Recap for 16 Sivan (Parsha Behaalotecha)

This Shabbos, Avishai spoke about the week’s parsha known as Behaalotecha. In the parsha, Miriam questions why Hashem has such a close relationship with her brother, Moses, and not with her.  It would seem that Miriam is jealous of her brother, Moses, which is why she makes negative comments about him. Avishai relayed to us some of the main points in Efroni’s dvar Torah, which include the possibility that Miriam was in fact trying to help her brother, by lightening his load, and this was her primary motivation rather than jealousy.  Nevertheless, we agreed that what Miriam did was still lashon hara.

Miriam was not completely aware of all the facts as to why Moses was able to take on his role and what it takes to be a prophet.  David S. talked about how prophets were not necessarily predetermined, but became prophets by attaining a very high level of spirituality.  In the parsha, Hashem appears suddenly.  We talked about what this means, as a message that not anyone can be a prophet.  The week’s parsha contains a message to all of us that we should be careful not to judge and make assumptions about anything when we do not know all the facts.  We need to be very careful, especially in saying negative things about and judging others.  We may think we are being helpful, but if we knew all the facts it would be obvious to us that we are not.

David S. led a discussion of Shabbos, and how this day is meant to be holy and a day of rest.  There are 39 categories of work which are forbidden, which correspond to a type of work that was performed in construction during ancient times.  We discussed how even though we can do modern work and avoid these 39 categories, we should not engage in any type of work with a few exceptions such as doctors saving lives and rabbis leading services.

In the past, the observance of Shabbos was not spelled out in detail.  There were only Torah commandments.  But there was an expectation that the Jews would come up with details to carry out these general commandments and keep Shabbos a holy day.  Unfortunately, over time the Rabbis have had to institute additional laws.  We discussed how there may still need to be additional laws on top of this, if we still can’t figure out and follow details that will keep Shabbos holy.

There are several things we should avoid on Shabbos, even though they are not explicitly commanded.  We should avoid talking about work and other topics we normally focus on during the week.   We should avoid making business deals, even if no money is to change hands until after Shabbos. We should avoid dressing in the same cloths we wear during the week.

There are people who can work on Shabbos, but they should do as much work as possible during the week.  We discussed how these people can be paid so much for their Shabbos work.  David S told a story that his Dad tells about how someone can be paid $200 to do something simple like tighten a screw. The person is being paid $1 to turn the screw but $199 to know what screw to turn.

Finally, we discussed how in some situations we can use a non-Jew, known as a “Shabbos goy”, to help us out on Shabbos.   This non-Jew can perform tasks such as turning on a light, or turning off a microphone that is making a lot of noise.   We can’t ask the person directly to perform the task, however we can hint around what we would like him to do.  We talked about some interesting situations we have been in.   In conclusion, it can be desirable to have a few non-Jews living among us.  But it may be a good idea to talk to them beforehand and let them know what may be happening.

This is a summary of what we discussed this past Shabbos.  No Halachic rulings are intended or should be inferred.

If you like the learning....

We do some material on the Parsha each week based on R. Yaeger's book Netivim. R. Yaeger is a rav at Yeshivat HaKotel who taught my son Ariav last year and I think will be teaching Efroni next year.

I would like to help him raise money to publish another book. Please let me know if you'd be interested in contributing to this effort. No amount is too small (or too large!).

Thanks,
DS

Recap for 9th of Sivan (Parsha Naso)

This Shabbos David S. led our learning of Parsha Naso and various other topics.  The learning was in memory of Ethan Jacobs, whose Yahrzeit was this past week.  Avishai spoke about Ethan.  We remember Ethan as being very proud of Judaism, and having a lot of passion for our Kiddush and learning.  I remember Ethan as someone who was very excited about upcoming events in our community and he wanted to tell people about them.  I appreciate him letting me know and helping talk me into coming.

This Shabbos we discussed the use of electricity on Shabbot.  There are prohibitions against turning the flow of electricity on or off, however we are allowed to use timers that are set before Shabbot begins.  There are simple mechanical timers that turn lights on and off at specific times, and more sophisticated apps that Howard talked about that can automatically determine times based on formulas of variable events such as sundown.  Although timers should be set before Shabbot, we can make adjustments as long as these adjustments prolong the amount of time the flow of electricity remains in its current state – either off or on.

Although we cannot turn lights on or off, except with timers, it is not prohibited to accidentaly change the state of a light (from on to off or off to on).  Yaki pointed out that unless it is our primary purpose to change the state of a light, it may not be prohibited to do so even if we know we are going to change the state of the light.  For example, we may know that walking near someone’s house is going to turn a light on. We should try not to do this, but we don’t have to walk a long distance out of our way to avoid it.

We discussed electric service in Israel.  In Israel it is obviously necessary to provide electrical service on Shabbot, as there can be emergencies and it is permissible to leave lights on through-out the day.  But should Jews be working in electrical plants – especially on Shabbot - when electricity is being supplied to homes and businesses that are not following halakhah on Shabbos?  And should we be getting electrical service from an electrical company that supplies electricity to those not following halakhah on Shabbos?  We discussed how it may be fine for Jews to work in the plants, since equipment may need to be turned on, in places such as hospitals in order to save lives.  However, Yaki talked about how some religious communities in Israel get all of their power from special generators on Shabbos.  These communities want no part of the regular Israeli utility company’s service on Shabbos.  The entire generator system these communities use is automated and does not require anyone to go to work.

David S. talked about some of the interesting Shabbos devices that use springs which store potential energy. There is the Shabbos alarm clock which is set before Shabbos that automatically shuts itself off when there is no more potential energy left.  There are also elevators that stop on every floor.  Although hospitals have to use phones and equipment on Shabbos, they often use devices in which the operator does not directly turn an electrical flow on or off.  For example, there are phones that will hang up every so many seconds they are not being used, but will not hang up immediately like normal phones.

This Shabbos we discussed the week’s parsha Naso. The parsha includes a section about the sotah and another section about the nazir.   In his Dvar Torah, Efroni discusses how these are two sides to how we misuse Hashem’s creation.  The Nazir avoids using the physical world at all.   The Sotah uses the physical world, but uses it in a self-centered way, solely for her own benefit.  Instead of elevating the physical and making it spiritual, she keeps everything physical.  As Efroni describes, Hashem wants us to use the physical world, but in a way that elevates it into the spiritual.

Finally, we continued our discussion of differences amongst Jews. One of the questions we discussed is whether we need to iron our our differences in order for messiah to come.  Another possibility we discussed is that messiah will help us straighten out our differences.

This is a summary of what we discussed this past Shabbos.  No Halachic rulings are intended or should be inferred.

Pre Shavuot Learning

During our pre Shavuot learning, we learned about the holiday of Shavuot which occurs 50 days after Pesach. I would like to thank David S for hosting and leading the learning and Yaki for bringing back another great book from Israel. This is a summary of what we learned and discussed.

Although today Shavuot occurs on a specific date, it is the only holiday that was not mandated to occur on a specific date. The holiday is mandated to occur 50 days after Pesach regardless of when we would observe the new moon. This is a very important holiday. It is believed that Hashem would have reversed the course of man and returned us to a “wild state” if we had not accepted the Torah. We discussed how we actually waited an additional day before actually receiving the Torah, but we celebrate on the 50th day because this is when Hashem made the Torah available to us.

We discussed how Shavuot is also known as Yom Habikurm , day of the first fruits, and Chag HaKatzir, Harvest festival. This is the beginning of the harvest of the first fruits, and in ancient times we would make sacrifices of this first fruit. And unlike Pesach, we would offer up bread during these sacrifices. Shavuot is also known as Atzeret, which means stoppage. This refers to the fact that we do not work on Shavuot.

Shavuot is known as a “wedding” between Hashem and the Jewish people. We commit to be loyal to Hashem, and Hashem commits to be devoted to us. Shavuot is also a wedding between the physical and spiritual, and between the body and soul. Pesach is known as a holiday of the physical world, we are physically free from Egypt. On Shavuot we learn to view the physical through the lens of the Torah and have a holiday that is also spiritual.

As this is a holiday of applying spirituality to the physical, we go ahead and enjoy ourselves physically. As with other holidays we eat our best food and drink. But we also feed our souls and it is customary to stay up all night learning on the first day of Shavuot. This puts us in a proper state for the day to come.

We discussed how Hashem did create us to have an evil inclination. We discussed how we slept in and were not ready to receive the Torah on time. But there does not have to be a conflict between the spiritual and our physical needs. We can learn how to elevate the physical into spiritual dimensions. The Torah is our guide as to how to do this, and how to use our free will to serve Hashem and do Tikkun Olam, which is to make the world a better place.

It is customary to eat milk and honey on Shavuot. Milk comes from a live animal, and honey comes from an insect.  So it would seem that these would not be kosher.  But milk and honey are kosher. With milk and honey we see that we can take something undesirable, negative and/or unhealthy, and extract from it something desirable, positive and healthy for us. We can turn a negative into a positive. We can apply the same concept to events in our life. Take an event such as a loss, and turn it into a positive by allowing what we lost to inspire us to do some good and Tikkun Olam. This is some of what we discussed at our learning and what the holiday of Shavuot is about.

Recap for 2 Sivan 5773 (Parsha Bamidbar)

This Shabbos, David S led a discussion of this week’s parsha Bamidbar, which begins the book of Numbers.  The Jews conducted a census, but it was different from the census we normally conduct in this country every ten years.  David W pointed out the purpose of the census, which was to determine our preparation to go to war and acquire the land of Canaan.  The Jews counted the number of male Jews age 20 or older who would be fit for battle.  The Levites were also counted, although members of this tribe would only be used for temple service.

We discussed the Torah prohibition against counting Jews, which is why the census had to be conducted by counting coins, rather than people.  This is also relevant today when counting things such as minyans.   We must find another way to determine how many are present.  One way this can be done is to visual determine whether there are 2 groups of 3 and a group of 4, without actually counting.

In the Parsha, there is also a description of how the Jews were organized by tribe.  Each tribe corresponds to one of the children of Jacob, who is also known as Israel.  A person’s tribe always depends on one’s father. To this very day, there are Jews who are a Levy and know this because their father is a Levy.  Alex asked an interesting question as to what would happen if a woman married a man who was non-Jewish or whose tribe could not be determine.  The children would definitely be Jewish, but to which tribe would they belong?  This must have created an interesting problem back then.

Elli brought up some interesting questions about how Hashem relates to us, and what is Hashem’s “mood” when he deals with us.  We discussed how Hashem does not need us to follow his commandments, but wants us to follow them because he loves and cares about us.  We discussed how Hashem uses reward and punishment, not so that we modify our behavior in a way that serves him, but modify our behavior in a way that is in our own interest and well being.  We discussed how this is similar to how we should raise our children.

David S led a discussion of how we do the yearly cycle of reading the entire Torah.  Every week, we read the Torah on Shabbos, Monday and Thursday.  David W pointed out that we read on Monday and Thursday because historically these were the days the Jews would be conducting business, and it was important that they did so in an ethical manner. The Torah puts a lot of emphasis on conducting business ethically. We discussed some of the airline and hotel companies today that do a good job at this, and others that do not.

On Shabbos there are 7 aliyahs, which are calling ups to the Torah.   Historically each person called up would read from the Torah, but today there may just be just one actual reader and the aliyah will consist of just reading the blessings and helping the Torah reader.  In Orthodox shuls, the entire Torah is completed once per year on Simchat Torah.  It is customary to give the first aliyah to a Cohen, and the second aliyah to a Levite.  Sometimes it is hard to determine who should get the third aliyah.  Ellie pointed out that in psychology what we remember most are the first and last aliyahs, so maybe getting the third aliyah should not be as important after all.  We discussed how it is ok for children, even if they are less than Barmitzvah age to do an aliyah.  We also discussed how in ancient times only the Torah was written in Hebrew.  Aramaic was the language that Jews would normally use.

Finally, we discussed what happens if the community misses a Torah reading, perhaps because of a storm or some other unexpected event.  In this case, there is to be a double reading when the community can next get together.  If someone is ill and misses a reading, they do not have to make it up.  There are differences between Ashkenazi and Sephardic Jews.  We inherit the traditions of our father.  When getting married, a woman inherits the traditions of her husband.

This is a summary of what we discussed this past Shabbos.  No Halachic rulings are intended or should be inferred.

Recap for 24 Lyyar 5773 (Parsha Behar-Bechukotai)

This Shabbos we discussed the week’s parsha –Behar-Bechukotai, and the Jubilee year. The Jews were commanded to observe the Jubilee year after every 7 cycles of sabbatical years. The Jubilee year comes up once every 50 years. Today we no longer observe the Jubilee year, but there are still Jews who observe the sabbatical year, every 7 years. During the Jubilee year we are commanded to go above and beyond what is to happen in the sabbatical years. The Jubilee year is like pressing a “reset button”.  All debts are forgiven, and those who were brought into slavery are set free.

We discussed in what form we received the Torah at Mt. Sinai. At Mt. Sinai we received general principles which the Jews were to apply to their everyday lives. When we read the Torah today, we see stories that happened after the time of Mt. Sinai. These more recent stories contain more details and help spell out what we are being commanded to do.

The Jews received general principle of the Torah at Mt. Sinai without everything being spelled out. David S commented about how the same thing happens in corporations. Higher level employees such as managers are given general objections, without a lot of details. Lower level employees may need everything spelled out. David W gave an example of this. He talked about contractors who need a checklist in order to get a house ready. They can’t simply be told to get the house ready.

We continued our discussion of choosing a shul for davening. We should prefer a shul where there is Torah learning, over one in which there is not as much learning. We should prefer a quiet shul over a noisy shul. Most importantly, we should prefer the shul in which we can have the most kavanuh. This may be a different shul for different people. This is why it is my opinion that it is desirable for a community to have a lot of minyans in different places at different times rather than one big minyan. This way the needs of a wide range of people can be met.

Once we find a shul and minyan, there are places in which we should avoid davening. We should avoid davening near the door of the shul. We should also avoid davening in front of any mirrors, near windows, or next to the Rabbi.

Brian talked about how we should never assume a shul is not available. He found a shul in San Diego in the most unlikely neighborhoods. But what if we can not find a shul at all? We should avoid davening in wide open fields, and avoid davening anywhere there is a foul odor.

We discussed how the chazzan of the shul should be chosen carefully. The chazzan needs to have outstanding character. It is preferable to find a chazzan with a great voice. If someone is lucky enough to have a great voice, it is a great mitzvah for them to become a chazzan.

We discussed why we say kaddish. Kaddish is not a prayer of mourning, but rather a reaffirmation of our faith in Hashem at a time in which we may have lost some of this faith.  The memory of our loved one inspires us to have faith in Hashem. Even though kaddish is important, if we can use the memory of a loved one to inspire us to do good things in this world, this can be an even greater mitzvah than just saying kaddish.

We discussed the importance of studying on Shabbos, but making it as enjoyable as possible. We try to have an Oneg Shabbot with plenty of food and drink. David S commented how his father would say one minute of Torah study in this world, is better than eternally in the next world. That is because in this world we have an opportunity to elevate ourselves spiritually. Having said this, we still agree that one minute in the world to come is better than a whole lifetime of physical pleasures.

This is a summary of what we discussed this past Shabbos.  No Halachic ruling are intended or should be inferred.