TEHILIM # 124: Saved, from the tunnels of death

 I was thinking about the war in Gaza and the terror tunnels that Israel has recently discovered. This discovery, and a (failed) terror operation in which 13 terrorist emerged from one of these tunnels into Israeli territory, was the last straw on the camel’s back, and the element which triggered the decision to begin a ground offensive in Gaza.
According to Israel’s Primer Minister, Binyamin Netanyahu, these tunnels pose an “existential threat to Israel” . These tunnels connect Gaza with Israel, some of them reaching one kilometer or more inside Israel’s territory. They end in cities, kibbutzim, towns , etc.  These tunnels were ready to be used. Imagine if one day, has veshalom, 50 or more terrorist would have emerged simultaneously from 30 tunnels into the cities and Kibbutzim of Israel. According to Lt. Libby Weiss, an IDF spokeswoman,   Hamas terrorist could have killed hundreds or more Israeli citizen, commit acts of mass terror and kidnapped dozens of Jews using those tunnels.
The discovery of those tunnels, I believe, was an act of Divine Providence (השגחה , see this) And we should thank HaShem that this horrible threat, for which no Iron Dome defense has been found yet, was uncovered now and not after a mega terror attack.
This morning when I read Tehilim 124 (תהילים קכ”ד), a Mizmor we recite every morning, I realize that this Psalm is very appropriate (and inspiring!) for our circumstances. In this Mizmor, David haMelekh praises HaShem, and invites every Jew to do the same, for being on our side and for not letting the enemy harm us.  The enemies of Israel are compared with a wild animal, which seeks to destroy its pray with its teeth. Like a torrent of hatred, he aims to wipe us off the land. But HaShem frustrates their plans. We were caught and HaShem dismantled their trap. We escape, alive, like a flying bird, from their mortal ambush.
We should thank HaShem for opening the eyes of our brave soldiers and leaders, who discovered those deadly traps, and for helping us to avert the murderous plans of our enemies.

May HaShem protect all those who are risking their lives to protect us and bring a better future for Israel.  

May He bring victory and everlasting peace to Medinat Israel.

שיר המעלות לדוד לולי ה’ שהיה לנו יאמר נא ישראל    לולי ה’ שהיה לנו בקום עלינו אדם    אזי חיים בלעונו בחרות אפם בנו    אזי המים שטפונו נחלה עבר על נפשנו
אזי עבר על נפשנו המים הזידונים     ברוך ה’ שלא נתננו טרף לשניהם    נפשנו כצפור נמלטה מפח יוקשים הפח נשבר ואנחנו נמלטנו    עזרנו בשם ה’ עשה שמים וארץ
Tehilim, 124
1. A song of ascents by David, “What would have happened if HaShem had not been on our side?” Let all Israel repeat.  
2. “What could have happened if HaShem had not been on our side, when people [=the enemies of Israel] attack us?
3. Then they would have swallowed us alive, in their burning hatred  against us.
4. Then, like [torrents of] water [they] would have engulfed us; torrents which would have overwhelmed us.
5. The deadly waters of their fury, would have overwhelmed our very lives.
6. Blessed is HaShem, who did not let their teeth tear us apart!
7. We escaped like a bird from a hunter’s trap. The trap is broken, and we are free!
8. Our help comes from HaShem, who made heaven and earth.


AMIDA (Berakha 17) Prayers or sacrifices?

This blessing, birkat ha’aboda, inaugurates the third section of the Amida known as hoda-a, ‘gratitude’.

Here, we express our gratitude to God for having chosen us and giving us the privilege to serve Him.

Serving God includes keeping His commandments and worshiping Him. God’s worship consists of two elements: prayers (tefila) and sacrifices (qorbanot).

In this blessing we first ask God to accept us and our prayers:

May You, HaShem our God, accept Your people Israel and attend to their prayers Then, we beseech God to restore His House, the Bet haMiqdash, where we will offer our sacrifices the way our ancestors did two thousand years ago.

And restore the Holy service to the Sanctuary of Your houseNow, in the Bet haMiqdash, there were sacrifices and also prayers. As it is written in Yesha’ayahu (56:7) “For My house [the Temple in Jerusalem] will be called a House of Prayer for all nations” , After the destruction of the second Bet haMiqdash, 68 CE,  prayers replaced the sacrifices. This is not to say that during the time of the Bet haMiqdash people did not pray. Actually, it seems that at the individual level very little changed after the Bet haMiqdash.  The main change took place in the public services: the establishment of minyan, public prayers, bet hakeneset, etc.

Accordingly, we convey our aspiration to offer again both, our sacrifices and prayers.

So that You will accept lovingly the sacrifices given by the people of Israel and their prayers,

God chose our ancestors out of unconditional love (see Debarim 7,7). Now, we ask God to consider us too, worthy of that privilege. To love us as He loved our fathers. To accept our prayers as He accepted the prayers of our ancestors. Even though we might not be meritorious as our fathers, who were able to serve God in the Bet haMiqdash. That is the meaning of the next statement:

And You, with Your great mercy, care for us and accept us…

Finally, we express our wish to see in our own days the return of God’s presence to Zion and Jerusalem, to embrace us again as the People He has chosen, to serve Him.

and may our eyes see Your return to Zion….. AMEN. 



Can we lie to avoid embararsement?

The Tora instructs us to stick to the truth and stay away from lies. In some exceptional cases, however, the Rabbis acknowledged that it was permitted or even recommended to withhold the true facts (see this).  The Rabbis also considered that when a person is faced with an embarrassing situation, he is also allowed to change the story.

For example, if a person goes to see a doctor, a therapist or visits the hospital, and he meets a friend or a neighbor, and he does not wish others to know about his problem, he is allowed to withhold the truth and conceal the real reason for his visiting to the hospital. 

It is important to remember that all cases in which we are allowed to withhold the truth are situations where our narrative does not affect, damages or hurts somebody else. If there are two partners in a business, for example, and one of them made an embarrassing mistake that somehow affects the company, he can not conceal his mistake from his partner adducing embarrassment. 

Also, a son or a daughter should not lie to his or her parents (or teachers) when they made a mistake, in an attempt to avoid embarrassment. Parents are supposed to know (and accept!) that a son or a student might fail or make a mistake. And adults are there to guide and teach their children on how to learn from those mistakes.   By the way, it is very important is for parents to praise our children when, despite the embarrassment, they have the courage to tell us the truth. When children find a mature, confident and empathetic parent who helps the child processing his embarrassing experience in a positive way, that child will have no reason to hide his future mistakes from his parents and will be in a better position to avoid repeating them in the future. 



Mi Casa Es Tu Casa

The Mishna describes  four patterns of generosity / selfishness.

When somebody says:
1.What is mine is yours and what is yours is mine. Nonsense.
2.What is yours is mine and what is mine is mine. Evil.
3.What is mine is yours and what is yours is yours. Kindness.
4.What is yours is yours, and what is mine is mine…. some say, that was the trait (=the sin) of Sodom”.According to the Mishna, the ideal attitude in Judaism is to give with kindness, to share with others what God gave us. And all this, without expecting automatic reciprocity (“What is mine is yours and, what is yours is still yours”). This is the epitome of Jewish morality.Now, what is so wrong about “What is yours is yours, and what is mine is mine”. For many, “leave ME alone and I leave YOU alone” is the best possible scenario for living in society! Moreover, why the Mishna compares this seemingly perfect behavior with Sodom, the city of evil?First, we need to remember that Sodom was a very rich area. No one was allowed into their city (into their “club”) unless he was rich, like Lot. To prevent others from sharing in their wealth, the Sodomites legislated laws against helping the needy. Strangers and poor people were not welcomed, on the contrary, they were brutally abused.

As it is typically the case in any corrupt society, to justify their selfish laws the Sodomites developed a suitable “philosophy”(which I cannot resist to comparing with the Nietzschean notion that helping the poor and the sick delays the evolution of the Ubermensch).  The people of Sodom reasoned: Why should we share what the gods had given us with the needy? That would be a sin! If the gods would have wanted this poor man to have food, they, the gods, would have given him food! Giving food to the poor will be definitely a sin: going against the will of the gods.  This cynical philosophy, which characterized Sodom, precipitated its destruction.

In Judaism, “Mine is yours, and yours is still yours” is the practical application of “You shall love your fellowman, as you love yourself”



Rabbi Hayim Habib (1882-1945)

Rabbi Hayim Habib was born in the city of Salonica (aka Saloniki, or Thessaloniki), Greece, in 1882. His father was a Dayan (Rabbinical judge), rabbi Refael Habib.  The Salonican Jewish community was one of the most prolific Sephardic communities in the world. In 1900 there were approximately 80,000 Jews in Salonica, out of a total population of 173,000 souls. The Jews could be found in every profession: merchants,  lawyers, physicians, teachers, etc. The Jewish stevedores of Salonica were famous. On Shabbats the town and the port was closed since the Jews did not work. There were 49 Synagogues in Salonica and a 500-year-old Sephardic cemetery with half-million graves. 

Rabbi Hayim Habib studied in the Talmud Tora (elementary and High School) under rabbi Moshe Ottolenghi (1840-1901) and later in the rabbinical School of Salonica, “Bet Yosef” where he was granted his rabbinical ordination.  He also studied accounting and European languages. 

When he was in his early 40’s Rabbi Habib was offered to serve as the chief rabbi of Salonica.  He was so humble that at the beginning he refused to take the position, but upon the insistence of the Rabbis, he accepted the difficult job.   The duties of rabbi Habib were many. Besides being responsible of the kashrut of the city and overseeing all the technical issues of Jewish family Law, Bet Din, etc. he was also in charge of overseeing education . He supervised the rabbinical school, the appointment of hazanim, mohalim and rabbanim for all the Synagogues of the city. 

He was also involved in the schools, assisting the teachers, examining the students and making improvements in the school curriculum, which included also the study of modern Hebrew.  Rabbi Habib and all Salonica Jews, were very involved in the Zionist movement. 
Rabbi Habib was very loved by its community and many considered him a saint (איש קדוש) because he was always helping those in need. The poor, the sick, the elder, they all could count with the unconditional support of rabbi Habib. 

During the early 1900′ many Salonica Jews left Greece and emigrated to the US , France and Israel. Still, the pre-World War II Jewish population of Salonica counted 56,000 souls. In 1941 the Nazis יש”ו came to Salonica.  They destroyed the Synagogues, the Jewish schools, the libraries, and desecrated the Jewish cemetery.   98 percent of Salonica’s Jews, 54,000 Sephardic Jews, were killed in Auschwitz-Birkenau, or died during the long, exhausting Death March from January to May 1945.  Among them Rabbi Hayim Habib, his wife and his two daughters הי”ד.

Rabbi Habib had also another daughter and a son who emigrated to Israel before the Nazis came into the city. The descendants of rabbi Habib live today in Tel Aviv.

 

 

 



SHALOM BAYIT: Complain more. Criticize less.

Conflicts and disagreement are inevitable in any healthy long term relationship. Marriage is no exception. Each of us has his or her own personality, character and point of view. Each one of us was raised and educated by different parents. And on top of all that, one of us is male and the other female, which as the Tora hints, were created “opposite” (kenegdo) to each other.

The key for achieving domestic harmony in this area consists in regaining control at how we argue. Are we disagreeing in a way that tensions would probably escalate, or in a way that words would eventually lead to a conflict-resolution?

To succeed, we must become aware of the difference between complaint and criticism.  While complaint is natural and sometimes necessary, criticism is always destructive.
1. Complaint is about specific issues, criticism is an attack on your spouse.  When you complain, you express your frustration with an unsolved problem or uncomfortable situation. When you criticize, you aim, intentionally or unintentionally, at hurting your spouse’s feelings.

COMPLAINT: We don’t go out as much as I ‘d like to, we need to go out more often….
CRITICISM: You are so insensitive, all you want is to go out with your friends…
COMPLAINT: “I have a problem with you not calling when you’re going to be late. I get worried. “
CRITICISM: “Why don’t you call when you’re going to be late? You just don’t care about the rest of us.”

2. When I complain I talk mainly about my feelings. When I criticize, is always about your flaws.
COMPLAINT: “It upsets me when I see the dirty dishes in the kitchen”  
CRITICISM: You left dirty dishes all over the kitchen again….

3. The ideal complaint should have 3 components.
1. A description of my feelings. 2. A description of the actions or things that upsets me. 3. A suggestion of what to do, say, or change.
COMPLAINT: (1) It upsets me when (2) I see your clothing out of their place (3) let me show you how to hang those pants. CRITICISM: You are just incapable of keeping your bedroom clean, are you? I hate to see the type of lazy person you have become.

Unlike complaints, criticism will trigger a defense or a counterattack from your spouse. Which will probably lead to more ad hominem verbal conflicts, quarrels, etc.   It is a loss / loss situation for both, and when pervasive, a self destructive cycle for your marriage.

Identify when you practice criticism, and if you cannot avoid it, turn criticism into complaints. 





TEHILIM # 01 True happiness and strong trees

In this Psalm David haMelekh explains that for a Jew the pursue of happiness begins by avoiding the company of bad or shallow people. Why? Because consciously or not bad people will impact us negatively and will drive us away from the path to happiness.
For a Jew, true happiness consists in following the ways of HaShem our God, by studying and following His Tora.
The third verse of this Psalm says that the man who follows the path of HaShem…
“…will be like a tree planted on streams of water, bearing fruits each season, its leaves will never wither, and he will prosper in all he will do”
PLANTED
David haMelekh compares a happy man with a tree. Why? First, because both grow. There is probably no bigger frustration than realizing our own stagnation. If we see that we are in the same spot year after year, we will become depress. Happiness is the effect of realizing that we have grown. When we study Tora, King David says, we are constantly growing. Emotionally, intellectually and in perfecting our character. The ideal tree is “planted” on watered ground. This is a strong tree, which will withstand to destructive winds. Water is constantly feeding its roots and stimulating its development. The ideal Jew constantly absorbs the waters of Tora, allowing the words of HaShem to nurture his soul and strengthen his principles.
FRUITS
This tree will bring forth its fruits. “Fruits” are the biggest reward for a man’s life of virtue. The fruits are man’s children, those who will continue the path of HaShem.  As oppose to the feelings of stagnation and unproductiveness of those who live idle lives, when a man bears fruits, he sees that his path will continue, even after he is gone.
LEAVES
Unlike fruits which are beneficial to the tree itself and its continuity,  leaves produce a shadow that can be enjoyed by others. Man’s happiness consists not just in assuring the perpetuity of his actions, beliefs and principles but also by becoming kind and productive to others.  Like a tree that freely offers its shadow to everyone that needs it, a good man practices charity and offers helps to those in need.
For David HaMelekh, a happy man is the one who nurtures from Tora, develops strong principles, sees his children following the right path and is generous with those who seek his help, “He will prosper in everything he does”.
Dedicated to Rivkah and Jacob Bitton for the birth of their baby boy.
 

 



Rabbi Shaul haLevi Mortera (1596-1660)

Rabbi Shaul haLevi Mortera was born in Venice, Italy, in 1596. He was a descendent of Portuguese Jews. In 1616 Rabbi Mortera escorted the body of the famous Jewish doctor Eliyahu Montalto, the personal physician of Maria di Medici, from Paris to Amsterdam. There, the new Sephardic community appointed him as their new Rabbi.
In Amsterdam, Rabbi Mortera continued his studies under rabbi Ytshaq Uziel, a rabbi from Morocco. He founded the school Keter Torah, in the highest class of which he taught Talmud and Jewish Philosophy. After a few years he was appointed as the Head of the rabbinical court of the  community of Amsterdam.
Later, he founded and taught in the famous Yeshiba Ets haHayim. Among his students were Rabbi Moshe Zacuto, Rabbi Abraham haCohen Pimientel (author of the book “Minhat Cohen”) and Baruch Spinoza.   Rabbi Mortera was one of the three dayanim which pronounced the excommunication (herem) against Spinoza on July 27, 1656.
Rabbi Mortera’s most famous book is Gib’at Shaul (here) written in Hebrew, Amsterdam, 1645. A collection of fifty sermons, selected from over 500 sermons, on the weekly sections of the Tora.
Rabbi Mortera was an expert in compared religions, and at that time, when many Jews who lived under the Inquisition for generations were coming back to embrace Judaism, it was critical to teach these “New Jews” (most of them educated in convents) the principles of Judaism, and particularly the differences between Judaism and Christianity.    He wrote many books for these Jews, in Portuguese  and Spanish. Among them: Tratado de la Verdad de la Ley de Moshe, written originally in Portuguese. In this work he defends Judaism against the attacks of Christianity and explains the Jewish view on the Mashiach, immortality of the soul, God’s revelation,  etc. clarifying the Jewish understanding of the Biblical verses the Church used to sustain their beliefs.
 
SOME OF THE BOOKS RABBI MORTERA  
WROTE for the “NEW JEWS”
 
Preguntas Que Hizo Un Clerigo de Ruan de Francia. 
A defense from the attacks of a Catholic priest against the talmud.  
Providencia de Dios con Israel
Why God chose the Jewish people? How this choice is manifest? 
  
Memorable relacion para confucion de aquellos que niegan la providencia divina
The Jewish belief in God’s constant providence and supervision (hashagcha)   
Obstaculos y opociciones contra la religion Christiana
A critical view on the principles of Christianity   
Tratados varios relativos a la religión judía
Basic principles of Judaism for “new Jews”.    
La eternidad de la ley de Mosseh
The eternal Law of Moshe, the Tora, cannot be replaced by a new testament. For more information see this

 



Pirqe Abot, 2:8: Rabbi Magriso on overeating

He [Hillel] used to say  “the more meat [i.e., food] the more maggots”.
In this Mishna we are taught that excess in the satisfaction of our basic needs is not necessarily good. On the contrary, it hurts us.  Anticipating the modern medical view on the destructive consequences of overeating Rabbi Ytzhaq Magriso (18th Century Turkey) writes: “Hillel explains that all wordily things are meaningless, fleeting and impermanent. One may expect pleasure from these vices, but the effect is often the opposite. The first vice [mentioned by Hillel] is overeating…  one feels good and strong after a large meal, and feels that he can go in this manner forever. But the net result is often obesity… Overindulgence in eating and drinking can bring about many sicknesses, an much human illness is the result of not keeping one’s mouth closed.  If one eats too much, he ends up shortening his life span.”
Judaism does not preach to suppress our basic needs. But when we indulge in excesses, these needs turn into vices or what we call today addictions. Overeating; the insatiable craving for wealth; excessive laziness; excessive attention to sex. etc. are all self destructive
Rabbi Magriso concludes:
“Thus, the more a person indulges in worldly vices believing that this will lead to a good life, the more the opposite becomes true.  A man should get along with the minimum required to live a respectable life, and not seek more. The opposite of the vice of overindulgence in eating and drinking which shortens one’s life, is the increase in the study of Torah. As the master says, ‘The more Torah the more life’ .”
The Tora we learn “is not merely an external gain, but it becomes an integral part of a person. It is thus something that one carries with him even after death. In this respect it is the exact opposite of worldly vices, which are entirely external. Nothing of these [food, material wealth, etc] can be taken along when one dies.  No matter how much one gains of the worldly, everything is left behind”.

 



PIRQE ABOT, Rabbi Eliezer on character assassination

…המלבין פני חבירו ברבים… אע”פ שיש בידו תורה ומעשים טובים
אין לו חלק לעולם הבא
Rabbi Eliezer from the city of Modi’in says in Pirqe Abot that when a person embarrasses someone else in public, he might loss his share in the world to come, the afterlife. He emphasizes that even thought the perpetrator might be a fully observant Jew and a kind and generous person, if he is abusive, offends or embarrasses  someone else publicly, he looses his part in the next world.  Why such a terrible punishment for something apparently so trivial?   For the rabbis embarrassing, offending or bullying a person in public, is not a small thing. They actually compare this type of abusive behavior with “murdering”. 
Like murdering, public embarrassment is a sin beyond repair.   It could happen in our work place or even to our children at school or in the bus. These crimes could go unseen for a long time, because many times the victims of bullying, especially if they suffer from low self esteem, usually do not denounce the perpetrators (and low self-esteem gets lower as an effect of this bullying. Do you see the vicious cycle here?).  Maimonides (Hilkhot Teshuba 3:14) explains that in order to prevent these destructive behaviors, the rabbis warned us that embarrassing or offending someone else, carries the maximum possible penalty: loosing our afterlife.  
 Surprisingly, it seems that today general society has arrived to the same conclusion as the Rabbis of the Talmud in terms of the similarities between verbal offenses and murder. The following is a priceless text quoted directly from Wikipedia (“Character assassination”) which captures what the Talmud explained in the 5th Century. “For living individuals targeted by character assassination attempts, this may result in being rejected by their community, family, or members of their living or work environment. Such acts are often difficult to reverse or rectify, and the process is likened to a literal assassination of a human life. The damage sustained can last a lifetime or, for historical figures, for many centuries after their death.”