Parashat Tsav

Moses' Absence

This Monday night is the beginning of Passover. Around the world millions of Jews will be sitting down with friends and family to the Passover Seder.  Attending a Passover Seder is probably the one Jewish ritual that almost all Jewish people fulfill every year. They may not come to synagogue, they may not observe the Sabbath, they may not keep Jewish dietary rules, but they will attend a Passover Seder and will eat matzah on Passover.  We are also commanded to tell the story of Passover to our children at the Seder and to engage in certain rituals which help us to remember the exodus from Egypt.

Yet we have a very unusual way of telling the story of Passover.  If you were to tell the story of the American Revolution to your children, could you omit the name of George Washington? Could you tell the story of the American Civil War without mentioning the name of Abraham Lincoln? Of course not! Yet, in the book that we use to tell the story of Passover, the Hagaddah, the name of the central figure in that story, Moses, is never mentioned!  Why do we tell this story and yet leave out the main person without whom the story could not have happened?

The traditional answer that we give to that question is that it was not Moses who brought us out of Egypt, it was G-d.  G-d gets all the credit for liberating the Jewish people in the re-telling of the story.  Moses is merely an instrument of G-d, and in order not to confuse things, in order not to mistake Moses for a god, we omit his name completely.

This evening I want to offer a different reason why Moses' name is left out of the Seder.  This reason was suggested by Rabbi Michael Balinsky, Executive Director of the Chicago Board of Rabbis, in a Torah study he led recently. Before I go on, however, I have to issue a warning. We Jews do not look upon even our holiest of men and women as perfect. Only G-d is perfect. Everybody else, even Moses, has flaws, and often these flaws are serious ones.  In our studies we do not shy away from looking at them, and understanding them.  One of Moses' greatest flaws is one reason, perhaps, why he is not mentioned in the Hagaddah. 

Those of you who know your Bible will remember a strange incident in Moses' life.  Moses is returning to Egypt from Midian with Tsiporra, his wife, and his two sons.  G-d strikes one of the sons and seeks to kill him. Tsipporah, Moses' wife, takes a flint and circumcises one of the sons.  He recovers.

This story raises many questions. It has been a father's obligation to circumcise his sons at the age of eight days from the time of Abraham. Why did Moses neglect to circumcise his son at the proper time? Why did he leave it to his wife, Tsippora, to circumcise his son at this time of danger?  Should he not have done it himself?

After this incident on the way back to Egypt, we do not hear anything more about Moses' family.  Throughout his negotiations with Pharaoh, throughout the ten plagues, throughout the parting of the Red Sea, the Bible tells us nothing about Moses' wife and two sons.  In fact, the next mention of them comes after the Israelites have crossed the Red Sea and have left Egypt behind.  The Bible tells us that Jethro, Moses' father in law, heard all that G-d had done for the Israelites and brought "Zipporah, the wife of Moses, after she had been sent away, and her two sons" to visit Moses.

More questions!  "After she had been sent away?" When did Moses send her away? The text never mentions this. What does it mean that Moses sent his wife away? And why does the Torah describe the children as "her two sons". Are they not also Moses' sons? Should not the text have said that Jethro, Moses' father in law, brought "their two sons?"    

Here is the shocker. Here is what the Torah never tells us. Here is where we have an oral tradition that fills in the blanks at what the Torah only hints at. When the Torah says that Moses "sent his wife away" our oral tradition tells us what the text of the Torah omits. It is that he actually divorced her. That is what "sent away" really means.  When the Torah speaks of the children being "her two sons" it is because it was the mother, Zipporah, who brought them up. Alone. Now we can understand why Moses did not circumcise his son at the proper time. Why his wife did it instead of him. Moses is not the greatest father in the world. He leaves everything having to do with the children up to his wife. Even the obligations of a father to a son, he leaves to her. That is why the Torah calls the boys "her two sons". Moses had very little to do with their upbringing after he divorced his wife.

Later on, Zipporah herself confirms this. Again, we must turn to our oral tradition. The Torah text relates that two men, Eldad and Meldad, are prophesying in the Israelite camp. Joshua is concerned about these prophets undermining Moses' authority. "My lord, Moses, incarcerate them," suggests Joshua in alarm. Moses is not threatened. That is part of his greatness. "Would that the entire people could be prophets," Moses replies. Where is Zipporah, Moses' wife, during all this? The oral tradition tells us that Zipporah is standing next to Miriam, Moses' sister.  Zipporah whispers to Miriam, "Woe to their wives if they are required to prophesy, for they will separate from their wives just as my husband separated from me."

Moses was a great man. In our tradition, he is the greatest prophet who ever lived. Yet we are not blind to his flaws. He was not a good husband. He was not a good father. This great leader of a nation was not a family man. Yet what is the Passover Seder if not a time for families?  It is a time when parents are to teach their children around a sacred meal. Should a man who was himself never home for dinner be part of such important family time?  Moses is not the model that we want for a husband or father on this family centered holiday. Therefore, he is not mentioned this night when we gather with our families to retell our most important story.

There is a different prophet who becomes an important part of our Seder. At each Seder table around the world on Monday night there will be a cup of wine set apart for Elijah the Prophet. Of Elijah the prophet it is written that "he will restore the heart of fathers to their children and the heart of children to their fathers." This is the ideal of the Jewish family and of families everywhere -- that parents and children will be reconciled and turn toward each other with love and respect; that parents will not only teach their children, but that children will also teach their parents; that this take place not only on Passover night with Jewish families but on all nights for all families for all of people throughout the world. Elijah the Prophet – the one who will bring reconciliation to parents and children – he is the one who is most welcome to join us for our Passover meal.

Shabbat Shalom and A Zissen Pesach

 

 

 

Parasha VaYikra -- March 16, 2013

A Call to Leadership

March 17 marks an important anniversary in Jewish history of the 20^th century.  March 17 is the 21rst anniversary of the bombing of the Israeli embassy in Buenos Aires, Argentina. The attack killed 29 people and injured 250 others. Among the victims were Israeli diplomats, children, clergy from the church located across the street, and passers-by. The state Supreme Court investigated the incident, but it was not vigorously pursued and no action was taken. Inaction has its consequences. Two years later, on July 18, 1994, the Jewish Community Center in Buenos Aires was bombed. This time, 87 people were killed and over 100 injured. That attack ranked as one of the deadliest anti-Semitic incidents anywhere in the world since World War ll. Yet, the investigation into who was responsible was marred by incompetence, obfuscation, and outright cover-up. Despite evidence that Iran was directly involved in this act of terrorism, all Argentina's government did was expel Iranian diplomats from the country in 1998. A formal investigation into the attack was never pursued. Last week it was announced that a joint Argentine - Iranian commission would be set up to bring people to justice. With all due respect, that is like Elliot Ness inviting Al Capone to participate in a joint investigation of the St. Valentine's Day Massacre.

This Shabbat Jews all around the world begin the reading of the Book of Leviticus. In Hebrew it is named "Vayikra" which means, "And He called." G-d calls Moses into the Tabernacle to meet with him. Of course, another religious leader has been called to service this week in our own time. Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio has been called by G-d to lead the Catholic Church. And we wonder, "What would Moses think?" If Moses were to examine Cardinal Bergoglio's record with the Jewish people, I believe he would approve of what he discovered. One place where Moses would surely want to look was Cardinal Bergoglio's response to the above mentioned terrorism that was directed at the Jewish community of Buenos Aires in the early nineties. Reports are that he stood in solidarity with the Jewish community during those dark times. In 2005, Bergoglio was the first public figure to sign a petition for justice in the Jewish Community Center bombing case. He also was one of the signatories on a document called "85 victims, 85 signatures" as part of the bombing's 11th anniversary. In June 2010, he visited the rebuilt Jewish Community Center building to talk with Jewish leaders.  Just this past November the good Father hosted a special memorial for Kristallnacht at the Buenos Aires Metropolitan Cathedral. He wrote an introduction to a book published recently by an Argentinean Rabbi, Sergio Bergman, referring to him as "one of my teachers." In a visit to a Buenos Aires synagogue he said he came to examine his heart, "like a pilgrim, together with you, my elder brothers."

When we look at the Torah this week, we see something curious about the first word of the Book of Leviticus -- VaYikrah. The final letter of the word, the alef, is smaller than the other letters. Our rabbis understood this to teach us that even though Moses was a great leader and was privileged to be called by G-d, he never lost his humility. He never let his exalted position in the community go to his head. By all accounts, the new Pope follows that model of religious leadership. Israel Singer, former head of the World Jewish Congress worked with the Father in a joint Jewish-Catholic program to aid the poor in Buenos Aires. "We went out to the barrios where Jews and Catholics were suffering together," reported Singer. "If everyone sat in chairs with arms, he would sit in the one without. He was always looking to be more modest. He's going to find it hard to wear all these uniforms."

As Singer implies, in order to become an effective Pope, Francis I must overcome his humility to some extent.  To wear all fancy clothing that the Pope wears might indeed be difficult for a man of great humility. To assume all the trappings of power and prestige while maintaining ones humility can be a challenge.  Yet, it is possible. That is why Moses had to be "called" by G-d. That is why we in the clergy are said to have "a calling". The idea of "a calling" implies a certain reluctance to serve, and understanding that we are unworthy of so noble a role as representing G-d in the community.  The story is told of one of Rabbi Israel Salanter's disciples. "Rabbi," he said to his teacher, "I am in serious financial trouble because I do not have a job."

"Why not become a rabbi?" asked Rabbi Israel.

"Rabbi, I am afraid that I might give an incorrect ruling."

"Who then should become a Rabbi?" said Rabbi Israel. "One who is not afraid of ruling incorrectly?"

In other words, someone's got to do the job.  Better a humble person who is not sure of his worthiness than a supremely confident one who feels he was born for the moment.

"Humility," writes Frank Crane, "is the wish to be great and the dread of being called great. It is the wish to help and the dread of thanks. It is the love of service and the distaste of rule. It is trying to be good and blushing when caught at it."  The Pope has been called to lead our Catholic brothers and sisters of the world, just as Moses was called to lead the people of Israel, just as all clergy need to feel called to the service of the divine.  We pray that he leads with wisdom and with humility. May his pontificate further the cause of peace and brotherhood for all humanity.  So may it be for us all.           

 

 

 

 

 

 

Parasha VaYakhel Pekudei

A preacher went into his church and he was praying to God. While he was praying, he asked God, "How long is 10 million years to you?"

G-d replied, "1 second."

The next day the preacher asked God, "God, how much is 10 million dollars to you?"

And G-d replied, "A penny."

Then finally the next day the preacher asked God, "God, can I have one of your pennies?"

And God replied, "Just wait a sec."

We all know the familiar proverb, "Time is money."  But in many ways, time is not like money at all -- it is much more precious. One cannot accumulate time; one cannot borrow time; and one can never tell how much more time one has left in the Bank of Life. Time can certainly be wasted, as can money. But time well spent can yield returns far greater and more lasting than anything that money can buy. One might say that time is the most precious thing we have in life. One poet called time "the ummanufactured tissue of the universe of life" (Arnold Bennett)

In his book The Sabbath, Abraham Joshua Heschel compared the ancient pagans' glorification and sanctification of space, with Judaism's elevation and sanctification of time. The Sabbath, he writes, that most distinctive creation of the Jewish spirit, creates a "palace in time." Through observing the Sabbath the Jew feels transported and uniquely connected to the divine.

Heschel was only partly right. Our Torah reading this week reflects the preciousness of space as well as time. It opens with Moses gathering the people together. As the curtain goes up we are expecting that he will tell them the instructions that he has received to build the Tabernacle -- the holy place. Instead, he opens with the words about the holiness of time, "Six days work may be done, but on the seventh you shall have a Sabbath of complete rest." Only then does Moses go on to detail how the Tabernacle should be constructed. Earlier on, in Parasha Ki Tissa, when G-d instructs Moses on how to build the Tabernacle, G-d immediately follows these instructions with the injunction to observe the Sabbath. "Whoever does work on the Sabbath," says Moses, "shall be cut off from his kin." Notice that the Torah does not define "work". So what behaviors, exactly, are we to abstain from on the Sabbath? What constitutes "work"? From the two fold juxtaposition of the commandment to work on the Tabernacle with the commandment to rest on the Sabbath, the rabbis derived the very definition of "work". "Work" meant any of the 39 categories of labor associated with building the Tabernacle-- from sewing and weaving to hammering and joining.

All work on the Tabernacle, reasoned the rabbis, must be suspended on the Shabbat -- not only while the work of building the Tabernacle was going on, but for all Sabbaths thereafter.  This teaches us an important lesson. The Tabernacle is a holy space. The Shabbat is holy time. However, when there is a conflict between the holiness of space and the holiness of time, the holiness of time takes precedence.

The Torah tells us that G-d created the world in six days. G-d declares the Sabbath, the seventh day of the week, holy. G-d created time and space together, but time is the only one of the two that G-d blesses and makes holy. What does it mean to be holy, to be blessed, to be sanctified? It means to be set apart as special. It means to have the potential to partake of a higher spiritual worth. Yet, it is only a potential. If we, you and I, do not also sanctify time, then the time becomes just another day of the week for us. It is only Saturday if we do not make it Shabbat. The Sabbath is a portal in time that we may enter that will bring us closer to G-d, but we need to take the initiative to take the first steps through it.  

 

Shabbat Shalom

Parasha Ki Tissa

 On Wednesday morning, I woke up, opened my email, and my heart sank. There it was, a message   I did not want to see -- Pages and pages with the words, "Mailer-Daemon Failure Notice." My email had been hacked yet again. My privacy had been violated.  A message that I had not sent had been disseminated to everyone in my address book.   Then the messages from friends, colleagues, family began to arrive... "I think your email has been hacked." "Thank you very much," I wrote back, "I am taking care of it. Sorry." It is not like I am not vigilant in protecting my computer. But apparently there are viruses, malware, spybots, Trojans and cookies that can evade all our best attempts to protect our privacy. 

One of the emails I received was from a former congregant in Springfield, Massachusetts, Larry. Larry is owner and operator of Computer Care. He very kindly volunteered to rid my computer of whatever was causing the unpleasant problem.   I figured this would require many hours on the telephone with Larry. But no, by downloading a program on the internet, I was able to give Larry a code with which he was able, remotely, to gain access to my computer.  As I sat at my computer screen, my cursor mysteriously moved around my computer, clicking on various programs, opening some and shutting down others. It was like a ghost had taken over the keyboard.  He downloaded a program which searched out all of the foreign bodies that had taken up residence on my computer, essentially spying on me. At the end of the process, which took a couple of hours, Larry checked my computer again, pronounced it healthy, and left me a nice note, written on my Wordpad, instructing me how to avoid such infiltrations in the future.  He was even so kind as to print it out for me – on my own printer!

Now Larry needed a special password to gain access to my computer from Massachusetts, and that password expires after every use, so there is no danger of him searching out my computer when I do not want him to. I just want to reassure everyone, just in case you are wondering...  He would never do that anyway. But there are apparently many ways for companies to do this without our knowing.  For example, Google has a computer go through every email we send to one another, searching for keywords with which to target us with ads. Your cable provider knows exactly what programs you watch and for how long.  Facebook can track on-line activity even after you have logged off of Facebook. At work, your browsing history is probably logged by members of your IT department.  "Supercookies" are unknowingly downloaded from websites we visit, then they collect information about our activities across multiple websites. 

It is also possible to violate your own privacy with shocking results. Ashley Payne, as 24 year old English teacher in Georgia went on a European vacation in 2009 and posted over 700 pictures to her Facebook page. Ten of those had Ashley holding alcohol. She also posted that she was heading out to play a popular game at a local restaurant. The game had a profane word in it. An anonymous person, identifying themselves only as the parent of a student, emailed the principal with the pictures and complained about Ashley. The principal called her into the office and told her that she would either have to resign or she would be suspended. She resigned. She was mystified as to how these pictures made their way into the hands of a parent at her school. She had set her "privacy settings" on Facebook so that only her closest friends were able to see these pictures.  Her students had no access to them.  Apparently, that was not enough for her private life to be used against her.

Now, what does Judaism have to say about privacy? It turns out, a great deal. I will give three examples. The first example deals with privacy from intrusion. Last week we learned that the robe of the High Priest was adorned with 72 silver bells on its hem. This meant that when the High Priest walked, he jingled!  The sages teach that this was to warn people when he approached, so that he could not sneak up on them. If they heard the High Priest coming, they had a warning. If they were doing anything about which the High Priest might disapprove, they could stop. In other words, the High Priest could not suddenly walk in and disturb their privacy.  The rabbis extended this to teach that one should knock on a door before one entered a room.  Even if it the door of one's own home, they said, one should knock first before entering.

The second example deals with visual privacy. In the Book of Numbers, the pagan prophet Balaam was sent by the King, Balak, to curse the Israelites. Balaam stands on a mountain overlooking the encampment of the Jewish people in the desert. He is unable to curse them. Instead, he recites the words that the sages later chose to open our services on Shabbat morning. "How goodly are your tents, O Jacob, your dwelling places, O Israel." The Talmud asks – what did Balaam notice about the Israelite encampment that caused him to bless it in this way?  The answer --He saw that their tent openings did not face each other." The Israelites respected the privacy of one another. Balaam said, "These people are worthy to have G-d's presence dwell among them."

The final example concerns privacy of one's private mail. In around 1000 CE Rabeinu Gershom of Mainz on the River Rheine issued a series of rulings known as Takanot.  Rebeinu Gershom was the greatest rabbi of his generation, known as the "Light of the Exile". In one ruling he decreed that a person could not read the mail of one's neighbor without his permission. He extended this to privacy in commercial communications as well. Failure to abide by this ruling would result in a person's excommunication from the Jewish people.

 Judaism values privacy very highly because it protects, maintains and honors the dignity of each human being. It is important to reflect on what our Jewish tradition teaches us about the limits of intrusion into the lives of others.  Our tradition has much to offer as our society grapples with the new challenges to privacy that come with living in the digital age.       

Shabbat Shalom