This Shabbos we discussed parsha Ki Tavo, including commentary from Rav Yeager’s book Paths. In the parsha, is the mitzvah of giving of the first fruit, and tithing 10% of one’s crops. The first fruits are taken to the temple as a sacrifice to Hashem, and the tithing is given to the Levy and/or the poor. We discussed how these are the 2 mitzvah in which we verbalize what we are doing. We discussed the reason for this verbalization, which is to be clear that we are not entitled to anything, and that everything that what we do receive comes from Hashem.
David commented how the very first of anything has special meaning to us. He mentioned the first penny that he earned at work having special significance to him. The idea that everything comes from Hashem is very important in Judaism. By sacrificing the very first of the fruits, we show that we are not entitled to any of what we are about to receive. By showing our gratitude in this way, we develop the proper mind set as we go forward and have our fruits.
We discussed the mitzvah of tzedakah. Norm brought up that there are 8 different levels of tzedakah. We discussed how we should want to give tzedakah emotionally, rather than feeling forced to do so. However in some cases we really are not sure where the money is going to. We discussed that maybe the rabbi or Vaad should certify the legitimacy of those asking for donations.
We discussed how we have an obligation to give, however entitlement is not a part of our religion. David specifically brought up holiday meals. We have an obligation to see who does not have a place to go, and open up our homes, however no one is entitled to these meals. Unlike secular society which seems to be based on rights and entitlements, Judaism is based on mitzvah and obligation.
We discussed how, as a society we run into problems, when more and more people want to consume without producing. It is clear that Hashem wants us to finish the act of creation by producing. However, how should this be done? Should it be done by just some of us, while the others study Torah full time? Or should each of us both work and study Torah? There seems to be a lot of controversy surrounding this issue, especially in Israel. Judaism is about applying the Torah to the physical world, and Tikum Olam, which we can do through our work, so work seems very important to me.
We discussed that if Rosh Hashanah falls on a Monday or Tuesday, as it does this year, we separate out parsha Nitzavim and parsha Vayelech and read these separately. This is because there is an extra Shabbos between Yom Kippur and Sukkot. We will do Nitzavim next Shabbos, and Vayelech the following Shabbos.
We discussed how in Judaism we can have privileges, however this comes with responsibility. For example, the Kohen receive certain privileges, but have a special responsibility in our community. The privileges and responsibilities originate with the original covenant that Hashem made with Abraham. As we are all descendant from Abraham, we all have a covenant with Hashem.
I brought up an article that I noticed over at the Yeshiva. I found the following link to the article http://www.iep.utm.edu/design/ The article is called “Design Arguments for the Existence of God”, and is written by Kenneth Einar Himma. In the article is mentioned some of the ideas by David’s father, Dr. George N Schlesinger.
Dr. Schlesinger argues that if an event has a 1 in 1,000,000,000 chance of occurring, such as hitting a jackpot at a casino on a single machine, and the event occurs, this could be due to random chance with no “cheating”. However, if there are 3 separate events, each of which has a 1 in 1,000 chance of occurring, such as hitting consecutive jackpots on 3 different machines, and all 3 occur, this is much less likely to be due to luck and the casino would certainly suspect some type of “cheating” took place. For life to exist, there are a series of different extremely low probability events that need to occur. If just one low probability event occurred, that could be due to luck, but when each of these events occur this is strong evidence of intelligent design.
Finally, Norm brought up the idea of turning things over to Hashem. We do the best we can to change what we can. The remainder we turn over. I can say from my own experience, this is not always easy to do but it is better to let go of some things.
This is a summary of what we discussed. No Halachic rulings are intended or should be inferred.
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