And There's Nothing Left To Do But Count The Years (Robert Hunter & Jerry Garcia - "Black Muddy River"

  This past Mother’s Day seemed bittersweet. When our four children were younger, they would wake up early and help me make coffee and breakfast for mommy. Carrying breakfast, cards, and presents, we would walk into mommy’s bedroom, wake her up,  serve her breakfast in bed, and give her Mother’s Day cards and gifts. Well, we are down to one child in the house, our grade 12 son who turns 18 in August and will be studying in Israel for the 2022/23 academic year. So this past Mother’s Day, our son brought in a hard drive and showed mommy, family “movies” of when he and his sibling were much younger. Instead of breakfast in bed, at mommy’s request, we went out for breakfast. As we sat outside in the Toronto spring sunshine and my wife looked at our son and commented that this was the last Mother’s Day with any of her children home to share the day. She verbalize what we both have known the day we became parents. Our kids grow up and then eventually leave home. Instead of viewing that as an accomplishment, that we raised four kids who have turned out to be pretty decent young adults, she lamented that she felt old. I am five years older than my wife, so I chuckled and reminded her that she neither looked old and suggested that instead of looking at our respective ages through the lens of “old” or “young”, we look at our age in terms of quality, what we have achieved in terms of raising our children. If we do that, then our jobs as parents have not concluded but rather entered a new stage and a different type of parent/child relationship. 

           This Shabbat we read from Parsha Emor. In the four chapters that comprise Emor, the first deals with the Kohanim and their very different way of striving for holiness as compared to the rest of the B’nei Israel. For example, because of the Kohen’s function within society, he must remain in a perpetual state of purity. He is restricted in terms of who he can marry. He is restricted in terms of whom he mourns. He cannot go to a cemetery. He cannot make sacrificial offerings if he has physical abnormalities. The second chapter reminds B’nai Israel that all animal offerings must be blemish-free. These offerings must come directly from the individual making them and not from “the hand of a stranger” (Lev. 22:25). Both chapters deal with the holiness of certain people, the Kohen and his family, and certain animals, those designated for sacrificial offerings. The third chapter of the Parsha deals with the designation of Holiness in regards to seasons and the calendar including Pesach, Shavuot, Sukkot, Rosh Hashanah, and Yom Kippur. Then the fourth chapter offers a narrative in which the son of an Israelite woman and an Egyptian man gets into a fight with another Israelite. During the fight, the son pronounces the forbidden name of God and is charged with blasphemy.

          Since the second night of Pesach, the Jewish people have been counting the Omer. The commandment to bring the Omer and count the days in which the Omer is brought occurs in Lev.23:9-16. The first five of the seven total verses explain what an Omer is, how it is prepared, and how the offering is made. The final two verses, 23:15-16 actually discuss the Mitzvah of counting the Omer.  וּסְפַרְתֶּ֤ם לָכֶם֙ מִמָּחֳרַ֣ת הַשַּׁבָּ֔ת מִיּוֹם֙ הֲבִ֣יאֲכֶ֔ם אֶת־עֹ֖מֶר הַתְּנוּפָ֑ה שֶׁ֥בַע שַׁבָּת֖וֹת תְּמִימֹ֥ת  תִּהְיֶֽינָה׃ And from the day on which you bring the sheaf of elevation offering—the day after the sabbath—you shall count off seven weeks.עַ֣ד מִֽמָּחֳרַ֤ת הַשַּׁבָּת֙ הַשְּׁבִיעִ֔ת תִּסְפְּר֖וּ חֲמִשִּׁ֣ים י֑וֹם וְהִקְרַבְתֶּ֛ם מִנְחָ֥ה חֲדָשָׁ֖ה לַיהוָֽה׃ you must count until the day after the seventh week—fifty days; then you shall bring an offering of new grain to the LORD.  The counting occurs in terms of days, fifty days “from the day in which you bring the sheaf offering”. That counting is represented by an absolute number: “Today is 3 days”, “Today is 12 days”, or  “Today is 30 days”. We also count in terms of weeks, “you shall count off seven weeks” reflected in “2 weeks and 3 days” or “4 weeks and 2 days”.  The first counting method reflects a number reflecting the number of days. However, the second method suggests that the number of days appears within the context of a week. 

          Sefirat HaOmer (Counting The Omer) focuses on two aspects of counting. First, we are always interested in numbers, in data, in the idea of the linear.  There is a starting point and there is an endpoint. , We began counting four weeks ago and we will conclude in approximately three weeks hence. We count in terms of days as well as weeks. In doing so, we acknowledge that the result of counting is twofold. First, we are reminded that counting yields a piece of data, a number. Second, we are reminded that the data, the number indicates how far we have come and how far we still have to go. From that perspective, we can evaluate how far we have come how far we have to go, and the quality of the journey. As my wife and I both realize that this was the last Mother’s day with any of our children living with us, we both understood how far we have come. We can only hope that Mother’s Day in the future, while different, will still remain meaningful and purposeful just like those Mother’s Days when our kids would help me make breakfast, and serve mommy breakfast in bed.

Peace,
Rav Yitz

Let's See With Our Heart These Things Our Eyes Have Seen (Robert Hunter & Jerry Garcia - "Blues For Allah")

           Our youngest daughter will turn 19 this Shabbat. On this particular year, her secular birthday and her Hebrew birthday fall on the same day. However, this year, because she is in Israel,  we won’t be able to celebrate her birthday with her.  However, I am willing to bet that we will miss celebrating her birthday with her more than she will miss celebrating her birthday with her parents. Of our four children, she is the most blonde, the most artistic, and appreciates the creative process that art embodies. Her Jerusalem apartment is adorned with her paintings. When we packed her year in Israel, she insisted on bringing paint, brushes and small canvases. She finds the creative process of painting cathartic and soothing.  She is the daughter who could spend hours looking at fashion and home design magazines, appreciating the colors, lines, and shapes. Certainly, she has an affinity for the physical realm. Ironically, she is not at all superficial nor is she mesmerized and awed by physical beauty and “perfection”. On the contrary, her eye is drawn to that which is interesting:  the juxtaposition of color, shade, light, lines, and shapes.  When her two older sisters and younger brother comment that my white beard makes me look much older; our 19-year-old notices my white beard in the context of the wrinkles around my eyes when smiling or squinting. She is the daughter that sees the wrinkles and the “youthfulness” in my eyes and comments on that juxtaposition. Because of her artistic eye, she is able to find beauty everywhere. Interestingly enough, my grandmother for whom our daughter is named also had a similar “artistic” eye.

          This Shabbat we read from Parshat Emor. The four chapters that comprise Parsha Emor focus on the various aspects of Perfection. First, the Torah focuses upon the importance of the spiritual perfection and purity of the Kohen. He must remain in a perpetual state of purity. He is restricted in terms of whom he can marry. He is restricted for whom he can mourn. He cannot go to a cemetery. He cannot make sacrificial offerings if he has physical abnormalities. The second of the four chapters reminds B’nai Yisroel that when approaching God with an offering, the individual must be spiritually pure and perfect and so must the offering. These offerings must come directly from the individual making them and not from “the hand of a stranger” (Lev.22:25). The third chapter of the Parsha deals with the perfection and the purity of time. Time is perfect; each season follows another in order, the holidays such as Shabbat, Pesach, Shavuot, Sukkot, Rosh Hashanah, and Yom Kippur are designated to come in a particular order. That order is both pure and perfect since time and the designation of “Sacred” time comes from God. The fourth chapter speaks about maintaining purity and the perfection of physical space in this case the Mishkan, and all that is in the Mishkan. The Torah even deals with the perfection and purity of human relationships and the punishments meted out when that perfection, purity, and holiness are violated. In a sense, this last chapter reminds us of God’s charge to B’nai Yisroel.

          The Torah places an emphasis upon the physical appearance of the Kohen as it relates to his spiritual purity and eligibility of serving as the Kohen Gadol.  The last eight verses (21:16-24) explain all the physical abnormalities that exclude the Kohen from assuming the position of Kohen Gadol. Blemishes, blindness, being lame, having any broken bones, bad skin, abnormally long eyebrows, a blemish in his eyed, are but a few of the physical attributes that make a Kohen ineligible for the position of Kohen Gadol.   How can the Torah, with its primary focus upon Mitzvot (commandments) and the importance of deeds and the Kavanah, the intentionality behind those deeds, now focus upon something as superficial as appearance? Sefer HaChinuch, a 13th-century halachic texts that lists and comments on each of the 613 commandments in the order in which they appear in the Torah,  comments: “At the root of the precept lies the reason that most actions of people are acceptable, appealing to the heart of those who see them, in accordance with the eminence of those who do them. For when a man is distinguished in his appearance and good in his actions, he will find grace and good understanding (Prov. 3:4). With all that he does in the eyes of all who observe him. Should he be, however the opposite of this- inferior in his form, or peculiar in his limbs then even if he is correct in his ways, his activities will not be so attractive to the heart…” (Emor 275). As upsetting and politically incorrect as that sounds, the comment and the Torah text infer a keen understanding of human nature. While watching the physically flawed Kohen conducting the ritual slaughtering in a perfectly correct manner; our attention would be upon a perceived flaw in appearance or perceived imperfection. As a result, our Kavanah - our intention concerning our sacrificial offering would be lacking and the sacrificial process would fail.

          We are now thousands of years removed from a Beit HaMikdash (Holy Temple), the institutions of sacrificial offerings, and a Priestly class. The Beit HaMikdash has been replaced by Synagogues, shteibles, or wherever a community gathers to pray. Sacrificial offerings have been replaced by the words and music of prayer. The community no longer relies upon the Kohanim to serve as a conduit between it and God. Rather, the person leading the community in prayer and the community itself connects to God. Over thousands of years, there has been a spiritual maturing of God’s children. While the physical characteristic of a person may have once appeared like a flaw or an imperfection to spiritually immature eyes, now those perceived flaws and perceived imperfections are sources for interest and wonderment as we recognize that we are created in God’s image. As a result of mankind’s spiritual maturation, what had once been a physical “imperfection” is now viewed as part of the panoramic display of God’s presence. So as my wife and I look at pictures of our daughter on her birthday, I think about how our daughter sees the world, sees colors, light,  lines, and shapes. May she continue maturing into a confident, thoughtful, intelligent free spirit who can still see the youthfulness in my eyes despite my white beard and wrinkles around my eyes.  May she continue to find beauty in the world.

Peace,
Rav Yitz

And There's Nothing Left To Do But Count The Years (Robert Hunter & Jerry Garcia -"Black Muddy River")

          My wife and I approach our children’s milestones differently. Normally, when our children reach a milestone, my wife will reflect not only on the child’s achieved milestone, but will explain that the milestone is also an indicator of her growing older and feeling older. I don’t need my children’s milestones for me to feel old. I feel old. However, we both agree, that when we experience our children’s milestone moments, we can’t help but reflect. So earlier this week, we celebrated our youngest daughter’s 18th birthday. We had a zoom birthday party for her. Her classmates lined up in their cars, honking and singing happy birthday. A birthday video was made by her siblings that included birthday messages from family and friends. During dinner, as we sat around the table and talked about our daughter, she pointed out that turning 18 meant that she could vote. I reminded her that she now had a responsibility to be informed and educated about both types of issues: issues that matter to her and issues that matter to other people. Then, for a moment, I waxed philosophical by reminding her that turning 18 is all well and good but what matters is the quality in which one lives or the context of those years.
          This Shabbat we read from Parsha Emor. In the four chapters that comprise Emor, the first deals with the Kohanim and their very different way of striving for holiness as compared to the rest of the B’nei Israel. For example, because of the Kohen’s function within society, he must remain in a perpetual state of purity. lHe is restricted in terms of who he can marry. He is restricted in terms of whom he mourns. He cannot go to a cemetery. He cannot make sacrificial offerings if he as physical abnormalities. The second chapter reminds B’nai Israel that all animal offerings must be blemish-free. These offerings must come directly from the individual making them and not from “the hand of a stranger” (Lev. 22:25). Both chapters deal with the holiness of certain people, the Kohen and his family, and certain animals, those designated for sacrificial offerings. The third chapter of the Parsha deals with the designation of Holiness in regards to seasons and the calendar including Pesach, Shavuot, Sukkot, Rosh Hashanah, and Yom Kippur. Then the fourth chapter offers a narrative in which the son of an Israelite woman and an Egyptian man gets into a fight with another Israelite. During the fight, the son pronounces the forbidden name of God and is charged with blasphemy.
          Since the second night of Pesach, the Jewish people have been counting the Omer. The commandment to bring the Omer and count the days in which the Omer is brought occurs in Lev.23:9-16. The first five of the seven total verses explain what an Omer is, how it is prepared, and how the offering is made. The final two verses, 23:15-16 actually discuss the Mitzvah of counting the Omer. וּסְפַרְתֶּ֤ם לָכֶם֙ מִמָּחֳרַ֣ת הַשַּׁבָּ֔ת מִיּוֹם֙ הֲבִ֣יאֲכֶ֔ם אֶת־עֹ֖מֶר הַתְּנוּפָ֑ה שֶׁ֥בַע שַׁבָּת֖וֹת תְּמִימֹ֥ת תִּהְיֶֽינָה׃ And from the day on which you bring the sheaf of elevation offering—the day after the sabbath—you shall count off seven weeks.עַ֣ד מִֽמָּחֳרַ֤ת הַשַּׁבָּת֙ הַשְּׁבִיעִ֔ת תִּסְפְּר֖וּ חֲמִשִּׁ֣ים י֑וֹם וְהִקְרַבְתֶּ֛ם מִנְחָ֥ה חֲדָשָׁ֖ה לַיהוָֽה׃ you must count until the day after the seventh week—fifty days; then you shall bring an offering of new grain to the LORD. The counting occurs in terms of days, fifty days “from the day in which you bring the sheaf offering”. That counting is represented by an absolute number: “Today is 3 days”, “Today is 12 days”, “Today is 30 days”. We also count in terms of weeks, “you shall count off seven weeks” reflected in “2 weeks and 3 days” or “4 weeks and 2 days”. The first method of counting reflects a raw number with a starting point and ultimately and ending point. However, the second method suggests that the number of days appears within the context of a week. The HaKtav VeHaKabbalah, a 19th century German Torah commentator explains that the counting is לָכֶם֙ (for you), for your benefit; that is to say an opportunity for introspection. Introspection requires context.
          Sefirat HaOmer focuses on two aspects of counting. First, we are always interested in numbers, in data, in the idea of the linear. There is a starting point and there is an endpoint. Regarding counting the Omer, we started on the second night of Pesach and we conclude on the fiftieth day. We do the same thing with a milestone birthday. Our daughter turned 18 a few days ago. Someone turns 50 or 70 or 100. The number has merit. The number in it of itself is important. Numbers tell us how many have been infected with Covid 19 and numbers tell us how many have died. However we also count in terms of context, we take stock, we reflect. We count Omer in terms of Shabbat because the context of a week, the context of our day to day lives is always measured in terms of Shabbat. All those infected had a context and a narrative. All those who died leave loved ones. All those who died lived lives within a context, a narrative. It’s not only that our daughter turned 18. Eighteen means something; she can vote. Eighteen means that my wife and I can appreciate the context of her 18 years in terms of her growth and development into a young woman who is off to Israel for her gap year. Eighteen means that she is a University student and as we reminded her, eighteen means she is a high school graduate and is now starting on a path, and that path comes with responsibilities, privileges, and expectations. There is a context to her age and she began to appreciate it after the zoom birthday party after her friends drove by and honked their car horns. She began to appreciate it when we sat together and looked at her pictures over the years and recognized the context of her life.

Peace,
Rav Yitz

Steal Your Face Right Off Your Head (Robert Hunter & Jerry Garcia- "He's Gone"

          My wife and I are very different. She gets very emotional about every milestone our children reach. Normally with the arrival at a milestone, my wife will think that our child in question has grown older which of course means that she has grown older. I don’t necessarily see our children’s’ milestones as a reflection of my aging. I’m older and I feel that way. No, I can’t believe that we at the milestone, I can’t believe that the child in question is really old enough to achieve this milestone, and I wonder if reaching the milestone will give them a sense of maturity and becoming a person. Three of our four children reached milestones this week. Our 12^th grader had to make a decision about college/university. So she will spend a year in Israel and with the intention of going university in the U.S. Our 10^th grader just turned 16 and she will be taking her G1 test (permit test in America) before the end of the May. Since we had already sent a daughter to college and we have had two daughters turn 16; I wasn’t too emotional about either milestone. However, I was happy for both daughters who reached their respective milestone. However, it was the milestone of our son, our youngest child, which I found most meaningful. Since the second night of Pesach, as is the custom associated with Sefirat Ha’Omer (The Counting of the Omer); I haven’t shaved until this week which was the 33 day of the Omer (L’AG B’Omer). So I prepared to shave. However for 13 years 8 months and 23 days, our son has never shaved. So on L’AG B’Omer, he and I bonded in a way that he could never bond with his mother. I gave him his first shaving lesson. He shaved his upper lip. I shaved my face.

This Shabbat we read from Parsha Emor. In the four chapters that comprise Emor, the first deals with the Kohanim and their very different way of striving for holiness as compared to the rest of the nation. For example, because of the Kohen’s function within society, he must remain in a perpetual state of purity. He is restricted in terms of who he can marry. He is restricted in terms of for whom he mourns. He cannot go to a cemetery. He cannot make sacrificial offerings if he has physical abnormalities. The second chapter reminds B’nai Yisroel that all animal offerings must be blemish free. These offerings must come directly from the individual making them and not from “the hand of a stranger” (Lev.22:25). Both chapters deal with the holiness of certain people, the Kohen and his family, and certain animals, those designated for sacrificial offering. The third chapter of the Parsha deals with the designation of holiness in regards to seasons and the calendar including Shabbat, Pesach, Shavuot, Sukkot, Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. The fourth chapter offers a narrative in which the son of an Israelite woman and Egyptian man, and another Israelite man get into a fight. The son pronounced the forbidden name of God and was charged with blasphemy. The Torah tells us the punishment for blasphemy is death. This is the same punishment for an individual who commits murder. 

As the Torah upon Holiness and perhaps even Perfection, we learn that striving for Holiness and striving for Perfection requires creating a distinct separation from the mundane, the ordinary, and the less than perfect. The Torah reminds the Kohen, “Lo Yikrechu Korcha B’Rosham U’Fa’at Z’Kanam Lo Y’Galeichu UVivsaram Lo Yisr’tu Saratet- They shall not make a bald spot on their heads, and they shall not shave an edge of their beard; and in their flesh, they shall not cut a gash (Lev21:5). Rashi, the great 11th-century French commentator, explains that certain tribes that lived in Biblical Canaan, as well as Ancient Egyptians, would engage in these types of behaviors while mourning the death of a loved one. Literally, the Torah reminds the Priestly class to be sure and NOT behave like other people, don’t mourn like other people, don’t worship like other people, don’t behave like these ancient tribes of idolaters. The Chatam Sofer, one of the great 19^th century Central European Rabbis, explained that the verse has a homiletical meaning as well. The Torah reminds us not to create a bald spot upon our head, we don’t create an emptiness on our head. The Chatam Sofer understands the emptiness as ignorance, a lack of learning. The head should be filled with Torah, with mitzvoth, with doing good things in the world, and making sound, thoughtful, and intelligent choices. Sometimes that requires the person to be just a bit separate, distinct and apart from those who create an emptiness in their own respective heads. We strive to fill our heads knowledge, with Torah. We avoid creating “empty spaces”, bald spot, in our heads, knowing that what our heads are filled with or not, will be expressed in our behavior, our attitudes our relationship with our loved ones and with God.

So there we stood in front of the mirror. As I looked into the mirror, for a brief moment through the steam of the hot water, and as the mirror began to fog over I saw my father standing with me all those years ago showing me to shave. I saw my grandfather telling me to grow a mustache like he has in order to avoid shaving. My son wiped the mirror clear in order to see and the images of my father much younger than I am now and the images of my grandfather healthy, vibrant, smiling at me was wiped away. As my son and I stood there, I thought about what I had learned from these two men and wondered I would transmit all that I learned from them to my son. One thing is for sure, I won’t wait until our son has to shave his upper lip for the next time to offer them the wisdom of his grandfather and great-grandfather.

Peace,

              Rav Yitz

Once In A While You Get Shown The Light In The Strangest Of Places If You Look At It Right (Robert Hunter & Jerry Garcia - "Scarlet Begonias")

Our third child, and youngest daughter, just turned 15. Of our four children, she is the blonde. She is the most artistic, and seems to appreciates the creative process that art embodies. Her school had its annual “Art Exhibit” this week, so we attended. Immediately I could pick out our daughter’s work. I could tell her work by the content, and by her use of color. She definitely has an “eye”. When she looks at something or someone, she sees color, shape, lines, mood, and character. She expresses this in her drawings as well as her photographs. The subjects of photographs are not only of family and friends, but also includes pictures of landscapes, sunsets, sunrises, and animals. She could spend hours looking at a fashion magazine and appreciate the colors, lines and the movement of material. Certainly she has an affinity for physical appearance. Ironically, she is hardly superficial nor is she mesmerized and in awe of beauty and perfection. Actually it is quite the opposite. Her eye is drawn to that which is interesting, to the juxtaposition of color, of shade, and line.   For example, while her older sister will comment that my beard, which is now essentially white, makes me look old; she notices my white beard in the context of the wrinkles around my eyes when I smile or squint. She is the daughter that sees the wrinkles  around my eyes juxtaposed  to my still “youthful” twinkle in my eyes when I smile. Because of her artistic eye, she is able to find beauty everywhere.

This Shabbat we read from Parshat Emor. The four chapters that comprise Parsha Emor focus on the various aspects of Perfection. First the Torah focuses upon the importance of the spiritual perfection and purity of the Kohen. He must remain in a perpetual state of purity. He is restricted in terms of whom he can marry. He is restricted in regards for whom he can mourn. He cannot go to a cemetery. He cannot make sacrificial offerings if he has physical abnormalities. The second of the four chapters reminds B’nai Yisroel that when approaching God with an offering, the individual must be spiritually pure and perfect and so must the offering. These offerings must come directly from the individual making them and not from “the hand of a stranger” (Lev.22:25). The third chapter of the Parsha deals with the perfection and the purity of time. Time is define as perfect in the season follow an order, the holidays such as Shabbat, Pesach, Shavuot, Sukkot, Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur are designated to come in a particular order. That order is both pure and perfect since time and the designation of “Sacred” time comes from God. The fourth chapter speaks about maintaining purity and the perfection of physical space in this case the Mishkan, and all that is in the Mishkan. The Torah even deals with perfection and purity of human relationships and the punishments meted out when that perfection, purity and holiness is violated. In a sense, this last chapter reminds us of God’s charge to B’nai Yisroel.

The Torah places an emphasis upon the physical appearance of the Kohen as it relates to his spiritual purity and eligibility of serving as the Kohen Gadol.  The last eight verses (21:16-24) explain all the physical abnormalities that exclude the Kohen from assuming the position of Kohen Gadol. Blemishes, blindness, being lame, having any  broken bones, bad skin, abnormally long eyebrows, a blemish in his eyed, are but a few of the physical attributes that make a Kohen ineligible for the position of Kohen Gadol.   How can the Torah, with its primary focus upon Mitzvot (commandments) and the importance of deeds and the Kavanah,(the intention behind those deeds), now focus upon something as superficial as appearance? Sefer HaChinuch, 13th century Spain, comments: “At the root of the precept lies the reason that most actions of people are acceptable, appealing to the heart of those who see them, in accordance with the eminence of those who do them. For when a man is distinguished in his appearance and good in his actions, he will find grace and good understanding (Prov. 3:4). With all that he does in the eyes of all who observe him. Should he be, however the opposite of this- inferior in his form, or peculiar in his limbs then eve if he is correct in his ways, his activities will not be so attractive to the hear…” (Emor 275). As upsetting and politically incorrect as that sounds, the comment and the Torah text infer a keen understanding of human nature. While watching the physically flawed Kohen conducting the ritual slaughtering in a perfectly correct manner; our attention would be upon a perceived flaw in appearance, or a perceived imperfection. As a result, our Kavanah our intention would be lacking and the sacrificial process would fail.

We are now thousands of years removed from a Beit HaMikdash (Holy Temple), the institutions of sacrificial offerings, and a Priestly class upon which we relied as a conduit between the people and God. The Beit HaMikdash has been replaced by Synagogues, shtiebles or wherever a community gathers to pray. Sacrificial offerings have been replaced by the words and music of prayer. The community no longer rely upon the Kohanim to serve as a conduit between it and God. Rather, the person leading the community in prayer and the community itself connects to God. Over thousands of years, there has been a maturing of humanity, of God’s children. While a physical characteristic of a person may have once appeared as a flaw or an imperfection to spiritually immature eyes, now those perceived flaws and perceived imperfection are sources for interest and wonderment as we recognize that we are created in God’s image. As a result of spiritual maturity, what once were considered perceived physical flaws and perceived imperfections are testimony to a more spiritually mature relationship we have with God. Because, we have become more spiritually mature; we are capable of appreciating God’s presences in every aspect of creation including what was once perceived as flawed and imperfect. As I look at my daughter’s art work, and see her use of color, light and line, I see her maturing into a confident, thoughtful, intelligent free spirit.

Peace,

Rav Yitz

You Got An Empty Cup; Only Love Can Fill (Robert Hunter & Jerry Garcia- "Comes A Time")

A few weeks ago, our eldest daughter moved to Iowa. Our younger children, who are still learning to locate all fifty states on a map (living in Toronto for the past 5 years, they are able to locate all the Canadian provinces on a map); know that it is somewhere in the middle of the United States, in the flat part of the country.  Iowa is a place with lots of corn, lots of pigs and I think it provided the setting for the musical “The Music Man”.  For many Americans, Iowa is generally FOS - “Fly Over State” three out of four years. However, in the fourth year Iowa becomes a political center for Presidential candidates. For our daughter, working for the former First Lady and former Secretary of State is the specific reason for her move to Iowa. As Parents, we worry about our children, not just one in Iowa. We worry about their choices, we worry the lessons we thought we were teaching become misinterpreted.  We worry about the type of adults they may or may not become. As Jewish parents we worry about their Jewish lives, their Jewish choices, and relationships. As parents we foolishly and naively think we have more control when they are younger and living in our house and living by our rules. Of course, in reality we have very little control, we just fool ourselves. However with a child in Iowa, well, we don’t even have the convenience of lying to ourselves. Rather we talk our eldest daughter. (Sometimes, I think we talk just to make me feel better and less worried). However I remind her to always remember who she is. No she doesn’t need to remember that she is a Rabbi’s daughter. That doesn’t matter to me. No, I don’t need to remind her that she is Jewish. She knows that. No, I remind her, like I remind all my kids before they go out, to keep in mind who she is, how she was raised and the type of values that we instilled in her. Like all of our kids, we remind them to avoid going along with the crowd. We remind them to be a mentsche even when people around are being a little less than mentschlekite, less than ethical and a little less than kind and decent.

This Shabbat we read from Parsha Emor. In the four chapters that comprise Emor, the first deals with the Kohanim and their very different way of striving for holiness as compared to the rest of the nation. For example, because of the Kohen’s function within society, he must remain in a perpetual state of purity. He is restricted in terms of who he can marry. He is restricted in terms of for whom he mourns. He cannot go to a cemetery. He cannot make sacrificial offerings if he has physical abnormalities. The second chapter reminds B’nai Yisroel that all animal offerings must be blemish free. These offerings must come directly from the individual making them and not from “the hand of a stranger” (Lev.22:25). Both chapters deal with the holiness of certain people, the Kohen and his family, and certain animals, those designated for sacrificial offering. The third chapter of the Parsha deals with the designation of holiness in regards to seasons and the calendar.including: Shabbat, Pesach, Shavuot, Sukkot, Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. The fourth chapter offers a narrative in which the son of an Israelite woman and Egyptian man, and another Israelite man get into a fight. The son pronounced the forbidden name of God and was charged with blasphemy. The Torah tells us the punishment for blasphemy is death. This is the same punishment for an individual who commits murder. 

As the Torah upon Holiness and perhaps even Perfection, we learn that striving for Holiness and striving for Perfection requires creating a distinct separation from the mundane, the ordinary, and the less than perfect. The Torah reminds the Kohen, “Lo Yikrechu Korcha B’Rosham U’Fa’at Z’Kanam Lo Y’Galeichu UVivsaram Lo Yisr’tu Saratet- They shall not make a bald spot on their heads, and they shall not shave an edge of their beard; and in their flesh they shall not cut a gash (Lev21:5). Rashi explains that certain tribes that lived in Biblical Canaan, as well as Ancient Egyptians would engage in these types of behaviors while mourning the death of a loved one. Literally the Torah reminds the Priestly class to be sure and NOT behave like other people, don’t mourn like other people, don’t worship like other people, don’t behave like these ancient tribes of idolaters. The Chatam Sofer, one of the great 19^th century Central European Rabbis, explained that the verse has a homilietical meaning as well. The Torah reminds us not to create a bald spot upon our head, we don’t create an emptiness on our head. The Chatam Sofer understand the emptiness as ignorance, a lack of learning. The head should be filled with Torah, with mitzvoth, with doing good things in the world, and making sound, intelligent choices. Sometimes that requires the person to be just a bit separate, distinct and apart from those who create an emptiness in their own respective heads.  

Certainly Judaism is difficult. Climbing the ladder of holiness requires effort and desire. Climbing this ladder will affect and even change our lives. It affects what we eat, it affects how we relate to our mates, it affects our treatment of others, it affects how we look at time and space, it affects our relationship to God, and how we relate to ourselves. If Judaism, the sanctification of the self, and the sanctification of God were easy, then neither could we appreciate it, nor commit to it. We strive to fill our heads knowledge, with Torah. We avoid creating “empty spaces”, bald spot, in our heads, knowing that what our heads are filled with or not, will be expressed in our behavior, our attitudes our relationship with our loved ones and with God. So our daughter lives in Iowa. The more we speak with her, the more re-assured we are that she hasn’t created an emptiness in her head, but rather has kept it filled and continues to fill it with wisdom, knowledge and mentschelekite.

        

Peace

Rav Yitz