Don't Waste Your Breath To Save Your Face When You Have Done Your Best (Robert Hunter & Jerry Garcia - "Built to Last")

          Something odd happened this week on Toronto sports talk radio. Here we are in the dog days of summer, the Toronto Blue Jays still competing for the first place in the American League East and people continue to excitedly call in about it. In a typical summer, around this time, I notice that Torontonians start calling in and speaking about Hockey. In a typical summer, big market U.S. cities would be talking about football training camp. However there has been minimal if any hockey talk. Rather people have been calling in about the Olympics. They have talked about a young woman from Toronto earning swimming medals in Rio. Yes indeed, the summer Olympics are upon us. For a couple of weeks, we are reminded of the sanctity of the human spirit. We are reminded of the incredibly amount of effort, of grit and determination for these world class athletes to reach their potential. In sense, these men and women compete against their “potential” as much as they compete against each other. There is something quite awe inspiring when we witness an individual realize that potential. Sometimes that potential is achieved merely by competing. Sometimes that potential is achieved by attaining a “personal best”. Sometimes that potential is achieved by setting a national record, an Olympic Record, or even a World Record. Sometimes that potential is achieved by a selfless act of sportsmanship.

This morning we begin the fifth and final book of the Torah. We read the first Parsha of Sefer Devarim of the same name. Parsha Devarim is always the Shabbat that immediately precedes Tisha B’ Av, (the 9th Day of the month of Av), the day in which the Jewish People commemorate the destruction of both the First and Second Holy Temples.  The Sages explain that the reason Second Holy Temple was destroyed by the hands of the Roman Empire was because of Sinat Chinam – Pure unadulterated hatred. The Sages viewed the Temples’ destruction as a punishment of the Jewish people’s failure to not only achieve their potential but strive towards their potential. Instead, that generation regressed into the worst that they could be rather than the best that they could be.

Parsha Devarim, the fifth book of the Torah begins with a similar message about potential. Moshe and B’nai Yisroel on the eastern bank of the Jordan River recounting the peoples’ history of the last 40 years, and specifically the wanderings. Interestingly enough, in his recounting, Moshe, now imparting his final words to his people reminds this new generation of its potential, and how their parents/grandparents, those who left Egypt, didn’t quite reach it national/communal potential. Right away, this wizened old man begins hammering away at B’nai Yisroel’s potential. Eilah Had’varim Asher Diber Moshe El Kol Yisroel B’Eiver Ha’Yarden Ba’Midbar Ba’Aravah Mol Suf Bein Paran Uvein Hofel V’Lavan Va’Chatzeirot V’Di Zahav – these are the words that Moshe spoke to all Israel, on the other side of the Jordan, concerning the Wilderness, concerning the Arabah, opposite the Sea of Reeds, between Paran and Tophel, and Laban, and Chatzeirot, and Di-Zahav;  Achad Asar Yom M’Chorev Derech Har Seir Ad Kadesh Barneah – eleven days from Horeb, by way of Mount Seir to Kadesh Barneah (Deut. 1:1-2). Moshe tells B’nai Yisroel that it is only an eleven-day journey from the Revelation at Sinai to this spot on the eastern side of the Jordan River. V’Yehi B’Arbaim Shana – And it was forty years…(Deut. 1:3). What should have been an eleven-day journey took forty years. Immediately Moshe is telling this younger generation that these past forty years are a direct result of the previous generation failing to achieve its potential. Indeed, the generation that left Egypt did have potential. After all this was the generation that did merit the Exodus, this was the generation that deserved to be freed from Egyptian bondage. Sadly, that generation did not warrant entry into the land. Implicitly, Moshe Rabeinu exhorts this generation to live up to its potential and avoid blowing the opportunity of finally settling into the land. Moshe Rabeinu exhorts this generation to do better, improve upon what its immediate predecessors had accomplished. What had they accomplished? The previous generation had the courage and faith to leave Egypt. They had the courage and faith to cross the Sea of Reeds, and receive the Torah. They lacked the courage and faith to inherit the land.  

            We don’t have to wait every four years to realize our potential. Every day we have opportunities to live up to our potential. Everyday we have an opportunity to improve upon the potential of holiness that resides within our souls. Everyday we have an opportunity to achieve a higher degree of holiness than where we had been. Interestingly enough, Moshe is right. Very often achieving higher levels of holiness need not take 40 years. Instead the transformation can take days. How? By, by working at the intimate relationship we have with God, through prayer. How? By working at our relationship with our ancestors through the study of Torah. How? By working at our relationship with our community through Tzedakkah and Gemilut Chasadim (Acts of Loving-Kindness). How? By working at our relationships with our spouses and our children or by giving back to the community, we transform ourselves into better versions of ourselves. Every day we have the opportunity to achieve our own personal best.

Peace,

Rav Yitz

Red and White, Blue Suede Shoes I'm Uncle Sam, How Do You Do? (Robert Hunter / Jerry Garcia - U.S. Blues)

It truly has been a cultural awakening for my son as Canadians celebrated Canada Day and America celebrated Independence Day. Last Sunday we spent a couple of hours at our neighbor’s pool. Our neighbor had some guests over as well whom we met for the first time. As we were talking they realized that we were American. As my son came out of the water, one of the women began asking him questions. Soon the questions left the general polite questions of “What is your name? “How old are you?’ “What is your favorite subject?” and veered into six year old boy’s impression of Canada, the United States and some of the differences. One woman asked my son “Do you like living in Canada?” My son responded yes. Then she asked him if he saw any differences between America and Canada. Our six year old pointed out that in “America we celebrate Independence Day with watching baseball and fireworks. Canada celebrates Canada Day with fireworks and Hockey news. Canada is nice but I like baseball better.” Of course, I agreed. Nothing beats celebrating the 4^th of July than going to a baseball game during the day and fireworks at night. While the calendar suggest that summer is just a couple of weeks old, the season for the “Boys of Summer” heads towards the halfway mark of the season. For baseball fans this means that the trade deadline is approaching. Teams have the opportunity to upgrade talent or discard expensive and or unproductive players. In a sense the fan can either have a renewed sense of hope or despair will not begin to replace the hope that existed way back in the spring. There is something fascinating in watching players switch teams in the middle of a season. There is something fascinating about an older player traded from a bad team to a playoff contender. Frequently, a player that is coveted and available in a trade, while having performed at a high level with the former team, joins the new team and is a complete bust. Sometimes the exact opposite is the case. A player performing at a low level is traded and begins playing wonderfully with the new team. A change of environment seems to have an enormous effect upon these professionals.

This Shabbat is we read Parsha Balak. In the Parsha we read an interesting narrative that is filled with suspense, humor, intrigue, an apparent “midseason trade” and even a happy ending. It is interesting to note that throughout the Parsha, the focus is upon the outside world as it relates to the Bnai Yisroel. That is to say, Balak, the king of Moav and the tribe of Midian are the subjects of the Parsha. Bnai Yisroel hovers as the main reason for why the narrative is pertinent; however for once, Bnai Yisroel is not doing something wrong, they are not recipients of God’s anger. Instead they placidly and temporarily settled on the plains of Moav waiting to enter into Eretz Canaan. Not until the end of the Parsha and only after the narrative of Balak and Bilaam concluded, does the Torah return to a narrative style with Bnai Yisroel as the subject of poor behavior and God’s anger.

Bilaam, a soothsayer is hired by Balak to curse Bnai Yisroel. By cursing Bnai Yisroel, Balak believed that this was the only way to defeat Bnai Yisroel since they had successfully waged war on all the indigenous tribes thus far. The donkey that Bilaam rides upon on his way to cursing Bnai Yisroel refuses to respond to Bilaam, Bilaam grows angrier and angrier. The donkey is able to see an Angel of God in the road and Bilaam the soothsayer cannot. So a humorous conversation between Donkey and Soothsayer occurs (this is the funny part). Bilaam eventually realizes that he is unable to curse Bnai Yisroel. Finally when he is looking from the hills down upon Bnai Yisroel and sees a peaceful, God-fearing community he utters praise instead of curses. Imagine Balak’s anger and frustration? He hires Bilaam to curse B’nai Yisroel, and instead he blesses Bnai Yisroel! Vayomer Balak El Bilaam Meh Asita Li Lakov Oyvai L’Kachticha V’Hinei Beirachta Vareich – Balak said to Bilaam, “What have you done to me! To curse my enemy have I brought you – but behold, you have even blessed!” (Num. 23:11)

Balak’s frustration is something we can all understand. He believed that Bilaam, a powerful soothsayer/prophet was capable of communing with God and deriving the appropriate sign in order to curse Bnai Yisroel. Bilaam’s response is quite revealing: Halo Eit Asher Yasim HaShem B’Fi Oto Eshmor L’Daber! Is it not so that whatever Hashem puts in my mouth, that I must take heed to speak! Essentially Bilaam explains that he can only say what God would have said. Clearly With his plans stymied, Balak leaves Bilaam in great frustration. If Balak could have traded Bilaam for another soothsayer, he probably would have. As awful a person as Balak is, and as mercenary a person Bilaam is, we can learn a lot from the exchange of both men. Balak hired the soothsayer to do a job for which Bilaam was renowned for doing. Bilaam did not live up to his reputation. Had Balak issued a curse himself, even if it failed, at least he would have felt empowered. Remember, Balak is afraid. He knows of Bnai Yisroel’s reputation. He doesn’t stand a chance in a conventional confrontation. If Balak had been educated and was knowledgeable in the arts of “curse issuing”, then Balak’s frustration would have been directed at God and himself.

How often do we blame others for our shortcoming and our ignorance? How often do we feel uncomfortable in shul, sitting in prayer, neither understanding neither what we are saying nor why we are saying it? How often do we read the Parsha and not realize how these words and its message connect to our soul? How often do wait to be inspired by the words of a Rabbi or the notes sung by the Shaliach Tzibbur? The fact of the matter is that we need to turn inwards, towards our soul. There in our own soul we will find holiness. There in our own soul will we derive the impetus to ask questions, to learn, and to make Judaism more meaningful. Rather than trading for another player –looking outwards; teams decide to stick with the personnel that they have and commit to playing better, commit to exerting greater effort, working harder. They look inward and renew the sense of commitment and purpose.

Peace,

Rav Yitz

Count the Angels dancing on a Pin (Barlow/ Weir - Weather Report Suite Part II: Let it Grow)

The weather says late spring. The leaves on the trees have sprouted, the flowers are in bloom, the rain is warm, the bees are buzzing, and swimming pool owners have opened up their pool. Canada celebrated Victoria Day earlier this week which marks the beginning of the summer season. This Monday, the United States will celebrate Memorial Day thereby marking the beginning of the summer season in the U.S. For me it means baseball season. It means that at least four nights a week, my poor wife has to be fight for my attention as it is torn between my job, my family and the New York Yankees. Here in Canada, I have quickly learned that it is not baseball season quite yet. Sports headlines begin with the same story every night and will continue until the middle of June. The focus is playoff hockey and the quest for Lord Stanley’s Cup. Whatever the team sport of choice – Hockey in Canada or Baseball in the U.S; anyone who has ever played a team sport has learned a powerful, age-old, sports adage. “There is no ‘I’ in TEAM”. The adage means that the individual must forsake his/her ego for the good of the team. Everyone on the team has a role. If that role is not executed with efficiency and excellence, then the team’s effectiveness is compromised and the risk of losing games increases. For anyone who has participated in a group activity outside of a team sport: a play’s cast, a band, the army, a business, or a family, very frequently the individual must sacrifice for the good of the group. Individual satisfaction must be linked to group satisfaction and success; otherwise tension between the individual and the group will increase. When the individual possesses the same sense of purpose as the group, forsaking one’s ego is quite easy. When the group achieves success, forsaking one’s ego is also quite easy. When there are clearly defined roles and expectations, forsaking one’s ego is easier. Simultaneously, members of successful groups do not have the attitude of, “that’s not my job, I don’t know” or, “they don’t pay me for that, so I can’t help you”. Instead, their attitude is to “pick up the slack” and “play within their skill level”. Again, ego gratification is sublimated for the good of the team.

This week’s Par shah is Bemidbar. Bemidbar marks the start of the fourth Book of the Torah, Sefer Bemidbar (the Book of Numbers). If the Book of Leviticus focused upon all the ritual and ethical behavior a community must observe in order for “God to dwell among it”, The Book of Numbers focuses upon something quite different. Sefer Bemidbar consists of lists, lists of names, numbers and places. The Book begins and ends with a census. The Book begins with B’nai Yisroel still wandering from place to place as they completed their first year free from captivity. As they begin their second year, there will be more narrative, and more events. The Book of Numbers concludes with B’nai Yisroel’s temporarily dwelling in one spot for the next 38 years, overlooking the Promised Land.

Parshah Bemidbar begins with God commanding Moshe to count the people. Then God commands Moshe to organize the people according to tribal formation around the Mishkan. Three tribes are in each of the four directions: three in the North, three in the South, three in the East and three in the West. The tribe of Levi, (the priest) was not counted in this census because it occupied the center of the camp. Instead of the first born from other tribes serving in the Mishkan, the Levites became the designated tribe to serve God in the Mishkan. Counting the Levites was the second census. In Parshah Bemidbar, we also read a list of names. These are the designated leaders of each tribe. Every tribe has a place within the camp, every tribe has a flag, and every tribe has a leader. The Parshah concludes with another census, this time it is limited to a particular family within the tribe of Levi.

Every tribe had a role. Every tribe had a place. Every tribe had a function. The Midrash Tanchuma Bemidbar 12 explains that when God suggested the arrangements and roles for the tribes, Moshe questioned the idea. “Now there will be disputes between the tribes.” Moshe reasoned that by assigning certain tribes to certain places, other tribes would become envious and grow disenchanted with their place within the camp, relative to the Mishkan. God explained that there was no need to worry. Each tribe’s designated spot was based upon Jacob’s sons’ positioning around Jacob’s coffin. Each tribe had a clear and proper place within the greater community. There was no fighting, no bickering, nor any disenchantment. VaYa’Asu B’nai Yisroel kChol Asher Tzivah Adonai et Moshe, Kein Asu – “The Children of Israel did everything that God commanded Moshe, so did they do” (Num.1:54). Knowing their role or their place had a positive effect. Each tribe had a defined space and specific function that insured the welfare of the community.

Towards the end of the Parsha, the census for the Levite tribe begins. The first family with the Levi tribe to be counted was the Kohatite family: Moshe and Aharon’s family. The Kohatite family was assigned a certain task in regards to the maintenance of the Mishkan. Remembering what happened to Aharon’s two eldest sons when they inappropriately approached the Mishkan back in Parsha Shemini; clearly this family bears an inordinate amount of risk to life and limb in regards to its particular responsibilities. V’Zot Asu Lahem V’Chayu V’Lo Yamutu B’Gishtam et Kodesh Hakodashim, Thus shall you do for them so that they shall live and not die; when they approach the Holy of Holies Aharon U’VaNav YaVo’u V’Samu Otam Ish Ish Al Avodato v’El Masa’o –, Aharon and his sons shall come and assign them, every man to his work and his burden. (4:19). Rabbi Ovadiah Sforno, an Italian Renaissance commentator explains that each of the Hohatites should be appointed to do a specific task in the breaking down and carrying of the Mishkan. They should be so organized in order to insure an orderly approach to the Mishkan. Otherwise they will invariably compete with one another in order to be the first one and someone might get jostled. The jostling could result in someone knocking into the Mishkan thus bringing death upon himself.

So, what can we learn from Parsha Bemidbar? First we learn that every individual counts and every individual has value. We only count that which has a perceived value, such as: money, cd’s, cars, and whatever we have collected over the years. God ordered two censuses. B’nai Yisroel mattered to God; each individual must have had value. Otherwise, God would not have counted. From this we learn that a community’s strength is only as great as the individuals that comprise that community. Second, we learn that everyone must have a role, or a function within that community. Each individual must have a means to contribute to the community. By reaching out to the individual, recognizing how each contributes to the whole, and each individual’s contribution, the larger group benefits. A family, a team, a community and a nation can achieves holiness.

Peace,

Rav Yitz

Open and Beckoning to the Spring (Weather Report Suite Part II: Let it Grow - Barlow/Weir)

How excited am I?! Despite the fact that it feels more like winter than spring I am excited, and I am hopeful. No, I don’t care about the Hockey playoffs. No, I don’t care that the interminable NBA season is almost finished and the playoffs will begin in a few weeks. I am excited because new beginnings are a time of hope and anticipation. Yes, spring training is over and Major League Baseball is days if not hours away. The “boys of summer” are bringing with them the anticipation of another year and the hope of a World Series.

We all have various ways of accounting for time. There are numerous calendars that help us account for days, months, and years. In the secular calendar, the New Year occurs on January 1st. Every company and organization has a financial year, the year in which it closes its financial books. Every student has the beginning of the school year and the end of the school year marked by final exams. Baseball fans have Opening Day and the World Series also known as the "Fall Classic". Judaism has several ways to count a “year”. We are all familiar with the Jewish Calendar and that Rosh HaShanah constitutes the first of the year. The date for Rosh HaShanah is the 1^st of Tishrei. However the Torah teaches us that Rosh Hashana is B’Chodesh HaSHvii B’Echad L’Chodesh Yiheyeh Lachem Shabaton Zicharon Truah Mikrah Kodesh – In the seventh month on the first of the month there shall be rest day for you, a remembrance with shofar blasts, a holy convocation (Lev. 23:24). So the Torah explicitly teaches us that the first day of the first month of the calendar year is not The First Month. Instead Rosh HaShanah occurs in the seventh month.

This Shabbat we will read from Parsha Tazria. However this Shabbat receives a special designation due to the Calendar’s cycle. There are four special Shabbatot leading up to Pesach. This Shabbat, known as Shabbat HaChodesh is the last of these four special Shabbatot. The name of this Shabbat, Shabbat HaChodesh, is reflected in the Maftir Aliyah, the final Aliyah prior to the reading of the Haftarah and the Haftarah itself. This Maftir Aliyah has absolutely nothing to do with the weekly Parsha. However, this Aliyah has everything to do with Pesach. In case you haven’t noticed we are a couple of weeks away from celebrating Pesach. Supermarkets in Toronto are full of Pesach products. (Actually they were stocking the supermarkets with Pesach products even before Purim). Pesach preparations have begun as reflected in the grocery bill. Shopping for, cleaning for and preparing for Pesach becomes our focus. As a result, the second Sefer Torah contains a special Torah reading indicating the imminent approach of Rosh Chodesh Nisan the month of Nisan (Ex. 12:1-20). The Haftorah reflects the Prophet Ezekiel’s explanation of the role of the Prince as he dedicates New Moon offerings on behalf of B’nai Yisroel (Ez. 45:16-46:18).

While there are a variety of “New Years” celebrated in the Jewish Calendar; it is the Maftir Aliyah read on Shabbat HaChodesh that teaches us that Nisan is the first month of the year. HaChodesh HaZeh Lachem Rosh Chadashim Rishon Hu Lachem L’Chodshei HaShanah- This month shall be for you the beginning of the months, it shall be for you the first of the months of the year (Ex. 12:2). This month refers to Nisan. This was the month in which the Yetziat Mitzrayim took place. This was the month in which we took the first steps towards freedom via redemption from Egyptian bondage. This was the first month in which B’nai Yisroel stood together and received their first communal commandment. In the next eighteen verses, God commands Moshe and Aharon to instruct and teach Bnai Yisroel all of the rituals regarding Pesach: the Pesach offering, an unblemished lamb, the blood placed upon the doorposts, the offering completely roasted and completely eaten. The offering must be eaten with shoes upon one’s feet ready to leave Egypt. Then the commandments for Pesach follow including: the first day is a like a Shabbat, Chometz may not be owned, Matzo must be eaten on the evening of the 14^th of Nisan. Just like the original command took place on the first of Nisan, we commemorate that moment by reading the narrative on the Shabbat in which we announce the new month, the first month of the year, the month of Nisan.

Of all the commandments to issue, the commandment to observe Nisan as the first month is rather at odds with our own expectations. One would have assumed that Rosh Hashana, New Year's, would occur on the first day of the first month. Yet, we must remember that these people, our ancestors, B’nai Yisroel, were slaves. A slave’s life does not belong to the slave. A slave has no sacred space. A slave has no sacred time. Sacred time and space belongs the Master, to the Slave Owner. The first step towards attaining freedom is the ability to acknowledge that the individual and the community possess sacred time. Ultimately that is a concept that comes from within. Certainly in modernity, the notion of sacred time comes from within one's soul. However our ancestors had been slaves for several centuries. Since they were so use to receiving orders and commands, perhaps they were incapable of recognizing and accepting sacred times as coming from within one’s self. For them, this commandment must come from God. For our ancestors the first step away from bondage and towards freedom must be a command from God rather than an intrinsically understood motivation. How many of us in modernity need to be reminded that we are not slaves. We are capable of creating sacred time. Sacred Time begins now, in the month of Nisan, in our New Year. As we prepare, once again, to understand what freedom means our continue striving towards the holiest aspects within our own souls, and towards God. May we be inspired by our freedom to to continue striving in holiness in all aspects of our lives.

Peace,

Rav Yitz