I Swear To It On My Very Soul: If I Lie May I Fall Down Cold (Robert Hunter & Jerry Garcia "Reuben and Cerise")

Well, we are in the final week of 2017. It seems that three main themes have captured the fancy of media. First, every news show and every sports show has done the proverbial "look back at 2017."  Both highlights and lowlights are re-lived in the form of a top ten list. Second, because we are concluding one year and about to begin a new year, advertiser focus upon the theme of resolutions. Of course, the two biggest resolutions are weight loss and exercise. As a result, we have become acutely aware of the weight loss companies offering special programs in order to join their weight loss program. Also, we have noticed numerous pieces of exercise equipment and gadgets on sale. Several psychologists were interviewed explaining that the number one cause of people's failure to fulfill their resolution is that the resolution itself was unrealistic and too big. Instead of setting a goal of losing 60 pounds over the course of a year, maybe a more realistic goal would be 25-30 pounds.  Or, instead of looking at the resolution and becoming daunted by its enormity; break down that resolution into manageable parts. Losing 5 pounds each month (60/12) is much more manageable than focusing on 60 pounds. As I was on the elliptical machine, I began to think about resolutions in general and specifically the similarities and differences between resolutions and vows/promises. The biggest difference, of course, is that a resolution does not seem to be binding like a vow or a promise. Nevertheless, a resolution does indicate a conscious decision focused upon one's self as opposed to a promise or a vow to another.

This Shabbat, we read from Parsha Vayechi. This is the final Parshah in the book of Bereishit. The Parsha begins with Yaakov calling Yosef and making him swear an oath that he will not be buried in Egypt. He also blesses his grandson’s Ephraim and Menashe. He gathers his sons together and offers each son a blessing or a prophecy. Yaakov dies and his sons take him out of Egypt and fulfill their vow. They bury their father in Hebron alongside Avraham and Yitzchak and Sarah Rebecca and Leah. Afterwards, the brothers fear that Yosef will finally take vengeance for their mistreatment of him. Yosef doesn’t, and the brothers and their families continue to grow and prosper in Goshen. As Yosef prepares for his death, he makes his brothers vow to take his bones out of Egypt and bury his bones in Eretz Canaan.

Sharing his dying wish with Yosef is not enough. Yaakov wants Yosef to swear an oath that he will fulfill his father’s final dying wish. To demonstrate one's "swearing a vow," Yaakov tells Yosef: Im Nah Matzati Chein M’Einecha If now I have found grace in your eyes Sim Nah Yadcha Tachat Yereichi put, I pray of you, your hand beneath my thigh v’Asita Imadi Chesed v’Emet –, and deal kindly and truthfully with me. However, Yosef does not do as his father asks; Yosef does not put his hand beneath his father's thigh as an indication of swearing an oath. Rather,  Vayomer [Yosef] said, Anochi Eseh Chidvarecha – I personally will do as you said. The text clearly conveys that Yosef did not make a "vow" to Yaakov. Yosef did not put his hand beneath his father's thigh as an indication of making a vow. Rather his said that he would take care of the matter personally.  Rabeinu Chananel, a tenth-century Egyptian Talmudic commentator, briefly and succinctly that Anochi Eseh M’Atzmi – I will take care of it myself hence there is no need for swearing an oath. Rav Ovadia Sforno – the 16^th Italian Renaissance Torah Commentator adds a more in-depth comment on the fact that Yosef did not at first swear an oath to Yaakov's final request. Anochi Metzad Atzmi Eseh Kidvarecha B’Chol Chai – As far as I am concerned, I will do as you say with all my power. Yosef's response suggests an out in case he cannot fulfill the dying wish. "I will do everything in my power" suggests that if Yosef entreats Pharaoh to let him bury his father in Canaan, and Pharaoh refuses; then Yosef still fulfilled his father's final wish since Yosef did everything he could.  Yaakov senses he hesitation and tells Yosef: Hishava Li – Swear to me, Vayishava Lo – and He [Yosef] swore to him [Yaakov]. Yaakov does not want any excuses nor does he want Yosef relying solely upon his own relationship Pharaoh. Pharaoh will understand a son swearing an oath to his dying father and would never refuse a request of that nature. However Yosef is not a servant, he is the second most powerful person in Egypt and he Yaakov’s favorite son. As a free individual, Yosef is only bound by his conscience. He is free to question. The servant, on the other hand, has no such ability. He is bound to fulfill his obligations whether forced or unforced. The Malbim, the 17 ^th-century commentator, explains that Yosef was acting like a son should. Yosef was trying to act out of filial responsibility, based upon his own free will rather than a servant who is bound by oaths.

It appears that there are moments where one’s own volition is not enough in fulfilling a final wish. So Yaakov makes Yosef swear the oath so that way when dealing with Pharaoh it is clear that he is acting as a servant to his father.   Yaakov wanted Yosef to be completely powerless and act solely on behalf of his father. Under normal circumstances, according to our ChaZaL – our Talmudic sages, we are already bound by Torah; there is no need to accept artificial/external bonds. The bonds of Torah and mitzvot should be enough.  The bonds of Torah and mitzvot are designed to be reachable goals, objectives that require a little effort but are all within the realm of the possible.  There is no need to pile on and make observance more difficult and more taxing. So I finished my final workouts of 2017 feeling better about myself, knowing that my vow to lose weight has been fulfilled and now I have the much more difficult vow of maintenance. 

Peace,

Rav Yitz

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Honest to the Point of Recklessness; Self-Centered to the Extreme (Hunter/Garcia- "Althea")

After enough weight/fat comments from my four children, after taking several days to recover from the more than twelve miles I walk each Shabbat, after growing frustrated that some of my clothes don’t fit so nicely, when looking at pictures from my when my wife and I first met, one thing became incredibly clear. I needed to lose weight. So I joined a gym. Prior to beginning this regimen, I met with the trainer. During our meeting, I had flashbacks to my days in college playing basketball for the school team. I sat with the trainer. I imagined that in three months I could easily drop forty pounds and return to my college basketball playing physical condition. Nothing that some weights, running diet supplements couldn’t take care of . However, the trainer reminded me of two important points. First, there was no way I could return to the physical condition of my college days unless I quit work, worked out all day every day, hired a coach for most of each day, and ceased eating my wife’s outstanding cooking. Second, I was so out of shape that had I tried to engage in my college workouts I probably would have succumbed to a heart attack. Of course I would have loved to lose all this weight in three months. I would have loved to return to my college physical condition or my pre-fatherhood weight. The trainer explained to me what I already knew. The key is to lose this weight in a healthy manner that doesn’t damage joints, bones, ligaments and tendons. So instead of engaging in “Extreme Weight Loss”, I have engaged in a less extreme, healthier manner of weight loss.

This morning we read from Pasha Naso. The Parsha’s 176 psukim make it among the longest single parshiot in the entire Torah. Its length is also reflected in the wide variety of topics covered including: further description of Priestly obligations, the dedication of offering that each tribe brought prior to the Mishkan’s opening and laws concerning the wayward wife. Each of these seemingly disparate narratives and laws focuses upon a specific segment of the population. However all of the narratives and laws contain the common thread of raising the level of holiness in our lives. The Parsha also provides a mechanism for the most common individual to engage in an “extreme” spiritual makeover. There are only three requirements to engage in an “extreme spiritual makeover”: a time requirement, abstaining from God’s creation and the blessings that correspond to the celebration of God’s creation, and leaving one’s body untouched. Ki Yafli Lindor Neder Nazir L’Hazir LHashem the individual makes a neder swears a vow to forego, grapes& grape products, and haircuts for thirty day period. Once those requirements are satisfied then Kol Yemai Nizro Kadosh Hu L’Adoshem – all the days of being a Nazir, he is only to the HaShem . When the thirty days of “extreme” spirituality are complete, Yavi Oto el Petach Ohel Moed, V’Hikriv et Korbano L’Adoshem Keves Ben Shnato tamim Echad L’Olah V’CHavsah Echat Bat SHatah Temimah L’Chatat V’Ayikl Echad Tamim Lishlamim – He shall bring himself to the entrance of the Tent of Meeting. He shall bring his offering to Hashem: one unblemished sheep in its first year as an elevation-offering, one unblemished ewe in its first year as a sin offering, and one unblemished ram as a peace offering. After successfully achieving this higher spiritual plane, the Nazir brings a sin offering. But what was the Nazir’s sin?

The Gemarah in Taanit 11A makes the following statement in Shmuel’s name. Kol Hayosheiv B’Taanit Nikrah Chutach –whoever indulges in fasting is dubbed a sinner. Shmuel based his comment on R’Eliezer Haakapar’s Berebi’s position: if someone who denies himself wine (a Nazir) is considered to be a sinner, then of course someone who denies himself food, must also be considered a sinner. In Maimonides Mishnah Torah Deot 3:1, the Rambam takes R’Eliezer’s position to its logical conclusion. Hoil Hakanah Vitava VHichvod UCh’Yotzei Bahem Derech Ra’ah Hein…If a man should argue; since envy, passion and pride are evil… then shall I divorce and separate myself utterly from them till I eat no meat nor drink wine, nor marry, nor reside in a comfortable dwelling nor wear fine clothes but only wool and sackcloth after the manner of the heathen priests…. The sin is grapes are permissible; we need them in order to make Shabbat and Yom Tov Kiddush. Hair cuts are a way of celebrating joyous occasions such as Rosh Chodesh or a Chag. So for Shmuel and the Rambam, the sin is a result of the Nazir’s vowing to and successfully abstaining/ separating himself from that which was originally permissible.

Yet, the Torah describes the Nazir as holy. The Torah describes the Nazir as belonging to God. This “closeness” to God hardly suggests the actions of “sin”, or the vow of “sin”. Ramban, Nachmanides explains the necessity for the sin offering because the Nazir has forsaken his vow. After completing his 30 days of abstinence; the Nazir’s return to the world warrants a Chatat (sin) offering. For Ramban, the sin is the Nazir’s return to the world and re-newed exposure to death and impurity. For Ramban, the sin is the Nazir’s forsaking the original vow. For Ramban the fact that the Nazir is obligated to end the vow is immaterial.

While Maimonides represents the view that becoming a Nazir is a sin and Nachminides represents the view that forsaking the Nazarite vow is a sin; there is a third more moderate position. R’ Solomon Astruc (14^th Century, Barcelona), commenting on the phrase “for that which he sinned”, wrote in his Midreshei HaTorah: for the fact that his passions got the better of him, till he was driven to abstain from wine to subdue his material desires and bodily wants and deny himself the legitimate enjoyment of wine that makes glad God and man…For R’Astruc the sin is the fact that Torah, its restrictions, its teachings and it commandments were not enough for the individual to control his physical desires. The individual needed “extreme spirituality” to deal with his overly physical oriented existence.

Certainly there will be times when we need an “extreme” makeover, either physical or spiritual. The fact of the matter is the danger in the “extreme” version of anything is that it is out of the ordinary, and generally unsustainable. Judaism has existed for thousands of years. One of the reasons for Judaism success up until the post war modern era has been because Judaism frowned upon extremism and “extreme” spirituality. Rather the basis for Judaism has remained focused in the fact that we do not separate ourselves from the community. Rather we work towards improving ourselves, our community and our world.

Peace,

Rav Yitz