Recap for 16 Kislev 5776 (Parsha Vayishlach and Yahrzeit of Mindel bat Shandel)

This Shabbos we had a Kiddush in honor and memory of Norm’s mom, Mindel bat Shandel, on the occasion of her yahrzeit. Norm spoke about his mom being very generous, always speaking the truth, and being a mensch overall. Although she did not have any college degrees, she was highly intelligent and very educated from her own efforts, especially in business. She worked for a family business in New York when she was in her 70’s.  This is all a good lesson for all of us to learn and develop wisdom from as many sources as possible and to continue working hard through-out our lives.

Norm also shared that his Mom was a very good judge of character, for example being very good at being able to spot a “fish”. And although she could sometimes come across as very direct and blunt, she was very loving and caring and most interested in being helpful and honest. David shared about having her at his Pesach seder.

This Shabbos we discussed from Rav Yeager, 3 types of opposition we face as Jews, and where these originate in the Torah. The first type of opposition is from those who do not believe in God at all.  This includes atheist and those who worship idols. We discussed the idea that these people originate from Nimrod, a person that tried to take Abraham’s life. The second type of opposition we face is from those who believe our Torah has been completely replaced by the Koran and is not valid at all. We discussed the idea that these people originate from Ishmael. This opposition includes the Islamic terrorists who have been active in our world recently. And the third type of opposition comes from those who accept our Torah as valid but object to us being the “chosen people”. We discussed the idea that these people originate from Esau. This opposition includes those who teach that believing in Jesus is the way to be “chosen”.

We discussed that there are 3 different ways we can fight this opposition. These are the same as the 3 ways in which Jacob tried to deal with his brother’s opposition in the parsha. We can attempt to negotiate and appease. We can fight with armies and military. And we can pray. We spent some time discussing the balance between fighting and making peace. 

We discussed how the same principles that apply in the parsha, apply in our current day. In the parsha, Jacob’s son Simon and Levi have no interest at all in making peace and kill all the male inhabitants of Shechem. Jacob disapproves of this saying that they went overboard wiping everyone out which will only cause hatred and lead to further problems. Today we face the same questions. If we completely wipe out muslim countries in order to deal with terrorism, we risk stirring up anger from more than a billion people. 

On the other hand, doing nothing at all other than offering to make peace doesn’t work either as we will continue to suffer from those who continue to strike out against us.  We clearly must fight to some extent. Dave W brought up the point that in recent history we have really backed away and gone too much in the direction of doing nothing and being peaceful when we should be fighting.

We discussed that there was not really as much conflict when we only lived in Islamic countries. It was when we started following our Torah which commanded us to live in Israel, that problems began. The descendants of Ishmael consider our Torah and what it says to be completely superseded by their Koran, so any suggested from God we should live in Israel is false and untrue, according to them.

We discussed the good news that the descendants of Esau have made T’Shuva to some extent. We see this amongst the strong support for Israel that is found within this country, and from some through-out the world. Although there has been some T’Shuva, there is still hope from others that we will assimilate and one day change and revert to Christian.

We discussed how many of the events in the parsha take place in Samaria and Judea. I remember going to visit Beth El when I was in Israel and touring a tefillin factory. Norm remarked that the wine from this region is excellent, and we should consider purchasing some in order to help them economically. We discussed how we have signed a peace agreement with Israel and Jordan but it has not been that easy with the Palestinians.

Finally we discussed that this is the parsha in which Jacob’s name is changed to Israel. And that from this parsha comes the prohibition against eating sirloin.

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

Recap for 9 Kislev, 5776 (Parsha Vayeitzei)

This Shabbos we discussed some interesting concepts, some of which are related to the week’s parsha Vayeitzei. We discussed commentary by Rav Malamed. And we discussed the upcoming holiday of Hanukkah. David Schlesinger led discussion.

David mentioned the observation that we are no more than a few degrees of separation from any other Jew. I remember running into someone in Israel at a synagogue who knew my father’s family in Costa Rica. Dave W mentioned that he is one of several members of our community with connections to the victims of the recent terrorist attacks in Israel. Our thoughts and prayers go out to all the families, friends and victims of the recent attacks in both Paris and Israel.

This Shabbos we discussed the prohibition against taking medicine on Shabbos. The Rabbis were concerned that we may try to manufacture medicine on Shabbos and violate one of the prohibitions against work. We discussed that there are exceptions to this rule. Certainly if we need specific medicine to stay alive it is not only permitted but commanded that we take it. There are other exceptions if the medicine is necessary to treat something that goes beyond a minor annoyance. As always, it is important to consult a rabbi on this issue, rather than rely on our discussion.

Ellie was interested in why we would continue following commandments that seem to be based on logic that does not apply today. David commented that sometimes the narrative that has been given to people is based on what would be best understood at the time, and not necessarily the exact and full reason for things. For example, in a corporation, it is not helpful or desirable for management to tell the employees the reasons for every decision. We discussed that it is not a good idea for us to start trying to figure out on our own what commandments should and should not apply. Only Hashem knows all the reasons for all the commandments.

We have discussed an important concept in Judaism that it is our mission to apply the spiritual to the physical world. There are some who think that physicality is a threat to spirituality. However, we can see in the week’s parsha that the Torah seems to support the model of embracing the physical world. Jacob would like to study Torah full time and live off of the labor of his brother. However, we see that Jacob has to make a living, and does so by traveling away from his family to a distant land.  Jacob works very hard for many years before he returns.

Another concept we discussed is that nothing is all good or all bad. David brought up the example of movies, and how his Dad would allow him to go even though there was some inappropriate material.
It is important that we learn how to deal with bad things, and perhaps have a virtuous response to it. We discussed the importance of making the best decisions we can at the time we make them. We can still benefit from things that may have, or turn out to have some bad elements.

We discussed the holiday of Hanukkah and how it is different from other holidays. We discussed how hanakuh is the only holiday that we continued to observe after the second temple was destroyed. Unlike the other holidays, Hanukkah has 8 days. We discussed the miracle of the oil, and how it continued to burn allowing us time to find and extract more oil. During Hanukkah we remember miracles and how they come from Hashem. This includes miracles in our personal lives, as well as the lives of those around us.  

I remember having a philosophical conversation with my father in which he shared with me the fact we can not be 100% certain of anything.  Franco shared the idea that sometimes what we think and/or how we observe something can determine reality and existence.  We discussed this Shabbos how Judaism has to be based on probabilities.  For example, if the Eruv is up a few hours before Shabbos we can presume it is up for Shabbos.  If the Eruv is actually down but we don't know about this, we have not committed an avera by carrying.  Please consult a rabbi on these issues.

Sometimes we have relied on courts to make decisions for us. For example, the court would rule whether or not there was a full moon. We discussed how, even if the court turned out to be incorrect we must follow the ruling. For example, if the court rules that there is a new moon, that day remains the first of the month, regardless of what is later discovered with respect to the accuracy of the court’s ruling.

Finally, we remember around this time of Hanukkah that miracles can happen in our personal lives. However, David pointed out that we must do our part. We must do our part for Hashem to do his.

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

Recap for 2nd of Kislev 5776 (Parsha Toldot)

This Shabbos we discussed parsha Toldot, and some of the other earlier parsha.  We discussed commentary by Rav Yeager.  David Schlesinger led discussion.

One of the ideas we have been discussing is the importance of continuity in Judaism. We discussed that there are 2 important parts to this. First, that some are born in and secondly that we all use our free will to choose to continue our beliefs and traditions.

Brian Rubin commented how our continuity is done differently than with kings. Kings are typically chosen by being the oldest son of the last king.  The king is the king regardless of his beliefs and traditions.  In the parshas, it is Isaac and Jacob, not the oldest sons, that are chosen to ensure our continuity.  Our continuity is about keeping the same traditions and beliefs from generation to generation.  

  

We discussed Rav Yeager’s commentary with respect to Abraham and Sarah.  We discussed how there were false rumors that Abraham was unable to get Sarah pregnant and she went out and had an affair with someone else. But the truth is that Sarah was the one having trouble getting pregnant.  In fact, Sarah suggested that Abraham get together with the maid servant, Hagar, in hopes of having a child.

We discussed how Abraham ended up having a child with Hagar, who was named Ishmael. Later in life, Abraham eventually did have a child with Sarah, who was named Isaac. Dave W brought up some of the differences between Ishmael and Isaac, in particular that Isaac was so willing at age 37 to sacrifice himself for Hashem. We discussed how Isaac was chosen by Sarah to be the one to ensure the continuity of our beliefs and ideas known as Judaism which began with Abraham.

We discussed some of the purpose that we have as Jews in the world, to be a “light” onto all nations. We brought monotheism to the world, and have a purpose to represent and be a manifestation of Hashem in the world as well.  Abraham was focused on this idea and went on to have children with another wife after Sarah died, in order to spread himself to as many nations as possible. We discussed how we believe that today there is a little bit of Abraham in all corners of the world.

We discussed how everyone has and continues to have a purpose.  David shared how his father, Dr. George N Schlesinger, would say there is no such thing as “retirement” in Judaism. When one reaches a certain age, they may decide to no longer have a certain job or career, but continue to have a purpose, which may include inspiring others.  David shared about how his great grandfather was a Rabbi who never stopped inspiring others and having learnings at his house.  

We discussed how after Isaac came back from his willingness to be sacrificed, Sarah had fulfilled her mission of having a child to ensure our community. She passed away shortly thereafter. On the other hand, Abraham wasn’t through. His purpose was to spread himself to as many future nations and corners of the world as possible, and he found another wife and had more children.

We discussed how the story of Isaac and Rebecca parallels the story with Abraham and Sarah. Just as Sarah saw it as her purpose to ensure our continuity, so did Rebecca. Rebecca chose Jacob for this role, and even went to the extent of disguising him to Isaac, in order that Jacob would be chosen. As we know, Isaac was not focused on continuity and showed a preference for his other son, Esau.

Of course, not all the descendants of Abraham turned out to ensure our continuity.  We discussed how the descendants of Ishmael have gone on to become a people who do not share our values. These people believe it is desirable to die and kill others, as we have seen recently on a train in Jerusalem and in Paris.   On the other hand, we discussed how the descendants of Esau have done teshuva and share some of our values.  For the most part, we live in peace with the descendants of Esau, and many of them support us and Israel.

We discussed how ultimately it is preferable to change people, rather than get rid of them, and we have been able to be a great influence over our world and be a “light onto nations” as Hashem intended.  This is particularly true for the descendants of Esau.  Unfortunately, we have not been able to change everyone for the better.  Our hearts go out to the victims of the recent terrorist incidents in Jerusalem and in Paris.  It was recently veterans day, and I would like to thank those who help fight and defend our country, and well as those who help defend Israel.

There are several lessons in the parsha for all of us. Just as Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, and Rebecca all had a purpose, we all have a purpose in our own lives as well. We can see from the parsha, the importance of the role of woman. We can see that it is always important to have the whole story, and not to make judgement on bits and pieces as people did when Sarah became pregnant the first time. And finally we can see the importance that we each do our own part to help ensure our continuity.  

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

25 Cheshvan 5776 (Parsha Chayei Sarah)

This Shabbos we discussed the commandment of netilat yadayim, including commentary by Rav Malamed.  We discussed parsha Chayei Sarah, including commentary by Rav Yeager.  And we discussed an article about the need to believe.  It was a special Shabbos as Chayei Sarah is Yaki’s bar mitzvah parsha.  David Schlesinger led discussion.

We continued our discussion from Rav Malamed concerning the commandment to wash our hands before eating bread. We discussed the concept of purity, and what happens when we come in contact with non-kosher meat or animals. Of course many of the laws with respect to purity no longer apply with the temple no longer standing, however, commandments that we follow to this day have evolved from these practices we had in the past.

We discussed how during the times of the temple, the Kohen would wash their hands before making sacrifices. The Rabbis then decided that everyone should wash their hands, in order that the Kohen would not feel alone in this requirement.  Since not everyone made sacrifices at the temple, the rule was established that everyone would do this before meals, with a meal defined by the consumption of bread.

We discussed how body parts would be presumed to be pure unless there was evidence otherwise. However there were special rules for the hands, which are a part of the body that seems to come in contact with everything. It was presumed that the hands were impure, which is why the Cohen would be required to wash before making sacrifices.

We discussed parsha Chayei Sarah including commentary from Rav Yeager. This is Yaki's barmitzvah parsha.  We discussed how Isaac’s brother Ishmael would comment that Isaac had it easy. After all, Ishmael had his brit at 13, whereas Isaac had his brit at 8 days old and did not have to make decisions to go through this experience. We discussed how in response, Isaac told Ishmael he would be willing to do anything for Hashem. This is a reason why Isaac was asked to sacrifice himself, and proove this willingness. We discussed how the stress of all of this may have been too much for Sarah which is why she passed away.

We discussed how in the parsha, Eliezer is instructed to go to Aram to get a wife for Isaac. We discussed that Aram was a preferable location for a wife, where it would be possible to get someone for Isaac from Abraham’s family. We discussed that although those in Aram may not share the same beliefs as Abraham, the people there had better character and made better choices than those in Canaan.

 We discussed how in general it is preferable to be someone who doesn’t believe in Hashem, but has good character, than someone who believes but is immoral. We discussed that it is easier to change belief, if it exists at all. But changing an atheist or one who doesn’t believe at all, or one who is immoral, can be very tough and challenging.

We discussed that it is interesting that Hashem knew Isaac would find a wife in Aram, but he waited to reveal this until after asking for Isaac to be sacrificed. We discussed several possible reasons for this, including not wanting to interfere in Abraham's decisions.

We had an interesting discussion about how free will isn’t all that determines one’s life. We can actually be born into a certain life. For example, the woman in Aram were eligible to be Isaac's wife simply because of where they were born.  It did not matter whether or not the woman in Canaan wanted to use their free will to make choices with respect to this.  Another example, some of us are born into Judaism, or born into lives of apparent privilege. We discussed that this may not seem “fair”, but along with this privilege comes a lot of responsibility.

We discussed an interesting article entitled “The Need to Believe: where does it Come From”, by Marcelo Gleiser. The article discusses the idea that whether or not we believe Hashem exists can be a range. However the idea of belief being a range can be bothersome to scientist who have definitions of what it means for Hashem or anything to exist that are based on science.

We discussed that throughout history there seems to have been conflict between science and religion, however it is interesting that the more we know about science, the more it confirms what we have known about religion. Brian Rubin talked about the importance - that even the very religious - believe in science.  Brian talked about processes such as photo syntheses.  And the more we know about these, the more amazing it is how it works and it becomes evidence of a creator.

There have been some who have thought science is completely false, and some who have thought religion is completely false. It can be hard to imagine how both can be true, but the article suggests that it is not one or the other.  David told a story from his father how spirituality seems to have decreased since Mt. Sinai, similar to how there doesn’t seem to be the same great musical composers we have had in the past. The only reason spirituality remains strong, is because the more we know about science, the more it seems to confirm what we know about religion.

Conflict will always remain if we look at spirituality through the framework, logic, and definition of science. It seems necessary to get “outside the box” of our physical world, and to believe in something even though we will never have all the details.  We all seem to have a yearning to understand that which is greater than ourselves.  But it is up to us how we use our free will to make decisions, hashem has not created us to automatically do everything, including determination of our fundamental believes.

David told a story from his dad, Dr. George Schlesinger, that just because one wins an argument doesn’t mean that person is right. So although science can proof something doesn’t “exist”, wherein the definition of “exist” is determined by science to mean has certain physical characteristics, doesn’t mean that this argument that seems to have been “won” is right.

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

Article for This Shabbat (Nov. 8)

This article touches on a subject that comes up often during our learning. I encourage you to read it and be prepared to discuss:
Article on Belief

Recap for 18 Chesvan, 5776 (Parsha Vayeira)

This Shabbos we discussed parsha Vayeira including commentary from Rav Yeager.  David Schlessinger led discussion. 

We started off asking an interesting question of what we should do if required to work on Shabbos. Should we quit our jobs?  Perhaps we should establish communication with our employer when being hired about our need to have religious days off. Perhaps we can take vacation time, or offer to work extra on Sunday or on a Christian holiday instead. David mentioned that if we absolutely must work on Shabbos, we should try to avoid specific prohibited work, such as writing.

What if we own our own business and it seems like it would cost us money to shut down on Shabbos?  Dave W shared about some people he knows who made the decision to observe the Shabbos with their business, and ended up making even more money than they would have anyhow. 

The lesson that Dave W brings up is to have faith, and realize that everything ultimately comes from Hashem. It requires some faith in Hashem to close our business on Shabbos.  However, if we don’t work on Shabbos, it brings us up spiritually.   And with help from Hashem, this spiritual uplifting will carry over into increased productivity at work during the week.   

When we are not working, we often engage in Torah study. Brett commented that we should study what we are most interested in. David commented that much of Torah study is about how to apply spirituality to a physical world. We talked about how fire, sex and food are examples of things that can all get out of control. Hashem wants us to live and use these things, rather than reject the physical world completely, however it is important to apply the Torah and bring spirituality to our world. Brian Rubin commented that we call this “elevating the sparks of kidusha”.

We discussed how in the previous parsha, Lech Lecha, Hashem asks Abraham to leave his home and come to a new land and start a new life. We discussed how this does not only apply to Abraham. We all may need to leave an old life and come to a new life of spirituality. Often times, this new life involves a change in higher power to Hashem from something else.

We discussed how we are all born with a yearning or desire to connect to something greater than ourselves. Hashem created us this way. However, it is up to us to choose our higher power. We discussed how some people, such as atheist, may actually suppress this desire for a higher power completely. On the other hand, someone who warships idols has just chosen a higher power that is not Hashem. We discussed that perhaps an idol worshiper would be easier to change than an atheist.

We discussed the week’s parsha, Vayeira, in which Abraham is unable to have a child for a long time. Finally, Hashem gives a son to Abraham and Sarah. We discussed that in order to assure the continuity of Judaism, it is important to have children, as well as attract converts. This is why Abraham so much wanted to have a child.  What can we do if we are unable to have children? We discussed how praying for others to have what we don’t have, will often bring us what we don’t have.

We discussed how in the parsha Abraham is asked to sacrifice his son, Isaac. Dave W pointed out, that we should not forget that Isaac himself at 37 years old, was making a great sacrifice to be willing to give up his life. We discussed how Isaac does not end up being sacrificed, but that there is a big lesson in all of this about the importance of sacrifice in our religion. We discussed how sometimes some of us have to sacrifice in order for the benefit of all of us.

We discussed how Judaism is a religion of responsibility rather than a religion of rights. We discussed how a society based on responsibility is much more likely to thrive and be successful than one based on rights. We discussed how the Cohen have special privileges but along with this comes additional responsibilities.

David shared a thought from his father, Rav Dr. George N Schlesinger, that the reason we have to have our government of checks and balances, is because leaders tend to be self-centered and act in only their self interests. There would not be that much of a problem with dictatorships if they consisted of a single benevolent king.

We discussed how with the temple no longer standing, Hashem’s intervention in the world is less obvious. Although it is built into nature to respond to our choices, it may seem that some moral choices have no consequences. However, we discussed how in the long run our actions as individuals, communities, and nations most certainly do have consequences.

Finally, we discussed 7 rabbinic laws this Shabbos. Amongst them is washing before meals. We discussed some of the reasons for this law, one of which is to purify ourselves. We discussed how the hands are involved in everything, and it is important to take a moment and slow ourselves down when we are hungry.

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