time to dance!

              At a recent Bar Mitzvah, the father of the newly minted teenager made what I thought was a brilliant observation.  He said that in many cultures becoming a man meant heading out on ones’ own and conquering a challenge or withstanding pain.  The process of becoming a Jewish adult, on the other hand, is celebrated via community. It is about being called up to the Torah during a communal process and assuming part of the responsibility.  Similarly, it is part of secular tradition after a marriage for the couple to go off on their own and have a honeymoon.   In contrast, after a Jewish wedding, the couple has a seven day period where they celebrate with the community at large via festive meals.  In short, the emphasis after a major life cycle event in the Jewish world is how can I contribute to the community now that I have changed my role within it?

              In a similar vein, the end of the holiday cycle contains a message of community.   Upended to the holiday cycle is an extra day called Shmini Atzeres, or the 8^th day gathering.  There are no mitzvoth to do and little description in the Torah as to what it is.  The Rabbis, however, understood the essence of the day and instituted simchat Torah, the day were Jews feverishly dance with Torah scrolls together.  What is the message and how does simchat Torah fit into the message? 

After all the individual work we’ve done during the high holidays and sukkot, it is time we remember that our actualization is meant to be expressed via a community where we contribute to its wellbeing.  There are two ways that this is done.  One is that we are proud and happy with who we are. Dancing is a way of showing pride and joy about our identity. Also, dancing is an act that makes a person move.  As we enter the year, we need to be ready to move and carry out all the promises made in the past couple of weeks within the community. Today, many people have trouble finding any sense of community.  What unites people together?  For Jews, it is the Torah, the value system that has successfully transported us through a myriad of different times and challenges.  Without a Torah in the middle, our sense of community is dull and weak and lacks the glue to keep it together.  This is how the holiday cycle ends.  We are now a group of purified individuals that unite under common purpose to create a nation that is able to change the world for the better.  That message makes us dance.

Boundaries?

 The world right now is struggling with boundaries. What justifies a boundary if we are all part of the same human race?  The truth is this question is an old question.  It was brought up originally by Korach when he challenged Moses and Aaron's leadership. He asked them, 'aren't we all holy?'  Why are you creating a hierarchy, a type of boundary between us? And ultimately, this really relates to a more fundamental question overall- does G-d have any boundaries?

What I mean is that people travel for thousands of miles to pray at the Western Wall as if to say that their prayers are more likely to be heard there. But that seems heretical! It implies that there is a limitation to G-d in that if we were back in the United States, somehow the prayer wouldn't be heard as clearly? Is G-d not in the US as much as in Israel?

The answer to this question, and all difficult questions is that both sides are correct.  G-d is, from an objective perspective, everywhere at the same level. However, with respect to our perceptions of it, this is not the case.  We feel different at the Kotel and treat it differently.  This is positive as it promotes internal awareness that places are not subjectively equal and makes us think about where we are and its significance.  If we lived in a world we treated completely equal the necessity for awareness and thought would go out the window.

This also manifests in the correct vision for a peaceful world. Is the best vision for peace the erasure of boundaries and to turn a blind eye to perceived differences? Or, is the best vision for all to embrace their differences and realize that within difference comes a special purpose and so long as my purpose doesn't interfere with your purpose we can establish peace together? The Torah's answer is the latter.  For now, the vision of life we want is not sameness but that each person should have a unique role.  That creates a richer peace and one that is achieved through true thinking about what one's place is in the world. So are we all holy? Of course. But that doesn't mean we are all the same and need to have the same role.

The great lies

There are several lies that we spread throughout our Shabbat meals or any time we happen to eat bread or drink wine.  We bless G-d for being the one who removes bread from the ground. The problem is that as far as I can tell, bread doesn’t grow from the ground.  There is a wheat stalk that grows from the ground and after much toil from many people, it becomes flour that is either combined with water and yeast by us or by the bakery, and after letting it rise, we turn it into bread.  Similarly, by the blessing on wine we call it the ‘fruit from the vine’.  Again, wine doesn’t grow on the vine, but grapes do.  The wine only comes along after a lengthy process that requires both patience and wisdom. If so, why do we bless wine by talking about the fruit?

Wine and bread have unique blessings that differ from all other food.  The reason is because they are both the result of a deeply human endeavor. Everything in the world comes about via a process of construction or a process of distillation. Bread is the paradigm of construction. It is a combination of two different parts, flour and water, that is combined to create a new object. Remarkably, despite being created from two different items, the bread sticks together and forms a unit. In contrast, wine is the paradigm of distillation.  It is about finding the part of an object that you want and discarding the rest.  This is the essence of many industries, such as mining and cosmetics.  Regardless, both wine and bread are unique in that they are both created after human ingenuity has taken its course.  And yet, we thank G-d at precisely that stage because we understand that our human ingenuity and the potential placed in wheat and grapes is also from G-d.  

  Given that, it makes sense that wine and challah are the two mitzvoth discussed right after the Jewish people sinned by sending spies to the land who came back with a negative report.  According to one idea, the problem is that in the desert the Jews were living a miraculous existence that defied nature.  The spies were loath to abandon that and were nervous about leaving the heavenly realm in the desert for a natural land where we would have to go back to harvesting, planting, and herding. For this reason, they slandered the land.  The mistake was that they didn’t realize that going back to a natural existence didn’t mean severing a connection with G-d. It only meant that G-d would play a role through the context of nature. This is exactly what wine and bread teach us and it is likely why the way to fix the problem of the spies was to learn about the depth of these mitzvot and of what it means to go to Israel. It didn’t meant disassociating with G-d, but realizing that G-d exists in the natural process just as well.

Hot and bothered

I am finding it increasingly difficult to communicate with people. Although we have seemingly an endless array of methods to reach other- several types of messengers, emails, and the traditional phone call- success is scarce.  One could chalk it up to being a Rabbi, an easy target to ghost, but it isn't only with students. And non- Rabbis have also voiced concern about this issue.  It seems that people just can't be bothered to communicate anymore.  (Granted, it is healthy to put up some boundaries to maintain productivity, but not responding ever is a different beast).

  This stance makes a tremendous amount of sense from the modern milieu of comfort and ease being among the prominent goals of life.  Having a conversation takes effort via listening and often involves some decision making, both somewhat arduous tasks. But, this is far from a Jewish perspective. Judaism thrives on tension and being bothered. In fact, being bothered is the foundation for our entire tradition. Let me explain. 

            In last weeks Torah portion, the altar underwent a fancy initiation ceremony by all the princes of Israel. The alter would end up burning constantly and  needed to be replenished accordingly.  Aaron became bothered that he didn't take part in the initiation. G-d, seeing his distress gave him the task of lighting the menorah in its stead and said, don't worry this is a greater task. In what sense is lighting the Menorah greater? In what way do these two fires differ? How was this a fitting response to Aaron's bother? 

The Zohar says that fire has two aspects. One is that a fire consumes and the second is that it gives off light from that which was put it in.  The sacrificial fire would burn constantly and  consume that which fed it for the sake of  maintaining itself.  On the other hand, the menorah represents a fire made to give off light brought out from the oil. The difference in what these fires represent are how a Jew needs to relate to his Judaism.  On the one hand we need a pilot light that is always on. We need to constantly sacrifice parts of our physical life to ensure that the spiritual fire stays lit.  On the other hand, that type of fire merely consumes for the sake of existing.  The other fire we need to develop is the fire of a menorah whose goal is to give out energy.  It is relit every evening and it represent a fire that is renewed.  

The parsha this week begins when Aaron became bothered that he didn’t have a part in the initiation of the altar.  Because he was bothered, he was given a new task of lighting the menorah every day.  G-d says, your job is to initiate every single day- this is greater. Furthermore, it is precisely because you were bothered that you are able to renew every day. It is the ability to care and notice what is happening and to ask a question, 'where is my role in all of this' that creates a fire that is fresh and new.  It is when we go through the motions and stop noticing that the pilot light may stay on but there is no light that shines out. 

         These two aspects correspond to the two parts of Torah, oral and written.  The written Torah is meant to stay as is and be passed down perfectly from generation to generation.   In contrast, it is the oral Torah that is renewed in every generation and takes the pilot light of the written Torah and turns it into a powerful current light. And the key to igniting the oral Torah rest on being bothered.  It is based on unearthing contradictions and seeming logical fallacies, only to reconcile them later on.  It is about seeing new situations in the world and being bothered about what the right thing to do is.  If we seek not to be bothered , as seems to be the goal today, the pilot light may remain on and consume some fuel but it will never shine.  

Grooming leaders

                People rue electronic devices for many reasons.  Primarily, though, the focus of the criticism is the lack of focus that these devices produce.  The beeps and subsequent dopamine rushes are hard to overcome. Often, phantom vibrations and incessant phone checks ensue.  This week’s parsha highlights a bigger problem with technology.  It is hard to get close to people today.  Even the sound of a live voice is considered too close as we resort to texting and emailing as our primary mode of communication and this may be hampering our development in a different way.

                In today’s parsha we are introduced to Joshua.  What is interesting is how he is described- he is Moshe’s servant, not student. The midrash elaborates that he served Moses by setting up his classroom with benches and mats where people could sit. Something that today would be relegated to a janitorial role. At the end of the parsha, as we flip back to Moses’ preparation to ascend Mt. Sinai, it says that Joshua followed him as far as he could go and then bids adieu to his mentor.  One might think that after seeing his Rabbi off that he would now go home. But, no, he pitches a tent and encamps for 40 days until Moshe returns lest he be a moment without his helper. Today we would describe Joshua as a nudnik, not loyal.  Nonetheless, it is Joshua who will become the next leader because as the Talmud corroborates it is better to serve a teacher than merely learn from him. Why? 

                There are three ideas that we need to highlight.  The simple understanding is that service breeds humility.  When it comes to learning and growth that is the character trait we need in abundance for it allows us to see reality as it is rather than confirm the reality we want.  The second idea is that for a new wick to burn it needs to get close to the flame.  A proper mentor has a vibrancy that needs to be felt in order to grow to the next level.  Finally, a relationship always needs to be a two way street. If a mentor gives wisdom, a student needs to give back care.  This creates a true bond between teacher and student with which more and more transmission can take place.  These lessons are crucial to produce the next generation of leaders.