avakesh

Supernatural or Scientific Stick ? by Dr. Chaim Gershon

 

Shemos Beshalach Chapter 15

25. So he cried out to the Lord, and the Lord instructed him concerning a piece of wood, which he cast in into the water, and the water became sweet. There He gave them a statute and an ordinance, and there He tested them.
There He gave them: In Marah, He gave them some sections of the Torah so that they would busy themselves with them, namely [they were given the laws governing] the Sabbath, the red cow, and laws of jurisprudence. — [from Mechilta and Sanh. 56b]

 

Science versus Torah is a misnomer and this week’s parasha Beshalach explains how.

 

There are various mefarshim that connect this piece of wood mystically to the Tree of Life, Etz HaChaim and Etz Hadas, first and foremost being Sefer Ha Bahir and many other sources such as Ishbitz (Beis Yaakov) and Chabad.

 

 

 

More modern explanations give scientific explanations that explain that a bitter substance added to bitter water does not sweeten it by causing a miracle but by producing a chemical reaction,the net result being is sweet water via ion exchange, taste modifiers etc. The most interesting is by Nobel Prize Chemist Ronald Hoffman in Old Wine, New Flasks, in a chapter devoted specifically to this.

 

See as well the following non-traditional explanations:

http://www.nesc.wvu.edu/old_website/ndwc/ndwc_dwh_1.html

 

http://www.articlesbase.com/online-education-articles/a-miracle-of-prophet-moses-or-a-chemistry-connection-661768.html

http://books.google.com/books?id=IM-yNiUXwO4C&pg=PA271&lpg=PA271&dq=bitter+water+marah+scientific&source=bl&ots=iEb_rJmx2u&sig=Wc10FRMrViM5_D0qcYO_59gipDk&hl=en&sa=X&ei=fG4pT_75Ioba0QHKtum8Ag&ved=0CFUQ6AEwBzgK#v=onepage&q=bitter%20water%20marah%20scientific&f=false

 

http://www.borhatorah.org/editions/10/abstract-goldberger.htm ( this one is essentially Pseudoscience)

 

 

There has been attempts to reconcile these two approaches.

 

 

It occurred to me that Rashi in the next passuk is not referring to the two types of laws that the Jews were given at Marah, the supernatural chukim and logical mishpatim, see here and here,

but to the chok and mishpatim of the previous passuk. Perhaps it is saying that there are the two types of explanations of the piece of wood making the bitter waters sweet, the supernatural and the scientific! Thus “Science” is one of the facets of Torah!

After I made this connection, I figured someone must have said this idea before and I made a scientific/supernatural reach to the seforim shelf. Lo and behold, and the first perush I opened, Abarbanel gives a commentary consistent with my perush! Nachshoni points out that this approach  taking "chok umishpat" not as two separate entiies but a thing that is both a chok and mishpat at the same time was first used was first expressed by Rabbenu Bachaye who stated that the wood/herbs might have worked as either a chok or mishpat and Chasam Sofer uses the same approach.

 

Avakesh: I believe that this approach was also used by R. Yosef Engel who quoted Chazal that the mitzva of Kibud Abv V'Eim was given in Marah(Sanhedrin 56b. How did they know that? Because Kibbud Av V'Eim includes both rational aspects (mishpat) and super-rational aspects(chok). For example, there is the obligation of grattitude(hakaras hatov) while they are alive, which is rational, and of honoring parents after their death, which is super-rational (chok). The source of such usage is Bareishis 47:29, where Rashi explains, "Chessed V'Emes" as "Chessed shel emes", in other words, something which is at the same time, kindness and truth. Another example is in Bareishis 3:16, "Etsvoneich V'Haroneich". This is explained in Dikdukei Rashi by YitzhakAvineri, who calls it "Vav Hasmichus".

 

Kosher Jesus

The World of Lubavitch is astir. You hear it in shul; it is the staff of mikva conversation and of heated discussion between friends. Vos is di neias? It is Rabbi Boteach's new book, "Kosher Jesus", which is slated for publication on February 18. The book itself is not yet available, but as I understand from Rabbi Boteach's articles and from those who have read the book, it is based on the scholarship of Hayam Maccoby and his belief that Jesus was a kosher Jew who was misunderstood and whose teachings were distorted by his followers.

Many Lubavitchers are concerned about "Chilul Shem Lubavitch". G-d knows, Chabad does not need bad publicity. However, it goes beyond that. I think that the opposition within Lubavitch is not only due to what R. Boteach says but it is because Rabbi Boteach has a long history of blurring the boundary between the Jewish and the Gentile world.

In itself, this theology of Kosher Jesus does not bother me. The scholarship of Hayam Maccoby is dated and most scholars see Jesus as a complex figure who may not have enunciated all of the teachings attributed to him, but certainly taught doctrine that contained seeds that later blossomed into Christianity. Rabbi Boteach favors Matthew over John but it is John who shaped Christian theology more than Matthew. Yes, one can read the synoptic Gospels as teaching low Christology; that is, that Jesus was fully human and spoke of himself us the "Son of God" only in the figurative sense, much like Ezekiel Is called the son of man. The Gospel of John is another matter. The Gentile author of John promoted a clearly non-Jewish theology.

Seeing Jesus as a Jewish teacher is a well written about approach. Rabbi Boteach joins a long list of thinkers and scholars who are tempted to reclaim Jesus for the Jewish people. Luminaries such as Rav Yaakov Emden and many others, and in our own time, activists like Irving Greenberg, Shlomo Riskin and Yechiel Eckstein have enunciated this view on many occasions. There are several scholarly Jewish commentaries by significant scholars on the New Testament, including one by Rav Yaakov Emden, and recently Amy Levine published another one with multiple contributors.

However, "times, they are a-changing". Now is a different time. What I fault R. Boteach for is for blurring boundaries. Judaism and and Christianity are two different religions with very different theologies, two distinct spiritual lives, vocabularies, and, let's be honest, a history of conflict. Christianity is, in Pope John Paul's words "the younger sister of Judaism". Whereas one can hardly think of an amalgam of Christianity and Islam, the same is not true of Christianity and Judaism. These two can be forced together because there are many shared points between them, which is not true of Judaism and Islam. Because Christianity sprang out of the Jewish milieu, it is possible to extend its limits and to create the murky, poorly defined, but nevertheless workable Twilight Zone in which a mongrel Christaism religion can exist.

Therein is the problem. We, in this period in time are faced with this extension of boundaries. On one side we have Hebrew Christians, according to their types. Groups such as Jews for Jesus create a mixed Jewish – Gentile movement in which trappings of Judaism are combined with Orthodox Christian dogma. On the other end of the spectrum, Jewish observances are being adopted by the increasing number of fundamentalist and Pentecostallist congregations, that are looking to Judaism as the means to better relate to Jesus. To Protestants, religion is all about their personal relationship to the Nazarene and how best they can invite him to come into their hearts. This is sometimes hard for Jews and Muslims to understand. To people who are brought up viewing religion as a way of life, this incessant focus on the Man – God is foreign and hard to grasp. To Christians, and other hand, even theology is only important in as much as it tells them what to teach about Jesus. Many of them are seeking Jewish symbols and taking on Jewish observances and holidays in order to better relate to the Jew Jesus.

So what is taking shape all across the religious landscape of America, is the twilight zone of rapprochement between Christianity and Judaism. Rabbis in small out of town communities are already routinely faced with new congregants who observe like Jews but believe like Christians. Sometimes they are intermarried couples, sometimes Christians who have drawn close to Judaism, and sometimes Jews who are in the process of reassessing their Christianity and looking back at their community. This state of affairs has created a space for mixing, intermarriage and mongrelization of ancient teachings. This is not good.

Rabbi Boteach has a long history of facilitating such phenomena. As the founder of the Lechaim society in Oxford University, he was immensely successful, to the extent, that Lechaim became the second-largest student group in the University. As I understand, its membership was about 60% Gentile and only about 40% Jewish. As a result, it became a setting for Jewish young men and women to mix with fine, spiritually minded, and clean-cut Gentile students who respected and liked Jews a certain recipe for intermarriage. The world Lubavitcher movement was very concerned and when Cory Booker, currently the mayor of Newark, became the head of the society, they acted. There is the root of the rift between organized Lubavitch and Rabbi Boteach. The same can be said of R. Boteach's subsequent career, much of which has taken place in the world of entertainment, celebrities, and the society of non-Jews.

Therein is the rub! The book Kosher Jesus facilitaes and promotes this blurrring of boundaries. As Jews, and as Americans, we celebrate the values of religious tolerance and rejoice when religious values are adopted and respected by the American public. On the other hand, let Jews be Jews and let Gentiles the Gentiles. Judaism and Christianity have long and sophisticated religious and spiritual traditions. With the advent of the Internet, and the diffusion of knowledge, perhaps it was inevitable that Christians become familiar and take note of the religious riches of Judaism. However, we are a small faith community that still has much of importance due to share with the world and the encounter weakens us and threatens Jewish continuity. This is why Kosher Jesus is bad for the Jews.

Hasidology

An interesting new blog, "Hasidology", that focuses on academic treatments of Chabad theology.

By locating its exploration of Chabad thought within the academic discourse, this blog has the potential of building the bridge to other currents of contemporary Jewish thought and of dispelling the suspicion that many outside of Chabad feel toward those who attempt to expain Chabad concepts to non-Chabadniks. After all, academia is supposed to be objective, isn't it? This blog explains concepts in a manner that is rare, rarefied and refreshing. By focusing on how academicians, such as Eliott Wolfson, perceive and conceptualize Chabad thought, much antipathy can be short-circuited.

It is a pity that the grand edifice of Chabad thought is so unavailable to those outside of Lubavitch. It is a great construct and interpretation of the thought of Ari, unrivaled, in my estimation, in sophistication and complexity, except by the thought of Ramchal; but then, Ramchal is not a living tradition. Ari Hakodosh left a corpus of arcane and obstruse knowledge, and many after him attempted to decipher and systemize it. Among them, in addition to Ramchal, must  be listed the Leshem, Mikdash Melech and R. Ashlag.

Chabad is the most comprehensive. It is so voluminous, so repetetive but subtly innovative  in its various manfestations, expressed by so many different authors in mediums of maamorim, sichos and teachings. Otzar Hachochma includes an optional Chabad module of more than seven thousands volumes. Couple that to a living tradition and a community that seriously engages in the study of this corpus and you have a unique and multifaceted interpretation of the teachings of the Ari. Hasidology, so far, appears to be able to give an objective inkling to the uninitiated, of the subtlety and complexity of Chabad thought. B'hatslacha!

The First Yahrtzeit by Chaim Gershon

 

 

Hevel was the first person to die, “According to the view that the world was created in Tishrei, Hevel lived from Sukkot to Chanuka; according to the view that the world was created in Nisan, Hevel lived from Pesach to Atzeret [Shavuot].” According to either opinion, he lived no more than fifty days" (Bereshit Rabba on Bereshit 4:3).
Various reasons are given for his life ending on Shavuous, see alson Tur Bareket [493:1]

 

Another opinion is quoted from Seder HaDoros in Shar Yissoschar (p.475 in the book itself/ p.487 in pdf as os 141). It brings there how various minhagim are a tikkun for Hevel's death although the main focus is the tikkun for the Gid HaNashe (of Yaakov as his life resolved the conflict of Kayin and Hevel (p.475 therein). This is also discussed in Yaaros Dvash in several places, although in one discussion quoted there  the date is pushed to 3 Teves and coordinated with the first meaning of Asarah b’Teves, the fast of the 10th of Teves.

 

The conflict between Kayin and Hevel can be expounded upon for many web pages but whether viewed as historically or continually relevant through their gilguilm,  it remains deeply relevant to us lving today in galus.

Tenth of Teves, by Chaim Gershon

 

 

The Tenth of Teves is a fast partly because it is the beginning of the siege that led to the walls of Jerusalem being breached.

 

While this is a negative event, there are positive aspects to this tragedy as well, for it signifies an opening in the walls. Openings to the outside, allow one to draw the outside into himself, purify and uplift it. It also allows one to expel the negative from the inside out.

 

In Chassidus, words of Torah and prayer are compared to bricks/stones.

 

There is a parable told about two people praying. One was asked why he davens so slow?

He replied that he builds a wall with the fence posts close together so that nothing  foreign can penetrate and he can, therefore, concentrate and spend time praying. The other person replied that he davens  fast so the posts are far apart and his own unworthy thoughts can be ejected. Thus, openings and breaches, which at first glance are an unmitigated evil, can also serve as the means to expel that which is unworthy.

 

Thus a person has a wall which, like a wall of a cell in his body, is a semi-permeable membrane.  Man's borders (made famous by the book by Rabbi Manis Friedman) are local at the same time as they are global, for his walls are the walls of a sancified space in his own Temple.

 

Kozak dance.

A custom that is conducted in some chassidic sectors call the "Kozak" dance, where children dressed as Cossacks preform a special dance before the Mitzvah tanz

ניגון חנוכה מחסידות ברסלב

*by חיליק פרנק

Overheard: Davening machine

In the name of a famous Chosid in Yerushalayim:

There was once a man who owned a laundry. He thought that his purpose in life was to wash clothes. So, Hashem made a machine that washed clothing and the man learned that that is not his purpose in life.

There once was a man who wasned dishes. He thought that his purpose in life was to be the best dishwasher around. So, Hashem sent a dish-washing machine and he learned that this was not is purpose in life.

There was a man who learned Torah. He thought that his purpose in life was ..... So Hashem sent him a computer.

A computer learns well. But... there never will be a machine that can daven with enthusiasm.

A machine can never take over the functions of a heart.

 

 

"It is taught" by Dr.Chaim Gershon

The sefer Tanya written by the Alter Rebbe famously begins by quoting a gemara from Niddah. It prefaces this quote with the word, Tanya, "It was taught".

However, the actual quote does not start with the word “Tanya” where it is quoted from in the Talmud. There has been much discussion of this in Tanya commentaries,  and one explanation that they give is that there is a klipah, a negative force that attempts to prevent the learning of the secrets of Torah. Therefore. the Alter Rebbe starts with this word to to deflect counteract this klipah. This logic has been also applied as to why one of the sefarim of the Rashbi, R’ Simon's bar Yochai, also starts with the word “Tanya” (p. 5 aka p.38 in pdf). Earlier sources for this idea are in the sefarim from students of the Arizal such as Vayakhel Moshe, Mishnas Chassidism and Yesod Yosef ( the last of which is cited in R’ Mosh Wolfson’s perush on Tanya). Or Haganuz, whi gave one of the haskomos to Tanya and R’ Shimson Ostropole's Likutei Shoshanim which is quoted and elucidated in Shiveli Pinchas Bereshis B (p.184)also say something similar although the latter gives this negative force a slightly different name.

             The annual Chabad cycle of learning Tanya ends/starts on 19th of  Kislev when the Alter Rebbe was freed from prison and thus allowed to continue teaching chassidus. There is, therefore is a connection to overcoming forces opposed to learning chassidus.  This month is also Chanukah, that commemorates challenging of Torah by Greek philosophy and Hellenists who were attracted to that philosophy.  The Vayakhel Moshe, after discussing the negative force and the use of "Tanya", takes up the gemara in Avodah Zara prohibiting the oil of the goyim and the connection to Chanuka oil. R’ Tzvi Elimelech of Dinov points out  that the gematria of “Tanya” is equal to “wine oil”. Chabad Chassidus too frequently compares the learning of Torah to that of wine and oil  .

The lesson to us is that Tanya cycle beginning of 19 f Kislef is not a coincidence but is inherently connected to the warring moral and intellectual forces of Channukah.

            To bring it home, this battle unfortunately still continues today as students of all ages, everywhere, are confronted by the choices between learning Torah  and other academic subjects or even more regrettably, competition for their attention and commitments form "fuzzy" information sources, such as tweets, googles, and urban legends upon which to base their lifestyle.

 

Channukah Sefirotic Thigh Exercise by Chaim Gershon

 

 Chanukkah is an important festival and it is no surprise that there many different ways to conceptualize it within the Jewish tradition. Some of them are based on..... Gid Hanoshe.

 

First, let's understand the deeper significance of Gid Hanoshe. Some are more rational and logical than others, see:

http://parsha.blogspot.com/2010/11/what-is-purpose-of-mitzvah-of-gid.html, http://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/784896/jewish/Why-dont-we-eat-the-sciatic-nerve.htm

http://chabadlibrary.org/books/admur/lkus/30/3/3/54.htm?search=%d7%92%d7%99%d7%93+%d7%94%d7%a0%d7%a9%d7%94

http://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/80734/jewish/A-Legacy-of-Divine-Care.htm

and some are deeper http://chabadlibrary.org/books/default.aspx?furl=/zz/dm/1/3.

 

Gid Hanoshe is identified as that part of the body which transitions from the thigh to body.

Although the Gid HaNashe has been connected to Tisha B’Av,

https://www.google.com/#sclient=psy-ab&hl=en&source=hp&q=tisha+b%27av+gid+hanashe&pbx=1&oq=tisha+b%27av+gid+hanashe&aq=f&aqi=&aql=&gs_sm=e&gs_upl=1672l10037l0l11061l24l19l2l1l1l0l279l3247l1.13.5l22l0&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.,cf.osb&fp=fc7aba6ca2b5522a&biw=1536&bih=645

various mefarshim have connected it to Channukah which is always in the same month as Vayishlach which is the first discussion of the Gid Hanoshe in teh Torah.

http://books.google.com/books?id=Tfv7F_X7XHIC&pg=PA52&lpg=PA52&dq=gid+hanasheh+chanukah&source=bl&ots=VS-874SuC9&sig=nBDskYs0Tfbkhtshf5EyWg82prQ&hl=en&ei=hYLWTrj6DoeUtwftv4GlCA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CCIQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=gid%20hanasheh%20chanukah&f=false

http://patternsintime.com/chanukah.asp p. 175.

 

There are sources in “Polishe” Chassidus, such as

imre noam #3 p.288 in pdf http://www.hebrewbooks.org/35578

sefas emes bereshis p239 http://www.hebrewbooks.org/14524 p.237 therein

Munkatcher Derech Emunah cited often in later works, see index to passukim

http://munkatcherseforim.org/pdf/darcitesivah/darke%20iemuna.pdf

Derech #33,42,53,58,60,64,87,97 therein.

These are based on http://munkatcherseforim.org/pdf/benyisscher/beneyissachar2.pdf (see Kislev 2:23 and further) and http://munkatcherseforim.org/pdf/darcitesivah/berlachai%20roi2.pdf (p.26-27 in pdf)

 

In these sources, where the connection is made between them based on the citation from Kabbalah that Channukah is also associated in the sefiros of netzach and/or hod and thus must have a connection to the Gid HaNashe from this commonality. Netzach and Hod are the two sefiros that are assocaited with the hips of a human being, when the sefirotic complex superimposed upon the human form.

 

This is why the Chanukkah light can only be lit until until the “feet” / regelof the passerbys leaves the marketplace..... and the feet are connected to the body by the Gid HaNashe!