Think This Through With Me, Let Me Know Your Mind, What I Want To Know Is, Are You Kind? (Robert Hunter & Jerry Garcia - "Uncle John's Band")

          An elderly gentleman told his friend about a magnificent restaurant. “The food is great, the prices are reasonable, and the ambiance is really elegant.” His friend asked for the name of the restaurant, and the elderly man struggled to remember the name of the restaurant. Finally, he asked his friend, “There is a flower with beautiful petals… it has a long stem with thorns on it- what do you call it?” The friend replied, “A rose?” “Yeah, that’s it!” said the gentleman. So he turned toward the kitchen and yelled, “Hey, Rose! What was the name of that restaurant we ate in last night?” Sometimes we all need a reminder. We even need a reminder for those things that we really know.

          Besides Shabbat, it is also Shavuot. This is essentially the yearly reminder of two important concepts of Judaism: Mitzvot and Chesed (Commandments and Kindness). Shavout has numerous alternative names, but perhaps the most well known is Chag Matan Torah, the Holiday of the Giving of the Torah. On Friday, the first day of Shavuot, we read about B’nai Yisroel’s revelation at Sinai (Ex. 19:1-20:23). We read of their three days of preparation, Moshe’s ascending and descending from the mountain, and finally, we read the Aseret Dibrot (The Ten Commandments). Needless to say, the Torah reading for the first day of Shavuot is replete with laws. Explicitly, we read the Ten Commandments, ten universal rules that were all punishable by death. We also read and understand that our ancestors purified themselves in preparation for meeting God. They washed their clothes, they bathed, and they refrained from conjugal relations. We are reminded that Torah possesses a ritual/legal aspect that enriches the relationship between the individual and God, and the community and God. Both of these relationships require that we approach the sanctity of these relationships in a state of purity.

          The second day of Shavuot coincides with this Shabbat, therefore instead of the weekly Parsha, we read the passage in Deuteronomy 14:22-16:17. If the first day Torah reading for Shavuot focused upon the Commandments, the receiving of Torah at Sinai, The second day Torah reading focuses upon Chesed, Kindness. On three different occasions, the Torah reading either implicitly or explicitly reminds us and challenges us to engage in Gemilut Chasidim and Act of Kindness. First, we read about laws concerning tithing. Explicitly, we are again discussing law, however, this is not ritual law or law concerning Man’s relationship to God. Implicitly, we are reading about those laws that govern our behavior towards our fellow man, ethical law. We are commanded to care for those who are less fortunate. “At the end of the three years you shall take out every tithe of your crop…then the Levite can come-for he has no portion or inheritance with you – and the proselyte, the orphan and the widow who are in your cities so they may be satisfied….(Deut. 14:28-29). The second topic discusses the laws concerning Shmittah, the seventh year when debts are canceled, fields lie fallow, slaves are set free, and any firstborn male born during this year is considered Hekdesh (sanctified and therefore belonging to God.) Even here, the Torah’s focus is upon what we consider to be ethical concerns. “For destitute people will not cease to exist within the land; therefore I command you, saying, ‘you shall surely open your hand to your brother, to your poor, and to your destitute in your Land’” (Deut.15:11). We are commanded, and obligated to always take care of those who are less fortunate. The third topic discusses the Mitzvot related to each of the three Pilgrimage Festivals (Pesach, Shavuot, and Sukkot). On Pesach, we are commanded to eat only unleavened bread and the Pesach offering. On Sukkot, we are commanded to dwell in the Sukkah. On Shavuot, having already counted seven weeks since Pesach, we are now commanded to bring an offering commensurate to total production. Everyone is commanded to rejoice before God, “You, your son, your daughter, your slave, your maidservant, the Levite in your city, the proselyte, the orphan, the widow who are among you” (Deut.16:11). Again, implicit in the Torah reading is the notion of caring for those less fortunate. The ethical concerning, mankind’s relationship to mankind is the second concept of Torah.

          Unique to the holiday of Shavuot is the reading of the book of Ruth. The book of Ruth contains no laws regarding impurity and purity, nor laws of what is prohibited and what is permitted. It is however a beautiful story of a young woman willing to remain with her mother-in-law, return to the mother-in-law’s (Naomi’s) homeland of Eretz Canaan, and convert to Judaism. Implicit in the Book of Ruth is Gemilut Hasidim, Acts of Loving Kindness. Boaz, a wealthy landowner and distant relative of Naomi’s late husband, leaves the prescribed part of his field to be harvested by those who are less fortunate. He cares for the destitute, the proselyte, the widowed, and the orphan. He doesn’t abandon his communal nor familial responsibilities. Ruth, under no obligation, did not abandon her mother-in-law. As a non-Jew, she chose to accept those obligations and converted. The two are married. They embody Torah, the symbiotic relationship between the ethical and the ritual. As a result, they have the z’chut (the merit) to be King David’s great grandparents.

         Like the old man who needed to be reminded of his wife’s name as well as the restaurant’s name, every once in a while we need to be reminded that Torah and Judaism have as much to do with God and ritual as with Mankind and ethics. The Ethical and Ritual are inseparable. Our attempt to separate the two diminishes Torah, Judaism, our community, ourselves, and our relationship to God.

Peace,

Rav Yitz 

Well You Know, Hate's Just The Last Thing They're Thinking Of (John Barlow & Bob Weir - "Looks Like Rain")

Earlier this week, the Jewish People celebrated Chag HaShavuot, the Festival of Weeks, and the celebration of the Giving of the Torah. One of the rituals that occurred in many synagogues on Shavuot and occurs on the other two Jewish Festivals: Pesach and Sukkot, is the ceremony known as Duchening. The Kohanim of the congregation stand upon the bimah and with Talis covering them, the make blessing known as Birkat Kohanim. In Israel, the Duchening ceremony occurs every Shabbat. On Friday night, before sitting down to the Shabbos dinner, the father makes the Birkat Kohanim upon his children. When I have attended my first church wedding, I was surprised that the Catholic Priest made the Birkat Kohanim, in both Latin and English. When I made the Birkat Kohanim this past Friday, our dinner discussion included the recent events in Gaza and Hamas call for Gazans to march toward the security wall in the hopes of breaking it down.  There were reports of Gazans flying kites with incendiary devices to be dropped upon the other side of the fence in Israel.  Our daughter asked if there was an Islamic equivalent of Birkat Kohanim that a parent offers his/her child, or to the community for that matter.

This Shabbat we read from Parsha Naso. The Parsha’s 176 psukim make it among the longest parsha in the entire Torah.  Its length is also reflected in the wide variety of topics covered including:  the census for the tribe of Levi, the Priestly tribe, the responsibilities for the maintenance and operation of the Mishkan, the purification of the camp,  the treatment of the wayward wife (the Sotah), the vow of the Nazir ( a vow that limits the behavior of the individual as a means of elevating oneself to a higher level of holiness for only a limited time),  the identical tribal offerings made by each leader in order on twelve successive days that celebrated the fact that the Mishkan was “open for business”. Inserted in these seemingly disparate rules and narratives are the priestly benediction. A quick glance at the different components of Parsha Naso suggests that each is connected to each other because of the idea of Naso – “lift up”. Indeed each component discussed issues of how we can raise ourselves up in holiness, either through our own actions or the actions of the other.

The Priestly benediction is an example of a third party elevating us, or at least offering a supplication to God on our behalf that we indeed are worthy of blessing.  From that perspective, I can’t imagine a more powerful ritual for parents to do with their children. Yevarechecha Adoshem VaYishmarecha, May Hashem bless you and keep you. Ya' eir Adoshem Panav Eilecha VaYichuneka, May Hashem make His face shine upon you and be gracious to you Yisa Adoshem Panav Eilecha VaYaSem Lecha Shalom May Hashem lift his countenance upon you and give you peace.( Num 6:24-26). What does it mean that God should “keep" our children or “guard” our children? Naturally as parents invoking Hashem to protect our children seems like a great idea given all the tsuris in the world. Yet Rashi, the great 11th-century French commentator explains that this first blessing is not Hashem protecting our children. Rather the “blessing” should be the blessing enumerated in the Torah, that our children should be materially well off and Hashem should “protect” our children and their material blessings from those who might take such blessing. The second blessing which speaks of “shining Hashem’s face upon” our child is our desire for our children to become enlightened by Torah and a meaningful relationship with Hashem. The “gracious” is the subliminal understanding that all we can ask for is that our children have an intellectual and spiritual ability to learn Torah and connect to Hashem; we hope Hashem was gracious in giving our children plenty of ability in order to receive such “light”.  The third blessing is perhaps the most relevant for parents and children. Rashi explains that “lifting His countenance to you” means that Hashem should suppress His anger. One could also understand that that the light or the enlightenment we seek is the gift of God raising his face up towards us so that we can cast aside or let go of our anger and hatred in order that our souls shall be at peace in this world.  Both interpretations suggest that we desire for our children to at peace, to be Shaleim, to be whole and complete. Anger and hatred prevent Shleimah – wholeness, harmony, peace.

I thought about our daughter’s question, I thought about my own childhood dutifully walking towards my father and receiving this blessing. I thought about the blessing itself with its invocation of peace, of God’s shining his glory about the person receiving the blessing. I thought about God raising his face towards the person receiving the blessing.  Maybe I am ignorant, however, I remain unfamiliar with any equivalent in Islam where a priest stands before the community and issues Birkat Kohanim or an equivalent.  I even looked to see if there was an equivalent. I couldn’t imagine why parents of Gaza would listen to Hamas and place their children in harm’s way. I can’t imagine hating so much that I am willing to harm my own children in order to feed that hatred. I thought about the words that Golda Meir purportedly said: Peace will come when the Arabs will love their children more than they hate us.”  When the Palestinian people stop listening to Hamas, when they stand up to Hamas rather than offer their own children to Hamas’ hatred, then Israel will know there is a partner for peace in Gaza.  

Peace,

Rav Yitz

Ask Me No Questions, Sing You No Names (Peter Monk & Phil Lesh- "Passenger")

Our 8th-grade son participates in a very unique program that only a handful of Jewish Day Schools in North America offer. The program is called “Names Not Numbers”. A small group of 8th-grade students is teamed with a Holocaust Survivor. This “team” goes through a process of interviewing the survivor. Each team formulates interview questions, conducts the interview, tapes the interview, edits the interview, and produces a mini-documentary about their assigned survivor. The team also has a writing assignment and presentation that is made in front of fellow classmates. In about a week, the final product will be shown before a gathering of parents, family, the survivors and their families, as well as school administrators and various members of the community. It should prove to be a remarkably moving and inspirational evening. Certainly, our son’s experience has been transformational on several levels. He learned a powerful pedagogical lesson. He understands what it means to be part of a team, working together to accomplish a common goal. Everyone had a job, each member of the group had to rely upon each other in order to generate this multimedia presentation. Second, our son touched history, history spoke to him in the voice of the Holocaust Survivor. Our son didn’t just read about something from a third party. He didn’t encounter a primary document. Along with his team, he created the primary document by recording the words and the story of his assigned Survivor’s life. While it is very easy to get lost in the numbers of the Holocaust and the enormity of it; our son saw a number on the Survivor’s arm and that number was so much more than just a number. That number belongs to a name, a person, a life.

This week, we begin reading the 4th of the 5 books of the Torah, Sefer Bamidbar, the Book of Numbers. This week’s Parsha is the same name Bemidbar. Numbers is aptly named. The book begins with counting, the counting of people, a census. God commands Moshe to take a census, MiBen Esrim Shana V’Mala Kol Yotzei Tzava B’Yisroel – of all males over the age of twenty, everyone who goes out in the Legion of Israel (1:3). Once the number of fighting age males has been established by tribe, each tribe is placed in a specific formation around the Ark. This will become the formation in which Bnai Yisroel is to travel from the foot of Sinai to Eretz Canaan. Finally the Tribe of Levi, the Priests are counted. However because Levi’s only responsibility is the Ark, and the Mishkan; they will not be able to hold land in Eretz Canaan, nor do they fight. Rather they are now counted and assigned specific functions in terms of maintaining the Mishkan. Immediately after Shabbat, the Jewish People celebrate the Chag Shavuot, The Feast of Weeks, the Festival of First Fruits, the holiday that commemorates Matan Torah – The Giving of the Torah at Mt. Sinai.  

God order’s a census of people. However for whom is the counting?  Certainly, God is God and already knows the number of souls that comprise B’nai Yisroel as well as those able to fight. When God wants Moshe and Israel or anyone for that matter to do something for himself the language indicates it. Lech Lecha – Go for yourself God commanded Avraham, and Shelach Lecha send for yourself  God will command Moshe in several Parshiot from now.  Here, God commands Moshe Se’u et Rosh Kol Adat Bnai Yisroel count the heads. Since Lecha- for you does not appear; it would seem that the counting is not for B’nai Yisroel nor Moshe, but rather for God. So, why does God need or want a counting? We have already been told that B’nai Yisroel is Am Segula – a treasured nation, meaning B’nai Yisroel possesses some type of value. Each individual has value and from that, each individual has a purpose. Parshah Bemidbar demonstrates that there is an intrinsic value in the individual.  Halachically, we know this because the Legal Principle of Pikuach Nefesh, Saving a Soul exists. This principle appears in the Babylonian Talmud Tractate Shabbat, “the saving of life supersedes the Sabbath (Shabbat 132a). There is a Midrash in Tractate Sanhedrin which expresses the individual’s importance to God, and therefore God’s desire to count us. “If a person stamps several coins with the same die, they all resemble on another. But the King of kings stamps all human beings from the mold of the first person; and yet not one of them is identical to the other one. Therefore every individual has merit and is obliged to say “for my sake the world was created’”. (San4:5).

We all are given numbers some numbers are branded upon us because of hatred. Some numbers are ways in which government can keep track of its citizens such as Social Insurance cards Social security cards. Some numbers are given to us to keep track of how we spend. Some numbers are assigned us so that we can contact each other. It would seem that it is very easy to lose oneself amid the numbers that are used to identify each of us. However, as our son pointed out, amid each number, amid each survivor there is a story. Each individual, like the giving of the Torah, has his/her own narrative, a code that allows survival. Like the Torah’s survival depends upon study and transmission, the same could be said of the survivors and for each member of the Jewish People. Everyone has a story and a code. As our son explained to us, his connection with the past and any connection he has with the next generation depends upon his ability to receive the transmission of the story, and then transmit and teach that story as well as his story to the next generation.

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

The Greatness Of Their Movement Is Just As Small As It Is Grand (John Barlow & Bob Weir - "Walk in the Sunshine")

While the Jewish world was celebrating Shavuot, it just so happened that the second day of Shavuot coincided with the Memorial Day Holiday in the United States.  During last Monday afternoon while walking with my children from lunch, I commented that it was Memorial Day in the United States. Our son asked what Memorial Day was. I explained that Memorial Day is the day when Americans remember all the soldiers who died while serving their country.  Our son thought for a moment and said that “I guess if you die for your country that must make you a hero.” Then he asked the next question. “Do you have to die for your country in order to be a hero?” I thought about the following Aggadah, (rabbinic legend) that a teacher once told me about the definition of a hero. One day Rebbe Yochanan was bathing in the Jordan River. Resh Lakish, who was a gladiator, also went to bathe in the river. Only seeing Rebbe Yochanan from the back with his long hair, Resh Lakish mistook him for a woman. When Resh Lakish called out to Rebbe Yochanan, needless to say, he was a bit surprised. Once the two men regained their composure, Rebbe Yochanan said, "Your strength should be devoted to Torah." "Your beauty should be devoted to women," replied Resh Lakish.  Rebbe Yochanan said, "If you repent, I will let you wed my sister, who is even more beautiful than I."  Resh Lakish undertook to repent, but the great gladiator was left so weakened by his decision to repent, he didn't even have the strength to gather up his gear. Then Rebbe Yochanan had him read Scripture and study Mishnah. Subsequently, Resh Lakish became a great man, a great scholar, and Rebbe Yochanan's right hand man (Babylonian Talmud Baba Metziah 84a).

This week's Parsha is Naso. It covers a variety of topics. First we read that once again, God commands Moshe to count. This time Moshe takes a census of the families in the tribe of Levi. Each family has a very specific role concerning the maintenance of the Mishkan (the Tabernacle). After the census, we are reminded that anyone in contact with a corpse is considered impure and must be removed from the camp for a period of time. We are also told that besides capital punishment, certain crimes towards members of the community are punishable by fines. We read about Sotah, the bitter waters a woman accused of adultery must drink. If she survives the ordeal, then she is innocent. On the day the tabernacle was finally completed, each leader of each of the twelve tribes brought gifts. Each day, a different tribe brought these gifts.

Of course, none of these events have anything to do with the Midrash about Resh Lakish's leaving the gladiator world and entering the world of Torah. However, before the twelve tribes bring their respective offerings, we read about those individuals who, if they so choose, can take upon themselves vows of abstinence. They are called Nazarites. In the Haftorah for Parsha Naso, we read about the birth of the most famous Nazir, Samson. The Nazir's vow of abstinence consists of no wine nor grapes, no haircut, no contact with the dead (this includes parents and siblings). His abstinence is a vow of purity; he shall not have any contact with death. "All the days of his abstinence he is holy to God." (Num. 6:8). Interestingly enough, the minimum time frame of this vow is only 30 days. That is all it takes to be considered heroic within this community: no grapes, no haircuts, and no contact with death. 

Ironically, when the Nazir's vow expires, sometime after thirty days, he cannot just re-enter society. Instead, he must bring two offerings to the Kohen: a burnt offering and a sin offering. A sin offering: imagine that! Here is an individual who has voluntarily taken on more restrictions. Here is an individual who has successfully achieved a higher degree of piety. Now, in order to re-enter society, that individual must bring a sin offering. Is this the price for greatness? What is the sin? The sin is that the individual, in his/her attempt to achieve a higher level of piety, must voluntarily cut him/herself off from the community. This contradicts much of what we read in the book of Leviticus and even in Numbers. One is separated from the community when deemed impure by coming into contact with death. Separation from the community is a means of maintaining the spiritual purity of the community. The object is to remain in the community and elevate the holiness and purity of the community. The Nazir's actions contradict the aims of the community. The Nazir cannot join the community in Kiddush. The Nazir cannot prepare appropriately for an upcoming holiday with the rest of the community. (According to Halacha, one prepares for a holiday by cutting hair, washing clothes, and preparing festive meals.) Nor can the Nazir, along with the community help those who grieve. As a result, the Nazir must atone for voluntarily separating him/herself from the community. In a very real sense, there is a bit of a mixed message. Torah recognizes that there are those individuals who may adopt certain fanatical love for Mitzvot and God. However, it is quite clear that the laws regarding the Nazir do not condone fanatic behavior. To the contrary, the restrictions are quite minimal, the time frame is minimal, and the message is clearly unmistakable. Fanaticism, voluntarily cutting oneself off from the community, is a sin. One must atone for this behavior.

So where is the heroism? Heroism is not found in self-absorbed large actions. Heroism is not found in a one-shot deal. Heroism is not found in loud rhetoric. Heroism is found in the humility of small actions. Heroism is found in the constancy of appropriate behavior. Heroism is found in the quiet improvement of the community and the world without calling attention to oneself. Heroism was Resh Lakish. Heroism was coming into the community. Heroism was the acceptance of the daily Mitzvot of Torah Study, Ethical/Menschlikite behavior, Prayer, and Gemilut Hasadim (Acts of Loving Kindness). We learn that heroism and greatness is something we can all achieve. So I explained to my son, that sometimes Heroism and Greatness does not mean one has to die for one’s country. Sometimes heroism and greatness is doing the best one and even succeeding in extremely difficult circumstances. He nodded and said if he behaved, acted like a mentsch, and grew up to be a good person maybe that would make him a hero. I nodded my head and smile.

Peace,

Rav Yitz

Freedom From and Freedom To Be (John Barlow & Bob Wier- "Lost Sailor")

Whenever we travel with our children back to the United States, I always feel compelled to give them a history lesson about the country in which they are citizens. Make no mistake; the experience that our children are getting by living outside of the United States has been wonderful in terms of perspective. However because our children learn about Canadian history, we tend to home school them in regards to U.S. History, Civics and Government.  We had a wonderful learning opportunity when we visited Philadelphia for a simcha (a happy occasion). I insisted that we see Independence Mall,  (where the Congressional Congress signed the Declaration of Independence), the Liberty Bell, and even Valley Forge, (where General Washington and the Colonial Army spent a horrible winter) prior to their battle with the British. Of course I enjoyed it. However the most meaningful moment for my children occurred while looking at the Liberty Bell. Our children looked at it and we made them read the inscription on the Bell: “Proclaim Liberty throughout the land to all its inhabitants thereof. Lev 25:10”. First we asked our children what that meant. Then we asked them what book this verse was from? They thought about it for a moment and then realized that it was from the Torah. They didn’t realize that Lev., short for Leviticus, is English for VaYikrah.  The most fascinating moment occurred when they realized that the people who made the bell, and used that quotation, were using a pasuk from the Torah. Then they asked the obvious question, “Why did they use a verse from the Torah and why that particular verse for Liberty Bell?”

This week we read the double Parsha of Behar/Bechukotai. These final two parshiot offer us insight into another dimension of Kedushah. For most of  Vayikra (Leviticus), we learned how the Kohen Gadol makes himself holy. We have learned how the individual makes himself/herself holy. We have learned how the entire nation makes itself holy. We have learned how holiness permeates all are physical activities including what we eat, how we treat others and the relationships that may and may not have.  We have learned how we designated holiness in terms of seasons and special occasions. Now we read about the laws in which we acknowledge the holiness of Eretz Canaan Israel. We learn that the Jubilee is similar to  Shemitta accept on a grander scale, leaving the land to lie fallow for a year while it rests. We learn about the Yovel, the Jubilee year and all that it entails in terms of our behavior. Sefer Vayikra concludes with the Torah explaining the rewards for following these and all the commandments that God gave us at Sinai as well as the punishments that would befall us if we fail to observe these commandments.  

During the discussion Yovel, the Sabbatical year, we read: V’Kidashtem Eit Shat HaChamishim Shana Ukratem Dror Ba’Aretz L’chol Yoshveha Yovel Hi Tiheyeh Lachem V’Shavtem Ish El Achuzato V’Ish el Mishpachto Tashuvu – You shall sanctify the fiftieth year and proclaim liberty throughout the land for all its inhabitants; it shall be the Jubilee Year for you, each of you  shall return to his ancestral heritage and each of you shall return to his family. The context of this verse is clear. During the 50 year cycle, whether the indentured servant has served the usual minimum of six years or not, all indentured servants are to be freed. Everyone returns to their  tribal land of origin and everything is then, according to modern parlance, “rebooted”.  The interesting thing about this verse is the Hebrew word for freedom. Ordinarily “freedom” is “ChoFeSh.” The word ChoFeSh is used when the concept of freeing the indentured servant is first mentioned  in Parsha Mishpatim Ex 21: 2 Ki Tikneh Eved Ivri Shesh Shanim Ya’avod U’Vashviit Yeitzei LaChofshi Chinam: If you buy a Jewish servant, he shall work for six years; and in the seventh he shall go free (LaChofshi), for no charge. The word use in this week’s Parsha is DROR. The word DROR  appears once  in the entire Torah in this context, “Proclaim Liberty throughout the land…” Dror appears in Ex. 30:23 however it means “pure myrrh” Why would the Torah use Chofshi (Free/freedom) in Exodus and then use the word Dror (liberty) at the end of Leviticus in Behar/Bechukotai?

Certainly the word “Freedom” is more common than “Liberty”.  When Patrick Henry made his famous statement, he used the word “Liberty”. “Give me Liberty or give me death”. R’ Avraham Bedersi a late 13^th century French Rabbi explains that both terms Chofesh (Freedom) and Dror (Liberty) are the opposite of bondage.  However Dror (Liberty) denotes clarity and purity, without contaminates. Much like the term Dror is used to describe the pure Myrrh.  It is not accidental that the Torah uses a word that is the opposite of bondage but connotes a “pure” freedom. Throughout the book of Leviticus, the overarching themes as been purity and holiness.  So it would make sense that Dror would connote the holiest or purest sense of  the concept of Freedom.  R’Avraham Bedersi suggests that Chofesh (freedom) implies the mitigation of slavery whereas Dror (Liberty) implies the total abolition of slavery.  Left with that understanding we lose the nuance of “holiness” that accompanies Dror.

Liberty is not solely confined to people. It extends to the land. It extends to every aspect of life.  Freedom is something that is given or taken by people. Liberty  is not something that a person gives to another, nor is it something that a person gives to animal. Rather “Liberty” is a godly concept.  Liberty invokes holiness and therefore something that God grants to people and to “all the inhabitants”.  Since we are all created in God’s image, since God breathed God’s spirit into the first man (Gen. Chapter 2); one could argue that Liberty is an internal concept. Someone may be a slave, but their soul is free, therefore they are in a state of Liberty.  Liberty is the spiritual version of freedom. 

Shavuot, the commemoration of the Matan Torah (the Giving of the Torah) begins a week from this coming Shabbat.  Perhaps freedom suggests a lack of slavery or servitude. Liberty suggests that the highest level of freedom is one in which only the rule of law governs all of us equally, without bias or prejudice. As we explained “Liberty” to our children, it was re-assuring to think that those who inscribed the Liberty Bell, understood that Liberty was the most noble and the most pure form of Freedom. Needless to say, our children were impressed when they realized that our Torah was so integral in the establishment of the United States, their place of birth.

Peace,

Rav Yitz