Shabbat 06/11/11
(aka Derech Eretz )
Shalom my dear Chaverim, Talmidim, v' Rabbanim, friends, students and fellow rabbis.
An oneg, joy-filled, Shabbat, Sabbath, this coming weekend... and Shavuah Tov to you for a good and peaceful week. And a Happy Shavuot Holiday!
We continue with our exploration into the Talmudic Tractates of Derek Eretz Zuta and Rabbah. (aka Derech Eretz Zuta, aka Derech Eretz Rabbah. As was mentioned, zuta is Aramaic for 'small', and rabbah is 'large').
Remember that Derek Eretz is not about Jewish ritual. It is about how we are to treat one another and what traits of character, middot, we are to try to develop. The lessons are universal and ecumenical.
For those new to the class, Baruch ha Ba! Welcome! You can access last week's class at
From here you will find links to preceding classes in this series. So, together we continue:
TALMUD BAVLI
TRACTATE DEREK
ERETZ ZUTA
(aka Derech Eretz)
Today we will continue with CHAPTER 2.
Talmud Bavli Tractate Derek Eretz Zuta Verse 2:5
''Accept the words of Torah, even when you are in affliction. Do not seek to wrong him who wronged you. Let thy accounts always be correct, and thy conduct excellent. Keep thy promise. Love the Torah, righteousness, rebukes, straightforwardness.''
If we look at this verse closely, it is all about living a life with complete trust, faith and belief in the Divine. Many in this class, even many of my fellow rabbanim in this class, admit they are agnostic or atheist or humanistic. Pure Judaism is fine with this. It is how we behave that matters in the long run. If we 'act as if' and live with the above, our lives go smoother.
For the many of the over 1500 folks taking this class, from all continents except Antarctica, who have known me a long time,[ some from elementary school], they can share with you, that I used to live doing the exact opposite of the above, and my life now, is free, full of joy and happiness.
''Accept the words of Torah, even when you are in affliction.'' I know that it is very easy to say we love God, when things are going well in our lives. One of the hardest prayers to say, is Blessing God for being the True Judge, Dayan HaEmet, as we are at the grave site of a loved one. To truly be able to live, accepting God's unity, and accepting that this is God's Universe, with us mere mortals never being able to fully understand it, takes courage. When we understand that Gamzu L'Tovah, that all is for the good, that all things work out in God's time, with time, effort and experience, our lives are filled less with angst and more with bliss.
In reality, whether we believe it or not, living with the opposites beliefs , have us become bitter, angry, mean spirited individuals. We hate God, yet deny God. Hence were are in constant conflict with our fellows, on whom we take this anger out.
And this leads us to the next sentence of Talmud Bavli Tractate Derek Eretz 2:5:
''Do not seek to wrong him who wronged you.'' Note how we are instructed not just to extract revenge and wrong someone who has wronged us, but we are not to seek to do it.
Have you every been on a board, let's say a synagogue board, with some cantankerous, mega-ego, folks who just say the most awful things? Then at night you're lying in bed, not sleeping, running videos in your head, of all the things you could have smartly retorted? Or has someone harmed you and day dream, thinking of ways to get even? Well this is the 'seeking.'
I can assure that those who do harm, have so much ego, and are so disconnected spiritually, that they are not in bed loosing sleep thinking of us. Keeping these sad folks in our heads, especially when they aren't paying rent to live there, only hurts us. As I have written before, a resentment is an acid that eats away at the container.
The Talmud teaches that a wise person learns from everyone. (Bavli Tractate Pirkei Avot 4:1). This doesn't mean that everyone is a fantastic teacher of what to do correctly. Many folks are fantastic teachers of how to behave incorrectly. Learn from these folks of what NOT to do. And pray for them as you would for any one with a terminal illness.
''Let thy accounts always be correct, and thy conduct excellent. Keep thy promise.'' Regardless of how the universe is treating us, if we are spiritually connected, we just cannot back slide and behave poorly. I had written a few years back that when the economy was failing, we would see some of the worst behavior from persons, who when things were going well, seemed like ethical pillars of the community. And unfortunately, my prediction was correct.
In business and in our personal relationships our scales, as the Torah commands, must be accurate. We cannot even own any thing that might be used to offset the scale, like fraudulent weights.
The Hebrew word for accounts, for inventory, is Chesbon or Cheshbon. As I have taught we are to daily do a Chesbon ha Nefesh, an accounting of our souls and our actions, to make sure they are correct. It is not just our business books that need to be correct, but we must be principled in all of our affairs.
We will end today with the last part of the verse: ''Love the Torah, righteousness, rebukes, straightforwardness.'' The Torah, which our sages took to mean the Talmud, Midrash, and other spiritual texts, literally means ''instruction.'' Judaism is a way of life, and much more than a religion. And the Talmud tells us without Derek Eretz, proper relations with one another, there can be no Torah. [Ibid. 3:17]. אם אין דרך ארץ, אין
תורה
What is the point of honoring and remembering Shabbat, if we turn our Onegs, (the coffee and cake social hour after services) into a Lashon Ha Ra (gossip) hour? We immediately negate our prayers for asking God to ''keep our tongues from evil,'' and erase all blessings for ''shalom.''
We need to love the Torah, for without her, the sages teach us we would have learned modesty, tzni'ut, from a cat. [Talmud Bavli Tractate Eruvin 100b ]
Loving rebuke is hard sometimes. To fully accept another's telling us how to improve we must be open to it. And the prerequisites to this openness, this nevi, is humility and ego-deflation. Assuming someone is rebuking us out of love, and privately, as we are commanded, we are very lucky. The Torah uses the word 'reprove' which means gently instruct. Rebuke implies strict instruction. Either way, if they are coming from love and truth, we must learn to accept them and grow spiritually.
We need to love righteousness so much that the Torah commands us to pursue it. And the Hebrew word for righteousness, justice, is repeated. ''Tzedek, tzedek tirdof .'' [Deut. 16:20]. The Talmud goes into many explanations of why this is so. The first is to judge by the letter of the law, but more importantly, the repetition reminds us to live by the spirit of the law. (Shnay Luchot HaBrit, Shoftim 101a)
In fact the Talmud tells us what happens when Jews stick to the letter of the law and not the spirit: For Rabbi Johanan said: "Jerusalem was destroyed only because they gave judgments therein in accordance with Biblical law ... they based their judgments strictly upon Biblical law, and did not go beyond the letter of the law." (Talmud Bavli Tractate Bava Metzia 30b).
Loving straightforwardness is much more than loving honesty. Many times we think we are honest when lying. We tell half truths. We paint a situation better than it is to manipulate. We answer a question with a non-answer. '' A man who tells lies, merely hides the truth. But a man who tells half-lies has forgotten where he put it.'' [Claude Rains as Dryden in Lawrence of Arabia (1962) ]
"When man seeks truth, help comes from heaven, but the search must be sincere. When we succeed we become partners with God, for we have found truth." (R' A. Kahn).
''Loving kindness and truth meet together;
righteousness and peace kiss each other.
Truth shall spring from the earth;
and righteousness shall look down from heaven.
Also, the Lord shall give that which is good;
and our land shall yield her produce.''
(Ps. 85:11-13)
Have a spiritual meaningful Shavuot!!
or
Next week, Baruch ha Shem, we will continue with chapter two of Derek Eretz Zuta .
What are your ideas about letting the misdeeds of others flow off your back and not holding grudges or taking revenge? How has learning to stay spiritual even when things don't go our way helped you live a happier life? How has understanding the spiritual and ethical teachings of Judaism and keeping rigorously honest helped you live a more joyous life?
Next class, Baruch ha Shem, we will continue with Derek Eretz Zuta , continuing Chapter Two. Thank you for joining me.
Shalom:
If visiting SC's Low Country, contact us for a Shabbat meal, in our home by the sea, our beth yam.
Maker of Shalom (Oseh Shalom) help make us deserving of Shalom beyond all human comprehension!
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