Ship Of Fools On A Cruel Sea; Ship Of Fools Sail Away From Me (Robert Hunter & Jerry Garcia - "Ship of Fools")

It's not every day you get to watch the world change before your eyes. Yet, late last week and onto this week, the world has watched as seventy years of an organizing principal has started to unravel.  Since the conclusion of WWII, it has been assumed that a closely knit Western Europe would serve as a preventative from any one European nation from becoming too overly nationalistic, overly aggressive, and overly domineering. Also a closely knit Western Europe would serve as a counterbalance to Stalin and the Soviet Union’s Iron Curtain.  As a result NATO, the European Common Market and eventually the European Union came into being. Well NATO still exists; however after BREXIT, the European economic alliance has been severely diminished because of Great Britain’s desire to leave the economic union.  It has been fascinating to watch the immediate fall out. Pound Sterling has lost more than 10% of its value.  The British Prime Minister has announce his resignation; the Labor has lost a  “no confidence” vote, British business  whose market is the Continent is in a state of paralysis, and non British who were able to move freely to Britain with only a European passport, sit in “immigration” limbo. Scotland and Ireland want to remain part of the EU and now will plan a referendum about remaining part of Great Britain. When the week began, there was enough “buyer’s remorse” that more than three million signatures signed a petition calling for a revote.

This Shabbat we read from Parsha Shlach Lecha. The Parsha is highlighted by the narrative of Moshe’s sending twelve spies into Eretz Canaan and then to report back to him. The spies scout out the land, they return with a negative report. The people challenge Moshe’s leadership. God gets angry and wants to destroy the people. Moshe defends the people and God decides upon a less severe punishment.  Following the narrative God instructs Moshe regarding the Mitzvot of the Libations Offering, taking Challah, public atonement for unintentional idol worship, an individual’s idol worship of an unintentional and intentional nature. There is the brief narrative of a man gathering sticks on Shabbos and the ensuing punishment. The Parsha concludes with God giving Moshe the Mitzvah of Tzitzit.

The punishment that results from the narrative of the Twelve Spies is particularly troubling. The spies return and offer a report not only to Moshe and Aaron but to the entire assembly.  The people are scared and a wave of national hysteria sweeps over the community. They beg to be returned to Egypt. God’s anger is not so laser focused. God’s anger is aimed at everyone except for Joshua and Caleb, the two spies who issued a positive report. The other ten spies and the entire community are threatened with extinction.  Essentially this punishment would have meant that there would not have been a viable community to inherit God’s covenant. Moshe convinces God to rethink the punishment and now God issues a formal decree. The generation of adults that left Egypt would be prohibited from entering into Eretz Canaan; meaning there would be forty years of wandering until that generation died out. Upon hearing the decree, VaYashkimu VaBoker VaYaalu El Rosh HaHar Leimor Hinnenu V’ALinu El HaMakom Ahser Amar HaShem Ki Chatanu – They awoke early in the morning and ascended toward the mountain top saying: “We are ready and we shall ascent to the place of which Hashem has spoken, for we have sinned.” Moshe tells them to stand down, that it is too late and the punishment has been meted out.  VaYapilu LaAlot El Rosh HaHar Va’ Aron Brit Hashem U’Moshe Lo Mashu MiKerev HaMachaneh – But they defiantly ascended to the mountaintop, while the Ark of Hashem’s covenant and Moshe did not move from the midst of the camp. The Amalekite and the Canaanite who dwelled on that mountain descended; they struck them and pounded them until Hormah (Num. 14:40-45). They had already voted. They had already violated the sanctity of their relationship to God by expressing a desire to return to Egypt. They can’t take back their words. This is a group of people that will always express spiritual weakness and will not be able to make it in Eretz Canaan. They express their own “buyer's remorse” and decided to begin journeying towards Eretz Canaan. However without the Ark of the Covenant and without Moshe, the people cannot and will not survive.  The organizing principal is the Ark of the Covenant, and Moshe's leadership and the peoples Emunah, their faith.  Even with their expression of buyer’s remorse God understand that the people are not equipped for the relationship and the covenant.

It will be months if not a few years before we see all the ramifications for Great Britain’s historic vote. However, one thing is clear. The world has just become a little more unstable. The world has just become a little more dangerous. The rise of nationalism, the fear of immigrants, the rise of demagogues not only bodes ill for the future but it serves as a reminder of Europe’s very troubled past  before its enlightened attempt to create a more unified Europe where no one European nation became too large that the entire world was threatened.

Peace

Rav Yitz

It Can Ring Like Fire When You Lose Your Way (Robert Hunter & Jerry Garcia - "Franklin's Tower")

The end of the school year culminates in commencement activities.  When I was a kid, the only graduation ceremonies that mattered were High School, College/University. If a person attended graduate school, depending upon the timing, graduation might not even have mattered since that person had started working.   Now the world is a bit different now. My sister called me, her voice a little weepy, and told me that her daughter graduated from Kindergarten and she was brought to tears. We attended our daughter’s graduation from 8^th grade. Yes, school now have graduation exercises for students completing 8^th grade. I don’t really consider completing 8^th grade to be a major accomplishment a particularly high academic benchmark. Admittedly, I even tried to downplay it as our daughter was going through the preparations for her commencement activities.  That being said, accomplishments should be recognized, and, as my wife pointed out, sometimes the accomplishment is not the flash of brilliance from a standardized test, or a final exam. Sometimes accomplishment should be measured in being able to navigate the everyday grind and the consistency demanded in order to succeed.

This week we read the third parsha from The Book of Numbers, Parsha Be’Halotcha. In the previous two parshiot: Bemidbar and Naso, B’nai Yisroel takes a census and prepares for its upcoming journey from Sinai to Eretz Canaan. This week, the final preparations are ordered and executed and the departure from Sinai begins. Aaron, Moshe’s brother and the Kohen Gadol, lights the lamp for the Mishkan, the entire Levite tribe is purified, offerings made and their service for maintenance of the Mishkan begins. Final instructions for observing Pesach under these new conditions, (they were not leaving Egypt anymore nor had they arrived in the land) were offered, including the case of coming into contact with the deceased and becoming spiritually impure. The narrative tells us the manner in which B’nai Yisroel traveled: sheltered by a cloud during the day, and protected by a pillar of fire at night. Then the complaining begins. They complain about the Mannah. They complain about the food. They complain about Moshe’s leadership. Moshe’s sister complains about his wife.

The first few verses, from which the Parsha gets its name Be’Halotcha seem rather disconnected from the rest of the narrative. Rather, these first few verses seem more connected to the previous parsha that discussed the various responsibilities of each Levi family and gifts brought by the twelve tribal princes. Left out of last week’s parsha is the specific role of Aaron and his family.  So Aaron is given the job to light the Menorah, the Neir Tamid, the eternal light, every day.  Visually, it appears that Aaron turns on the lights of the Mishkan, the mobile worship station that was central to B’nai Yisroel’s social organization and theological understanding. Imagine the boss arriving so early that he/she turns on the lights every morning. According to the Talmud in Menachot 88, Aaron didn’t just light the Menorah, he had to clean the seven lamps out every morning prior to lighting the lamps. He would have to lean it over to clean it and the stand the Menorah back up prior to lighting. Every morning, cleaning the lamp and lighting the lamp was the first activity.  So it is interesting to note the word that the Torah uses to describe this process. Normally, the Hebrew word for “kindling a light” or “lighting a lamp” is LeHadlik.  On Shabbat, and on Holidays, when candles are lit the blessing uses the word Le’Hadlik Neir – kindling the lights. So why does the Torah use Be’Halotcha – literally “when you raise the lamps”? The Or HaChaim, the 18^th century Moroccan commentator, explains that the process of removing the lamps, cleaning them out, re-assembling the lamps upon the main stem, putting the lamp back to an upright position and finally lighting it is tantamount to building a new Menorah every day.  Six branches three on either side of the main trunk bent toward the middle flame were lit everyday reminding Aaron and all who entered into the Mishkan that there was one source of spiritual light. Perhaps that entire process, the awareness which occurred on an everyday basis, was much more than must striking a match and lighting a wick. Instead Aaron became aware that everything he did on a daily basis was really about elevating his soul.

Yes, our daughter graduated from 8^th grade this week. No we don’t think that “graduating” from 8^th grade is a particularly high academic benchmark. Sometimes she wasn’t exactly keen to wake up and go to school, and sometimes the educational process was not altogether so intellectually inspiring. However, there were moments, more often than not, where we saw our daughter’s intellect light up and she was looked forward to learning and studying. There were moments that we witnessed the ripening of an intellect being prepared for the rigors of high school and eventually, university. Perhaps most importantly, we watched our daughter become aware that every day presents an opportunity to learn, to become intellectually stimulated and engaged.  On Friday nights, sitting at the Shabbat table, when we have time to hear excitement about what she learned during the past week, we understand that over the course of a year, something more than just a kindling an intellectual light occurred. Instead we appreciate that the process has elevated her. Hopefully she appreciates the fact that she can elevate her mind everyday like lamps in the Menorah.

Peace,

Rav Yitz

Lift My Voice Like The Young Man;Gonna Stand And Deliver (Robert Hunter & Phil Lesh- "Wave To The Wind")

Like so many around the world, we have been watching the news come out of Orlando following the terrorist massacre that left 50 dead and 50 injured. Despite the pressure of final exams and the need to study, our children have had the news on at every opportunity, hearing the names of dead, seeing their pictures, hearing about their lives. Watching our children’s reaction has been very interesting. All of them were saddened at the tragedy. While they are all familiar with the idea of Muslim terrorism and radical Islam, they still have a hard time understanding how a religion endorses murder. Intellectually they understand that this a twisted perversion of Islam. All of our kids struggled with the idea that the terrorist was able to arm himself so easily. However our 14 year old, with tears in her eyes, looked up at me and said how embarrassed she was to be American because lawmakers are too scared to act responsibly and make it more difficult for people on the “Watch List” to obtain a weapon. Imagine how cowardly certain Senate and Congressional legislators must be that they are more concerned about protecting the 2^nd amendment right of some unbalanced soul desiring to shoot up a nightclub with assault rifles at the expense of the public safety. I am sorry but if your name is or has been on the FBI watch list then losing the 2^nd Amendment right is the price to be paid. I completely empathized with my daughter as I wish these hypocrites could stop telling us to pray for the victims and have enough chutzpah to stand up to the NRA and be counted for something meaningful.

This Shabbat we read from Parsha 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:  the census for the tribe of Levi, the Priestly tribe, the responsibilities for the maintenance and operation of the Mishkan, the purification of the camp,  the treatment of the wayward wife (the Sotah), the vow of the Nazir ( a vow that limits the behavior of the individual as a means of elevating oneself to a higher level of holiness for only a limited time),  the identical tribal offerings made by each leader in order on twelve successive days that celebrated the fact that the Mishkan was “open for business”. Inserted in these seemingly disparate rules and narratives is the priestly benediction. A quick glance at the different components of Parsha Naso suggests that each is connected to each other because of the idea of Naso – “lift up”. Indeed each component discussed issues of how we can raise ourselves up in holiness, either through our own actions or the actions of the other.

The word Naso, had been prevalent throughout last week’s Parsha, Bemidbar, and continues to be prevalent in this week’s Parsha, Naso. The word Naso, Nun, Samech, Alef, means lift, raise or carry. Yet we have seen the word appear as an expression: Naso et Rosh B’nai Gershon. Last week we saw it use as Naso et Rosh Kol Adat B’nai Yisroel. Literally, the expression means “raise the heads of the Children of …. Later on in the Parsha a form of Naso is used during the Priestly Benediction: Yisa Adoshem Panach Eilecha V’Yasem Lecha Shalom – May the Lord Lift up his countenance to you and grant you peace. So how does Naso, which literally means raise, lift or carry, also be construed as a method of counting? We are all familiar with the expression “Stand and be Counted”. The “counting” is for a higher more noble purpose. It is an expression that instill courage as well as a deep sense of believing in a cause.  Naso et Rosh suggest the same type of counting. The head is elevated as in elevated for a holy sacred purpose. Last week the sacred purpose was to serve God in the army that would protect B’nai Yisroel and the Mishkan. The sacred purpose was to serve God by working in the Mishkan. Parsha Naso continues in that same vein. The elevating/counting is for a distinct sacred purpose. Even God’s lifting of his countenance has a specific purpose, to allow us to bask in God’s light and goodness. If B’nai Yisroel hadn’t engaged in behavior that elevated itself and its collective soul, then God doesn’t elevate his countenance.

Eventually, our daughter calmed down but she remained angry and embarrassed. She was angry because she understood the obvious and people in power, people who make laws haven’t acted courageously. They have failed to stand up and be counted. They did not lift their heads.  Rather, they look down, they hang their heads, knowing that their inaction is a result of their being owned by the gun lobby. Like all embarrassed people, they hang their heads in shame rather than lifting their heads to be counted for something good. Sometimes it takes a teenager to cut through all the muck, to see things clearly. Perhaps the role of youth is to remind us adults when we are being hypocritical when we fail to raise up our heads for a sacred purpose, when we fail to stand up and be counted for a higher more sacred service than just ourselves.

Peace,

Rav Yitz