avakesh

How to be humble

 How does an exceptional person retain humility? This is a question that is both theoretically and practically important. One who has exceptional intellectual or spiritual gifts is certainly aware ot them.The Talmud (Nedarim38a) states that the Divine Spirit only rests on a person who is powerful, wealthy, wise, and humble.Does humility mean that he must in some way disregard such gifts? If this was so, this Talmudic statementshould have added "and ignorant" (See a discussion at the beginning of the first chapter of Ruach Chaim, R. Chaim Volozhiner's commentary on Avos).

This question has been extensively addressed in the past.

Moshe was "most humble of men who are on the face of the earth". The Ohr Sameach at the end of his Kuntres haKol Tzafuy v'haReshus Nesuna (hil tshuvah) suggests that it is precisely because Moshe Rabeinu was so great and  spoke to  Hashem face to face, he ascribed his achievements not to his own efforts, but to the fact that he was in a position to see what no other mortal experienced. He was "in heaven", while everyone else resides "on the face of the earth". However, this and other such explanations do not teach us, men who do live on the face of the earth, how to attain true humility.

One can also suggest that humility is not a lack of self awareness but an opposite or exclusion of arrogance. " The definition of humility is not, as is popularly conceived, a sense of meekness and low self-image in which a person has no sense of his own worth.Instead, a true sense of humility is complemented by self-assurance. The person radiates confidence and self-esteem, but has no trace of arrogance or boastful pride. He knows his personal virtues, exercises them productively, and yet this does not lead to egotism or haughtiness.

We see this fusion exemplified by Moshe, our teacher. He himself told the Jewish people: "It is I who stands between G-d and you," and it was he who wrote the verse: "And there never arose in Israel a prophet like Moshe." Nevertheless, he was "more humble than all the men on the face of the earth."

Moshe did not see pride and humility as conflicting tendencies. Although he knew the greatness of the mission he had been given, and realized that he had been granted unique personal traits to enable him to fulfill this mission, this knowledge did not lead to ego-conscious pride. On the contrary, he realized that he had been endowed with these potentials by G-d; they were not the fruit of his own efforts. Moreover, he believed that if these gifts had been given to another, that person might have achieved even more than he."

"There is another approach to this question which also can teach us how to be humble. It maintains that a human being is composite of different  parts. This is the standard medieval and eenlightenment view that sees humans as being a combination of intellect, passions, desires and spiritual gifts (in the modern times we do not think of these soul powers as being discrete but as intermixed and in dynamic interaction with each other at all times). While a particular individual may be superior to others in some aspects, in emotions we are all the same. It follows that while one individual may be superior to another in intelligence, he might be inferior to him in spirituality, and in emotions we are all equal. It may be that unusual tasddikim accomplish eventual purification of their desires and feelings, but that comes at the end  their lives and after decades of work.

It is related that R. Hillel miParitch sought out the Alter Rebbe but always found that the Rebbe had just left as he arrived to the town in which he was staying. Once, R. Hillel managed to get into town before the Ater Rebbe. He immediately hid under the bed, with the goal of introducing himself to the Rebbe with a profound insight into the talmudic  topic of "erokhin", "evaluations". As theRebbe walked into the room, R. Hillel heard him say: "Who is this young man who wishes to evaluate others but cannot evaluate himself?". With that R. Hillel promptly fainted and the Alter Rebbe left town.

Humility is attained when a person sees himself AS HE IS. Almost certainly, such an honest self-assessment will reveal that, whatever his intellectual attainments might be, his emotions are no more disciplined or restrained than those of other, less gifted people. Just read a few biographies of great explorers scientists, or leaders. They often failed miserably through emotions for in this sphere all people are the same. If so, from whence arrogance?!

Tsadekes

News on coversions

1.Ivanka Trump, the daughter of real estate magnate Donald Trump, is converting to Judaism due to her boyfriend Jared Kushner, United States news outlets reported on Wednesday.

According to the New York Post, the former model has been diligently adopting Jewish beliefs and practices, and has chosen New York's Upper East Side Rabbi Haskel Lookstein to convert her to the religion.

A source told the newspaper, "She and Jared were in shul [synagogue] during all the holidays and ate in the sukkah every night."

2.Four Palestinians from the Hebron Hills contacted a group of rabbis on Tuesday and claimed to be the descendents of Jews who were forced to convert to Islam.

The Palestinians were accompanied by Zvi Mesini, a researcher who wrote a book on the subject and assisted them in learning more about Judaism

3.A discussion of DixiYid about whether a convert gets a new soul.

 

4.My previous posts that relate to 1., here and here

Paintings of the Flood

An article with images on how various artists treated the subject of Noach's flood.

Biblical names

We assume that names of Biblical characters are not accidental but reflect the essence of their task or destiny, or they memorialize pivotal events of their lives and the lives of the nation. This makes perfect sense when we consider that Biblical individuals were called by several different names over their lifetimes and that names could be given at any time in their lives as well as in commemoration of major events. There were no state registries or social security numbers and names served a much more fluid purpose than they do today.

For example: "And he called his name Noach, meaning to say, "This one will give us comfort (e-noach-meinu) (Genesis 5, 29)". Here the name reflects the man's essence. Another example: "The name of one was Peleg, for in his days, the entire world became divided (ni-peleg-a) (Geneis 10,25)" This name was given in memory of the Dispersion (after the Tower of Babel)  that occurred during Peleg's lifetime. "The ancestors, since they knew their genealogies, would derive names from events. We, who are not certain of our genealogies, derive names from our forefathers. Rabbi Shimon Ben Gamliel said: The ancestors who used the power of Divine Inspiration drew names out of (future) events; we who do not have access to Divine Inspiration, draw names from our forefathers (Genesis Rabbah 37,7)."

This midrash may lie behind the much questioned statement of the Mabit (Shu, 1:271, see Beris Avos 8:34 , Birchei Yosef Y'D 265:6, Shut Teshuva Meahava 1:35 quoted in Pische Teshuva ibid, Teshuvos V'Hanhogos 605) that one should not given names after individuals who lived before Avraham. He may have understood this midrash to mean that Jewish namegiving began with Avrom. It has been questioned because, after all. Moshe called his son Eliezer, the same name as Abraham's servant, Reuven had a son Chanoch and we find Talmuidc sages with names like Akavia ben Mehale'el.

It is noteworthy that Biblcal names sometimes are not exactly like the etymologies that are offered for them. These derivations also exhibit a flluidity. For example, Kain has a yud that the word KNH (kanisi, acquired man with Hashem) does not have. Other exceptions include Reuven, in which there is no ayin (ireh Hasem b'anyi), Shmuel, in which there is an extra mem (meHashem sh'altiv). In the name "Noach", on the other hand, a mem is missing (yinachameinu). These examples are discussed in Gur Arye to Bareishis 4:1, with partial answers. In the case of Noach, clearly the stated derivation of the name plays off the comforting that Hashem expressed both in destroying and in rebuilding the world, in which cases the word that is used is N'CH'M.The point seems to be the humanity and God both found consolation in the person of Noach.

  

Happy is he who has not sinned..

In his own image

כז  וַיִּבְרָא אֱלֹהִים אֶת-הָאָדָם בְּצַלְמוֹ, בְּצֶלֶם אֱלֹהִים בָּרָא אֹתוֹ:  זָכָר וּנְקֵבָה, בָּרָא אֹתָם.

Man must "guard himself and his uniqueness, and not imitate his fellow ... for initially man was created in his own image, and only afterwards in the image of God."

Kotsker Rebbe

Commentary:

If God makes man in his image, all humans are precious. If He made each man in his own image, some images may be off mark. This is why each person is both unique in himself and reflects God's image. The task of man is not to accentuate his uniqueness but to stamp it with the Image of God.

Avos 1:5, We are all guilty

Yehuda ben (son of) Tabbai and Shimon ben Shatach received the transmission from them. Yehuda ben Tabbai said: Do not act as an adviser among the judges. When the litigants are standing before you they should be in your eyes as guilty. When they are dismissed from before you they should be in your eyes as meritorious, provided they have accepted the decision."

The advice that we read here is strange. Why should a judge consider both litigants guilty when it is clear that in any court case there is one party that is right and the other that is not.  One may explain that the mishna is offering a hyperbole the intent of which is that the judge should behave as if both sides are guilty so as to avoid favoritism. In that case, however, once the verdict is handed down, why do both litigants appear to be meritorious? The case is completed, one party is pronounced guilty and the other wins, so how and why should the judge view both as being full of merit?

The answer may lie in the fact that when two Jews cannot peacefully resolve a disagreement between them, they both share a blame. I don't mean that they are both guilty of not seeking peace, for sometimes it may be that one side sought a compromise and the other rejected it. Rather, every conflict in the outside world reveals that the inner self is rent asunder. Granted, often there is an agressor in a conflict and many times one side is objectively right and the other is not. Still, in some sense, both parties to a conflict are guilty, if not in this litigation, then of being incomplete, of being torn by an inner conflict, of which this lawsuit is only a surface manifestation.

When Justice is accomplished, the conflict is cured, or it was not true Justice. At that moment, the two guilty parties BOTH become meritorious, for as their apparent dispute is resolved, so is their inner conflict healed.

"The world is full of strife. There are wars between the nations of the world and conflicts in every city. There are feuds in every household, discord between neighbors, friction within the family, between man and wife, parents and children...

Every day man dies – for the day that has passed will never return. Death comes closer every day, yet nobody remembers the purpose of life.

Friction in the home directly parallels the wars between nations. Each member of the household is the counterpart of one of the nations: their quarrels correspond to the wars between the nations. Even the traits of the different nations can be discerned in the individual members of the household. Each nation has its own particular trait, such as anger, blood-thirstiness and so on. The counterparts of these traits are found in the different members of each household.

You may have no desire for strife: you may only want to live quietly and peaceably with everyone. Even so, you may find yourself forced into conflicts and disputes.

The same happens between nations. One nation may want peace and is willing to make many concessions in order to achieve it. Yet it finds itself dragged into other nations' disputes, with each of the opposing sides demanding its allegiance until it is drawn into war against its will.

The same is true in household wars. Man is a miniature world containing the entire world and everything in it. A man and his family contain the nations of the world and all their wars and strife.

For this reason someone living alone in a forest can go out of his mind. This is because all the warring nations are contained within him. Each one attacks the other, and his personality keeps changing depending on which of the nations within him prevails. Swinging from one extreme to another can drive him insane. But when a person lives with others, these battles are played out among the different members of the household, or between neighbors and friends and so on.

However, when Mashiach comes, all wars and conflicts will come to an end and great peace will come into the world, for “They will neither hurt nor destroy…” (Isaiah 11:9) . "

Sichot Haran #77

 

 

 

 

Kabbala for humanity

Over Succos I came across Get Hasheimos by R. Abraham Abulafia (1240-1291) in an Enlgish translation. It is an interesting little volume with some interesting content. R Abulafia was a controversial mystic who taught prophetic Kabbala, a body of techniques that could lead an initiate to have visions of Angels and prophetic dreams. He was excommunicated by the Rashbo and strongly castigated by R. Yehuda Chayat. On the other hand, quotations of his writings are broughtby the Ramak in the Pardes and Chido quotes that he personally witnessed a well-known  kabbalist read his writings and say that he benefited greatly from them. His works were recently republished. Some excerpts were translated by R. Arye Kaplan in his Meditation and Kabbala.

These new English translations of Abulafia and his circle were done by a  interfaith, non-denominational, scholarly association organization based in Italy that translates and publishes Jewish kabbalistic texts with an emphasis of Prophetic Kabbala. It offers on-line Friday night classes and claims some ultra-Orthodox associates, "most of them Lubavitch Hassidim". It appears to be a major group with substantial resources and a clearly focused educational mission of promoting "knowing God, the techniques of prophecy, the contact with the upper worlds and the Angels. Our main focus is mysticism, and particularly Jewish mysticism and prophetic/ecstatic Kabbalah. The tradition of the Holy Merkavah, or the Holy Chariot as it is expressed in the Ezekiel's visions, is very dear to us."

I think that the video below was prepared by this group.

I have watched the internet facilitated diffusion of Jewish knowledge over the past several years. Whether based on Kabbalah, alternatives to traditional Christian Biblical interpretation, adoption of Jewish symbols by many evangelicals, or the Bnei Noach phenomenon, the web has leveled the playing field in religion. For the first time, Judaism is competing in the spiritual marketplace without being supressed by force. The Internet is still young and Judaism a religion with a long head start but I expect a wave of conversions to engulf us over the next few decades. We are looking at potentially huge numbers. As a fairly small religious community we ought to start preparing for this opportunity and challenge and how to remain authentic and true when the wave hits.

Simchas Beis Hashoeva