The Romantic Torah

Posted on November 10, 2017 by Michal Kohane מיכל כהנא

Vignette:
Time travelling in NYC: You leave one side of the city and the GPS shows an hour to your destination. You drive for 20 minutes, check again, and lo and behold, you now have 50 minutes left. You drive another 15 minutes, check again, and, what do you know, you’re still only 55 minutes away…

The Romantic Torah:
This week’s reading, Chayey Sarah – “The Life of Sarah”, opens with Sarah’s death, and Abraham seeking to purchase for her a burial place, achuzat kever. Rabbi Hirsch (19th century Germany) shares a beautiful explanation. And so he writes:
“To interpret “achuza” as “property”, because the object is held – ne’echaz (which is from same root as achuza) is a mistaken interpretation. Achuza refers exclusively to land property, which is precisely what cannot be held. Further, in the instances the verb is used, the object (i.e. the land) is not held by tis owner but rather – the owner is held by the object…. Land holds its owner, and he is bound in its chains… This is also the reason why a person cannot take an oath on the land. This is because land outlines the person; the person is subordinate to the land rather than the land being subordinate to the person. Hence, he cannot subordinate the existence of the soil to the truth of his word”…
Likewise, Abraham wants a permanent place in the land, a place that will stay in the family long after he is gone. A place, that is not so much for her, as it is for him and future generations.
Interestingly, kever, the Hebrew word for grave, is the same word the Talmud uses for womb. Is it the hint for things that are deeply hidden? The end that is also a chance for a new beginning?
Abraham too will die at the end of this Torah reading.
And yet, framed by the deaths of these two giants, is one of the most beautiful love stories of the Torah, the meeting of Rebecca and Isaac, Rivkah & Yitzchak; a story that will culminate with the first time in the Torah a man will be described as loving a woman. Not Adam & Eve; not Noah and his dedicated (reluctant?) wife; not even Abraham & Sarah, but the almost speechless Yitzchak and the vivacious Rivkah.
What would Freud say about the last verse in Genesis 24?
וַיְבִאֶהָ יִצְחָק, הָאֹהֱלָה שָׂרָה אִמּוֹ, וַיִּקַּח אֶת-רִבְקָה וַתְּהִי-לוֹ לְאִשָּׁה, וַיֶּאֱהָבֶהָ; וַיִּנָּחֵם יִצְחָק, אַחֲרֵי אִמּוֹ.  And Isaac brought her into his mother Sarah’s tent, and took Rebekah, and she became his wife; and he loved her. And Isaac was comforted for his mother.
Isaac loves Rivkah as if he replaces his mom? The only challenge is that Rivkah is really a lot more like Abraham This is evident in the parallels between two stories: Genesis 18, when Abraham runs around to care for the guests, and Genesis 24, when Rivkah does the same to give water to the unknown servant as well as his ten camels. And if we missed it, commentators will remind us that gamal – camel – is at least linguistically related to gemilut chasadim, doing acts of kindness. And, consider this: most other Biblical men have a 2nd, 3rd and often many more – wife. Isaac has only one. He never leaves Israel. He never takes a second wife. He stands for gevura, strength, might, and is inspiring a solid, quiet, loyal presence.
And yet, they didn’t “invent” it all. There is another beautiful imagery the Talmud offers us when describing Abraham & Sarah’s final resting (Tractate baba Batra 58a). In the mind of the Torah and the Talmud, eternal love is totally possible and “normal”:
ר’ בנאה הוה קא מציין מערתא כי מטא למערתא דאברהם אשכחיה לאליעזר עבד אברהם דקאי קמי בבא א”ל מאי קא עביד אברהם א”ל גאני בכנפה דשרה וקא מעיינא ליה ברישיה
רב בנאה היה מציין (ממפה) מערות (קבורה). כשהגיע למערתו של אברהם, פגש באליעזר, עבר אברהם עומד בפתח (המערה). אמר לו (רב בנאה לאליעזר): מה עושה אברהם (עכשיו)? אמר לו (אליעזר לרב בנאה): אברהם שוכב בחיקה של שרה, והיא מסתכלת לו בראשו.
Rabbi Bena’a was marking burial caves (he was doing that so people know where there are burial places which would help prevent contracting of ritual impurity). When he arrived at the cave of Abraham, (the Cave of Machpelah), he chanced upon Eliezer, Abraham’s servant, standing before the entrance. Rabbi Bena’a said to him: What is Abraham doing (right now)? Eliezer said to him: He is lying in the arms of Sarah, and she is examining his head.

Shabbat Shalom.

Posted in Uncategorized | 1 Comment

Abraham, Tzedaka & Mishpat

Posted on November 3, 2017 by Michal Kohane מיכל כהנא

Vignette:
Winter must be coming, which means an invisible hand turned on the central heating system in the building. It’s finally time to get a thin summer dress, and that box to wipe the sweat off my face.

Some Torah – סם תורה
What was so bad about the People of Sodom?
The Gemara, in this week’s daf yomi, tells us the People of Sodom are among those who have no share in the world to come. Why? Here’s one story (translation from sefaria.org):
דעבר במברא יהיב ארבעה זוזי דעבר במיא יהיב תמני זוזי זימנא חדא אתא ההוא כובס איקלע להתם אמרו ליה הב ד’ זוזי אמר להו אנא במיא עברי אמרו ליה א”כ הב תמניא דעברת במיא לא יהיב פדיוהו אתא לקמיה דדיינא א”ל הב ליה אגרא דשקיל לך דמא ותמניא זוזי דעברת במיא
And they instituted an ordinance: One who crossed the river on a ferry gives four dinars, and one who crossed the river in the water gives eight dinars. One time a certain launderer came and arrived there. The people of Sodom said to him: Give four dinars as payment for the ferry. He said to them: I crossed in the water. They said to him: If so, give eight dinars, as you crossed in the water (i.e. there was no way to cross without paying, and the poor people who walked in the water trying to save on the ferry, had to pay double) . He did not give the payment, and they struck him and wounded him. He came before the judge to seek compensation. The judge said to him: Give your assailant a fee, as he let your blood (bloodletting was a way of healing people), and eight dinars, as you crossed the river in the water…
And hence the expression —- “Sodom Bed”, a system to stretch or chop another person so that, regardless of their will and purpose, they can fit in someone else’s rigid “bed”. Of course, this stood in direct contrast to Abraham, who tried to care for the specific needs of each person he chanced upon.
Why did G-d choose Abraham? It brings to mind the famous “Jew-ku” (Jewish haiku):

How odd
of G-d
to choose
the Jews;
It was not odd;
The Jews – choose G-d.

There are many stories but perhaps only one verse (Genesis 18:19):

כִּי יְדַעְתִּיו, לְמַעַן אֲשֶׁר יְצַוֶּה אֶת-בָּנָיו וְאֶת-בֵּיתוֹ אַחֲרָיו, וְשָׁמְרוּ דֶּרֶךְ ה’, לַעֲשׂוֹת צְדָקָה וּמִשְׁפָּט–לְמַעַן, הָבִיא ה’ עַל-אַבְרָהָם, אֵת אֲשֶׁר-דִּבֶּר, עָלָיו. For I have known him, to the end that he may command his children and his household after him, that they may keep the way of the LORD, to do righteousness and justice; to the end that the LORD may bring upon Abraham that which He hath spoken of him.’
G-d here is speaking to an unseen audience (maybe us) as if thinking out loud, and realizing that talking with Abraham must happen asap, so Abraham will know what’s coming on Sodon and Gamora. Why Abraham? Why tell him? What’s so special about him?
“For I have known him….”
Abraham is the one who not only practices but teaches his household and future generations so they “guard the way of Hashem to do tzedaka and mishpat…”
Tzedaka (erroneously translated as “charity”) is usually related to the quality of chesed, kindness, while mishpat is the quality of justice. What we usually think of as our strong hand (right) is instructed with a “softer” quality while the left hand is instructed to be harsh, as if harshness needs to be weakened. And yet, both are there, as equals. How is it possible to do both? Yes. But it’s not even about the consistent doing. It’s about teaching, guarding, dealing with this particular road, and not giving up on either.
There is a midrash that Abraham kept the Torah before it was given. How do we understand this? Perhaps here: Abraham was able to hold – teach and guard – two conflicting divine ideas at the same time, not let go of either, and not give up on both. For a human being, that might be the closest to walking in G-d’s path.

Shabbat Shalom.

 

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

Lech Lecha – Peace be the Journey

Posted on October 27, 2017 by Michal Kohane מיכל כהנא

Vignette:

Turns out, in Brooklyn, there are no yard-sales (no yards…) and no garage sales (for same reason) but! instead, there are “stoop sales” – a yard-sale on the brownstone’s steps…

This Shabbat is “Shabbat Project”: “The idea is simple – Jews from all walks of life, from across the spectrum of religious affiliation, young and old, from all corners of the world – come together to experience the magic of one full Shabbat kept together…”
One Shabbat a year it’s extra official: shuls, JCCs, meals, programs, challah bake… you name it. There sure to be a place nearby to celebrate. Really, every Shabbat should be “Shabbat Project” (so it is at “my shul”) and anyone should always be able to find a seat near the table. Yet, so often, something we can do “anytime”, we never do. So especially this Shabbat, pull a chair closer… and if you’re near Brooklyn, I hope you’ll let me know.

Lech-Lecha: Go to Yourself
Last week’s Torah portion was Noah, from the Hebrew word, Nach, rested, paused. And this week, with Lech-Lecha – literally “go to yourself” – we’re walking. The first Jewish couple is in motion, constantly moving. This restlessness they beget in us; that drive to, not just accept things as they are, but, keep “stirring the pot”, keep moving about, working to increase blessing in the world.
We probably all know the story about young Abram who was left to watch the idols in his father’s workshop. Somehow a fight broke out between the idols, the biggest one beat up the little ones and many of them broke. When his dad came back home, he was enraged and kicked Abram out. So Abram started journeying, leaving his birth place in Ur Casdim, Ur of the Chaldeans…
It’s a beautiful story with many deep meanings and two disappointing facts: one, in spite of its great familiarity, it’s not in Torah; and two, Abram’s father, Terach, actually left Ur Casdim with Abram and the rest of the family. At the end of last week’s reading, we find:
לא וַיִּקַּח תֶּרַח אֶת-אַבְרָם בְּנוֹ, וְאֶת-לוֹט בֶּן-הָרָן בֶּן-בְּנוֹ, וְאֵת שָׂרַי כַּלָּתוֹ, אֵשֶׁת אַבְרָם בְּנוֹ; וַיֵּצְאוּ אִתָּם מֵאוּר כַּשְׂדִּים, לָלֶכֶת אַרְצָה כְּנַעַן, וַיָּבֹאוּ עַד-חָרָן, וַיֵּשְׁבוּ שָׁם. 31 And Terah took Abram his son, and Lot the son of Haran, his son’s son, and Sarai his daughter-in-law, his son Abram’s wife; and they went forth with them from Ur of the Chaldeans, to go into the land of Canaan; and they came unto Haran, and dwelt there.
It is quite possible that the departure was due to many reasons, not excluding embarking on a new, unique spiritual path. But somewhere along the way, the family stopped. Doubts? Misgivings? Second thoughts? Others wondering what’s the craziness, what gotten into them? Or maybe life got in the way: Haran, Abram’s brother, died; Abram and his other brother, Nachor, married. Haran’s son, Lot, needed care. The family settled. The dreams of a journey far away were cut short.
But for some, there is no way back. It is then that G-d begins his ‘one on one’ relationship with Abram (Genesis 12:1-4):
א וַיֹּאמֶר יְהוָה אֶל-אַבְרָם, לֶךְ-לְךָ מֵאַרְצְךָ וּמִמּוֹלַדְתְּךָ וּמִבֵּית אָבִיךָ, אֶל-הָאָרֶץ, אֲשֶׁר אַרְאֶךָּ. 1 Now the LORD said unto Abram: ‘Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father’s house, unto the land that I will show thee.
ב וְאֶעֶשְׂךָ, לְגוֹי גָּדוֹל, וַאֲבָרֶכְךָ, וַאֲגַדְּלָה שְׁמֶךָ; וֶהְיֵה, בְּרָכָה. 2 And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and be thou a blessing.
ג וַאֲבָרְכָה, מְבָרְכֶיךָ, וּמְקַלֶּלְךָ, אָאֹר; וְנִבְרְכוּ בְךָ, כֹּל מִשְׁפְּחֹת הָאֲדָמָה. 3 And I will bless them that bless thee, and him that curses you will I curse; and in thee shall all the families of the earth be blessed.’
ד וַיֵּלֶךְ אַבְרָם, כַּאֲשֶׁר דִּבֶּר אֵלָיו יְהוָה, וַיֵּלֶךְ אִתּוֹ, לוֹט; וְאַבְרָם, בֶּן-חָמֵשׁ שָׁנִים וְשִׁבְעִים שָׁנָה, בְּצֵאתוֹ, מֵחָרָן. 4 So Abram went, as the LORD had spoken unto him; and Lot went with him; and Abram was seventy and five years old when he departed out of Haran.
And again, something strange: when one leaves on a journey, first one walks out of the parents’ home, then the neighborhood and close community, and lastly, the land, while here, the order is backwards. Perhaps the journey is not only physical, and in a spiritual journey, the order is reversed. When we leave the shells and habits of the past, we are invited “to the land that I will show you”.
Traditionally, the land, “aretz” is understood to be Eretz Yisrael, the Land of Israel. But in one of my many readings, I find another layer: the word eretz, land, is connected to the word ratzon, want.
The goal of our journey is – our want, wish, desire, will. Indeed, one of the most complex things in life is to identify and clarify what is it that we really want. When we’re little, we scream loud and ask what we’d like to have unabashedly: not this! That! Not that color! That one!! Now! But then, we “grow up”, we learn “how to behave” and lose much of it, and with it, often lose our way, our core, our purpose, which needs to be regained, often through great effort.
As a parent, one is hard at work so that one’s kids will not have to struggle, not like you, not that much, but at the end of the day, each of us has their journey to the aretz; and that journey takes listening, following, investing time, persistence and hard work. It might slip many times, doubts, temptations, false voices, all are inevitable along the way, but just as inevitable is to keep walking, adhering to that voice telling us, Lech-Lecha.

Shabbat Shalom.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Tuesday morning daf yomi – Sanhedrin 100

Posted on October 24, 2017 by Michal Kohane מיכל כהנא

Join me for one daf (Talmud page) a week. Today, we’re at Sanhedrin 100, asking what is a “heretic” (apikoros), how respectful one has to be of a Torah scholar, and what does it mean when the Talmud says, not to read ba-sfarim hachitzoniyim” – in the “External Books” (i.e Apocrypha).

 

Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Noah, Noah

Posted on October 20, 2017 by Michal Kohane מיכל כהנא

Vignette:
“Excuse me, where can I find car oil”?
“Hahaha”, laughs the cashier at the big, well-stocked, grocery store, “that will be the day!” After much thought (‘where on earth is there a place that sells such obscure stuff?’) she suggests a gas station on some corner or an auto specialized store on the other side of the neighborhood. In the land of bicyclists, runners and walkers, my “Blue Stallion” is a lone wolf… But then, if no one has cars around here, what makes all the traffic??
Noah, too righteous
There he is: Noah, the good old man among the ugly, evil doers who hears G-d and builds an ark; a devotee turned carpenter, long white beard (of course) and cute animals all around…
For the rabbis, Noah has been a challenge: on one hand, the Torah describes him as “tzadik” – a righteous person, and on the other, how can a “righteous person” spend 120 years building an ark the size of a football field to save only 9 people? How did they sail away watching everyone else drown?
The question is really, is that righteousness? Is that good enough? Especially during dark times in history, that was a critical issue: Is it good enough to be good compared to those around us, or is there some standard? If Noah is a tzadik and Abraham is a tzadik, are they the same or perhaps, there are different levels?
According to the Kdushat Levi (1740-1809), there are indeed two kinds of “tzadikut” (righteousness): one, doing right and good between people, and one – between people and G-d. Noah was of the latter but not of the former. Further, he says, Noah had faith in G-d but not in himself (!). Because Noah had no faith in his own self, he did not have the wherewithal to dare stand up to G-d, and say, ‘hey, no way You’re going to destroy our world (see Abraham coming up in a couple of weeks)!!’ He was the overly meek and humble, and therefore, did not believe that he deserves anything. Walking off, looking for his tape-measure and hammer, he (possibly) shrugged; or maybe that evening, he told his wife; ‘eh, so G-d decided to destroy the world and save me (us), oh well, sure, whatever He wants; honey, pass the lentils please’…
Obviously, from the simplistic Torah text, G-d “favored” Noah, and for sure, he was righteous, but for our sages, a “yes-man” is not the ideal. Strict obedience is not enough and not our way.
Noah’s Wife
What was her name? Who is she? What was her reaction? What did she do and what could she have done? I go back and forth between thinking of her as the most loving wife in the Torah, and between wondering; She couldn’t have told him to take the neighbors too? she couldn’t talk to her friends? what if she was different?…
The Lit Ark 
G-d, who knows Noah, doesn’t leave anything for Noah’s imagination regarding the measurements and material of which the teiva should be built. The last piece is the window. Well, not quite a window, but a tzohar, צהר an unusual word that appears only here (and from which in modern Hebrew we get tzohorayim, צהריים noon, the time of extra or double light).
Rav Hirsch connects tzohar to zohar, זהר to illuminate, and Rashi, based on the midrash, says about the tzohar that is can mean both “window” or “a good gem”, both being a source of light for those in the ark, with an important distinction: The good gem would provide light inside for those inside the closed ark from within, while, in contrast, a window is something that allows light from the outside to come in. Where does light come from, for us? Is it something we have independently within us, something that emanates from us, which we share with those around us – or – is it something far away, incomprehensible, we look for outside of ourselves, and get only a glimpse of?

Shabbat Shalom.

Posted in Uncategorized | 2 Comments

Who’s simcha is it?

Posted on October 11, 2017 by Michal Kohane מיכל כהנא

Vignette:

I’m becoming a New Yorker… The recent realization follows needing to move my car due to “Street Cleaning”. The “whole world” double-parks from here until forever, waiting for this “seige” to be over. Should I go on a day trip out of town? Well, I could. But if parking is challenging at 1:00pm, at 10:00pm it will be impossible, so I don’t.
I join the double-parkers some blocks away, so I can find a spot, and then, “freely” take public transportation to whereever I need to go… But my my eyes remain tight like a sniper, and when I’m later back, I spot him: a van, idling, on two spots!! “hi there”, I say, stumbling over a sidewalk crack, almost falling into his car not very graciously and fully aware of how ridiculous this is, “can I please have one of these spots, please?”
“No”, he says, “I waiting for a repair van to fix some problem in my building”
“Repair? oh that’s great” Poor guy, little does he know I’m not letting go that easily, “And how long are they “reparing” for”?
“If all goes well, about an hour. Why? what?”
“Please”, I say, combining my Israeli and NY insistance with a CA smile, “Here’s my number; call me when this spot opens”…
And then, a miracle: He calls. I bring my car. He waves and drives away. My Blue Stalion and I cheer. Ah, America!

NorCal:
No better time to pray for rain. Please.

Shmini Atzeret & Simchat Torah:
One more holiday in this stretch of fall holidays. In Israel, the 8th day of Sukkot is the same day as Simchat Torah, some say because in Israel the material and spiritual – combine, while outside of Israel, we live in a more separate world.
Here, we will pray for rain geshem – tomorrow, which is symbolic of all “gashmiyut“, materialism, while the next day, we’ll celebrate with the Torah, sadly increasing the disconnect between spiritual and physical.
As customary, for some strange reason, there will be drinking and dancing and more drinking and even too much drinking (which can’t be said about dancing :-). This is a good time to remember that it’s not our simcha (joy / celebration), but the Torah’s! What makes her happy?

Chag / Hug Same’ach& Shabbat Shalom!

Posted in Uncategorized | 2 Comments

Sukkot – סוכתי הסוכה

Posted on October 4, 2017 by Michal Kohane מיכל כהנא

My Sukkot starts on the last chapter of the book of Jonah, the unnecessary chapter of the book, after Jonah “did his job”, the people did “their repentance”, and everybody lives happily ever after. Why doesn’t G-d just leave the poor guy alone? what else can G-d possibly want from him?

Jonah, disappointed with his success (yes! that happens to us too !) goes out to sit under a… sukkah; in its shade he finds refuge. And indeed, in Hebrew, tzel (shade) and hatzala (salvation, rescue) share the same letters and are very close words.

How strange for Jonah to find refuge in a sukkah. Shouldn’t he have found it maybe in a fortress? And yet, our whole holiday is about just that: reminding us that things that appear “solid”, might be not so, and things that appear transient – can be lasting.

Last week, I had the great honor to spend two days in Houston, Texas on an all too brief mission sponsored by Yeshivat Maharat. And there we were, trying to salvage items with long lasting “guarantees” from brick and mortar houses, designed “forever”, but flooded and damaged, while outside, in the yard, quietly and peacefully, stood – ready for a chag – a sukkah.

Sukkot is also a holiday which introduces the hardest mitzvah of all: being happy. How can we possibly be commanded to be happy??

May we find joy in this holiday, and from it, to the rest of the year. Chag Sameach!

 

 

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

This Yom Kippur, what for ? היום כיפ’ר הזה, על שום מה

Posted on September 29, 2017 by Michal Kohane מיכל כהנא

Much (and more) has been writing about Yom Kippur, this “day of Attornment” in an effort to figure out, explain, interpret, rationalize… words and words (and more… beautiful commentary and many wise insights, some of which I plan to use too, and yet, many are left without an answer: What are we doing? How does it make sense? What is this day all about?
We know it as a day to fast – from food and drink, but also bathing, anointing and marital relations. Mostly – it’s intended to be a day to pause from worldly “stuff”, which the sages, sadly, for us, had to put in concrete terms and practical restrictions. I pull out my machzor to prepare. It’s really beautiful and I love much of what’s in it. And yet, if I read through all of this, will that tell me what’s Yom Kippur? Is a day to approach through these words with one’s intellect, or maybe…

And then, a moment:

As background to my unpacking (great activity for erev YK morning 😊), I’m listening to Galgalatz, the Israeli “music and traffic” radio station. On this day, at 4:55pm Israel time, they play a new’ish version of Kol Nidrei. At 5:00pm – they broadcast the “News”, and then, they say, quite nonchalantly: כאן תמו שידורינו – this completes our broadcasting (until after chag).
And then, there is Silence.
Silence with capital S. Silence which rings in my ears as loud as the shofar; as loud the siren on Holocaust Memorial Day and Yom Hazikaron, Memorial Day for IDF and Terror Victims; Silence which is piercing and all present, filling the air with great joy and great awe. Silence which calls out, “Shabbat-Shabaton”, this is a Mega-Pause from Everything to recalibrate back to zero, like a spiritual bathtub to dunk in. There are no words for that feeling when we get out a good bath. I listen to that Silence and think to myself, that’s it. This is Yom Kippur.

 

 

 

 

 

Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Balance anyone? Shana Tova!!

Posted on September 20, 2017 by Michal Kohane מיכל כהנא

I’m sitting on the edge of the last chair in my apartment, waiting for the movers to come… what a grand way to accentuate this being the eve of the New Year 5778!
The past few days have been busy spent sorting through my life – again: “what will be thrown away, what will be given to a clothing drive, and what will go on with me to my next stop”… I find it all crazy-making, sad, cleansing, heavy, wonderful, exciting, fun…
This year, I think, again, of those tensions in our life, saying yes between two opposing ideas without giving up on either side. We’ve talked about it earlier, when we encountered Ki Tetze & Ki Tavo (the Torah portions of Living and Coming); Nitzavim & Vayelech (standing & walking) and now we come to Rosh Hashana.
We always say “Rosh” is head and “Shana” is year. Easy. But – I’d like to suggest that shana – connected to 2nd – sheni and “leshanen”, as in the Ve’ahavta, which indicated repeated learning, and Mishna, which is a deeper rerun of the Torah.
Rosh is also strange, if you think about it. It’s the “head”, thus the “beginning”, but who’s to say my body doesn’t start form my feet or arms or heart? “Rosh” is more of a leader, 1st.
A leader is nothing without those 2nd and 3rd. For something to be a beginning, it must have a following, a continuity.
So already from day one we’re given an oxymoron: A 1st and a 2nd. It’s the “beginning” of “repetition”, if you will. And we’re supposed to find the balance between the two.
This year, Rosh Hashana falls on the equinox. That was the “start” point for the rabbis’ calendar calculations, the zero. We walk into our “Yom HaDin” – day of judgment when everything is on the scale, as the world of astrology introduces Libra, the scales. Every little act can tilt the scales one way or another. It’s heavenly and divine; we’re constantly dealing with balls tossed at us over which we have no control; and yet, simultaneously, in our hands. What will we do with these balls? How will this year look? How will we conduct the partnership with the one on High, who also, struggles with his opposite midot (qualities) between judgment and mercy (see below)? Asking and seeking for that point is what drives us constantly forward.

May it be a sweet, good year! L’shana Tova U’Metuka!

*******

Bereishit Rabba 12:15 בראשית רבה (וילנא) יב/טו

ה’ א-להים, (משל) למלך שהיו לו כוסות ריקים אמר המלך אם אני נותן לתוכן חמין הם מתבקעין, צונן הם מקריסין, ומה עשה המלך ערב חמין בצונן ונתן בהם ועמדו, כך אמר הקדוש ברוך הוא אם בורא אני את העולם במדת הרחמים הוי חטייה סגיאין, במדת הדין היאך העולם יכול לעמוד, אלא הרי אני בורא אותו במדת הדין ובמדת הרחמים, והלואי יעמוד

The Lord God [made earth and heaven]. This may be compared to a king who had empty glasses. Said the king: ‘If I pour hot water into them, they will burst; if cold, they will contract [and snap].’ What then did the king do? He mixed hot and cold water and poured it into them, and so they remained [unbroken]. Even so, said the Blessed Holy One: ‘If I create the world on the basis of mercy alone, its sins will be great; on the basis of judgment alone, the world cannot exist. Hence I will create it on the basis of judgment and of mercy, and may it then stand!’.

 

 

 

 

 

Posted in Uncategorized | 1 Comment

People of the Journey

Posted on September 14, 2017 by Michal Kohane מיכל כהנא

Vignettes:

It’s the last Shabbat of this Jewish year, 5777, and — my fist Shabbat at my new position at the Prospect Heights Shul, in Brooklyn. “Wow”, is all I’ll say for now… and if you’re in the area, please stop by, visit, come for Shabbat, holiday, coffee, walk in the nearby Propsect Park etc. There is a busy schedule for this Shabbat starting with beautiful Kabbalat Shabbat, Saturday morning coffee before tefila, mini-drash, a lunch & learn, party in the park in the afternoon, and – slichot at night, along with “Slichot Across Brooklyn”, till midnight. Along with that, it’s probably no wonder that the following is what I read in this week’s Torah reading.

Torah*

The third Torah portion from the very beginning of Bereishit, and the third Torah portion from the end of Devarim, share the same root.
Moshe and Avraham, both are characterized by walking. About Avraham we read:

א וַיֹּאמֶר יְהוָה אֶל-אַבְרָם, לֶךְ-לְךָ מֵאַרְצְךָ וּמִמּוֹלַדְתְּךָ וּמִבֵּית אָבִיךָ, אֶל-הָאָרֶץ, אֲשֶׁר אַרְאֶךָּ.
1 Now the LORD said unto Abram: ‘Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father’s house, unto the land that I will show thee.
And about Moshe:
וַיֵּלֶךְ, מֹשֶׁה; וַיְדַבֵּר אֶת-הַדְּבָרִים הָאֵלֶּה, אֶל-כָּל-יִשְׂרָאֵל.
1 And Moses went and spoke these words unto all Israel.
Where are they going?

We are taught that Abraham was journeying to the Land of Israel, and yet, from the verse itself, that is not obvious. God simply instructs him to go from everything he has and knows to a land he will be shown. Rashi adds that Avraham simply had to go: and “there” (wherever that is), I – God – will make you a great nation; here you will not merit sons, and further, (by going “there”), I will make you known in the world.

And Moshe? Where is he going?

The Toldot Yitzchak (1458-1535, uncle of Yosef Karo, the editor of the Shulchan Aruch) writes:
“וילך משה”… ולא כתוב לאן הלך – כי לכל מקום שהלך דיבר את הדברים האלה: ברחוב, במשא ובמתן, בעבודה, בעסקי הפרט ובציבור, בכל מקום החדיר את דבר ה‘ה”
And Moshe went… and (the text) doesn’t say where he went to, for everywhere he went he spoke these words: in the street, when bargaining, at work, when dealing with individuals in privacy and public matters; everywhere he injected the words of Hashem.

Our tradition teaches that the last four Torah portions of Devarim were written by Moshe during the last day of his life. On that day Moshe was 120 years old, and yet, he is not sitting in his tent, fanned by servants, as befitting a great leader; nor awaiting the people to come and greet him. But rather, he gets up and goes. In fact, The Noam Megadim (born in 1805,  of the third generation Chasidut sages) says that even after Moshe has “walked” in the sense of leaving the world, he still keeps speaking all these words to the Children of Israel, to all of us. Further, he adds: halicha – הליכה walking-  indicates rising higher and higher.

Lots of other people in the Torah walk: Noah, Rebecka and more. But not only do our leaders walk; we do too. About eighty percent of the Torah deals with our own journey, and during the remaining twenty percent we move around as well, from Charan to the Land of Israel; back to Charan, back to the Land of Israel and then to Egypt.

And someone else walks as well. In this Torah portion of Vayelech we read:
חִזְקוּ וְאִמְצוּ, אַל-תִּירְאוּ וְאַל-תַּעַרְצוּ מִפְּנֵיהֶם: כִּי ה’ אֱלֹקיךָ, הוּא הַהֹלֵךְ עִמָּךְ–לֹא יַרְפְּךָ, וְלֹא יַעַזְבֶךָּ
Be strong and of good courage, fear not, nor be frightened by them; for the Hashem your G-d, He is the One who goes with you; He will not fail you, nor forsake you.’

Hashem’s journey with us is reiterated in the partner Torah portion of this week, Nitzavim, when the Torah says (30:3):
וְשָׁב יְהוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ אֶת-שְׁבוּתְךָ, וְרִחֲמֶךָ; וְשָׁב, וְקִבֶּצְךָ מִכָּל-הָעַמִּים, אֲשֶׁר הֱפִיצְךָ יְהוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ, שָׁמָּה
that then Hashem your G-d will turn your captivity, and have compassion upon you, and will return and gather you from all the peoples, wherever Hashem your G-d has scattered you.

The translation avoids the complexity in Hebrew, which does not say “God will turn” (or as it appears elsewhere – “God will restore”…). Instead, it says: God will return… as in, come back. Rashi says: Our sages learn from this that the Sh’china, God presence, is with Israel in their exile, and when they’re redeemed, God will redeem Himself and come back with us.

We’ve been called the People of the Book, but it would not be an exaggeration to say that we are likewise a People of the Journey. We journey physically – and spiritually. So much so, that as soon as we complete telling about the journey and are just about to set foot in the Promised Land, we roll our scroll back to the beginning and start all over. Jewish Law is also known as “halacha”, which comes from the same root indicating a lively path to walk on, not a stationary, frozen object. Like in the famous poem, Ithaca by the Egyptian Greek poet, journalist and civil servant Constantine Peter Cavafy, (1863-1933), the arrival is secondary to the journey and the movement, onward and upward.

Shabbat Shalom!

Shvil Yisrael

* published by Yeshivat Maharat

 

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments