This Shabbos we discussed some central ideas of Judaism. We discussed the idea that there exists 2 worlds, the physical and the spiritual. The physical world is composed of space and time and consists of all that we can sense. For the most part it is pretty obvious we live in a physical world, but there is also a spiritual world. Since this spiritual world is outside of time and space, we need to set up places and times in which we are in touch with this world.
We set up the day of Shabbos to be in touch with this world, and we also set up the location of the tabernacle, to be in touch with this world. Nowadays, the temple no longer stands, and we have shuls in which we daven and communicate with Hashem.
It is very hard to understand the spiritual world in which something can come out of nothing, souls continue to live, and Hashem is ever present. We draw analogies between the spiritual and physical in order to describe things. When we speak of the “hand” of Hashem, or Hashem “spoke”, we of course do not mean to say that Hashem has a physical body, but we do the best we can to use words and concepts we can relate to - to describe what is going on.
One of the physical places in which we are particularly close to the spiritual is the land of Israel. Being in Israel is considered a big mitzvah, and living there an even bigger mitzvah. We discussed whether someone born in Israel, that made no effort to live there, would be doing as big a mitzvah, as someone who made Aliyah. David told a story from his father, Dr. George Schlesinger, in order to answer this question. In the story someone lives in Denver and benefits from the clean air. The same way someone living in Denver benefits from the clean air, whether they are from Denver or not, someone who lives in Israel receives the spiritual benefits of living there, whether they are from Israel or not.
We discussed a book this Shabbos, in which there is commentary that mitzvahs performed in Israel are worth a lot more than mitzvahs performed outside of Israel. We also discussed commentary that averas such as eating non-kosher food, are worse when committed in Israel than when committed outside of Israel. Finally, we discussed commentary that living in Israel was as great as all other mitzvahs combined. It is clear that those who both live in Israel and perform mitzvah, have the potential to reach a very high spiritual level that is not available to those who live outside this land.
One of the controversial ideas we discussed from this book, was the author’s commentary that the reason we do mitzvah outside of Israel, is so that we remember how to do it when we are in Israel. Although we may not agree with this author completely, it is clear that this is a very important reason. When I was in Israel I was glad I knew how to do many of the mitzvah, like observing Shabbos and eating kosher food! It has made my visits a lot more meaningful.
We discussed some more the idea that Hashem created the most perfect world possible. We continued our discussion of the virtuous response to suffering. David’s father, Dr. George Schlesinger, has written a lot on this topic. We discussed how praying for someone who is not well is a virtuous response to suffering. If we are sick we should let others know so that they can visit us or at least call and/or bring us food. This allows them to have a virtuous response, which helps them to grow spiritually. We discussed how the virtuous response can go on for centuries and even millennium, for one single event such as a tsunami.
One of the physical places in which we are particularly close to the spiritual is the land of Israel. Being in Israel is considered a big mitzvah, and living there an even bigger mitzvah. We discussed whether someone born in Israel, that made no effort to live there, would be doing as big a mitzvah, as someone who made Aliyah. David told a story from his father, Dr. George Schlesinger, in order to answer this question. In the story someone lives in Denver and benefits from the clean air. The same way someone living in Denver benefits from the clean air, whether they are from Denver or not, someone who lives in Israel receives the spiritual benefits of living there, whether they are from Israel or not.
We discussed a book this Shabbos, in which there is commentary that mitzvahs performed in Israel are worth a lot more than mitzvahs performed outside of Israel. We also discussed commentary that averas such as eating non-kosher food, are worse when committed in Israel than when committed outside of Israel. Finally, we discussed commentary that living in Israel was as great as all other mitzvahs combined. It is clear that those who both live in Israel and perform mitzvah, have the potential to reach a very high spiritual level that is not available to those who live outside this land.
One of the controversial ideas we discussed from this book, was the author’s commentary that the reason we do mitzvah outside of Israel, is so that we remember how to do it when we are in Israel. Although we may not agree with this author completely, it is clear that this is a very important reason. When I was in Israel I was glad I knew how to do many of the mitzvah, like observing Shabbos and eating kosher food! It has made my visits a lot more meaningful.
We discussed some more the idea that Hashem created the most perfect world possible. We continued our discussion of the virtuous response to suffering. David’s father, Dr. George Schlesinger, has written a lot on this topic. We discussed how praying for someone who is not well is a virtuous response to suffering. If we are sick we should let others know so that they can visit us or at least call and/or bring us food. This allows them to have a virtuous response, which helps them to grow spiritually. We discussed how the virtuous response can go on for centuries and even millennium, for one single event such as a tsunami.
This is a summary of what we discussed. No Halachic rulings are intended or should be inferred.
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