Honest to the Point of Recklessness; Self-Centered to the Extreme (Hunter/Garcia- "Althea")

After enough weight/fat comments from my four children, after taking several days to recover from the more than twelve miles I walk each Shabbat, after growing frustrated that some of my clothes don’t fit so nicely, when looking at pictures from my when my wife and I first met, one thing became incredibly clear. I needed to lose weight. So I joined a gym. Prior to beginning this regimen, I met with the trainer. During our meeting, I had flashbacks to my days in college playing basketball for the school team. I sat with the trainer. I imagined that in three months I could easily drop forty pounds and return to my college basketball playing physical condition. Nothing that some weights, running diet supplements couldn’t take care of . However, the trainer reminded me of two important points. First, there was no way I could return to the physical condition of my college days unless I quit work, worked out all day every day, hired a coach for most of each day, and ceased eating my wife’s outstanding cooking. Second, I was so out of shape that had I tried to engage in my college workouts I probably would have succumbed to a heart attack. Of course I would have loved to lose all this weight in three months. I would have loved to return to my college physical condition or my pre-fatherhood weight. The trainer explained to me what I already knew. The key is to lose this weight in a healthy manner that doesn’t damage joints, bones, ligaments and tendons. So instead of engaging in “Extreme Weight Loss”, I have engaged in a less extreme, healthier manner of weight loss.

This morning we read from Pasha Naso. The Parsha’s 176 psukim make it among the longest single parshiot in the entire Torah. Its length is also reflected in the wide variety of topics covered including: further description of Priestly obligations, the dedication of offering that each tribe brought prior to the Mishkan’s opening and laws concerning the wayward wife. Each of these seemingly disparate narratives and laws focuses upon a specific segment of the population. However all of the narratives and laws contain the common thread of raising the level of holiness in our lives. The Parsha also provides a mechanism for the most common individual to engage in an “extreme” spiritual makeover. There are only three requirements to engage in an “extreme spiritual makeover”: a time requirement, abstaining from God’s creation and the blessings that correspond to the celebration of God’s creation, and leaving one’s body untouched. Ki Yafli Lindor Neder Nazir L’Hazir LHashem the individual makes a neder swears a vow to forego, grapes& grape products, and haircuts for thirty day period. Once those requirements are satisfied then Kol Yemai Nizro Kadosh Hu L’Adoshem – all the days of being a Nazir, he is only to the HaShem . When the thirty days of “extreme” spirituality are complete, Yavi Oto el Petach Ohel Moed, V’Hikriv et Korbano L’Adoshem Keves Ben Shnato tamim Echad L’Olah V’CHavsah Echat Bat SHatah Temimah L’Chatat V’Ayikl Echad Tamim Lishlamim – He shall bring himself to the entrance of the Tent of Meeting. He shall bring his offering to Hashem: one unblemished sheep in its first year as an elevation-offering, one unblemished ewe in its first year as a sin offering, and one unblemished ram as a peace offering. After successfully achieving this higher spiritual plane, the Nazir brings a sin offering. But what was the Nazir’s sin?

The Gemarah in Taanit 11A makes the following statement in Shmuel’s name. Kol Hayosheiv B’Taanit Nikrah Chutach –whoever indulges in fasting is dubbed a sinner. Shmuel based his comment on R’Eliezer Haakapar’s Berebi’s position: if someone who denies himself wine (a Nazir) is considered to be a sinner, then of course someone who denies himself food, must also be considered a sinner. In Maimonides Mishnah Torah Deot 3:1, the Rambam takes R’Eliezer’s position to its logical conclusion. Hoil Hakanah Vitava VHichvod UCh’Yotzei Bahem Derech Ra’ah Hein…If a man should argue; since envy, passion and pride are evil… then shall I divorce and separate myself utterly from them till I eat no meat nor drink wine, nor marry, nor reside in a comfortable dwelling nor wear fine clothes but only wool and sackcloth after the manner of the heathen priests…. The sin is grapes are permissible; we need them in order to make Shabbat and Yom Tov Kiddush. Hair cuts are a way of celebrating joyous occasions such as Rosh Chodesh or a Chag. So for Shmuel and the Rambam, the sin is a result of the Nazir’s vowing to and successfully abstaining/ separating himself from that which was originally permissible.

Yet, the Torah describes the Nazir as holy. The Torah describes the Nazir as belonging to God. This “closeness” to God hardly suggests the actions of “sin”, or the vow of “sin”. Ramban, Nachmanides explains the necessity for the sin offering because the Nazir has forsaken his vow. After completing his 30 days of abstinence; the Nazir’s return to the world warrants a Chatat (sin) offering. For Ramban, the sin is the Nazir’s return to the world and re-newed exposure to death and impurity. For Ramban, the sin is the Nazir’s forsaking the original vow. For Ramban the fact that the Nazir is obligated to end the vow is immaterial.

While Maimonides represents the view that becoming a Nazir is a sin and Nachminides represents the view that forsaking the Nazarite vow is a sin; there is a third more moderate position. R’ Solomon Astruc (14^th Century, Barcelona), commenting on the phrase “for that which he sinned”, wrote in his Midreshei HaTorah: for the fact that his passions got the better of him, till he was driven to abstain from wine to subdue his material desires and bodily wants and deny himself the legitimate enjoyment of wine that makes glad God and man…For R’Astruc the sin is the fact that Torah, its restrictions, its teachings and it commandments were not enough for the individual to control his physical desires. The individual needed “extreme spirituality” to deal with his overly physical oriented existence.

Certainly there will be times when we need an “extreme” makeover, either physical or spiritual. The fact of the matter is the danger in the “extreme” version of anything is that it is out of the ordinary, and generally unsustainable. Judaism has existed for thousands of years. One of the reasons for Judaism success up until the post war modern era has been because Judaism frowned upon extremism and “extreme” spirituality. Rather the basis for Judaism has remained focused in the fact that we do not separate ourselves from the community. Rather we work towards improving ourselves, our community and our world.

Peace,

Rav Yitz

Count the Angels dancing on a Pin (Barlow/ Weir - Weather Report Suite Part II: Let it Grow)

The weather says late spring. The leaves on the trees have sprouted, the flowers are in bloom, the rain is warm, the bees are buzzing, and swimming pool owners have opened up their pool. Canada celebrated Victoria Day earlier this week which marks the beginning of the summer season. This Monday, the United States will celebrate Memorial Day thereby marking the beginning of the summer season in the U.S. For me it means baseball season. It means that at least four nights a week, my poor wife has to be fight for my attention as it is torn between my job, my family and the New York Yankees. Here in Canada, I have quickly learned that it is not baseball season quite yet. Sports headlines begin with the same story every night and will continue until the middle of June. The focus is playoff hockey and the quest for Lord Stanley’s Cup. Whatever the team sport of choice – Hockey in Canada or Baseball in the U.S; anyone who has ever played a team sport has learned a powerful, age-old, sports adage. “There is no ‘I’ in TEAM”. The adage means that the individual must forsake his/her ego for the good of the team. Everyone on the team has a role. If that role is not executed with efficiency and excellence, then the team’s effectiveness is compromised and the risk of losing games increases. For anyone who has participated in a group activity outside of a team sport: a play’s cast, a band, the army, a business, or a family, very frequently the individual must sacrifice for the good of the group. Individual satisfaction must be linked to group satisfaction and success; otherwise tension between the individual and the group will increase. When the individual possesses the same sense of purpose as the group, forsaking one’s ego is quite easy. When the group achieves success, forsaking one’s ego is also quite easy. When there are clearly defined roles and expectations, forsaking one’s ego is easier. Simultaneously, members of successful groups do not have the attitude of, “that’s not my job, I don’t know” or, “they don’t pay me for that, so I can’t help you”. Instead, their attitude is to “pick up the slack” and “play within their skill level”. Again, ego gratification is sublimated for the good of the team.

This week’s Par shah is Bemidbar. Bemidbar marks the start of the fourth Book of the Torah, Sefer Bemidbar (the Book of Numbers). If the Book of Leviticus focused upon all the ritual and ethical behavior a community must observe in order for “God to dwell among it”, The Book of Numbers focuses upon something quite different. Sefer Bemidbar consists of lists, lists of names, numbers and places. The Book begins and ends with a census. The Book begins with B’nai Yisroel still wandering from place to place as they completed their first year free from captivity. As they begin their second year, there will be more narrative, and more events. The Book of Numbers concludes with B’nai Yisroel’s temporarily dwelling in one spot for the next 38 years, overlooking the Promised Land.

Parshah Bemidbar begins with God commanding Moshe to count the people. Then God commands Moshe to organize the people according to tribal formation around the Mishkan. Three tribes are in each of the four directions: three in the North, three in the South, three in the East and three in the West. The tribe of Levi, (the priest) was not counted in this census because it occupied the center of the camp. Instead of the first born from other tribes serving in the Mishkan, the Levites became the designated tribe to serve God in the Mishkan. Counting the Levites was the second census. In Parshah Bemidbar, we also read a list of names. These are the designated leaders of each tribe. Every tribe has a place within the camp, every tribe has a flag, and every tribe has a leader. The Parshah concludes with another census, this time it is limited to a particular family within the tribe of Levi.

Every tribe had a role. Every tribe had a place. Every tribe had a function. The Midrash Tanchuma Bemidbar 12 explains that when God suggested the arrangements and roles for the tribes, Moshe questioned the idea. “Now there will be disputes between the tribes.” Moshe reasoned that by assigning certain tribes to certain places, other tribes would become envious and grow disenchanted with their place within the camp, relative to the Mishkan. God explained that there was no need to worry. Each tribe’s designated spot was based upon Jacob’s sons’ positioning around Jacob’s coffin. Each tribe had a clear and proper place within the greater community. There was no fighting, no bickering, nor any disenchantment. VaYa’Asu B’nai Yisroel kChol Asher Tzivah Adonai et Moshe, Kein Asu – “The Children of Israel did everything that God commanded Moshe, so did they do” (Num.1:54). Knowing their role or their place had a positive effect. Each tribe had a defined space and specific function that insured the welfare of the community.

Towards the end of the Parsha, the census for the Levite tribe begins. The first family with the Levi tribe to be counted was the Kohatite family: Moshe and Aharon’s family. The Kohatite family was assigned a certain task in regards to the maintenance of the Mishkan. Remembering what happened to Aharon’s two eldest sons when they inappropriately approached the Mishkan back in Parsha Shemini; clearly this family bears an inordinate amount of risk to life and limb in regards to its particular responsibilities. V’Zot Asu Lahem V’Chayu V’Lo Yamutu B’Gishtam et Kodesh Hakodashim, Thus shall you do for them so that they shall live and not die; when they approach the Holy of Holies Aharon U’VaNav YaVo’u V’Samu Otam Ish Ish Al Avodato v’El Masa’o –, Aharon and his sons shall come and assign them, every man to his work and his burden. (4:19). Rabbi Ovadiah Sforno, an Italian Renaissance commentator explains that each of the Hohatites should be appointed to do a specific task in the breaking down and carrying of the Mishkan. They should be so organized in order to insure an orderly approach to the Mishkan. Otherwise they will invariably compete with one another in order to be the first one and someone might get jostled. The jostling could result in someone knocking into the Mishkan thus bringing death upon himself.

So, what can we learn from Parsha Bemidbar? First we learn that every individual counts and every individual has value. We only count that which has a perceived value, such as: money, cd’s, cars, and whatever we have collected over the years. God ordered two censuses. B’nai Yisroel mattered to God; each individual must have had value. Otherwise, God would not have counted. From this we learn that a community’s strength is only as great as the individuals that comprise that community. Second, we learn that everyone must have a role, or a function within that community. Each individual must have a means to contribute to the community. By reaching out to the individual, recognizing how each contributes to the whole, and each individual’s contribution, the larger group benefits. A family, a team, a community and a nation can achieves holiness.

Peace,

Rav Yitz

I Was All Night Running, Running, Lord, I Wonder If You Care (Hunter/Garcia -Bertha)

Last Sunday was the final episode of the television season for Desperate Housewives. It was a two hour episode that neatly tied up numerous loose ends developed over the course of the past season and previous seasons. Like any good final episode there was a bit of cliffhanger so that we have something to look forward to in the next season. Two of the Desperate Housewives story lines are particularly poignant. One had to do with the WASPY prim and proper Bree who finally consummated her new romance with Detective on the local police force. The Detective was going through a divorce and did not want to do anything with Bree that would endanger his divorce. Knowing that they were off limits to each other, their passion for each other was expressed in kisses, innuendo, and speaking to one another. Even before this relationship is consummated, we know that this is an intensely passionate relationship between two adults. The second story has to do with Tom and Lynette Scavo. They have been married for approximately twenty years. They have five children and Tom recently landed an incredibly lucrative position thereby allowing his family to live in a comfortable manner that they had never enjoyed. However over the past few episodes we have watched this couple become passionate-less. They no longer fight; instead they have resigned themselves to the fact neither of them “wants to keep doing this anymore.” In one particularly poignant scene, when Lynette mistakenly thought that Tom had left the two were talking about her reaction. She explained that she was not so sad, nor shocked but mostly relieved. She was relieved that they were no longer stuck but rather making a decision and moving forward. Both of these relationships succeed or fail because of Passion. Passion can be expressed in a positive manner or a negative manner, but in what every manner it is expressed, passion demonstrates that people are engaged and not alienated. Passion demonstrates caring about something as opposed to being utterly cavalier. When there is no passion, when people are only cavalier then the relationship dies.

This Shabbat we read from Parsha Bechukotai. It is the final Parsha of the Book of Leviticus. For the past ten Parshiot, Sefer Vayikra, the Book of Leviticus has taught us how to act in a holy manner. We have learned how to behave towards God in a holy manner. We have been taught how to treat member of our family in a holy manner. We have been taught how to treat people outside of our family, friends, acquaintances, employees, and the needy in a holy manner as well. We have been given tools by which we are able to approach God in a sanctified way. We have been given tools to sanctify the seasons, as well as the land of Israel. Finally, here in the last Parsha we are told the reward as well as the punishment if we fail to learn and observe these commandments. The reward is quite simple and straightforward. Im B’Chukotai Teileichu v’Et Mitzvotai Tishmeru Va’Asitem Otam V’Natati Gishmeichem B’Itam V’Natna Ha’Aretz Y’Vulah V’Eitz Ha’Sadeh Yiten Piryo – If you follow my decrees and observe my commandments and perform them; then I will provide you with rains in their time, and the land will give its produce an the tree of the field will give its fruit. (Lev. 26:3-4). Ultimately our reward is predicated upon fulfilling the commandments.

The punishment is neither simple nor straightforward. Normally one would think that merely our failure to observe and fulfill the commandment would be reason enough for punishment. However this is not the case. Our punishment is a result of something worse than our failure to observe and fulfill these commandments. V’Im Lo Tishme’u Li, V’Lo Ta’asu Eit Kol HaMitzvot Ha’Eila – If you will not listen to me (obey) and will not perform all of these commandments; V’Im B’Chukotai Timasu V’Im Et Mishpatai Tigal Nafshechem – if you consider my Decrees loathsome, and if your being rejects My ordinances (Lev. 26: 14-15) then we receive punishment. There are a series of seven sets of punishments and after each set; we are given an opportunity for Tshuvah, for Repentance. If after each set of punishments we continue to ignore God, then we receive another set of punishments. The Torah keeps repeating a phrase which is far more powerful than “ignoring” God. V’Halachtem Imi B’Keri and if you behave towards Me cavalierly, then the next set of punishments are warranted. It could be argued that our divine punishment is a result of our lack of passion, our lack of care and concern for our role and responsibility in our relationship to God.

Worse than our failure to fulfill our obligations in relationships; is our utter lack of concern or care that we failed to fulfill our obligations. Worse than fighting in the relationship; is disengaging from the relationship. When one disengages in the relationship, the other becomes desperate desiring some type of passion either positive or negative. God grows angry with us when we disengage, when we drop out and don’t care that we have dropped out. Our punishments all reflect God’s creating greater distance from us, a form of dropping out as well. Desperation is not confined to housewives; it is a universal and unfortunate result of others treating something that is sacred and holy B’Keri in a cavalier manner.

Peace,

Rav Yitz

Put Their Trust in the Hands of God (Mississippi John Hurt - The Ballad of Casey Jones)

It is no secret that on Shabbos, I walk several miles to shul. When people discover this about they ask me two questions. Since this is Toronto and not San Diego, the first question usually includes something about the weather. “How do you manage to walk four miles in winter?” When I answer them that I grew up in Rochester, NY, they give offer me a look of pity and say that Toronto winter’s aren’t as bad. However it is the second question which is far more interesting. “Rabbi” they ask, “what do you think about for four miles while walking on Shabbat?” I think about a lot of things: the shiur that I am giving that Shabbos morning, or, if I am giving the Shabbos Drash, I go through the talk in my head a few times. If the weather is nice, I think about the change of seasons, nature, and the passage of time. I think about my life, the various turns it is taken, the path that my wife and I have chosen. While I would love to say that I only think about these very deep, spiritual and profound thoughts, every so often my thoughts turn to the mundane. When the Lotto 649 and Lotto Max hit about 30 million, I start thinking about buying a ticket. I think about winning. I think about allocating the money to my family and to charities. When the Mega million Lottery exceeds $100 million in the States, I have the fleeting thought of purchasing a ticket, getting the winning number and allocating funds to my family and to Charities. By the time I am finished investing, saving, and donating whatever is left over after my lottery winnings are taxed, I miraculously arrive at the shul. What makes this thought, or this daydream so powerful is that I only buy one ticket. After I am done explaining about all the things that I think about, there is usually one follow up question. “You only buy one ticket?”

This week we read from Parsha Behar, the second to last Parsha of the Sefer VaYikrah, (The Book of Leviticus). Except for the very beginning of Sefer Vayikra, when God “Karah” called out to Moshe, every time God spoke to Moshe or Aharon and Moshe it was with the phrase, Vayidaber Hashem El Moshe Leimor (And God Spoke to Moshe saying:”. Now, the second to last Parsha of VaYikra begins with Vayidaber Hashem El Moshe B’Har Sinai Leimor: (Hashem Spoke to Moshe on Mount Sinai saying :”). Obviously the words Behar Sinai has been added to this very standard phrase. So far, we have read how to elevate our lives with holiness. We elevate our lives by thanking God and atoning to God, through a variety of Korbonot. We elevate our lives by avoiding behavior that defiles us; we don’t marry our sisters. We elevate our lives in everyday physical behaviors; we only eat certain types of food. We elevate our lives by consciously setting aside holy times throughout the day, week, and season. Until now, the focus of holiness has been relationship specific, time specific, location (as in Mishkan) specific. Now for the first time the focus is upon the covenantal land specific, Eretz Yisroel. In Parsha Behar we elevate our lives and our land with holiness by setting aside another type of sacred time, Shmitta (the seventh year.) Just like the seventh day (Shabbat) is a day of rest. Shmitta is a year of rest. Every seventh year, all outstanding debts are cancelled. The land lies fallow. Slaves and servants are set free. Agriculturally speaking, there is a benefit. Resting the soil for a year allows for replenishment of nutrients. Rabbinically speaking, less time devoted to agricultural concerns, to mundane concerns, meant more time devoted to Torah study!

Behar, we may consider this notion of Shmitta to be quite nice. All debts are cancelled. On the other hand, if the land is to lie fallow, what would people eat? We are urged to trust God. Just like we stood at Sinai and entered into a covenant with God, that covenant had to be based upon trust. Ultimately, that was a covenant is based upon - trust between two parties. Here again, the notion of Shmitta is based upon Bitachon, - Trust in God. How much trust do we need in God in order to fulfill the laws of Shmitta? At the end of the 6^th year, the harvest must be bountiful enough to cover the Shmitta year, (7^th year) and the end of the planting and harvesting of the first year of the next cycle. V’Chi Tomru Ma Nochal BaShana HaShviit Hein Lo Nizrah V’Lo Ne’esof et Tevu’ateinu And if you will say: What will we eat in the seventh year: Behold we will not sow and not gather in our crops! V’Tsiviti et Birchati Lachem BaShanah H’Shishit V’Asat et Hatvu’ah Lishlosh HaShanim I will command my blessing upon the sixth year and it will bring forth (enough) produce for three years (Lev. 25:20-21). Just like God provided a double portion of Manna on Friday and thereby guarantee enough food for Shabbat, so too God will “guarantee” enough produce in the sixth year. B’nai Yisroel won’t starve in the seventh (Shmitta) year. Instead, we are going to Acknowledge God’s presence in our lives, in the land, and that God is the Primary Force not nature.

We understand that we cannot teach trust nor can we teach faith. Trust and Faith are functions of experience. A Child trusts the parent to return to his/her room only after the parent has left and returned enough times for the baby to learn it. Our trust in God is a direct function of our ability to reach various levels of Kedusha. We learn that every rung climbed towards Kedusha, we have the opportunity to engage in a more intimate relationship with God. That intimacy helps us confirm our trust in God. We trust that God is Holy; otherwise we would have no need to be holy. We trust that everything pure and good is attributable to God. Otherwise, we would constantly defile ourselves. We trust that we are created in God’s image. Otherwise, there is no reason to treat people with kindness first. Trust in God, in a sense, is a spiritually individualized Mishkan. The Mishkan was built so that God would dwell among us. Similarly, if our purpose is to attain higher and higher levels of Kedusha, we trust that the end result is God’s dwelling within us.

Peace,

Rav Yitz