Torah Portions

Community - Torah Portions

Parshat Behar outlines the cyclical behavior in the Land—the Shemittah Sabbatical) years, the Yovel (Jubilee) years, redemption of lands sold at other times of the year, freeing of slaves at those times.  Parshat echukotai is introduced with an admonition to avoid idolatry.

Blessings result from obeying the Law; curses result from disobeying.  Thecurses would come in several series of punishments.  The first was physical illness and restlessness.  The second was withholding the rain. The third was attack by the wildlife.  The fourth was seige of the cities by the enemies, causing hunger and pestilence within the walls.  The fifth, and most dreaded, was exile from the Land.  At each juncture,before going to the next severity, Hashem’s judgement was checked with: “…and if you still behave casually toward Me….”  Even after the most severe, He promised that if the people remembered Him, He would “remember My covenant with Jacob and also My covenant with Isaac, and also My covenant with Abraham will I remember, and I will remember the Land.” (Leviticus 26:42)

The words of despair describe the horrors that have been exile throughout the centuries.  There is a feeling of hopelessness beyond repair.  This was encapsulized in the Holocaust, with every fear, illness, torment.

Through that period, many began questioning:  “Where was Gd?”  Many wondered whether the promises had been real.  The agony was so extreme it defied belief that such behavior between human beings ever could have been possible.  Yet, it happened.

A few weeks, in Parshat Shmini, ago we read about the deaths of Aaron’s sons Nadab and Abihu.  Our first reading of the story simply leaves us thinking of their sin that led to their deaths.  Right afterward Moses said to Aaron:  “Of this did Hashem speak, saying: ‘I will be sanctified through those who are nearest Me, thus I will be honored before the entire people’” (Leviticus 10:3)    More was going on that first meets the eye. Our Sages explain that Moses had first believed that this meant himself and Aaron, but then he realized that it was these two sons of Aaron.  Yes,they sinned, but their zeal was even yet sanctification of Hashem.  Their bodies died, burying the sin with them.  Their souls would go on in this dedication to Hashem to become the strength of Pinchas when he killed Zimri and Cozbi to sanctify Hashem (Numbers25:7-9).  It would become the faithful zealousness of Elijah, giving him the courage to defy wicked King Ahab and stand against Jezebel’s prophets to Baal.  Their deaths also set the pattern of Jewish martyrdom — that while initially made possible through some sin, ultimately turned into sanctification of Hashem.

The Holocaust is a prime example of this, as a concentrated version of exile itself.  “Shivitti – A Vision” is a surreal telling of the experiences of a Holocaust survivor while in the camps.  Throughout the book he refers to the Psalms passage  (16:8) “I have set Hashem before me always…”    Behind the mocking Nazi faces he could see the fiery letters of Hashem blazing in the sky.  Where was Hashem? – everywhere.  Through the unimaginable pain, this man tells of knowing Hashem was there, although concealed.

O Lrd, Who is my power and my strength and my refuge in the day of trouble, to You nations will come from the ends of the earth and say, "Only lies have our fathers haded down to us, emptiness in which there is nothing of any avail!  Can a man make gods for himself, and they are no
gods?” – Jeremiah 16:19

Even through the most severe manifestations of the curses, there was purpose.  In the exile the sanctification of Hashem was to bring a question to the minds of the people of the nations.  It was meant to be the witness to His existence, His power, and His Oneness.  Mark Twainsaid:  “If you ever wonder if there is a Gd, look at the Jew.”  His simply surviving as a Jew said this.  Yet there was much more than that.  The Jewish people have been the light in the darkness.   Living the Torah in those nations shifted the heavenly courts  for them, and this knowledgetrickled down to the souls of the nations, albeit quite subtly. Jeremiah’s prophecy indicated that there would come a time when this truthwould become more obvious, as we are seeing more and more in our time.

As with the soul of Nadab and Abihu, the Jewish soul journeys through history, episode on episode, with Hashem transforming hopelessness andpain into victory.  This is the hope for all people that no situation is hopeless, that no sin is beyond repentence.

Heal me, O Hashem, then shall I be healed; help me, then I shall be helped, for You are my praise! – Jeremiah 17:14

Miriam Ben-Yaacov ~ May 20, 2007

Community - Torah Portions

Certainly there is no orphaned generation. There must be true Tzaddikim even in this generation. But they are concealed from our eyes. We do not know who they are and we cannot get near to them. HaShem, where should we turn to find medicine for our wounds? Where is the doctor of souls who can bind up and heal our wounds and relieve us of our desperate pain?

We have been robbed! Every heart is melt, everyone's knees are trembling! The sun has gone down in the middle of the afternoon. The delight of our eyes has been taken from us - the one who encouraged us and inspired us with life and vigor, the pride of our heads, our glory and strength, our nefesh, our ruach, our neshamah, our holiness and purity - the true Tzaddikim, the highest saints, who have left us because of our sins. They have gone to their rest and they have left us to our sighs. HaShem, see how low Your people have fallen!

Read more: Show us the Tzaddikim

Community - Torah Portions

PARASHAT YITRO:

Jews, gentiles and justice

Although Judaism teaches that the entire Torah is the word of God, and as such every letter is sacred, this week's portion of Yitro contains one of the most inspiring passages of all: the Revelation at Mount Sinai, also known as the Ten Commandments - the very cornerstone of our faith and morality, the basis for our 613 commandments. Is it then not rather strange that such a key portion is named after Yitro (Jethro), a gentile, and a Midianite priest at that, rather than after a descendant of Abraham?

You might argue that since it was Jethro who suggested the judicial system which made the Ten Commandments and their multiple extensions enforceable in Israelite daily life, it is logical that the portion be named after him. However, careful reading of the text demonstrates that Jethro's suggestion for judicial reform must have been made at least four months after the Revelation, which would require that it be recorded in the latter portions of Exodus rather than after the splitting of the Reed (Red) Sea and directly before the Revelation, where we find it.

Yes, it is true that Jethro makes his appearance when he comes to Moses with his daughter (Moses's wife Zipporah) and their two children - who had apparently been left behind by Moses. Jethro's purpose is to unite the family and praise the God who wrought such miracles during the Exodus (Exodus 18:1-12). However, Jethro's key judicial reform comes "on the morrow," when he points out that unless there is an organized judicial system, Moses, together with the laws he brought down from Sinai, will collapse under the weight of the many cases which simply had to be adjudicated immediately if the laws were to be taken seriously (18:13-27).

Now when does this "morrow" fall out?

Rashi, citing the Midrash (ad loc. 18:13), insists that it was the morrow of the Day of Forgiveness (Yom Hakippurim), the 10th of Tishrei, after Moses received the second tablets, four months after the initial Revelation on the sixth day of Sivan. There was absolutely no time for adjudication until then, since immediately after the Revelation, Moses entered the supernal realms atop Mount Sinai, where he received the Sacred Tablets over the course of 40 days and 40 nights. He then came down to confront the Golden Calf, smashing the Tablets (on the 17th of Tammuz), after which he prayed for 40 days for divine forgiveness, and received the Tablets a second time as a sign of that forgiveness 40 days following that (on the 10th of Tishrei).

Hence, it could not have been until the 11th of Tishrei that the Israelites lined up for Moses' adjudication; until that time, the master of all prophets had been totally preoccupied with revelations from, and prayers to, God. Only after those four months (three segments of 40 days) had passed, "from the morrow [of Yom Hakippurim], when Moses sat to judge the nation, and the nation stood upon Moses from morning to evening" (18:13), would Jethro have cause to explain: "You will surely become worn out, yes, worn out, you and also this nation of yours, because this matter is too weighty for you. You will not be able to do it by yourself... You must seek throughout the nation people of strong reputations, who fear God and are people of truth who despise ill-gotten gain, and appoint them as district judges [to adjudicate] for thousands, for hundreds, for fifties and for tens..." (18:13, 14, 18, 21). But if so, why precede the description of the Revelation with advice that was given four months later, thereby causing the portion of the Decalogue to be named after a gentile priest?

Apparently it was important for the Bible to stress - as a prologue to the Decalogue - that the Revelation was meant, not for the Israelites alone, but for the gentile world as well!

Our mission, our very raison d'etre, is "to perfect the world in the Kingship of God" - to inspire not only the Jews but also the gentiles to declare: "Blessed is the Lord who has saved you from the hand of Egypt. Now I know that the Lord is greater than all other powers, because the very object which they used sinfully [the Nile River, used as a repository for drowned Hebrew male babies] was turned against them [when it became transformed into blood] (Exodus 13:10, 11)." The world must recognize a God who detests - and ultimately vanquishes - injustice and enslavement.

The biblical message is even more striking because our sacred text juxtaposes two types of gentiles: at the conclusion of last week's portion we meet Amalek, the terrorist who strikes at the weak, the aged and the infirm, and we are commanded to "remember" to extirpate this enemy of civilization from the world (Exodus 17:8-16, cf. Deut. 25:17-19). At the beginning of this week's portion, however, we meet another type of gentile, one from whom we have much to learn. It is this latter type of gentile for whom the Holy Temple will eventually open its gates; Jethro and his kindred spirits will flock to Jerusalem to hear the word of God, and will beat their swords into plowshares (Isaiah 2, Micah 4).

And finally, there is one last lesson to be derived from Jethro. We do not insist that gentiles convert to Judaism; it is sufficient that they abide by the Seven Noahide Laws of ethical conduct - the essential morality of the Decalogue. Hence the prophet Micah declares that in the Temple at the end of days, "everyone will call upon his God, and we shall call upon the Lord our God forever" (ibid).

Indeed, it would seem from the literal reading of the text that Jethro never actually converts. When the Israelites are poised to enter the Promised Land, Moses importunes his father-in-law to remain with them, to be one of their leaders ("for us as our eyes" - our visionary, Numbers 10:31). Jethro, however, replies: "I shall not go [with you], but to my land and my birthplace shall I go" (Numbers 10:30; Genesis 12:1). Jethro returns, but what we note in the description of his destination is that he omits mentioning his "father's house." This implies that although he will not convert to Judaism, neither will he revert to the idolatry of his forebears. Nevertheless (and perhaps only coincidentally)

, when Jethro leaves their encampment, the Israelites degenerate into squabbling, rebellious factions which contribute to the demise of that entire generation.

The message of Yitro is codified in the teachings of Maimonides, who rules that while "the Almighty bequeathed to Moses to impart the 613 commandments only to Israel... He similarly bequeathed to Moses [the obligation] to even force the gentile world to accept the seven commandments of morality" (Laws of Kings, 8,10).

Today, when Islamic fundamentalism threatens to engulf the world with its fanatical call for jihad against all non-Muslims, no message is more crucial than this biblical teaching of religious pluralism and world peace.

Community - Torah Portions

The Field

The virtuous woman bought a field.

She planted a vineyard from her earnings.

Her deeds forever divinely sealed

A place of her children’s yearnings.

Mother Sarah of perfection constant,

Her hand ever held out in chesed.

Holy light glowed from her tent,

Her children forever blessed.

Adam lay at the gate of Paradise,

Waiting for the gathering of souls.

Avraham’s desire was so precise

That Sarah’s death crown her life’s roles.

From her earthly home she went to rest

At the door to worlds beyond the chasm.

Her preparation would be the best

Of the place called Avraham’s Bosom.

Her vineyard’s roots sank into the earth.

The fruit brought forth joy eternal.

For from them would surely spring the birth

Of the redemptive age supernal.

~Miriam Ben-Yaacov