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.