Our Brother's Keeper?

bs"d

The following two excerpts were taken from the NY Times February 12th report of the speeches of the frontrunning candidates for the American presidency.

Please refer to Genesis 4:1-17 when reading the first of said speeches. Then compare how the "brother's keeper" metaphor sizes up with the speech of his counterpart on the same day; a counterpart who just happens to contain the name of the author of that statement within his name!

I.e. could the upcoming McCAIN-Obama duel be somehow a replay, or perhaps correction, of mankind's original social conflict? Obama does, after all, portray himself as supremely ABLE to atone for America's sins (as per Abel being the first human to offer a successful sacrifice)!!

G-d Willing, I'll offer more inside-Torah perspective in a coming post. In the meantime, bear in mind while you peruse these speeches the saying of the Talmudic Sages:

"If someone says to you there's wisdom among the gentiles -- believe.

Torah among the gentiles -- don't believe!"

(Midrash Eicha Rabba 2).

I.e. when a major gentile politician quotes Torah, every believing Jew should begin to question. And certainly the UNbelieving Jew...

(bolds and three-dots are mine)

******


Obama

"That is our calling in this campaign: To reaffirm that fundamental belief – I am my brother's keeper, I am my sister's keeper – that makes us one people, and one nation. It's time to stand up and reach for what's possible, because together, people who love their country can change it.

"Now when I start talking like this, some folks tell me that I've got my head in the clouds. That I need a reality check. That we're still offering false hope. But my own story tells me that in the United States of America, there has never been anything false about hope.

"I should not be here today. I was not born into money or status. I was born to a teenage mom in Hawaii, and my dad left us when I was two. But my family gave me love, they gave me education, and most of all they gave me hope – hope that in America, no dream is beyond our grasp if we reach for it, and fight for it, and work for it.

"Because hope is not blind optimism. I know how hard it will be to make these changes. I know this because I fought on the streets of Chicago as a community organizer to bring jobs to the jobless in the shadow of a shuttered steel plant. I've fought in the courts as a civil rights lawyer to make sure people weren't denied their rights because of what they looked like or where they came from. I've fought in the legislature to take power away from lobbyists. I've won some of those fights, but I've lost some of them too. I've seen good legislation die because good intentions weren't backed by a mandate for change.

"The politics of hope does not mean hoping things come easy. Because nothing worthwhile in this country has ever happened unless somebody, somewhere stood up when it was hard; stood up when they were told – no you can't, and said yes we can…

"Yes we can reclaim that dream.

"Yes we can heal this nation."

******

McCAIN

"Hope, my friends, is a powerful thing. I can attest to that better than many, for I have seen men's hopes tested in hard and cruel ways that few will ever experience. And I stood astonished at the resilience of their hope in the darkest of hours because it did not reside in an exaggerated belief in their individual strength, but in the support of their comrades, and their faith in their country. My hope for our country resides in my faith in the American character, the character which proudly defends the right to think and do for ourselves...

"When I was a young man, I thought glory was the highest ambition, and that all glory was self-glory. My parents tried to teach me otherwise, as did the Naval Academy. But I didn't understand the lesson until later in life, when I confronted challenges I never expected to face.

"In that confrontation I discovered that I was dependent on others to a greater extent than I had ever realized, but that neither they nor the cause we served made any claims on my identity. On the contrary, I discovered that nothing is more liberating in life than to fight for a cause that encompasses you, but is not defined by your existence alone. And that has made all the difference, my friends, all the difference in the world.

"I do not seek the presidency on the presumption that I am blessed with such personal greatness that history has anointed me to save my country in its hour of need. I seek the presidency with the humility of a man who cannot forget that my country saved me. I am running to serve America, and to champion the ideas I believe will help us do what every American generation has managed to do: to make in our time, and from our challenges, a stronger country and a better world.

"I intend to do that by fighting for the principles and policies I believe best serve the interests of the American people: for a government that takes and spends less of your money and competently discharges its responsibilities; that shows a proper respect for our rights and values; that provides a strong and capable defense; that encourages the enterprise and ingenuity of individuals...

"As I have done my entire career, I will make my case to every American who will listen. I will not confine myself to the comfort of speaking only to those who agree with me…

"I will fight every moment of every day for what I believe is right for this country, and I will not yield.

"Thank you and God bless you."

***************

Soaring Souls

Here's another ode to this unbelievable double-month of Adar, as kicked off by parshas Truma and Tetzaveh. I wrote it back in 2003 / 5763, two double-Adars ago, in response to the traumatic death of the first Israeli astronaut, Ilan Ramon, in the horrifically eery destruction of his spacecraft on its way down to Earth.

Though the world had thought he was a typical secular Israeli Jew who, while being proud of his nation had no particualar relationship with Judaism, he proved us all wrong.

UNNNNbelievably wrong.

As just a couple of examples (there were really quite a few, as indicated below), earlier that week he had declared in response to the media's question to him about the new year, that "Jews had a different New Year: Rosh HaShona!" He also proudly displayed a miniture Torah Scroll that had been salvaged from the Holocaust by a Jew who had promised his Rabbi to keep it near the heart of the Jewish people.

Now can anyone consider such a Yid "secular??"

I, like many religious Jews, was deeply touched by this story and mourned for him. But then something occured in my family that made me reflect on this experience on a much deeper level. Much deeper than I can ever express. But I did write a poem about it, which I now feel is time to launch into a different space...

WHEN HEAVEN

TOUCHES


EARTH



A reflection on a parallel loss



*

It all happened in a flash.

A hero was being born.
An Israeli; a scientist; a humanitarian;
a Jew.
A hallower of six million
sacred martyrs.

We heard about him, suddenly,
over the last couple of months.
Expectations sky rocketed
along with his spaceship.

Then, on his way down,
he’s whisked away.
As if snatched back
by a heavenly hand.
In a flash.

Who was this masked man?

Streaking out of the inferno
of our holy people’s degradation,
he plodded the path that so many cherished
and prayed
was the Purpose of it all:
A fighter; a mensch;
accepted
as among the best
of mankind.

He broke completely out of the mold
of Jew
as stranger
to the world.

Until
the moment of truth
when he courageously claimed
that his heretofore neglected religion
transcended all.

Not just a flag, but Kiddush.
Not just a drawing, but a holy scroll
no bigger than the heart which held it close
throughout the fires
of Hell.

When wished a good New Year
he stood straight and declared
that Jews have their own
Rosh HaShona.

His response to viewing Jerusalem
from on high
was nothing less
than praying: SH’MA YISRO’EL!

This was one Jew
who discovered his heavenly roots.


*


It all happened in a flash.

A child was being born.
A pure soul;
a defiance to our fading youth;
a blessing.
His presence graced us
suddenly
over the last two months.

High hopes thrilled our hearts
as we began to feel his.
Then, on his way down,
he’s whisked away.
As if snatched back
by a heavenly hand.

In a flash.

My unborn child has come and gone.
We’ve waited for eight long years.
Not in desperation,
thank G-d,
as we’ve been blessed
with other wonderful children.
But when that direct, heavenly input ceased,
the loss was felt
within the depths of our soul.

Where have you gone,
Oh precious one?
What did you find
during your brief time down here
which scared you so?
Are you, too, mourning
or are you relieved
that your brief sojourn with us
did not imprison you
within the confines
of this world?

I can’t shake
the parallel.

What would have been
if this newly awakened Jew
would have returned
to earth?

How could he have translated
his taste of heaven
into the language of man?

Perhaps he too
was only meant to be with us
for a mere wink
in time?

Perhaps he too
would remain a Jew
best
while straddling the heavens?

Don’t get me wrong.
I’m not so quick to let go
of either of them.
I believe their lofty souls
brushed past this world
at exactly the same time
for a Reason.
I’m just not quite sure
who was not ready for whom.

Indeed
when Torah enters the fray
it’s no coincidence:

“Make for Me a Temple
and I will Dwell amongst them,”
the weekly parsha instructs.
Dwell where? Not in the Temple?!
No – amongst them.
The people.
The Temple is the prism
through which each and every Jew
finds G-d
within his heart.

Got it.

We had been hoping that our heroes
would do all the work.
Our ambassador in space
and my miracle child
would be the Temples
through which we’d escape
our personal confrontations
with G-d.

But now I know
that Jewish unity and youth
are not invincible
commodities.

Now I know
that even the holiest Temples
can crumble
if not inhabited first
within our hearts.

May we be ready,
dear Father,
next time.






* * *

Between ShOVaVYM and Adar

bs"d

There's a wonderful new saying flying around the Torah world these days. It's transpiring behind all the fanfare of political posturing and slick advertising that characterizes so much of Western society, certainly within the American election year. It occurs far beyond the intellectual power struggles driving the typical Yeshiva scene; far beyond the subtle self-pity and illusions of grandeur that storm within so many praying hearts.

Aye, it's a saying with no known origin. It simply happened, sometime over the last few weeks as far as I know, tossed ever so humbly off the tongue of one Jew, slipping straight into the heart of another, singing its truth with such affectionate jubilance that you can be sure it's coming straight from Heaven. It came to me something like this:

"Shoilem. How're you?"

"Baruch HaSh-m {thank G-d}, doing well. And by you?"

"Couldn't be better!"

"Really."

"You didn't hear? {The Jewish month of} ADAR's here!"

"Ah, that's right. Thanks for reminding. 'When Adar enters, joy increases' {as per the Talmudic dictum}. And this year we get TWO of 'em {due to the leap year}."

"Hodu L'HaSh-m ki tov {praise G-d}…….

Y'hear the latest about two Adars (breaks out with bright smile)?"

"No (I smile back in contagious response), let's hear."

"Well, two months add up to 60 days. And the Halacha {Jewish Law} says, batul b'shishim {non-kosher food falling into kosher is 'nullified in %60' of the mixture}, so too it must be that this year atzvus {sadness} is batul b'Adar!!"

"Pshhhhhhh........."


Cute, right. But it really goes deep. When there's a leap year, the mystical period known as Sh.o.v.av.y.m. {after the first 6 weekly Torah portions read in the Book of Exodus} extends two more weeks, now known as Shovavym-Ta'T. The addition is in reference to the next two portions, Truma and Tetzaveh (Ex. 25-30:10). These particular Scriptural readings introduce the construction of the Tabernacle, the Mishkan, which is the desert model of the Holy Temple, the Mikdash. When we begin to understand a little something of the meaning of what our secular brethren often derisively refer to as the "Temple cult" aspect of Torah life, we begin to experience the power of serving G-d with joy.

So let us ask: How in the world are these readings about the Mishkan-Mikdash relevant to us who live in the age of learn-from-everyone-and-everything-at-the-push-of-a-button Virtual Enlightenment? To review humanity's classic narrative about how a meek people miraculously climbed their way out of an excruciatingly oppressive exile is one thing. We ALL have personal exiles about which we need liberation. But re-reading the details of how that weird structure for animal sacrifice and incense was constructed?? All that jabber about beams and curtains and hooks and cherubs and a dye of this color and a dye for that, and and and.

Isn't this a little anti-climax?!

The opposite. These parshas of ta't are THE time for applying what we've done (or hoped to do) during Shovavym. It's the time to translate all the incredible gratitude we feel about our personal Exoduses into building a HOME for our Maker. That means sanctifying our physicality, explains the Nesivos Shalom, which includes sacrificing the exilic mentality that is fixated on immediate gratification and sensational thrill. It means re-dedicating ourselves (a concept related to the root of Mikdash) to giving UP our entire beings.

"Make for Me a Sanctuary and I will dwell among them" states the famous verse in parshas Truma (Ex. 25:8). The Sages explain that we might have thought it should say among IT (the Tabernacle). But the Holy Torah is precise: Among THEM means each and every person involved in the construction. You build it, His Presence will animate YOU!

That's called "un-believing."

Believing in G-d is about receiving from Him; depending on His grace. He comes, dispenses blessings, and goes. But becoming an unbelievable Jew is about giving back. About blessing G-d. As virtually every Jewish prayer begins: "Blessed are You, L-rd our G-d."

When we do that, sincerely, all sadness evaporates.

ALL sadness.

Try it. Never fails. Giving back to your Creator means closing Eternity's circuit, about which a healthy soul feels no greater joy.

Especially when assisted by the parshas of Sh.O.V.aV.Y.M.-T.aT. and double Adars.

BLUR

Here's an unbelievable piece that's not mine. I saw it last yr on the Aish site and held on. A good one for leaving Chanukah. May the light we just took in shine bright throughout the winter... EVEN within the blur.

SEEING WITHIN THE BLUR
by Mandel

I used to think that life was about acquiring and creating and keeping things whole. But now, when my arm still reaches for four chocolate pudding treats on the shelf of the supermarket even though one of my four children is dead, I see that life is about learning how to see in the darkness.

Chanukah is also about learning a new way of seeing. The Maccabee's war against the Hellenists was a fight not just for territory but also for a worldview. The Greeks believed in the grace of beauty, the redemptive powers of humanity. For the Hellenists, beauty was holiness. For the Maccabees, holiness wasn't always visible -- but was the manifestation of the justice and goodness of God. For the Hellenists, the body was perfection. For the Maccabees the body was an instrument to be used for serving God.

The Macabbees insisted on giving tribute to God and his laws, and his temple. When the Macabbees were victorious and reentered the temple, there was just a little oil left to light the menorah, enough for one day. Nevertheless they kindled the flame and the oil lasted for eight days. Many people believe that this is the miracle of Chanukah.

But maybe it wasn't a miracle at all. Perhaps one vial of oil can always be enough for eight nights if we look at our lives as a place for God to dwell. Because God is infinite, when we approach the Divine, we leave the world where numbers circumscribe reality. Once we make a sanctuary for God, then the infinite possibilities of God dwell within us as well. Numbers become guides, instead of rulers.

Chanukah teaches us that what we see in this world is a glimmer of the truth. Our measurements in this world are imprecise, our ways of knowing limited. The world of truth is not one where the numbers we ascribe to reality are sufficient. One vial of oil becomes eight.

Thus it is fitting that Chanukah begins during the month of Kislev, the month of dreams and sleep. As we near the winter solstice, we prefer more and more to stay in bed. Many of the Torah portions of this month speak of sleep and dreams -- Jacob has his dream of a ladder and God speaking to him; Pharaoh has dreams that need to be interpreted.

Chanukah itself has the logic of a dream. In sleep we have access to a different world -- a world where what is impossible during the day becomes possible. In sleep, the few can become many. The light at night is a deeper light with a greater capacity for revelation. This is the light of Chanukah; the light of holiness.

It's not easy to see in the dark, but you don't need that much oil to fill the darkness. A small measure can easily expand to light the largest cavern. Kaballah tells us that we are like flames, the spark of our souls reaching toward the candle of God.

To see God in my life, I have to see in the darkness -- to see beyond what appears to be, to stop counting with ordinary integers of ownership -- to see what is blurred, undefined, beyond my ordinary senses. Chanukah tells me that what matters is not how old Koby is now -- I can't count him anymore with my daytime logic. But I can create a sanctuary inside of me -- a place of holiness where his death matters, a place where I consecrate the light of his soul so that it shines within me.

SHIFLeinu / SHVILeinu

This time the word play is from withIN the Holy Tongue (full version published on the blog Beyond BT - Torah Judaism for Growth Focused Jews). Truly, this is more than linguistic acrobatics:

בס"ד


An Innocent Mistake?

~ Chanuka 5768 ~


One of the most symbolic mistakes I've ever made as a newly religious Jew was the way I had been pronouncing – for YEARS! – a verse in the Hallel HaGadol. You see, I had always enjoyed flowing with this series of ki l'oilam chasdo praises for all those fabulous miracles done for our people throughout the expanse of history. From the time I began regular tfilla {praying}, I felt I could resonate with the meaning of these words, in contrast to many other tfillas which took quite awhile to identify with, let alone pronounce correctly.

Thus it was that one day, as I was learning about the deeper meaning of Chanukah, I did a double-take. The drasha {exposition} was explaining how the Chanukah miracle was associated with one of the concluding lines in that prayer:

b'SHIF'Leinu zachar lanu, ki l'oilam chasdo {in our lowliness He remembered us, since His kindness is forever}.

"Oh WOW," I exclaimed to myself, with an embarrassed chuckle. "I had always read this as b'SHVILeinu… {for our sakes …}!"

As I continued to learn, the depth behind this "mistake" became painfully clear. Our nation was t-o-t-a-l-l-y unworthy of the Chanukah miracle. We were so extremely shafel {in the spiritual pits}, that it was below what the Creator had designated for being within the purview of His planned interventions. In contrast to Pessach, for example, we weren't nationally hanging on to even that 1 / 50th level of purity that was the basis of meriting the Exodus. Rather, we had been forgoing circumcision, disusing our holy language and dress, forsaking Shabbos, making public declarations of atheism, etc., etc.

Similarly, I'd learn how the classic mashal {metaphor} about the nature of the feasting we do on the holy days must be modified to accommodate the two Rabbinic holydays, Purim and Chanukah. Whereas on the Sabbath our souls are said to be lifted up to the King's castle to dine with Him and on the holydays the experience is likened to His glory visiting our homes, on Chanukah and Purim the spiritual reality is comparable to a King who comes looking to visit His beloved son… and we're not there! So He starts searching, hears a faint moan, follows it until peering into a deep, dark pit – Oy! There we are.

"Gevalt," the King cries. "My son, my precious son. How did you get in there? I thought I told you to stay farrrr away from these pits!"

But we had no answer.

Then and there, the mashal continues, His royal Majesty jumps into the pit, to the utter consternation of His ministers. "Finally! We're together again," our Creator soothingly tells us. "Now let's work our way back up…" And so we proceed to climb out, slowly but surely. In the process, His holy garments get quite soiled and we expect to receive a giant umbrage from the royal ministers about this. Yet as we emerge, all we see is the awe they have for the King. Why? Because of the deepest love emanating from His Majesty's eternal eyes…

So that's the mashal (with a little embellishment). Now you tell me: Is this about shif'leinu or shvileinu?

Personally, besides my progressive exposure to the teachings of Tsadikkim {righteous individuals} which made it crystal clear that it's the former, my ultimate resolution came from within. I had to admit that the fact that I had been pronouncing that line as I did - for YEARS! - despite my relative Hebrew fluency, revealed a giant Freudian slip. Something within my subconscious, obviously based on my liberal, democratic education, was determined to deny any possibility of the existence of shiflus, spiritual worthlessness. Perhaps the intrapsychic term "cognitive dissonance" is more accurate. It means something like this: When the unique network of radio waves that are presently flying around within one's mind can't incorporate a particular broadcast of facts coming at it from without, it immediately scrambles them, as a kind of supremely self-sustaining defense mechanism.

B'shifleinu thus naturally blips into b'shvileinu.

Very nice. But surely we're talking here about more than a natural phenomenon. The words in question are part of a divinely endowed broadcast system! So shouldn't I assume that My Creator was communicating something through this "mistake?"

Indeed, as I thought more about it I realized that the immature religious side of me had been presuming that at LEAST Chanukah was a time when every Jew is fully appreciated for where he's holding; at LEAST these eight days were a time for unconditional, "democratic" celebrations.

'Tis the season to be jolly, right?

Ahem.

Talk about rude awakening. As much as the theory had worked nicely for the so-called Judeo-Xn value system, it simply was not authentic Judaism. That "the Shechina (Divine Presence) never dwells below ten tfachim (about 2 feet)," I'd soon learn, is a substantial principle in the Talmud (Succa 5B). It's referring to those who indulge in earthbound pleasures. And the fact that the Chanuka Menorah CAN be lit as low as three tfachim is merely an exception to the rule. An exception for the sake of encouraging us – but NOT a reprieve. The special Divine visit we gain at this time is meant to return us to the reality of being ABOVE ten tfachim and strengthen our resolve to NEVER go back to that deep, dark pit where sensualism and atheism call the shots (Nesivos Sholom throughout his Maamarei Chanukah ; see pp. 10, 14, 45-50 for starters).

As we sing in the Maoz Tzur Chanukah song:

naaseh nes l'shoshanim {a miracle was done for the roses}.

We're the roses; those lovely flowers embedded amongst awesome amounts of thorns. The thorns are not just our external enemies. They are the b'shvileinu-mindsets that try to confuse us into believing the reason our Maker helps us out of so many holes is in order to make our lives there more comfortable. But the truth is the opposite. It's ONLY in order to demonstrate the greatness of His love for bringing us back home…

ABOVE the allures of this world.

Halleluy`a!

D. (i) N.A.

According to a powerfully thorough video documentary on the history of science floating around the Net (http://video.google.com/videoplay), a fascinating three-tiered, heirarchical pattern has emerged:

1) Materialism: The agenda of the original Scientists was to establish concrete laws of nature. Most of these men started off as philosophers who sought to "bring down" the lofty Greek ideas and mythological speculations into the "real world." The mind was accordingly seen not as an end-all but a most powerful means for focusing the spirit onto the tangible. Seeing, for them, was believing.

2) Energy: Around the 18th and 19th centuries, the world of science began to metamorphize into an awareness of a whole new dimension of existence that is much more essential than materialism. No longer was seeing believing, but sensing a higher existence. Good ole, Jewish Einstein became known as its main discoverer of this new stage in science and his famous E=MC2 became its mantra.

3) Information: Up until this very day, a RADICAL revolution in science has been taking place since around the time of the Holocaust. It's been heralded in by a pair, called Watson and Crick, who discovered a cellular phenomena called D.N.A., which has since been characterized as an "irredicibly complex information unit." This age is respectively called the Information Age. It's all about "irreducibly reducing" the challenges of this world into self-contained units, that function as if they have minds of their own.

Now here's the spin. There's an UNbelievable parallel between this triad of material, energy & information… matter, light & DNA… and the Patriarchs: Avraham, Yitzchak & Yaacov!

Now please, just think about this for a moment. Starting with the last Patriarch, Yaacov, let us consider the fact that he did have two very distinct personas, was known for his extremely "informative" relationship with Torah, and did have a daughter named… DiNA !!!

Alright, go ahead and smile. But the way this pans out in Jewish history is truly eye-opening.

First of all, the three Patriarchs were each given Promises about their progeny. By way of some very potent metaphors, Genesis tells us that they were assured that the Jewish people would be as innumerable as the stars, the sand and the dust. According to the Nesivos Shalom [Breishis, Par. VaYeitzei pp.202-207 ], the subtle distinctions bewtween these metaphors are very significant. Their meaning is as follows:

STARS – Those Jews who are highly spiritual, whose inner lives shine far above this world, are being assured of extraordinary personal success beyond even what they dreamed of achieving (like occurred with the Prophets and Sages).

SAND – Those spiritually bedraggled Jews whose only merits are their willingness to hold back their waves of lust which seek to drown out their basic purity, are being endowed with a unique capacity to unify. Like a sand particle has nothing by itself but everything when apart of an entire beach front, so too these Jews will have tremendous success if they work together in selfless communion.

DUST – The average Jew, who is very much involved in this world, in the positive sense of attempting to do Mitzvahs through it, is being imbued with tremendous potential for spiritual growth. As long as their relationship with water (symbolic of this-worldly passions), the lives of such "dusty Jews" will be blessed from on high to blossom straight towards the stars, as the name Israel, Yisra-e`l, literally means “striving straight towards G-d.”

Now let's develop this a bit more:

AVRAHAM – His life was not only a star of spiritual success in his becoming the greatest of G-d-lovers [Is. 41] but he excelled in an ability to translate whatever he learned into a language from which even the most spiritually pathetic, sand-people could gain. Hence we learn that even the Am HaAretz, the "people of the earth," were full of praise for Avraham as a "prince of G-d" [Gen.23: 6], and our tradition is full legends about how Avraham wooed even staunch idolaters to acknowledge Monotheism. Thus, in perfect synchronicity, he receives the blessing of his progeny being as numerous as both the stars and the sand.

YITZCHAK – His greatness was in focusing on Avraham's highest vision. The stars were his aspiration while he made no pretense about touching sand-people. Well, except for his wicked son Esaav, who forever seemed to be drowning within oceans of passion if not for the lifesavers his father kept sending him, until he decided on just one last swim....

YAACOV – His claim to fame was his recognition of the limitations of his strength. While his natural endowment was dusty, growth-determined strife from the crooked earth straight towards the stars, which was so much more balanced than his father's and grandfather's star focus that he was able to command the loyalty of each and every one of his children – still, he knew this path was vulnerable. For it was predicated on being above the sand; on being above the lure of tayvas, this-worldly passions, and therefore never needing to fight them. Hence if ever a member of his clan would give in to his tayvas, he'd lose all connection to Israel! Thus Yaacov pleads at the outset of this parsha for his seed to have immediate access to grandfather's "lowest" merits – the power of fighting back tayvas visa vie Jewish unity.

But let's not stop here. Consider the pattern of Jewish history from the time the Israelites began to settle the Holy Land:

THE FIRST TEMPLE – After a generation in the extremely anti-materialistic desert, the emphasis in this period was on uplifting, through sacrificial rites, all of material existence. To be sure, the chances of the vagabonding Israelite clan descending into Egyptian slavery and then returning to the holy land with such a trans-materialistic agenda defy all evolutionary odds!

THE SECOND TEMPLE – This period revolved around revealing the essential energy behind the Jewish enterprise: the recording of the Oral Torah (Talmud). Towards the end of this period, shortly after the original Chanuka, this "nuclear" Judaism exploded in Greece (starting with the translation of Tana"ch into the Septuagint, over which we fast on the 10th of Tevet)… and we've been living within the dust of its fall-out ever since!

THE THIRD (soon to come!) TEMPLE – This is the "Information Age;" the time about which our prophets have told us the Earth will be filled with knowledge of G-d, as clear throughout the Book of Isaiah. Not just mind-knowledge, but EARTH-filled knowledge! Something very, very deep will come alive from within our most sand-filled lives. Aye it's the power of father Yaacov's prayers taking root. And the power of his DiNA leading us back to Torah…

Now, one, last, truly unbelievable comparison. A major prayer we say on Chanukah, which always falls out around the time we read about Dina:

You, in Your abundant compassion,
stood up for (the Makabees)
at the time of their distress,
You struggled their struggles,
You judged their judgments…

THEIR DISTRESS – over the ideological supremacy the Greeks sought through mastering “nature.”

THEIR STRUGGLES – against the Hellenistic belief that Judaism can be lived as a soulless culture, as a ceremonial religion without the crucial, life-transforming foundations of Circumcision, Torah learning, Shabbos and holydays.

THEIR JUDGMENTS – transliterally: Danta es DINAm.

Get it?

~

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.


~