Bringing back the lost

Poor Shavuot, it is by and large the least known of our holidays by the extended Jewish people- why? It has a lot stacked against it. For one, it is one day long in contrast to Passover and Sukkot.  But that shouldn’t be damning, as so is Yom Kippur.  However, the other issue is that there is nothing remarkably memorable about the day because there are no actual mitzvot that are specific to Shavuot unlike Yom Kippur which has the funky sneakers and the interminable fast that we dread for months before.  Finally, to add insult to injury, the Torah doesn’t mention it explicitly in the Torah. It talks about it in a most roundabout way, only discussing the technical sacrifices of the day. Why is that? Furthermore, why do the sacrifices of the day fly in direct contrast to what we just experienced on Passover? For a week during Passover and the month when we were cleaning our houses, our sworn enemy was chometz (leavening).  We got rid of it and talked behind its back about how nasty it is. Now, this enemy is granted new life.  It is now extoled and brought to the holy alter as the sacrifice of the day- why the change?

              To unravel the mystery we being with why there are no mitzvot on Shavuout. The reason is because of a verse in proverbs “A mitzvah is a candle, and Torah is like light”.  A candle is a physical object that is able to generate and hold light.  Light is the conceptual raw material that makes a candle possible.  Similarly, a mitzvah is the physical manifestation that generates and expresses a Torah principle.  On Shavuot, we celebrate the receiving of the light, the Torah which is a completely intellectual endeavor- there is nothing to see! For this reason, there are no mitzvot and because it is such a high concept, there is no verse in the Torah that can possibly describe such an abstract and ethereal concept. 

              Furthermore, the verse states, “…you will bring a new offering, from your dwelling place, two loaves of bread…with chametz..”.   It is explained that it is called a new offering as a hint to Torah, which must be constantly renewed each day. Incidentally, that is a second reason the Torah doesn’t want to specify the day.  One shouldn’t think that Torah learning is restricted to Shavuot, it is something that needs to happen constantly. Furthermore, our former enemy is now the hero because of the idea that chometz represents our evil inclination. Unfettered, the evil inclination needs to be cleaned out and not spoken about. However, if provided with a Torah structure, all of a sudden the evil inclination is no longer a hindrance, but something that can be used to enhance all of our service.  Therefore, on Shavuout, we offer the chometz with confidence that we can now control it and make productive use of it.  This is the reason why Shavuot is given short thrift in the Torah. There is not much to say about such a special day. It is a day we take with us the whole year and as long as the Torah stays fresh, it is the greatest tool to bring out our best.

Jewish innovation

Jews are credited with a plethora of creativity in the fields of arts, science, economics- basically any field under the sun. Unfortunately, we are not always credited with our most creative and productive work, sanctifying G-d’s name. What does it means to give sanctity to G-d’s name and why is it our most creative work?

              To begin, we need a working definition of sanctity.  One way of defining sanctity is the ability to do an act purely for its own sake. In other words, our world is bounded and anything in it can at best be exchanged, one thing for another, whether in physics or in our daily interactions. Normal terms of operations between people is if you scratch my back, I’ll scratch yours. Or, at the least, if it isn’t a direct exchange, a person expects something else in return whether it be recognition or a sense of satisfaction. Holiness is realizing that one can get past that natural path and do things in an altruistic way that breaks the cycle of nature and creates a one way street.  Since we are created in the image of G-d, we can act G-dly and give because that is who we are and not because of what we get in return.  To be able to break out of the natural cycle, and create a new way of interacting is the greatest act creativity one can do.

              Not only is it a great thing, but the verse in this week’s Torah portion indicates that this is what we are meant to do! It says, “You shall not profane my holy name, that I may be sanctified in the midst of the Israelite people—I the LORD who sanctify you, I who brought you out of the land of Egypt to be your God, I the LORD.” Why is the first verse followed by the second? Because it indicates that the entire reason for bringing is out of Egypt was so that we could create this new pathway of holiness and by doing so, this shows the world that our ability to subdue nature is a product of the fact that there is a Divine spark in each human being that in itself bespeaks to a Divine presence in the world.  The good news is that this innovation has another result.  If we break out nature, G-d says, I will break nature in return and express sanctity to you in the form of Divine miracles.  We can never rely on this, as this would actually bring us back in to a cycle of doing something for something, but it is something that exists.

              In light of some negative news about the Jewish people and the fact that there have been some small groups among us that find social distancing to be a challenge, a way to fight the negative news is to up our Kiddush Hashem. That has happened via plasma donations and other amazing activities that often goes underreported   And we can continue with a few other things as well. Maimonides points out how to do it. First, invest in Torah and then show exemplary behavior in your actions with small things such as paying workers on time, and maintaining an exceptionally pleasant demeanor among a few others things.  The best defense is a better offense.

What is the key to positive relationships?

There is a grand debate about which really is the most important principle in the Torah. Most people know the famous story about the convert who came to Hillel and asked to be converted on the condition that he is taught the whole Torah on one foot. Hillel is nonplussed by the seemingly bold request and answers that a person should not do what is hateful to him to another person, that is the entire Torah and rest is just details, now go learn.  He understood the covert was genuine and simply wanted a framework with which to build his knowledge. However, there is a slight problem with the conventional understanding of this story.  It seems the only idea that he teaches the potential convert is that the foundation of Torah is how we treat others, but that may not be the whole picture.

              The Talmud in Makkos deliberates about what are the foundational mitzvoth in the Torah.  If we had to distill 613 mitzvoth to a small number of mitzvoth that represent the others, what would they be? The Talmud concludes that all mitzvoth could be distilled to a verse in the prophet Habakuk: “ A righteous person in his faithulness he shall live”.  Meaning, that all mitzvoth boil down to faith.  We are now left with a question, is the main foundation of Torah faith or how to relate to others?

              The question is a straw man because it is based on a flaw in the way we read Hillel’s statement to the convert.  The reality is that the verse that Hillel’s idea is based on has an ending that is often left off. The full verse is, “Do not bear a grudge or take revenge, and love your neighbor as yourself, I am Hashem.” Therefore, if we understand that Hillel’s communication to the convert is the whole idea of that verse, it includes the idea at the end- “I am Hashem”, which is the foundation of all faith- there is a G-d. Now, Hillel’s statement incorporates both foundations. The Torah is based on having a healthy relationship with others in addition to a healthy relationship with G-d.  This makes sense if we look at the Ten Commandments that are also divided in this fashion, on two tablets, one dedicated to establish a relationship with G-d and another to establish a relationship with man.  It could also be that not only are these two principles the foundation, but it could also be that they are inextricably linked in that the key to success in our relationships with others is to understand that there is a G-d from which we all descend.