This is going to be one of the most special Shabbat of our lives. 

Unlike other times, like Hurricane Sandy, when I remember that some people had to leave homes because their basements were flooded and there was no power , many people came to Kanissa, that was like the safest place to be. Now, this Shabbat, we will have to avoid Kanissa and stay home. 

We will miss each seeing each other, greeting, hugging each other and praying together,  

Just to make sure:  Missing and not being physically with each other for a short while, is not necessarily a bad thing.  First, It teaches us that we need to value the gifts and blessings that we have WHEN we have them, and second,  like Nidda time, longing for each other RENEWS our love and desire to be together again, BH very soon. 

Why we are not going to Kanissa? 

Basically, it is my understanding that this is basically a preventive measure. It is not ONLY because CDC gives us some medical guidelines. It is also our Tora that urges us to be EXTRA careful when it gets to keeping ourselves and those around us safe and healthy. ונשמרתם מאוד לנפשותיכם

We need to separate from each other, mainly, to protect the elders and those with a medical condition. Because, BH for most of us even if we get the virus, it won’t mean anything worse than the flu. But, if we get the virus and we go home to our parents or grandparents, we might affect them.  And the older someone is, the more expose he or she is. That’s the main reason we are ALL doing this.  We are all sacrificing ONE SHABBAT because we want to avoid a risk that even ONE of our elders will be affected by this virus that is more contagious than the flu.     

In my personal case, ever since we were informed that one of my family members was in contact with someone that tested positive we have all decided that because we MIGHT represent a bigger factor of risk for others, we will stay home for a few days. Why? Because the most rational thing to do will be to test yourself best and eliminate the doubt. However, testing is extremely limited, and Urgent care will ONLY test you if you have been in direct contact with someone who tested positive AND you have symptoms.  So, we wait home and see if we develop any symptoms. Which BH after a week, did not happen. AGAIN ALL THIS IS DONE MOSTLY TO AVOID A POTENTIAL SPREADING OF THE VIRUS IN THE UNLIKELY CASE YOU HAVE IT AND IN THIS WAY PROTECT OTHERS, THE ELDERS AND PEOPLE WITH CERTAIN MEDICAL CONDITIONS.

So, this Shabbat I’m staying home .

This is a very special Shabbat for me. Because this Sunday is the anniversary of my father, z”l. And I should be saying Kaddish for him from this Friday night. BUT, AS A RABBI I KNOW that protecting lives, and avoiding the risk of someone else’s life, is more important than saying Kaddish.    Please, learn this thing from me. And if you are saying Kaddish, and you will be in contact with any elder person or with someone that might be close to an elder, stay home and ask someone else to say Kaddish for you. 

Finally, let me tell you what I have done for my father’s Kaddish. 

Last night, I called my friend and colleague Rabbi Mordekhai Kohanim. I knew that Rabbi Kohanim will be attending a very small Minyan this Shabbat, so I asked him to say Kaddish for my father. 

Rabbi Kohanim, as expected, told me: “Of course rabbi Bitton I will be very honored to do so”.  Then I said to him that is going to be just until Sunday, because my father passed away Adar 19th.   Then, after a few seconds of silence Rabbi Kohanim said: “Adar 19th? That is also my own father’s Yahrtzait “.  

We got very emotional. I cried a little bit…. and it it hit me very strongly to feel the incredible ways in which despite all these physical isolations, we are indeed united and together in so many mysterious paths, in this world and beyond… 

I will miss you all. I wish for everyone a great Shabbat 

LEILUY NISHMAT YAAKOB BAR YEHUDA BITTON AND AHARON BEN MORDEKHAI KOHANIM, z’l. 

THIS IS A VERY SPECIAL EMAIL FROM A JEWISH COMMUNITY IN CHICAGO GREAT GUIDELINES FOR THIS SPECIAL SHABBAT 

PLEASE PRINT IT AND FOLLOW IT!  IT WILL ENHANCE YOUR SHABBAT DAY 

Shabbat Parashat Ki Tisa, Shabbat Parah

March 14th, 2020

Dear Families,

In the coming days and weeks, we all may find ourselves spending Shabbat at home with our families, unable to attend shul or the other kinds of playdates and social gatherings that make up the special flavor of a normal shabbat in our community. Unlike on weekdays, where digital distractions abound, Shabbat poses unique challenges. How do we make the day fun, special and religiously significant even without attending services, kiddush or shabbat meals? 

We’ve included some ideas below, to make your Shabbat at home feel as special and holy as possible under the circumstances. 

Pre-Shabbat Ruach: Get in the Shabbat spirit with a dance party and watching parsha videos. 

• Parshat Ki Tisa: Moses Breaks the Tablets at Sinai – Rabba Yaffa Epstein (BimBam)
• Parshat Ki Tisa: Seeing the Golden Calf – Sarah Gershman (BimBam)
  • Comprehension questions:
    • What does B’nei Yisrael do when they think that Moshe is not returning?
    • What does Aharon do to try to delay them?
    • What does Hashem want to do in response to the Egel HaZahav?
    • What does Moshe do when he sees the Golden Calf?
  • Questions for discussion:
    • What is something you know to be true that you have trouble believing until you’ve seen it for yourself (with your own eyes)?
      • (ex. Snow day, rainbow, etc)
    • The storyteller sees the Egel HaZahav as a representation of Moshe. That’s her opinion. There are many ways to interpret this story. What’s another way of seeing it?
• If you can’t join the ASBI Zoom dance party, host your own! Youtube playlist here: 
  • https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLokUsVxY1i3d3CAhupElxRhZheY2H39fr

Friday Night:

• Do you have tunes from Kabbalat Shabbat that you love? After candle lighting, sing them out loud with your family, dance in a circle–  holding your own little service at home to welcome in the Shabbat queen. Adults can make sure to pray a full Kabbalat Shabbat and Maariv service as well, but bring your children into it as is appropriate. 
• Over dinner, start to discuss the Parsha with your children. You can use the Parsha Themes infographic included in the family email to kick off your discussion. 

Shabbat Day: 

• Shabbat day can feel like a very unstructured time. One way to help everyone in your family feel like they know what to expect and look forward to is to make a plan and a written schedule for how your Shabbat will be spent and review it with your children before Shabbat. 
• In addition to your own personal tefillot of Shacharit and Musaf, daven with your children. If they are in Tot Shabbat, sing your favorite songs with them. The children in drop-off groups may well know what Tefillot they normally do in groups. Hopefully in the coming days the leaders of those groups will produce at-home guides for you and your children, but we might not have them ready in time for this Shabbat. Nevertheless, you can ask your children of any age which Tefillot they know and love from groups, school or summer camp, and you can sing them together. 
• There are many different ways to explore the Parsha with your children, depending on their age. 
  • With older children, you could learn it together out of a chumash. You could practice some leyning together, to hone skills they are learning in school or have learned for their bnai mitzvah. 
  • For elementary aged children, you could talk about the Parsha (perhaps the story of the Golden Calf) and put on a skit together utilizing any costumes and props you might have around the house. Add in challenge with unusual types of props (eg, “incorporate this spatula into the story!”). If you have some time before shabbat, have your child(ren) create puppets for the main figures in the parsha and put on a puppet show in a unique style or using silly voices (think B’nei Yisrael heads to the opera or rodeo).
  • For younger children, you might want to talk about counting. Our Parsha begins with a census, but instead of counting people, they are commanded to collect a coin per person and then count the coins. What other kinds of things can you count? 
• Extend your Shabbat lunch by singing zemirot between courses and saying birkat hamazon out loud together. If it is age-appropriate, practice the words of Kiddush with your children. 
• Reading together is a great Shabbat activity for all ages. Adults also enjoy gathering together for dramatic readings of Shakespeare and other theater greats. Find books to read to your children that might be new for them and for you– the more participatory the better. Challenge yourself to come up with tunes for any parts that might be sing-song, so as to break up the monotony for yourself and further engage your children. 
• Playing board and card games for many hours straight can be strenuous, but starting a board game and then taking a break for another activity before continuing can keep everything exciting and fresh for longer. Don’t wait until everyone is bored before pausing an activity– always leave people wanting more, so that when you come back to it, it will feel like a treat. 
• Make sure to incorporate physical activity. Whether this is a Shabbat Zemirot dance party (appointing a table-drummer to keep a beat while everyone else dances will go a long way here), a game of Simon says, or just some good laps around your apartment (one time in a crab walk, one time in a crawl, one time backward, one time wheelbarrow, one time blindfolded, one time singing the Tot Shabbat “on my way to shul one day” song, etc), will help everyone feel less stir-crazy. 

End of Shabbat:

• As shabbat winds down, eat Seudah Shlishit together as a family. Sing slower songs as the day flows away. Get everyone into pajamas and ready for your pajama havdallah party! 
• When Shabbat ends, turn out the lights, light up your havdallah candle, and reflect together on how special this Shabbat was that you all spent together. Remind each other of the parts you liked the most, the fun times you had together. This is important because if we have to do this all again next week, you want everyone to remember the good parts! 

Shabbat Shalom,

Rabbanit Leah Sarna & Molly Jaret

I do. But I have to make a concerted effort to recall the memories of gas shortage, lack of electrical power, and our collective fears over supplies of food. It felt to us then like the world was coming to an end. Today, we go about our lives as if hurricane Sandy never happened. 

The one thing I do recall with clarity from that time are amazing words that a good friend of mine, an ophthalmologist, shared with me. After witnessing his medical office being completely destroyed by the terrible storm, he said that “tragedies could bring the worst in us or the best in us”. He mentioned that some of his colleagues took advantage of Sandy to try and ‘steal’ some of his patients. Other colleagues, though, offered him usage of their own medical offices so he could continue treating his patients. 

COVID-19 is looking to be far more severe than Sandy. But this tragedy too, can bring out the best or the worst in us. 

If we respond with this in mind, this can be a time for each of us to react in ways that are giving and kind. We can work to do something helpful and productive for those who are suffering, and act with altruism, and compassion. Just imagine what our communities could look like if we each asked ourselves to care for others in the way we have been caring for our selves and our families! 

Be’ezrat HaShem “THIS TOO SHALL PASS” . And our actions will define the way we remember these days. 

Be grateful to HaShem for the silver linings of this difficult time. If you are a parent or a grandparent be grateful that this virus, for which there is no vaccine yet, is thank God not affecting children to a great extent. 

Above all pray to HaShem with special intensity: ask Him sincerely for the welfare of others. When you do that, you become a person of His interest, deserving God’s attention. 

With prayers for a Refuah Shlema for all –

Yosef Bitton

In memory of “Sarina”,  Sara Rut bat Ephraim Kalaty, z”l.  

The idea that characterizes Purim, and distinguishes Purim from other celebrations, is venahafokh hu, a phrase mentioned at the beginning of the ninth chapter of the book of Esther, that summarizes the final outcome of what happened in those days. venahafokh hu means, more or less than in the end “everything turned upside down”, in an unexpected positive way.
Unlike other occasions in which our existence as a people was threatened, in Purim we not only survived the threat of total extermination, but in the end we also liberated ourselves from those who sought our death.
In the next lines I will try to explain this in more detail.

THE DEATH SENTENCE

Purim happened in the year 474 BCE, 12th year of Ahashverosh. At that time the Jewish people was in a vulnerable situation. Why? Because all Jews lived under the same “political roof” and the death sentence decreed upon the Jews of the Persian Empire meant the extermination of all the Jewish people; the “final solution” with which every anti-Semite dreams.The strategy to assassinate every single Jew was to encourage the murderers to kill their Jewish neighbors and acquaintances assuring them that, according to the new law, the executors would suffer no consequence for those crimes, and in addition, the assets of the Jewish victims would be available for the executors. The Jews were forbidden to defend themselves. And the imperial army would be on the side of the perpetrators. All this is expressed directly or indirectly in the edict that Haman signed and sent on behalf of King Ahashverosh to every city throughout the Empire.The decree established that the genocide of the Jews, the mega execution of approximately 250,000 souls, would take place on the 13th of Adar of that year. The letters containing the royal edict were sent 11 months earlier, the 13th of Nisan.After Ester and Mordechai thwarted Haman’s sinister plan and he was executed, new official letters were sent announcing that the Jews could defend themselves against their enemies, and that they would count on with the backing of the imperial army. These letters were dispatched on Sivan 23, that is, 70 days after the first letters were sent.

WERE THE JEWS ABLE TO ESCAPE?

When you read the Meguilla seriously, you have to make a huge effort to visualize what the Yehudim must have suffered during those 70 days of terror. The Midrashim tell us that many Gentile neighbors were showing their sharp knives to the horrified Jewish mothers, telling them that with those weapons they would kill their little children. The Midrash also explains that the perpetrators celebrated in advance the massacre, and distributing their possessions.
Referring to the seemingly inexplicable urgency of Mordechai to overturn Haman’s decree, despite the fact that it would have taken nine months for its implementation, Rabbi Yom Tob Tsahalon (1559-1619) explains in his book leqah tob that the Jews were probably “detained” or “enslaved” (משועבדים), with the collaboration of the imperial army, to prevent them from escaping with their possessions, or saving their lives, before the 13th of Adar.
Thinking of Europe 1940-1945 it is not difficult to imagine “forced labor camps” where thousands of Jews were imprisoned, awaiting the day of their execution. The Yehudim were not able to do anything to defend themselves. They prayed, fasted and waited for a miracle, which ultimately happened.
Following this idea of ​​rabbi Tsahalon, we can suppose that with the arrival of the second letter in which the previous edict was reversed, the Jewish prisoners were released, and the perpetrators were deprived of their freedom, waiting for their execution on the day 13 of Adar.

WHO WERE THE ENEMIES OF THE JEWS?

It is quite possible that the enemies of the Jews were “opportunists,” ordinary people who responded to Haman’s invitation to “kill a Jew and keep his assets.” During Second World War, something similar happened with ordinary citizens of Poland, Ukraine, Hungary, etc. who betrayed their Jewish neighbors, knowing that they will be killed, to keep their houses and possessions …
In his book Eshkol haKofer, Rabbi Abraham Saba (1440-1508) suggests a different theory. The Persian Empire had an approximate population of 50,000,000 people. Almost half the population of the entire planet at that time (Wikipedia). The gigantic empire included 127 provinces with thousands of different civilizations, peoples and tribes. Rabbi Saba says that to exterminate the Jews, Haman recruited his own people, the Agaguites, the ethnic descendants of Amaleq. These first “anti-Semites” believed, like the modern Nazis, that their existential mission is to destroy the Jewish people. The Agaguitas became the executing arm of their highest representative: Haman. Rabbi Saba explains that once Haman was executed for treason to the king, all those who collaborated with Haman suffered the same fate as Haman, that is: execution by order of the King, since they were considered accomplices in the crime of “high treason”.

Venahafokh hu “and at the end, things turned upside down” means that in Purim not only did we miraculously save ourselves from a certain death, but we also freed ourselves from those who sought to destroy us. The number of criminals executed on the 13th and 14th of Adar of 474 BCE, 75,800, gives us a rough idea of ​​the magnitude of the Jewish genocide that was providentially prevented.

אם על המלך טוב יבוא המלך והמן היום אל המשתה אשר עשיתי לו
Esther 5:4

Last time, we explained that Queen Esther risked her life by entering the area of ​​maximum security of the King —a crime that was punished by execution on the spot. However, providentially, when the King saw her, “she found grace in his eyes” and he spared her life. 

Now, we have assumed that as soon as Esther gets the King’s attention, she would inform the King about the genocidal plan of the wicked Haman, and beg for mercy for her people. But surprisingly Esther did not ask for any of that…. When the King saw Esther he asked: “What’s the matter with you, queen Esther? What is that you want? “ This question coming from the King must be understood with drama. “Esther, I see that you risked your life to get my attention. I’m sure that whatever you want to ask from me must be very important to you. What is that you want Esther?”
Esther’s answer was absolutely unexpected for the king: “If it pleases the King… let the king, and Haman come today [tonight] to the banquet that I have prepared for him.”

The King must have wondered why Esther would risk her life for a dinner, and particularly, why would she risk her life to have Haman present at the dinner.… This must have bothered the King a lot. Why? Imagine how ridiculous (and suspicious!) It would sound if the wife or Mr. A says to her husband: “I want you to take me to dinner tonight … and bring with you Mr. B”. Why would and wife, and particularly Esther that had not seen her husband in a month, invite a third party to a dinner?

With the sophistication of a chess-master the Queen planted in the head of the King the seeds of suspicion and jealousy towards his most trusted man. Rabbi Moshe Almosnino explains that this point was subtly mentioned in the Megilla. When Queen Esther invited the King to the first banquet she said: “Let the King, and Haman come …to the banquet that I have prepared for him”.  The words “for him” could be interpreted as referring to Haman! In other words, it is as if the Queen wanted the King to think that she risked his life to ask the King to attend a banquet that she would do … for Haman!”  The King must have though that something did not make sense! And that Haman must be planning something against him!

Rashi, following the opinion of Ribbi Yehoshua ben Qorha, explained that Esther’s intention was to eventually sacrifice her life. She was sure that at the moment that Ahashverosh would suspect the existence of some kind of connection between Esther and Haman, he would execute the two of them.

Be that as it may, Esther’s strategy consisted in awaking in the King feelings of “jealousy and suspicion” toward Haman, instead of presenting her request directly to the King. Why? Because Esther knew that she had only one chance to convince the King. And she reasoned that if she simply informed the King about the edict and asked for compassion, this King, famous for his chauvinism, could have told Esther that it was not her place to interfere in matters of state, or in the best case scenario, that he would discuss the issue with Haman, and then, Esther will not have a second chance to avoid the genocide of the entire Jewish nation. 

Esther then decided that the best move would be to make from this issue a “personal matter”. Making the King think that there was some kind of common interest between her and Haman. The Queen knew of the extreme narcissism of the King (chapter 1), she also knew that this King saw women as his possessions (chapter 2), and she correctly calculated that it would not be difficult to arouse the jealousy of such a man. And although the plan did not go exactly as Esther planned (it actually worked out better) we see that Esther was very right. In the end, at the culminating moment of the second banquet, when King Ahashverosh reacts to the news of Haman’s plan, he did not make his decision to execute Haman based on political considerations.

The King sentenced Haman to death because Haman “knelt in front of Esther’s bed to beg for mercy.” And when the King saw Haman so close to Esther, he reacted with jealousy and said: “And now, what else do you want? Conquering the Queen right under my nose? “

Those were the last words that Haman, the Black Night, heard from King Ahashverosh. 

Checkmate! 

First Speaker is DR. AARON E. GLATT, MD, CHAIRMAN, DEPARTMENT OF MEDICINE,CHIEF, INFECTIOUS DISEASES AND HOSPITAL EPIDEMIOLOGIST AT MT SINAI. 

Second Speaker DR NORMAN BLUMENTHAL a licensed clinical psychologist who practices in Cedarhurst, NY. Dr. Blumenthal serves as the Coordinator of Group Psychotherapy Training for Interns and Residents at the North Shore Long Island Jewish Health System.

Lecture by Dr Aaron Glatt from Mt Sinai and Dr
Dr. Norman Blumenthal

:i

This was a conference call held on Tuesday March 3rd at 8:15PM. 1200 people were on the call. PLEASE NOTE THAT THIS INFORMATION IS RELEVANT ONLY ON THE DATE OF MARCH 3RD. IF THERE ARE ANY NEW DEVELOPMENTS, THE HEALTH RECOMMENDATIONS MAY CHANGE.

CARE FOR OUR HEALTH
There are 613 precepts in the Tora. One of them is to “take care of our health.” As Maimonides explains, this precept requires us to not only to seek healing when we are sick but also to prevent possible diseases. Maimonides, who was a pioneer of preventive medicine, writes extensively on the importance of diet and physical exercise to keep ourselves in good shape and about the significance of hygiene. Today it is known that good hygiene is what primarily allows the prevention of contagious diseases.

HOW ARE DISEASES TRANSMITTED?
There are viruses, such as HIV, that are transmitted through the blood and other bodily fluids. Other diseases, like tuberculosis or measles, are caused by pathogens which are transmitted through the air. And still others, such as the influenza virus (flu) and the coronavirus are transmitted through respiratory droplets. If a person with the flu coughs or sneezes the pathogen can infect those who are nearby. Viruses and bacteria can also be transmitted through the surface of objects, a door-knob or even a cellphone. 
But perhaps the most common way to get sick is through direct contact — by touching or shaking the hands of a person who is ill.

2,000 years ago our rabbis discussed a similar matter: the transmission of ritual impurity (Heb: tum-a).

ידיים עסקניות הן, ונוגעות מבלי משים במקומות מזוהמים, משום כך גזרו חכמים על סתם ידיים שיהיו שניות לטומאה
“The hands are permanently active” they said” “And, involuntarily, the hands touch contaminated parts of our body. And that is why the Hakhamim established that when one is not aware that his hands have touched something impure, the hands  must still be considered impure.”    

Jewish law therefore states that hands should be washed permanently, even if one is not aware that they have been in contact with something impure (except when one is certain that since he washed his hands he did not touch anything impure).

THE ENEMY IN YOUR HANDS
Dr. Colleen Kraft, a microbiologist, says:
“During a viral pandemic, we are often our own worst enemies. Point in fact: We touch our face with our hands, including our nose, eyes, and mouth — areas with mucous membranes, an average of 15 to 23 times an hour.”

This helps us better understand why hand hygiene is the most important precautionary measure to avoid the flu or the coronavirus. According to Dr. Kraft, the lack of hand hygiene has proven to be the most important factor in the spread of infectious diseases (see more here ).

Since taking care of one’s health is a Mitzva (a biblical precept), I believe that it is our halakhic obligation to learn how to minimize the risk of contagion.

Here are some guidelines:

1. GREETING, IN HEALTH AND IN SICKNESS: In times of coronavirus, when we greet other people with a handshake it is important to wash our hands, or to apply an alcohol based hand sanitizer to our hands. Although most people are healthy, with the coronavirus it is not possible to know if individuals are contagious since the symptoms (fever, sneezing or coughing) may not be evident and the virus can still be transmitted. In my opinion, the best thing we should do temporarily is to greet by waving one’s hands, blowing a kiss across the air, or engaging in a “namaste”-style greeting, avoiding direct physical contact as much as possible.

2. DEREKH ERETZ: Now, even if health-wise it is the prudent thing to do, if I leave the room to wash my hands immediately after shaking somebody’s hand, there is a good chance that person will be offended. Therefore, where the situation makes it impracticable to wash one’s hand after a handshake, it is particularly important to avoid touching our own face and to avoid shaking another person’s hand until we have had a chance to wash with soap.

3. NO KISSING HANDS: Today, in his daily class, Rabbi Eliyahu Ben Hayim told us that rabbis should temporarily discourage people from kissing other people’s hands. As anyone knows, this is an honorable gesture toward Talmide Hakhamim or elders, but the present circumstances call for avoiding this beautiful practice due to the higher risk of transmission. I think we should also discourage the custom of greeting someone we honor by shaking his hand and then bringing our own hand to our mouth and kiss it. In our community many people perform this gesture out of respect and affection, when they greet the Kohanim, after the priestly blessing.

4. THE MOST IMPORTANT FACTOR: If you are sick, if you have a fever or you think you may have the flu, you should stay at home and talk to your doctor. Because if you go to a public place you can spread the virus, involuntary, to many people around you.

5. TEMPORARY ONLY: We pray and hope B”H that all these measures will soon be unnecessary. We pray and hope that this virus will disappear, as it seems to be happening in China, or that a vaccine will be found soon.

Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Yosef Bitton

Washing your hands with soap and water … kills viruses that may be on your hands.  W.H.O.

A LITTLE HISTORY

In 1350, Europe was hit by a devastating deadly disease, the bubonic plague, also known as the Black Death. This disease arrived from Asia, and the bacteria was transmitted by fleas hosted in rats and other rodents. This plague killed approximately half of the European population. At that time the origin of the plague was unknown. The explanation given by the faculty of medicine in Paris was that the black plague was due to the “misalignment” of three planets: Mars, Jupiter and Saturn. That astrological event caused a “great pestilence in the air”, a kind of “bad air” (רוח רעה?). 

But the common people, the masses, had their own theory. For the European peasants the real culprits of the black plague were the Jews.

THE SCAPEGOAT

People accused the Jews of poisoning the water wells. The extent of the persecutions, progroms and killing of Jews during 1348-1351 are impossible to describe or even imagine. The first massacres took place in April 1348 in Toulon, France, where the Jewish quarter was sacked and 40 Jews were killed in their homes. In 1349 the persecutions spread throughout Europe, from Barcelona, ​​Spain, to Erfurt, Germany. On February 14, 1349, on “Valentine’s Day,” 2,000 Jews were burned alive in Strasbourg, before the plague affected the city. And while the ashes were still burning, the Christian population ransacked the homes of the Jews and took everything of value. Thus, 510 Jewish communities were erased  and its inhabitants massacred. (for more information see  this    ).  Jews were the favorite scapegoats of Christian Europe. They were blamed for any calamity or unsolved murder. But in the specific case of the Black Death there was an additional reason that fueled these false suspicions:  Jews were less affected by this disease than their non-Jewish neighbors.

WHY JEWS DID NOT DIE?

In medieval Europe, the importance of hygiene in disease prevention was unknown. The streets were dirty, full with live or dead animals, parasites, fleas and lice that facilitated the transmission of diseases. People did not bathe regularly. Monks, for example, were forbidden to bathe more than 2 or 3 times a year.  Jews, however, have a rule that has been observed for thousands of years ago, no matter the circumstances: bathing in honor of Shabbat. Thus, in ancient times, Jews would take a bath or clean themselves thoroughly at least once a week, something absolutely exceptional for the average person in those times.

NETILAT YADAYIM

Perhaps, the most important element that prevented the spread among Jews was the Jewish tradition of washing our hands.

Jewish law states that the first thing you should do every day when you wake up in the morning is to wash your hands, before touching your face, your eyes or your mouth with your hands.

Jewish tradition also mandates to wash our hands before praying, that is two (or sometimes three) more times a day.

One is also required to wash his or her hands before eating bread or before consuming any food that has been dipped in a liquid condiment or sauce (דבר שטיבולו במשקה). Keep in mind that at that time people ate with their hands (there were no forks!)

Jewish law also states that one should wash his or her hands when leaving the bathroom.

A Jew, thus, washed his hands several times a day. And this, which seems normal to us today, was not the practice of ordinary people in medieval Europe, since running water did not exist.

THE FIRST ADVICE OF THE WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION

Modern medicine, thanks God, helped us find the solution for the Black Death and other infections diseases that were once deadly.   In addition to that, in most of the world’s homes today, hygiene standards  are very high and effective. But still, in these moments when the whole world is watching with horror how the dangerous “coronavirus” spreads from country to country , it is important to redouble our efforts to keep our hands clean.

On that note, it is so interesting that the first guideline to minimize the transmission of the coronavirus is to keep our hands clean.

As we have said this last Shabbat in our prayer announcing the new month,may HaShem help us so that this epidemic does not continue to spread (לרחם על פליטתנו ולעצור המגפה והמשחית מעלינו) .

May it be His will that all human beings will enjoy good health.

May it be His will that all those who are sick, Jews or non-Jews, will soon recover and return to their families with health and joy.

AMEN. 

THE MOST IMPORTANT WORD

The First Commandment is not simply a preamble.It indicates a specific order to be fulfilled: recognizing God as your ELOQEJA (אלוקך).

In its simple form the word ELOQIM is usually translated by “God.” But in the Tora  this same word ELOQIM sometimes should be understood as “Creator” and other times it must be understood as “Sovereign”, “Supreme Authority”, “Lawmaker”.

Let’s see a couple of examples:

The first verse of the Tora Genesis 1: 1 says “In the beginning ELOQIM created the heavens and the earth.” In the creation account the word ELOQIM, which is repeated 35 times, always means  God / Creator.

THE TEMPTATION OF SELF SUFFICIENCY

But a few chapters later, in Genesis 3: 5 the same word ELOQIM acquires a different meaning: When the snake wants to tempt Eve to eat the fruit of the forbidden tree says: God does not want you to eat this fruit because He knows that the day you do it “you will be like ELOQIM, you would know good from evil.” In this verse the Tora clearly does not use the word ELOQIM as God / Creator. The snake does not tell Eva that when she eats the forbidden fruit she will have super-powers or she will perform miracles. In this context, as the snake itself clarifies, ELOQIM refers to an ethical, moral and legal dimension. “If you eat the forbidden fruit – the snake hints – you will have the power to know by yourself the difference between what is right and what is wrong, and you will no longer need God to know how to proceed.”   God is not just the Creator. God is also ELOQIM: the REFERENT of what is right and what is wrong.

The word ELOQIM with this meaning is very common in the Tora.

I will present one more, very important example of the word ELOQIM meaning God / Sovereign.

SHEMA ISRAEL

In Shema Israel we say: “HaShem is our ELOQIM HaShem is one“. The Sages of the Talmud explain that when saying this verse we must “accept the yoke of the Divine Reign” (קבלת עול מלכות שמים). That is, we should mentally recognize God as the “only” Sovereign, and therefore, we mentally accept to submit ourselves to His laws. Again, this is not a theological issue. It is not about accepting that God exists: that goes without saying! The Shema Israel is about declaring that God is our Sovereign. That we accept His laws, voluntarily.

This last point is critical: The Ten Commandments were not “imposed” by God upon the Jewish people. Six days before the Ten Commandments were revealed, God proposed to the Jewish people to celebrate a covenant: The Children of Israel will be God’s chosen People, God will grant them the land of Israel and will guarantee that the Jewish people will be “treasured” by Him (= will never disappear). The Jewish people, on the other hand, recognize HaShem as our Sovereign and therefore accept the Tora as our National Constitution. The Ten Commandments are the first “formal” laws that the people of Israel receive as part of this covenant. And that’s why the Ten Commandments begin with the presentation of God as our Sovereign.

MENTAL FREEDOM

Finally, a very important point to understand the First Commandment. The Jewish people were enslaved by Pharaoh for 140 years (according to Maimonides). After those 6-8 generations of brutal slavery the Hebrews were absolutely programmed to obey Pharaoh.  Pharaoh decided not only what to do with the time of the Israelites: he also decided at will if a Jew would live or die. The mental submission was absolute. The grandchildren and great-grandchildren of slaves no longer had neither the will nor the imagination to rebel or disobey. Fear absolutely paralyzed them. It is challenging, if not impossible, to imagine the difficulty of the Jews to mentally free themselves from the yoke of Pharaoh and his guards who exercised total physical and emotional control over the Hebrews. With this historical context as a background, we must reread the First commandment as a call for the psychological freedom of the Jewish slaves: You are no longer under the jurisdiction of Egypt. You no longer have to fear Pharaoh. I have delivered you, I have rescued you and I have chosen you as My people, and You have agreed to enter into a covenant with me. From now on, it is no longer  Pharaoh, but “I HaShem, who is Your new Sovereign.”

אָנֹכִי ה ’אֱלֹקיךָ אֲשֶׁר הוֹצֵאתִיךָ מֵאֶרֶץ מִצְרַיִם מִבֵּית עֲבָדִים

I, God, am your Sovereign, the One who rescued you from the land of Egypt, from the house of slaves
Exodus 20: 1

COMMANDMENT OR PREAMBLE?
The First Commandment sounds a bit ambiguous. Why? Because unlike the other nine commandments it is not formulated in the imperative mode, as an order or a precept. It seems more like a presentation. God tells His people (according to the traditional translation): “I [am] HaShem, your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, from the house of slaves.” This text does not seem to indicate something we have to do or stop doing, as in the case of “Honor your parents”, “Do not steal” or “Do not kill.” It is not transmitting a direct order.
That is why the Rabbis have long debated the nature of this commandment. For some, the first commandment does not express a specific precept but a preamble: God introduces Himself to the people before reveling them the commandments.
Other rabbis, such as Maimonides, argue that the First Commandment indicates a specific precept, despite not being formulated in the imperative mode. We will try to understand it, then, the way this famous Rabbi explained it.

HOW MANY COMMANDMENTS ARE THERE?
In the Talmudic tractate of Makot the Rabbis explained that there are 613 precepts in the Tora. 611 of them were transmitted to the people of Israel through Moshe (Moses), while the remaining two were transmitted “directly” by HaShem (God) to the Jewish people. And those two precepts are: the First and the Second commandment (אנכי ולא יהיה לך). What reveals that these two commandments were transmitted “directly” by God is that these are the only ones formulated in the first person of the singular: “I am HaShem your God”, “There will be no other gods for you before Me.” From the Third Commandment it is Moshe who addresses the people of Israel, and the reference to God is in the third person: “You shall not carry the Name of God in vain,” instead of “You shall not carry My Name in vain”. According to this Talmudic text, the First Commandment is not a mere preamble, but a formal biblical precept. In his famous book Sefer haMitsvot, the work that presents the 613 precepts of the Tora, Maimonides mentions the First Commandment as the first law (Mitsva) of the Tora.
Following this idea our next question will be: What is the specific order that this commandment is expressing when it says “I am HaShem your God”?

THE FIRST DECLARATION OF FAITH?
Traditionally it is assumed that the First Commandment, viewed as a precept, expresses only our duty to “believe in the existence” of God. I want to offer another interpretation. Adding one additional element, very relevant to our days.
But first, let’s recall that the belief in the existence of God can be seen as an idea implied in this text: when transmitting the Ten Commandments God is addressing the people of Israel in the first person! Is it necessary, then, that while God is revealing Himself to His people, He commands them to believe in His existence?
And one more thing.
There is an explicit biblical reference that states that the Jewish people had already assimilated collectively the idea of “belief in God”. The Tora says that when the Red Sea opened for the children of Israel to pass and then it closed over the Egyptians, Jews finally experienced a real belief in God’s existence (that is, emuna).
ויושע ה. And God saved Israel on that day from the Egyptians. And Israel saw the Egyptians dead by the sea. And [when the people of] Israel perceived the great portent that God had made against the Egyptians, the people feared God, and [then the people] believed in God and in Moses his servant ” EXODUS 14: 30-31.

PSYCHOLOGICAL FREEDOM

Seeing the lifeless bodies of their powerful oppressors on the seashore, the Jewish people were also able to free themselves from the psychological intimidation implanted in their minds by the Egyptian guards and soldiers, who until then decided, as if they were gods, which Jew would live and which Jew would die. When they saw that their Egyptian masters were mere mortals, the Children of Israel freed themselves from the “mental intimidation of the Egyptians” and reagin the possibility to fearing God and believing in Him.

Coming back to the First Commandment, what we just explained would confirm that “belief” in God was already part of the new mental reality of the Jews before receiving the Ten Commandments. And if “belief” in God had already been assimilated, what was the First Commandment teach them?

To be continued…