avakesh

Kol Nidre by Max Bruch

http://www.chazzanut.com/bruch.html

Kapporos without chickens

Rabbi Aviner sends SPCA Israel letter, video explaining why according to halacha it is wrong to use chickens in pre-Kippur atonement rite.

 

Please dress modestly

Tanya by...Rami Shapiro

I always wondered how it would be if a non-Lubavitcher translated Tanya. I can't imagine a reading ot Tanya divorced from its environment of thousands of volumes of Chabad literature that build on it and explicate it. I was struck to recently learn that Otzros Hachochma offers a optional Chabad module that can be added to its database - seven thousand volumes.

On the other hand, there have been many Chassidic Rebbes and even on-Chassidim who studied Tanya and did not study its surrounding literature.

But a translation of Tanya by Reform Rabbi!

Who would rush in where angels fear to tread?

Now Rami Shapiro did it. Is it a New-Age take on Tanya? I had not read it and can't comment but perhaps one of the readers of this blog can share an opinion.

Here is how Rabb Rami spends Rosh Hashana (from his blog):

"Tonight is Erev Rosh HaShanah, the beginning of Judaism’s Ten Days of Awe that end at sundown on Yom Kippur. Millions of Jews will undoubtedly go to synagogue during this period. I won’t be one of them.

My reason for not going is simple: I find the experience unfulfilling. When I do participate in conventional Jewish prayer I find myself arguing with what I am reading. I don’t relate to the metaphor of God as father, king, and lord; I don’t believe that God is in control of my life; and I find the medieval worldview of the machzor (High Holy Day prayer book) incompatible with what I know to be true about life. So rather than sit and complain, I stay home.
.......
I will spend most of tomorrow morning walking in the woods by the creek near my home. I will chant and pray and talk with God, allowing that the Infinite All can manifest as a finite One with whom I can meet and dialogue. I will spend the afternoon studying Jewish texts: Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and Job for these are the books that speak to me most powerfully. In the evening I will gather with my family to renew ourselves as a family, and to share our thoughts about where we are as a new year unfurls.

During the intervening days I will seek forgiveness, humbling myself until I flow like water into the low and narrow places within me that need watering that the seeds of holiness trapped there can expand and grow and shatter the narrows, and experience and share the spaciousness of love and forgiveness. And I will give tzedakah (monetary donations) to help those, both human and canine, whose lives are bleak and broken.

I will spend Yom Kippur: fasting, walking, praying, and studying. And I will do so alone. I have community in my life, but I find that this time of year is best met alone. That’s just me. But if I were a rabbi of a community, I would no longer ask them to dress in restrictive clothing, sit in a windowless room breathing stale air, and reading old books. I would invite them to wear lose clothes and comfortable shoes, and to walk with me beside still waters, to lay with be in green pastures, allowing the rustling trees to be our liturgy, and the chirping birds to be our cantors, and the babbling brook to be our rabbi teaching us to walk the watercourse way of humility, justice, and compassion.

So for all those who choose not to attend synagogue, know that you are not bad or disloyal or even alone. Honor the holy days in whatever way allows you to deepen your humanity. And may you in this way find blessing, sweetness, and peace this New Year.

L’shana tova "

Notes on a Teshuva class

This was a three hour interactitive lesson on Teshuva. I decided to post the notes in the hope that they may be useful to some.

Teshuvah Repentance

Book of Yonah- How reading the Book of Yonah can help us understand Teshuva.

What is Teshuva anyway?

1.What happens in the Book of Yonah?

2.Structure and Message

Ch.1 The Call and Running Away

Escape

Despair

Pregnancy and Rebirth    

Ch.2  Yonah speaks to G-d

Ch.3  The Call and Reluctant Compliance     

Ch.4 Escape

Pregnancy and (?)Transformation

Despair

G-d responds to Yonah

3.Recognition and Denial

1. What are the first steps in repentance?

2. From where does the first glimmer of recognition come?

I always knew it.

Others showed me.

My conscience bothered me.

Life showed me.

Consequences of my actions could not longer be ignored

Religious motivation

a.Religion versus Spirituality

Are spiritual also most moral?

b. I set my own standards vs. G-d sets His own standards.

4. How clear is the recognition?

א  וַיְהִי, דְּבַר-יְהוָה, אֶל-יוֹנָה בֶן-אֲמִתַּי, לֵאמֹר.	1 Now the word of the LORD came unto Jonah the son of Amittai, saying:
ב  קוּם לֵךְ אֶל-נִינְוֵה, הָעִיר הַגְּדוֹלָה--וּקְרָא עָלֶיהָ:  כִּי-עָלְתָה רָעָתָם, לְפָנָי.	2 'Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and proclaim against it; for their wickedness is come up before Me.

5.How we respond to Recognition?

Accept – is that what you usually see in life?

Deny completely, or

Deny through:

Rationalization

Reinterpretaion

Reformatting

Sublimation

Why do people deny?

6.Denial through Escape

ג  וַיָּקָם יוֹנָה לִבְרֹחַ תַּרְשִׁישָׁה, מִלִּפְנֵי יְהוָה; וַיֵּרֶד יָפוֹ וַיִּמְצָא אֳנִיָּה בָּאָה תַרְשִׁישׁ, וַיִּתֵּן שְׂכָרָהּ וַיֵּרֶד בָּהּ לָבוֹא עִמָּהֶם תַּרְשִׁישָׁה, מִלִּפְנֵי, יְהוָה.

3 But Jonah rose up to flee unto Tarshish from the presence of the LORD; and he went down to Joppa, and found a ship going to Tarshish; so he paid the fare thereof, and went down into it, to go with them unto Tarshish, from the presence of the LORD.

5.Are there gradations in refusal to do Teshuva or are some forms of denial “better” than others?

Is denial absolute or can denial be partial?

Partial Teshuva: R. Kook and the Satmar Rov

Is it a part of process of complete Teshuvah or an entity in itself?

Classic definitions of Teshuva

1.Alter Rebbe: Regret

2.Rambam:Regret, Confession, Acceptance for the future

3.Shaare Teshuva: Multiple elements

How do we understand Partial Teshuva.

There are many levels of Teshuva. However, the sin will not be forgiven completely until the soul will not be purified and spirit sett straight until (Shaarei Teshuva 1:9)

A.Regret alone:

a."Anyone who commits a sin and is embarrassed by it - is forgiven for all transgressions" (B. Berachot 12b). This declaration is rooted in the words of the prophet Ezekiel: So that you will remember and be ashamed... when I have forgiven you for all you have done, says the Lord God (Ezekiel 16:63).

Another biblical source. King Saul found himself in trouble and sought sage advice (I Samuel 28). He turned to a necromancer and asked her to raise the spirit of the prophet Samuel. When the ghost of Samuel appeared it demanded, "Why have you disturbed me and brought me up?"

King Saul replied, "I am in dire straits, and the Philistines are making war against me. God has turned away from me and does not answer me any more - not through the prophets nor by dreams - and I am asking you to tell me what to do!. He was ashamed to mention Urim and Tumim because it was King Saul who destroyed Nob, the city of Kohanim. Samuel’s response was that Saul and his sons will die in battle tomorrow but “tomorrow you are with me”.

b. At the end of the silent Amida of Yom Kippur, "Behold I am before You as a vessel filled with shame and disgrace….. "May it be Your will, Lord, my God and the God of my forebears, that I shall sin no more; and the sins which I have committed before You, erase them in Your abounding mercies, though not through suffering and severe illness."

B.What does shame mean t a 21st century American?

1.The Death of Honor

2.Obligation to the Self

Can one be ashamed before himself?

(Shaarei Teshuva 1,10)

C.Confession and Abandoning sin.

Why does one need these steps?

Mesilas Yesharim

When is Teshuva not possible?

Can future influence the past?

"Reish Lakish said: Great is repentance, for intentional sins become for a penitent as if they were not intentional, as it says: Return Israel to your God for you have stumbled in you crime (Hosea 14,). Crime refers to intentional sin and yet it is called "stumbling". Is this really so? Did not Reish Lakish say, "Great is repentance, for it turns sins into merits, as it says, "When the wicked returns from his sin,he shall live (in the sense of "prosper") (Ezekiel 33,)". No problem - this statement is about repentance through love and this one is regarding repentance from fear (Yoma 86b)".

D.Escape

How is escape different from straightforward denial?

Where do people escape to?

ג  וַיָּקָם יוֹנָה לִבְרֹחַ תַּרְשִׁישָׁה, מִלִּפְנֵי יְהוָה; וַיֵּרֶד יָפוֹ וַיִּמְצָא אֳנִיָּה בָּאָה תַרְשִׁישׁ, וַיִּתֵּן שְׂכָרָהּ וַיֵּרֶד בָּהּ לָבוֹא עִמָּהֶם תַּרְשִׁישָׁה, מִלִּפְנֵי, יְהוָה.	3 But Jonah rose up to flee unto Tarshish from the presence of the LORD; and he went down to Joppa, and found a ship going to Tarshish; so he paid the fare thereof, and went down into it, to go with them unto Tarshish, from the presence of the LORD.

Escape end with the escapee being spat out to face himself.

6. Back to Yonah: Spiritual Pregnancy

ב  וַיִּתְפַּלֵּל יוֹנָה, אֶל-יְהוָה אֱלֹהָיו, מִמְּעֵי, הַדָּגָה.

2 Then Jonah prayed unto the LORD his God out of the fish's belly.

יא  וַיֹּאמֶר יְהוָה, לַדָּג; וַיָּקֵא אֶת-יוֹנָה, אֶל-הַיַּבָּשָׁה.  {פ}

11 And the LORD spoke unto the fish, and it vomited out Jonah upon the dry land. {P}

II Life is a spiral

Denial after Denial

Is an admission of guilt sufficient?

Why or why not?

What do we really want?

What does it mean to be free?

Are there orders of desires?

1.Second call to Yonah

א  וַיְהִי דְבַר-יְהוָה אֶל-יוֹנָה, שֵׁנִית לֵאמֹר.	1 And the word of the LORD came unto Jonah the second time, saying:
ב  קוּם לֵךְ אֶל-נִינְוֵה, הָעִיר הַגְּדוֹלָה; וּקְרָא אֵלֶיהָ אֶת-הַקְּרִיאָה, אֲשֶׁר אָנֹכִי דֹּבֵר אֵלֶיךָ.	2 'Arise, go unto Nineveh, that great city, and make unto it the proclamation that I bid thee.'

A. How is this call different?

Was this a more complete message, a change of message, or better understanding of the original message?

2.Was Yonah ready to hear?

1. Yonah and Eliahu?

Yonah:

ה  וַיִּירְאוּ הַמַּלָּחִים, וַיִּזְעֲקוּ אִישׁ אֶל-אֱלֹהָיו, וַיָּטִלוּ אֶת-הַכֵּלִים אֲשֶׁר בָּאֳנִיָּה אֶל-הַיָּם, לְהָקֵל מֵעֲלֵיהֶם; וְיוֹנָה, יָרַד אֶל-יַרְכְּתֵי הַסְּפִינָה, וַיִּשְׁכַּב, וַיֵּרָדַם.	5 And the mariners were afraid, and cried every man unto his god; and they cast forth the wares that were in the ship into the sea, to lighten it unto them. But Jonah was gone down into the innermost parts of the ship; and he lay, and was fast asleep.
ו  וַיִּקְרַב אֵלָיו רַב הַחֹבֵל, וַיֹּאמֶר לוֹ מַה-לְּךָ נִרְדָּם; קוּם, קְרָא אֶל-אֱלֹהֶיךָ--אוּלַי יִתְעַשֵּׁת הָאֱלֹהִים לָנוּ, וְלֹא נֹאבֵד.	6 So the shipmaster came to him, and said unto him: 'What meanest thou that thou sleepest? arise, call upon thy God, if so be that God will think upon us, that we perish not.'

Eliahu:

ד  וְהוּא-הָלַךְ בַּמִּדְבָּר, דֶּרֶךְ יוֹם, וַיָּבֹא, וַיֵּשֶׁב תַּחַת רֹתֶם אחת (אֶחָד); וַיִּשְׁאַל אֶת-נַפְשׁוֹ, לָמוּת, וַיֹּאמֶר רַב עַתָּה יְהוָה קַח נַפְשִׁי, כִּי-לֹא-טוֹב אָנֹכִי מֵאֲבֹתָי.	4 But he himself went a day's journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a broom-tree; and he requested for himself that he might die; and said: 'It is enough; now, O LORD, take away my life; for I am not better than my fathers.'
ה  וַיִּשְׁכַּב, וַיִּישַׁן, תַּחַת, רֹתֶם אֶחָד; וְהִנֵּה-זֶה מַלְאָךְ נֹגֵעַ בּוֹ, וַיֹּאמֶר לוֹ קוּם אֱכוֹל.	5 And he lay down and slept under a broom-tree; and, behold, an angel touched him, and said unto him: 'Arise and eat.'

Antidote to Denial is arousal: Arise go…

p.147

2. Denial after denial

How many exposures does it take to admit full, full truth?

Can human beings ever be completely truthful?

What are the barriers to completely surpassing Denial?

Self-confidence

Reliance on G-d

Teaching yourself the habit of Truthfullness.

What is Integrity?

3. Step by step.

A lifetime of work

A Commitment to Transformation

When slow is not OK.

Shaare Teshuva: Difference between the”path” and an act.

5. Yonah’s Lessons

Avos 2:4: Don't dismiss new ideas

 Do not say something cannot be accepted (heard) for its end is to be accepted(heard).

Hillel continues. He now says something obscure. There are a number of textual variants and many explanations of this phrase, all of them teaching important concepts but all having the ring of something which is being read into the words and not its intended meaning. Rambam curiously says that it means that a teacher should not say something outrageously non-sensical with the intent that the student will realize that it is non-sensical and figure out what the teacher really meant to say. I call this a curious explanation because in a number of places, one of which is the Introduction to Mishna Chelek, Rambam says that this is exaclty what Chazal do in their aggadic statements - veiling deep teachings in statements that are so patently impossible that any men of knowledge will be led to discover their true meanings. Here he says that one should not do so! Perhaps Rambam would agree that a riddle is a valid means to teaching but an allegory is not.

Others say that this passage refers to keeping secrets or not expect that a fact shared will remain private. Others explain it to mean that one should not dismiss any Torah teaching but try to justify it and discover its intended meaning.

I would suggest that HIllel is warning us that the coming changing paradigm of individual religiosity that overshadows traditional communal religious expression will bring with it many new ideas. People are all different and multiple new expressions and religious formulations will soon arise. In fact, as we know, the hundred years after HIllel were a time of great ferment and many new ideas arose in the Judean religious marketplace. Chazal accepted and supported some of them and negated and fought publicly the others. HIllel says:  "Do not dismiss any of them, for even if some of them seem so far from the mark, so distant from what has been taught under the old paradigm of Tradition, so novel that you think they will never be accepted, some WILL be accepted". Therefore treat them seriously. Investigate them, search them out, consider their implications and where they will lead. If they are consistent with Torah and raise the honor of Torah and its Giver, watch closely as they spread and be prepared to guide their proponents and influence their uptake. If, on the otherr hand,  they are destructive and heretical be prepared to oppose and fight them. But never, never simply dismiss them.

Nimna Hanimnous by Chaim Gershon

Can G-d do something that he cannot do? For example, can He construct a triangle that does not conform to the Pythagorean theorem? Or, to put it in different way, can He create a rock so heavy that He cannot lift it?

This question concerned medieval philosophers. A good discussion of the Jewish sources on this topic can be found in Ohr Hatorah Tzemach Tzedek Vayikra 3, 888 and Sefer Ha Chakira p. 68. Tsemach Tsedek explains that the Rashba (Teshuvos I:418) says Hashem can supercede all limitation while Rambam and the Yosef Albo in the Ikkarim say Hashem is constrained to the rules he makes for the world. To be Omnipotent is to be abel to do anything which is possible; inability to do that which is impossible in no way diminishes G-d's Power. Ralbag in Milchamos Hashem, Part III says similarly that G-d does not have knowledge of what humans will do with their power of Free Choice but that in no way diminishes His omniscience because to be Omniscient is to know all that can be known but the future actions of autonomous human beings simply cannot be known. 

Rashbo's view can be understood by resorting to the analysis from Sefer Mamarimof the Rebbe Rashab  מאמרי אדמו"ר הרש"ב - מאמרים תרמ"ו-תר"ן עמוד 274 where he explains that there is an upper and lower level to this mathematical understanding and Rav Yosef Albo was only perceiving the lower level. Yes, on the "lower level" the Pythagorean theorem is supreme but on the "higher level" it is superceded. An example that Rebbe Rashab uses is the paradox of the aron in the kodesh kodeshim which had measurements but took up no space. Pythagorean theorem reigns in Euclidian geometry but is surpassed in non-Euclidian geometry and Eistein's work.

Something similar can be said also of how humans serve Hashem. Previously, we expounded upon the avodah of "running and returning" . There is a balance between two opposing forces that defines a person's avodah in life. This week's parashas of Nitzvaim "Standing" and Vayelech "Going" represent a contradiction. How can one stand and walk at the same time?!

This contradiction has been discussed online:

http://www.torahinmotion.org/articles_dvarim/divrei_torah/archives/nitzavim_vayelech_name.htm

http://www.chabad.org/parshah/article_cdo/aid/424547/jewish/Genuine-Growth.htm

http://www.chabad.org/parshah/article_cdo/aid/422814/jewish/Nitzavim-Vayelech-Parshah-Lesson.htm

http://www.kabbalaonline.org/kabbalah/article_cdo/aid/967282/jewish/Standing-and-Walking-with-G-d.htm

http://www.mazorguide.com/MazorNet/jewishcl/Torah/Deuteronomy_nitzavim_2007.htm

 

These discussions are apparently all paraphrased from The Lubavitcher Rebbe's

 

sicha (Nitzavim Vayelech 5743...see before and after p. התוועדויות - שנת תשמ"ג כרך ד' עמוד

2039 ) that also uses the more technical term "Nimna HaNimnaos" to describe the

 

paradoxical state of contradictions which are surpassed. This deep concept has

 

been briefly cited online openly or alluded to:

 http://www.sichosinenglish.org/books/proceeding-together-1/13.htm (footnote 191)

 http://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/70530/jewish/Terumah.htm (footnote 24)

http://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/693352/jewish/Can-Gd-Create-a-Rock-Thats-Too-Heavy-for-Him-to-Lift.htm .

So indeed, it is possible to serve Hashem on two levels at once, outwardly contradictory but in truth consistently. Nitsavim;Vayelch teaches us that it is indeed possible and desirable to do so.

P.S. In today's world that all of the Rebbeim and Rishonim did not see, may people go nowhere on a treadmill while hooked up with WIFI to everywhere in the world while multitasking on everything. Indeed while some think that this is the fullfillment of the Omni-life, others think the cognitive dissonance leads to nothing really being created.

Be of the persecuted

A person should always choose to be of the persecuted and not of the persecutors (Bava Kama 93a)

Koheles 3:15 - G-d seeks out the persecuted (See Koheles Rabba ibid, "as Hevel was chosen over Cain and Noach over the peopel of his generation, who persecuted him.)

Ben Sira 5:3: Do not say, "Who can overcome my power", for G-d seeks out the persecuted.

Those who are insulted but do not insult back, hear themselves slandered but don’t respond, act with love and rejoice in tribulations -- of these Scripture states that ‘Those who love Him are like the sun rising with all its might’"(Yoma 23a)

 

Please help Yedei Chesed

Dear Friend,   As you may know, I work for a very special organization in Monsey called Yedei Chesed which provides numerous services to individuals with developmental disabilities and their families.   We have entered a contest via the Pepsi Refresh Project attempting to win money which will enable us to provide psychiatric services to many of the individuals we serve.   The voting takes place until the end of September and we need to get as many votes as possible.    Please help us help the families we serve in our local community!   You can help very easily:   1.   Go to:  http://www.refresheverything.com/helpchildrenwithdevelopmentaldisabilities 2.  VOTE every day - vote under every email address you have. 3.   Post a link on your Facebook page (or any other social networking account). 4.   Forward this email to all of your friends, email lists (school, work, shul, community groups, etc.).   I thank you in advance for all of your help and support.   Best wishes to you and your family for a !כתיבה וחתימה טובה לשנה טובה ומתוקה   Gershon     Gershon Sabol, Director Yedei Chesed, Inc. 48 Scotland Hill Road Chestnut Ridge, NY 10977 845-425-0887 ext. 223 gershon@yedeichesed.org

I heard and fell back