Siftei Chaim – Mourning for the Destruction…

This entire post is simply a translation from Siftei Chaim vol. 3 pg. 284 by Rabbi Chaim Freidlander

And when the builders laid the foundation of the Temple of hashem, they set the priests in their clothing with trumpets, and the Levites in their clothing with cymbals, to praise hashemin the manner of David, the king of Israel.  And they responded with Hallel in praising and giving thanks to hashem, because the foundation of the House of hashemwas laid.  But many of the priests and the Levites and the chiefs of the father’s houses, old men who had seen the first Temple; when the foundation of this house was laid before their eyes, wept with a loud voice; but many shouted aloud for joy.  So much that people could not distinguish the sound of joy from the sound of the weeping of the people; for the people shouted with a loud shout, and the sound was heard from afar.

Ezra, Chapter 3 verses 10 – 13

At the establishment of the second Temple there was a very strange phenomena.  On the one hand the youth who did not remember or recognize the first Temple in its glory, for seventy years had already passed since its destruction, blasted with joy the sounds of the terua (Shofar) upon the establishment of the House of hashem.  On the other hand there stood the elders, who had merited to see the first Temple in its glory.  Not only did the elders not participate in the celebration, rather they cried out in full voice, until their cries drowned out the sounds of the celebration.

The structure of the second Temple was almost the same as the first Temple.  There were only five things missing in the second Temple – and one of them was the indwelling of the divine presence!  This is the essential difference between the time of the first Temple and the time of the second Temple.  Those who had meritted seeing and understanding the indwelling of the divine presence in the first Temple, they understand well the meaning of the destruction.  Such that even if they in fact merited the building of a second Temple, but it was missing the divine presence, they none the less continued to mourn the destruction of the first Temple for that lacking.  But those who never merited to witness the first Temple, could not begin to understand the tears, once they had merited to build the second Temple.

We, because of our great sins, mourn the loss of two Temples: the first and the second.  However, it is difficult to cry or to truly understand the meaning of the destruction.  We do not understand at all what was lost, we lack the knowledge and understanding of the regular situation of the Jewish People in their glory, for we never saw or understood it.  The opposite is true, amongst our sins is that we feel that things are good, despite all of the suffering that surrounds us, as though we are not missing anything – not physically nor spiritually.  This feeling is what prevents us from truly mourning the destruction as we ought to, since we can not really feel what is missing.  Therefore we are obligated to learn and understand the inner meaning of the destruction, to feel and know the lowliness of our situation and our station from the destruction until now.

Parashat Pinchas

There is one section of this week’s parasha that we read from on every Jewish Holiday.  It contains a list of the additional sacrifices (korbanei musaf) for Shabbat, Rosh hodesh, Pesach, Shavuot, Sukkot, Rosh ha-Shana and Yom Kippur.  It is often the case that we overlook lists in the Torah, yet they can have much to teach us.

Rabbi Menachem Liebtag has a great chart which helps to understand this chapter.  

Reb Menachem’s website is always worth a peak when you are interesting in understanding the parshah.                              

Edgar Allen Poe and the 17th of Tammuz

Check out the following two blogs: On the main line & Seforim for a fascinating discussion of a short piece by Edgar Allen Poe called Tale of Jerusalem. Here is a literary analysis of the story – look at the first footnote for where Poe may have found the story.  Here is a link to the original text of the Yerushalmi that Poe seems to be quoting.

Fasting Today

It has been pointed out to me by my friend and colleague, Rabbi Barry Gelman that given the present situation in Israel, even according to Rabbenu Chananel’s understanding we may be required to fast.

In peacetime, that is, as long as the
Temple exists, the fast days will be times of joy and happiness.   If there are harsh decrees of a foreign government, then there is to be fasting; if there is no decree but there is no peace, such as now, at the present time [my emphasis], those who wish to fast may fast, and those who wish not to fast need not fast.

 

It is indeed sad and scary that we are living in a time of

“harsh decrees of a foreign government”

May we all soon merit to know true peace in Israel and around the world.

Should we fast?

Every year we are faced with the question of how to approach the fast days surrounding the destruction of Jerusalem.  The city is no longer in ruins, yet the Temple is not there.  How does that impact the coming fasts (17th of Tammuz & 9th of Av).  Here is a fascinating article dealing with this question.  It is hosted on the website of Bar Ilan University, a great site for divrei torah on the parasha and Jewish life in general.

Do you find fasting a meaningful tool to remind you of the destruction of the Temple and Jerusalem?

Does fasting help you examine yourself and begin a process of teshuvah?

Can you imagine another ritual that may be helpful in that regard?

The Three Weeks

Here is a brief summary of the Halakhot of The Three Weeks and the Nine Days. Please do not hesitate to call with further questions. (201) 328 – 5995 

Rabbi Arthur Hertzberg z”l

Kehilat Kesher was privileged to call Rabbi Hertzberg a member of our shul.  In the beginning he was a minyan man and a regular teacher of Pirkei Avot in the summer.  Soon after we moved a little further from his home he took ill and was not able to make the walk on a regular basis. 

I had the pleasure of sitting and talking with him about the local community and the larger Jewish community.  His insights and advice were always powerful.  He loved to share stories about his chasidic roots, his learning and his adventures in Jewish politics.  Our conversations would meander from faith and doubt to wine and cheese to Talmud to Rabbi Solovietchik and whatever or whomever was on his mind.

When I would tell my non-Orthodox colleagues that he was a member of my shul they would all open their eyes widely and ask, "what's that like?"  Some were surprised that he would join an Orthodox synagogue, still others that he would join a shul of which he, or his father, were not the rabbi. 

I look forward to reminding my eldest son Shamma of the time that he sat on my lap at the 70th anniversary of Rabbi Hertzberg's Bar Mitzvah.  Here was this very powerful man, sharing with all of us about how he does not feel worthy to wear the Tefillin of his grandfather.  At some point he came to shed a tear, at another point he yelled at everyone in the room not to be apathetic.  My son said to me, "why is that man roaring like a lion?"  And roar he did!

Those same tefillin were put on him almost every day by Rabbi Chanan Jacobson.  Whether his arms were hurting or had bandages, he would do his best to lay tefillin.

I hope that Rabbi Hertzberg is remembered not for his controversial stances on Israeli politics and not for his involvement with the AJC or WJC.  Rather, he should be remembered as a man who struggled with Judaism and our mission in this world.  He was also able to inspire others to seek involvement in the Jewish Community.

Few funerals today would be attended by Belzer and Habad Hasidim, Dr. David Ellinson, several dozen Conservative and Reform rabbis, a few Modern Orthodox rabbis and several hundred other jews and non-jews.

May his memory be for a blessing – yehei zichro barukh

Yom ha-Shoah

Every year I wonder about our community Yom ha-Shoah Memorial.  It is one of the most well done commemorations that I have ever attended.  Richard Friend does an amazing job at varying speakers with AV with music.  It is both touching and uplifting.

And yet, something is missing. 

 Rabbi Weiss has a designed a Yom ha-Shoah seder which is quite powerful.  It is interactive and experiential.  His program does not allow you to be passive.  All of you senses are impacted.

And yet, something is missing.

Avigdor Shinaan wrote a Megillat ha-Shoah which is also quite powerful.  It is a beautiful, creative liturgy laced with references to many places in Jewish literature.  It forces the listener to think.

And yet, something is missing.

How might you create a ritual for Yom ha-Shoah?

Does Yom ha-Shoah need its own ritual?

Counting Time – Sefirat ha-Omer

Why do we count time?  What is the meaning of counting our days?  What, if any, is a Jewish Philosophy of time?  Two writers of recently published books shared their thoughts on this topic – Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik and Rabbi Jonanthon Sacks.  Allow me to share their ideas, in hope to gain a deeper understanding of the Omer.

First, Rabbi Soloveitchik.  In the newly published Festival of Freedom the very last essay is entitled "Counting Time."  (a shorter version appears in David Shapiro's volume entitled Me-afeilah l'or gadol: Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik on Pesach, Sefirat ha-Omer and Shavu'ot - published by the Soloveitchik Institute ob"m.  Some of the ellipses from this article are filled in by this longer piece – See Section B of Excursus II of Chapter 6, pgs 150 -153).

Rabbi Soloveitchik, in his inimitable fashion develops a dialect in his approach to time – that of youth and old age.  A young person anticipates what will be and experiences time with great rapidity.  As a child I remember the summer lasting at least as long as the rest of of the year.  He quotes a midrash that says, "At the Red Sea the beheld God as a young warrior, and at Sinia as a gray-beard who teaches children." (The citation offered is Otzar ha-Midrashim [Eisentein ed.], 486 – I was unable to locate the original and would love some help!)

Time, for the Rav, is a "merger of past and future, of recollection and anticipation."  This is symbolized by counting.  When we count a day of the Omer it only has meaning as part of a continuum.  When is say that this is day 14 which is two weeks, that has significance only because of the prior 13 and coming 35 days.

I think that the greatest experience of this merger is in the naming of a child.  We try to merge the characteristics of a loved on from the past with a prayer for the future.

Rabbi Sack's, in his new hagaddah, has some beautiful opening essays.  Two of these essays deal with time – "The Omer and the Politics of Torah" & "Time as a Narrative of Hope."  Here Rabbi Sacks develops the radical change that the Bible offered to our understanding of time.  All ancient religions saw God as part of nature.  For the Bible, God is part of history.  Not only is there a Creator God of Genesis, but also a Redeeming God of Exodus.  God cares what goes on in this world.

This concept of time is referred to by Lord Sacks as "covenental time."  That it is our job to imagine a future that is different, and better than the past or present.  This is symbolized by the overthrow of the great and mighty Egyptian empire, which, by all rights, should have been their forever.  Came God and the Jewish People and we taught that no empire can last forever.  "The overthrowing of this structure and the unprecedented release of a whole nation from slavery showed that societies are not immutable…Injustice, oppression, dominance, exploitation, the enslavement of the weak by the strong, are not written into the constitution of the universe…"

These two concepts of time – as juncture of past and future and covenental or redemptive – provide a framework in which the counting on the days of the omer are given new meaning.

Kitniyot – Soy Milk

It would appear to me that soy milk should be as permissible as peanut oil.  Rav Moshe Feinstein (ig"m o"h 3:63) permitted the consumption of peanuts in a community that did not have a custom to the contrary.  I would assume that it was on this basis that the OU used to give a hashgacha to peanut oil.  Despite Rav Moshe's lenient approach, it is clear that the "community" chose to be more strict. 

Based on Rav Moshe's logic, soy milk should be the same a peanut oil.  Peanuts were not part of the original decree of kitniyot.  That being the case, we ought be permitted to be lenient regarding the liquid form of peanuts.  Soy beans were not part of the original decree.  That being the case, we ought to be permitted to be lenient regarding the liquid form of soy beans – soy milk!

Despite the fact that my entire family drinks soy milk on a daily basis and that my kids never drink regular milk at all – I was not willing to be lenient. 

The raises the extremely challenging question of who defines the parameters of our "community"?  I am not sure what the answer to this question is, but I would be curios what people think about this issue.  Are we defined by the teshuvot of Rav Moshe Feinstein or the writings of Rav Soloveitchik?  Is there a single person, or group of people that would define the boundaries of our community?  Please share your thoughts…