWW.JewishSpiritualRenewal.Net.  

 Todah Rabah and Shalom v' Beracoth. Rabbi Arthur Segal ,( Dr. Arthur Segal )RabbiASegal@aol.com . 

Click Image for More Information	THE HANDBOOK TO JEWISH SPIRITUAL RENEWAL: A Path of Transformation for the Modern Jew
Click Image for More Information	A SPIRITUAL AND ETHICAL COMPENDIUM TO THE TORAH AND TALMUD

RABBI ARTHUR SEGAL

JEWISH SPIRITUAL RENEWAL

JEWISH RENEWAL

HILTON HEAD ISLAND, SC

BLUFFTON, SC

SAVANNAH, GA

WWW.JEWISHSPIRITUALRENEWAL.ORG

WWW.JEWISHSPIRITUALRENEWAL.NET

WWW.JEWISHRENEWAL.INFO

Jewish Spiritual Renewal: Shabbat 3/7/09: Ethical + Spiritual Torah, TaNaK, + Talmud

 

Shalom Talmidim v' Chaverim:

 

Hi. I hope your week was good and that your joy and happiness with Adar ,now here, has begun to increase.

 

The Shabbat of the weekend of March 7, 2009, is called Zachor. It is one of the 4 Special Shabbats leading up to Passover. It is called Zachor as the word Zachor means to Remember.

 

What are we to remember?

 

Some Torah from a few months in the future: Deut. 25:17-18: "Remember what Amalek did to you as you were leaving Egypt. He happened upon you, and struck the weakest people trailing behind, when you were exhausted. And he did not fear God. "

 

Some Torah, from a few weeks ago, Ex. 17: 14-15 "...erase the memory of Amalek...God maintains a war against Amalek from generation to generation."

 

Amalek was the tribe that for no apparent reason did a sneak-attack on the Israelites when they were in the desert, only a short time after receiving Torah. They didn't come at us from the front, attacking the men, our soldiers. They attacked our helpless children and their mothers and our elderly in the rear of our camp.

 

Some Midrash: The battle happened at a place called Rephidim. Our sages say that this word is a contraction of the Hebrew words for "they loosened their grip on Torah....Rafu yedeihem" When we Jews are united, putting aside labeling sectarian differences of minhag,  stop pointing out differences in ways of worshipping, stop calling each other 'lesser Jews' or our rabbis 'non-rabbis,' we are less vulnerable to attack, both spiritually and physically.

 

Some more Midrash: When Esau was getting old, he called in his grandson Amalek and said: "I tried to kill Jacob but was unable. Now I am entrusting you and your descendents with the important mission of annihilating Jacob's descendents -- the Jewish people. Carry out this deed for me. Be relentless and do not show mercy."

 

Some TaNaK from this Shabbat's Haftarah: One Samuel 15:14-27: Summary: When God appointed Saul to become king over Israel, He commanded Saul to kill all of the Amaleks including their children, women, and livestock. Saul spared their king and the choice livestock. The king was Agag a direct descendent of Amalek. God was not happy and instructed his Judge-Prophet Samuel to fix matters. Samuel killed Agag, and Saul lost his crown eventually to King David.

 

So, why now? Why are we to zachor, remember, Amalek now? Because this Shabbat is the Sabbath before Purim.

 

Some TaNaK: Esther 3:1:''.....King Ahasuerus promoted Haman, the son of Hammedatha the Agagite...''

 

Yep, mean old Haman (boo boo!!) was an Amalek.

 

Amalek did not fear God (Deut 25:18). Neither did Haman. When basic morality is denied, when God is denied, when Torah and our Teachings are denied,  man can justify anything as 'good and just.' He can justify gossip because ''I am trying to tell you something bad about someone you really need to know about.'' He can justify theft because "I need the money more than the IRS does." And eventually he can justify putting people in ovens and using their fat as soap because "they were defiling our pure race.''

 

A bit of Talmud: Bavli Tractate Megillah 6b:   "Germamia are the descendents of Amalek.'' Some trivia.

 

As Jews we are to remember that we are one people. Amalek is not just outside of us. We can become Amalek when we forget Ahavath Israel, the love of our fellow Jews, and back stab each other, no differently in God's eyes, as when Amalek attacked us in the back.

 

From our Rabbis: ''At every moment, your Creator must decide, "Should I put up once again with this little creature's imperfections and blunders, or is it time to measure things by the scale?" Then He looks at the scale you use to measure others. And with that same measure, He measures you. ''

 

Some Talmud: Bavli Tractate Megillah 7a-b: '' A person should drink on Purim until the point where they can't tell the difference between "Blessed is Mordechai" and "Cursed is Haman.'' ''   But the Talmud does not stop here. This first pusuk we always hear, the duty to get plastered  on Purim. But it is tempered. 

 

The passage continues : ''Rabah and Rabbi Zera joined together in a Purim feast. They became drunk from too much wine, and Rabah arose and cut Rabbi Zera's throat.

On the next day Rabah prayed on Rabbi Zera's behalf and revived him.. The next year, Rabah said, "Will your honor come and we will have the Purim feast together?"

"A miracle does not take place on every occasion," a suspicious Rabbi Zera replied and refused the invitation.''

If a drunk rabbi can slit your throat, imagine what the average Jew will do when drunk, the Talmud alludes.

 

Some Torah from last Shabbat: Ex. 25:8:  "They shall make for Me a sanctuary, and I will dwell amidst them"  The Torah doesn't tell us that God lives inside the Mishkan, or what would be eventually the Temple in Jerusalem. The pusuk says that God "will dwell within them" , within each and every one of us. God doesn't live ''out there.'' He lives in our hearts. And we have a moment by moment choice. We can access our Yetzer Tov and let Him dwell within us and listen to His wise counsel, or we can access our Yetzer ha Ra, our evil inclination, ignore God, and treat Jews that we do not like, or that don't belong to our clique, or that don't belong to our sect, the way Amalek treated all of us.

 

Remember lashon ha ra or embarrassing someone, is equivalent to murder, according to our Talmud, as I have taught you in lessons before.

 

From Schneur Zalman of Liadi : " This is what man is all about; this is the purpose of his creation and of the creation of all the worlds, supernal and lowly - to make for God a dwelling in the physical world ..''

Some Spiritual Thoughts: We all have character defects. Some of us try to work on them daily with God's aid. Others do not. For a long time I did not, and while I do now, I have a long way to go.  When you observe someone's faults, even if they are glaring, even if if be someone (God forbid), you perceive to be a nemesis, do not say a word to them or anyone else about what you have found wrong.  Rather, find something wonderful and marvelous in that person! Maybe it is something no one ever bothers to bring up. Talk about the good in the person. Talk about the spark of God in that person.

 

In very little time, in your eye, you will have created a new image of that person, and the spark of God inside of you will grow with wonderment as you learn to live at peace with your fellows, and 'erase the Amalek'  from your hearts and souls.

Shavuah Tov,

Rabbi Arthur Segal
Via Shamash Org on-line class service
Jewish Renewal
Jewish Spiritual Renewal
Hilton Head Island, SC; Bluffton, SC, Savannah, GA

Parasha Tetzaveh: Exodus 27:20-30:10

Rabbi Arthur Segal
Via Shamash Org on-line class service
Jewish Renewal
Jewish Spiritual Renewal
Hilton Head Island, SC;Bluffton, SC, Savannah, GA

 "Turn On Your Love Light and Let it Shine"

At a first reading, especially to the Torah neophyte, this portion seems so boring and detailed – unless you are a haberdasher. This sedrah (portion) articulates the intricate design of our high priest's garments, as well as their inauguration ritual. Why then should we as modern Jews read it? We have no high priests today, you might correctly state.

This portion has many subtle hints and clues into a meaning that goes far beyond the Cohan's inseam measurements. The name of Moses is not mentioned at all in the parasha. There is no definition of what a priest is to our people. And certainly, when we imagine our priests in these garments made of eight vestments including a breast plate (which is our equivalent of a crystal ball) and a head piece that would give anyone a headache, we might wonder how in the world were they able to wear this outfit in the hot desert?

Judaism, from the desert of Sinai, in our two Temples, and into the Talmudic and rabbinic eras, has always allowed each and every one of us to be informed, invested and involved in every aspect of our religious, spiritual and daily lives. We do not have priests, like the Egyptians or other cultures of the times, hidden from us like the Wizard of Oz behind a thick curtain. Our priests and their rituals are not veiled from us. We are told every detail of their vestments and rites, and it is we who participate in their "investment" ceremony.

Why isn't Moses mentioned in this Torah portion? The Zohar says that he made a deal with God, after the sin of the Golden Calf, that if God forgave this misdeed and did not punish His people, Moses would allow himself to be erased from the entire Torah. God just took Moses out of this one parasha, the Zohar states. This entire portion deals with Aaron and his sons. No reason is given for this choice for our priestly family. Why wasn't Moses chosen?

The Maharal (Rabbi Yehudah Loewe of sixteenth-century Prague, credited for the folk tale about making the Golem, the Jewish Frankenstein monster) writes that Moses' speech impediment was the reason. But he questions whether this limitation was physical or spiritual. In his Gevurot Ha Shem (page 112), the Maharal explains that speech is the act that makes us human, that separates us from the animals. Speech makes us nefesh chaia, a living soul.

Moses' limitation was not that he could not speak, but that he had an abundance of speech, more so than any other human. He spoke with God. Moses existed on a different plane. He was the only one who saw God "face to face."

The end of this parasha describes the incense ritual. It is performed in secret. The Talmud Bavli, in Tractate Yoma, daf 44A, teaches that K'toret (the incense) brings atonement for Loshan Ha Ra – slander and gossip. "Let something performed in secret atone for something done in secret," says Rabbi Yishmael.

 Moses could not atone for loshan ha ra because he did none. Moses did not misuse his speech. Aaron as we will see in the Torah later on, did do gossip. Aaron was not perfect. Aaron was not "saintly." Aaron did not see God face to face. Aaron was a people person. Aaron went among the people in camp making peace with everyone. Moses was on-high. Aaron was right to be our priest. He was one of us.

Where are our priests today? Our Torah is decorated like our priests were. It has the breastplate, it has the headpiece that fits over the rollers, it has the pomegranates and the bells. Our Torah is garbed in a wonderful tunic like our Cohan's ephod. Our friends at the local cathedral have the robes, bells and smells today. We get our "light" and answers to life's questions no longer from the priestly Urim and Tumin, the aforementioned crystal ball of a breastplate, but from study of Torah and our other great rabbinic texts that followed over the past millennia. Our incense is used at havdallah at the end of Shabbat to remind us of our Sabbath's sweetness throughout the coming week.

And what of our rabbis? Our rabbis are from ourselves. They are human, not divine. But they are a reminder to us of our "glory and splendor" (Ex. 28:02). They are not on our bimah for our amusement. They are not to be objects of ridicule, loshan ha ra or humiliation. Because to treat our rabbis disrespectfully is to treat ourselves and our traditions with dishonor. Rabbinic Judaism saved Judaism via the Talmud. (Please see the previous d'var on portability).

Our rabbis fought with their lives to keep Judaism alive. The Romans tortured Rabbi Akiva and nine others for teaching Torah and Talmud. Our rabbis were forced into rigged debates (Disputations) with the Church elders during the Middle Ages and then killed. If it were not for rabbinic Talmudic Judaism, we would be like the Karaites today, who take every word of the Torah literally, without debate or explanation.

Our rabbis instituted the calendar so we no longer have to sight the new moon and determine our months, never knowing our holidays except a few days in advance. The Karaites today still have moon sightings. If it is a cloudy night, their month cannot begin anew. If it was not for the rabbis we could not send out invitations for Pesach seders. And as modern Jews, if it was not for our rabbis, who gave us a way out of ghetto mentality a century and half ago, we would not be able to grow in Jewish Spiritual Renewal.

Our rabbis struggle daily with ways to keep Judaism alive in the third millennia.. They are not here to amuse us and coddle us. They are here to make us think and explore. They are not to make us comfortable and let us remain in one place. We do not hire rabbis to tell us what we want to hear. We hire rabbis to help us expand our views. Growth and questioning are sometimes discomforting. Rabbis are not our priests, but neither are they our playmates, to be disrespected, called mockingly by their first names, or unappreciated for all of the behind the scenes work that they do for our synagogues, communities, families and our souls.

Last, the ancient priesthood is embodied in each and every one of us. We no longer bring our cattle to the Temple for sacrifice. Our service of the heart, our prayers, which we do individually, replaces this rite. We are a "kingdom of priests." We are not better than others. We are not chosen, we choose. We choose to be a light unto the other nations and unto ourselves, our families, and friends.

 The Ner Tamid, the eternal lamp, commanded to us in the first verse of this parasha (Ex. 27:20), burns in each one of our hearts. It is our job, to quote Jerry Garcia of the Grateful Dead, to "turn on your love light, and let it shine!"

Shabbat Shalom:

Rabbi Arthur Segal
Via Shamash Org on-line class service
Jewish Renewal
Jewish Spiritual Renewal
Hilton Head Island, SC;Bluffton, SC, Savannah, GA

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