On the Bring of death

On the brink of death

            On the brink of death my step grand-father, who was like a real grandfather to me, sits.  What awaits him? Well, this question is actually not unique to me, but was asked by the all the Jews a few thousand years ago.  For some reason, the idea of even the existence of an after life within Judaism is shrouded in mystery.  Yet, probably more than any other religion, the idea of an afterlife is the most directly understood and even experienced.  Let’s see what the sources say:

At the time of the giving of Torah G-d called to Israel and said to them:’ My child! A great gift I have in the world, and I will give it to you forever if you receive my Torah and guard its mitzvos’.

They answered and said before Him: ‘Master of the world! What great gift will you give to us if we guard your Torah?’

Answered G-d and He said: ‘This is the World to come’.

Answered Israel and they said: ‘Master of the world! Show us an example of what this world is like’

Answered G-d and He said to them: This is Shabbat, which is one sixtieth of the next world which is all Shabbat.’[1]

For certain religions, self-inflicted death, particularly at the expense of other people, is the best way to know the next world.  Jews have it a bit easier, and far less dramatic- Shabbat.   Do it properly, and the next world reveals itself even now.  No death required!

            So what is Shabbat that it is so other worldly?  The idea of Shabbat is that everything has been completed.  It is not that creative acts are not allowed on Shabbat; rather, they are entirely unnecessary!  The world is in a pseudo state of perfection and completion, physically that is.  We need to imagine that nothing is left to be finished.  That is the rest we get on Shabbat, and it is the rest from physical toil that allows the soul an expansive vision, literally, a doubling.  And that is why we have two challahs, two levels of punishment, two sacrifices to bring up, two words of reminder for Shabbat, and two souls.  We are dealing with two worlds simultaneously, this world and the next world.    

            Why is the revelation so clear on Shabbat?  Obviously, G-d did not really work on the first six days of creation, as our childish imagination would seem to have it, and then suddenly stop because he finished.  Rather, each day represents a layer of nature that G-d hides behind.  And on Shabbat, the hiding ends and we have time to look at the mask and take it for what it is, just a mask. 

            So as my step-grandfather teeters between worlds, there is a win-win situation.  Either he goes back to a family that would love to have him around longer or he goes to a world of completion, where the soul sits in what ever level of closeness it achieved with G-d and revels in the revelation. 

Regrowing our hands and feet

After a long saga of false hopes and a rapid indoctrination to the underside of Israeli building contractors, I finally entered my quaint apartment. Now, the work really begins, and I am not referring to the daunting task of finding a place for each of my items, nor to screwing in toilet paper holders, light fixtures, or finding missing pairs to all of my socks.  But I have to educate my house properly. Which begs the question, ‘how can I educate a house’?  This question is not  based on strategy, meaning, how can I best educate my house, rather it is a literal question, which is probably how most of you took it, on how is education related to an inanimate object such as a house?

Based on the Lockian view of the human being, that we are a tabula rasa, and the purpose of education is to put ideas in our head, then the question still stands.  How can a house receive an education?  But according to the Jewish view and even the Greek one[1], education is not about what one puts in to a person, rather, it is a process of drawing out potential.  The Hebrew word for an education is ‘chincuh’, which is defined succinctly by Rashi as ‘a language of beginning, and the entrance of a person or object to the craft for which it will stand in the future’.[2] In other words, we have a unique potential, latently awaiting expression in the future, and an education is the process of bringing about that future goal.  Therefore, the Jewish custom of having a ‘chanuchat Habayit’ or an inauguration ceremony is exactly that, the house is receiving its first class on how its potential is supposed to be used.[3] A housed used only to keep out the elements is not a proper use of space.  A house used as place to welcome guests, and teach children the proper values that are not found in the ‘street’ is what a house is able to provide.  Therefore, the Jewish home starts with a night of guests and a night of study, as the house is given a vision for what it is meant to be. 

Perhaps, the most important value in our home will be the following idea.[4]  A person who, G-d forbid, loses an arm or a leg becomes a fundamentally different person.  He receives a handicapped sticker and the first impression he gives is forever altered.  It will be nearly impossible for any stranger he meets to look past the imperfection at first glance.  Those initial few seconds will always be drawn to the imperfection and only after will a stranger realize that there is a person beyond the injury.  The Hebrew language has different words to describe a person without a hand or a leg.  Even an inanimate object such as a shirt with a slight tear is no longer called a ‘shirt’, but a ‘torn shirt’.  What people don’t realize, though, is that character traits work the same way.  Blemishes in character are also blinding and a deficit in even one trait changes the whole make up of a person and puts them into a different category. It takes tremendous efforts to be just a ‘person’ and not an ‘angry person’ or ‘arrogant person’ or ‘insecure person’ or ‘lustful person’ or ‘selfish person’ or ‘self absorbed person’. Throughout childhood we acquire blemishes, we literally lose hands and legs.  Luckily, unlike a hand or a foot, character can be rebuilt and perfected.

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[1] Educate- comes from the root to draw out, bring forth

[2] Rashi to Genesis 14: 14

[3] The root of the word for inauguration in Hebrew is the same as the word for an education

[4] See Or Hatzafon Third part ‘kana ha mida maise adam’