Parashat Vayikra - Reflections on being Redemptive

                                                  רפואה מן התורה

Healing from the Torah

Parashat Yayikra 

Leviticus 1:1- 5:26

By Adam Ruditsky

     The other day I had the opportunity to catch up with a precious friend who I have not seen in a couple of years.  We were talking about anything and everything, but when the God topic came up he said to me, “you know me Adam, I have my struggles with God.”  Of course there was a context to that statement which was birthed out of what happens when people are faced with a situation like we find ourselves in right now, seeking something greater than “self” to grasp (or find) even though the reasons “why” may differ.  Regarding my friends statement, “I have my struggles with God,” well I think that is a healthy outgrowth of what happens on the spiritual path.  We see that with the word ישראל (Yisrael, a noun but not a proper name) that is based on the word שרה (sarah, a verb), which means to persist or persevere.  In the bigger picture Yisrael (the people themselves) then and today are a people who are asked to persevere on their journey in life and spirit.  In other words, struggling with God is about persevering on multiple levels.  Turning to one of my go-to quotes from Psalm 121:1 we read; אֶשָּׂא עֵינַי, אֶל-הֶהָרִים- מֵאַיִן, יָבֹא עֶזְרִי  “I will lift up mine eyes unto the mountains: from whence shall my help come.”  No matter what we are faced with this passage reminds us that the spiritual journey is often about looking for what we cannot see physically, just like we cannot see through the mountain, although we recognize there is another side.
     In this case the book of Leviticus as a whole is asking us to contend with what we can’t see by how we act.  But Leviticus offers us a picture of how to approach what is spiritually awakened within us.  We read later on in this book a better known Torah verse that says,קְדֹשִׁים תִּהְיוּ: כִּי קָדוֹשׁ, אֲנִי יְהוָה אֱלֹהֵיכֶם, “you are to be holy because God is holy.”  That is the central verse to a book that is about being holy but also doing holy things.  The word holy is קדוש (kadosh), and regardless of the form it takes, it basically means “sacred” or to “consecrate” (sanctify).  In short, being holy is about assigning something as holy (sacred or set apart) just as much as it is about the act of doing holy things (or to consecrate/sanctify them).  That is how we need to comprehend the sacrificial system of Vayikra, a parsha connected to our previous parshiyot about the Mishkan.  Remember that the Mishkan is a divinely ordained place (both by people and God) where the community and the individual could gather for their spiritual and ritual sacred moments with the Holy. The sacrificial system is a ritual established at the beginning of Leviticus that is about approaching that sense of holiness.  Therefore, the word קרבן (korban) comes from Leviticus 1:2 that says, אָדָם כִּי-יַקְרִיב מִכֶּם קָרְבָּן, לַיהוָה, “When any person brings an offering unto the LORD.”  In looking at that sentence the words יקריב (yakreev, brings) and קרבן (korban, offering) come from the same Hebrew word לקרב (l’ka’rayv) that means “to approach” or draw near.  We need to understand that the sacrifice (קרבן, korban) is about drawing near, which itself is a holy action (or consecrated act), done for the sake of the Holy other, or in this case God. 

     Rashi reflects on the doing of the sacrifices as being voluntary (נדבה, n’davah, free-will donation) given that they are birthed from each person’s self-motivated choice (also see Lev. 7:16).  We can look to Mussar Rabbi David Jaffee who to me rightly juxtaposes a person’s choice to offer a sacrifice of נדבה (n’davah, free-will donation) with the middah (or character trait) of נדיבות (n’divut), or generosity.  The word נדיבות (n’divut) is the same middah attached to the generosity of the people who gave for the building of the Mishkan in Exodos 25 because it represented a higher value that they deemed as קדוש (kadosh), or set apart.  R’Jaffee teaches that the word for free-will offering and the place of generosity come from the same root (נ.ד.ב., inf. לקרב, l’ka’rayv), because in order to “draw close” to offer a sacrifice it cannot come from a “sense of obligation,” ultimately coming from an individual that without coercion or mandate generously gives freely.  However, like the difference between ברית מילה (b’rit milah; physical circumcision) and של הלב ברית מילה (b’rit milah shel halayv; or the circumcision of heart), we learn that while you can mandate a physical rite such as physical circumcision you cannot legislate internal motivations that are based on the circumcision of heart.  Although another topic,  that is the reason why physical circumcision is one of the 613 commandments and circumcision of heart is not, but either is קְדֹשִׁים תִּהְיוּ: כִּי קָדוֹשׁ, אֲנִי יְהוָה אֱלֹהֵיכֶם, “you are to be holy because God is holy.”  Being holy and doing holy go together, but “being” cannot be legislated since it is a personal choice.
     The late Rabbi Harold Schulweis, z”l, said “people might not want to make religion their home but they do not want to be homeless spiritually.”  I think those words have everything to do with the relationship between spiritually and religion, which I also feel is embedded in this parsha, reminding the reader that they cannot have one without the other.  With that, it says in the Midrash from Genesis Rabbah 44:1 that “the precepts were given only that a person might be refined by them.”  The precepts, or chukkat (divine degrees), which the sacrifices were, are the “religion” that gives voice to help refine the middot of Israel spiritually.  Looking at it that way we can learn that the ritual sacrifices find their value is what they became more so than what they were.  In this case the idea of sacrifices already existed in Egypt and other like cultures to appease their gods until Israel redeemed them as a ritual for giving thanks to the God that brought them out of slavery, or their sense of what is Holy.  Judaism gives us rituals that allow us to exercise our own spirituality, thus those who do not want to be spirituality homeless can chose to redeem Judaism, or religion, so it can become a valuable home.  But the bigger message is as follows. We must let our internal sense of holiness be foundational for the holy acts we consecrate as important so that they may be redemptive for us and our world.

Shabbat Shalom!

Parashat Yayakhel-Pekudei - But if we can’t gather who should we blame?

                                                               רפואה מן התורה

Healing from the Torah

Parashat Yayakhel-Pekudei 

Exodus 35:1-40:38

By Adam Ruditsky

     In Yayakhel-Pekudei Moses gathered (he gathered, ויקהל, yayahhel) all Israel together to give an  “accounting of” (פקודי, pekudei) of what happened during the construction of the Mishkan.  We need to approach this parsha differently given the realities of today, therefore this Torah has a universal message, and is just not for us Jews.  The fact is we cannot gather together right now, yet we must still give an accounting of our doings.
     Each day there is an overabundance of fear inciting news, showing panic buying with long lines at markets, giving potential virus numbers by city, state, country and beyond, anxieties exist over sweeping changes as a potential lockdown looms if it has not already occurred, with many of our mothers and fathers being told not to leave their homes.  Of course we cannot put our heads in the sand either, tuning out important information also in the news regarding conduct, safety, instructions and so forth.  I do however need to break my own rule by doing what I avoid in these Drashrot (teachings), or when I speak in public where my motto is “we can talk about issues but not politics.”  We all know our country is very divided politically, and in particular over President Donald Trump, but this crisis has brought out some things that stand diametrically opposed to not only Jewish values, but human ones as well.  In Judaism we oppose
הבריות  שנאת (s’nat habriot), the hatred of people, and value פיקוח נפש (pikuach nefesh) or saving a life.  I have read on social media over the past few days (true or not is no matter, it is posted) that there are people who want this virus to cause personal harm to Donald Trump or hurt others in order to impact Trumps re-election.  Taking account for self, orחשבון הנפש  (chesbon hanefesh), has everything to do with how we react, and we must resist the possibility and/or temptation to disintegrate into a fear driven behavior that can be spiteful or hateful.  This type of situation no doubt tests our humanity in terms of reaction, but also in hope and resolve.
     A such, Yayakhel-Pekudei are the final two parshiyot of five that are dedicated to the building of the Mishkan, but it is much more than that.  The children of Israel were asked to give of their gold, silver, silk, wool and other valuables to help with the construction of everything associated with the Mishkan till the following was said in Exodus 36:6-7: “And Moses gave commandment, and they caused it to be proclaimed throughout the camp, saying: 'Let neither man nor woman make any more work for the offering of the sanctuary.' So the people were restrained from bringing. For the stuff they had was sufficient for all the work.”   While the generation that came out of slavery were often guided by fear, and understandably complained here or there, the Mishkan gave them something to invest in and represented the resolve of their immediate future hopes.  In the midst of this construction a man rose up named B’tzalel (בצלאל, a shadow of God), a man filled with God’s presence and wisdom according to Exodus 35:31, taking from the people’s abundance to help create objects in the Mishkan such as the Aron (the Ark that held the stone tablets), the Shulchan, (the table for the show bread) and the Menorah (that was to remain lit perpetually).
     In this case B’tzalel, along with Oholiav (אהליאב) and others called כל חכם לב (Chol chacham layv, or wise of heart ), participated in the construction of the Mishkan for the sake of God in the physical world.  B’tzalel however was a man of a notable lineage identified not only by his father but also his grandfather Hur (cf. Ex. 35:30), Hur descending from the lineage of Miriam according to Rashi, a man that we read about in the Talmud who was killed for opposing the sin of the Golden Calf (cf. BT Sotah 11b).  Yet B’tzalel was not only a man of famed lineage but a man who was chosen for a purpose because he also stood for the ways of God in his world (Midrash, Exodus R. 48:3).  Referring back to Genesis 1:27 that says, “And God created man in His own image, in the image of God; male and female God created them,” we learn the following.  The Chofetz Chaim teaches that “Derech Eretz kadmah l’Torah,” or the proper way to act that proceeded the arrival the Torah (and creation of the physical world), means that one who possess “daat Torah,” or Torah religion, is capable of solving all the world’s problems both in general and in particular since they are created in God’s image.  B’tzalel is a man who can been seen in that light, raising up as a “shadow of God” with that understanding of “daat Torah,” using the inspired human gift of creation in his case to help create the beauty of the Mishkan.  Likewise, I do not think it is an oversimplification to say that a person (or persons) in this world will rise up as a creator and respond by finding a vaccine and treatment for this COVID-19 virus that has invaded our planet.  Yeah, I guess some may see that as a naive pie in the sky “God” based belief, I get that.  But for me this is about that sense of human hope and resolve, something rooted in our God given resiliency during seasons of crisis when the chosen best will rise up, looking beyond and within at times of need.
     We cannot gather right because of a virus that cannot yet be controlled, but assigning blame as opposed to a constructive criticism of concern, accomplishes nothing.  We can however give an accounting for how we elect to carry ourselves.  It is important that we use our abilities to stay relationally connected in order to lift each other up while steering clear of harmful and thoughtless behaviors.  I want to be a part of the כל חכם לב (Chol chacham layv), or wise of heart, that seek a solution; something we can all contribute to in our own way.  The Mishkan represented a sign of newness for a people who were in the middle of the wilderness where God would “will dwell among them.”  Likewise we too are in a wilderness of sorts, also seeking God in one way or another, calling upon the ideas of hope and resolve while looking for a sense of normalcy.  We cannot escape our wilderness right now, so we must love and support each other with care and patience.  Therefore, hold those who you love close, avoid שנאת הבריות (s’nat habriot), the hatred of people, pray for answers and healing, and treat others the way you want to be treated simply because it is the right thing to do. That is the Torah’s medicine for the spirit. חזק ונתחזיק  חזק (Chazak Chazak, v’nitchazek), Be strong, be strong, and may we be strengthened!
                                                         

Shabbat Shalom!

Parashat Ki Tisa - Houston, we have a Problem!

רפואה מן התורה

Healing from the Torah

Parashat Ki Tisa

Exodus 30:11-34:35

By Adam Ruditsky

     

     After a benign beginning, Parashat Ki Tisa becomes very messy with a host of problems that need explanation.  The biggest one, which aside from touching on we are going to largely skip in this drash, is the story of the Golden Calf that was one of Israel’s worst collective sins.  A challenge with this parsha is that there is so much to say given its many themes.  Still, as we shall see, each word is connected to the next although for us we will look primarily at the temple tax (30:13-16), the Shabbat (31:12-17) and the crown of the covenant (33:4-6).

     In the beginning of this parsha Ki Tisa (כי תשא) we read, כי תשא את ראש בנ ישראל (ki tisa et rosh b’nai Yisrael).  While ki tisa (כי תשא) literally means “for you will lift up,” the expanded phrase  כי תשא את ראש בנ ישראל  is translated  “when you take a census of the children of Israel,” (lit. when you left up each head of the children of Israel).  The census itself was carried out by the way of taxation, but not a tax system that is based on different percentages for the poor, middle class, upper class and the extreme upper class, but העשיר לו ירבה והדל לא ימעיט, “the wealthy will not give more and the poor will not give less,” each giving half a shekel.  The point of this tax is the equality of each person regardless of their station in life, as each stood before God at Mt Sinai and said, “all that God has spoken we will do.”  Each person was to take responsibility for their own conduct based upon their spoken declaration of fidelity to the covenant, the tax just affirmed that.  The tax itself was to “atone for your souls,” which for Rashi was an opportunity to help build what was sacred in their midst regarding the Mishkan, a way of giving to one’s own personal conviction as opposed to an atonement like on Yom Kippur.  Yet then we read that those who did not obligate themselves to that affirmation, in particular to keeping the Shabbat, would be put to death; that seems incredibly harsh (cf. Ex. 31:14).  Again appealing to Rashi, he teaches that this has to do with a lack of sanctity (holiness).  Rabbi Elie Munk, a modern voice, says this is a crime of a religious nature against the keeping of the Shabbat that is a “moral sin.”  Rabbi Munk continues to teach that the one who breaks the Shabbat has “excluded [themselves], spiritually speaking, from the fellowship of [the] people by betraying [the] mission and [the] ideal of holiness.”  Holding that up next to the idolatry of the Golden Calf just does seem right, but death for some wrongs is not just physical.  Still, the nature and purpose of Shabbat was not just a day, but a symbol of a people who generation to generation would be “anointed” to be a  “kingdom of priests and a holy nation” (see Ex 19:6 and from this parsha 30:31); Rashi teaching that this anointing still “exists for the future” of the Jewish people, meaning symbolically that applies to us today.  Anointing is a ritual of consecration to something, in this case Torah and its values, which is connected to the “crown” that was removed after Israel’s sin with the Golden Calf.
     The word “crown” is normally written as כתר (keter) although in Ki Tisa from 33:4 it is from עדי (adi), which not only has been translated as crown, but also as ornament or finery.  Although the word עדי (adi) has a broader meaning than just a crown per se that sits upon a head, Rashi reflecting on Shabbat 88a, calls עדיו (edyo, lit. his crown) from 33:4 כתרים (k’tarim) that means “crowns.”  Above it was restated that when Israel stood before God at Mt Sinai and received the initial commandments they all said, “what God has spoken we will do.”  In Shabbat 88a we read that מלאכי השרת (malacai hasharet), ministering angels, came upon Israel at that moment because they replied נעשה לנשמע (na’aseh l’nishma), we will do for we will hear, to what was commanded.  As their reward the מלאכי השרת wove two-crowns (כתרים, k’tarim) to place upon the heads of the Israelites that day; one crown being for נעשה (we will do) and the other being for לנשמע (we will hear).  Yet, as a result of Israel’s sin with the Golden Calf, Shabbat 88a also says that this time מלכאי חבלה (malacai chabalah),  angels of destruction, came and removed NOT the כתרים, BUT עדים (edyam, their ornaments), perhaps suggesting that what was removed was much greater than just a physical crown itself.  The crown (עדי and not כתר) really can be connected with last week and the idea of the scared garments of conviction that the High Priest wore, and by extension all of Israel who were called to be a “kingdom of priests and a holy nation.”  In this week’s parsha the crowns were removed after the sin of the Golden Calf because Israel made the choice in that moment to remove their communal garments of conviction that made them who they were to be, symbolized by the warning regarding the desecration of the Shabbat with its stated results being death, to which we said was just not physical.  What happened with the Golden Calf was a result of not standing upon their declaration of נעשה לנשמע” (na’aseh l’nishma; we will do to we will hear), not listening to their inner convictions and as a result lost the reward of their crowns/ornaments/finery.
     Now, I am going to add the following.  Yes, our tradition sees the Golden Calf as one of Israel’s most egregious sins, but that is not what had them wondering for 40 years.  God is also not a task master, they had one of those in Egypt, and to see what happened as God being punitive with a people who just came out of Egypt and were being transformed into a free people I think is a poor way to see this story.  The God of this story is the God we pray to on Yom Kippur that is “merciful and gracious, long-suffering, and abundant in goodness and truth; keeping mercy unto the thousandth generation, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin” (cf. Ex. 34:6-7).  The standards of Torah that includes laws and practices in this parsha touches upon having no other gods and the Shabbat (see Ex. 20:3,8), but also new laws for the practices of Shavuot and Passover are mentioned (cf. Ex. 34:22, 25).  We learn in this parsha that each person (i.e. the temple tax) was not to turn their back on the idea of נעשה לנשמע, and again looking at it as egalitarian despite how it is written, every person had the potential of corrupting the garments of holiness and therefore losing the crowns of their reward.
     The mindful laws and practices of mind, body and spirit today, as they were then, are for our benefit to help the process of נעשה לנשמע, but if a person elects to act otherwise there can be unwanted consequences.  Putting that another way, I read that as “you made your bed now lay in it,” which I understand to mean that my poor choices can lead to bad results, yet while often redeemable, I may still have to pay the price as well.  Like I said, this is a messy parsha, but so is being human.

Shabbat Shalom!

Parashat Tetzaveh - These Garments are to be seen as Egalitarian for a Reason!

רפואה מן התורה

Healing from the Torah

Parashat Tetzaveh

Exodus 27:20-30:10

By Adam Ruditsky

     Tetzaveh (you will command) finds Moses instructing the people of Israel regarding the continued construction of the Mishkan and specifically about the הבגדים (hab’b’gadim or the garments) that Aaron the High Priest would wear as he stood before God on Israel’s behalf.  Rabbi Jonathan Sacks teaches when the High Priest wore these garments they carried a message that “was to be a signal of transcendence to himself (so that Aaron saw himself as) a living symbol of the Divine Presence in the midst of the nation.”  However, seeking to confront this male dominated text about the Cohanim (Priests), Rabbis Sara Paasche-Orlow and Leah Lewis offer suggestions how to better approach this parsha in today’s Jewish egalitarian world. 

     As far R’Paasche-Orlow, she calls these garments a  “message of equality between men and women.”  Although mentioned in the context of Tachrichim, or the gender neutral white burial shroud, for Paasche-Orlow the real equality of men and women begin in the home that evokes “a more egalitarian model” than the Temple of old.  In this case the home replaced the Temple whereas the Shabbat Table replaced the alter, with the husband and wife dressed in their Shabbat הבגדים, replacing the role of the Temple based Cohanim.  Not intended to separate singles or same-sex couples in anyway, Paasche-Orlow makes her point by looking to the roles of a husband and wife on Shabbat.  As such, it is the wife for the sake of the family who is given the honor each week to kindle the lights that welcome in the Shabbat “continuously,” just as the Cohanim were tasked with the duties of keeping the ner talmid burning “continuously.”  The priesthood symbolize a more egalitarian Jewish practice as well as service, or avodah.  R’Lewis approaches the הבגדים, or the garments differently, here evoking the idea of anavah (ענוה), or humility.  One the one hand, the High Priest stood before the entire assembly of Israel bearing upon his chest the חשן (the choshen or breastplate) with its 12 different kinds but equally sized stones that represented each tribe.  For Aaron, leading the ritual life of Israel took anavah, because if he forgot his place it could lead to an “inflated sense of self” if not careful.  On the other hand, this was also a test of anavah for all of Israel.  The 12 stones on the choshen had no center, no stone was more important than the next, each tribe had its rightful place as part of the whole.  In this case, both for the High Priest and the entire assembly of Israel, the lesson of anavah called for a “divine balance” that means “no more and no less” in attitude and behavior.  So while one view was about avodah (service), and the other about anavah (humility), each emerged from the meaning of the Priestly garb.
     Rashi and Rabbi Joseph Soloveitchik, although not writing from an egalitarian Jewish world-view, certainly add to the spiritual “message of equality between men and women” if we chose to read them that way.  Regarding the choshen then, which is first mentioned in Exodus 28:4, we read that it would be a part of the High Priests בגד קדש, or Holy Garments.  Rashi spends and extensive amount of time explaining how these garments were donned by the High Priest, and regarding the choshen, Rashi simply notes that it was attached to the Ephod with a chain on either side and hung “over the High Priest in front of him.”  But when the choshen is first mentioned Rashi says that it was an “ornament worn opposite the heart.”  Rabbi Joseph Soloveitchik teaches that the choshen was a part of the greater character of the High Priest that included “intelligence and knowledge” as well as “love and affection of Israel.”  However regarding the choshen itself, Soloveitchik teaches that it worn “on Aaron’s heart” as opposed to Rashi who said that it was worn “opposite the heart.
     I think it is worth noting, even if simplistically, that the distinction between opposite and on can be significant.  Opposite can still be detached from; hence you have two random people sitting “opposite” of each other in a specific waiting room only because they share the same doctor.  On denotes partnership with; a certain couple is discussing an important matter of life, which requires their unity even if not full agreement, as they need to make sure that together they are both “on” the same page.  Sure you can read these words in different ways, but in this drash the action that is produced which comes from the heart should not be “opposite” from each other, but like the relationship between keva (the fixed prayers) and kavanah (the inward attention of the one praying) they are dependent “on” each other.

     This idea of “on” or “opposite” that came from the teachings of Rashi and Rabbi Joseph Soloveitchik can be read as egalitarian because we all put on garments of one kind or another. According to Rabbi Sara Paasche-Orlow the garments are about the equality of avodah (service) between men and women.  According to Rabbi Leah Lewis the garments are about anavah (humility) in how we all carry ourselves.  Whether for personal, professional, spiritual or social, interactions and/or relationships, we all wear garments of conviction that can help us to transcend every situation with proper attitudes and behaviors.  Last week we talked about יִדְּבֶנּוּ לִבּוֹ (yid’d’vehnu libo), a heart that motivates us to do the right thing, and the right thing finds its voice in garments that are sacred.  For Judaism that is just not reserved for the ways of the Rabbi or the Cantor, but for every person, hence Israel was called in Torah מַמְלֶכֶת כֹּהֲנִים, וְגוֹי קָדוֹש, a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.  This is why these garments are to be seen as Egalitarian, meaning that no matter your identity or identification, each of us is cloaked with a garment of conviction.  The mindful key to the garments of our Priesthood; they just do not exist as opposite of who we are, but they are to be worn on our hearts, acting in tandem with whom we strive to become.   

Shabbat Shalom!