Acharei Mos: The Yom Kippur Goats

When one sins, he brings a goat as a chatas, or sin offering. Rabbi Hirsch explains the symbolism of this offering. The goat represents the individual sinner's obstinacy, his egotistical desire to do his own bidding, and obey no one external. A naturally stubborn animal, the goat is full of its own vigor and will. It symbolizes the fact that when one sins, he has cast off the yoke of Heaven for that time, and acted without subjugating himself to God's rule. This symbolic goat is brought to the Temple, where submits itself to slaughter. This represents man's ideal, which is submission to God's will. This is an ideal which the sinner has lost, and he brings the offering as a lofty reminder of what his relationship with God must rest on.

The goat is then brought to the fires of the altar, and its blood sprinkled on the sides. When this happens, the sinner learns the lesson that by submitting to the yoke of God, we take our temporal, transitive existence in this world, and convert it into immortality. By keeping our actions in tune with the desires of Hashem, we sublimate our lives, and they become part of the eternal. The altar represents the processing of God's will on earth. Our actions, indeed our very bodies, are to be "לחם אשה ריח ניחוח לה." They are to serve as fuel for the flame of God.

On Yom Kippur, however, a double goat offering is brought. The two goats are to be as identical as possible; they should be bought together, and of the same height and appearance. They represent not only one man, but mankind in general. A lottery decides which one will be for Hashem, and which will go לעזעזל. In other words, no outward properties decide if a particular human will do good or evil. It is truly up to each individual. This is the foundation of free will, that we each choose to do good or evil. Our actions are not predestined or determined by genetics.

The goat that is chosen to be for God immediately submits to slaughter and becomes fuel for God's fire. Meanwhile, the one destined for azazel stands in its own vigor and power. It continues to live. However, it comes to the door of the Temple, but no further. It represents people who choose to turn their backs on God's teachings. He heads out to the desert. One who chooses to live outside the bounds of free-willed subservience to God really has no place in the ideal human society. This person has decided to make his life a hedonistic celebration of his own ego. While he may have a pleasant life (symbolized by his staying alive longer than the goat that was sacrificed), he ultimately is thrown off a cliff in a barren land. His existence and his life's meaning ends with his death. He has chosen not to be fuel for God's glory on earth, and so, has missed his chance at immortality.

The everyday sin offering is enough for us generally. It is enough to teach us how to act with positive reinforcement. However, once a year, the nation gets a symbolic lesson demonstrating the spiritual excision of one who chooses not to live the life delineated by God, with negative reinforcement.

Perhaps this can be a lesson to educators. Negative reinforcement has its place, but positive reinforcement must be the way that discipline is mostly accomplished. Incentives and positive messages awaken the nobility in a child's soul, instead of engendering fear and malice.

Great Demographic News (II)

Another report that talks about the Israeli demographic issue in optimistic tones can be read here.

It seems that the Jewish orthodox birthrates guarantee the Jewish majority and will in fact increase it. It will also, by great coincidence, make the Torah more visible in government, as the future, more numerically religious generation votes orthodox people into government.

This reminds me of the Vilna Gaon's statement about the return to Zion. He writes that it may well start with secular Jews. In fact, he held, it will start that way, just as the Second Temple period was ushered in by Darius.

He further writes that this must be, for the redemption to take place. Satan will do his utmost to uproot the seeds of redemption before they have a chance to grasp the land of their fathers firmly. If the movement back to Israel is one with loud overtones of religion, Satan will immediately know to sabatoge those plans. Therefore, the beginning of the settlement will be initiated and controlled by unorthodox, even anti-orthodox, Jews. Satan will say, 'these surely cannot be part of God's great plan of redemption!' He will then leave the fledgeling state alone, focusing his powers on other things. Only when it is too late, and the process of redemption is no longer derailable, will it become clear that those first frontiermen were a cover for the redemption!

May God allow us to see the day when his plan is revealed to the world in all its glory.

Threatening Truth and the Free World

As reported by the Daily Mail, educators are beginning to leave the Holocaust out of their curricula, in fear of anti-Semitic reactions from Muslim students. The Islamic threat that only 30 years ago endangered Israeli society, is now spreading, by virtue of its high birth rate and scathingly fundamentalist voice, and threatens much of the Free World. What is going on?

The Free World has become so egalitarian that it is able to morally equate the terrorist's actions with those of defensive victims. It is able to compare the calculated murder of innocent children with the tragic, accidental deaths of military reactions to those murders. In short, we have lost our ability to distinguish between morally complex situations. And so, it should be no surprise that the world begins to cave in to the squeakiest global wheel, giving in again and again to evil, in an attempt to gain short term peace. However, the blurring of moral distinctions is never cost-free; eventually, evil catches up, and the debatable short-term peace becomes the catalyst for long-term disaster. Evil slowly peels away society's willingness to stand up for truth and justice, and ultimately, the World stands naked, unarmored, at the brink of a battle that is finally too important before which to bow.

As a world, we have allowed the Muslim fundamentalists too much slack. First, we gave their denial of Israel's right to exist credibility, since it is easier to allow terrorists a pulpit than to destroy their ability to make terror. Then, we allowed them to use our media to paint themselves as victims in a global conflict that is their own creation entirely. We have bought their lie that the West is the root of the world's problems. Why? Because it is easier to accept what they say and rail against moderate democratic governments and elected officials, than to go to their countries and demonstrate against their despots, and be tortured to death in a prison by their police. In short, it is easier in the short-term to tip-toe around brutality than to destroy it head on.

Finally, we are willing to remove the Holocaust from our schools rather than engage the inevitable anti-Semitic vitriol from Muslim students. No teacher would be able to effectively discredit or discipline a screaming Muslim child, and so we rather side-step the whole issue. And by doing so, do we pay notice to the fact that it is the very activity of the Holocaust that these Islamists gather their strength to carry out? No! Because, ultimately, the Jews are easier to reason with. They understand the need for classroom decorum. They will nod their heads with age-old patience and shuffle quietly to the crematoria yet again. The Arabs, however, will cause a ruckus. They will verbalize the unspoken truth that we all know is their dream and prayer: that Islam will wipe out all us heretics by the sword in due time. A Free World teacher does not have the tools to deal with this in the classroom. We simply cannot teach these issues if they raise such a furor in school.

I do not fear for the Jewish people. God saw how much the world does when Jews are butchered in 1939. He and we will never forget the atrocities allowed by an apathetic world and a seething, hateful enemy. And so, he gave us Israel, and an army, and bravery, and commanded us to trust no one but Him and ourselves. And although Israel presently does not put its faith in God only, I know it will. We hope that by choice, and yet, if not, by necessity, Jews will return to their Father in Heaven. He has a teleological goal in store for them, and they will rise to the occasion and their legendary glory eventually.

I do, however, fear for the Western World. It fails to see that by giving in to these fundamentalists, it simply pushes the ultimate battle up one more notch. By removing the Holocaust from their textbooks, teachers lead society down a dangerous road, the road of forgetting history, and being bound to repeat it. The new enemy, with its hateful screams and suicide attacks, will destroy a world that has forgotten what it is to fight for justice, morality, and its own right to exist.

The world must wake up before it is too late. It must root out this Muslim threat while it is still at the stage of its teen-hood, full of fury, but controllable. The world must develop a way to act in a way that befits the merciless masses of hate-filled Arabs bent on destruction, and avert catastrophe. May God give us the resolve and courage necessary, for this is already a hard and morally confusing battle, and it will only grow more so.

Creativity and the Ark

The Holy Ark had an interesting method of construction. It was a wooden box that was encased in gold, from within and without (Ex. 37:2). It is understandable to cover it in gold on the outside. However, the gold on the inside would never be visible to anyone. Why encase it from within?

Rabbi Hirsch takes the aron as a symbol for the Jewish nation's relationship to personal and individual expression. The center of the ark is wooden. Wood is a material which, in its natural state, changes and grows over time. It is constantly developing, branching out in new and different directions, covering new ground, and sprouting new leaves and fruit. It is a symbol for the creative element in each person. Throughout our lives, we change, as wood does. We grow physically, emotionally and spiritually. We continually conceive of new ideas, and give birth to concepts and novellae. We are creative beings by nature.

The coating of the wood, on the other hand, is gold. Gold, the quintessential metal, is rigid and strong. It can withstand pressure and is not flexible. It symbolizes the restrictive, definitive rigor of the halacha.

Thus, the ark symbolizes a person's creative domain and its limits. We are contained by the strictures of the essential law. However, within its bounds, we are free to grow and invent with the full creative capacity that God endowed within us.

Rav Kook takes the creative enterprise and sees it as an ethical and religious imperative. In ארות הקודש, he develops the idea that human creativity is a vestige of prophecy. The strictures of societal pressure choke the lofty creative spirit. Within the golden bounds of the halacha, "we are charged by the Divine to produce with truth and honesty, that which our souls show us, and to bring our celestial insight from the abstract to the concrete..."

"The culling of sparks of glorious truth from the creative stores of all brightens the world, and bring about the revelation ultimate, complete truth of God." Rav Kook sees the innovative expression latent in us all as a pre-requisite for the glory of God to be clearly visible in our world.

In אורות התורה (ch. 13), he goes on to explain that the true elements of innovation and pure creativity are only to be experienced in the land of Israel. This is because the true unity of subject across the vast contents of the torah can only be truly appreciated in the Holy Land. Unity of thought is a necessary element for creative activity. The difference between the Babylonian Talmud and the Jerusalem one is indicative of this: the Babylonian must divide, categorize and feel about in the dark for the contours of God's law, while, in the Jerusalem Talmud, the diverse and disparate elements of halacha and hashkafa are effortlessly seen as part of an organic whole. There, the search for truth is as easy as bringing a candle to illuminate the dark. Perhaps this is the meaning of the statement, 'אוירא דארץ ישראל מחכים.' The very atmosphere in the Holy Land enlightens the mind and spirit (B. Bath. 258b).

Literary Devices in Ki Tisa

To paraphrase one of my teachers, the Torah is much more than excellent literature, but it is at least that. By examining the words of the Torah through a literary scope, one can gain a much deeper appreciation for the beauty and inspiring technical design that went into it. For example, in Gen. 2:25-3:1, we find the word ערום twice, one after the other. The first means 'naked', and refers to the naive pair of humans, while the second means 'wily', and refers to the scheming snake. The juxtaposition of the innocent, guileless man and wife and the crafty snake, is powerful. It is enhanced by the use of precisely the same word to describe each, with each usage highlighting a different variant meaning for that word. It is as if the text itself becomes wily and crafty, foreshadowing the snake's malicious and devious strategy. This kind of verbal irony mingled with alliteration is very successful at immediately changing a light, care-free mood into a grim and portentous tone.

In this week's portion, we again find this literary device. In 32:17, Yehoshua meets Moshe as he descends the mountain, and says, 'the sounds of war are in the camp.' In the next verse, Moshe responds: "אֵין קוֹל עֲנוֹת גְּבוּרָה, וְאֵין קוֹל, עֲנוֹת חֲלוּשָׁה; קוֹל עַנּוֹת, אָנֹכִי שֹׁמֵעַ." 'Those are no sounds of victorious battle cries, nor sounds of defeated cries for retreat; I hear the cries of strife.' The word ענות in the context of this verse is used three times, but means two different things. In the first two instances, it is a nominalized verb whose root is the qal form of .ע.נ.ה, meaning 'answer'. This is translated hear as meaning 'battle cry'. Units of armies would sometimes find out the status of their fellow units by listening to hear if the battle cries were victorious ones, or ones of retreat. In this case, the infinitive would be of the form לִלְמׂד, or לְמׂד. However, since the פ of the root is an ע, the shwa becomes a chataf-patach. There is no dagesh in the נ because the word is essentially in qal.

However, the third instance of the word is not the same. There is a dagesh in the נ, which is a marker for piel. The ע is pointed with a patach which further shows that this is a nominalization of a piel verb. The meaning is thus the piel of .ע.נ.ה, which is 'torture or cause pain or strife.'

The use of this literary strategy hearkens to the usage mentioned in Gen 2:25, and provides an undercurrent of movement beneath the surface of the text of the story. The tone and mood of the story-line is changed by literary usages while the story plays iteself out. The result is a text which is subtle and nuanced. Much of the beauty and artistic creativity of the Torah is best recognized when taking a moment to re-connect to the Torah as a Divine literary creation.

J.G. Herder (quoted in Phillip Birnbaum's translation HaSiddur HaShalem) once commented, "It is worth studying the Hebrew language for ten years in order to read Psalm 104 in the original." He was referring to the poetry and native lyric that can only be appreciated in Hebrew. Translations of the Bible, even when they comprise dramatic literary accomplishments in their own rights, are only dim shadows of the drama and breathless beauty that the native Hebrew Bible contains. The original uncovers some of the immortal perfection that is usually hidden in our natural world.

Which Achashverosh? That Achashverosh!

My teacher, Dr. Richard Steiner, sent me an electronic off-print of one of his new articles. In it, he discusses the Aramaic of the Elaphantine papyri and Ezra (5:15-17). There, an official named Sheshbazzar is mentioned. First, when introduced, it is said, "ששבצר שמה", 'whose name was Sheshbazzar', and afterwards, it continues, "ששבצר דך", 'the aforementioned Sheshbazzar'. Dr. Steiner develops this peculiar syntax.

First, a previously unknown (to the reader) subject is mentioned and named in a 'de-definitizing' way. It is analogous to the english sentence, 'A man named John said this.' In this case, the subject 'John' is not a true definite article, and is like saying 'A John said this.' Only after the de-definitizing of the name, is the name re-definitized, by the second clause. "The aforementioned Sheshbazzar" is analogous to "That John is the one who picked up the ball." It takes an indefinite article that is named, and makes it definite by describing which John picked up the ball. Not 'a John,' but 'this John.'

Dr. Steiner (quoting Meyer) points out that this syntactical format is found in Old Persian writings.

Immediately, the first verse of Esther came to my mind: "ויהי בימי אחשורש הוא אחשורש המולך..." The same syntactical style is clear! 'In the days of a king called Achashverosh, that same Achashverosh who ruled over...'

There are certainly people out there who know better than me, but I am betting that the book of Esther was first written in Persian, and certainly employed the diction and style of that language. Could the style of the first verse of the Hebrew Megillat Esther be a subtle hint and acknowledgement of this?

The Wisdom of (John) Wisdom

The question of religious belief and its rationality is one that will certainly continue for a long time. It is my belief that Religion deals with questions of 'why', that are, by definition, out of the reach of empirical tests, the domain of Science. The difference is aptly described by John Wisdom (Proceedings of an Aristotelian Society, LXV):

Two people return to their long neglected garden and find among the weeds a few of the old plants surprisingly vigorous. One says to the other "It must be that a gardener has been coming and doing something about these plants." Upon inquiry they find that no neighbor has ever seen anyone at work in their garden. The first man says to the other "He must have worked while people slept." The other says "No, someone would have heard him and besides, anybody who cared about the plants would have kept down these weeds." The first man says "Look at the way these are arranged. There is purpose and a feeling for beauty here. I believe that someone comes, someone invisible to mortal eyes. I believe that the more carefully we look the more we shall find confirmation of this."

They examine the garden ever so carefully and sometimes they come on new things suggesting the contrary and even that a malicious person has been at work. Besides examining the garden carefully they also study what happens to gardens left without attention. Each learns all the other learns about this and about the garden. Consequently, when after all this, one says "I still believe a gardener comes" while the other says "I don't".

Their different words now reflect no difference as to what they have found in the garden, no difference as to what they would find in the garden if they looked further, and no difference about how fast untended gardens fall into disorder. At this stage, in this context, the gardener hypothesis has ceased to be experimental; the difference between one who accepts and one who rejects it is now not a matter of the one expecting something the other does not expect.

What is the difference between them? The one says "A gardener comes unseen and unheard. He is manifested only in his works with shich we are all familiar." The other says "There is no gardener." And with this difference in what the say about the gardener goes a difference in how they feel toward the garden, in spite of the fact that neither expects anything of it which the other does not expect.

It all comes down ultimately to will. I cannot 'prove' spiritual matters for proof does not operate in the realm of "why or what" but in the realm of "how" (the realm of Science). Therefore ultimately one cannot solely use facts or data to decide whether or not to live a life believing in God. He must rely on his experience. If so, it all comes down to willing oneself to allow experience to help one see God and not brush those experiences off as chance or something irrelevant. This is the idea of "Free Will" in its muted yet most glorious lyric: truly giving Man the opportunity to will himself to do right.

Marriage, Sinai and Responsibility

A friend of my wife is getting married this coming week. While reflecting on the idea of marriage, I was struck by an odd yet compelling question. The midrash states that Adam and Chava were created as two sides to the same body. They were both present, and shared one soul. Hashem then decided to split the body and soul into two, so that man and woman each became, effectively, one half of a whole. When they are unified in marriage, the primordial harmony is once again established. In essence, marriage is the reunification of what God separated at the dawn of time. While considering this, I asked, "Why did Hashem separate the original human creation? Why tear a soul in two, and then leave the two halves to find each other in a chaotic world? What purpose is served in this search?"

In Shir HaShirim (3:11), the author exhorts the daughters of Zion to celebrate with King Shlomo, "on his wedding day, the day of his heartfelt happiness." The Talmud (Ta'anith 26b) allegorizes this verse. The wedding day refers to the day of the giving of the Torah at Mount Sinai, while the day of his supreme happiness refers to the building of the Temple. What does this allegory mean?

While in Egypt, the Jewish people were not rightly a nation. They were a collection of related individuals, whose common suffering gave them a bond. God's miraculous intervention in the affairs of Man had as a stated purpose, "ולקחתי אתכם לי לעם". By taking the Jews out of Egypt, Hashem would make them into a nation that would serve Him (Exodus 6:6). The goal of this physical creation of the nation of Israel was the immediate spiritual creation of a national purpose, at Sinai, in the giving of the Torah. The Torah codifies how the Jews are to interact as a national unit. But more importantly, it guarantees that each Jew be responsible for, and only be complete, in that national unit. This is the significance of the phrase "נעשה ונשמע", the national resolve that "we will do". No Jew can keep all 613 commandments, as some only apply to one group, while others only apply to another. It is only as a nation, by sublimating ourselves to the כלל, that we truly can uphold the whole of the Torah.

It is easy to imagine the connection between Har Sinai and the marriage canopy. Up until marriage, we are essentially individuals, fulfilling our own individual needs. However, under the chuppah, a man and woman accept the responsibility of acting and thinking as a unit. There is no more you and I, there is only we. I am reminded of the story in which the saintly Rabbi Aryeh Levine brought his hurt wife to the doctor, saying, "Doctor, our leg hurts." This man had internalized the idea of a couple as a unit, and not just a collection of two individuals, that he felt her pain as his own!

And so, our observance of the Torah and our consideration of our marriage inspire each other to greater thinking in terms of the group, and less of ourselves individually.

Next, the day of Shlomo's supreme happiness is compared to the building of the Temple. Rabbi Hirsch (Vayetzeh p. 457) explains that a Jewish home is supposed to be a miniature Temple. The atmosphere is meant to be one in which the loving and joyous service of God is carried out with understanding and emotion. When two people marry and begin a home, they lay the foundation of a family life that lives for the purpose of Heaven. Just as the Beth Hamikdash was the exemplary expression of a whole nation harmoniously serving God, so are our individual homes a microcosmic expression of the same ideal.

We can now understand why God chose to split Adam and Chava up. As one unit, the first human had no need to replace its ego with a larger picture. Everything it needed was in it. By splitting it into two, Hashem gave man and woman a need to transcend the personal ego, and sublimate it into a harmonious society serving God. This effort is then meant to be applied to the nation as a whole. Each family unit is a building block in a national unit. We see our fulfillment and success not only through individual achievements, but in the actions of the nation.

Commonly, we assume that the breaking of the glass under the marriage canopy is a reminder to mourn for the destruction of Jerusalem. While it is true that we must never leave that pain out of our celebrations, the Talmud (Brachos 30b) states that the custom arose when rabbis saw too much hilarity at weddings. They felt that with all the happiness, the bride and groom must not forget that they are just now embarking on a tremendously arduous journey, one in which they will learn to think as one, and through this, produce a home worthy of the שכינה. The glass breaking is a somber reminder that there is much work to be done.

Finally, I will add a very important lesson from מתן תורה. In Yitro, it says, "ביום הזה באו מדבר סיני", on this day, they came to the Sinai desert. Should it not say, on that day? Rashi quotes the midrash and learns from this that every day, we must feel as if we have been given the Torah anew. We must not let the apathy that so often is the effect of time to allow our zeal and excitement for Torah to rust. In the same way, marriage is something that requires constant renewal. We can never let ourselves feel stagnant and unproductive. Constantly learning about one another, seeing the glory of God emanating from our spouse, allows us to keep our marriages alive and fresh.

BlueTruth Message

I just saw this new blog, and I think its aims are noble. I hope to read it regularly.

http://www.blue-truth.blogspot.com/

Jimmy Carter vs Simon Wiesenthal

I was pointed to this exchange between Rabbi Hier of the Simon Wiesenthal Center in Los Angeles, and Jimmy Carter.

Beshalach: Awakening from Below

After triumphantly marching out of the ruins of a shattered Egypt, the Jewish People find themselves at the sea's edge. There seems to be no way forward, and the way back is blocked by the remnants of the Egyptian army, intent on reclaiming their escaping slaves. A frightened, hapless nation begins to question the whole enterprise. Moshe tells the people not to worry. This time, God will fight for them, and they may be silent (Ex. 14:14). Rashi and the Ramban quote a mechilta, and interject here that Moshe began to pray to God for salvation. The next verse (15) has God chastising the Jewish leader, "why do you cry out to me? Tell the children of Israel to proceed!"

Why does God speak tersely to Moshe at this time? What else should Moshe do but pray? Further, the second part of v. 15 is clearly a response to the prayer, implying that God accepted Moshe's intercession and now delivers his response! So, why does Hashem level such harsh criticism at Moshe?

The Or HaChayim answers in a greatly relevant way. Times of salvation are also times of judgment. Even when God's desires (if one may speak of God in such mortal terms) to act compassionately and miraculously, the element of judgment questions the merit of the Nation. After all, the Jews were not particularly deserving of redemption, and had to clinch the deal with the blood of circumcision and the blood of the paschal offering (Pesachim 96a). And so, Hashem, in his mercy, gives Moshe advice on how to lead a national assault on the prosecution in heavenly court: Act! Convince the Jews to act with faith, act with all their heart, and push forward into the sea before it splits! When Man acts with complete faith in God, we awaken the powers of redemption from below. This is necessary in order for the heavenly powers of salvation to be awakened on high. As the Vilna Gaon quotes the Zohar in Kol HaTor, it'aruta dil'tata (lower awakening) is first, and after that flows the it'aruta dil'eila (heavenly awakening).

The paradigm that the miracle of the Reed Sea teaches the Nation is that when salvation is near, words and prayers are not enough. Actions, specifically actions that highlight Israel's sole reliance on God, are necessary to bridge the gap between a hesitating dawn and a glorious sunrise across the horizon of geulah.

I venture to add my own insight. As we said, the mechilta adds the fact that Moshe began to pray to Hashem between v. 14 and 15. It is not implied by the Torah. The plain sense of these two verses is that Moshe calmed the People by telling them that they may settle down, for God will fight this battle. To that, Hashem responds, "Moshe, you are making a mistake. By telling the people to be passive and let Me act for them, you are effectively crying out to Me, putting the burden of salvation completely on Me. However, in order for Israel to be saved, they must act, as well. Only when they act with steadfast faith in Me, will I take over and split the sea."

May we internalize this message, in our momentous times of redemption, and avert the crisis of a geulah be'itah, a redemption coming because there is no time left, with pain and suffering, Heaven forbid. Let us catalyze a geulah of achishena, one that is hastened and glorious.

Our House in Israel II

(Click here to see Part I.)

Well, our house is about about 5 months away from completion, and things are really starting to come together. Air conditioning is in, and flooring, as well as some bathtubs! Exciting! Stairs and banister are not in yet, and much is still left to be done.

Here you can see most of our kitchen. The strip in the middle is bare because most people will be putting tile in as a backsplash. Part of our backsplash will be granite, but most will be egshell paint. Counters will run along the wall, and the corner to the left in the picture is the starting point of a peninsula.

Here you can see the bottom of our staircase. We have a tri-level stairwell, which should look quite nice when the house is done. Obviously, the marble stairs are still not installed, nor the banisters. Our staircase has a window, so we hope it will be airy and light.


Here you can see one of the children's bathrooms. The tiling is almost done, but the side tiles for the tub are not in yet. We chose to tile only the area in the bathrooms that surround tubs or showers. The rest of the bathroom will be finished with egshell paint.


And finally (for now), here is the view from the kitchen out to the front entrance. The support poles you see are going to be removed soon. I chose this view so that you can see the tile we chose for the flooring. It is shiny and faintly remenicsient of marble, which is the look we were going for.

I hope to keep this blog up to date regarding the house as it nears completion...please let me know if you find this of interest!

Demons of Maimonides

In his Guide to the Perplexed, the Rambam categorically denies the colloquial understanding of the existance of demons. His understanding of talmudic passages such as Berachot 6a work around this fact, but I find his explanation of a different midrash much more interesting.

The Torah (Gen. 5:3) states that Adam gave birth to many children besides Kayin, Hevel and Shes. Midrash Rabbah (Gen. 24:6) explains that these were children of a fractured relationship between Adam and Eve, and they were demons. What does Maimonides do with this midrash?

In the Guide (1:7), the Rambam explains this phenomenon. Demons, he says, are human beings that are born with all the normal faculties of Man, but their minds are not fully perfected. These souless beings are essentially animals in human form. Because of their vastly superior intellect to other animals, however, they are capable of much more complex thought and action. The fact that they lack a truly human soul gives them sociopathic tendencies. Hence, Maimonides explains, they have a propensity to damage and contributee to the development of evil in this world.

And so, to the Rambam, demons are not figaments of our imagination or products of our nightmares. They are humans that have no conscience. Absent is that part of the human soul that ennobles it, elevating it beyond the realm of mere beast. Their superior intellect allows them to ensnare others into tremendous pain and suffering, bringing evil into our world.

Reading this passage, my thoughts immediately turned to the sadistic smiles on the faces of the German (and other) guards during the Holocaust (image). The title of demon befits these brutes well.

UPDATE 3 Nov 2009: In Shapiro's Studies in Maimonides and His Interpreters, Rambam's view is stated as I have presented it here. Furthermore, Professor Shapiro quotes R Shlomo Duran in Milchemet Mitzvah as holding the same view: "לא שיהיו שידין ממש אלא בני אדם הדומין לשידין במעשיהם כלשון בני אדם שאומרים על אדם רע זה שד הוא וכל אדם שמשחית במעשיו ג"כ נקרא שטן" (p 111 f 75).

He also points out the fact that the Meiri similarly reinterperts many talmudic passages that deal with demonology, turning them into rationalistic rules. For example, while the talmud (B'rachot 4-5) states that the reason for the recitation of שמע at bed-time is to afford protection from demons, Meiri states, "להבריח את המזיקים, וביאורו אצלי המזיקים הידועים והם הדעות הכוזבים, והזקיקוהו בעתות הפנאי ליחד את השם שלא יטעה באמונות השניות וכשיקרא על הכונה הראויה תהא מטתו בטוחה מהם".

Appeasement isn't Working

While the complexities of Israeli politics and security may be hard for most of us to fathom, we can be assured that the Appeasement Process is not achieving desired results when diary entries like the following appear:

January 15th, 2007: Israel states that it may give up territory in the Golan Heights, as well as most of Judea and Samaria.

January 29th, 2007: One of many attempts, a suicide bomber evades Israeli authorities and detonates himself in a bakery in Eilat. The government of Gaza, the Hamas, state that 'as long as there is an occupation*, resistance is legitimate..."

(This type of result-oriented evaluation of policies also works for the Lebanon war, which had as one of its stated goals, 'the return of the two soldiers kidnapped on the border', and ended with no such success. Meanwhile, Olmert has decided that enough time has gone by for Israelis to forget his promise, and claimed on January 26th that 'the Lebanon war was a great success.')

UPDATE (1.30.2007): According to this poll, Kadima is going the way of Shinui. Israel seems to know that Olmert and his bunch of goons are worthless. Again, an oppritunity for a popular political revolution. May we act towards new leadership, and may Hashem help us succeed where past governments have failed.

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* While Israelis like to believe that only the territories post 1967 are considered 'occupied' by the Arabs, the Arab schoolbooks so consider Eilat, Tel Aviv and Haifa, as well.

Bo: Renewal of Spirit and Morals

In a week marred by the Katzav affair, the portion details the first commandment with which the Jewish nation is charged. Each month's beginning is a holiday on the Jewish calendar, and its announcement is ritualized in halacha. Witnesses look out for the night when the moon is begins its waxing period, and they make haste to Jerusalem, to announce their sighting to the court. What is certain is that this is not simply the effort of a crude, unenlightened people to set a calendar. The court in Jerusalem knew the astronomical intricacies very well, and even had the power to override the testimony of witnesses in order to plan the calendar pragmatically for the nation.

So, what is the purpose of the New Moon ceremony? Rabbi Hirsch points out immediately that the moon produces no light of its own. Its surface simply reflects the rays of the obscured sun. Immediately, this conjures up the natural symbol of the moon for the Nation of Israel. As the moon reflects the light of the sun to the inhabitants of Earth, so are we supposed to reflect the spiritual warmth of God to the rest of the world. The moon is beautiful because of the light it reflects; in the same vein, we are a model to the world because of our relationship to God.

When a Jew gazes at the moon, he lifts his mind from the physical, material world, and shifts his sights higher. The wax and wane of the moon represent the constant struggle of humanity to remain true to God's spiritual and ethical commands. The gravity of materialism slowly draws mankind away from lofty goals, and mires it in the drudgery of pragmatism. Eventually, however, the soul re-exerts itself, and lifts humanity back to the realm of ethical growth. This constant state of flux creates tension and a recurring yearning for growth. Without falling, we would have less drive to rise higher. And so, the national focus on the moon each month beckons Israel back to its goal of reflecting Hashem's light. It is an invitation to interact with God in a closer way, to commune with Him on a deeper level.

Thus we can understand the offering of Rosh Chodesh. On this day, a goat is brought, a sin offering, to atone for sins that are unconsciously committed (Shavuoth 9a). The nation atones for its waning spiritual and moral consciousness, and resolves to strengthen these in the future. The tradition of יום כיפור קטן, the miniature day of atonement, which occurs the day before Rosh Chodesh, is also a reflection of this concept. Before the holiday, we turn our thoughts towards penance, and work our ways closer to Godliness.

This day of communion with God, this renewal of national and individual spirit, is not one-sided. God does not want to command His nation to re-inspire themselves. And so, He places us in control of the commemoration. The nation is responsible to set the date, not just through their sanhedrin proxy, but through popular moon-watching and testimony. Each Jew watches the sky, searching for astronomical renewal, and is symbolically invited to spiritual renewal. The nation communes with God as co-participants, not simply as servants fulfilling the will of their master. Jews renew themselves, weaving a new reality, and join Hashem in creation.

The time of the reawakening is, paradoxically, the time immediately following the darkest point in the cycle of the moon. Historically, Jews spring to new heights directly from the shadows of their lowest falls. And so, בדמיך חיי, from our bloodiest point, from our lowest spiritual and moral stances, we are enjoined to live! -- To grasp life and reach higher, re-dedicating every step to God.

May our national shame this week be a springboard for rapid spiritual accomplishment, culminating in redemption.

The Shame of a Nation

The allegations against the president of Israel, Moshe Katzav, are now international news. Headlines around the world blare the rape and corruption charges against the figurehead of the Jewish State. It is not hard to hear the relish in some news outlets. The undercurrent of schadenfreude inevitably stems from the perception that those who consider themselves the most 'moral nation on earth' have been proven hypocrites. Katzav seems to demonstrate that Jews are no more moral than anyone else, and it would seem that they may even be a cut below in the area of government officials.

Indeed, members of the Knesset have complained of the shame that the Katzav debacle is causing Israel in the international community. They end up sounding like calculating politicians, who care only about opinion polls and public perception, instead of truth, justice and morality.

During the formation of our Nation, Moshe made sure not to use his position to take anything from the people. He used his own donkey for transportation, and never made personal demands on the Jews, even the kind that we might consider appropriate. How our leadership has changed from those times. Where has the honor of Israel gone?

The governing class in Israel has, for the most part, rejected the practical aspects of the Torah. Israel is, as much as they can influence it, a secular state, one where religion, God and Torah have little to do with the governance of the land. In fact, the founders and visionaries of our State made it clear that they wanted a state just like any other state. I recall reading that when the newly minted Israel caught and convicted its first thief, the feeling was palpable that now we are really a country; we have Jewish scientists, Jewish policemen, Jewish doctors, and now, Jewish robbers!

What a far cry this is from the ethical standard that the Torah requires! We are meant to be a 'kingdom of priests, a holy nation'! Our social and judicial rules gleaned from the Torah would set our status as a beacon of light, standard-setters for the rest of the world. When Israel sits in its land and follows the Torah, the nations of the world will see utopia! And yet, when we fall from grace, when we abandon the ways of God, we become lower than any other. Our substantial national soul has the ability to fall far below, just as it can soar high above. And so, without God squarely before our consciousness constantly, we flounder, and eventually sink. And the results are the Katzavs, Olmerts, Halutzes and a hundred others, who only represent the tip of the depraved iceberg we allow ourselves to become.

Israel is a gift from God. It is our chance to enable the redemption in a quick, painless way. If we abuse it, it can be a source of suffering, until God redeems us despite our actions. However, if we utilize it correctly, it will continue to flower and bear fruit, unfolding the messianic era before our eyes, and the eyes of the whole world. This can only be accomplished by applying the Torah to the State.

When a child is created, he is born incomplete. It is up to his father to circumcise him, thus perfecting what God has given him. Part of the lesson to the father is that the boy must be educated and perfected spiritually, as he was completed physically. In this world, everything God gives us must be perfected by our own actions. We take part in creation with God, and become like Him in this way. When God presented us with the gift of Israel, it was imperfect. It is up to us to complete it with God, and have a hand in our own redemption.

We must return to God, not only on a personal level, but on a national level. We must take this unfinished gift that God gives us, and complete it by his instruction. May God guide us, and help us replace corruption and hedonism with justice and morality. May swift, merciless justice be done to the Katzavs and the Olmerts, and thus Israel's national glory be restored.

Vayechi: The Diversity of Israel

The time has come for Ya'akov to die. He gathers his sons, each of which is an integral foundation stone in the new nation of Israel. In his philosophic will to his descendants, the patriarch recognizes each son's nature. He describes how each son's innate attributes should be used properly for the service of God. In doing so, Ya'akov learns from the mistake of his father with Esav.

The Midrash Tanchuma points out an interesting oddity. Ya'akov follows birth order in his blessing of his sons, with one exception. Yissachar was older than Zevulun, and yet, the younger is mentioned before the older. The fact is that the two brothers' blessings were intertwined. Zevulun was to provide for the physical maintanance of his brother Yissachar, while the latter provided spiritual sustanence for himself and his supporter. The midrash points out that it was not Yissachar who is mentioned first, but Zevulun, driving home the point that those who provide the physical wherewithal for the study of Torah are the ones who stand first in line to receive the credit.

The diversification of each important set of traits into individual sons of Ya'akov, together making up the whole nation, speaks of the unity of purpose that was expected of the children of Israel, and their idealized desire to bring the kingdom of Heaven here, to Earth. Perhaps, however, we may see the diversification in reverse, as well. While each member of the nation of Israel must see himself as, first and foremost, part of the tapestry of the People, he must also remember that he is an individual. The Israelite (Hirsch's Mensch-Jisroel) must realize the microcosm of the nation, indeed, of the world, in his own life, to the best of his ability. This would require him to do the opposite of Ya'akov's diversifying blessings. He must take each trait and quality that is necessary in life, and integrate it into his personality, becoming as close to perfection as possible. By harmonizing the Yehuda, the Yissachar, the Zevulun, the Yosef, and all the others, in her own life, the individual Jew ensures that not only does she use her natural talents for Godly purposes, but she also adopts traits foreign to her, and uses them to further God's purpose in this world.

Tanchuma states that the blessings Ya'akov gave his children would not become effective until the Nation accepts the Torah. Only with a plan for enacting God's will on earth, can we truly act accordingly. It is only with the Torah as our guide, and our overarching authority, that we can truly engage the world as sons and daughters of Ya'akov, and reap the benefits of success.

What's New Here

Welcome to the newer and better mevaseretzion blog!

By converting my blog to the new blogger, I was able to retain the same look, while adding the link tree of all posts. I am sure there are many new features that I will try to implement in the future, but this was the most important change I wanted to make.

In other news, I know I have not been posting much lately, what with my child getting sick and my changing jobs very soon. However, I do plan to get invest more time in my blog very soon, commenting and posting more frequently, about halacha, hashkafa, politics, and the rest of it.

I hope people out there are reading what is already here, and looking forward to more!

Vayigash: Exile by Choice

Globally, the story of the Jewish People in the Bible is a dramatic cycle: the nation is forced off its land, languishes in exile, desperate to return, and, ultimately, is granted this wish. There is a microcosm of this greater picture in the Torah. This vision is most clearly represented in this week's reading.

When God was first promises the land of Israel to Avraham, he is excited to immediately inherit it. From this promise on, Avraham, Yitzchak and Ya'akov saw their permanent home only in the Land. At brith ben hab'tharim, God makes it clear to Avraham that he will not be the one to inherit it. His descendants will first be 'strangers in a land not theirs...' (Gen. 15:13). Imagine, every time one of the forefathers left Canaan, he must have thought, 'perhaps this will be the exile that mushrooms into the fulfillment of the promise of brith ben hab'tharim!' What relief they must have felt upon their return to their promised land. Only Yitzchak remained in Israel all his life.

In 37:1, Ya'akov assumes that he is back in Canaan to stay. The midrash (source to come) comments on this verse that Ya'akov wanted to enjoy the fruits of his years of hardship in his homeland. The midrash extrapolates from this that one who lives permanently (dar) in Israel is as one who has a connection to God, while one who lives outside of the Land is as one who does not have a connection to his God. Ya'akov's comfort is not to be, and Providence leads Ya'akov, along with his entire family, to settle in Grar. The term used by the Torah for this settlement originally is 'gur', which is a temporary dwelling. Surely, Ya'akov planned to leave Egypt as soon as the famine ended. However, by the end of Vayigash, Israel, the name that refers to Ya'akov as a national unit, 'dwells in Egypt, and takes hold of the land, multiplying greatly.' (47:27) For the first time in Jewish History, the exiled Jew finds comfort, peace and prosperity outside his Promised Land.

This is taken by commentators (among them the כלי יקר on this verse) to be the sin which turned this exile into the one that fulfilled the brith ben hab'tharim. The sons of Israel took hold of the land, and divested themselves of most cultural symbols that identified them as Jews. Tanchuma states that after Yosef died, circumcision was abandoned. The Jews took hold of the land of Egypt as their new home, and almost forgot their Promised Land. When a Jew forgets that outside of Israel he is a stranger and and exile, he incurs the wrath of God, who promised Canaan to Avraham.

The Ba'al Haturim comments that the word 'r'dah' appears in the Torah twice, once in reference to the descent of Israel into Egypt, and once in reference to Nebuccadnezer's descent into the fires of Hell. He claims that this equates the descent out of Israel to Hell. Rabbi Gifter comments that only one who has this attitude will be able to properly fulfill the requirement of the Talmud (Shabbath 31a) to anxiously await the redemption. Without it, our prayer every day to 'see God's return to Zion' is meaningless lipservice, and a serious affront the God who promised the Land to each and every one of us.

Imagine a king who exiles his son to live with the commoners as punishment for some offense. Every day, the exiled prince makes his way to the palace gates, imploring his father to forgive him. As time goes on, the son builds a home and develops a life outside the castle, but always returns to the castle gates, begging for forgiveness. The son hangs a painting of his father the king as a shrine in his own house, and tells himself that if he cannot be in the physical presence of his father, at least he can see his likeness. Day after day, the prince goes to the castle to pray for pardon.

One day, when he comes by, the castle gates open, and there is his father, the king. The prince looks into his father's compassionate eyes, and again recites his daily plea for forgiveness and reinstatement in the palace. The king answers the plea by saying, 'my son, I forgive you. How many years we have lost! Come back home, you are completely pardoned!'

The prince looks at his father as if he does not see him, and turns to walk back to his house. Once at home, he sighs, 'oh, I hope I live to see the day my father finally forgives me!'

While we continue to pray for the return to Zion, the doors have been open for sixty years. Each year, they open wider, making it easier and more realistic to go back home. How long will it take until we see things for what they are, and actually listen to the voice of our Father in Heaven, inviting us back in?

Miketz and Midoth

Character traits are tools. We are meant to use each one at the appropriate time. Sometimes, we must use anger and hate, other times, love and patience. The key is to know when to use each one, and to what extent. This lesson is taught both in Miketz and the holiday of Chanuka.

The midrash twice comments on Yosef's vanity in his younger years. Before his sale into Egypt, and again when he becomes the head servant in Potifar's household, we are presented with a slightly egotistical youth, curling his hair and paying undue attention to his appearance. Indeed, again, at the beginning of this week's portion, we find Yosef shaving and changing his garments for his meeting with the king of Egypt.

Rashi takes the time to point out that Yosef did this 'for the honor of the king's majesty'. Is this not clear from the context of the plot?

I suggest that Rashi points this out in order to make it perfectly clear that this time, Yosef's apparent vanity is commendable, and not a narcissistic act. The trait of vanity should be used for the honor of others. We are told by the halacha to dress in a respectable manner, with no tears or stains in our clothing. This is not for our own honor, but for the honor of Torah, God and the Jewish nation we represent, as well as for the basic honor of everyone we encounter (כבוד הבריות). When used in this way, vanity is a positive force. However, it can quickly degenerate from this ideal to personal honor and vanity. Therefore, it is particularly dangerous, and must be used with caution.

The Hasmoneans began their war and their dynasty for the honor of Israel, and with zealousness for God's name which was being profaned. This was commendable, and indeed, the Maccabees were wildly successful. However, their dynasty refused to hand over the kingdom to the tribe of Judea, as they should have. Because of this, their kingdom eventually came to be considered a bad force in Judaism. This is the reason that Chanuka did not merit its own tractate in the Talmud.

The character traits of קנאה and כבוד, zeal and honor, are ones which, when used correctly, are essential at certain points in national and individual lives. However, they can easily become abused and may end up destroying the very things they originally were to protect.

Rabbi Kook explains that the 'good' character traits, such as love, compassion, patience and kindness, must become part of our very being. True, there are certain times we need to supress them. However, the suppression of these midoth should be against our natural tendencies. We should feel uncomfortable the whole time we suppress them. In contrast, the 'bad' midoth should never become part of our natural state of being. Rather, they should remain in our toolbox of traits, to be dusted off and used only when absolutely necessary. All the while we utilize them, we should feel a foreign attribute in our actions.

May we internalize the good, and keep the bad at hand for its time of need, and may we look to the Torah for direction as we tread the path to the redemption.

(27 Kislev, 5769: Revisiting this issue, my chevrusa and I discussed the ethical in light of the Torah. Our discussion concluded that perhaps an individual halacha, such as Amalek could not be used in isolation to teach the ethics of the Torah, for it is a product not of a purely ethical form or category, but a result of various competing ethics and considerations. For example, the act of torture may be morally reprehensible. However, when used to urge a terrorist to reveal the location of a ticking time bomb, the overall ethical thing to do is to use torture. Some actions should define us (being kind, being peaceful), and are inherently ethical, while other actions, though sometimes employed, do not define our ethic, and only receive the nod of approval because of surrounding considerations. Thus, while an individual halacha may not define morality, the totality of halachot and hashkafa do, and provide a framework and set of rules to, with all the complexities of life, choose the best possible course of action when none may always be perfect. אשת יפת תואר and עמלק are thus not necessarily so different. They are both the best course of action for imperfect situations.)