Pre read for next shabbos

The following is an interesting article which compliments articles by Dr. Rabbi George Schlesinger concerning evidence of the existence of Hashem.  The article points out how everything needed to be perfect in order for the universe to exist.   On top of that, everything needed to be perfect for life to emerge at all, let alone intelligent beings who question our existence.  The odds of us being here, if we would be here by pure chance, are 1 in a number so large it is hard to imagine.   These are numbers so large that I have never learned what they are called!  The article makes the case that it makes a lot more sense that we are here because of an intentional design and plan.

This is a pre-read as we will be discussing this article.  If the link takes you to a subscription page, it is possible to get to a page containing the entire article by doing a google search on "wall street journal case for god".

http://www.wsj.com/articles/eric-metaxas-science-increasingly-makes-the-case-for-god-1419544568

Recap of our discussion, 5 Tevet 5775, parsha Vayigash

This Shabbos we discussed parsha Vayigash, including Rav Yeager’s commentary on the parsha. We discussed the central theme in Judaism, of bringing spirituality to the physical world. We discussed another theme - that we are all part of our community and nation, and can’t exclude anyone. We also discussed from Rav Malamed - the halakhah of muktzeh. David Schlesinger led discussion this Shabbos, and also shared a few stories from his father.

We discussed parsha Vayigash, including Rav Yeager's commentary on the parsha.  In a previous parsha, Joseph is thrown into a pit and then sold off into slavery. We know that Jacob showed favoritism towards Joseph, which led to jealousy by his brothers. Bucky also shared that Joseph may have had a feminine side which was a turn off to his brothers.  But we discussed a more in depth reason for his brothers actions. The brothers were concerned that Joseph was too much into the physical, and that this was not the type of person that should be leading the Jewish people in future generations.

We discussed the idea, that at the time of the parsha, there were basically 2 different tracks people could take. Track 1 represents a life of spirituality, based on the direct miracles from hashem that we have witnessed.  Track 2 represents life in the physical world, in which a spiritual orientation is absent.  We discussed the idea from Rav Yeager’s commentary that Joseph was on track 2.

Today, track 1 no longer exists, as Hashem no longer manifests himself in a direct way and we have to make some effort in order to “see” him.  However, today we have a further division of track 2, into two sub options,  – track 2a and track 2b. Track 2a represents what Judaism is all about – bringing spirituality to the physical world. We do not have to be 100% certain of Hashem’s existence in order to do this. Track 2b represents the track that much of the world takes – which is life in the physical and material world, without appreciation for why this world exists and the purpose we were given.

We discussed how in the generations prior to Joseph, in previous parshas, there were exclusions of family members, such as Jacob’s brother, who were judged to be on the wrong track. Thus Joseph’s brothers thought it was perfectly appropriate and consistent with their values to exclude Joseph, who also seemed to them to be on the wrong track.  The track Joseph was on, track 2, does carry more risk than track 1, but Joseph eventually ended up on track 2a.

We discussed how when the brothers arrived in Egypt for the first time, Benjamin was left behind. It turns out that Benjamin had the same mother as Joseph, and had become the new favorite son of Jacob. Joseph told the brothers to go back and bring Benjamin. We discussed why it is that Joseph was not satisfied with almost all his brothers bowing down.  We discussed the differences between Joseph's original dream and what happened.  In the dream his brothers knew they were bowing down to Joseph, however there was some time before Joseph revealed who he was to his brothers.

Another reason for wanting Benjamin to come to Egypt - was to give the brothers a test. Benjamin was very similar to Joseph. He was the younger brother. He came from the same mother. He was favored by the father. Joseph created a test, to see if the brothers would exclude Benjamin the same was that he had been excluded. Joseph planted some evidence, and tried to withhold Benjamin and put him in jail, to see if the brothers would simply leave him there. 

However, the brothers ended up doing T’shuva and were not willing to leave Egypt without their brother. This time around, they were not willing to exclude a brother who was very much like Joseph. We discussed that the ultimate T’shuva in Judaism, is to be in the same situation as before, but this time to act differently. Seeing that his brothers had done T’shuva, Joseph reveals himself, and invites the entire family to come to Egypt and escape their struggle with the famine. Joseph was very willing to forgive his brothers, saying that it was Hashem’s plan that he come to Egypt.

We discussed how the ox represents Joseph, and the lion represents his older brother Judah. The lion is known as the strongest animal of the two, however David tells us a story from his father, Dr. Rabbi George Schlesinger, about what happens when the lion meets the elephant and gets demolished!

There is another story David told from his father that perhaps symbolizes what this parsha is all about. We are all in a boat and someone is digging a hole. The guy digging the hole tells us it is none of our business what he is doing. Of course, it is our business because the hole will cause all of us to drown. Likewise, everyone in our communities can affect us with what they are doing (or not doing). We can not just exclude anyone, any more than we can exclude this guy in the boat. And this is the lesson Joseph’s brother’s learned, that they can not exclude Joseph either. 

Judah goes on to become a king, and to become a leader of spiritual things, whereas Joseph learns how to bring spirituality to the physical world, and moves to track 2a.  Everyone has a role to play, regardless of what track they are on.  They may eventually get to the right track.   Judaism is an all-inclusive religion where we all rise and fall together.

This Shabbos we had a discussion of the halakah of muktzah. There are certain objects we need to put away on Shabbos. These include such things as electrical devices and pens. The Rabbi’s implemented these rules, because they were concerned if these items were around we would be tempted, or might accidentally use them.  This use would constitute a violate of the 39 types of work. We discussed another reason for the rabbinic halakah, which is simply to preserve a certain atmosphere on Shabbos which is lost if we are focused on tasks such as moving furniture.  These rules are there to ensure we do not take time away from other activities.

We discussed how Judaism carries great rewards however it may not always be easy to observe. David told us about how when he was growing up, he and his father would walk to the Hillel on Shabbos. It was a long walk, and even more difficult in that they would always be going in the opposite direction of all the football fans!

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

Recap for 28 Kislev 5775, parsha Mikeitz, Yeirzeit for Joseph ben Abraham

This Shabbos was a special Shabbos.  I very much appreciate that the learning was in memory of my father, Joseph ben Abraham.  His yeirzeit was this past week, 2 days before Shabbos.  David Schlesinger led discussion as we discussed the holiday of Hanukah, including commentary by Rav Malamed.  We also discussed this week’s parsha, Mikeitz, including commentary by Rav Yeager.   Efroni Schlesinger offered his commentary on the parsha, as well.

Today is the 3 year anniversary of these notes.  Three years ago, my friend David Schlesinger had a learning in memory of my father at his house, when I was returning from the shiva. My family in New York and Costa Rica were not able to come to this learning, so I summarized what we discussed and sent it to them in an email. The decision to do this was made so fast and spontaneously, that it wasn’t until afterwards that I realized why I had done what I did.   And this is how I began writing these summaries, which I have continued doing after every Shabbos.

When I was growing up, my father was fascinated with memory tricks, which he taught to me. It wasn’t until someone pointed out that I had a good memory that I realized that I was using my dad’s tricks in order to remember the material in order to write these summaries.  This Shabbos, Yaki talked about how everything is part of Hashem’s plans.  I believe this includes our learning every Shabbos, and the summarizing of what we learn in these notes.

My father’s Hebrew name is Joseph ben Abraham. His yeirzeit just so happens to occur at the same time the person he was named after, Joseph, is the main character in the parsha. My father, just like Joseph in the parsha, was in fact very fascinated and interested in dreams and would often write them down. I don't write down my dreams, but I know that the best dreams that I have are during my Shabbos nap, which is why I always look forward to it.

Like Joseph, my father did move away from his family when he was in his late teens, to the United States where he went to college and later met my mother. This is of course not the same as Joseph in the parsha being forced to go to Egypt. My father did stay in contact and visit his family ofen, even though he lived in another country. I am sure the same way Joseph reunited with his father, my father’s soul has reunited and is much closer to his parents and Hashem now than it has ever been.

I remember that we did celebrate chanukah together with my father. This Shabbos David Schlesinger led discussion of rabbi Malamed’s commentary on the holiday. Last week we discussed the miracle being the slow rate at which the oil was consumed. This week we talked about how the oil is just the beginning of the miracles that Hashem has provided to us. We discussed how the survival of the jewish people after so many years, is such a huge miracle, after many nations and empires tried to eliminate and get rid of us. We discussed that it is Torah and faith in Hashem that has helped keep Judaism going, regardless of in what part of the world we are in.

We discussed how Chanukah takes place during the time of year with longer nights. This is also the time of year when the moon is smallest. The lit candles of Chanukah symbolize the light, that the jewish people and Torah shine on a dark world. We discussed how it is the “Judaic-Christian” ideals that have transformed our world, into hopefully one in which people and nations do what is right and reflects hashem’s will, rather than one in which people and nations satisfy self centered desires.   We were able to preserver and not conform to the Greek culture, a culture in which multiple god's were worshipped, and a culture in which physical things were highly valued.

We discussed how although we have experienced great miracles as both a nation and in our personal lives, we can not rely on miracles. Yaki talked about how miracles are most likely to occur when we have done the best we can. Yaki talked about how hashem has plans for miracles which may be triggered if we do the best we can.   Yaki talked how it is important to believe in Hashem, that he will in fact take care of us, and it is the belief itself that triggers some of this “taking care of” to take place. If we do not believe in Hashem, we well may have to work on Shabbos and/or during the sabbatical year, and Hashem may have to command the land to give us food.

We discussed how chanakah, along with Purim, and certain other commandments, make up the 7 mitzvah that were implemented by rabbis. Efroni gave a very interesting dvar Torah, in which he points out that there are hints of chanakah in the original Torah, even though the events that created the holiday did not occur until thousands of years later.  We had an interesting discussion about the oral law, and how it differs from the written law. Efroni commented that it would not have made since for Hashem to communicate to Moshe that he can not drive a car on Shabbos. So we have the oral law that continues to be applied to different situations to this day.  Brett commented that this is similar to case law.

Efroni gave a very interesting dvar Torah on the week’s parsha. Efroni commented what it must have been like to be in Jacob’s shoes, hearing his sons tell this story of their adventure in Egypt. How could Jacob believe that they needed Benjamin to prove they were not slaves? Why would Jacob believe Benjamin needed to be used as some type of proof when they could easily bring some random guy? We discussed how the fact that they were willing to leave their starving families to go to Egypt again, seems to be what finally convinced Jacob that their story could be true.  Another thing we discussed, is that perhaps Potiphar knew all along that Joseph was innocent, but simply had no choice but to put him in prison, with all the talk that was going on.

This Shabbos we discussed Rabbi Yeager’s material as usual. We discussed two tendencies, that can lead us to go off course in life. These tendencies are represented by the people that Jacob had to deal with. The first tendency is laziness, which is represented by Jacob’s father in law, Laban. When we are lazy, we are not necessarily doing anything destructive, but we are not doing anything constructive either, and are wasting time. The second tendency is aggressiveness in the physical world, with no spiritual basis for what we are doing.  This second tendency is represented by Jacob’s brother Esau. Jacob has to deal with these two types of people in their life.  We discussed how Jacob successfully deals with these 2 people.

We then continued to discuss, from Rav Yeager, how Joseph finds himself in 3 situations. The first situation is when he arrives in Egypt and goes to work as a servent of Potiphar. In the second situation, Joseph finds himself in prison, having been accused of showing too much of an interest in Potiphar's wife. And in the third situation, Joseph finds himself released from jail and living as a direct servent of Pharaoh. In each of these 3 situations, Joseph rises to the top.  Rav Yeager makes the point, that Joseph succesfully builds on his father Jacob's success in life.

My father was not very religious with respect to being observant of all the halakuh, but he did a lot of mitzvah. My father liked to visit the sick.  I remember when we all wanted to go to the beach, my father was more focused on visiting a person who recently had a stroke. I also remember my father had a housekeeper whose sister passed away, and my father offered to pay for this funeral, which is something he did not have to do. My father was an inventor and artist. He was building computers at our house before people even knew what a PC was, and has numerous patents and rewards. And he has many paintings which were drawn with a single black pen, one dot at a time. I hope by learning and doing these summaries, I can build on my father’s success, the same way that Joseph was able to build on the success of Jacob.

My father’s birthday was the day after his yeirzeit. I talked to my sister and we just decided to eat his favorite food and make a fun day out of it. My dad really liked to go to the beach, which is why I really like to hear about beaches and Dave W has continued to tell us about the beaches in Florida. Dave W has pointed out that there is also a Chabad house in Destin, and that there is an Achdut Israel synagogue in Panama City. There is also kosher food at the Publix supermarket, including Challah.  F

Finally, we talked about how in Judaism we say blessings after the meal, as well as before. Brett pointed out that we even say a blessing on water, and he commented on the parsha that the speech at the UN by the ambassador of Israel was very much like the speeches that are given in the Torah.  And I would like to thank David again for the learnings in my father's memory.

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

Recap for 22 Kislev 5775 (Parsha Vayeishev and graduation Shabbos)

This Shabbos we discussed Parsha Veyeishev.  Efroni offered up very interesting commentary on the parsha.  This Shabbos was also a special “graduation” Shabbos for David Schlesinger who has just completed his MBA!  David gave a very interesting shiur related to his studies.  We also discussed the upcoming holiday of hanakuh, and possible vacation spots in Florida with growing jewish communities.

In this week’s parsha, Joseph is sold into slavery by his brothers. Efroni commented that there is a lot of repetition in the parsha.  Some of this repetition, includes the use of the word “davar”, that appears more than once in the parsha. Efroni gave us a very interesting dvar Torah related to this.  He spoke on how this word is used twice, once when interpreting dreams and once when Joseph goes off to check on his brothers. The word would appear to have 2 different meanings, but Efroni suggested that maybe it really doesn’t.  We discussed how maybe Jacob told Joseph to go off and actualize his dream, rather than to go off and simply check on his brothers.  After all, it wasn’t until 22 years later when Joseph’s dream had become true, that Joseph reunited with his father.

David gave a very interesting shiur related to his MBA studies. We started off discussing how it is a mitzvah to help those in need, sometimes by giving them loans.  If we have a choice, it is best to help those who are poor, and to help those in our own community before helping those from out of the area.

David discussed from his coursework how financing is done in the business world.  There are basically 2 types of financing, equity and bonds.  There are pros and cons to each of these which depend on whether it is from the perspective of the borrower, or from the perspective of the lender. The borrower calculates his cost of capital based on how his financing is allocated between stocks and bonds.  His goal is then to invest in projects that will provide a return that exceeds this cost. For example, if the borrower’s WACC (weighted average cost of capital) is 5%, the goal would be to invest in projects that return more than 5%.  Of course it is usually not possible to predict with certainty how successful a project will be, which is why there are risks associated with borrowing money.  Equity financing would seem to come with less risk because less needs to be "paid" to the lender if things do not go well, however there is the risk of losing out on a lot of "upside" when projects do well, that would not have been lost with straight loans achieved by issuing bonds.

We then discussed what type of financing would be best if we want to help someone who is in need.  Some of the points we discussed included that first, in Judaism it is important that we love and care for one another by actually putting ourselves in their shoes and feeling what they are going through. Secondly, Judaism is a religion where we all should rise and fall together, rather than some benefiting at the expense of others. These factors have led to our current halakuh that it is desirable to loan money to those in need, but it is prohibited to charge interest. When we charge interest, we are taking advantage of others and not truly feeling their pain. The laws against interest apply to both the borrower and the lender.

This brought up a discussion that was raised by a gentleman as to what we should do to encourage lending, when there may be no one interested in loaning out money at zero percent interest. Just as corporations can finance by issuing equity, we can loan money to an individual with special agreements in which our return on this investment depends on how the individual makes out. We call this "heter iskal", and we can put this provision in our agreements. 

 We discussed that there is a possible leniency with organizations such as banks, in that we may be able to accept interest from a bank, as a bank is a separate entity and it would not make sense to not accept interest so we could feel the bank's "suffering". However it is desirable to put in the heter iskal provisions even in agreements involving organizations. With this type of arrangement, if an individual we loan money does not do well, we will feel his pain with him as he is not required to pay back the investment.  On the other hand if the individual does well, we can feel his success with him as we realize some of this upside.

We discussed some more how it is a mitzvah to feel someone else’s suffering, the same way Hashem feels our suffering. When we go to a shiva we should feel the pain of the mourners, but also what is going on with the souls that are now being judged. One of the interesting discussions we had is how do we feel hashem’s suffering? The way we do this is by trying to be a Kiddush hashem, to honor hashem and Judaism by doing mitzvah and representing hashem in the best possible way here on earth.

This Shabbos we also had a discussion of the upcoming holiday of chanakuh. We discussed what exactly was the miracle. Did we divide the oil up into 8 equal amounts expecting to just get 3 hours a day, and then were miraculously given a full day from each amount? Or did we start off using all the oil, expecting to only get one day out of it?  We concluded that on each day we actually used all the oil that was available, not expecting any miracle at all. On each day the oil was consumed at 1/8th of its normal rate, which resulted in the oil lasting 8 full days. This was the miracle, and why we celebrate a miracle on each of 8 days. This is all an inspiration to all of us, that just like the oil, we all have a miraculous potential to do more than we expect.

Yaki shared about how the biggest miracle is that we were able to preserver over the Greek. Yaki shared that the light of the candles illuminates the darkness, which symbolizes what our spirituality means to the world. Yaki commented that the three things the greeks tried to take away from us, were brit milah, Shabbos, and Rosh Chodesh. These are the three ways in that we shine light. It is a great miracle that we preservered, and we should realize that miracles are possible in our own lives.

Dave W talked about the growing Jewish community in Destin, Florida, and how this is a great place that hashem created for us to take a possible vacation during the winter. There is a synagogue there called Achdut Israel, that follows the Sephardic tradition. I have not been to the beach in a long time and may check it out.

Finally, I want to say that my father’s name is Joseph ben Abraham, and his yeirzeit is this week, and mozel tov again to David on his accomplishment of achieving his MBA.

Recap for this Shabbos, 14 Kislev 5775 (Parsha Vayishlach)

This Shabbos we discussed parsha Vayishlach. David Schlesinger led discussion. This Shabbos was a special Shabbos, as we welcome back Efroni Schlesinger from Israel.  We discussed Rav Yeager’s commentary on the parsha, as well as additional commentary from Efroni .

We discussed this Shabbos the emotion of fear, including Rav Yeager’s commentary on this. We discussed how our fear is often based on what is happening in the short term physical world, when perhaps our focus should be on longer term, spiritual issues.  We discussed how we may need to have more faith that our physical needs will be met, as long as we do our part. We may worry too much about what is going to happen tomorow, even after doing all we can, when maybe what we should be worrying about is what is going to happen to us and our soul in the long run.

We discussed what it means to have a fear of Hashem. This fear may be very different than the type of fear we have about physical things. We discussed how a healthy fear of hashem is desirable, when it is manifested as an awareness of Hashem.  It is healthy to be aware that now is the time to study Torah, do mitzvah, and grow spiritually, before we miss out on the opportunity.  David suggested that we should ask ourselves every day if we did something significant. We should consider whether or not what we did contributed towards our long term spiritual goals.

Efroni gave a dvar Torah on the parsha, discussing the main differences between Jacob and his brother, Esau. Esau was the oldest son of Isaac, but was willing to give away his oldest son rights to his younger brother Jacob. Efroni commented that Jacob was most concerned with spiritual matters, and continuing to father a nation, whereas Esau seemed more concerned with the physical, and with the here and now.  Jacob was able to give Esau physical things in order to make peace with his brother.

David commented this Shabbos on how we should not judge people as either “good” or “bad”, but that it is actions that fall into these categories. We discussed whether the world is “good” or “bad” overall. David commented that most of the world is oriented towards construction rather than destruction. We discussed how it is much easier to construct something, than to destroy.

We discussed why Hashem may allow a world with some destruction, especially that which is a result of nature.  This allows for a perfect world by maximizing our opportunity to have a virtuous response.   David talked about how he would ask his father about this, and how it could be that some suffering does not seem to allow for a virtuous response. The answer seems to be that the virtuous response goes on for a long time.  Even today we are in the process of a virtuous response to suffering that happened a long time ago.  This includes making sure buildings are earth quake proof, and constructing the state of Israel which is a response to the Jews not having any homeland.

Efroni discussed the idea of how the 2 different parts of tefillin represent our thoughts and actions. The head (rosh) tefillin represents our thoughts, and the arm tefillin represents our heart and our actions. It is not enough to have good thoughts and knowledge of Torah - we have to have good actions as well. Our actions need to be aligned with our thoughts and what we have studied from the Torah and know of our commandments. Efroni commented that only those whose actions are aligned with their thoughts should be eligible to join the army.

Efroni talked about how we should trust those who are expert on a subject, even though when coming up with dvar torah it may be desirable to come up with original material. This brought up an issue, that was raised by Ellie, as to how we can trust a rabbi whose judgement may now be obsolete in the modern world. David commented that during each period of time we get a “layer” of Torah by the current day experts, who should be trusted. We discussed how Judaism is a religion without an official central authority, and that it is good to have debate, but not trusting experts can lead us into trouble.

This Shabbos we discussed the haftorah and why it came about. Efroni talked about how the haftorah complements the parsha. David talked about how we may sing the haftorah in a minor key.  Efroni also talked about how repetition helped him learn at his Yeshiva, but even with this knowledge we should still trust experts.

Finally, Brett from the all Torah team came up with an answer. He talked about how a marriage can be declared null and void if the man was deliberately not told of the woman’s inability to have children.

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