Holy City Prayer

Special Chafetz Chaim Study Project In Memory of Edith (Ita bat Eliyahu) Penzner z"l

2007-06-03T14:41:00.001+03:00

Dear Friends,

It is traditional to complete the study of a Jewish text (usually the Mishna or a tractate of the Talmud) in honor of a recently deceased person.

Our mother, mother-in-law, and grandmother, Edith (Ita bat Eliyahu) Penzner z"l, passed away last Friday morning in her sleep. Devra is sitting shiva at our home until Thursday morning, June 7.

One of Edith z"l's outstanding traits was Truth.

In memory of our mother, mother-in-law, and grandmother, we have decided to launch a special learning program.

We urge you to study one chapter of the classical Jewish book of guarding our speech, the Chafetz Chaim, in memory of Ita bat Eliyahu zichrona livracha.

Please choose one chapter of this book according to the following table (preferably according to your birthday to try to spread the coverage) and complete it by Edith z"l's shloshim, July 3 2007 (19 Tamuz 5767). You can certainly study more than one chapter.

Please notify us of the chapter you have chosen at chofetzchaim@holycityprayer.com, and again when you have fulfilled your pledge.

An English rendition of the Chafetz Chaim book can be found online at http://torah.org/learning/halashon/.

A Hebrew precis (sort of) can be found at http://www.netsor.org/halachot.asp.

In any case, it is a good idea to purchase the book in Hebrew or English, available at all Jewish bookstores.

Please forward this email to your friends and relatives who you think might appreciate getting it. Our apologies if you receive it more than once.

1	Hakdama, Introduction, page 1
2	Hakdama, Introduction, page 2
3	Hakdama, Introduction, page 3
4	Hakdama, Introduction, page 4
5	Hakdama, Introduction, page 5
6	Hakdama, Introduction, page 6
7	Hakdama, Introduction, page 7
8	Hakdama, Introduction, page 8
9	Peticha, Preamble
10	Lavin (Negative Commandments)
11	Asin (Positive Commandments)
12	Arurin (Curses)
13	Hilchot Lashon Hara, Klal 1 (Laws of Improper Speech, Chapter 1)
4	Hilchot Lashon Hara, Klal 2
15	Hilchot Lashon Hara, Klal 3
16	Hilchot Lashon Hara, Klal 4
17	Hilchot Lashon Hara, Klal 5
18	Hilchot Lashon Hara, Klal 6
19	Hilchot Lashon Hara, Klal 7
20	Hilchot Lashon Hara, Klal 8
21	Hilchot Lashon Hara, Klal 9
22	Hilchot Lashon Hara, Klal 10
23	Hilchot Rechilut, Klal 1 (Laws of Gossip)
24	Hilchot Rechilut, Klal 2
25	Hilchot Rechilut, Klal 3
26	Hilchot Rechilut, Klal 4
27	Hilchot Rechilut, Klal 5
28	Hilchot Rechilut, Klal 6
29	Hilchot Rechilut, Klal 7
30	Hilchot Rechilut, Klal 8
31	Hilchot Rechilut, Klal 9

Thanks and God Bless,

Gidon and Devra (nee Penzner) Ariel

Mitzpe Nevo 29, Maale Adumim 02-5354586

Co-Founders, The Holy City Prayer Society

jerusalem@holycityprayer.com

http://www.holycityprayer.com

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From Moshe Mordechai: Parashat Vayeishev: The Scroll of Joseph

2006-12-18T23:06:00.000+02:00

Parashat Vayeishev: The Scroll of Joseph

In general a Portion of the week that we read on Shabbat ends on a happy
note. Even the various sections that people are called up for, some seven
per Shabbat, finish in a positive point. Similarly in weekday readings, when
the first of the section to be read the next Shabbat is split up into three
parts, each of them will end well. And even when the Reader misses the
proper place to halt, he will only stop after a Verse that has a positive
connotation.

So look at the ending of this week's Portion. Joseph was going to spend
another two years in jail (Genesis 40:23). What was so uplifting about that?

The simplest answer is that there is nothing so good about that and that the
Rabbis wanted to make a point here by having the division before the happy
end. The logical question then is why. Let's get into the details.

The story of Joseph is one big, long tragedy. His mother dies in giving
birth to him (Genesis 35:16-19). He's hated by his own brothers who couldn't
even speak peaceably to him (Genesis 37:4). After he told them his first
dream they hated him even more (37:5 and 8). About his second dream his
father scolded him (10) and his brothers were jealous of him (11). Then they
even conspired to kill him (18-20). They would leave the job though to
snakes and scorpions (22, 24) and when they had decided to sell him to
Ishmaelites (27) Midianite traders got him out already (28) and actually
sold him Ishmaelites (28) who brought him to Egypt (28). Now the Medanites
sold him Potiphar, one of the mightiest men under Pharaoh (36). His brothers
made their father believe that he was killed by wild beasts (33), so he was
all alone in a powerful, hostile, defiled country, and his trouble was only
beginning.

All goes very well in his master's home till his wife invites him to "lie"
with her (39:7). He refuses and corrects the Primordial Sin of (not) taking
the only thing forbidden (compare 2:16-7 "of every tree freely eat; but" and
39:9 ("and he has denied me nothing but")). However, she did not take no for
an answer and when he flees when she actually attempts to get physical he
gets accused of starting up with her and thrown in jail. Ten years in jail
and no way in sight to get out. Just one tiny chance to have someone speak
up for him to free him (40:14), and the last Verse of our reading reports us
that that lead is dead (40:23). And then: Tune in next week, for more
suspense, when.

Why this sour ending? I believe that this is to stress what is the main idea
about the whole story of Joseph, as he himself reveals in the end (45:5).
That all that happened comes from G^d and therefore will end well. Like
Joseph didn't worry about a happy ending, we shouldn't. Even if no solution
seems approaching. This is even more famous about the Purim story - also a
mind-boggling cascade of seeming misfortune that ends miraculously well. And
the Chanuka story, in which the many fell into the hands of the few, is
similar. Chanuka we celebrate in the time that we read about Joseph. (If
it's up to me we can call the story of Joseph the Scroll of Joseph to be
read at Chanuka time.)

Ai, but then the Tora reading could always be arrested at any point. We
should always see G^d's hand behind the scenes and believe and trust that
all is well. There would be no need to stop at a positive point, no? No for
two reasons. Firstly, then this bitter ending here would have been nothing
special, not stood out, so the message would not have come out that we
shouldn't worry this time - or ever. Secondly, the Tora and the Author take
into account that people are just people. We need reassurance. Each of us.
(I always find that very reassuring: that we all need that.) Not so much
comfort that we have no freedom to develop trust anymore, and have no choice
but to be optimists. But we all need encouragement. Even Joseph received his
portion. When he was taken away to Egypt he noticed that this was a caravan
trading in spices. He realized that they could have dealt in things that had
an unpleasant smell or no smell at all. So from this he understood that even
when he was brought down to the morally lowest country (Egypt at the time)
from the very Holy Land, that G^d was going to be with him all the way, and
he worried no more.

So in general by the end of the Tora readings we get reminded every time
that all is going well. This week through the special end of the Reading we
get reminded that even when things don't seem to go in a good way, they go
well. There is no Commandment to worry.

Reb Nachman was called by Reb Shlomo Carlebach the Rebbi of the Messiah. He
used to say that we all need two rabbis: our own one and Reb Nachman.
Followers of Reb Shlomo say of course that we all need three rabbis: Reb
Nachman, Reb Shlomo and our own Rabbi. Reb Nachman says that in life we need
to learn three things.

The first thing to learn is how to stand and how to walk. To stand means to
pray and to walk means to do the Commandments. The second thing to learn is
how to fall and how to get up. The third thing is what to do when we fall so
badly that we can't get up. Then we keep standing (praying) and walking
(doing Good) till one day we find out that we didn't fall at all. How could
we have fallen: He was holding us so close. Gut Chanuka.

MM: This is the Word of G^d coming to you!!!

2006-11-30T10:22:00.000+02:00

I don't mean just the words below, but all the pieces that I write on the
Portion of the week and other Jewish issues of interest.

People that know me a little but haven't seen me for a while might be taken
aback a bit by this revelation, or even get slightly worried about my mental
state of health. Has he finally lost it? You don't need to worry - I'm fine,
thank G^d.

When G^d communicates with us, how does He do that if at all?

When G^d teaches us through our teachers, or directly by inserting thoughts
and associations into our brain, He doesn't say: My word is your command.
That is the way One speaks to Angels or robots. (Blind obedience is also the
goal of brainwashing.) But Humans (by His will) have a Free Will, emotions
and intelligence and therefore need a different approach.

He doesn't spell it all out when He communicates with us. He gives sparse
hints. And not just in our days. Already with all of the greatest of the
Prophets He worked like that. (Except for with Moses - He spelled it out to
him at least some of the time.)

Anyone who teaches Judaism with integrity teaches the word of G^d. No less.
That's what I claim about my teachings too. Ongoing Revelation. And the only
way to learn Judaism from this is to wonder about such a Jewish text, to
fight it or to let it work on our emotions. That's exactly what I want from
my readers. That we engage in the text. What we read, does it help us better
realize what He wants from us? Is it a good enough wrestling partner for us?
Des it speak to our hearts?

On the other hand, if writings are passively absorbed they have escaped the
chain of transmission of the Jewish Tradition. They need to challenge, sow
trouble, rock boats, slaughter sacred cows, disrupt the status quo, fight
indifference, raise eyebrows, make us uncomfortable. His words and ideas
need to make us suddenly aware, cry, shiver, growl, laugh, blush, sweat,
talk, yawn or feel unsettled (confused, scared, sad) or zestful (loved,
proud, connected, calm).

True wholehearted obedience only comes after understanding. Naaseh v'nishma
- We will do and understand. First we need to wrestle with it, argue it or
be touched by it. Only after that we can obey as full-fledged people. And
then we made the knowledge our own so that we can be a link in the chain of
the spreading of the ongoing Revelation. And then when we go teach we can
say "This is the Word of G^d coming to you!!!"

Bareich . bakol

2006-11-19T09:00:00.001+02:00

>From Moshe Mordechai...

"Now Abraham was old, well on in years, and G^d had blessed (bareich)
Abraham with everything (bakol)" (Genesis 24:1).

The word bakol screams out for explanation. Why? Because it's kind of funny.
Your wife of decades, who was your companion in all you did, unexpectedly
dies; your only heir to your dynasty is well on in years himself and still
Holy but also a persistent wallflower. And G^d blessed Abraham bakol? He was
lacking nothing? C'mon! This passage seems out of place. Why is Abraham
described as blessed with "everything" after he buries his wife and before
he sends his servant out to find a partner for Isaac?

Rashi links this passage to Abraham's desire to find a wife for Isaac - this
would make the blessing truly complete. Others see it as an introduction to
is coming next, telling us Abraham's motivation to look for a daughter in
law: he has so much blessing, and soon his servant 'Eli'ezer, who is in
charge of everything, will want his daughter to marry Isaac. Many other
suggestions as to what this extra blessing of bakol could have been are
given.

The numeric value of bakol is 52, the same as in ben, son. This alludes to
the ultimate blessing that Abraham received in his son Isaac. Rabbi Meir
says that Abraham was blessed by not having a daughter. In Abraham's time
and in his unique circumstances, who could she have married? The only
options would have been idle-worshippers. That would have detracted from
Abraham's blessing. But others object that Abraham's greatness meant that if
a daughter would have completed his fortunes, he would have had one and G^d
would have taken care of having a proper partner for her in reserve. Rabbi
Yehuda says that Abraham's extra blessing was that he did have a daughter.
Some add that his daughter's name was. Bakol!

The opinion of Rabbi Levi in Midrash Rabba and other places is that Abraham
was blessed with three things: 1) he ruled over his Evil Inclination. That
is to say that he was in mental control of every situation. This might seem
to be a boring lifestyle, but the real goodness of this is that if you are
in control of your emotions you can always be happy and satisfied. 2) His
son Ishmael repented during his life time. 3) His storehouse lacked nothing.
Also he had wife that respected him. (The Midrash says that four things
cause premature aging: living in fear; being angry at children; a bad wife;
and war.) Sarah respected Abraham and even called him "sir." It is very
important for a husband to respect his wife. It is no less important for a
woman to respect her husband. Some might argue that a wife calling her
husband sir can distance them. But too much respect is certainly better than
the screaming matches. Rabbi Levi said in the name of R. Hama: bakol means
that God did not test him again. Having calm and a peaceful time, without a
new crisis every day, is a complete blessing in and of itself!

The Jerusalem Talmud says that bakol means that Abraham lived in a town that
had a doctor, a bath house, and a court which has jurisdiction to
incarcerate and punish people. Some add that it must have a vegetable store.
>From here we see that the environment can be a blessing. In addition,
Abraham was world famous for his hospitality and was respected as a powerful
person. Rabbi Eli'ezer HaModai says that Abraham was blessed with an
understanding of astrology and that he was consulted by noblemen from far
and wide. Rabbi Shim'on bar Yochai says that Abraham had a precious stone
with curative powers that would heal all who gazed upon it. These two
opinions identify bakol as Abraham's prominent position in the world. This
fits with his role as "father of many nations". The Ibn Ezra in defining
bakol states that "G^d had given Abraham long life, wealth, honor,
children..." Abraham had reached the zenith of his life, able to reflect
upon a meaningful existence filled with the joys of both the spiritual and
the physical. The progenitor of Monotheism, his years on earth represented a
constant ascent.

On the word bakol the Midrash says that Abraham was blessed in both the
upper realms as well as down here in the physical domain. Okay, very nice,
but what exactly does that mean? The Chassidic Master the B'er Mayim Chayim
explains: We normally assume that there is no reward for our spiritual
accomplishments in this world. We must wait for the world to come for our
payment for services rendered to G^d. So, that raises the question, what is
then this bakol? The Rebbe feels this can be explained by the fact that
there are two categories of Commandments. One type is the performance of
mandated acts that only have an impact on High. However, there is another
brand, which makes an impression on this world - especially on other people,
and in that way makes this a better world. Category One sets up an account
in Heaven to be drawn on upon arrival after 120 years. Category Two
influences the nature of life down here, and so creates credit both here and
in the World to come. Abraham is Mr. Kindness. The nature of his activities
has a marvelous impact on people and his era. Therefore Abraham was both
making deposits in his celestial account and receiving earthly bliss. That
is truly being blessed in everything and in every way: bakol.

One commentator says that bakol means that Abraham's relationship with G^d
was complete, encompassing all of his heart, all of his soul, and all of his
might. Yet another says that Abraham lived in such a way that he shared
blessings with the collective, so that his own sense of blessing was
magnified. Finally, one writer says that Abraham was blessed with a sense of
the all, with a sense of abundance, so that whatever he had, he felt that he
had enough (Itturei Torah). Abraham's greatness derives in part from this
sense that he knew how to appreciate what he was given, even in the midst of
a lifetime that included more than its share of suffering and complexity.

Nice - he had a lot and he was pleased with all he had. But that is not
having everything - and most Commentators seem to explain that he did have
it all. Besides: it says then that G^d gave him all; if he was grateful
despite the fact that he didn't have all, it should say that Abraham was
making himself happy.

So we still need an answer how Abraham could have been so fulfilled despite
the fact that he suffered a lot, lost his dearest wife and had not seen his
principle son married. I would like to suggest that an answer may lie not in
possible meanings of the word bakol but rather in the word bareich ("He had
blessed"). We know that Baruch really means "a Source of blessing," because
it is related to the word b'reicha, meaning: spring, and not:
blessing/blessed. A Blessing that starts with Baruch Atta is a Declaration,
and translates: "You are [solely] a Source of Blessing", not: "You are
blessed" (whatever that's supposed to mean). Therefore I feel that it's not
too far-fetched to believe that what it really says in our verse is that G^d
had made Abraham a Source of all Blessings. As it says in Genesis 22:18,
26:4 and 28:14: that the Patriarchs will be the prototype for being a
source of blessing. The worst thing that can possible happen to anyone is
when we can only receive, be a beggar. The best state is to be a source of
blessing, a giver, a partner with G^d. The very best is to be termed a
Source of all blessing by the One Who is that Source. Bakol. Life is not
about what we can get but gets value by what we can give.

Parashat Chayei Sara: The Marriage of Mild & Strict

2006-11-19T09:00:00.000+02:00

>From MM:

With the third word of the Hebrew Bible, G^d makes His first appearance with
one of his Holy Names. He uses the one that connotes Strict Justice (Din):
Elo-heem. Only in the forth verse of the second chapter do we see a change
in the Name(s) that G^d uses, to teach us how He started everything. There
He introduces, together with the former Name, the Name that implies Mildness
(Rachamim): Ado-nai, together emerging as: Ado-nai Elo-heem. This is what we
call: Mildness in Strict Justice (Rachamim baDin). The Rabbis teach us that
provides a lesson for us: G^d wants us to know that He would have liked to
have made a world in which all was sound and worked as it should have, but
such perfection cannot exist outside of Him. So G^d "had to" introduce
Mildness to make the whole thing kind of stable, able to survive long enough
to be worked on towards perfection - giving Man both a purpose to exist and
the space to fail, to learn, to grow, to make mistakes, to repent, to
repair, to make up, to perfect and to be (good enough) as we are.

Similarly, in marriage both Strict Justice and Mildness are needed. So
Abraham, whose Loving Kindness for all was world famous, had to marry Sara
who could say about Hagar: out. Isaac, know for his dedication to Strictness
had to marry a girl who would not only quench the thirst of the stranger but
also of his camels. Eli'ezer left water in the bucket after drinking on
purpose. What could Rivkaleh do? Take the rest home - but who knows if this
guy wasn't sick? Throw it out - but that might insult the chap. She gave the
rest to his camels. (This doesn't mean, Heaven forbid, that Abraham and
Rivka were spineless pushovers and that Sara and Isaac were callous
bulldozers. They were each well balanced, wonderful people, but each with
their primal reaction and bias, for which it's great to have a counterweight
handy. As it says (Genesis 2:18): "Ado-nai Elo-heem said: It is not good
for Man to be alone with himself - I'll make him a helper opposite of him" -
in opposition of his Evil Inclination.)

And so is it till this day in marriage. Reb Shlomo Carlebach explains that
the Western idea of marriage seems to be to leave each other alone, while
the Jewish ideal about Marriage is to balance each other. Rav Eliyahu
Shlesinger says that if both parents have as their default mindset Strict
Justice the kids have no life. Everything is constantly judged and everyone
has to do their very best all the time. Vacations, free time, sleep and even
breaks are a waste of time. Mistakes have to be avoided at all costs and fun
is idleness. But if both parents are always mellow, their children have no
life either. All is OK, no limits are ever set and they grow up in total
insecurity of the workings of this world and even in doubt if anyone loves
them at all. The trick is to create a duo in which both spouses balance each
other. Both appreciate the amazingly fresh impute and vision of their soul
mate, and as a team they make life as great and human as it should be, and
help each other to become more balanced in themselves. Some people are
easily mild about one thing while tend to be more strict about another. It's
great if in each case one has a partner who will be there with you to create
a united and balanced approach.

The President and I

2006-11-13T23:08:00.001+02:00

One does not need to read Jimmy Carter's latest book about the Middle East
to know what it says. The title says it all, "Palestine: Peace Not
Apartheid." Nobody will be surprised that this is his latest forum through
which to bash Israel. Carter has done so for the better part of the last
three decades.

I have heard all of Carter's arguments. I will not waste time challenging
his position. He is almost universally wrong and his theories and fantasies
are based on how life in the Middle East should be rather than considering
the reality of how it is.

When I was a student at Emory University, Jimmy Carter was a guest lecturer
in many classes. The insight and stories of a former president would be
interesting to any college student, and Carter's lectures were most
engaging.

In the early 1980s Emory gained international attention with two events.
First was the donation to establish what was until then one of the largest
University endowments ever. Second was the decision by Jimmy Carter to
establish his Presidential Center at Emory. Both of these were good reasons
to pick Emory as an up and coming university with international acclaim.
Emory offered a great education, a vast network of organizations and social
causes, and opportunities to learn and grow in countless ways.

One of my early activities was with a new student newspaper, The Voice.
Early on, the editor published an article where he termed the Carter Center
as "Jimmy Carter's Presidency in exile." The editor questioned, after a
single term that was marked by double digit inflation, an increasing arms
race, and the Iran hostage crisis, what there was for Emory to celebrate by
having Carter make his home there. For expressing his views, the editor was
called to the dean's office and told not to embarrass the President like
that.

After graduating, I participated in a series of alumni Assemblies. These
conferences explored Emory's role within different fields of interest. The
last of those which I attended was entitled "Emory in the World."

The keynote address was delivered by Jimmy Carter. His speech took place
just weeks after returning from a trip to the Middle East during which
Carter visited one Arab capitol after another. The news reports were
centered on his harsh criticism of Israel. Perhaps it would have been
impolite to visit Arab leaders and criticize them to their face, so Israel
became the punching bag. The sole obstacle to peace. Yet, in visiting
Jerusalem, Carter made no mention of successive Arab wars against Israel,
ongoing Arab terrorism, nor the Arabs' near universal rejection of the right
of Israel to exist at all. Instead, Carter used his presence in Israel to
criticize Israel.

His speech at Emory took place during the last week of March.

Despite the title of the Assembly being Emory in the World, Carter devoted a
huge portion of his speech to berating Israel. His rhetoric was most
unfitting a former President, and embarrassing to me and many other alumni
with whom I discussed his remarks.

Following his speech, there was time for one question. Instantly, my hand
was in the air and I was picked. Being well taught by both my parents and
professors, I knew that to challenge Carter on the substance of his
arguments would have been a mistake, and impolite.

There are some things a person never forgets. My question to Jimmy Carter is
one of them.

"President Carter, first I want to thank you for the wonderful memory that I
have from this week in 1979 when you, President Sadat and Prime Minister
Begin stood together to sign the Camp David Accords. That day that changed
my life." Carter's smile was wider than the caricatures of him with his face
on a peanut.

"But President Carter, as a representative of Emory, is it not disingenuous
from an academic perspective to travel throughout the world and suggest that
Israel is the sole obstacle to peace in the Middle East?"

Carter's smile disappeared as fast as my hand had gone up. As much as I
remember my question, I have no idea what his answer was. Yet it was filled
with all sorts of anti Israel rhetoric, and delivered with such anger, that
I indeed felt that he had handed me my head. Yet not only did Carter not
answer my question, but he showed his true colors to a group of intelligent,
educated Emory alumni who saw Carter for what he is.

Today, the Carter Center exhibits President Carter's pride in what he views
as the accomplishments of his short presidency. Indeed there were
accomplishments, and the Camp David Peace Treaty is one of the biggest. Yet
even on the Carter Center's web site, while the rhetoric is not displayed,
the bias clearly is. Under "Israel and the Palestinian Territories," the
Center states that the intended Palestinian capitol is east Jerusalem. It
discusses the demographic and religious make-up of the three million plus
residents of these areas.

Yet under "Israel," there is no capitol, not even an intended capitol. There
is no reference to the fact that Israel is nearly 20% Arab, most of whom are
Moslem. Nor that all Israelis - Jews, Moslems, Christians, Druze, Bahai,
and others are equal under the law. Not a word about Israel's thriving
democracy.

While Jimmy Carter is proud of his efforts to promote democracy, he makes
the irresponsible error to put the sole blame on Israel - the region's only
true democracy - for lack of peace. His angry rhetoric is misdirected and
imbalanced, and only strengthens Arab dictators and terrorists alike in
their fantasy that they will one day drive Israel into the sea.

It is fitting that Jimmy Carter moved the release of his book to the middle
of November. Of course he wouldn't want his hostility toward Israel to take
away votes from the Democrats. The book's release is also sandwiched between
two other relevant dates in the history of the Middle East. November 2 is
the anniversary of the 1917 Balfour Declaration in which the British
affirmed as their policy the establishment of a Jewish state. On November
29, 1947 the UN Partition vote made that a reality. Israel has been fighting
to defend itself from those who would challenge its existence ever since.

Jimmy Carter would do well to learn from these. It is not Israel that
rejected the 1947 UN Partition vote. It is not Israel that attacked its
Arab neighbors in successive wars seeking to destroy them. It is not
Israeli mothers who raise their children to be "martyrs" and murder
civilians. Carter neglects that Israel has the right to exist in peace,
whether as a right from the UN in 1947, or from God to Abraham. Carter's
rhetoric only serves to embolden those who fight against peace, who murder
democrats, and terrorize innocents.

I will not read Carter's new book. I know what it says. I heard it from the
horse's mouth.

Jonathan Feldstein

Living among the obstacles to peace

What I Did for My Summer Vacation By Jonathan Feldstein

2006-11-13T12:45:00.000+02:00

The summer is over, school has started and vacations seem like a distant memory. Schools everywhere will have children recount what they did for their summer vacation. And in offices and other work settings, adults will compare notes about their respective vacation, literally or figuratively, around the water cooler.

For me, summer has always just been a hotter time of year. When the kids are off school, we do take a week or two of vacation, but summer has long ago ceased to be a season that is any more relaxing or less busy with work than any other. Yet it nevertheless has the attribute of being the vacation season.

This year I spent my summer in a way never before, and a way I never thought I would. I spent the summer in Israel, amidst a war with Arab terrorists, and not only did not flee, I took the opportunity to visit the war zone more than once. In fact, I was so inspired by the bravery and heroism that I witnessed, I looked for opportunities to visit northern Israel anywhere I could.

While many watched events of Israel’s latest war with Lebanon from the comfort of their living rooms on all the networks, my experience was quite different on the ground. Even the day I visited Haifa amid a barrage of Katyusha attacks, with three international news crews, the experience was different than that which they covered.

Haifa

Haifa has a special place in my heart as my father was born and grew up there. Haifa is a microcosm of Israel in that people of all backgrounds blend and interact, if not harmoniously, then surely peacefully. In a briefing with the mayor, he stated what I long have felt – that Haifa is a model for the whole Middle East, living, breathing and breeding peaceful coexistence between Arabs and Jews every day. Haifa is Israel’s third largest city. I have spent much time there and still have relatives there, my grandfather for whom I am named is buried there.

But what I saw in Haifa was not the daily hustle and bustle of life as usual, I saw a city all but deserted. There are no words to describe the void, the lack of presence of people on the streets that day. Even on an average Shabbat, Haifa is busier than the day I visited.

Most of the day in Haifa was spent at the Magen David Adom (MDA) EMS Station. I followed the staff, interacted with them, and learned about the delicate balance of keeping Haifa’s residents safe and well protected, and also keeping the MDA staff safe as well. Literally as I arrived to the MDA Station, the first of several air raid sirens went off as I was getting out of the car. I had vowed not to panic and initially, for a few seconds, took my time organizing things in the car. Then out of nowhere, a dozen or more people went running toward the MDA Station, seeking safety in the public bomb shelter there. It was as if they were sprinting toward the end of a long race. The siren wailed. My demeanor changed and I ran after them to safety, no longer so calm or sure that nothing would happen. Inside the MDA station, the scene was similar. Dozens of MDA staff working in their offices, blood bank or elsewhere upstairs in the building would also descend to the shelter.

Four more times the siren wailed that morning. Each time the same scene was repeated. Local residents running for shelter and the entire MDA staff descended calmly yet briskly into the underground shelter. After waiting for the all clear, everyone returned to what they were doing before. I found it challenging to go about my business as usual because it just seemed that we’d be interrupted by more sirens and have to go down to the shelter again.

When Katyushas Happen

During the day, CNN, FOX and the AP all had full news crews on hand observing how MDA worked preparing for and responding to an emergency. Then it happened, the fifth siren and within minutes a confirmation of a Katyusha landing in a southern residential neighborhood. Within a minute, what seemed like endless ambulances pulled out of the station and were off to the scene. Roads were already blocked by police and the ambulances flew through town with literally no traffic.

The news crews jockeyed for position and to interview eyewitnesses. Some were on the air live. The scene was a nine story apartment building. It was clear that the rocket landed near the lower floors as a former tree and other shrubs were scattered about, and the lower portion of the building took the most direct hit. Yet pock marks from shrapnel went all the way up, and windows were blown out to the very top floor. About 75 yards away, across the street, car windows were blown out. So much for finding a good parking spot.

And in the courtyard of another building across the street, teens picked up and displayed the metal ball bearings that were packed into this rocket, per standard Hezbollah specification, as many as 40,000 per rocket, designed to cause the most amount of carnage and damage possible. Some 100 yards away, people stood in a courtyard where only minutes earlier they could have been killed by these rocket propelled ball bearings.

As all this was going on, MDA paramedics and volunteers treated and evacuated the injured while residents and neighbors looked on, thankful that they were not hurt, but knowing that there would be no rest from worry as long as the Katyushas continued to be fired on northern Israel.

Through the course of the rest of the day there were three or four more sirens. Each time the same scene would be repeated. Most of the Katyushas hit elsewhere, but another did strike a northern suburb creating damage worse than the first.

Alone in the Community

As the day ended, I left the MDA station and went to seek a minyan (religious quorum) in which to participate. This day marked the end of the first thirty days of mourning following my mother’s death and, as was customary, I went to recite the Kaddish prayer among a group of fellow Jews. I knew where to find synagogues so I just drove around to see where and when such a minyan would be assembled. As I drove, I was mindful of two things: 1. damage from other Katyushas that had hit in days prior was still evident. Haifa was definitely under siege. 2. It was still daylight, but the streets were deserted. What would I do if I heard another siren? Run out and abandon my car? But run to where? How would I take cover from the shrapnel even if I were 100 yards from a direct hit?

Eventually, I found a synagogue and waited until the posted time. As I waited, I found a few stores open nearby so I went to buy things, not so much because I needed them, but because they were open. I wanted to support them as, even if the streets were deserted, they were there to provide for the residents’ needs.

I waited and waited at the synagogue. Nobody showed up. A minyan requires ten people. I was the only one there. Nobody even walked by on the street. Part of the public mourning after the death of a close relative involves prayer and saying Kaddish with the community. Though I stood alone on a street in front of one of Haifa’s largest synagogues, I did not feel alone, I felt part of the community. As I drove home, I felt a mixture of relief in leaving Haifa knowing that I was out of harm’s way, but also a sense of regret. Those who stayed would have a sleepless night either running for cover each time a siren was heard, or lying around waiting anxiously for that to happen.

Kiryat Shmona

A neighbor of mine saw a news story of people in Kiryat Shmona complaining that they were forced to live in bomb shelters around the clock, but that supplies were very limited and there were virtually no comforts available. Of course, living in a shelter the notion of a comfort is relative. They were not looking for Jacuzzis and computers, merely TVs so they would know what was going on outside, fans to circulate the stagnant air, and supplies for babies and children – formula, diapers, toys, etc. In less than 24 hours, neighbors donated over 10,000 shekels in cash, and an equal amount in actual supplies. Stores, where over 60 fans and other supplies were purchased slashed even the sale prices and took inventory from other branches in order to be part of helping to deliver relief to the remaining residents there.

The next day, I was part of a caravan of four mini vans, filled to the ceiling, that was on its way to the north to deliver these needed materials. We were not looking for fame or glory, just to do our part helping out fellow Israelis who were living under siege.

As we drove north, the afternoon sun was setting to our left. We stopped along the way to meet up with another person who had filled his car up with more baby supplies. The further north we got, the less traffic there was. Open roads, beautiful sunset, and undertaking a great mission. Yet the closer we got to our destination, the more serious the tone turned.

Turn Up the Radio

Throughout the war, all major Israeli radio stations broadcast intermittent, sometimes frequent, emergency announcements as to when and where air raid sirens were heard. The announcement would come on quietly and peacefully, not like the test of the emergency broadcast system I grew up with in the US. Announcers would calmly interrupt their guests on the radio, or they would turn the music down, and broadcast where sirens were heard and that residents were instructed to go to their shelters or an interior room in the building, away from windows. After the announcement, they would return to the regular program, seamlessly, as if having just taken a long breath. This happened dozens of times a day as hundreds of Katyusha rockets were fired daily.

Our interest was to know if we were driving in an area where there was an incoming Katyusha. During the course of our drive, we reviewed the procedures of what to do when driving and facing a Katyusha attack.

Defensive Driving

Paying close attention to the emergency announcements on the radio, as if these were the program and the rest was just a commercial, we drove the last hour in relative silence. Home Front Command instructed Israelis driving while under attack to leave their cars and seek cover on the side of the road. As I drove, every turn brought with it a new set of scenarios to the “What if” question, what if a siren were heard as we were driving. Every 100-200 yards I was scouting out of my peripheral vision for places that we could take cover, what if. I played out in my mind how to stop the car suddenly and take cover so that if it happened, I would not be unprepared.

This new form of defensive driving pervaded the last hour to Kiryat Shmona, and the first hour leaving, many hours later, under a star covered night. Fortunately, we did not have to take cover ourselves, but I gained an appreciation both for what the residents in the north had to contend with many times a day, and for basic survival tactics so that people could live their lives, protect themselves as needed, and continue living as normal a life afterward once the immediate threat was behind them.

Anyone Home?

In Kiryat Shmona itself, the scene resembled an abandoned movie set. Papers and plastic bottles blew through the streets as one might imagine tumbleweed in the western United States from movies set 150 and 200 years ago. There was no telling if anyone was home anywhere because all the houses looked the same: dark, quiet and deserted. Only thanks to those who were curious to see who could be driving through their neighborhood – an almost non-occurrence – and popped their heads outside to see who these crazy people were, were we able to find our way to the hesder yeshiva which would become our home base.

As soon as people started hearing that we arrived, nearby residents walked over to see what we had that they could use. Others offered to take us to the shelters that needed the supplies the most. The scene reminded me of the Wizard of Oz when Dorothy’s house lands on the wicked Witch of the East, crushing her, and arriving in Munchkinland which seems deserted, yet she is then descended upon by the curious Munchkins who want to know if she is a good witch or a bad witch. The difference, of course, was stark. These were not Munchkins, but fellow Israelis. Their houses were under attack, not from flying houses or from bad witches, but from the endless firing of rockets at their community, day and night, by Hezbollah terrorists.

We unloaded the vans at the yeshiva whose volunteers would help distribute the supplies, and directly to some of the shelters themselves. Sadly, whether people needed things or not, everyone wanted something. It was a hoarding mentality. Since they never knew what they’d have the next day, or what might be taken from them, people were hoarding whatever they could. Perhaps this is a normal human reaction, but it was sad nonetheless.

For that reason, we decided to give the rest of the supplies to the head of the local Magen David Adom EMS Station. Until that point, MDA had been centrally involved in providing humanitarian services and sending volunteers to shelters and distributing supplies. Because they were locals, they knew exactly where everyone was, the condition of the shelter and what the needs were. When we arrived to unload 50 fans, the MDA staff was speechless. We knew that MDA would have the credibility and integrity to make sure that the supplies got to those in need, and that was a great comfort to us.

We found that the Kiryat Shmona fire station had no TV, so we took a brand new 21 inch TV in the box to the fire station so that between fighting the many fires caused by Katyushas throughout the north, they could relax in comfort, or at least know what was going on.

We ended the night at a local high school that had been the scene two days earlier of a Katyusha attack. The damage was scary as only a short time earlier, people were playing ball on the very courtyard where the Katyusha landed. The halls of the school were lined with teens in sleeping bags. No these were not students of the school, but rather volunteers who came from the center of the country to help provide services to those left behind. When they heard that we now had four empty cars going back to the center of the country, our cargo that we came to the north with was replaced by teens going home to rest for the weekend.

Shabbat – the Day of Rest

Good friends from the US arrived to Israel during the war to celebrate their oldest son’s bar mitzvah. As part of the celebration, we went with them to Zichron Yaakov, a small city a little south of Haifa, to spend Shabbat as a day of rest, and celebrate together. Until that week, Zichron had not experienced any Katyushas, but that week, and in particular the Friday we arrived, sirens wailed sending residents to their bomb shelters for the first time.

This trip was different because unlike going to Haifa and to Kiryat Shmona, we went to Zichron as a family, with several kids in tow, most of whom were well aware of the war, and were well aware that we were not far from the action. On another day, we’d have first sought out the pool, dining room, or game room. After arriving at the hotel, the first stop was to see that each floor had its own bomb shelter, note where they were, and to instruct the kids to avoid standing beneath the glass covered atrium.

Just as we began to welcome Shabbat, the air raid siren wailed again. This time, with families and people of all ages, we calmly walked into the communal shelter, trying not to make a big deal of it, especially for the kids’ sake so they would not panic. One woman, whose son was serving in the IDF in Lebanon, was weeping the whole time. The whole situation was too much to bear and she broke down.

That night, we split the kids up and my wife and I slept in different rooms each with some of them. This way, should a siren go off again, we’d be there to wake them, calm them, and get them to the shelter as quickly and safely as possible.

The rest of Shabbat was uneventful, for us. Katyushas landed only 2 miles away during the day, and another apparently flew overhead and landed in Hadera some 5-10 miles to the south of where we were.

Volunteers

During the course of the war, I kept hearing about people going to the north to volunteer. Most of the volunteers were young people, college age and younger. Many of the organizers of local relief efforts were these very young people. Young Israelis went to the north in droves, lived there, slept there and worked day and night to bring supplies and support to the residents. Some painted the shelters bright colors so as to be less depressing. Others played with kids. Some distributed supplies directly to the shelters, including meals three times a day from places that would prepare and serve the food. Yet others volunteered with organizations like MDA and others to provide medical and other types of relief services.

I was amazed by the dedication and resilience of these young people. In many ways, they were doing what I’d have wanted to do did I not have obligations to my family and my work. There were many heroes in this war, little has been told about the youth. It’s extraordinary and something that we all have just cause to be proud, for this is the future of our country.

One Million Displaced

As much as there is pride in those who volunteered in the north, millions of Israelis also participated without leaving their homes. E-mail chats and actual newspaper columns were devoted to absorbing the million Israelis from the north who fled during the war. We offered to host dozens of friends and relatives who never took us up on it because they all decided to stay at home, in the north. This was inspiring, but we wanted to help.

Others opened their homes to complete strangers, making new life long friends. Whole communities participated collectively in absorbing hundreds of families, people who evacuated their homes together and were resettled together elsewhere as communities. Activities were planned to keep them busy and engaged in meaningful and enjoyable activities for the duration. Huge communal Shabbat meals were served. Laundry was done by volunteers. Throughout Israel, discounts were offered to residents of the north. Other attractions waived entrance fees entirely. Businesses paid for and relocated employees and their families from the north, and as tourists stopped coming to Israel from overseas, hotels filled with refugees from the north.

Refugee Camp on the Beach

One of the most spectacular sites I witnessed was the tent city set up on the beaches south of Ashdod by Russian Israeli philanthropist Arkedi Geydamak. Dubbed Geydamak City, when I visited, already 6000 refugees from the north had moved in, and they were preparing for another 1000. Geydamak paid for it all. Massive tents sleeping 200-300, activities for kids, endless supply of beverages, three meals a day, everything. Busses shuttled residents to different outings. He even built himself a home on the beach and also moved in for the duration of the war.

Nobody had much privacy, and families of all backgrounds were intermingled with one another, but people were grateful and it worked. Geydamak perceived a need, rented the space on one of Israel’s most beautiful beaches, and paid for it all. Basically, a city was built on the sands of the beach, missing only a zip code. A police station was set up, as was a Magen David Adom station to provide medical needs 24/7.

One could not visit Geydamak City without the conflicting emotions of sadness that so many people had to flee their homes and were living like this, yet with the pride in knowing that Israelis do take care of their own. As bad as it was, these people were indeed very lucky. Many people pay top dollar for a vacation at the beach, mush less on the beach. These people’s circumstances were far from perfect, and the City was not Five Star, but they were well cared for. And think about it, how many refugee camps have the sea less than 100 yards from their tent door and women strolling leisurely in bikinis as if it were, in fact, a vacation.

Another Era

Visiting Geydamak City also conjured images of Israelis living in massive tent cities in another era. During early hears of statehood, as Israel’s population doubles with refugees fleeing the ashes of Europe and the fear of pogroms in the Arab countries where Jews lived for centuries, tent cities like these were set up as well. The amenities were nowhere as nice or thought out, but Israel had millions of new immigrants to absorb fast, and tents were the quickest, easiest and least costly way to do so.

Let us hope that in the future, Israel will never have to use tents to house refugees from within its borders again.

Once More to the North

As the summer drew to a close, life returned to normal. We did take a vacation to the north, rafting on the Jordan River, swimming in the Sea of Galilee, and going to restaurants and outdoor activities that were closed until just a few days earlier. The hotel itself only contacted us on Thursday before our scheduled arrival on Sunday to say that they were open.

Tourism had yet to return to what it was, but people had started coming back. The highlight of the trip was driving as far north as we could. We stopped for lunch in Kiryat Shmona where our family alone filled the small restaurant. We paid the owner for an extra 25 Cokes so that when soldiers came by, he’d give them one for free. And then we continued further north. Driving in a valley which only a week earlier echoed of mortar fire, air raid sirens, emergency vehicles and the “boom” of Katyushas landing, we went to an area once called the Good Fence, literally on the border with Lebanon. We drove as far as we could until we were stopped by two soldiers manning a makeshift post, basically preventing people like us from going any farther.

What the soldiers must have thought as they approached this family heading north, only yards from the border, we could only guess. As one young red haired soldier approached, I pulled out from under the car seat a large bottle of Coke. I explained that we had come north to provide some refreshments to those on, and crossing, the border, and that we had six cases of Cokes to give them. They were without words. As I pulled to the side to unload the car, Cokes and boxes of cookies, the one soldier could not stop thanking us. The kids helped hand out the refreshments, and though we only encountered two soldiers that day, they understood what it meant to be Israeli more than ever before.

Back to School

As the summer ended and the school year approached, I was struck by radio and other news programs now geared to discussing the beginning of the school year as if the war never took place. Typically in Israel, there is always the fear of teachers going on strike and the school year starting late. School budgets are another hot topic, as is security which is part of the fabric of schools here on a day to day basis.

And then there’s always the compulsory interview with a child entering first grade. The interview I heard was with a little boy named Itai, who was starting school two days later. Typical questions were asked about riding the bus, can he write his name, who he’d sit with, etc.

But then the conversation took a turn that only would happen here. Itai’s father was one of the soldiers killed in the war. The radio announcer asked Itai where his father was.

“In Heaven.”

And you know that he’s watching over you in heaven, don’t you?

“Yes.”

Itai, remember it’s very hard for your mother too, so you be good and help her.

“I know, I will.”

Itai, good luck in school and be strong.

“Thank you. Mom, I’m thirsty, can I have some water?”

May Itai grow up in peace and never know war anymore, and may all of Israel continue to shine as a light unto the nations, to work together in a myriad of ways that are unique to Israel as a thriving western democracy, the center of Judaism and monotheism, and where we work together to overcome our challenges and continue to build the homeland of the Jewish People according to the vision of the Prophets.

By Jonathan Feldstein

An Israeli Living Among Heroes

No1abba at gmail.com

Moshe Mordechai: Parashat Lech-l'cha: Sacrificing Our Lives to G^d

2006-11-07T23:45:00.000+02:00

Sacrificing Our Lives to G^dhen Abraham makes his way to sacrifice his 37 year old only heir, it is easy to see why this was his hardest trial. However, we must ask - why is it considered his trial - what about Isaac? Wasn't Isaac about to give up his very life for this Command? Having to kill the apple of your eye must be a disaster - but is dying not much more grave?

Many people understand "to sacrifice your life to G^d" to mean sanctifying His Name in death. However, there is another way: hallowing His Name in life! Giving up our lives, no matter how hard, is only a momentary service. Painful or painless, it's only an instant of greatness.

How much greater it would be to consecrate His Name for a lifetime!

In the first portion of the Sh'ma' we pledge to love G^d (and by extension His People), our personal G^d: with all our heart (meaning: thoughts), with all our souls (meaning: even if it would cost us our very life) and with all our might (meaning: money, says Rashi). This is a somewhat strange order of priorities. Our life is dearer than our money? The modern Biblical commentator, Jack Benny, explains in one of his most famous sketches: A street robber accosts Benny, demanding, "Your money or your life!" The studio audience - knowing his skinflint stage character - laughed loud and long. The robber then repeated his demand: "Look, pal! I said your money or your life!" And that's when Benny snapped back without a break, "Don't rush me, I'm thinking it over!" For some people, Rashi explains, it's harder to part with their money than with their lives.

I have an additional take on this. To be ready to give up our lives for our love of G^d is one thing. But, before we would rush to rise to such an occasion, let's consider if there are any options of doing G^d an even bigger favor: using all power we have to live our lives for G^d. Isaac was ready to bring the ultimate sacrifice. But Abraham got a chance to go even further. The ultimate people-lover that he was, he was not only ready to make a snap gesture but to live the whole rest of his life in the shadow of having killed his dearest child. That's why it's called Abraham's test rather than Isaac's. And as the followers of the great religious innovator Abraham, we are asked not only to be ready to die for G^d's Name rather than betray Him, but even to live for His sake as long as we can. It shall be ad mei'a v'esrim - long and well!

From Moshe Mordechai - Parashat Lech-l'cha: Who's running this show?

2006-11-05T10:10:00.005+02:00

So much and more can be said about just the two words lech l'cha. But urgently we need to look at a question that should arise immediately at the start of this Portion: why do we only meet Abra(ha)m at the age of 75? Did nothing happen before that that was worthwhile to report? We know from Rabbiner Hirsch that the Tora is the Note book of the lessons that Moses got, and can be better understood when consulting additional notes: from the Oral Law. But the fact that not all is mentioned in the Tora doesn't understand why this part is missing. We know from the Rabbis through Midrashim that he recognized G^d as a young child and upset everyone with his rejection of idolatry, from his father to the king. Not only upsetting them: standing up to them. He miraculously survived being thrown into a raging oven, greatly spreading G^d's Name. What a chance to say that G^d chose Abra(ha)m because of his excellence.

The Maharal of Prague says that that was the whole point. G^d did not want to do say that. He wants to convey here that He is running the show. It's so obvious that Abra(ha)m is outstanding that it even doesn't need to be said. Anyone can understand that therefore G^d handpicked him. No - the message He wants to get out is: know that I'm the Boss. Not even the greatest excellence can force My hand.

We hear a similar idea from the Lubavitcher Rebbi. Lubavitch has a special understanding of Free Will that I haven't see anywhere else in the Jewish sources. That Free Will is a choice between completely equal options, because as soon as one is better than another, the choice is not completely free anymore. In this framework the Rebbi said that G^d removed himself so far from this world, so to speak, that the difference between Abra(ha)m and other people became indiscernible, and then he chose him. Why? Because He wanted the choice to be completely free. I speculate that that may have been to enable Jews to have Free Will after Him. Or maybe to teach everyone that He runs the show.

We see a similar thing about No'ach. G^d sings the greatest praise of him
(Genesis 6:9) but the Rabbis teach in a Midrash that No'ach (Nun Chet) was saved from the Flood only because he found grace (Chet Nun-Sofit; Zohar) in the eyes of G^d (Genesis 6:8). Not because of his excellence! "Just, because I say so." No Portion of the week is named after Abra(ha)m, or even Moses; the latter's role is not even mentioned in the Haggada at Passover night. The most outstanding lives are mentioned throughout the texts, but from the headlines we need to learn that the best were just servants to the One we should pray to. Free Will needs to go together with knowing your place in the big scene and daring to be just a cog in the machine.

Some (billions of) people are so impressed with G^d's awesomeness that they deny their own Free Will. G^d is in complete control and that disables their picking, they assume. (They don't really deny Free Will - they just don't acknowledge it. Because when they are praised they beam and when someone slays their friend they get angry at the murderer, which shows that they believe in responsibility and so in Free Will.) We Jews are thoroughly educated in Free Will but we also need to remember that He's in charge. Free Will only works as a way to get more Moral. That contradicts to do as one pleases. It demands obedience.

Have a good week,
MM

From MM - Parashat Lech-l'cha: The Work of the Heart

2006-11-05T10:10:00.003+02:00

The Work of the Heart

Sometimes we understand something only because we've personally gone through it. I think I have such a case here. Let's look at Genesis 15:2 and 3. I don't know if you listened to the Tora reading, because when you hear it it's hard to miss. Both sentences start with "And Abra(ha)m said" and that's not how a dialogue normally goes. Normally a happening is retold as: A said, and then: B said, and then A again, etc.

Not that such repetitions are completely unusual in the Tora. We also find it in Genesis 30:27-8 and Exodus 1:15-6. But those cases are completely different from our case at hand. First of all in these two latter cases people talk to people, but in our Portion Abra(ha)m talks to G^d. Furthermore: in the first of the other cases two different things are said, and in the second case the first thing said is left out and not reported, while in our Reading Abra(ha)m's words are meticulously reported. Lastly: in those other cases a villain talks (Laban or the king of Egypt) explaining an evil plot. Contrary to popular belief you can't expect a natural dialogue from liars. This can obviously have nothing to do with Abra(ha)m speaking.

When you look at the two verses Abra(ha)m is saying, he's basically saying the same - only the second time it's more polite and calm. And he's talking to G^d - he's praying! In the first verse Abra(am) is pouring out his heart. Heart rendering what he says. That's what one does in prayer. The printed words of the Prayer book are just to facilitate this. What happens between these two verses is that the first one makes Abra(ha)m burst into tears. That's what happens when you speak your heart to our Father in Heaven - or anyone else who listens well, for that matter. (If it doesn't happen we haven't done it. Looking at our watch during prayers generally doesn't help with this.) After expressing genuine emotion and crying, people feel completely different. Our thoughts are different, our awareness has changed. If you then continue talking you talk differently. G^d doesn't always talk to us, not because He doesn't care, Heaven forbid, but so that He doesn't rob us from a good opportunity to cry. Often He doesn't say a word to let us cry and heal. So when Abra(ha)m rephrased his heartache he was surprised
(verse 4) to get an answer.

When we pray, our focus should be on sincerely speaking our mind - not on being answered. We are commanded to pray. He will only answer when it's best for us. By the way: an answer doesn't have to be a deafening, booming Heavenly voice. It wouldn't surprise me if in most cases it would just be what Abra(ha)m got here: "look at that: G^d's word came to him." And the whole thing was provoked by that G^d told him in the first verse not to worry. When we're in trouble and then told by a friend that all will be fine, that is the best invitation to pour out our heart. And that is one of the functions of our beautiful Prayers. Not to pacify us, but to provoke us into unburdening our heavy hearts, so that we after that can live our lives happily, calmly, easily and in zest. For that we need to really read what it says in the Prayers. It's worth the trouble, I tell you.

From MM - Parashat Lech-l'cha: When in doubt.

2006-11-05T10:10:00.001+02:00

When in doubt.

We know that the Commandments that we are supposed to keep are a mere reflection of what G^d Himself does. So does He keep Shabbat and wear Phylacteries, etc?

This Portion we read about Abra(ha)m being commanded to the covenant of the circumcision. How would G^d do this? The excuse that He doesn't have a body doesn't help; He also doesn't get tired, but keeps Shabbat; He also doesn't have a head but wears Phylacteries anyway. So what about circumcision? Maybe thinking about it is more important than finding a certain answer.

One way is to say: this Holy circumcision has two goals: to perfect the man and as a sign of the Covenant. He made many other covenants with the Jews and He is already perfect. On the latter point: also a Jewish baby boy that is born without a foreskin or a prospective male convert without a foreskin get a symbolic needle prick - one drip of blood is drawn in parallel to the normal procedure. Does G^d do such a prick?

I'll give you a few possible, quick answers, but no doubt many are possible. The circumcision is perfecting by removal, and not just perfecting: making things Holy: setting aside for a higher purpose. So, we could say that the withdrawal (tzimtzum) that the omnipresent G^d did to allow for the world to exist was his circumcision, because that set Him aside. We could say that the generation of the Flood was the foreskin, and by removing that a better result came forth, but that sounds more as a circumcision of the world, which is not the same for non-pantheists.

We could think about when He would need to do this. Eight days after His birth is ridiculous since G^d was not born and always existed. Let me suggest that only after He created Man in His image He exists as G^d for man; like a baby also exists before birth but we only start counting after we see him. Eight days later He should then do it. But as we learn in Psalm
90:4: a day for us is a thousand years for Him. That means that after the world will come to perfection (in 6000 years) and rested (another 1000 years) the circumcision of G^d would take place, coinciding with the Revival of the dead.

Let's talk some more about this at that party.

When the going gets tough.

2006-11-02T10:21:00.001+02:00

From Moshe Mordechai

The words lech l'cha can be taken in many different ways, as reflected by a wealth of annotations by our Commentators. Each interpretation has a different message to us, so I think that the issue is not what it says but what it tells us.

Lech by itself just means go, though in a bit unfriendly way. L'cha doesn't make it any friendlier. I would even read in it impatience and curtness. Go, already!

The Rabbis discuss that Lamed Chaf Sofit Lamed Chaf Sofit can also be vocalized and read as: Lech, lech: go, go. This then could refer to two journeys he made from Charan, to two stages in his trek from there or even foreshadow the next lech l'cha (Genesis 22:2). The latter connection then comes to clarify that both expeditions were equally hard on him.

The Ramban, however, sees nothing special in this l'cha. He explains that normal movements in Hebrew can be reflexive, like in the Song of Songs 2:11 or Deuteronomy 2:13 whereby the personal pronoun might not get translated into another language because it's just a Hebrew idiom. Only when such a construction is not clearly idiomatic the Rabbis will give meaning to it, he explicates. The following is such a case.

The Babylonian Talmud in Tractate Yoma folio 3 side b discusses that l'cha sometimes means mi-shell'cha: from what is yours: from your possessions, means. It argues that in Numbers 10:2 and Deuteronomy 10:1 the l'cha is not idiomatic because it's not used in a similar verse as in Exodus 26:1, so it must mean in these two verses something, and it suggests: from your own funds.

Mizrachi disagrees with the Ramban and shows that also when l'cha is used idiomatically, the Rabbis often still see all sorts of hints in it or try to develop from it all kinds of inferences. Examples of such discussions can be found in the Babylonian Talmud Tractate page of Suca 29b and 41b, of K'dushin 4b, P'sachin 24a, Baba M'tziya 31a, B'rachot 6b and Rosh haShana 16b.

On this last page our Chief-Commentator Rashi bases himself when he explains the l'cha here under discussion to mean: for you own gain, for your own good. On this I would say: gain refers to improvement, so if Abra(ha)m would say: I lack nothing: good is meant in an absolute way: even when completely pleased and satisfied you shouldn't forgo doing something that's good for you. This explanation by Rashi reminds me of what Moses says at the other end of the Tora scroll: all that G^d wants from us is only for our own good (Deuteronomy 10:12-13).

The ever relevant in our times of confusion Rabbiner Hirsch explains that the Hebrew go self usually means: go by yourself, to yourself, isolate yourself. We see this with Jethro in Exodus 18:27 (he went his way, leaving the Jews) and also in Joshua 22:4 (and now go your own way, leaving the nine and a half Tribes that stay on this side of the Jordan river). Detach yourself.

The Zohar takes this even one step further (pun not intended). Break away from your earthly shell. The body wants to take it easy and just wallow in good feelings. The Z'chuta d'Avraham reads it close to that, as: get out yourself, so that you will experience first hand the upsets of being on the road, so that in the future you will welcome travelers with the greatest understanding and empathy.

The numerical value of the words lech l'cha is one hundred. This reminds me of the one hundred Blessings that we should say every day. Abra(ha)m's blessing would be first of all to father a great, Holy Nation – according to many Commentators the main reason why he needed to get out of there. His first child for this gets born when he is a hundred years old (Yalkut). After his departure he would go on (live) for another hundred years (Baal haTurim).

It doesn't say: come – it says: go. Is G^d not there where he's supposed to go, Heaven forbid? Is He not going to walk with Abram? (There is another Portion of the week that is called Bo: come (to Pharaoh) (Exodus 10:1) and it's a good question there why G^d doesn't say instead to Moses: Go to Pharaoh.) Indeed, his servant Eliezer reports his master Abraham having said to him about this journey (Genesis 24:7) describing his relationship with Him that "…when I walked with G^d Himself, I preceded Him…" (Genesis 24:40). This is different from what G^d says at the start of the previous Portion about Noach: "Noach walks together with no One less than just G^d Himself" (end of Genesis 6:9). G^d never gives a test that we are unable to live up to. (It's the challenges that we seek out ourselves that don't have such a guarantee.) So G^d wanted to show here that Abraham could leave even if it meant that he would have to go the distance on his own.

It doesn't say where to go. So the issue here is not his going but rather his leaving. But when you leave you look back what you're leaving behind. Instead G^d wants him to only look forward. Forget about what was: go! Now, isn't that what you say to the horse of the carriage? What's then so commendable (previous paragraph) about walking ahead of G^d? Any well-trained horse can do that! An answer could be in the preceding piece about this Portion of the week. A harnessed horse gets constant instructions how to proceed. But Abra(ha)m is left greatly in the dark. Go, and figure it out while you're on your way. I trust you – you will get it. And then we can understand why G^d leaves things blank for His servants. Otherwise their virtues wouldn't rise above the level of a horse harnessed to a cart following his master. Great, those people who know exactly what G^d wants from them. But I don't and most people I know don't. That's not a handicap. It's a privilege that we get to figure it out on the way. And that He selected each of us for our own journey. And if that's not enough: He even trusts us that we can do it. Says Reb Shlomo: rather than teach young people to trust in G^d, teach them that He trusts in them.

Food for thought from Moshe Mordechai: Only such a small part

2006-10-31T11:29:00.001+02:00

Only such a small part of the Universe is Planet Earth.

Only such a small part of all molecules is organic.

Only such a small part of Earth is alive.

Only such a small part of any life form is other molecules than water.

Only such a small part of life is animalistic.

Only such a small part of the animal kingdom is human.

Only such a small part of humanity survived. The whole line of Abel died with him. Of all the offspring of Cain only one survived: the wife of No'ach.[1] Of No'ach's generation only nine people survived.[2]

Only such a small part of humanity got the Tora. Of twenty generations Abraham was the first. Of all the converts that he and Sara made only 70 souls[3] were left after three generations; only the second son of his second son of his first marriage (Jacob) and his offspring. None of all the converts that they made in their long and hard working years stayed around. Of the people that went down to Egypt, a few hundred years later only 20% left in the emerging Jewish People, and that is the most conservative estimate. The other extreme (Rav Nehorai) is that less than 0.2% left. Of them, besides their kids, only the women, most of the Levites and two and a half percent[4] of the rest made it to Israel.

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Only such a small part of the human body (the CNS) is capable of creativity, intuition, innovations and novelties that we call intelligence and memory, emotions, awakeness or sleep, zest or pain, awareness. The rest has to work with an array of existing bodily functions and options, with no creative choices – only instincts.[5]

Only such a small part of the brain is busy with moral, ethical behavior, busy with learning Tora.

Only such a small part of our lives we are able to make a new Free Choice to go against the grain and elevate ourselves.

And this whole Universe was created just for these few moral moments.

We are so lucky. What chance did we really have to end up on Earth of all places, be alive with all this dead weight around, as humans of all life forms, as Jews of all people, learning Tora of all that is interesting, even once having a moral challenge, today of all times. We won the jackpot.
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[1] Also Science holds it a miracle that there are any humans alive today. Almost all of ancient man that they found has no live progeny in our day.

[2] No'ach, his three sons, their four wives and Og. The last is ignored in the Tora text about the Flood, maybe because he never got any children or students, and such a person is considered dead.

[3] Genesis 46:26-7. Excluded in this number are the wives of Abraham's great-grandchildren.

[4] Every year two and a half percent died on Tisha B'Av, except for the last year in the desert.

[5] Some other parts can also learn (the immune system) but only in matching in descript ways novel antigens, unknown mulecules.

Sweet old rain

2006-10-29T01:19:00.000+02:00

From Moshe Mordechai!
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After Shabbat in Israel we have started asking G^d for rain. Just like a good friend who gives before he is asked, G^d gave us immediately after Sukkot already, including this past wet Shabbat. Interestingly, in Israel we always start asking for rain the week after the reading of the Deluge. Only this time, as we asked on the last day of the Holidays that this rain will be: for life and not death, for blessing and not curse, for wealth and not poverty.

The name of our new month is Cheshvan or Mar-Cheshvan. Mar sometimes means drop: the month in which we hope the clouds start dripping. Popularly it's said also that this month is bitter (Mar) because the month before was so laden with Holidays that we never got to say tachanun, while this month has no Festive days (besides Rosh Chodesh twice) or events (apart from Kiddush l'vana) and no fast days (except for Yom Kippur Kattan) or serious events (excluding the seventh day when we start asking for rain).

Some people don't like to call a month mar, because others could understand that as if we brand a month's fate negatively even before it gets started: bitter. That could be a self-fulfilling prophecy, Heaven forbid. Therefor they call it Ram-Cheshvan. Ram and Mar seem to be opposites again (like other Hebrew words when we change the order of the root letters). Ram means exalted. We don't call hard things bad because they will eventually lead to something good - rather, we call them bitter. When our viewpoint is high enough (ram) nothing will look bitter anymore (mar).

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Some people think rain falls from above. In fact it starts on earth. G^d has set up things is such that when people pray for rain the water can come down. This has been the case from the very start of the planet. When the world was still young there had not been any rain yet (Genesis 2:5), just mist to water the surface (2:6) because man hadn't worked the earth (2:5). The work the Tora refers to here, is of course the work of the heart: prayer. When Adam appeared he realized the need for rain, prayed and the rain started and the trees and the grasses sprouted forth past the surface (Rashi 2:5). It's the oldest prayer in the world it seems.

Have a good week, month and winter,

MM

The value of a friendly hello

2006-10-26T15:56:00.000+02:00

From my friend Fred M.:

Shmuel (Sammy) Braun (not his real name), the owner of a ritual slaughter plant in Argentina, was generally the last person to leave every night. The entire area was surrounded by a tall chain link fence and everyone entered through a wrought iron gate in the front, near the parking lot. The guard at the front gate, Domingo, knew that when Sammy left in the evening, he could lock the gate and go home.

One evening as Sammy was leaving, he called out to the guard, "Good night, Domingo, you can lock up and go."

"No," Domingo called back, "not everyone has left yet."

"What are you talking about," Sammy said, "everyone left two hours ago!" "It is not so," Domingo said, "One of the shochtim (ritual slaughterers), Rabbi Berkowitz, hasn't left yet."

"But he goes home every day with the other shochtim, maybe you just didn't see him," Sammy said.

"Believe me, I am positive he didn't leave yet," the guard insisted. "We better go look for him."

Sammy knew that Domingo was reliable. He decided not to argue, but instead got out of his car and rushed back to the office building with Domingo. They searched the dressing room for Rabbi Berkowitz. He wasn't there.

They ran to where the animals were slaughtered, but he wasn't there either. They searched the truck dock, then the packing house, going from room to room. Finally they came to the huge walk-in freezer where the large slabs of meat were kept frozen. They opened the door and to their shock and horror they saw Rabbi Berkowitz rolling on the floor, trying desperately to keep himself warm. They ran over to him, lifted him off the floor and helped him out of the freezer, past the thick heavy door that had locked behind him. They wrapped blankets around him and made sure he was warm and comfortable.

Sammy Braun was incredulous. "Domingo," he asked, "how did you know Rabbi Berkowitz hadn't left? There are over two hundred workers here every day. Don't tell me you know the comings and goings of every one of them?"

The guard's answer is worth remembering.

"Every morning when that rabbi comes in, he greets me and says hello. He makes me feel like a person. And every single night when he leaves he tells me, 'Have a pleasant evening.' He never misses a night - and to tell you the truth, I wait for his kind words. Dozens and dozens of workers pass me every day - morning and night, and they don't say a word to me. To them I am a nothing. To him, I am a somebody.

"I knew he came in this morning and I was sure he hadn't left yet, because I was waiting for his friendly good-bye for the evening!"

It was Rabbi Berkowitz's genuine regard for another human being that literally saved his life. (The foregoing true story is documented in Reflections of the Maggid by Rabbi Paysach Krohn, published by Artscroll.)

Parashat B'reishit: G^d loves us all greatly

2006-10-23T10:21:00.000+02:00

Another post by my friend Moshe Mordechai

G^d loves us all greatly

Watch out for people and thoughts that portray G^d as angry or furious.

1) He created the World for us, to do us good in the best possible way.

2) He's a thousand times more merciful than strict.

3) All Evil leads to good and if the end is good all will be good.

So there is no greater Benefactor and cannot be any bigger Giver than Him.

Sometimes the idea of G^d's wrath in Jewish circles could come from outside.

1) According to most Christian outlooks, it's very hard to bring holiness to earth.

2) Most Muslims learn that G^d is all powerful and Man just His pawn.

3) Gentiles don't have Yom Kippur.

Three good reasons to feel a failure, tremendous guilt and see G^d as displeased.

We Jews should know better and teach the opposite to all.

It says nowhere in the Creation Story that G^d punished Adam and Eve.

Maybe He only pointed out the consequences of their actions.

Maybe he drove them out of the Garden for their own good (that they would not eat from the Tree of Life too, since the combination would have destroyed goodness).

Maybe they didn't commit any Evil. They disobeyed, but maybe for His sake, since they foresaw that such action would lead to billions of people serving Him.

Or maybe they did something stupid (in Judaism every Sin is just done in folly).

And then maybe they got a punishment, but as atonement to repair it.

G^d never inflicts pain because He's out of control or sadistic, Heaven forbid.

He made garments for Adam and Eve and clothed them.

Some people at some times in their lives need to learn to be in Awe for G^d.

Some people at some times in their lives need to learn to love G^d.

Most people need most of the times to be in trepidation & love with G^d all at once.

But whatever we need or do – He loves us, wants the best for us, is our Father.

Yes, He's also our King. But not an angry One – rather One to serve His people.

Yes, He needs us to serve Him, but for our good, our development and flourishing.

He's only teaching us. Each of us is unique and needs to learn specific things.

He's a loving, patient, capable, personable, humorous, fun Teacher.

No need to be scared. We can go to this School lifelong and love it.

Let's not forget to say thank You.

For our sake (building of character): He doesn't need us as much as we need Him.

But we are the apple of His eye: in general He's pleased with us. He believes in us.

He's our biggest Supporter, our most dedicated Fan, our proudest Relative.

Anger is in the eye of the beholder. When it helps us grow we should see it.

But when His irritancy would shut us down, we should ignore it.

A tree is known by its fruit. If anger just brings us down it can't be G^d's anger.

It has to be the Satan's, teaches us the Baal Shem Tov.

Have a good week and a great Month!

The Naked Truth

2006-10-21T22:29:00.001+02:00

Another article by my friend Moshe Mordechai for this week of the Breishit Torah reading.

There is a Hebrew word that appears a lot in the first Section of the Tora: arum, and its derivatives. When it relates to Adam and Eve and later others it's translated naked, when it concerns the snake it's construed as clever, cunning, and when it applies to inanimate objects later on in the Tora it's explained as to stack. Rabbiner Hirsch sought to find one source for all of them; he clarifies that if you add small deception on small deception you get cunning. But nude seems farther away then ever.

Since the arum people and the arum snake are in successive verses (2:25, 3:1), I thought to find a common understanding for this Hebrew word. (I don't imply that there has to be one meaning to the same word in different settings. The same word can even mean different things in one verse, as a word does in verse 3:5, according to most Commentators and to Jewish Law; the second keilohim means as rulers, the first Ellokim means: the strict G^d.)

I changed the order of the Root Letters of arum and got meira': from Evil. As in the above examples this should then be the opposite of arum. The opposite from this is: innocent, which then should be the meaning of arum. This translation works in all the verses. Adam and Eve were not ashamed because they were innocent (2:25). The snake appeared innocent - it had nothing of the wild beasts (3:1). Adam and Eve realized that they had been innocent (but not anymore) (3:7, 10 and 11). (In the last verse Mi (Who) refers to G^d as in Mi chamocha... (Who is as You...): It was Me that told you not to eat from that tree.) The walls of water that G^d erected to pour over the pursuing Egyptian army He purified with the airflow of His nose (so to speak) (Exodus 15:8), maybe (like we poor water over our hands in the morning) so that the spoils would be free of tumat hamet: death's impurity, so that we could pick them up freely. Capital punishment for the deliberate murderer who acts innocently (Exodus 21:14).

Now, I have no doubt that arum also means without clothes, not only without Sins. Is there any connection between naked and innocent? Sure there is. It's only four hundred years ago that wealthy gentlemen had their portrait done in the nude. They were not trying to seduce anyone, Heaven forbid--to the contrary. Nude here meant: I'm innocent, I have nothing to hide. And from Jewish life: when David the Sweet Singer of Israel dances with all his might (2 Samuel 6:14) the Midrash (Bamidbar Rabba 4:20) explains that his flesh got exposed but it didn't disturb him. I say: he had nothing to hide.

I just couldn't imagine that no one had found the commonality between innocently naked (Adam and Eve) and feigning to be innocent (snake) in the first section of the Tora. As we learn from Ethics of the Fathers I found someone who basically brings the same idea: Rabbi Psychiatrist Michael Bernstein in his Windows to the Soul (2000): cunningness works through pretending to have nothing to hide.

Last but not least, the Blessing acknowledging that G^d clothes the naked that we say early every morning. I like to remember that this means that for Him we're then still in the nude, although He clothed us. (Likewise He makes the blind see: whatever we see, we are still greatly blind compared to Him or to what we should be able to see.) Could this Dedication now also mean that G^d clothes the innocent? He made the first clothes for Adam and Eve. In a way they stayed innocent and so are we. Especially after we are serviced at night: cleaned up from Sin, in Heaven, so that we can start the day with a clean slate, and be our true selves.

Have a good week and a great Month!

The Book of Life

2006-10-18T10:33:00.000+02:00

This article was written by my friend Jonathan Feldstein, the Israel representative of American Friends of Magen David Adom. I found it touching.

The Book of Life

In memory of Nathan and Ruth Feldstein

by Jonathan, a devoted and wiser son

no1abba [at] gmail.com

I have looked at the High Holidays very differently this year. It’s already the beginning of my third year in Israel so I am not sure that it has to do with aliyah. I crossed “the big 40” almost two years ago so that milestone is a faint memory. I have been wondering what has shaped this new feeling and keep coming back to one word and idea: Death.

As I have gone through the daily prayers during Elul, the month preceding Rosh Hashana, Rosh Hashana itself, and the Ten Days of Repentance until Yom Kippur, I am more mindful (perhaps than ever) of the tone of the prayer. We devote ourselves to God and to keeping His commandments, but more now than during the whole year we have to reflect on our shortcomings and strive to do better in the coming year. We beseech God to be inscribed for a year of health, prosperity, peace and life.

And in going through this process we are aware that as much as He is the final Judge, the outcome of that judgment is in our own hands. How we behave, how we observe God’s commandments, and how we interact with others all factor into the sealing of our fate for the coming year.

Back to death. The graves are still fresh for some 150 Israelis killed during the war this past summer, as well as other victims of terror in the past year. Practically, Israel has gone back to life as normal. Yet just below the surface, the scar is still not healed, and healing will take some time, perhaps even years. For the thousands who lost a father, mother, child, grand parent, uncle, aunt, cousin, close friend or army buddy, I can only project that this is a time of great pain.

The Holidays are supposed to be a time of great joy, as well as introspection and prayer. Far too many Israeli homes will have an empty seat at the table this year and that is a hard thing to face, in general, and especially for those experiencing death and loss for the first time. For those paying attention to the prayers, there must be many among them who say the words, but do so with the feeling of a bone in one’s throat. They wonder as they mourn, praying for health, life, peace, an annulment of harsh judgments, how God could have taken their loved one. They weep over the many ways we see that death can happen: fire, water, thirst, hunger, etc. and wonder how God could have allowed that Katyusha to kill the way it did or the terrorist to be on target at that very moment.

Others I am sure cannot even utter the words for they are too painful.

It often rings hollow when someone who loses a loved one is comforted by someone who says “I know how you feel.” That’s impossible, and sometimes harsh, even if the words are said with the best intent. Every loss is different, and each person deals with his or her loss individually.

Ten years ago I went through a similar conflict. My father had been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer some ten months earlier. We were told that by being diagnosed so early, he stood a better chance to survive if the treatments were successful, even though the survival rate from pancreatic cancer was a fraction of a percent. But after successive hospitalizations and surgeries, all the doctors told us there was no hope. I watched him decline physically, and I was probably in denial even until the very end. He came home from his final hospitalization just before Rosh Hashana 1996, and my mother had the good sense to call Hospice to be sure that his final days were lived in comfort and with as much dignity as possible.

The Holidays in 1996 fell out the same as they do this year, beginning on a Friday. Living in the US, each time my wife lit candles to usher in another two day yom tov when we would be detached from news and communication with the outside world, my physiology changed. I feared that my father would die and I would not know about it for a day or two after.

Sitting in shul was about all I could do. I felt it was dishonest to follow a ritual of prayer that asked to heal the sick, annul judgments against us and to be inscribed in the book of life. My father lay dying, he could have been dead for all I knew, and my head and heart were not in it at all. I am sure I was angry. My faith hit rock bottom, and my grief was profound.

We were blessed during that time with an interruption of the pain in the birth of our third daughter. She was a joy to behold, and to hold. I argued with my wife that we should adopt the Sephardi custom of naming for the living rather than the Ashkenazi custom that we name for those who have died. She won, and she was right. But even in the minutes after she was born, as the whole world was filled with joy and happiness at her arrival, I was overcome by sadness and grief that she and my father would never get to know each other.

My father did get to meet her and hold her twice. He was clearly in awe, and fell in love with her instantly as he had with his other two grand daughters before that. But I stared on in pain because it was just not fair that these two opposite sides of the life cycle should come together like this.

My grief, anger and fear increased as Yom Kippur ended and Sukkot began. I wondered in a very strange way WHAT I HAD DONE to deserve the punishment of my father’s death. How could God punish me like this?

Even as he lay unconscious from the increased medication to ease his pain, I was in shock, and definitely a part of me was in denial. My father died on the 27^th of the Hebrew month Tishrei, days after Simchat Torah when we literally renew the cycle of reading the Torah. The Torah ends, and we begin reading it again from the start. Moshe dies after leading the Jewish people for 40 years, and then God creates life. There is no pause, no break in the reading from one week to the next as is done during the year. Many brighter than I have commented on this, but in its most simple form, this underscores that life itself is a cycle.

It has taken me the better part of ten years to realize this, celebrating my daughter’s 10^th birthday as we approach my father’s tenth Yahrzeit. This past summer, my mother died somewhat suddenly. Over the course of these ten years we had the occasion to speak about death more than a few times. My fear of death has gone, and grief this time is very different. Maybe it’s not having living parents any more that has enabled me to crystallize these thoughts. My mother’s healthy approach to living, not simply the state of being alive but doing something meaningful and productive with that time, however little or long we are given, is an inspiration for me. I know that she, and my father as well, would not want their death to be the end of our living.

As much as the grief and sense of loss has never gone away from my father’s death, and that it has been renewed by my mother’s death, I am older and wiser and know that rather than my being punished, I was given the privilege of wonderful parents and many blessings along my life so far. I am happily married, raising six extraordinary children, and live in a beautiful home in the heart of Israel. My work is meaningful and enjoyable. I have the ability to give tzedaka rather than be on the receiving end. I have health and many talents with which I can help others. I do hope that I will be able to live a long time to enjoy these blessings and impart to my children these and many other wisdoms that will enable them to live and celebrate life fully.

At my mother’s funeral, I spoke about the saddest part of the Torah, for me at least. That’s the death of Moshe. He was the leader, the teacher, the inspiration that God chose and who the Jewish people followed to begin life again as free people in our own land. His death must have been met with a level of grief that was simply unknown until then. That’s how I felt at my mother’s death, the end of a generation and passing of the torch to a new generation. It is a scary, sad and challenging thought to realize that you no longer have parents to fall back upon for support, unconditional love, wisdom and advice. And how much more so it must have been for the Jewish people to realize the awesome task of going forward without their leader.

This year, I have been reading the ending of the Torah with a new perspective. In two weeks we’ll read of Moshe’s death, but what is happening now, building up to that point, is he is preparing the people to go on without him. He’s reminding them what he taught them before. He is training a new leader to follow in his place. And he is giving us inspiration and hope that as hard as things may get, everything will turn out alright.

It has taken ten years, but I realize that now. my father’s death ten years ago, and my mothers death just over three months ago were the saddest days of my life. Days and events that have shaken the foundation, but ultimately reaffirmed that which I already know. That which they imparted in me. The grief and loss are still palpable, but I also understand now that life does go on, that everything will be OK, and that this is part of the cycle of life, albeit that I would have rather experienced as a much older person.

For those in Israel who mourn the victims of the past year’s war and terror attacks, as hard as it is now, hopefully they will come to this point as well.

May we all be sealed in the Book of Life, and for those who are not, may their survivors have comfort and understanding, and the strength and courage to move on in living. Through living, we celebrate the memory of those who have left us physically, but who will never stop being part of us.

Hebrew Letters: More Than Meets the "i"

2006-10-17T15:27:00.000+02:00

This post is in response to the article at bridgesforpeace.com's latest Israel Learning Letter:

Dear Ms. Brimmer,

I just finished reading the most recent edition of the Israel Teaching Letter, "Things I Have Learned In Israel." Like most of the Letters I read (I have been subscribing for about a half a year now), I find it to be an excellent resource. As an Orthodox Jew, I am very pleased to know about this publication, which in my opinion is one of the best connectors between Jews and Christians, something that is so imperative today.

I had a few comments on this specific article:

In "Jot and Tittle," you bring the tiny stroke of the Daled as opposed to the Resh as an example of the small details of the Torah. I found it interesting that you brought these two these letters, as just this example is brought by our Sages (Tanhuma) to emphasize how important it is to be careful about details: The well known verse "Hear O Israel, the Lord is God, the Lord is One" ends with the letter daled ("Hashem Echad"). If that tittle is left off the last letter, the last part of that verse reads "Hashem Acher" - the Lord is Another. The difference between the foundation of belief and heresy is only a "tiny little stroke."

Furthermore, you pointed out the utmost care taken by a ritual scribe to make sure that he makes no mistakes. This is not only to make sure that he fetches the best price for his handiwork. If a single letter in the Torah scroll is broken or mistaken, the entire Torah is ritually invalid! And there are 304,805 letters in a Torah, not counting the spaces, which are just as important! This means that if a scribal mistake is discovered during the course of the reading of the weekly portion, the entire congregation will have to wait until a different scroll is brought to the table, and if there is none, the ritual reading is stopped! And not only must the writing of the Torah be pristine, the sing-song reading must be flawless as well. This is especially difficult, as the Torah is written with no cantillation marks (musical notations), no punctuation marks, and even no vowels! Any mistake in the reading, however slight, will cause the attentive congregation to interrupt the reader and make him reread the section. If the mistake was at the beginning of the portion but was only pointed out towards its end, the entire portion must be re-read! As you alluded, such reverence for the Word is largely what kept the Jewish People alive through the millennia.

In your last paragraph ("Hebrew Letters Used As Numbers"), you once again bring an example which has (unplanned?) significance: "Every Hebrew letter has a numerical equivalent... (example: כו = 26)." While the later example you brought (chai = life) is perhaps better known, 26 is a much more significant number. It is the value of the letters Yod, Hei, Vav, and Hei, which spell out Jeho-vah, ineffable God's unpronounced Name.

To conclude, I can only echo your own closing words, encouraging your readers to study the Bible, Hebrew and Israel. I would be very happy to field questions and be a study partner with any of your readers who would be interested.

Thanks and God Bless,
Gidon Ariel
Co-Founder, Holy City Prayer Society
jerusalem@holycityprayer.com 054-5665037
http://www.holycityprayer.com
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Parashat B'reishit: The Seal of Truth

2006-10-17T10:03:00.000+02:00

Another submission by my prolific friend, Moshe-Mordechai:

Dear friend,

my favorite Portion of the week: B'reishit.

Hebrew words are built from Roots plus additional Letters. The Root Letters give the essence of a thing. If William Shakespeare would have written in Hebrew he could never have written: What's in a name? That which we call a rose / By any other name would smell as sweet. (Romeo and Juliet act II, sc. ii).

Often when the Root Letters are put in a different order the word means the opposite. Example: To the extent that we lie (sheker) to someone we disconnect (connection: kesher) from that person.

Many a poet and author in general has written his name via an acrostic or similar construction into the beginning or the end of the products of their pens. The last Letter of each of the first three Words of the Hebrew Bible form the word Truth (emet). Truth is the Seal of G^d, the Sages teach us. If you rearrange these three Letters you get you guys (atem). G^d wrote the Torah - not you guys.

Have a great winter!

Moshe-Mordechai van Zuiden

B'reishit: not perfect

2006-10-16T15:00:00.000+02:00

A D'var Torah (Words of Wisdom) from my friend Moshe Mordechai Van Zuiden

Dear friend,

my favorite Portion of the week: B'reishit. I count 5 chiddushim below. And you?

On day One G^d said it was good. It wasn't perfect - He had to store away the holiest of light for the Righteous in a future era so that wicked people wouldn't abuse it.

On the Second day a quarrel broke out between the waters. The water below wanted to be close to G^d too. And although that get the comfort to be used for fulfillment of Commandments, till this very day every rain drop still needs His push to go down or it wouldn't (He makes the wind blow and the rain fall). Although this strife was for the sake of Heaven (l'shem sha-ma-yim), it was still one of the reasons not even to say that it was good - let alone perfect.

On the Third day He said twice that it was good. Still, that day the fruit trees should have produced fruit, but the Earth disobeyed: the trees produced the fruit. The whole tree should have tasted like its fruit but the earth revolted and let only the citron tree do what was ordered. This it did so that Man's Primal Sin wouldn't be the first or stand out so much, so again it did it for the sake of Heaven. Still it was a Sin so after Man's Sin the Earth became accursed. (The citron was (according to one opinion) the tree (not: fruit!)that Eve saw was good for eating. It stood out in it's perfection and then got used for sinning.) A scene far from perfect.

On the Fourth day G^d said again that it was good. That day the moon complained that it wanted more power than the sun. It got it, because it lights by day and by night, but as punishment was made smaller. You call this perfect?

On the Fifth day the L^rd said again that it was good. This despite the fact that the water creatures got a blessing that they would be fruitful, which seems just a wonderful thing but turned out to have a down side: their numbers are so great that it doesn't matter who lives and how many survive. I wouldn't call this perfect.

On the Six day G^d said it was very good. Because Man, although created in His Image, got the possibility to internalize an Evil Inclination, so that s/he could waver and choose Life. The end to the sole existence of one track minded creatures: rain that falls (never goes up), trees that grow up, animals that procreate - finally a being that can choose. Not perfect. Not meant to be perfect. Meant to actively perfect the world and himself by volition. In tandem with G^d.

Very good if you ask me.

Have a great winter!

Blessings For A New Year!

2006-10-15T14:59:00.000+02:00

A little early to wish one another a happy new year?

We in Israel are always ahead of the pack.

Yesterday, we completed the set of the Tishrei holidays, which started with the month of Compassion and Forgiveness, called Elul. This segued into Rosh Hashana, the New Year holiday, celebrated for two days, comemmorating the creation of the world, followed by ten days of repentence and culminating in Yom Kippur. Four days of "rest" followed (spent running around preparing for the next holiday), and then the Feast of Tabernacles, known as Sukkot. The last day of Sukkot is actually a holiday all on its own, called the Eighth Day of Holiday in the Torah and Simchat Torah recently (that means, for the past eight hundred or so years), and the happiness of the celebration of our love affair with the Word of God is something that must be seen to be understood.

After so much partying, saying goodbye can be a bit of a downer. Thank God there is Shabbat!