Monthly Archives: December 2011

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Dayenu

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When Ephraim spoke piety, He was exalted in Israel; But he incurred guilt through Baal, And so he died. And now they go on sinning; They have made them molten images, Idols, by their skill, from their silver, Wholly the work of craftsmen. Yet for these they appoint men to sacrifice; They are wont to kiss calves!

Assuredly, They shall be like morning clouds, Like dew so early gone; Like chaff whirled away from the threshing floor. And like smoke from a lattice. Only I the Lord have been your God Ever since the land of Egypt; You have never known a [true] God but Me, You have never had a helper other than Me. I looked after you in the desert, In a thirsty land. When they grazed, they were sated; When they were sated, they grew haughty; And so they forgot Me. So I am become like a lion to them, Like a leopard I lurk on the way; Like a bear robbed of her young I attack them And rip open the casing of their hearts; I will devour them there like a lion, The beasts of the field shall mangle them.

You are undone, O Israel! You had no help but Me. –Hosea 13:1-9 (JPS Tanakh)

I was reading the haftarah portion for Vayeitzei on Shabbat and realized something about the Jewish people and the rest of us. I think many Christians but particularly those who have attached themselves to some portions of the “Messianic” movement, feel a little bit envious of all the blessings God has bestowed upon Israel. I think this is one of the reasons why the early Church chose to apply a supersessionist theology, stating that Gentile Christianity has replaced the Jews in all of God’s covenant promises. We just can’t stand the idea that “salvation comes from the Jews” (John 4:22) so we must find a way to steal what the Jews have and pretend it belongs only to us.

I’ve probably always known this, but when reading the above-quoted passages from Hosea 13, it came into absolute clarity within me that as much as God has blessed the Jewish people, He has also designed ghastly curses for them in times of disobediance and rebellion, much more than we can see for people who are not Jewish, including Christians. I’m not saying that Christians haven’t been persecuted for their faith over the course of the past 2,000 years, but as we see in many of the exclamations of the ancient prophets, God is exceedingly determined to hold Israel accountable for any failure to the covenant they have with Him.

Christianity sometimes mistakes the level of accountability to which God holds the Jews as an eternal curse upon Israel, but even as God curses, so in the next moment, He blesses them abundantly.

Return, O Israel, to the Lord your God, For you have fallen because of your sin. Take words with you And return to the Lord. Say to Him: “Forgive all guilt And accept what is good; Instead of bulls we will pay [The offering of] our lips. Assyria shall not save us, No more will we ride on steeds; Nor ever again will we call Our handiwork our god, Since in You alone orphans find pity!”

I will heal their affliction, Generously will I take them back in love; For My anger has turned away from them. I will be to Israel like dew; He shall blossom like the lily, He shall strike root like a Lebanon tree. His boughs shall spread out far, His beauty shall be like the olive tree’s, His fragrance like that of Lebanon. They who sit in his shade shall be revived: They shall bring to life new grain, They shall blossom like the vine; His scent shall be like the wine of Lebanon. Ephraim [shall say]: “What more have I to do with idols? When I respond and look to Him, I become like a verdant cypress.” Your fruit is provided by Me. –Hosea 14:2-9 (JPS Tanakh)

Dancing with GodIsrael’s special place in the heart of God is undeniable, but our God is a jealous God. As much as He loves, He also chastises. As much as He has compassion, He also gives discipline. It is a terrible thing to fall into the hands of the living God (Hebrews 10:31).

I realized with great certainty when reading the words of the prophet Hosea that in many ways, we non-Jews are “blessed” that we don’t carry the responsibilities of our Jewish brothers. Some of us would be more than willing to bear the full burden of the mitzvot but many, many of us do not realize the dread consequences of that desire. This is one of the reasons that Judaism is reluctant to allow Gentiles to convert; out of the fear that once faced with everything it is to be a Jew, for good and for ill, that some of the converts would abandon the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob as well as the people of the Book.

There isn’t always a consistent interpretation of the meaning of the “Jerusalem letter” issued by the Council of Apostles and Elders as recorded in Acts 15. Some say it limits the “Torah responsibility” of Gentile Christians to just those restrictions literally recorded, while others say it is merely a starting point for non-Jews who have come to the faith to begin learning the full ways of the Torah. Yet we see that upon receipt of the letter, the non-Jewish disciples were “strengthened in the faith, and were increasing in number daily” (Acts 16:5 – NASB), indicating that there was some expression of relief and even joy that the non-Jews would not be expected to take on the full yoke of Torah. Paul’s letter to the Galatians also makes it quite clear not only that the non-Jewish disciples weren’t expected to take on all of the Torah mitzvot unless they converted to Judaism, but that the duties expected of them if they converted would be far and above what was (and is) required of a Gentile follower of the Messiah.

While Christians and Jews continue to debate the exact blessings and responsibilities assigned by God to each covenant group, it is readily apparent that Christians are not simply “Jews without the Talmud”. We are attached to God by the Messianic covenant and not only are we not obligated to the Mosaic covenant, we probably should be glad we do not carry upon ourselves the Torah of Moses. For with all the special attention and devotion God lavishes upon the descendents of the Children of Israel, they also embrace a tremendous responsibility with consequences to freeze the blood. Like Peter when he swore to follow the Master, even unto death, we should not be so quick to make oaths that we are not be able to keep, and as the Master urges us, we should let our “yes” to him be just “yes” and our “no” to him (if such be the case) be just “no”. We have been given a extraordinarily special gift as the result of the death and subsequent life of the Messiah. This must be sufficient for us without coveting what belongs to our Jewish neighbors (Exodus 20:17). Is not the love of God through Jesus Christ enough for any of us? Do we tempt God and throw the blood of Christ back in the Master’s face by wanting more?

And He has said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.” Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me. –2 Corinthians 12:9 (NASB)

One of my favorite Passover songs is Dayenu, which seems an appropriate title given the theme of this wee missive.

Dayenu is a song that is part of the Jewish holiday of Passover. The word “Dayenu” means approximately, “it would have been enough for us”, “it would have been sufficient”, or “it would have sufficed.” –Wikipedia

Of the various lyrics to this song, the following stands out as particularly relevant here.

If He had brought us before Mount Sinai, and had not given us the Torah – Dayenu, it would have sufficed us!

Adapted for we Christians, I think it should go more like this:

If He had given us His only begotten Son so that the world might be saved, and had not given us the Torah – Dayenu, it would have sufficed us!

It has sufficed us. By Christ, we are “more than conquerors” (Romans 8:37) of the sins in our hearts. We don’t need to be more than this. As Christians, we are sufficient in His love. We are good enough.

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Vayetze: The Shabbat Heritage

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In the Torah portion Vayeitzei , G-d blesses Yaakov, declaring to him: (Bereishis 28:14) “You shall spread out to the west, to the east, to the north and to the south.” The Gemara comments: (Shabbos 118a) “Whoever delights in the Shabbos receives an unlimited heritage, as is written: (Yeshayahu 58:14) ‘Then you shall delight in G-d… and I will nourish you with the heritage of Yaakov,’ of whom it is written: ‘You shall spread out to the west, to the east….’ ”

The reward for the performance of a mitzvah is, of course, measure for measure. (See Sotah 8b, 9b. See also Tanya ch. 39) What aspect of the mitzvah of Shabbos causes its reward to be “an unlimited heritage”?

Shabbos differs from all other mitzvos in that the performance of other mitzvos is achieved through labor and action. There are thus differences between the manner in which a very righteous individual will perform a mitzvah and the manner in which it will be performed by a simple person.

Observing Shabbos, however, consists of a cessation from labor. With regard to “not doing,” all Jews can be equal.

“Shabbos – An Unlimited Heritage”
Commentary on Torah Portion Vayeitzei
Based on Likkutei Sichos , Vol. XV, pp. 226-229
and the teachings of the Lubavitcher Rebbe
Rabbi Menachem M. Schneerson
Chabad.org

I know a discussion of Shabbat observance seems pretty far afield in relation to a plain reading of this week’s Torah Portion, but this is the association I found in the Chassidic Dimension’s commentary. Christianity has difficulty with some of the “linkage” offered by the Rabbis between specific events described in the Torah (the blessing God gives to Jacob in Genesis 28:14) and much larger and seemingly unrelated topics, but if you choose to look at them as metaphor, it’s a little bit easier to comprehend.

I’ve always had issues with reserving Shabbat to just the Jewish people. There are plenty of other commandments and blessings that I have no problem with being uniquely Jewish, but a weekly Shabbat rest in order to devote our thoughts and prayers to God? Why should only Jews do this? God sanctified the day at the end of Creation.

And God blessed the seventh day and declared it holy, because on it God ceased from all the work of creation that He had done. –Genesis 2:3 (JPS Tanakh)

OK, I’m not that naive. God also directly associated the Shabbat with the Exodus from Egypt, thus:

Remember that you were slaves in Egypt and that the LORD your God brought you out of there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm. Therefore the LORD your God has commanded you to observe the Sabbath day. –Deuteronomy 5:15

In doing my research for this morning’s “meditation”, I came along an interesting forum discussion on the topic of Shabbat and the Exodus at judaism.stackexchange.com where a similar question was raised by one man’s four year old son:

Why do you say “Mitzrayim” in Kiddush every week? “Mitzrayim” is a Pesach word!

Minus the Hebrew (which I can’t reproduce here), the father added a follow up question:

Tack-on question: Once you’ve established that Shabbat is linked both to Creation and to the Exodus, why is the terminology in Kiddush for these links slightly different? Shabbat is called – “a memorial to the deed of Creation” and – “commemorating the Exodus from Egypt” (translations from Wikipedia; emphases mine).

You can go to judaism.stackexchange.com and read the entire thread. I can certainly see how the Shabbat is inexorably linked to the Jewish liberation from slavery in Egypt and how saying the kiddush on every Erev Shabbat commemorates the Exodus event for the Children of Israel.

But must the Shabbat observance be exclusively for the Jews?

The reason why all Jews are entirely equal with regard to the mitzvah of cessation of labor on Shabbos stems from the fact that the mitzvah of Shabbos touches the essence of the Jewish soul. Differences between one Jew and another exist only on an external level; with regard to their essence, they are all equal.

The Chabad commentary describes why all Jews are equal on the Shabbat, regardless of social status or other apparent divisions, because of their Jewish souls, but the Shabbat also separates Jews and Gentiles. Is the “essence” between Jewish and Gentile souls so incredibly different that we non-Jews cannot also connect to the Shabbat?

Some non-Jews, such as those associated with the “Messianic” movement, chafe when told by some Jews that the Gentiles, Christians or otherwise, are not commanded to observe the Shabbat and there is no penalty for a Gentile who fails to observe a Shabbat rest in the manner commanded for Jews. OK, I’ll buy that part, but what about Gentiles observing the Shabbat as a moral conviction and in acknowledgment of God’s creative sovereignty over the universe? We all live in Creation and God made the Gentile as He made the Jew. Is it so bad if a Christian were to rest on the Shabbat as “a memorial to the deed of Creation?”

Being married to a Jew, I have sort of a built-in reason for observing Shabbat, though my wife and I don’t do this as well as we would like. Christianity cast off the Jewish form of Shabbat observance and worship along with anything else in Christian practice that could even remotely be considered Jewish thanks to the birth and expansion of Supersessionist theology in the 2nd and 3rd centuries CE, but this has been more harm to us than to the Jews.

Rabbi Shmuley Boteach has, on various occasions, suggested that Jewish values, including the Shabbat, should be disseminated to the nations, at least in some fashion, which never fails to cause a stir, both in Jewish and in Christian circles. But while the Chabad commentary says that the Jewish people enjoy an “unlimited heritage” due to their Shabbos observance, can not the rest of us choose to at least honor God’s absolute rule of Creation by honoring the Shabbat? Do we dilute Jewish uniqueness if we quietly light the candles on Friday night as well, praising and thanking our King and our God?

There’s nothing higher than finding truth on your own.

All worlds were made, all barriers put in place, every veil over G-dliness hung, and the soul plummeted from its pristine height into the confusion of this harsh world—

—all for this one thing alone: That you should uncover truth on your own.

-Rabbi Tzvi Freeman
“The Highest High”
Based on letters and talks of the Rebbe
Rabbi M. M. Schneerson
Chabad.org

In spirit and in truth I wish you all Good Shabbos.

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Friends

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On today’s daf we find a discussion of the halachos of taking interest. Some people have a misguided conviction that all non-Jews are bad. This belief is not only very damaging for our relations with non-Jews wherever Jews live, it is also false. The Sefer Chasidim discusses davening for a non-Jew who is a good person.

One non-Jew was a very kind person, always helping his friends both Jewish and non-Jewish. He helped out one particular Jew in many ways, proving his friendship and earning his undying gratitude. When the non-Jew ran into financial troubles and asked his Jewish friend for a very large loan, the prospective lender was in a bit of a quandary. Although his friend had no way of knowing this, the lender’s finances were excellent; he could easily get along without charging interest. His greatest desire was to give his friend an interest-free loan. But he wondered if this was halachically permitted. In general it is forbidden to give an idolater a gift, including an interest-free loan — especially the astronomical sum the non-Jew required. But the Jew reasoned that this may be permitted in this case. After all, hadn’t his non-Jewish friend done so much to help him in the past? How could he be forbidden from responding in kind?

When this question reached Rav Shlomo Eiger, zt”l, he ruled that the lender was permitted to give his non-Jewish friend an interest-free loan. “Not only are you permitted to loan this non- Jew money interest free; if he did many kindnesses for you, you are obligated to give him a loan without charging interest. This is clear in the Radak in Tehillim 15:4, and is halachah l’maaseh!”

Daf Yomi Digest
Stories Off the Daf
“Two Friends”
Bechoros 16

I can only imagine that everytime I post a fairly large quote from Daf Yomi Digest or a similar source, that most Christians reading my blog tend to tune out (and probably a few Jewish people as well). It’s not easy to comprehend what the Rabbis are saying in these lessons and even when understood, the relevance may seem mysterious. Would it be that big a deal for a Jewish person to offer an interest-free loan to his non-Jewish friend without consulting his Rav? What tends to escape most of us is the need to be absolutely sure (if you are an observant Jew) that you are following the commandments in the proper manner. Certainly, this Jewish fellow wanted to do a kindness for his non-Jewish friend, but the path of Torah isn’t always easy to negotiate without correct halachic guidance and the desire is always to perform every action, including actions of charity and righteousness, in the manner that God has laid out for the Jewish people.

This is a detail that often escapes even those Gentiles who are Christians and believe they are to follow the commandments in the same way as the Jews.

After seeing some recent references of how some Jewish people view non-Jews as somehow “lesser” or lacking the ability to truly perceive God, reading this “story off the daf” was very refreshing. It also presented me with a minor mystery.

The PDFs I receive daily from the Chicago Center for Torah and Chesed (the source of my Daf Yomi lessons) provide footnote numbers but not the footnotes themselves. Their website isn’t particularly illuminating and I can only assume that the source from which they generate their PDFs has more information than survives the PDF creation process. For instance, when Rav Shlomo Eiger, zt”l cites “the Radak in Tehillim (Psalm) 15:4, and is halachah l’maaseh,” there is obviously more information available that interprets the Rav’s intent. How does Psalm 15:4 make it clear that the Jewish person in this story must give his Gentile friend the loan interest free?

A base person is despised in his eyes, and he honors the God-fearing; he swears to [his own] hurt and does not retract. –Psalm 15:4 (source: Chabad.org)

In whose eyes a reprobate is despised,
But who honors those who fear the LORD;
He swears to his own hurt and does not change –Psalm 15:4 (NASB)

It would help to read Psalm 15:1:

A song of David; O Lord, who will sojourn in Your tent, who will dwell upon Your holy mount?

Inner lightSo the person who is worthy to dwell in the Lord’s tent is the sort of person who “despises the base person” but “honors those who fear God”. Putting this back in the context of our commentary on the Daf, it seems as if the Rav is saying that the Jew (who is worthy of sojourning in God’s tent) must honor his non-Jewish friend, who obviously is God-fearing, in this case, by providing an interest-free loan.

I still needed the Radak’s commentary on Tehillim 15:4 but these sorts of references aren’t always easy to come by on the web. I did manage to find the following at DailyTehillim.com (print version only, though):

David here outlines the virtues that render a person worthy of dwelling in Hashem’s “tent” and residing in His “sacred mountain.” According to the Radak, David refers here to the resting place of the soul in the afterlife; it is thus here where we are told how a person earns his eternal share in the world to come. The Radak draws proof to this reading from the chapter’s final clause, where David exclaims, “he who does these shall not falter, forever.” The term “forever” implies that David refers here to eternal peace, which would suggest that he speaks of the soul’s reward in the afterlife.

In listing these virtues, David focuses first on proper interpersonal conduct: honesty and integrity (verse 2), and refraining from crimes such as gossip, causing others harm, and nepotistic protection of unworthy relatives (verse 3). In verse 4, he imposes an important qualification on the virtues of loving kindness and concern for others: “Nivzeh Be’einav Nim’as,” which Rashi translates to mean, “The shameful one is despicable in his eyes.” Although this prototype acts with love and sensitivity, he is at the same time prepared to confront evil and its advocates, rather than extend to them the same kindness and compassion he shows generally. He respects those who deserve respect, while condemning behavior that warrants condemnation.

The Ibn Ezra and Radak explain this verse differently, as meaning that the person sees himself as “shameful” and “despicable.” Despite his many fine qualities, he recognizes how much more he has to grow and accomplish in order to achieve perfection. Rather than falling into the trap of stifling complacency, he constantly strives to improve and to accomplish more.

The message conveyed by this Psalm is thus a dual one. On the one hand, David promises eternal life to everyone who lives in accordance with the basic values of honesty and Godliness; the world to come is not reserved for only the great Tzadikim who have reached the highest levels of spiritual devotion. At the same time, however, to earn eternal life one must spend his life in the pursuit of perfection, working each day to grow and become better than he is. This Psalm does not demand that everybody be perfect, but it does not demand that everybody work towards and strive for spiritual perfection.

This interpretation probably isn’t the one referenced in the Daf commentary, but it does give us more insight into the Psalm and it speaks to the character of both the Jew and his non-Jewish friend. My take on this is that a person who truly seeks to be worthy of God and to obey His desires, must honor others, regardless of who they are, who do the same. If you want to be a holy and honorable person, you must honor those who are holy and honorable. This crosses the Jewish/Gentile and hopefully the Jewish/Christian barrier (remember there are additional reasons why a Jew may object to a Christian Gentile as opposed to a more “generic” non-Jew) in “mixed” relationships but I think it could be justified based on our source story and especially on the line, “One non-Jew was a very kind person, always helping his friends both Jewish and non-Jewish.” Showing compassion and favor is not performing righteousness unless these acts are applied to everyone. Only helping those like you isn’t helping for the sake of God, at all.

For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? If you greet only your brothers, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? –Matthew 5:46-47 (NASB)

According to the Daf commentary, not all Gentiles “do the same”. Some Gentiles do better and live up to what Jesus was teaching. Marrying the “daf story” with the teachings of the Master, we understand what he meant when he said “salvation is from the Jews” (John 4:22). Where do we non-Jews get the idea to do kindness, charity, and righteousness? From our own souls? Perhaps, if we are listening to the voice of God as He whispers to us, but where is that voice expressed in its clearest form? The Bible. Where do we get the Bible? The Jews. Even the New Testament (or the vast, vast majority of it) was written by the Jewish disciples.

We see that despite some rather negative viewpoints about Gentiles that exist in modern Jewish commentary, a Jew is not limited to showing goodness just to his fellow Jew, and that Rabbinic judgment supports and even demands a good and kind Gentile be treated with the same compassion that he has treated others. Jesus takes it a step further and tells us to love our enemies (in this, he isn’t talking enemies in war but those who are in our own community but who are unlike us) and he re-enforces the message that it is not just those people who are like us who we must feed and clothe and visit when ill. It’s anyone.

If you are a Christian, you cannot ignore this. If you are a Christian who has been taught by your Pastor and your church to disdain and revile Jews because we (Christians) have replaced them and that they (Jews) are following a “dead” religion (how can something be dead that teaches so many lessons of life?), then you may want to revisit the Bible and revisit God in prayer. Something obviously has gone wrong with your faith and as a disciples, you are not following the lessons of your Master.