This morning marks the beginning of the 5th and final book of the Torah, ספר דברים – The book of Devarim. The Book of Devarim is often translated as the book of speeches. After all, the entire book consists of a series of very long sermons that Moshe gave to the Jewish people right before they entered the Land of Israel.
Now there is something ironic and a bit surprising about the fact that Moshe is all of the sudden giving these long sermons. Those of you who have been following the story of Moshe and know anything about his natural abilities might know what I am referring to.
Way back at the Burning Bush when Moshe originally was interviewing for the job, he said לא איש דברים אנכי which means, “I am not a man of words” and we know that this was Moshe’s major impediment. But yet now at the end of his life he is giving one long sermon after another!
The Midrash Tanchuma lays out this question in a somewhat humorous way and puts the question in the mouths of the Jews who had to listen to these speeches.
במדרש תנחומא אלה הדברים וגו'
אמרו ישראל למשה אתמול אמרת לא איש דברים אנכי ועכשיו אתה מדבר כ"כ
This is a loose translation of the midrash: The Jews say to Moshe, when you interviewed to be our rabbi, you promised you would never speak and that is why we hired you. But now all of the sudden you are giving sermon after sermon and each one is way too long!
I would like to answer this contradiction (whether Moshe is a man of no words or a man of very many words) with a very powerful thought of the Chasidic Master, Reb Nochum of Chernobyl. Since Reb Nochum is probably someone who many of you have never heard of and are not familiar with his thought, I would like to introduce his idea by first giving over some of his biography and his story which I believe will give added insight into his idea.
I am sure that many of you heard of the Twersky family. The Twersky Chasidic dynasty began in the Ukraine with Reb Nochum of Chernobyl. Reb Nochum (1730 – 1787) studied under the Baal Shem Tov (the founder of chassidut) And then under the Maggid of Mezeritch. He was one of the first to propagate Ḥasidism;
Now there are actually two kinds of rebbes or Chassidic leaders. One kind of leader is the classic rebbe. The Rebbe has a court and is based in one town. He has a small tight nit group of followers and then a larger group of Chassidim who live in other towns and come to visit him on the holidays. But the other kind of Rebbe is called a Maggid, or a preacher. A maggid would travel from city to city and town to town and try to offer words of inspiration and chassidut to the masses. Reb Nochum was a Maggid. Being a maggid isn’t an easy job. You are away from home, it is very tiring; but it is a labor of love because it is the only way of bringing Judaism and Chassidut to the people. And Reb Nochum was really one of the first Maggidim in Hassidut.
Now back to Moshe. Was he a man of words or not? In order to answer the question, Reb Nochum first has to explain some key kabbilistic ideas. Reb Nochum tells us that there are essentially two kinds of people in terms of their spiritual orientation. There are some people who are what is called מוחין דקטנים which comes from the Hebrew phrase מוח קטן which I will call small brained. And then there are people who he says have מוחין דגדולין which means big brained people. What is the difference between these two groups? It comes down to whether or not you have what is called דעת or knowledge. The small brained people don’t have it and the big brained people have it.
So then the next question is, what is this דעת that separates the big brains from the small brains. Well Reb Nochum defines people who have דעת, and this is very important, as those who understand that it is possible that when they speak, God is speaking through them.
How does God speak through people? Well according to Hassidic and Kabbilistic teaching, the shchinah is trapped in all of us. We are all God at our core. But we have layers of Ego and impurity that traps the shechinah inside of us. But as soon as we can pull away all of those layers, The shechinah starts talking through our mouth (השכינה מדברת מתוך גרונו).
This is what divides the small brain people from the big brain people. The small brain people worship God out of יראה or fear. They pray to God to avert punishment and they ask God to take care of their needs; health, parnasah, all important things but from Reb Nochum’s perspective, not ideal.
The Big Brain People on the other hand worship God so that they can strip away those layers and so they can experience the ecstasy of being egoless, having God speak through you and in a certain sense becoming G-d.
This is how we can understand how Moshe went from someone who couldn’t put together a sentence to being someone who delivered the most important speeches in history. He started off as being one who couldn’t speak and at the end of his life he was still someone who couldn’t speak. So who was speaking those important speeches on the Plains of Moav just before he died? Over Moshe’s 40 year career his brain got bigger and bigger. He now truly divested himself of his ego and everytime he opened his mouth, he mouth was moving but it was God who was talking. To some extent Moshe became God.
Now I would like to get back to Reb Nochum’s personal story. He was a Maggid. I mentioned being a maggid is difficult. You have to leave home and never really settle down. But now I think I understand Reb Nochum and what motivated him. He truly believed that wherever he was teaching, he was allowing God to speak through him. He must have craved the spiritual pleasure of transcending himself and becoming God.
On this Shabbat of דברים of speeches, I ask us all to remember that the shechinah resides in all of us. And even if we cannot perfect ourselves like Moshe or even like Reb Nochum, we can at our own level transcend our egos, go beyond ourselves and allow God to speak through us. And yes, if we do that, we can in some way become G-d!
Tuesday, August 12, 2008
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
A Living Covenant - Class 3 - "Oven of Akhnai"
To Listen to class click here
To download source sheet click here
This class will focus on amazing story from the Talmud, "The Oven of Achnai." In addition to learning Hartman's take on the story, we will introduce an exciting methodology of the study of Rabbinic Narrative.
Wednesday, May 14, 2008
Wednesday, May 7, 2008
"A Living Covenant" - Introduction
To Listen to the class click here
To see the source sheet click here
This class will focus on David Hartman's book, A Living Covenant. The book's premise (taken from the bookcover) is that Jewish life "need not be passive, insulated, or self effacing, but can be lived with... passion, tolerance and spontaneity." "The Living Covenant explores the thought of Maimonides, Rav Soloveitchik and Yeshayahu Leibowitz so we will also spend time on these three thinkers.
To see the source sheet click here
This class will focus on David Hartman's book, A Living Covenant. The book's premise (taken from the bookcover) is that Jewish life "need not be passive, insulated, or self effacing, but can be lived with... passion, tolerance and spontaneity." "The Living Covenant explores the thought of Maimonides, Rav Soloveitchik and Yeshayahu Leibowitz so we will also spend time on these three thinkers.
Monday, April 28, 2008
Yizkor Sermon: 8'th day of Pesach 5768
Why do we light a Yizkor Candle?
Yizkor Derasha, Pesach 5758
It has only been about two weeks since we were shocked to find out about the tragic deaths of Rabbi Jake and Debbie Rubinstein of Scarsdale New York. One particularly horrific aspect of this tragedy is the cause of death. They died through fire. There was no illness, no period of waiting to allow them to in some sense come to terms with their deaths. There was just a sudden, unexpected, overwhelming, overpowering and utterly destructive fire.
What strikes me on this Yizkor morning two weeks later, the first Yizkor after their deaths as their family and community are just going through the initial stages of grieving is the way in which we will memorialize them and all of our departed loved ones. Besides reciting Yizkor, we do one act. Most of us did it last night as Yom Tov came in. We light a candle, a little fire. Most of us have candles lit at home and if look in the back of the sanctuary you will see hundreds of little electric candles that were lit by our lamplighters in memory of Beth Sholom members who are no longer with us. And my question this morning is very simple; Why? Why do we take the fire, which can be and was so destructive just two weeks ago and has killed so many jews throughout the ages; Why do we take the destructive force and use it to memorialize our loved ones?
In order to answer this question, I think we need to take a step back and understand the significance of fire in the Torah.In the Torah, Fire is present at almost every important communication between God and the Jewish People. At the brit bein habetarim, God is represented by a לפיד אש – a flaming torch which blazed through animals that Avraham had cut in two. And how does God first appear to Moshe? At a bush set on fire. At the revelation at Sinai, the mountain is said to be full of smoke because God descended upon it in Fire. Finally, God leads Israel through the desert for 40 years with an עמוד אש a pillar of fire.
So if it is true that Fire is present at almost every important moment in Jewish History, then why is it missing during the most holy day of the week. We all know that there are 39 categories of prohibited work on shabbat. But the only prohibition that is explicitly mentioned in the Torah is לא תבערו אש בכל משבתיכם ביום השבת – Do not light a fire in all of your dwelling places on shabbat. Shabbat is sandwiched between fire. We light a fire right before shabbat with the Shabbat candles and we light a fire right after shabbat (Havdalah).But on shabbat itself there is no fire. If fire is so holy and Shabbat is the holiest time, then the absence of fire on Shabbat is glaring.
Perhaps we can offer the following thought which will help explain the nature of fire and Shabbat. Everyone knows that without Fire, there is no civilization. Fire is necessary for light, for cooking, for fuel, for building. Fire is therefore understood as the symbol of creativity and ingenuity. This is the reason that at almost every important moment in the Jewish people’s historical relationship with God, fire is present. When God appears to Abraham, he is asking Abraham to be the builder of a new nation. It is about holy building, fire is therefore present. At Har Sinai, the Jewish People are given the Torah. The Torah is meant to be used as a blueprint for the jewish people to create a state and build a home in the land of Israel. It is all about holy creating, fire is therefore present. But then it comes to shabbat and the point of shabbat is to stop creating. To turn inward, to catch our spiritual breath and gain an inner balance. Fire is therefore absent on shabbat.
There is a very important idea in Judaism which I think is applicable to our understanding of fire. Judaism teaches us that anything that has tremendous power for good (כח לטוב), also has potential to be very bad, very destructive (כח לרע). That is why the same fire which creates, which provides food, which builds, also has the power to destroy. The same power which brings so much joy also brings pain and suffering. Fire is either really good or really bad. It is never pareve, never neutral.
To some extent, the same can be said of relationships with parents and close relatives. I never heard of someone who had a pareve relationship with their parents. I never heard someone say, “My parents, they are alright. It is ok to spend time with them, nothing special, but it is alright. At times, you are so drawn to your parents like a candle which provides light and warmth. But at other times, the relationship might be difficult and then it is like a fire which is overwhelming and overpowering; you need to be away.
Perhaps that is why we light a yizkor candle. The fire is contained but it has a bright glow. The candle represents the neshama of a person because fire represents the life force, the creativity. And now during yizkor we remember the loved one during those times when their light was a guide providing warmth and comfort.
I would like to conclude with a fascinating halakhic dispute concerning the lighting of the Yizkor candle and it has to do with when and how you light the candle. When did you light the yizkor candle? Most of us probably lit the candle last night right after we lit the Yom Tov candles. The problem is that there is actually a halakhic problem with lighting the yizkor candle. This is because even though it is permitted to kindle a light on Yom Tov (from an existing flame), it is only permitted if we need the fire for cooking, for warmth or for light. But if just light it for the sake of lighting a candle, it is called a נר של בטלה a light that serves no purpose and it is forbidden to light this kind of candle on Yom Tov, even from an existing flame. Therefore the question about whether one may light a yizkor candle on Yom Tov was raised in the beginning of the 19th century and it was actually the subject of a debate.
Rabbi Meir Eisenshtat was asked whether or not a yizkor candle may be lit and he said that it is forbidden. Ironically, the name of the book that records this prohibition of kindling the Yizkor candle on Yom Tov is called אמרי אש which means The Sayings of Fire. So the Imrei Eish would have told all of us last night that we should not light our yizkor candles.
But then a few years later in the middle of the 19th century, Rabbi Abraham Sofer, the son of the famous Chatam Sofer was asked the same question. And I think that he understood the spiritual and emotional need of children to light the Yizkor candle for their parents. But he also knew the law. And the law said that if a candle was not going to be used to enhance the simcha of Yom Tov that it could not be kindled on Yom Tov even if it was for a memorial. He therefore he came up with the following compromise. He said that the Yizkor candle could be kindled on Yom Tov. But that it needs to be placed on the table where people would eat or read and thereby use the candle to enhance the simcha of Yom Tov. I think that some of us might be taken aback by Rabbi Abraham Sofer’s suggestion. We should use the Yizkor candle? Doesn’t it represent the soul of our departed loved ones? Isn’t it holy?
But I think the suggestion is beautiful. It teaches us that we need to take the light which represents the soul, the life and creative force of our parents and grandparents and use it to provide light in our own lives.
In this vein, I would like to offer a possible ritual that we can adopt which will not only make our lighting of the Yizkor candle conform with halakha, it will also provide a powerful ritual in the spirit of Yizkor. This afternoon, take a few minutes and open up a Jewish text or a book that your parents or grandparents thought was very important. Maybe a parsha from chumash, the shema or a favorite Psalm or Prayer, maybe a mishna from Avot or even something from secular literature. Sit down next to the yizkor light and use the flame that represents their neshama and learn the text. And as your learning, imagine that they are there with you and learning with you BeChavruta – in partnership. What kinds of questions would they ask about the text? What kinds of insights would they derive from the text and take this as an opportunity to allow their light to still shine in the world and to help guide you in your life today.
My berakha to us all on this Yizkor morning is that the lessons that we have learned and continue to learn from our parents and grandparents be passed down to our children, grandchildren and all of the Jewish people for many generations to come. And if that happens, the light of their souls will always burn. Chag Sameach.
Yizkor Derasha, Pesach 5758
It has only been about two weeks since we were shocked to find out about the tragic deaths of Rabbi Jake and Debbie Rubinstein of Scarsdale New York. One particularly horrific aspect of this tragedy is the cause of death. They died through fire. There was no illness, no period of waiting to allow them to in some sense come to terms with their deaths. There was just a sudden, unexpected, overwhelming, overpowering and utterly destructive fire.
What strikes me on this Yizkor morning two weeks later, the first Yizkor after their deaths as their family and community are just going through the initial stages of grieving is the way in which we will memorialize them and all of our departed loved ones. Besides reciting Yizkor, we do one act. Most of us did it last night as Yom Tov came in. We light a candle, a little fire. Most of us have candles lit at home and if look in the back of the sanctuary you will see hundreds of little electric candles that were lit by our lamplighters in memory of Beth Sholom members who are no longer with us. And my question this morning is very simple; Why? Why do we take the fire, which can be and was so destructive just two weeks ago and has killed so many jews throughout the ages; Why do we take the destructive force and use it to memorialize our loved ones?
In order to answer this question, I think we need to take a step back and understand the significance of fire in the Torah.In the Torah, Fire is present at almost every important communication between God and the Jewish People. At the brit bein habetarim, God is represented by a לפיד אש – a flaming torch which blazed through animals that Avraham had cut in two. And how does God first appear to Moshe? At a bush set on fire. At the revelation at Sinai, the mountain is said to be full of smoke because God descended upon it in Fire. Finally, God leads Israel through the desert for 40 years with an עמוד אש a pillar of fire.
So if it is true that Fire is present at almost every important moment in Jewish History, then why is it missing during the most holy day of the week. We all know that there are 39 categories of prohibited work on shabbat. But the only prohibition that is explicitly mentioned in the Torah is לא תבערו אש בכל משבתיכם ביום השבת – Do not light a fire in all of your dwelling places on shabbat. Shabbat is sandwiched between fire. We light a fire right before shabbat with the Shabbat candles and we light a fire right after shabbat (Havdalah).But on shabbat itself there is no fire. If fire is so holy and Shabbat is the holiest time, then the absence of fire on Shabbat is glaring.
Perhaps we can offer the following thought which will help explain the nature of fire and Shabbat. Everyone knows that without Fire, there is no civilization. Fire is necessary for light, for cooking, for fuel, for building. Fire is therefore understood as the symbol of creativity and ingenuity. This is the reason that at almost every important moment in the Jewish people’s historical relationship with God, fire is present. When God appears to Abraham, he is asking Abraham to be the builder of a new nation. It is about holy building, fire is therefore present. At Har Sinai, the Jewish People are given the Torah. The Torah is meant to be used as a blueprint for the jewish people to create a state and build a home in the land of Israel. It is all about holy creating, fire is therefore present. But then it comes to shabbat and the point of shabbat is to stop creating. To turn inward, to catch our spiritual breath and gain an inner balance. Fire is therefore absent on shabbat.
There is a very important idea in Judaism which I think is applicable to our understanding of fire. Judaism teaches us that anything that has tremendous power for good (כח לטוב), also has potential to be very bad, very destructive (כח לרע). That is why the same fire which creates, which provides food, which builds, also has the power to destroy. The same power which brings so much joy also brings pain and suffering. Fire is either really good or really bad. It is never pareve, never neutral.
To some extent, the same can be said of relationships with parents and close relatives. I never heard of someone who had a pareve relationship with their parents. I never heard someone say, “My parents, they are alright. It is ok to spend time with them, nothing special, but it is alright. At times, you are so drawn to your parents like a candle which provides light and warmth. But at other times, the relationship might be difficult and then it is like a fire which is overwhelming and overpowering; you need to be away.
Perhaps that is why we light a yizkor candle. The fire is contained but it has a bright glow. The candle represents the neshama of a person because fire represents the life force, the creativity. And now during yizkor we remember the loved one during those times when their light was a guide providing warmth and comfort.
I would like to conclude with a fascinating halakhic dispute concerning the lighting of the Yizkor candle and it has to do with when and how you light the candle. When did you light the yizkor candle? Most of us probably lit the candle last night right after we lit the Yom Tov candles. The problem is that there is actually a halakhic problem with lighting the yizkor candle. This is because even though it is permitted to kindle a light on Yom Tov (from an existing flame), it is only permitted if we need the fire for cooking, for warmth or for light. But if just light it for the sake of lighting a candle, it is called a נר של בטלה a light that serves no purpose and it is forbidden to light this kind of candle on Yom Tov, even from an existing flame. Therefore the question about whether one may light a yizkor candle on Yom Tov was raised in the beginning of the 19th century and it was actually the subject of a debate.
Rabbi Meir Eisenshtat was asked whether or not a yizkor candle may be lit and he said that it is forbidden. Ironically, the name of the book that records this prohibition of kindling the Yizkor candle on Yom Tov is called אמרי אש which means The Sayings of Fire. So the Imrei Eish would have told all of us last night that we should not light our yizkor candles.
But then a few years later in the middle of the 19th century, Rabbi Abraham Sofer, the son of the famous Chatam Sofer was asked the same question. And I think that he understood the spiritual and emotional need of children to light the Yizkor candle for their parents. But he also knew the law. And the law said that if a candle was not going to be used to enhance the simcha of Yom Tov that it could not be kindled on Yom Tov even if it was for a memorial. He therefore he came up with the following compromise. He said that the Yizkor candle could be kindled on Yom Tov. But that it needs to be placed on the table where people would eat or read and thereby use the candle to enhance the simcha of Yom Tov. I think that some of us might be taken aback by Rabbi Abraham Sofer’s suggestion. We should use the Yizkor candle? Doesn’t it represent the soul of our departed loved ones? Isn’t it holy?
But I think the suggestion is beautiful. It teaches us that we need to take the light which represents the soul, the life and creative force of our parents and grandparents and use it to provide light in our own lives.
In this vein, I would like to offer a possible ritual that we can adopt which will not only make our lighting of the Yizkor candle conform with halakha, it will also provide a powerful ritual in the spirit of Yizkor. This afternoon, take a few minutes and open up a Jewish text or a book that your parents or grandparents thought was very important. Maybe a parsha from chumash, the shema or a favorite Psalm or Prayer, maybe a mishna from Avot or even something from secular literature. Sit down next to the yizkor light and use the flame that represents their neshama and learn the text. And as your learning, imagine that they are there with you and learning with you BeChavruta – in partnership. What kinds of questions would they ask about the text? What kinds of insights would they derive from the text and take this as an opportunity to allow their light to still shine in the world and to help guide you in your life today.
My berakha to us all on this Yizkor morning is that the lessons that we have learned and continue to learn from our parents and grandparents be passed down to our children, grandchildren and all of the Jewish people for many generations to come. And if that happens, the light of their souls will always burn. Chag Sameach.
Monday, April 14, 2008
Tuesday, April 1, 2008
Seder Seminar class #2 - "Mah Nishtanah: The Four Questions"
The "Mah Nishtana" is always an enjoyable part of the seder because it is often recited by our young children. In this class we will examine the "ma nishtana" and come to realize that many of us are really missing the point in forcing our children to memorize "the four questions."
To listen to the class, click here
To download the source sheet, click here
To listen to the class, click here
To download the source sheet, click here
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