The Fifth Principle says that it is proper to pray only to God, and one may no pray to any one else besides Him.

We should not pray to an angel, to a star, a constellation or to a dead person (see here ), even if he was a great Tzadiq. We should not pray to any other element, entity or idea. We should pray exclusively and directly to God. Praying otherwise will be considered a form of idolatry.

It is also forbidden to pray to intermediaries, imagine that they will carry our prayers to God. We believe that God always listens to our prayers. Quoting Rabbi Hayim Pereira- Mendes: “God never fails to answer true prayer, unless in His wisdom He thinks it better for us that He should refuse, or if He finds us unworthy through sin”.

According to Maimonides, the mistake of the generation of Enosh (=the civilization that existed after Adam, which mistakenly departed from God) was that they reasoned that since God created the celestial bodies to serve the world (like the sun and the moon) these creations are like the servants before the King. It is therefore fitting to praise, and honor them, because by honoring them, we are honoring the King. These people began to build temples for the sun and the moon, thinking that they were honoring God by that. That too, is idolatry. In other words, if one serves or prays to any entity or imaginary intermediary, even though one knows and declares that only God is the true God, it is considered idolatry.

Many times, people mistakenly believe that if their intentions are right, that is good enough. Given the seriousness of the prohibition of ‘aboda zara (idolatry), a real God-fearing Jew should be extremely careful to pray only and directly to haShem, our God.

See Israel Snapshot Beautiful photos from the Land of Israel. By Israel 365.

In the Talmud Yebamot 63a the Rabbis gave many advices on the issue of shidukhim (=finding your spouse. See here).  One of them is: “nachit chad darga unsib iteta.” Descend one step to find a wife”. What did they mean by that?

I will present two interpretations.

The first, based on Rashi’s commentary, views these ‘steps’ as socio-economic steps and focuses on one aspect of married life: financial differences between husband and wife. A man who himself does not come from a rich family might be tempted to look for a spouse that comes from a wealthy family. What he might overlook is that, generally speaking, a woman’s natural expectation is to upgrade or at least maintain her financial status once she gets married. A woman that as a daughter was raised with luxury, being able to afford not only what she needs but also what she wants, will not easily adapt to a lower lifestyle. Soon the differences might come up. Items that her husband considers them as luxurious extravagances, for her are part of her normal lifestyle or a matter of need. Although people change (and many people easily adjust to lower financial situation) the appreciation of what we have depends in great part on what we used to have.

To avoid this type of financial tensions the rabbis–two thousand years ago–gave this practical advice: when looking for a wife, don’t look one step above you. You might not be able to meet your wife’s material’s expectations.

Instead, they said, “look one step below your own socio-economic level, and take a wife”. That, at least in the material aspect, will be a win/win. Your wife feels that she has upgraded herself financially with you (haisha ‘ola ‘im ba’alah), and a lifestyle that for you is normal and affordable, for her will be a luxury! Everyone is happy.

For a different perspective on this issue READ Financial inequity . Her parents have more money to give. Does that create a problem? by Rosie Einhorn, L.C.S.W. and Sherry Zimmerman, J.D., M.Sc. (From Aish.com)

WATCH  100 Blessings  Why should I be grateful? by TribeVibe, from Aish.com

Jews never believed in the eternity of the universe. The Fourth principle of our faith asserts that only God is eternal. The 13 Principles were formulated by Maimonides (1165-1204) early in his life in the commentary to the Mishna Sanhedrin, Tenth Chapter. At first, the Fourth principle, which asserts that God is first and last, did not include anything related to the belief in the beginning of the world.  Rabbi Yosef Kappach explained that later in his life, after writing his Guide for the Perplexed, Maimonides clarified within that principle, that only God is eternal, which excluded the belief in an eternal universe: “A fundamental principle of the Law of Moses is that the World was created anew and that God formed it and created it from absolute non-existence. That which you observe, that I repeatedly argue against the eternity of the world according to the view of the philosophers, is to demonstrate the absoluteness of the miracle of His existence as I have explained and clarified in the Guide for the Perplexed.” 

Let me explain what Maimonides meant. Beginning probably with Aristotle (384 BC – 322 BC), philosophers and scientists denied a beginning of the Universe. They thought that the universe was never born or created. In their opinion, the universe was eternal (‘olam kadmon).  This solid idea started to change only in 1930, when Edwin Hubble discovered that the universe was expanding.  If the cosmos was expanding, and not going in circles as they thought until that time, then it must have a had a point of beginning. A few years later many scientists came with a simple inductive formula which affirmed that tracking back the movie of the universe’s expansion one will inevitably find a moment of beginning.  The most famous hypothesis is called the Big Bang theory, which apart from the time it attributes to the beginning of the universe, reaffirms the Biblical idea of beginning. It is the first scientific theory that postulates a beginning of the universe, after 25 centuries of denying it!

The real test of integrity takes place when someone is faced between keeping his word and suffering a financial loss. King David expressed this idea in Tehillim: nishba lehara’ velo yamir… The honest man would keep his promise even at the cost of losing his money. Illustration: Mr. A promised to sell an item to Mr. B for 100 dollars. But later on Mr. C offers Mr. A 110 dollars! If Mr. A follows King David’s instruction, he will sell the item to Mr. B for 100 –despite the potential monetary loss– because he already gave Mr. B his word.

The Talmud brings the ultimate example of integrity:

“Rab Safra had a donkey for sale. A gentile came to his house and offered him 50 coins for the donkey. At that precise moment Rab Safra was reciting the Shema Israel, so he could not answer back. The Talmud asserts that in his heart Rab Safra accepted the offer of 50 coins. The buyer, however, thought that Rab Safra’s silence meant that he expected a higher price so he offered him 60. Rab Safra was still reciting the Shema, so he did not react. The buyer then offered him 70. At that point Rab Safra ended the Shema. Rab Safra refused to accept the 70 coins. He said that in is heart he had accepted the first offer, 50 coins, and he would not take extra money after that.”  Rab Safra was considered by the Talmud the epitome of yr-e shamayim, a man with a highest level of respect and reverence to God (Makot 24a, Rashi)

√ “Anywhere but Israel”

Other than for medical reasons (see for example, here) abortion is forbidden by Jewish Law.  However, Jewish Law does not considered abortion as murder, i.e., a crime which deserved a capital punishment at the times when Jewish courts applied execution.  Similarly, a case in which a person accidentally caused a pregnant woman to miscarry her baby (such a case is explicit in the Tora, Shemot 21:22) was not classified as manslaughter (unintentional murder) and the penalty was monetary compensation. In this respect Judaism is different from other religions, for example, Christianity.   For the Catholic church, life begins at conception and for the most part abortion is equated with murder.

Rabbi Isaac Cantarini was born in Padua, Italy, in 1644. He was a rabbi, poet, writer and physician.  He studied Talmud with Rabbi Salomon Marini, and Hebrew with the poet Moses Catalano. His instructor in the secular studies was Bernardo de Laurentius. Cantarini received his diploma as physician in 1664 from the University of Padua–which unlike other universities in Europe, was open to Jews.  He practiced medicine in Padua for the rest of his life.

As a Rabbi, he very often preached in the Synagogue of Padua. His sermons were frequently attended by Christians, the number of these on one occasion was so great that the Jews had to find seats in the women’s gallery (the Jews, as usual, might have arrived to the lecture later than the gentiles 🙂 .

He also taught in the Yeshivah of Padua, and officiated as cantor, especially on Yom Kippur.  His last name Cantarini, in Hebrew  מהַחַזָּנִים — seems to indicate that he was coming from a family of ‘cantors’. As he had a thorough knowledge of the Talmud, his decisions were often sought in Halakhic cases.  Among his many students were two very famous Rabbis: Moses Chaim Luzzatto (Ramchal, Mesilat Yesharim) and Rabbi Isaac Lampronti (see here).

Rabbi Cantarini wrote many books and poems in Hebrew, Italian and Latin. His most famous work is called Pachad Ytzchaq, a description of the attack against the Jewish ghetto of Padua by the Christian populace on August 20, 1684, where Jews were accused of having sided with the Turkish enemy and murdered Christian prisoners-of-war in Budapest. Fortunately, the garrison commander of Padua was able to repel the attackers but the incident made a strong and lasting impact in Rabbi Cantarini.

√ You can find Rabbi Isaac Cantarini book Pachad Ytzchaq here

√ There is also a seven pages article published in 1960 by Harry A. Savitz in “Jewish Forum” Doctor Isaak Hayyim Ha-Kohen Cantarini: Physician, poet, rabbi, preacher, and teacher (1644-1723).

As we discussed last week (see here) since God is not a body, nothing associated with the physical realm can apply to Him. Sleep, wakefulness, anger and laughter, joy and sadness, do not apply to Him. Whenever the Tora or the Prophets speak about God in this way, they do so in a metaphorical way and allegorical manner, or as a prophetic visualization. Similarly, we cannot apply to God concepts as birth or death. God does not exist in time. Such concepts as beginning, end, age do not apply to Him.

Asking ourselves, “If God created the world, who created God?” Is like asking ourselves: “If the baker baked the bread, who baked the baker?” In the same way the concept of ‘baking’ cannot be applied to the existence of the baker, only to his actions, the concept of creation or birth cannot be applied to the existence of God. God is eternal. And other than God Himself, everything was created by God out of nothingness. In the beginning, God alone existed. Even time itself is among the things created by God.

According to Rabbi Hayim Pereira-Mendes, God’s eternity has also implications in our expectations for justice. Since God is eternal, punishment for the wicked or reward for the good man might take place beyond the time-limits of our lives. “The knowledge that God is eternal, especially when coupled with the knowledge that He is omnipotent reconciles us with our trials and sorrows, and solves the puzzles of earthly life and its many seeming difficulties and contradictions. Thus, we observe that the good often suffer misfortune or trial, and the wicked are successful and apparently happy. But God is Eternal, and will, in His own time and in His own way, in this life or in the Future or Eternal Life, show us the meaning and benefits of the sorrows and trials, the difficulties and contradictions.”