RABBI ARTHUR SEGAL:SHAVUOT:JOY:JEWISH SPIRITUAL RENEWAL:THEOPHANY:CHAGIGAH 14B

 RABBI ARTHUR SEGAL:SHAVUOT:JOY:JEWISH SPIRITUAL RENEWAL:THEOPHANY:CHAGIGAH 14B

Shavuot

Selected Readings:

Exodus 19:01-20:23

Numbers 28:26-31

Deuteronomy 14:22-16:17

Ezekiel 1:1-28,3:12

Habbakkuk 2:20-3:19

Book Of Ruth

Rabbi Arthur Segal
Via Shamash Org on-line class service
Jewish Renewal
Jewish Spiritual Renewal
Hilton Head Island, SC, Bluffton, SC, Savannah, GA

"Kosher X-Files with Jewish Men in Black"

"Ezekiel saw da wheel" is how the African American spiritual begins. Moses saw the Burning Bush. "The Children of Israel saw Mt. Sinai smoke and shudder amidst thunder and lightning and powerful shofar blasts." (Deut. 19:16-18). The themes of these portions of the TaNaK (Holy Scriptures), which make up Shavuot's Torah and Haftarah readings, deal with revelation and theophany. Theophany is the appearance of God to man. Shavuot is the holiday that celebrates God's revealing the Torah to Moses on Mt. Sinai.

Ezekiel was a Kohan priest in Judea who was taken into captivity by the Babylonians in 597 B.C.E. He was the first prophet to preach and write while in exile. While sitting by the river Chebar (the canal joining the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers) in the Babylonian town of Tel Abib, Ezekiel had a vision of theophany. His fellow captives thought that he was insane and bound him in ropes for 430 days. As we have seen many times before, Haftarot tend to follow themes developed in the Torah portion. Moses had his theophany, and Ezekiel tells us about his.

While Moses' experiences have been studied openly and publicly in-depth, Ezekiel's have not received much study. Ezekiel's vision is of the Divine Throne and of the Holy Chariot. In Hebrew this is Ma'ateh Merkabah (the work of the chariot). Its study was reserved for men of "the highest degree of mental and moral perfection" according to Rabbi J. Hertz.

The Talmud Bavli, in Tractate Chagigah 14B, tells of what happened when Rabbi Elazer ben Arach expounded upon this text. A fire descended from heaven and singed all of the trees near him. Traditionally the sages did not permit public study of this chapter. Only the most highly qualified people could study it individually.

Five years had passed since Ezekiel was taken into custody. While sitting by the river's edge he saw in the sky a wheel within a wheel. The clouds opened, and the wheel had a great brightness around it. It had the color of electrum. The Hebrew word for this is "chashmal," which denotes a bright metal-like polished bronze. Four creatures came out of this bright light. They each had four faces, four wings, and jointless legs and feet like calves. The four faces were that of a man, an eagle, a bull, and lion. Their bodies were humanoid. They could move in any direction without turning. They appeared like burning coals with lightning coming from them. They traveled in wheels within wheels. They had many eyes. When they moved, their wings made a terrible noise like the roar of the ocean. When the creature spoke to Ezekiel, he was certain it was God. He felt himself being lifted up and carried away. This was Ezekiel's theophany.

What sort of creature has four faces and changes direction without turning its body? Dr. Jo Milgrom, an expert in Near East mythology and art, writes that these faces are apparent on the sphinx in Egypt. They are also on the Israelite version of the sphinx, which we call the keruvim. The keruvim guard the Holy of Holies and face each other.

While Ezekiel was having his vision, the keruvim were still in the Temple in Jerusalem, as it had not yet been destroyed. The destruction took place in 586 B.C.E., eleven years after some Jews, like Ezekiel, were carried away. Was this a dream with the chariot that moved without moving and turned without turning being a symbol for the changing yet unchanging Infinite God, who could appear in the new home of the Jews without moving?

Do the four faces represent Zodiac signs? Does the human face represent Gemini? We could say easily that the lion is Leo and the bull is Taurus. Is the eagle a taloned higher version of the earthly Scorpio? The sign of Gemini in Hebrew is called "teumim," meaning twins. This is the sign under which Torah was given. Shavuot happened on the sixth of the month of Sivan. It is fitting that Torah was given in this month, the sages teach, because Torah helps humankind achieve full human potential. We are to be raised above the level of animals represented by most other constellations.

Rabbi M. Glazerson writes, "When the Jewish people camped at the foot of Sinai in preparation to receive the Torah, they achieved a harmony and unity which was unparalleled before or since." The scholar known as the Or Ha Chaim, Rabbi Chaim ben Attar of eighteenth-century Livorno, Italy, taught that Israel was united in heart and mind like a single person. "The entire people responded together," (Ex. 19:08) and agreed that "We will do and we will listen." (Ex. 24:07). It was only in this state of unity – of being one – that they could receive the Torah, which is from the One.

The Midrash teaches that all Jews on this day saw the Divine Chariot appear at Sinai. Rabbi Glazerson wrote that the symbol of the Twins is an expression of oneness. Jews were all different people that day at Sinai, each physically separate, but joined in a spiritual kinship that made them resemble each other to the point that they were identical to one another.

Ezekiel is not the only person in our Jewish literature to report seeing odd creatures or heavenly bodies descend to earth. Elisha saw Elijah get taken away to the heavens in a chariot of fire (2 Kings 2:11). Zechariah (Zech. 5:1-2) saw a "flying roll" in the shape of what today we would call a rocket. Isaiah (27:01) tells us of three large creatures called Leviathan, Nehash and Bariah. Job (40:15-24) tells us about the Behemoth. We all know of the man-angels (cherubim) that appeared to Abraham and Lot in Genesis. Daniel's beasts seem to be hybrids of other animals (Dan. 7:1-8). And Deuteronomy (3:11) tells of giants and people with six-fingered hands.

The Pseudapocrypha's Book of 3, Baruch 6:1-13 tells us of a live sphinx and 2 Enoch's Chapter 6 is replete with tales of giant animals and other hybrids. The Septuagint translation of the TaNaK into Greek speaks of dragons in the book of Daniel.

The Talmudic rabbis discuss two giant birds called Ziz and Bar-Yohani. They further tell tales of seeing giant sea-dragons, giant buffalo, and unicorns in their travels. The sages also speak of a special hybrid called a Koy or Kewi, as well as Capricorns and centaurs. The latter two appear on walls of ancient synagogues. The rabbis also tell us of a siren's heavenly voice whispering to them to help them reach halachic decisions involving Jewish law.

Ezekiel and Moses were not the only biblical figures to have theophanies. We read of many of them in Jeremiah, Zechariah, Daniel, Job, Jonah, and throughout the Chumash with Adam, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and Moses. All were talking to and hearing God. Even Cain, after he killed Abel, had a theophany.

Can any of us today in this post-biblical era receive a theophany? We are told that God speaks to each of us in our hearts. Certainly Ruth had this type of revelation. Theophanies do not have to be theatrical. John's vision in his book of Revelations is another example of an almost Broadway-like produced theophany, which if read, parallels Ezekiel's.

Ruth's theophany is much more subtle and even more wondrous in ways than Moses', Ezekiel's and those experienced by others. God picked Moses, Abraham and the prophets, but Ruth arrived to love God in a different manner.

Ruth was a Moabite princess who married a Jew (Machlon) who had come to Moab with his father and mother (Elimelech and Naomi), and then died leaving Ruth a widow. The story of Ruth is important for Shavuot, as she was the model of Torah acceptance. Without her, Jewish history would not continue as we have come to know it.

Judaism is not a racial trait. In a sense we were all converts at Sinai, and we must remind ourselves every day, and especially at Shavuot, to re-experience the revelation. The Talmud teaches that Ruth's name gematrially has a numerical value of 606. Since all humans have an obligation to observe the seven Noahide laws, Ruth as a Moabite was responsible for them. Add these seven laws to her name's numerical value and one arrives at 613, the number of mitzvoth in the entire Torah.

The Vilna Gaon says that Ruth sought out Torah to complete what she was missing spiritually. Ruth's conversion to the faith of her mother-in-law seems simplistic enough in the book of Ruth (1:16-17). Ruth pledges, after being rebuked by Naomi three times, to go where she goes, lodge where she lodges, adopt her people and her God, and be buried where Naomi is buried. She further swears that God should punish her if anything but death separates Ruth from Naomi. However, the Talmud Bavli, in Tractate Yevomot 47B, extracts its many complex laws of conversion from these two simple verses in the Book of Ruth.

"How does love for one's mother-in-law make a person good Jew?" the sages ask in the Talmud. The rabbis, in Tractate Ketuboth 111B, posit that one cannot love another without knowing details about the person. Therefore one cannot love God, which is one of the greatest of all mitzvoth, if one has not studied God in what we call conversion classes. However, the rabbis posit that if one knows a Torah scholar or a righteous individual and loves that person, one therefore can feel attached to God as well. So Ruth cleaved herself to Naomi, who was already attached to God. Since pure people like Naomi were rare by the time of the Talmud's writing, the sages developed many rules for conversion to Judaism. Cleaving to another Jew was no longer sufficient, they decided.

From reading the last few verses in the Book of Ruth we know that Ruth was to become the grandmother of King David through marriage to her kinsman Boaz. But let us not forget that Ruth's ancestor was Lot, who was seduced by his own daughter. That incestuous union produced Mo-av, which means "from my father." The Moabites are descended from this child. Lot was Haran's son. Haran was Abraham's brother. Haran was the father of Sarah and Milka (Gen. 11:27-28). Rebecca was Milka's granddaughter. All of Jacob's wives were Milka's great-granddaughters. Therefore, Ruth was a multiple great-granddaughter of Haran as well, since she was descended from Lot, Abraham's cousin.

Now the sages teach that while Abraham may have "discovered God," it was the Jewish women, our matriarchs who had the binah (wisdom) to translate God's ideals into everyday living. Since our matriarchal line comes from Haran, a Moabite like Ruth is perfectly suited to be the grandmother of David.

This bit of genealogy steals from the beauty that we derive from the Book of Ruth. That beauty is that anyone can be come a Jew regardless of their bloodline. Anyone can reach his or her fullest potential. We do not need a genealogical litmus test to determine if we, our children, or our grandchildren will do well in this world. Judaism is not based on racial lines. It is a way of living. It is open to all who wish to follow it sincerely.

Ruth is the epitome of a good Jewish convert not because she cleaved to Naomi to learn Torah, but because she already acted within the essence and framework of Judaism. Her grandson, King David, wrote in Psalm 89:3, "Kindness builds the world." Ruth's acts of kindness to Naomi and the sacrifice of her wealthy princess way of life in Moab were the ultimate tests of a good Jewess. The rest of the Book of Ruth shows Ruth doing multiple acts of loving kindness. We do not need pages of Talmud on the proper ways of doing tevila (ritual mikva immersion) to understand that when Ruth said she wanted Naomi's people to be her people, she immediately became a Jew. God definitely appeared in Ruth's heart and soul. Ruth too had her own theophany.

When Naomi first tells her two widowed daughters-in-law, Ruth and Orpah to go back to Moab, she kisses them. When Orpah kisses Naomi, but decides to return home, her kiss was no more than a gesture of affection. When Ruth kisses Naomi, her neshemah (soul) made an eternal connection with Naomi's. Their two souls became bound up as one. They too became joined teumim. It is interesting to note that it is traditionally taught that King David was not only born, but also died on Shavuot under the Gemini zodiac sign.

In traditional congregations the Akadamus poem is read before the Shavuot Torah reading. Every line ends with the syllable "ta," which is written with the last and the first letters of the Aleph-Bait. This alludes to the endlessness of the Torah and the Infinity and Oneness of God.

The Hebrew word for truth, emet, is written with the first (aleph), middle (mem), and last (tav) letters of the Hebrew alphabet. When we reach the final letter tav in the order of the letters, we immediately start to dwell on the first letter aleph. Part of this prayer is as follows:

If all the heavens were parchment,

if all the trees of the forest were pens,

if all the waters of the  sea were ink,

and if every creature was a scribe,

they would not suffice to expound the greatness of The Creator,

and the reflection of His Majesty in Heaven and on Earth,

effortlessly created with the breath of the letter Heh.

 

This poem was written by Rabbi Meir ben Yitchak of eleventh-century Worms, Germany. It has ninety verses and is one of Judaism's most beloved liturgical poems (piyut). It is written in Aramaic, not Hebrew. The first forty-four verses form a double acrostic of the Aleph-Bait and the remaining verses spell out the author's name and a blessing.

Within this prayer we return to Ezekiel's vision of strange beings. Rabbi Meir's Akadamus tells about the Talmudic and Midrashic Leviathan and Behemoth. He writes how they will do battle with each other (the first is a sea monster, and the second is a land monster). Then, when the Messiah comes, God will clothe the righteous with the skin of the Leviathan and make tents for shelter from it as well. From both the Behemoth and the Leviathan, God will prepare a big banquet for the righteous, who will eat "amid great joy and merriment." Perhaps Rabbi Meir had a small theophany as well.

Do we need to call on the Jewish "Men in Black" to help us with our own revelations? Who would play the Tommy Lee Jones and Will Smith roles? Perhaps when we read the these Torah and Haftarah portions in our temples and synagogues we can try really hard to talk with God and see if God answers. Perhaps we can even try to achieve this at home, or at the beach, or in a park or by our own river. Mediation and prayer, which I do thrice daily, and which I teach, has always been a part of Judaism, and during the Talmudic age, there were hundreds of schools in Judea teaching mediation techniques. These are two of the steps towards Jewish Spiritual Renewal. www.JewishSpiritualRenewal.org  

Crypto-Jews, who had to hide their Judaism under penalty of death, pretended to play card games on Shabbat while secretly discussing Torah. These card games were called barajas, from the Hebrew word for blessings, Barachas. One never really knows when God will speak.

"The Lord is near to all who call upon Him, and to all who call upon Him in truth."

"Where is God? Wherever you let him in."

"To truly love God, one must first love people. If anyone tells you that he loves God and does not love his fellow humans, you will know that he is lying."

Worship should not be like going to the gas station where we get tanked up spiritually for the week. It is an ongoing process of spiritual growth.

I would like to end this segment with a psalm by one of my favorite Jewish poets, Bob Dylan. It is entitled, Last Thoughts on Woody Guthrie.

Where do you find the hope that yer seekin'?

You can either go to the church of your choice,

or you can go to the Brooklyn State Hospital.

You'll find God in the church of your choice.

You'll find Woody Guthrie in the Brooklyn State Hospital.

And although it's my opinion. I may be right or wrong.

You'll find them both in the Grand Canyon at sundown.

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

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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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