Ben Manevitz shared a dvar torah with me. When Hashem offered the Torah to the nations of the world, each nation asked what was in it and He responded. When he offered it to the Jews, we said "we will do and we will listen and attempt to understand". But if we had asked what was in it, what would Hashem have responded? What is our national trait that we have to overcome to receive the Torah?
The answer is what the Torah brings just before giving us the Torah at Mt. Sinai. He commanded Moshe to command the bnai Yisroel "not to touch the mountain, not to approach the mountain, lest they will die".
Jews long for closeness with Hashem, just like others love murder and sexual perversion. We want to climb the mountain, but Hashem is warning us to follow his directions, to relate to Him His way, following His commands. When we do what we want to do, what we think is best, that is when we get into trouble.
Thursday, April 29, 2010
Thursday, August 6, 2009
What is wrong with Reform and Conservative Judaism?
Recently, Gary Rosenblatt mentioned in his column in the New York Jewish Week that the idea that orthodox Jews don’t respect or appreciate the Jewish devotion of “serious” Reform or Conservative Jews. It got me thinking about what exactly is wrong with Reform or Conservative Judaism. To understand this, I contrast the devotion of these Jews with the devotion to Roman Catholicism of the late Cardinal Lustiger, who converted from Judaism and became the Archbishop of Paris. Instinctively, I know that there is a huge difference between a Jew who involves him or herself with the heterodox movements and those who convert to another religion.
The main difference that defines and differentiates orthodox and heterodox Judaism is that orthodox Jews believe that they have covenantal obligations to Hashem. The covenant is found in the book of Exodus, chapter 19, verses 4-6, with our acceptance in chapter 19, verse 8 and in chapter 24, verse 7. Crucially, we believe that the entire Torah explains to us how to fulfill these obligations. Satmar Chassidim and talmidim of Yeshivat Chovevei Torah may disagree about the application and fulfillment of these obligations, but both agree that the commandments in the Torah are obligatory as a result of our covenant with Hashem. A Jew, or all Jews, may fail to perfectly fulfill their covenantal obligations, but more fundamentally, a Jew needs to first recognize that there is a covenant, that he or she is a party to it, that Hashem has perfectly fulfilled and fulfills every day “his” covenantal obligations, and that they are obligated to respond by fulfilling his/her obligations as commanded in the Torah.
According to my understanding, Hashem created the Jewish soul with a drive for connection to him. Since the Jewish soul comes from an entity, a “general soul” called Knesseth Yisroel, the drive often manifests as a desire to connect to the Jewish people. A serious commitment to one of the heterodox movements is a strong expression of this. However, even the institutions of the Orthodox community struggle, and often fail to elicit improvement in the fulfillment of each individual’s covenantal obligations to Hashem. How can organizations affiliated with movements that institutionalize the denial of the “ways and means” by which we fulfill our covenantal obligations to Hashem be places that I should respect and appreciate? I feel pain when I think about the condition of my own soul, and sadness when I think about the efforts that serious heterodox Jews make. It is hard enough to fulfill a mitzvoth with the proper kavannah, and mitzvoths require kavannah. When the Jew is being taught that he or she is not even obligated, how can his/her acts of service be acceptable to Hashem?
Still, the service of Jews who practice within the framework and according to the teachings of the heterodox movements is motivated by a Jewish ruach, a desire to connect to Hashem through Knesseth Yisroel. My understanding is that the heterodox movements accept that there is a coventental relationship between the Jewish people and Hashem, even as they deny that there are specific obligations that go along with the covenant which are described in the Torah. A Jew who practices a non-Jewish religion has veered much further from the mark than has the Reform or Conservative Jew, as non-Jewish religions either deny that there is any covenantal relationship between the Jewish people and Hashem at the present time, or deny that the Jew can fulfill his/her end of the relationship without adopting beliefs and/or practices that do not fall within the framework of Judaism.
The main difference that defines and differentiates orthodox and heterodox Judaism is that orthodox Jews believe that they have covenantal obligations to Hashem. The covenant is found in the book of Exodus, chapter 19, verses 4-6, with our acceptance in chapter 19, verse 8 and in chapter 24, verse 7. Crucially, we believe that the entire Torah explains to us how to fulfill these obligations. Satmar Chassidim and talmidim of Yeshivat Chovevei Torah may disagree about the application and fulfillment of these obligations, but both agree that the commandments in the Torah are obligatory as a result of our covenant with Hashem. A Jew, or all Jews, may fail to perfectly fulfill their covenantal obligations, but more fundamentally, a Jew needs to first recognize that there is a covenant, that he or she is a party to it, that Hashem has perfectly fulfilled and fulfills every day “his” covenantal obligations, and that they are obligated to respond by fulfilling his/her obligations as commanded in the Torah.
According to my understanding, Hashem created the Jewish soul with a drive for connection to him. Since the Jewish soul comes from an entity, a “general soul” called Knesseth Yisroel, the drive often manifests as a desire to connect to the Jewish people. A serious commitment to one of the heterodox movements is a strong expression of this. However, even the institutions of the Orthodox community struggle, and often fail to elicit improvement in the fulfillment of each individual’s covenantal obligations to Hashem. How can organizations affiliated with movements that institutionalize the denial of the “ways and means” by which we fulfill our covenantal obligations to Hashem be places that I should respect and appreciate? I feel pain when I think about the condition of my own soul, and sadness when I think about the efforts that serious heterodox Jews make. It is hard enough to fulfill a mitzvoth with the proper kavannah, and mitzvoths require kavannah. When the Jew is being taught that he or she is not even obligated, how can his/her acts of service be acceptable to Hashem?
Still, the service of Jews who practice within the framework and according to the teachings of the heterodox movements is motivated by a Jewish ruach, a desire to connect to Hashem through Knesseth Yisroel. My understanding is that the heterodox movements accept that there is a coventental relationship between the Jewish people and Hashem, even as they deny that there are specific obligations that go along with the covenant which are described in the Torah. A Jew who practices a non-Jewish religion has veered much further from the mark than has the Reform or Conservative Jew, as non-Jewish religions either deny that there is any covenantal relationship between the Jewish people and Hashem at the present time, or deny that the Jew can fulfill his/her end of the relationship without adopting beliefs and/or practices that do not fall within the framework of Judaism.
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
The roar of the lion
Rav Kook in Oros Teshuva says that the people of the world, the peoples of the world are crying like a lioness giving birth, crying and screaming and roaring and trying to escape her cage. When Hashem created the world, that was the biggest death there ever was, says Rav Kook. Constricting "Elokus", the G-dly, infinite energy into "Olamiyus", the time and space limited "world". Rav Kook, writing in the 1st decade of the 20th century, said that the current of teshuva was gushing, the peoples more and more desiring something better, something holier, something more G-dly.
I think that the "goyim", the nations of the world, sense, as I have posted previously, that the Jews are interfering with this process. They may not realize that this is "metaphysical", that we, the Jews accepted a responsibility from Hashem at Mount Sinai that we struggle to fulfill and mostly fail to fulfill. They do realize subconsciously that the Jews are connected to what is "wrong" with the world. This causes them to roar and to cry and to scream.
Many times during the 20th century, the lion escaped from the cage and reaked havoc.
On Sunday, I attended a talk by Professor Yisroel Aumann, who won the Nobel Prize in Economics in 2005 for his work on Game Theory. He explained Game Theory to us in the context of relations between nations. He said that according to Game Theory, nations have to create credible threats to get their opponents to cooperate. When a nation broadcasts that it doesn't want to play anymore, the opponent swoops in for the victory. As he put it, "the best way to make peace is to prepare for war. " One problem is that it is much easier for dictatorships to make credible threats than for democracies, where it is hard to get the supermajority needed to make the types of game-changing threats that are needed to bring the goals, whatever they are, to fulfillment.
When I look at what is going on with Israel and the USA, I wonder what Netanyahu is doing. I agree that he is "right" about the settlement issue, but I don't understand what his contingencies are. Is he prepared to unleash extreme responses to what may come at Israel? Does he think that the possiblity of what may come at Israel is not that serious? I see a fright train coming at us and I don't see us taking counter-actions that will be effective. And I hear the old Motown song from the 1960s in my ears, "Nowhere to run to baby, nowhere to hide". When the walls close in, we can only have faith in Hashem and in the ultimate outcome that we believe.
I think that the "goyim", the nations of the world, sense, as I have posted previously, that the Jews are interfering with this process. They may not realize that this is "metaphysical", that we, the Jews accepted a responsibility from Hashem at Mount Sinai that we struggle to fulfill and mostly fail to fulfill. They do realize subconsciously that the Jews are connected to what is "wrong" with the world. This causes them to roar and to cry and to scream.
Many times during the 20th century, the lion escaped from the cage and reaked havoc.
On Sunday, I attended a talk by Professor Yisroel Aumann, who won the Nobel Prize in Economics in 2005 for his work on Game Theory. He explained Game Theory to us in the context of relations between nations. He said that according to Game Theory, nations have to create credible threats to get their opponents to cooperate. When a nation broadcasts that it doesn't want to play anymore, the opponent swoops in for the victory. As he put it, "the best way to make peace is to prepare for war. " One problem is that it is much easier for dictatorships to make credible threats than for democracies, where it is hard to get the supermajority needed to make the types of game-changing threats that are needed to bring the goals, whatever they are, to fulfillment.
When I look at what is going on with Israel and the USA, I wonder what Netanyahu is doing. I agree that he is "right" about the settlement issue, but I don't understand what his contingencies are. Is he prepared to unleash extreme responses to what may come at Israel? Does he think that the possiblity of what may come at Israel is not that serious? I see a fright train coming at us and I don't see us taking counter-actions that will be effective. And I hear the old Motown song from the 1960s in my ears, "Nowhere to run to baby, nowhere to hide". When the walls close in, we can only have faith in Hashem and in the ultimate outcome that we believe.
Tuesday, July 7, 2009
The sharp end of the world
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/28/world/middleeast/28westbank.html?fta=y
My thought, when reading this article, is that Israel is the fulcrum, the sharp end, on almost all international issues of interst. Here is a gay, possibly communist Israeli Jew who loves helping the Palestinians. He is alienated in so many ways
This is what happens when a good person, a Jew, living in the holy land, is separate from Torah and Avodas Hashem...
Teshuva is the answer.
My thought, when reading this article, is that Israel is the fulcrum, the sharp end, on almost all international issues of interst. Here is a gay, possibly communist Israeli Jew who loves helping the Palestinians. He is alienated in so many ways
This is what happens when a good person, a Jew, living in the holy land, is separate from Torah and Avodas Hashem...
Teshuva is the answer.
Monday, July 6, 2009
How to become President in four months
Barack Obama on Sarah Palin:
"...At least one savvy politician—Barack Obama—believed Palin would never have time to get up to speed. He told his aides that it had taken him four months to learn how to be a national candidate, and added, “I don’t care how talented she is, this is really a leap.”
From http://www.vanityfair.com/politics/features/2009/08/sarah-palin200908
I look at the way the liberal media HATES her and George W. Bush - It is scary how open they are with their hate.
"...At least one savvy politician—Barack Obama—believed Palin would never have time to get up to speed. He told his aides that it had taken him four months to learn how to be a national candidate, and added, “I don’t care how talented she is, this is really a leap.”
From http://www.vanityfair.com/politics/features/2009/08/sarah-palin200908
I look at the way the liberal media HATES her and George W. Bush - It is scary how open they are with their hate.
Thursday, July 2, 2009
The work of the Jew
Xposted at: http://www.beyondbt.com/?p=1247#comment-358468
The starting point is the realization that Hashem created and continues to create and sustain a very good world, and he created us to bestow upon us the greatest possible good. As a receipient of good, when I perceive the incredible dimensions and levels of this good, I realize that I am chayiv (obligated) to try to pay back the One who gave me the good. Hashem gave us the Torah to teach us how to pay “him” back.
Note that the opposite of the word Chayiv is the word Patur, which means exempt. The most passive form of the word Patur is Niftar. The implication is that the best, most active way to live is to be chayiv. We need to realize that to be chayiv is a most tremendous blessing. Interestingly, one could say that the first “free choice” is the choice to accept that one is chayiv.
The starting point is the realization that Hashem created and continues to create and sustain a very good world, and he created us to bestow upon us the greatest possible good. As a receipient of good, when I perceive the incredible dimensions and levels of this good, I realize that I am chayiv (obligated) to try to pay back the One who gave me the good. Hashem gave us the Torah to teach us how to pay “him” back.
Note that the opposite of the word Chayiv is the word Patur, which means exempt. The most passive form of the word Patur is Niftar. The implication is that the best, most active way to live is to be chayiv. We need to realize that to be chayiv is a most tremendous blessing. Interestingly, one could say that the first “free choice” is the choice to accept that one is chayiv.
The destruction of human life
When I read this piece (http://www.weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/016/653avhtm.asp), I said to myself, this is so bad, so evil. This is the complete failure of any moral education. What a disaster.
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