Leviticus 13:46: "All the days that the affliction is upon him he shall remain contaminated; he is contaminated. He shall dwell in isolation; his dwelling shall be outside the camp." What is the affliction of tzaraat? The whiteness of the skin symbolizes the departure of vitality from the person, and the hairs represent the vulnerability of the individual to negative behavior and forces. This is brought about by egotisitical frame of mind and a feeling of superiority to those around him. Such a person often speaks openly about the faults of those around him or her, and makes no effort to help out their fellow when the opportunity arises. This is why the cure/punishment for such an individual is to isolate themselves until they are humbled and learn to appreciate human company.
The word "dwelling" in the verse is superflous. It would have sufficed to say "he shall dwell in isolation outside the camp". This extra word comes to teach us that not only his own house becomes contaminated by his negativity but also any house he walks into becomes impure. This completes his isolation - if he tries to enter a neighbor's house during his affliction, everything in that house becomes impure - all the metal and wooden vessels have to be purified and all the earthenware vessels thrown out.
If a metzora (one afflicted with tzaraat) enters a house without permission, does the house become impure nevertheless? Rabbi Yehuda one of the Tannaitic Sages teaches that the owner of the house has a time period equivalent to the time it takes to light shabbat candles to tell the metzora to exit the house.
Why did Rabbi Yehuda choose the lighting of a candle to define this time period? Rabbi Levi Yitzchak Shneerson explains that the lighting of a candle is equivalent kabbalistically to the drawing down of Wisdom illumination down to the world. The metzora is also cured by coming to the Kohen who represents the side of Wisdom and Divine illumination. The candle flame parallels the purification ritual of the metzora and therefore as long as the owner of the house is busy lighting the candle, the house stays pure from the impurity of the metzora.
Furthermore, whenever a woman lights shabbat candles she helps to bring this special light into the home. Light enables us to see objects that were previously hidden but light may also show us things that are flawed and undesirable. Only the light of shabbat or chanuka candles has this special trait that it only illuminates and makes us aware of the positive aspects of our surroundings. Therefore, in these times when the darkness of the materiality of the world is increasing, we can counteract it by having our daughters also light shabbat candles from the earliest age that they are able to.
Furthermore, when we engage in educating and illuminating another person, about a mitzva, we also draw down this light and are able to see the positive. Instead of adopting the metzora attitude of focusing on the negative aspects of our surroundings, we must purify our environment by striving to educate ourselves and the people around us, and when we engage in education, our surroundings light up with positive light.
Friday, April 27, 2012
Thursday, April 26, 2012
Lessons in Education from the Wrath of Elisha
In Kings II 5:25-26, the prophet Elisha rebukes his servant Gehazi for accepting gifts from an appreciative Naaman, the commander of the armies of Aram, who had just been cured by Elisha of his "leprosy" . As a result of his accepting this compensation, Elisha curses his servant:"Naaman's 'leprosy' shall therfore cleave to you and to your children forever".
The harshness of this curse is compared by the Rabbis, the teachers of the Oral Tradition, as pushing Gehazi away with both hands. From this episode they learned that in any relationship, especially the relationship between a teacher and a student, there should be two opposite forces at work. The left hand should be pushing away and the right hand bringing closer. However, it must first be the left pushing away creating a space of mutual respect between the two parties, before there can be a coming together and affection.
Why is distance and mutual respect a necessary first step in any relationship? Because a productive relationship involves an exchange between two individuals. In order to be a proper receptacle to receive from the other person, I must have respect and even adulation for them. And then only after I have learned from them, can I strive to come closer to them by working to assimilate their perspective into my own life.
Finally, once I have assimilated their approach and adopted their ways into my life, I can come to live with them very intimately in that I a am able to look at the world through their eyes. This is what is described as receiving the mind-consciousness of one's teacher.
When it comes to most people, though, especially children, one cannot initiate a relationship with distance. Rather, there has to be a stage where affection and closeness are exhibited at the start of the relationship arousing the desire in both individuals to start relating to each other in a more personal way. Only then can distance and mutual respect be introduced into the relationship. This why the Talmud tells us that Rava, one of the top educators and Jewish leaders in Talmudic times (100-200 ACE) would begin his classes with a joke.
The joke would cause the students to laugh but then they would also be ready to receive the teachings
of their master. The process of receiving, assimilation and mind consciousness of one's teacher is parallel to that of impreganation, gestation and the giving birth. Also historically, this is the process described by the Children of Israel leaving Egypt, traveling to Mt. Sinai in the desert and finally receiving the Torah. This is also paralleled in the three names of the holiday of Passover: the Holiday of Matzot, the Time of our Freedom, and Passover.
Based on the Talks of the Lubavitcher Rebbe.
The harshness of this curse is compared by the Rabbis, the teachers of the Oral Tradition, as pushing Gehazi away with both hands. From this episode they learned that in any relationship, especially the relationship between a teacher and a student, there should be two opposite forces at work. The left hand should be pushing away and the right hand bringing closer. However, it must first be the left pushing away creating a space of mutual respect between the two parties, before there can be a coming together and affection.
Why is distance and mutual respect a necessary first step in any relationship? Because a productive relationship involves an exchange between two individuals. In order to be a proper receptacle to receive from the other person, I must have respect and even adulation for them. And then only after I have learned from them, can I strive to come closer to them by working to assimilate their perspective into my own life.
Finally, once I have assimilated their approach and adopted their ways into my life, I can come to live with them very intimately in that I a am able to look at the world through their eyes. This is what is described as receiving the mind-consciousness of one's teacher.
When it comes to most people, though, especially children, one cannot initiate a relationship with distance. Rather, there has to be a stage where affection and closeness are exhibited at the start of the relationship arousing the desire in both individuals to start relating to each other in a more personal way. Only then can distance and mutual respect be introduced into the relationship. This why the Talmud tells us that Rava, one of the top educators and Jewish leaders in Talmudic times (100-200 ACE) would begin his classes with a joke.
The joke would cause the students to laugh but then they would also be ready to receive the teachings
of their master. The process of receiving, assimilation and mind consciousness of one's teacher is parallel to that of impreganation, gestation and the giving birth. Also historically, this is the process described by the Children of Israel leaving Egypt, traveling to Mt. Sinai in the desert and finally receiving the Torah. This is also paralleled in the three names of the holiday of Passover: the Holiday of Matzot, the Time of our Freedom, and Passover.
Based on the Talks of the Lubavitcher Rebbe.
Monday, April 16, 2012
Passover: The Modern Matzah
The verse in Ex. 12:18:"In the first [month], on the fourteenth day of the month in the evening shall you eat matzos...", seems to be saying that eating matzos on the eve of the Jews' redemption from Egypt was a commandment that they had to fulfill. However, later in the same chapter (Ex. 12:39): "They baked the dough that they took out of Egypt into unleavened cakes (matzos), for they could not be leavened..." that the formation of the matzos happened on its own not requiring any interference on the part of the Jewish people.
Since a basic precept in the belief in One G-d is that He is all-knowing, present, past and future, especially since everything that exists is through His knowledge, and He knew that the dough of the Jewish people would not rise when they left Egypt. The command to eat matzos,therefore, seems redundant since He knew that such a commandment would not be necessary as the only food they would have on leaving Egypt would be the matzos.
The answer is that there were two matzos described in this chapter in Exodus. The commandment to eat matzos was in regard to the Passover meal that the Jews had prior to midnight where they ate the matzos and the Paschal lamb. The unleavened bread that happened on its own was after midnight, after the firstborn of Egypt were struck down and the Jews were actively preparing to leave Egypt. The matzos that were baked and eaten before midnight needed to be guarded from leavening. Hence, the explicit warning (Ex. 12:17) "You shall safeguard the matzos". The matzos that were baked after midnight were baked in a hurry due to the circumstance and the Jews did not need any command from G-d in order for these matzos to form on their own as they did.
This duality is also hinted to by the fact that the word "matzos" in the commandment in 12:18 is written without a vav (מצת) while the "matzos" in verse 39, that became unleavened without the need for safeguarding are written with a vav (מצות). Chassidus teaches that the vav, a line, represents the drawing down of light, a revelation of light from above to below. Therefore, it makes sense that the matzos that were baked after midnight are spelled with a vav, to show they were imbued with a special revelation of Divine Light which occured at midnight.
The matzos that we eat today are also imbued with that special divine revelation even though we eat them before midnight. Furthermore, the revelation is higher as it does not just happen on its own but rather is brought about by our learning of Torah and performance of the mitzvos throughout the year prior to Passover. In addition, the eating of matzah on Passover night is one of the 613 commandments commanded to us by G-d Himself at Mt. Sinai.
Nevertheless, since our main intent on Passover is to celebrate our freedom, the most important aspect of matzah that needs to be mentioned is the one that resulted from our being freed from Egypt primarily, the matzah that is purely orchestrated from above, through the revelation of G-d's Divine Light.
Based on a Discourse by the Lubavitcher Rebbe ("This Matzah" 5749)
Since a basic precept in the belief in One G-d is that He is all-knowing, present, past and future, especially since everything that exists is through His knowledge, and He knew that the dough of the Jewish people would not rise when they left Egypt. The command to eat matzos,therefore, seems redundant since He knew that such a commandment would not be necessary as the only food they would have on leaving Egypt would be the matzos.
The answer is that there were two matzos described in this chapter in Exodus. The commandment to eat matzos was in regard to the Passover meal that the Jews had prior to midnight where they ate the matzos and the Paschal lamb. The unleavened bread that happened on its own was after midnight, after the firstborn of Egypt were struck down and the Jews were actively preparing to leave Egypt. The matzos that were baked and eaten before midnight needed to be guarded from leavening. Hence, the explicit warning (Ex. 12:17) "You shall safeguard the matzos". The matzos that were baked after midnight were baked in a hurry due to the circumstance and the Jews did not need any command from G-d in order for these matzos to form on their own as they did.
This duality is also hinted to by the fact that the word "matzos" in the commandment in 12:18 is written without a vav (מצת) while the "matzos" in verse 39, that became unleavened without the need for safeguarding are written with a vav (מצות). Chassidus teaches that the vav, a line, represents the drawing down of light, a revelation of light from above to below. Therefore, it makes sense that the matzos that were baked after midnight are spelled with a vav, to show they were imbued with a special revelation of Divine Light which occured at midnight.
The matzos that we eat today are also imbued with that special divine revelation even though we eat them before midnight. Furthermore, the revelation is higher as it does not just happen on its own but rather is brought about by our learning of Torah and performance of the mitzvos throughout the year prior to Passover. In addition, the eating of matzah on Passover night is one of the 613 commandments commanded to us by G-d Himself at Mt. Sinai.
Nevertheless, since our main intent on Passover is to celebrate our freedom, the most important aspect of matzah that needs to be mentioned is the one that resulted from our being freed from Egypt primarily, the matzah that is purely orchestrated from above, through the revelation of G-d's Divine Light.
Based on a Discourse by the Lubavitcher Rebbe ("This Matzah" 5749)
Monday, April 9, 2012
Tzav (Lev. 6:1-8:36) - Inauguration of the Almighty
(Lev. 8:33):"You shall not leave the entrance of the Tent of Meeting for seven days, until the day when your days of inauguration are complete, for you shall be inaugurated for a seven day period." What is the necessity for this inauguration period? Why does it not happen instantaneously? Inauguration means both appointment of a leader and investiture of that leader with the powers of office. The root of the word, inauguration, augur, means a "priest and official in the classic world" and although some want to connect this word with the idolatrous practice of divining G-d's will from natural occurrences, the more likely root is augos or augere - "to increase, to prosper".
This fits well with the Hebrew word "Milu-im" which is translated as inauguration and literally means to fill. The function of the Tabernacle, or the Temple, is to connect Heaven and Earth and act as a window and a channel for G-d's will down here in this world. It is supposed to be a filling or "fueling" station for all those who seek G-d to come and experience the Divine and take that experience and inspiration with them out into the world. As in Ex. 40:34: "The cloud covered the Tent of Meeting, and the glory of Hashem filled the Tabernacle."
In Chassidus and kabbalistic texts, the idea of the Filling Light of Hashem is the tangible presence of G-d's life force in the physical world. All created beings are vivified and animated by this Filling Light. But since the life force of this physical world is very contracted and has to pass through many veils and filters in order to reach us, the light is compared to that of the moon, which also only projects a light that originates in the sun and is reflected from its surface down to us.
In the Messianic Age, though, the prophet Isaiah reveals that "The light of the moon will be like the light of the sun"(Isa. 30:26). This means that the wan physical life force that we experience now will be revealed as the very essence of Divine energy and light. Our "mundane" existence will be transformed into a luminary for all of creation to glory in. What we experience in exile as darkness and gross physicality, will turn to sources of spiritual inspiration and fulfilment. This is the process that began when G-d's presence began to fill the wooden beams and animal hides of the Tabernacle, transforming them into vessels for His Infinite Light, but transforming the physical is a very gradual process as it requires that darkness reveal its inner light. This process must come in stages as evidenced in the stages of G-d's revelation to His people, first through the Patriarchs, then through Moses, and only gradually through the Priests in the Tabernacle, and the Prophets and Sages of every generation.
Based on Likutei Torah of the Baal HaTanya, and Selected Talks of the Lubavitcher Rebbe Volume 12
This fits well with the Hebrew word "Milu-im" which is translated as inauguration and literally means to fill. The function of the Tabernacle, or the Temple, is to connect Heaven and Earth and act as a window and a channel for G-d's will down here in this world. It is supposed to be a filling or "fueling" station for all those who seek G-d to come and experience the Divine and take that experience and inspiration with them out into the world. As in Ex. 40:34: "The cloud covered the Tent of Meeting, and the glory of Hashem filled the Tabernacle."
In Chassidus and kabbalistic texts, the idea of the Filling Light of Hashem is the tangible presence of G-d's life force in the physical world. All created beings are vivified and animated by this Filling Light. But since the life force of this physical world is very contracted and has to pass through many veils and filters in order to reach us, the light is compared to that of the moon, which also only projects a light that originates in the sun and is reflected from its surface down to us.
In the Messianic Age, though, the prophet Isaiah reveals that "The light of the moon will be like the light of the sun"(Isa. 30:26). This means that the wan physical life force that we experience now will be revealed as the very essence of Divine energy and light. Our "mundane" existence will be transformed into a luminary for all of creation to glory in. What we experience in exile as darkness and gross physicality, will turn to sources of spiritual inspiration and fulfilment. This is the process that began when G-d's presence began to fill the wooden beams and animal hides of the Tabernacle, transforming them into vessels for His Infinite Light, but transforming the physical is a very gradual process as it requires that darkness reveal its inner light. This process must come in stages as evidenced in the stages of G-d's revelation to His people, first through the Patriarchs, then through Moses, and only gradually through the Priests in the Tabernacle, and the Prophets and Sages of every generation.
Based on Likutei Torah of the Baal HaTanya, and Selected Talks of the Lubavitcher Rebbe Volume 12
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