RABBI ARTHUR SEGAL:JEWISH RENEWAL:JEWISH SPIRITUAL RENEWAL:TETZAVEH:NER TAMID:

 RABBI ARTHUR SEGAL:JEWISH RENEWAL:JEWISH SPIRITUAL RENEWAL:TETZAVEH:NER TAMID:

 

 

  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

 

 

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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