Judaism

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IS FAITH FOR FOOLS?

Dear Rabbi

I was having a conversation with someone about faith. I know it is the underlying theme of every religion, but don’t you think it is a little outdated? How would you describe faith and in what way do you believe faith is still relevant in the 21st century?

Sebastian

Dear Sebastian

For me, faith consists of believing when it is beyond the power of reason to believe. You don’t know how it will happen, but you just know that it will. In fact you might say faith is like WiFi: It’s invisible but it has the power to connect you to what you need. The problem is that many people think that faith is silly. They think that their habitual and knee jerk doubt and scepticism are more realistic. They don’t realise that optimistic faith is often the only normal way for people to move forward and achieve great things. We don’t live by the things that we doubt, but through the things that we believe.

Christopher Columbus doubted many of the old assumptions about geography, but these doubts did not make him great. His greatness came from the positive beliefs which he confidently held and on which he launched his spectacular adventure.

In the mid-1960s Fred Smith was a business student at Yale. He doubted that the delivery service in America would suffice in the coming computerised information age. Smith wrote an economics term paper about his doubts, and on the need for a new, reliable overnight delivery in a computerized age. His professor sympathized with his doubts but was less than impressed with Smith’s idea for a business and responded: “The concept is interesting and wellformed, but in order to earn better than a ‘C’, the idea must be feasible.”

With a combination of innovative thinking, unbridled faith and sheer determination, Smith went ahead and started his unfeasible business, FedEx, the world’s first overnight delivery company and changed the transportation industry forever. The last I heard, FedEx, was a very feasible business - with more than $83.95 billion in revenue in 2021.

To be sure, doubt has real value in life. It clears away the rubbish and stimulates the search for truth. It’s the starting point, to feed into the ensuing faith in order to cultivate growth. But it has no value unless it is finally complemented and consumed by optimistic faith. Both the Yale professor and Smith had doubts about the old delivery service. But only Smith had faith. And it is ultimately that faith which enriches life.

If Columbus was just left doubting geography, there may have never been a New York or a Nevada. And if Smith remained entrenched in his doubts about the delivery service in America, we might still be using delivery pigeons or banana boats.

MONEY MAKES THE WORLD GO ROUND

Dear Rabbi

I want to vent about a bugbear of mine. I was largely ignored by my community for many years. I came to shul weekly, I was welcomed, but the real attention went to the “machers” of the community. Us “common folk” were treated courteously but not much more. During covid by some ingenuity and some good fortune I made it big. Now, all of a sudden, everyone says hello, everyone pays attention and makes a fuss. I would really rather they treated me the same as before. This change in attitude is really telling and very upsetting.

I’m not sure I have a question, but I love your column and just wanted to air this.

Daniel

Dear Daniel

It is told of the two great eighteenth century brothers, Reb Zushia of Anipoli and Reb Elimelech of Lizhensk in their formative years used to travel to a certain town. On an initial first visit they inquired of a particularly rich man whether they could stay there. The man refused and so they stayed by someone else – Reb Aharon, whom as it happens was a very holy and pious Jew. It was some time later when these two great brothers were discovered – when the eminence of these two luminaries and giants in Israel became known. They happened to be travelling to this same town again and the aforementioned rich man sent for them to come stay by him. The new horses and fancy buggies that were arranged by the community – they sent those onto him. But they went on foot back to Reb Aharon’s house. You can well imagine the hurt and upset of the rich man when greeting the empty carriages. He went around to them and challenged them about this and they explained simply: “It’s not us you want. You’ve seen us before and turned us away. It’s the new fancy carriages and muscular horses that define this so called new stature which has captured your attention – so this we send to you. As for us, we go where we were always welcome.” I’ll let that story speak its own volumes.

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Pirkei Avot

הָוְצִמ השׂוֹעָה ,רֵמוֹא בֹקעַי ןבּ רזעיִלֱא יִבַּר רֵבוֹעָהְו .דָחא טיִלְקַרְפ וֹל הנוֹק ,תַחַא הָבוּשְׁתּ .דָחא רוֹגֵטַּק וֹל הנוֹק ,תַחַא הָרֵבע .תוּנָעְרפַּה יֵנְפִבּ סיִרְתִכּ ,םיִבוֹט םיִשׂעַמוּ איִהשׁ הָיִּסֵנְכּ לָכּ ,רֵמוֹא רָלְדְּנַסַּה ןָנָחוֹי יִבַּר םֵשְׁל הָּניֵאשְׁו .םֵיַּקְתִהְל הָּפוֹס ,םִיַמָשׁ םֵשְׁל ... הָּפוֹס ןיֵא ,םִיַמָשׁ

Rabbi Eliezer ben Jacob said: he who performs one commandment acquires for himself one advocate, and he who commits one transgression acquires for himself one accuser. Repentance and good deeds are a shield against punishment. Rabbi Yochanan Hasandlar said: every assembly which is for the sake of heaven, will in the end endure; and every assembly which is not for the sake of heaven, will not endure in the end.

Each and every single action a person does has consequences even if we may think it’s insignificant. On last week’s paraha, Reb Avigdor Miller comments that every action that we do is very great in Hashem’s eyes and is worth the whole world being created just for that. Don’t underestimate it! us. These malachim will hopefully help tip the balance in our favour to enable us to enter Gan Eden in peace.

A story is told about a poor man who went to the Rebbe to ask why he was suffering so much each day, having to shlep his horse and cart around through terrible mud to taxi people about. Whilst in the waiting room he fell asleep and had a dream. He was in shamayim surveying his own trial. A huge set of scales dominated the landscape and to his relief he saw thousands of good white malachim filling up the good side full of mitzvot. Then to his horror when they finished, thousands of black malachim appeared and promptly started filling up the Averoh side, until the scales were completely equal. Suddenly a malach arrived and started shovelling mud on to the good side, whilst announcing that this was the mud he had gotten all over his clothes and house from giving free lifts to people who couldn’t afford the fare.

The man awoke and didn’t even need to go to his Rebbi anymore he simply walked straight out with his questions answered!

Dedicated so that Avraham Moshe ben Gittel will be found Perek 4: Mishna 11

Weekly Dvar Torah

FROM ERETZ YISRAEL The Spies and How to Act

BY SIVAN RAHAV-MEIR

Parashat Shelach Lecha is one of the most fascinating parashot. Moshe sends twelve spies to scout the Land of Israel before the Jewish people enter it, a representative from each tribe, the elite leaders of the entire nation. Unfortunately, upon their return there was tremendous disappointment. Two spies were for entering the land and ten against! We know that in a democracy the majority decides, but in this case, regarding a religious and cultural ruling, the majority was wrong.

Because of Am Yisrael’s crying and moaning that night, our Sages tell us that the spies’ sin continued to accompany Am Yisrael for forty years in the wilderness and even accompanies us until today. This is because this occurrence wasn’t a one-off mistake but a sin that has a past, present and future.

What does all this mean? What really happened with the spies? How did they fall so low and what does it mean that their sin exists until today?

This parasha provides us with a revolutionary definition of a rasha, a wicked person. Outwardly, it’s hard to differentiate a rasha from a tzaddik, a righteous person, since they can appear similar to each other. So, can we tell a rasha just from his actions?

Rashi asks, “Why is the section dealing with the spies put in juxtaposition with the section dealing with Miriam’s punishment? To show the grievousness of the spies’ sin: because she (Miriam) was punished on account of the slander which she uttered against her brother, and these sinners witnessed it and yet they did not take a lesson from her.”

When Miriam was punished for speaking lashon hara (slander) against her brother Moshe and his wife Tzipporah, she was punished with leprosy. The entire camp knew about Miriam’s sin, prayed for her recovery and waited for her to heal before they moved on. It was big news at the time! This episode had barely passed, and certainly was not yet forgotten when the spies sinned with their report from Eretz Yisrael, once again with the sin of lashon hara. What’s going on here? How is it possible that the spies sinned with lashon hara, exactly the same sin for which Miriam was severely punished, when they knew and saw all she experienced?

So, who is a wicked person? To quote Rashi above, it’s someone who “witnessed it and yet they did not take a lesson from her.” When things occur around us, we need to look deeper and ask ourselves how it affects us? Not from the egotistical point of view of “what do I feel?” but rather “how can I improve myself and my surroundings after seeing this?” If one sees wicked actions one must make sure not to fall into the same pit. Conversely, if one sees good actions one has to ask oneself, “how can I relate to this and play my part?” We cannot allow events to pass us by and remain apathetic without internalizing what’s happening.

The two tzaddikim (righteous people) in this parasha, Yehoshua and Calev, were successful in their mission as spies since they acted in the exact opposite way to the wicked.

They saw what was going on around them but chose to stand up against the majority, against the crowd. They wanted to do what was right, not what the majority wanted to hear.

With their words דֹאְמ דֹאְמ ץֶרָאָה הָבֹוט, “the Land is an exceedingly good Land”, they actually saved the Jewish nation. Instead of returning to Egypt or dying off in the wilderness, they saved our legacy. In their merit, the Jewish nation entered the Land of Israel, the exceedingly good land, where, with G-d’s help and grace, we live and prosper to this day.

Sivan Rahav-Meir is the World Mizrachi Scholar-in-Residence and an Israeli journalist and lecturer.

Parshat Shelach Lecha: Wearing Strings and Tassels

BY GAVRIEL COHN

Tzitzit seems like a strange mitzvah. The Torah commands us to tie strings onto the corners of our clothes and dangle a thread of blue wool, techelet, amongst these cords “in order to remember all of the commandments and perform them.”

Some of the commentators propose that the number of knots and cords hint in one way or another to the 613 mitzvot (Rashi; Ramban; Baal haTurim). Others explain that in times gone by, people would tie knots in pieces of string in order to remember something; so tzitzit were simply Biblical post-it notes or todo lists, reminding us to keep the mitzvot (Riva). Another school of thought understands tzitzit to be a uniform of sorts, these distinctive tasselled garments mark us out as servants of G-d (Tosfot; Bechor Shor).

Yet, very tentatively, from the story of Sefer Bamidbar, there might be another way of understanding what tzitzit are about.

In the desert, the Jewish People lived with such impressive, regal order, following the cloud of G-d and the call of the trumpets in an almost military formation. As a collective, they were structured and disciplined and their lives revolved, quite literally, around G-d. The tribes surrounded the Mishkan, “the house where G-d’s glory dwelt.”

Throughout the Torah we find that great peril is associated with G-d’s Sanctuary and Temple. Whenever someone recklessly rushes too close to Transcendence or encounters the Divine Presence without the required preparations or mindset, his life is in danger. With great holiness comes sheer power and presence that can overwhelm a mortal human being. Only the Kohanim, priestly families trained in the correct procedures, could perform the sacred duties in G-d’s House. When the People wanted to move stations in the desert, the Kohanim would first cover the Mishkan and its vessels in covers and skins before the Levi’im could carry them, so that “the Levi’im not touch the Sanctuary and die.” Many of these holy vessels were covered in “cloths of techelet.” A striking similarity to tzitzit.

Whilst the Jewish People, as a nation, seemed ordered and composed, journeying in formation and encamping around the Mishkan, as we said, as individuals they were the very opposite, fractured and in crisis. They complained about the manna; and craved for the luxuries they had been fed in Egypt. They gorged themselves on meat with no shame. Finally, in our sedra, they were stricken with fear and lost hope in conquering the Land. They rallied against G-d and despaired for themselves, crying and wailing. Then, straight after these episodes, the Torah’s narrative turns to the mitzvah of tzitzit. “They shall make for themselves fringes on the corners of their garments… and place a thread of techelet on each corner… in order that you should remember the commandments and be holy.”

Perhaps (this is only a suggestion), the mitzvah of tzitzit is meant to be a cover for us as individual human beings just like the techelet cloth covers of the Mishkan vessels. G-d is instructing us that we too are holy, elevated, and transcendent, just like the Sanctuary and its holy objects. That means, however, that, like all things divine, we are fraught with danger and risk. We, as human beings, a mixture of physical and spiritual, have the potential for destruction or harm (as was displayed in our “tests against G-d” throughout Sefer Bamidbar), and must act with consideration and procedure, just like in the Temple and Tabernacle. We need the structure of the mitzvot and the techelet and string covers of tzitzit in order to restrain us and keep us ordered, structured, and regal.

Wearing covers of the tzitzit, like the wrappings of the Temple vessels, should enable us to successfully travel onwards and upwards in life.

Gav works as an Account Executive at The PR Office, a London-based Public Relations firm. Connect: gavcohn@gmail.com.

Shelach Lecha Sidra Summary

1ST ALIYA (KOHEN) – BEMIDBAR 13:1-20

G-d tells Moshe to send spies into Cana’an (later the Land of Israel), one from each tribe. The names of the spies are listed. One of them is Hoshea, whose name is changed by Moshe to Yehoshua (Joshua). Moshe instructs the spies to enter the Land from the south, look at its landscape and assess the strength of its inhabitants.

Point to Consider: Why did Moshe specifically instruct them to enter from the south? (see Rashi to 13:17)

2ND ALIYA (LEVI) – 13:21-14:7

The spies enter the Land. They travel to the valley of Eshkol, where they cut a vine with a cluster of grapes which they carry on poles, as well as figs and pomegranates. After 40 days in the Land, the spies return to share their report and show the people the fruit. Their report begins positively, but then warns of the powerful nations living in the Land and the strength of their fortified cities. Calev, one of the spies, tries to reassure the people that they will nevertheless conquer the Land. The other spies, except Yehoshua, contradict him, claiming that it is a land “that devours its inhabitants and that all the people are giants”. The people cry all night in response to this report and announce that they would seek a new leader who would take them back to Egypt. Moshe and Aharon despair at the people’s reaction to the spies’ report. Yehoshua and Calev tear their clothes in a sign of mourning, and declare the Land to be “very, very good”.

3RD ALIYA (SHLISHI) – 14:8-25

Yehoshua and Calev declare that G-d will ensure the Israelites’ conquest of the Land as long as they do not rebel against Him, but the people threaten to stone them to death. G-d laments the nation’s lack of faith and threatens to destroy them in a plague. Moshe pleads for forgiveness on their behalf, stressing that other nations may claim that it was beyond G-d’s power to bring Israel into the Land. G-d relents, but with a qualification – all those who angered Him will not enter the Land (see next aliya).

4TH ALIYA (REVI’I) – 14:26-15:7

G-d decrees that men currently over the age of 20 will die in the desert over the next 40 years. The spies die in a plague, except Yehoshua and Calev. Moshe tells the nation about the 40-year decree and they mourn. A group of people then try to enter the Land, despite Moshe’s attempts to dissuade them. They are brutally massacred by the Amalekites and Cana’anites. G-d tells Moshe to instruct the nation that when they bring animal offerings, these should be accompanied by a meal offering (mincha) and a wine libation (nesech).

“It shall be tzitzit for you, that you may see it and remember all of G-d’s mitzvot and perform them” (Bemidbar 15:39)

5TH ALIYA (CHAMISHI) – 15:8-16

The mitzvah to bring a meal offering and a wine libation extends to all offerings and to all members of the nation.

6TH ALIYA (SHISHI) – 15:17-26

When making bread from grain grown in the Land of Israel, one has to take a tithe from the dough (challah). The Torah specifies the offerings that need to be brought if the whole nation accidentally worships idols (Rashi).

7TH ALIYA (SHEVI’I) – 15:27-31

The offering brought if an individual accidentally worships idols is detailed, followed by the punishments for intentional idolatry and blasphemy. A man is found desecrating Shabbat in the desert. G-d instructs Moshe to put him to death. G-d tells Moshe to teach the nation about the mitzvah of tzitzit (this passage is the third paragraph of the Shema – see green siddur, p.70).

HAFTARAH

The haftarah relates that just before the Israelites enter the Land, Yehoshua sends two spies. They go to Jericho and are hidden by a lady called Rachav, but their hiding place is revealed and she helps them escape. Rachav asks them to promise that when the Land is conquered, she and her family will be spared; the spies agree. The spies bring a favourable report back to Yehoshua.

Q&A

BY RABBI DR RAYMOND APPLE

JEWISH TIME

Q. Why do Jewish events often begin late?

A. We have a word for it – “Jewish time”. When I mentioned this to a Roman Catholic friend, he said, “What are you talking about? It’s called ‘Catholic time’!”

I didn’t bother to ask people from other religious faiths because they’d probably tell me there is also “Methodist time” and “Anglican time”.

The truth seems to be that some people have a habit of being unpunctual and they blame it on their religion, their political party, etc.

Amongst Jews there is even something called “Sephardi time”. Apparently the Iranian Jewish community used to have a habit of advertising an event for a certain time but starting an hour later, ostensibly to confuse the Adversary – otherwise known as Satan – and to prevent him from affecting the event and the audience with the evil eye.

I don’t know how true it is that the Iranians are at fault, but I do know that weddings in Israel almost always start an hour late (strangely, funerals seem to start on time).

As a general rule, Judaism insists on promptness and punctuality. Is there is a mitzvah to be done? “Do not let it become stale”, say the sages. “Those who are eager fulfil mitzvot early”, they add. When it is time for prayer, we are told not to keep G-d waiting while we attend to mundane concerns. When we should say an Amen, it should not be left to become an “orphan Amen”. If support is needed by a person or cause, now is the hour.

Someone needs to start teaching the virtues of correct timekeeping. Years ago when people told me that their wedding would start late because that was “Jewish time”, I used to say, “There’s no such thing. I abolished it!”

WHERE SHOULD I PRAY?

Q. Where should I pray?

A. he Midrash Shocher Tov (paralleled in other sources) says on Psalm 1, “Pray in the synagogue in your city; if this is impossible, pray in the field. If that is impossible, pray in your house; if necessary, pray in your bed. Should this be impossible, pray in your heart wherever you may be.”

One might add that there are two ways to pray – in your words, and in your deeds. Living a righteous life is also a form of worship.

THE MARKS OF A GOOD JEW

Q. Is there a way to quantify the marks of a good Jew?

sages, by three things – they are rachmanim (compassionate), bay’shanim (modest) and gom’lei chassadim (kind).

Compassion means feeling for others. Modesty means not being blatant. Kindness means being helpful and supportive.

Two of the sages (Avot D’Rabbi Natan chapter 4) were talking about life without a Temple. Rabbi Joshua said that without sacrifices there was no means of atonement. Rabbi Yochanan said that the way to atonement was g’millut chassadim, doing kindly deeds.

Rabbi Raymond Apple was for many years Australia’s highest profile rabbi and the leading spokesman on Judaism. After serving congregations in London, Rabbi Apple was chief minister of the Great Synagogue, Sydney, for 32 years. He also held many public roles, particularly in the fields of chaplaincy, interfaith dialogue and Freemasonry, and is the recipient of several national and civic honours. Now retired, he lives in Jerusalem and blogs at http://www.oztorah.com

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Shelach Lecha: Shabbat in the “Fields” or in “Shul”

BY RABBI MOSHE TARAGIN

Things were dire. A death sentence was handed down to an entire population. For the next thirty-eight years, they would aimlessly wander through hot desert sands without hope and without future. An unimaginable horror of inescapable death, life slowly ticking away amidst endless dunes. All horizons of hope and of opportunity were shuttered. Overnight, their entire world changed. They woke up to a dark and gloomy world, beyond promise and beyond dreams.

That “lost generation” squandered more than just their future. They lost their common narrative. Previously, they shared a common story: selected by Hashem, liberated from two centuries of slavery, they were in transit “on eagles’ wings” to a land of destiny. Whatever their differences, they all shared one common “story”.

That common story went up in flames. The desert, once a bridge to a future homeland, now mocked these solitary travelers, missing in time and adrift in history. Everything had to be rebuilt from the ground up. The past had vanished, and the future had to be remodeled.

THE FIRST “SHABBAT MOMENT”

How would they establish new traditions and new meaning? The first test came quickly enough, and it surrounded a flagrant Shabbat violation. Shabbat observance had been a pre-mitzvah, delivered weeks before Sinai, even before mitzvoth became obligatory. It was a “trial” mitzvah selected because of its prehistoric resonance. Ideally, Shabbat observance would allow the young nation to slowly fashion traditions and religious culture. Observing Shabbat would build durable Jewish identity, capable of outlasting religious infidelity and indiscretion.

Sadly, the record of Shabbat observance in the desert wasn’t outstanding. The twentieth chapter of Yechezkel documents widespread and ongoing Shabbat violation. It was so dire that they formed “Shabbat patrols” to police Shabbat in the desert. In the immediate aftermath of the meraglim debacle, these patrols discovered a man violating Shabbat “in the fields”. When most were sitting around the Shabbat table, he was busy in the fields. When most were praying and studying in the mishkan, he was roaming the desert.

How would this emergent and rebuilding society respond to this terrible Shabbat desecration? This was a “moment”, and their response would set the tone of their new society. The decisions they took would ripple far beyond this weekend. It would shape their future. Shabbat is that formative.

THE SECOND “SHABBAT MOMENT”

A similar crisis developed a little more than a thousand years later. Once again, we were in rebuild mode. Exiled from Israel for seventy years, we lost many of our national traditions. Returning to Israel and rebuilding the mikdash, we were also in the process of reconstituting national identity. Once again, Shabbat was the cultural and religious pivot, and once again it was being was grossly violated. Apparently, newly emergent societies struggle with Shabbat observance. Without our prior “traditions” and without memories of the past, Shabbat observance isn’t natural or instinctive.

Nechemiah, the prophet was horrified at the scene: Shabbat in Yerushalayim was a bazaar of commerce and tradesmen. Frustrated and terribly worried about the longterm ramifications, he locked the doors of the city, banning merchants from entering, and forcing them to camp outside the city walls until the end of Shabbat.

When our traditions become misplaced, Shabbat observance declines. When we lose the continuity of tradition Shabbat suffers. So it was in the lost desert and so it was when we returned from the rivers of Babylon. So it always is, whenever we reboot community, family or identity. Shabbat isn’t a given.

But it is formative. It is a social tone-setter. As communities achieve greater Shabbat observance they religiously flourish. Shabbat observance becomes a “mile marker” on the road to communal and religious success.

My grandfather left white Russia as a teenager in the 1920’s. He emigrated to Baltimore, which was known as the “Torah town” of the United States. It attracted immigrants serious about Torah and religious life. He attended what was generally regarded as the most religious Synagogue in town. In his Synagogue he launched a club which only attracted a few members. It was known as the “Shomer Shabbat” club! Given the six-day work week in the USA, Shabbat observance was rare. Shabbat is never easy during reboot mode.

OUR “MOMENT”

We are currently in a mini-rebuild. The pandemic radically transformed every aspect of our lives. One of the areas most affected was the Synagogue or shul. Facing a health crisis, we all splintered into smaller minyan -groups conducted in safer outdoor settings. To the surprise of many, we discovered many unforeseen benefits of smaller and more intimate minyanim. We learned a lot about our own prayer habits and desires.

The plague appears to have subsided, synagogues have reopened, but not everyone has returned. We are all reconsidering the role of a Synagogue within religious and communal life. These issues are complex and touch at the heart of Jewish identity. This recalibration must be navigated with sensitivity, complexity and nuance.

Much of the “conversation” surrounds the role of a synagogue as a site of prayer. Additionally, we are weighing the role of a synagogue in forming community. Are we sufficiently considering the role of a synagogue in creating Shabbat? This is our “moment” and if we don’t get Shabbat right, the consequences will be severe and long-lasting.

Shabbat allows us to disconnect from a booming and buzzing world of non-stop “busyness”. Shabbat allows us to reconnect with family, in an era of stressed family relationships. But Shabbat also calls us to higher spiritual ground and to expanded religious consciousness. To get to that higher “place” we must travel “somewhere else”, beyond our homes and beyond our backyards. Shabbat outside of the Synagogue may be relaxing and replenishing, but will it be transcendent? Will it be sacred ground and sacred space? Without a pilgrimage to a different place, will Shabbat become flat? This is a crucial question, and we dare not belittle it or ignore it.

HERITAGE BECOMING LEGACY

Shabbat is a both heritage and legacy. We recall the legends of past Shabbatot and our grandparents’ struggle to observe Shabbat. In our minds we revisit past Shabbatot, which we observed alongside people who no longer walk this Earth. It is a day of common memory and of charming nostalgia. It is a day of stories from our past and traditions from earlier generations. A day of heritage.

Can we also sculpt it into a day of legacy? Can we create our own traditions and write new stories that will be retold to later generations? The work week is too busy for story-telling. Shabbat is the day we author our stories and entrench our traditions. Without those stories and without those traditions. religious identity will be brittle. Shabbat is that vital to Jewish identity. It always was, and always will be.

So ask yourself this question: prayer can be conducted in backyards and tents. Torah can be studied around private dining rooms. Family time can be enjoyed in upholstered living rooms. Can stories be told, can traditions be forged, can communities be assembled, and can joint narratives be written without a Synagogue? This is our moment, let’s get it right.

The writer is a rabbi at Yeshivat Har Etzion/Gush, a hesder yeshiva. He has smicha and a BA in computer science from Yeshiva University as well as a masters degree in English literature from the City University of New York.