Recap for 18 Adar I, 5776 (parsha Ki Tisa)

This Shabbos we discussed parsha Ki Tisa, including commentary by Rav Yeager. We discussed some of the fundamental beliefs of our religion. And we continued our discussion of Purim and Purim Katan.  David Schlesinger led discussion.

We discussed some thoughts about the world to come, and how it would appear upside-down to many of us. Those who are most humble in this world, would be on top in the next world, and many of those who seem to be on top in this world would be at the bottom in the next world. David talked about the great importance of humility, and shared some thoughts from his father, Rav. Dr. George N Schlesinger. These thoughts are that a humble person still acknowledges his assets, but the assets of others have equal importance in his mind.

We discussed the idea that Hashem created the most perfect world, which is not necessarily one in which everything is “good”. David has shared from his father, the idea that the most perfect world is one which maximizes our opportunity to do mitzvah. Norm shared that the most perfect world is one in which human beings have free will, which is why Hashem remains hidden. If Hashem gave us immediate rewards and punishments, we would perform actions automatically, and free will would no longer be necessary.

We discussed how Hashem wanted human beings that would choose to believe in him. He also wanted human beings that would help finish the act of creation. Norm pointed out that all this requires that we have scientific laws and order. If I build a machine and don’t know how it is going to work - because there is no order - how can I help finish the act of creation?

Although Hashem does remain hidden, there is plenty of evidence for his existence. There is just not overwhelming evidence, that we have no choice but to believe in him. We use our free will to conclude that the most reasonable explanation for things, is the existence of Hashem. Norm pointed out the complexities of DNA molecules and how they work as a blueprint for life. It is a far more reasonable explanation that these came about through the intervention of a creator, however it still may seem possible to some that DNA happened to develop randomly.

We discussed the parsha and the sin of the Golden Calf.  Brett pointed out that in Judaism, we believe in Hashem, which is not something we can touch or see, however through out history we have shown a tendency to want something we can touch or see.  We discussed that the people had been using Moshe as a way to connect to Hashem. But when Moshe did not come back as expected, the people needed something else in order to make a spiritual connection, so they created a Golden Calf. Dave W pointed out that the people did not have much patience, as it was a matter of hours before Moshe did come back.

We discussed how unlike other religions, we embrace the physical. However, we must differentiate between the physical and our creator. We have physical things such as the tabernacle, which helps us connect to Hashem, but we do not warship the tabernacle as our creator. We have limits on our engagement in the physical world. One of the examples we discussed is milk and meat. We are allowed to consume both of these. But we can not benefit from their mixture. We discussed how the cow represents physicality to us, but there are limits to this physicality, such as not mixing it with dairy.  The Golden Calf represents going overboard with physicality, in a way that no longer applies spirituality. This happens when we do not follow the Torah, and commit averas. 

We discussed Purim some more this Shabbos. Purim is all about applying spirituality to the physical world. And Purim is also about Hashem remaining hidden.

David relayed a dvar Torah from Ariav, which compares Purim Katan to the moon, and Purim to the sun. The moon represents our potential, and the sun represents the actualization of our potential. When we have a leap year, we help the lunar cycle catch up to the solar cycle. During this leap year our potential gets actualized. When we celebrate Purim Katan we celebrate our potential, and when we celebrate Purim, we celebrate the actualization of our potential.

Finally, David shared with us his father’s definition of knowledge. There are 2 things that are necessary to define a thought or idea as knowledge. First, the thought or idea has to be true. And secondly, the thought or idea has to be believed.

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

Recap for 12 Adar I, 5776 (Parsha Tetzaveh)

This Shabbos we discussed parsha Tetzaveh, including commentary by Rav Yeager. We discussed some of the fundamental concepts of Judaism. David Schlesinger led discussion.

Efroni gave a dvar Torah comparing what happened with Moshe, to what happened with Noah. In both cases, Hashem had plans to wipe out all the people.  Noah built an ark in order to save himself, however did not try to save everyone else.  On the other hand, Moshe told Hashem if the people are not forgiven and saved, then leave me out of your book. Moshe cared about everyone whereas Noah only seemed to care about himself.

David shared a story that his dad, Rav Dr. George Schlesinger, would say about this. If it is very cold out and people are suffering we can simply put on jackets, or we could build a fire. By building a fire we help everyone, whereas putting on a jacket is more self-centered and only saves ourselves. Noah would be the one who just puts on a jacket, whereas Moshe would be the one who builds a fire.

We discussed the fact that Moshe is left out of the entire parsha. Moshe does tell Hashem to leave him out of the book if the Jewish people are not going to be forgiven. However, the people’s lives are spared and they are given another chance, yet Moshe is still left out. David pointed out that although Moshe’s name does not appear, the word “you” referring to Moshe is scattered through-out the parsha.

We discussed the fact that what constitutes a “parsha” was determined by people after the Torah was given to us, so that it would seem that someone other than Hashem decided that an entire Parsha would leave out Moshe’s name. Norm pointed out that this is all a “post event” analysis, and it is easy to say afterwards this is why it happened, but to predict things in advance is much more meaningful.

Efroni’s take on all this, was that Moshe was so in tune with everything, he knew his name would be left out for a large portion of the Torah, and his statement to Hashem to leave him out was just his acceptance of reality. Efroni pointed out that the truth of the Torah is equivalent to the very fabric of reality, and those men of great Torah scholarship are very much in touch with reality to the extent they may have a great awareness of what is going to happen.

We discussed how earlier in the Torah, Moshe thought Aaron should be in charge of everything.  Nevertheless, now Moshe was concerned that Hashem was delegating some leadership responsibility to Aaron. We discussed how Aaron was given responsibility for much of the physicality that we use to connect to spirituality, whereas Moshe's responsibility was as a general leader and conveyor of Hashem's communications.

We discussed how originally Moshe wanted to do everything himself, but his father in law eventually convinced him he needed to delegate. Efroni talked about how as an officer in the IDF, it is sometimes easier to do things himself, rather than delegate them to others.

We discussed some of the differences between Judaism and other religions. We embrace physicality as a platform for spirituality and do not consider physicality "sin".    Dave W commented that in Judaism, even the most mundane objects can have spiritual value.  The purpose of the tabernacle, is a physical place in which we connect to Hashem.  

We discussed 3 places in the Torah where vows were made. In one of them, Eliezer looks for a wife for Isaac and vows to accept the first woman who wants to offer drink to his camel. In the next one, Jephthah ends up sacrificing his daughter, since she was the first to leave the house. And finally, whoever takes down Goliath is offered the princess.   

Rob pointed out that 2 of these vows involved marriage, and one involved death. Hashem may have intervened to ensure that the marriages worked out, but did not seem to intervene with the human sacrifice.  David pointed out that we have a responsibility not to get into situations in which the only way out is with help from Hashem.

We discussed the upcoming holiday of Purim Katan. Purim Katan is celebrated during those years which contain an extra Adar month. The same day that Purim occurs in Adar, is Purim Katan during Adar I.  It is important that Pesach occur in the Spring, which is why an extra Adar may be added to the calendar for the year.

We discussed how some consider Purim to be the holiest holiday in the year. It is true that the holidays with the most physical restrictions are generally the holiest, with Yom Kippur seeming to be the holiest day. However, once we get to Yom Kippur, to get holier even still we not only allow but encourage physicality. However, the purpose of this physicality is to symbolize the fundamental idea of Judaism to bring spirituality to the physical and mundane.  It is easy to get lost in physicality and fail to do this at all, in which case our Purim would not be holy at all.  So Purim has the potential to be the holiest holiday, but only if we celebrate it in a way that realizes it’s purpose.

Another fundamental concept of Judaism that we discussed, is that Hashem created the most perfect world that may include problems.  David shared his thoughts that if life gives us lemon, we should make lemonade.   It may not be that easy to do, but it's worth trying because making lemonade is why the lemons may be there in the first place.  

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

Move blog over to wordpress

I am thinking of moving our blog, memphiskiddush.blogspot.com over to wordpress.  The advantages of moving it over are that self hosted wordpress offers more options than what we current have at blogger.  These options include plug-ins that will automatically index our posts, contact forms for subscribing and unsubscribing to email lists, and more customization opportunity with html and css.

Here are 2 possible domains that are available, 

www.kiddushlearning.info and

www.torahlearning.info

I would like to attract as many visitors as possible and think that using the word "memphis" in the domain might

limit our audience.

Suggestions are welcome

DK

Recap for 6 Adar I, 5776 (Parsha Terumah)

This Shabbos we discussed Parsha Terumah, including commentary from Rav Yeager. We discussed some of the halakhah related to Shabbos. We welcomed Efroni back from Israel this Shabbos!

We discussed how in the parsha, Hashem’s command to help build the Tabernacle, seems to be out of order in the Torah. Why would this appear now, rather than after the Sin of the Golden Calf?  It was after the Sin of the Golden Calf that we demonstrated a need for physical things to help us make spiritual connections.  We discussed a possible explanation - that we were at a spiritual high at the time of Mt. Sinai, and this was the best time to understand and appreciate Hashem’s commandment to build a tabernacle.

Efroni gave a dvar Torah, in which he commented as to why Hashem commanded the people to do what they were going to do anyway. By making this a direct commandment from Hashem, it's importance increased, and it becomes an even bigger mitzvah.  It was important that this mitzvah to build a tabernacle be motivated out of love for Hashem, and not because we felt social pressure to contribute.  

We discussed how it can be a challenge to relate to spirituality, so we use physicality to do so. There are 3 aspects to physicality that we discussed, space, time and mass. We discussed how holiness can vary, depending on where we are in space, the current time, and what an object is. The holiest space would be the “holy of holies” where only the Kohen could go during Yom Kippur. The rest of the temple would have a lesser degree of holiness. Some would say the holiest time is Yom Kippur, which has been considered the “Shabbos of Shabbos”. Others would say Shabbos is the holiest time, for reasons that include the fact it occurs more often. That which comes directly from Hashem, such as a Sefer Torah would be considered the holiest object, which is holier than a Chumash, which is holier than a Siddur.

We perceive there to be different aspects of physicality, such as space, time, and mass, and we connect physicality to the spiritual based on these.  There was recently a discovery that further confirmed Einstein’s theory of gravity, that mass and space are intertwined and not separate - although we perceive them as seperate. The dimensions of space and time are also known to be intertwined and not separate. There are actually at least 4 dimensions of space-time - although we perceive space and time as seperate.  It is very interesting, that the Torah first came up with the idea that everything was one, that there was one God etc. etc., long before science started to confirm that everything, space, time, and mass, was actually all one. The Torah also first came up with the idea that time had a beginning, which was later confirmed by science.

The fact that the Torah confirms things first is evidence of Hashem’s existence, along with what we discussed last week that we all seem to be born with a desire to connect to a higher power. However, David brought up an article that seems to contradict this. The article points out that societies in which there is a belief in God tend to be moral, which makes them have more power, last longer and be more successful.  In this case it seems to be our choices that have evolutionary value, not what Hashem gives us.  A desire to believe in a higher power in and of itself does not lead towards a moral society.  We could believe in the wrong higher power.  Hashem gave us this desire whose evolutionary value depends on how we use it.  The fact that Hashem gave us something that can lead towards strong, successful societies is evidence of Hashem's existence.

 

We have discussed how Hashem created the most perfect world, as one in which we have problems, challenges, and bad things can heppen. David has shared from his father, Dr. Rav George N Schlesinger, the idea of the virtuous response to suffering – that Hashem wants to maximize our opportunity to do mitzvah, grow spiritually, and get close to him.

We discussed how gratitude and connection with Hashem may be able to help us deal with hardship. Dave W pointed out that we should be grateful just to wake up every day and be alive. We discussed how things happen for a reason – even bad things – and we should think of life as an experience, in which bad things can have good aspects, especially if we help turn the situation into as much of a positive as we can.

Dave W shared about a Rabbi here in Memphis who was able to continue functioning while going through a crisis. Efroni shared about a Rabbi in Israel who was able to function while going through a crisis. Efroni shared how this Rav was able to give an amazing dvar Torah just 1 week after finding out his wife had cancer. These Rabbi have amazing and inspirational closeness to Hashem.

Yaki shared this Shabbos how we all have a different purpose in life and we should not compare ourselves to others. It may seem like certain people are more important, but we are all equally important in the eyes of Hashem. Rabbi Greer gave a dvar Torah on the idea that “everyone gets”. We each give and receive in our own ways.

Finally, we discussed how we have an obligation to make sure we minimize the inconvenience of halakuh we follow on Shabbos. For example, we make sure that we have turned on the lights we will need and that the temperature is set correctly. We discussed that when there is an exception to following halakuh on Shabbos, it is usually with that halakuh in which we did not have an opportunity to minimize the inconvenience.

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

Recap for 27 Sh'vat 5776 (Parsha Mishpatim)

This Shabbos we discussed Parsha Mishpatim, including commentary by Rav Yeager. We discussed that we have all been created with a desire to connect to a higher power that is greater than ourselves. We welcomed some of our old Kollel friends. David Schlesinger led discussion.

We discussed that there are 3 different types of laws, Edot, Chukim, and Mishpatim. The reasons for the Mishpatim, such as not committing murder, seem obvious. The reasons for the Edot, such as observing certain festivals, are stated. The reasons for the Chukim, such as eating kosher food, are not stated or obvious. We discussed that we should follow all laws whether or not they make sense, simply because they are in the Torah.

David shared some thoughts that the purpose of the Torah is to be a mechanism to get closer to Hashem. We can start off on this journey by first following the commandments that are Mishpatim, including those contained in the week’s parsha. As we progress and see the benefits of our increased spirituality, we become more and more motivated to follow the Chukim as well.

One of the ideas we discussed is that all Mishpatim actually have some Chukim in them as well. Some of the reasons for the Mishpatim may seem obvious, but we can never know all the reasons for each and every one of them. We should be motivated to follow the Mishpatim not only because they make sense, but because they are in the Torah.

We discussed that we should also follow all judgements made by judges and the court, regardless of whether or not they make sense. For example, a man may be found innocent that we absolutely know is guilty. We should treat him as though he is innocent. Yaki pointed out that we really do not know how Hashem may be playing a role in the outcomes of these trials. For example, a man may be found innocent because of something that happened in a previous life. Another example, in the past a court would rule on whether or not there was a new moon, and the new month had begun.  It was important that we went by the court’s ruling, regardless of whether or not the court got it right.

This Shabbos we discussed how we are all born with a desire to connect with a higher power. It’s interesting that there is no evolutionary need for this desire. David suggested this desire is evidence for Hashem’s existence. Hashem created us with this desire, but left it up to us to use our free will to choose our higher power. We connect to Hashem as our higher power using the mechanism of following the commandments in the Torah. However, we may all have the experience of other higher powers, such as our parents when we are very little. Of course, good parents eventually teach their children that Hashem is the ultimate higher power and not them. Even athiest can have a higher power, such as nature or the universe.

We discussed some of the foundational concepts in Judaism, which are the basis for the laws and commandments in this week’s parsha. Dave W pointed out that unlike secular law, there is no separation of church or state in our halakhah. In fact, one of the foundations of the Mishpatim is that everything belongs to Hashem, and any items we possess are on loan from him.  Another foundation we have is that Judaism puts the emphasis on obligation, rather than on rights.

We discussed how the Mishpatim have compassion and mercy for people. For example, it is not allowed to take a needed item such as a coat from someone as collateral. However, if the person only needs the coat at night, we can take it as collateral during the day but must return it every night.

We discussed how some laws are similar both in our secular system and in the Mishpatim. For example, if there is a trial and someone is found not guilty, and then later more evidence of guilt is found the accused does not have to stand trial again. This is known as double jeopardy, and is not allowed. Rob pointed out that in the other case, in which new exculpatory evidence is discovered the accused would get a new trial in both secular law as well as in the mishpatim. Rob shared that there may be some exceptions in our secular law, in which the prosecution could get another trial of someone, when a judge had made an incorrect decision.

We discussed some of the more interesting laws. David shared one of these that his father, Rav Dr. George N Schlesinger would often bring up. It is against the law for a judge to accept a bribe however it is not against the law to bribe a judge. The reason for this law is to make sure at least 1 of the 2 parties is not afraid to talk about, or admit to what happened.

We discussed how many of the consequences of not following the laws, are built into nature. For example, there is halakuh about marrying someone with whom we have had relations.  We discussed that perhaps it is not a coincidence that societies in which premarital relationships are common, also have high divorce rates.  As usual, it is important to discuss this halakuh, as well as all halakuhs with a Rabbi.

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