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RABBI ARTHUR SEGAL:JEWISH SPIRITUAL RENEWAL:JEWISH RENEWAL:MOSES:TABLETS:
Shalom:
Today, is the 42 day of the Omer, Wednesday May 20, 2009. On Thursday Evening May 28th, when nightfall arrives, the 49th day of the Omer will end and the Holiday of Shavuot will begin. Since Talmudically Shavuot celebrates God's giving and our receiving of the Torah on Sinai, it has become a tradition for Jews to study all night long study.
For those within the Hilton Head Island area of SC, please attend your Temple's confirmation ceremonies, (we have no traditional synagogues at this time), if they are having them, and then please come an enjoy a traditional dairy meal and study. Email RabbiASegal@aol.com to rsvp. Our study will be spiritual and ethical. The Tikun Leil Shavuot ("Rectification for Shavuot Night") consists of excerpts from the beginning and end of each of the 24 books of TaNaK (including the reading in full of several key sections such as the account of the days of creation, The Exodus, the giving of the Ten Commandments and the Shema) and the 63 chapters of Mishnah. This is followed by the reading of Sefer Yetzirah, the 613 commandments as enumerated by Maimonides, and excerpts from the Zohar, with opening and concluding prayers. For those that make it till dawn, we will doven Shakaret and have bagels and lox for breakfast and read the Book of Ruth, which is part of the Shavuot rituals.
Ellen, my beshert, does ask for firm RSVPs to RabbiASegal@aol.com so we can prepare the food, and call in passes to the gated community.
Now many Jews have never had the privilege of studying the entire Talmud Bavli as I have in my rabbinic studies. Fewer still have had the joy of studying the Talmud Yerushalmi.
The below is what the Talmud Yerushalmi has to say what happened when Moses came down from Sinai with the Tablets and how they broke. It differs from what the Bavli and even the Torah teaches.
''Rabbi Shmuel bar Nachman said in the name of Rabbi Yonatan: The tablets were six handbreadths long and three broad. Moses was holding on to two handbreadths and the Holy One, blessed be He, was holding on to two of them and there was a space of two handbreadths in the middle. When the Israelites worshiped the golden calf, the Holy One, blessed be He, wanted to grab the tablets out of Moses' hand. But Moses' hand was stronger and he seized them from Him.''
''Rabbi Yochanan said in the name of Rabbi Yose bar Abayye: The tablets wanted to fly, but Moses was holding on to them. It was taught in the name of Rabbi Nehemiah: The writing itself flew off the tablets Rabbi Ezra in the name of Rabbi Yeudah bar Rabbi Shimon: The tablets weighed 40 seahs and the writing was holding them up. When the writing flew off, the tablets became heavy in Moses' hands, and the tablets fell and were broken.
(Talmud Yerushalmi Tractate Ta'anit 4:5)
Here we have Moses a man, arm wrestling with a supposed Omnipotent God. The letters and stone are alive with their own will. The letters support the tablets in the air. Without the letters, the tablets are too heavy. Moses does not smash the tablets in anger. The fall from him as they are too heavy as the letters flew away.
Not also how the Babylonian numbering system based on 6 and 60, and not the Roman system based on 10 and 100, is used in the making of the two tablets. 6 x 3 x 2 = 36 which is 6 squared. Note also how the 'Torah holy numbers of 7 and 8 are not used. We see this same pattern in the Priestly blessings. (May the Lord bless you and keep you....).
The Talmud teaches us that Torah once given is now in the hands of man. Man has power over it and not God. Indeed the story is told in the Talmud of rabbis arguing over a point of Torah and decide on a Rabbinic Talmudic rendering, and God in his heaven rejoices saying ''My children have defeated me!'' And we have another story in the Talmud of Moses' ghost, 1400 years after Sinai, showing up in Rabbi Akiva's Talmud class circa 100 CE, and Moses is so confused, Akiva has him sit on the back bench with the brand new students.
I have written many times before of how the Hebraic God emerged into a kinder Judaic God. The Torah has God doing some heavy smiting after the Golden Calf episode. The Talmud Yerushalmi has a softer Moses vis a vis his people, getting God to back off, and the Tablets drop accidentally. They belong to man, and man wasn't ready at that first Shavuot. We actually got our Tablets 40 days latter. And the Oral Law, as traditionally taught, 40 more days later. In reality, the giving of the Torahs, plural, took 120 days.
It is OUR Torah. It is a gift just as Shabbat is a gift. Rabbi Meir in Talmud Bavli Tractate Pirkei Avot 6:1 would say: Whoever studies Torah for Torah's sake alone, merits many things; not only that, but [the creation of] the entire world is worthwhile for him alone. He is called friend, beloved, lover of God, lover of humanity, rejoicer of God, rejoicer of humanity. The Torah enclothes him with humility and awe; makes him fit to be righteous, a chassid, correct and faithful; distances him from sin and brings him close to merit. From him, people enjoy counsel and wisdom, understanding and power, as is stated, ``Mine are counsel and wisdom, I am understanding, mine is power.'' The Torah grants him sovereignty, dominion, and jurisprudence. The Torah's secrets are revealed to him, and he becomes as an ever-increasing wellspring and as an unceasing river. He becomes modest, patient and forgiving of insults. The Torah uplifts him and makes him greater than all creations.
And in the next mishna 6:2 ibid , Said Rabbi Joshua the son of Levi: Every day, an echo resounds from Mount Horeb, (Sinai) proclaiming and saying: ``Woe is to the creatures who insult the Torah.'' For one who does not occupy himself in Torah is considered an outcast, as is stated ``A golden nose-ring in the snout of a swine, a beautiful woman bereft of reason.'' And it says: ``And the tablets are the work of God, and the writing is God's writing, engraved on the tablets'' ; read not ``engraved'' (charut) but ``liberty'' (chairut)---for there is no free individual, except for he who occupies himself with the study of Torah. And whoever occupies himself with the study of Torah is elevated, as is stated, ``And from the gift to Nahaliel, and from Nahaliel to The Heights.''
I can only tell you that in my life the above is true. And I know very very little. But insults and lashon ha ra used to get to me. Now, they flow off my back as if I am made of Teflon and not Velcro. It has given me a life that is based on faith, trust, belief but most importantly a daily experience with God that sees me through the ups and downs of life. Life may look like this ~~~~~~ or even WWWW , but I remain ---------. It was not an over night matter. Some times it happens quickly, sometimes slowly, but it we stick with it, it does happen.
Many Blessings, and hope we can continued to study together on line, to those of you who study in my home M,T and W evenings, the same, to those of you who study with me individually in person, or on the phone, or online, the same as well, and I hope you'll consider coming for Shavuot study.
Shalom:
Rabbi Arthur Segal
Jewish Spiritual Renewal
Jewish Renewal
Hilton Head Island, SC
Bluffton, SC
Savannah, Ga
Member: Temple Oseh Shalom
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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.
- Price : $19.99
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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
