Lord, Try To Read Between The Lines; I Had A Feeling I Was Falling, Falling, Falling Lord, I turned Round To See (Robert Hunter & Jerry Garcia -"Bertha")

           It has been quite an emotional week. This week is my grandfather’s 6th yahrzeit. Six years later, there is rarely a day that I don’t think about him. Three years ago, this week was our son’s bar mitzvah which we celebrated in Israel. Also, three years ago, on the day our son read Torah at the Kotel, Nazis marched in Charlottesville, Virginia. This week, my Rebbe passed away after a long illness. Unable to travel to the States, I had to watch as the service was streamed. Our family attended a Zoom memorial service for a great uncle, my late grandfather’s brother in law (his children and I were very close). We also celebrated with our friends who celebrated their son’s wedding in Israel. We also celebrated our son’s 16th birthday this week. Amid the emotional whipsaw of these moments of joy and sorrow, I have cherished quiet moments of watching the ball game with my son, or a movie with my daughters.

          This week's Parsha is Re'eh. Moshe continues his discourse. He has already explained the Mitzvot, and he continues to do that. Moshe has alluded to the blessings of life if B'nai Yisroel follows God's commandments. He has and continues to allude to the curses that will befall B'nai Yisroel if they violate the most important commandment-idolatry. "See I present before you today a blessing and a curse" (Deut.11:26). V'haklalah Im Lo Tishm'u el Mitzvot Adonai Eloheichem V'sartem Min Ha'Derech Asher Anochi M'taveh Etchem Ha'yom La'lechet Acharei Elohim Acheirim Asher Lo Y'Datem-"And the curse: if you do not hearken to the commandments of the Lord your God, and you stray from the path that I command you today, to follow gods of others, that you did know." (Deut. 11:28) Moshe presents B'nai Yisroel with two pictures, a world when B'nai Yisroel lives up to it covenant with God and one in which they don't.  He reminds B'nai Yisroel of the sanctity of Eretz Yisroel (the Land of Israel), the consumption of foods that are consecrated to the Kohanim and he warns B'nai Yisroel to avoid imitating the Rituals and Rites of the Egyptians and the Canaanites. Moshe reminds B'nai Yisroel to be careful of false prophets, avoiding non-kosher foods, not living in wayward cities, forgiving loans after seven years, caring for the less fortunate, and celebrating the three pilgrimage festivals of Pesach, Shavuot, and Sukkot.

          The Torah tells us: Ki Im El HaMakom Asher Yivchar Adoshem Eloheichem miKol Shivteichem LaSum et Shmo Sham L’Shichno Tidreshu Uvata SHama – Rather, only at the place that Hashem, your God, will choose from among all your tribes to place His Name shall you seek out his Presence, his dwelling, and come there. Certainly, this is reminiscent of the Kadosh Baruch Hu, at the time of the Akeida, telling Avraham that he will show him where to go with his son Yitzchak. Its reminiscent of Avraham as much younger man, leaving his home and going to a place that God would show him., Certainly we could understand Moshe’s words as a  reminder for B’nai Yisroel that “sanctity”. Holiness, Kedusha is central to  Israel, Torah, and Jewish identity. The Sfas Emet (The Gerrer Rebbe from about 1870-1905) reminds us that HaShem’s choice is not revealed until B’nai Yisroel “seeks”.  We only find answers when we seek, when we look, when we investigate. Because we are commanded to seek Shechino, his divine aspects that dwell among us, we are tasked to seek holiness. Holiness is in Time and Space. Holiness is in our  Neshama, Holiness is in our choices, and in our words, our deeds and the way we live our lives. That is the constant choice we are commanded to make HaYom Today –  a choice that we make each and every day and each and every moment.  

          Indeed, the week has been full of all kinds of emotional swings. Yet it dawned on me that precisely during those moments of joy, sorrow, anguish, and gratitude; “seeking” God is most possible. When we are spiritually sedentary, when we are spiritually lazy, we probably lack the spiritual insight of “sight”  of being able to sense or see God. Yet, when we experience the full range of human experience and emotion, we begin to ask questions. Some ask “why”, although I rarely suggest we ask that question. Rather we ought to ask “How”. How do I make this moment, this moment of anguish, or joy, meaningful? How do I make this moment of sorrow or joy holy? When we ask those questions, and we adapt rituals that express meaning in those moments, we embody the words of the Sfat Emet and seek God. In doing so, we make the week full of anguish, and joy, meaningful and sacred.

Peace,

Rav Yitz

Man Oh Man Oh Friend Of Mine; All Good Things In All Good Time (Robert Hunter & Jerry Garcia - "Run For The Roses")

     It was an incredibly busy week for our family. I picked up our 15-year-old and 17-year-old daughter from summer camp. Upon our return, laundry was brought in, and then my wife and three teenage children had our first and last family dinner. The next morning, we dropped off the two teenagers, who had just returned from camp, at their grandparents home in Upstate New York. After about a 30 minutes visit, my wife, our 19-year-old daughter and I got back into the minivan and drove to New York City. By 9 P.M., we dropped our daughter’s bags off at her dorm room. After a nice dinner and a nights sleep; we returned to her dorm, stood in line for her key and then mom and daughter got our daughter settled into her dorm room and began her week of orientation before she starts classes at University. As Mom was helping our daughter get settled, I drove back to pick up our two kids who had spent 36 hours with their grandparents. Mom flew back from New York and while we drove back home. The next morning, the two high school age kids went to the oral surgeon and had their wisdom teeth removed. After everything was finished, and the oral surgeon told me about the post-op care, she commented about the fact that we had brought two kids in on the same day to remove wisdom teeth. She thought that it was very smart to do because it was time for both of them to have the teeth removed, and everything happens in its due time. So why wait?

     This week’s Parsha is Eikev. Here, in his second discourse, Moshe explains to the new generation how the second set of tablets that contain the Aseret Dibrot came into being. He explains how God forgave the parents of their idolatrous behavior in regards to the Eigel Zahav (Golden Calf), and all B’nai Yisroel must do essentially refrain from Idolatry, serve God, worship God, and the nation will be rewarded with water, grass and quality lives. Moshe also reminds B’nai Yisroel that they have nothing to fear when they enter into Canaan and conquer the land even if they are outnumbered. God already demonstrated that he will protect his people. He did so during the Yetziat Mitzrayim (Exodus), and he did so over the past 40 years in the wilderness. As long as B’nai Yisroel keeps its side of the B’rit, God will continue to protect his people. V’Haya Im Tishma’u El Mitzvotai Asher Anochi M’tzaveh Etchem Hayom L’Ahavah Et Adonai Eloheichem Ul’Avdo B’Chol Levavchem Uv’chol Nafshachem. V’Natati M’tar Artzechem B’Ito Yoreh Umalkosh V’Asaftah D’Ganecha V'Tiroshcha v’Yitzharecha – It will be that if you hearken to My commandments that I command you today to love Hashem your God and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul, then I shall provide rain for your Land in its proper time, the early and the late rains, that you may gather in your grain, your wine, and your oil. V’Natati Esev B’Sadcha Livhemtecha V’Achalta V’Savata – I shall provide grass in your field for your cattle and you will eat and be satisfied (Deut 11:15). Among the rewards is grass for our cattle and we will eat and be satisfied. In this second paragraph of the Shema, we are told that there is a reward for our obeying God’s commandment.

     The reward for obedience is so simple and perhaps so uninspired. The reward for obedience is rain in its due time. V’Natati M’tar Artzechem B’Ito- then I shall provide rain for your Land in its proper time (Deut. 11:14). Rashi, the great 11th-century French commentator, explains that “in its proper time” means that the rain will come at night so as not to cause inconvenience. Alternatively, Rashi explains that “in its proper time” means late Friday night when everyone is in their homes. For farmers, that is truly a relief. For those of us who are not farmers, the reward as simple as it is explicitly stated; it is incredibly profound. Rain in its due time means that there is order, that life and nature will progress in an orderly and natural manner. Things will happen in due course and our job is to respond and behave appropriately.

     Moses reminds the people that life happens in due course, That our reward for observance is the reassurance that the life So as our 17-year-old daughter and 15-year-old son lay on the sofa recovering, as we change their gauze, and feed them ice cream, I am reminded of the oral surgeon’s comments. Everything happens in its due time. Children grow up, they go off to college (university), they get their wisdom teeth out, they graduate, they make a life for themselves. For some reason, as I watch my kids sitting quietly, eating some ice cream, amid the incredibly busy week, the nearly 1000 miles that were driven in three days, I have found great comfort that life’s reward seems to be that life happens in its due course.

Peace,
Rav Yitz

Am I The Driver Or The Driven (Gerrit Graham & Bob Weir - "Victim Or The Crime")

Our household experienced another “rite of passage” that will contribute to my graying hair. Our 17-year-old daughter took her the road test for her in order to get her driver’s license. In Canadian speak, she took her driving test for her G2 license. Over the past several months, she was one of those kids in a driving instructor’s car that we see all over Toronto. If anyone was ever stuck behind her, waiting for her to turn left at a traffic light, or waiting for her to merge, please forgive us. When she wasn’t taking her driving lessons, she was constantly asking me to drive, to practice various maneuvers including three-point turns, parallel parking and backing into a parking spot. Over the past several weeks, the frequency of her desire to practice has grown. Over the past several weeks, we have practiced parallel parking, backing up into a parking spot, and driving all around Thornhill. As I spent time with her and discussed how to respond in various situations; she began to appreciate the importance of being a responsible driver safe driver.  

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 learned how to behave towards God in a holy manner. We have been taught how to treat a 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 and 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.

Torah is teaching us a valuable lesson about life. Life is sacred. The relationships that we make can and should be sacred, not only with our husbands and wives and our children but with God as well. Self-improvement and trying to get the most out of our abilities is directly proportional to how casual and cavalier we are. Success, as Malcolm Gladwell writes in his book Outliers, depends upon putting in tremendous amounts of time, effort and energy to doing something better than the previous time. For our covenant with God, we need to put in the effort and energy to study and learn. For my daughter, she understands that even though she passed her G2, she understands that she still needs to put in the work, obtain experience, and do so responsibly in order for us to be comfortable with her driving and also for her to be comfortable with herself.

Peace,

Rav Yitz

Recall The Days That Still Are To Come (Robert Hunter & Jerry Garcia- "Crazy Fingers")

Recently we attended a family function with aunts, uncles, great-aunts, great- uncles, cousins and grandparents. It always amazes me to watch my children with this extended family.  My three children could be talking to the same great aunt, or cousin or grandparent. Inevitably, each of my children will connect to that relative in a different manner, walk away with a different experience, and have a different opinion. Each child has the same parents, grows up in the same house, lives by the same rules, and has the same “relative status” as the other children Vis a Vis the great aunt, or the grandparent. However each child is fundamentally different and each relative relates to each of my child in a different manner. Certainly, each child has his/her own personality as does the other relative. The result is that each child will develop their own relationship with their grandparents, their aunts, their uncles, and their great aunts and great uncles.

This Shabbat we read from Parsha Bechukotai, the last Parsha in Sefer VaYikra, the Book of Leviticus.  We are told of the reward that awaits us for following God’s Torah. We are told of the punishment if we treat God’ Torah B’Keri – in a cavalier sort of manner or if we are stubborn and fail to observe. These Tochachot, these punishments are laid out in a sets of seven. That is to say, the first series of punishments are meted out. We are given the opportunity to change our behavior. If we fail to do so, then the second set of Tochachot are meted out and so on and so forth.  After the seventh series of punishments are meted out, we are told that God will ultimately remember the covenant made with our ancestors thereby re-assuring us that the despite these horrible punishments, there will still be a covenant. The Torah provides instructions in case B’nai Yisroel wants to make voluntary offerings and how to value those offerings. Instructions for redeeming firstborn animals, houses, are also presented prior to the conclusion of the Parsha and Sefer VaYikra, the Book of Leviticus.

After the listing of the Tochachot, the punishments, the linguistic patter of the Torah becomes rather strange. Normally God’s covenant made with the three Patriachs is Avraham Yitzchak V’ Yaakov. They start with the father, then the son and then the grandson. The three are usually lumped together as a type of triad.  However after the punishments are described,  we read: V”Zacharti et Briti Yaakov, V’Af et Briti Yitzchak, V’ Af et Briti Avraham Ezkor V’Ha’Aretz Ezkor – I will remember My covenant with Jacob, and also My covenant with Yitzchak, and also My covenant with Avraham will I remember, and I will remember the land ( 24:42). When reading these words, they sound out of order. Indeed they are out of order. When we think of the Avot, the Patriarchs, we think of them beginning with Avraham. We also think of them as a list of one unit, Elohei Avrham, Elohei Yitzchak’ V’Elohei Yaakov. There is no “Et” in between which would grammatically make each single patriarch an individual item in a list as opposed to single grouping. Why does the Torah do this now? Keeping in mind that this verse appears immediately after the extremely harsh punishment that was to be meted out if B’nai Yisroel fails to observe God’s statutes and laws; according to the Or HaChayim two issues are involved. First, the confession of guilt helps reduce the severity of the afflictions to which B’nai Yisroel was subjected. Second, God invokes each Patriarch as an individual and not as a group, in order to restore B’nai Yisroel to its former status. So first God would invoke his covenant with Yaakov, if the behavior was deemed beyond the merit of Yaakov, then God invokes his covenant with Yitzchak. If that doesn’t work then God invokes the merit of Avraham.

While the covenant with each Patriarch was essentially the same, each Patriarch had his own relationship with God. The covenant meant something slightly different to each Patriarch. Each Patriarch embodied a certain Midah, a certain characteristic that made him worthy of the Covenant. Ultimately B’nai Yisroel should also embody all the Midot of the patriarch in order to make us worthy. However even if we embody one of these qualities, one of these Sacred qualities embodied by our Patriarchs; we too become worthy of the relationship and the covenant. However we will only connect to God in our own way, and in a way that is sacred and meaningful to both God and ourselves. That unique connection makes it possible for us to avoid behaving in a manner that is Keri- cavalier with God’s commandments. The same lesson holds true with our children. We related to them as individuals and each one of them relates differently to me and mom. They relate differently to each relative so that way each relationship is unique and has its own merits and strengths.

Peace,

Rav Yitz

I Get No Satisfaction, That's Why I Sing The Blues (Bob Weir - "One More Saturday Night")

Our eldest daughter has now started her new life. Now a college graduate, she has beaten the odds and actually found a job in her major: Political Science. She has moved out west to work on the Presidential campaign. While we are all excited for her; the conversations leading up to her first day of work had very little to do with working on a presidential campaign.  In fact she seem to call me only when she needed something from me: Money, a credit card, her anxiety about starting a new phase of life, a car. So I gave her some money, I have put off the issue of a credit card for a while,  I laughed at her anxiety reminded her that she is lucky to be employed and then reminded her that this is what she wanted to be doing, “What could possibly be the problem?” Then I explained how to buy a car. Thinking for a moment that I had been a wise and good father, I receive another phone call from my daughter. It turns out that I am no co-signing for her car loan.  A couple of days later she called. Before she could speak, I told her that she cannot call me anymore if she is only going to ask me for things. It seemed that with every phone call, she indicated another degree of frustration, aggravation or dissatisfaction with her life circumstances.  I am thinking what I wouldn’t give to be 22, right out of college working and having minimal expenses and only being responsible for myself! How dissatisfying could one possibly be?

This week’s Parsha is Eikev. Here in his second discourse, Moshe reminds B'nai Yisroel of the reward for fulfilling the commandment, their parents’ experience of the Exodus from Egypt, the miracle, the Eigel Zahav (the Golden Calf) as well as the trials and tribulations of the life in the wilderness. Moshe also reminds B’nai Yisroel that they have nothing to fear when they enter into Canaan and conquer the land even though they maybe outnumbered, because God has already demonstrated that he will protect his people. He did so during the Yetziat Mitzrayim (Exodus), and as long as B’nai Yisroel keeps its side of the B’rit, God will continue to protect his people and they will remain in the Eretz Canaan

Particularly noteworthy in the parsha is what is known as the second Paragraph of the Shema. This Paragraph contain 7 verses and essentially outlines the reward for Bnai Yisroel’s observance of God’s commandments. Just exactly what is the reward for Bnai Yisroel’s undying loyalty to Hashem and the observance of the commandment? While I am sure many expected something really large and quite awesome; the reward seems rather small and simple. Yet the reward is also quite profound. V’Haya Im Tishma’u El Mitzvotai Asher Anochi M’tzaveh Etchem Hayom L’Ahavah Et Adonai Eloheichem Ul’Avdo B’Chol Levavchem Uv’chol Nafshachem. V’Natati M’tar Artzechem B’Ito Yoreh Umalkosh V’Asaftah D’Ganecha V'Tiroshcha v’Yitzharecha – It will be that if you hearken to My commandments that I command you today to love Hashem your God and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul, then I shall provide rain for your Land in its proper time, the early and the late rains, that you may gather in your grain, your wine and your oil.  V’Natati Esev B’Sadcha Livhemtecha V’Achalta V’Savata – I shall provide grass in your field for your cattle and you will eat and be satisfied (Deut 11:15). Among the rewards is grass in our fields for our cattle and we will eat and be satisfied. It certainly doesn’t very glamorous. Yet it does speak to the human condition.  Rashi explains the reward as follows: When you are very prosperous, you must be very careful not to rebel against God, because man rejects God only when he is sated.”

I spoke to my daughter earlier this week. I said it would be nice to hear from her and not have her need something from me nor express some degree of dissatisfaction with something. She actually understood and proceeded to tell me that now that she has a car, now that she has started working, now that she has collected her first paycheck, she feel like a person. For now she actually used the word “satisfied”.  I wish I could say that I was satisfied. Now I just have another thing to keep me awake at night. Now I need to worry about my daughter having a car at her disposal driving all around the state of Colorado. Even worse, because of the two hour time difference, I won’t know if she arrived home safely by the time I go to sleep at night. I guess I won’t be very satisfied with the quality of my sleep until the campaign is finished.

Peace,

Rav Yitz.