English Hebraisms

In the last post we discussed how the forces of evil all too conveniently use accusations of the other to sidestep one's own divine responsibilities. SHiPRU vs. SHoFaR. But I wonder how many realize that it's not enough to stop harping on others but also not on ourselves?!

The Shofar is G~D's truth, hence there's no need to force its message, just facilitate it; open the heart to its reality; learn it.

We need to allow the Shofar to "chauffeur" our self-improvement!

In that spirit, I'd like to briefly develop one other idea which we also just began to taste in that post: the importance of word-play in appreciating the power of the holy tongue.

There are certain Divine truths that are so deep that they seem driven by a heavenly interest to reach us wherever we may be. They kindov spill over from Hebrew into many other languages, as King David sings (Ps. 23): "my cup runs over!" Personally, whenever I hear one of these cross-lingual phenomena, my heart sings praise to the UNbelievable creativity of the One whom the sages say "spoke the world into being."

So without further ado, here are a few examples. For those who don't (yet) know enough Hebrew to make sense of the connections, or just don't grasp the thread, perhaps ask around amongst your Orthodox friends and then share your conclusions (comments section):

Shofar {Ram's horn} - chauffeur

Purim {holyday noted in Book of Esther} - Pure Him

Sfirot {cosmic emanations} - spheres, saphires, spirit

Pri {fruit} - free

Regel / ragil {holyday; leg; normal} - regular

Lev {heart} - love

Hester {concealment} - hysteria

Preida {seperation} - pride

Pardes {orchard; mystical metaphor for paradise} - paradise

pitui / peti {seduction; gullible} - pet, pit, fit (as in have one!)

Am-reik-ah {a nation empty of divinity, in the aspect of deeds} - America

Yahoo {The essential Divine Name, when only the first three of the four letters are pronounced. The lack of the fourth letter, which makes the ah sound, as per the last entry, indicates an absence of divine deeds} - Major American internet server

And here's the best of them all:

L'hitPaLLeL {to pray} - pull

Isn't this what that quintessential prayer, Yedid Nefesh, is all about:

mashoch av'deicha el ratzon'eicha

"May You draw your servant towards Your Will"

True, we need to speak out, sometimes cry and wail, and of course often sing in prayer. But ultimately l'hitpallel is not just to express ourselves, but to create a heart opening to His Will, after which HE does the work... of pullllllllllling.


~

SHoFaR or SHiPRU?

Whew. It's still hard to believe this blog is UP. It really makes a difference knowing there's a format "out there" for furthering the cause ...

So here's another very deep vort ("word" of insight) that occured to me over Shabbos. I would have normally kept it for Rosh HaShona (the Jewish New Year, in the Fall), but since we're on the momentum of holyday insights, and the nature of the unbelievable is far beyond standard time lines (actually Chanuka and R.H. are quite logically connected), let's toss it out already.

The verse states (Deut. 29:17):

Pen yesh b'chem shoresh porei rosh u'l'ana... 'shalom yehiyeh li... ',

which roughly tranlsates:

"Perhaps there is amongst you a root flourishing wormwood... (thinking) peace will be for me..."

The basic idea is that while the Israelites were nationally at their spiritual highest, perched to enter the Holy land, they were being warned never to presume that every single individual is included. Conceivably there could be a few rotten apples in every barrel, especially the better the rest of the apples seem to be. It's a psycho-spiritual principle: The higher you spiritually fly, the less the quantity but more the quality of destructive thoughts.

Notice the stress on the heretic's desire for "peace." Never does the holy Torah make the pursuit of peace a goal in and of itself. To be sure, it's emphatic about Tsedek, tsedek tirdof (Deut. 16:20), pursuing righteousness. But not peace.

As HaRav Nachman Bulman, zts"l, once drove into his disciples during one Shalosh Seudos (third meal of Sabbath): The Shabbos afternoon prayer requests:

Menuchas Shalom... Menucha shleima sh'Atoh rotzeh ba
"a rest of peace ... a complete rest that You want."

The point of this prayer, he bellowed, in his inimitably volcanic way, is not that we expect to achieve any peace, but that we seek it on Shabbos because we learn it's important to You!

No question. The interest in peace at the expense of the Creator's Will is a powerfully narcissistic mind set that basically says "yeah, Boss, I hear, but I'll be damned if I'm gonna let your rules cramp my style!" It's the undoing of every employee; of every "believer."

The only way out is to UN-believe. As per the mystics about the roshei teivos of our verse (the first letters of the words shoresh porei rosh u'lana) spelling SHoFaR (p and f sounds, as well as o and u sounds, are interchangeable in Hebrew). The Shofar, of course, is the famous Ram's horn which Jews blow around the New Year to stimulate repentance. When one sincerely fulfills that Mitzvah (Divine Command) of Shofar, he's free from all heresy.

Even the subconscious kind.

But now I ask: Why scramble the letters to come up with that vort? If we read the verse straight, it spells out: SHi-P-R-U, which is the third person plural form for "improve." So doesn't that teach our lesson even better? Isn't a Jew's willingness to seek improvement enough for nipping those heretical thoughts in the bud? Isn't the call for world improvement precisely the ethic of tikkun Ha'olam, of "repairing the world," that drives the majority of Jewish organizations today??

Ah. Now listen carefully. This goes real deep. The shoresh, root, of all evil, is the tendency to demand of the other: Shipru!, "Improve!", in place of hearing the Shofar. It might be true that others are in need of refinement, yet who am I to tell them, let alone accuse them?? To respond to those cosmic blasts, on the other hand, is to make room for HIS energy to improve the world.

UNNNNbelievable

~

A-head of Terror

Ok, we're on a momentum. Just sent info abt this blog to my list of family and friends. Perhaps, just perhaps, they'll really gain something from it and post a comment and or share it further. Clearly, a book of such unconventionally religious nature will never emerge by force of only one man's conviction...

In the meantime, here's an article I wrote a few years back which is very apt to this Parsha (Sabbath Torah reading). I don't know why the Jerusaelm Post never responded to my offering it as an editorial or opinion piece, but the poignancy of its all too believable background remains today more than ever.

בס"ד


A Chanukah letter to a brother


Kislev 5764 / 2003

~~~~~

Dear Avi,

It’s been about a year now since I’ve read the eulogy (J. Post, Nov. 17, 2002) that you gave for your ex-wife and two precious children (may Peace be with them) who were so brutally murdered, in their Kibbutz home, by a terrorist. It continues to haunt me.

In that eulogy you drew on an amazing inner strength as you meditated on the beauty of your last memories with them. You mulled over the natural curiosity and awe that animated little Matani and Noam as they were playing with a lizard. You emphasized the surprise that enveloped them as the lizard escaped their grip by separating himself from his tail. Finally, you recalled how the kids ran to their all-knowing mother for an explanation. Revital informed them, in perfect stride, that this was a “talent” that lizards have – to lose their tails at times of danger and then grow new ones.

Such truly precious memories!

But then came those other, ever-haunting lines:

“And now you went and left me, your tail, because I was always your tail! And I cannot grow a new life! My heart and my head and my eyes, everything has been cut off [...]

“I know why I’m not with you. Because I am the tail. Because you are the good ones and I am the bad one. Because God only wants the good ones and he leaves the bad ones here on earth! [...]

“You (Revital) were missing only one thing (…to teach the boys how to genuinely get along, which you magically did over that last week of their lives). And God said: ‘I want these people! I want these, there is no one better! This is the best they come. These will sit here at my side.’

And I stayed with nothing.”

Avi,

Something inside of me cracked when I read that! It made my heart cry so deeply with you and with all of Israel. On one hand, your faith in the fact that they had left this world precisely when their Creator wanted them resonates with the most important teachings from our holy Tradition. On the other hand, you tortured yourself with feelings of being absolutely cut off from the implication of that faith – namely, that the same One who is the Source of your soul is the Guardian of theirs; that you all will forever be connected…

I couldn’t imagine a more painful paradox.

A powerful insight soon dawned on me. I recalled that famous verse about why we are to eternally remember Amalek – mankind’s first, national terrorist: V’ yizanev b’cha [Deut.25:18]. Contextual meaning: “He ambushed you.” Literal meaning: “He made you into a tail!”

To be sure, this is not only what tragically happened to you but is the goal of every act of terrorism: To cause survivors to identify as tails!

Unbelievable coincidence, right? Well, to make matters more interesting, the very next day I heard, as if thundering through a bull-horn, the Torah-chanter read out the prayer of our patriarch, Ya’acov, regarding his impending confrontation with his brother, Esaav, the progenitor of Amalek:

“Save me, please, from my brother,
from Esaav,
lest he beat me – mother and child”
[Gen. 32:12].

It’s a famous question. Why is he praying and for whom? Hasn’t he already been assured of Divine protection [Gen. 28:13; 31:3]? If you’d say that he sees those assurances as pertaining to himself but not necessarily to his family, then why doesn’t he just pray for “mother and child,” instead of for “me – mother and child?”

The answer is that, like you, Avi, Yaacov had total faith that G-d controls who dies and when. But such faith was not enough! Our patriarch was worried about how to survive. How would he, like you have to, deal with the torture of losing his loved one’s so brutally??

So he prays. As he’s doing so, a very curious idea enters his mind. He decides to send gifts of appeasement [32: 17-20]:

"He put herd after herd
into the hands of his servants;
then he said to his servants: ‘Pass on ahead of me...’
(and inform my brother, the terrorist, as follows):
‘It is a tribute
(… from the one who is) behind us!"

Now let us ask: Why was it so important to come only at the end, and why have himself referred to like that? Could it be that he figured that the only way to appease the terrorist was to present himself as a tail?!

G-d doesn’t agree. He immediately sends a mysterious “man” to confront Ya’acov, who eventually blesses him with a new name: Yisroel. Literally this means: “He will strive towards G-d.” But the Sages of the esoteric tradition unlock a deeper meaning: The letters can be rearranged to spell Li-Rosh – “ I have a head!”

It’s an eternal message. Those who face terrorists are faced with an awesome Test. They must prove how utterly non-reptilian they are; how striving towards G-d makes all the difference; how they have been uniquely chosen to become a “complete man” [33:18].

And so it seems to me, Avi, is the blessing you received by having Chanukah come so soon after your tragedy. Though this holy day appeared, historically, at the tail end of all our other holy days, it’s the one which, according to our esoteric Tradition, draws from the highest sparks of divine Light and respectively enlightens the most Jews (it’s the most widely kept of all our holydays). Similarly, consider the deeper meaning of the legal fact that we can light Chanukah candles, in contrast to Shabbos candles, as low as three t’fachim – virtually on the ground. Isn’t that a wonderful declaration that since our head-oriented, vertical energy is so strong then, there’s very little danger of plateauing; of giving in to our lower, horizontal forces; of giving too much weight to our tails?

Perhaps this also explains why the classic game we play on Chanukah – the dreidel – has a “tail” which is positioned decidedly on the top!

The point is, dear brother, to impress you that you’re not alone. Especially at this time that Chanukah envelops us all once again, giving each Jew a new opportunity to head towards the One Above.

May G-d comfort you among the mourners of your holy nation.


~~~~~

Dear Readers

... whomever you are!

I find myself wondering why that Pr~yer post got put up as my very first.

Technically it went like this:

My special new friend Moshe, whom I recently met at the Koisel (the last remaining wall from Solomon's Temple), is a talented computor man. He was very excited by the ideas and spirit I shared with him and respectively wanted to see my writings get "out there." So after joining us for a few holydays, one day he comes over and introduces me to bloggersphere. Suddenly he says "nu, post something." I tell you, that prayer simply jumped out at me!

Now a little secret: It was originally written on Purim -- that greatest of all Jewish holy days about which the Sages teach will be the only one to remain in the time of Moshiach (Messiah); the only one in which a Jew is permitted (and actually required under normal circumstances) to get inebriated; the only one that has the power to cleanse our souls of every, single, tiny last trace of impurity. To be sure, speaking for myself and from witnessing many, many others, Purim is THE time for tasting the unbelievable.

Ok, but the question remains: Should it have been the FIRST post? Perhaps we should begin with more rational stuff. I mean, there is an exquisite internal logic that defines the experience of unbelief, beginning with the realization of the NEED for belief. I call this first process one of PRE-belief.

Then there's what the Nesivos Sholom (the previous Slonimer Rebbe, ztsvk"l, the Jew who's picture adorns the head of this blog) calls MIND-belief, followed by HEART-belief and, usually after much painstaking work, DEED-belief. Only after reaching that point, in principle, is one ready for entering the world of UN-belief, which is the world wherein the soul intuitively realizes its Creator trust for it to "do the honest and the good in the eyes of G-d... in order that you may inherit the Land." (Deut. 6).

To unbelieve is thus to become a pure, divine vessel, flowing within His Will, without Him needing to externalize His directives into verbal Commands. As alluded to in the word Pur-im: the experience of being Pure (with) Him! Some also see such allusions within the word history: HIS-Story!

UNNbelievable, right?

So back to our question: is the consciousness of unbelief the right place to BEGIN??

Consider the famous Midrash, (Breishis Rabba 31:A - one of the earliest and most authoritative Jewish commentaries on Scripture) about Abraham's first experiences of questioning why this world appears as a castle being engulfed in flames without any owner to protect it. Immediately after meditating over this, says the Midrash, the Owner FLASHES out at him and declares: "I'm that Owner!" But nothing else. Just silence. Amidst the flames. For a looooong time. Indeed, it was during this excruciatingly long period of experiencing G-d's concealment that Abraham proved his loyality to His Maker to such an extent that he would merit hearing the calling of lech lecha, "get going" towards the Holy Land (Gen. 12), which of course was the beginning of Jewish history.

His-Story.

So this seems to be the pattern for cultivating a truly unbelievable Jew. Apparently it's because it's within the search for Him, with ALL our hearts, that we most purely grow.

You've been warned...

~

"A" PR~YER

Oh Te~cher of ~ll truths,
Oh Tricker of ~ll tr~des,
Who reigned long before
This world w~s m~de;

Root of ~ll roots,
Seed of ~ll Seeds,
The Light of our eyes
Without whom we c~n’t see
That life is ~ secret,
So different th~n ~ppe~rs,
~ tre~sure to behold,
NO NEED TO FE~R!

If only we’d open
Our he~rts just ~ bit
Wider e~ch d~y,
Sowing f~ith th~t won’t quit
In the f~ct th~t You ~re
The Hider we seek,
The M~te of our check,
The De~l we c~n’t be~t!

You’re the Source of our songs,
The Hmm in our Hymn,
The Mir~cle of ~ll mir~cles,
Em~n~ting from within.

You prompt us to dig
Down to the core
Of the soul You h~ve given us…
And then even more!

Once we find You, You smile
~nd then poof ! – You ~re gone!
Prompting us to keep digging
To ~ re~lm f~r beyond
~nything we’ve known,
not out and not in,
not up and not down –
Oh, here we go ag~in…

Until we c~tch on
Th~t Your truth never ce~ses –
Not in m~rri~ge, nor in pr~yer…
AHH – You’re the Puzzle with no pieces!

And we’re the pieces of that Puzzle
That You so gr~ciously ~llow
To fill in Your picture…
Tho it’s ~lre~dy full, somehow!

Ok – gottit, de~r F~ther,
I’m now re~dy to request
Th~t You gr~nt me the one thing
You know I need best:

M~y I be a pure reader
of Your holy Script, so ~live;
M~y I d~nce to the tune,
Of Your Commands – ~nd thrive!

M~y I begin to w~lk str~ight –
No more str~y from You’re w~y –
Just follow Your ~lph~bet……..

Clinging first and foremost to the

~