Please Forget You Knew My Name, My Darling, Sugaree (Robert Hunter & Jerry Garcia - "Sugaree')

            According to the school calendar, winter break began earlier this week.  With my wife and son both off from school, we drove our son to his grandparents in Upstate New York. My wife and I continued our drive to New York City.  We planned to pick up one daughter who was also beginning her semester break from university and visit our other daughter. It was also an opportunity to visit my sister and my wife’s aunt. However, there were some clues that our time in New York City was going to be a bit different. ‘ My niece spent her final days of school attending “online” classes before her winter break. My sister spent her last few days of work online before her winter break. Several Broadway shows were canceled, Saturday Night Live was not live in front of a studio audience, but rather live before a skeleton stage crew. Sporting events were being canceled throughout North America.  As I walked around Manhattan, I noticed a curious sight. I kept seeing lines of people form. No, these lines were not in front of Madison Square Garden or Broadway theatres, these lines were on various street corners.  It turned out that the lines were of people waiting to get tested for Covid. Indeed, with the powerful resurgence of the Delta variant and the new arrival of the Omicron variant, the number of people becoming ill quickly grew and the number of people dying has started to increase as well. During this resurgence, the empirical evidence has been clear. Those who are fully vaccinated with a booster may contract Covid, but their illness is relatively mild with an extremely low chance of hospitalization and death. Those who are unvaccinated suffer a far worse fate with a 20%  increased chance of hospitalization or death. As I walked around New York and saw people standing in line for testing, walking into pharmacies for their vaccinations, I thought about those hundreds of thousands of people who died needlessly because they either waited too long to get vaccinated or they refused to get vaccinated. These people had names. They had families, They had friends. Their lives touched others’ lives.  Yet through ignorance, naivete, hubris, obstinancy, or procrastination, their awful choice turned each of these people into a statistic, into one number of the over 800,000 people who have died from Covid in North America.

           This week we begin the second book of the Torah; the Book of Exodus – Sefer Shmot, literally translated into “The Book of Names”. This second book begins with the Parsha Shmot. The first few verses essentially recount the ending of the Book of Genesis. Shmot re-iterates the names of Jacobs’ sons and the fact that Jacob and his sons came to Egypt. We are reminded that Jacob had already died. We are reminded that the next generation, Jacob’s sons (including Yosef) passed away. A new king assumes the mantle of power and does not know of Yosef’s great deeds. Instead, the new Pharaoh believed that this foreign population was tantamount to a fifth column. Therefore this tribe must be enslaved to prevent their uniting with Egypt’s external enemies. We read about the birth and growth of Moses, and his flight to Midian. We read about his becoming a husband, a shepherd, a father. We learn of his epiphany with the Burning Bush and God’s instructions plan to redeem B’nai Israel from slavery and Moshe’s role in the redemptive process.

          Considering, that this is a completely new Sefer, a new Book of the Torah and that the dominant theme of this new book is redemption from slavery and the national revelation at Mt. Sinai, why should the text be known as a Book of Names and why should it begin with a re-iteration of the names of Jacobs’ sons: V’Eilah Shmot  B’nai Yisroel Ha’Baim Mitzrayaima Eit Yaakov Ish U’Veito Ba’u- And these are the name of the Children of Israel who were coming to Egypt with Jacob, each man, and his household came, Reuven Shimon, Levi, Yehuda; Issachar, Zebulun, and Benjamin; Dan Naphtali; Gad and Asher. We don’t normally begin a new book with a conjunction, especially the conjunction “And”.  Instead of beginning the Parsha and the Book of Shmot with Eilah (These), the Parsha begins with V’Eilah (And these).  Based upon the Sefer Breishit's conclusion, the sons, along with Jacob, arrived in Egypt decades before (Gen. 46:8-30). Why do these opening verses repeat the concluding verses of the previous book? RaMBaN, (the great 12th-century Spanish doctor, commentator, and Halachist), and R’ Bachya (late 13th early 14th century Torah commentator), explain that the conjunction which begins the Parsha purposefully connects this new book to the previous book.  “B’nai Yisroel”, the term now used for the extended tribe owes their existence and their future existence to V’Eilah –“and these”…. these sons of Jacob, these sons who were “with Jacob” in his descent into Egypt. Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsh (19th Cent. Germany) explains that these twelve sons and their resulting twelve tribal families were intimately attached to Jacob, and this was the secret of Israel’s strength and survival in Egypt. Although each son had his own family, he remained connected and united with Jacob. Implicit to these opening verses we understand that the secret to B’nai Israel’s survival in Egypt as slaves: past, present, and future were connected through values and covenant of the name of Jacobs twelve sons, Jacob, and his father and grandfather, Isaac and Abraham. The strength of those connections, the strength of being connected to the past with an eye towards a hopeful and positive future kept B’nai Israel spiritually free despite physical hardship and bondage.

          The names explicitly mentioned, Jacob and his son’s, stood for something. Implicitly, these names stood for and symbolized a covenantal relationship with God. These names stood for inheriting a land, as well as making a great name for itself. For their descendants, the names gave them an identity, an identity that kept them spiritually free despite their physical bondage. Every one of the over 800,000 deaths due to Covid had a name, a life, and touched others' lives. Yet those who died needlessly because they refused to be vaccinated because they erroneously thought that their personal liberties were the issue, suffered from a form of enslavement.   However, there is another kind of slavery: slavery to misinformation, slavery to obstinancy, naivete, ignorance, that carries with it a very real possibility of becoming an unnecessary statistic, or another unnecessary death. Perhaps all the unavoidable deaths are the greatest tragedy of this Pandemic.  

Peace
Rav Yitz 

Loose With The Truth, Maybe Its Your Fire (Robert Hunter & Jerry Garcia - "Althea")

          With an empty house (soon to be filled with my wife and children over the next few weeks), I haven’t had to fight with anyone over the remote control, over the type of music that is played (Jazz or The Grateful Dead); or anything for that matter. Earlier this week, I noticed a book on our bookshelf that I haven’t read in about 30 years but it seemed like it would be pertinent to the times we are living in George Orwell’s 1984. So I began reading it. As I am reading a book about life in a totalitarian state where Big Brother is always watching, telling its citizens how to think, always rewriting history, always being sure to eliminate facts and thereby make truth subjective rather than objective. As I am reading the book, as I thought about “fake news”, as I study Torah, I realized how decidedly “Un-Jewish” this is. I realized that facts, truth, paying attention to what we see, what we read, and what we hear has been the key to the survival of the Jewish People. The Jewish people read the Torah. The history of the Jewish people has been to hear the words of the Torah and to listen or heed those to who teach and transmit Torah. Within that process of reading, listening and seeing all of which, by the way, are a means towards learning, comes questioning. It seems that asking questions is the basis for which reading, listening, and seeing allows us to pursue truth, to determine which are facts and which are not, and to make sense of facts.    

           This week’s Parsha is V’Etchanan. The Parshah begins with Moshe's recounting his experience of pleading to God to allow him into the Land. Moshe explained to this new generation that because of the previous generation’s whining and complaining, he lost patience and failed to adhere to God's command. Moshe explains that this is why he cannot cross into the land as well as Joshua becoming the leader. Moshe then recounts his experience and his generation's experience of revelation at Sinai. However, instead of just stating the facts, Moshe adds his own editorial comments. "For the Lord, your God is merciful, He will not abandon you or destroy you, He will not forget the covenant of your forefathers that he swore to them" (Deut. 4:31). Moshe is offering hope, suggesting that no matter what happens to this people, they must always know and believe that we always have the capacity for Teshuvah for return or repentance to God and that we will always be accepted. Moshe then begins recounting the giving of the Aseret HaDibrot, The Ten Commandments. Moshe again reminds B’nai Yisroel to never participate in Avodah Zarah (idolatry), and avoid it at all costs. He implores us to pass this information and to teach these traditions and these laws to the next generation.

Throughout this Parsha, the secrets to our survival are revealed in large broad statements as well as the use of certain words. One secret to our survival is the Aseret Dibrot -The Ten Commandments (Deut. 5:6-19). Another secret to our survival is perhaps the one theologically dogmatic statement in Torah: Shmah Yisroel Adoshem Elokeinu, Adoshem Echad – Hear O Yisroel O Lord Our God, the Lord is One. (Deut. 6:4). Certainly, the “Shmah” contributes to the secret of our survival. Moshe’s re-iteration of God’s nature also contributes to the secret of our success.  Ki Eil Kanah Adoshem Elokecha B’kirbecha Pen Yechreh Af Adoshem Elokecha   Bach V’Hismidcha Mei’al Pnei Ha’Adamah- For a jealous God is the Lord your God, among you lest the wrath of the Lord your God will flare against you and He destroys you from upon the face of the earth…(Deut 6:15-19). Certainly, these powerful explicit statements of theology, universal moral guidelines, and our fear of retribution contribute to the secret of our survival.

However, the essence of our survival is our sense of purpose and our sense of existence. This sense of purpose is based upon accepting facts, and truths and asking questions, always asking questions in order to better understand facts and truths so that we can transmit what we learned.  Our purpose is to live according to these laws. “You shall be careful to act as the Lord your God commanded you, you shall not stray to the right or left. B’chol Ha’derech Asher Tzivah Adoshem Elokeichem Etchem Teileichu L’ma’an Tishyun V’Tov Lachem V’Haractem Yamim – On the entire way that the Lord your God, commanded you shall you go, so that you shall live and it will be good for you, and you shall prolong your days…(Deut.6:29-30).  We live according to the Torah so that our lives will go well so that our lives will have more meaning so that the quality of our lives determines length. We learn that living a long life is not about the length it is about quality. Our sense of purpose is to achieve this quality. Besides “purpose” we must have a sense of our existence. Our sense of existence is our acceptance of our place. There were generations that came before us and, G-d willing, generations will follow us. Each and every generation must be empowered to question.  Ki Yishalcha Vincha Machar Leimor Mah Ha’eidot vHa’chukim v’Hamishpatim asher Tzivah Adoshem Elokeinu Etchem – If your child asks you tomorrow saying; What are the testimonies and the decrees and the ordinances that the Lord your G-d commanded you V’Amarta L’vincha Avadim Ha’yinu l’Faroh B’Mitzrayim – You shall say to your child, “We were slaves to Pharoh in Egypt…(Deut. 6:20-21). Jewish survival depends upon full disclosure even if it is troubling or doesn’t’ present the Jewish past in the most favorable light: “We were slaves in Egypt”. The Jewish people’s sense of purpose is of that of the transmitter between the older generation and the younger generation, between the past and the future. As we delve deeper into the Book of Deuteronomy we understand that our survival is dependent upon our ability to transmit this sense of purpose and sense of existence to the next generation. The ability to transmit and the ability to accept transmission is what makes us a holy nation.

Peace,

Rav Yitz

TryTo See What's Going Down Lord, Try To Read Between The Lines (Robert Hunter & Jerry Garcia - "Bertha")

On a typical weekday evening, after Mincha/Maariv (the afternoon and evening services) have been recited, and the final carpool has been driven, I usually walk in only to be inundated with every problem and issue that is plaguing my wife and our three teenagers. “This is broken”, “can you fix this”, “can you help me with my algebra”, “can you help me with chemistry”, or “can you help me study for my Talmud test”? After I perform a few minutes of triage and calm people down; we eat dinner. At that point, everyone views these few minutes of family mealtime as an opportunity to share every hurt feeling, every social slight, and “issue” that each teenager seems to be dealing with. Honestly, it seems like I am watching my wife and children’s lives as soap operas. Sometimes it can be exhausting. I try to get away from it by working out for about 45 minutes. Admittedly, they are all quite respectful of this, otherwise, they know that I won’t have the patience to help them.  For the next few hours I help with household chores, I help with essays, math problems, test, and applications. By 11pm, I am ready to sit on the sofa with a cup of tea and watch my news show and catch up with the world. Unfortunately, I encounter another soap opera of political intrigue, investigation, fragile egos, nuclear tension, and the constant venting of emotion via Twitter. I had hoped that my cup of tea, and listening to the news would have calmed me down, provided some perspective and allowed me to settle myself down for a quiet peaceful sleep.  

This morning we read from Parshah Vayeishev. The focus of the narrative now shifts from Yaakov (aka. Israel) to his most beloved son Yosef. Contextually, Yaakov is at a point in his life where he has finished his spiritual and personal struggles. He now is at a calm and settled point in his life, hence the name of the Parshah: Vayeishev – and he settled. We learn that Yaakov, like his parents, played favorites. He showered Yosef, Rachel’s son, with a beautiful Kutonet Pasim – Coat of Many Colors. Yosef was a bit arrogant. This was manifested in his dreams that portrayed his greatness and the subjugated his brothers and his parents to his power. Needless to say, no one appreciated his dreams, neither his brothers who wanted to kill him nor his father who sent Yosef back to his brothers knowing that they were angry with him (Gen. 37:10-14). Yosef is then removed from a pit, sold as a slave and worked in the home of one of Pharaoh’s courtiers. The parsha concludes with Yosef being sent to prison.

Phew! Yosef’s life sounds like a soap opera. Yosef’s life is full of ups and downs. Yosef was up as a favored son, down when he was admonished by his father. Yosef was down when he was thrown into a pit by his brother, and then he was quite literally up when he was removed from the pit.  Soon after, Yosef was quickly down when he was sold into slavery. However, he went back up again when, as a slave, he was also the manager of the courtier’s business dealings. Yosef was then literally brought down by the courtier’s wife, and then went further down when he was thrown down into the prison. Yet even in prison, he enjoyed an elevated status because of his abilities. Yosef’s life has a certain roller coaster quality to it. He is an individual who has enjoyed success and experienced failure. Frequently, we read of Yosef going up and going down, ascending and descending in terms of direction and not only his spirituality. VaYishlcheihu M’Emek Chevron V’Yavoh ShChema – So he [Yaakov] sent him [Yosef] from the depth of Hebron, and he arrived at Shechem. Hebron is in the south and Shechem is in the north, so from the perspective of direction, Yosef’s going from south to north would usually be categorized as “up”. However, the phrase Emek Chevron is very problematic. Rashi, the 11^th century French commentator, explains that V’Eilah Chevron B’Har, “VYaalu B’Negev Ad Chevron (BeMidbar 13:22) – Hebron is situated on a mountain as it says in Numbers 13:22 ‘they ascended in the south up to Hebron’. Clearly, the language appears confusing. Clearly, the text is geographically challenged. Maybe those two simple words, Emek Hebron, and those contradictory concepts Emek Hebron are supposed to teach us something about the nature of Yosef’s life and our lives.

            Maybe it is too much for me to wish my children’s lives to be quiet and boring. While “quiet” and “boring” suggests calm and even peacefulness; the reality is that human beings are far too complex to have “quiet and boring”. We engage in relationships, we are social beings, and we are spiritual beings. We think and we feel. Life will always have its ups and downs. We don’t even need to look for the ups and downs; it will find us. Of course, this begs the question why leaders go out of their way to “make news”; to do behave and lead as if life was a soap opera or a reality TV Show. As a parent, it is exhausting when a child’s life has the ups and downs of a soap opera. As a citizen, it is exhausting to constantly read about soap opera leadership while there are serious news stories and serious issues that need to be dealt with. Yosef, a spoiled son, a dreamer, a leader and an incredibly talented young man, demonstrates that sometimes a perceived down might really be an up and a perceived up might really be a down. It seems that the key is how we look at the ups and downs and how we handle those ups and downs. 

Peace,

Rav Yitz

And At Last It's The Real Thing Or Close Enough To Pretend (John Barlow & Bob Weir - "Saint of Circumstance")

As we have watched the James Comey, the former Director of the FBI, testify before a Senate hearing, and then watched Attorney General Jeff Sessions testify before the same Senate hearing, we have been hearing more and more about Fake News. Yes, Fake News, it is just another thing to make me roll my eyes and teach my children critical reading and reasoning skills to recognize fake news, ignore fake news and prevent it from skewing attitudes. Now I have to remind my children that it’s not enough to listen, they must always be mindful of the source, who broadcast it, where did they get the information? When their friends repeat something far-fetched or ridiculous because they heard it or their parents heard it on some right wing or left wing news show; my kids have to learn to ignore their friends.  My kids will now have learn how to determine if a story true or is a very small percentage of it true and the rest merely an extrapolation based upon assumption and conjecture? Whose bias is satisfied, whose agenda is expressed by such a story? Fake news only works if people listen to it and think of as news as opposed to the trash that it really is.

This Shabbat we read from Parsha Shlach Lecha. Parsha Shlach Lecha includes the troubling narrative of the 12 spies and the ensuing report of Eretz Canaan made to Moshe and B’nai Yisroel. Until this point, the plan was that B’nai Yisroel was to head towards Eretz Canaan. Certainly, God and even Moshe had grown steadily angry at B’nai Yisroel as their complaints from the previous parsha, B’haalotcha, began to sound like a lack of faith. Despite the complaints, God had not yet prohibited this generation from entering into the Land. However following the negative report from ten of the twelve spies, the people follow the majority opinion, and God and Moshe realize that this generation is not yet ready to enter the land. This was the reason why B’nai Yisroel would now have to wait nearly 4 decades prior to entering Eretz Canaan. Yet towards the end of the Parsha, Torah makes it very clear, that despite this generation’s lack of faith, returning to the land is inevitable and a covenant that will be fulfilled. KI Tavo’u El Eretz Moshvoteichem Asher Ani Notein Lachem –God spoke to Moshe saying: Speak to the Children of Israel and say to them: When you will come to the Land of your dwelling places that I give you…. (Num. 15:2). Even at that point while punishment was meted out, the punishment did not remove hope, it did not remove inevitability, nor did it mitigate the covenant that God had made with Avraham, Yitzchak Yaakov or Moshe Rabeinu at Sinai. Rather this punishment delayed the inevitable and waited for another generation that was worthy enough to inherit the covenant.

After the ten gave their report, Caleb one of the two with a positive report (Joshua being the other) simply stated his opinion. Caleb did not disagree with the majority report that it is a land flowing with Milk and Honey, and the cities are fortified etc. Rather Caleb first silenced the other spies: VayHas Caliev et Ha’Am El Moshe Vayomer – Caleb hushed the people toward Moshe and said Aloh Na’Aleh V’Yarashnu Otah Ki Yachol Nuchal Lah – We shall surely ascend and conquer it, for we can surely do it (Num. 13:30). How did Caleb silence them? What does it mean that he silenced them towards Moshe? What possessed Caleb to be so optimistic and not the other ten spies? Beginning with Caleb’s faith in God while the others’ faith wavered; Caleb also had a deep respect for the current institutions of leadership and a profound faith in Moshe’s leadership. Rashi, the 11^th century French vintner, Rabbi, and commentator, offers his insight:  His belief in the inevitable was a result of his experience at Sinai. The spies were already biased against Moses Lishmoah Ma ShYidabeir B’Moshe Tzavach v’Amar, V’chi Zo Vilvad Asa Lanu Ben Amram –To listen to what he (Caleb) would say against Moses, and Caleb cried out and said, Is it this alone that the son of Amram has done to us. HaShomeiyah Haya Savur Sh’ba L’Sapeir Bignuto The one who heard this was under the impression that Caleb was about to speak in disparagement of Moses. For Rashi, the issue is not the ten spies’ negative report per se. Rather it is the fact that people listened to it rather than dismissed it. The people wanted to believe the spies, they were ripe for a negative report because their faith was already wavering. The report merely justified their perception and lack of faith. For Rashi, the people the people already had were predisposed to the spies’ negative report. So the spies pandered to the people.

We all struggle with our faith.  And while we intellectually understand the importance of maintaining an optimistic attitude in life, sometimes we can only see hardship difficulty and impossibility. Because of our own bias, and perhaps our desire for simplicity and simple answers, we can easily become susceptible to fake news, to misinformation, to a bad report that, on the surface is completely logical. However upon further examination, upon further thought we might learn something else. Fake news, or a negative report such as what the ten spies offered, teaches us that, ultimately, the choice to listen and accept fake news or the spies’ negative report is up to the listener. If the listener’s faith in social institutions, authority, society, is already diminished then that listener is vulnerable and the prime target of and consumer of fake news. For Caleb, for Joshua and ultimately for the generation that was born in the wilderness, the Generation that didn’t know slavery, they were immune to this fake news.

Peace,

Rav Yitz