Open and Beckoning to the Spring (Weather Report Suite Part II: Let it Grow - Barlow/Weir)

How excited am I?! Despite the fact that it feels more like winter than spring I am excited, and I am hopeful. No, I don’t care about the Hockey playoffs. No, I don’t care that the interminable NBA season is almost finished and the playoffs will begin in a few weeks. I am excited because new beginnings are a time of hope and anticipation. Yes, spring training is over and Major League Baseball is days if not hours away. The “boys of summer” are bringing with them the anticipation of another year and the hope of a World Series.

We all have various ways of accounting for time. There are numerous calendars that help us account for days, months, and years. In the secular calendar, the New Year occurs on January 1st. Every company and organization has a financial year, the year in which it closes its financial books. Every student has the beginning of the school year and the end of the school year marked by final exams. Baseball fans have Opening Day and the World Series also known as the "Fall Classic". Judaism has several ways to count a “year”. We are all familiar with the Jewish Calendar and that Rosh HaShanah constitutes the first of the year. The date for Rosh HaShanah is the 1^st of Tishrei. However the Torah teaches us that Rosh Hashana is B’Chodesh HaSHvii B’Echad L’Chodesh Yiheyeh Lachem Shabaton Zicharon Truah Mikrah Kodesh – In the seventh month on the first of the month there shall be rest day for you, a remembrance with shofar blasts, a holy convocation (Lev. 23:24). So the Torah explicitly teaches us that the first day of the first month of the calendar year is not The First Month. Instead Rosh HaShanah occurs in the seventh month.

This Shabbat we will read from Parsha Tazria. However this Shabbat receives a special designation due to the Calendar’s cycle. There are four special Shabbatot leading up to Pesach. This Shabbat, known as Shabbat HaChodesh is the last of these four special Shabbatot. The name of this Shabbat, Shabbat HaChodesh, is reflected in the Maftir Aliyah, the final Aliyah prior to the reading of the Haftarah and the Haftarah itself. This Maftir Aliyah has absolutely nothing to do with the weekly Parsha. However, this Aliyah has everything to do with Pesach. In case you haven’t noticed we are a couple of weeks away from celebrating Pesach. Supermarkets in Toronto are full of Pesach products. (Actually they were stocking the supermarkets with Pesach products even before Purim). Pesach preparations have begun as reflected in the grocery bill. Shopping for, cleaning for and preparing for Pesach becomes our focus. As a result, the second Sefer Torah contains a special Torah reading indicating the imminent approach of Rosh Chodesh Nisan the month of Nisan (Ex. 12:1-20). The Haftorah reflects the Prophet Ezekiel’s explanation of the role of the Prince as he dedicates New Moon offerings on behalf of B’nai Yisroel (Ez. 45:16-46:18).

While there are a variety of “New Years” celebrated in the Jewish Calendar; it is the Maftir Aliyah read on Shabbat HaChodesh that teaches us that Nisan is the first month of the year. HaChodesh HaZeh Lachem Rosh Chadashim Rishon Hu Lachem L’Chodshei HaShanah- This month shall be for you the beginning of the months, it shall be for you the first of the months of the year (Ex. 12:2). This month refers to Nisan. This was the month in which the Yetziat Mitzrayim took place. This was the month in which we took the first steps towards freedom via redemption from Egyptian bondage. This was the first month in which B’nai Yisroel stood together and received their first communal commandment. In the next eighteen verses, God commands Moshe and Aharon to instruct and teach Bnai Yisroel all of the rituals regarding Pesach: the Pesach offering, an unblemished lamb, the blood placed upon the doorposts, the offering completely roasted and completely eaten. The offering must be eaten with shoes upon one’s feet ready to leave Egypt. Then the commandments for Pesach follow including: the first day is a like a Shabbat, Chometz may not be owned, Matzo must be eaten on the evening of the 14^th of Nisan. Just like the original command took place on the first of Nisan, we commemorate that moment by reading the narrative on the Shabbat in which we announce the new month, the first month of the year, the month of Nisan.

Of all the commandments to issue, the commandment to observe Nisan as the first month is rather at odds with our own expectations. One would have assumed that Rosh Hashana, New Year's, would occur on the first day of the first month. Yet, we must remember that these people, our ancestors, B’nai Yisroel, were slaves. A slave’s life does not belong to the slave. A slave has no sacred space. A slave has no sacred time. Sacred time and space belongs the Master, to the Slave Owner. The first step towards attaining freedom is the ability to acknowledge that the individual and the community possess sacred time. Ultimately that is a concept that comes from within. Certainly in modernity, the notion of sacred time comes from within one's soul. However our ancestors had been slaves for several centuries. Since they were so use to receiving orders and commands, perhaps they were incapable of recognizing and accepting sacred times as coming from within one’s self. For them, this commandment must come from God. For our ancestors the first step away from bondage and towards freedom must be a command from God rather than an intrinsically understood motivation. How many of us in modernity need to be reminded that we are not slaves. We are capable of creating sacred time. Sacred Time begins now, in the month of Nisan, in our New Year. As we prepare, once again, to understand what freedom means our continue striving towards the holiest aspects within our own souls, and towards God. May we be inspired by our freedom to to continue striving in holiness in all aspects of our lives.

Peace,

Rav Yitz

I'll Get a New Start, Live the Life I Should (Wharf Rat -Robert Hunter/Jerry Garcia)

There is nothing quite like the innocence of children. You know what I am talking about. Children will make a comment that is completely honest, without any malice, without any filter. Sometimes it is funny, sometimes it gives parents some food for thought. So when our youngest, our son, walked up to me on a Sunday morning, said good morning, sat I my lap while I sipped coffee and said "Abba I love sitting on your lap your belly is soft", I looked up at my wife and sheepishly smiled. My eldest daughter, who happened to be visiting from university, casually added that she wanted me to be able to walk her down the aisle at her wedding (which was not happening any time so soon). Soon it became a whole family affair as our other two daughters also commented upon my weight. There was no malice. Rather it was all quite clinical with an air of concern. I went to work and I felt quite mortal. I thought about my children's words and I realized that I am not 25 anymore. I am neither twenty five in the physical sense, the spiritual sense nor the intellectual sense. That is not to say that there were moments in the past when I felt my own mortality. I did have those feelings. However I could count them on both hands. When I became a father for the first, second, third and fourth time; I felt my own mortality. At our daughter's bat mitzvah and during our son's Bris, I felt mortal. Running around, playing tag on a California beach, looking out over the horizon and huffing and puffing; I felt mortal. When I wake up before the first signs of dawn, go downstairs, pour a cup of coffee, stretch, step outside, look up at the sky and wonder how am I going to continue afford day school, pay for college, and pay for three weddings (I still have some time for that); boy do I feel mortal! Yes, I tend to feel mortal during those moments where I feel most alive, and when I am most aware of the awesome responsibilities of fatherhood.

This week’s Torah portion is Parsha Tazria. Normally, in a non-leap year, this Parsha and next week's Parsha are seamless combined as they both focus upon the laws of Tamei/Tahor (purity and impurity). Because this year is a leap year, we only read Parsha Tazria. Tazria concentrates upon how spiritual impurity is passed between people. The majority of the Parsha focuses upon Leoprosy as it was considered to be a very contagious physical manifestation of a spiritual disease or shortcoming. Parsha Tazria puts the diagnosis, the treatment and the convalescence in spiritual terms rather than physical terms. We learn that the while this Tumah, this spiritual impurity, is present; the stricken individual cannot reside within the camp. After all, God dwells in the camp. Theologically, we cannot tolerate any impurity near God. Oddly enough, one would think that God could handle our "impurity" because God is God, God is almighty. How could impurity affect God? However the issue is not the affect of the impurity upon God per se. Rather the issue is that our spiritual impurities, any spiritual impurities would negatively affect Bnai Yisroel's ability to connect to God.

Prior to its discussion of Leoprosy, Parsha Tazria outlines the somewhat troubling laws concerning impurity in childbirth. Fundamentally, the notion of impurity relates to physical contact with the deceased. In Parsha Shemini, the Torah outlined impurities that came from dead animals. In this Parsha, we are reminded that a Mother is touched by death during the miracle of and creation of life. Isha Ki Tazria V’Yalda Zachar V’Tamah SHivat Yamim Kimei Nitdat Dotah Titmah – When a woman conceives and gives birth to a male, she shall be contaminated for a seven day period as during the days of her separation infirmity shall she be contaminated. (Lev. 12:2). Imagine becoming spiritually impure after producing a new life. Yet, this new mother lost blood - a life force. She lost some aspect her life force during the birth process. As a result, while simultaneously being touched by a new life, she is also touched by her own mortality.

Perhaps there is no more an intense moment than when a new mother, physically exhausted and spent, holds the newborn upon her chest. CHaZaL - the Chachamim Zichrono L'Vracha (the Sages of Blessed Memory) teach that surviving childbirth is an equivalent to surviving a near death experience. Therefor, reciting Birkat HaGomeil was required. (Praised are You, Lord Our God, King of the universe who graciously bestows favor upon the undeserving, even as He has bestowed favor upon me.) Inherent to surviving a near death experience is the notion that the individual as come precipitously close to death. Even in the miracle of life, we are reminded of life's fragility. Even in the miracle of life, we are reminded of our own mortality. During these moments, which for some are life altering and almost transcendent, we find a way to make that near death experience a holy experience. That is not to say that we look forward to death or that we celebrate death. Rather we are acknowledging that in the moments of coming into contact with death there is a potential to be changed by that experience. Even in death, we are reminded that we are forever striving towards elevated levels of holiness. In the most physical moments, and certainly childbirth is quite a physical endeavor, we are reminded that it is our spiritual task to elevate that physical moment into a spiritually holy moment as well.

Like many Jewish homes that celebrate Shabbat, there is a Minhag, a custom, that we observe. At the Shabbat dinner table, there is a minhag of blessing the children. The Shabbat dinner that immediately followed my children's comments concerning my weight, I felt mortal once again. As we bless our children on this Shabbat, may we be reminded that in every moment, we have the opportunity to strive towards spiritual purity, and spiritual holiness. In so doing we are striving towards our continued celebration of life and our relationship to God.

Peace,

Rav Yitz

If a man among you, got no sin upon his hand (Hunter/Weir/Hart- Playing in the Band)

The other day, my ten year old daughter got the best of me. After pushing my buttons over and over again, I made the number one parent mistake. I responded. I should have walked away, but I responded. Knowing that I possessed a much stronger vocabulary and that could inflict much more damage than she ever could; I should have just walked away. However in the heat of the moment, I wanted to show her who the parent was, and it wasn’t the ten year old. So I said something that was pretty hurtful to her. In a look that expressed shock; her jaw dropped, tears welled up and she ran upstairs to her room. Belatedly, I went outside to get some air and collect my thoughts. I thought about what had just transpired. I thought how I could have behaved differently, behaved in a way that would have de-escalated the tension as opposed to escalated the tension. I thought about what needs to be done to rectify the current situation. Apologizing can be difficult, apologizing to a child is almost impossible. However in this particular case, it was absolutely the right thing to do. I went upstairs, I sat at the foot of her bed and apologized. I explained that I should have known better. I apologize for failing to act more like an adult and her parent. My apology was contrite and heartfelt. She began crying and apologized to me. We talked some more, hugged and then I said good night to her. I realized that had I not apologized first, she would never have apologized to me and we would never have discussed the issue that was at the heart of the matter; her insolent behavior. Because I apologized to her first, I appeared more human, more approachable and safer for her to apologize to me.

This Shabbat, we read Parsha Shemini. Divided into three chapters, Parsha Shemini begins the narrative aspects of the book of Leviticus. Until now, we have read God’s speaking to Moshe about all the various Korbonot (offerings) and Moshe speaking to Bnai Yisroel and the Cohanim about all the Korbonot (offerings). Now, Aaron, the Kohen Gadol, begins his preparations for and then engages in the actual slaughtering of the Ram as part of his own Sin Offering. First the Kohen Gadol must be without blemish, without sin, and ritually pure before he begins serving as the conduit between the individual/community and God. When the Kohen is ritually impure and attempts to approach God inappropriately we learn the results, as does Aaron (Lev. 10:1-2). Finally, we learn how the individual/the community can aspire to be holy without Kohen Gadol’s involvement. We learn this by the Torah’s enumeration of all the animals that are prohibited for consumption.

The Parsha begins with the word VaYehi: It was on the eighth day; Moses summoned Aaron and his sons, and the elders of Israel (Lev. 9:1). In the Talmudic tractate of Megillah (10b) we are taught that the word VaYehi often serves as foreshadow for troubling events. The Midrash teaches that this parsha occurred on the first of Nissan, an incredibly happy time since it serves as an indicator of Zman Cheiruteinu – the Time of our Freedom and the Pesach holiday. However this is a bittersweet moment. The sweetness is the fact that the community is gathering together for the dedication of the Mishkan. The bitterness lay in the fact that a Mishkan is even necessary. Prior to the sin of the Eigel Zahav (Golden Calf), there was no need for a place for Bnai Yisroel to gather and engage in communal and individual Tshuva. Following the sin of the Eigel Zahav, we as individuals and as a community required a central gathering place to atone for our sins, and engage in Tshuvah. Next we read Vayomer El Aharon Kach Lecha Eigel ben Bakar L’Chatat – [Moshe] said to Aaron: Take for yourself a young bull for a sin offering…(Lev. 9:3).What sin offering? What did Aaron do wrong that a Sin offering was required? Precisely because of Aaron’s involvement in the Golden Calf debacle, he needs to atone. So Aaron must bring a Chatat offering, a sin offering. Aaron must admit his sin, atone for it, and seek a spiritual return to God (Tshuvah) prior to serving on the behalf of the people. Even more powerful than Aaron’s fulfilling this obligation is the fact that Aaron’s two remaining sons, the Elders, and the entire assembly will bear witness to Aaron’s humbling of himself. Not only will Aaron know that he is worthy to serve on behalf of the people, but the people will know as well.

Our sages hold Aaron in very high esteem. While the Rabbinic Sages are troubled with the way he handled himself during the incident of the Golden Calf; it is here in Parsha Shemini, when Aaron publicly humbles himself, we understand Aaron’s meritorious conduct. Aaron’s behavior provides a powerful lesson for any individual in a position of authority or leadership. Whether Parent, President or Prime Minister, our ability to engage in heartfelt Tshuva does not diminish that authority but rather enhances it.

Peace,

Rav Yitz

The Darkness Never Goes Some Men's Eyes -(John Barlow/Bob Weir-"Throwing Stones")

We have all been focused on the tragedy of the Japan earthquake, the tsunami, and perhaps the most terrifying, the potential nuclear meltdown at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear plant; and rightly so. However last Shabbat, anti-Semitism once again reared its ugly head. This time it took the form of two Muslim Arab terrorists entering the Fogel family home in the town of Itamar and proceeded to stab the Fogel family to death and then slit their throats. Father- Udi, mother - Ruth, 11 year old son - Yoav, four year old son Elad, and three month old girl Hadas were brutally slain. There was no burglary gone awry. There was no military operation with ensuing "collateral damage", or innocents victims caught in the crossfire of gun battle. Rather a random act of anti-Semitic violence perpetrated upon a family that was guilty of being Jewish and living in Itamar. As heinous and evil as the crime was, even more disturbing and just as evil is the aftermath of this terrorist attack and other terrorist attack. Some group claims credit; in this case Al Fatah claimed "credit" for the attack, and the Palestinians who reside in Gaza celebrate the criminals and great "freedom fighters". In Israel, this crime, like the previous anti-Semitic crimes perpetrated by the terrorist, will also be remembered in Israel. Like previous anti- Semitic crimes perpetrated by terrorists, Israel will also make every attempt to blot the terrorists out from the face of the earth.

This Shabbat, the Shabbat that immediately precedes the holiday of Purim is known as Shabbat Zachor. Two sifrei Torah are taken out and read. From one Torah, we will read the weekly Parsha (Tzav). From the second we will read the last three verses of Deuteronomy chapter 25. "Remember what Amalek did to you, on thew way when you were leaving Egypt, that he happened upon [ambushed] you on the way, and he struck those of you who were hindmost, all those where were weak at your rear, when you were faint and exhausted, and he did not fear God. It shall be that when Hashem, your God gives you rest from all your enemies all around, in the Lad that Hashem, your God, gives you as an inheritance to possess it, you shall wipe out the memory of Amalek from under the heave - you shall not forget!" These three verses are read as a reminder of the fact that Haman, the evil antagonist of the Purim story can trace his lineage back to Amalek. Just like Amalek sought to destroy the Jews and had no sense of awe in regards to God, so it was with Amalek's descendant Haman. Just like we are commanded to wipe out Amalek and the evil that it represents; we wiped out Haman and his descendants in the Megillat Ester (the Purim Story).

While this explains the reason why these P'sukim (verses) are always read on the Shabbat immediately preceding Purim, the Psukim themselves raise an interesting tension when the commandment does not have a corresponding explicit physical action. If you think about it, the general rule is that positive commandments have a corresponding physical action ie: lighting Shabbat candles, making Kiddush, bringing Korbonot to the Holy Temple (and then replaced by prayer), studying Torah, blowing the Shofar to name a few. Zachor et Amalek"- remember Amalek is also considered a positive commandment. What is the explicit corresponding physical action of "remembering Amalek", or remembering what Amalek did to our ancestors as they made they way out of Egypt? The explicit physical activity is to "blot out the memory of Amalek". Remember what Amalek did but blot them out of your memory. The two ideas, remembering, and blotting out, seem to be at cross purposes. After all if we blot something out from our memory then by definition we don't remember it. This is why people go to therapy.

Rashi explains that to "blot out from the memory" means M'Ish v'ad Isha M'Ollel V'ad Yoneik, M'shor V'ad Seh - from all the men and women, children, livestock, anything associate with Amelek. Sforno, the Italian Rennaissance rabbi of the late 15th / early 16th century is even more explicit. The term Timche et Zeicher Amalek -Blot out the memory of the Amalek means to totally annihilate the evil for which Amalek represents. Only by remembering Amalek's evil deed, can we know to destroy that same type of evil when confronted by it. Perhaps we can best understand and appreciate the example of an individual who experiences cancer surgery. The scar that an individual carries with him following cancer surgery serves as a reminder that these malignant cells have been removed. In a sense, the malignancy has been blotted out or eradicated, but the scar remains to serve as a reminder and a motivator for changing one'slifestyle.

Haman and his anti-Semitism was a cancer upon the reign of Achashveirosh as well as the Jewish people. Only when the cancer is eradicated can people live their lives with some semblance of normalcy. The cancer that was this heinous terrorist act, like all those that came before, will be remembered by Israel as something that needs to be eradicated. For the evil to stop spreading, it is not enough for Israel to eradicate the evil of Haman, and the evil of the terrorist attack upon the Fogel family. Evil needs to be eradicated in the places where it is allowed to fester, and to grow. It was eliminated in Shushan, Persia and it needs to be eradicated in places where anti-Semitism remains so prevalent, in places where murderous terrorist acts are celebrated.

Peace,
Rav Yitz

People were saying, the whole world is burning, ashes were scattered... (Peter Monk&Phil Lesh - "Passenger")

Like so many millions of people; I have continue watching the horrible tragedy that unfolds in Japan. As I watch I am struck by the orderliness by which the Japanese people try to search for survivors, get food, medecine and shelter to the homeless and deal with the nuclear reactors. Despite the chaos from the earthquake, the tsunami and the potential of a nuclear melt down, Japanese society remains extremely orderly and authority and the information from that authority remains unquestionably sacrosanct. When the most recent natural disaster occurred in North America, Hurricane Katrina, the American press and populace questioned everything that the government said and did. The American press, and public expressed very little faith in information that came from government sources. As I continued watching the scenes of devastation in Japan unfold, I was reminded of the first time I visited Japan with my grandfather approximately twenty five years ago. During winter break of my third year of college, my grandfather and I traveled to the Far East. He had business in Hong Kong and Tokyo.He thought it would be an excellent educational opportunity for me. It was. Besides, he figured out a way to write me off as a tax deduction. Anyway, while in Tokyo he met with the corporate directors of a company that he had been dealing with for fifteen years. He had a very close relationship with the owner and all the big shots in this Japanese sportswear company. My grandfather was older than the company owner, and older than anyone on the board of directors of that company. In fact my grandfather was always the oldest one in the room. Perhaps because of his age, his experience, or his wisdom, the Japanese spoke to my grandfather with such reverence. They spoke to me about my grandfather in words of awe and respect. They paid such close attention to his words. I was incredibly impressed because this was a side of my grandfather that I had never seen. I joked with my grandfather that as impressed as I was with the esteem in which he was held; it was hard for me to accept. After all this was the same man whom my grandmother “hocked” to sit up straight, straighten his tie, don't play with the silverware and to throw out the garbage. While he ignored much of the "hocking"; and he would throw out the garbage.

This week’s Parsha is Tzav. Again, the focus is upon Korbonot (sacrifices). While last week we read of God’s commanding Moshe to tell Aaron and his sons; this week we read of Moshe transmitting the information and commandments to Aaron and his sons. This week we read about the actual sacrificing, the actual sprinkling, the actual burning and the actual donning of appropriate clothing. The Parshah concludes with instructions for Aaron and his sons to remain outside of the camp for seven days. These are the seven days required for preparation. The Kohen Gadol, the (HighPriest) must remain outside of the camp because he is in the process of purifying himself for this extremely sacred and vital position.

Besides Moshe, the Kohen Gadol was the most vital role within Israelite society. It was the Kohen Gadol that served as a vehicle for the common person to draw closer to God. When the common person, or the king needed to atone, they would bring a sacrifice to God. However it was the Priest that had to check for blemishes. It was the priest who would slaughter the animal in a very precise way. It was the priest that had to sprinkle the blood. Later on it was the priest who became the “spiritual advisor” to the king. Unlike any other position, the priesthood was based upon lineage and was promised by God to Aaron for eternity (or as long as there was a Temple). Yet as important as this was for the welfare of B’nai Yisroel’s relationship to God, the Priest was eternally reminded of the importance of humility within a leader. V’hotzi et a Hadeshen el Michutz La’Machaneh el Makom Tahor-“and he shall bring the ashes to the outside of the camp, to pure place (Lev 6:4).” Here is arguably the most important position within the community and he has to shlep the ashes out of the Mishkan. What’s even more amazing is what the Talmudic tractate Yoma teaches. The priests were so anxious to take out the ashes, that a lottery system had to be introduced to pacify all those who wanted this “honor”. Anyone could have been commanded to take out the ashes. Why the Kohanim (the Priests)? Like all other aspects of the sacrificial process, the priests’ sole concern was the Temple and everything about the Temple. No task was below the priest. No aspect of the Temple remained untouched or unaffected by the Priest.

So what can we learn from Parsha Tzav, and the Priest’s most menial of tasks? First we learn just how vital it is for leadership, of any kind, to roll of its shirtsleeves and do some of the dirty work. After all, if leadership is unwilling to “to get dirty” for a greater or nobler cause, then how great can the "cause" possibly be? Also if the leadership is unwilling “to get dirty”, why should anyone else “get dirty”. Last week we read that the sacrifices pertain to everyone, regardless of status, wealth, or knowledge. This week, we learn that effective leadership is not only about convincing others to act, it is about one’s observance of the same rule. No matter how important we think we are, we are not so important that we cannot take out the ashes. We need humility in order to remind us of where we fit in, and who we are. Possessing this humility gives us credibility when dealing with anyone. Possessing this humility reminds us of how we should treat others as well as how we wish to be treated. So, after Shabbat, we shouldn’t forget to take out the garbage. It’s good for us.

Peace,

Rav Yitz