Parshat Vayikra 5766 Sacrifice - So What???

This week we begin Vayikra, or in English Leviticus, which starts with the procedures for different types of sacrifices. We learn how we are to essentially deplete farmyards of animals for different types of sacrifices, some for transgressions, and others for thanksgiving. For vegetarians we learn that only one type of plant material, grain, is burned while all others are not. First fruits are not to be burned according to the text, but part of the meal offering is. Different classes of sins are then enumerated.

Every year I get to this point and I ask myself the same question -So what? If one were to summarize the first two chapters of Leviticus, between the meat and grain offerings it would be a simple recipe for fajitas, though without the grilled onions, peppers and guacamole of course. For the last 1900 years or so, there has been no way any of this makes sense. Thus the question one must ask is why this is important to us today, so far away in time from animal sacrifices. One answer, of course, championed by some Orthodox, though by no means all, is that wee need to be ready for the days of the Messiah, when the Temple is restored and we will once again be killing animals to atone for sin. Yet this doesn’t sit well with me. I have another way of looking at this text historical in its outlook.

Further into Leviticus we will read about the practices of other religions, including bestiality and child sacrifice. Given the context, this not just the practices of other lands but their sacred practices. The Medieval commentator Maimonides believed that the Israelites were not yet ready for no sacrifices at all, and so God created a system of sacrifices which was a lot less damaging - animal sacrifice. Yet as we read in the text of Leviticus we are to bring this sacrifice “before the tent.” This was fine during the Exodus when everyone was surrounding the Mishkan every day. Getting to the tent was an easy walk. When the Israelites settle in the land, things are not so easy. To get from the territory of Dan to Shiloh where the Mishkan was would be quite the journey - particularly for every sin. So the people adapted a native Canaanite practice for their own use. Called bamot or high places, these were local community altars where sacrifices were taken for the community. Sometimes, however, the bamot would end up also making pagan sacrifices, or having ashera, idolatrous trees plated around them. Such was the situation in the story of everyone favorite biblical pyromaniac, Gideon, who cuts down the ashera of his father’s high place to Baal to use as firewood in a sacrifice to God (Judges 6:25-26). Yet Gideon does use the high place as an altar to God, and later so does Elijah, who repairs a high place of the Lord at Mount Carmel in his contest with the priests of Baal (I Kings 18:30). In either case the bamot were acceptable because the sacrifice itself was either ordered by God or accepted whole heartedly by God.

Yet a few generations after Elijah, King Josiah, after finding the dire consequences of disobeying God in a lost copy of Deuteronomy (II Kings 22), goes on a holy rampage and destroys everything, including the bamot, that could be idolatrous and centralizes sacrifice in the Temple in Jerusalem. (II Kings 23:8-9) Yet it was still difficult for people to go for every sin to Jerusalem to get expiated. Local communities came up with a substitute for the sacrifice and daily offerings. As Josiah was so obsessed with Deuteronomy, Passages of Deuteronomy would be read while standing together in an assembly of the community. Some of these included the Shema, and the Ten Commandments found in Deuteronomy. They also included a set of blessings which would be said while standing, a proto-amidah. Such were the beginnings of Jewish liturgy. When a generation after Josiah the first temple is destroyed, there was a system of prayer in place to take into exile. We read in Daniel 6:11 that Daniel prayed three times daily towards Jerusalem, thanking God. From the later Qumran documents of 1st century BCE there are pieces of the Qumran sect’s liturgy, including readings from the Ten Commandments and the Shema.

Yet when the second temple was built, and sacrifices returned, many people had forgotten much of the tradition. So as we read in Nehemiah 8, a Torah reading became part of the liturgy at the temple, including a panel of interpreters to explain the Ezra’s reading of the text. As this was easy enough to do anywhere, a community group would assemble in their own beit knesset, or in Greek a synagogue, and began to also read the text. Often one or two people would interpret the words there. There readers and interpreters became teachers and judges, in Hebrew rabbi. By the first century CE there was an established order of Rabbis involved in debate, most notably the rival schools of Hillel and Shammai. When Jerusalem was sacked and the temple destroyed in 70CE, there were no more sacrifices. Yet prayer continued to be used as a substitute, with the rabbis creating a more standard structure for the psalms, Shema and Amidah. But they also included something else:

The altar of wood three cubits high . . . . and he said to me, This is the table that is before the Lord (Ezek. 41:22) [Now the verse] opens with ‘altar’ and finishes with ‘table’? R. Johanan and R. Eleazar both explain that as long as the Temple stood, the altar atoned for Israel, but now a man's table atones for him. (B. Brachot 55a)

As we will do in a few weeks, the observance of the Passover lamb, which was supposed to be done in the temple, was transferred to a man’s dining room table. Symbol and signs like the maror’s bitterness and Haroset as clay were introduced to the Seder. All of this work of revising a world without a Temple became the corpus of literature knows as the Talmud, and its authors promoted among the highest of virtues studying this text, which of course took large amounts of time. Yet in 17th century Eastern Europe most Jews were exceedingly poor and unable to study regularly, if even able to read. Another movement which emphasized not just study but the deep intention to cleave to God came into being. Combining elements of 16th century mysticism and the Pietism of 12th century Germany, this new movement, Hasidism, once again arose to address the problem. In a much later time of the 19th century, the Enlightenment threatened Judaism in several ways. Technology was creating a world very different than only generations earlier, and science was finding new rationale behind how our universe worked. The new rational philosophy also created a few dilemmas for the Jews. Of most interest was the call by Immanuel Kant, whose definition of ethics defined Jews as amoral, and thus calling for their "euthanasia". Some reacted by making an ethical Judaism based not on the Law of Torah, but on the ethics found in the prophets and thus be ethical by Kant’s definition. Around the same time, many German Jews started moving across the Ocean to the new country of the United States of America, and took up residence in the new cities of the Midwest like Chicago and Cincinnati. Faced with being a more scattered and smaller minority than they were in Germany, in a world that was often highly anti-Semitic Protestants, they faced hard times from all sides. In this crucible many forged something that had not been there before: Reform Judaism. In the reform movement first statement of principles, the Pittsburgh platform of 1885, three of the planks read:

3. We recognize in the Mosaic legislation a system of training the Jewish people for its mission during its national life in Palestine, and today we accept as binding only its moral laws, and maintain only such ceremonies as elevate and sanctify our lives, but reject all such as are not adapted to the views and habits of modern civilization.
4. We hold that all such Mosaic and rabbinical laws as regulate diet, priestly purity, and dress originated in ages and under the influence of ideas entirely foreign to our present mental and spiritual state. They fail to impress the modern Jew with a spirit of priestly holiness; their observance in our days is apt rather to obstruct than to further modern spiritual elevation.
5. We recognize, in the modern era of universal culture of heart and intellect, the approaching of the realization of Israel s great Messianic hope for the establishment of the kingdom of truth, justice, and peace among all men. We consider ourselves no longer a nation, but a religious community, and therefore expect neither a return to Palestine, nor a sacrificial worship under the sons of Aaron, nor the restoration of any of the laws concerning the Jewish state.
In essence the Pittsburgh Platform of 1885 created a religion which looked and acted like any other patriotic American religion, rejecting much of Torah in the process, and believing that the new Israel was the United States, and there would never be resettlement of Israel. Others disagreed and while the burgeoning Zionist movement took a while to enter Synagogue life, it eventually did, due in part to the tragic events of the Holocaust. Even Reform, who’s first platform opposed it, would eventually change their mind.

Over and over in this story, from a cut up cow to Reform Judaism, things change. Yezekiel Kaufmann, the Great scholar of the history of biblical Israel indicated that the Jews created something that no there people before them had ever created: the idea that things don’t stay the same, that time moves on, and that things can change for the better: the Jews invented revolution. But in the style of the rabbis do not read revolution but “R. Evolution.” We are the people who for millennia believe not in a static world, but a dynamic ever-improving one. We do not die as a people because we can change and adapt. Reform Judaism’s view of Torah today reflects that change, as written into the 1999 Statement of principles reads in part:

We affirm that Torah is the foundation of Jewish life.
We cherish the truths revealed in Torah, God's ongoing revelation to our people and the record of our people's ongoing relationship with God.
We affirm that Torah is a manifestation of (image placeholder)(ahavat olam), God's eternal love for the Jewish people and for all humanity.
We affirm the importance of studying Hebrew, the language of Torah and Jewish liturgy, that we may draw closer to our people's sacred texts.
We are called by Torah to lifelong study in the home, in the synagogue and in every place where Jews gather to learn and teach. Through Torah study we are called to (image placeholder)(mitzvot), the means by which we make our lives holy.
We are committed to the ongoing study of the whole array of (image placeholder)(mitzvot) and to the fulfillment of those that address us as individuals and as a community. Some of these (image placeholder)(mitzvot), sacred obligations, have long been observed by Reform Jews; others, both ancient and modern, demand renewed attention as the result of the unique context of our own times.

Reform, revolution evolution for me they are all the same. A recent quote from a non Jewish source, Graphic novelist David Mack in his work Kabuki: The Alchemy (#6) for me describes Judaism in its answer to a question about revolution:

There is no finish to revolution. That is why it is always revolving. (Because it is evolving) revolution is evolution. The idea continues to adapt to reality. And the implementation should continue to adapt and change. There is no having made it. Forget about that. You are always making it. That is the entire point. The making is where you always want to be. To make something & try to maintain the status quo is against nature. That is what I’m fighting against. The revolution is the action not subject. Once the revolution becomes the institution, you have to revolt and revolve, all over again. Stagnation is death. Status quo is death. Celebrity is death. Once a government or agency is setup to worship itself and make itself richer & forget the ideas it is founded on, it is no longer for the people or by the people or of the people, but is very separate from the people. Just using them as pawns for its own gain.
When that happens, that institution is on the wrong side of history. History shows that a society on that path will crumble in on itself. --- Unless corrections are made from the inside out.

Judaism has always been in flux -- changing and re-inventing itself and in the process evolving, making those corrections from the inside out sometimes from new ideas and sometimes embracing traditions from the past. We are the only faith to my knowledge that whose sacred literature has stories which tell of our ancestors telling God to shut up and but out, (Baba Metzia 59b) which God finds hysterically funny, laughing “My sons have defeated Me, My sons have defeated Me!” That is Judaism -- in Torah study, prayer and practice, or social action -- Our three pillars which the world stands on, Torah, Avodah, and Gemilut Hasidim continue the stand because they continue to change. The burnt cow, dove, goat, etc. of Leviticus is witness to how we don’t stay still, but do adapt, change and survive.

Shlomos Drash vayakhel 5766 - Shabbos Lists

This week we have Moses first giving the instructions for creating the Mishkan he learned on Sinai, employing the people to help in the construction with Betzalel as lead craftsman and architect. The people enthusiastically help out in its construction, so much so Betzazel has to ask for the donations to stop. When all the pieces are done Moses puts the components together for the first time, and the cloud of glory covers the Mishkan.

This is the end of the book of Exodus and, the last of my pieces on Shabbat for a while. Leviticus will take up other matters. Yet here is the first time Moses speaks the mitzvah of Shabbat, and includes in it a specific prohibition.

1. And Moses gathered all the congregation of the people of Israel together, and said to them, These are the words which the Lord has commanded, that you should do them. 2. Six days shall work be done, but on the seventh day there shall be to you a holy day, a sabbath of rest to the Lord; whoever does work in it shall be put to death. 3. You shall kindle no fire throughout your habitations upon the sabbath day. (Ex 35:1-3)

In Torah and Tanach, we have very few specific prohibitions noting what kind of work is banned on the Sabbath. In Exodus 16, we are told not to collect Manna on the Sabbath day, to stay home, and to cook for Shabbat the previous day. Elsewhere in Tanach we have the prophets complaining about specific transgressions of the Sabbath, which by implication must have already been established. In Jeremiah 17:22 we have the prohibition against carrying things out of a house, in Amos and Nehemiah 13 lists several involving commerce:

15. In those days I saw in Judah men treading wine presses on the Sabbath, and bringing in sheaves, and loading them on asses; and also wine, grapes, and figs, and all kinds of burdens, which they brought into Jerusalem on the Sabbath day; and I warned them on the day when they sold food.16. Men of Tyre, who lived there, brought fish, and all kinds of ware, and sold on the Sabbath to the people of Judah, and in Jerusalem.17. Then I confronted the nobles of Judah, and said to them, What evil thing is this that you are doing, profaning the Sabbath day?

Using a hermeneutic principle called parat u’kalal on this passage, the Rabbis of the Mishnah determined what other prohibitions of work would not be allowed on the Sabbath. Our specific case of lighting a fire in the week’s portion, and the instructions for all things used to make the Mishkan that follow that prohibition, would imply that the activities that follow are also prohibited on the Sabbath. Given this logic, the rabbis go on to list thirty nine prohibitions

Mishnah. The primary labors are forty less one, [viz.:] sowing, ploughing, reaping, binding sheaves, threshing, winnowing, selecting, grinding, sifting, kneading, baking, shearing wool, bleaching, hackling, dyeing, spinning, stretching the threads, the making of two meshes, weaving two threads, dividing two threads, tying [knotting] and untying, sewing two stitches, tearing in order to sew two stitches, capturing a deer, slaughtering, or flaying, or salting it, curing its hide, scraping it [of its hair], cutting it up, writing two letters, erasing in order to write two letters [over the erasure], building, pulling down, extinguishing, kindling, striking with a hammer, [and] carrying out from one domain to another: these are the forty primary labors less one.(M. Shabbat 7:2)

For observing the positive commandment of Shabbat there seems to be a lot of negative provisions. And for most except that small percentage of Orthodox Jews, it is impossible to follow these rules as closely as the rabbis. Considering my own situation where my synagogue is about ten miles from my own home put it in perspective. If I followed the rule about travel, and particularly lighting the fires that run the combustion engine in my car, I would never be able to go to the synagogue I go to now. Nor would I be able to sit in a Starbuck’s early Saturday morning before I go the Saturday morning services, and paint and people watch, which is a very sacred and precious time for me. That Saturday morning cup of coffee is so different than the other seven mornings of coffee, yet the Mishnah prohibits it on so many levels.

Yet as I discussed last week, what I do for Shabbat is still far more than most Jews do. As a friend of mine commented me recently, we tend to think of Shabbat in terms of all or nothing thinking. Even our euphemism for a very observant person, Shomer Shabbos, builds on that thinking. And so, if we believe we cannot do all of what the Mishnah or the Orthodox think is observance, we decide to do nothing.

Yet as we read on in this portion, Moses asks for donations of both materials and skill to help build the Mishkan. And the response is overwhelming:

21. And they came, every one whose heart stirred him up, and every one whom his spirit made willing, and they brought the Lord’s offering to the work of the Tent of Meeting, and for all his service, and for the holy garments. 22. And they came, both men and women, as many as were willing hearted, and brought bracelets, and ear rings, and rings, and bracelets, all jewels of gold; and every man who offered offered an offering of gold to the Lord. 23. And every man, with whom was found blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine linen, and goats’ hair, and red skins of rams, and goats’ skins, brought them. 24. Every one who offered an offering of silver and bronze brought the Lord’s offering; and every man, with whom was found shittim wood for any work of the service, brought it. 25. And all the women who were wise hearted did spin with their hands, and brought that which they had spun, both of blue, and of purple, and of scarlet, and of fine linen. 26. And all the women whose heart stirred them up in wisdom spun goats’ hair. 27. And the rulers brought onyx stones, and stones to be set, for the ephod, and for the breastplate; 28. And spice, and oil for the light, and for the anointing oil, and for the sweet incense. 29. The people of Israel brought a willing offering to the Lord, every man and woman, whose heart made them willing to bring for every kind of work, which the Lord had commanded to be made by the hand of Moses.

What I find so amazing about this passage is not everyone brought everything but individuals brought different things. It differentiates between man and woman, that all had a unique gift. Otherwise, verse 22-29 could have been skipped, and 21 would have said it all. What I believe this means is we are all individuals, uniquely crafted by God. We all bring something different to the building of holiness. So too with Shabbat, we all bring our own unique perspective and situation to the Island in Time. And just like a tropical resort on some island, if we all did everything exactly the same, it wouldn’t be much fun. Yes there are a lot of things we do alike at a resort like eat good meals and walk along the beach, yet not everything, and that is what makes the resort a better place. We all don’t play tennis and golf nor want to, nor do we all want just the beach or just the pool. Each has their preference. If we all did exactly the same things at the same time, many of the activities would be ruined. If everyone played golf or tennis at the same time, there would be too many players on the court or course to actually play the game.

When on retreat or in a predominately Jewish area, I have had the occasion to follow the more stringent rules, and I also agree they are somewhat satisfying for those short durations. But for me to follow all the rules all the time just wouldn't work for me -- I enjoy certain activities on Shabbat too much to give them up - I find things like painting, playing instruments or photography on Shabbat just as much a celebration and witnessing of creation as some find not turning on any electric switches. And it was in this spirit that when I first got back into Judaism about ten years ago, I created my own list of personal halakah for Shabbat, both positive and negative rules to follow. That list has changed over the years, but its current version is this one:

Shlomo’s Shabbos
Live Juicy one day a week. Celebrate it with candles. Read Torah and Talmud and contemplate them. Wear Hawaiian shirts. Do not use electronic devices-no Internet, iPods, or TV. Don’t buy anything but food or medicine. Eat a REALLY good meal. Love. If no one else is around love yourself. Don’t forget to hug! Dessert and sweets were created Shabbos!!! Try to walk. Be sensual. Use all your senses to consciously taste, smell, see, touch, and hear. Sense how wonderful everything is. Read and study. Read spiritual books and novels of imagination. Take naps. Paint the beauty in the world. Pray and Play. It doesn’t matter what or how -just play. Sing for the joy of singing, sing for the joy of God. With instruments, even if you can’t. Don’t do anything that has to do with work-unless someone's life is in danger. Spend time relating to other people. Have outrageous conversations. Bless yourself, everyone, and everything else.

My belief is that we all should have such a list, and we should all practice what we put down on our list. If you are doing nothing or have never written down a list like this, I challenge you to do so.

So here’s the challenge: pick five positive commandments to and for yourself to do every Shabbat, five things that you obligate yourself, with God as the witness, that you will do. Then pick five things you will forbid yourself from doing every Shabbat. If you would like a worksheet to do this on, I have made one up at my web www.shlomosdrash.com/shabbos_wksht.html which you can download or print out. You don’t have to use the form, but it is important to write them down - the act of writing them down makes them real. While my list has changed, mostly with additions, it has been close to a constant for close to a decade. Following this list, I really feel good about myself, and good about the world we live in. Your list may be different, and that is just as good and holy as mine, though you may use my ideas as well.* Like the holy place we build in this portion we all bring something different to Shabbat. Most of us cannot do all but we can do something. And only when we all bring what each individual especially can bring can Shabbat be particularly holy, so holy it may even build the third temple of messianic times.

Have a great Shabbat.


*In the spirit of building the Mishkan, I will also post to the Shabbosville website any lists that people send me at shlomosdrash@aol.com of their Shabbat practices, some already have. Mine will also be posted there as well; together we can build a list of ideas of how to make Shabbat a holy time, no matter one’s level of observance.

Shlomos Drash - parshat Ki Tisa 5766 Variations on V'shamru

After two weeks with not much action, there's a lot of story this time. Moses receives the last of the commandments on Sinai, then proceeds down the mountain, where he meets up Joshua, who thinks there's fighting in the camp. It turns out the people are worshipping a golden calf. Both Moses and God get upset, then Moses tries to save the people by telling God he'd look pretty bad in the eye of the Egyptians if he kills everyone. The people repent, Moses goes back up to get another set of ten tablets, after breaking the first set. Moses asks to sees God's face, but only gets to see his back, sort of. God inscribes another set of tablets, and reiterates several commandments. After this second time, Moses keeps his face covered, unless he was in the Mishkan.

Our portion mentions one commandment not just once, but twice, at the very end of the first ascent on Sinai, we read

31:12. And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 13. Speak you also to the people of Israel, saying, Truly my sabbaths you shall keep; for it is a sign between me and you throughout your generations; that you may know that I am the Lord that does sanctify you. 14. You shall keep the Sabbath therefore; for it is holy to you; every one who defiles it shall surely be put to death; for whoever does any work in it, that soul shall be cut off from among his people. 15. Six days may work be done; but in the seventh is the Sabbath of rest, holy to the Lord; whoever does any work in the Sabbath day, he shall surely be put to death. 16. Therefore the people of Israel shall keep the Sabbath, to observe the Sabbath throughout their generations, for an everlasting covenant. 17. It is a sign between me and the people of Israel forever; for in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day he rested, and was refreshed.

After the golden calf, Moses ascends Sinai once again, and we read:
34:21. Six days you shall work, but on the seventh day you shall rest; in plowing and in harvest you shall rest.

And once again I struggle with Shabbat. Twice in the chapter 31 passage, including the verses including the piece of Liturgy we call v’shamru (31:16-17) we hear a definite death penalty (31:14, 15), and once the implicit death penalty of cut off from among the people(31:14) Twice we hear that Shabbat is a sign between God and the people Israel. Twice we hear that it is to be throughout the generations. This passage allows us to see the power of one of the Hermeneutic principles of the rabbis. Rabbinic logic, unlike Aristotelian logic allows for analogy by word phrases. Therefore if we have two places which have the phrase Six days you shall work, but on the seventh day you shall rest, (31:15, 34:21) then the rest of the phrases are connected. Therefore one can conclude if someone is found plowing or harvesting on the Sabbath, they are to be put to death. Similarly the Phrase Cut off from his people would therefore signify a death penalty. (31:15, 16).

But the rabbis, who were really squeamish about the death penalty given the numbers of people executed by the Romans, tried to avoid invoking the death penalty. And so, they came up with a rather interesting solution. While Cutting off did apply to the death penalty, they decided this was a death penalty that was executed not by humans but by God, referred to as Cutting or karet in Hebrew. The rabbis were able to use the logic above to come to a point where desecration of Shabbat could be a place where God will get you in the end. Granted, given the story in Numbers of the Stick Gatherer, there was a precedent for actually killing someone for doing things on the Sabbath. Yet in the end, the desecration of the Sabbath became one of the punishments which were executed by God, not man.

And in many ways I’ve always though about stress in exactly that way. With the amount of stress we put on our bodies by working seven days a week, we end up shortening our lives. It was Philo of Alexandria, who was trying to explain this rather odd practice of regularly taking a day off for Roman critics who really put this explanation into words for the first time. Others have taken other ways of looking at the Sabbath. One is the well known view of Resh Lakish, who uses our passage as a proof text:

For Resh Lakish said: Man is given an additional soul on Friday, but at the termination of the Sabbath it is taken away from him, as it is said, He ceased from work and rested [shabat wa-yinafash] that is to say, once the rest had ceased [shabat], woe! that soul is gone [wai nafash]. (Taanit 27b)

Resh Lakish in a word play, believes God grants us an extra nefesh, soul, at the beginning of Shabbat, one we lament at its end. Another rabbi, again using our text, describes Shabbat as a precious gift
Raba b. Mehasia also said in the name of R. Hama b. Goria in Rab's name: If one makes a gift to his neighbour, he must inform him [beforehand], as it is written, that ye may know that I the Lord sanctify you: It was taught likewise: That ye may know that I the Lord sanctify you: The Holy One, blessed be He, said to Moses, I have a precious gift in My treasure house, called the Sabbath, and desire to give it to Israel; go and inform them (Shabbat 10b)
Shabbat is a special time for those who observe it. It may feel like the Erev Shabbat Call of R. Jannai, immortalized in the liturgy as the last line of L’cha Dodi. : “boee kalah boee kalah, Come oh Bride come Oh bride.” For me that bride does come in the back of the synagogue every Friday evening and she is the most beautiful woman I have ever met. She is my bride and I am her groom standing at the Huppa. She is everyone’s mate one a week to those who are observing Shabbat. She is also tropical island resort in time, a place to kick back and take off the last day of the week, not just alone but with everyone we have a relationship with. A Presbyterian friend on mine commented about my busy schedule recently during a conversation about dating. She didn’t see where I could find time to actually date or spend time in a relationship. Then she answered her own question - I had the seventh day when there was nothing to do but relate; the Shabbath Bride is the room in my life for my own bride, who will be the only one more beautiful than the Sabbath bride. (May we meet soon!)

Yet for many that spiritual moment in L’cha Dodi and the sacred time for relationship with loved ones doesn’t happen. The National Jewish Population Survey of 2001 shows that a minority of Jews take Shabbat seriously. Across all denominations, only 27% of Jews attend services monthly or more and 28% light Shabbat candles. How many light them with their loved ones is not really known.

In light of this I find it ironic the counterpoint to this holy moment at Sinai. While Moses was receiving the eternal covenant of Shabbat on the top of the mountain, the people were building and worshipping the golden calf at the bottom of the mountain. Debauchery feasting and idolatry of a gold object replaced holiness. The golden calf incident did end in death, both with the Levites slaying 3000 men, and God invoking a plague (32:28, 35). Both human and karat death penalties were the punishment for the calf. Yet where is the punishment for the current generation? It may be, without transmitting the joy and holiness of the Seventh Day, of not transmitting the sign between God and the people of Israel, that the people of Israel, at least here in America, will cease to exist, to be assimilated into mainstream culture without any identity of their own. Shabbat has kept the Jews proportionally to Jews keeping and remembering the Sabbath. If some parents and teachers continue to set bad examples for their children, another generation is lost, ones who might look to Christianity or Buddhism for the identity that they could have found in the deeply sacred and spiritual beliefs of their ancestors. The same man who wrote of Shabbat as an island in time, Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heshel also lamented that while the Nazis killed our bodies, America kills our souls. And sadly it is seen most of all in Shabbat.

In a remark which may be either sarcasm or a hopeful goal for the future, the Talmudic rabbis noted that if all Jews celebrated two consecutive Shabbats, the Messiah would come. Obviously not every Jew, in whatever way they observe Shabbat, did then or does now But if more of us did, and found the Island in time, then we could have just one thing that connects us as a people. We may not agree on whether iPods or cars are usable on Shabbat, but if we believe that there is something sacred about stopping our work for one day and bother to look around us and talk to one anther for one day how sweet would our world be - how much would it be like messianic times!


Shabbat Shalom

Shlomo Teaching live - Haroset: A World History.

Hello Folks!

For those who want to have some quality learning time with me, learn about Passover halakah, and get some seriously interesting recipes you might be interested in the course I'm teaching a week from Tuesday (3/21/06)

This course follows the history of this Passover condiment from its rabbinic origins to the Seder table of today. What might seem like a simple story will turn into a journey where we will encounter many important texts from Tanach and Talmud through the work of Maimonides and Rashi determining the hidden significance of this observance. We will also discuss the Hillel sandwich from the Talmudic tradition to its modern incarnation and its relationship to Haroset. Recipes for haroset in various traditions will also be discussed and sampled.

Tuesdays, March 21 and 28 7:30-9 pm
Beth Emet The Free Synagogue 1224 Dempster Evanston, Illinois 60202
Members: $15, non-members: $20

Contact Mayta Spitz at (847) 869-4230 x630 to register and shlomosdrash@aol.com for more information on the content of the course.

Drash Tetzave 5766 More Masks

This week we have more commandments given to Moses on Sinai. While other things, such as the oil for the menorah and the procedures for sacrifices are mentioned, the main part of the text describes the garb of the Kohen Gadol, the high priest. Last year, I wrote this about “game face” and in the year in-between I had a lot of time to think about that piece and the idea of game face. We read near the beginning of the portion

1. And take to you Aaron your brother, and his sons with him, from among the people of Israel, that he may minister to me in the priest’s office, Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar, Aaron’s sons. 2. And you shall make holy garments for Aaron your brother for glory and for beauty. (Ex. 28:1-2)

For those who do not remember my thoughts from last year, I wrote about the need for all that stuff the High Priest needs to put on. Items like the breastplate and the stone have symbols encompassing all the tribes, for example. This is less about utilitarian clothing and more about the symbol one sends to other humans. God, of course, being omnipresent and omniscient, sees us in our underwear and naked all the time. It is not therefore necessarily for God, but for humans. When we put on our professional clothes and go out to do our trade, we put on a face that is not completely our genuine selves, much like the face a professional poker player or basketball player- our game face, a mask over our true selves.

I’ve though about that mask in several ways over the past few weeks. Last weekend, I went on retreat with my synagogue to Oconomowoc WI. This Shabbat in a very uncharacteristic move for me, I left much of what I usually carry in pockets and belt loops in my room, and spent the whole day without any of this stuff. And strangely I felt much lighter, both physically and spiritually. Physically was rather surprising, though it shouldn’t have. When you add up a PDA, handheld internet device, cell phone, iPod, wallet, portable keyboard, digital thermometer and flashlight there is a real difference in weight. Internally, it was also interesting - without any of these things on my person, I didn’t think about them, they were not screaming at me to check voice e-mail or voice mail, or catch up on the podcasted news clips. In fact, I did not miss them at all, so much so that it was not after I had packed the next day to leave that I realized none of them were still on my person, and most of them had been packed away in my suitcase by mistake. I really felt the weight when I clipped all that stuff to my belt or placed it in the appropriate pockets.

Secondly was the theme of the retreat: the upcoming holiday of Purim, where here again the clothes (or lack of them) make the person. We start with Vashti, and here the issue is whether she will show herself in royal crown and nothing else (Esther 1:11). Then we move the Esther dressing minimally, in only the few things the king likes instead of heavy ostentation (2:15). Later when she appears before the king unbidden, Esther dresses in royalty(5:1), which could be interpreted as either royal apparel(Targum Sheni 5:1), or only in the glory of the Holy Spirit and a smile (Esther Rabbah IX:1). Mordechai twice appears in the apparel of the kind first as a reward for his informing on a conspiracy to kill the king(6:8,11), wearing royal robes and the crown. The second time is after he is given the late-Haman’s job (8:15) wearing royal
robes of blue and linen, and a big gold turban and a wrap of fine linen and purple.

Purim itself of course is about dressing up in a mask that is not your own. As I’m busy looking for a hula skirt and my lost shaker of salt, I thought about that, about getting to try on a face that is not how you define yourself on any other day. Yet after trying on this face, you might even want to change into that person. The shy kid I am around people gets to be a Parrothead - something I would never think to do at a real Jimmy Buffet show. Yet in the craziness of Purim turning things on their heads, you can throw your game face in the dust and pick up something else, at least to try, and somehow like throwing my PDA and laptop in my suitcase, it is somehow refreshing not to have your regular mask on.

I did not watch the academy awards, yet it was with interest I noted that more press time was spent on what stars were wearing than what they accomplished professionally. Those who wear masks for a living are only judged by the mask they wear that day, not by performance they gave on the screen. Yet that mask they had that evening, sets the masks we all wear. As an artist, I also perused those fashions with interest, as I do with all fashions. As I can’t afford live models and beautiful clothes to paint live models, I very often turn to fashion magazines and catalogs for photo references while I’m painting. Yet the stuff I see there often disturbs me as these magazines primary job is to sell a certain mask that we, as both men and women are to either accept or to buy. Even the one fashion issue of Sports illustrated, the swimsuit issue, in remembrance of Esther and Vashti’s dilemma, tries to answer in a disturbing way the question posed by Victoria’s Secret: What is sexy? And in all of these it is a daily mask we are forced into that most cannot fit into. It does not even fit the models photographed in these magazines, which I realized once after meeting Elsa Benitez, the cover model of the 2001 SI swimsuit issue at an event I was attending. She was not even close in appearance, She was a bony anorexic compared to the image in the magazine. The camera added a few pounds and in the painting I had made from that cover photo I had to add a few more to make her truly look sexy. No, not even cover models fit their own mask.

And it is here we need to look at the mask on Aaron and the high priest. In Torah, His brother Moses and Sister Miriam the text is very clear about their emotions, as in their stories their emotions are explicit. Yet for Aaron he is oddly silent, even when watching the death of his own sons. It must be the outfit. While not carrying a PDA or laptop laden backpack, he is carrying the Urim and Thummim on his outfit. He is also carrying the breastplate, the ephod, the girdle the miter the stones of memorial, gold chains connecting much of this outfit together and solid gold bells and pomegranates along the hem of the robe. Physically this outfit weighed a ton, and particularly after the death of his sons Nadab and Abihu it may have emotionally have weighed heavily too, knowing, like a diver’s scuba gear, a packed parachute, or a biohazard suit, if his outfit fails to be perfect, he dies. Yet the threat of death is less than half the weight. The bigger weight gives Aaron and every high priest after him the same mask we now give to the supermodel and movie star. They must be perfect, with no vulnerability, to give us the ideal look for all of us, one we cannot even hope to mimic, though we try.

In that trying to be perfect and beautiful, there is stress and tension. Like Aaron, we feel that daily; yet there needs to be a place to release that tension. Hence Shabbat and Purim. While Aaron might have to be in the monkey suit on the seventh day, we on Shabbat can get rid of it, and be free of both the emotional and physical weight of the stuff we carry to do our daily lives. Purim goes one further, our regular clothes, indeed even our gender, may be thrown away for one evening of Purim spiel. A person who tries to look professional virtually every day of the year can look like a total idiot for a wonderful evening when things are turned on their head.

So this weekend, and next week may you enjoy the opportunity to relax your mask.

Drash Terumah 5766 - Willing Hearts, Wise Hearts

When we last left Moses, he was ascending Mount Sinai at the request of the people that he would be the exclusive representative of the people, and he would teach the laws to them. This week Moses receives the plans in rather interesting detail of the items found in the Mishkan, such as the ark and the altar, and ending with the Mishkan itself. In my professional life as a health inspector, this is part of the plan review process, the process before construction begins of laying out the blueprint and finding out if any changes are necessary. Of course in something designed by God, the architect of the universe, there is nothing to find wrong. But one of the important parts of a plan review is the review of the materials used and the sources for those materials. And it is here that I found an interesting note, in the second verse of our portion

Speak to the people of Israel, that they bring me an offering; from every man that gives it willingly with his heart you shall take my offering. (Ex. 25:2)

The Hebrew for gives it willingly of his heart is yidvenu libo. The word for heart is simple as it is said in such liturgy as the Shema. Yet the word for willingly, when I first looked at it made me think of another word, the Yiddish davvenen, the word we use for prayer, or more accurately a specific methodology for prayer. I saw the DVN in the Hebrew and thought it was the triliteral root, which might have a link to the Yiddish. I got all excited about writing a Drash about this connection and going on an on about how to davvenen. But it was not to be.

Those who know Hebrew grammar you might have caught my mistakes in thinking that. For those who don’t and for sleepy heads like me, it was Rashi who reminded me, and probably a lot of other people who made this mistake of the true grammar of this word. In Hebrew, there is a tendency for many words to be based on three-letter roots. BRCh, for example is the root for the word to bless. By adding letters and vowels to this root, one can make up various verbs and nouns such as Baruch which is to bless in the present tense and brachah, a noun which means blessing. You can also add letters at the end to indicate possession or object pronouns like his or him. The difference between libo, his heart in our verse and levavecha, your heart is an example of suffixes on lev. Yet some words have problems with pronunciation with this system, and these include roots that that begin with the letter N. These words drop off the offending letter. Rashi reminded everyone in his commentary that this was such a word that started with a N. The root is really NDV, and added to the end of the word is the pronoun NU, it. There goes my poetic beginning of a Drash.

But since Rashi had to make a comment about grammar, it might mean there was more than a little confusion here, and there might still be some link between davvenen and yidvenu. However, it’s pretty clear, even on authority on YIVO, the organization dedicated to the study of Yiddish culture and language; no one has a definite clue on the etymology of davvenen. If you search the internet there are whole mailing lists doing nothing but arguing over the etymology of the word. No luck there.

But the general idea of the NDV root, to freely give of ones own will, still struck me as interesting. After Moses comes down from Sinai, and deals with the golden calf mess, he then begins to teach the people, starting with the directions for building the Mishkan, and repeats much of this he was told by God in Exodus 25 to the people in Exodus 35. Here too, he uses some version of the phrase Nadvat ha lev willing heart. Also he uses another phrase, Hochmat ha lev meaning wise heart. Exodus 25 differentiates between the willing, who supply resources, and the wise, who provide skills and labor. Our portion, at the beginning of the ascent of Sinai mentions resources. It is not till the end of the forty days, in Exodus 31 that Moses is told there will be people of wisdom of heart, led by Betzalel, to put the whole thing together. And interestingly right after that is the commandment for Shabbat, and the imposition of the death penalty for its desecration. In Exodus 35, Moses starts his first major lesson to the people with Shabbat and the prohibition of lighting a fire, and then mentions the donations of the Wise of Heart and the Willing of Heart.

It is from the Specific case of lighting a fire following the general case in Exodus 35 that the Rabbis of the Mishnah identified the 39 Shabbat prohibitions, essentially taking the argument that any thing that was required work to build the Mishkan was prohibited work. This is also paralleled, in the case of Exodus 31, where God assigns workers then starts the longest explanation of Shabbat in the Torah, including its punishment. The wise of heart, the skilled worker, is not allowed to apply their skill on Shabbat.

But what of the willing of heart? One word that comes from our root is the word NDVH for the freewill offering. And while the Halakah of the freewill offering is a difficult halakah to get through, I think it is two verses in Psalms which provides one answer:

119:108. Accept, I beseech you, the freewill offerings of my mouth,
O Lord, and teach me your ordinances.

54:8. I will sacrifice a free will offering to you;
I will praise your name, O Lord; for it is good.

In Hebrew poetry there is something called synonymous parallelism. This means that the first part of the verse means the same as the second. IN these verses, we can then interpret praising the name of God, and learning Torah, to be the freewill offering. The original freewill offering was a sacrificed animal in the Temple. Without a Temple, we can no longer do that. But we can speak and sing and teach without the Temple. We can pray, we can davvenen.

While I can’t etymologically link davvenen and yidbenu, I can functionally believe they are the same. Prayer and study is our freewill offering. But it is not a route effort, but one with something special, a deep willingness to pray and study. Yet as I wrote this, the difference between hochmat ha-lev and nadvat ha-lev has been an issue I have been grappling with. I am very much the type not to just freely give of my self and my skills but do it so enthusiastically the effort totally wipes me out. As I recently quipped, I am the type of guy who jumps in with all three feet, not caring that I only have two until it is too late.

As I wrote two weeks ago, I’m wiped out, and I also know it’s my own fault. There are so many things I got myself into that I completely sympathize with a recent cartoon about life balance. You have time in your life for three things say the cartoon, and work and holidays are two -- pick one more. After reading this, I quipped to someone the one I haven’t picked is sleep, that the spiritual and communal things I get myself into - my freewill offerings of my skills - are more important than sleep. I really didn’t need to complete a project I’ve been working on for five years this week, but given the use of that project at an upcoming retreat I did anyway.

In not mentioning hochmat ha lev in this week’s portion, and waiting for forty days on Sinai to describe Betzalel and the other craftspeople of the Mishkan, God is sending a very important message. Freewill offerings of our skills cannot be constantly intense, like prayer or study should be. Like every other type of work we do need to take Shabbat off or die trying to Do It All. Prayer on the other hand we should do every day and it should be our intention to learn and to praise the Name.

Without raw materials and plans, a craftsman is worthless. Our portion this week is about raw material and plans, not actual construction. Our raw material is praising the Name, our plans are Torah. But until we have sufficient enough of both, construction of our own spirituality cannot begin. One cannot lay any foundation of a building without cement and a set of dimensions. And when we do, like the golden calf we will read about shortly, the result is a disaster. While there is no Temple any more, and we do not give sacrifices, the objects of the Temple may give us plans to ourselves and to the Temple we should be. These plans in Terumah start in the most inner chamber, and build out from there. So too we should plan and build ourselves, from our own “arks” to the curtains on the outside.

Drash Mishpatim - Onah, Sex, and Touch

For the first time in the Torah cycle, there is very little narrative, found only at the end of the parsha. This week is a continuation of the same day as God reciting the Ten Commandments, and God gives directly to Moses a rapid-fire nonstop set of mitzvot, mostly covering civil and criminal law. It includes other things, such as a more elaborate explanation of the Ten Commandments including Shabbat, honoring parents, not murdering, not being a false witness, and not stealing. There also the famous line about witches, and the schedule for the three festivals. Towards the end of this portion, Moses writes down this week portion, and then ascends Sinai for the forty days and nights to receive the rest of the Torah and the tablets.

It is also a commandment in this portion which has been the case of a lot of my exhaustion I discussed last week, though regrettably only from the study of the mitzvah, and not fulfilling it. In the Talmud, we have the following story:

R. Kahana once went in and hid under Rab's bed. He heard him chatting [with his wife] and joking and doing what he required. He said to him: One would think that Abba's mouth had never sipped the dish before! He said to him: Kahana, are you here? Go out, because it is rude. He replied: It is a matter of Torah, and I require to learn.

In case not everybody got the Idea, the 11th century commentator Rashi clarifies on what he required means sex, using the interesting euphemism serving his bed. This euphemism is very often used to discuss one commandment in this week’s portion. (Ex. 21:7-11)

7. And if a man sells his daughter to be a maidservant, she shall not go out as the menservants do…10. If he takes for himself another wife; her food, her garment, and her onah, shall he not diminish.11. And if he does not do these three things to her, then shall she go out free without payment of money.

There is this strange word, onah, which is a requirement in the text. The rabbis wonder what it means, and come to two conclusions, both with the same upshot. One makes onah mean time, that there is a certain time that is guaranteed for a wife. The second meaning is one that means strife or oppression, that there is something hurting the wife. The strife is described in the curse Eve receives in Genesis 3:16 your desire shall be to your husband, and he shall rule over you. But the rabbis change the he to it. So it is not the husband who rules over, but her desire for the husband. Not fulfilling that desire with sexual pleasure causes extreme pain according to the rabbis. The rabbis believed it was proper for a man to contain his lust, his yetzer hara, since he was strong enough to do so. But women were too weak, and the pain of this desire was dangerous.

This rule in Torah was for a female slave, but the text says “another wife” in verse 21:10. So the rabbis believed that this was not about mere slaves, but instead about marriages. They essentially enacted a series of rules which made onah a critical part of marriage. In short they mandated a wife orgasm in marriage. They felt so strongly about this, onah is the only marriage requirement which cannot be waived in a marriage contract. The rabbis of the Mishnah even gave a schedule of how often a man is to give his wife sexual pleasure

The times for conjugal duty prescribed in the Torah are: for men of independence, every day; for laborers, twice a week; for ass-drivers, once a week; for camel-drivers, once in thirty days; for sailors, once in six months. These are the rulings of R. Eliezer. (M. Ketubot 5:1)

The rabbis go on to impose on scholars such as themselves the requirement of every Friday night, and few exemptions for students to go longer period when studying away. (B. Ketubot 62b) Along with this, there is the requirement that a woman must want the sex, a man must not force sex. Yet, a woman who refuses sex could also be divorced. And for the otherwise prudish rabbis who never want anybody to see another’s naked body, there is a rather startling ruling

R. Joseph learnt: Her flesh implies close bodily contact, viz, that he must not treat her in the manner of the Persians who perform their conjugal duties in their clothes. This provides support for [a ruling of] R. Huna who laid down that a husband who said, ‘I will not [perform conjugal duties] unless she wears her clothes and I mine’, must divorce her and give her also her ketubah. (Ketubah 48a)

Sensual touch of the whole body is necessary to satisfy the requirement of Onah. Not only that but it is onah that is in the center of another ruling: contraception. The rabbis allowed the use of some form of contraceptive sponge in the case of a woman who was either in physical danger or logistically unable to have a pregnancy. The rabbis separated be fruitful and multiply from onah.


In the 9th century, we have evidence that there was a downside. Jews in Islamic Persia wrote a parody of the Talmud known as The Alphabet of Ben Sira. And it is within this text we find the Story of Lilith. While there are records of the Lilitu in ancient Sumeria, and a few comments about Lilith in the Talmud and in 6th and 7th century amulets, no earlier source but Alphabet of Ben Sira have the story that Lilith was Adam’s first wife, and she divorced him over sexual power in the relationship. It is possible that the Alphabet criticized the sexual power inherent in the rabbinic rulings of onah, which pretty much left women controlling a disproportionate amount of sex between couples.

But others had other ideas. In the middle ages, a rabbi and vintner from Troyes, the capitol of the Champagne region of France spent most of his life commenting on both Talmud and Torah. Rabbi Solomon b. Isaac, known by the acronym Rashi, produced a phenomenal amount of commentary of virtually the entire Talmud and Torah. Rashi’s work is so incredible and comprehensive, it still is the prime commentary to this day. Rashi did qualify that the Talmudic discussion of onah was about sex. But he also went one step further. While in one Talmudic passage R. Hisda is admonishing his daughters to act modestly, Rashi’s comments on this verse is on the importance of foreplay by manual stimulation of the whole body before touching the genitals (b. Shabbat 140b)

Others, contemporary with Rashi’s grandsons and colleagues, also appeared. Some like the Rabad enumerated four permitted kavvanot for sexual relations with rewards in the world to come: for procreation, for welfare of the fetus, for a wife’s desire, and that a man has desire to act promiscuously and relieves that through intercourse with his wife. Yet the last one is a lesser reward, since the man should have had the strength to resist. If He does not show any strength, and has sex anytime he wants, this would not be rewarded.

To the south, in Spain and the Islamic world there were differing views. Their tastes included intellectual pursuits of the ancient Greeks. By the 12th century the rationalism of Aristotle were taken for granted. One Andalusian Jew, who after expulsions from Spain earlier that century was living in Egypt, championed the rationalists’ view of Aristotle. This or course was Maimonides. Maimonides, also known as the Rambam, saw everything as rational, and everything fit into a world of a rational God. Yet for Maimonides, the physical pleasure of touch was not rational, and thus was to be done away with.

We ought to limit sexual intercourse altogether hold it in contempt, and only desire it very rarely… I have already quoted the verbatim the words of Aristotle. He says: “The sense of touch which is a disgrace to us leads to indulge in eating and sensuality”, etc.

Maimonides and other rationalists saw sexuality and desire as an animal drive, not something for the rational man. Interestingly, Maimonides in his codification of Jewish law does not even mention onah.

There was a deep reaction to this about a generation after the Rambam. The growing movement of Kabbalah and other schools of the region had a negative reaction to this passage of Maimonides quoting Aristotle, referring to “the impure Greek” though given their tone it is not clear whether they are talking about Aristotle or the Rambam. The text this insult come from, The Iggeret Ha-kodesh continues:

But we who have the Torah and believe that God created all in his wisdom [do not believe he] created anything inherently ugly or unseemly. If we were to say that intercourse is repulsive, then we blaspheme God who made the genitals.

While this seems a relatively liberal attitude the rest of the Iggret Ha-kodesh outlines a very different view. Touch is necessary, not for onah but for pregnancy. Desire is still sublimated to an ideal holiness in the sexual union. The book main theme is how and when to perform the sexual act in order to have the ideal offspring: a male scholar for a child, a theme later repeated in the Kabbalists’ magnum opus the Zohar, though in this case emphasising unions in the upper spheres.

All of this today provides some food for thought. While the Law of Onah is on the books, it would be difficult for a woman to use it as grounds for divorce. Between Maimonides view and the view of the Zohar that onah is more about the man than the woman, the rule is know only as the mitzvah of sex on erev Shabbat.

But at its core, I believe is a piece of Wisdom here that cannot be forgotten, once that extends to far more than just sex. The three requirements of a bride, food, clothing and onah are requirements of our physical bodies; in that the Rambam was right. But where he and his contemporaries are wrong is that touch is an animal urge that is to be completely suppressed. Indeed we can go too far, and overeating is just as much as a problem as unbridled lust or inappropriate touch. Yet, touch is a need, something we must have to survive. This is true of not just women but men too. In a world where provisioning the family was the exclusive role of the male, then the rules of Exodus 21:10-11 were specifically directed at the female, for her to have the basic needs for survival. For the past 40 years or so, that assumption of male as exclusive provider is no longer as true, and the deeper wisdom, that both men and women have physical needs requires more thought. That the rabbis who had serious qualms of letting anyone see anyone else naked would mandate nudity for performance of onah is telling of the importance of touch. In a classic Modern experiment, infant primates were removed from their mothers and either given a surrogate mother made of cloth and fur or just fed like adults without any touch. The ones with the surrogate mother survived and grew up healthy, the one without a mother became withdrawn or psychotic.

Touch is important, be it hugging a teddy bear, petting a dog, or making love with our life partner. In our world it’s hard to touch, as we a never sure what is appropriate or not. But what this Law of Torah implies is that we must touch, that there is pain in not touching another. Whether we set up a schedule like the Talmudic Rabbis did for spousal satisfaction, or just have two people mutually agree to touch, such an act is as important as food for nutrition, and clothing to keep our bodies warm.


May you have a hug today.

Drash Yitro 5766 - Resting Away in Shabbosville?

This week, moving towards Sinai, Moses’ father in law Yitro catches up with the Israelites bringing Moses’ sons and wife with him. Yitro explains the concepts of delegation and bureaucracy, and then the people get ready for the Ten Commandments, which take up the last part of this portion.

Every time at this time of the year I seem to write the same Drash, and pick out the same commandment to talk about. This year is no different. We read in the text concerning Moses personally hearing every case of the people as a judge:

17. And Moses’ father-in-law said to him, the thing that you do is not
good.
18. You will certainly wear away, both you, and this people who are
with you; for this thing is too heavy for you; you are not able to perform it
yourself alone.

I understand the problem all too personally. I did once follow Yitro’s advice, and delegated much of what I do professionally to others. But, in lean times I made hard but necessary budget cuts and that meant much of this help was cut too. This brought me back to Moses’ dilemma of doing everything by myself. Many of us feel the same way, overworked and exhausted as the things continue to pile up upon us.

I, course have no one to blame but myself, much of what I got myself into outside of work is voluntary. Writing this Drash, grad school, and synagogue stuff is all voluntary, but it takes time and energy, energy that no number of venti coffees with extra shots in my favorite mobile offices can provide. It leads to mistakes I cannot afford, exhaustion and poor health. But someone recently mentioned something else it does too: it means I do not enjoy the world around me. I do things but don’t actually appreciate doing them. Thinking about that this morning I realized that as much as people complain about the bitter taste of this coffee in front of me, I never noticed because I only drink it, I never really taste it. I’m alive but not really appreciating living.

As Yitro points out, it is not only ourselves who are affected, but those we interact with, who also bear the burden of our exhaustion, in the irritability and loss of efficiency. I notice that inefficiency even as I wrote this, barely able to cement one thought to another. Yet while Yitro's solution of delegation is one that God will endorse wholeheartedly in the Book of Numbers, there is another solution that God comes up with, probably one of the most revolutionary concepts in all civilization, and make it one of the first of the Ten Commandments.

8. Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. 9. Six days shall you labor, and
do all your work; 10. But the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God;
in it you shall not do any work, you, nor your son, nor your daughter, your
manservant, nor your maidservant, nor your cattle, nor your stranger that is
within your gates; 11. For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea,
and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day; therefore the Lord blessed
the Sabbath day, and made it holy.

As the Jewish philosopher and apologist Philo of Alexandria explained to incredulous Romans, Shabbat is a day of rest in order to make the other days more efficient. Yet I find that efficiency hard to come by. For me, and I know for others, Shabbat and Saturday is no longer a day of rest but the day that we get no new responsibilities or interruptions, so we end up working to catch up with everything we didn’t do during the week. Of course that wasn’t the idea of the commandment, yet in a world strongly pushing us to perform, it’s very seductive to use the day of rest as a catch up day.

Interestingly, as I have more recently added Saturday morning services to my observance, I find myself even more stressed out and with bigger piles of incomplete stuff. For many years I used the early morning hours of Shabbat to do Hebrew translation, but now don’t have that time slot, and I’m having a very hard time squeezing it into my schedule. As I now am Taking Hebrew class for credit, the translations are now real work and are no longer recreation, adding to my stress.

I’ve written in the past of what I envision Shabbat as - some Jewish version of a Jimmy Buffet song, I’m resting away in Shabbosville. Its one particular harbor on a Tropical Island in time where I sit back, relax and enjoy the sights, tastes, sounds and smells of this world, to enjoy time with friends and family, and to enjoy a one-day vacation from everything else. Of course for each person that might have a different view of what that vacation looks like, but the idea is the same: to stop what we do for the other six days of week, and like God did, refresh our soul-life. I agree with the view Abraham Joshua Heshchel wrote in The Sabbath (pg.8):

Unlike the Day of Atonement, the Sabbath is not dedicated exclusively to
spiritual goals. It is a day of the soul as well as the body; comfort and
pleasure are an integral part of the Sabbath observance...To observe is to
celebrate the creation of the world and to create the seventh day all over again
the majesty of holiness in time "a day of rest a day of freedom" a day which is
like "a lord and king of all other days" a lord and king in the commonwealth of
time.

But rest and freedom seems elusive. The temptations are too great to work, as the piles, both literally and figuratively get higher around us. Yet, it may be like Philo says, that the Sabbath is the day of refreshing, and if we get a good day of refreshing then the other six work so much better. Given the number of silly mistakes and forgetfulness I’ve had lately, I’m sure stressing for seven days is the reason, and Shabbat is the solution. Of course things can get out of hand if I get work done seven days a week: there is the real possibility of true heath problems. Transgression of Shabbat does carry the death penalty, but it is a Caret penalty, one meted out by God. I have always belied that caret means we run the risk of heart attack and other stress related illnesses to a greater degree if we don’t observe the Sabbath. If we don’t stop and rest, we die an early death.

So I’m seriously looking towards making a few changes in my life, to more observe Shabbat than I have. It means some disappointments in my life, Grad school graduation is probably delayed by a year or so, but so it will be. And with that burden still on my back for a longer time my social life will continue to suffer, but so it will be. More important is this commandment from The Torah, uttered on Sinai. Hillel once said that our body is the receptacle our nefesh, the soul given to us by God, and the holy part of us. We must treat our bodies as well as the custodians of Roman temples treat the idols inside, says Hillel, even more so: our bodies really are the gifts from God.

With that, however hard it is to just stop, may you have a wonderful restful Shabbos.

Drash Beshelach 5766 - Drumming on the Edge of Prophecy

This Shabbat is Shabbat Shira, the Shabbat of song. Pharaoh, in the wake of the last plague, lets the people go, and they travel via the reed sea. Stopping at the shore, they find out that Pharaoh has had a change of mind, and has his chariots in close pursuit. But a miracle occurs and the sea splits, allowing the people to walk on dry land through the sea. When they reach the other shore the sea closes up on the approaching Egyptians, swallowing them up in the sea. Moses and the people rejoice by singing a song. So important was this song, parts are recitesd in the liturgu every day after the Shema, mi chamocha

Who is like you, O Lord, among the gods? Who is like you, glorious in holiness, fearful in praises, doing wonders? (Ex 15:11)

After the Song, we are told

20. And Miriam the prophetess, the sister of Aaron, took a tambourine in her hand; and all the women went out after her with tambourines, dancing.

Midrash is created when there are questions about what the Torah has as its words. This verse about Miriam has many such questions. The question the rabbis ask is why Miriam is mentioned here as a prophetess, but as the sister of Aaron, not of Moses. From this they deduce that she only prophesized about the birth of Moses, once Moses was born she stopped prophesizing.(Megillah 14a)

This is the third instance of the wordנביא navi, "prophet" in the entire Torah, and the first as a title and the first in the feminine. The first use of prophet is in reference to Abraham (Gen 20:7) the second to Aaron (Exodus7:1). Both are God declaring them prophets, but Miriam is the first where it is part of her title. Aaron is known as “Aaron the priest” Moses is either known as “the man of God” or “the servant of God” but Miriam is know as “the prophet” The next two people to be called “the prophet” will be Gad and Nathan in David’s time, and of course Elijah much later.

There is another word that also interests me. תףTof or frame drum. Often translated as tambourine, this word is not often found in the entire biblical text, only in 17 places and only twice in the Torah. Yet these verses give us lot of ideas about this instrument. Five of these references (Exodus 15:20, Judges 11:34, I Sam 18:6, Jer. 31:3, Psalm 68:26) mention women playing the drum. Dancing is noted 7 times (Exodus 15:20, Judges 11:34, I Sam 18:6, Jer. 31:3, Psalm 149:3, Psalm 150:4, Job 21:12) Other instruments, namely stringed instruments and flute occur 11 times and 4 time respectively. All but Isaiah 30:32, which use the harp and drum as weapons, have a connotation of joy involved. Most like Exodus 15, concern victory, but Job 21, and Isaiah 5 are about drunken frivolity.

But it is I Samuel 10, where Saul is instructed to become king, which provides one of the most intriguing comments:
5. After that you shall come to the hill of God, where the garrisons of the Philistines are; and it shall come to pass, when you have come there to the city, that you shall meet a company of prophets coming down from the high place with a lute, and a tambourine, and a pipe, and a lyre, before them; and they shall prophesy; 6. And the spirit of the Lord will come upon you, and you shall prophesy with them, and shall be turned into another man

Miriam is called a prophet in Exodus 15:20, but in no other verse in Torah. Saul prophesizes here, but does not prophesize again. It could very well be that it was the music, and most notably the one instrument found in each case, the frame drum, which might be the element which transforms a person temporarily into a prophet.

Frame drums are known in the Middle East as duff, daf, or tar; all have names with similar phonetics to tof. In both ancient Egyptian and Sumerian cultures goddesses played drums, and hence their priestess played frame drums. Near the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, there was Innana, by the Nile there was Hathor, maybe not coincidentally a horned cow goddess. Significantly, they play drums without visible bells or clappers, but instead are perfectly round like the sun or moon, not tambourines but simple frame drums.

As drum historian, ethnomusicologist, and former Grateful Dead drummer Mickey Hart noted, a lot of drummers in ancient time were women, especially of frame drums. Priestesses would communicate with their goddess through the trances created by drum. The evidence from the biblical text would seem to indicate that in Israelite culture as well women were very often playing the frame drum. Like Miriam and Saul the drum induces brain states leading to a trance like state - the state of prophecy. As Hart write his book Drumming on the Edge of Magic these changes in the brain do happen and do have effects on the human psyche, utilized by many cultures as the bridge to communicate with the spiritual. Rashi makes an interesting comment about frame drums too - that the righteous women of Israel knew to bring them to celebrate a miracle with songs of praise and drum - a miracle that hadn’t happened yet. Not only Miriam was involved in prophecy, but other women too.

Miriam very well could have been a prophet because of her drum, and may have as a prophet filled a role a priestess would have. She, like many others had the power of prophecy though the beat of a drum. It is therefore interesting to note what the Babylonian Talmud does with frame drums: it seemingly bans them.

AND AGAINST [THE USE OF] THE DRUM [IRUS]. What means IRUS? — R. Eleazar said: A drum with a single bell. Rabbah the son of R. Huna made a tambourine for his son; his father came and broke it, saying to him, ‘It might be substituted for a drum with a single bell. Go, make for him [an instrument by stretching the skin] over the mouth of a pitcher or over the mouth of a kefiz’.(B. Sota 49b)

According to R. Eleazar, a drum with a single sounding chamber, like a frame or barrel drum is banned by rabbinic prohibition. The Gemara continues with R. Huna destroying his grandson’s frame drum, and telling his own son to make an acceptable drum, a two-belled (or goblet shaped) Arabic טבלא tabla better known as a darbouka. The feminine drum is replaced by a decidedly masculine drum, and the drum of prophecy all over the globe is replaced with a drum of very different utility. But following this idea of prophecy, we need to first remember the rabbinic view of prophecy:

R. Abdimi from Haifa said: Since the day when the Temple was destroyed, prophecy has been taken from the prophets and given to the wise (Baba Batra 12a)
In short, the role of divine connection is in the hands of the Rabbis and their learning. The above Gemara is commentary on a line of Mishnah:

Mishnah. During the war with Vespasian they [the rabbis] decreed against [the use of] crowns worn by bridegrooms and against [the use of] the drum.

The war with Vespasian ended with the destruction of the second temple. In one sense, this Mishnah might be a banning of a prophetic device outside their control. There may be another explanation, since in many other parts of the Talmud drumming is discussed as an almost everyday activity. The Mishnah verse, and several pieces of Gemara which use it as proof of other halakah, believe the drum is banned from use as part of the wedding ceremony only, to take some of the joy out of a joyous event in remembrance of the destruction of the temple.

Yet that does not completely explain R. Huna’s actions, unless his grandson was getting married. Ironically, it seems R. Huna was the one who explained the drum prohibition applied only to weddings. His obsession might have to do with a dream (Brachot 57a):

R. Papa and R. Huna the son of Joshua both had dreams. R. Papa dreamt that he went into a marsh and he became head of an academy. R. Huna the son of R. Joshua dreamt that he went into a forest and he became head of the collegiates. Some say that both dreamt they went into a marsh, but R. Papa who was carrying a drum became head of the academy, while R. Huna the son of R. Joshua who did not carry a drum became only the head of the collegiates. R. Ashi said: I dreamt that I went into a marsh and carried a drum and made a loud noise with it.

A dream of a drum in a marsh means you will become powerful. Huna didn’t dream of the drum and got a second in command position. R. Ashi and R. Papa were both heads of Academies. Yet the drum in the marsh was not a tof, but a double-belled tabla. The story wasn’t about destroying a frame drum because frame drums are banned, but that his grandson was not playing the kind of drum he needed to dream about.

In this exploration of one verse of Torah, we’ve talked about the beginning of the verse. But Exodus 15:20 does not end with Miriam alone playing the tof but with all the women. Prophecy comes not just from individual effort but from a collective one. Saul was not alone in his prophecy, and neither was Miriam. It is here that we can appreciate King David’s conclusion to the book of psalms in Psalm 150, which not only mentions drums but all the instruments, that “All life praise YAH!” For those who have played in a drum circle, song circle, or band, this advice hits home. There is something intensely spiritual in the collective beat that isn’t there in the single beat, as all that noise joins into one beat.

Mickey Hart in his introduction to Drumming On The Edge Of Magic wrote an interesting creation story and commentary.

In the beginning there was noise. And noise begat rhythm and rhythm begat everything else. This is the type of cosmology drummer can live with. Strike a membrane with a stick, the ear fills with noise. Unmelodic, unharmonious sound. Strike it a second time, a, third, you’ve got rhythm.

The first rhythm of the world according to Torah is “and there was evening and there was morning.” Day and night created on the first day of creation was rhythm. (Gen. 1:5) As Rabbi Andrea London pointed out to me recently, the first of the mitzvot of Torah given collectively to the Israelites is the mitzvah we read last week; “This will be the first of months for you.” (Exodus 12:2) The first of Nissan is the beginning of the Beat of Judaism, of the syncopated rhythms of time and ritual and life. The beat of our hearts and the rhythm of a woman’s body are always with us. It should be no surprise that Miriam was a prophetess in rhythm, the same way a strong beat cannot help but make us dance.

Let us all then, in the words of the Psalms, Praise Yah in drum and dance.

Note: For those interested in all the biblical and talmudic passages I mentioned, I have collected and posted them to the website www.shlomosdrash.com.

Getting more High Tech

Just wanted to tell everybody that I now have a website www.shlomosdrash.com, which, beside here, will have the current weekly portion. I have not done a lot on the site yet, but Its my plan to make it a incredible place for free resources for text study and other Jewish related topics within the next few months. Here's a preview of the things to come.

1. The "Prayerbook Hebrew you Know by Heart" series of tutorials for self teaching. These are short exercises to help people learn the aleph-bet.
2. Jewish Drumming site. My knowledge is still limited, but I'd love to have a place to get resources on good things to do and what drums and beat work in Jewish drum circles.
3. Text study resources such as a guide to numbers and gematria, rabbinic histories, and the work in-progress "Shlomo's guide to Talmud"
4. Handouts from presentations I give and announcements of upcoming seminars.
5. Holiday related guides

Once I finally figure out how to upload and post adobe acrobat files, a lot of this will go on line pretty fast. But if there is other things you'd like to see, or have something to contribute, let me know by replying here on the blog or writing me at shlomosdrash@aol.com.

Drash Bo 5766 - Signs

This week we have the last three plagues, locusts, darkness, and finally the death of the first born. Before the last plague hits, however, there is a lot of preparation done beforehand. God gives a set of directions to first chain up then kill a lamb as an assembly, eating it all in the night of the plague, and spreading its blood on the doorposts of the houses of the Israelite so to indicate whose house to pass over. Further instructions mentioned not eating leavened foods for seven days and eating Matzah instead. This was the first Passover.
In modernity we wonder on the need for plagues, on hurting that much people and property. The text does give us an answer at the beginning of this portion (Exodus 10:1-2)

1. And the Lord said to Moses, Go to Pharaoh; for I have hardened his heart, and the heart of his servants, that I might show these my signs before him; 2. And that you may tell in the ears of your son, and of your grandson, what things I have done in Egypt, and my signs which I have done among them; that you may know that I am the Lord.

And at the beginning of the last week’s portion is this: (Exodus 7:3)

3. And I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and multiply my signs and my wonders in the land of Egypt.

At the end of this week’s portion it this (exodus 13:7-9)

7. Unleavened bread shall be eaten seven days; and there shall no leavened bread be seen with you, neither shall there be leaven seen with you in all your quarters. 8. And you shall tell your son in that day, saying, ‘This is done because of that which the Lord did to me when I came forth out of Egypt.’ 9. And it shall be for a sign to you upon your hand, and for a memorial between your eyes, that the Lord’s Torah may be in your mouth; for with a strong hand has the Lord brought you out of Egypt.

Tying these three passages together is the Hebrew word oht, the word for sign. Interestingly it is not the word for plague. Torah only associates four of the plagues with the word plague: frogs, death of cattle, pestilence, and death of the firstborn. Interestingly all of these involve death. The other six, which do not directly cause death, have no such designation. But all are signs, yet by convention we call them collectively plagues.

As the signs begin with the blood of the Nile, and work towards Darkness, Pharaoh’s heart and the heart of his servants is hardened each time, yet slowly softens in a sense. At first Pharaoh wont even listen and his servants, the magicians, scoff and imitate Moses and Aaron. But eventually the magicians can’t do the same things, and they tell Pharaoh this is the finger of God. They too fall victim to the plague of boils not even being able to use their magic to defend themselves. Pharaoh’s advisors even beg Pharaoh to let the Israelites go after the Locusts. Yet Pharaoh does not let them go, but does begin to change his tune. First he acknowledges Moses and asks for them to be removed, and then he admits he sinned against the God of the Hebrews, then allows only adults to leave and keeps the kids as hostages, then allows the children, but keeps the livestock. Of course he goes back on his word each time, or makes it an offer that Moses will refuse.

That Pharaoh and his servants changed at all says something about the signs - they did their job. Like I said last week, actions speak louder than words. Pharaoh, like most executives and politicians was a big talker with promises, but never followed through. Yet his rhetoric changed, which shows they had some effect. If they did not, Pharaoh would have completely ignored Moses for the first nine, and taken different measures on the tenth. The plagues were started by actions but the signs were sights. What we see is far more powerful than what we speak and hear. Signs we see, as in the case of tzizit. We see the fringe and remember the mitzvot. You can tell people there’s a bridge out till you’re blue in the face, but unless there’s a big sign and a barricade saying BRIDGE OUT many will not pay attention and fall to their deaths.

Signs are reminders and indicators; they are sources of information. They are, however, not symbolic. Symbols are things which stand in for another thing. An idol is a symbol for a god for example. We do not worship tzitzit or tefillin; we use them to remember something else. In the case of tefillin, the text within their boxes contains two verses from this weeks portion: “as a sign upon your hand and as bindings/remembrances before your eyes.” We are to remember the Exodus from Egypt when we put on tefillin. Eating matzah is also a sign to remember our freedom from the Egyptians, and who’s responsible for that.

I think about signs today, not necessarily religious ones but ones of identity. Wearing a kippah or tefillin or a tallit are all symbols one is Jewish. Actions themselves such as lighting Shabbat candles are also signs of identity, because they can be seen. In modern American consumerist society, what you own, the place you call home, the car your drive, and the clothes and music you give your kids all are signs of identity. This need for signs is all consuming. In the comedy Baby Boom there’s a scene in a playground where mothers were talking about how picking the right daycare leads to Harvard. The sign of a good previous school, in this deluded mothers mind was all that was necessary to get into the next school, which was also a sign of the education that will inevitably lead to Harvard. In my professional career as a consultant, I have numerous times seem business owners so consumed by showing the right signs and symbols, they ignore their core business to the point it is a real danger to others.

There is so much that is sign, we don’t even think about it any more. So much so if there is not a sign for something, it does not exist. Take knowledge and learning for example. More often than not there is no easily accessible sign to signify learning. Without the symbol of a title, no one remembers you have something precious. If one spends a massive amount of time on study, and there are no visual signs that they learned, then that person does not exist, they are a mere ghost or doormat. We are too steeped in signs, and we forget too easily without it.

At the beginning of our portion this week, this concern is voiced by God. Unless the meaning of a sign is transmitted it will be forgotten. And if the sign is forgotten, so will be the thing it represents. Thus God commands that the sign be transmitted to the next generation, against the possibility that God’s deliverance of the people from Egypt be forgotten. That too is of course a sign of God, and thus God worries that without our transmitting that sign for two generations after us, God will be forgotten.

In a little more literal reading than the usual mitzvah for tefillin in Exodus 13:9 the sign in the hand and the remembrance between our eyes are the signs of Passover, particularly eating matzah seven days and forgoing leavened foods. By doing this, we continue to remember God, and remember to speak in the ways of the Torah and the signs within the mitzvot. The more we teach the signs of the past, the less we will forget who we are as a people and what we believe. The more we sublimate those signs with other signs, the more we forget. The story of the plagues bound to the redemption from Egypt reminds us that there is power in the visual sign greater than the spoken word. But the visual sign is nothing without the spoken word. One needs the other.

The question we must ask ourselves, to keep remembering the Exodus from Egypt for generations to come, is what signs should we speak and see?

Drash Va'era 5766- Uncircumcised Tongues

After Moses’ first disaster talking to Pharaoh and the Israelites, God talks to Moses again and tells him to talk to the Israelites again, who are so stressed out, they promptly ignore them. Then God tells a despondent Moses to talk to Pharaoh once again, and Moses objects. God tells Moses that he will use signs and wonders to make sure everyone knows God’s power. First there is the wonder of the staff being turned into a snake, then the staff eating the other snakes. Then begins the plagues, where we have the first seven of the ten.

Moses, in response to God’s command to go see Pharaoh a second time, complains

And Moses spoke before the Lord, saying, Behold, the people of Israel have not listened to me; how then shall Pharaoh hear me, who am of uncircumcised lips? (Ex. 6:12)

The text then does a detailed genealogy of the Levites, ending with the verses (ex. 6:26-30)

26. These are Aaron and Moses, to whom the Lord said, Bring out the people of Israel from the land of Egypt by their hosts. 27. These are those who spoke to Pharaoh King of Egypt, to bring out the people of Israel from Egypt; these are Moses and Aaron. 28. And it came to pass on the day when the Lord spoke to Moses in the land of Egypt, 29. That the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, I am the Lord; speak to Pharaoh king of Egypt all that I say to you. 30. And Moses said before the Lord, Behold, I am of uncircumcised lips, and how shall Pharaoh listen to me?

These two passages appear to be describing the same incident where God talks to Moses and Aaron. Interestingly in both cases Moses uses a phrase found only here: uncircumcised lips. What are uncircumcised lips? What does this phrase mean? Once before in Exodus 4:10-11 Moses objects:

And Moses said to the Lord, O my Lord, I am not a man of words yesterday nor the day before, nor since you have spoken to your servant; but I am a heavy mouth, and a heavy tongue. And the Lord said to him, Who has made man’s mouth? Who makes the dumb, or deaf, or the seeing, or the blind? Is it not I the Lord? Now therefore go, and I will be with your mouth, and teach you what you shall say.

As discussed last week, one Midrash blames this on an injury while Moses was young, and he burned his mouth. But on evidence from Gods reply, the Midrash for these verses goes with the obvious answer to God’s rhetorical question: this was an intentional defect in Moses; if God wants to remove it, he will. The cause however does not help us understand what uncircumcised lips are. The word for uncircumcised has some interesting meanings. When not linked with speech it shows up thirty eight times in Tanach, and by context in these sentences has two meanings: In its natural state and dirty foreigner.

For the last few weeks I’ve been working on a final research paper for a class on medieval Judaism. While I’ll talk about the subject for that final in the Drash for Parshat Mishpatim, it’s the process of research here that I find interesting. Many of the primary sources I’m working on have no easily accessible nor reliable translation. Thus I have to translate the material from Medieval Hebrew. The commentator I’m translating, also named Shlomo, had a similar problem, though with a different language. Rabbi Shlomo b. Yitzchak, know to the world by his nickname Rashi, was one of the most prolific commentators in all of Jewish history, writing a commentary not just to Torah, but to all of the Talmud. Using a very literal method, he more or less gives his reader the bottom line about a phrase in the work he is commenting on. Often, they are incredibly short statements. For example, there’s the lead up to my tag line in Ber 62a. Compared to the Talmud obliquely describing the “talking and laughing and doing his requirements” of the Sage Rav, Rashi makes clear what going on: “he’s having sex.” Rashi, who spoke French, also understood that sometimes words don’t translate easily and would place French words transliterated in to Hebrew to explain a strange vocabulary word.

As I read Rashi in the original, it’s not easy. Italian printers, centuries after Rashi, decided their texts need a little visual something for segregating commentary from text. So they typeset Rashi in a wildly different font from most Hebrew. We today call this script Rashi script after the texts which get printed in this font, not the font’s inventor. Secondly, Rashi writes in a derivative of Rabbinic Hebrew, and I’m just learning Rabbinic Hebrew. While the basic rules of grammar are close to Biblical, they are not quite the same, and, even worse, Rabbinic Hebrew added a lot of colloquial expressions. For example the phrase for having sex I mentioned above is literally “serve his bed.” Thinking about the trouble I have in my studies, I have a different Midrash why Moses was not a man of words with an uncircumcised tongue.

Moses had to have known at least three languages: Hebrew, Egyptian, and Midianite. The forty years prior to the Exodus would have been in Midianite. After forty years of an exclusive use of a language, people forget a lot of their former use of language. Of course they do not know the contemporary colloquialisms. What this means is that his slowness of speech and unformed words were a matter of always being the foreigner in his speech, no matter who he talked to. He reminds me of my own struggles with Hebrew and Aramaic. I can put together a sentence and translate, but it takes me a long time, it is far from instantaneous and always requires a dictionary. Uncircumcised lips means with a naturally foreign accent and demeanor, one that makes the speech of Moses far from convincing. Imagine replacing Charleton Heston with Bob Marley as Moses in The Ten Commandments. To American audiences at least, particularly in the 1950’s but even today, this would be bordering on the ridiculous. As hard as we try not to be racist, Moses has to be the white all-American reciting from King James, not a black Jamaican with alien speech patterns. Such would be true of Pharaoh and the Israelites when Moses the Midianaite at first talks for God to Egyptian and Hebrew audiences. Moses knows this, and does have a better speaker there: Aaron, though with the “foreigner” tagging along even Aaron loses creditability.

God’s solution to all this is "Go anyway". At the burning bush God intimates that Moses not being a man of words is intentional. In the text of Exodus 6, we get two other responses. One response is these two who speak for God are not foreigners at all. They are direct line descendents from Levi. Their mother Yocheved, and grandfather Kohath are Levi’s grandchildren. Their father Amram was among Levi’s great grandchildren. They are far from foreign.

The second is what takes up the rest of the narrative of this portion. In the Perkei Avot there is this quote from R. Simeon b. Gamliel:

All my days I grew up among the sages, and I have found nothing better for a person than silence. Study is not the most important thing, but deed; whoever indulges in too many words brings about sin. (M. Avot 1:17)

From the time Moses and Aaron begin to act instead of talk things change. By the end of this portion they have not only the attention of all the Israelites, but even Pharaoh’s magicians concede “This is the finger of God!” On the other hand, the too many words of their first attempts not only didn’t work, they had a negative effect. Being a man of deeds and not a man of words turned out not to be a bad thing at all.

As Mark Twain once summarized this whole argument “Thunder is impressive, but lighting gets the job done!” Study is of course important, the rabbis were clear that knowledge led to action. But in the end it is what we do that matters. Moses may not have spoken well in Egypt, but he did the job and by doing so succeeded in freeing the Israelites. The lesson of uncircumcised lips is that we don’t always have to talk our way out of things; sometimes we won’t be able to. Often doing the good deed is far more effective.