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Jewish Spiritual Renewal Shabbat 5/30/09 Torah,Talmud,TaNaK,Ethics,Spiritual View
Shalom beloved Chaverim v' Talmidim:
This week's class is for the Shabbat of 5/29-30/2009 which is the first and second days of Shavuot. The holiday starts on Thursday evening. Our class has expanded to over 100 local email participants. For those in driving range of Hilton Head Island, SC, an invitation to study, and have a dairy meal on Thursday 5/28 is offered. If your Temple is having Shavuot services please attend them first, to show support, and then come over.
Detailed information as well as Talmud Yerushalmi's take on Moses, Sinai, the Golden Calf and the breaking of the Tablets, which is different than most of you have heard before is found here: RABBI ARTHUR SEGAL:Joy of Judaism:Jewish Spirituality:Tikun Leil Shavuot:RUTH .
There are special Torah and TaNaK readings on Shavuot, including Ruth, and a d'var on them is below. We will continue with the 2nd parasha in Ba Midbar, Numbers, next Shabbat.
We are studying the 6th and last chapter of Talmud Bavli Tractate Pirkei Avot this week, and when you are done, you will have finished your first Tractate of Talmud!! For many, this will be a milestone in your lives. While becoming a bar or bat mitzvah in Judaism is something which happens automatically when a boy turns 13 or a girl 12, not requiring the modern fan fare that we see in Jewish houses of worship, (the term means that a 13 year old boy or 12 year old girl is now obligated for the mitzvoth, and no longer are his or her parents responsible for his or her miss-deeds), studying Talmud is a rabbinic commandment. Hence finishing your first Tractate of Talmud has more import than your bar or bat mitzvah ceremony and party. The party that we have is called a siyyum, and we will have this for you on the 28th.
Again, you can access Pirkei Avot at
Some Talmud: Bavli Tractate Shabbat 86b: ''On the 1st of Sivan, (Sunday May 24th this year) Moses did not say anything at all to the Jewish people, since they were weary from the journey. ''
Some Torah: Ex. 19:1-2 :In the third month of the Children of Israel's exodus from the land of Egypt, on that day, they arrived in the Sinai desert. They journeyed from Rephidim and came to the Sinai desert, and camped in the desert; and Israel camped there, before the mountain.
When one reads the Hebrew one will see use of the singular vayichan "and he camped" rather than vayachanu, "and they camped". Rashi states: ''They camped as a single man, with a single heart, unlike all other encampments, which were accompanied by dissent and dispute."
Some more Talmud: Bavli Tractate Beracoth 58a "Just as no two are alike in their features, no two are alike in mind and character." The Talmud is discussing the traits of man. Yet, we have been taught that in spite of our differences we can live together in shalom.
When we count the encampments of the Israelites, there were 42 of them in Ba Midbar as we will read over the next weeks. And as we will read there were 40 years of strife and makloket.
Some more Talmud Bavli Tractate Yoma 28b: Before Sinai, the Torah was studied and observed by our ancestors: Shem, the son of Noah, headed an academy for Torah study together with his great-grandson, Eber, at which Abraham, Isaac and Jacob studied; the three Patriarchs also established yeshivot of their own. And all through the Egyptian exile, the tribe of Levi (who were not enslaved) occupied themselves with the study of Torah.
Now while the idea of Torah being known before Moses received it on Sinai, can be confusing to some, the point being made is that our patriarchs and the heads of the tribe of Levi, each taught it in their own way. If Torah is from the Infinite, no human mind can grasp all of it. Hence all of us, seek God and understand Torah in our own way.
At Sinai, we were one nation, in awe of God. But soon after receiving Torah, again, variations happened. Whether it be Aaron and his priests ,[ the leaders of Hebraism], Moses who is privy to the Oral Law who passes it to Joshua which eventually becomes Talmudic Rabbinic Judaism, or the rest of Israel, each will make choices. Everyone then and now, takes Torah and applies it to their own life with the intelligence God has given him or her. Since none of us are equal in that regard, we all will have a different comprehension of Torah and a different path to God.
This is why the Amidah, written in the Talmud, does not say 'the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob,' but rather the "God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob.' (and some now add the 4 matriarchs, and those against the continued use of slavery, add the two 'maid servants' of Rachel and Leah as well.)
Each patriarch, and as we find in the Talmud, each rabbi, taught Judaism, his own way. Some taught one-on-one, some taught in groups, just as now some sects prefer to teach their rabbis in colleges in classrooms, and others prefer to teach one-on-one. We are all Jews, we all have Rabbis taught in various manners, with various views. We may disagree, but we need to try to be at peace as a people, 'camped as a single person, with a single heart' with ahavath Israel, love of one's fellow Jew towards one another.
So to Chapter 6 of Pirkei Avot, and I will keep it short: 6:3: '' One who learns from his fellow a single chapter, or a single law, or a single verse, or a single word, or even a single letter , he must treat him with respect. '' While this obviously means our rabbis, be they pulpit rabbis or academic rabbis, and while we have learned from the lessons of Lag B'Omer, that rabbis all need to respect one another, and not play the game of 'my studies, my semicah is better than yours,' if we think for a moment, what Jew has not helped every one of learn a single letter? The usher who hands you a sidur, the shul secretary who prints the bulletin, the editor of the newsletter, the gabbai, the shamash, the fellow next to you at Temple who helps you when you lost your place, ....is there anyone from whom we have not learned at least one letter? In my life no. And for those of you I haven't met, given time, you will teach me, because the Talmud also says, a wise person learns from everyone. So, in the words of the sages and Aretha, show a little 'Respect' to everyone, 'Try a Little Tenderness', to all, says Otis, and 'All You Need is Love" says John, Paul, George and Ringo.
Shabbat Shalom and Chag Someach:
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
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 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 |
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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: $24.99 494 Pages Published by: Amazon's BookSurge |
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(001) The Handbook to Jewish Spiritual Renewal
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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.
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(002) A Spiritual and Ethical Compendium to the Torah and Talmud
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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
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(003) Tzadakkah Bundle
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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
