Mishlei – from Ethics to Cosmology

Mishlei starts slowly, mimicking the way a wise old person would teach, slowly, punctuating every word, elaborating on each statement.  The first two chapters of Mishlei speak about the precious value of wisdom and understanding.  Chapter 3 starts spelling out what the wisdom is:

Ki Tisa part 2 - Golden Calf

Exodus 32:1 When the people saw that Moses was late in coming down from the mountain, the people gathered against Aaron, and they said to him: "Come on! Make us gods that will go before us, because this man Moses, who brought us up from the land of Egypt we don't know what has become of him."

34:29-30 And it came to pass when Moses descended from Mount Sinai, and the two tablets of the testimony were in Moses' hand when he descended from the mountain and Moses did not know that the skin of his face had become radiant while He had spoken with him, that Aaron and all the children of Israel saw Moses and behold! the skin of his face had become radiant, and they were afraid to come near him.

Tetzaveh - Leora and Rafi's Sheva Brachos dinner

I was very much honored, and humbled, when Madeleine asked me to speak at this dinner.  We have always been looking up to the family of the bride, and I cannot imagine a greater honor than to speak on behalf of my family and the community of Darchei Noam on the occasion of Leora and Rafi’s Sheva Brachot celebration. 

First of all, I wanted to wish you a long and happy life together, a life full of Torah and Mitzvoth, a life full of people whom you love and who love you, healthy children who will love Torah and Judaism, who will be kind and respectful, and wise, a life full of joy and good deeds, gemiluth hasadim.

The Torah we’ve been reading these past few weeks in the book of Shemoth, is all about the design of material things that are used for sacred rituals.  We read about the design of the Mishkan, and the clothes of Kohen Gadol and his sons, bigdei kodesh.  The design, the blueprint, of the Mishkan and the bigdei kodesh, are all in the mind of Hashem, shown in a vision to Moshe on har Sinai.  It is easy to be lost in the abundance of details, but if we read carefully the Torah portions of Teruma and Tetzaveh, we realize that the ritual objects described in Torah are all very beautiful.  The Mishkan is full of colors, covered by the curtains made of fine wool of turquoise blue, purple and crimson red, with pure white linen, and the objects in the Mishkan are all made of pure gold, lit by the candle light of the golden Menorah.  The holy of holies is like a magical golden room of indescribable beauty.  And the clothes of Kohen Gadol and his sons were also made of fine blue wool and gold, designed to represent majesty and splendor, to dazzle and impress. 

Moshe, the prophet, was humble and unassuming, the most humble person in the world, the one who was able to commune with G-d.  Human soul is immaterial, very sensitive and fragile.  We believe that Almighty G-d is incorporeal, like the Soul of the universe.  It takes a very humble and gentle person to be a prophet, to approach G-d.  But Aaron, the high priest, had to pass the message to people, people who are bound to the material world, who could only come to G-d when jolted out of their ordinary existence by encounter with extraordinary beauty that was represented by Kohen Gadol.  At the wedding and on Yom Kippur we sing:

כְּוֶרֶד הַנָּתוּן בְּתוֹךְ גִּנַּת חֶמֶד מַרְאֵה כֹהֵ  K'vered hanatun betoch ginat chemed Marei Cohen

As the rose in the midst of a delightful garden, was the countenance​​​​​​​​​​ of the pries​t.

כְּנֵר הַמֵּצִיץ מִבֵּין הַחַלּוֹנוֹת מַרְאֵה כֹהֵן  Kener hametzitz mibein hachalonot Marei Cohen

As the light that gleams in the windows, was the countenance​​​​​​​​​​​ of the priest.

The chattan and kalah, the newlyweds are very beautiful.  The light of G-d shines upon the Kallah when she walks down the aisle, and on the groom when he is greeting her in the chuppah.  It is the light of Shabbos, the light of Yerushalayim, the light that filled the Mishkan and the Beit HaMikdash.  I bless you to carry this light throughout your lives and pass it to your children. 

You know, some people are sweet because they are beautiful.  They are born beautiful, and everyone is nice to beautiful children, and they are nice and sweet to everyone in return.  And some people are beautiful because they are sweet.  Kindness and compassion, modesty and Torah learning makes people beautiful, love makes them beautiful.  I’d like to bless you with this kind of beauty, that is real and lasting, the inner beauty that shines through your eyes and your smiles. 

The Torah portions about building the Mishkan are sometimes difficult to learn, because they are full of minute details.  Love, marriage, is all about the details.  When you love somebody very much, you remember details about them: the turn of head, the corner of a smile, favorite food, clothes, the brand of toothpaste and shampoo they like to use, favorite jokes and expressions.  When you grow together, you learn more and more details about each other. And even when you are far away, you carry these details in your mind to remember your beloved, like the memory of Yerushalayim. This is the secret of marriage – pay attention to details about each other, and remember to thank each other for that attention – like buying a favorite snack, or making tea, or covering feet with a blanket, or cleaning a car from snow, these small details accumulate and sustain your love.

In Hebrew the word for “paying attention” is sim lev, literally “to set heart” – when you pay attention to each other you set out your heart for the other person.  Another important expression in Hebrew is “ledaber al lev” – speak to the heart, meaning to speak gently and with love, like one soul speaking to another soul.  It is in the words of Yeshayahu hanavi, the prophet Isaiah, “Nahamu, nahamu ami, ko omar Elokecha, dabru al lev Yerushalayim, v’kiru eilecha”  “Console my people, says Hashem, speak to the heart of Jerusalem and call out to her”. 

We live in amazing, incredible time, when things change fast, great things happen unexpectedly, we plan big events in advance, but all of a sudden a wedding has to be planned in 10 days and instead of waiting until summer you are married already – this is how Mashiach will come, we are living our lives, planning various events, busy with scheduled tasks, buried in work, and all of a sudden miracle happens, and we’ll have to drop everything and come to Yerushalayim, like our ancestors who all of sudden stopped their avodah in Egypt and got up and went out with half-baked Mazot.  Your wedding is like the coming of Mashiach – sudden, unexpected, shocking and disruptive, beautiful and full of joy, and this is how geula will come – fast and unexpected, against all odds, impossible to plan, but we must prepare for it every day of our lives. 

Wishing you and your families, your parents and grandparents, and your siblings much happiness and joy, so we’ll only hear kol sason v’kol simcha many more times.  Leora, Rafi, we love you very much and we are all so glad to have you both as part of our community, Mazal Tov!!!!!

P.S. Many ideas in this dvar Torah come from the book by Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach The Soul of Chanukah.  See also in this blog Shlomo Carlebach on Beauty and The Golden Room
 

The Golden Room - reflections on parsha Terumah

I came to that room seeking relief from anger that tortured my soul, from petty worries, from fear and insecurity, all negative thoughts crossing my mind like gusts of the northern wind, like blasts of the arctic vortex that roamed over the shivering towns like an angel of death.  That room was not built yet, it did not exist in the physical world, it was only a design in the mind of G-d, shown to a man with an awkward speech and humble demeanor, the only one allowed on the mountain of G-d, har ha-Elokim.  To enter that room he would come to the jet black curtained entrance of the tent made of silky goat hair and pass through the brightly colored curtains of twisted fine linen, and blue, purple, and crimson wool, he would pass through all colors billowing in the wind, and enter the candlelit room glittering with pure gold.  He would stand under the gaze of the golden cherubim and nothing will matter.  In that room there is no fear, no hunger, no cold, no pain, no past and no future, this is the destination, a rendezvous with the Infinite.  It is given to everyone, written in the Book, with excruciating details of each golden object, its size and dimensions, the cups, knobs and flowers of the golden menora, the golden utensils, the crown over the table and the molding over the crown - just read slowly, very slowly, and imagine, and then nothing will matter.  No one knows where the room is hidden, in which turn of the dark tunnels under the holy city, but the design is in the mind of the eternal G-d, waiting for the humble one to enter.

The curtains of the Mishkan were joined to one another by loops of blue wool and by golden clasps “so shall the Mishkan become one”.  The word for “joined”, or "attached" was חֹבְרֹת hovrot, with the same root het, beit, reish as the word haver, friend – the colorful curtains of the חֹבְרֹתso shall the Mishkan become one.Mishkan were joined by the bonds of friendship, forming one unit. Passions come and go, leaving in the wake sorrow and anguish, but friendship always remains, like a cool breeze under the protective wing of Shechina, the Glorious Presence. 

Symbolism of the Mishkan

The design of the Mishkan is first described in parsha Terumah, but the actual construction starts in  parsha Vayakhel, with weaving 10 colorful panels of twisted linen, sky-blue wool, purple wool, crimson red wool with cherubim design all around, and the curtains were connected by 50 gold hooks - symbolizing our multi-colored, multi-faceted uniqueness and connectedness to each other - and what connects us all is made of pure gold. 

On the outside the Mishkan looked all black – the outer panels were made of goat hair, connected by copper hooks.  But behind that outer layer were the colorful curtains of sky-blue, purple and crimson red wool and pure white linen, connected by golden hooks.  And behind the colorful curtains, inside was all pure gold, and in the inner chamber was the Holy of Holies. 

This is how a human personality is - dark, invisible on the outside,
but full of colors if you peel a layer,
and pure gold inside.

This is what the holy Shir haShirim says about the maiden of Israel:  Do not look upon me [disdainfully] because I am blackened, for the sun has gazed upon me (1:6). 
And it refers again to the goat hair cover of the Mishkan when it talks about her hidden beauty:
Behold, you are fair, my beloved; behold, you are fair;
your eyes are [like] doves, from within your kerchief;
your hair is like a flock of goats that streamed down from Mount Gilead. (4:1)

Who is the Master?

I find it curious that in the chapter 39 of sefer Breishit (book of Genesis) the name of Potiphar is mentioned only once in the first verse, only in the context of the act of slave trade:

39:1 Now Joseph had been brought down to Egypt, and Potiphar, Pharaoh's chamberlain, chief of the slaughterers, an Egyptian man, purchased him from the Ishmaelites who had brought him down there.

The next verse refers to ‘his Egyptian master’, and then, every verse after that, throughout the chapter, we only see the word ‘master’, but never the name.   Even Potiphar’s wife is only mentioned as  אֵשֶׁת אֲדֹנָיו , wife of his master, rather than wife of Potiphar, his master. 

I noticed that omission at the end of the chapter in verse 39:2: So Joseph's master took him and put him into prison, the place where the king's prisoners were imprisoned, and he was there in the prison. Here not only the name of Potiphar is missing, but even the Pharaoh is also not mentioned explicitly, only as a king.

The Egyptian man is used as an agent to start the story, which subsequently develops on different levels. Who is the true Master of Joseph, and who is the King?  Who the wife of the Master, love sick with Joseph – is this truly the corrupt, obnoxious Egyptian woman, or the divine Shechina, trapped in the body of the kidnapped woman, too ignorant to know how to handle her feelings? 

The house of prison, בֵּית הַסֹּהַר, is described in the Midrash as an underground dungeon with a very narrow crack of a window, shaped like a crescent.  So is the beauty of Joseph, his mind, his personality – a narrow crescent of a window that allows a glimpse into an overwhelming beauty of olam haba, the world to come, the world above, the hidden beautiful world, once expressed in the design of the sanctuary of turquoise, gold, purple, scarlet red and linen white, the world of peace, filled with the light of Shabbos. 

Seeking his brothers love

This started as a humble attempt to answer a study guide question for the Bible class, but as I was looking in different sources for an answer it kind of grew into a small essay that may be worth sharing in this blog.
What does the phrase וְהוּא נַעַר (and he was a youth) add when the Torah already specified Yosef’s age? 

Yitro - about the boundaries

Exodus 19:12-13 And you shall set boundaries for the people around, saying, Beware of ascending the mountain or touching its edge; whoever touches the mountain shall surely be put to death.'  No hand shall touch it, for he shall be stoned or cast down; whether man or beast, he shall not live. When the ram's horn sounds a long, drawn out blast, they may ascend the mountain.

 

Shemot - mighty slaves, humble prophet

There is a seeming contradiction in the very beginning of Shemot:

1:7 And the children of Israel were fruitful, increased greatly, multiplied and became mighty exceedingly so; and filled was the land with them. 

If bnei Israel were exceedingly mighty, vaatzmu bim’od m’od, and especially if there were so many of them to fill the land, how come they became slaves?  If Jews had money and influence, powerful lobby in Congress and majority of votes, how did they get overpowered?  What was the trick that allowed Egyptians to deal shrewdly with them?

First part of the plan involves taxes.  1:11 They appointed over them officers in charge of work tax, in order to afflict them with their burdens. The first income tax was instituted by the Pharaoh of Egypt!  Why the Jews, so numerous and powerful, did not protest against the taxes?  Ask our brothers who voted for Obama two consequent terms – we love taxes!  Ask older Russian Jews who cried, wept inconsolably, when Joseph Stalin died in 1953.  One may guess that Jews loved Pharaoh and the whole structure of the great empire, where someone else made decision on how to use their money for the greater good and took care of the nation.  We strengthen totalitarian regimes with our enthusiastic loyalty. 

The next phase of oppression, after the deal with midwives did not work – make anti-Semitism a popular cause.  1:22 Pharaoh commanded to his entire people, saying, Every son that will be born, into the River shall you throw him!  Pharaoh did not command his army, or secret police, to kill Jewish baby boys – he commanded his entire people!  So every ordinary Egyptian had an ‘honourable’ opportunity to do the will of the godlike Pharaoh, everyone could make Egypt a better place, cleansed from the abominable race. 

 4:10 Moses said to the Lord, "I beseech You, O Lord. I am not a man of words, neither from yesterday nor from the day before yesterday, nor from the time You have spoken to Your servant, for I am heavy of mouth and heavy of tongue."

The phrase meiaz daberha (from then when You [first] spoke) implies that God spoke to Moshe before, but Moshe kept it to himself, he did not have to tell anyone about his encounters.  Meeting God on mount Horeb is the first time when God commands him to pass the message to his people, has a mission for him.  It is hard to believe that Moshe who grew up as a prince of Egypt was so humble that he could not do public speaking.  His humility manifests when he has to reveal himself as a prophet. 

Moshe claims that he is awkward of speech, and the first impression is that he is a stutterer, or does not have his way with words, but further reading reveals that Moshe is uncomfortable speaking about God.  He is awkward speaking about his prophesy, as if afraid to appear crazy, or irrational.  After the event of the burning bush he comes to his father-in-law Jethro and says: 4:18 "Let me go now and return to my brothers who are in Egypt, and let me see whether they are still alive." So Jethro said to Moses, "Go in peace."

Moshe does not mention that God appeared to him, he just all of a sudden needs to check on his brothers, to see if they are still alive.  What brothers, he grew up in palace, he does not even know his family, his half-adoptive-brother new Pharaoh has a ransom on his head.  Jethro knows better, and he does not argue, he tells him to go in peace, don’t worry, its OK to be spoken to by God and go on His mission.  This is Jethro, the priest of Midian, a man who understands spiritual experience.  How can he talk about God to Hebrews, to Pharaoh?  Is not it easier to talk about God to friendly, spiritual gentiles than to sceptical Jews? That is Moshe’s challenge, he is tongue tied when it comes to talking about God, he cannot operate in terms of God. When we say that Moshe was exceedingly humble, he was too humble to announce his encounter with God, to claim relationship with God, knowledge of God.   

God commands to Moshe 4:22-23 And you shall say to Pharaoh, 'So said the Lord, "My firstborn son is Israel." ' So I say to you, 'Send out My son so that he will worship Me, but if you refuse to send him out, behold, I am going to slay your firstborn son.' "

In chapter 5 Moshe comes to Pharaoh, asks to let the Hebrews go and worship God, but nowhere does he mention the threat that God is going to slay Pharaoh’s firstborn son.   

I think the fact that Moshe grew up in Pharaoh’s palace and was educated by Pharaoh’s wise men, means that he grew up in environment where belief in Egyptian gods was probably taken with a grain of salt, if not slightly mocked.  It is possible that the sophisticated courtiers in Pharaoh’s palace did not care about the foolish myths, much as the Greek philosophers did not believe in their own gods, but considered myths useful for the population.  Growing up as a prince made Moshe value rational thought, subsequently he was embarrassed to admit his own belief in God, his personal encounter. Even if he saw the burning bush and the signs of wonder with his own eyes, and heard God’s voice with his own ears, he cannot imagine that other people will believe it!   

In the upper circles of the Soviet empire no one seriously believed the communist ideas or the infallibility of party leaders.  Cynicism was the religion of the educated elite.  Faith in God was considered a psychological weakness, religious zeal often led to involuntary confinement and was medically treated as a particularly dangerous mental disorder.   

Moshe persisted in his doubts to the point of angering God, at which point He said:
4:14 "Is there not Aaron your brother, the Levite? I know that he will surely speak, and behold, he is coming forth toward you, and when he sees you, he will rejoice in his heart.

Unlike Moshe, Aaron grew up among Hebrews and had no problem speaking about God.  Moshe’s encounter with Aaron is liberating as this was the first person to accept his story without reservation and support his mission.  When another person believes your however outlandish claim, then you are not alone, not crazy, not the lonely man of faith.  When you see another perfectly normal person openly believe in God, then you know that you are not hallucinating, that there is a higher reality beyond the physical world, that you are not alone.

4:29-31 So Moses and Aaron went, and they assembled all the elders of the children of Israel. And Aaron spoke all the words that the Lord had spoken to Moses, and he performed the signs before the eyes of the people. And the people believed, and they heard that the Lord had remembered the children of Israel, and they kneeled and prostrated themselves.

After speaking to the elders of Israel Moshe acquires enough confidence to confront Pharaoh and demand freedom for Jewish people.  Aaron and the elders came with Moshe to Pharaoh to give him encouragement and support in face of Pharaoh’s cynicism. 

5:2 And Pharaoh said, "Who is the Lord that I should heed His voice to let Israel out? I do not know the Lord, neither will I let Israel out”.

The ensuing ten plagues, the trials and tribulations build Moshe’s confidence necessary to lead Jewish people through the desert and convey to them God’s word along the journey. 

The daughter of Pharaoh bent down and drew Moshe up from the water, m’shitihu.  Moshe bent down and drew water for Zipporah and her sisters.  In 3:8 God tells Moshe that He will descend to rescue Jews from the hand of Egypt and bring them up to Eretz Israel.  That motion to descend and bring them up is like drawing the water, or drawing something out of water, out of the depths.  In order to do this, one has to descend, or bend down, to reach the rescued wherever they are, in the watery depths, or in the slavery of Egypt, and then bring them up, draw up.  To draw, למשוך,  includes he same letters as the word Mashiach, who will draw Jewish people out from galut, both physical and spiritual, and bring them up to the time and place where there is no war, no hatred, only peace and unconditional love and unashamed loyalty to one G-d. 

 

Leah - Vayeitze 5773

The first four children of Leah were named after the verbs:

Reuven from ro’eh, see -“God saw my humiliation, for now my husband will love me”;

Simeon/Shimon from shome’ah, hear – “God heard that I am unloved”;

Levi from yilaveh, join – “my husband with join with me”;

Yehudah/Judah from odeh, thankfully praise – “let me gratefully praise God”

29:35 then she stopped giving birth.

Why We Are Here

Deuteronomy 28:64 Hashem will scatter you among all the peoples, from the end of the earth to the end of the earth, and there you will work for gods of others, whom you did not know… 28:65 And among those nations you will not be tranquil, there will be no rest for the sole of your foot; there Hashem will give you a trembling heart, longing of eyes, and suffering of soul.

Deuteronomy 8:3 …He fed you the manna that you did not know… in order to make you know that not by bread alone does man live, rather by everything that emanates from the mouth of God does man live. 

Deuteronomy 29:4 I led you for forty years in the Wilderness, your garment did not wear out from on you and your shoe did not wear out from on your foot.

Deuteronomy 4:29 From there you will seek Hashem, your God, and you will find Him, if you search for Him with all your heart and all your soul. 4:30 When you are in distress and all these things have befallen you, at the end of days, you will return into Hashem, your God, and listen to His voice. 

Deuteronomy 30:4 If your dispersed will be at the ends of heaven, from there Hashem, your God, will gather you in, and from there He will take you.

 

Response to Frum Atheist

A good friend of mine who was born and raised in a traditional American Jewish home told me recently that she cannot buy into that whole concept of God.  This was not about the role of women or any particular mitzvoth, this was about the essential emunah: relying on God, trusting God, seeking God.  I assumed that young people in the land of gold were high on emunah because they are born with a silver spoon, kind of living on manna.  I naively thought that disbelief comes from suffering and hard work.  But this person had everything and did not even have to work! 

My friend acknowledged the psychological benefits of religion, and advantages of raising children in religious environment, and the pleasure of living in a frum community, but she just did not like that whole idea that everything comes from God.  In her view, religious people are fed on illusion, and that keep them happy and decent, but it is still an illusion.

I acknowledged her point of view, and even quoted a famous much admired philosopher among quite a few who wrote along the same line of thought.  And then I said that I disagree. 

I disagree that faith in God alleviates the symptoms of psychological unease, working like a band-aid to cover a wound, a paint to cover the ugliness of life. I believe that faith cures psychological and physical condition because it connects the soul with its true source, in other words it works because it is true. It does not paint over the ugliness but uncovers the true beauty, it does not just cool down but truly heals the wounds, it gives the soul not soda pop but clean water to nourish and sustain it.

We are suffering because we are in exile - when a human being is born the soul is exiled from its source, when the world was created the man and woman were exiled from paradise, we as Jews were exiled from our land to serve strangers - and the only way to alleviate that existential suffering of exile is to seek God, the source of all souls, to catch the glimpse of His presence, to search for bits and pieces of His spirit, wherever they could be found.

Bezalel

Exodus 31:2 “See, I have called by the name: Bezalel son of Uri, son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah. I have filled him with a divine spirit, with wisdom, insight, and knowledge, and with every craft; to weave designs, to work with gold, silver and copper; stone-cutting for setting, and wood carving – to perform every craft.”

Exodus 35:25 Every wise-hearted woman spun with her hands; and they brought the spun yarn of turquoise, purple, and scarlet wool, and the linen. 36:8 The wise-hearted among those doing the work made the Tabernacle: ten curtains of linen, twisted with turquoise, purple, and scarlet wool; they made them with a woven design of cherubs…36:35 He made the Partition of turquoise, purple, and scarlet wool, and linen, twisted; he made it with a woven design of cherubs… 36:37 For the entrance of the Tent he mad a Screen of turquoise, purple, and scarlet wool, and linen, twisted; work of an embroiderer…

Balak - connection to Pinchas

I am troubled with the last section of parsha Balak, where Pinchas throws a spear and kills both prince Zimri and his Midianite lover with one strike.  I am sure most people raised in the Western culture are.  We are taught from the very early age the kind of tolerance where violence is bad, while immorality is so-so.  Intrinsically a human being cringes at the sight of violence, the sight of blood.  And yet, who would avenge virtuous Jewish maidens on whom Zimri the noble prince turned his back?  Who would avenge the frustration, the despair that an innocent young girl feels when nice Jewish boys turn to chase other girls whose only virtue is neither talent nor beauty, but a simple fact that they are easily available?  Who would ensure that klal Israel continues its existence?  And yet, it is hard to get my mind around this, who would be the one to raise the spear, who would be able to throw the first stone – not me!

Shelach - lo taturu

Parsha Shelach starts with the sin of spies, who bring negative report about Eretz Israel, provoking people to despair about the possibility of entering the land, wishing to turn their backs to go back to Mizraim, and ends with the commandment lo taturu… "not explore after your heart and after your eyes, after which you stray".

If we think of it, the commandment lo taturu is very harsh.  How can one not follow one’s heart?  How can a human being not feel, how do you not explore your emotions, not think about what you are feeling? 

Behar-Behukotai - Mesiras Nefesh

Vayikra 26:42 v’zacharti et briti Yaakov I will remember My covenant with Jacob

v’af et briti Yitzhak and also My covenant with Isaac,

v’af et briti avraham ezkor and also My covenant with Abraham will I remember

v’haaretz ezkor and the land I will remember. 

Last week Miriam and I were privileged to hear a shiur by Rav Moshe Soloveichik on the parsha Behuchotai, also known as tochaha – rebuke.  Rav Moshe was saying how Hashem remembers Avraham and Yakov and the land, but he notes the word ‘remember’ is missing when he talks about Yitzhak.  This is because Yitzhak he always sees, because Yitzhak symbolizes the trait of mesiras nefesh that has always been present in Jews, whether we chose it this way or not.  The patriarchs were symbolized by different character traits, says Rav Moshe.  The notable trait of Avraham was his ability to stand alone and not be influenced by the nations of the world.  We did not preserve this quality as we always get influenced to greater or lesser extent.  The unique feature of Yaakov was that all twelve of his sons remained true to his faith, and that unfortunately has not always been happening even to the most righteous parents.  But the trait of Yitzhak, giving up one's life for being a Jew, suffering at the enemy hands just because of the Jewish blood, that trait has remained with us through generations.    

Acharei Mot - Yoni's Bar Mitzvah - dinner

The portion Acharei Mot starts with the holiest ritual of the Jewish year – the atonement on the day of Yom Kippur.  This is where the role of the Kohen becomes the most prominent as he atones for himself, his family and the entire nation, and as a result of the atonement the entire community becomes purified of all their transgressions, as if they were reborn. 

Tazria-Mezora from beginner’s mind

The double portion Tazria-Metzora is the hardest for the modern mind to digest.  The details of skin condition that renders a person impure, the laws of menstruation, the male discharge – uh, we girls don’t need to know about this, we prefer to see our men honored and dignified, unaware of what goes on behind the scene.  And unless a man’s profession spells as ob-gyn, he does not wish to know all the details about the menstrual cycle either.  In Metzora Torah shoves our noses into each other’s business, removing the romantic glamour in favor of complete disclosure to uphold the sanctity of Israel.

Acharei-Mot - Yoni's Bar Mitzvah - Shabbat morning

For his Bar Mitzvah Yoni was privileged to read the double Torah portion Acharei Mot – Kedoshim that contains the main precepts of ethical Judaism. The laws in this week's Torah portion are meant to create and promote harmony among the people:

"Do not spread gossip. . .Do not hate your fellow in your heart . . .Do not take revenge or bear a grudge. . . Do not put a stumbling block before the blind…  Do not stand upon your neighbour’s blood” and the universal message of “Love your fellow as you love yourself".

Question of 'he' vs 'they' in Vayakhel-Pekudei

The double parsha Vayakhel-Pekudei contains a mystery as the work of building the Mishkan, the sanctuary for Hashem’s presence, is described intermittently as done by Bezalel (he) or the artisans, all who are of the wise heart (they).   

Ki Tisa - on Creativity

31:2 “See, I have called by name, Bezalel son of Uri, son of Hur, of the tribe of  Judah. I have filled him with the spirit of God, with wisdom, with insight, and with knowledge, and with every craft; to weave designs, to work with gold, with silver, and with copper; and with cutting gemstones to be set, and with carving wood – to work with every craft.”

31:6 “and in the heart of every wise-hearted person I have placed wisdom, and they shall make all that I have commanded you”.

Before Bezalel the only person who was described as filled with the spirit of God was Joseph:  Mikeitz 41:38 “Pharaoh said to his servants, Could we find another like him – a man who has the spirit of God in him?”

I find it insightful and disturbing that the introduction of Bezalel, the designer whom Hashem endowed with wisdom, insight and knowledge, comes in the same parsha as the story of the golden calf.  In two preceding parshayot the Mishkan, the garments of the Kohanim, the Breastplate and the oils are made by the master artisans – the weaver, the embroiderer, the engraver, the perfumer.  The description of Bezalel is the culmination of the display of respect and elevated status that Torah accords to creative people who live by the fruit of their honest, inspired labor.  And then Israelites are plunged down to the bottom by the sin of idolatry.  No doubt there is a connection - what is it?