To sit or not to sit ...not

This week’s Haftarah (parshas Ki Siso) quotes Prophet Elijah: “Ad mosai atem peis’chim al shtei asifim” – How long will you be jumping on two swords!? This was prompted by various divisions and conflicts within the Jewish people and had much to do with the Jews’ involvement in idol worship at that time. Elijah gathered together all the prophets of Baal and confronted the Jews “How long…” At first glance it would’ve been more appropriate for Elijah to have said - “Until when will you be following Baal, it is time you stopped worshipping Baal and proclaimed “Hashem Hu HaElokim”! This will be understood by examining the differences between ordinary idol worship and the type referred to by Elijah as “Until when…” or “sitting on the fence”.

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The Rambam writes that the origins of idol worship lie in the fact that early on people mistakenly ascribed powers to heavenly bodies in the belief that they controlled material wellbeing and sustenance. The truth is that, even though Divine influence is channeled through stars, etc., they are no more than “an axe in the hands of the Chopper”

Torah explains that to extend any kind of recognition to stars and constellation is a crime. This sin is particularly severe because the worshipper in essence denies the entire Torah. It turns out that although the primary motive for idol worship was for one’s material needs, in essence the Jewish people had no desire to deny the Torah. It is just that they thought that idol worship was not a “real” worship at all.

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So although idol worship really stems from one’s desires for material comforts, we can trace two distinct modes within it. One is Avoda Zora – “strange worship”, the other being “jumping on two…” or the “fence-sitter” type.

Avoda Zora is a situation when a person does believe that the idol will provide him with his material needs. So, although his motivation is strictly personal gain, he seriously and sincerely believes that the stars and constellation will provide. The “ fence-sitter” type is in contrast. based on a doubt and those that are involved in it can be divided into two groups:

One – this includes those who are in doubt and once in a while begin to realize that
idol worship lacks any substance at all while at other times such individuals are akin to to those who involve themselves in idol worship “ for real”. The other type are those who believe in a type of a partnership, they do believe in G-d and at the same time resort to idol worship.

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From this we can see that in many respects, “sitting on the fence” is more egregious than Avoda Zora. Yet, although “pure” Avoda Zora is a more severe transgression than “fence sitting”, from the perspective of tshuva, it is harder to repent for a fence-sitter than for a “plain” idol worshipper.

The reason for this is as follows

1. The “pure” idol worshipper has an easier time repenting upon realization how mistaken he was. The “sitter” on the other hand, is more conflicted, he does not realize the full severity of his descent and calms himself by thinking that he always had doubts about his idol worship. He thus is unable to fully repent.

2. The “pure” idol worshipper (no partnership) is completely decadent and believes that the Baal is the true G-d. Still, the possibility exists that, although he is separated from the true G-d, he somehow maintains some measure of spirituality.

The “sitter”, on the other hand , by virtue of his sin, demonstrates that not only does he not have a connection to Hashem, moreover, he has no connection with the spiritual. The proof lies in the fact that even though he realizes that Hashem is the true G-d, he is ready to betray Him when it comes to material concerns. The sitter is also dangerous in that, outwardly, he has the “look and feel” of an observant Jew and is thus capable of misleading others.

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The Talmud states that the drive for idol worship in its pure form has largely dissipated whereas the “sitters” continue to exist.

The Haftarah concludes that the Jewish people repented and declared twice “Hashem Hu HaElokim” as opposed to a single declaration during the giving of the Torah when G-d declared ‘I am Hashem your G-d”. It’s explained that when a Jew repents, he reaches a level that is much higher than that before the sin – “twice the strength” And twice - not in a numerical sense but in the sense that the second time is incomparably greater than the first. Likewise, every “sitter” needs to return to G-d with “twice the strength”. This will not only influence the “sitter” but will have a positive effect on all who may have been negatively influenced by him as is known “all Jews are responsible for one another”.

Based on the Purim sicha, 5716

Slip Slidin...this way

The name of every weekly Torah portion encapsulates its meaning. The opening verses in every chapter are not merely words, they convey what the chapter is about to address. This week’s chapter’s name is Ki Siso – “when you take a count of the children of Israel...”

The plain meaning is a taking and elevation of the children of Israel. Yet the events that unfold in this chapter – the Sin of the Golden Calf, the breaking of the Tablets run counter to those exalted goals. And overall, the chapter is somewhat strange in that it opens up by telling us about the first set of Tablets being made by Hashem, the holiest set of items imaginable, then we’re confronted with the Golden Calf episode followed by the destruction of the Tablets and the giving of a second set, this time authored by Moshe Rabbeinu. How are we to tie all of this together?

A wondrous chapter.

The Rebbe tells us that this weekly portion is “wondrous” in that it contains the entire Torah and the whole world. When G-d set out to create the world, He put in place a set of strict rules: every created entity would contain within it three stages: a beginning, a middle, and a finale. This is connected to absolutely everything, including Creation.
At the outset G-d looked into the Torah - the blueprint for Ceation. The second stage involved the creation of a world that would contain undesirable elements alongside positive ones. The final stage is the effort of the Jewish People collectively to fix and refine the world to bring about the Final Redemption..

This process is reflected in this week’s chapter. Initially G-d Himself created the first set of tablets. This was followed by the Golden Calf and the breaking of the tablets. Why? So that the Jews would repent and merit the second set which was much more “valuable” as it contained the Jewish Law, the Midrash and Aggada. In other words here we have a beginning, a descent, action and redemption reflective of the three stages.

Mission Accomplished

Unfortunately the road to the final Redemption involves descent and difficult, unfortunate situations due to the sins. This is applicable to everyone, when descent occurs, one must utilize that falling down in order to garner new strengths and keep moving forward. People tend to think that descent is something completely negative and undesirable, something that should not, ideally, occur and once it has occurred, it must be used for elevating oneself.

The Rebbe tells us something completely different: all that had been planned out by G-d to begin with. G-d had decided that this is how events and circumstances should unfold for the sake of the Ultimate Redemption. The Rebbe emphasizes that those negative situations are in reality part of the process with a clear goal leading to the ultimate good.
Tfoo wit, for a Jew, a falling down is only “permitted’ to take place for the sake of a greater ascent and thus it is a part of that subsequent elevation!

A happy ending

Every Jew possesses certain powers that enable him to fulfill his mission completely, from the moment he wakes up to the time he goes to bed at night. Where do those powers come from? From the Moses of our generation who will usher in the Final Redemption.

Noach

The commandment “Be fruitful and multiply” is mentioned in parshas Breishis and in parshas Noach.

At first glance it appears as a restatement of the same thing and Rashi does go on to say that in Breishis it’s a commandment and a blessing which is restated later in Noach.
The question still remains as to why it was necessary to repeat essentially the same thing in Parshas Noach.

This can be explained by examining the condition of the world before and after the Flood. The Bible mentions that Noach saw a new world and that the newness wasn’t only just physical. Prior to the Flood, the world (and its inhabitants) lacked the ability to refine and elevate themselves because they were totally dependent on Hashem’s beneficence. Once the world became so corrupted that it could not, by itself, purify and elevate itself, i.e. to do tshuva, the only “way out” was for it to be cleansed by the Mei Noach – the Waters of Noah.

The waters came down for 40 days and nights mimicking the 40 seah of water required for a kosher mikva. Thus, in essence, the commandment “Be fruitful and multiply” had been nullified by the Flood and needed to be renewed in the postdiluvian world. This was achieved by Noach whose name symbolizes tranquility and its repetition: Noach Noach indicates tranquility in the physical as well as the spiritual. This in turn is a further allusion to the future Messianic Utopia for we know that in the Ark there was a complete harmony amongst all types of animals, predatory as well as the docile ones. Additionally, the three decks of the Ark symbolize three levels of Creation: BY’A (Briya, Yetzira, and Aisya) where there will also be peace in the Messianic Times.

Where's the beef?

Towards the time when the Israelites were about to enter the Land of Israel, G-d told them “When the Lord, your God, expands your boundary, as He has spoken to you, and you say, "I will eat meat," because your soul desires to eat meat, you may eat meat, according to every desire of your soul.”
One opinion holds that through this, Hashem allowed them to eat flesh as they desired. Up until that point, unconsecrated meat had been forbidden for consumption unless it was brought up on the altar. This is perhaps why the consumption of ordinary meat became possible once they entered the land.
This issue isn’t easily understood. We know that in the desert, the Jewish people were on a very high spiritual level. They were completely freed from all material concerns and thus were able to devote their entire existence to serve Hashem. This situation stands in stark contrast to what they encountered in the Land of Israel where they had to lead a material existence with all its attendant issues. So why is it that only when they had descended from the spiritual high of the desert were they permitted to eat meat as they desired?
The reason is that in the desert they didn’t possess the tools and power to refine and elevate worldly matters. During that time ( in the desert) they were requested to shield themselves from the world and even their sustenance was spiritual – the Manna. It is only when the Jews entered the Holy Land did they acuire the ability to refine the world. This was the beginning of the avoida ha-birurim – a rectification and refining of the world’s materiality to create from it a dwelling for the Divine Presence. It is at that time that they received the ability to elevate and sanctify “basar taiva” – unconsecrated meat and that’s when G-d allowed them to eat it.
How is unconsecrated meat elevated? The next paragraph declares “be strong not to eat the blood, for the blood is the soul”. Blood symbolizes enthusiasm and desire, and the Torah declares – it’s ok to eat meat but the accompanying desire (blood) is forbidden. The blood is only to be used for sprinkling the Altar, in other words, that enthusiasm must be reserved for holy purposes only.
But how do we handle material desires? Torah explains “you shall spill it on the ground, like water”. A Jew ideally should not have any material desires for their own sake, everything that is done needs to be done Le’shaim Shamaim in the service of Hashem following the precept “in all your ways you should know Him”. The truth is that even when a Jew does desire something material, that desire ultimately stems from his soul which wants to elevate that particular part of materiality. When such an attitude is adopted, not only material desires are not an obstacle, on the contrary, they aid in elevating the world and making it a dwelling place for G-d.
Excerpted from “Shulchan Shabbat” based on Likutei Sichos vol.4., p 1108.

No mitzvos "lite"

Everything in Torah is exact, not a single world or expression is coincidental. This week’s chapter begins with the word “eikev”. The Sages immediately seize on this and declare that the Torah is alluding to commandments that are relegated to a lower status.

The Midrash tells us that King David was not preoccupied with the “heavy” commandments because those were most certainly done and adhered to. He was more concerned with the lighter commandments that are prone to be pushed aside.

If we think about the matter, a question will arise, as to how it was possible that King David was worried about keeping the lighter commandments in view of the fact that he was exceedingly scrupulous regarding all commandments!?

The intention on King David’s part was not to question or downplay the lighter commandments. His intention was to prevent and forestall the creation of an impression that some commandments are more important than others. And this is something that the Torah itself addresses.

A situation may arise whereby a Jew will in fact perform all the commandments but he may feel that some are less important than others. This impression is false is may prove dangerous in the final analysis.

It’s impossible to assign rank to commandments purely on an intellectual basis. The mind constantly evaluates (and in this it’s aided by logic and reason) the relative importance of this or that action. This applies to commandments as well. But since when do we rely on logic to determine the value of one commandment vs. another? After all, the reason we perform the commandments is solely because G-d has commanded them and who can delve into the reasons why it is so?

Every commandment is part of the Supernal Will emanating from the Infinite will of G-d. In this regard, all commandments are important since all are derived from His Essence. G-d’s Will does not lend itself to parsing out. Therefore, we must perform all of the commandments with utmost joy, devotion, and precision. That is why the Torah warns us to be punctual about keeping those commandments that seem less important in our eyes and promises great reward for keeping them.

Excerpted from the book “Shulchan Shabas” by the Lubavitcher Rebbe

Listen to This

In chapter Vaeschonan, Moshe Rabbeinu describes the Giving of the Torah and divine Revelation as emanating from a mighty and unceasing voice alluding to the Almighty.

One midrash describes the Voice as consisting of seven voices which in turn were translated into 70 languages, while another explains that this voice is the source of prophecy in all generations.

The Talmud explains that what distinguished the Revelation in particular was the fact that it took place at the highest level and when Hashem referred to Himself as Anochi, that was a reference to “Ono nafshi ksovis ehovis”, literally – I wrote Myself into it and delivered Myself. This indicates that during Revelation, Hashem revealed Himself to each and every Jew.

Every decree ever enacted by the Sages reveals Hashem’s imprimatur which results from that Voice. Moreover, Hashem’s message was translated into seventy languages.

Thus Torah tells us that the Seven Laws of the Sons of Noah are in no way secondary but are an essential component of that Voice from the Sinai. And the fact that the Jewish people is dispersed among the nations and Jews speak the “seventy languages” indicates the importance attached to the words of Torah transmitted in this or that language. This also has the effect of elevating and sanctifying those languages. The potential for all this was instilled at the Sinai.