But I Would Slave To Learn the Way To Sink Your Ship Of Fools ( Robert Hunter & Jerry Garcia - "Ship of Fools")

For the past couple of weeks, I have watched my wife, like many Jewish women who clean for Pesach, who make a Seder (or two) act as if they are not only slaves in Egypt but slaves in their respective homes. Because of the COVID 19 pandemic, we haven’t had the luxury of a cleaning lady help us. This has only added to the amount of aggravation and the extra work for all of us. As time slowly ticked away towards the First Night of Pesach, my wife would look up from what she was cutting, mixing, cooking or cleaning and wonder aloud, “How will this ever get done?” In other moments of anxiety, she would exclaim, “I am so far behind my schedule!”. Yet my wife managed to get everything done.  Granted, if we were really enslaved in Egypt, like so many Jewish Women,  I think she would have been too exhausted to leave! Indeed, the first two days of Pesach focus upon our bondage in Egypt, our preparations for Yetzitat Mitzrayim, and eventual freedom as symbolized by the Sedarim. However, Pesach is an eight festival. Certainly, it makes the beginning of the festival should focus upon our national experience of slavery and the immediate moments that led to our ancestors’ freedom. Once B’nai Yisroel left Egypt and began making their way toward The Reed Sea (The Yam Suf), they were free. They were free to travel, free to worship, and free to serve God. Yet, the process of becoming a free people was still in its nascent stages.  

Now we have entered into the intermediate days of Pesach, commonly referred to as Chol Moed. On this Shabbat, Shabbat Chol HaMoed Pesach, our focus begins to shift from the Yetziat Mitzrayim, the Exodus from Egypt, to B’nai Yisroel’s return to the land that God promised to our Patriarchs. The language has subtly shifted from leaving slavery and entering into freedom. The language has shifted from completing our exile and returning to our covenantal home. We see this in our reading of Shir HaSHirim the Song of Songs. While the text is clearly about the Springtime love of a young man and woman; ChaZaL, our Sages of Blessed Memory, explains that Shir HaSHirim is a Metaphor for this mutually very new and loving relationship between God and B’nai Yisroel. This is a love that has been renewed and this is a love in which both return to each other. Likewise, the Haftorah, from the Prophet Ezekiel (37:1-14), also focus upon B’nai Yisroel’s return from the Babylonian exile to its covenantal land. 

Ezekiel does not focus on the intensely loving relationship between God and the B’nai Yisroel. However, he does focus on slavery as another form of exile and redemption from exile as the ultimate form of liberation from slavery. Ezekiel lived before and after the destruction of the Beit HaMikdash HaRishon, the First Holy Temple. It is here in this Haftorah, that Ezekiel shares with the people his prophecy of the “Dried Bones” that are in the land. Ko Amar Adoshem Elokim L’Atzamot HaEilah  Hinei Ani Mavi Vachem Ruach Vichyitem – Thus says the Eternal God to those bones: Behold, I will cause breath to enter you, and you shall live (Ez.37:5). From a literal perspective, Ezekiel is prophesying that God will bring these bones, the thousands of Jews that perished in the destruction of Jerusalem and the First Temple, back to life. These bones will experience the ultimate return from exile; they will return from death to life. However, Judaism doesn’t generally subscribe to re-incarnation or physical life after physical death. Rather Ezekiel’s prophecy invokes a very powerful symbol. Slavery, in its ultimate and most devastating form, is spiritual slavery. Spiritual slavery is a function of being exiled from God, exiled from that fundamentally loving relationship based upon a covenant. When we are exiled from God, when we are spiritually afar from God, we are spiritually lifeless. We are only bones. We are not human. To be human means to be close to God for we are created B’Tzelem Elokim – in the image of God.  

We all experience spiritual slavery yet our own personal redemption; our moving closer to God’s presence is a direct function of God breathing Ruach HaKodesh – his Holy Spirit into our Neshama. This occurs through the Study of Torah. This occurs through prayer. This occurs by engaging in Gemilut Chasadim, by giving Tzedakah, and by Bikur Cholim – visiting the sick. In today’s troubling times, perhaps this means connecting through the numerous platforms available such as WhatsApp, or Zoom to name a few.   By making the Jewish community a more learned, and a more caring community we become less enslaved by greed, selfishness, and arrogance. 

Peace, 

Rav Yitz

So The Kids, They Dance, They Shake Their Bones And The Politicians Throwing Stones (John Barlow & Bob Weir - "Throwing Stones")

For the past couple of weeks, I have watched my wife, like many Jewish women who clean for Pesach, make a Seder, and act as if they are not only slaves in Egypt but slaves in their respective homes. Granted if we were really slaves in Egypt, I think she, like so many Jewish Women would have been too exhausted to leave! Indeed the first two days of Pesach focus upon our bondage in Egypt and our preparations for Yetzitat Mitzrayim and eventual freedom as symbolized by the Sedarim. However Pesach is an eight day festival. With all the preparations, all the cleaning, all the cooking and the resulting exhaustion, it might be rather easy to lose focus on the last moments of  our national slavery and the immediate moments that led to our ancestors freedom. Once B’nai Yisroel left Egypt and began making their way toward The Reed S (The Yam Suf), they were free. They were free to travel, free to worship, and free to serve God. Yet, the process of becoming a free people was still in its nascent stages.

Now we have entered into the intermediate days of Pesach, commonly referred to as Chol Moed. On this Shabbat, Shabbat Chol HaMoed Pesach, our focus begins to shift from the Yetziat Mitzrayim, the Exodus from Egypt, to B’nai Yisroel’s return to the land that God promise to our Patriarchs. The language has subtly shifted from leaving slavery and entering into freedom to leaving our exile and returning to our covenantal home. We see this in our reading of Shir HaSHirim the Song of Songs. While the text is clearly about the Springtime love of a young man and woman; ChaZaL, our Sages of Blessed Memory, explain that Shir HaSHirim is a Metaphor for this mutually very new and loving relationship between God and B’nai Yisroel. This is a love that has been renewed and this is a love in which both return to each other. Likewise the Haftorah, from the Prophet Ezekiel (37:1-14), also focus upon B’nai Yisroel’s return from Babylonian exile to its covenantal land.

Ezekiel does not focus upon the intensely loving relationship between God and the B’nai Yisroel. However he does focus upon slavery as another form of exile and redemption from exile as the ultimate form of liberation from slavery. Ezekiel lived before and after the destruction of the Beit HaMikdash HaRishon, the First Holy Temple. It his here in this Haftorah, that Ezekiel shares with the people his prophesy of the “Dried Bones” that are in the land. Ko Amar Adoshem Elokim L’Atzamot HaEilah  Hinei Ani Mavi Vachem Ruach Vichyitem – Thus say the Eternal God to those bones: Behold, I will cause breath to enter you, and you shall live (Ez.37:5). From a literal perspective, Ezekiel is prophesying that God will bring these bones, the thousands of Jews that perished in the destruction of Jerusalem and the First Temple, back to life. These bones will experience the ultimate a return from exile; they will return from death to life. However Judaism doesn’t generally subscribe to re-incarnation or a physical life after a physical death. Rather Ezekiel’s prophecy invokes a very powerful symbol. Slavery, in its ultimate and most devastating form is spiritual slavery. Spiritual slavery is a function of being exiled from God, exiled from that fundamentally loving relationship based upon a covenant. When we are exiled from God, when we are spiritually afar from God, we are spiritually lifeless. We are only bones. We are not human. To be human means to be close to God for we are created B’Tzelem Elokim – in the image of God.

We all experience spiritual slavery yet our own personal redemption; our moving closer to God’s presence is a direct function of God breathing Ruach HaKodesh – his Holy Spirit into our Neshama. This occurs through Study of Torah. This occurs through prayer. This occurs by engaging in Gemilut Chasadim, by giving Tzedakah, and by Bikur Cholim – visiting the sick. This occurs by making the Jewish community, a more learned, and a more caring community and less enslaved by the greed, selfishness and  arrogance.

Peace,

Rav Yitz

Big Wheel Turning By The Grace Of God ( Robert Hunter, Jerry Garcia, Bill Kreutzman- "The Wheel")

           Every year at this time my son and I get to bond while we assemble our Sukkah. As he grows older he is able to help in a more constructive manner than just sitting and talking. While we were putting the Sukkah together he shared with me something he learned in school. He exclaimed that one of the commandments associated with Sukkot is to be happy. He thought that this is a very difficult commandment to follow, at least compared to the other commandments associated with Sukkot, such a eating in the Sukkah and waving the Lulav and Etrog. He then asked a very poignant question. “Abba how can you be commanded to ‘be happy’ if you in mourning?” I asked him what he meant. He explained that since his Zeidy (my Grandfather) died at the end of August and the whole family has been sad since then, and we are still in the year of mourning, how can we be happy?” I stopped what I was doing and told him that I wonder the same thing. It is hard to be happy when you have suffered a loss. How do we do resolve the tension between how we feel due to a loss and the feeling associated with Chag Sukkot?

Among the most spiritually difficult and often perceived as harsh texts is the Sefer Kohelet the book of Ecclesiastes. We read it in its entirety once a year on Shabbat Chol HaMoed Sukkot, the Intermediate Sabbath of Sukkot. According to the tradition, Shlomo HaMelech, King Solomon, towards the end of his life, wrote this Megillah, this scroll. Tradition has this perspective because the language is not one of optimism but rather realism. This is a person who as “seen it all” – Ein Kol Chadash Tachat HaShemesh – There is nothing new under the sun! And yet there is a certain harsh realism and a certain sense of harsh optimism. The author provides us with a no holds barred sense of comfort. He does not coddle us. He does not baby us. Rather the author shoves our faces in this “reality” and gives us a perspective on how to deal with a world that is not as wonderful a place as we might have thought of in our youth, or even a few weeks ago. The question that so many of our sages have asked, is why is such a text, a text that does not offer such explicit hope, a text that does not offer explicit comfort, and is universally recognized as a “downer” of a text, why is such a text read on the holiday that is commonly regarded as Zman Simchateinu – the time of our joy?

            In Eretz Yisroel, the Autumn Harvest is complete. We unabashedly celebrate our joy on a physical level because of a successful harvest. We also unabashedly celebrate our joy for having been judged favorably by God, (Rosh HaShanah), having been the recipients of God’s mercy (Yom Kippur). On Sukkot we are commanded to Samachta b’Chagecha – celebrate in your holiday. Yet this text seems to diminish our celebration. While the nature of the Sukkot holiday is to celebrate our unrestrained joy in receiving God’s blessing, we also know that very often it is human nature to forget God and celebrate our achievements and ourselves. Kohelet reminds us that, like the fragile nature of the Sukkah itself, not everything is as much in our control as we think. V’Zerach HaShemesh U’Vah HaShemesh – the sun rises and the sun sets- no matter what we do, no matter how much control we may perceive that we have, at the end of the day, we are ultimately powerless. God is the ultimate cause of all things. The sun rises and sets because of God, not mankind. Kohelet helps us maintain our perspective. Kohelet reminds us that we are not the center of the world. Kohelet reminds us that for all the physical pleasures we seek, for the all the material comforts we work hard to afford, such things are fleeting.

            So how can such a text offer us comfort? Well if we have the perspective of Kohelet, then we can understand how an elderly person, who has seen everything: man’s goodness, man’s evil, the joy of life and the futility of life, offers us comfort.  Kohelet reminds us that there is only the Here and Now. The harvest and Thanksgiving that is associated with Sukkot reminds us that there is only the Here and Now. Next planting, pruning and harvesting is not in our control so why bother? Rather we celebrate that we arrived at Now. We acknowledge our portion and celebrate it. Yes we may be spiritually scarred beaten and bruised.. Yes we might have suffered horrible losses, perhaps devastating types of losses. Be we are here, sitting in the Sukkah, shaking a Lulav and Etrog, and that must be acknowledged and perhaps worth celebrating. Being having arrived in the Now just might be reason enough to be a certain type of Happiness.

As we finished putting up our Sukkah, I finally figured out an answer for our son. Maybe the lesson of Sukkot and the commandment to be happy, “VeSamacha b’Chagecha”, is to remind ourselves to be happy with what we have, and not focus upon what we don’t have.  No we don’t have Zeidy, but he have wonderful memories of him and the laughter that results from the sweet memories of our son’s great grandfather.

Peace,

Rav Yitz