Recap for 29 Sh'vat 5777 (Parsha Mishpatim)

This Shabbos, we discussed the upcoming holiday of Purim, including commentary from Rav Malamed. We discussed parsha Mishpatim, including commentary from Rav Yeager. We heard a shier from Rav Males. And we discussed some miscellaneous topics.

Rav Males talked about how some people have jobs that are physically quite dirty. We call these “dirty jobs”. Rav Males talked about how those engaged in this work can take showers, put on clean cloths, and come and pray and make sacrifices to Hashem, and are no better or worse than anyone else.  A person who has a "dirty job" should be judged no worse than someone who has a “clean job”, such as a white collar worker.

 Rav Males pointed out that what matters in life is the cleanliness of one’s soul. We are judged on whether or not we are moral and honest. Perhaps we put too much value in society on having prestige occupations, rather than on having good character.

We discussed the upcoming holiday of Purim, and how we increase our level of simcha during the month of Adar. David spoke about how the same way locations in space have meaning, locations in time have meaning. In particular, Adar is a month of increased simcha, whereas Av is a month of diminished simcha. Nisan is a month of redemption. The meaning of these periods of time, is why events such as the redemption from Egypt occurred when they did, rather than the other way around.

One of the other points we discussed, is that in Judaism we want to be in a constant state of simcha. We define simcha as being close to Hashem. Our level of simcha varies based on the period of time, but we should never be in a state in which all simcha is absent.

We discussed some of the customs we engage in during Purim, in particular those that represent a big difference from our normal routine. We discussed the custom of giving half a shekel, or half of whatever is the standard unit of currency, in our case the dollar. We discussed how we make fun of each other more than we usually do.

We discussed an interesting topic which is how our mindset determines our reaction to events. In particular, we discussed how expectations determine how we feel about results. David commented that it is the gap between our expectations and the results that determine our level of happiness and satisfaction, rather than an absolute way of evaluating things. This is why we should set realistic goals. If we set unrealistic goals, we will struggle to feel like we have accomplished anything.

In addition to being careful how we set expectations, we can also choose how we perceive results. We discussed how an optimistic person always expects good things to happen, but even when something happens that many of us would consider “bad”, the optimistic person can see the good in what has happened. David commented that learning how to perceive the “bad” as an opportunity to turn the situation into something good, is very worthwhile. We also discussed the importance of believing we can succeed. If we believe we will not succeed, we are licked from the start.

We discussed why slaves would have their ears pierced, when they wanted to be a slave. This was to remind them to do a better job listening. Hashem wants us to be accountable directly to him, and not a slave owner. A slave does not have the freedom to choose to serve Hashem. It is not desirable for us to be in a situation where we do not have the freedom to choose how we live our lives.  Hashem redeemed us from slavery for a reason.

Although we want to be accountable directly to Hashem, we can use others to help us execute. For example, we do not have to determine on our own the kosher status of everything we eat. We can rely on others to make this determination, and notify us through the use of a system of hectars. David pointed out that this is very different than a corporate structure, in which we are accountable to our boss, rather than the man at the top. In life, we are ultimately accountable to Hashem who is at the top.

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

Recap for 22 Sh'vat 5777 (Parsha Yitro)

This Shabbos we discussed Parsha Yitro, including commentary by Rav Yeager. We discussed the holiday of Purim, including commentary by Rav Malamed. We discussed the idea of applying spirituality to the physical world.  David Schlesinger led discussion.

We discussed how in this week’s parsha, we receive the Torah from Hashem at Mt Sinai. In particular, we receive the 10 commandments. Rav Males spoke about the commandment to honor our parents.  Rav Males shared that we should honor parents that may not be our biological parents, in the case of adoption. He also spoke about honoring parents who may have not been good parents if we can, because the honoring is for us to do a mitzvah, and not just for our parents. Rav Males pointed out that honoring our parents is one of those mitzvahs that will contribute towards giving us a long life. We can continue to honor our parents after they pass away, by observing yeirzeits, and being inspired to do mitzvah by their memory.  This is something we have discussed at our kiddush.

Dave W brought up the interesting question of why the parsha would be named Yitro, when the receiving of the Torah seems to be the main important event that took place. Dave pointed out that Yitro came to meet with Moshe and our people, but soon returned to Midian thereafter, so why is he given such great importance?  The parsha is named after the first important word that appears, which is Yitro, but could have been written so that the first word had to do with us receiving the Torah. It may be that all the parsha’s are us receiving Torah, which is why this particular parsha doesn't have to be named as this.  Rob pointed out that Yitro took Judaism with him back to Midian, so it wasn't necessarily desirable that he stay with us.

We discussed how Yitro came from Median to join us and talk to Moshe about setting up a system of courts and judges. We discussed how Yitro told Moshe that he was trying to do too much. Rob shared his thoughts about how having just a single court and making litigants wait long periods of time to have their case heard, causes injustice. Rob brought up the case of a defendant who may have been innocent but pled guilty to a crime and was sentenced to 1 month, rather than sit in jail for 3 months waiting to go to trial. Rob also commented how the courts in the time of the parsha did much more than the secular court systems we have today in modern life.

David shared about an article that was written in the Young Israel newsletter this week, on the topic of elevating the mundane. The article talks about how as Jews we do not reject the physical world. We should not consider the physical world a necessary but undesirable place.  We should consider the physical world, part of what is needed to carry out our purpose.  As Jews, our mission is to elevate the physical world, by applying the Torah and our relationship with Hashem. We have referred to this in our Kiddush as “elevating the sparks of kidusha”.

One of the important ideas we discussed this Shabbos is that our relationship with each other is important as well. We apply spirituality in teams. We discussed how the phrase “lo tov” appears in the Torah in cases where it is not good that someone tries to do everything by themselves. The phrase appears in this week’s parsha, that it is “lo tov” that Moshe was trying to deal with so much on his own. The other place it appears, is when Hashem says it is lo tov that Adam be by himself in the Garden of Eden.

We discussed the upcoming holiday of Purim. David remarked that this is the hardest holiday to observe properly. We discussed how this holiday is actually very holy. On this holiday we engage in physicality to the max, enjoying a lot of food and drink and dancing. It is very easy to get lost in all of this, and lose awareness of the meaning of the holiday which is this elevating the sparks of kiddusha. The physical world provides for us the opportunity to enjoy a lot of pleasures, especially on Purim. As we enjoy the pleasures, it is important to realize that all of it comes from Hashem with a purpose.

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

Recap for 15 Sh'vat 5777 (Parsha Beshalach)

This Shabbos we discussed Parsha Beshalach, incdluding commentary by Rav Yeager. And we discussed in general, how we interpret and translate the Torah. David Schlesinger led discussion.

Avenoem talked about how we lose meaning, and our ability to interpret the Torah when we rely on certain English translations. We discussed how translations into different languages, makes it more difficult for us to apply rules of interpretation, such as the special meaning behind the use of the same exact word in more than one place in the Torah.

Ellie commented that we have to apply a lot of “mental gymnastics” in order to believe the Torah. He brought up how we pascan from the Torah not mix meat and milk, yet it seems like Abraham mixes meat and milk.  However, Dave W pointed out that in the Torah, Abraham eats dairy and then meat, and not necessarily together. 

David S commented that the Torah has layers of meaning which are lost if we take everything literally. He gave as an example that if the Torah states someone is “10 ft tall”, it does not necessarily mean that this person is 10 ft tall.  It could mean that the person has strength or dominates in other ways.

We discussed how we really did not want to leave Egypt. We discussed how Pharaoh had to push us out, and we left suddenly. During our journey from Egypt, we did a lot of complaining, and questioned whether life in Egypt was actually better. We discussed how although we complained, Hashem provided for us by providing us bread, quail, and water.

Dave W pointed out that when we asked for meat, we received quail. Although the prohibition between mixing poultry and dairy is considered rabbinic, Dave W pointed out this possible Torah source for this.

We discussed why it says in the Torah that Hashem did not take us by way of the most direct route, “because it was close”. We discussed why it is that the Torah says “because it is close”, rather than “even though it was close”. We discussed that the fact it was close, meant we would traverse it quicker, which would not give us enough time to grow spiritually to the point we were ready to enter the promised land. We discussed how our mission was to receive the Torah in Mt. Sinai, and then go through a long process of becoming ready to enter Israel.

We discussed how Hashem wanted us to see the miracle he would perform for us at the Red Sea, and purposely took our journey in this direction.  Harold Katz, a regular reader of these notes, pointed out to me how we sang songs thanking Hashem for this miracle, the same way we praise and thank Hashem in our davening today.

We discussed that although we had not earned our redemption from Egypt, Hashem felt that he had no choice but to redeem us from Egypt. We discussed how Hashem will redeem us in one of two circumstances. In the first circumstances, it is because we are about to perish completely and will absolutely not survive if we are not rescued. This was the case when we were in Egypt. In the second circumstance, we have grown spiritually, follow the Torah, and have earned redemption as a reward. We discussed how the ultimate redemption has not yet come, but will come when we have earned it. The ultimate redemption will be when mashgiach comes and is here.

We discussed how on eruv Shabbos we were given a double portion of bread. This is why we start our meals today on Shabbos with a double portion. The same way we had to have trust in Hashem during the time of the Parsha to provide for us on Shabbos, we have to trust in Hashem today to provide for us on Shabbos. We trust that if we work hard during the week, we do not have to work on Shabbos, and our needs will still be taken care of.

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

9 Sh'vat 5777 (Parsha Bo)

This Shabbos we discussed parsha Bo, including commentary from Rav Yeager.  We discussed why some holidays take up more than 1 day.  And we heard a Dvar Torah about our practice of using non-Jews to help us out on Shabbos.  David Schlesinger led discussion.

Yoseph gave us a dvar Torah after davening, on the subject of using non-Jews on Shabbos.  Because of the prohibitions against asking anyone directly to violate Shabbos, we often have to “throw” hints to our non-Jewish friends so they know how to help us.   For example, we can not tell a non-Jew directly to turn on a light, but may be able to make a comment such as “I have trouble finding things in this room”.

We discussed a few cases which are exceptions to this, in which it is ok to tell a non-Jew directly how to help us.  We discussed asking a non-Jew directly to turn on hot water for us.  This may not be a problem, since it will not directly cause water to be heated.  It does however cause water to be heated indirectly, which is why we are prohibited from turning on hot water ourselves.

We discussed parsha Bo, including commentary from Rav Yeager.  We discussed how the number of plagues – 10 – is the same number as the number of sayings from Hashem, when he created everything in 6 days.  We discussed how each saying, such as “let there be light”, is part of the creation of nature.  We discussed how nature can sometimes put a shield up which can lead to our losing connection, consciousness, and awareness of Hashem.  When we see an event, we believe it happens because of the laws of nature, and forget that Hashem orchestrates everything from behind the scenes.

We have discussed in the past, how there was a time when Hashem intervened with nature, in order to let us know that he is the true ruler of everything.  Certainly this is the case with the 10 plagues. Although Hashem no longer does these type of direct, supernatural interventions, we can still see miracles every day that should lead towards our appreciation of Hashem and awareness that he is in charge of things.   

Eliona discusses this in her dvar Torah, which we discussed.  It appears in the newsletter of Young Israel for parsha Bo.  She points out that whether or not something is a miracle, depends a lot on how we define a miracle.  There is a tendency for us to be numb to Hashem’s presence when we define miracles as something unexpected.

We discussed, from Rav Yeager, how each of the 10 plagues, helps remove a piece of the shield that was created by one of the “sayings” from Hashem.  The plagues were not only designed to send a message to Pharaoh, but  to send a message to us as well, that Hashem is available to do his part if we do our part.  We discussed, that this is why we were commanded to leave the blood from the lamb on our doorposts - because we have to do our part and Hashem will not do everything for us.  Having gained this increased awareness of Hashem, this gave us a foundation and motivation for receiving the Torah at Mt. Sinai.     

One of the questions we discussed, is why 10, for the number of sayings and number of plagues.  Why not 8 or 9 or 11.  Rob brought up an interesting point, which is that Hashem had to choose a number and simply chose 10.  We can keep asking why something is the way it is, but at some point  the answer is simply because that is the way Hashem choose to do it.

We discussed in particular the 10th plague, which is the death of the first born.  We discussed the idea that Moshe knew this would be the last plague, from a prophecy he had received a long time ago. When Pharaoh told Moshe not to come back, Moshe knew the last plague was coming.

We discussed how the last plague – death of the first born – is a message from Hashem, that power should not be based on status in society, but on doing what is right.  In Egyptian society, the first born had special status and privilege.  It is important to do what is in theTorah, and what is right, rather than what we have the power to do.  The last plague sends a message, that status should be earned, rather than something one is born into.

Harold Katz commented to me that Pharaoh did not only allow us to leave, he pushed us out of Egypt.  We discussed how Pharaoh’s heart was strengthened by Hashem, in order that there be 10 plagues, as each of the plagues has special meaning.  Part of the parsha, is the commandment that we remember the Exodus from Egypt on the 15th of Nissan.

We discussed how certain holidays are celebrated on 2 days, because there was a time when we did not know exactly when the holiday was to occur.  Although today some of the doubt may be resolved, we still must follow what we have been commanded to do.  We discussed how when we celebrate a holiday on 2 days, often the halakuh is stricter on the first day.

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