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RABBI ARTHUR SEGAL:JEWISH REWEWAL:JEWISH SPIRITUAL RENEWAL:GOOD EYE,MODEST SOUL
Jewish Spiritual Renewal:Shabbat 3/21/08:Torah,TaNaK,Talmud:Spiritual+Ethical Views
Shalom Chaverim v' Talmidim:
I trust you had a joyous Purim.
This Shabbat we read two Torah portions and end the Book of Exodus. So two d'vrai are below and I will try to keep the class shorter.
Rebbe Tzaddok HaCohen of Lublin once said: ''There's nothing in the world that people don't run after-- they climb tall mountains, they go down into the ocean depths, and try to find out what is below the ocean, they explore deserts and waste lands ... But the one thing they forget is to seek the Godliness within them. ''
In a class on Jewish Spiritual Renewal, I can quote Talmud, and Midrash, and Torah and TaNaK until Moshiac comes, and all of the lessons lead to the same conclusion. Chesed. Kindness . Ahavah. Love. Amends. Teshuvah. Forgiveness, getting along with one another, and certainly, stop playing the game of ''I am a better Jew than you''', or'' my rabbi is better than your rabbi'', or even worse, ''my minhag (my way of worship) is right, and yours is wrong.''
As Eleanor Roosevelt used to say, "small minds discuss people; average minds discuss events; great minds discuss ideas." Seek not only the Godliness inside us, but seek to love, even worship, the Godliness inside everyone we meet. When we harm another, when we talk badly about another, since we are all part of God, we are only harming ourselves.
We just celebrated Purim, another of many festivals in which we incorrectly celebrate as ''they tried to kill us, we won, let's eat.'' While the sages give us a myriad of spiritual reasons to celebrate these holidays, (Purim is to remind us that God is always in charge whether we see Him 'now' or not), our history is full of our own people doing more harm to us on an ongoing basis than any outsider, with few exceptions.
Today, the 17th of Adar is another Purim of sorts. But its not about an outsider -Amalek trying to destroy us. It is celebrating Rabbinic Judaism's win over an insider's death-wish. The event took place this very day in 75 BCE.
In the year 91 BCE, Alexander Yannai of the Hasmonean-Maccabee family succeeded his brother Yehuda Aristoblus to the throne of Judea. Neither was from the family of King David as our kings ought to have been. Alexander Yannai was a Hebraic king, a Sadducee in Greek, who virulently persecuted Talmudic Jewish Rabbis (Pharisees in Greek). At one point during his bloody reign, in 75 BCE, following a victory he scored on a battlefield, he invited all Talmudic Rabbinic scholars for a celebratory feast. During this feast he faked that he was slighted by one of the guests, which led him to execute all of the 900 Jewish Rabbinic Talmudic scholars in attendance and their wives and children.
A few of the sages managed to escape to the town of Sulukus in Syria. There, too, they encountered Hebraic enemies who murdered many of the exiled Jewish Talmudic Rabbinic sages. The handful of surviving Jewish Rabbinic Talmudic scholars went in to hiding, finding refuge in the home of an individual named Zevadai. On the night of the 17th of Adar in 75 BCE they escaped the hostile city of Sulukus.
Eventually these surviving scholars revived Judaism in Judea. Rabbinic Talmudic Judaism was always alive in its birth place, what is now Iraq and Persia. The date they escaped death was established as a day of celebration. It is today, March 13, 2009, on our secular calendar.
In the year 91 BCE, Alexander Yannai of the Hasmonean-Maccabee family succeeded his brother Yehuda Aristoblus to the throne of Judea. Neither was from the family of King David as our kings ought to have been. Alexander Yannai was a Hebraic king, a Sadducee in Greek, who virulently persecuted Talmudic Jewish Rabbis (Pharisees in Greek). At one point during his bloody reign, in 75 BCE, following a victory he scored on a battlefield, he invited all Talmudic Rabbinic scholars for a celebratory feast. During this feast he faked that he was slighted by one of the guests, which led him to execute all of the 900 Jewish Rabbinic Talmudic scholars in attendance and their wives and children.
A few of the sages managed to escape to the town of Sulukus in Syria. There, too, they encountered Hebraic enemies who murdered many of the exiled Jewish Talmudic Rabbinic sages. The handful of surviving Jewish Rabbinic Talmudic scholars went in to hiding, finding refuge in the home of an individual named Zevadai. On the night of the 17th of Adar in 75 BCE they escaped the hostile city of Sulukus.
Eventually these surviving scholars revived Judaism in Judea. Rabbinic Talmudic Judaism was always alive in its birth place, what is now Iraq and Persia. The date they escaped death was established as a day of celebration. It is today, March 13, 2009, on our secular calendar.
Why is this important to know? The main differences between Hebraism and Judaism are that Judaism believes in a universal God, is pluralistic and accepts Moses as the prophet for the Jews but accepts that other peoples have been given equal prophets and paths to God, by what ever name they call him, believes in an after life (Olam ha Ba), believes in not just the Five Books of Moses (as Hebraism does), but in the rest of the TaNaK and of course the Talmud and Midrash, and believes in prayer [not animal sacrifice and not in a Temple], nor in a Judaism that is place-bound, but is portable. Judaism also believes that the righteous of all religions go the same Olam ha Ba as Jews, and does not play " my Yahway or the highway.''
Now examine your beliefs today. If you believe in God, do you believe in One who is rooting for the Jews? Do you believe in a Judaism that needs a specific place to ''live.'' Do you poo-poo Olam ha Ba and even tell your non- Jewish friends, that Jews don't believe in one? Do you revel in the deeds of the Macabees, which the rabbis deplored so much that they didn't even want Hanukah celebrated and kept the Four Books of the Macabees out of our TaNaK, only for them to find their way into the Catholic 'old' Testament? If so, you have reverted back to Hebraism which our Rabbinic sages left behind in 586 BCE on the road to Babylon.
Do we really want to continue to have this long- winded moniker or definition by the Maharal of Prague (Rabbi Yehuda Loewe, 1526 - 1609) continue to plague us?
"Being stiff-necked is one of the bad qualities that Jews have. Practically speaking, that means that Jews refuse to accept criticism and will not listen to corrective advise. Consequently Jews are very resistant to change and will not accept the advise of others. Further, the Rabbis say (Talmud Bavli Tractate Beitzah 25b) that they are the most aggressive and pushy people."
In seeking Jewish Spiritual Renewal we need to accept that our education is deficient and many of those teaching us are deficient. And once we admit that, half the battle is won.
Some Talmud: "The highest form of wisdom is kindness.'' (Talmud Bavli Tractate Beracoth 17a). One can know all of the Judaism taught to him in a four-walled Rabbinic school's four year program, but if he is cruel with his tongue, and doesn't visit the widows and the elderly, he is not wise enough to be called a rabbi, nor even the Shamash in a synagogue.
Some TaNaK: Psalms 145:7 : "The Lord is righteous [Tzaddik] in all His ways, and acts with loving-kindness [ ahavath chesed] in all His deeds." This is what it would be nice if we emulated in our dealings with others.
Some more Talmud: ''No man ever said to his fellow: 'There is insufficient space for me to lodge overnight in Jerusalem'" (Talmud Bavli Tractate Pirkei Avot 5:5). Pesach is coming. Fill your home. So what if you need to water-down the soup. When the Talmud teaches ''let all who are hungry, let them come and eat,'' the hunger doesn't always mean food. It can mean spiritual hunger and hunger for fellowship as well.
In my book, The Handbook to Jewish Renewal: A Path of Transformation for the Modern Jew (Amazon.com or www.JewishSpiritualRenewal.org , I speak of spiritually awakened folks seeing the world with unlimited 'pie..' If they have a slice, they will share. If they see someone else with a slice, they are happy for them. Unspiritual people, see the world with limited 'pie..' They are constantly striving for their slice of pie and when they get it, they want more pie. And they covet the pie of others.
The Talmud Bavli in Tractate Pirkei Avot 5:5 says similar. The righteous man says:"What is mine is YOURS and what is yours is yours." The unrighteous man says : ''What is mine is MINE and what is yours is MINE.'' He is like the local pizza pie man who has a monopoly on the town's pizza business and has been lazy, not working on weekends, not making deliveries, and then gets jealous and bad mouths the new pizza man who works late, makes a better pie, charges less, makes deliveries, works on weekends, gives pizzas to charities, and even writes books on pizza.
Still sticking with the same part of the Talmud, Avot 5:19, we are told to emulate Abraham. He had :a good eye (not jealous of anyone, but rather happy for the next person's good fortune); a humble spirit (devoid of arrogance, and befriending all, as in his treat guests in his tent [hachnasat orchim]); and a modest soul (not demanding a wide range of earthly pleasures which lead to immorality).
A few days ago, one of our Talmidah called to tell me of the man on the horse with the boy walking behind him. People yelled "How dare you ride on the horse, and make that poor little boy walk!!'' So he dismounted and let the boy ride and he walked. People yelled at the boy; "How dare you ride on the horse, and make the old man walk behind you!!"
A similar story is told of one of our European Rabbis. Rabbi Levi Yitzchak of Berdichev (19th century) stood with a smile upon his face as he watched the repairman, while wearing a tallit and tefillin, applying grease to the wagon wheels.
A Jew nearby remarked to the rabbi critically: "Look at that one, smearing his dirty wheels while wearing tallit and tefillin." Rabbi Levi Yitzchak, however, raised his head Heavenward and remarked: "Master of the Universe, look at this devout Jew! Even when he smears his wheels, he wears his tallit and tefillin."
If we are on a spiritual path, many will try to derail us. Ignore them.
It is better not to judge anyone, but if we have to in some rare occasion , judge them favorably with chesed and ahavah.
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
Via Shamash Org on-line class service
Jewish Renewal
Jewish Spiritual Renewal
Hilton Head Island, SC;Bluffton, SC, Savannah, GA
A Short Snap Shot of Rabbi Arthur Segal
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 Click to Order | A SPIRITUAL AND ETHICAL COMPENDIUM TO THE TORAH AND TALMUD Rabbi Dr. Arthur Segal dissects each of the Torah's weekly sections (parashot) using the Talmud and other rabbinic texts to show the true Jewish take on what the Torah is trying to teach us. This companion to The Handbook to Jewish Spiritual Renewal: A Path of Transformation for the Modern Jew brings the Torah alive with daily relevance to the Modern Jew. All of the Torah can be summed up in one word: Chesed. It means kindness. The Talmud teaches that the Torah is about loving our fellow man and that we are to go and study. The rest is commentary. This compendium clarifies the commentary and allows one to study Torah and Talmud to learn the Judaic ideals of love, forgiveness, kindness, mercy and peace. A must read for all Jews and deserves a place in every Jewish home. Price: $24.99 493 Pages Published by: Amazon's BookSurge |
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