RABBI ARTHUR SEGAL:JEWISH RENEWAL:JEWISH SPIRITUAL RENEWAL:OMER:PIRKEI AVOT

RABBI ARTHUR SEGAL:JEWISH RENEWAL:JEWISH SPIRITUAL RENEWAL:OMER:PIRKEI AVOT

 

Jewish Spiritual Renewal:Shabbat 4/18/09:Torah,TaNaK,Talmud: Ethical and Spiritual View

 

Chag Someach and Shalom my beloved Chaverim v' Talmidim:

 

While this class is for Shabbat 4/19/09's parasha, I am writing this on the first day of Chol ha Moed, the intermediary days of Passover, which do not have a Shabbat-designation as the first two and the last two do.

 

And today is the first day of the counting of the Omer in which we count up 49 days (May 28th, 2009), when Shavuot arrives that evening. And Shavuot is the time we celebrate the receiving of the Torah. Both the counting of the Omer and Shavuot have harvest significance in the Torah, and in Hebraism, and our rabbis put a Judaic and spiritual spin on them in the Talmud. More details are in "A Spiritual and Ethical Compendium to the Torah and Talmud" at www.JewishSpiritualRenewal.org .

 

Some Talmud: Bavli Beracoth 61b:  "The Tzaddikim are governed by their Yetzer Tov, the wicked are governed by their Yetzer Ha Ra." (one's good or evil inclination). As I hope you have learned from these classes and from your seders, is that the rabbis in the Talmud, while they indeed want us to remember what God did for us in bringing us out of Egypt, they are equally as concerned about using the Passover week and the days before and after, in teaching us to remove the Chumetz, the yetzer ha ra, the puffy ego, from our lives, and to learn to be humble like a simple piece of Matzah.

 

In fact the rabbis make the Passover holiday into another of one our many spiritual ones as we see over and over. If you celebrated it as "They tried to kill us, we won, let's eat,'' as of this writing, you still have about a week to get it right.

 

Some Talmud: Yerushalmi Tractate Pesachim 10:1    ''R' Levi said, "One who eats matzah on the eve of Pesach, is like one who has relations with his fiancé in his father-in-laws house; and one who has relations with his fiancé in his father-in-laws house is lashed.''

  We refrain from eating matzoh so that we don't spoil our appetite for the matzoh that we will eat at the Seder. When we are at the Seder and eat the matzoh, the flavor is of the profound intimacy with God! Eating matzoh before the Seder would spoil "the moment," because our seder should feel like our wedding night with God! We will see another analogy of marriage of God, Torah and us when we come to Shavuot seven weeks from now.

 

Our rabbis took a Hebraic harvest ritual, the counting of the Omer, and have us use those 49 days to refine ourselves spiritually. For those who have not read, or have not worked with "The Handbook to Jewish Spiritual Renewal: A Path of Transformation for the Modern Jew," available at www.JewishSpiritualRenewal.org, Passover and Omer time is an excellent time to begin.

 

In fact during the Omer counting time, we read the full 6 chapters of Pirkei Avot, Ethics of our Fathers. This is a complete Tractate of the Mishna. Because it has no Gemorah, discussion, its not officially, Talmud, but still considered such. It is part of the Order of  Neziken [damages]. You can study the entire Tractate here for free: Click here: Ethics of the Fathers: Chapter One - Ethics of the Fathers: Translated Text . And when you are done, if you have never studied Talmud before, you can have a siyyum, a celebration upon completing a Tractate of Talmud or a holy text.

 

Some Midrash:Tanchuma, Emor 14 : '' In the Messianic Era, offerings that are brought to atone for sin will no longer be required. Thanksgiving offerings, however, will continue to be brought even then.  This is hinted to in the words, "He shall bring," (Lev 7:12) which essentially reiterates the words, "If he brings," which precede them. The reason the other offerings won't have a place any longer is because the Almighty will remove the Evil Inclination from within our midst and sin will no longer be our constant companion.–[ Sifsei Kohen ]

Some Rabbis suggest that the very fact that we will no longer be under the influence of the Evil Inclination and challenged to disobey the will of the Almighty, will itself be a reason to bring a thanksgiving offering. The negation of the need for the other offerings is precisely the cause for this one. And the Thanksgiving offering (Gomel) will only be a grain offering. Keep this teaching in mind, when those tell you they wish to destroy the Dome of the Rock, build a new Temple, have a Priesthood with animal sacrifices and start World War Three in the process.RABBI ARTHUR SEGAL: BERACHA HA GOMEL: JEWISH PRAYER OF THANKSGIVING

Some more Talmud: So since today (of my writing), is the first day of the Omer, let us look at the first verse in Pirkei Avot, Ethics of our Fathers. ''1:1. Moses received the Torah from Sinai and gave it over to Joshua. Joshua gave it over to the Elders, the Elders to the Prophets, and the Prophets gave it over to the Men of the Great Assembly. They [the Men of the Great Assembly] would always say these three things: Be cautious in judgement. Establish many talmidim. And make a safety fence around the Torah.''

Let us dissect this. While there is a Midrash that says the Moses spent his days teaching both the written Torah and the Oral Torah (Mishna), to his brother Aaron, and to all the Israelites we can see here that the rabbis are establishing themselves as the leaders of Judaism, and are abandoning the Kingship and Priesthood of Hebraism. While they have honor and prayers to Kings David and Solomon, and to Aaron, and study the rules of kingship, the Temple service, and the Cohanim and Levites, they make it clear its academic.

Note the transmission. Moses to Joshua. No Aaron or his priestly sons. And also, no transmission to Moses' own kin, the Levites. Note also, that when the verse says Torah, the rabbis mean Oral Torah. Joshua gave it to the Elders. Who were Elders? The Judges...Samuel, Samson, etc. This was then transmitted to the Prophets. And they transmitted it to the Men of the Great Assembly. The assembly became the basic of Rabbinic transmission and ordination, semikah.

So right in the first verse Rabbinic Talmudic Judaism is established. The Oral Law, aka the Talmud, is given the same weight as the written Torah. Both were allegedly given to Moses at the same time on Sinai.

Further, the rabbis give themselves three major tasks. The first is rendering judgements. They are not just talking about torts or criminal cases. They are talking about what we have come to call Halakah, or Jewish law. So much of what we as Jews do, is not Hebraic or from the written Torah at all. I challenge you to find the commandment to light two Shabbat candles, or holiday candles, or say any beracha before you eat, or even to pray in the Five Books of Moses. Further I challenge you to celebrate any holiday, even Shabbat, as commanded in the written Torah. If we celebrated Pesach as Hebrews how many of our spouses would be yelling for us to get the darn blood off the front doors of our houses? Lol.

They give themselves the right to establish 'many' talmidim. Talmidim are not congregants. The concept of rabbis, and payments, and salaries,  and congregations, stems from liberal movements borrowing from their non-Jewish neighbors. Rabbis were not involved in the business of  running synagogues or even leading prayers. Our job was and is to study and teach others to become rabbis. Frankly, until a rabbi confers semikah onto one or more of his talmidim, he has not fulfilled his role as a rabbi.

Last the rabbis give themselves the right, if not the command , to make a fence around Torah. And here they mean the written Torah. So this is where the Talmud, in trying to keep us from breaking Shabbat, and carrying outside our homes, (which is a written Torah capital offense), and allow us to leave our homes to go to a synagogue or to visit friends for a Shabbat meal, establish an Eruv, in a sense making the entire neighborhood one legal residence. (Eruv means mixture).

The rabbis are abhorred by the 36 capital crimes in the written Torah. They cannot abolish the laws, but they make the prosecution of death sentences so impossible, that they state that ''any court who puts to death one person in seven years, is a bloody court.'' This is why Israel which follows Judaic law, executed only one person in 61 years (Eichmann the Nazi) and Texas, following Hebraic law, executes routinely, even those who are mentally ill, and  those who even the Torah would classify as children.

In the last example of building a fence around the Torah, they take the simple kosher laws in the Hebrew Five Books of Moses, and make a cottage industry for them, which in today's world is a billion dollar industry, and in some corners, full of corruption and criminal acts.

So study a bit of Jewish ethics with us over the next seven weeks.

Have a sweet and spiritual Pesach.

Rabbi Arthur Segal
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

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 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 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.  OR CLICK ON THE IMAGES BELOW. 

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

 

Click to Order	THE HANDBOOK TO JEWISH SPIRITUAL RENEWAL: A Path of Transformation for the Modern Jew Rabbi Dr. Arthur Segal distills millennia of sage advice into a step-by-step process to reclaim your Judaism and your spirituality in a concise easy-to-read and easy-to-follow manner. If you find yourself wishing for the strength to sustain you through the ups and downs of life; if you want to learn how to live life to its fullest without angst, worry, low self-esteem or fear; or if you wish that your relationships with family, friends and co-workers were based on love and service and free of ego, arguments, resentments and feelings of being unloved...this book is for you. Price: $19.99 254 Pages Published by: Amazon's BookSurge
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: $24.99 494 Pages Published by: Amazon's BookSurge

Welcome to Rabbi Arthur Segal's Jewish Spiritual Renewal bookstore. We invite you to create an account with us if you like, or shop as a guest. Either way, your shopping cart will be active until you leave the store.

You can purchase each book individually, but if you purchase them together as a set with the Tzadakkah Bundle, I will donate a portion of the sales price in your name to a tzadakkah of your choice, such as your synagogue.

Simply provide the donation information in the "Special Instructions" box during checkout. When doing so, please include the following:

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(001) The Handbook to Jewish Spiritual Renewal

In The Handbook to Jewish Spiritual Renewal: A Path of Transformation for the Modern Jew, Rabbi Dr. Arthur Segal distills millennia of sage advice to reclaim your Judaism and your spirituality.

• Price : $19.99

(002) A Spiritual and Ethical Compendium to the Torah and Talmud

A Spiritual and Ethical Compendium to the Torah and Talmud 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.

• Price : $24.99

(003) Tzadakkah Bundle

The Handbook to Jewish Spiritual Renewal and A Spiritual and Ethical Compendium to the Torah and Talmud. Purchase both books as a set, and I will donate a portion of the sales price in your name to the tzadakkah of your choice. -- Rabbi Segal

• Price : $44.98

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