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

I'll Still Sing You Love Songs, Written In The Letters Of Your Name (John Barlow & Bob Weir- "Looks Like Rain")

The bad thing about teen-age daughters is that they are teen-agers. The good thing about teen-age daughters is that eventually they will no long be teen-agers. In the meantime, I remind myself that “it’s a phase” or “patience this will end someday.” While our teen- age daughters are not quite “boy crazy”, they do have their pop culture teen heart throbs, such as One Direction, Nick Jonas, and Zac Efron. Of course, I recognize that this is merely the first step towards increased angst and aggravation about dealing with boys. In the meantime when they appear on tv or are heard on the radio, why must they scream or begin talking so loudly, quickly and excitedly.  I also keep reminding myself that although our teenagers are loud and dramatic about the “heart throb” thing; the real focus and concern should be upon our 25 year old. After all, she could actually meet someone, fall in love and get married. Until now I had very little anxiety about her and boys, and relationships. There are, not too many choices in Des Moines or Salt Lake City for a young woman who one day would like to have a Jewish home.  Now that she has moved to Philadelphia, a place with lots of Jewish graduate students, a sizeable Jewish population and only a 90 minute train ride from New York City, well let’s just say we perfectly happy with her dedication and focus upon her career in politics.

This Shabbat is the last day of Pesach. Among the additions to the Shabbat/Pesach service is the fact that we say Yizkor and commemorate the deceased. Because we are celebrating a Festival that did not have an intermediate Shabbat, but rather the last days fall on a Shabbat; we read a Megillah - a Scroll that corresponds to Pesach.  ChaZaL – our sages teach us that we read Shir HaShirim, the Song of Songs. This biblical text, taken from Ketuvim (Writings) is attributed to Shlomo HaMelech – King Solomon.  The eight chapters, which are song in a melody different from both Torah and Haftarah speaks of the young romantic love between a young couple.  I imagine that this young couple is in their early twenties but there is no evidence that suggests a specific age. One thing is for sure, because the text begins with the words: Shir HaShirim Asher L’Shlomo – The Song of Songs by Solomon. ChaZaL explains that only a young man in throes of romantic love would write such poetry. A middle age man wouldn’t write such romantic poetry since some of the idealism  of that romantic love would have waned, and certainly a older man, towards the end of life wouldn’t write of romantic love since an older man would be more scarred by life’s experience. Nevertheless, this beautiful poetry and the illusions of green meadows, deer, trees and fruit, portray a romantic vision that would great poets such as Shakespeare and Keats jealous with its use of language.

The question is why we read Shir HaShirim during the Pesach Festival. How is a nation attaining liberty remotely connected to Romantic poetry?  R’Akiva, the same R’Akiva that we all read about in the Haggada at our respective sedarim, comments that the Song of Songs is the holy of holies (Midrash Tanchuma).  We understand that something becomes holy when it has been separated from the mundane and ordinary and elevated to a higher purpose.  Certainly, Bnai Yisroel fits such a description. Throughout the story of the Yetziat Mitzrayim, when Moshe request of Pharaoh that Bnai Yisroel be released from bondage, Moshe repeatedly says to ‘Let me people go… Asher Ya’Avduni  “So that they may serve me.” Clearly the purpose of being released from Pharaoh’s slavery enabled Bnai Yisroel to enter into a relationship with God. As long as Pharaoh declined Moshe’s request, the more Pharaoh prevented Bnai Yisroel from separating itself from Egypt and elevating itself for the sole purpose of entering into a sacred relationship with God. Now that Bnai Yisroel has been freed from Egypt, it can return to the sacred relationship with God, a relationship that it had not experienced for over two centuries.  From that perspective, the relationship, with this generation of Bnai Yisroel is novel, idealistic and romantic. After all, within our tradition we view Hashem as our protector, we view Hashem as bound to the Jewish people much like a husband is bound to a wife. On Friday nights, we have a Kabalistic tradition of viewing the Shabbat Queen as our spiritual mate. After all, Sunday has Monday, Tuesday has Wednesday and Thursday has Friday. Can Shabbat really be left alone? According to Midrash, Shabbat is paired off with the Jewish People.  (Breishit Rabbah 11:8)The Shabbat Bride serves as a symbol of that pairing off.

As Pesach draws to a close,  our story doesn’t end, nor does our relationship with God draw to a conclusion. Because we are counting the Omer each evening up until 50, we understand that our job is to prepare ourselves for our long, awaited re-union with Hashem.  That re-union will occur on Shavuot when we stand at Sinai to receive the Torah. Shir HaShirim merely marks the beginning of a loving relationship, a courtship prior to a marriage,  a time when we should be full of romantic visions prior to entering a relationship built upon obligations.  As a father of three daughters, someday all three will grow into relationships that culminate in the sanctity of marriage. For now, however, I have enough anxiety just dealing with the inevitability of their interest in boys!

Peace,

Rav Yitz