Exodus Magazine - November 2021 by Exodus Magazine

#229 | November 2021 • Kislev 5782

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think! again. November 2021 • Kislev 5782

5 | JEWISH SOUL

Reality Check

8 | FIRST PERSON

Talk to Yourself

Although it would seem that when thinking about a certain thing, there is no difference whether or not his thoughts refer to a factual reality, but in truth this is not so

I was in my early thirties, so I suppose I was too young for a mid-life crisis... but around this time, I was torn with a number of very pressing questions. And so... I called the Rebbe.

— From the Rebbe's letters

— by Tzvi Hersh Weinreb

6 | MADE YOU THINK

10 | JEWISH THOUGHT

editorial jewish soul made you think first person jewish thought ask the rabbi our community simchas

The Myth of the Mid-Life Crisis

Let the Teachings Drop Like Rain

Some say that, “Life is one crisis after another.” So the mid-life crisis is just another in a series. But are any of those life stages really moments of crisis?

The Torah and its teachings are compared to rain. There is only one Torah, yet like rain it has multiple effects. It gives rise to different kinds of teaching, different sorts of virtue.

— by Simon Jacobson

— by Jonathan Sacks

7 | MADE YOU THINK

18 | PERSPECTIVES

The danger for religion, especially in North America, is when people are becoming only listeners and passive participants. The way out of boredom is to participate.

The greatest feat Moses accomplished in his lifetime was also his most outrageous: Not liberating the people from slavery or receiving the Torah, but shattering its tablets. What gives?

— Adin Even-Israel Steinsaltz

— by Tzvi Freeman

Can We Make Judaism Less Boring?

November 2021 / Kislev 5782

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4 5 6 8 10 12 13 17 18 21 25

The End of the Torah

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Love and awe are the two fundamental, cornerstone emotions of the human experience from which all other feelings are derived, as discussed at length in Tanya, the seminal work of Chabad Chassidic thought. Love provides the underlying drive for everything positive we do, while awe/fear motivates us to be humble and abstain from negative actions. In Divine service, meditation and prayer harness and direct one’s natural propensity for these emotions by contemplating various aspects of the Divine and how they relate to one’s life. The feelings generated by this practice energize daily life, infusing it with enthusiasm and purpose. Learning to control and direct one’s emotional energy is, according to the mystical teachings of Chassidic thought, the key to maximizing one’s potential and fulfilling one’s purpose in life. The following account is found in the Book of Kings. One woman, a widow of one of the prophets, comes to Elisha, the head of the prophets, and declares, “Your servant, my husband, is dead.” The creditor is demanding payment for her husband’s debts, and is threatening to take away her children as slaves if she cannot pay. Elisha asks her if she has anything left in her possession. She replies that all she has left is one small jug of oil. Elisha instructs her to gather all the empty vessels she can find, bring them into her home with her children, close the door, and pour from the small jug of oil into the empty vessels. The woman does as Elisha instructs her, and miraculously the oil from the small jug keeps flowing until all the empty vessels are filled. Elisha tells the woman to sell the oil, which will provide enough money not only to repay the creditors but also for her and her children to live abundantly. This story is also parable, the story of the soul is crying out that “my fire is dead.” My inspiration, the love and awe that served as the fire of my spiritual life, are gone. The creditor is the animal soul, the source of our propensity toward bodily and materialistic pursuits. The children represent the love and awe, the emotions, which are born of one’s thoughts and therefore referred to as our “children.” Not only does the animal soul want to extinguish my spiritual inspiration, but also wants to “take them as slaves,” to redirect them toward mundane, materialistic pursuits. Instead of love for the Divine and meaningful life, we become obsessed with materialistic pursuits and

physical indulgence. Instead of living in awe of the Creator and the wonders of creation, we live in fear of losing our material sustenance. The small jug of oil represents the essence of the soul. No matter what happens, the purity of the soul always remains intact, unaffected by the drudgery of materialistic life. The empty vessels represent deeds performed without motivation, or perhaps a metaphor for the emptiness I experience when I contemplate how my being is devoid of any real understanding, love or awe of the Divine, and feels a sense of bitterness about this distance – a bitterness that awakens the soul and sparks a deeper desire to connect. One of the more mystical ideas that stems from the above discourses is the concept that the greatest light emanates from darkness. In short, light is synonymous with Divine revelation, the emanation of Divine energy into creation. Darkness is the Divine energy that could not be expressed as light within creation, because the light of this energy would be too intense to be experienced. Instead, it manifests as darkness. In essence, the darkness is actually a greater form of light. By tapping into it with the proper awareness and sincerity, one can extract the potential contained within the darkness and transform it into light – an even greater light than would be possible without the darkness. This mystical idea is expressed in several ways, in various areas of life. A classic example, discussed at length in the Talmud and other sources in Jewish thought, is the idea that a Baal Teshuva, a returnee, is superior to a Tzadik, a perfectly righteous person who never sinned. In a more general sense, when we face a challenge and struggle through the darkness, we become stronger and live more deeply – and with more light – as a result. When facing the challenge of burnout or a lack of motivation, the temptation is to cave in and give up, or at least slow down. The counterintuitive lesson here is that what is needed is the exact opposite – to do the required introspection and go inward while simultaneously remaining active and even increasing activity. As a result, not only will I be able to overcome the challenges and regain motivation, but “you and your children will live abundantly” – after overcoming the challenge I will experience an even greater inspiration and a deeper appreciation for life.

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© 2021 JRCC. Published monthly by the Jewish Russian Community Centre of Ontario. Issue Number 229 (November 2021) Mail Registration Number: 40062996 Circulation: 19,000 Subscription: $18 For submissions, please send articles via e-mail along with a biographical sketch of the author. Журнал Эксодус выпускается Еврейским Центром Русскоязычной Общины Онтарио. Журнал на русском языке можно приобрести позвонив по телефону (416) 222-7105.

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jewish soul

Reality Check From the Rebbe's Letters

here are many matters that exist wholly outside the person; other [mental health] issues [such as neuroses and psychoses] that at least exist within the individual’s inner [sense of reality and] self; and finally, there are those matters whose entire existence [and reality] is a result of the person’s thinking about them. Although it would seem that when thinking about a certain thing [whose entire existence is predicated on his thoughts about the matter], there is no difference whether or not his thoughts refer to a factual reality, but in truth this is not so: there always exists within the individual the ability to examine his feelings and their degree of authenticity and certitude. This assessment affects the person even when his capacity to make a “reality check” is concealed, or to use the common vernacular, lies within his subconscious, which can then be recovered. Clearly, the thoughts and feelings that you are now experiencing emanate from the latter [of the three forms of reality: they only exist because you insist on thinking about them]. Such types of thoughts and feelings are much easier [to get rid of]; quite often they dissipate on their own by simply ceasing to think these thoughts — either a cessation resulting from an external factor [such as through an intervention by another person], or brought about by the person’s own resolve to stop thinking about them. …We verily observe that hundreds and thousands of people who found themselves in the same frame of mind as you do now were able to rid themselves of these feelings without it having any lasting effect on them at all (from which we understand that this can ultimately be achieved even by those who still retain some vestige of these feelings). [These statistics may not be so well known,] merely because it is human nature to greatly publicize those matters that are entirely in the minority, or those matters that are truly uncommon, [i.e., individuals whose feelings of gloominess overwhelm them,] while the more common experience [of people gaining control of their feelings] is not publicized at all.

November 2021 / Kislev 5782

Leaving the details of your complaints aside, I wish to make several observations: 1. Feeling dissatisfied with oneself is a good sign, for it indicates vitality and an urge to rise and improve oneself, which is accomplished via a two-way method: withdrawal from the present state, and turning to a higher level. 2. If the urge to improve oneself leads to downheartedness and inertia, then it is the work of the evil inclination, whose job it is to use every means at its disposal to prevent a Jew from carrying out good intentions connected with Torah and mitzvahs. The false and misleading voice of the evil inclination should be stifled and ignored. Besides, as the Alter Rebbe states (Tanya, ch. 25), even one single good deed creates an everlasting bond and communion with G‑d (ibid.,at length). Thus a feeling of despondency is not only out of place, it is a stumbling block to the worship of G‑d, as is more fully explained in the above and subsequent chapters of Tanya.... EM …Thus, with even minor reflection we realize that it is incumbent on each and every one of us to fulfill our mission in this world; i.e., to increase luminosity within the world and particularly within our own environs, by strengthening and disseminating the light of life in consonance with the directives of our Torah, the Torah of Life. Since this is the case, we do not even have the luxury of the available time that it takes to contemplate thoughts about ourselves, i.e., thoughts of the type that you have been having. And although at the beginning it is not easy to replace thoughts concerning ourselves with thoughts concerning our purpose in G‑d’s world, with time and practice it becomes easier to switch our thoughts — particularly so, when we do all the above with joy, the foundation of this joy being that which the Rambam [Maimonides] writes at the conclusion of the Laws of Lulav, [concerning the vital importance of serving G‑d joyfully]….

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made you think

The Myth

of the

Mid-Life Crisis

Simon Jacobson

very stage in life, at one point or another, may be faced with crisis. This is especially true with transitions in life. Take the confusion often experienced by youth as they mature from children into adults. Add into the equation the ongoing challenges surrounding school, graduation, college, career – and at times it can seem like things are on the verge of falling apart. The same is with other changes in our lives: each transition is often accompanied with some form of crisis. Some say that, “Life is one crisis after another.” So the mid-life crisis is just another in a series. But are any of those life stages really moments of crisis? HARNESS DISCOMFORT FOR SELF-GROWTH When we look closer at these so called “crises,” they actually are not “crises” at all. They are simply the unease that comes when our comfort zones are disrupted as we prepare to grow into a new state. Every transition, every metamorphosis consists of an uncomfortable state — a void — that stands between our previous state of being and our new state of being. If you take a myopic look at the moment of discomfort it can appear like a crisis — an upheaval of the status quo. But when you take a broader look at the bigger picture, it really is a stepping stone to reaching a new stage. When you see your life as disjointed fragments, then a move from one fragment to the next can be disorienting, posing a crisis. But when you see your life as a journey — the ongoing journey of your soul, which has come into this world to accomplish a mission — then the whole idea of a midlife crisis is a myth. This is not to say that entering a new stage in life doesn’t come with challenges: feeling confused or bored or anxious. But those challenges are actually opportunities in your ongoing mission: those feelings of confusion, boredom, and anxiety can be transformed into the fuel that energizes the move into the next phase of your life. If you’ve forgotten who you are, then rediscover it.

TAKE YOUR LIFE EXPERIENCE TO A NEW DIMENSION Those with the most experience have the most to give. Mid-life is nothing more than a stage that feels awkward and new; but, when your kids have grown self-reliant and suddenly you have a new life before you, your soul’s mission continues. It never ends. Only now, it takes on a new dimension.

YOUR POTENTIAL IS LIMITLESS Ultimately, it will be up to you how you live up to your potential. And that’s the best

part — you have a choice in the matter: To age or to sage. You are not a victim of age. With all of your sage life experience, you now have new opportunities to share your knowledge, to teach, to learn more often, to write, to play music, or to set up an easel in the grass at the park and paint. If you’ve been so busy over the years that you’ve forgotten the things you love to do, now is the time to remember those things that made you feel like you were bringing something unique into the world. EM Rabbi Simon Jacobson is the author of Toward a Meaningful Life: The Wisdom of the Rebbe and the director of the Meaningful Life Center (meaningfullife.com).

November 2021 / Kislev 5782

made you think

Can We Make Judaism Less Boring? Adin Even-Israel Stainsaltz

e cannot be imitators in everything that is real. We cannot be just followers. We are demanded, and especially our people are commanded, to be a Kingdom of Priests. The point is that a priest doesn’t need another priest to officiate for him. A Jew doesn’t need a rabbi. A Jew needs a personal connection with the “Boss,” with the Lord Himself. As a person I am demanded, and as a Jew I am demanded, to have such a connection. So I have one, and for me it’s a very personal one. I have to have some kind of meeting with the essence of my being a Jew. So I think that every one of us has at one point in his life to find out what is his or her basic connection... When I speak about spiritual people, I speak about those people who are always immersed in higher mysteries, those who always try to deal with things that most people understand little about. I’m trying to say something else. I don’t believe that if one has to look for the Lord, one has to look to the ceiling or to the heavens. The Lord is everywhere, not just space-wise, but everywhere in every meaning of things. To speak about the Almighty is being connected with the spiritual is correct, as long as we don’t say that He is spiritual because He is not material. But on the other hand, I can’t say that He is material because He is not spiritual. Both these terms are not adequate to describe that which is beyond all this. The Gentiles say that the Lord is on high. He’s sitting in heaven. We say that He is even higher because He looks down upon heaven and earth. The Lord is so infinite that He deals with the smallest physical being-with the molecule and the germ, with a grain of wheat – in the say way that he deals with angels, with the galaxies. He is so great that all these things are in the same way insignificant, but very significant when all of them are together. So in a way what I’m saying is that this is Judaism. Judaism is that belief that connects the earthly and those things that are not earthly. What is really of interest is something beyond us, and we can get to it by combining the two, by not leaning too much to one side or the other...

November 2021 / Kislev 5782

There is surely a lot that is boring. I find that there is a lot that is boring, at least about Judaism. However, I am not speaking only about religion. There are a lot of things that are boring. Doing things because they have “always” been done “that way” is boring. Listening and not participating is boring. And this is the danger for religion, especially in America, where people are becoming only listeners and passive participants. The way out of boredom is to participate. Participation doesn’t mean being a member of a group that holds brunches on Sunday mornings. Participation means being a part of what I would call the adventure of study, the adventure of prayer, the adventure of fulfilling any mitzvah. Thus, the way to participate is to

get more involved personally, to try as much as possible to become part of things, and to ask every day, as once young people were asked in the cheder, “What new thing did you find out today?” That is what is called Chidush-Torah, the renewal of Torah. I would say, therefore, that the function of a rabbi should be to call to his community and to ask each of them, what new thing did you find out about being Jewish. This is what we have to do in order to avoid being bored. We cannot be bored when we are participating, when we are part of the creative. Then we are a part of the Torah. EM From an interview originally published in the Algemeiner Newspaper.

first person

Talk

to Yourself

Tzvi Hersh Weinreb

didn’t consider myself a Lubavitcher, but I lived in Crown Heights for a short time after I got married. I would attend the Rebbe’s farbrengens from time to time, but my relationship was always from a distance. I mention this because of what happened later on. Three years after we married, my wife and I moved away to Silver Spring, Maryland, where I attended the University of Maryland. I received a PhD in psychology and began working as a psychologist in the local school system. Besides this, I used to give classes in Talmud—one on Shabbos afternoon for the general public, and one on Tuesday night for a smaller group who wanted to learn on a deeper level. I was in my early thirties, so I suppose I was too young for a mid-life crisis—or maybe I arrived at a mid-life crisis earlier than most people—but around this time, I was torn with a number of very pressing questions: Should I stay in Torah learning, or should I continue in psychology? And if so, how should I further my career? Should I move into private psychotherapy work or accept an offer from one of the county social service organizations in the area? Also, I wasn’t sure what was best for my children in terms of educational options in Silver Spring. In addition to all these dilemmas, like everybody else I guess, I had my own questions of faith and trust in G‑d, as well as some philosophical questions. I was in a state of uncertainty. All these questions had me depressed, and I was unsure what to do or where to go. I spoke to various close friends, and one of them—a Chabad chassid—suggested that I visit the Rebbe. And so it was that in February of 1971 I called the Rebbe. The Rebbe’s secretary answered the phone in English, with a simple “Hello, who’s this?” Now, as I was talking to the secretary, in the background—I recognized his voice from the farbrengens I had attended—the Rebbe was asking in Yiddish, “Who’s calling?” I replied, “A yid fun Maryland” (“A Jew from Maryland”). I told the secretary that I have many

questions which I would like to discuss with the Rebbe—questions about what direction my life should take, questions regarding my career, questions of faith… I explained that I was at a very uncertain stage in my life and I didn’t know where to turn. I spoke in English and, as I was talking, the Rebbe’s secretary was repeating and paraphrasing my words in Yiddish—I imagine he was doing this so that the Rebbe should hear. And then I heard the Rebbe say in the background, in Yiddish: “Tell him that there is a Jew who lives in Maryland that he can speak to. Der yid hayst Veinreb—his name is Weinreb.” The secretary asked me, “Did you hear what the Rebbe said?”

Now, I couldn’t believe my ears. I knew for sure I had not given the secretary my name, but the Rebbe had just said my name! I was taken aback, and I wanted to hear it again. So when the secretary asked whether I heard, I said no. The secretary repeated the Rebbe’s words to me: “S’iz doh a yid in Maryland mit vemen er zol redden. Zayn numen iz Veinreb.” (“There’s a Jew in Maryland whom he should talk to. His name is Weinreb.”) So I replied, “But my name is Weinreb!” And then I heard the Rebbe say, “Oib azoi, zol er visen zayn az amol darf men reden tzu zich.” (“If that’s the case, then he should know that, sometimes, one needs to speak to himself.”)

November 2021 / Kislev 5782

first person

The secretary also seemed stunned by what was taking place. He just stopped, and I could hear his breathing. And then he said to me, “The Rebbe said that sometimes it’s best to talk to yourself. Isn’t your name Weinreb?” “Yes, my name is Weinreb, but maybe the Rebbe means a different Weinreb.” “No, the Rebbe’s saying, ‘Talk to Weinreb,’ and he explained that you must to talk to yourself.” I thanked him very much, and the call ended with that. I believe I understood what the Rebbe was trying to tell me. If I could put words in his mouth, he was saying, “You’re looking for answers outside yourself. You’re not a

November 2021 / Kislev 5782

kid anymore; you’re a man. You are thirty years old, you are a father, you are a teacher of Torah. You have to have more selfconfidence. It’s time to grow up and listen to yourself. Don’t be so dependent on others. Trust yourself.” And from that point on, I became much more decisive. I think up to that time I had a tendency to be very ambivalent. I was not a risk-taker; I was a procrastinator when it came to making decisions. But from that point on, I became decisive. The Rebbe could have picked up the phone and told me what to do, but I wouldn’t necessarily have listened to what he told me, and I wouldn’t have accepted it in the same way I accepted this. Like many people, I suppose I had a natural resistance to being told by others what to do, and I think the Rebbe had insight to know that it was better if I heard the answer from myself than if I heard the answer from him. That the Rebbe understood that, I think, was part of his great wisdom. A few months after that life-changing phone call, there came an opportunity to express my gratitude to the Rebbe in person. I had come to visit my in-laws in Brooklyn, and my father-in-law encouraged me to go to the Rebbe to thank him. The Rebbe was blessing people in a small public audience, and I went over to him and said, “My name is Weinreb and I’m from Maryland.” And he gave me a big smile of recognition.

I saw the Rebbe many times, and I saw many pictures of him, but that particular smile meant a lot for me. I left Silver Spring, and eventually I made a career change from being a fulltime psychologist to becoming a rabbi of a synagogue. For many years I was the rabbi of Shomrei Emunah, a wonderful congregation in Baltimore. Later in life, I was offered to take over as the executive vice president of the Orthodox Union, a position I accepted, though it was a difficult decision to leave my Baltimore post. Since 1971, there have been times when I faced difficult questions in life, and before I sought advice from anyone else, I would listen to my inner voice. I would set aside time to first study some of the Rebbe’s teachings—like Likkutei Sichot—in order to connect again, and then I’d follow the advice he gave me: to talk to myself. And I’ve encouraged other people to do the same. Before you go asking this and that of another person, first talk to yourself and listen to what you have to say about it—sometimes your own advice is the best advice. EM Rabbi Dr. Tzvi Hersh Weinreb is an ordained rabbi, a qualified psychotherapist and the Executive Vice President Emeritus of the Orthodox Union, a position he has held since 2002. The above is a transcript from an interview for the Jewish Education Media My Encounter series.

jewish thought

Let the Teachings Drop Like Rain Jonathan Sacks

n the glorious song with which Moses addresses the congregation, he invites the people to think of the Torah – their covenant with G‑d – as if it were like the rain that waters the ground so that it brings forth its produce: Let my teaching drop as rain, My words descend like dew, Like showers on new grass, Like abundant rain on tender plants. (Deut. 32:2) G‑d’s word is like rain in a dry land. It brings life. It makes things grow. There is much we can do of our own accord: we can plough the earth and plant the seeds. But in the end our success depends on something beyond our control. If no rain falls, there will be no harvest, whatever preparations we make. So it is with Israel. It must never be tempted into the hubris of saying: “My power and the strength of my hands have produced this wealth for me” (Deut. 8:17). The Sages, however, sensed something more in the analogy. This is how Sifrei (a compendium of commentaries on Numbers and Deuteronomy dating back to the Mishnaic period) puts it: Let my teaching drop as rain: Just as the rain is one thing, yet it falls on trees, enabling each to produce tasty fruit according to the kind of tree it is – the vine in its way, the olive tree in its way, and the date palm in its way – so the Torah is one, yet its words yield Scripture, Mishnah, laws, and lore. Like showers on new grass: Just as showers fall upon plants and make them grow, some green, some red, some black, some white, so the words of Torah produce teachers, worthy individuals, Sages, the righteous, and the pious. There is only one Torah, yet it has multiple effects. It gives rise to different kinds of teaching, different sorts of virtue. Torah is sometimes seen by its critics as overly prescriptive, as if it sought to make everyone the same. The Midrash argues otherwise. The Torah is compared to rain precisely to emphasise that its most important effect is to make each of us grow into what we could become. We are not all

the same, nor does Torah seek uniformity. As a famous Mishnah puts it: “When a human being makes many coins from the same mint, they are all the same. G‑d makes everyone in the same image – His image – yet none is the same as another” (Mishnah Sanhedrin 4:5). This emphasis on difference is a recurring theme in Judaism. For example, when Moses asks G‑d to appoint his successor, he uses an unusual phrase: “May the Lord, G‑d of the spirits of all humankind, appoint a man over the community” (Num. 27:16). On this, Rashi comments: Why is this expression (“G‑d of the spirits of all humankind”) used? [Moses] said to Him: Lord of the universe, You know each person’s character, and that no two people are alike. Therefore, appoint a leader for them who will bear with each person according to his or her disposition. One of the fundamental requirements of a leader in Judaism is that he or she is able to respect the differences between human beings. This is a point emphasized

by Maimonides in Guide for the Perplexed: Man is, as you know, the highest form in creation, and he therefore includes the largest number of constituent elements. This is why the human race contains so great a variety of individuals that we cannot discover two persons exactly alike in any moral quality or in external appearance…. This great variety and the necessity of social life are essential elements in man’s nature. But the well-being of society demands that there should be a leader able to regulate the actions of man. He must complete every shortcoming, remove every excess, and prescribe for the conduct of all, so that the natural variety should be counterbalanced by the uniformity of legislation, so that social order be well established. The political problem as Maimonides sees it is how to regulate the affairs of human beings in such a way as to respect their individuality while not creating chaos. A similar point emerges from a surprising rabbinic teaching: “Our Rabbis taught: If one sees a crowd of Israelites, one

November 2021 / Kislev 5782

We are not all the same, nor does Torah seek uniformity. As a famous Mishnah puts it: “When a human being makes many coins from the same mint, they are all the same. G‑d makes everyone in the same image – His image – yet none is the same as another” says: Blessed Be He who discerns secrets – because the mind of each is different from that of another, just as the face of each is different from another” (Brachot 58a). We would have expected a blessing over a crowd to emphasise its size, its mass: human beings in their collectivity. A crowd is a group large enough for the individuality of the faces to be lost. Yet the blessing stresses the opposite – that each member of a crowd is still an individual with distinctive thoughts, hopes, fears, and aspirations. The same was true for the relationship between the Sages. A Mishnah states: When R. Meir died, the composers of fables ceased. When Ben Azzai died, assiduous students ceased. When Ben Zoma died, the expositors ceased. When R. Akiva died, the glory of the Torah ceased. When R. Chanina died, men of deed ceased. When R. Yose Ketanta died, the pious men ceased. When R. Yochanan b. Zakai died, the lustre of wisdom ceased…. When Rabbi died, humility and the fear of sin ceased. (Mishnah Sotah 9:15)

There was no single template of the Sage. Each had his own distinctive merits, his unique contribution to the collective heritage. In this respect, the Sages were merely continuing the tradition of the Torah itself. There is no single role model of the religious hero or heroine in Tanach. The patriarchs and matriarchs each had their own unmistakable character. Moses, Aaron, and Miriam each emerge as different personality types. Kings, Priests, and Prophets had different roles to play in Israelite society. Even among the Prophets, “No two prophesy in the same style,” said the Sages (Sanhedrin 89a). Elijah was zealous, Elisha gentle. Hosea speaks of love, Amos speaks of justice. Isaiah’s visions are simpler and less opaque than those of Ezekiel. The same applies to even to the revelation at Sinai itself. Each individual heard, in the same words, a different inflection: The voice of the Lord is with power (Ps. 29:4): that is, according to the power of each individual, the young, the old, and the very small ones, each according to their power [of understanding]. G‑d said to Israel, “Do not believe that there are many gods in heaven because you heard many voices. Know that I alone am the Lord your G‑d.” According to Maharsha, there are 600,000 interpretations of Torah. Each individual is theoretically capable of a unique insight into its meaning. The French philosopher Emmanuel Levinas commented: The Revelation has a particular way of producing meaning, which lies in its calling upon the unique within me. It is as if a multiplicity of persons…were the condition for the plenitude of “absolute truth,” as if each person, by virtue of his own uniqueness, were able to guarantee the revelation of one unique aspect of the truth, so that some of its facets would never have been revealed if certain people had been absent from mankind. Judaism, in short, emphasizes the other side of the maxim E pluribus unum (“Out of the many, one”). It says: “Out of the One, many.” The miracle of creation is that unity in heaven produces diversity on earth. Torah is the rain that feeds this diversity, allowing each of us to become what only we can be. EM

future tense

MOSHIACH MUSINGS

The Third Temple will be many times larger than the previous two Temples. For example, the area set aside for the Second Temple complex, or what is known as the Temple Mount, was 500 by 500 cubits (each cubit being approximately 18.9 inches). In the Third Temple, it will be 3,000 by 3,000 cubits—i.e., it will be 36 times larger, or 9,000,000 square cubits (approx. 22,325,625 square feet or 512.5 acres)! Another difference: Iron was not used in the building of the first two Temples, as the verse states: “The House, when it was in building, was built of stone finished at the quarry, and there was neither hammer nor axe (nor) any tool of iron heard in the house, while it was in building.” Why? Because iron is used in the fashioning of weapons used to shorten life, and the purpose of the Temple was to “make peace” between man and G‑d, thereby lengthening one’s life. Thus, it is improper to build a life-sustaining structure with a material that is its very antithesis. In the times of Moshiach, when “swords will be beaten into plowshares” and iron will be used only for the positive, this prohibition of using metal in the structure of the Temple will no longer apply. The use of iron in the Third Temple will not just be a symptom of the peace that will reign, but it is symbolic of the messianic era in general.

ask the rabbi

Why Did People Stop Living So Long? Rabbi Yoseph Y. Zaltzman

Why were the lifespans of the early generations described in the Torah so incredibly long? Is this to be taken literally? And why did lifespans decrease gradually over time?

The longevity of our patriarchs indeed raises several questions. What does it feel like to hit 900? When did they have their midlife crisis? Were centenarians getting up to teenage mischief? Did parents tell their children, “Stop acting like a 40-year-old!”? Whatever the case, the first few generations of humanity lived extremely long lives. Adam died at age 930, Noah was almost 500 when he started building the ark, and Methuselah lived the longest — 969 years. After Noah’s flood we see a dramatic reduction in average lifespan, until eventually people began to live as long as we do today. So what happened? We know that each soul that comes into the world arrives with a set of missions to fulfill. The person housing that soul is given a lifespan that is long enough to complete these missions. The main difference between the earlier and later generations is that the first generations of humanity had large, “all-encompassing” souls. People in later generations possessed only fragments of those original souls. Those souls were broken up and shared between several individuals. The earlier generations had big souls and long lifespans, because they had a lot of work to do. In later generations, these big souls were spread out among thousands and millions of individuals, in the form of smaller souls with less work to do, and thus shorter lifetimes to do it in. But if, for whatever reason, a soul does not complete all the work it needs to in one lifetime, it is given more chances. A reincarnated soul is a spark of an earlier soul that comes back to earth in a new body to complete unfinished business from its previous life. In Genesis we read about the wickedness of Noah’s generation. The Torah says, “The L‑rd said, ‘Let My spirit not quarrel forever

concerning man, because he is also flesh, and his days shall be a hundred and twenty years.’” Some explain that “his days shall be a hundred and twenty years” means that G‑d had decided to give the generation of the Flood 120 years to improve. If they would improve their ways, they would be saved; if they would not repent before 120 years elapsed, their days would be over, and G‑d would cleanse the world with a flood. Ibn Ezra tells us that there are those who understand this verse to cap the lifespan of humans from that time and on to 120 years. He rejects this position, as there were many—including the Patriarchs—who lived longer than 120 years, and it was not until the days of Moses that we see people passing away before reaching that age. In spite of the above, there is room in Jewish tradition to link this verse to the fact that virtually no one lives past 120, and only special people like Moses merit reaching this milestone. So what are we to do with Ibn Ezra’s observation? The Tzemach Tzedek, Rabbi Menachem Mendel of Lubavitch, the third Rebbe of Chabad, explains that the gradual decline of lifespans—which reached 120 only with Moses—was the result of Noah’s sacrifices, which served to temper the severity of the divine decree. The bottom line is that none of us know how much time we have, but we do know that we don’t have centuries. We don’t have the luxury to start building our ark or embarking on our life’s mission when we turn 500. So we better start now. EM

- Еврейская традиция предписывает нам жить в ногу со временем. В ногу со временем – это означает в соответствии с еврейским календарем. В этом году праздник Ханука наступает в конце ноября. Общеизвестно, что Ханука – это праздник чудес и само его предназначение – поведать всему миру о чуде. Очень хорошо. А что такое чудо? Какое значение имеет чудо в еврейской истории? Давайте поговорим об этом. Чудо – это то, что противоположно законам природы. То есть, чудо – это то, что не может произойти в рамках законов природы? Не может или не должно. Но теперь надо ответить на вопрос: «А что такое законы природы?» Тора говорит, что сами законы природы – это чудо, продолжающееся постоянно. Законы природы – не процесс эволюции, а создание Творца. Вс-вышний создал так, что, следуя закону притяжения, камень падает вниз, Земля вращается вокруг Солнца и т.д. Все действует четко, точно по графику. Мы уверены, что сегодня вечером станет темно, а утром появится Солнце. Кто обязывает Солнце осветить Землю, у кого это в руках? У Того, Кто создал этот мир и руководит Своим созданием. Как уже было сказано, законы природы – постоянно продолжающееся чудо, и Вс-вышний руководит миром, ежесекундно заставляя это чудо происходить вновь и вновь. Но есть еще и иной способ, посредством которого Вс-вышний руководит миром: когда Творец хочет достичь определенной цели, он иногда действует против Им же созданных законов природы. Происходит то, что мы обычно считаем противоестественным. The article above is excerpted from the Russian edition of Exodus Magazine. To subscribe, please visit exodusmagazine.org or call 416.222.7105.

Rabbi Yoseph Y. Zaltzman is the Senior Rabbi of the Jewish Russian Community Centre of Ontario. You can Ask the Rabbi at jrcc.org or fax to 416.222.7812. To meet with Rabbi Zaltzman in person, feel free to call 416.222.7105 to book an appointment. Appointments are generally available on Wednesday evenings after 7pm. Rebbitzin Chiena Zaltzman is also available for private consultations by appointment on Wednesday evenings from 9 to 10pm by calling 416.222.7105.

November 2021 / Kislev 5782

‫ב”ה‬ ‫ב''ה‬

Our

NOVEMBER 2021 | KISLEV 5782

Community

COMMUNITY CALENDAR

MIKVEH COURSE LAUNCHES

НОЯБРЬ 2020

NOVEMBER2021 SUN

13 1pm THU

18 8pm TUE

9-10 KISLEV FARBRENGEN

14 KISLEV FARBRENGEN

23 9pm

19 KILSEV FARBRENGEN

SUN

CHNAUKAH WONDERLAND

28 SUN

28 6pm 28 06

PUBLIC MENORAH LIGHTING

CHANUKAH

CANDLE LIGHTING TIMES Friday, Nov 5, 2021

5:45 PM

Friday, Nov 12, 2021

4:37 PM

Friday, Nov 19, 2021

4:30 PM

Friday, Nov 26, 2021

4:26 PM

November 2021 / Kislev 5782

KISLEV 5781

T H E M O N T H I N R E V I E W. U P C O M I N G E V E N T S & P R O G R A M S .

The JRCC East Thornhill recently launched a new course for women that provides a comprehensive overview about Mikvah (ritual bath) and the Jewish concept of purity. Married Jewish women use a Mikvah each month as part of the laws of family purity. While historically Mikvah use was exclusive to the observant/orthodox community, in modern times many women have embraced the practice as one promoting rejuvenation and spiritual growth. The new six-week course, Mikvah 101, is held on Thursdays at 8pm and is led by Chanie Zaltzman, a certified Mikvah.org instructor. The course, which is held on Thursdays at 8pm through November 11, covers everything you wanted to know about Mikvah but didn’t know to ask, and is suitable for women at all levels – beginners, intermediate and advanced – as there is always more to learn about this topic. It’s not too late to join. Visit jrcceastthornhill.org/familypurity for details and to RSVP.

JRCC VEHICLE DONATION PROGRAM

If you’re upgrading your car, the JRCC offers a great alternative to trade-in or selling your previous vehicle. You can donate your old car through the JRCC’s Vehicle Donation Program, and het a valuable tax receipt for the maximum market value of your car. It’s a win-win situation: You get a great value for your car, and the proceeds from the sale of the vehicle benefit the programs and services the JRCC provides to the community. For more information, contact us at 416.222.7105 x251 or vehicledonation@jrcc.org, or visit jrcc.org/vehicledonation.

ONGOING VIRTUAL PROGRAMS FOR SENIORS

In response to the COVID-19 situation and the growing needs of isolated seniors, the JRCC developed a wide range of programs serving the over-60 demographic in our community. In addition to assistance with basic and healthrelated needs, such as groceries, medication, the JRCC created a series of virtual social, cultural and educational programs that seniors can join form the comfort and safety of their own home. The immensely popular virtual gatherings, held every Monday, Wednesday and Thursday at 11am in Russian, offer a variety of engaging programming, including engaging lectures on a timely and relevant topics, live musical concerts with a professional musicians, interactive sing-alongs, Russian literature, and even online exercise classes. To join, use Zoom ID 416-222-7105. For more details, call 416.222.7105 x245 or visit jrcc.org/seniors. 13

Photo of the Month

CHANUKAH Community events Join the branch near you for Chanukah events for all ages. Info at

www.jrcc.org/Chanukah

Children in the JRCC Daycare take part in interactive activities while enjoying the outdoor fall weather.

BAR &BAT MITZVAH CLUB GIVE YOUR CHILDREN THE BAR/ BAT MITZVAH THEY DESERVE

For information, call 416.222.7105 x247, email BarMitzvah@jrcc.org or BatMitzvah@jrcc.org

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TES KISLEV

FARBRENGEN

Life Cycle PROJECT From the moment of birth until 120 years WELCOME PACKAGE • NEW-BORN PACKAGE • BAR/BAT MITZVAH PACKAGE WEDDING GIFT • BEREAVEMENT PACKAGE • BIRTHDAY & HOLIDAY PACKAGES

Exclusively for Jewish Russian families living in Ontario. For more information please call 416-222-7105, ext. 245

At the JRCC West Thornhill

1136 Centre St., Unit 2

Tuesday, November 23 | 8:00pm Celebrate New Year of Chassidism with us! Note: Covid-19 protocols in place.

www.jrcc.org/Farbrengen

November 2021 / Kislev 5782

CHITAS IS IN RUSSIAN

Join thousands worldwide in the Chitas study cycle which includes the weekly Torah potion, Tanya, Tehillim as well as daily inspiration from Hayom Yom.

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16 тишрея - 22 тишрея 4 октября - 10 октября

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Upcoming

Covid-19 protocols in place.

FARBRENGENS JRCC Rockford SATURDAY NIGHT, NOVEMBER 13 9-10 Kislev Farbrengen

Celebrating the day of liberation of the Mitteler Rebbe from czarist prison.

JRCC Woodbridge THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 18 14 Kislev Farbrengen Celebrating the anniversary of the Rebbe’s wedding day.

Faces of the Community Lidor Kupernik Police Officer Tell us a little about your personal and professional background. I was born in Israel, and when I was 12 years old my parents and my two sisters moved to Toronto. I went to the Or Menachem JRCC Jewish Day School. They hosted a beautiful ceremony for my Bar Mitzvah. After graduating High School, I entered th Seneca College Police Foundations program and received an honors degree. I began my career in production at the the CashCode factory. After a few years, management announced that the Toronto plant was closing and relocating to Mexico. I had to look for another field of work, and I joined the Peel Regional Police, where I have been serving as a police officer for six years. Can you describe your job at the police? Our main job is to respond to emergency calls from people who call 911. In addition, we patrol the streets, keep order in the city, and enforce traffic regulations. And if we are talking about a crime, when someone, G-d forbid, commits a serious crime, we detain the guilty ones and take the case to court. This year I was promoted to a new position — Community Liaison Coordinator. My colleagues and I work with homeless people, contact social organizations to help them get housing or other help. We also work with people addicted to alcohol and drugs and send them for treatment. I also had a meeting with Rabbi Zaltzman. I asked him to think about how we can be useful to our Jewish Russian-speaking community. We are very interested in eliminating the barrier of alienation between the police and the population. Unfortunately, some people have developed a negative stereotype about the police, and we want to demonstrate that the police are here to help, not just enforce. In addition, this approach is very close to me as a Jew, since it is customary in Judaism to take care of people. It brings me closer to my own roots. Where does your family come from? My father is from the famous Jewish town of Balti, and my mother is from Chisinau, where many Jews also lived and Jewish traditions were strong. My parents came to Israel as teenagers with their parents, my grandparents. In Israel, they completed their studies, met and got married. We observed all the Jewish holidays, celebrating at home with my grandparents on my mother's side. What do you do in your free time? Do you have any hobbies? Honestly, I don't have much free time, as my wife and I are raising two small children. We all love to go to the zoo together, go on picnics, play on playgrounds in parks. In general, we try to leave the house more often. We have a gym at the police station, and I enjoy working out there to maintain my physical conditioning. In addition, I decided to continue my education and am now completing my studies with a degree in Criminology, focusing on Justice Studies and Public Safety.

cares

connect

grants

VOLUNTEERS NEEDED! Packing and / or distributing Chanukah gift packages For more information

416-222-7105 #291 November 2021 / Kislev 5782

If you had the opportunity to meet with any person, past or present, who would you choose and why I would really like to meet my grandfather on my mother's side. Unfortunately, he is no longer with us, but I miss him very much. His name was Philip Bernadiner. He loved all his grandchildren very much and always tried to understand us. Soon after we moved to Canada, my grandfather died in Israel, and, unfortunately, I was unable to say goodbye to him. I am very sorry that he did not have time to see the success of his grandchildren – graduations, weddings, etc. My grandmother, as long as her health allowed, came to visit us every year. We have no relatives in Canada — everyone stayed in Israel. I visited my loved ones and my homeland, Israel, three times. Despite the fact that we have lived in Canada for many years, and I work, study, and have a family, but my real home and my heart remained in Israel. What are your plans for the future? Good question... I would like to continue serving in the police force so that our community and all Toronto residents feel safe. I would like to set an example of how the police can interact with different communities, and while staying true to myself and trying to be closer to my Jewish roots, I want to continue to keep in touch with my native Jewish community. In addition, I want to have a stable opportunity to provide for and take care of my family in the same way as my parents took care of me and my sisters. I want to deepen my education and continue to visit Israel so that I never forget about my true roots.

JRCC Directory

JRCC Program Spotlight

416-222-7105 | www.jrcc.org Jewish Russian Community Centre of Ontario

SAFEGUARDING THE GIFT

WEEKLY CLASS ON THE LAWS OF SHABBAT Shabbat is a tremendous gift bestowed upon our people. “I have an exquisite gift in My treasure house; it is called Shabbat, and I wish to bestow it upon the Jewish people,” the Torah realties that G‑d told Moses. Shabbat is an island of tranquility in the maelstrom of work, anxiety, struggle and tribulation that characterizes our daily lives for the other six days of the week. It is a peaceful day dedicated to family, friends, prayer, introspection, and rest.

Shabbat. In Inquisition-era Spain, secret Jews (“anusim”) gathered in underground cellars to light the Shabbat candles and make kiddush. Under Soviet rule, Jews

Shabbat means different things to different people. Shabbat is the soul of the week. Shabbat is awareness of the Creator. Shabbat is pleasure. Shabbat is peace. Shabbat is Jewish Identity. In the words of a famous Jewish writer, "Even more than the Jews have kept the Shabbat, the Shabbat has kept the Jews.” Indeed, throughout history Jews sacrificed to keep Shabbat throughout the long night of exile. In Rome, Jewish slaves were beaten for refusing to work on

suffered hunger, imprisonment, exile to Siberia and worse for being “religious parasites” — i.e., people who wouldn’t work on Shabbat. Even in Auschwitz, Jews went to superhuman lengths to sanctify the holy day. Shabbat is also a taste of the World to Come, the time when every day will embody the peacefulness and bliss of Shabbat. Shabbat is our weekly taste of this future world.

and connects us with is unique energy is the legal framework for how it is observed. The laws are equally complex and fascinating, forming a an entire tractate of the Talmud and a large volume of the Shulchan Aruch (Code of Jewish Law). Studying these laws with a qualified teacher is an opportunity to enhance our understanding and experience of Shabbat – strengthening our observance of it, deepening our appreciation of it, and putting us in touch with more of its majesty. The JRCC South Thornhill is launching a series on on the Laws of Shabbat with Rabbi Levi Blau that will take place weekly on Shabbat following the afternoon prayers. Contact Rabbi Blau at 416-2227105 x288 or levi.blau@jrcc.org for more information. You can also learn more about Shabbat at jrcc.org/Shabbat

5987 Bathurst Street, #3 Toronto, ON M2R 1Z3 Canada Office Hours: Sun: 12 — 5 Mon to Thurs: 9 — 6 • Fri: 9 — 3hrs before Shabbat

JRCC BRANCHES JRCC of Ontario: 5987 Bathurst St., #3 Rabbi Yoseph Y. Zaltzman x278 Roi Aftabi, COO x257 JRCC Woodbridge: 12 Muscadel Rd. Rabbi Avrohom Yusewitz x261 JRCC S. Richmond Hill & Maple: 9699 Bathurst St. Rabbi Avrohom Zaltzman x247 JRCC Concord: 411 Confederation Parkway, #14 Rabbi Avraham Weinstein x 249 JRCC Affiliate CRC of Thornhill Woods: 8808 Bathurst St. Rabbi Chaim Hildeshaim x224 JRCC West Thornhill: 1136 Centre St., #2 Rabbi Levi Jacobson x240 JRCC East Thornhill: 7608 Yonge St., #3 Rabbi Mendel Zaltzman x227 JRCC South Thornhill: 1 Cordoba Dr., Party Room Rabbi Levi Blau x288 JRCC Rockford: 18 Rockford Rd. Rabbi Shmuel Neft x235 JRCC Affiliate Jewish Gorsky Assn.: 465 Patricia Ave. Rabbi Dovid Davidov x255 Downstairs JRCC Willowdale and the City: 5700 Yonge St. Rabbi Yisroel Zaltzman x231 JRCC Sheppard & Bathurst Senior’s Building 4455 Bathurst St., Party Room / Mr. Roman Goldstein x221 JRCC Lawrence & Bathurst Senior’s Building 3174 Bathurst St., Party Room x221

JRCC AFFILIATES Danforth Beaches Rabbi Shalom Lezell (416) 809-1365

Durham Region Rabbi Tzali Borensein (905) 493-9007 Georgina, Ontario Rabbi Yossi Vorovitch (905) 909-8818 Hamilton Region Rabbi Chanoch Rosenfeld (905) 529-7458 London, Ontario Rabbi Lazer Gurkow (519) 438-3333 Niagara Region Rabbi Zalman Zaltzman (905) 356-7200 Ottawa, Ontario Rabbi Chaim Mendelsohn (613) 218-8505 Waterloo Region Rabbi Moshe Goldman (519) 725-4289

Part of what sanctifies Shabbat

EDUCATIONAL PROGRAMS L&M Gelfand Daycare JRCC Daycare and Preschool x501

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JRCC Hebrew School Sunday and after-school program x225 Institute of Jewish Studies Classes & Lectures for Adults x221 Exodus Magazine Monthly Publications in Rus & Eng x222 JRCC Bookstore & Library jrcc.org/bookstore x221

SOCIAL PROGRAMS Furniture Depot: 1416 Centre St. #6 x500 jrccfurnituredepot.org Hospital & Jail Visitations x221 Family Counselling & Legal Advice

Call us at

416-222-7105 x 248 or visit us online at jrcc.help

Holiday Programs x234 Events, Parties & Holiday Awareness Jewish Identity Verification x237 Mazal Makalski jewishidentity@jrcc.org Simcha Gemach x234 Chanie Zaltzman chanie.zaltzman@jrcc.org Volunteering x254 Get involved in your community! YEDinstitute – Entrepreneurial Mentorship x221 yedinstitute.org

November 2021 / Kislev 5782

SHARE THE JOY! the ex odus ma g azine s im cha sectio n

MAZEL TOV!

IT’S A BOY!

Ethan Pildush Ethan Rocha Eliyahu Meir Sela Matthew Liam Hoidas Leon Btzalel Sitsker Asher Jaxson Shapiro Liam Valdman Lliam Jacob Shupak Matthew lavie Blayvas Nochum DovBer Brikman

Rabbi Levi & Mrs. Mushky Blau On the birth of their son Moishe Yehuda

May it be G-d’s will that you raise him and enable him to attain Torah, marriage and good deeds amidst prosperity.

IT’S A GIRL!

Mazal Anshilevich Lia Margarita Michalovich Mila Rose Kolker Anabel Bat-El Samehov Shterna Saara Zaltzman Emuna Malka Vainer

With best wishes, the JRCC Rabbi & Staff

MAZEL TOV!

BAR-MITZVAH! Yehuda Jawitz

ENGAGEMENT!

Asaf Goldberg & Tali Zahavi

MARRIAGE!

Ben Smillie & Gila Rosenwasser Yakov Chai Iliabaev & Sivan Ibragimov

Rabbi Chaim & Mrs. Chanie Hildeshaim On the birth of their daughter

Wishing you much health, happiness and nachas, from the rabbis of the JRCC Rabbi Yoseph Y. Zaltzman (Senior Rabbi) Rabbi Avrohom Yusewitz, Rabbi Avrohom Zaltzman, Rabbi Avraham Weinstein, Rabbi Chaim Hildeshaim, Rabbi Levi Jacobson, Rabbi Mendel Zaltzman, Rabbi Levi Blau, Rabbi Shmuel Neft, Rabbi David Davidov, Rabbi Yisroel Zaltzman

Etel Brocha

May it be G-d’s will that you raise her and enable her to attain Torah, marriage, and good deeds amidst prosperity. With best wishes, the JRCC Staff

SPREAD THE JOY!

November 2021 / Kislev 5782

CHUPPAH

BAT MITZVAH

BAR MITZVAH

OPSHERN

BABY NAMING

PIDION HABEN

BRIT

For the next special event in your friend’s or family’s life, post a special greeting ad in Exodus Magazine’s Simcha section. Call 416.222.7105 x222 for details.

NAMES LISTED ABOVE AND ADS IN THIS MAZEL TOV PAGE ARE NO PROOF OF JEWISH IDENTITY

perspectives

The End

of the

Torah

Tzvi Freeman

hat was the greatest feat Moses accomplished over his lifetime? Defying a mighty dictator? Performing history’s most celebrated miracles? Liberating an entire people from slavery? Forging them into a wise and brave nation? Receiving the Torah from G‑d on Mount Sinai? Putting up with all the kvetching and stubbornness of his people for 40 years in the Sinai Desert? Rashi, the most classic of Jewish commentators, tells us “none of the above.” Moses’s greatest feat was not receiving the Torah, but shattering its tablets. Here are the last lines of the Five Books of Moses: Never again did there arise in Israel a prophet like Moses—whom G‑d knew face to face, as manifested by all the signs and wonders which G‑d had sent him to perform in the land of Egypt, to Pharaoh and all his servants, and to all his land, and all the strong hand and all the great sights, which Moses performed before the eyes of all Israel. Now here’s how Rashi reads that: And all the strong hand: This refers to his receiving the Torah on the stone tablets with his hands. And all the great sights: This refers to the miracles and mighty deeds in the great and awesome wilderness. Before the eyes of all Israel: This refers to how his heart lifted him to smash the tablets before their eyes, as it is said, “and I shattered them before your eyes” And the Holy One Blessed is He gave His approval, as Scripture states, “which you shattered” G‑d said to Moses: “Well done for shattering them!” Rashi, of course, isn’t making this up. Almost everything he writes is culled from rabbinic tradition before him—in this case, Talmud and Sifri. But why here? Here we’re at the culmination of the entire Torah. How do we end? Not with mention of the giving of the Torah, but with Moses’s act of shattering it. Irony aside, there’s a Talmudic dictum regarding concluding words, one to which Rashi is quite sensitive: “Everything goes according to the concluding words”—and

therefore, “always finish on a good note.” Rashi, if you have to bring this up, couldn’t you just arrange the words a little differently to end on something more pleasant? Apparently not. Apparently, to Rashi’s taste, this is the most exquisite conclusion imaginable—not just to conclude the praise of Moses, but to conclude the Torah he transcribed. Which means that we must say two things: 1. If you want to know the greatness of Moses, think “shattering tablets.” 2. If you want to know what Torah is really all about, think “shattered tablets.” So what is Torah all about? The answer would seem quite simple. The word “Torah” means “instructions.” Torah contains the instructions that the Creator of the Universe wants carried out. Torah is about what G‑d wants done with His world. Rashi makes that clear at the beginning of his commentary. He writes that the Torah only really gets started with the first instance of instructions to the Israelites in Egypt —to

roast and eat a lamb on the night of the fifteenth of the month of Nissan, the night before they were to leave Egypt. Everything else up to that point and all stories that follow are there to provide context. You might ask, “But isn’t everything that exists something that the Creator wants to happen? After all, if He didn’t want it in His universe, what’s it doing here?” True. But desire comes in layers. Imagine the universe as a movie set. On a movie set, there’s all sorts of props. The producer wants them there. But the movie is not about the props. It’s about what’s supposed to happen with those props. Here too, “In the beginning, G‑d created the heavens and the earth”—that’s the props. There has to be a backdrop. The same with Pharaoh and the Exodus. Props. But “Eat roasted lamb before leaving Egypt”—that’s the drama. The inner meaning behind all else. If you ask, “Why does the sun rise in the morning and set at night?” I can answer,

November 2021 / Kislev 5782

perspectives

“So we can carry out the Torah’s mitzvah to recite the Sh’ma Yisrael when the sun rises and when it sets. The sun is a prop. The Sh’ma is the drama. But what if you ask, “Why does He want the Sh’ma Yisrael recited when the sun rises and when it sets?” Then I’m stuck. If I give you a reason, like, “So people will remember He exists and there’s only one of Him”—then you’ll ask, “Why does He need people to know that? Why create people in the first place? Why create anything at all?” In other words, just like the buck stops at some point, at some point there are no longer any answers. There are no needs. No reason anything should be at all. At some point there must have been an initial perfectly free choice to desire something or other—because otherwise nothing would be here. The lack of reason doesn’t mean the desire is any less real. On the contrary—reason mitigates the intensity of desire. Primal, raw and simple desires are incomparably stronger, more resolute and resilient than secondary, reasoned and complex desires. The less a desire must rely upon external or even internal factors, the more resolute it will be. So that the ultimate, absolute and intransigent desire is that which is free of any scaffolding whatsoever. All living organisms want to survive and propagate. Why? Because they are living organisms. It’s a primal drive, and therefore a most unstoppable force. All human beings have a territorial imperative. The Talmud says, “A human being is not complete without his own territory.” You might go your entire life never realizing that this desire is within you. But once released, it takes over your entire being. Yet even these instinctual desires, as raw and primal as they may be, still have a cause. It’s because I am a human being that I desire my own space—such is the makeup of our species. It's because I am an organism that I desire to live. It's because I am a father that I love my children. It's because I am a writer that I need to write. The only one capable of an absolutely autonomous desire is the Absolute Existence we call G‑d. With Him, there's no because. He has no form or nature that demands

November 2021 / Kislev 5782

things be this way or that way or that anything should exist at all. Whatever does emerge out of that absolute and primal state is purely through His agency, His absolutely free choice. An absolutely free choice, untied to any reason whatsoever, is of absolute intensity. You can’t buy it off with an imitation, no matter how close. You can’t ignore details— because the details are just as absolute as the whole. It won’t ever change, because when there’s no reason involved there’s no reason to change. And the One who made this choice is 100% invested in it—because it’s 100% His choice. What was that primal choice? The 613 mitzvahs. Everything else, the sun, the moon and every galaxy out there—all that somehow logically follows out of the initial desire for Torah. Rashi again: “When it comes to mitzvahs, G‑d says, ‘It’s pleasing when My will is done.’” Period. And in this grand drama of His will, played by a cast of infinite creatures, who are we? Just someone to carry out His will. More props, right? So it would seem. Except that if so, the conclusion of the Torah is all wrong. Moses’s paradigmatic feat would have to be delivering the tablets to the people. Definitely not shattering them. It must be that Moses sensed something yet more primal within G‑d’s desire for all these instructions. Something that a voice from heaven could not say; something left for him to reveal. And it was manifested in a flash of inspiration that brought him to shatter the most sacred objects that ever entered spacetime. It would be absurd to imagine Moses asking permission for what he was about to do. “Master of the Universe! You’ve handed me these two divine stones bearing Your own inscription of Your will and wisdom for humankind. Nothing such as these has ever before entered Your world. And You have commanded me to deliver them to these people.” “But now, considering the state of these people, how about I just shatter them instead?” Unthinkable.

So? So he just did it. And the Director leaped up and exclaimed, “Yes! That’s it! Right on, Moses!” But how did he know? Put yourself in the sandals of Moses. You’ve got these two divine blocks of stone in your hands, encapsulating your experience of forty days and nights of the richest divine wisdom and enlightenment ever experienced by any being. And it has an address: these people. And you have your people before you. Your beloved people for whom you risked everything even when you were a young prince in Egypt. But you can’t have both. Delivery of these tablets meant the covenant would be sealed. In the current state of these people, so would be their fate. Which do you choose? Your beloved Torah or these people of yours? Look again at Rashi: “His heart lifted him to shatter the tablets.” Meaning: A place swelled up in Moses’s heart where there was nothing but these people. Where all those forty days and all they contained were meaningless before his love for them. It was all for them, after all, that this meeting of his with the One Above had been arranged. Without them, what use were these laws? Fine, don’t deliver the tablets. Hide them somewhere. Bury them. But shatter them deliberately and irreparably? Are they entirely of no value whatsoever now? Yes. That was just the point. Another Midrash, one cited by Rashi many chapters earlier: A parable of a king who went off to distant lands, leaving his betrothed bride with the maid servants. The maids were promiscuous, which created a bad reputation for the bride. The bride’s agent then took the initiative to tear up the marriage contract. He said, “If the king declares that she must be put to death, I will tell him that she has not yet become his wife… By citing this Midrash, Rashi has already answered our question. Of course the tablets needed to be shattered. Where there is no bride, no marriage, the marriage contract does not exist.

perspectives

But we need to go deeper to get to the real sweetness of this point. Back to the beginning of things: An ancient sacred writing, “The Book of Hiddenness,” incorporated within the Zohar, speaks of a “beginning that cannot be known.” In one of the very few writings we have from the master Kabbalist, Rabbi Yitzchak Luria, “the Arizal,” he explains: There is a place so deep, so essential, it has no address, there are no coordinates by which it can be found, it can only be known as “the beginning that cannot be known”— because it exists before knowing, before anything at all. And yet it is the catalyst of all being. Rabbi Shalom Dovber of Lubavitch explained further: In that place, there are no desires, no pull or push in any direction whatsoever. As knowing does not yet exist, so desire has yet to emerge. Desire has no meaning within the context of that place. There is only the bliss of simple absolute being. It is in that place that the most inner spark of the human soul is rooted, a spark that remains pure and innocent even as it descends within the raging seas of a cold, brutal and confusing world. For that spark, the opposites of light and darkness have no effect, for it transcends all of these. That precious spark is the place of G‑d’s delight in this world, the place where He most desires to dwell, only because there He sees His own very essence and being. So that in that union of Creator and created, all becomes one. If so, His desire for Torah, for mitzvahs, for teshuvah and beautiful deeds, all orbit about His delight in this soul. They are the means G‑d has chosen to bring the beauty of this soul into the open so that His presence can dwell within her. But within the intensity of that serene bliss itself, Torah and its mitzvahs have yet to exist—which explains why Moses shattered the tablets rather than sequestering them away. When divine desire did emerge, that unknowable beginning point was lost. As we said, the essence is always lost even before

transmission begins. It took the heart of Moses and the repentance of the people to awaken it and draw it into the Torah and into our world. And so it is reawakened every year on Yom Kippur—a day when we are lifted back into that space of primal delight in our souls, beyond Torah, beyond mitzvahs. From there, like a geyser bursting out from the subterranean magma, a new version of that desire for mitzvahs rushes forth, one enriched and saturated with that primal bliss, so that all that was missing is filled, and all that went wrong is repaired. In the most simple words possible, from the text of Tanna Dvei Eliyahu (somewhat paraphrased): I met a man who knew only the written Torah and he asked me, “Rabbi! I know there are two things G‑d holds more precious than anything else, Torah and Israel, the people to whom Torah was given. But which comes first?” I answered him, “My child, the world

says that Torah comes first. But I say that the people come first.” He asked me, “What is precious about the Torah?” I answered, “Imagine a king who has an elderly servant who teaches his children how to be good people. Could there be anything more precious to the king than this servant?” We are not about the Torah. The Torah is about us. You know that paper with the scribblings on the refrigerator door? It is not about what this child has done, but, quite simply, that “My child made that.” EM Rabbi Tzvi Freeman, a senior editor at Chabad.org, is the author of Bringing Heaven Down to Earth and more recently Wisdom to Heal the Earth. To subscribe to regular updates of Rabbi Freeman's writing or purchase his books, visit Chabad.org. Follow him on FaceBook @RabbiTzviFreeman.

November 2021 / Kislev 5782

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Exodus Magazine - November 2021

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FIRST PERSON

MADE YOU THINK

JEWISH SOUL

MADE YOU THINK