The battle of the Maccabees and the miracle of the oil that lasted for eight days are often treated as discrete phenomena. What after all does a military victory have to do with oil burning for eight days. The Al Hanissim prayer hardly mentions the miracle of the oil, instead it focuses on the military victory in the following terms. "Gibborim beyad Halashim veRabim BeYad Meatim", the strong fell into the hands of the weak and the many into the hands of the few. Only then could the lights be lit in the holy temple.
Last week's parsha, Parshas Vayeishev begins with a curious Rashi. After the previous parsha's conclusion had described the descendants of Edom and all the kings of Edom who had ruled before a single king had ruled in Israel, Parshas Vayeishev mentions the Toldos of Yaakov as being Yosef. And the Rashi uses a parable to explain that.
A flax merchant led a caravan of camels through the street loaded with flax. A blacksmith standing by the side of his small shop wondered out loud, "Anah yikones kol hapishtan hazeh?" Where will all this flax go. There's no room for it.
"Hayah pikeach echad meishiv lo," "One wise man told him", "Nitotz echad", one spark emerging from your forge would burn it all. But what kind of answer is this? The blacksmith wants to know where all the flax will go, and the supposed wise man tells him that a spark from his forge would destroy it. That doesn't answer his question.
Yet Rashi brings this down to explain the long list of Edomite kings in relation to Yaakov's much smaller family. "Mi yachol likevosh et kulon?" Yaakov wondered. And so Rashi quotes Ovadiah, "Vehayah Beit Yaakov Eish, uBeit Yosef Lehavah". And the House of Jacob will be flame and the House of Yosef a firestorm.
Often enough Jewish leaders had a similar reaction to confronting a massive empire. When the descendants of Yaakov left Egypt, the Meraglim toured the land and pulled back asserting that no one could possibly conquer it. Yehoshua, who was a descendant of Beit Yosef, asserted that with divine help we could. He was one of two men, a minority within a group from a small nation, and yet forty years later, Nitzotz Echad, that one spark consumed the land of Canaan.
A few centuries before Chanukah the Persian Empire decided to give the order for all its conquered peoples to wipe out the Jews. And at the gate sat one descendant of Binyamin. And when all of Haman's plans had come to naught, his wife and advisers warned him, "Im Mizera HaYehudim Mordechai HaYehudi Asher Hinhalta Linfol Lefanav, Lo Tuchal Lo Ki Nafal Tipol Lefanav". And the viceroy of the Persian Empire failed to prevail against that one spark.
Once again on Chanukah the few faced off against the many, against the forces of an empire and its collaborators. How could they possibly prevail against it? Like the poor blacksmith they stood studying the caravans of flax and wondering where it would all fit. But this was the advice of the wise man. The nature of flax is different than the nature of fire. A single spark outweighs all the flax.
Maccabee stood for Mi Kamocha Baeilim Hashem, their battlecry was Mi LeHashem Eilai. That spark was what consumed the flax. It was what burned for eight days. Flax is inert. Once it is loaded on a camel it is another dead substance. But flame has energy. As long as it is exposed to air then it is attached to its source of life.
Evil is described as already dead. "Reshoim Behayeichem Kruim Meitim, Tzaddikim BeMitatam Kruim Chayim" The wicked are considered dead even while alive and the good are considered alive even while dead. Yaakov was considered alive even after death, while Esav was considered dead even while alive. Why is that? Because evil has cut itself off from the source of life that is G-d, while good remains attached to it even in death. That is the source of the Nitotz Echad that can burn oil for eight days or armies of empires alike.
Time and time again the Nitotz Echad has emerged and the flax has gone up in flames, whether it is the armies of Sancheriv or the armies of seven arab nations. It takes only a single spark to rout evil. But the important thing is to remember it is there.
The enraptured blacksmith was too busy looking at the scale of the flax to realize its nature and to remember the flame that he possessed. It took the Pikeach, the wise man whose eyes were open, to remind him of him that. While you stand gazing at the flax, back in your shack is a flame that will put all that flax to shame, that would consume it all if you only remembered what it is capable of.
Saturday, December 24, 2011
Sunday, January 16, 2011
Parshas Beshalach - Through the Word of G-d
Moshe's leadership of the Jews in the wilderness is bookended by two incidents, that in Parshas Beshalach after the Jews have left Egypt when the people clamor for water and toward the end of their journey through the wilderness in Parshas Chukas where once again the people clamor for water.
What does water represent? Life. While people can survive for a time without food, they cannot live at all without water. Especially in a desert. Food is therefore livelihood and the manna represented explicitly livelihood, which is why it was not harvested on the Shabbat. But no such stipulation was made for the well. People always need water. Water is life.
The journey through the wilderness was a journey of faith. By depending on G-d for their life and their livelihood, their water and their food, they were meant to learn faith. Demanding water from Moshe both times demonstrated a lack of faith.
In Parshas Beshalach, we are told that they journeyed Al Pi Hashem, on the word of G-d. And so when they demand water, Moshe berates them for testing G-d. But in Parshas Chukas, there is no mention of G-d in their arrival. Yet when the people demand water, they call themselves Kahal Hashem, the congregation of G-d. After all these years, the people had come to see themselves not as a mob, but as a Godly congregation. So while both times it says Vayarev Ha'am, but in Chukas it says VaYekahalu, which means that they assembled as an assembly.
And so in these two times, G-d calls on Moshe to carry out two similar but different miracles, based on the context. The first He tells Moshe to strike the rock. The second time to speak to it.
What is the difference? To strike a rock is a wonder, similar to those that Moshe performed for the children of Israel. And a wonder has to be performed for people who lack faith and need a visible show that G-d is powerful and that Moshe is his servant. This is the Mofait or the wonder. But toward the end of their journey, the people of Israel had become elevated enough that they did not need a wonder in order to believe in G-d, they needed a sign that their journey was still being done Al Pi Hashem. Through the word of G-d.
And so G-d told Moshe to speak to the rock with the Pi Hashem, not to strike it. But Moshe was angered, and called the people of Israel rebels, treating them as if they lacked the faith for a sign and deserved nothing more than a wonder, and struck the rock instead.
When G-d reproves Moshe, He says, "Lo Heemantem Bi", not that the people of Israel did not believe in me, but you did not believe in me.
We are told that the first incident took place in Midbar Sin, the sin desert, while the second incident took place in Midbar Tzin, the desert of Tzin. Samech and Tzaddek are only a few letters apart in the aleph bet. The numerical difference between them is 30. But Sin is spelled with a Yud adding another ten. And so the difference between them is twenty or chaf.
Add the Chaf to Sin and you end up with Pe or Pi, the mouth of G-d. The difference between the two incidents was that the people needed the Word of G-d, not to be struck with a staff.
Both places are named after strife. Rephidim and Mei Meriva both suggest conflict. But there's still a difference. Kadesh was the location, and though there was strife over the waters, the Mei Meriva, when the section is completed, we are told that the place name derives not from the waters, but from something else. VaYeKadesh Bam. Though the people of Israel were still lacking, G-d was still sanctified through them.
The difference between striking a rock and speaking to it may seem like a small thing, but it is the same as the difference between striking and speaking to a human being. It's easy to resort to the stick, but G-d is made holy through the word.
What does water represent? Life. While people can survive for a time without food, they cannot live at all without water. Especially in a desert. Food is therefore livelihood and the manna represented explicitly livelihood, which is why it was not harvested on the Shabbat. But no such stipulation was made for the well. People always need water. Water is life.
The journey through the wilderness was a journey of faith. By depending on G-d for their life and their livelihood, their water and their food, they were meant to learn faith. Demanding water from Moshe both times demonstrated a lack of faith.
In Parshas Beshalach, we are told that they journeyed Al Pi Hashem, on the word of G-d. And so when they demand water, Moshe berates them for testing G-d. But in Parshas Chukas, there is no mention of G-d in their arrival. Yet when the people demand water, they call themselves Kahal Hashem, the congregation of G-d. After all these years, the people had come to see themselves not as a mob, but as a Godly congregation. So while both times it says Vayarev Ha'am, but in Chukas it says VaYekahalu, which means that they assembled as an assembly.
And so in these two times, G-d calls on Moshe to carry out two similar but different miracles, based on the context. The first He tells Moshe to strike the rock. The second time to speak to it.
What is the difference? To strike a rock is a wonder, similar to those that Moshe performed for the children of Israel. And a wonder has to be performed for people who lack faith and need a visible show that G-d is powerful and that Moshe is his servant. This is the Mofait or the wonder. But toward the end of their journey, the people of Israel had become elevated enough that they did not need a wonder in order to believe in G-d, they needed a sign that their journey was still being done Al Pi Hashem. Through the word of G-d.
And so G-d told Moshe to speak to the rock with the Pi Hashem, not to strike it. But Moshe was angered, and called the people of Israel rebels, treating them as if they lacked the faith for a sign and deserved nothing more than a wonder, and struck the rock instead.
When G-d reproves Moshe, He says, "Lo Heemantem Bi", not that the people of Israel did not believe in me, but you did not believe in me.
We are told that the first incident took place in Midbar Sin, the sin desert, while the second incident took place in Midbar Tzin, the desert of Tzin. Samech and Tzaddek are only a few letters apart in the aleph bet. The numerical difference between them is 30. But Sin is spelled with a Yud adding another ten. And so the difference between them is twenty or chaf.
Add the Chaf to Sin and you end up with Pe or Pi, the mouth of G-d. The difference between the two incidents was that the people needed the Word of G-d, not to be struck with a staff.
Both places are named after strife. Rephidim and Mei Meriva both suggest conflict. But there's still a difference. Kadesh was the location, and though there was strife over the waters, the Mei Meriva, when the section is completed, we are told that the place name derives not from the waters, but from something else. VaYeKadesh Bam. Though the people of Israel were still lacking, G-d was still sanctified through them.
The difference between striking a rock and speaking to it may seem like a small thing, but it is the same as the difference between striking and speaking to a human being. It's easy to resort to the stick, but G-d is made holy through the word.
Saturday, December 18, 2010
Parshas Vayechi - The Life of the Land and the People
Parshas Vayechi begins with Yaakov asking his son Yosef to swear a specific kind of oath to him, that he will take him out of Egypt and bury him in the land of Israel. The only other time we see such an oath applied is when Avraham obligated Eliezer to do the same, to swear to him that he would not allow Yitzchak to intermarry, that he was to take a wife only from his own people and that he would not take Yitzchak out of Israel.
Both oaths were applied when Avraham and Yaakov were nearing their end. Of Avraham it says, VeAvraham Zaken Ba Bayamim. And Avraham was aged in years. Of Yaakov it says, VaYikrevu Yemei Yisrael Lamut. And the time had come for Yisrael to die. Both of the fathers of the Jewish people, when nearing their end, looked to preserve their legacy and their heritage. To unite the past with the future. And though both men were nearing their end, the oaths are applied in Parshas with the word Chai in their title.
Avraham causes Eliezer to swear to him in Chayei Sarah. Yaakov causes Yosef to swear to him in Vayechi. Though both parshas narrate the end of their lives, they are described using Chai, because through these oaths, they lived on.
The common denominator between both oaths was the integrity of the Jewish people and the land of Israel. Avraham calls on Eliezer to provide a Jewish future for his son. A future in which he would marry a wife from his own kinfolk, while still remaining in the land that G-d had given him. Yaakov asks Yosef to bring him back to that same land, to the resting place of his forefathers. Both men were not just serving their own needs, but making a definitive statement about the unity and continuity of the land and the people.
The Jewish people could not exist had Yitzchak intermarried or abandoned the land. And it could not exist if the Jews had come to think of Egypt as their own land. That is why Avraham and Yaakov both applied the oath to the Brit, with which G-d had sealed an eternal covenant with Avraham that He would make him into a family of nations. The covenant depended as much on Yitzchak not intermarrying and remaining in the land, and on Yaakov returning to Hevron accompanied by his children, as it did on the Brit itself.
And it is why Yaakov only blesses Yosef's children after the oath, and treats them as his own sons, after the oath was taken. Because only by showing that commitment to the land and the people, could Yosef be considered worthy enough to have his children become tribes of Israel.
But one question remains. Why did Yitzchak not apply a similar oath to Yaakov, when the latter was sent off to find a wife with Lavan? Yaakov was both leaving the land and going off into a situation in which he might follow his brother's example and marry inappropriately outside his parents' supervision.
There were three conditions that caused the oaths to be applied. The first condition was that the one swearing had to have emotional resistance to carrying it out. Eliezer wanted Yitzchak to marry his own daughter. Yosef wanted his father to be with him even in death, and worried about triggering Pharaoh's wrath. The second condition was that fulfilling the oath required overcoming physical resistance by getting permission from a third party. Eliezer had to get permission to take Rivka with him. Yosef had to get permission from Pharaoh to bury his father in the Maarat HaMachpelah. The third condition was that it would take a miracle to accomplish the oath. For Eliezer it was the miracle of the well. For Yosef, it was the miracle of the Caanani kings standing aside to allow the burial to proceed. The oath of the brit invoked G-d as a partner in seeing that the oath was fully carried out.
But Yaakov had no emotional resistance to doing what his father told him. He needed no one else's permission to do it. He could carry on the Jewish mission with a perfect purity. But he did need a miracle. After leaving his father's house, he experiences a dream on Har HaMoriah, where Avraham sacrificed Yitzchak and where his own children would build the Beit Hamikdash. This bridge between the past and the potential future, the covenants of heaven and earth, formed the ladder. Here G-d repeated the covenant that his children would become a multitude and that he would be brought back to the land when all that G-d had spoken of would be fulfilled.
When Yaakov asked his son to swear, he was making him into a partner in carrying out G-d's promise. Just as Avraham had made Eliezer into a partner in carrying it out. By bringing Yaakov back to Avraham and Yitzchak, he was marking a place on a physical and spiritual map, not only an individual resting place, but a national rallying point. A plan that connected the future of his children at the end of days, with the first work of his fathers. All part of the greater covenant into which the oaths flowed. The oaths which stated that the life of the land and the people were one. That the Jewish people could not exist without a land. And the land of Israel could not exist without its people.
They might be separated at times through exile, but they would always return. Out of exile, even in death, they would return.
Both oaths were applied when Avraham and Yaakov were nearing their end. Of Avraham it says, VeAvraham Zaken Ba Bayamim. And Avraham was aged in years. Of Yaakov it says, VaYikrevu Yemei Yisrael Lamut. And the time had come for Yisrael to die. Both of the fathers of the Jewish people, when nearing their end, looked to preserve their legacy and their heritage. To unite the past with the future. And though both men were nearing their end, the oaths are applied in Parshas with the word Chai in their title.
Avraham causes Eliezer to swear to him in Chayei Sarah. Yaakov causes Yosef to swear to him in Vayechi. Though both parshas narrate the end of their lives, they are described using Chai, because through these oaths, they lived on.
The common denominator between both oaths was the integrity of the Jewish people and the land of Israel. Avraham calls on Eliezer to provide a Jewish future for his son. A future in which he would marry a wife from his own kinfolk, while still remaining in the land that G-d had given him. Yaakov asks Yosef to bring him back to that same land, to the resting place of his forefathers. Both men were not just serving their own needs, but making a definitive statement about the unity and continuity of the land and the people.
The Jewish people could not exist had Yitzchak intermarried or abandoned the land. And it could not exist if the Jews had come to think of Egypt as their own land. That is why Avraham and Yaakov both applied the oath to the Brit, with which G-d had sealed an eternal covenant with Avraham that He would make him into a family of nations. The covenant depended as much on Yitzchak not intermarrying and remaining in the land, and on Yaakov returning to Hevron accompanied by his children, as it did on the Brit itself.
And it is why Yaakov only blesses Yosef's children after the oath, and treats them as his own sons, after the oath was taken. Because only by showing that commitment to the land and the people, could Yosef be considered worthy enough to have his children become tribes of Israel.
But one question remains. Why did Yitzchak not apply a similar oath to Yaakov, when the latter was sent off to find a wife with Lavan? Yaakov was both leaving the land and going off into a situation in which he might follow his brother's example and marry inappropriately outside his parents' supervision.
There were three conditions that caused the oaths to be applied. The first condition was that the one swearing had to have emotional resistance to carrying it out. Eliezer wanted Yitzchak to marry his own daughter. Yosef wanted his father to be with him even in death, and worried about triggering Pharaoh's wrath. The second condition was that fulfilling the oath required overcoming physical resistance by getting permission from a third party. Eliezer had to get permission to take Rivka with him. Yosef had to get permission from Pharaoh to bury his father in the Maarat HaMachpelah. The third condition was that it would take a miracle to accomplish the oath. For Eliezer it was the miracle of the well. For Yosef, it was the miracle of the Caanani kings standing aside to allow the burial to proceed. The oath of the brit invoked G-d as a partner in seeing that the oath was fully carried out.
But Yaakov had no emotional resistance to doing what his father told him. He needed no one else's permission to do it. He could carry on the Jewish mission with a perfect purity. But he did need a miracle. After leaving his father's house, he experiences a dream on Har HaMoriah, where Avraham sacrificed Yitzchak and where his own children would build the Beit Hamikdash. This bridge between the past and the potential future, the covenants of heaven and earth, formed the ladder. Here G-d repeated the covenant that his children would become a multitude and that he would be brought back to the land when all that G-d had spoken of would be fulfilled.
When Yaakov asked his son to swear, he was making him into a partner in carrying out G-d's promise. Just as Avraham had made Eliezer into a partner in carrying it out. By bringing Yaakov back to Avraham and Yitzchak, he was marking a place on a physical and spiritual map, not only an individual resting place, but a national rallying point. A plan that connected the future of his children at the end of days, with the first work of his fathers. All part of the greater covenant into which the oaths flowed. The oaths which stated that the life of the land and the people were one. That the Jewish people could not exist without a land. And the land of Israel could not exist without its people.
They might be separated at times through exile, but they would always return. Out of exile, even in death, they would return.
Wednesday, December 8, 2010
Parshas Miketz - Not Recognizing Your Own Brother
Parshas Miketz sees Yosef finally released from prison, given power over all of Egypt and what does he do with all that power? He prepares for a vast regional famine, yet seems to give no thought to his family. When his father finally sends his brothers down to Egypt to buy food, he puts them through a prolonged psychological torture session. Was it a need for revenge or something else? Did Yosef need to make the dreams come true so badly that he put his brothers and his father through hell? What was he really after?
When Yosef first encounters his brothers in Egypt, it tells us twice that he recognized them, and once that they did not recognize him. Why repeat that he did not recognize them twice?
First it says, וַיַּרְא יוֹסֵף אֶת-אֶחָיו, וַיַּכִּרֵם And Yosef saw his brothers and recognized them. First he saw them then he recognized them. He saw his brothers, but he did not yet recognize them as brothers. His first reaction was emotional. They had sold him into slavery in a far-off land and taken him away from his father. He saw them, he recognized them, but he did not accept them as brothers.
Then it says, וַיַּכֵּר יוֹסֵף, אֶת-אֶחָיו; וְהֵם, לֹא הִכִּרֻהוּ And Yosef recognized his brothers, but they did not recognize him. Now Yosef recognized them as brothers. But they did not recognize him at all. Not as a man. Nor as a brother.
What happened in between these two recognitions? Yosef asked where they came from. They told him that they had come from Canaan to buy food. With that response, Yosef knew that they still did not recognize him at all. They were here only to stock up their larder. They had not come to bring him back home. They didn't even know who he was.
When the brothers had seen him coming from afar, they had not called him their brother, but the Baal Halomot, the Master of Dreams. When they had cast him into the pit, they had not called him anything at all. When Reuven came back to retrieve him, he had called him Yeled, a child. Only when Yehuda had proposed taking him out of the pit where he been thrown to die of hunger and thirst, did he call Yosef a brother. His main argument for selling Yosef was that he was a brother.
When Yosef made them choose between slavery and starvation, he was echoing Yehuda's proposal. That is why the brothers immediately recognized in prison that they were being punished for what they had done to Yosef. Mida Keneged Mida. But Yosef was not in place of G-d, a point that he makes to the brothers later on. It is not his place to punish them. Only to make them come to the same recognition that he had. A recognition vital to the survival of the Nation of Israel.
The descent of the children of Israel to Egypt began with the arrival of the brothers, who are described as Bnei Yisrael, they are the sons of Israel in a national sense. Their descendants would be a minority in a mighty nation, eventually enslaved and broken down in every way. They would have to survive those trials and torments as a united people.
The enmity between brothers had led them to sell Yosef into slavery in Egypt. If the sons of Israel were to survive the centuries of slavery, Yosef had to know that they could put enmity aside. And so he set a simple test for them. Would they agree to escape slavery by leaving the brother that they had the least in common with in the chains of Egypt while they return home. Or would they refuse to leave a man behind.
The test that he placed for his brothers was a test of brotherhood pitted against the peril of slavery. It was only a test, but after the death of the brothers, it would become a reality. Would the sons of Israel do the bidding of their Egyptian masters and betray one another to gain more favorable treatment? Would the Pharaohs be able to pit tribe against tribe, and family against family? If that were to happen, there would be no nation to emerge from Egypt.
Despite everything he had gone through, Yosef was able to recognize his brothers as 'brothers'. He needed them to show that they would do the same for Binyamin even in the face of slavery-- setting an example for their descendants to stick together as brothers no matter what the pharaohs would do to try and break them.
Throughout the enslavement of the people of Israel, we see examples of such passive resistance, the midwives refuse to murder Jewish children, the taskmasters refuse to beat Jewish slaves. In each case, they put the welfare of the nation above their own. On the other hand we have Datan and Aviram who later play a role in instigating a tribal revolt in Levi and Reuven to gain power for themselves. When they refused to recognize Moshe's authority, they proclaim, הַעֵינֵי הָאֲנָשִׁים הָהֵםתְּנַקֵּר--לֹא נַעֲלֶה Even if you put out the eyes of these men, we will not go up. But Yosef sought to open the eyes of his brothers and his own. He wanted to see that mutual recognition that they were all Bnei Ish Echad Anachnu, the sons of one man, not just in words, but in deeds.
And while the brothers did show they would stand up for Binyamin, their descendants would later war with one another. And throughout history the test of Yosef has not yet been fully met. We have still not recognized our brother. Or are willing to stand up for them even in the face of slavery and death.
When Yosef first encounters his brothers in Egypt, it tells us twice that he recognized them, and once that they did not recognize him. Why repeat that he did not recognize them twice?
First it says, וַיַּרְא יוֹסֵף אֶת-אֶחָיו, וַיַּכִּרֵם And Yosef saw his brothers and recognized them. First he saw them then he recognized them. He saw his brothers, but he did not yet recognize them as brothers. His first reaction was emotional. They had sold him into slavery in a far-off land and taken him away from his father. He saw them, he recognized them, but he did not accept them as brothers.
Then it says, וַיַּכֵּר יוֹסֵף, אֶת-אֶחָיו; וְהֵם, לֹא הִכִּרֻהוּ And Yosef recognized his brothers, but they did not recognize him. Now Yosef recognized them as brothers. But they did not recognize him at all. Not as a man. Nor as a brother.
What happened in between these two recognitions? Yosef asked where they came from. They told him that they had come from Canaan to buy food. With that response, Yosef knew that they still did not recognize him at all. They were here only to stock up their larder. They had not come to bring him back home. They didn't even know who he was.
When the brothers had seen him coming from afar, they had not called him their brother, but the Baal Halomot, the Master of Dreams. When they had cast him into the pit, they had not called him anything at all. When Reuven came back to retrieve him, he had called him Yeled, a child. Only when Yehuda had proposed taking him out of the pit where he been thrown to die of hunger and thirst, did he call Yosef a brother. His main argument for selling Yosef was that he was a brother.
When Yosef made them choose between slavery and starvation, he was echoing Yehuda's proposal. That is why the brothers immediately recognized in prison that they were being punished for what they had done to Yosef. Mida Keneged Mida. But Yosef was not in place of G-d, a point that he makes to the brothers later on. It is not his place to punish them. Only to make them come to the same recognition that he had. A recognition vital to the survival of the Nation of Israel.
The descent of the children of Israel to Egypt began with the arrival of the brothers, who are described as Bnei Yisrael, they are the sons of Israel in a national sense. Their descendants would be a minority in a mighty nation, eventually enslaved and broken down in every way. They would have to survive those trials and torments as a united people.
The enmity between brothers had led them to sell Yosef into slavery in Egypt. If the sons of Israel were to survive the centuries of slavery, Yosef had to know that they could put enmity aside. And so he set a simple test for them. Would they agree to escape slavery by leaving the brother that they had the least in common with in the chains of Egypt while they return home. Or would they refuse to leave a man behind.
The test that he placed for his brothers was a test of brotherhood pitted against the peril of slavery. It was only a test, but after the death of the brothers, it would become a reality. Would the sons of Israel do the bidding of their Egyptian masters and betray one another to gain more favorable treatment? Would the Pharaohs be able to pit tribe against tribe, and family against family? If that were to happen, there would be no nation to emerge from Egypt.
Despite everything he had gone through, Yosef was able to recognize his brothers as 'brothers'. He needed them to show that they would do the same for Binyamin even in the face of slavery-- setting an example for their descendants to stick together as brothers no matter what the pharaohs would do to try and break them.
Throughout the enslavement of the people of Israel, we see examples of such passive resistance, the midwives refuse to murder Jewish children, the taskmasters refuse to beat Jewish slaves. In each case, they put the welfare of the nation above their own. On the other hand we have Datan and Aviram who later play a role in instigating a tribal revolt in Levi and Reuven to gain power for themselves. When they refused to recognize Moshe's authority, they proclaim, הַעֵינֵי הָאֲנָשִׁים הָהֵםתְּנַקֵּר--לֹא נַעֲלֶה Even if you put out the eyes of these men, we will not go up. But Yosef sought to open the eyes of his brothers and his own. He wanted to see that mutual recognition that they were all Bnei Ish Echad Anachnu, the sons of one man, not just in words, but in deeds.
And while the brothers did show they would stand up for Binyamin, their descendants would later war with one another. And throughout history the test of Yosef has not yet been fully met. We have still not recognized our brother. Or are willing to stand up for them even in the face of slavery and death.
Saturday, November 13, 2010
Parshat Vayetzei - The Hands of Esav
At the very end of Parshas Vayetzei, Lavan confronts Yaakov and warns him that it is in the power of his 'hands' to do him harm, but G-d of your father 'spoke' to me and warned me against speaking to you for good or ill.
The obvious question is, if G-d had warned Lavan, then why did Lavan claim that it was in his power to do Yaakov harm. Lavan appears to be making a distinction between doing Yaakov physical harm through his "hands", and another sort of harm involving speech. Why then does G-d only warn Lavan against speaking to Yaakov, and not against physically harming him?
In the last Parsha, Yaakov disguised himself as his brother Esav and went to his father seeking his blessing. The disguise went smoothly, until Yaakov mentioned that he had come so quickly through the aid of G-d. Then Yitzchak became skeptical, wondering why he felt the "hands of Esav", but heard of the "voice of Yaakov". Nevertheless Yitzchak gives him the blessing of Esav, that of material prosperity and success. Later he also gives him the blessing of Avraham.
What was the difference between the two blessings? The first is the blessing of prosperity and power. The first blessing which Yaakov received through the wearings of the "Hands of Esav". The second blessing he received openly as the "Voice of Yaakov", was the spiritual blessing of Avraham, passed down to him by Yitzchak, which gives him the Land of Israel as a national inheritance.
When Yaakov worked for Lavan, the latter attempted to rob him in material wealth. But since Yaakov had received the blessing only in disguise through the "Hands of Esav", he had to receive material wealth in disguise as well. So he was forced to resort to a trick involving the marked and unmarked animals.
But that was not all Lavan tried to do, when he played a trick with Leah and Rachel, he was also attempting to interfere in the "Voice of Yaakov" blessing. And here he had no power. This is why the Haggadah interprets Arami Oved Avi with a second meaning of "An Aramean Tried to Destroy My Father".
When Lavan confronts Yaakov, the latter expresses worry only over Lavan seizing his family, which goes to the "Voice of Yaakov" national blessing inherited from Avraham, that he would become a great nation with many descendants that would inherit the land.
Lavan informs Yaakov that he has the power in his "hands" to do Yaakov harm. This refers to seizing his material goods. But G-d has already warned him against trying any attack on the "Voice of Yaakov" blessing, by interfering any further with his family. Instead Lavan offers Yaakov a treaty, which effectively cedes the land of Israel to Yaakov, while retaining the land on the other side of the boundary for Lavan.
Throughout history, Yaakov and his descendants might lose the material blessing of the "Hands of Esav", but they would always keep the "Voice of Yaakov" blessing of national survival and the eternal inheritance of the Land of Israel itself, which they might be exiled from, but always return to.
The obvious question is, if G-d had warned Lavan, then why did Lavan claim that it was in his power to do Yaakov harm. Lavan appears to be making a distinction between doing Yaakov physical harm through his "hands", and another sort of harm involving speech. Why then does G-d only warn Lavan against speaking to Yaakov, and not against physically harming him?
In the last Parsha, Yaakov disguised himself as his brother Esav and went to his father seeking his blessing. The disguise went smoothly, until Yaakov mentioned that he had come so quickly through the aid of G-d. Then Yitzchak became skeptical, wondering why he felt the "hands of Esav", but heard of the "voice of Yaakov". Nevertheless Yitzchak gives him the blessing of Esav, that of material prosperity and success. Later he also gives him the blessing of Avraham.
What was the difference between the two blessings? The first is the blessing of prosperity and power. The first blessing which Yaakov received through the wearings of the "Hands of Esav". The second blessing he received openly as the "Voice of Yaakov", was the spiritual blessing of Avraham, passed down to him by Yitzchak, which gives him the Land of Israel as a national inheritance.
When Yaakov worked for Lavan, the latter attempted to rob him in material wealth. But since Yaakov had received the blessing only in disguise through the "Hands of Esav", he had to receive material wealth in disguise as well. So he was forced to resort to a trick involving the marked and unmarked animals.
But that was not all Lavan tried to do, when he played a trick with Leah and Rachel, he was also attempting to interfere in the "Voice of Yaakov" blessing. And here he had no power. This is why the Haggadah interprets Arami Oved Avi with a second meaning of "An Aramean Tried to Destroy My Father".
When Lavan confronts Yaakov, the latter expresses worry only over Lavan seizing his family, which goes to the "Voice of Yaakov" national blessing inherited from Avraham, that he would become a great nation with many descendants that would inherit the land.
Lavan informs Yaakov that he has the power in his "hands" to do Yaakov harm. This refers to seizing his material goods. But G-d has already warned him against trying any attack on the "Voice of Yaakov" blessing, by interfering any further with his family. Instead Lavan offers Yaakov a treaty, which effectively cedes the land of Israel to Yaakov, while retaining the land on the other side of the boundary for Lavan.
Throughout history, Yaakov and his descendants might lose the material blessing of the "Hands of Esav", but they would always keep the "Voice of Yaakov" blessing of national survival and the eternal inheritance of the Land of Israel itself, which they might be exiled from, but always return to.
Saturday, October 16, 2010
Parshas Lech Lecha - Shield of Avraham
In Parshas Lech Lecha, G-d appears to Avraham after the battle with the kings, and says to him, "Anochi Magen Lach", "I am your shield."
We incorporate this three times into our daily prayers (four times on Shabbat) in Shmone Esre, in the very first of the eighteen brachot, remembering our three forefathers (avot) Avraham, Yitzchak and Yaakov. But the concluding blessing only uses one of them, Magen Avraham, Shield of Avraham. Why only Magen Avraham?
This particular blessing is so important that failing to concentrate on it requires repeating the Shmone Esre. What of the other Avot? What is so special about Avraham and about G-d's role as Magen Avraham, Shield of Avraham?
Let us look at the three descriptions leading up to it of G-d as, Melech Ozer, Moshia UMagen, the King who Aids, Saves and Shields. Each of these praises rises in stature, as is appropriate when praising G-d, by going from the lesser to the greater.
G-d as the one who aids us is the least of these. What does that mean? If we're in trouble, we call out for help, and G-d helps us get through the difficult situation. For example we're driving a car that skids out of control on a wet road, and with G-d's help, the accident isn't too bad, and after a few weeks of physical therapy, things are back to normal. We praise G-d for aiding us, because if not for Him, we would be dead or crippled.
Then there's G-d as the one who saves. So when we find ourselves in trouble, we call out to Him, and he saves us from our troubles without a scratch. So when that same car begins to slip, it pulls to a stop, with no harm done.
Then finally there's the G-d who shields. And when He shields us, we never even experience the crisis. We just drive on, never even experiencing any portent of danger. Because G-d is shielding us all the way. Now obviously this is the ideal experience. And that is why the G-d who shields is the highest level of praise.
But Shield of Avraham also requires the highest level of faith. When we experience G-d as aiding us through a difficult situation or saving us when we're in danger, it's easy to see His handiwork and know that He's protecting us. But when He's shielding us, it takes a lot of faith to remember that when nothing goes wrong, it's because of G-d acting as the Shield of Avraham.
Now let's look at each of the three Avot and how they match up to these three praises. Avraham was shielded by G-d. As a result he was never faced with any real physical threat. When he fights the kings, G-d appears afterward to tell him that he is being shielded. There is no mention of any actual danger.
On the other hand, Yitzchak does experience imminent physical danger at the Akeidah, but he's saved from it at the last moment. He experiences Hashem as Moshia. Yaakov not only experiences physical danger, he actually experiences physical harm. He's crippled by the angel, his children are abducted twice, but Hashem as the Ozer, helps him get through these troubles.
Yet if we look at the reward that G-d promises Avraham, when He tells him that "Anochi Magen Lach, Sharcha Harbeh Meod", "I am your shield, your reward will be very great", it is a long way off. Because the reward is Yitzchak, and Avraham has to wait for most of his life for that. Yitzchak has to wait for children, but less time than Avraham did. Yaakov has to wait the least amount of time (depending on which dating system you use) for children.
That is because Emunah Schar Emunim, Faith is the Reward of the Faithful. Because Avraham merited to experience G-d as a shield through his high level of faith, he was also given the privilege of living by that faith and waiting to see G-d's promise fulfilled. As it says in Habbakuk, VeTzaddik BeEmunotoh Yihyeh, The Righteous Shall Live by his Faith. Each of the forefathers embodied that in a different way.
When we recite Magen Avraham in Shmone Esre, we are reminded that we should be thankful not only for the times that G-d visibly saves or aids us, but for His shield over us, as it says later in Magen Avraham, Al Nisecha SheBekol Yom Imanu, For Your miracles that are with us daily. And so we aspire to the faith of Avraham, while praising G-d as the Shield of Avraham, who protects us from harm and peril even when we do not realize it. And if we forget, we are obligated to go back and recite the verse again, to be reminded of something that is very easy to forget, and yet so very important to remember.
We incorporate this three times into our daily prayers (four times on Shabbat) in Shmone Esre, in the very first of the eighteen brachot, remembering our three forefathers (avot) Avraham, Yitzchak and Yaakov. But the concluding blessing only uses one of them, Magen Avraham, Shield of Avraham. Why only Magen Avraham?
This particular blessing is so important that failing to concentrate on it requires repeating the Shmone Esre. What of the other Avot? What is so special about Avraham and about G-d's role as Magen Avraham, Shield of Avraham?
Let us look at the three descriptions leading up to it of G-d as, Melech Ozer, Moshia UMagen, the King who Aids, Saves and Shields. Each of these praises rises in stature, as is appropriate when praising G-d, by going from the lesser to the greater.
G-d as the one who aids us is the least of these. What does that mean? If we're in trouble, we call out for help, and G-d helps us get through the difficult situation. For example we're driving a car that skids out of control on a wet road, and with G-d's help, the accident isn't too bad, and after a few weeks of physical therapy, things are back to normal. We praise G-d for aiding us, because if not for Him, we would be dead or crippled.
Then there's G-d as the one who saves. So when we find ourselves in trouble, we call out to Him, and he saves us from our troubles without a scratch. So when that same car begins to slip, it pulls to a stop, with no harm done.
Then finally there's the G-d who shields. And when He shields us, we never even experience the crisis. We just drive on, never even experiencing any portent of danger. Because G-d is shielding us all the way. Now obviously this is the ideal experience. And that is why the G-d who shields is the highest level of praise.
But Shield of Avraham also requires the highest level of faith. When we experience G-d as aiding us through a difficult situation or saving us when we're in danger, it's easy to see His handiwork and know that He's protecting us. But when He's shielding us, it takes a lot of faith to remember that when nothing goes wrong, it's because of G-d acting as the Shield of Avraham.
Now let's look at each of the three Avot and how they match up to these three praises. Avraham was shielded by G-d. As a result he was never faced with any real physical threat. When he fights the kings, G-d appears afterward to tell him that he is being shielded. There is no mention of any actual danger.
On the other hand, Yitzchak does experience imminent physical danger at the Akeidah, but he's saved from it at the last moment. He experiences Hashem as Moshia. Yaakov not only experiences physical danger, he actually experiences physical harm. He's crippled by the angel, his children are abducted twice, but Hashem as the Ozer, helps him get through these troubles.
Yet if we look at the reward that G-d promises Avraham, when He tells him that "Anochi Magen Lach, Sharcha Harbeh Meod", "I am your shield, your reward will be very great", it is a long way off. Because the reward is Yitzchak, and Avraham has to wait for most of his life for that. Yitzchak has to wait for children, but less time than Avraham did. Yaakov has to wait the least amount of time (depending on which dating system you use) for children.
That is because Emunah Schar Emunim, Faith is the Reward of the Faithful. Because Avraham merited to experience G-d as a shield through his high level of faith, he was also given the privilege of living by that faith and waiting to see G-d's promise fulfilled. As it says in Habbakuk, VeTzaddik BeEmunotoh Yihyeh, The Righteous Shall Live by his Faith. Each of the forefathers embodied that in a different way.
When we recite Magen Avraham in Shmone Esre, we are reminded that we should be thankful not only for the times that G-d visibly saves or aids us, but for His shield over us, as it says later in Magen Avraham, Al Nisecha SheBekol Yom Imanu, For Your miracles that are with us daily. And so we aspire to the faith of Avraham, while praising G-d as the Shield of Avraham, who protects us from harm and peril even when we do not realize it. And if we forget, we are obligated to go back and recite the verse again, to be reminded of something that is very easy to forget, and yet so very important to remember.
Saturday, March 6, 2010
Parshas Ki Sisa - A Bridge to G-d
Parshas Ki Sisa begins with the commandment to raise up the heads of the people of Israel by having them contribute a half shekel of silver. How does this contribution raise them up?
The phases of the Mishkan had involved first raising up Aharon as the Kohen Gadol, then the Kohanim as a whole, then the sons of Levi, each Kiper uplifting the designated group to a new higher state. This was the turn of the Jewish people as a whole.
As the Kohanim were analogous to the Kodesh HaKedeoshim, the Leviim were analogous to the interior of the Mishkan whose vessels they bore on their shoulders, the people of Israel were analogous to the walls of the Mishkan itself, creating the border and boundary of the House of G-d.
So the Jewish people were raised up by contributing the half-shekel of silver. This silver was used to form the sockets that held the beams that formed the wall of the Mishkan. So while the Kohanim and Leviim might minister within it, it was the Jewish people who were its walls. With them there was a House of G-d. Without them there was no house.
And the amount was designated as half a shekel because it was not the individual contribution that counted, but the willingness to join with each other. Together they formed the people. Just as each wooden plank alone formed nothing, so too alone we are only individuals. It is together that we have form and substance.
But the half shekel had a larger meaning as well. Because in the aftermath of the revelation of Har Sinai, the overwhelming experience left open the question for the Jews of how to connect to G-d. They had seen and heard incredible things, but those things seemed to them beyond their ability to relate to. G-d as they understood existed in a spiritual state, they existed in a physical one, and there was no bridge between them.
So when Moshe ascended the mountain, they came to believe that he would not return, because to reach such a high state was to be cut off from the physical world. And so in despair instead they turned to the gross physical deities of Egypt again.
But the silver half-shekel, as well as the sacrifices and the shalos regalim, showed them how the physical could be made spiritual. The silver half-shekel upholding the atzei shitim omdim, the acacia wood planks standing, turned their physical substance into an act of holding up the walls within which the spirit of G-d resided.
But what does one do when one has fallen too low to have the chance to physically connect to G-d in that way? As the greatest of prophets, Moshe could speak to G-d, Panim el Panim, face to face. When the Beit Mikdash stood, the Jewish people could visit and bring their first fruits and sacrifices up to G-d's "face", as it says, Velo Yerau Panai Reikam. But what about when this isn't possible?
The sin of the Het HaEgel demonstrated another way through Moshe's pleading. When G-d agrees to show him His glory, He places Moshe in the cleft of the rock. Vesmticha Benikrat HaTzur. Just as a moment before He says, VeKarati BeShem Hashem. The cleft of the rock in which Hashem places Moshe is Tefila, prayer.
Even when the Jewish people had sinned and were not worthy of seeing the face of G-d, they could reach the Tzur that is Hashem through the cleft through which Tefilot travel. And in doing so they might not see His face, but they would see Him from behind and gain his mercy.
Thus Hashem taught Moshe the Shalosh Esra Midot, the Thirteen Midot, which begin with the double repetition of Hashem's name. The first is to indicate that he is a merciful G-d before man sins. The second that he is merciful even after the sin. And though in this state man may not be able to see "His Face", but they can still reach him and gain his mercy.
Thus Parshas Ki Sisa serves as an education in how to reach G-d. Its beginning shows how to see his face by physically contributing to the projection of his presence on earth. Its conclusion shows how to reach him even when we cannot see him, through the cleft of the rock, in prayer. By these two means, the Jews were taught how to bridge the realm of G-d with their own.
The phases of the Mishkan had involved first raising up Aharon as the Kohen Gadol, then the Kohanim as a whole, then the sons of Levi, each Kiper uplifting the designated group to a new higher state. This was the turn of the Jewish people as a whole.
As the Kohanim were analogous to the Kodesh HaKedeoshim, the Leviim were analogous to the interior of the Mishkan whose vessels they bore on their shoulders, the people of Israel were analogous to the walls of the Mishkan itself, creating the border and boundary of the House of G-d.
So the Jewish people were raised up by contributing the half-shekel of silver. This silver was used to form the sockets that held the beams that formed the wall of the Mishkan. So while the Kohanim and Leviim might minister within it, it was the Jewish people who were its walls. With them there was a House of G-d. Without them there was no house.
And the amount was designated as half a shekel because it was not the individual contribution that counted, but the willingness to join with each other. Together they formed the people. Just as each wooden plank alone formed nothing, so too alone we are only individuals. It is together that we have form and substance.
But the half shekel had a larger meaning as well. Because in the aftermath of the revelation of Har Sinai, the overwhelming experience left open the question for the Jews of how to connect to G-d. They had seen and heard incredible things, but those things seemed to them beyond their ability to relate to. G-d as they understood existed in a spiritual state, they existed in a physical one, and there was no bridge between them.
So when Moshe ascended the mountain, they came to believe that he would not return, because to reach such a high state was to be cut off from the physical world. And so in despair instead they turned to the gross physical deities of Egypt again.
But the silver half-shekel, as well as the sacrifices and the shalos regalim, showed them how the physical could be made spiritual. The silver half-shekel upholding the atzei shitim omdim, the acacia wood planks standing, turned their physical substance into an act of holding up the walls within which the spirit of G-d resided.
But what does one do when one has fallen too low to have the chance to physically connect to G-d in that way? As the greatest of prophets, Moshe could speak to G-d, Panim el Panim, face to face. When the Beit Mikdash stood, the Jewish people could visit and bring their first fruits and sacrifices up to G-d's "face", as it says, Velo Yerau Panai Reikam. But what about when this isn't possible?
The sin of the Het HaEgel demonstrated another way through Moshe's pleading. When G-d agrees to show him His glory, He places Moshe in the cleft of the rock. Vesmticha Benikrat HaTzur. Just as a moment before He says, VeKarati BeShem Hashem. The cleft of the rock in which Hashem places Moshe is Tefila, prayer.
Even when the Jewish people had sinned and were not worthy of seeing the face of G-d, they could reach the Tzur that is Hashem through the cleft through which Tefilot travel. And in doing so they might not see His face, but they would see Him from behind and gain his mercy.
Thus Hashem taught Moshe the Shalosh Esra Midot, the Thirteen Midot, which begin with the double repetition of Hashem's name. The first is to indicate that he is a merciful G-d before man sins. The second that he is merciful even after the sin. And though in this state man may not be able to see "His Face", but they can still reach him and gain his mercy.
Thus Parshas Ki Sisa serves as an education in how to reach G-d. Its beginning shows how to see his face by physically contributing to the projection of his presence on earth. Its conclusion shows how to reach him even when we cannot see him, through the cleft of the rock, in prayer. By these two means, the Jews were taught how to bridge the realm of G-d with their own.
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