20 minute read
Judaism
ASK THE RABBI
Looking for answers? Send your question to Rabbi@RabbiSchochet.com
HOW MANY MENORAHS?
Dear Rabbi
Is it permissible to light some extra menorahs on Chanukah? I have some extra menorahs for guests. On occasion, the guests bring their own menorahs. So after we have all finished with the brachot, and the lighting, and singing, I light the extra menorahs. No brachot, of course. Is there any reason why I should not do this?
Jake
Dear Jake
Is there any reason why you should do this? I’m not sure why you don’t have the guests each light their own and recite the blessings along with you? Lighting the extra menorahs is no big deal as such, and like all public menorahs, helps to spread the message of the miracle, but not when they are all contained within the same room as the main one, for all the same people to see.
IS IT IDEAL TO CONVERT?
Dear Rabbi
What are some ideal reasons for someone to convert to Judaism?
Sandra
Dear Sandra
There are no ideal reasons to convert to Judaism whatsoever. Frankly, unless your soul impels you do so, you’d have to be a little of kilter to want to assume all those obligations. But there are a number of ideal reasons to find happiness and fulfilment in who you are and what you are. Start with the fact that there was no one ever like you before in this world, and there will never be anyone like you. Otherwise, you would be superfluous to existence and would never have come into being. So go out there, seek your purpose in humanity, exploit every opportunity as it presents itself and make your mark in your slice of the world.
IS GIFT GIVING JEWISH?
Dear Rabbi
Is there are real significance in giving gifts to our kids on Chanukah? I think the whole ritual is over-inflated and to my mind, is just copying other people who are big on giving gifts at this time of year. It’s not that I can’t afford it. It’s that I don’t agree with it.
Yakov
Dear Yakov
I get asked this question often enough. Let me give you some perspective. One of the famous rituals associated with Chanukah is that of gift giving. To be sure, the original tradition was that of giving Chanukah “gelt” or money. The exact origin of this custom is uncertain, but it is still practiced and certainly cherished, particularly by the recipients.
The significance of this custom relates to the fact that the real battle of Chanukah was a cultural one. The Greeks sought to assimilate us and inculcate us with Greek culture and philosophy. They sought to enforce Hellenism at the expense of Jewish ideals and education.
Those that were most under threat were the Jewish children. It was they, more than any other, whom the Greeks wanted to influence with all sorts of alien ideas. Hence they banned all means of Jewish education.
A little known fact is that in response to this threat, following the victory of the Maccabees, Rabbi Yeshoshua Ben Gamla established a national network of Jewish studies and set into motion a Jewish educational system which we benefit from till present day.
Indeed, Chanukah contains the root word Chinuch which means education. We look to encourage our kids today to study their ancient traditions and incentivise them with Chanukah money, or, as a substitute for Chanukah money we give them gifts. Maimonides discusses the importance of using incentives and prizes until a child is old enough to understand the importance and beauty of Jewish values and rituals and that’s what we do.
Indeed, just as Chanukah is the festival of lights – each beautiful child represents a ray light in the way that they bring illumination into our homes and literally light up our lives.
A flame flickers, sometimes wanes when exposed to the elements of the outside world, but with each passing day of Chanukah we add yet another candle demonstrating the necessity to never complacent and our need to always seek to increase the education and knowledge of our children stimulating them with the rich spiritual splendour that Judaism has to offer.
And let us remember that the Chanukah lights are kindled by the Shamash – the central candle. We, as parents, are that Shamash. We are the central candle responsible for kindling the flames – and we do so by way of our own example, because - always remember this – “however much we are watching our children to see what they are doing with their lives – make no mistake about it – they are watching us to see what we are doing with ours!”
Two sisters were spending their Chanukah weekend at their Grandparents. At bedtime, they’re lying on their beds reciting their bedtime prayers. Suddenly the littler sister starts to pray at the top of her lungs: “I pray for a new Barbie Doll House,” “I pray for a new Nintendo, I pray for a new iPhone.” The older sister looks to her: “Why are you shouting like that? G-d isn’t deaf you know!” “I know,” she replies, “but Grandma’ is!”
Everyone has their own idea of what they want for their kids in life but in our perpetual search and yearning for nachas – that Jewish word with no appropriate English translation – we must not go deaf to the calling of our 21st century and that is to ensure that children receive a sound Jewish education which will fortify them to find their own inner strength such that they will be able to navigate the challenges of life and grow to be real sources of pride and beacons of light, as productive and proud Jews out in the world.
Follow Rabbi Schochet at: RabbiSchochet.com Twitter: @RabbiYYS Facebook: facebook.com/Rabbiyys.
Pirkei Avot
For Refuah Shalema for Mordechai Ben Chaya Sara Perek 3: Mishna 6
,רֵמוֹא הָיְנַנֲח רַפְכּ שׁיִא אָסוֹדּ ןֶב אָתְּפַלֲח יִבַּר הָיוּרְשׁ הָניִכְשׁ ,הָרוֹתַּבּ ןיִקְסוֹעְו ןיִבְשׁוֹיֶּשׁ הָרָשֲׂע בָצִּנ םיִקלֱֹא )בפ םילהת( רַמֱאֶנֶּשׁ ,םֶהיֵניֵב סומע( רַמֱאֶנֶּשׁ ,הָשִּׁמֲח וּלִּפֲא ןִיַנִּמוּ .לֵא תַדֲעַבּ ,הָשׁלְשׁ וּלִּפֲא ןִיַנִּמוּ .הָּדָסְי ץֶרֶא לַע וֹתָדֻּגֲאַו )ט ןִיַנִּמוּ...םיִקלֱֹא בֶרֶקְבּ )בפ םילהת( רַמֱאֶנֶּשׁ יֵאְרִי וּרְבְּדִנ זָא )ג יכאלמ( רַמֱאֶנֶּשׁ ,םִיַנְשׁ וּלִּפֲא ןִיַנִּמוּ .'וֹגְו עָמְשִׁיַּו 'ה בֵשְׁקַיַּו וּהֵעֵר לֶא שׁיִא 'ה םוֹקָמַּה לָכְבּ )כ תומש( רַמֱאֶנֶּשׁ ,דָחֶא וּלִּפֲא :…אֹבָא יִמְשׁ תֶא ריִכְּזַא רֶשֲׁא
ten people sit together and occupy themselves with Torah, the Shechinah abides among them, as it is said: “Hashem stands in the congregation of G-d” (Psalm 82:1). How do we know that the same is true even of five? As it is said: “This band of His He has established on earth” (Amos 9:6). How do we know that the same is true even of three? As it is said: “In the midst of the judges He judges” (Psalm 82:1) How do we know that the same is true even of two? As it is said: “Then they that fear the Lord spoke one with another, and the L-rd hearkened, and heard” (Malachi 3:16). How do we know that the same is true even of one? As it is said: “In every place where I cause my name to be mentioned I will come unto you and bless…”
This Mishanah has always held great comfort to me. Rabbi Channina ben Dosa shows us through various pesukim how Hashem loves the Jewish nation so much, that He will always be with them, whether they learn Torah with a minyan or even on their own. Of course, it is better to learn amongst many, whether in a shiur setting, Yeshiva or Kollel. However, on one’s own is still great, if one has the proper training. Reb Elyashiv became Reb Elyashiv spending many years learning by himself in shul!
Weekly Dvar Torah
FROM ERETZ YISRAEL
BY RABBI STEWART WEISS
At any given moment, many – if not most – of us may be thinking, “How will I get through this latest crisis?” It may be the political chaos which is troubling us, or financial worries like the slide of the dollar, or the seemingly endless conflict(s) on our borders. Whatever the problem may be, there are times when we seem to reach the limit of our mortal powers, and we look to the sky for help. There is a strange incident which occurs in this week’s Sedra. Yosef is sent by his father Ya’akov to seek out his brothers in Shechem. But when he gets there, Yosef learns that the brothers have already left. At that point an unidentified man finds Yosef wandering about and asks him, “What are you looking for?”
“I seek my brothers,” says Yosef.
“They have already left here,” says the man, “I heard them say, ‘We are going to Dotan.’” The ensuing saga of Yosef – his sale and subsequent descent into Egypt, his eventual reunion and reconciliation with his family, their sojourn in Egypt and the first geula (redemption) – might never have come to pass but for the serendipitous intervention of this mysterious stranger! Who was he? Rashi identifies him as Gavriel, one of Hashem’s four primary angels, often sent on special missions to aid humanity. But Gavriel is not the only secret sharer in our long history. The Tanach – and all of Jewish literature – is jam-packed with incidents of perfect strangers suddenly appearing out of nowhere to save the day. Whether it is Charvona in the Purim Megillah, who pops up to tell the king that a gallows just happens to be handy on which to hang Haman; or Eliyahu HaNavi, who shows up at the perfect moment, in various guises, to save a life or to make a Minyan; or the individual angels many of us have encountered in our own lives, who have helped us along the way. This is what I call the G-d Factor. When all seems lost, and we’ve seemingly run out of options, Hashem is there for us. He may not necessarily show Himself directly or perform an outright miracle, but “harbey shluchim l’Makom,” the Almighty has many messengers at the ready to do His bidding. And so we come to Chanukah. While Al HaNissim recounts the great military victory over the Greeks, the Gemara talks exclusively about the Menorah and the oil which lasted miraculously for 8 days instead of one. It doesn’t so much as mention the amazing, against-the-odds triumph of the Maccabim. Why not? Perhaps it is because military victories, from Chanukah to the Six-Day War, can generally be explained away in strictly natural, scientific terms: We had smarter generals, or the element of surprise, or superior weaponry, or a better esprit de corps, etc. The Menorah is meant to show us the light, to illuminate the countless hidden miracles that we experience; G-d’s Hand gloved in nature or coincidence or what some would call “luck” that continually surrounds us and guards us on the path of history. That’s why it is exclusively this facet of Chanukah that is “oil” the Talmud chooses to discuss. Living in Israel during these amazing, tumultuous times is proof positive that crises may come and go – but we are always in G-d’s glow.
Rabbi Stewart Weiss is director of the Ra’anana Jewish Outreach Center (jocmtv@netvision.net.il) and a member of the Mizrachi Speakers Bureau (www. mizrachi.org/speakers).
Vayeishev Sidra Summary
“Hear, please, this dream which I dreamt… Behold! Your sheaves gathered around and bowed down to my sheaf” (Bereishit 37:6-7)
1ST ALIYA (KOHEN) – BEREISHIT 37:1-11
Yaakov settles in the Land of Cana’an (later Israel). Yosef brings negative reports to his father about the sons of Leah, his half-brothers (Rashi). Yaakov makes a woollen tunic for Yosef, his favourite son. Yosef’s brothers become jealous. Yosef has a dream in which all 12 brothers are binding sheaves in the field. The brothers’ sheaves gather around Yosef’s sheaf and bow to it. This increases their hatred. Yosef has another dream; the sun and moon and 11 stars bow to him. He relates this to his brothers and to Yaakov, who rebukes him.
2ND ALIYA (LEVI) – 37:12-22
Yosef’s brothers shepherd Yaakov’s flock. Yaakov sends Yosef to meet them. His brothers plot to kill him. Reuven dissuades them, advising them to throw Yosef in a pit, but not to kill him. Reuven plans to rescue Yosef and return him to his father.
3RD ALIYA (SHLISHI) – 37:23-36
Yosef’s brothers remove his tunic and throw him in the pit. They see a caravan of merchants approaching. Yehuda suggests selling Yosef to the merchants. Yosef is sold on repeatedly (Rashi), eventually arriving in Egypt. The brothers dip the tunic in the blood of a slaughtered goat and show it to Yaakov, who concludes that Yosef was killed by an animal.
4TH ALIYA (REVI’I) – 38:1-30
Yehuda has three sons – Er, Onan and Shela. Er marries Tamar, but is killed by G-d. Yehuda instructs Onan to marry Tamar. Onan also dies. Sometime later, Yehuda’s wife dies. Tamar disguises herself and approaches Yehuda at a crossroads. Unaware of her identity, he consorts with her, for the wage of two kid goats. He leaves her his ring, coat and staff as surety. Yehuda sends a friend to take the payment to the unidentified lady but he does not find her. Yehuda is later told that Tamar is pregnant and orders her to be burned to death. As she is taken out, she declares that the owner of the surety is the father. Yehuda recognises the objects and admits his role. Tamar is spared and gives birth to twins, Peretz and Zerach. Point to Consider: Why did Yehuda not instruct Shela to marry Tamar after the death of Onan? (see Rashi to 38:11)
5TH ALIYA (CHAMISHI) – 39:1-6
Yosef is sold to Potiphar, the Chamberlain of the Butchers. Yosef is very successful and Potiphar places him in charge of his household. 6TH ALIYA (SHISHI) – 39:7-23
Potiphar’s wife tries to seduce Yosef, who rejects her advances. One day they are alone in the house. She tries again and catches his garment; he runs away. With Yosef’s garment in her hand, she summons her household, shows them his garment and accuses Yosef of attempting to seduce her. Potiphar imprisons Yosef, who earns the trust of the chief prison officer.
7TH ALIYA (SHEVI’I) – 40:1-23
Pharaoh’s baker and butler transgress against Pharaoh and are sent to the same prison as Yosef. Each one has a dream, which Yosef interprets: both will be taken out of prison in three days – the baker to be hanged and the butler to be restored to his post. Yosef asks the butler to mention his plight to Pharaoh, but he forgets to do so.
HAFTARAH
The prophet Amos sends a warning message to the people to stop persecuting the poor, a sin that cannot be overlooked. He also accuses them of corrupting the prophets and the Nazarites. The rich and powerful will not be able to escape G-d’s ultimate judgement..
54 JUDAISM TO ADVERTISE CALL 020 3906 8488
25 NOVEMBER 2021
Vayeishev: Between destiny and decisions
BY GAVRIEL COHN
I’ve written this week’s piece with great apprehension, touching as it does upon what is, according to the Rambam (Maimonides), “the fundamental concept and a pillar of the Torah.” That is, free will. Yet, at least according to the Ramban (Nachmanides) – who in many ways stood as the Rambam’s philosophical counterpart, illuminating an entirely different worldview – this week’s Torah portion seems to highlight the limits of free will as well, the boundaries of this “fundamental concept.”
Let me explain. Pulsating under the many episodes of this week’s sedra is the inevitable tension inbuilt in human life: this clash between our free choice, on the one hand, and our preordained destiny or the Divine plan, on the other. As the Ramban writes:
“The divine decree is real… The Holy One, blessed be He, arranged Yosef to meet a guide without his knowledge in order to bring him into his brother’s hands… ‘It is the counsel of the Eternal that shall stand’” (Bereshit, 37:15).
Regarding the names of Tamar’s children, the Ramban further comments that “the names bestowed upon children indicate their future.” One’s fate, it seems, is fixed.
Yet one doesn’t need to study the commentators to pick up on this theme. The verses themselves weave together a gripping story of pre-ordained destinies. No matter how surprising or twisted the path they take, Yosef; Tamar; the Butler and the Baker all seem to have an inevitable future in store for them. For some, their fate was even divinely revealed to them, prophetically projected by dreams they envisioned decades earlier.
On the other hand, as we’ve said, pre-ordained fate is not the only force pulling the strings behind these stories. There is a contradictory force as well: their free will. Their actions and agency also seem to drive their futures. The brothers scheming to be rid of their brother Yosef; Reuven and Yehuda’s defiant suggestions to the other brothers, trying to stop them from murdering Yosef; Er and Onan’s deplorable acts; Tamar’s deception of Yehuda; Yehuda’s admittance that he was the owner of the belongings Tamar had kept; and Yosef’s noble fleeing from the advances of Potiphar’s wife are all free choices, often made at the very last moment and against their natural instincts. Their futures, it seems, were dictated not just by fate (the preordained prophecies and dreams) but by their free will; the choices they made at critical crossroads they faced.
This relationship, between free will and its limits, between what is in our hands and what has been divinely preordained, is a very real tension, reflected perhaps by the two titans of medieval Jewish Philosophy themselves. In his writings, the Ramban consistently emphasises the Divine’s control over human destiny, advising man to act humbly and place his trust in G-d. The Rambam, on the other hand, starkly stresses human free will and agency, the power we have over are freely chosen lives; advocating not so much trust in G-d, but a quest for man to actively know Him (although it is, of course, more complicated).
To a certain extent, perhaps there will always be this tension between G-d’s plan and our free will, between quietism and activism (a fusion of the Ramban and the Rambam, as it were). Yosef himself perhaps reflects this very tension. Despite the prophetic dreams of his youth forecasting his future, he nevertheless acts to orchestrate their fulfilment himself, exercising his free will to try and make them come true. Later, however, perhaps a more passive, trusting stance emerges as he recognises the Divine hand in all that he endured. He declares to his brothers, “be not distressed nor reproach yourselves for having sold me, for G-d send me ahead of you to act as a provider… Am I instead of G-d? Although you intended to harm me, G-d intended it for good, in order to keep a great nation alive.” As Yaakov makes clear on his deathbed, Yosef was guided not by his own initiative but by “the hands of the mighty Power of Jacob,” G-d.
This issue, of free will versus G-d’s plan, the clash between our decisions and the destiny allocated to us, is a knotty one; certainly not solved here! Yet, perhaps that is precisely the point. Our sedra seems filled with this tension and it perhaps exists in all our lives: When do we clamour to exercise our free will, and when do we utter the refrain, like Yosef, that “all that the Merciful One does, is for the good?”
Whilst we indeed have control over many of our choices and free reign over our lives; we nevertheless remain somewhat bound by our upbringing, environment, and the responsibilities we are committed to – the divine plan allocated for us, where “G-d has sent us.” Each of us “according to his own dreams and according to his interpretation.”
Vayeishev
RABBI DR RAYMOND APPLE
THE COLOURED COAT
As the sidra tells us this week, Joseph wore a coat of many colours.
However, not all commentators accept this as the correct translation of “ketonet passim”; Ibn Ezra thinks that “passim” is a matter of style, not colour, and it means “embroidered”, which tells us that people were envious of Joseph.
In the same vein, others suggest that the word “passim” means that the coat had sleeves.
It is still possible to use “passim” as an indication of colour, and to link specific colours with styles of ethical conduct, “green with envy, red with rage, yellow with cowardice” (Emanuel Levy).
In a broader metaphorical sense, a person can (but should not!) be clothed in callousness, corruption and cruelty, becoming so identified with depravity that people might say, “Here comes the villain!”
The best way is described in the Bible, which says that G-d is clothed in strength and majesty (Psalm 93) and an eshet chayil is clothed in dignity and elegance (Prov. 31).
The ideal is summed up by the prayer which is recited when putting on the tallit in the morning, “May my soul merit to be clothed in a spiritual robe in the World to Come”.
SITTING OR SLOUCHING?
How did people conduct themselves at the meal table in ancient times?
Amongst other passages, Gen. 37:25 simply says they sat to eat bread. Does this mean that they sat up straight, as my generation were taught to do as children when we were rebuked if we slouched in our chairs?
Targum Onkelos says they reclined, which reminds us of the four Mah Nishtanah questions in the Haggadah.
This was the Roman custom amongst the nobility of the time of the Targum, but this is not the point which the Torah is making in this verse but suggesting that Joseph’s brothers were relaxed and had no remorse about their unbrotherly treatment of Joseph.
TO HELL OR NOT?
Genesis 37:35 reports how broken up Jacob was when he thought he would never see his son Joseph again. He said he would go down to “Sh’ol” in mourning.
The word “Sh’ol” occurs often in the Psalms with the meaning of the place – not necessarily a place of punishment – to which the dead descend.
The Christian translator Jerome understood the word as “inferno” or “hell”. Ibn Ezra quotes Jerome and indignantly denies that his explanation is valid. He argues that the word simply means “the grave”, a view with which Rashi agrees.
Both Rashi and Ibn Ezra lived in Christian countries and were amongst the Jewish commentators who bitterly resented what they considered the distorted Christian versions of the Hebrew originals of the passages concerned.
Yet the Midrash itself equates “sh’ol” with “gehinnom”. Rashi recognises this but says it is not an appropriate way of understanding the text.
It must be said that though the Midrash – a massive corpus of exegetical tradition – is highly important in Judaism, it gives many views which conflict with each other and must be treated with caution.
Ibn Ezra himself says in the introduction to his commentary, “yesh d’rash hefech d’rash” – “there are Midrashim which contradict one another”.
In our case the verse probably means merely that if Joseph is no longer alive, life will no longer be worth living for Jacob and he will mourn until his death.
In relation to the subject of heaven and hell it should be made clear that normative Judaism has problems with the idea of hell in opposition to heaven and tends to consider the real hell as not so much a separate place or state but the deprivation of heaven. It is not so much that an unrepentant sinner “goes to hell” but that he/she “does not go to heaven”.
The words “go to (hell or heaven)” are in quotation marks to show that neither is a geographical location, and of course once a person is dead they no longer have the bodily power to go anywhere..
Gavriel Cohn is an informal educator at Immanuel College, Bushey. If you have any feedback, please get in touch! gavcohn@ gmail.com.
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
