Hearts Of Summer Held In Trust, Still Tender Young And Green (Robert Hunter & Jerry Garcia - "Days Between"

The other night our kids asked me a question that I felt utterly embarrassed to answer.  What question could my kids ask that answering it would be a source of shame and embarrassment? No, it was not answering any questions about my younger years and my youthful indiscretions. I had to offer an appropriate answer for the U.S. governments shut-down from last Shabbat until Monday. I was so embarrassed at having to explain to my children how a system of government established by wise and brilliant leaders of their generation had become broken by leaders of their generation who are not so brilliant, not so wise and don’t seem to have the needs of their country at heart. Even worse, as we discussed recent government shut down, as we watched the news, all three of our children pointed to the fact that it appears that shut-down was caused by a lack of trust, a lack of trust in the President, and a lack of trust in the Senate Majority leader and the Senate Minority leader. When the government shut down ended, my children astutely noted that the three-week solution cobbled together by the Senate is predicated entirely on Trust.  I reminded them that trust is a foundation to a civilized society, trust is a foundation to democracy and trust is a foundation to a strong Jewish community.  

This Shabbat is known as Shabbat Shira (Shabbat of Songs) because of the "songs" or poetry in both the Parsha, Beshallach, and in the Haftarah. In Parsha Beshallach, B'nai Yisroel finally leaves Egypt. Pharaoh sends them out and they hurriedly leave. Three days later, B'nai Yisroel arrives at the Yam Suf, the Reed Sea, which is along the Mediterranean coast. With Pharaoh's army behind them and the Sea in front, B'nai Yisroel is trapped. Then the sea opens up, B'nai Yisroel crosses through and arrives safely on the other side. The Egyptian army gets caught in the seabed as the waters come crashing down. Out of joy and relief, B'nai Yisroel composes Shirat HaYam, the Song of the Sea. No sooner are they finished celebrating, then they begin complaining about the lack of water and food. God provides water and Manna. However, B'nai Yisroel is still not safe. Now they are attacked by the indigenous tribe, the Amalekites. B'nai Yisroel must put aside its hunger and thirst and fight for their lives. They do, and they are victorious. The Parsha ends with God commanding Moshe to blot out the very existence of the Amalekites.

From the time B’nai Yisroel complains to Moshe about the oncoming Egyptian army and Yam Suf that lies before them, to the lack of water, lack of food and lack of meat, one could understand the entire Parsha as B’nai Yisroel’s lack of trust and God testing B’nai Yisroel’s faith. With all the complaining, with the refrain of the people cynically asking Moshe if God brought them out of Egypt to have them die in the wilderness, or die on the banks of the Yam Suf; it is very easy to view these newly released slaves as not at all ready to engage in a covenantal relationship with God since they do not trust God to help them, provide for them and fulfill his side of the covenant. However, the Midrash in Shmot Rabbah teaches us that Nachshon ben Aminadov from the tribe of Judah went first into the Reed Sea even before it split open. In fact, the waters didn’t open up until he was completely submerged. Only then did the waters open due to his faith and the rest of B’nai Yisroel followed.  The sea didn’t part because of Moshe’s praying on behalf of the people; it split because of one man’s trust in God, one man’s  Emunah, one man’s faith that taking the next step forward would ultimately prove to be the step that saved a nation.  As a result of Nachshon’s faith and his trust in God, the tribe of Judah would have dominion over Israel.

If my children learned anything this past week, they began to understand just the fragile nature of institutions that we take for granted. When the electorate doesn’t trust the government, we have problems. When people don’t trust the press or science or facts, we have problems. When we can’t trust religious institutions because of corrupt behavior, we have problems. Trust seems to be a cornerstone of any free society upon which a covenant exists. Governments are supposed to protect and care for its citizens, and the citizens pay taxes. In the Jewish world, the idea of Kashrut is predicated entirely on trust, trust that the Rabbi or Kosher organization is following and interpreting the rules Kashrut. In the world of human relationships, this past week demonstrated what happens when people do not trust others and when they do trust others. Solutions are found and agreements are followed when there is trust. Problems are intractable and never ending when there is no trust.

Peace,

Rav Yitz

You Say It's a Living, We All Gotta Eat (Robert Hunter & Mickey Hart - "Fire on The Mountain")

One of the things that I enjoy about being a parent is that “teachable moments’ occur all the time. As parents, we just need to be aware of them and then take advantage of the moment. We had such a moment this past Sunday during Purim. While we were assembling the Mishloach Manot that we were preparing to deliver, our kids were singing a song from a movie that they had just finished watching.  Everyone was very happy, and excited and singing loudly when they sang the following lyric. “How bad can I be? I am doing what comes naturally. How bad can I be? I am just following my destiny.” I admit the singing was kind of loud, I was tired, and I would have rather been taking a nap rather than preparing for the 2 hours of driving around Toronto delivering Mishloach Manot. So when I hear my children screaming those lyrics I asked them to stop and think about what the words meant. Finally they were quiet. Then I began asking questions. Is it really OK for us to do what comes naturally? At first each child thought that doing what comes naturally is perfectly good. They even suggested that of course doing what comes naturally is good since it is all part of God’s creation. Now I had my moment. I asked them if Judaism holds by that line of thinking. I asked them what happens when you are hungry. “We eat.” If you are observant and you are hungry what do you do? Do you just eat?” Little lights went off above their heads. We eat only certain foods. We make a blessing before we eat. We make a blessing after we eat. Sometimes we even need to think about what we are about to eat because it may affect what we are able to eat at a later (milk before meat). After a couple of minutes they realized that the Mitzvot, the commandments, are a means that we can elevate ourselves above “what comes natural” and infuse it with Kedushah, with Holiness.

This week’s Parsha is Shemini. It is comprised of three chapters. The first chapter tells us how sacrificial offering are supposed to work. While receiving instructions from Moshe, Aharon, his brother and the High Priest, makes sacrificial offerings on behalf of the people. Following every instruction down to the minutest detail, and remaining in the highest state of spiritual purity, Aharon slaughters the animal, sprinkles the blood, and burns the animal. Once finished, Moshe and Aharon leave the Mishkan, and come out to bless the people. V’yeirah Kavod Adonai El Kol Ha’Am-“And the glory of the Lord appeared to all the people” (Lev 9:23). Obviously we can see how sacrifices are supposed to work. We see how god’s pleasure is displayed and the people response to witness such glory. They bow their heads. This chapter essentially explains God’s response to the sacrifices. When everything is appropriate and in the proper spirit, God accepts our approach. The second chapter concentrates much more upon the priests and what happens when things are not appropriate or not conducted in the proper spirit. Aharon’s eldest sons die for their inappropriate approach toward God. Moshe reminds Aharon and his remaining sons that one must be physically and spiritually pure when offering sacrifices both on their own behalf and on B’nai Yisroel’s behalf. However what do either of these chapters half to do with Kashrut?

The discussion of Kashrut is confined to the last chapter of the Parsha, chapter 11. In it we read a list of animals that we are forbidden to eat. Some of which I probably would not eat even if it was kosher. However the answer to why we keep kosher is provided “For I am Adoshem your God-you are to sanctify yourselves and you shall become holy; and you shall not contaminate yourselves…For I am Adoshem  who elevates you from the land of Egypt to be a God unto; you shall be holy, for I am holy. This is the law of the animal, the bird, every living creature that swarms in the water, and for every creature that teems on the ground; to distinguish between the impure and the pure, and between the creature that may be eaten and the creature that may not be eaten.” Kashrut is merely a physical expression of our purity. God accepts offerings of all kinds. Priests purify themselves in order to make offerings acceptable to God. What about the rest of us? What everyday activity do we engage in which allows us to demonstrate our sense of purity and our own sense of holiness?  We eat! We separate animals as acceptable for consumption and unacceptable for consumption. We separate milk from meat. We separate the time from when we eat by the time when we do not eat with a blessing. We remind ourselves everyday of our own sense of holiness and our relationship to God through Kashrut.

How wonderful! Parsha Shemini teaches that we all have a means to approach God. Priests make sacrifices, and the rest of us eat. By engaging in such physical activity in a manner that consists of limits to that physical activity, we remind ourselves of our relationship to God.  We are reminded that our natural state of existence is entirely physical, only when we infuse our existence with spirituality are we able to embody the sacred. However the object is to be able to elevate every aspect of our physical existence and infuse it with holiness, even something as physical as eating. Just like God was able to make things holy, so too, are we able to make things holy as well.

Peace,
Rav Yitz

The Holy on Their Knees (Robert Hunter & Jerry Garcia -"Days Between")

Well Pesach is now finished. Pesach dishes have been packed and put back into the Pesach closet. Chameitz dishes have been returned to the cabinets. The pantry was restocked with chameitz. We have already had pasta. In my last trip down to our basement, I was bringing some of the chameitz from our basement refrigerator to our kitchen refrigerator. I happened to see one of the Costco egg cartons that hold 30 eggs. It turns out we still have about one dozen eggs left from Pesach. My wife thinks that she used approximately 250 eggs. 250 eggs is a lot of cholesterol. In fact, as I was putting all the Pesach stuff away and started eating chameitz, I realize that Pesach might not be the holiday with the healthiest traditional holiday foods. The vast amount of cholesterol that we consumed reminded me of some of the narishkeit that I learned in Hebrew School. Specifically, I vividly remember being no older than 8 years old and a grandmotherly looking Hebrew school instructor teaching us the biggest “meiser” about Kashrut. When we asked her why do Jews keep kosher, she explained that Bnai Yisroel were so smart and so advanced that they understood Kashrut was for health reasons; and that pork cause trichinosis and that shellfish caused other types of health problems. When I think about that answer, that teacher, and when I listen to people of my generation share their negative Jewish Educational experiences, I understand why so many of us are committed to giving our children positive and meaningful Jewish experiences based upon text and thought as opposed to narishkeit and meisers.

This week’s Parsha is Shemini. It is comprised of three chapters. The first chapter tells us how sacrificial offering are supposed to work. While receiving instructions from Moshe, Aharon, his brother and the High Priest, makes sacrificial offerings on behalf of the people. Following every instruction down to the smallest detail, and remaining in the highest state of spiritual purity, Aharon slaughters the animal, sprinkles the blood, and burns the animal. Once finished, Moshe and Aharon leave the Mishkan, and come out to bless the people. V’yeirah Kavod Adonai El Kol Ha’Am-“And the glory of the Lord appeared to all the people” (Lev 9:23) Obviously we can see how sacrifices are supposed to work. We see how god’s pleasure is displayed and the people response to witness such glory. They bow their heads. This chapter essentially explains God’s response to the sacrifices. When everything is appropriate and in the proper spirit, God accepts our approach. The second chapter concentrates much more upon the priests and what happens when things are not appropriate or not conducted in the proper spirit. Aharon’s eldest sons die for their inappropriate approach toward God. Moshe reminds Aharon and his remaining sons that one must be physically and spiritually pure when offering sacrifices both on their own behalf and on B’nai Yisroel’s behalf. However what do either of these chapters half to do with Kashrut?

The discussion of Kashrut is confined to the last chapter of the Parshah, chapter 11. In it we read a list of animals that we are forbidden to eat. Some of which I probably would not eat even if it was kosher. However the answer to why we keep kosher is provided “For I am Adonai your God-you are to sanctify yourselves and you shall become holy; and you shall not contaminate yourselves…For I am Adonai who elevates you from the land of Egypt to be a God unto; you shall be holy, for I am holy. This is the law of the animal, the bird, every living creature that swarms in the water, and for every creature that teems on the ground; to distinguish between the impure and the pure, and between the creature that may be eaten and the creature that may not be eaten.” Kashrut is merely a physical expression of our purity. God accepts offerings of all kinds. Priests purify themselves in order to make offerings acceptable to God. What about the rest of us? What everyday activity do we engage in which allows us to demonstrate our sense of purity and our own sense of holiness? We eat. The priest engages in a very physical process, slaughters animals, sprinkles blood, and burns the carcass. This is an extremely dirty, smelly endeavor, and when done accordingly it is received by God. The physical and the spiritual are inseparable. The priest approaches God through a very physical process.

We also have an opportunity to approach God in a very physical and daily process. We remind ourselves everyday of our own sense of holiness and our relationship to God through Kashrut. It is important that we remind ourselves of the premise. B’nai Yisroel yearns to have God dwell among it.
They built a Mishkan, they live according to laws which guide them in appropriate behavior with members of the community. The Mishkan and the laws of behavior take care of the community’s relationship to God and the community’s relationship to each other. However the laws of Kashrut permit the individual within the community to approach God on a strictly individual basis.

How wonderful! Parshah Shemini teaches that we all have a means to approach God. Priests make sacrifices, and the rest of us eat. By engaging in such physical activity in a manner that consists of limits to that physical activity, we remind ourselves of our relationship to God. In a way, I suppose my teacher was right. We do keep kosher for health reasons. However not the type of health reasons she was talking about. We keep kosher for our spiritual health. We keep kosher to remind us of our relationship with God. We keep kosher to remind us that just as God is holy, so too are we holy.

Peace,

Rav Yitz