Carve Your Name In Ice And Wind (Robert Hunter & Jerry Garcia - "Foolish Heart")

        In the world of Marketing, “Brand” is everything. An iPhone is not just a cell phone. Kleenex is not only a facial tissue. January 6 isn’t just a date nor is 9/11. All of these items, these dates take on a deeper meaning than just the thing. They have a “Brand”. People also have “Brands”. Athletes are much more than athletes, they have a brand, and Air Jordan is perhaps the biggest brand. Indeed athletes understand the importance of their name. Their brand is ultimately dependent upon their name, and their statistics. Politicians, while running for office do everything they can to establish a brand. The worst politicians, the crassest dangerous politicians, are those that focus on their brand instead of the good of their respective political party and the people. Trump has a “brand”, Marjorie Taylor Green has a “brand”. For many that brand embodies nihilism, fascism, and authoritarianism. Recently a new politician arrived from the state of New York, specifically from Long Island. His name is purportedly George Santos. I use the term “purportedly” because Geroge Santos claimed to have graduated from college, claimed to have lost several employees in a mass shooting of a gay club in Florida, claimed that his mom was killed in 9/11, claimed to have worked for Citibank and Goldman Sacks,  and although raised Catholic, he claimed that his maternal grandparents were Jewish and Holocaust survivors. However, none of those claims are true. The politician that calls himself George Santos lied about everything. Even the Long Island Republican Party, the political party that supported his candidacy has renounced him and called for his resignation.  So if you lie about everything in your life, if you lie about who you are, yes you might have a name but it means nothing. Republican leadership in Long Island, which includes Georg Santos’ district understands that the Santos brand is toxic. Republican congressional leadership, in its crass and pathetic desire for power, keeps the Santos brand close by because it needs the vote. That is not only sad, and pathetic, but it diminishes democracy. Ultimately democracies require trust. George Santos has already broken that trust. 

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

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

          A name isn’t just a name. The names of Yaakov’s sons were so much more than names. They were the names of 12 tribes. Each tribe embodied a brand, an essence of some kind. Levi would come to embody the tribe of the priesthood. Levi would be the tribe that came to be known as always in service to God. So doesn’t it make sense that Moshe, the greatest of God’s servants came from the Tribe of Levi? So what does it say about a political party that won’t disavow a person who lied about everything that contributes to who he is? Yes, there is a name, but we don’t know who he really is. What we do know is the presence of such a person diminishes a Party that believes in nothing but power. The presence of such a person diminishes our trust in democratic institutions.  

Peace
Rav Yitz    

Carve Your Name In Ice And Wind Search For Where The Rivers End (Robert Hunter & Jerry Garcia "Foolish Heart")

Our fifteen-year-old daughter recently solved a family mystery that has plagued my father for his entire 76-year existence.  I have never known anyone else who has had to live so long with such a mystery. While I have no statistical proof, I think every child learns for whom they are named after. In the non-Jewish world, if the given name ends with Junior then it is pretty obvious. Frequently Jewish children, when asking their parents this question, receive several different answers. English names have an origin and Hebrew names have an origin. If the person is Ashkenazi, then usually the name comes from a deceased family member(s). If the person is Sephardi, then the name may originate from a living family member (s).  Until his fifteen-year-old granddaughter completed a school project about family origins and immigration to this continent, my father never knew the origins of his Hebrew name. The story he had told me was that he never knew his Hebrew name and always thought that his Hebrew school teacher gave him a name. I always thought that such a story was completely ridiculous and far fetch. Finally, our daughter uncovered the great mystery. It turned out that my father was named after his maternal great-grandfather who was born in 1860’s back in Russia and came with his family to America in 1903. When our daughter completed the project and recently showed this “Family Tree” with commentary to my parents, they both welled up with tears. Besides the mystery of my father’s name being solved, their granddaughter reminded them both of their origins as they saw their respective family’s traced back to the Napoleonic Wars.

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

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

The names explicitly mentioned, Jacob and his son’s, stood for something. Implicitly, these names stood for and symbolized a covenantal relationship with God. These names stood for inheriting a land, as well as making a great name for itself. For their descendants, the names gave them an identity, an identity that kept them spiritually free despite their physical bondage. A given name matters as does the surname. Often times, a given name reflects the parents’ hopes and dreams for that child. A given name expresses a parents’ hope of whom the child should emulate, and whose values the child should grow to aspire to and embody. As my parents sat there studying their family’s origins, history, and narrative, looking back at 200 years of history, I noticed my parents frequently looking up at their grandchildren. I was struck by the fact that there must be such a sense of contentment looking at the past while sharing it with the future, with their grandchildren.

Peace

Rav Yitz   

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

As the Jewish Holidays drew on Tuesday night, my son and I settled in to watch our beloved Yankees play the Houston Astros in a one game playoff.  Not that I held out much hope as I knew that my team was deeply flawed. Certainly I hoped that they would win, but I knew that their flaws were going to be too much to overcome a pitcher whom they faced twice during the regular season and had not scored a run. I hoped the Yankee pitcher would be terrific and that they would breakthrough for one run.  As my son and I watched, we collectively exhaled in relief as the Yankee pitcher got through the first inning without allowing a run. But in the second inning the Houston player hit a towering home run.  A couple of innings later another Houston player hit a home run. We knew that the season was over, there was no way our team could overcome a two run deficit against the Houston pitcher. As we watched the replay of each home run, I was intrigued by the location of the pitch. Home plate is 17 inches across. When the Yankee pitcher gave up the two home runs; he missed his target by an inch or two  so that a pitch that was supposed to be in on the outside part of the plate didn’t quite break enough and arrived at a point about 15 1/5 inches across the plate instead of the desired 17 inches. Then the bat made contact with the ball right on the “sweet spot” of the bat. If the hitter struck the ball a ¼ inch on top of the ball, then it is just a ground ball. If the bat made contact ¼ inch under the ball then it is a fly ball, but not a home run.  The difference between a well located pitch and poorly located pitch is less than 2 inches.  The difference between contact points of the bat to the ball is perhaps a half an inch. The old sports adage is true, “it is a game of inches”. 

This morning we begin the Torah from the very beginning in Parsha Breishit. We are all familiar with the narrative of this Parsha. The first chapter focuses upon the narrative of creation from God’s perspective. The second chapter focuses upon the narrative of creation from a humankind perspective. The third chapter focuses upon Adam and Chava’s disobedience of God, their obedience to the serpent their partaking of the fruit from the Tree of Knowledge and the resulting consequences. The Fourth chapter focuses upon the family’s growth, sibling rivalry as well as fratricide. The fifth chapter focuses upon ten generations of the family’s genealogy beginning with Adam and Chava and concluding with Noach and his sons. In the sixth chapter, God expresses disappointment with mankind’s behavior and God expresses disappointment in his creation. Emcha Et Ha’Adam Asher Barati  Mei’al Pnai Ha’Adamah – I will blot out mankind whom I have created from the face of the ground (Gen. 6:7).

As we read through Breishit, we learn that names are important and they have meaning. Adam, the first man, is given that name because he comes from Adama – the ground – a reference to the 2^nd chapter of the Creation story. Chava (Eve in English) is given her name because after she is a source of life Chaya. Cain receives his name because Kaniti Ish et Adoshem- I have acquired a man with Hashem. Cain suggest the idea of acquisition.  However there is no reason offered for Adam and Chava’s second son Abel (Haval).  In Hebrew the literal meaning of Haval is “breath” or “vapor”.  So when you blow onto your glasses immediately before wiping them clean, that breath is Haval. If you didn’t wipe it away, it would just disappear into thin air. Indeed, Haval is a very fragile, temporary wisp of thing. Yet Haval is evidence of life, and the fact that God breathe life into Adam, suggests that the distance between life and death, the fragility of life is truly Haval- a thin breath. Sadly, we know what happens to Abel; his brother Cain (the acquirer) will murder Abel as he wants to acquire God’s blessing.  The distinction between Abel and Cain between the the Yetzer Hatov (the Good Inclination) and the Yetzer HaRah (the Evil Inclination)  is literally like the vapor from ones’ breath; yet within that breath we have the ability to see that very subtle demarcation between both inclination.  

    Peace,
                    Rav Yitz

Please Forget You Knew My Name - Hunter/ Garcia "Sugaree"

Kids, G-d bless them. Sometimes they know exactly what buttons to push. I have an agreement with my daughter regarding the cleanliness of her room. As long as it is a pigsty, I am not going in it. As I explain to her, "while you are in that mess of a room, not only will I not enter, I will ignore your yelling out to me for whatever reason." At first her response is typical, "Fine, don't come in. It's my room!" Ah..... Parents, sometimes it is good to know that G_d has blessed us! Ten minutes don't pass before I hear my name, "DADDY, I NEED YOUR HELP,". Yep, "I need your help" can frequently be considered my last name. Nothing gives me greater pleasure than to ignore her call for help. Actually, the only thing better is her brother or sister calls out to me and I happily enter their clean room. She invariably hears me go into her siblings room, and offer my help to them. Interestingly enough, her room is always picked up that night before she goes to sleep. Sometimes ignoring can prove to be a valuable parenting tool.

I would like to claim credit for perfecting the use of this tool in regards to parenting; however all credit goes to G-d and his dealings with Moshe. Ever notice how often Moshe's name is mentioned in this week's Parsha Tetzaveh? It's not. Moshe's name is never mentioned in Tetzaveh. The closest reference to God and the Torah's mentioned Moshe's name is the very beginning of the Parsha: V'Atah Tetzaveh et Bnai Yisroel - Now YOU shall command the Children of Israel.... The "you" is Moshe. The omission of Moshe's name is glaring. The fact the entire parsha focuses upon Aaron, his sons, the role of the Kohanim, and the Kohen's inauguration ritual almost seems that G-d is not only ignoring Moshe, but really wants to teach Moshe a lesson. What could Moshe have done already that warrants God's ignoring him? Why teach him this lesson now? In the Talmudic Tractate Pesachim 6b, our sages explain that the Torah was not always written in the chronological order in which the events occurred. Some of the Meforshim (commentators) explain that the laws for the construction of the Mishkan (Parshat Terumah), the laws for the Kohanim's sacred vestments (Parshat Tetzaveh) were given to Moshe by God as a response to the Eigel Zahav (the Golden Calf) and Bnai Israel's fall from holiness. When the Eigel Zahav incident initially occurred, God was furious, so much so, that he wanted to destroy Bnai Israel and told Moshe that he would be the father of a new nation(32:10). Not only does Moshe refuse G-d's offer, but according to the Midrash, Moshe explains that better his name should be erased from G-d's book, than Bnai Israel being wiped away. So G-d removed Moshe's name from this Parsha.

So why in this Parsha was Moshe's name deleted?Perhaps it is fitting that Parsha Tetzaveh is the Parsha in which Moshe's name is absent. According to the Pri Tzaddik, (Rabbi Zadok HaKohen Rabinowitz) the 19th century Chassidic Rebbe from Lublin, explains that the role of the Kohen, as manifested in the beginning of the parsha Ya'Aroch Oto Aharon u'Vanav M'Erev Ad Boker Lifnei HaShem Chukat Olam L'Dorotam M'Eit Bnai Yisroel - Aaron and his sons shall arrange it (the lighting of the Menorah) from evening until morning, before Hashem an eternal decree for their generations, from the Children of Israel. (Ex. 27:21). The role of the Kohanim was to bring 'light' to Bnai Israel, to instill light into the souls of Bnai Israel. Certainly some of us are able to see the "light" from an intellectual perspective. However seeing the "light" is much more than just the pursuit of the intellectual it is the pursuit of the emotional and the spiritual as well. In a sense Moshe is the representation of Torah Study and the Law. Aharon and his sons, serving as the Kohanim, are the manifestation of the emotional and the spiritual, two components that are vitally important to Bnai Israel's ability to connect to God. Law and learning by itself won't be enough as the Eigel Zahav will demonstrate.

Perhaps it is just our human frailties and shortcomings, but our ability to connect to G-d is much more than an intellectual pursuit. So Moshe's name is left out of a discussion in which the primary focus is all about creating an aura and light for the Kohanim so that they can transmit this emotional and spiritual light to Bnai Israel. In a sense, Moshe is ignored in order to teach him a valuable lesson. Connecting to God occurs on a variety of levels: intellectual, spiritual, and emotional.

Peace,
Rav Yitz