The Game of the Ten Commandments.

ולקחתי אתכם לי לעם והייתי לכם לאלקים

Shemot 6: 7

In a couple of weeks, when we get to Parashat Yitró, we will read in the Torah what might be considered his best known text: the Ten Commandments.

In the next few days I would like to study them together with you and thus be a little more prepared to understand them better.

THE EXIT OF EGYPT

When God announces to Moshe that He will rescue the people of Israel from slavery, He also says: “And I will take you as My people, and I will be His Eloqim for you” (Exodus 6: 7).

“And I will be your ” Eloqim” does not mean that God says that he will be our “God” in theological terms. As we will show later, the word Eloqim in this context means: Supreme authority. Legislator. Sovereign. The Tora often uses the word “Eloqim” to refer to judges, the highest judicial authority.

The people of Israel will become God’s chosen one, the bearer of the Divine Word. But this privilege does not imply more rights: it mainly means the obligation to live according to the laws and precepts that God, “our Legislator” establishes

QUESTION: How was this bilateral relationship established? In other words: When and how does God become our Eloqim?

ANSWER: Through a pact, in Hebrew “berit”, that was celebrated on Mount Sinai, on the 6th day of the month of Siván, 49 days after the Jews left Egypt. In this covenant, God offers to consecrate the nation of Israel as His people and commits to take care of it as their most precious possession (am segulá), i.e., guaranteeing its eternal existence, among other things. The Jewish people, for their part, commit themselves to obey God, and accept the commandments they already know, and in addition those rules that they still do not yet know (נעשה ונשמע). For the people of Israel there will be no other God and no other Law.

The terms of this covenant will be presented throughout the Tora and will include not just ten but a total 613 precepts or commandments, which the Jewish people will adopt, from now on, as its National Constitution.

The central part of the celebration of this covenant takes place when, for the first and only time, God revealed himself to all the people of Israel, to convey the Ten Commandments.

THE IMPORTANCE OF THE TEN COMMANDMENTS

Despite its obviously “national” character (God is speaking specifically to the People of Israel) , the Ten Commandments are considered as the basic rules that any human society needs to survive and prosper.

The Ten Commandments do not contain abstract sayings. They don’t say: “You must be a good person” or “Listen to your heart.” Cliches can not work in the field of ethics. Men need clearer instructions to live and especially to live with others. Good intentions are not enough. Telling someone: “You have to be a good person” without giving more precise indications, it is like telling an individual “You have to be a good pilot” and expect that he will know what do do without taking any flying lessons.

The Ten Commandments, and I think this is the most important thing, are not still very relevant. They are eternal. They have never gone out of style or became unnecessary. When I teach the Ten Commandments the title of my class is usually: “The Game of the Ten Commandments”. This game is very simple. First I explain The Ten Commandments, one by one (and I never cease to be amazed at how little the common Jew knows about them). Then I ask my audience: Which of these commandments has expired? Which one of these laws has gone out of style, is NO longer relevant or necessary?

The answer?

A very long silence



Donald J. Trump: A President of Biblical Stature

THE INEVITABLE END?

The Jewish people were going through one of its worst crises. Jerusalem had been destroyed decades ago, in 586 BCE. Jewish refugees living in Babylon were assimilating at a galloping pace. They married pagan refugees; they no longer spoke in Hebrew; and they had begun to practice pagan rites. The land of Israel had almost no Jews. The Babylonians sent there pagans, from several conquered civilizations, and without a defined identity, to work the land and prevent its desertification. This new ethnic group, the Samaritans, who were now natives of Israel, were very comfortable in the Holy Land. The Babylonians had no intention to authorize the Jews, let alone encourage them, to return to their land. It seemed that the prophecy of Yirmiyahu (Jeremiah), who anticipated that God would bring His people back to Israel, was not going to be fulfilled…. Without a land and a Temple, the complete integration of the Jews into the Babylonian society was only a matter of time. The end of the Jewish people was, seemingly, imminent.

THE HEART OF THE KINGS, AS PER PROVERBS 21:1

And then a “miracle” happened. It was not a supernatural event like the opening of the Red Sea. It was a historical-military event, something that could be considered a “normal” historical development. In 538 BCE the Persians defeated the Babylonians and took their empire. A new emperor emerged: Koresh (Cyrus). At first, no one knew what Koresh policy with the Jews would be. But the uncertainty did not last long.

To relate what happened next, something totally unexpected, I am going to copy below what the Tanakh (the Hebrew Bible) says, literally, in its last 2 verses: “In the first year of Cyrus, king of Persia, at the time that the Divine promise that Yirmiyahu had prophesied should be fulfilled, HaShem awakened [= inspired] the spirit of Koresh [Cyrus], king of Persia. And [Koresh] proclaimed this statement, which he also recorded in a document, saying. “Thus says Koresh king of Persia, HaShem, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth, and he has charged me to build for Him a house at Jerusalem, which is in Judeah. Whoever is among you of all his people, may HaShem his God be with him and let him go up [=back to Israel.’”

I would like to analyze the implications of Koresh’s proclamation:

Koresh recognized Israel as a people, a nation in exile, with a geographical and historical reference. Something that the many Jews had already begun to forget.

Koresh recognized that the Jews of Babylon had a historical right to the land Israel, which exceeded the right of the Samaritans who were brought there to work the land.

Koresh explicitly mentioned Jerusalem as the capital of the Jewish people, the place where the “House of God”, the Bet haMiqdash, should be rebuilt.

Koresh not only declared and wrote a document expressing his willingness to rebuild Jerusalem for the Jews, and help them to live there in peace, protected from their numerous enemies. Koresh also took care of financing this project. He directed funds from the prosperous Persian Jewish community for this purpose, and contributed funds from his own royal treasury.

Koresh sent some of his guards to accompany the Jews who emigrated to Israel, to protect them on the dangerous roads, and he provided those who travel to Jerusalem with provisions, wood and other construction materials for the job.

Koresh exceeded the expectations of all Jews when he did this: The Babylonian king Nebukhadnetsar, who had destroyed the Temple in Jerusalem, took all the vessels of the Bet haMiqdash, the utensils and sacred objects made of gold and silver, to his royal treasure. Koresh, in an unprecedented act, restored all these vessels to the Jews, and sent them back to Jerusalem to be used again in the Bet haMiqdash.

It is interesting to note that King Koresh never claimed he was Jewish or of jewish descent. But as the Biblical text clearly says, he proclaimed that HaShem “had awaken his spirit” and inspired him to help the Jews to return to their land, rebuild it and defend it.

The prophet Yesha’ayahu (Isaiah) also referred to Koresh in chapters 44 and 45 of his book. Yesha’ayahu described Koresh as the king that God had crowned to help His flock to return to its original pasture lands: Israel.

 

What did President Donald Trump do for Israel and for the Jews since he was elected ?

President Trump recognized Jerusalem by Congressional Law as the indivisible capital of the State of Israel and moved there the US embassy.

President Trump canceled the nuclear agreement that President Obama signed with Iran, which was considered extremely dangerous for Israel.

President Trump imposed severe economic sanctions on the Iranian government to prevent the extremist regime from obtaining or developing nuclear weapons, and to stop its aggressive expansion in the Middle East. The state of Israel considers the Iranian regime as the greatest threat to its existence.

President Trump recognized Israeli sovereignty in the Golan.

President Trump recognized the legality of Jewish cities and towns in Judea and Samaria. No more “occupied territories”. 

President Trump ordered the suspension of economic aid to the Palestinian authority in Ramallah, and to UNRWA, for supporting terrorism. For that same reason he removed the representative of the Palestinian Authority in Washington.

President Trump encourages and fosters the normalization of diplomatic relations between Arab states (Emirates, Oman, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, etc.) and Israel.

President Trump enacted a new law against anti-Semitism in American universities.

לב מלך ביד ה’ על כל אשר יחפץ יטנו

The heart of the kings is in the hands of God, He DIRECTS [theIR HEART] at His will

Proverbs 21: 1



The difference between Auschwitz and Jerusalem

“More than 40 world leaders gathered in Jerusalem to honor the victims of Nazi extermination, on the 75th anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp.”

Question: What is the most important part of this title?

Answer: “in Jerusalem“

Why? The world’s leaders converged in Jerusalem, in what was the largest diplomatic event in the history of the State of Israel. But some leaders were not there. I do not mean the leaders of Iran or the Arab countries. I mean Poland. The Polish government wanted the commemoration of the Liberation of Auschwitz- where 1.1 million Jews were killed- to take place in Auschwitz. Auschwitz is located in the district of Oświęcim, which is Polish territory. In Oświęcim there are many monuments as well as a very significant place: the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum,  where according to the Polish government the ceremony should have been held.

What is the difference between celebrating the liberation of Auschwitz in Auschwitz or in Yad Vashem, Jerusalem?

The ceremony at the Auschwitz museum would have been a great honor towards the dead. Visitors could have watched and felt the very horror of the death trains. Seen the infamous piles of thousands and thousands of suitcases in which the prisoners brought their valuable possessions; of which they were immediately stripped. The burned pieces of the Tora scrolls, which some Jews, risking their lives, had carried with them to the camp. In Auschwitz, the main world leaders could have seen and felt everything the Nazis did to murder the Jews and destroy their legacy.

In Jerusalem, these VIP visitors saw something very different. They saw the children and grandchildren of the survivors of Auschwitz and the Shoa “live” in Israel. 

They saw that the descendants of the survivors built in Jerusalem a very modern light train that crosses the vibrant city from one end to another. The honorable visitors saw the thousands of passengers who daily take those trains to their jobs, their errands or their homes.

In Jerusalem they also saw that there are blonde Jews, brunette Jews, white Jews, and Jews of color. And that they speak French, Spanish, Russian, Ethiopian and Hebrew. They saw that millions of Jewish immigrants arrived with their suitcases to stay in the land of their ancestors, and that they are not planing to leave.

Visitors also saw that in Jerusalem the Tora is not in pieces, or burned, or in a museum. The Tora is alive. It is heard through all of the streets, corners and markets. It guides the steps, actions and thoughts of millions of citizens of Israel. And its voice resonates not in Latin but in its original Hebrew. Stronger than ever.

Commemorating the liberation of Auschwitz in Yerushalayim is a powerful message. The people of Israel are not in a museum. The Jewish nation rose from the ashes of Auschwitz and live now in the warm land that God had destined for His people.

Rabbi Yosef Bitton

THE TRAIN TO AUSCHWITZ

https://youtu.be/mNaGaknaalk

THE LIGHT TRAIN IN JERUSALEM



The tradition of Aleppo Jews

Rabbis and officials from the Great synagogue of Aleppo at the beginning of the 20th Century

The tradition of many Jewish families from Aleppo (=Halab), Syria, is to light an extra candle in addition to the regular candles that we all light during Hanukkah. Thus, on the first night of Hanukkah, the Jews from the communities of Aleppo light three candles: 1. One regular Hanukkah candle. 2. The auxiliary-candle or shamash. 3. One additional candle. Tonight, the fourth night of Hanukkah, they will light four candles, the Shamash, and one additional candle, and so on.

Not all Jews from Aleppo follow this tradition; only those families who trace their origins to Spain do so. But why? When the Jews were expelled from Spain in 1492 (or from Portugal in 1497), they fled to various destinations. Some of them arrived in Italy, Turkey, and Greece. Others settled in North Africa: Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, and Egypt. Many also came to Eretz Israel and Syria. In most of the cities where these refugees from Spain (called “Sepharadim” since then) settled, well-established local Jewish communities existed. The Sephardim integrated into the existing communities but still maintained their ancient customs and culture. In many cases, the Sephardim became the majority or the dominant minority, and gradually, the local Jews (known in Arab countries as musta’arabim) adopted the customs of the Spanish Jews and considered themselves “Sepharadim,” even though their ancestors were never in Spain. In cities like Istanbul, Turkey, or Salonica in Greece, where most Spanish refugees arrived, they continued to speak ancient Spanish or Ladino, almost to this day.

For several decades after the expulsion from Spain, many Sephardic families arrived in Syria directly from Spain or after spending some time in Italy, Turkey, Egypt, or Israel. The famous Spanish traveler, Captain Domingo de Toral (1598-1640), wrote in his memoirs “Relations of Captain Domingo de Toral and Valdés” that when he visited Aleppo, Syria, in 1634, he found there, to his surprise, “More than 800 families of Castilian-speaking Jews.”

But why did those families who came to Aleppo from Spain adopt the custom of lighting an extra candle?

The Sephardic Jews who arrived in Aleppo considered their safe arrival in their new destination nothing short of a miracle. The Jews expelled from Spain and Portugal, numbering around 250,000, were exposed to all kinds of dangers during their travels, especially at sea. Firstly, at sea, they were completely helpless, with nothing and no one to protect them, at the mercy of the captains of small ships and their crew, who only wanted to keep for themselves the few possessions that these refugees brought with them. Embarking on a trip at sea was an open invitation to all kinds of abuses. Many Jews drowned at sea (see below), and in the best case, some were sold as slaves. Even if the captain of the ship miraculously fulfilled his promise and attempted to take them to their destination, travelers still risked being attacked by pirates, suffering from starvation, being exposed to storms that could sink their fragile ships, and facing the ever-present threat of diseases and epidemics. All these tribulations claimed the lives of tens of thousands of Yehudim. Remember the story of Rabbi Isaac Caro? (See here). He left Portugal for Israel but never reached Israel and eventually ended up in Turkey. In that terrible journey, he lost his entire family, wife, and children, all except for one daughter…

Having arrived safely in Aleppo, probably around Hanukkah time, these families decided to recall their story and thank God for their miraculous salvation. And to do that, they decided to light an additional candle each night of Hanukkah.

It is worth noting that while for virtually all Mitsvot it is forbidden to do something extra or add an additional element (for example, it is not allowed to place five tsitsiot in a tallit, etc.), the amount of candles we light on Hanukkah has a minimum number: one candle per night, but there is no maximum number of candles we are allowed to light.

THE HAZARDS OF TRAVELING BY SEA IN THE MIDDLE AGES

In 1290, the Jews were expelled from England. Lord Edward Coke wrote: “The captain and crew of one of the largest ships assigned to deport the Jews conceived a dastardly plot to get rid of all its passengers, a particularly wealthy group of Jews with some extremely valuable luggage. Once all the Jews were aboard, the ship duly set sail down the Thames. However, as it was nearing the mouth of the river, at Queensborough, the Captain dropped anchor, leaving the ship to bob about until it was low tide. At last, when the craft was embedded upon the sands, the captain announced he was going to take a stroll and invited his Jewish passengers to accompany him, saying the air would do them good. The Jews, who thought they must be ashore and suspecting nothing, gladly accepted the captain’s kind invitation and disembarked in high spirits. They spent many happy hours amusing themselves on the sands, and they were enjoying themselves so much that they failed to notice either that the tide had begun to come back in or that the captain had quietly tiptoed back to the ship. By the time they realized what was happening and the grave danger they were in, the tide was coming in thick and fast. But it was too late. When they ran back to the ship, calling out to be helped back on board, the villainous captain refused, laughing loudly and calling down to them, ‘Don’t ask me for help, ask your prophet Moses; if he could get your forefathers across the Red Sea, he’s bound to be able to help you out of this!’ And without another word, he left them to the mercy of the waves. Each and every one of them was drowned.”

 A NOTE FROM SHELOMO EZRA ANTEBI SACCA. Dec 29, 2016

The wise scholar who composed in Sefer Yitzhak Yeranen, Siman Samekh-Daled, writes something similar to what you have described, and he says, “In my opinion, in memory of the miracle of their escape from the Inquisition, they lit additional Hanukkah candles to give thanks and praise to the Almighty. Perhaps their departure from the oppression occurred during Hanukkah.”

In contrast, in the book Derech Eretz (Adas) on pages Kaf-Mem-Gimel-Dalet, it brings the words of Rabbi Yitzhak Zefrani (may he live long and well) who said that this custom was practiced even in Spain. He further writes there, in the name of Rabbi Yitzhak Tuwiel (may he live long and well), that “the sons of Spain were honorable and exalted people, and throughout the year, they would light two candles to illuminate their homes. Therefore, on Hanukkah, they did not recognize the distinction when lighting only two candles on the first night. Thus, they lit two shamashim, and consequently, on every night, they continued to add a candle, and so forth.”

He also brings there in Derech Eretz on page Reish-Chet that it cites an article published in one newspaper where Rabbi Nathan Salim testified that this custom is because when the Jews of Spain went into exile, they roamed for months without finding rest. When they finally reached the shore in safety, they decided to add a candle on Hanukkah as a sign of gratitude for their salvation. This is similar to what you have written.


When a baby dies

If a baby dies at birth or before completing 30 days of life, the relatives do not do or keep any mourning for the baby. The same rule applies to a baby born at seven months, even though the baby was in an incubator for more than a month. But if the baby dies  30 days or more days after birth, or if he or she died within 30 days of life, and it is possible to confirm that the gestation period was nine whole months, normal mourning (Ylalqut Yosef) is kept. In the Mashadi community, the tradition is that if a baby passes away less than 30 days after birth, the parents and family do not keep any mourning, independently of the the time of pregnancy



SHEMOT: A story of Brotherhood and Envy

We finished the book of Bereshit. And this week we start the book of Shemot. The story is more or less known. Bereshit tells how the first Jewish “family”, bene Israel, was formed, while the book of Shemot tells us how the Jewish “people”, ‘am Israel, was formed.
The Tora is not a simple book. Among the things that make the Tora a unique book is that “behind” the main plot you can find hidden sub-stories interwoven with the main plot, but somehow independent of it. I will show you one. The story of Brotherhood vs. Envy
The tension between brothers is already evident from the beginning, Cain and Abel. In this case, envy is generated by looking for Divine attention. HaShem accepted Abel’s sacrifice and rejected Cain’s. And Cain, instead of striving to do it better, as his creator suggested, decided it was easier to kill (literally!) the competition.
Twenty generations later, Yishma’el, according to the Midrash, tried to kill his brother Isaac, Abraham’s favorite.
The children of Isaac, Ya’aqob and Esav, who were twins, compete from the womb for the birthright. After what happened with the blessing of Isaac, Esav threatened Ya’aqob with death. In the end there is a reconciliation between the brothers, but for the brotherhood to be maintained, the brothers, ironically, have to live apart from each other.
The point of highest tension between brothers comes with the sons of Ya’aqob. Yosef, who enjoys the favor of his father, awakens the envy of his brothers.  And this envy is transformed into hatred. And this hatred, into planning the murder of Yosef. In the end, they sell Yosef as a slave, a virtual death sentence.
Twenty years later, the brothers expressed their remorse for what they did and in a huge act of altruism Yosef forgives them. And thus, apparently, the cycle of envy and resentment between brothers, which began with the first inhabitants of the planets, comes a to closure.   But Bereshit is not finished yet. And the story of brotherhood continues. But now it improves The last brothers to be mentioned in Bereshit are the sons of Yosef: Ephraim and Menashe. For the first time it is the grandfather and not the father who assigns the birthright and decides to whom it belongs. Ya’aqob blesses them “putting Efraim, the youngest, before the older, Menashe.”
And when it seems that the wounds are going to reopen, and that Menashe is going to threaten, kill or sell Efraim … none of that happens. Menashe, despite having a valid reason to envy his brother, lives in peace with him. For the first time the love between brothers overcame the power of envy. Menashe successfully passes the test of fraternal envy and the book of Bereshit ends (for this reason, by the way, we bless our children with the blessing of Ephraim and Menashe, wishing them to be good children and also good siblings) .
Now a new book begins, Shemot. Which also has sub-stories interwoven with the main story. The main story tells that Moshe is assigned as the envoy of HaShem to rescue Israel from captivity. Moshe asks for help for his mission and HaShem sends him as his assistant… his brother Aharon! This is a big potential problem Aharon is the older brother. And according to the norms of those days, the older should be the leader of the family, for whatever was necessary …. Now instead, Aharon is going to be Moshe’s assistant, his shadow …
We all suspect now that envy will overcome brotherhood. The most optimistic might assume that Aharon is not going to get angry. Following the steps of Menashe, he will control his envy.But the Tora has a beautiful surprise reserved for us.The reaction of Aharon was unprecedented, and shows us the best of the humankind. Aharon not only that he does not envy the position of Moshe. Aharon is happy for Moshe וראך ושמח בליבו, “And when Aharon sees you, he will rejoice in his heart.”   The book of Bereshit began with fratricide: one brother killing the other. But with Menashe brotherhood evolved into harmony. What could be higher than the acceptance of the other’s success? Aharon changes the history of sibling rivalry by 180 degrees. And taught us one of the most beautiful lessons in life: learn to rejoice for the success of your brother. Be happy for another person’s happiness.



How to pray?

 

In the Talmudic tractate of Ta’anit page 23, the Gemara tells us about Abba Hilqiya, an extremely honest man, who worked hard to make a living, and lived a life of poverty. His daily meal consisted of a piece of bread, which he shared with his wife, his two children, and any poor and needy who came to his house to ask for a morsel of that piece of bread. Abba Hilqiya was also known for possessing a very special “gift”: his prayers (like those of his grandfather Honi haMe’aggel) were reputed to be answered.

The Gemara tells us that, during a particular year of a severe drought, the Sages of Israel sent a delegation of two Rabbis to see Abba Hilqiya to ask him to pray for rain. Before even talking to the sages, Abba Hilqiya had already called his wife and, very discreetly, without saying anything to the Sages, went up with her to the rooftop, and began to pray, together: each at a different corner. Incidentally, this beautiful imagery, that of a husband and a wife praying together in different corners, appears as a theme also in other places: this is the way a Jewish couple prays together for the same thing.  Separated but united.  In this week’s Perasha, Toledot, the Tora (and the Midrash) describes very similarly how Yitzhaq and his wife Ribqa prayed for a child (לנוכח אשתו).

Returning to Abba Hilqiya, soon after his wife and he started to pray, a cloud appeared in the sky bringing the desired rain. The Gemara notes that this cloud did not come from the side of the rooftop where Abba Hilqiya was praying. The cloud arrived from the side where his wife prayed, hinting that the rain had come mainly because of her merit.

Abba Hilqiya came down from the roof, without being seen by the Sages, and claimed: “Well, I presume you came to ask me to pray for rain. If so, you can go home now, because, as you see, it already started raining on its own.”  This beautiful story continues describing the dialogue that took place between the Rabbis — who knew that Abba Hilqiya had actually prayed– and Abba Hilqiya (the full story can be seen here).

Several important lessons are learned from this episode of Abba Hilqiya that can teach us how we should pray.

Let’s start with the most obvious.

1. As the Gemara itself cares to show, personal virtues that a person has are correlated with such person’s prayers being answered: honesty, integrity and assisting people in need, seem to be at the top of this list.

2. There is another element that, although less explicit, also is clear. The modesty of Abba Hilqiya, who did all what he could in order not to take credit for the rain. 

3. The point I want to stress most is one that is more subtle: If Abba Hilqiya was so poor, and he knew that his prayers were heard by God, why did he not simply pray for his own material well-being?  Honestly, I don’t know the answer (please, email me if you have read any commentary about this point). But I can think of two possibilities. a) That Abba Hilqiya cared so little about materialism that one piece of bread a day was enough for him, and he did not consider it necessary to pray for more than what he needed to live. And perhaps, this extreme simplicity was yet another merit that made him and his wife deserving of God’s attention. b) That HaShem listens to our prayer especially when we pray for others. That is, when we pray for the welfare or good health of another person, or for the success of Am Israel in general, as Abba Hilqiya did at the time all Israel was suffering for the lack of rain.
 
On a more personal note, our family had the merit of knowing a woman whose behavior was very similar to that of Abba Hilqiya and his wife: that was ORO BAT ESTER z ”l, my wife’s mother.
 
√ During the numberless derashot that took place these days in her honor in Ashdod, Israel, it was heard, for example, that she always asked her daughters to bring with them some nice perfumes when returning from traveling abroad. But she never used any perfume. They eventually came to find out that, when she learned of any bride without financial means, she would very discreetly hand her an envelope with money along with a perfume with a nice bow that she had made herself. She was always doing good things for others, and in total discretion. 
 
√ One of her grandchildren said that he once got up in the middle of the night and found “Abuela Nori” z “l in a corner of her humble apartment doing Tefila and crying. When he asked her what was wrong, she replied that she was crying because the Chayalim, the young soldiers of the Israeli army, were exposed to too much danger those days, and she was begging HaShem with all her heart to protect them.
 
√ In our family, we all used to share with her all our challenges and problems, big and small, because we knew that she would pray for us. She was the one in our family with all the merits to be heard by Bore Olam!  And it was a very poorly-kept secret that, if HaShem listened to our Tefilot, and our problem was somehow solved, we all knew that “the cloud of rain” must have had arrived from Abuela Nori’s side of the rooftop.


How to live?

Every so often I wonder: as a Jew, to what kind of life should I aspire to live? How can I improve my connection with God? And once and again I reach the same conclusion: the secret lies in a verse from the book of Tehillim (Psalm 16): שויתי ה ‘לנגדי תמיד. With this verse, King David claimed: “I have set God in front of me, always”, with emphasis on the word “always”.

FEARING GOD

Having God in front of us means having God in mind. It means to visualize (without visualizing God, ח”ו) that He is seeing me.    Think for a moment of an employee that works at an important company. He handles money, solves conflicts and deals with customers. If the employee knows that his boss, the company’s owner, is constantly watching his every movement through the security cameras, this employee will hardly fall into the temptation to behave dishonestly with money that does not belong to him; or fighting with another employee; or disrespecting a customer. With time, the good behavior of this employee, which began as a reaction to being watched by the security cameras, would become his habitual behavior. As the saying goes in Hebrew: what begins as a habit becomes a second nature (הרגל נעשה טבע). 

Now we can better understand what King David said in Tehillim: if I am convinced that God sees what I do, hears what I say and knows what I think, I will be naturally inclined to do only what is right in the eyes of God. And as long as I don’t stop noticing that I am “being observed by God” I am surely immune from acting in ways I know are not proper. 

DOING HIS WILL

Knowing that God observes me not only protects me from being tempted to do what is wrong in His eyes, even when I am alone and nobody else sees me.  When I become aware that God is following me closely, I must assume that God is not indifferent to my life and to what I do with it. And this in itself is a very empowering idea: If He is noticing me, it is because I matter to Him. And since He knows my full potential, He also knows the great things I can achieve.  If I reach the level of feeling that God is watching me, and I don’t lose sight of this feeling, then I also have the greatest motivation to try and reach for what I can potentially become. And when, beyond believing in God’s existence, I become aware of His constant presence, then I will surely decide to make my will be His will: to spontaneously wishing to do whatever it is that He wishes me to do.

LOVING GOD

Finally, if God watches me, it is because I am a person of interest to Him. His interest in me cannot be a function of God’s benefit or any other earthly thing like that…  what could I possible give Him or benefitting Him? Thus, His interest in me is totally disinterested. And we, as humans, call this disinterested interest “love.” God cares about me because he loves me. As the Tora says, God loves us as a father loves his children. Is any feeling more powerful than knowing that you are loved? And God’s love, when one genuinely feels it, engenders a natural reciprocity. Those who, like King David, are able to feel that God loves them, in good times and in bad times, end up loving God back. And this begins a self-propagating cycle of being loved, and loving. Realizing even more tangibly how much one is loved, and then loving even more, etc. Just like a bride and groom, who cannot stop thinking about each other. In that state, when I realize that God watching me translates into His love for me, and for which I love Him back, my mind gets fixated on Him, the object of my love, and all material distractions vanish from the brain. This is how and when we reach King David’s spiritual level: שויתי ה ‘לנגדי תמיד

THE WORST ENEMY OF THE TRUE FAITH

What we just described is David HaMelekh’s formula for our spiritual growth, or, dare I say, a brief summary of the purpose of the life of a Jewish individual. Living under God’s eyes.  An knowing it. Fearing disobeying him for fearing to disappoint Him. Naturally wishing to act as He wills. Feeling loved by Him and loving Him to the point of not being able to stop thinking about Him…

There is only one problem. All what I wrote is relatively easy to explain with words. But it is very difficult to do. More precisely, it is incredibly difficult to act in this way with any sort of consistency. It is doable to “live under God’s eyes” for a few moments: while praying, while studying Tora (and sometimes even in those moments is difficult to focus). The greater challenge is the “always” Kind David was telling us about. Living aware of His presence “constantly”… How many people, apart from King David, can reach this level of a permanent awareness of God, without succumbing to the enemy number one of Emuna: being distracted from God’s Presence?

THE EXCEPTION

To be inspired to write this, I had only  to think of my dear mother-in-law, ORO BAT ESTER z”l.  She embodied King David’s motto: שויתי ה‘ לנגדי תמיד.  Without studying Gemara or Jewish philosophy, she articulated this facet of EMUNA, beyond words, with her permanent devotion to HaShem. Aware of God’s will that the needy be helped, she volunteered to be that vehicle for God’s will and assisted those who were truly needy people, those whom no one knows are poor, because they feel too embarrassed to ask.  
She understood God tends to those who need help, and so that is what she did: taking care of the sick, comforting the mourners, helping the widows, protecting the orphans or helping the brides to be.

I will never forget the immense gratitude and joy that she always showed for all that God gave her, which–for that uncommon humility that only those who are very close to HaShem feel–she never felt she deserved.

Knowing that God was watching her, and over her, she always acted with total and explicit acceptance of many and great difficulties she suffered, for which she never complained.

My dear mother-in-law lived permanently in the presence of God. And what is more (and uncommon): her behavior and her actions made others too notice His presence.…

Her life was dedicated to respect and love HaShem and His people; to love and care for her beloved husband Ribbi David Carciente z”l , and for their expansive and beloved family.

Today marks the seventh day following her departure from this earth.

May she be the inspiration for my children and grandchildren and for all those who wonder how to live in God’s presence.



Disconnect to reconnect

VIRTUAL or REAL REALITY?

Try to visualize the video-recording of a day of our lives: How much of that movie would be showing us in front of some kind of a screen, or connected to a tablet or a cell phone?

Electronic devices are addictive.  Even when we distance ourselves from work in order to rest and relax, we do so by “connecting” to the same devices we have been using nonstop at work  or on our way to work, Monday through Friday.

Currently, the average American spends 15 hours per day connected to some type of media.  Just take any subway in New York city or walk thru its streets. You will hardly find someone who is not with his or her headphones in,  connected to their cell phone or tablets. 

A PROBLEM WITH NO SOLUTION

Digital technology has become dangerously additive and uncontrollable.

In schools, teachers and educators have no idea how to prevent students from disconnecting   their cell phones.

Parents see helplessly as their young children prefer to hold  iphones and androids in their small hands instead of holding the hands of their parents.

“Separation anxiety” a  term that used to be used in psychology to define the anguish that young children suffer when they separate from their parents, is used today to describe the trauma of children and adolescents suffer when they accidentally separate from their cell phones!

This permanent connection to our electronic devices does not allow us to use different parts of our brain. Disconnecting ourselves from the cyberspace matrix is ​​today, more urgent than ever.

But nobody knows how to fight against this technological dependence. With the exception of AM ISRAEL.

DISCONNECT TO RECONNECT

HaShem granted us the gift of Shabbat. Throughout our long history,  somehow, Shabbat always benefited us. In times of hard physical work, Shabbat freed us from exhaustion. In times of persecution, we found refuge in the Shabbat as an emotional island that made us forget our sorrows. In times of poverty, we knew that one day a week, at our table there would be no lack of bread or the best foods we could afford.

In modern times,  one of the greatest benefits of Shabbat is that it “forces” us to disconnect from the virtual world. On Shabbat, for a little more than 24 hours, from Friday afternoon to Saturday night, all contact with the electronic world is suspended.

“The power of disconnection” was never more important than today.

Disconnected from the virtual world, we can enjoy the pleasures of the real world. The aromas of Shabbat, the songs at Shabbat table, the time shared with our parents, and the conversations in a non-binary language with our children.

Shabbat was never so necessary as today!

SHABBAT TOGETHER

Tonight we will begin celebrating the “Shabbat Project”, a beautiful program that encourages all Jews in the world to fully observe Shabbat. During this Shabbat an even after this Shabbat ends, we will NOT have an explosion of pictures on our screens showing  the beautiful Shabbat dinners or lunches that are celebrated in millions of Jewish homes around the world.

What we live and will see with our eyes this Shabbat will have a value that goes beyond the photographic image: the value of the unrecoverable. These are images and memories that will NOT be shared in a video by WhatsApp. They will be recorded in our hearts.

In addition, we will be inspired by knowing that, although we do not see it in our phones,  millions of Jews are observing this Shabbat simultaneously .

Today, the gift of Shabbat is that it helps us to disconnect from our cell phones and allow us to reconnect with God, with our family and with our people.

Today, Friday November 15th before 4.30pm, say goodbye to your cell phone and be ready to capture with the 94.5 Megapixels of your eyes the non-digital images of this memorable Shabbat.

SHABBAT SHALOM



GENESIS 1:2. Gone With The Wind

ורוח אלוקים מרחפת על פני המים

And a Divine wind was blowing on the face of the waters

The correct translation of these two words, ruah Eloqim is the key to understanding the entire sequence of the creative process. In biblical Hebrew ruah originally means ‘wind’.

But in a metaphorical sense the word ruach can also refer to the soul, breath or Divine inspiration: an invisible intellectual or mental state that moves human beings, especially the prophets. On two occasions the Tora uses the expression ruach Eloqim in this sense, referring to a special kind of wisdom granted by God. 1). When Pharaoh marveled at Yosef’s wisdom (Gen 41, 38) he said that Yosef is “a man who possesses ruach Eloqim [‘ a special divine wisdom ’]”. 2). When God orders Moses to designate Betzalel (Exodus 31, 3) to be the architect of the Tabernacle, He tells him that He granted Betzalel ruach Eloqim, a divine wisdom, which was later called ruach chokhma, ‘a spirit of wisdom’ . Throughout the Tanakh, ruach Eloqim retains the same connotation: an extraordinary form of Divine wisdom or inspiration that is usually granted to a prophet. In the same way the Sages have used the term ruach haqodesh to refer to Divine inspiration.

The meaning of this and other metaphorical forms of the word ruach point to an invisible force that moves or transports by Divine command (we say in the hashkabot ruach haShem tenichenu began eden, referring – metaphorically – to a wind sent by God that lifts the soul of the deceased and takes it to Gan Eden).

But what can ruach Eloqim mean in our verse? The absence of any human being who may be the subject or recipient of a special Divine wisdom does not allow us to understand these words in their common metaphorical sense as Divine inspiration, soul, etc.

THE CHRISTIAN TRANSLATION

Christian translations do not hesitate to translate ruach eloqim as “divine spirit ” or “spirit of God”. Why? Because one of the fundamental principles of Christian doctrine is the trinity, that is, the existence of the father, the son and the divine (or holy) spirit. The rendition “divine spirit” floating on the waters at the time of the creation of the world, is a confirmation of this Catholic doctrine. This “ideological” translation should not surprise us since, as we might one day explain, the Christian interpretation of the Bible has a fundamental objective: denying normative Judaism and affirming the doctrines of the church.

THE JEWISH TRANSLATION

The idea of ​​ruach Eloqim as ‘the spirit of God’ is a concept totally foreign to Judaism and offensive to Jewish beliefs. It is an idea that if taken seriously goes against the Jewish principle of monotheism and dangerously approaches anthropomorphism, that is, the personification of God (“spirit” usually stands as oppose to “body” or “flesh”) .

The official Jewish translation, the Targum, which every vernacular translation should take as a reference, renders ruach Eloqim as WIND guided by God, that is: wind is not a blind random natural force, but an instrument in God’s creation.

A WIND COMING FROM GOD

With this understanding, we can see that in this verse that describes the inventory of planet earth, the Tora mentions the second physical element (the first is water) present on planet Earth at the time of its creation: the wind. And this wind, this text indicates, is guided by God. And while the Tora does not explicitly mention it, Ben Ezra and Radaq explained that “wind” will be a divine auxiliary element in creation, and will be used by God on the third day to “dry” the land that emerges from the depths of the ocean. The wind as a Divine agent appears many times in the biblical text and in rabbinic literature. For example, the Tora explicitly mentions that God brought the locust plague to Egypt through a wind blowing from the east. Or that God opened the sea, drying it with His winds, so that the Jews could escape from the Egyptians. Ruach Eloqim means that God uses wind as one of His agents in “nature.” Following the same idea, every day in our prayers we mention that God “blows the wind to produce rain.”

King David in the beautiful words of his Psalms (Tehilim 104:4) coined an expression that very much paraphrases the words Ruach Eloqim. He said: ruach se’ara osa debaro, “the powerful wind that follows His command”.