The magic of the world cup

    

 It is hard not to be swept up in the surreal emotions of the moment with Argentina winning the world cup this past week.  As a child of Argentine immigrants, who held the sign for Argentina in the parade of nations in 1994 when the world cup was played in North America, the history runs deep.  So in a way it was no surprise that I was enthralled, emotional, and overjoyed as the announcer of the game burst into tears as he declared Argentina champion. Yet, it was also shocking. Hadn’t I moved beyond deeply caring about such trivial things as sport? 

And my celebration was relatively muted compared to what has taken place around the world. 46 million Argentines flooded the world with parades and songs with tears flowing freely from many. The level of devotion and meaning that the people of Argentina have attributed to the world cup is simply astounding. A video circulated asking, ‘where is Messi’? ‘In all of us’.  In a country so divided politically, and economically in shambles, at least for a few days and weeks, joy and unity will reign.  What can we make of this? Why is it that in the world of athletics, a diminutive man with nimble feet and eyes behind his head can capture the world so completely? And more importantly, what can we learn from this moving forward? 

This question is not really a new question as sports has played an outsized importance in our society for generations already despite the fact that  each sport when viewed technically is silly. They nearly all involve moving a ball around to a certain location, with different rules given to how this can be done.  Depending on those rules, it will give advantages to different body types and athletic talents. It is all arbitrary and decided upon by a group of people and their decisions will deeply affect who will have an advantage. For example, in my beloved sport of tennis, advantage used to be given to tall servers.  The owners of the game agreed that it led to a boring match full of aces.  It was decided that the courts should be slowed down and now the advantage would be given to smaller and more nimble players.  In any case, it is arbitrary and inherently pointless in the grand scheme of life, but the people that do this effectively are deified in ways that few are. 

For something like this to take off as it has done, it must be that it touches a deep chord within all of us that is real and meaningful even if applied to something less so. Sports at the end of the day are contrived circumstances that allow for moments of human greatness to shine.  All who watch know that months and years of blood sweat and tears went into the success of these small moments. Tremendous levels of courage and mental fortitude go into these moments in the face of incredible pressures. Ultimately, this truism is what Channukah is all about. 

A question arises in what we say in our thanksgiving blessing during the silent prayer throughout chanukah.  We thank G-d for the miracles, redemptions, mighty deeds, salvations, and for the wars that he did for our ancestors. Is there an order to how we thank G-d? If there is one, one would think that we would enumerate the small things that G-d did and then get to the big stuff. If so, miracles should come last and wars would come first. After all, I’d prefer a miracle to a war any day.  Even if ultimately victorious, wars involve significant loss of life and hardship. If so, why do we thank G-d for the wars last as if that is the greatest type of help. Perhaps, an answer to this question is that the greatest gift G-d gave us is the opportunity to become heroes and to have the joy of conquering and overcoming obstacles. Miracles are fancy, but they leave us out of the equation. But when human beings fight for something deeply, and with G-d’s help accomplish the goal, that is the greatest gratitude we can have since we partially own that victory, and so it creates the most joy (not to be confused that we look to have war for such an opportunity, but in retrospect, we have to appreciate the great joy that does come from overcoming against all odds)

 Sports today are our substitute for war. It creates courageous heroes and we appreciate those that conquer both their inner demons and external foes. However, we know that the Greeks also appreciated that aspect of life with their olympics.  So what is the difference between Jewish appreciation and the Greek one? There are two differences. Jews understood that human greatness is special and that it originates from a special root that is divine and allows us to overcome challenges with Divine assistance. We don’t really ‘own’ the greatness completely.  Secondly, the motivation is not for glory or fame. There is a special joy in the process itself of overcoming obstacles because we taste our soulful greatness when we overcome the limitations of our body. 

When human beings achieve greatness, even in the meaningless, it brings us to tears because it resonates within us so deeply. It is inspiring to watch a broken country unite around this concept and try to claim that greatness for themselves as if that player is a real product of everyone.  It is heartening to know that it doesn’t take that much to bring us together. There is plenty that can unite us.  Unfortunately, we all know that this moment will come and go and likely things will go back to ‘normal’ and this will just be a nostalgic memory. But imagine if we can come together around meaningful things, and go to war against the real inner obstacles of life that we are meant to conquer- our anger, our superficiality, our self-centeredness- then we will all become heroes and the joy will be forever.

staying busy

 

An article in the Harvard business review tracked an interesting change in our culture over the last 100 years. In the old days, being able to afford leisure time was a status symbol. It meant that a person was wealthy enough not to work and it was viewed favorably. A new trend, however, has changed all that. What is now perceived as high status is when a person says they are busy. It is a sign of success and value that a person is constantly busy. It must be they are always wanted for their talents and ambition. While some times true, it means people look to become busy for the sake of status. There is a danger, however, that comes with always being busy. It seriously infringes on the ability to think big and have the peace of mind to capture important opportunities in life.

This idea is borne out when we analyze how the Torah communicates the initial stages of the exodus. Moses arrives on the scene and the Jews are receptive. He has given them the special password that redemption is around the corner and they are ready. Pharaoh, in contrast, is not ready to let go of his slaves. He devises a brilliant plan of how to keep them in Egypt. One might think Pharaoh should make it slightly easier, convince the Hebrew slaves that it isn’t so bad in Egypt. Instead, he does the opposite. He makes things much worse. He adds layer of work to an already difficult situation. He prohibits the normal Shabbat break and the reading of hope filled scrolls detailing a future redemption. He knows that if he can just make them busy and cut them off from their break that it would be sufficient.

Sure enough, that is exactly what happens. Rather than let the slaves go and ease their work, Pharaoh makes their life much worse. The slaves engage in super intense work that is unending. When Moses comes and claims that the plan for redemption has only hit a hiccup but will continue nonetheless as promised, the Hebrews don’t listen this time. What is interesting is why they don’t listen. The Torah says they didn’t listen because they were ‘short of breath’ and because of the ‘hard work’. As Pharaoh understood, when stressed in the moment and fatigued, it becomes hard to think, and even harder to think big about major changes. Even though it was detrimental to stay in this situation, they couldn’t think about the thought of change. This is the danger of a busy life. It leaves us short on thinking in general, and in particular with the ability to think about change. Luckily, we are not enslaved, but we can be busy and constantly bothered by our technology. It is crucial we don’t let busy short circuit our ability to process life. Via Shabbats and quiet moments throughout the day we can make sure we have moments of big thinking.

What does Moses mean?

The origins of our greatest hero is shrouded in mystery. An anonymous Jewish man meets an anonymous Jewish women from the house of Levi and they have a child who is described by the general adjective as ‘good’. The Talmud wonders what this multi- purpose adjective alludes to and settles on five different possibilities. Interestingly, the first two possibilities are that this was Moshe’s actual name- Tov or the other opinion, Tuvia. But why were these names hidden in the Torah and never spelled out? Why is it that it is Batya, the daughter of Pharoh who saves Moshe, the one who gets to name arguably the most important Jewish person of all time? Further, what does the name mean and is it Egyptian?

The first question is addressed by the midrash. It answers beautifully that Batya won the naming rights for Moshe because of her heroic act to save a Jewish baby that likely endangered her own life. The Torah’s foundation is act of loving kindness and because she acted in such a way, it is the name that she gave Moshe that became the name he is known as even over his own parents. But why was that name a perfect fit to be the name of the redeemer of the Jewish people?

The Torah says that the name means that he was drawn from the water. The strange part, though, is that the conjugation of the name means that he will draw others up from the water. In other words, because he was saved from the death, he would then be a person that would save others from death. Often, it is the dramas in a person’s life that become their life mission, and this was the case for Moshe. More than that, there is an emphasis that Moses was drawn up specifically from the waters (as opposed to the river) in the sense that he was separated from the water. A commentary points out that it implies that his

essence was different than the water. Water is a substance that takes the shape of its surroundings because it is formless on its own. In contrast, Moses, the ultimate leader is one who leads with purpose and vision- he has a shape of where he wants to go that is not determined by its surroundings. This is the prophetic name that Pharoh’s daughter gives to the baby and it is a Divine sign that he is in fact the perfect person to lead Israel out of Egypt.

importance of complex communication

 

How did Jesus get off the ground according to the Talmudic tradition (there is some debate as to whether this was the Jesus, but the simple reading is that it is)? The Talmud states that the issue was that the Rabbi didn’t communicate properly to Jesus.  When Jesus erred (he accused his Rabbi of having improper thoughts), he was too harsh in his rebuke and didn’t bake into the rebuke a hint of love that if Jesus were to repent, he’d be welcomed back with open arms.  The Talmud is quite critical of the Rabbi who created the rift with Jesus as it led to Jesus beginning an idolatrous cult of some type that was antithetical to Jewish thought.  Interestingly, this week’s parsha gives an illustration of the correct type of communication needed that would have averted this whole crisis.

              Correct communication needs to be multifaceted. It has to speak at several levels at once. It needs to have an element that shows strength and an appeal to justice; yet, it also needs to contain love and understanding.  It also needs to appeal to the intellect and to be polished. We know this from this week’s confrontation between Yehuda and Yosef. It doesn’t say in the Torah that Yehuda came to speak to the viceroy (he didn’t know at the time that it was Yosef), but that Yehuda approached the viceroy. What does an approach entail?

              The midrash says that the word approach is used in the context of war, appeasement, and prayer.  A just war occurs when one side feels an injustice has been done. An appeasement speaks to the heart of a person and looks to find the loving side of that person.  Finally, prayer is about realizing that every complicated situation requires divine assistance to get the balance right between these two dimensions. In other words, part of what made Yehuda’s speech successful was that it was multifaceted. He didn’t only threaten and he didn’t only beg, he did both. More than that, the structure of the speech was considered to be beautiful and well-spoken, hinting that leaders also need to express themselves with rhetorical skill.

              In short, two of the most important encounters in human history depended on how well the communication occurred.  When done correctly, it led to the ultimate reconciliation between the brothers. When done poorly, it led to a young student feeling spurned by his teacher and choosing to go his own way with catastrophic consequences for the Jewish people over the course of history.

             

             

Importance of seasons

 What went so wrong that the world needed to start over? The stated reason is because of robbery. As some explain, if even something as logical as property rights were lost, then the world could not be sustained.  Slightly more hidden in the verses is that humans had ‘destroyed’ the world. That hints at more severe problems such as murder, idolatry, and sexual immorality- the three cardinal sins.  However, what was behind that? Why did human beings descend to such chaos? 

              There is a hint to what went wrong in the aftermath of the flood.  G-d decides to change the way things operate in the world. There is strange verse that says, “So long as the earth endures, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease.” According to one commentary, it is an introduction to seasons. Prior to the flood the world was not seasonal; it was always temperate. Life spans were extremely long and the midrash says people would seed once and harvest for forty years straight. Why would the introduction of seasons help to alleviate these problem that caused the flood in the first place? Also, why does the verse emphasize the putting together of opposites?  And lastly, why does the verse have the word/letter (vav) 'and' inserted 6 times when it only needed three? 

              Anything that is only one dimensional inherently lacks balance and wholeness. For example, a person who is always giving to others is amenable to become a doormat if he doesn’t learn how to put a boundary. A person who is constantly concerned about boundaries will not create relationships.  The antediluvian world was a world of extremes. There was extremely long life, extremely good weather, extremely fertile soil.  A life of extremes creates chaos and confusion and the world was destroyed with a water that had no boundaries.  Post the flood, the world changed.  Boundaries were introduced via the bonding of opposites. Opposites can only exist together when things are defined and strong unto themselves.  Then they can come together and create a greater whole and balance than was before. That is the world we need to create now.  We need to bring opposites together and view them as not threatening our perspective but as balancing out our perspective.  That is what creates permanence in the world. 

An unfair G-d

As we start the Torah over again, it is important to look at old stories with fresh eyes as new discoveries are always lurking. This year, I took an in-depth look at the first quarrel of mankind between two brothers.  Although we find relationships between groups to be complex, those overt differences are not necessary. There is plenty to fight about within the family, which is sadly all too common as well.  The first criminal act between two people occurs between two brothers- Kayin and Hevel.  It is a short story but telling to what is the source for much conflict.

 

              A short summary of the story is that Kayin decides to bring a sacrifice to G-d, and he brings produce from the field. Seems fairs given he is a farmer. His brother, perhaps, stimulated by Kayin’s actions brings a robust offering of a choice animal. Seems fair given he is a herder. Yet, G-d only turns to Hevel’s offering and ignores Kayin’s. But isn’t this unfair? Kayin is giving of his own work and it was his idea in the first place? How could he be spurned so badly?

              As usual, certain textual details point us in the direction of what really went wrong.  When it says Kayin decided to bring a sacrifice it says, “At the end of days, Cain brought an offering to the LORD from the fruit of the soil”. It doesn’t explain at the end of what days?  One commentary explains that what happened is that Kayin was devoted to the land and growing crops.  Yuval Harari in Sapiens makes it clear that agriculture is a ‘fraud’. It promises riches, but it enslaves us to the process. In contrast to his contemplative brother who was the shepard who has time for contemplation like many of our future leaders. However, even Kayin who has lived a life devoted to materialism either gets old or realizes he will one day pass on, and thinks that he should play a token tribute to spirituality. But a token contribution is not what G-d is looking for since that is checking a box, not creating a relationship.

              Kayin then makes a further mistake in his perspective. Not only did he treat spirituality lightly, but he also thought that life is a zero sum game. If Hevel has ‘won’, then he has lost. If Hevel is greater than him, then he no longer exists. Furthermore, Hevel only ‘won’ because he cheated. He stole Kayin’s idea. For that reason Kayin takes the drastic action that he does because he didn’t have an identity without it.  From this episode we need a new perspective on life. First, we need to put our best into spirituality and second we need to realize the answer to Kayin existential question, ‘Am I my brother’s keeper’?  Are we competing or cooperating together in this world. And the answer is a resounding cooperation.

Yom Kippur: A time to heal

 

If there is one thing the world needs right now, it is healing. Physically and spiritually, the world is lacking wholeness on many levels.  Luckily, tis the season for healing on both of these levels.  We find that repentance and healing are deeply intertwined.  For one, in one of the classic High Holiday prayers, ‘our Father, our King’, the line about repentance is followed immediately with a line about healing.  The Talmud says it even more explicitly, “Rabbi Ḥama bar Ḥanina said: Great is repentance, because it brings healing to the world, as it is stated: “I will heal their backsliding, I will love them freely; for My anger has turned from him” (Hosea 14:5).”  When we repent and heal internally, that paves the way for a more general healing for the world as the Divine responds in kind. But what is the key to successful healing?

              For that we need to look at a fascinating encounter between the first father and son in world history fresh off the first major homicide in world history.  Adam meets Cain post fratricide and asked, “What happened with your judgement”? He replied, I repented and received clemency” When Adam heard this he hit himself in his head and said, “Such is the power of tshuva, and I was unaware of it” At that time, Adam composed A song for the Shabbos day”.  There is much to explore here- why did Adam hit himself? Why did he not know about tshuva? Why did that lead Adam to write a Psalm for Shabbos?

              We live in a world where what is done is done.  A car that is driven off of its lot loses half of its value and it will never be new again. It is not intuitive to say that despite an action that was done, we can erase it in some way, and even say that the negative is a positive as it spurred future growth. Adam hits himself in the head as if to say, I didn’t realize we could recreate reality.  But to do that, we need time to reflect.  Adam right away wrote a song about Shabbat because he understood that a set time to reflect each week was the crucial dimension that makes repentance possible.  This is why sickness in Judaism is viewed as something disconnected. The root of the word ‘sick’ in Hebrew, ‘chole’ is related to the world ‘chol’, which means secular.  It is being in a distracted, unbalanced state not connected to anything bigger. When we repent via reflection we rebalance and find our inner connection to something bigger that ensures we live both a healthier spiritual life, and in turn, a healthier physical life.