Parshat B'Shalach
By Rabbi Avi Billet
Every time I hear a "Hillul Hashem" story involving so-called religious Jews going to prison, I contemplate what the term "religious" means. I will not be one to say that people are perfect and don't make mistakes. And perhaps, some people are in the wrong place in the wrong time, and are drawn in for the unfortunate ride.
And, of course, there's always room for teshuva.
But when the media refers to a person, going to or in prison, as "a religious Jew," who demands kosher food, and the need to have a minyan, or to attend his son's bar-mitzvah or his grandson's bris, I can't help thinking that there's something very very wrong with this picture. While in oppressive regimes and anti-Semitic cultures it was common for a Jew to be put in prison under false pretenses, in the United States it is extremely difficult to present such an argument.
And so I arrive at the conclusion that these are not really religious Jews, because a religious Jew is supposed to live a life that will never end him up in prison.
Perhaps the flaw lies in the fact that a rote and systematic form of "religious practice" does not speak for the soul of the human being, does not answer for how a person feels, and how his Jewish practices are supposed to enter his heart – past the surface, to create a Jew who is "tocho k'baro," whose inside (what causes him to do the things he does) reflects his outside appearances of a noticeable kippah and tzitzis, perhaps even a beard.
This is an extremely important lesson that the Israelites learn in the events leading up to the splitting of the sea.
The Torah tells us that "As Paroh approached, the Israelites saw the Egyptians marching at their rear, and they became very frightened ("Va'yi'r'oo me'od"). The Israelites cried out to God." (14:10) The source of their fear is the Egyptian army, which causes them to cry out.
The story plays out – Moshe rebukes and encourages the people then splits the sea, the Israelites cross the sea and are chased by the Egyptians, and the Egyptians finally recognize God and how He has defeated them as the walls of water come tumbling down upon them.
Then the Torah tells us the words that have become so familiar because they are part of the Shacharit service. As the Egyptians lay dead at the seashore, "The Israelites saw the great power that God had unleashed against Egypt, and the people were in awe of God ("Va'yi'r'oo ha'am et Hashem"). They believed in God and in His servant Moshe" (14:31). The Hebrew word for "fear" in 14:10 is the same Hebrew word for "awe" in 14:31.
The problem the people faced initially was that while they were ready to cry to God when things seemed not to go their way, their fear was misplaced. They feared Egypt, when they were supposed to fear, revere, and stand in awe of God.
Only after they witnessed the miracle of their physical salvation were they able to recognize that their fear, until that moment, had focused on the wrong object.
Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch writes "Fear and belief are the two basic qualities that are always to pulsate in the heart of the Jew who stands before God. There is only one Being Whom we should fear and trust at the same time, and that is God, the one sole God, Who is as loving as He is just, as just as He is loving, and equally omnipotent in the exercise of His love and justice… Just as this moment attests to God's hand acting omnipotently with mercy and with justice, so, too, it is everlasting testimony to the authenticity of the mission of His servant Moshe."
Moshe was and remains our guide to living and leading a proper life. Fear of God is essential, while fear of the Egyptians is wrongly focused. Perhaps the only good quality of fearing Egypt is that it caused our ancestors to show how "frum" they were – to cry out to God.
If fear of authorities will cause our co-religionists to live lives that are only "Kiddush Hashems" (sanctifications of God's name), perhaps it would be good enough. Sadly, and too often, it is not enough of a deterrent to prevent illegal activities.
This is why we need to take the fear of God to a new level. We will not likely witness miracles of the nature of the splitting of the sea. But like the people who believed in Moshe, God's servant, we too can reopen the 5 books of Moshe, learn from our master teacher, and arrive at the kind of fear of God that gives meaning and purpose to our lives.
Religion is not a checklist. The Torah we study, the acts we perform, and ultimately the faith we have, are meant to mold our characters and teach us how to be model, law-abiding human beings.
Showing posts with label recognizing God. Show all posts
Showing posts with label recognizing God. Show all posts
Thursday, January 13, 2011
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Avraham's Age When He Discovered God
This week's entry in the Jewish Star. This one was written with the dvar torah that made me famous in mind (read comments there for entertainment purposes only).
If you'd like to hear an expanded audio version of this class, see it here: https://www.yutorah.org/lectures/lecture.cfm/913694/rabbi-avi-billet/avrahams-age-at-discovering-god,-and-was-he-saved-from-a-furnace/
Parshat Lech Lecha: “Three” is one opinion
By Rabbi Avi Billet
Issue of October 30 2009/ 12 Cheshvan 5770
On my children’s bookshelf there is a book entitled “A Little Boy Named Avram.” The book follows one of the midrashic interpretations that suggests little Avram lived in a cave as a child until he was three years old, at which point he emerged and recognized the existence of God.
A different midrash suggests Avram’s mother ran away from her husband, who worked for Nimrod, to give birth in a cave. The midrash says she told the baby she is leaving him there, preferring he possibly die at the hands of the elements, than at the hands of Nimrod who practiced infanticide.
The midrash says God sent the angel Gabriel to care for him for ten days. Having benefited from divine “milk” and sustenance, he emerged from the cave after ten days with the ability to walk. After twenty days, Gabriel appeared to him again, and identified himself as a messenger of God, Creator of the world, to whom the boy began to pray.
Meanwhile, feeling guilty and remorseful, his mother returned to the cave looking for her son. She found a little boy nearby, walking and speaking like an adult. After a little back and forth, he told her he was her son and she marveled at how much he’d grown in such a short time. He told her, “You should know, my mother, that there is a great and mighty living God Who sees and is not seen, and He is in the heavens and His glory fills the world.” (Both of these midrashic accounts can be found in the book Otzar Hamidrashim.)
The main source for the midrash that Avraham was three when he discovered God is the verse in Bereishit 26:5, when God promises Yitzchak that He’ll fulfill certain promises “eikev” that Avraham listened to His voice. The word “eikev” means “on account of,” and its gematria (numerical value in Jewish numerology) is 172. Since Avraham lived to be 175 (25:7), and he listened to God’s voice for 172 years, he must have been 3 when he discovered God’s voice.
The problem is that Avraham was told the same thing in 22:18, after the story of the Akeidah (binding of Yitzchak), when Avraham was somewhere between 113 and 137 years of age. He certainly hadn’t heeded God’s voice for 172 years at that point.
To round out other options, consider that in the exact place where Resh Lakish suggests Avraham was 3 when he recognized God (Bereishit Rabbh 95:3), another opinion is recorded that Avraham was 48 years old when he recognized God.
Pesikta Rabati 21 interprets the word choice of the Ten Commandments, and says the first word “Anokhi” (אנכי) is to be divided: Aleph stands for Avraham. Nun equals 50, Avraham’s age when he recognized God [though Rabbi Chanina and Rabbi Yochanan believe he was 48, and Resh Lakish believes he was 3]. Khaf equals 20 — he taught God’s word to twenty generations (or corrected what had transpired after twenty generations). Yud equals ten, referring to the ten trials Avraham underwent and passed.
[I put two more opinions in the comments - Rambam says he was 40, and the Talmud says he was 52 - AB 10/2014]
20 days, 3 years, 48 years, 50 years. Each one is legitimately sourced and accounted for.
Which one do you prefer? Does it really matter? Does it shake the core of your belief? Does it change the meaning of your Judaism? Does it make you feel you’ve been duped? Does it change the way you perceive the Torah you’ve been taught and the way you’ve always understood things?
The Torah (Tanakh), Talmud and Midrash are vast books filled with an endless source of knowledge. Never take anything for granted. Never take anyone’s “statements of fact” as true until they show it to you inside a text.
Homiletics and interpretation are a different story — we all can take whatever lessons or messages from the text that relate to our life experience, and we all see things in a different way.
The 20 day old and the 3 year old are clearly divinely inspired, making Avraham an extremely special human from the get-go. But a Baal Teshuva might appreciate the possibility that Avraham was an incredible, yet normal man who came to a very important realization a little later in his intellectual, theological and philosophical development.
The Torah tells Avraham’s age at Lech Lecha — 75 (12:4), Birth of Yishmael — 86 (16:16), Bris Milah — 99 (17:1), Birth of Yitzchak — 100 (21:5), and death — 175 (25:7), but not when he recognized God. I am happy the Torah leaves it vague, because it allows all kinds of people to draw inspiration.
If you'd like to hear an expanded audio version of this class, see it here: https://www.yutorah.org/lectures/lecture.cfm/913694/rabbi-avi-billet/avrahams-age-at-discovering-god,-and-was-he-saved-from-a-furnace/
Parshat Lech Lecha: “Three” is one opinion
By Rabbi Avi Billet
Issue of October 30 2009/ 12 Cheshvan 5770
On my children’s bookshelf there is a book entitled “A Little Boy Named Avram.” The book follows one of the midrashic interpretations that suggests little Avram lived in a cave as a child until he was three years old, at which point he emerged and recognized the existence of God.
A different midrash suggests Avram’s mother ran away from her husband, who worked for Nimrod, to give birth in a cave. The midrash says she told the baby she is leaving him there, preferring he possibly die at the hands of the elements, than at the hands of Nimrod who practiced infanticide.
The midrash says God sent the angel Gabriel to care for him for ten days. Having benefited from divine “milk” and sustenance, he emerged from the cave after ten days with the ability to walk. After twenty days, Gabriel appeared to him again, and identified himself as a messenger of God, Creator of the world, to whom the boy began to pray.
Meanwhile, feeling guilty and remorseful, his mother returned to the cave looking for her son. She found a little boy nearby, walking and speaking like an adult. After a little back and forth, he told her he was her son and she marveled at how much he’d grown in such a short time. He told her, “You should know, my mother, that there is a great and mighty living God Who sees and is not seen, and He is in the heavens and His glory fills the world.” (Both of these midrashic accounts can be found in the book Otzar Hamidrashim.)
The main source for the midrash that Avraham was three when he discovered God is the verse in Bereishit 26:5, when God promises Yitzchak that He’ll fulfill certain promises “eikev” that Avraham listened to His voice. The word “eikev” means “on account of,” and its gematria (numerical value in Jewish numerology) is 172. Since Avraham lived to be 175 (25:7), and he listened to God’s voice for 172 years, he must have been 3 when he discovered God’s voice.
The problem is that Avraham was told the same thing in 22:18, after the story of the Akeidah (binding of Yitzchak), when Avraham was somewhere between 113 and 137 years of age. He certainly hadn’t heeded God’s voice for 172 years at that point.
To round out other options, consider that in the exact place where Resh Lakish suggests Avraham was 3 when he recognized God (Bereishit Rabbh 95:3), another opinion is recorded that Avraham was 48 years old when he recognized God.
Pesikta Rabati 21 interprets the word choice of the Ten Commandments, and says the first word “Anokhi” (אנכי) is to be divided: Aleph stands for Avraham. Nun equals 50, Avraham’s age when he recognized God [though Rabbi Chanina and Rabbi Yochanan believe he was 48, and Resh Lakish believes he was 3]. Khaf equals 20 — he taught God’s word to twenty generations (or corrected what had transpired after twenty generations). Yud equals ten, referring to the ten trials Avraham underwent and passed.
[I put two more opinions in the comments - Rambam says he was 40, and the Talmud says he was 52 - AB 10/2014]
20 days, 3 years, 48 years, 50 years. Each one is legitimately sourced and accounted for.
Which one do you prefer? Does it really matter? Does it shake the core of your belief? Does it change the meaning of your Judaism? Does it make you feel you’ve been duped? Does it change the way you perceive the Torah you’ve been taught and the way you’ve always understood things?
The Torah (Tanakh), Talmud and Midrash are vast books filled with an endless source of knowledge. Never take anything for granted. Never take anyone’s “statements of fact” as true until they show it to you inside a text.
Homiletics and interpretation are a different story — we all can take whatever lessons or messages from the text that relate to our life experience, and we all see things in a different way.
The 20 day old and the 3 year old are clearly divinely inspired, making Avraham an extremely special human from the get-go. But a Baal Teshuva might appreciate the possibility that Avraham was an incredible, yet normal man who came to a very important realization a little later in his intellectual, theological and philosophical development.
The Torah tells Avraham’s age at Lech Lecha — 75 (12:4), Birth of Yishmael — 86 (16:16), Bris Milah — 99 (17:1), Birth of Yitzchak — 100 (21:5), and death — 175 (25:7), but not when he recognized God. I am happy the Torah leaves it vague, because it allows all kinds of people to draw inspiration.
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