Exodus! Movement of a People, or just Moses.

Here's this week's d'var enjoy, and if you really enjoy it share it.

How to Start Your Own Personal Exodus

Teshuva: Remembering God's Love

These thoughts may be a few weeks late, but than again they do say the Gates of Repentance are never fully shut. Last night I was speaking with a friend about accepting people for who they are, and we got into the difficulty of accepting ourselves for who we are. My friend, I hope he'll forgive me for bringing up our discussion, mentioned how difficult it is for him during tefilla to move past the errors of his past. I've discussed this topic a bit with my d'var on Vayeshev, but I had a few interesting ideas last night that I'd like to expand upon.

My friend said at one point, "I know full well that I'll be spending the full year in Gehenna.". I was shocked when he said this. It reminded me of the story of a Rabbi who receives word from heaven that he has lost his place in the World to Come, and the Rabbi celebrates because now he can perform mitzvot with no ulterior motive. It's not the same, but confidence that your going to Gehenna to me sounds just as bad as confidence that you will be entering the World to Come.

What really bothered me about it, is that it shows an emphasis on the yirah shamaayim, fear of Heaven, versus ahavah, love. We all have those things we've done that seem to bog us down at times. Yom Kippur comes, we try to repent, and hopefully Hashem forgives. How often do we forgive ourselves though? Yom Kippur is only a day for a reason. Not because Hashem is only willing to hear our requests for forgiveness on this day, but because Hashem wants us to move past our mistakes rather than focus on them. It's like the mourning process, in which there is a specified amount of time in which you can mourn for a person, and than you're expected to move on with life. There is a specified time for you to repent for your mistakes, Yom Kippur, after which you need to then move on.

It's much easier said than done, moving past your mistakes, but that is why tefilla has a prayer for forgiveness. This prayer gives us the opportunity to take a minute three times a day to either remind ourselves that we need to move on, or for us to address new problems and fix them. It isn't meant to make us focus on our mistakes, pulling us down into a pit of despair. If anything it's meant as a release.

When we focus on our mistakes, believing that they are unforgivable, or that we will be punished for them, we underestimate Hashem's love. We doubt Hashem's ability to forgive, and we contribute to the myth of a cruel vindictive god. We need to have faith that Hashem loves us and knows what is best for us. The best way to do this is by doing what's best for ourselves, by forgiving ourselves and moving forward with our lives.

Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Iron Fist

New post on NewVoices.org is up. I missed last week due to the holidays, but I believe that similar ideas can be found in last weeks parsha too. I have some thoughts relating to teshuva that I hope to post today, or tomorrow night, depending on if I get it in before Shabbos. Enjoy.

Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Iron Fist

Parshat Vayeshev

This week's d'var torah. I hope to begin writing a bit more here soon so keep checking in.

http://newvoices.org/2013/11/22/keepin-it-real-with-the-israel-family/

Updates and Last Week's D'var

Well, I missed a few weeks, and than wrote one for last week, but didn't post it. I'll throw it in at the bottom of this post. For now, I won't be posting normal weekly d'vars here anymore, and will instead be posting them at New Voices. From here on out, I'm going to be using this blog as a place for me to write on a wide range of religious and philosophical topics, sort of as a place for me to get my thoughts out. I will be posting each week with a link to my d'var, so if you can find them here still.

Link to this week's d'var on Vayishlach

Last week's d'var:

Parshat Vayetzev: A Taste of his Own Medicine

Forefathers are often glorified. George Washington was a man of the strongest integrity, Ben Franklin a man of great intelligence, and Thomas Jefferson... well maybe Jefferson's reputation isn't perfect. Judaism does the same with its own forefathers; Avraham, Yitzchak and Yacov. Since Rosh Hashanah, I have been attending Torah studies at a rather frum place. Over the last few weeks I have begun to notice that of the three, Yacov seems to be the most cherished. Yacov could do no wrong, he spent all day everyday studying the Shulchan Aruch in his Yeshiva, he saved the family birthright from evil murderous brother, and he had a very close relationship with Hashem. I found this fascinating, as they have taken what looks like a very flawed person, and instead have reread the text to show Yacov as a holy man. Sadly, I don't buy it. In my eyes, what makes Yacov such a compelling and important figure is that he was flawed, that he struggled at the beginnings of his story with both righteous behavior and his own relationship with Hashem and humanity.

In last weeks parsha, we see the evidence against Yacov in his treatment of his brother. Yacov withholds food from his brother who claims to be dying in order to receive the birthright of the firstborn, and later tricks his father into giving him Esav’s blessing. Yacov’s behavior is deceitful and evidence of a self-centered greedy person. By the end of Parshat Toledot, Yacov is fleeing from his understandably incensed brother, and we can’t particularly feel sympathy for him.

In Vayetzev, we see that Yacov is turning around. According to Rashi, Yacov accidentally passes the holy site where his grandfather had almost sacrificed his father. He turns around, after passing it so that he may go back and pray there. This shows the conflicting nature Yacov, a man that wants to do right and develop his relationship with Hashem, yet his spirituality has not grown to a point where he can be aware of Hashem at all times. As the story continues, Yacov ends up becoming in engaged in labor for his uncle Lavan with the hope of marrying Lavan’s beautiful daughter Rahel. After twenty years, Yacov has acquired both daughters of Lavan as wives and a large amount of his flock. His first wife Leah’s story is sad, as she is obviously the less preferred of the sisters. The text even states that she is hated (29.31). This further shows Yacov’s imperfection, as it is apparent that he favors the more attractive of his wives over the one that could have been considered spiritually pure.

Lavan, Yacov’s employer, uncle and father-in-law, is an excellent fit for the story of Yacov’s growth. Lavan is the epitome of deceit and theft. He first agrees to wed Rahel to Yacov in exchange for seven years of work, but he then changes her out for her sister forcing Yacov to work another seven years. After those first fourteen years of near slave labor in order to finally have the wife he desired, Yacov agrees to work for Lavan further in order to receive a portion of his flock. The two make an agreement that at the end of his service, Yacov can have all the goats with specific markings. Lavan attempts to steal Yacov’s fair wages through isolating the male goats with markings so that they would not breed, Yacov, becoming aware of just how shaky his place with Lavan is, decides to pack up his wives and children and leave.

I believe that it is here that we see Yacov’s turn around. Lavan chases him down and searches all his possessions for stolen goods finding nothing. I believe that the Yacov of earlier would not have left Lavan empty handed. Perhaps, considering all his labor, it would have been considered understandable if he did take a little extra. Instead, we see the first real evidence of Yacov doing the right thing and showing Lavan that he had taken nothing. What was it that caused Yacov to turn around? It was Lavan himself. Working for Lavan for twenty years, Yacov sees his own future. Both Lavan and Yacov are portrayed as cunning men, using their intelligence to trick their own kin even. How different was Yacov from Lavan already? Yacov wanted to be a better man, we see that when he turns back to pray and rest in a holy site. So how must it have felt when he realized that the man that had mistreated him was only an older version of himself? No wonder he fled!

We learn from this something very important. Yacov is imperfect, yet he is the final foundation for the future nation of Yisrael, a nation named after him even. Each of us are flawed, and none of us can do perfectly, but each of us can become something so much greater than what we are today. Yacov is unable to control himself, to better himself as long as he is unaware of what it is that is holding him back. It is only when he sees Lavan, sees himself in his uncle, that he becomes aware of just how wrong he has been and is able to change his behaviors. This has validity for all of our lives. How often is it that we wish to make ourselves better, yet make no improvements until something kicks us in the behind. Praying at a holy place is a good step, but it wasn’t enough. Going to the gym or studying for class are good steps, but they aren’t enough. Yacov had to learn that the issue was an internal flaw before he could turn himself around. If we want to better our own lives we too must take a moment of introspection and be honest with ourselves in order to see what is truly holding us back. We have so much potential, we just need to unlock it.

Parshat Noah: A Loving Bath

(The following is an extensive rewrite of a d'var that I wrote about a year ago and is a bit long, but please enjoy.)

As children, when we thought of the story of Noah we often related it to the story of animals entering an ark two by two. Perhaps we felt some unease at the idea of Hashem destroying the world, and maybe that is why teaching Noah seems to often focus on the story of the ark and its inhabitants. Nobody wants to focus on our failures, or on Hashem’s seeming vengefulness. Which is exactly what the story seems to portray at first sight, man failed and Hashem punished him. Often, we instead focus on the element that shows hope and mercy in the form of God saving Noah and his family. There can be great depth to reading the story as one of punishment, focusing on negative.  However, I feel that different conclusions can be reached from reading this story, one that portrays a more positive message. 

Even before Parshat Noah begins we learn that the world is going down the wrong path. Hashem looked upon the Earth and saw that there are wicked men, men who have only evil inclinations and thoughts. This saddened Hashem, and gives us the first notice that destruction is coming. Then Parshat Noah begins, and we further learn why Hashem is considering this destruction. The world had become corrupt and filled with violence, and therefore the world and everything on it would be destroyed.  

Ok, so we don’t learn exactly what was wrong with the world. What is "corruption"? Is it corrupt in that there is violence? If so, does that mean that the animals are also violent? This conclusion can definitely be reached, but if that was it there would be no reason for the text to state that the world was both corrupt and filled with violence. Solely stating that it was filled with violence would convey such a message sufficiently enough. The great commentator Rashi states that the term used for "corruption" is a term that refers to sexual immorality and idol worship. We see slight hints of this with the story of Lamech, who is the first man stated as having two wives. The commentators explain that he had one wife for children and one wife for pure pleasure, even forcing her to drink contraceptive potions. As the whole world was corrupt, not just humans, one could say that the sexual immorality also extended to the non-human, possibly pointing to the existence of bestiality. Perhaps from a pshat perspective we can stop there, say bestiality, and other forms of sexual immorality, were rampant alongside idolatry, but we can take this further. Bestiality and sexual immorality in general, can be considered an issue of relationships. In a world where people have formed what Martin Buber would refer to as I-Thou relationships with one another, sexuality can be respected, but without this relationship people, and animals, are viewed as objects to be used for pleasure. This sexual morality of the age points to the deeper issue in that humans were relating to the world on a completely I-It level, objectifying the world and everything within it. 

The other part of Rashi’s definition of corruption was that there was idol worship. Idolatry is a religion of materialism. When a person worships an idol, they come to it for material reasons; they pray for rain or sunshine, money or children. Even their relationship with the metaphysical and divinity is one of an I-It relationship.  They pray to a physical object, because their minds, so clouded by materialism, cannot perceive a higher entity. This materialistic belief system alongside the objectification of the world work together as signs of how humanity’s value system placed material desires at the top. This is how the world had become corrupt. Man had been created in order to serve and guard the world, to uplift it, yet instead everything had lost meaning and importance, transformed into a material object for the usage by man. 

Mankind’s materialism was only one part of the whole equation leading to destruction. There was also the issue of the world becoming filled with violence. Once again, we could go with the pshat of the text, saying that mankind was literally violent. We see this with the story of Cain and Abel, and of Lamech in his lament over his own acts of murder. However, these two cases can also be used to disprove that murder was the reason for the flood, as with neither story did God respond with destruction. Also, these two stories serve as evidence that murder at the time was not a common issue, so much so that when someone committed a murder it was so rare that it had to be mentioned as a part of the Torah. Then, what is this violence that fills the world? Rashi’s commentary is once again informative, and a great stepping stone for further interpretation. Rashi translates the word for violence as meaning theft. Theft was strong enough of a reason for God to destroy the world? No, but if we look back into the history of the world we can see just what kind of theft and violence was filling the world. In the last chapter of Parshat Bereishit, we learn of the B’nei Elokim who looked upon women and took for wives those they chose. Growing up, we hear this story and often think that the B’nei Elokim were the sons of God, or angels, who came down and laid with human women, creating monstrous giants in their coupling. However, Rashi and several other commentators believe that the B’nei Elokim were judges, or government officials. If this were so, then we can read of a story of government officials using their power to force women to be with them. This story harkens back to the stories of the nobility in the Middle Age who would claim any woman they desired, even taking women on the nights of their weddings. With this story in mind and Rashi’s definition of violence as theft, I would argue that the violence that filled the world was actually the misuse of power, or tyranny. A tyrannical government is one that uses violence in order to steal from its people. It can steal the rightful dues of their labor through enslavement or even through heavily unjust taxation. It can use its power to take land from the people, or corruptly allow a privileged few to steal from others, such as in the example of the B’nei Elokim. 

Now, with these definitions of corruption and violence, a depressing picture of the world Hashem wishes to wipe away can be seen. Instead of a world of wicked men who thought evil thoughts that was in need of punishment, we can see a world of despair. The world is one in which humanity has become shackled, both physically and spiritually. Mankind could not reach Hashem, despite their calling of Hashem's name, because their minds were weighed down by the material objects that they have chained themselves to. In their need for safety humans built governments, only to find themselves enslaved to those tyrannical governments that they formed. Hashem looked upon the earth and was filled with sadness, not the anger one would imagine coming from a vengeful angry god, but the sadness of a god that cares and loves humanity. Hashem sees the shackles mankind had unwittingly enslaved themselves within, and Hashem felt regret. The regret stems from the sadness of seeing these poor creatures tormented by their own existence. It is not anger or disgust, rather the emotion that is attributed to Hashem is sadness, and it is with this sadness that Hashem destroys the world. 

There is a silver lining, a man named Noah who is both righteous and simple. He is righteous in that he does not use violence to control man. He is simple in that material possessions are not vital to him. Noah is what Hashem wants to see in human society, yet just as Adam had a hopeful start Hashem knows that in a world filled with temptation even Noah and his descendants could not help but one day become corrupt too. No longer destroying all existence in order to put it out of misery, Hashem decided to give the world a bath washing it free of its filth and placing Noah and family as the new starting point.  

The ark that Noah builds before the flood became a microcosm for the world once Noah, his family, and the animals are aboard. During this time the men and women came separately, not engaging in sexual activities for the course of their journey, and the animals are not used as food. Nobody, nothing, is used as an object, materialism is non-existent, violence and control unnecessary as they live harmoniously in the hands of Hashem. It is a hopeful beginning to the coming world. 

Sadly it is said that after the journey Noah was a failure. He came off the boat, performed a sacrifice, and then proceeded to grow a vineyard from which he created wine to get drunk. Some believe that his failure was that his sacrifice was not an honest one coming from a place of love, others that it was because he made wine to get drunk from rather than to sanctify Hashem. However, based off the idea that the failure of society was related to tyrannical governments Noah’s failure was not that he became drunk, but it was how he responded to his son’s entering his tent. Rather than punishing the one that had harmed him, Noah cursed Ham’s son Canaan and all his descendants. What makes this terrible is that Noah’s curse is that Canaan will be a slave to the rest of mankind. Hashem had just freed humanity from controlling violence, and Noah went and set future generations to be victims of this same violence!. This is where Noah truly fails. 

Man’s continual failure to be free is shown again when the story of the Tower of Bavel arises. Near the end of the story of Noah we find that men came together to build a great tower together. What is the purpose of this tower? Rashi explains that the tower was meant as a challenge to Hashem, the people, having seen the destructiveness of Hashem wished to build a tower up to heaven where they could topple Hashem and defend themselves. Yet, Ibn Ezra argued against Rashi saying that it was meant to mark a great city that they would build. The tower was meant as the center and foundation of a growing civilization. Why would Hashem destroy mankind’s attempt to work in unity toward building civilization? Once again, the earlier mistakes of mankind can be seen as the reason for Hashem’s response. Materialism played a major part in their creating the tower, rather than valuing spirituality and ethical behavior the people of Bavel felt they needed to build a grand physical tower in order for them to earn their name. The tower could also be connected to a ziggurat, a structure often used in idolatrous practices. If this is so, than we see the people returning to idolatry, further evidence of the sway of materialism. The tower could also be evidence of the return of tyranny as a place in which a ruler or government sits high above the people. This tower is a vantage point from which the government could impose fear upon its people and effectively control them. 

Hashem, once again with the best intentions for mankind, prevents the tower from being built by causing their languages to be mixed. In doing so, work on the tower is stopped and the people split apart into several different languages. How could the loss of a chance for humanity to be unified be positive? In breaking the people apart, Hashem gave mankind a stronger chance to grow towards a preferable state of existence. Hashem had witnessed that throughout history, before and after the Flood, mankind was drawn towards violence and corruption. With all of humanity united, if some fall all would fall. Now, physically separated, one group’s failure does not need to bring down the rest of humanity. Perhaps, in creating separate groups one group may even find they value the spiritual over the material, freedom and love over tyranny and violence. 

A reading of the story of Noah as one in which Hashem is angered and disgusted by humanity, and therefore punishes the world by destroying it can be very troubling. While a lesson of Hashem’s justice and mercy can be found in such a reading it shows the justice side heavily without acknowledging any importance to mankind or teaching any deep lesson. We are an experiment gone wrong, yet if we behave well Hashem may spare us. However, if mankind is acknowledged as being loved by Hashem a more positive message can be gleaned from the story of Noah. Rather than a story of Hashem’s punishment, we have one of redemption, of Hashem saving us by washing away the chains that hold us down. It also can teach us valuable lessons. We see evidence of Hashem’s love with this reading, and we learn can learn what it was that made Hashem sad, violence in the form of tyranny and corruption in the form of materialism. We learn from this that if we want to reciprocate Hashem’s love we must reject this violence and corruption. There is built a moral obligation for us to not only reject tyranny against ourselves, but throughout the world, as it was a world that was filled with tyranny that needed to be washed away. Materialism is shown as corrupting, destroying the relationships we have with others, both human and non-human, and that we too must try our hardest to reject this. Noah is than used as a template for how Hashem wishes to see humanity, just in our politics and simple in our desires.

Bereishit: The Origins of "Good"

In the beginning of my year of study at the Pardes Institute of Religion, my Chumash teacher Rav Meir gave a cute antecdote about studying Bereishit, the book of Genesis. There was once a young atheist who decided that he would go into retreat and study the book of Genesis. After a year of doing so he came out and he said, "Wow, do you know how deep this stuff is?" to which Rav Meir just laughed. A few weeks ago, while attending a young adult torah study group, the Rabbi there decided to skip over the first parsha of Bereishit, on the grounds that it was so deep he wouldn't know where to begin. Bereishit, especially its first parsha focusing on the creation of the world, is a complex text filled with historical, mystical and philosophical themes. Its a text that has gained a lot of attention, even those that are not experienced with biblical study often still know these creation stories, and thousands of texts have been written as commentaries and midrash based upon this text. Just last night my younger brother was describing for me the lore behind a table top RPG, the World of Darkness, in which much of the vampiric lore was based in Bereishit. Now, I am no legendary commentator such as Rashi, or a professor of philosophy such as Leon R. Kass who wrote the excellent agnostic philosophical commentary, "The Beginnings of Wisdom", yet I hope that I can join the many who have written on Bereishit by offering my own interpretation to the creation story.

Last year, perhaps to the ire of Rav Meir, I became enthralled by something seemingly unimportant within the first chapter of the Tanach. Upon the completion of several of Hashem's miraculous creations the text states that "Elokiim saw that it was tov (good).". I found this to be concerning, for as we see throughout the creation Hashem is not only creating but in many ways defining, characterized by Hashem's usage of speech as the tool of creation. Yet, Hashem does not "call it tov (good)" or in any way define it as tov. The creation is not tov because Hashem decided it was tov, rather it is intrinsically tov. What does this mean? At first when I read this I found myself struggling with a major theological issue, good is seemingly separate from Hashem and that not even Hashem defines what is good. I don't necessarily believe that anymore, but instead have found two different views that I have not quite decided upon which I personally believe.

I learned years ago in a biblical theology course that the term tov could mean "complete", rather than the more common translation of good. Therefore, instead we have "Elokiim saw that it was complete.". We could go pshat and end it there, just say that it means that particular act of creation was complete, though at the end of the story of creation a different term vay'icooloo (please forgive my transliteration) is used to mean complete as in finished. Instead, we can see this as fitting the Platonic philosophy of perfect forms. (Correct me if I'm wrong, I'm no master of Greek philosophy) In this philosophy there are material forms and perfect forms. The perfect form acts as a sort of metaphysical blueprint for the material form. A table as we see it, is more than likely flawed, but it is based off the idea of a table which is the perfect form. So, in the story of creation when Hashem refers to something as tov, we can take the interpretation that the idea or the perfect form already existed, as a plan of Hashem's, and the material form of what was created was flawless in it's execution. We can take a stance that humans, whom are not seen as tov, having free will and therefore able to change their material form drastically every second of their existence can not be placed automatically into the category of tov.

Another interpretation, one that I personally feel more drawn to, is that Hashem created the concept of good before creating the world in order to teach that moral good is separate from the natural world. This creates an argument for absolute morality. There is a good and a not good, and regardless of how the world changes, or what the world throws at us, good does not change being that good predates even the creation of the natural world. It counters beliefs in natural morality, that we believe what we believe is right due to natural needs bred into us through evolution. Society may define good as having a beautiful home and healthy kids, society may define good as being being a charismatic leader climbing the top of a corporate ladder or having plenty of friends, or society might define good as being educated and an avid reader. Yet, these "goods" are not good in the absolute definition of good. These "goods" change, according to the desires of society, perhaps through cultural pressure, or perhaps even through natural pressure. While these "goods" might be important for living a happy life in today's world, these are not the good of tov as described in the creation story. Tov, or true good, is absolute, unchangeable. If we truly want to be good, or tov, we must acknowledge that there exists an absolute good that has been defined by Hashem. We need to withstand the pressures that attempt to force us to reinterpret good, so that we can pursue not what we believe is "good", but what Hashem knows is good. We do not have to reject these other "goods", but we do need to consciously acknowledge them as being a completely different kind of "good" than tov. As for what the absolute good is, I do not believe that any of us can know it for sure, it stands beyond the physical world and logic. Yet, if you believe as I do, Hashem gave us the Torah with the exact purpose of teaching us how to be good. If we seek truth through the Torah, perhaps we can learn some of it, enough to put us on a path to good.