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

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

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

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

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

Peace,
Rav Yitz

"For a Person as Perfect as You" (John Barlow, Bob Weir, Brett Mydland - Hell in a Bucket)

This past Sunday night, I received a text message from my eldest daughter “to turn on the news; the President was about to speak”. Usually Presidents like to speak during prime time during the weeknight, not on a Sunday night. Certainly Presidents do not like to ever speak after 11pm EST. However this President did precisely that, appearing before the American people a little after 11:30pm on Sunday night. President Obama stated quite simply that a Special Forces op had found and killed Osama Bin Laden. Considering that two Presidents over the course of nine years and 7 months had been looking for Bin Laden, this was certainly newsworthy. As more information about the special operation consisting of two helicopters and Navy Seals was revealed; several important ideas became evident. One of the Helicopters malfunctioned and landed in Bin Laden’s compound as opposed to outside the compound as originally planned. There was some doubt as to whether Bin Laden was at that compound. Although, due to its size at the height concrete wills and barbed wire fence; administration officials believed that there was a strong likelihood that bin Laden was there. The Navy Seals and bin Laden’s body were all loaded onto one helicopter and quickly fled from Pakistani airspace with three Pakistani jets giving chase. This information and information similar to it supports the administration’s claim that this mission was far from perfect. What has captured the fancy of the press and the American public is that this special ops mission overcame several “several less than perfect” variables and situations and still managed to succeed. At the very least, it was abundantly clear that these Navy Seals performed in a manner that allowed them to overcome the “less than perfect”. Had the Seals performed in a less than “perfect” manner, American lives would have been lost, Bin Laden may have survived, and the United States would have become a laughingstock, as with the 1979 failed hostage escape from Iran. We learned from this very successful Special Forces op that we can practice behavior, control our responses, and perfect our behavior as we respond to that which may or may not be perfect.

This week we read from Parsha Emor. The four chapters that comprise Parsha Emor focus on the various aspects of Perfection. First the Torah focuses upon the importance of the physical and spiritual perfection and purity of the Kohen. He must remain in a perpetual state of purity. He is restricted in terms of whom he can marry. He is restricted in regards for whom he can mourn. He cannot go to a cemetery. He cannot make sacrificial offerings if he has physical abnormalities. The second of the four chapters reminds B’nai Yisroel that when approaching God with an offering, the individual must be spiritually pure and perfect and so must the offering. These offerings must come directly from the individual making them and not from “the hand of a stranger” (Lev.22:25). The third chapter of the Parsha deals with the perfection and the purity of time. Time is define as perfect in the season follow an order, the holidays such as Shabbat, Pesach, Shavuot, Sukkot, Rosh Hashannah and Yom Kippur are designated to come in a particular order. That order is both pure and perfect since time and the designation of “Sacred” time comes from God. The fourth chapter speaks about maintaining purity and the perfection of physical space in this case the Mishkan, and all that is in the Mishkan. The Torah even deals with perfection and purity of human relationships and the punishments to be meted out when that perfection, purity and holiness is violated. “If a man inflicts a wound on his fellow, as he did, so shall be done to him: a break for a break, an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth…” (Lev.24:19-23). In a sense, this last chapter reminds us of God’s charge to B’nai Yisroel.

Everything we do is designed to sanctify God’s name through deed. Whether attending to the Mishkan, the treatment of animals or of our fellow man, it all boils down to the sanctification of God. It is quite evident that the Parsha deals with both the “big picture” of human behavior (“a life for a life” Lev. 24:18) and the seemingly insignificant minutiae of measurements of certain offerings “a meal offering shall be two tenth ephah of fine flour mixed with oil,” (Lev. 23:13). It is also quite evident that parts of the text seem overly restrictive, discriminatory, and harsh. By combining both the “big” issues, and the minutiae, we learn that Judaism is a holistic orientation designed to elevate every aspect of our physical existence.

In Parshah Emor, we learn why Judaism can be so difficult. Our sole purpose as Jews is mentioned in Leviticus 22:32. V’Lo T’Chalelu et Shem Kodshi V’Nikdashti B’Toch B’nai Yisroel, Ani Adonai M’Kadishchem –“You shall not desecrate my holy Name, rather I should be sanctified among the Children of Israel, I am the Lord who sanctifies you.” In a way, desecrating God’s holy name (blaspheming) is tantamount to murder. Why? Both blasphemy and murder are punishable by death, or in other words “a measure for measure”. We know that mankind, like other animals, seeks pleasure. However unlike the rest of creation, mankind is the only animal that is capable of spiritual pleasure as well as physical pleasure. Judaism’s orientation is based on the value that sanctifying God can be a pleasurable experience. Yet, the irony of our society is that doing "good" is often difficult and perhaps painful. Very often being good and doing good is considered boring, and “not cool”. Also, the prevailing attitude of our society is neither “measure for measure”, nor the assumption of responsibility for our actions. Instead we try to “get one over” on the next person. Parshah Emor teaches us that we “cannot get one over on the next person”. Ultimately, we are all equal. While the expression of such equality may differ, we are all equal. Ultimately we have the same purpose. Ultimately, we are all charged to uphold Torah, and live a life of Kedushah, Holiness. Ultimately we are all judged by one law (Lev. 24:22).

Certainly Judaism is difficult. Part of the difficulty is that climbing the ladder of holiness requires effort and desire. Climbing this ladder will affect and even change our lives. It affects what we eat, it affects how we relate to our mates, it affects our treatment of others, it affects how we look at time and space, it affects our relationship to God, and how we relate to ourselves. The other reason for its difficulty is that we are all examples to our families, our communities and the outside world. Therefore Judaism, and the knowledge required to do Judaism must be accessible to all of us. We only need to put in the work. Judaism must be accessible not only to the Orthodox but to all of us since we, as a people, are supposed to be a “light unto the nations”. We are supposed to be role models for the rest of the world. If Judaism, the sanctification of the self, and the sanctification of God were easy, then neither could we appreciate it, nor commit to it. Therefore we must struggle to climb the ladder of holiness everyday. Only by climbing this ladder we begin sanctifying God as well as ourselves and demonstrating to all that life of Mitzvot can be very meaningful.

Peace,

Rav Yitz