Understanding the Amida (2nd Berakha)

The second berakha (blessing) of the Amida, is called Geburot (God’s powers). This blessing describes God’s infinite (leolam) might, which He employs to nurture, support those who fell, cure the sick, deliver captives, make rain descend, etc.

God’s might is about blessings, not destruction. Teaching us too, how to use our own powers to help.

The highest point of God’s power mentioned in this berakha (3 times) is techiat hametim, ‘the resurrection of the dead’.

Resurrection (do not confuse with ‘reincarnation’!) is a core belief in Judaism which affirms that at some time in the future, God will bring life back to the dead.

techiat hametim defeats all physical and biological laws known to us.

Even today, 2010, when humans have decoded the DNA, no scientist can create life from atoms in a lab, even though they assert life appeared ‘randomly’ millions of years ago…Creation of life is God’s exclusive power.

techiat hametim in a sense, parallels ‘Creation’. The ‘living soul’ (nefesh chaya, in Bereshit, a.k.a. 21 grams) is not a chemical but a ‘divine’ entity.

To understand the essence of techiat hametim think of a modern scientist provided with the legs, head, wings and body of a simple fruit fly. Can he assemble a living fruit fly in a lab?

Make it simpler: we give the scientist a fruit fly which died 1 minute ago of natural causes. Every part of its body is still in its right place. Could the scientist make it fly even for one minute?  Can a human recreate, not the body, but  just one minute ofautonomous life in a laboratory?

That is techiat hametim.  haShem’s exclusive power.



How do we love ourselves?

3rd of Cheshvan, 5771



‘And you shall love your fellow man as you love yourself’. (Vaykra 18, 19)

It is really challenging to swallow that we are ‘commanded’to love… After all, love is probably the
noblest of all ‘feelings’. A naturalbond we experience toward certain people. Right?

Love is ultimately a feeling. But not just a spontaneous feeling. It is a feeling we can acquire when we do certain things and we develop a right attitude.

Let me offer two examples.

1. Love is ‘care’.

The Torah would not order us to feel in certain way. But it can command us to ‘take care’ of others, as we take care of ourselves. When we actively care for others, we fulfill this Mitzva. Which comes with some extra points. When we take care of others, in return, we feed our own positive feelings. As Rabbi Dessler explained: We naturally ‘take care’ of those we ‘love’, but we also develop deep feelings of ‘love’ for those we take care of.

2. Love is ‘acceptance’.
One of the ways I express ‘love’ for myself is by accepting me as I’m. If I have a healthy dose of self esteem and just the right amount of guilt, I will generally forgive my mistakes; I would overlook my own flaws and I would often find a good excuse to justify every error I’ve made. This might be the highest pick of love your fellow man as you love yourself.

Loving others as we love ourselves means accepting others as we ‘naturally’ accept ourselves. By becoming more forgiving, less critical and more understanding of others, as we do to ourselves, we are fulfilling this beautiful Mitzva.

Rabbi Yosef Bitton. YMJC 130 Steamboat Rd. Great Neck NY 11024



Naming your baby after your parents.

As we’ve explained, there are two Mitzvot which regulate our relationship with our parents: ‘yir’a’ -respect- what we cannot do to our parents, and ‘kabod’, what we should do to honor them.
‘Names’ are a good example of the dynamics of these two Mitzvot.
on the one hand, there is a strict prohibition to call our parents by their name. We have to address them as ‘Father’, ‘Mother’. The Sephardic Minhag was to address the parents in the third person, when language allows it (similar to the English: “Your honor’, or “Your majesty” “, when addressing a judge or a King!).
According to the Ashkenazi tradition, this restriction includes ‘to mention’ one’s parent’s name, even when calling somebody else. For example; if my father’s name is Yaakob and a friend of mine is called Yaakob, I shouldn’t call my friend by his name in the presence of my father, because it will ‘sound’ disrespectful to mention my father’s first name in his presence, even when addressing somebody else.
Naming one’s children after the parents is considered one of the highest ways of paying honor (kabod) to the parents. It is an ancient tradition, very carefully kept in Sephardic communities.
The Ashkenazi tradition, however, is NOT to name one’s children after one’s parents, while the parents are alive. Why? Because if one names his son Yaakob, like his father, every time he will address his son by his name in the presence of his father, it will be considered disrespectful.
This rule explains the difference between Sepharadim and Ashkenazim in this very important
tradition.


Understanding the 1st berakha of the Amida

The first berakha of the Amida is known as ‘abot‘ (ancestors) and it refers to God’s protection of the Jewish people.   In this berakha we don’t ask for protection: we praise God stating that our miraculous survival as Jews, is due to His eternal divine protection.

We mention that haShem Almighty protected Abraham, Ytzchak and Yaakov (E-lohe Abraham, etc). We also describe with a few words what we can ‘humanly’ grasp of God’s protective power (hagadol, hagibbor, etc.),  a power that God uses to bestow kindness (gomel chasadim tobim).

We state that because of the merit of our ancestors (zokher chasde abot), God grants us His present and future salvation (umebi go’el). God protects us because He so promised (lema’an shemo)our ancestors, and because He loves us (beahaba). To understand these last concepts you must read the Pasuk Debarim 7, 7.

Finally we state that God is our King (melekh), but a special kind of king: not the king that demands for his own sake, but a King ready to help when we ask (ozer) and to rescue us when we are in trouble (moshi’a) and a king who covers us with His invisible shield (magen) against harms and hazards we are not aware of.

Magen is indeed the highest level of divine protection.

The protection responsible for the survival of the Jewish people since the time of Abraham Abinu (baruckh ata hasem magen Abraham).



KIBBUD HORIM: Love and authority

26th of Tishri, 5771

HONORING ONE’S PARENTS:The difference between ‘respect’ and ‘honor’.

Two Mitzvot regulate children/parents relationship. The first one is kabbed et abikha ve-et imekha “Honor your father and your mother”.
This important Mitzva is the fifth of the Ten Commandments. There is a second Mitzva (vaikra-Leviticus- 19, 3) ish immo veabiv tira’u “A man should fear/respect his mother and his father”. These two Mitzvot are different from each other and actually supplement each other.

‘Honoring‘ includes all what we must do for our parents: watch them, and if necessary feed them and help them to get dress; take them out; drive them to the doctor, etc. In other words: take good care of them. ‘Honoring’ is a function of ‘love’.

‘Respect’, on the other side, is about what we are not allowed to do to our parents: we can’t call our parents by their name, we can’t sit in their seat; we can’t contradict them, etc. ‘Respecting’ our parents is a recognition of their ‘authority’.In a practical sense, the Mitzva of ‘respect’ applies mainly when we are young and we depend on our parents. A Jewish child observes a system of discipline and behavior which trains him to accept a higher authority.

The second Mitzva applies mainlywhen our parents are older, and (or when) they depend on us. We have a direct obligation to take good care of them. This Mitzva emphasizes the duty of gratitude and payback for those who fed us, dressed us, and took care of us when we were children.

 

Rabbi Yosef Bitton. YMJC 130 Steamboat Rd. Great Neck NY 11024



VIDUY: Why should I confess my sins in plural?

17th of Elul, 5770

As I’ve mentioned before, there are different texts of the Viduy (confession). In all versions, however, the transgressions are mentioned in alphabetical order. There is an additional element all texts of Viduy share: we confess our sins in plural. We do not say: ashamti (I am guilty) bagadti (I’ve betrayed You) but ashamnu, bagadnu (we are guilty, we have betrayed You).

Why?

One of my teachers, rabbi Baruch Garzon from Madrid, Spain, sent me recently the following conversation he had with his son Abraham when he was 12 years old:

“Daddy, I cannot lie in the Tefila… I assure to you that I have not committed all the sins that we mention in the Vidduy. Some things I did, but the majority, I did not!.

– You are right, Abraham. Our Rabbis are not forcing to you to lie. No one is saying that you committed all those sins. The Vidduy is in plural because we also are responsible for the mistakes committed by other people, sometimes because we have given our collaboration knowingly, and other times because we have seen them and we did not say anything. In both cases, we are accomplices; we share a responsibility and we must confess our fault. Not to complain, at times when we must do it for the sake of HaShem, is also a serious offense”.

Shabbat Shalom!

SELICHOT ON LINE: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CayIX_PTBpo&feature=related



VIDUY: Specific and personalized.

16th day of Elul, 5770

There is a discussion among the rabbis regarding the performance of the Mitzva of Viduy, confession of our sins. Should we be specific and detail our transgressions when we confess or is it enough just to mention generally: ”I’ve sinned, I made mistakes, I’ve rebelled against You”?.

Maimonides asserts that we should specify our own sins. His evidence is that when Moshe Rabbenu addressed God to ask forgiveness for the sin of the ‘golden calf’ he said: “This people committed a great sin, they made for themselves a god of gold’ (Shemot 32, 31). Moshe specified the nature of their ‘great sin’.

Following Maimonides’ opinion, our Rabbis elaborated different versions of the Viduy, enumerating the possible transgression we might have committed. As we whisper each category of transgressions, we should focus and introspect in each specific area, and reflect if indeed we might have committed a sin in that area, admitting it and determining not to repeat it again.

Moreover, many rabbis advice that, before Yom Kippur we should retire to ourselves for a while to honestly review our misdeeds and bad habits in our hearts. Then we should write our own personalized list of transgressions in a piece of paper or a post-it-note or and attach it t our personal Machazor (=prayer’s book) and when we say the Viduy go over our own personal list, admit, regret and determine to abandon our bad deeds.

Read: http://www.aish.com/h/hh/rh/48942456.html



VIDUY: Becoming aware of our misdeeds

15th of Elul, 5770

There is no fixed text for the Viduy (confession). There are several versions of it, some more or less detailed and comprehensive than others. What all the texts have in common is that the ‘sins’ are listed by alphabetical order. This has a practical reason: it is easier to remember. Which is important especially when saying the Viduy by heart, with our eyes closed and in a regretful mood.

Every day in Shacharit and Mincha we say the standard short Viduy, Ana haShem Elokenu… where for each letter of the alphabet we mention just one kind of sin we might have committed. In this brief Viduy the wording is deliberately non specific and very general: ashamnu: we have been guilty. bagadnu: we have betrayed (our covenant with You). gazalnu we have robbed, etc.

During the Selichot we have a second Viduy, a bit more elaborated.

In letter Gimel, for example, it adds: gainu, we have been arrogant.

Dalet: After mentioning that we have spoken gossip and slander (lashon hara) it also says: we have spoken one way with our mouth and felt differently in our heart.

There is a third Viduy, much more detailed. It is called ‘Viduy hagadol’, the large confession. Viduy haGadol was elaborated by Rabbenu Nissim Gaon and it enumerates hundreds of possible transgression we might have committed.

The Viduy helps us become aware of our trasngressions, especially those misdees we might have forgotten.

Today, in Jewish history: http://www.aish.com/dijh/46571237.html



VIDUY: Understanding the basics

14th of Elul, 5770

 

Yesterday we explained that the process of Teshuva is done by the Mitzva of Viduy, confession of our transgressions.

Maimonides says:

‘How does one confess? He says: ‘I implore You, God, I’ve erred, I’ve sinned, I’ve rebelled before You, by doing this and that… Behold, I regret and I’m embarrassed of my deeds, and [I’ve resolved] never to repeat this again’.

Let’s analyze Maimonides’ words.

We can clearly see three different levels of transgressions, according to the sinner’s intention. Obviously, the more awareness when the transgression is committed, the more severe the sin is perceived.

I’ve erred (chatati). I have made a mistake in judgment. I did not have the full intention of transgressing Your Mitzvot, but I was not careful enough to prevent them (Negligence).

I’ve sinned (‘aviti) I knew I was doing something wrong, I did it consciously, but I wasn’t strong enough to control myself.

I’ve rebelled (pash’ati). A transgression done provocatively. I want to show or state –generally in front of others- that the Torah or the Chakhamim are wrong.

… this and that… should be understood as a blank space. We should enumerate in here the specific sins for which we wish to repent.

We will see BH tomorrow that there many texts of Viduy. The difference between the various versions is the extent of the blank space …by doing this and that…

WATCH THIS INSPIRING VIDEO: http://www.aish.com/v/ho/57973927.html



VIDUY: ‘Confessing our sins’ is the deepest admission.

13th of Elul, 5770

The Mitzvah of Teshuba –repentance- takes place when we recite the Viduy. Viduy means ‘confession’, and it consists on the articulation and enumeration of our transgressions, after we have identified them and regretted.

Maimonides explains “When one does return from his sin, he must confess before God Almighty, Blessed is He, as it says: ‘they shall confess their sin that they committed’ (Bamidbar 5:7), this ‘Viduy’ is a positive commandment (Hilchot Teshuba 1:1)

Without Viduy the Mitzva of Teshuba cannot take place.

We do not disclose our sins in front of other people or a rabbi, but right in front of God Almighty, whispering to ourselves our transgressions.

The torah says that God Almighty knows “…the secrets of the universe, and the hidden-most mysteries of all the living creatures, nothing is hidden from You and nothing is concealed from Your eyes“. Now, if God knows our sins better that we do, for what purpose must we enumerate them before Him?

Similar to psychoanalysis, where the patient begins his metal healing when he or she is able to articulate his trauma, we have reached the level of ‘admission of our sins’ only when we are able to articulate our transgressions with words, not with thoughts.

Viduy has to be anticipated by hakarat hachet -admission of our misdeeds- and followed by azibat hachet , our determination not to repeat the sin.