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Children of God

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Children of GodYou foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? Before your very eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed as crucified. I would like to learn just one thing from you: Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law, or by believing what you heard? Are you so foolish? After beginning by means of the Spirit, are you now trying to finish by means of the flesh? Have you experienced so much in vain – if it really was in vain? So again I ask, does God give you his Spirit and work miracles among you by the works of the law, or by your believing what you heard? So also Abraham “believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.” –Galatians 3:1-6

Lancaster identifies the influencers in Galatia (called by most Christian commentators “judaizers”, though “judaize” is derived from an intransitive Greek verb – that is, you can judaize [yourself], but you can’t judaize someone else, cf. Nanos, The Irony of Galatians [Minneapolis, Fortress, 2002], 116) as Gentile proselytes to Judaism who are anxious to secure their status in the Jewish community by influencing believing Gentiles to also become proselytes. His thesis makes more sense than Nanos’s (in which unbelieving Jews are the influencers) due to Nanos’s difficulty with Galatians 6:12.

Lancaster writes that the “different gospel that is not really a gospel” being peddled by these influencers is the message that Jewish identity and full Torah observance were necessary conditions for entrance into the believing community and access to the World to Come. This message was attractive for the Galatian Gentile believers because as liminals, they existed between two worlds.

from the review of
D. Thomas Lancaster’s book
The Holy Epistle to the Galatians
from the Hope Abbey blog.

This is the second part of a blog I wrote on Gentiles, Christians, and Noahides. Please read yesterday’s “morning meditation” called The Sons of Noah before continuing here. Things will probably make more sense if you do.

I wrote my own review of Lancaster’s Galatians book about a month ago, but once picked up, it’s hardly a book or a subject that can be casually laid down again. As much as any of his other letters, Paul’s words to the Galatian non-Jewish disciples of Jesus have a great deal to say to those of us who are Christians today.

In yesterday’s “morning meditation”, I introduced the concept of Gentiles and the Noahide Laws. In Judaism, it is understood that all Jews will be “saved” (to put it in the Christian vernacular), however, non-Jews are not expected to convert to Judaism in order to also attain a “saved” status. Jews are obligated to a very high standard of conduct toward God and other people, but the “nations” (i.e. everybody else)  are not expected to comply with these obligations (and in many cases, Gentiles are forbidden to obey the mitzvot as a matter of halachah). According to Judaism, the obligations of the Gentiles are outlined in Genesis 9 as the Divine code God gave to Noah which today are called Noahide Laws.

But who is a Noahide?

At Caesarea there was a man named Cornelius, a centurion in what was known as the Italian Regiment. He and all his family were devout and God-fearing; he gave generously to those in need and prayed to God regularly. –Acts 10:1-2

When Paul and his companions had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where there was a Jewish synagogue. As was his custom, Paul went into the synagogue, and on three Sabbath days he reasoned with them from the Scriptures, explaining and proving that the Messiah had to suffer and rise from the dead. “This Jesus I am proclaiming to you is the Messiah,” he said. Some of the Jews were persuaded and joined Paul and Silas, as did a large number of God-fearing Greeks and quite a few prominent women. –Acts 17:1-4

No, I can’t draw a direct connection between the God-fearing Gentiles of the Second Temple period and the later Gentile Noahides, but I can make a suggestion that they are related and then explore that possibility. Both groups are considered “righteous Gentiles” in the sense that they have abandoned pagan idol worship and polytheism and have attached themselves to the One God; the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, without abandoning their Gentile ethnic and cultural identity (that is, by not attempting to convert to Judaism).

That said, the God-fearers in the day of Peter and Paul, though not attempting to become Jewish, did have only one model on which to draw to describe and practice a life of faith in the God of Israel:

Cornelius answered: “Three days ago I was in my house praying at this hour, at three in the afternoon. Suddenly a man in shining clothes stood before me… –Acts 10:30

Cornelius is describing performing the Minchah prayers or the afternoon prayers that are required in Judaism. Observant Jews pray three times a day: morning (Shacharit), afternoon (Minchah), and evening (Maariv). We can infer from this brief passage in Acts 10 that as a God-fearer, Cornelius did the same, though probably not in a manner identical to his Jewish mentors.

But Peter, in his encounter with Cornelius, saw something amazing take place:

While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit came on all who heard the message. The circumcised believers who had come with Peter were astonished that the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out even on Gentiles. For they heard them speaking in tongues and praising God.

Then Peter said, “Surely no one can stand in the way of their being baptized with water. They have received the Holy Spirit just as we have.” So he ordered that they be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Then they asked Peter to stay with them for a few days. –Acts 10:44-48

Receiving the SpiritThis certainly recalls the events of Acts 2:1-4 when the core group of Christ’s Jewish disciples received the Spirit on Shavuot (Pentecost) and definitively establishes that both non-Jews and Jews have equal access to God through the Covenant of the Messiah.

Now let’s explore a few ideas. Let’s say that Cornelius and his fellow God-fearing Gentiles were the First Century equivalents of today’s Noahides, that is, they were righteous Gentiles who had a relationship with God but not on the same level as the Jewish people (Noahide Covenant vs. Mosaic Covenant). Now we see these God-fearing “Noahides” undergo a startling transformation by receiving the Holy Spirit in just the same manner as the Jewish disciples of Jesus. The status of the God-fearers changes to become more alike with the status of the Jewish disciples.

So in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise. –Galatians 3:26-29

Paul is saying that in relation to access to God and the love of Jesus Christ, all people of faith are equal. Men are no greater than women in God’s eyes and Jews are no greater than Gentiles in God’s grace and compassion. Does this mean that Jews and Gentiles are absolutely equal in terms of role and function? Of course not, no more than men and women existing in unity as non-gendered, androgynous beings. The Jerusalem Council ruled on this when they issued their now famous edict to the Gentile believers (Acts 15:22-35).

Jewish and non-Jewish equal access does not mean we have identical responsibilities nor identical identities.

It also means that God-fearers or “Noahides” are not equivalent to Gentile Christians. The Covenant of Noah and the Covenant of Christ are not the same, otherwise why would God-fearing Gentiles need to be brought to faith in Jesus by Paul? The non-Jewish people of the world, even those who choose to comply with the Noahide obligations, do not possess the same status as those who take on the greater responsibility of the Messianic Covenant.

2,000 years later, we’re still trying to understand what this all means since, depending on who you listen to, both Noahides and Christians serve God and merit a place in the world to come. I suppose that’s why we have books such as Lancaster’s Galatians and a plethora of blogs on the web such as mine (and of course, in Jewish thought, a Noahide is “saved” by what he does and in Christian thought, a believer is “saved” by what he believes).

So as Christians, if we are no longer simply “Sons of Noah”, who are we?

Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God – children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God. –John 1:12-13

See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him. Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when Christ appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. All who have this hope in him purify themselves, just as he is pure. –1 John 3:1-3

Paul said that “Therefore, be sure that it is those who are of faith who are sons of Abraham” (Galatians 3:7 [NASB]), which does not undo the status of the Jews as Sons of Abraham, but allows the Gentiles who come to faith to attain equal status in terms of access (though not of Legal obligation and ethnic status). Christians are not Noahides and we are not Jews. Christians are both alike and unlike their Jewish counterparts who have come to faith in Jesus as Moshiach. The Hope Abbey blog provided the following quote illustrating this:

What [Paul’s opponents] evidently failed to appreciate is that Paul made a distinction between Jewish Christians and Gentile Christians… while he saw it as perfectly legitimate for Jewish Christians to express their faith in Jesus through traditional Jewish practices, he strenuously opposed the imposition of these practices on Gentile Christians either for full acceptance by God or as a normative way of life. (Galatians, WBC 41 [Dallas: Word, 1990], xcviii)

While it may be compelling for Christians who are specifically attracted to Judaism and Jewish studies to pursue the status of Noahide (or in some extreme instances, to convert to Judaism) so that they can better associate with the Jewish synagogue and cultural community, in terms of our relationship to God, it’s a step backward. We have a clear record in the Apostolic Scriptures of God-fearers drawing closer to the Almighty by accepting the Messianic Covenant and placing their trust in Jesus Christ as Lord, Savior, and Jewish Messiah. We have been given the right to call ourselves children of the Most High God.

Raising HandsI don’t think that it’s inconsistent for a Christian to pray the three times daily or to observe a Shabbat rest in a manner similar to the Jewish model. We see these practices in the early (non-Jewish) church. I don’t believe Cornelius gave up the “Jewish” pattern of his prayers after he received the Spirit and perhaps becoming a “Christian” enhanced the meaning of coming into the Presence of God. But keep in mind that as a non-Jew, taking up faith in Jesus, becoming “Messianic”, becoming Christian, enables us to be true children of God and not merely servants. We have a greater duty and intimacy to the Father as sons and daughters. We must not lose that. We must not discard that. Like the prodigal son (Luke 15:11-32), if we desert our Father, we are throwing away “sonship” but perhaps “servanthood” as well”.

Cling to your faith. He’s coming.

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The Sons of Noah

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NoahOn our daf, Rav Acha bar Yaakov notes that the rule of Reish Lakish leads us to a fascinating situation. The Jewish people have a law of shechita, and the meat of an animal is permitted to be eaten as soon as shechita is done. The gentiles do not have a mitzvah of shechita, but they must not eat a limb from a live animal. Whenever we shecht an animal, the trachea is cut first, followed by the esophagus. As soon as the trachea is cut, the lung immediately becomes permitted, due to shechita, but because the esophagus is not cut, the animal is not yet dead. At that moment, the lung is permitted for a Jew, because shechita was performed on the trachea, but the lung is not permitted for a non-Jew.

When R’ Pappa heard this lesson from R’ Acha, he thought to ask that it seems peculiar that we now have something (lungs) which is permitted for a Jew but prohibited for a non-Jew. However, R’ Pappa refrained from asking, because he realized that R’ Acha had taught his lesson with a reasonable explanation.

R’ Pappa noted that it is not possible that something be permitted for a Jew but be prohibited for a non-Jew. The idea is that when the Jews accepted upon themselves added levels of holiness, more than their being just Noachides, this commitment included added levels of restriction, not less.

Daf Yomi Digest
Distinctive Insight
“Permitted for a Jew, prohibited for a non-Jew”
Chullin 33

This is a strange situation, but in order to understand it, you have to understand how Judaism sees a Jew’s obligation to God as opposed to a non-Jew’s obligation (whether Christian or not).

Without going into all of the history involved, Jews believe that the Torah, which was given to the Children of Israel at Sinai (Exodus 20), obligated the Jewish people to 613 specific commandments or mitzvot. These commandments are only incumbent upon the Jewish people and do not apply to any other people group or religion. Within the 613 commandments, there are mitzvot that only apply to sub-groups within the Jewish people such as men, women, priests, and so on. Sub-groups aside, all Jews regardless of their community or religious roles, are considered to merit a place in the world to come (Romans 11:26; Sanhedrin 11:1).

In Christianity, in order to have a right relationship with God, a person must become a Christian. There is no other “right” status before the Creator of the Universe and “no one comes to the Father” except through Jesus (John 14:6). All Christians are equal before Christ and there are no different sub-groups within Christianity (Galatians 3:28). You’re either all the way in or you’re all the way out.

This isn’t true in Judaism. You don’t have to be a Jew to have a relationship with God.

Jews do not require that non-Jews convert to Judaism in order to “merit a place in the world to come”. Although some Gentiles convert to Judaism out of a desire to take upon themselves the complete responsibilities of a Jewish person and to delight in the beauty of the mitzvot, Judaism’s understanding of God’s desire for the “nations” (i.e. everyone who isn’t Jewish) is for us to obey a much smaller set of commandments given by God to Noah (Genesis 9) referred to as the Noahide Laws. Although there are only seven laws of Noah, they actually expand out into at least 66 specific mitzvot according to my friend Gene Shlomovich, and Hasidic University suggests that the number of mitzvot for which a Gentile is obligated, can be up to 620.

If you’re a Christian, the vast majority of this is likely to leave you unimpressed, since the traditional understanding of the church is that grace fully replaced the Law of Moses (and most Christians aren’t even aware of a “Law of Noah”) and believers do not take their guide for a Christian’s obligations to God from Jewish theology or commentary. Still, for those Christians who feel somehow that they got the short end of the stick as far as the mitzvot are concerned, you can see the matter isn’t as simple as it appears on the surface. It’s not like we got the “Reader’s Digest” version of God’s expectations.

From what I can tell, there’s nothing in the Seven Noahide Laws that directly contradicts being a Christian, but you might object if you look at some of the particulars. Take the example from the Daf Yomi Digest quote in reference to eating a part (in this case, a lung) from a live animal. Jesus didn’t specifically teach on this so you might think the point is moot, but then, most of us would find eating a limb off of a cow or chicken while it was still alive repulsive and cruel. I suppose God does too, which is why we find a prohibition against this behavior in both the Noahide Laws and the Torah. The difference between a Jewish and a Christian perspective on these obligations is that Christians tend not to think of the details of their responsibilities to God and others, while observant Jews do so all the time as a matter of lifestyle. In other words, you could say that Jews focus on their obligations to God through the Torah while Christians focus on their freedom in God through the grace of Jesus.

The RabbiSounds easier and better to be a Christian since there isn’t nearly as much theological and educational “heavy lifting”, but this also robs us of greater opportunities to serve God and to honor our Master with deliberate intent. The Noahide Laws aren’t exactly “required reading” for Christians, but maybe they should be. For Christians who sometimes wonder what God wants out of their (our) lives, the Noahide Laws might provide greater dimension and meaning. It’s not just a list of “dos and don’ts”, but rather, a way to order the actions of our lives to conform more fully with the life God created for us. Jesus opened the door, but once we step inside a life of faith and holiness, we are the ones responsible for discovering what that means and how to live it out.

Is it crazy for a Christian (or any Gentile, since the Noahide Laws apply to every non-Jew regardless of religion or belief) to have as many obligations to God as a Jew or, to be even crazier, to have obligations that don’t apply to a Jew? Maybe, but maybe not as much as you’d imagine.

I know some people will accuse me of sowing the seeds of division between Christians and Jews by emphasizing such differences, but that is not a reflection of Chasidic Jewish thought:

The souls are all one. Only the bodies divide us. -The Alter Rebbe

According to Rabbi Tzvi Freeman in his book, Bringing Heaven Down to Earth:

In his latter years, the Rebbe would stand for hours every Sunday, as thousands of people, both Jew and non-Jew would stand in line to receive his blessing.

The Rebbe didn’t care just about Jews but about every human being. Still quoting from Rabbi Freeman’s book:

They asked the Alter Rebbe: “Which is greater: Love of G-d, or love of your fellow man?” He answered, “Love of your fellow man, for then you are loving that which your Beloved loves.”

How like what Jesus said when he was asked, “Rabbi, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?”

Oh, all of this becomes even more complex when you consider that Christians are viewed as “Sons of Abraham” (see Galatians 3:7-9) rather than “Sons of Noah” since the Messianic Covenant at least extends, if not actually overwrites the Noahide Covenant. I think I’ll save that meditation for another day.

“Noah’s Covenant of the Rainbow is a living heritage for all Gentiles. When we fulfill our potential by living within this covenant, the Creation is spiritually elevated to realize its intended goal. This makes the world into a beautiful gem – a place where G-d can dwell”. -from AskNoah.org

“The Moshiach will bring all the Jews back to the Torah and teach all mankind how to be partners with the Creator through observing His Seven Noahide Commandments. Then the true love of G-d to each of us will be in every heart. But [as the Rebbe taught,] it’s up to us to make it happen”. -Rabbi Tuvia Bolton

To find out more about how Jews see Gentiles and our relationship with God, have a look at What the Talmud Says About Gentiles, Revisited. Also visit the AskNoah.org site.

Addendum: Tomorrow’s morning mediation will be Part 2 of this theme: Children of God, and will explore God-fearers and Noahides as compared to Christians. Please come back tomorrow for the next “morning meditation”.

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I’ll Get By With a Little Help

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Praying with TefillinWelcome to today’s “bonus” meditation.

Teshuvas Torah L’Shmah was asked whether a person who would not be able to concentrate while davening (praying) should daven or not. Seemingly, if he will not be able to concentrate he should be exempt since sefarim write that davening without concentration is comparable to a body without a soul. Accordingly, if he is unable to concentrate he should not daven. He responded that one who is distracted and consequently incapable of davening with proper concentration should nevertheless daven since we do not push aside the mitzvah just because of his difficulty. He then adds that someone who does not know the inner meaning or kabbalistic intent that is supposed to accompany a mitzvah is not exempt from that mitzvah. A person is expected to do what he can and even without that additional intent the mitzvah is considered fulfilled without any defect whatsoever.

Even though the individual does not know how to properly focus his thoughts on davening, God will supplement what is lacking.

Daf Yomi Digest
Halacha Highlight
“Should a person daven if he cannot properly concentrate?”
Chullin 31

In his Tanya, Rabbi Schneur Zalman of Liadi sets down the fundamentals of the chabad-chassidic approach to life. On the cover page of this “bible of chabad-chassidism” he defines his work as follows:

“Based on the verse, `For it [the Torah and its precepts] is something that is very close to you, in your mouth, in your heart, that you may do it’ – it explains, with the help of G-d, how it is indeed exceedingly close, in a long and short way.”

Chabad Commentary on Chapter 2
The Ethics of Our Fathers
“The Long But Short Of It”
Tammuz 25, 5771 * July 27, 2011

If you are a person of faith, your highest desire is to draw closer to God and do to what will please Him. Any son or daughter wants to not only obey their father but to do what will make him happy. So it is between us and our Father in Heaven.

So what’s the problem? We are.

To continue from the Chabad commentary for Pirkei Avot Chapter 2:

The Torah and its mitzvos are the Creator’s blueprint for creation, detailing the manner in which He meant life to be lived and His purpose in creation to be fulfilled. But is a life that is ordered utterly by Torah indeed feasible? Can the ordinary “Everyman” be realistically expected to conduct his every act, word and thought in accordance with Torah’s most demanding directives?

…a person may argue: Why spend a lifetime pursuing this demanding regimen of mind and heart? Why must I toil to understand and feel? Why not take the direct approach–open the books and follow instructions? I’m a simple Jew, he may maintain, and the attainment of such lofty spiritual states as “comprehension of the Divine”, “love of G-d” and “awe of G-d” are way beyond my depth. I know the truth, I know what G-d wants of me—the Torah spells out the dos and don’ts of life quite clearly.

Despite the previous quote, sometimes we don’t really understand what God wants. Sometimes we don’t know how to pray. Sometimes we aren’t sure how to do our best. Sometimes we wonder, couldn’t God make loving Him “with all our heart, mind, and strength” just a little bit more straightforward? After all, I’m no saint or holy man. I’m just a regular person.

But God has an answer for that.

The Torah itself is quite clear on the matter: “For the mitzvah which I command you this day,” it states, “it is not beyond you nor is it remote from you. It is not in heaven… nor is it across the sea… Rather, it is something that is very close to you, in your mouth, in your heart, that you may do it.” (Deut. 30:11-14) Torah’s vision of life is not an abstract ideal, nor a point of reference to strive toward, but an achievable goal.

God does not expect more of us than we are capable of giving. Our problem is often we do not believe we are capable of what God expects. Some churches compound the problem by “dumbing-down” what God requires, using “grace” as the back door out of taking personal responsibility for our behavior. God does cut us some slack, but not by simply removing the mitzvot (commandments) we think are too difficult for us.

Like the person who cannot pray because he cannot concentrate, when we have truly made our best effort, God will “supplement what is lacking” in us. After all, He knows what we are lacking because He designed us. We also have this:

In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God’s people in accordance with the will of God. –Romans 8:26-27

Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has ascended into heaven, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are – yet he did not sin. Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need. –Hebrews 4:14-16

Praying ChildEven though we are lacking. Even though we can barely speak let alone pray, God has provided for our every need, even when we cannot see hope illuminating the darkness. Just have one simple desire as you turn to Him:

[Rabbon Gamliel the son of Rabbi Judah HaNassi] would say… Make that His will should be your will… –Ethics of the Fathers, 2:4

Jesus expressed the most important focus of our lives this way:

One of the teachers of the law came and heard them debating. Noticing that Jesus had given them a good answer, he asked him, “Of all the commandments, which is the most important?”

“The most important one,” answered Jesus, “is this: ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.”

“Well said, teacher,” the man replied. “You are right in saying that God is one and there is no other but him. To love him with all your heart, with all your understanding and with all your strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself is more important than all burnt offerings and sacrifices.” –Mark 12:28-33

Finally, when you pray, pray like this:

The ultimate prayer is the prayer of a small child.

You pray to some lofty concept of The Infinite Light or The Essence of Being or…

But the child doesn’t have any concept. Just G-d.

From the wisdom of the Rebbe
Menachem M. Schneerson
as compiled by Rabbi Tzvi Freeman in his book
Bringing Heaven Down to Earth

Good Shabbos.

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Masei: In the Desert

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The Sinai DesertThe Torah portion Masei begins by stating: “These are the journeys of the Children of Israel who left Egypt..” (Numbers 33:1) The Torah then goes on to recount all the places where the Jews resided during their 40-year trek from Egypt to the Promised Land.

Our Sages (in Alshich ibid. See also Klei Yakar and Orach Chayim ibid.) ask: By recounting the places where the Jewish people camped rather than the journeys themselves, the Torah is indicating that the resting places are more important than the journeys. This being so, the verse should have stated: “These are the encampments .,” rather than “These are the journeys .” Especially so, since the Jews spent the majority of these 40 years in their encampments, and not in travel.

The ultimate purpose of both the Jews’ travels and encampments was, of course, to enter Eretz Yisrael. The encampments were therefore also termed “journeys,” for they served no purpose in and of themselves.

-Based on the teachings of the Lubavitcher Rebbe,
Rabbi Menachem M. Schneerson for Torah Portion Masei

These concepts are reflected in this week’s Torah reading, Parshas Masei. Masei means “journeys,” and the reading enumerates the 42 different stages in the journey of the newborn Jewish nation from the land of Egypt until its entry into Eretz Yisrael. The Baal Shem Tov explains (As quoted in Degel Machaneh Ephraim, Parshas Masei) that these 42 stages in our people’s journey are mirrored in the life of every individual as he proceeds from birth his personal “exodus from Egypt” until his entry into “the Land of Life” the spiritual counterpart of Eretz Yisrael.

This entire journey through the wilderness (and through life) is intended to reflect continual spiritual growth. Even those stages which are associated with negative events have a positive impetus at their source.

-from a Commentary by Rabbi Eli Touger
Adapted from
Likkutei Sichos, Vol. II, p. 348;
Vol. VI, p. 111ff, 235ff; Vol. XXIII, p. 224

About twelve years ago, I found myself “between careers” and the only job I could find was a temporary position with the Postal Service. I worked from 11 p.m. until sometimes 11 a.m. at a big, mail processing plant, doing just about any kind of manual labor that anyone required of me. I barely saw my family. I only saw the sun as I was driving home after work to go to sleep. I didn’t make very much of an income…but thank Hashem that He provided me with the means to continue to support my family during a difficult period.

Back then, it was easy to complain to myself and to God about my work situation and conditions, but one of the supervisors at “the plant”, who was a Christian, told me this was my “wilderness period”. He turned out to be right.

I learned a great deal doing different kinds of jobs as a “casual” for the Postal Service during the several years I was with them. I don’t mean just the technical aspects of the different assignments I was given, but I learned a lot about patience, humility, respect, tolerance, and graciousness. I performed tasks that I didn’t think I was physically capable of and learned organizational skills I’d never needed before.

All the while, I prayed and prayed and prayed for God to deliver me from the wilderness…and eventually He did. But before that, He took away my ability to rest on the Shabbat (because of the necessity for me to work Saturdays) so I would appreciate the Shabbat. He taught me to cherish every day I had a day off because I could enjoy the light of day and the companionship of my wife and children. And He actually got me into really good physical shape.

The Baal Shem Tov characterizes our life, our experiences between birth and death as “the wilderness”, but within that great desert expanse, I believe we have more definite “wanderings”, challenges, and “dry parts” of our life that God provides so that we will learn something we desperately need in order to draw closer to Him and to be a better servant and child of the Father.

Now look again that the two quotes I inserted at the top of this blog post. It’s the 40 years of traveling and the 42 individual encampments that God used to hone and shape the vessel that was the Children of Israel so when the time came, they would be ready to enter into and possess the Land of Canaan. We saw that the generation which came out of Egypt was not ready (with a few exceptions) and they were not able to make the transition from a people enslaved to a free nation. It took 40 years and the next generation to take that crucial step.

Night RoadAs the Baal Shem Tov states, the journey of Bnei Yisrael can also be thought of as the journey we take as individuals along our path of faith. We wander. Our path isn’t linear. Sometimes we backtrack and revisit old haunts and habits. Every step, every “encampment” along the way, we learn something we need to know; we have an experience that gives us a vital skill, even if we don’t realize it at the time. The Children of Israel knew they would be wandering for 40 years, but we don’t usually know how long it will be for us. As I said, within the “desert” of our lifetimes, we encounter paths that are more rocky and desolate. Often the length of time we wander depends on whether we learn quickly and dilgently the lessons God has provided, or whether we resist and cling stubbornly to our past, our sins, our frustrations, our sorrows, and our “slavery”.

If we are obedient, we finally arrive, but that’s only the beginning. Once they crossed the Jordan, the Children of Israel went on to conquer a nation. Once we are finished wandering, we must conquer the greater desert of ourselves and more.

No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. –Romans 8:37-39

For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. And we will be ready to punish every act of disobedience, once your obedience is complete. –2 Corinthians 10:3-6

“On the move” means there is no comparison between a person’s former state and his present one – the individual has totally departed from his previous level.

The verse therefore emphasizes “the journeys ,” indicating that a Jew should never be satisfied with moving from one level to a comparable one. Rather, he must constantly “journey” in a manner whereby his next stage is infinitely higher than his current one.

This latter manner of “travel” contains two elements: departing from the previous level and attaining the infinitely higher one. As long as there has not been a complete departure from the former level, the higher level cannot be attained.

This, then, is the meaning of “These are the journeys of the Children of Israel who left Egypt ..” Why was it necessary for there to be many “journeys” in order to leave Egypt; it would seem that with the first journey the Jewish people already departed Egypt?

Egypt is symbolic of spiritual limitations. Thus, the “encampments” – the spiritual achievements en route – did not constitute complete redemption from “Egypt.” In order to arrive at the Promised Land, there had to be a total departure from previous “encampments,” for each stopping – no matter how lofty the waystation – itself represented a lingering within the state of “Egypt.”

-Based on Likkutei Sichos Vol. XXIII, pp. 224-227.

Let us finally leave “Egypt” and may the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob grant us a swift and safe journey to our own “Promised Land”, a place within us where we find His glory and peace.

Amen.

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Within the Sound of Silence

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Alone in silenceA parable:

A father answers the questions of his child and they are happy together, in joyful dialogue.

Then the child asks a question, and the father must think deeply—not just for the answer, but to reach to the essence of this answer so he may bring it to the world of his child. For a long while, the father is quiet.

And so, the child becomes anxious and begins to cry. “Father, where are you? Why do you no longer talk to me? Why have you deserted me for your own thoughts?”

And then the father begins to speak, but this time it is the deepest core of his mind that flows into the mind and heart of the child. Such a flow that with this the child, too, may become a father.

The child is us. The time of silence is now.

When the spirit of Man is dark, when the flow gates of Above seem all but sealed, prepare for liberation.

Rabbi Tzvi Freeman
From the wisdom of the Lubavitcher Rebbe, of righteous memory
“A Time of Silence”
Chabad.org

There’s an old joke that says the difference between a man and a woman is that a man can sit with his friend without them talking to each other for five minutes and not worry that his friend is angry with him. It’s meant to illustrate the different approaches to communication and relationship men and women seem to naturally take, but as with many such jokes, there’s a kernel of truth at the core.

But beyond a certain point, even the most stoic man or woman gets a little uncomfortable being with another person who isn’t talking to them at all. Certainly, if you are in a very close relationship such as Father and Son, you’d expect fairly frequent exchanges of thoughts, feelings, and ideas when you’re together. Sometimes when someone close to you isn’t talking to you, you can interpret the silence as anger or disinterest or even emotional abandonment.

We have one of the world’s most poignant examples of this at our fingertips:

From noon until three in the afternoon darkness came over all the land. About three in the afternoon Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” (which means “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”). –Matthew 27:45-46

How many times did Jesus say, “I and the Father are One” (John 10:29) and “Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father” (John 14:9)? Yet, it was necessary for there to be a temporary and devastating silence between Father and Son, in this case, for the sake of the entire world (and see Acts 13:32-33 for a parallel to the Rebbe’s words, “Such a flow that with this the child, too, may become a father”).

How about the silences between us and God? You may not be aware of all the times when God experiences your silence and your lack of attention toward Him, but you are acutely aware of when you desperately need to hear from God and instead, find only His silence. Like the child in the parable quoted above, and like Jesus on the cross, you may cry out in your loneliness and fear that God has abandoned you in your pain. But has He?

There is an old proverb that says “Sometimes silence is the best answer.”

Silence is generally something we try to avoid. We aren’t comfortable with it. Think about the awkward silences we’ve each encountered and how often our response is to say something. We have a need to break the silence and perhaps too often we ignore the actual need FOR silence.

from the Gathering Sparks blog.

Sometimes silence is part of the necessary response of God to us, not because He doesn’t care, but because we need to exist for a certain amount of time, in silence. We intensely want to hear from God when we are afraid, alone, or in pain, but at times, God only gives us what we need, and does so for our benefit.

Turn, LORD, and deliver me;
save me because of your unfailing love.
Among the dead no one proclaims your name.
Who praises you from the grave?

I am worn out from my groaning.

All night long I flood my bed with weeping
and drench my couch with tears.
My eyes grow weak with sorrow;
they fail because of all my foes. –Psalm 6:4-7

On my bed I remember you;
I think of you through the watches of the night.
Because you are my help,
I sing in the shadow of your wings.
I cling to you;
your right hand upholds me. –Psalm 63:6-8

Sometimes we draw closer to God when we don’t hear from Him and when we, in our anguish, remember who He is and what He has done; when we in faith and trust, acknowledge His Kingship and Glory, though His voice is silent.

Then, when we do hear from Him, it is at the right time and from God’s deepest core, we are given the strength to overcome and to be liberated.

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Broken

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Broken FaithA certain man was profoundly depressed. He perceived his many flaws and failings and they pained him, but he did not feel confident that he could atone for them. How could he possibly rectify such serious wrongs?

When Rav Yissachar Dov of Belz, zt”l, was asked what someone in this state of mind should do, he offered powerful words of encouragement. “You must understand that God never rejects the Jewish community, as we find in Chullin 29. The halachah is that if an individual is defiled within the community, he can bring his korban Pesach along with them. His personal sacrifice is not rejected because he is part of the community.

“By the same token, someone who takes stock of himself and finds himself riddled with faults should not give up. Although his feelings of inadequacy push him to abandon his efforts to serve God altogether, God forbid, he must take heart and do what he can. It is true that he is defiled, but if he becomes one with the Jewish community, God will enable him to rectify his many transgressions.”

The Ohr HaChaim HaKadosh, zt”l, offered different advice to help fight feelings of spiritual inadequacy, however. “A person may contemplate the many mitzvos in the Torah and say, ‘How can I possibly fulfill them as required?’ Similarly, someone who has transgressed many sins should beware of what his yetzer haram (evil inclination) will surely claim: ‘How can you rectify so many evil deeds?’

“It is for this person that Moshe warns us, ‘And you should know today.’ He was alluding to Shabbos, regarding which the verse states, ‘Today is Shabbos.’ Moshe was telling us to how to answer such discouraging claims. We must say in our hearts: ‘Our sages explain that keeping Shabbos is likened to fulfilling the entire Torah. Through learning the laws of Shabbos and keeping them carefully, week after week, God will help me rectify my spiritual failings.’”

Daf Yomi Digest
Stories Off the Daf
“Joining the Community”
Chullin 29

If you’re a Christian, you may find several things about this commentary that trouble you. For one, it’s addressed to the Jewish people, so how can it apply to you? It also talks about a Jewish person’s difficulty in fulfilling all of the Torah commandments, which doubtlessly, you believe don’t apply to you. Also, the vast majority of Christians either don’t see the relevance of keeping the Shabbat as Jews do, or they believe that going to church on Sunday and then doing “whatever” afterward, fulfills this requirement.

Take a closer look.

While I agree that the commentary was written specifically to apply to Jews and that the 613 commandments Jews believe they are obligated to fulfill do not apply to non-Jewish Christians (or the vast majority of them, anyway), there is a lesson to be learned here. Despite being “saved” by Jesus Christ, a Christian still can feel as if he or she is spiritually deficient. It’s not like it’s impossible for a Christian to sin or even impossible for a Christian to suffer under multiple, habitual sins. It’s hardly impossible or a Christian to feel terrible guilt over having committed many sins and to experience a profound distance from God.

Some Christians in this situation simply give up their faith and surrender to their sins and the values of a fallen world.

The message of the esteemed Ravs we see quoted above is a message of hope that we Christians can look to as well. We are grafted in to the “cultivated olive tree” and “if the root is holy, so are the branches” (Romans 11:16). But while Rav Yissachar Dov suggests that a Jew can draw strength from the larger Jewish community, and the Ohr HaChaim HaKadosh states that when a Jew observes the mitzvot applying to the Shabbat, it’s as if he fulfilled all of the Torah commandments, where does that leave us? How can a Christian overcome a profound sense of guilt over committing not just a few, but many sins across a long time period while professing faith in Christ?

The answer really isn’t that different. One of the reasons we gather in groups and worship communally is to gather strength and encouragement from each other:

Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing. –1 Thessalonians 5:11

But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called Today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness. –Hebrews 3:13

SorrowYou may not want to open up and expose the full truth of your being to your entire congregation or Sunday school class, but you can find someone on the Pastoral staff whom you feel you can trust, a compassionate Bible teacher, or a close Christian friend, and ask them for help. Yes, turn to God in prayer, repent in the name of Jesus, ask for forgiveness and the strength to stand tall under temptation, but don’t forget the kindness, grace, and support you can receive from a believing neighbor or friend. God provides us human comforters for a reason.

The other point also applies, though it may be more difficult to see.

In yesterday’s morning meditation, I suggested that it is appropriate and even beneficial for Christians to observe and keep the Shabbat in a manner similar to the Jewish people. That is, to keep an entire 24-hour period of time devoted to drawing nearer to God and to separating from the routine and stress of day-to-day life. Christians tend to see keeping a Sabbath in this manner as a list of what they can’t do (can’t go shopping, can’t go out to lunch, can’t mow the lawn), but it’s more about freedom than about restriction. It’s the freedom to put down the load you carry the other six-days of the week and to spend time focusing who you are; putting all of your attention on God, on prayer, on Bible study, on discussing the teachings of Jesus with others.

Christianity doesn’t have a tradition that says fulfilling one set of holy acts somehow fulfills all of them, but we don’t generally look at things that way. We know that Jesus atoned for our sins, so we don’t concern ourselves with all of the separate actions we would have to take to atone for all of the different sins we committed. We aren’t responsible for making the atonement ourselves, only for accepting the fact that Jesus is our atonement.

Still, as Christians, we can be overwhelmed by the amount and the depth of our sins and how we can ever manage to break the cycle of our disobedience. How can we remove all of the darkness from our souls and know that we are clean after leading sinful lives for months or even years? Wouldn’t a lifetime of sin and hypocrisy as a Christian take a lifetime to undo? How can we be forgiven if we still sin? Rather than trying to see the end result, we can take the “a journey of a thousand miles” point of view on the matter. We can start by focusing on just the first step.

Here’s the deal. Your life is a mess. You’ve really screwed up and you’ve been screwing up for a long time. Maybe your married life is worse than Arnold Schwarzenegger’s or you’ve severely “abused” Google’s image search feature on your computer to view women “inappropriately”. Perhaps your business dealings have been less than “open and above board” or you’ve been putting your hand in the boss’s till rather than helping your employer earn a profit.

Maybe you’ve been calling yourself a “Christian” and going to church on Sunday, but behaving no differently than the atheists and agnostics that populate your community, your workplace, and your neighborhood.

There’s hope. There’s always hope. You can turn it around. It won’t be easy and it won’t be quick. I know you’d like it to be. I know it might seem easier to just give up, but that only puts more distance between you and God and trust me, you’ll regret it in the long run. God said, “”Turn to me and be saved, all you ends of the earth; for I am God, and there is no other” (Isaiah 45:22) and please notice that He is addressing “all you ends of the earth” and not the Children of Israel exclusively.

Faith and belief in Jesus isn’t enough to help you. Knowing God exists and leaving it at that isn’t the answer. James, the brother of the Master, said that we must have faith and deeds (James 2:14-24). We must trust that when we turn from sin to God and desire return, that God will be there with open arms waiting for us, like the Father of the prodigal son (Luke 15:11-32). We must not only believe God will accept our repentance, we must actually take the “risk” of returning and abandoning the sins that keep us from Him.

The only mistake you can make that is absolutely fatal is to walk away from God and never look back. Short of that, while you’re alive, you have hope. The world may be broken, but God can heal your brokenness.

There’s no such thing as defeat. There’s always another chance. To believe in defeat is to believe that there is something, a certain point in time that did not come from Above.

Know that G-d doesn’t have failures. If things appear to worsen, it is only as part of them getting better. We only fall down in order to bounce back even higher.

From the wisdom of the Rebbe
Menachem M. Schneerson
as compiled by Rabbi Tzvi Freeman in his book
Bringing Heaven Down to Earth