The following is based in part on concepts gleaned from the teaching of Rav Moshe Shapiro Shlit’a. Feel free to print this out and read it over Shabbos Kodesh, just please not during Tefilos!
The start of this week’s Parsha deals with the abstract concepts of Parah Adumah - a fully red cow that is totally burned and whose ashes are used as part of the process which overcomes Tumas Meis - a spiritual impurity contracted via contact with the dead.
The Passuk says as follows “Zos Chukas HaTorah” ‘This is the law, or more accurately, the transcendental precept of the Torah’. The Torah then goes on to describe the very detailed and elaborate procedure of the Parah Adumah.
There are two questions that we need to ask: First, the word Chukas comes from Chok which is a different type of commandment than we usually find. Most Mitzvos fall under the category of Mishpatim, these are laws that we understand, the type that make logical sense to us. Don’t steal. Don’t kill. But Para Adumah is a Chok, the type of commandment which supersedes logic and goes beyond reason. The human mind is incapable of fully determining how in this case A causes B. It goes beyond reason and sense to explain how the ashes of the Parah Adumah overpower the control of Tumas Meis. So then why is it that the solution to, the resolution of, the tool by which Tumas Meis is overcome have to be specifically through a Chok?
Secondly, The Passuk’s terminology is famously ambiguous. We are here to talk about the Parah Adumah. Therefore it would be logical for the verse to state, “Zos Chukas HaParah” ‘This is the super-rational law of the cow.’ But it doesn’t. It instead says, “Zos Chukas HaTorah.” This is the meta-logical law of the (whole) Torah. How is this at all plausible to say? We are talking about the very specific nature of the Parah Adumah, and yet we are referring to it as the Torah itself!
To answer why HaKadosh Baruch Hu defines the Parah Adumah as the Torah, we need to locate the point upon which the fundamental status of the Torah crosses paths with the truest nature of Parah Adumah. And in order to do so we need to analyze each side by itself.
The process of undergoing the purity brought about via Parah Adumah is a Me’ein, a small taste, a mini experience of Techiyas HaMeisim - the resurrection of the dead.
How is this so? Misah, death, by all logical standards, is a force that cannot be contended against. Everything in this world that is alive is subject to death. Death is an eventually insurmountable energy that forces itself upon all things that live.
Techiyas HaMeisim is the only way to overcome Misah. Anyone or anything which is taken hold by death’s inevitable grip, stays in that status until Techiyas HaMeisim will extract it from that grasp.
Tumas Meis, the impurity generated by death’s presence is the same. All impurities are resolved by a combination of immersion in ritual waters and time. The regular levels of Tumah (impurity) are subject to negation at the hands of standard procedures. On the other hand, Tumas Meis’s clench on a person resembles that of its source in death itself. Just like Misa is an energy that cannot be terminated by normal means, so too Tumas Meis cannot be terminated by normal means. And therefore just as it is only Techiyas HaMeisim that overcomes Misah, it must be that something intrinsically like it will overcome Tumas Meis.
But the question is, how is Parah Adumah like Techiyas HaMeisim? For this we need to delve into the next level of the questions we asked: Why is the Parah Adumah addressed as the whole Torah, and what does the Torah HaKedosha have to do with Techiyas HaMeisim?
The Gemara in Sanhedrin, in Perek Cheilek talks about B’Arichus (goes on for great length) how he who doesn’t believe that Techiyas HaMeisim is rooted in the Torah has no portion in the World to Come. The discussion there goes on and on offering scriptural references to the Resurrection.
This is truly unique. As we know, there are thirteen Ikarei Emunah - Principles of Faith - that are requisites of every Jew to believe in. (For example – Existence of God [Principle #1], Reward and Punishment [#11], the Coming of the Messiah [#12].) All of these Ikarim are fundamental concepts that we need to approach Judaism correctly. But it is not required that one believe that there are scriptural sources for them. There is no Passuk that obligates faith in the fact that it is only fitting to serve Hashem and no other imaginary deity [#5]. And yet we see that simple belief in Techiyas HaMeisim is not enough. Comes the Gemara and says that the belief must be that there is a reality of Techiyas HaMeisim, and it is in the Torah. Why does this have to be the case?
Like we mentioned before, death is an energy to which no living thing is impervious. It will bare down on everything. Therefore, how can one eventually overcome death? It must be through something that is an exception to the rule. It must be via a connection to something not subject to death.
A seed rots. Rotting is a type of death. It is not a total loss of life, but there is decay nonetheless. But it is specifically through this that something bigger and more potent and alive comes about. If it were not for the rotting of the seed then there would be no eventual tree.
Eitz Chayim Hi LaMachazikim Ba - the Torah is a Tree of Life. It is not subject to the force we call death. The seed microcosmically, and the Torah macrocosmically are beyond decay.
How is it that the Torah is beyond death? The mystical sources tell us that HaKadosh Baruch Hu used the Torah to create the world. If the Torah was used to create the world that means that by its very nature it is beyond the world, it precedes it. The Torah is part of a different reality than this world. Death, as we learn in Bereishis was a direct result of the sin by the tree of knowledge. Death was not part of the original plan. It is a creation from within this level existence. But, if a connection can be made to something that is relevant to an existence above and beyond this world then death can be avoided.
It is for this reason that we say in our prayers about the Torah, “V’Chayei Olam Nata B’Socheinu” And you planted within us eternal life. By giving us the Torah, we are given a peek into a universe beyond the reality of death.
If the only connection we have to the surpassing of death comes from the Eitz Chayim, then if one doesn’t believe that Techiyas HaMeisim is rooted in the Torah he inherently doesn’t believe in the essential go-power that makes Techiyas HaMeisim work! Take the Torah away as the basis of belief in Techiyas HaMeisim and you are left with no floor for belief in Techiyas HaMeisim to stand on at all!
And which parts of the Torah are least subject to this world? The ones that remain outside of human intellect – the Chukim. It is specifically the Chok which is most outside of this world, and thereby most connected to a reality beyond death.
This is how we can understand the whole subject of Parah Adumah. “Zos Chukas HaTorah” ‘This is the transcendental precept of the Torah.’ The part of the process of Parah Adumah that overcomes Tumas Meis has very little to do with the fact that it’s a red cow and everything to do with the fact that it is a Chok of the Torah. Relating the Parah Adumah to the nature of the Torah as a whole, and more specifically through the element of Chok gives it the Techiyas HaMeisim energy that it needs to overcome Tumas Meis.
The inspiration to be take from these concept is easily taken. When I am Osek the Torah HaKedosha, when I involve myself in God’s will, when I connect my being to the Divine Masterplan, I attach myself to life in the purest, most untaintable form. When I become adjoined to Ratzon Hashem I’m stepping outside a universe which is tainted with death-relevancy and I enter a space that if fully, vibrantly alive. ”V’Atem HaDveikim Ba’Hashem – Chayim Kulchem HaYom!” ‘And you - those who are connecting to Hashem - right now, in this moment of bonding - you all are fully alive.”
HaKadosh Baruch Hu should give us the inspiration to live like this. To be in this world and simultaneously be connected to a reality that is above it. If we can do this – if we can live in the greater context of Avodas Hashem - there is no doubt that we will live lives of Shleimus and Simcha moving closer to the Chei HaOlamim (Hashem, the lifeline of the universe) and eventually the Geulah Sheleimah!
Friday, July 1, 2011
Friday, June 17, 2011
Shlach: Depth Perception
The beginning of this week’s Parsha chronicles the less-than-pleasant story of the Meraglim, spies, who were sent out LaSur, to check out Eretz Yisrael. As we know, they brought back and convinced the nation of a terrifying report about land; condemning the entire generation to death. The end of the Parsha deals with something completely different. In the last few Psukim we are introduced to the concept of Mitzvas Tzitzis - the Torah commandment to tie a combination of white and blue fringes each of the corners on a four-cornered garment.
As Chazal have taught us, all of the topics within one Parsha are unified by a single theme. HaKadosh Baruch Hu broke up the subject matter of the Torah in such a way that there is always a meta-theme, a grand unifier that keeps the Parsha fluid and coherent. This being said, what in the world connects the Meraglim and their downfall to Tzitzis?
In order understand the powerful lesson that the Meraglim/Tzitzis relationship provides we need to analyze each one separately and only from there will the connection become apparent.
Let’s begin from the end and discus Tzitis first – and to do so we need to address a whole series of questions. Let’s explore.
The most first and most obvious question is very much also the most overlooked – what does the word mean? If we are to figure out the spiritual nature of these mysterious tassels we need to learn about the most basic level of its identity, its name.
Secondly, the Psukim say, “U’Re’isem Oso, U’Zchartem Es Kol Mitzvos Hashem Va’Asisem Osam.” – ‘You will see the Tzitzis and you will remember and carry out all of HaKadosh Baruch Hu’s commandments.’ What about seeing the Tzitzis will make me do the Mitzvos? The Passuk says that that’s the way it works, but it doesn’t tell us how!
After telling us of the spiritual benefit of wearing Tzitzis the Torah sends us a warning in the form of a Mitzvas Lo’Sa’aseh, a negative commandment against looking at and thinking about inappropriate things. “V’Lo Sasuru Acharei Levavchem V’Acharei Eineichem” – ‘Don’t wander off with your heart and eyes.’ Why is this moment, the discussion of Tzitzis the appropriate time to deliver the message of V’Lo Sasuru?
And while we are on the subject of V’Lo Sasuru, we need to address Rashi’s connection of these words to the down fall of the Meraglim: In the same way that the spies went out LaSur, to scope out the terrain, so to the eyes are scouts of the body and they can make us fall in the same way, thus the Torah commands us V’Lo Sasuru - coming from the same root as LaSur. What is the dynamic of the relationship between these two things?
Finally, whatever it is that Tzitzis are coming to teach us, why is it that the commandment is to specifically tie them to our clothes? Why not put it next to the Mezuzos on our doorposts, or attach it to our wallets or fridges? What is it about the essence of Tzitzis that necessitates its placement on our clothing specifically?
We can begin to answer all of our questions by analyzing yet another factor of Tzitzis - the Techeiles-strand, the blue string among the white ones that all Tzitzis should ideally have.
Techeiles, as Chazal teach us in Menachos is supposed to be used as a sort of divine form of an association game. When one looks at the blue of the Techeiles his mind should be automatically drawn to the blue of the Yam, the sea. Once the mind is brought to the blue of the ocean his free flowing thoughts can be pulled upwards to the blue of the Raki’a, the sky. And once his thoughts have traveled to the heavens they can be brought from there to the blue of the Kisei HaKavod - God’s Throne of Glory.
What is this Gemara telling us? The transition from the Techeiles to the ocean is understandable, and from the ocean to the sky is understandable as well. This is really an association of recognizing the source. The Chilazon - the animal from which the Techeiles is produced – is a sea creature. Thus the blue of the Techeiles is a product of the sea. And it’s a matter of scientific fact that the fact that the ocean is blue is a reflection of the sky above it. Thus the blue of the Techeiles is drawn from the blue of the ocean, whose source is the blue of the sky.
But then there is a leap. The Techeiles is here in this world. I’ve seen the ocean and I’ve certainly seen the sky. I can relate to those degrees of association. But the Kisei HaKavod? Who has seen that? How am I supposed to make that connection?
We are therefore forced to say that the goal of meditating upon the Techeiles and the Tzitzis is to train my mind to perceive that there is a deeper reality beyond the surface-level that my eyes are able to see. To take my mind to its physical limits and then cross the threshold into more divine realms of conceptualization. The Tzitzis are guiding my mind to become accustomed to more profound levels of existence. In as much as I know that the Techeiles is drawing from its source in the sea, which in turn is drawn from its own root in the skies; so too are we being taught that the world at large, that boundless skies themselves are emerging from a deeper reality. The entire background of the reality around me – as far as my eyes can see – there is yet more depth to life than that.
It’s from this headspace, this mindset that Tzitzis get their name. The root of Tzitzis comes from Le’ha’tzitz, to gaze at or focus upon. When the Midrash describes the beginning of Avraham Avinu’s relationship with Hashem it says there that Hashem was Meitzitz Alav, He fixed His attention on Avraham and saw our forefather through tunnel-vision, so-to-speak. Or like the Passuk inShir HaShirim says, “Meitziz Min HaCharakim” - peering through the fences.
This form of intense focusing, the spiritual depth perception that the Tzitzis are giving us stands diametrically opposed to the sin of the spies. They reported to the people that when they entered the land they saw big tall giants, intimidatingly sized fruits and no feeling of God being with them. The simple reality dictated that Am Yisrael's entrance into the land would certainly spell their death.
But obviously this was a perfunctory and shallow observation of the situation. While it is true that simple logic dictates that the Jews, former slaves and untrained soldiers stood no chance against gargantuan enemies who awaited them inside Eretz Yisrael - the world doesn’t run on simple logic alone. There is a deeper, less obvious side of the universe filled with godliness and providence, and with that in the picture nothing would stand in Am Yisrael’s way of conquering of the land. The lesson of the Tzitzis is nothing less than a direct response to the sin of the Meraglim. Depth versus shallowness.
Now we can understand why Rashi connects the sin of the spies who went LaSur to V’Lo Sasuru. The meaning of LaSur is to wander with ones eyes, to glance over, to check out, to get a basic sketch. The shallowness of LaSur stands in direct opposition to the way we explained Le’ha’tzitz. The sin of the spies and the person who lets his eyes pull him to inappropriate places are both a result of the same shortcoming: shallowness. An obsession with the superficiality of flesh is a direct outcome of a lack of appreciation for meaning and substance. Thus, it is the during the moments where we connect to Tzitzis - and thereby moments of cerebral penetration - that are the most opportune to strengthen ourselves against the pettiness of looking at things too shallowly – and thus it is specifically at this point that we are introduced to V’Lo Sasuru. The Meraglim and he who does not guard his eyes are one in the same – and Tzitzis is the answer to both.
With this is mind we can also understand why Tzitzis are placed specifically on the clothing. When it comes to the way that I come across to the world, it is my clothing that is most external. Before my actions, history and personality – the clothing I wear defines me on the most basic level. This, as modern culture has taught us, can be tremendously dangerous. We can produce tremendously shallow images of ourselves based on what we wear. For this reason we attach Tzitzis, the very manifestation of depth and meaning to contrast and elevate that which can be the first pitfall to superficiality.
Most relevantly, we can now understand what it means when the Passuk says, “U’Re’isem Oso, U’Zchartem Es Kol Mitzvos Hashem Va’Asisem Osam.” – ‘You will see the Tzitzis and you will remember and carry out all of HaKadosh Baruch Hu’s commandments.’ Let's bring home why this is so.
If I perceive the world in a shallow fashion then all of the Mitzvos cease to make sense. What in the world does putting a Mezuza on my door accomplish? Nothing! What mighty cosmic energies are being shifted as I shake Lulav? None! Of what consequence is it if I mix wool and linen? Zero! But when I begin to let the meditative properties of my Tzitzis teach me how to be more spiritually attune and aware then the answer to all of those questions flips immediately.
All the Mitzvos are here to make me more spiritually aware. By internalizing the lesson that Tzitzis teaches, I am opened up to a world where everything is so much more meaningful. If reality doesn’t end at the sky, if there is yet the influence of the Kisei HaKavod, if the world around me is truly deeper than my fleshy eyeballs allow me to perceive then all of the Mitzvos become infinitely more relevant and applicable to my life, because now I’m in tune with the fabric of the true nature of the universe! “U’Re’isem Oso, U’Zchartem Es Kol Mitzvos Hashem Va’Asisem Osam.” – ‘You will see the Tzitzis and you will remember and carry out all of HaKadosh Baruch Hu’s commandments.’
HaKadosh Baruch Hu should give us a Bracha to attain such lofty levels of spiritual sensitivity. We should have the inspiration to be constantly seeking to attain more and more of a profound relationship to the godliness that surrounds us all the time. If we can truly activate this place within ourselves, if we can tap into the headspace the seeks out the deeper levels of spirituality in our lives then there is no doubt that we will live lives of Simcha and Shleimus moving closer to HaKadosh Baruch Hu and ultimately the Geulah Sheleimah!
As Chazal have taught us, all of the topics within one Parsha are unified by a single theme. HaKadosh Baruch Hu broke up the subject matter of the Torah in such a way that there is always a meta-theme, a grand unifier that keeps the Parsha fluid and coherent. This being said, what in the world connects the Meraglim and their downfall to Tzitzis?
In order understand the powerful lesson that the Meraglim/Tzitzis relationship provides we need to analyze each one separately and only from there will the connection become apparent.
Let’s begin from the end and discus Tzitis first – and to do so we need to address a whole series of questions. Let’s explore.
The most first and most obvious question is very much also the most overlooked – what does the word mean? If we are to figure out the spiritual nature of these mysterious tassels we need to learn about the most basic level of its identity, its name.
Secondly, the Psukim say, “U’Re’isem Oso, U’Zchartem Es Kol Mitzvos Hashem Va’Asisem Osam.” – ‘You will see the Tzitzis and you will remember and carry out all of HaKadosh Baruch Hu’s commandments.’ What about seeing the Tzitzis will make me do the Mitzvos? The Passuk says that that’s the way it works, but it doesn’t tell us how!
After telling us of the spiritual benefit of wearing Tzitzis the Torah sends us a warning in the form of a Mitzvas Lo’Sa’aseh, a negative commandment against looking at and thinking about inappropriate things. “V’Lo Sasuru Acharei Levavchem V’Acharei Eineichem” – ‘Don’t wander off with your heart and eyes.’ Why is this moment, the discussion of Tzitzis the appropriate time to deliver the message of V’Lo Sasuru?
And while we are on the subject of V’Lo Sasuru, we need to address Rashi’s connection of these words to the down fall of the Meraglim: In the same way that the spies went out LaSur, to scope out the terrain, so to the eyes are scouts of the body and they can make us fall in the same way, thus the Torah commands us V’Lo Sasuru - coming from the same root as LaSur. What is the dynamic of the relationship between these two things?
Finally, whatever it is that Tzitzis are coming to teach us, why is it that the commandment is to specifically tie them to our clothes? Why not put it next to the Mezuzos on our doorposts, or attach it to our wallets or fridges? What is it about the essence of Tzitzis that necessitates its placement on our clothing specifically?
We can begin to answer all of our questions by analyzing yet another factor of Tzitzis - the Techeiles-strand, the blue string among the white ones that all Tzitzis should ideally have.
Techeiles, as Chazal teach us in Menachos is supposed to be used as a sort of divine form of an association game. When one looks at the blue of the Techeiles his mind should be automatically drawn to the blue of the Yam, the sea. Once the mind is brought to the blue of the ocean his free flowing thoughts can be pulled upwards to the blue of the Raki’a, the sky. And once his thoughts have traveled to the heavens they can be brought from there to the blue of the Kisei HaKavod - God’s Throne of Glory.
What is this Gemara telling us? The transition from the Techeiles to the ocean is understandable, and from the ocean to the sky is understandable as well. This is really an association of recognizing the source. The Chilazon - the animal from which the Techeiles is produced – is a sea creature. Thus the blue of the Techeiles is a product of the sea. And it’s a matter of scientific fact that the fact that the ocean is blue is a reflection of the sky above it. Thus the blue of the Techeiles is drawn from the blue of the ocean, whose source is the blue of the sky.
But then there is a leap. The Techeiles is here in this world. I’ve seen the ocean and I’ve certainly seen the sky. I can relate to those degrees of association. But the Kisei HaKavod? Who has seen that? How am I supposed to make that connection?
We are therefore forced to say that the goal of meditating upon the Techeiles and the Tzitzis is to train my mind to perceive that there is a deeper reality beyond the surface-level that my eyes are able to see. To take my mind to its physical limits and then cross the threshold into more divine realms of conceptualization. The Tzitzis are guiding my mind to become accustomed to more profound levels of existence. In as much as I know that the Techeiles is drawing from its source in the sea, which in turn is drawn from its own root in the skies; so too are we being taught that the world at large, that boundless skies themselves are emerging from a deeper reality. The entire background of the reality around me – as far as my eyes can see – there is yet more depth to life than that.
It’s from this headspace, this mindset that Tzitzis get their name. The root of Tzitzis comes from Le’ha’tzitz, to gaze at or focus upon. When the Midrash describes the beginning of Avraham Avinu’s relationship with Hashem it says there that Hashem was Meitzitz Alav, He fixed His attention on Avraham and saw our forefather through tunnel-vision, so-to-speak. Or like the Passuk inShir HaShirim says, “Meitziz Min HaCharakim” - peering through the fences.
This form of intense focusing, the spiritual depth perception that the Tzitzis are giving us stands diametrically opposed to the sin of the spies. They reported to the people that when they entered the land they saw big tall giants, intimidatingly sized fruits and no feeling of God being with them. The simple reality dictated that Am Yisrael's entrance into the land would certainly spell their death.
But obviously this was a perfunctory and shallow observation of the situation. While it is true that simple logic dictates that the Jews, former slaves and untrained soldiers stood no chance against gargantuan enemies who awaited them inside Eretz Yisrael - the world doesn’t run on simple logic alone. There is a deeper, less obvious side of the universe filled with godliness and providence, and with that in the picture nothing would stand in Am Yisrael’s way of conquering of the land. The lesson of the Tzitzis is nothing less than a direct response to the sin of the Meraglim. Depth versus shallowness.
Now we can understand why Rashi connects the sin of the spies who went LaSur to V’Lo Sasuru. The meaning of LaSur is to wander with ones eyes, to glance over, to check out, to get a basic sketch. The shallowness of LaSur stands in direct opposition to the way we explained Le’ha’tzitz. The sin of the spies and the person who lets his eyes pull him to inappropriate places are both a result of the same shortcoming: shallowness. An obsession with the superficiality of flesh is a direct outcome of a lack of appreciation for meaning and substance. Thus, it is the during the moments where we connect to Tzitzis - and thereby moments of cerebral penetration - that are the most opportune to strengthen ourselves against the pettiness of looking at things too shallowly – and thus it is specifically at this point that we are introduced to V’Lo Sasuru. The Meraglim and he who does not guard his eyes are one in the same – and Tzitzis is the answer to both.
With this is mind we can also understand why Tzitzis are placed specifically on the clothing. When it comes to the way that I come across to the world, it is my clothing that is most external. Before my actions, history and personality – the clothing I wear defines me on the most basic level. This, as modern culture has taught us, can be tremendously dangerous. We can produce tremendously shallow images of ourselves based on what we wear. For this reason we attach Tzitzis, the very manifestation of depth and meaning to contrast and elevate that which can be the first pitfall to superficiality.
Most relevantly, we can now understand what it means when the Passuk says, “U’Re’isem Oso, U’Zchartem Es Kol Mitzvos Hashem Va’Asisem Osam.” – ‘You will see the Tzitzis and you will remember and carry out all of HaKadosh Baruch Hu’s commandments.’ Let's bring home why this is so.
If I perceive the world in a shallow fashion then all of the Mitzvos cease to make sense. What in the world does putting a Mezuza on my door accomplish? Nothing! What mighty cosmic energies are being shifted as I shake Lulav? None! Of what consequence is it if I mix wool and linen? Zero! But when I begin to let the meditative properties of my Tzitzis teach me how to be more spiritually attune and aware then the answer to all of those questions flips immediately.
All the Mitzvos are here to make me more spiritually aware. By internalizing the lesson that Tzitzis teaches, I am opened up to a world where everything is so much more meaningful. If reality doesn’t end at the sky, if there is yet the influence of the Kisei HaKavod, if the world around me is truly deeper than my fleshy eyeballs allow me to perceive then all of the Mitzvos become infinitely more relevant and applicable to my life, because now I’m in tune with the fabric of the true nature of the universe! “U’Re’isem Oso, U’Zchartem Es Kol Mitzvos Hashem Va’Asisem Osam.” – ‘You will see the Tzitzis and you will remember and carry out all of HaKadosh Baruch Hu’s commandments.’
HaKadosh Baruch Hu should give us a Bracha to attain such lofty levels of spiritual sensitivity. We should have the inspiration to be constantly seeking to attain more and more of a profound relationship to the godliness that surrounds us all the time. If we can truly activate this place within ourselves, if we can tap into the headspace the seeks out the deeper levels of spirituality in our lives then there is no doubt that we will live lives of Simcha and Shleimus moving closer to HaKadosh Baruch Hu and ultimately the Geulah Sheleimah!
Friday, June 10, 2011
Beha'aloscha: Point A to Point B
The following is an adaptation of concepts from Rav Yitzchak Izak Chever, The Chalban in his Sefer Talilei Chayim, and the Sefer Mima’amakim. Please feel free to print this out and read it over Shabbos Kodesh just please not during Tefilos!
This week’s Parsha is famously broken into three parts. If we are to open any Chumash or Sefer Torah we will notice that the two Psukim of VaYihi BiNsoa HaAron and U’V’Nucho Yomar are literally bracketed off to be a section unto itself by upside-down Nuns (This letter: נ), breaking up the Parsha into three. The whole concept really begs an explanation.
While the goal of this essay is not to discuss why the Nun-brackets are upside-down, we do want to delve deeper as to why HaKadosh Baruch Hu chose to break off this section with the letter Nun specifically. For this we need to understand two things: first, what is the significance of these two Psukim? Second, what is the letter Nun all about? If we can properly understand these two factors separately then hopefully the connection between them will emerge by itself.
As the Torah tells us, the Aron HaKodesh’s movements dictated where and when the Jewish people would travel around the desert. When it started to move, so did the camp. When it’s travels ceased, the nation rested as well. These two Psukim detail what Moshe Rabbeinu would say when the Aron started and stopped its journeys.
The Psukim read as follows: Va’Yihi BiNsoa HaAron Va’Yomer Moshe, “Kuma Hashem V’Yafutzu Oivecha V’Yanusu M’Sanecha MiPanecha”. U’V’Nucho Yomar, ‘Shuva Hashem Rivivos Alfei Yisrael.” – ‘When the Ark would journey Moshe would say, ‘Arise Hashem! Let your foes be scattered and let those who hate You flee from before You’. And when the Ark rested he would say, ‘Reside Hashem among the myriad thousands of the Jews.’”
In short, when the Aron began to move, Moshe would ask of Hashem to destroy his enemies - evil and those who promote it. When it rested Moshe’s request would be that of relationship – God’s presence dwelling amongst the Jewish people. The question is so obvious that it almost asks itself: what is the connection between the Ark’s travels and Moshe’s prayers? For this we need to clarify the nature of traveling in general.
We move from Point A to Point B because there is something that we need to do or seek to gain at our destination. If there would be nothing to do at the target location, then per force it would cease to be a destination and there would be no point in leaving Point A in the first place.
The Aron’s travels were no different. It’s brought down in many sources that the whole point of the journeys around the desert was to tame and subdue evil and impure forces in order to extract from those places the hidden holy sparks that those places contained. The Torah-presence that the Aron wielded had the proper energy of Tikun (spiritual rectification) to extract and save that holiness. When it’s job was finished in Point A, it would pick up and move to Point B to go and bring positive spiritual vibes to that new place as well.
These travels of the Aron are a microcosmic manifestation of history on the whole.
The universe, from the time of its very inception, has been wrought with flaws. The most potent goodness that God created, the Or - the Light from the very beginning was stored away – creating the possibility for negativity to fill that gap. The waters split and it created Machlokes - disagreement and friction between the creations. The moon rebelled against God. The Trees rebelled against God. Man rebelled against God. A simple look through Parshas Bereishis shows us a universe off to a bad start.
Why did Hashem choose to do it this way? Rav Shmuel Tal brings from the Ramchal that the was to build the concept and need for Tikun into the very fabric of reality. He made an unsound world to give us a playing-field on which to work. By placing us in an imperfect universe, He gives us the opportunity to fix it, to become active participants in making it right.
How it this accomplished? By revealing God’s presence in the world. Hashem, as we know, is the ultimate Good and the revelation of His glory elevates everything around it. But if God’s Intrinsic Self – a concept too profound for a human to fathom – would enter our sphere of existence, the sheer power of His being would blow us all away and return everything to naught. So what are we to do? If we need Godly force to change the world for the better, but it’s simply too much – how can we bring Tikun?
In response to this problem He gave us the Torah. The Torah HaKedosha, as the Ba’al HaTanya, Leshem and many others explain, is God’s presence in the way that this world can handle. Through the Torah, HaKadosh Baruch Hu channels His Will into concepts that man can deal with. His desires become actions within our reach to accomplish. His hopes for the universe are transformed into stories that we can relate to and lessons that we can really live by. By giving us the Torah Hashem gives us the power that we need to slowly but surely bring about the Tikun that the universe to desperately craves.
The Point A of history is imperfection; a universe full of problems and impurities and forces that seek bog down holiness – God’s enemies so to speak. The Point B of history is Tikun a world where God’s presence dwells with His creations in peace and without obstacles. The vehicle that will get us from Point A to B is the Torah.
Our two Psukim deal with this specifically. The Aron HaKodesh’s travels to bring Tikun to remote desert corners is a small glimpse into history as a whole. The Aron and the Torah which it contains going from place to place to eradicate impurity, and bring sanctity and godliness in its place. “When the Ark would journey Moshe would say, ‘Arise Hashem! Let your foes be scattered and let those who hate you flee from before You’.” And then, when the proper Tikun is brought about God and the Jews can dwell peacefully in that space - “And when the Ark rested he would say, ‘Reside Hashem among the myriad thousands of the Jews.’”
So why bracket this lesson off with the letter Nun specifically?
Chazalexplain that every letter in the Alef-Beis can be broken down into component parts, which the is style in which scribes write. For example a Hei is really a Daled and a Yud. An Alef is two Yud’s and a Vav. The list goes on.
What is a Nun? A Nun is a Yud affixed on top of a flipped-over Vav. Yud, as Rashi tells us in Bereishis is a reference to God’s Kavana, His intent – His will for things to play out a certain way. Yud as a prefix makes a word future tense – directing any verb towards the flow that God willed for the universe - Tikun. Vav, which as a prefix always means ‘and’ is a reference to Chibur, connection. This and this. The ‘and’ between them connects them. The sources that bring down that on the grand scale the goal of Vav is to make the greatest connection of all – the connection of heaven and earth. Thus if Nun is a convergence, an affixation of a Yud above a Vav directed downward then the Nun is a manifestation of the channeling of God’s intention from lofty place above and its arrival down in our world. The Nun takes God’s abstract Will – the Yud, concepts too grand for us to handle, and through the Vav takes it down to a level that this world can appreciate. The Nun then, in very obvious fashion, represents everything that the Torah as that a vehicle of Tikun is all about.
Thus it is specifically the letter Nun and all that it represents that is chosen to frame the Psukim that detail the microcosm of Torah HaKedosha’s role throughout history.
The practical lesson is clear. If I want to be an active participant in the perfection of the world, there is one - and only one – way to pull that feat off. All my good intentions, all of my positive feelings can be a really helpful force in this world – under on condition. I can make the most of myself – I can make my personal power infinite by connecting it to the infinite source. When I’m hooked up to Hashem’s Ratzon I get the opportunity to become something bigger than myself. I get the chance to feed off an energy that I otherwise couldn’t attain. Being connected to the Divine Master-Plan is my ticket to greatness, it’s the boost that I need to be a part of the one force that the history as a whole is propelled by - Tikun.
HaKadosh Baruch Hu should give us the inspiration that we need to tap into this profound mindstate. He should give us the energy to constantly remember that a life unified with His will is a life of substance, and a life that is bringing the world to a better place. If we can live by this, there is no doubt that we will live lives of Simcha and Shleimus, moving closer to HaKadosh Baruch Hu and ultimately the Geulah Sheleimah!
This week’s Parsha is famously broken into three parts. If we are to open any Chumash or Sefer Torah we will notice that the two Psukim of VaYihi BiNsoa HaAron and U’V’Nucho Yomar are literally bracketed off to be a section unto itself by upside-down Nuns (This letter: נ), breaking up the Parsha into three. The whole concept really begs an explanation.
While the goal of this essay is not to discuss why the Nun-brackets are upside-down, we do want to delve deeper as to why HaKadosh Baruch Hu chose to break off this section with the letter Nun specifically. For this we need to understand two things: first, what is the significance of these two Psukim? Second, what is the letter Nun all about? If we can properly understand these two factors separately then hopefully the connection between them will emerge by itself.
As the Torah tells us, the Aron HaKodesh’s movements dictated where and when the Jewish people would travel around the desert. When it started to move, so did the camp. When it’s travels ceased, the nation rested as well. These two Psukim detail what Moshe Rabbeinu would say when the Aron started and stopped its journeys.
The Psukim read as follows: Va’Yihi BiNsoa HaAron Va’Yomer Moshe, “Kuma Hashem V’Yafutzu Oivecha V’Yanusu M’Sanecha MiPanecha”. U’V’Nucho Yomar, ‘Shuva Hashem Rivivos Alfei Yisrael.” – ‘When the Ark would journey Moshe would say, ‘Arise Hashem! Let your foes be scattered and let those who hate You flee from before You’. And when the Ark rested he would say, ‘Reside Hashem among the myriad thousands of the Jews.’”
In short, when the Aron began to move, Moshe would ask of Hashem to destroy his enemies - evil and those who promote it. When it rested Moshe’s request would be that of relationship – God’s presence dwelling amongst the Jewish people. The question is so obvious that it almost asks itself: what is the connection between the Ark’s travels and Moshe’s prayers? For this we need to clarify the nature of traveling in general.
We move from Point A to Point B because there is something that we need to do or seek to gain at our destination. If there would be nothing to do at the target location, then per force it would cease to be a destination and there would be no point in leaving Point A in the first place.
The Aron’s travels were no different. It’s brought down in many sources that the whole point of the journeys around the desert was to tame and subdue evil and impure forces in order to extract from those places the hidden holy sparks that those places contained. The Torah-presence that the Aron wielded had the proper energy of Tikun (spiritual rectification) to extract and save that holiness. When it’s job was finished in Point A, it would pick up and move to Point B to go and bring positive spiritual vibes to that new place as well.
These travels of the Aron are a microcosmic manifestation of history on the whole.
The universe, from the time of its very inception, has been wrought with flaws. The most potent goodness that God created, the Or - the Light from the very beginning was stored away – creating the possibility for negativity to fill that gap. The waters split and it created Machlokes - disagreement and friction between the creations. The moon rebelled against God. The Trees rebelled against God. Man rebelled against God. A simple look through Parshas Bereishis shows us a universe off to a bad start.
Why did Hashem choose to do it this way? Rav Shmuel Tal brings from the Ramchal that the was to build the concept and need for Tikun into the very fabric of reality. He made an unsound world to give us a playing-field on which to work. By placing us in an imperfect universe, He gives us the opportunity to fix it, to become active participants in making it right.
How it this accomplished? By revealing God’s presence in the world. Hashem, as we know, is the ultimate Good and the revelation of His glory elevates everything around it. But if God’s Intrinsic Self – a concept too profound for a human to fathom – would enter our sphere of existence, the sheer power of His being would blow us all away and return everything to naught. So what are we to do? If we need Godly force to change the world for the better, but it’s simply too much – how can we bring Tikun?
In response to this problem He gave us the Torah. The Torah HaKedosha, as the Ba’al HaTanya, Leshem and many others explain, is God’s presence in the way that this world can handle. Through the Torah, HaKadosh Baruch Hu channels His Will into concepts that man can deal with. His desires become actions within our reach to accomplish. His hopes for the universe are transformed into stories that we can relate to and lessons that we can really live by. By giving us the Torah Hashem gives us the power that we need to slowly but surely bring about the Tikun that the universe to desperately craves.
The Point A of history is imperfection; a universe full of problems and impurities and forces that seek bog down holiness – God’s enemies so to speak. The Point B of history is Tikun a world where God’s presence dwells with His creations in peace and without obstacles. The vehicle that will get us from Point A to B is the Torah.
Our two Psukim deal with this specifically. The Aron HaKodesh’s travels to bring Tikun to remote desert corners is a small glimpse into history as a whole. The Aron and the Torah which it contains going from place to place to eradicate impurity, and bring sanctity and godliness in its place. “When the Ark would journey Moshe would say, ‘Arise Hashem! Let your foes be scattered and let those who hate you flee from before You’.” And then, when the proper Tikun is brought about God and the Jews can dwell peacefully in that space - “And when the Ark rested he would say, ‘Reside Hashem among the myriad thousands of the Jews.’”
So why bracket this lesson off with the letter Nun specifically?
Chazalexplain that every letter in the Alef-Beis can be broken down into component parts, which the is style in which scribes write. For example a Hei is really a Daled and a Yud. An Alef is two Yud’s and a Vav. The list goes on.
What is a Nun? A Nun is a Yud affixed on top of a flipped-over Vav. Yud, as Rashi tells us in Bereishis is a reference to God’s Kavana, His intent – His will for things to play out a certain way. Yud as a prefix makes a word future tense – directing any verb towards the flow that God willed for the universe - Tikun. Vav, which as a prefix always means ‘and’ is a reference to Chibur, connection. This and this. The ‘and’ between them connects them. The sources that bring down that on the grand scale the goal of Vav is to make the greatest connection of all – the connection of heaven and earth. Thus if Nun is a convergence, an affixation of a Yud above a Vav directed downward then the Nun is a manifestation of the channeling of God’s intention from lofty place above and its arrival down in our world. The Nun takes God’s abstract Will – the Yud, concepts too grand for us to handle, and through the Vav takes it down to a level that this world can appreciate. The Nun then, in very obvious fashion, represents everything that the Torah as that a vehicle of Tikun is all about.
Thus it is specifically the letter Nun and all that it represents that is chosen to frame the Psukim that detail the microcosm of Torah HaKedosha’s role throughout history.
The practical lesson is clear. If I want to be an active participant in the perfection of the world, there is one - and only one – way to pull that feat off. All my good intentions, all of my positive feelings can be a really helpful force in this world – under on condition. I can make the most of myself – I can make my personal power infinite by connecting it to the infinite source. When I’m hooked up to Hashem’s Ratzon I get the opportunity to become something bigger than myself. I get the chance to feed off an energy that I otherwise couldn’t attain. Being connected to the Divine Master-Plan is my ticket to greatness, it’s the boost that I need to be a part of the one force that the history as a whole is propelled by - Tikun.
HaKadosh Baruch Hu should give us the inspiration that we need to tap into this profound mindstate. He should give us the energy to constantly remember that a life unified with His will is a life of substance, and a life that is bringing the world to a better place. If we can live by this, there is no doubt that we will live lives of Simcha and Shleimus, moving closer to HaKadosh Baruch Hu and ultimately the Geulah Sheleimah!
Thursday, June 2, 2011
Shavuos: Seeing Sounds
The holiday of Shavuos is the unique moment in the year where Am Yisrael convenes to re-experience Ma’amad Har Sinai - the national assembly at the foot at Mount Sinai; the moment of Kabalas HaTorah, the receiving of the Torah HaKedoshah.
There are a vast amount of sources dedicated to detailing the abundant and fantastic miracles that occurred at Ma’amad Har Sinai, but among the most famous is not found in the Midrashim or the commentaries, rather it is simply stated in the Torah itself. The Passuk says (Shemos 20:15), “V’Chol Ha’Am Ro’im Es HaKolos” – ‘And the whole nation saw the sounds’. Amazing. Had the Torah itself not said it, telling the average reader that the Jewish nation perceived auditory messages with their eyes would be passed off as a far-flung psychedelic interpretation of the experience. But there it is; the Torah tells us, “V’Chol Ha’Am Ro’im Es HaKolos” – ‘And the whole nation saw the sounds’.
In order to reach a deeper understanding of what it means to see sounds, we need to understand the components separately by clarifying the seemingly obvious difference between our senses of sight and sound. With Hashem’s help, if we explore the profound words of the holy Sfas Emes hopefully we will walk away with a clearer and more inspiring understanding.
Everything in the Briyah, the expanse of creation, has Ma’alos and Chesronos - pluses and minuses. When comparing anything, one side will have strengths and weaknesses that the second side won’t. In the sensory world this applies just the same; sight affords us opportunities that sound doesn’t; and conversely, the ability to hear can accomplish things that sight cannot.
In the visual spectrum of Re’iya we say that what you see is what you get. We can perceive a whole message at once. There is a certain Shleimus, wholeness, that sight affords. We can take in an entire landscape in one shot. We can utilize Re’iya to recognize a person’s face with all of its factors and unique characteristics at once. Sound doesn’t quite pull this off. Sound by its very nature is a sense built on sequential processing. In a conversation or a song, syllable after syllable is decked on top of various nuances of tone to create a flowing idea that is only understood as the concept develops. Under normal circumstances, if we attempt to process the sounds that make up the phrase ‘have a nice day’ all at once, we will be left confused by the senseless cacophony.
Sound - Shmiya, has its strengths as well. Sound gives us a glimpse into the internal workings of the world. Sight only reveals the surface level. Any blockages in the way serve as the farthest point that can be perceived. If I visually judge a book by its cover, I remain clueless as to what its content is. On the other hand, sound is not bogged down by such things. Shmiya by its very nature comes from an internal reaction and it can never be seen. Speech – not just in the psychological sense – starts on my insides. Air is channeled form my guts and emerges developed. Speech, then, is a revelation of internal expression that surpasses shallow externalities; it is an internal experience. The eyes, which themselves remain surface-level organs are not like the ears, which in the very design channel sound deep inside my head.
Sight is externally full, but it ends with that level of profundity as well. Sound is deep but choppy. Sight is whole while sound needs to be pieced together. But, as we will explain, for Torah to be experienced as transcendental and other-worldly, it needs to be accepted on both levels and in the counterintuitive order.
This is what happened at Ma’amad Har Sinai. Because the Jews accomplished the supernatural feat of accepting the Torah both wholesomely and internally it came across to them supernaturally. Am Yisrael accomplished this with their famous words Na’aseh V’Nishma - first they accepted to fulfill all the Mitzvos and only then they resigned to learn about them. Let’s explain what this means.
Na’aseh - we will do – is connected to Re’iya because like we said, Re’iya means to absorb a greater context. When the Jews say Na’aseh first it means that Jews first accepted upon themselves the entire picture, the full spectrum of Torah-observance. Only then they said Nishma - we will listen, they took upon themselves the detailed education process second. Education is intrinsically a Shmiya-related process. One piece of information is build on top of the next to formulate a coherent lesson. Trying to digest an entire textbook at once would be very much like attempting to decipher ‘have a nice day’ in one confusing sound-bite.
But the Jews said, ‘We don’t care! We are so excited to bring Ratzon Hashem into our lives that we’ll try to take the whole thing on at once, with all of its massive implications. Na’aseh. Only after we’ve been completely fused with God’s will can we start to pick up the details. Nishma. First we full heartedly sign up, we get on board and sign at the dotted line - Na’aseh. Once we’re fully invested, emotionally and physically and we know that we won’t back out will we work out how to really grasp all of its complexities and really make it our own - Nishma.
Because the Jews were willing to go against logic and accept the big picture without knowing the details, because they brought Na’aseh before Nishma, Hashem reciprocated by reflecting their courageousness in the form of the Torah’s counterintuitive delivery – they were able to See (in connection to Na’aseh) the Sounds (in connection to Nishma).
What does this have to do with my acceptance of the Torah? The answer is that the concepts that we just discussed are the remedy to an all-to-common general lack of excitement about Torah that many of our peers may sometimes feel. How many times have we heard someone say that a certain aspect of Judaism, a specific concept or series of laws simply doesn’t speak to them? ‘I dunno; it’s just not for me.’ This is tragic. But it comes from a very ‘Nishma-first’ attitude. We believe - and for good and justified reason – that Judaism will be more meaningful if we accept it in parts. ‘I’m not interested in being a 100% Eved Hashem just yet – let’s learn a little bit and see where it goes.’ Such an outlook may be logical but it’s doomed for mediocrity. The Jews at Sinai certainly didn’t feel that way. They knew that accepting all of the seemingly endless details of an observant lifestyle may have been a little too much to handle at that moment, but they knew that they wanted to be fully on board, they knew that we were going to be entirely in-sync with the grand plan, even if it meant a slow process of picking up more and more knowledge as they went along. They were Na’aseh-first. We can learn from this model.
Na’aseh V’Nishma, and its production of V’Chol Ha’Am Ro’I'm Es HaKolos teaches us that any attempt at spiritual growth must be preceded by a whole-hearted dedication to everything holy – even if in actuality such deed is out of reach. The emotional and mental dedication to the cause - Na’aseh is absolutely crucial if there is to be meaningful and internalized carrying out of action - Nishma. Only when I go through this seemingly backwards logic in my dedication to spiritual growth will I be open to the possibility of experiencing a truly meaningful - and perhaps even magical - experience of my own Kabalas HaTorah.
Shavuos is our opportunity to set the record straight once again. Shavuos means that Am Yisrael is once again standing at the foot of Har Sinai, and if until now I’ve been picky-choosy and thereby overall unfulfilled and uninspired by my Judaism, now’s the time to turn it around. Now’s the time to say to HaKadosh Baruch Hu, “It’s just me and You. Nothing else. I’m on your side. It’s going to be hard, I know that already, and I may not be able to do everything at once, but I want to. I want to be a massive Tzadik. I want to be on a spiritual high 24/7. I want to keep all of the Mitzvos all the time. First I’ll say Na’aseh, I’ll tell you that I want it all. The I’ll say Nishma, I’ll show you that bit by bit I’ll make my way.”
HaKadosh Baruch Hu should give us a Bracha to tap into the amazing inspiration that comes to us by standing at Ma’amad Har Sinai once again. We should have the energy and motivation to achieve our upmost in Avodas Hashem. If we can do this there is no doubt that we will live lives of Shleimus and Simcha mocing closer to HaKadosh Baruch Hu and ultimately the Geulah Sheleimah!
There are a vast amount of sources dedicated to detailing the abundant and fantastic miracles that occurred at Ma’amad Har Sinai, but among the most famous is not found in the Midrashim or the commentaries, rather it is simply stated in the Torah itself. The Passuk says (Shemos 20:15), “V’Chol Ha’Am Ro’im Es HaKolos” – ‘And the whole nation saw the sounds’. Amazing. Had the Torah itself not said it, telling the average reader that the Jewish nation perceived auditory messages with their eyes would be passed off as a far-flung psychedelic interpretation of the experience. But there it is; the Torah tells us, “V’Chol Ha’Am Ro’im Es HaKolos” – ‘And the whole nation saw the sounds’.
In order to reach a deeper understanding of what it means to see sounds, we need to understand the components separately by clarifying the seemingly obvious difference between our senses of sight and sound. With Hashem’s help, if we explore the profound words of the holy Sfas Emes hopefully we will walk away with a clearer and more inspiring understanding.
Everything in the Briyah, the expanse of creation, has Ma’alos and Chesronos - pluses and minuses. When comparing anything, one side will have strengths and weaknesses that the second side won’t. In the sensory world this applies just the same; sight affords us opportunities that sound doesn’t; and conversely, the ability to hear can accomplish things that sight cannot.
In the visual spectrum of Re’iya we say that what you see is what you get. We can perceive a whole message at once. There is a certain Shleimus, wholeness, that sight affords. We can take in an entire landscape in one shot. We can utilize Re’iya to recognize a person’s face with all of its factors and unique characteristics at once. Sound doesn’t quite pull this off. Sound by its very nature is a sense built on sequential processing. In a conversation or a song, syllable after syllable is decked on top of various nuances of tone to create a flowing idea that is only understood as the concept develops. Under normal circumstances, if we attempt to process the sounds that make up the phrase ‘have a nice day’ all at once, we will be left confused by the senseless cacophony.
Sound - Shmiya, has its strengths as well. Sound gives us a glimpse into the internal workings of the world. Sight only reveals the surface level. Any blockages in the way serve as the farthest point that can be perceived. If I visually judge a book by its cover, I remain clueless as to what its content is. On the other hand, sound is not bogged down by such things. Shmiya by its very nature comes from an internal reaction and it can never be seen. Speech – not just in the psychological sense – starts on my insides. Air is channeled form my guts and emerges developed. Speech, then, is a revelation of internal expression that surpasses shallow externalities; it is an internal experience. The eyes, which themselves remain surface-level organs are not like the ears, which in the very design channel sound deep inside my head.
Sight is externally full, but it ends with that level of profundity as well. Sound is deep but choppy. Sight is whole while sound needs to be pieced together. But, as we will explain, for Torah to be experienced as transcendental and other-worldly, it needs to be accepted on both levels and in the counterintuitive order.
This is what happened at Ma’amad Har Sinai. Because the Jews accomplished the supernatural feat of accepting the Torah both wholesomely and internally it came across to them supernaturally. Am Yisrael accomplished this with their famous words Na’aseh V’Nishma - first they accepted to fulfill all the Mitzvos and only then they resigned to learn about them. Let’s explain what this means.
Na’aseh - we will do – is connected to Re’iya because like we said, Re’iya means to absorb a greater context. When the Jews say Na’aseh first it means that Jews first accepted upon themselves the entire picture, the full spectrum of Torah-observance. Only then they said Nishma - we will listen, they took upon themselves the detailed education process second. Education is intrinsically a Shmiya-related process. One piece of information is build on top of the next to formulate a coherent lesson. Trying to digest an entire textbook at once would be very much like attempting to decipher ‘have a nice day’ in one confusing sound-bite.
But the Jews said, ‘We don’t care! We are so excited to bring Ratzon Hashem into our lives that we’ll try to take the whole thing on at once, with all of its massive implications. Na’aseh. Only after we’ve been completely fused with God’s will can we start to pick up the details. Nishma. First we full heartedly sign up, we get on board and sign at the dotted line - Na’aseh. Once we’re fully invested, emotionally and physically and we know that we won’t back out will we work out how to really grasp all of its complexities and really make it our own - Nishma.
Because the Jews were willing to go against logic and accept the big picture without knowing the details, because they brought Na’aseh before Nishma, Hashem reciprocated by reflecting their courageousness in the form of the Torah’s counterintuitive delivery – they were able to See (in connection to Na’aseh) the Sounds (in connection to Nishma).
What does this have to do with my acceptance of the Torah? The answer is that the concepts that we just discussed are the remedy to an all-to-common general lack of excitement about Torah that many of our peers may sometimes feel. How many times have we heard someone say that a certain aspect of Judaism, a specific concept or series of laws simply doesn’t speak to them? ‘I dunno; it’s just not for me.’ This is tragic. But it comes from a very ‘Nishma-first’ attitude. We believe - and for good and justified reason – that Judaism will be more meaningful if we accept it in parts. ‘I’m not interested in being a 100% Eved Hashem just yet – let’s learn a little bit and see where it goes.’ Such an outlook may be logical but it’s doomed for mediocrity. The Jews at Sinai certainly didn’t feel that way. They knew that accepting all of the seemingly endless details of an observant lifestyle may have been a little too much to handle at that moment, but they knew that they wanted to be fully on board, they knew that we were going to be entirely in-sync with the grand plan, even if it meant a slow process of picking up more and more knowledge as they went along. They were Na’aseh-first. We can learn from this model.
Na’aseh V’Nishma, and its production of V’Chol Ha’Am Ro’I'm Es HaKolos teaches us that any attempt at spiritual growth must be preceded by a whole-hearted dedication to everything holy – even if in actuality such deed is out of reach. The emotional and mental dedication to the cause - Na’aseh is absolutely crucial if there is to be meaningful and internalized carrying out of action - Nishma. Only when I go through this seemingly backwards logic in my dedication to spiritual growth will I be open to the possibility of experiencing a truly meaningful - and perhaps even magical - experience of my own Kabalas HaTorah.
Shavuos is our opportunity to set the record straight once again. Shavuos means that Am Yisrael is once again standing at the foot of Har Sinai, and if until now I’ve been picky-choosy and thereby overall unfulfilled and uninspired by my Judaism, now’s the time to turn it around. Now’s the time to say to HaKadosh Baruch Hu, “It’s just me and You. Nothing else. I’m on your side. It’s going to be hard, I know that already, and I may not be able to do everything at once, but I want to. I want to be a massive Tzadik. I want to be on a spiritual high 24/7. I want to keep all of the Mitzvos all the time. First I’ll say Na’aseh, I’ll tell you that I want it all. The I’ll say Nishma, I’ll show you that bit by bit I’ll make my way.”
HaKadosh Baruch Hu should give us a Bracha to tap into the amazing inspiration that comes to us by standing at Ma’amad Har Sinai once again. We should have the energy and motivation to achieve our upmost in Avodas Hashem. If we can do this there is no doubt that we will live lives of Shleimus and Simcha mocing closer to HaKadosh Baruch Hu and ultimately the Geulah Sheleimah!
Friday, May 27, 2011
BaMidbar: Desertminded
Feel free to print this out and read it over Shabbos, just please not during Tefilos!
This week, we begin to read from Sefer BaMidbar. As we set out in the beginning of the Sefer the Jews are counted, placed in formation and begin to travel towards Eretz Yisrael. The whole book details these journeys.
The first Passuk says, “Va’Yidaber Hashem El Moshe B’Midbar Sinai” – ‘And God spoke to Moshe Rabbeinu in the Sinai Desert’. Chazal come and focus in on the specificity of the location. Why does the Torah HaKedosha find a need to frame this communication between HaKadosh Baruch Hu and Moshe Rabbeinu within the context of Midbar Sinai?
In response to this, the Midrash lays down a fundamental concept in spiritual growth. Communication with the Divine only comes in the desert. More expressly, depth and connection to the spiritual are only made available to those who make themselves Hefker, uncontrolled and unowned like a desert. A desert is a free, non-dominated place, and only a person who maintains such a headspace will enter into spiritual greatness.
This is not just a spiritual reality; it’s physical as well. Says the Rambam, when a person is feeling subjugated and overwhelmed by his surroundings, when the culture is preventing one from attaining purity and holiness – the place to escape to is the desert. There he will find the opportunity to really develop.
We know that the name of any given object, anywhere and anything in the universe, is completely defined by its name. An object’s title characterizes its essence. Based on this, and in light of the above, we should walk away with pretty good feelings as to what the Midbar, and therefore Sefer BaMidbar represents.
But there is another side to the story. Because when we look through the stories of Sefer BaMidbar we only see failures. Korach, the spies, the harlots of Midyan among many other shortcomings poke out their ugly heads specifically in Sefer BaMidbar. What happened?! What happened to all of the idealistic symbolism that the Midbar represented? The liberated thinking, the being Hefker that creates inspiration in the mind and heart – shouldn’t the Jewish people only get it right during their journeys there?
In order to answer in one possible way, we need to gain a deeper insight into exactly what it is that drives us to make mistakes and fall prey to the pitfalls laid for us by the Yetzer HaRa, the Evil Inclination.
Let’s work backwards. By understanding how we are taught to deal with the Yetzer HaRa, we will be able to retroactively shed light on what exactly it is that we’re up against. For this we have the famous words of Chazal. Hashem says, Barasi Yetzer HaRa, Barasi Torah Tavlin - I have created the evil inclination, and I’ have created the Torah as its spice.
The learning of Torah, the dissemination of the will of Hashem from an abstract concept into part of my very being, learning that which I need to make Avodas HaBoreih a real part of my life… that’s the remedy to the snares of the Yetzer HaRa. The adaptation of my desires to His will be the only way to not lose that battle.
But if this is so, then why is the term for the Torah’s role a Tavlin, a spice to the Yetzer Hara? Hashem created the Torah HaKedosha as a means of spicing up my baser drives? That’ the purpose? The line shouldn’t use Tavlin, rather we would expect to hear radically different terminology. ‘I created the Evil Inclination and I created Torah to vanquish, kill, destroy – take your pick – behead it. What in the world are we being told when Chazal say that Torah is the spice to the Yetzer HaRa. A spice makes things more palatable, not non-existent!
The following answer was given over by Rav Michael Hershkovitz Shlit’a in the name of Rav Tzadok HaKohen MiLublin.
We are born small and we grow up to become bigger. We come bigger physically and emotionally. In a different way we also become bigger spiritually. Hashem makes a space between us and Him. He pulls back in such a way that we don’t see Him openly. We look around and His presence is not obvious to the naked eye. Why? It’s because God wants us to take this ‘empty space’ and do something amazing. He gives us wiggle-room so that we can grow. By making Himself less obvious we can work on our Emunah and we can be Mekadesh this world, make it more holy by bringing His Message and His Pressence into that space. He pulls back so that we can make something of ourselves… He pulls back so that we can become big.
But the Yetzer HaRa’s job is to convince us to misuse that space. He wants us to get really big too. Bloated. Inflated. It can be our stomachs or our personalities. With this gap made by God, we can be tricked into forgetting Him altogether - making ourselves ‘big’ in lots of other ways. We expand our egos; we allow our lowly desires to run totally amuck. We get really big. God gives us an open playing field – namely this world - and we can either make it or break it. With the empty space given to us it’s a simple fact that we will grow. The question then becomes which part of us will be developed. Will we go out of our way to increase our purity? Will we try to become massive Tzadikim and Gedolei HaDor? To become Something bigger than our earthly bodies? Or will we become, Chas V’Shalom victims of the Yetzer HaRa and make ourselves bigger in less ideal ways.
This is where the Torah comes in. We all feel that natural tendency to become big in a selfish way. This is, as we explained, is the tactic of our evil inclination. The Torah comes as a Tavlin, a spice to slightly rectify, to take that desire to grow and make it more palatable, make it sweeter. It’s simply a nuanced redirection. To take my ego’s desire to take advantage of that empty wiggle room, that open field, and channel it to something higher, something loftier and more refined. This is why Torah is a spice to the evil inclination and not a deathblow. We are taking an inherently powerful tool (the desire to grow) and putting it in its proper place.
The Midbar is that concept of empty space taken to the extreme. The desert, very much like the mind of a person is a Tabula Rasa - a blank slate, an absence of preconceived ideas or predetermined goals, just blankness for as far as the eye can see. The ability to plumb the depth of the significance of the Divine-wiggle-room that makes us or breaks us is most accentuated in the context of the Midbar. It itself is that space.
It is specifically here that the Rambam sends a person to go to recreate and reinvent himself. The clean backdrop of the desert comes to give a person the option to reanalyze what to do with the wiggle-room that God gave him. And thus a person who makes himself Hefker like the Midbar - meaning he takes no personal, no biased, tainted claim over that space, rather he lets the presence of He who truly owns everything enter in and direct his growth - “La’Hashem HaAretz Umlo’ah”, To Hashem does the land all and that fills it belong – only that person has the gates of growth, depth, spiritually and (most importantly for this discussion) greatness opened to him.
But as the potential for growth exponentially increases in the desert – so does it’s capability for that power going awry dangerously increase as well. And lo and behold, we see the Jews time and time again make these mistakes throughout Sefer Bamidbar. All the problems that we are going to encounter over the course of the following Parshios come as a result of the inherit dangers that the Midbar offers. For as the gap between us and Him grows – our ability to fill it with our egos grows as well.
We don’t have to look around to far to see many, many people who may have fallen into this trap. God lays out the world in front of us and says that it’s ours for the taking. HaKadosh Baruch Hu says, ‘There’s nothing that’s out of your reach. Pretend like I’m not here. In fact, I’ll hide to make that easier. Okay, now it surely feels like there is no one over your shoulder – whatcha gonna do?”
And so, people take their lives, lives latent with potential and bring it to a world ready for the taking – and then, unfortunately, make all that growth self-oriented - without ever considering a higher cause.
But we are not such people and we need not fall into such a trap. We, the attuned, choose to be aware. We see past the façade of this desert-world of ours. We know that there is a reason that Hashem has given us so much to work with. We have learned before, and will review again the multitude of mistakes that desert-thinking has caused, and we will take from those lessons as to not fall pray to those same mistakes ourselves. It takes time and patience to internalize, but it’s clear – and getting clearer all the time – that this world we live in was built to make us big. Not big in the sense of stomachs and egos rather immense in stature. As Rav Kagan put it so beautifully, ‘We are not responsible for the fact that we are, but we are fully responsible for who we become.’ And with Hashem’s help we’ll become tremendous.
HaKadosh Baruch Hu should give us a Bracha of overflowing inspiration to channel our potentials to only the best of uses. If we all as individuals commit ourselves to the highest, loftiest, holiest use of all that Hashem gave us there is no doubt that we will live lives of Simcha and Sheleimus moving closer to the Creator and ultimately the Geulah Sheleimah!
This week, we begin to read from Sefer BaMidbar. As we set out in the beginning of the Sefer the Jews are counted, placed in formation and begin to travel towards Eretz Yisrael. The whole book details these journeys.
The first Passuk says, “Va’Yidaber Hashem El Moshe B’Midbar Sinai” – ‘And God spoke to Moshe Rabbeinu in the Sinai Desert’. Chazal come and focus in on the specificity of the location. Why does the Torah HaKedosha find a need to frame this communication between HaKadosh Baruch Hu and Moshe Rabbeinu within the context of Midbar Sinai?
In response to this, the Midrash lays down a fundamental concept in spiritual growth. Communication with the Divine only comes in the desert. More expressly, depth and connection to the spiritual are only made available to those who make themselves Hefker, uncontrolled and unowned like a desert. A desert is a free, non-dominated place, and only a person who maintains such a headspace will enter into spiritual greatness.
This is not just a spiritual reality; it’s physical as well. Says the Rambam, when a person is feeling subjugated and overwhelmed by his surroundings, when the culture is preventing one from attaining purity and holiness – the place to escape to is the desert. There he will find the opportunity to really develop.
We know that the name of any given object, anywhere and anything in the universe, is completely defined by its name. An object’s title characterizes its essence. Based on this, and in light of the above, we should walk away with pretty good feelings as to what the Midbar, and therefore Sefer BaMidbar represents.
But there is another side to the story. Because when we look through the stories of Sefer BaMidbar we only see failures. Korach, the spies, the harlots of Midyan among many other shortcomings poke out their ugly heads specifically in Sefer BaMidbar. What happened?! What happened to all of the idealistic symbolism that the Midbar represented? The liberated thinking, the being Hefker that creates inspiration in the mind and heart – shouldn’t the Jewish people only get it right during their journeys there?
In order to answer in one possible way, we need to gain a deeper insight into exactly what it is that drives us to make mistakes and fall prey to the pitfalls laid for us by the Yetzer HaRa, the Evil Inclination.
Let’s work backwards. By understanding how we are taught to deal with the Yetzer HaRa, we will be able to retroactively shed light on what exactly it is that we’re up against. For this we have the famous words of Chazal. Hashem says, Barasi Yetzer HaRa, Barasi Torah Tavlin - I have created the evil inclination, and I’ have created the Torah as its spice.
The learning of Torah, the dissemination of the will of Hashem from an abstract concept into part of my very being, learning that which I need to make Avodas HaBoreih a real part of my life… that’s the remedy to the snares of the Yetzer HaRa. The adaptation of my desires to His will be the only way to not lose that battle.
But if this is so, then why is the term for the Torah’s role a Tavlin, a spice to the Yetzer Hara? Hashem created the Torah HaKedosha as a means of spicing up my baser drives? That’ the purpose? The line shouldn’t use Tavlin, rather we would expect to hear radically different terminology. ‘I created the Evil Inclination and I created Torah to vanquish, kill, destroy – take your pick – behead it. What in the world are we being told when Chazal say that Torah is the spice to the Yetzer HaRa. A spice makes things more palatable, not non-existent!
The following answer was given over by Rav Michael Hershkovitz Shlit’a in the name of Rav Tzadok HaKohen MiLublin.
We are born small and we grow up to become bigger. We come bigger physically and emotionally. In a different way we also become bigger spiritually. Hashem makes a space between us and Him. He pulls back in such a way that we don’t see Him openly. We look around and His presence is not obvious to the naked eye. Why? It’s because God wants us to take this ‘empty space’ and do something amazing. He gives us wiggle-room so that we can grow. By making Himself less obvious we can work on our Emunah and we can be Mekadesh this world, make it more holy by bringing His Message and His Pressence into that space. He pulls back so that we can make something of ourselves… He pulls back so that we can become big.
But the Yetzer HaRa’s job is to convince us to misuse that space. He wants us to get really big too. Bloated. Inflated. It can be our stomachs or our personalities. With this gap made by God, we can be tricked into forgetting Him altogether - making ourselves ‘big’ in lots of other ways. We expand our egos; we allow our lowly desires to run totally amuck. We get really big. God gives us an open playing field – namely this world - and we can either make it or break it. With the empty space given to us it’s a simple fact that we will grow. The question then becomes which part of us will be developed. Will we go out of our way to increase our purity? Will we try to become massive Tzadikim and Gedolei HaDor? To become Something bigger than our earthly bodies? Or will we become, Chas V’Shalom victims of the Yetzer HaRa and make ourselves bigger in less ideal ways.
This is where the Torah comes in. We all feel that natural tendency to become big in a selfish way. This is, as we explained, is the tactic of our evil inclination. The Torah comes as a Tavlin, a spice to slightly rectify, to take that desire to grow and make it more palatable, make it sweeter. It’s simply a nuanced redirection. To take my ego’s desire to take advantage of that empty wiggle room, that open field, and channel it to something higher, something loftier and more refined. This is why Torah is a spice to the evil inclination and not a deathblow. We are taking an inherently powerful tool (the desire to grow) and putting it in its proper place.
The Midbar is that concept of empty space taken to the extreme. The desert, very much like the mind of a person is a Tabula Rasa - a blank slate, an absence of preconceived ideas or predetermined goals, just blankness for as far as the eye can see. The ability to plumb the depth of the significance of the Divine-wiggle-room that makes us or breaks us is most accentuated in the context of the Midbar. It itself is that space.
It is specifically here that the Rambam sends a person to go to recreate and reinvent himself. The clean backdrop of the desert comes to give a person the option to reanalyze what to do with the wiggle-room that God gave him. And thus a person who makes himself Hefker like the Midbar - meaning he takes no personal, no biased, tainted claim over that space, rather he lets the presence of He who truly owns everything enter in and direct his growth - “La’Hashem HaAretz Umlo’ah”, To Hashem does the land all and that fills it belong – only that person has the gates of growth, depth, spiritually and (most importantly for this discussion) greatness opened to him.
But as the potential for growth exponentially increases in the desert – so does it’s capability for that power going awry dangerously increase as well. And lo and behold, we see the Jews time and time again make these mistakes throughout Sefer Bamidbar. All the problems that we are going to encounter over the course of the following Parshios come as a result of the inherit dangers that the Midbar offers. For as the gap between us and Him grows – our ability to fill it with our egos grows as well.
We don’t have to look around to far to see many, many people who may have fallen into this trap. God lays out the world in front of us and says that it’s ours for the taking. HaKadosh Baruch Hu says, ‘There’s nothing that’s out of your reach. Pretend like I’m not here. In fact, I’ll hide to make that easier. Okay, now it surely feels like there is no one over your shoulder – whatcha gonna do?”
And so, people take their lives, lives latent with potential and bring it to a world ready for the taking – and then, unfortunately, make all that growth self-oriented - without ever considering a higher cause.
But we are not such people and we need not fall into such a trap. We, the attuned, choose to be aware. We see past the façade of this desert-world of ours. We know that there is a reason that Hashem has given us so much to work with. We have learned before, and will review again the multitude of mistakes that desert-thinking has caused, and we will take from those lessons as to not fall pray to those same mistakes ourselves. It takes time and patience to internalize, but it’s clear – and getting clearer all the time – that this world we live in was built to make us big. Not big in the sense of stomachs and egos rather immense in stature. As Rav Kagan put it so beautifully, ‘We are not responsible for the fact that we are, but we are fully responsible for who we become.’ And with Hashem’s help we’ll become tremendous.
HaKadosh Baruch Hu should give us a Bracha of overflowing inspiration to channel our potentials to only the best of uses. If we all as individuals commit ourselves to the highest, loftiest, holiest use of all that Hashem gave us there is no doubt that we will live lives of Simcha and Sheleimus moving closer to the Creator and ultimately the Geulah Sheleimah!
Friday, May 20, 2011
Lag Ba'Omer: We're All In This Together
This Motzaei Shabbos, Am Yisrael is going to enter into a brief window of time where a tremendous amount of spirituality will enter the world. A special deal. A limited time offer. The largest yearly gathering of Jews anywhere in the world. This Motzaie Shabbos six hundred thousand Jews will converge on Meiron, the small town in the north of Israel – home to the Kever, the burial place of Rebbe Shimon Bar Yochai - better known simply as Rashbi the sacred author of the Zohar, the centerpiece of all of the hidden secrets of the Torah.
What’s happening this Motzaei Shabbos? It’s Lag Ba’Omer, the thirty-third day between Pesach and Shavuos, which happens to be the day that Rashbi passed away. But don’t worry – the end of the Zohar describes this day in detail and begins with the introduction where Rashbi says that his whole life was in anticipation of this day. On this day his life comes fully into fruition. On Lag Ba’Omer Rashbi tells of how he can reveal on this day more than any other.
But that’s not the only excitement of Lag Ba’Omer. It’s famously explained that this is the day upon which Rebbe Akiva’s students stopped dying. The end of this plague too is a reason for commemeration.
There are those that enter into Lag Ba’Omer thinking about Rashbi. There are those whose intentions are focused on the students of Rebbe Akiva. But when we attempt to approach matters with more depth a very poignant question must be asked. We know already that the Jewish cycle of the year is really a series of different spiritual energies that enter the world. Everyday has its nuance which translates into the importance of that day. There is something very unique about the tenth day of Tishrei that creates Yom Kippur. If this is true then it must be that if multiple things fall out on one date then automatically they must be related. Therefore if Lag Ba’Omer is the date on which two separate occurrences took place – namely the celebration of Rashbi and the commemoration of the death of the students of Rebbe Akiva then perforce we say that they are linked.
Based on this out question becomes deeper. Lag Ba’Omer isn’t just anywhere on the calendar. Lag Ba’Omer is just that – on the Omer. The Omer is our path to Shevuos and Kabalas HaTorah. Whatever the connection between the two facets of Lag Ba’Omer is, we need to analyze it in the context of it’s centricity to the national acceptance of the Torah.
(My Rebbe, Rav Yoel Rackovsky brought down a beautiful illustration of the importance of Lag Ba’Omer to Kabalas HaTorah: David HaMelech says, Gal Einai V’Abita Niflaos MiTorasecha - Open up my eyes and I will see miracles from Your Torah. Gal (Open up) spells Lag [33 – as in the day of the Omer]. Niflaos is really broken down into two parts: Nun Plaos - fifty wonders. What is David HaMelech saying? Perhaps one level of understanding is this. ‘Gal Einai’ Let me see the world through Lag, meaning Lag Ba’Omer, V’Abita Nun Plaos MiSorecha and I’ll automatically connect to the fifty wonders – the fifty phenomenal days that lead to Kabalas HaTorah. I can’t have Sfiras HaOmer without Lag Ba’Omer. Hopefully we will come to understand why this is so.)
Why did Rebbe Akiva’s students die? The Gemara tells us that they didn’t act with proper respect between one another and for this Hashem sent a wave of death that reduced Rebbe Akiva’s Torah kingdom to rubble. (Why their lack of respect garners a death penalty is a completely different topic, and not the one of this essay, nonetheless this is what happened.) The Gemara, in its description of the tragedy, throws in the two cities between which these students lived. The commentators point out that these two towns are actually not that far away from one another. What emerges is that these people were probably close socially. Their geographical situation allowed for lots of potential closeness – which wasn’t there. They could’ve been very close and they passed it up.
Rashbi is the total opposite. From Chassidishe and Yeshivish to the completely non-observant. Six hundred thousand Jews make the trek up to become unified by him. He’s got that power. There is no being a germy by Rashbi. Claustrophobia ceases to exist on Lag Ba’Omer. In Meiron, everyone is your brother and you best friend – no matter how different he is. I’ve experience this first hand.
The physical reality is merely a symbol of the spiritual essence. How does Rebbe Shimon do it? What does Rashbi have that brings Jews together? He tells us himself. It is said in the name of the Zohar that the spreading of the concepts of the deeper aspects of Torah that he revealed, Pnimius HaTorah - is one of the main vehicles that will bring the Geula. The profundity of Torah gives us the strength and the insight to see and tap into the inherit holiness that permeates the very physical and seemingly mundane world around us. Redemption means Kibbutz Galios - ingathering of the exiles. All the Jews from all of their various colorful backgrounds, Jews from all over the world are and will be drawn together by the Zohar’s propelling redemptive force. And therefore they all converge on his Kever on his deepest day - Lag Ba’Omer..
The important thing is that in contrast to Rebbe Akiva’s students who could’ve be close and weren’t - Rashbi takes those who wouldn’t normally be close and brings them together. These two things happen on the same day become one is the answer to another. The problem faced by Rebbe Akiva’s students could have easily been solved by the messages of Rashbi. It’s now clear why the end of the plague coincides with the revelation of national unity via Pnimius HaTorah. The plague ends when the message comes out.
And as we’ve discussed in other essays – it’s absolutely impossible to have a national acceptance of Torah without complete and total unity. As Chazal explain: We are told that there are six-hundred-thousand root souls of the Jewish nation which correspond to the six-hundred-thousand letters of the Torah. Just as Halacha declares that if there is one letter missing the whole Torah scroll is rendered invalid – then in the same way the Jewish people suffer as a whole if they do not come together as individuals to create that unit. And this explains that if the wholeness of the Torah is intertwined with the unity of Am Yisrael then the Midrash which says that the Torah was only able to come down in a situation in which all Jews were present. If we are whole down here, then it can come to be with us. Based on this we understand why Lag Ba’Omer falls out during our journey to Kabalas HaTorah. We see the depth of Gal Einai V’Abita Niflaos MiSorasecha. We can’t get there without this.
Perhaps we can take things one step deeper. Hashem operates with this world through seven emanations called Sfiros or Midos. These spiritual modes of communication mirror themselves as character traits in man. Through our refinement of those Midos from our end we liken ourselves to our Maker and therefore automatically we become more holy.
Each one of these seven can be seen in the light of the other seven. For example – the first Midah of Chessed has within it all the other seven. If all seven have all seven then the result is forty-nine combinations in all.
Each one of these forty-nine combinations has its very specific Avodah mirrored on man’s end that stems from the uniqueness of its factors. If you look in your Siddur you will see that each one of the days of Sefira is dedicated to the refinement of one combination of Sefiros (they come from the same root for good reason). Each weak one Midah is taken as the big picture and then all seven are passed through it as a prism. Therefore on the fifth day of the third week, the fifth Midah in the series is seen in the context of the third etc…
The fourth Midah in the series of seven is called Hod. Hod, which literally means ‘Glory’ is described as the ability to empty myself of my biases and pre-concieved notions to make room for a greater presence. The Bitul - the nullification – of desires, distractions and predispositions - that is required in so much of our Avodas Hashem is rooted in Hod. But that’s just in regards to our relationship with Upstairs. There is Hod in my interpersonal relationships as well. Those people who it most difficult for me to get along with require the same implementation of Hod if there is to be nay chance of fostering a relationship between the two of us. If I get see past my own ego, if I remain stuck in my own perspective and fail to remove myself from the equation to see a bigger picture – then I nix the opportunity to create something very deep with those who seem not to be able to stand.
If the fourth Midah is Hod, that means that Hod becomes the theme of the fourth week of the Omer. In the same vein, the fourth day of the fourth week with be the day of Hod within the context of Hod. The fourth day of the fourth week becomes the day where I am most able to rectify the interpersonal relationships that I find more than just challenging the rest of the year. The fourth day of the fourth week is exactly thirty-three days into the count. Hod within the context of Hod falls out on Lag Ba’Omer.
Lag BaOmer is time where we will be uniquely empowered to achieve in our relationship with the divine via improving our relationships with our neighbors. Lag Ba’Omer is a central and pivotal step in the process of making it towards Matan Torah. Because if we are unified, if we come together in the name of making the world a more meaningful place - everything that Rashbi is trying to teach us - then that togetherness only creates an exponentially more potent Kabalas HaTorah.
HaKadosh Baruch Hu should give us a Bracha to be empowered enough to implement Hod as a means to achieve the deepest possible levels of Gal Einai V’Abita Niflaos MiTorasecha. If we can do this there is no doubt that we will live lives of Simcha and Shleimus, moving closer to the Creaotr and ultimately the Geulah Sheleimah!
What’s happening this Motzaei Shabbos? It’s Lag Ba’Omer, the thirty-third day between Pesach and Shavuos, which happens to be the day that Rashbi passed away. But don’t worry – the end of the Zohar describes this day in detail and begins with the introduction where Rashbi says that his whole life was in anticipation of this day. On this day his life comes fully into fruition. On Lag Ba’Omer Rashbi tells of how he can reveal on this day more than any other.
But that’s not the only excitement of Lag Ba’Omer. It’s famously explained that this is the day upon which Rebbe Akiva’s students stopped dying. The end of this plague too is a reason for commemeration.
There are those that enter into Lag Ba’Omer thinking about Rashbi. There are those whose intentions are focused on the students of Rebbe Akiva. But when we attempt to approach matters with more depth a very poignant question must be asked. We know already that the Jewish cycle of the year is really a series of different spiritual energies that enter the world. Everyday has its nuance which translates into the importance of that day. There is something very unique about the tenth day of Tishrei that creates Yom Kippur. If this is true then it must be that if multiple things fall out on one date then automatically they must be related. Therefore if Lag Ba’Omer is the date on which two separate occurrences took place – namely the celebration of Rashbi and the commemoration of the death of the students of Rebbe Akiva then perforce we say that they are linked.
Based on this out question becomes deeper. Lag Ba’Omer isn’t just anywhere on the calendar. Lag Ba’Omer is just that – on the Omer. The Omer is our path to Shevuos and Kabalas HaTorah. Whatever the connection between the two facets of Lag Ba’Omer is, we need to analyze it in the context of it’s centricity to the national acceptance of the Torah.
(My Rebbe, Rav Yoel Rackovsky brought down a beautiful illustration of the importance of Lag Ba’Omer to Kabalas HaTorah: David HaMelech says, Gal Einai V’Abita Niflaos MiTorasecha - Open up my eyes and I will see miracles from Your Torah. Gal (Open up) spells Lag [33 – as in the day of the Omer]. Niflaos is really broken down into two parts: Nun Plaos - fifty wonders. What is David HaMelech saying? Perhaps one level of understanding is this. ‘Gal Einai’ Let me see the world through Lag, meaning Lag Ba’Omer, V’Abita Nun Plaos MiSorecha and I’ll automatically connect to the fifty wonders – the fifty phenomenal days that lead to Kabalas HaTorah. I can’t have Sfiras HaOmer without Lag Ba’Omer. Hopefully we will come to understand why this is so.)
Why did Rebbe Akiva’s students die? The Gemara tells us that they didn’t act with proper respect between one another and for this Hashem sent a wave of death that reduced Rebbe Akiva’s Torah kingdom to rubble. (Why their lack of respect garners a death penalty is a completely different topic, and not the one of this essay, nonetheless this is what happened.) The Gemara, in its description of the tragedy, throws in the two cities between which these students lived. The commentators point out that these two towns are actually not that far away from one another. What emerges is that these people were probably close socially. Their geographical situation allowed for lots of potential closeness – which wasn’t there. They could’ve been very close and they passed it up.
Rashbi is the total opposite. From Chassidishe and Yeshivish to the completely non-observant. Six hundred thousand Jews make the trek up to become unified by him. He’s got that power. There is no being a germy by Rashbi. Claustrophobia ceases to exist on Lag Ba’Omer. In Meiron, everyone is your brother and you best friend – no matter how different he is. I’ve experience this first hand.
The physical reality is merely a symbol of the spiritual essence. How does Rebbe Shimon do it? What does Rashbi have that brings Jews together? He tells us himself. It is said in the name of the Zohar that the spreading of the concepts of the deeper aspects of Torah that he revealed, Pnimius HaTorah - is one of the main vehicles that will bring the Geula. The profundity of Torah gives us the strength and the insight to see and tap into the inherit holiness that permeates the very physical and seemingly mundane world around us. Redemption means Kibbutz Galios - ingathering of the exiles. All the Jews from all of their various colorful backgrounds, Jews from all over the world are and will be drawn together by the Zohar’s propelling redemptive force. And therefore they all converge on his Kever on his deepest day - Lag Ba’Omer..
The important thing is that in contrast to Rebbe Akiva’s students who could’ve be close and weren’t - Rashbi takes those who wouldn’t normally be close and brings them together. These two things happen on the same day become one is the answer to another. The problem faced by Rebbe Akiva’s students could have easily been solved by the messages of Rashbi. It’s now clear why the end of the plague coincides with the revelation of national unity via Pnimius HaTorah. The plague ends when the message comes out.
And as we’ve discussed in other essays – it’s absolutely impossible to have a national acceptance of Torah without complete and total unity. As Chazal explain: We are told that there are six-hundred-thousand root souls of the Jewish nation which correspond to the six-hundred-thousand letters of the Torah. Just as Halacha declares that if there is one letter missing the whole Torah scroll is rendered invalid – then in the same way the Jewish people suffer as a whole if they do not come together as individuals to create that unit. And this explains that if the wholeness of the Torah is intertwined with the unity of Am Yisrael then the Midrash which says that the Torah was only able to come down in a situation in which all Jews were present. If we are whole down here, then it can come to be with us. Based on this we understand why Lag Ba’Omer falls out during our journey to Kabalas HaTorah. We see the depth of Gal Einai V’Abita Niflaos MiSorasecha. We can’t get there without this.
Perhaps we can take things one step deeper. Hashem operates with this world through seven emanations called Sfiros or Midos. These spiritual modes of communication mirror themselves as character traits in man. Through our refinement of those Midos from our end we liken ourselves to our Maker and therefore automatically we become more holy.
Each one of these seven can be seen in the light of the other seven. For example – the first Midah of Chessed has within it all the other seven. If all seven have all seven then the result is forty-nine combinations in all.
Each one of these forty-nine combinations has its very specific Avodah mirrored on man’s end that stems from the uniqueness of its factors. If you look in your Siddur you will see that each one of the days of Sefira is dedicated to the refinement of one combination of Sefiros (they come from the same root for good reason). Each weak one Midah is taken as the big picture and then all seven are passed through it as a prism. Therefore on the fifth day of the third week, the fifth Midah in the series is seen in the context of the third etc…
The fourth Midah in the series of seven is called Hod. Hod, which literally means ‘Glory’ is described as the ability to empty myself of my biases and pre-concieved notions to make room for a greater presence. The Bitul - the nullification – of desires, distractions and predispositions - that is required in so much of our Avodas Hashem is rooted in Hod. But that’s just in regards to our relationship with Upstairs. There is Hod in my interpersonal relationships as well. Those people who it most difficult for me to get along with require the same implementation of Hod if there is to be nay chance of fostering a relationship between the two of us. If I get see past my own ego, if I remain stuck in my own perspective and fail to remove myself from the equation to see a bigger picture – then I nix the opportunity to create something very deep with those who seem not to be able to stand.
If the fourth Midah is Hod, that means that Hod becomes the theme of the fourth week of the Omer. In the same vein, the fourth day of the fourth week with be the day of Hod within the context of Hod. The fourth day of the fourth week becomes the day where I am most able to rectify the interpersonal relationships that I find more than just challenging the rest of the year. The fourth day of the fourth week is exactly thirty-three days into the count. Hod within the context of Hod falls out on Lag Ba’Omer.
Lag BaOmer is time where we will be uniquely empowered to achieve in our relationship with the divine via improving our relationships with our neighbors. Lag Ba’Omer is a central and pivotal step in the process of making it towards Matan Torah. Because if we are unified, if we come together in the name of making the world a more meaningful place - everything that Rashbi is trying to teach us - then that togetherness only creates an exponentially more potent Kabalas HaTorah.
HaKadosh Baruch Hu should give us a Bracha to be empowered enough to implement Hod as a means to achieve the deepest possible levels of Gal Einai V’Abita Niflaos MiTorasecha. If we can do this there is no doubt that we will live lives of Simcha and Shleimus, moving closer to the Creaotr and ultimately the Geulah Sheleimah!
Friday, May 6, 2011
Emor: You are important
The following is based in part on the Sefer Mima’amkim and discussions with my dear friend Rav Nati Yefet. Please feel free to print this out and read it over Shabbos - just not during Tefilos!
In this week’s Parsha we encounter the Megadef, a man who was killed for cursing Hashem. In order to understand how the story of the Megadef applies to us we need to understand where he went wrong, so that in contrast we will learn what to do right.
The verse that introduces us to the Megadef opens up with the interesting phrase that seemingly comes out of nowhere. “VaYeitzei Ben Isha Yisraelis -and a man, son of a Jewish woman went out…” Meaning, as the verses go on to describe; he went out into the camp, got into an argument, cursed God and was subsequently put to death for his deeds.
If he ‘went out’ then it must mean that he was somewhere previously and then left that place into the scene that the Torah describes. From where did he leave? Rashi brings down the Midrash which says that Mei’Olamo Yatza - he left his world. This means that he entered a scene where he committed a sin that would cause his removal from this world (being put to death). VaYeitzei means that he left the status of justified existence.
But there are two problems. First, MeiOlamo Yatza is an awfully ambiguous way of saying that he was Chayav Misa (incurred a death penalty). Second, why does it say that he left Olamo - his world. MeiOlam Yatza - that he left the world would have been enough. What, the world belonged to this Megadef?
In order to reach the depth of the matter we need to learn about what caused this man to curse God out. The Torah already tells us that this man’s mother was Jewish, but his father was Egyptian. This leaves him in an uncomfortable situation. In Judaism you need a Jewish mother to be in the religion but you are associated with a tribe based on where your father is from. Therefore this man is Jewish, but without a tribe. Therefore when he tried to set up his tent amongst Shevet Dan (where his mother was from) they kicked him out. He took them to court and Moshe Rabbeinu went with the members of Dan.
This man felt like now, without a place to pitch his tent, he had no place in the world. He had no physical base onto which he could settle his life. He felt like he didn’t belong, but on a more philosophical level - like he didn’t have a place in this world. This caused an emotional downward spiral until he eventually made the fatal mistake of cursing HaKadosh Baruch Hu.
This stemmed from a very deep mistake: Ein Licha Davar SheEin Lo Makom - There is nothing that doesn’t have it’s place. Everyone has a place in this world, we all have a place where we belong - but this place is not physical. Let’s explain.
Hashem is called in many places by the title of HaMakom which literally means “The Place”. This means SheHu Mikomo Shel HaOlam, V’Ein HaOlam Mikomo - that He is the Space in which the world exists and not that He exists within the world. As the Rambam explains – if we would cease to be, God would be just fine, but in the impossible situation that He would cease to exist – we would stop existing as well. A vessel without water is just fine. But water without a container can’t stay in place. Hashem’s title as HaMakom is a reference to how His Ratzon, His will justifies our existence. Inasmuch He wills us to be we have a floor to stand on.
And it goes a step deeper. The fact that I take on a physical form is only due to the fact that Hashem has found a Makom for me, a place within His masterplan to reveal Himself in this world. I am a physical manifestation of my mission. We all have our contribution to make. The fact that our role exists gives way to our physical continuation to manifest. And obviously no one has the same role. Every person – every creation for that matter – has its unique role to play.
This is true meaning of Ein Licha Davar SheEin Lo Makom - ‘There is nothing that doesn’t have it’s place.’ Like we just explained, the term Makom is not necessarily physical space on which to stand - Makom is a reference to God as He gives justification to all creations to exist. And therefore Ein Licha Davar SheEin Lo Makom teaches us that there is nothing in this world without a unique, justified existence. If it’s here in this world then it has an exclusive place – a relationship to HaMakom within the plan. The fact that something exists is merely a sign, a reference to the fact that it has a lofty purpose – for if that purpose, that Makom wasn’t there neither would the object itself. There is nothing in this world that doesn’t have a unique connection to HaMakom, and now we can say that the intrinsic existence of any given object is testimony to this concept.
And perhaps this is the meaning of the famous premise that every person must believe that Kol HaOlam Lo Nivra Ela Bishvili - the whole world was created just for me. First off, if taken out of hand this can become a very egotistical outlook! Secondly, how can it even be true? The whole world can’t be created just for Joe and just for Bob. But in light of what we said perhaps we can understand. If I am the manifestation of one facet of God’s will, then the relationship that I have to everything that I come in contact with, the desire of the outcomes had by God for those relationships, is totally different than every other person. The way I relate to any given object is wholly unique in light of my Makom.
Chazal bring down a parable to what this is comparable. A king enters a town with three of his officials: a General, a Tax-Collector and a Wiseman. The General enters the town and sees how this roof is good for archers; this is a weak spot in the wall and therefore a good entrance for storming the city. The Tax-Collector sees how certain areas have a denser population, how there he’ll need to be more careful. He sees where the rich live and organizes when to approach whom. The Wiseman sees the infrastructure merely as a reference point to greater sociological issues. He analyzes the plight of the needy. Even though they all see the same physical space – their relationship to it is completely unique based on their roles.
What emerges is that the reality of each creation in the context of Ein Licha Davar SheEin Lo Makom creates the possibility in which the world can be perceived through the lens of Kol HaOlam Lo Nivra Ela Bishvili.
My ‘place’ in this world is not a physical one. My ‘place’ is the point of expression where I fit into the greater plan. My Makom is my purpose. This is how we are to approach he world with the eyes of Ein Licha Davar SheEin Lo Makom.
This was the mistake of the Megadef. He thought that his Makom was a physical set-up, that with out it his life would fall into disarray. This was a self-fulfilling prophecy. When he was forced out of his physical space, namely the Tribe of Dan, he took it as a sign from God that he didn’t have a unique spiritual role in the world. It was this that led to his spiritual demise.
Now we understand why the Midrash tells us that MeiOlamo Yatza - he left from his world. His basing himself on his physical space caused him to lose touch with his perspective of Kol HaOlam Lo Nivra Ela Bishvili - the world ceased to be his own. He stopped seeing his place in it. By cursing God, the Megadef took HaKadosh Baruch Hu out of the picture. And like we said from the Rambam, if there is no God, then automatically the creation can longer exist – the floor to stand on disappears. Thus MeiOlamo Yatza, is a reference to his death sentence.
God was telling the Megadef ‘Relocate’ not ‘You don’t matter’.
Inasmuch as we tap into the extreme importance of what we said we will always be filled with nothing but inspiration. Because if I know that there is a purpose for me no matter where I go, then I can always fall back on the questions of, “What does God want from me right now?” “What is the HaKadosh Baruch Hu want to emerge from my relationship with this sandwich?” Knowing that God has a specific plan for me, a unique desire for every moment of everything empowers me to make the right decisions all the time. It gives me the strength I need to overcome the most difficult of situations. Knowing that I am a physical manifestation of a very specific manifestation of God’s will gives me courage to know that my most challenging situations are in reality moments of specified Divine intervention and attention.
HaKadosh Baruch Hu should give us the strength to live with such a lofty mindstate, for if we do there is no doubt that we will live lives in which we achieve Sheleimus and live with Simcha, moving closer to the Creator and ultimately the Geulah Sheleimah!
In this week’s Parsha we encounter the Megadef, a man who was killed for cursing Hashem. In order to understand how the story of the Megadef applies to us we need to understand where he went wrong, so that in contrast we will learn what to do right.
The verse that introduces us to the Megadef opens up with the interesting phrase that seemingly comes out of nowhere. “VaYeitzei Ben Isha Yisraelis -and a man, son of a Jewish woman went out…” Meaning, as the verses go on to describe; he went out into the camp, got into an argument, cursed God and was subsequently put to death for his deeds.
If he ‘went out’ then it must mean that he was somewhere previously and then left that place into the scene that the Torah describes. From where did he leave? Rashi brings down the Midrash which says that Mei’Olamo Yatza - he left his world. This means that he entered a scene where he committed a sin that would cause his removal from this world (being put to death). VaYeitzei means that he left the status of justified existence.
But there are two problems. First, MeiOlamo Yatza is an awfully ambiguous way of saying that he was Chayav Misa (incurred a death penalty). Second, why does it say that he left Olamo - his world. MeiOlam Yatza - that he left the world would have been enough. What, the world belonged to this Megadef?
In order to reach the depth of the matter we need to learn about what caused this man to curse God out. The Torah already tells us that this man’s mother was Jewish, but his father was Egyptian. This leaves him in an uncomfortable situation. In Judaism you need a Jewish mother to be in the religion but you are associated with a tribe based on where your father is from. Therefore this man is Jewish, but without a tribe. Therefore when he tried to set up his tent amongst Shevet Dan (where his mother was from) they kicked him out. He took them to court and Moshe Rabbeinu went with the members of Dan.
This man felt like now, without a place to pitch his tent, he had no place in the world. He had no physical base onto which he could settle his life. He felt like he didn’t belong, but on a more philosophical level - like he didn’t have a place in this world. This caused an emotional downward spiral until he eventually made the fatal mistake of cursing HaKadosh Baruch Hu.
This stemmed from a very deep mistake: Ein Licha Davar SheEin Lo Makom - There is nothing that doesn’t have it’s place. Everyone has a place in this world, we all have a place where we belong - but this place is not physical. Let’s explain.
Hashem is called in many places by the title of HaMakom which literally means “The Place”. This means SheHu Mikomo Shel HaOlam, V’Ein HaOlam Mikomo - that He is the Space in which the world exists and not that He exists within the world. As the Rambam explains – if we would cease to be, God would be just fine, but in the impossible situation that He would cease to exist – we would stop existing as well. A vessel without water is just fine. But water without a container can’t stay in place. Hashem’s title as HaMakom is a reference to how His Ratzon, His will justifies our existence. Inasmuch He wills us to be we have a floor to stand on.
And it goes a step deeper. The fact that I take on a physical form is only due to the fact that Hashem has found a Makom for me, a place within His masterplan to reveal Himself in this world. I am a physical manifestation of my mission. We all have our contribution to make. The fact that our role exists gives way to our physical continuation to manifest. And obviously no one has the same role. Every person – every creation for that matter – has its unique role to play.
This is true meaning of Ein Licha Davar SheEin Lo Makom - ‘There is nothing that doesn’t have it’s place.’ Like we just explained, the term Makom is not necessarily physical space on which to stand - Makom is a reference to God as He gives justification to all creations to exist. And therefore Ein Licha Davar SheEin Lo Makom teaches us that there is nothing in this world without a unique, justified existence. If it’s here in this world then it has an exclusive place – a relationship to HaMakom within the plan. The fact that something exists is merely a sign, a reference to the fact that it has a lofty purpose – for if that purpose, that Makom wasn’t there neither would the object itself. There is nothing in this world that doesn’t have a unique connection to HaMakom, and now we can say that the intrinsic existence of any given object is testimony to this concept.
And perhaps this is the meaning of the famous premise that every person must believe that Kol HaOlam Lo Nivra Ela Bishvili - the whole world was created just for me. First off, if taken out of hand this can become a very egotistical outlook! Secondly, how can it even be true? The whole world can’t be created just for Joe and just for Bob. But in light of what we said perhaps we can understand. If I am the manifestation of one facet of God’s will, then the relationship that I have to everything that I come in contact with, the desire of the outcomes had by God for those relationships, is totally different than every other person. The way I relate to any given object is wholly unique in light of my Makom.
Chazal bring down a parable to what this is comparable. A king enters a town with three of his officials: a General, a Tax-Collector and a Wiseman. The General enters the town and sees how this roof is good for archers; this is a weak spot in the wall and therefore a good entrance for storming the city. The Tax-Collector sees how certain areas have a denser population, how there he’ll need to be more careful. He sees where the rich live and organizes when to approach whom. The Wiseman sees the infrastructure merely as a reference point to greater sociological issues. He analyzes the plight of the needy. Even though they all see the same physical space – their relationship to it is completely unique based on their roles.
What emerges is that the reality of each creation in the context of Ein Licha Davar SheEin Lo Makom creates the possibility in which the world can be perceived through the lens of Kol HaOlam Lo Nivra Ela Bishvili.
My ‘place’ in this world is not a physical one. My ‘place’ is the point of expression where I fit into the greater plan. My Makom is my purpose. This is how we are to approach he world with the eyes of Ein Licha Davar SheEin Lo Makom.
This was the mistake of the Megadef. He thought that his Makom was a physical set-up, that with out it his life would fall into disarray. This was a self-fulfilling prophecy. When he was forced out of his physical space, namely the Tribe of Dan, he took it as a sign from God that he didn’t have a unique spiritual role in the world. It was this that led to his spiritual demise.
Now we understand why the Midrash tells us that MeiOlamo Yatza - he left from his world. His basing himself on his physical space caused him to lose touch with his perspective of Kol HaOlam Lo Nivra Ela Bishvili - the world ceased to be his own. He stopped seeing his place in it. By cursing God, the Megadef took HaKadosh Baruch Hu out of the picture. And like we said from the Rambam, if there is no God, then automatically the creation can longer exist – the floor to stand on disappears. Thus MeiOlamo Yatza, is a reference to his death sentence.
God was telling the Megadef ‘Relocate’ not ‘You don’t matter’.
Inasmuch as we tap into the extreme importance of what we said we will always be filled with nothing but inspiration. Because if I know that there is a purpose for me no matter where I go, then I can always fall back on the questions of, “What does God want from me right now?” “What is the HaKadosh Baruch Hu want to emerge from my relationship with this sandwich?” Knowing that God has a specific plan for me, a unique desire for every moment of everything empowers me to make the right decisions all the time. It gives me the strength I need to overcome the most difficult of situations. Knowing that I am a physical manifestation of a very specific manifestation of God’s will gives me courage to know that my most challenging situations are in reality moments of specified Divine intervention and attention.
HaKadosh Baruch Hu should give us the strength to live with such a lofty mindstate, for if we do there is no doubt that we will live lives in which we achieve Sheleimus and live with Simcha, moving closer to the Creator and ultimately the Geulah Sheleimah!
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