Listen to this morning's class on Nefesh HaHayim 1.21 (1) here.
Follow along with the sources that we used in addition to the text here.
Sunday, May 31, 2020
Nefesh HaHayim 1.21 (1)
Listen to this morning's class on Nefesh HaHayim 1.21 (1) here.
Follow along with the sources that we used in addition to the text here.
Wednesday, May 27, 2020
Sunday, May 24, 2020
Friday, May 22, 2020
Yom Yerushalayim: Diversity & Unity
Diversity & Unity
Thoughts on Yom Yerushalayim 2020
Click here to view as PDF
“Pray for
Jerusalem’s peace; May your lovers rest tranquil!” (Tehilim 122:6) King David’s
mention of peace and tranquility with regards to Jerusalem is
telling. Jerusalem transcends its mere confines of place and location. It
represents harmony and agreement. The Hakhamim thus refer
to Jerusalem as “the city which makes all of Israel friends.”[1]
It is the city of unity.
Consider, for a
moment, the scene in Jerusalem on the three regalim. Throughout the days
of Pesah, Shavuot and Sukkot, the streets and alleys of the city were filled
with the many people of Am Yisrael. Men and women of all stripes and
colors gathered in Jerusalem to celebrate the holidays together.
Focusing on Am
Yisrael’s unity is perhaps most appropriate at this time of the
year, in our preparation for Shavuot. The Hakhamim envisioned the
nation’s unity as the prerequisite to receiving the Torah. Am Yisrael’s
encampment “as one person, with one heart” demonstrated their readiness for
the Torah.[2]
But is unity actually
a virtue? Consider the Torah’s description of the time in history when
humanity was completely unified:
And
all the earth was one language, one set of words. (Bereshit 11:1)
It would appear, at
first glance, as if things couldn’t get better than that state of unity! And
yet, that time is forever remembered as a period of utter destruction. It began
the episode known to us now as Migdal Bavel:
And
they said, “Come, let us build us a city and a tower with its top in the
heavens, that we may make us a name, lest we be scattered over all the earth.” (Bereshit 11:4)
Surprisingly, the
people’s unity drove them away from growth, leading them instead to an
attempted rebellion against God. “With everyone given over to the one common
way, there would be mass identity and mass consciousness,” Leon Kass wrote,
“but no private identity or true self-consciousness; there would be
shoulder-shoulder but no real face-to-face.”[3]
In the absence of conflicting thoughts and opinions, without disagreements, the
people couldn’t discover the error in their ways.
Think about how
this reality rings true in your own life. We dread the discomfort of being confronted
by a friend or peer regarding a mistaken thought or character flaw. But how
could we develop without ever being challenged? Our decisions would be
determined solely by our own thoughts and feelings! And there would be
little or no room for change. We could never grow.
And
God said, “As one people with one language for all, if this is what they have
begun to do, now nothing they plot to do will elude them. Come, lets us go down
and baffle their language there so that they will not understand each other’s
language.” (Bereshit
11:6-7)
God secured the
future of humanity by dividing them! “Discovering the partiality of
one’s own truths and standards invites the active search for truths and
standards beyond one’s making,” Leon Kass wrote, “Opposition is the key to the
discovery of the distinction between error and truth…between that which is
appears to be and that which truly is.”[4]
Is Jerusalem’s
feature of “unity,” then, a matter to rejoice about? Perhaps, instead, it is a
dangerous aspect to avoid at all costs!
I believe that the
nature of Jerusalem’s particular “unity” is fundamentally different than that
of Migdal Bavel.
The Rabbis taught
that “Jerusalem wasn’t divided amongst the tribes.”[5]
Whereas the Land of Israel was generally zoned according to the twelve shevatim,
Jerusalem was left open to all. The concept of this structure seems to be an
embrace of diversity – through the division of the larger country, while
at once maintaining a particular unity at the center – in the undivided
city of Jerusalem.
Indeed, R. Yisshak
Hutner z”l pointed out that God demonstrated two divergent realities when
He began humanity with a single person. On the one hand, it reflected a particular
unity. Humankind’s shared ancestry means that we are all related to one
another. On the other hand, however, that single starting point highlighted the
spark of individuality inherent in each of us. The life of every
person is significant, irrespective of their society or community.[6]
Human existence, then, was born with a dichotomy which equally stresses the
equal importance of unity and diversity.
Consider the
structure of most successful organizations. The general direction and mission are
clearly stated. Everyone must agree to work in unison toward their realization.
That is Jerusalem. But the particular method or approach to reaching
that end is open to different vantage points and expressions. There are, for
that reason, separate departments and specific committees. That is the
surrounding Land of Israel.
Jerusalem, “the
city of peace and tranquility,” calls our attention to national unity. It
reminds us that although our growth is owed to an embrace of diversity, we
remain unified in purpose. Rising above all conflict and disagreement, the city
of Jerusalem is a constant reminder that “all of Israel is friends.”
Monday, May 18, 2020
Sunday, May 17, 2020
Friday, May 15, 2020
5 Minutes of Torah
To view the playlist and listen, click here.
Thursday, May 14, 2020
Sunday, May 10, 2020
Monday, May 4, 2020
Sunday, May 3, 2020
Parashat Aharei Mot: The Life of Speech
The Life of Speech
Thoughts on Parashat Aharei Mot 2020
Click here to view as PDF
And
Aharon shall lay his two hands on the head of the goat and confess over it all
the transgressions of Bnei Yisrael and all their sins (VaYikra 16:21)
The confession of
sins, vidui, played an integral role in our national atonement on Yom
Kippur. Aharon once represented the people on that day by confessing their sins
while placing his hands atop the goat which was sent off to the desert. Today,
in the absence of a Mikdash and kohen gadol, we each confess our
wrongdoings on Yom Kippur, as part of the repentance process.
HaRambam ruled that
merely admitting to sin in our mind is insufficient for vidui. We must,
instead, verbally confess our transgressions.[1]
While generally accepting the halakhic principle of “hirhur ke-dibur,”
which equates concentrated thought to verbal expression, HaRambam inexplicably
presents the confession of sins as an exception to the rule. Why?[2]
I am reminded, in
this context, of a related concept in a different realm of halakhah. Although
we fulfill the missvah of talmud Torah by simply contemplating
its words and precepts, the Hakhamim nonetheless emphasized the value of
verbal articulation while learning. They referred to a particular “life” that
is generated by uttering words of Torah. And they stressed the strengths of
memory and retainment which are born out of learning aloud.[3]
How do spoken words affect our comprehension? And what is the connection
between our mouths and the “life” and retention of Torah?
The kabbalists
separate the human personality into three separate facets. They refer to the
two outer extremes as neshamah and nefesh. While the neshamah represents
our thought and mental comprehension, the nefesh is our physical motion
and activity. The integral component that links those two aspects, however, is ruah.
The ruah represents our emotions, expressed by our speech.[4]
During my first
year as a high school teacher, Rabbi David Eliach taught me an invaluable
method. “Have the students talk,” he repeatedly told me, “Force them to read
the text out loud.” I soon learned that by doing so, the words had a way of
“concretizing” in my students’ minds. Simply reading with their eyes and giving
thought to the concepts left them static in their memory. By speaking the words
with their mouths, however, the students breathed into them a dynamic “life”
and personal character.
Indeed, it is our
ability to talk which allows us to transcend a world of facts and principles
into one of feelings and perspective. Consider, for example, our earliest
expressions of speech – Adam’s naming of the animals in Gan Eden (Bereshit
2:19). Leon Kass noted the significance of that gesture. He commented on how
human acts of selection are shaped by interests, which spring from desire. “The
same is true of human speech, even of simple naming,” he wrote, “Although the
ability to name rests on the powers of reason, the impulse to name is
rooted in desire or emotion.” While bare reason is motiveless and impotent, the
act of choosing words and naming is an expression of “an inner urge, need or
passion, such as fear or wonder, anxiety or appreciation, interest or
curiosity.” The content of speech, Kass thus suggested, reflects the inner soul
of the speaker.[5]
By forcing Adam to choose the names of the animals and express them with his
speech, God introduced him to the emotive side of his personality. He exposed
Adam to his ruah.
Our ability to
retain information is dependent upon the depth of its penetration into our
being. Merely reading Torah with our eyes and minds leaves its words separate
and apart from ourselves. Speaking it with our mouth breaths life – our life
– into the text. It is for that reason, as well, that one must verbally
confess their sins in the process of teshuvah. Thinking about the sins
is a mental exercise. Verbalizing them is an emotional experience.
The verbal vidui
of Yom Kippur, then, reveals to us the mystery of our expressive ruah.
It teaches us that our thoughts and ideas remain dormant when left unspoken. By
choosing words of expression, however, we integrate our mindful neshamah
with active nefesh, generating the vitality of life through speech.
[1] HaRambam, Mishneh Torah:
Hilkhot Teshuvah 1:1.
[2] This issue has been discussed at
length by several halakhists. See a summary and discussion in R. Yosef Cohen, Sefer
HaTeshuvah vol. 1 (Jerusalem, IS, 2006), pg. 33-35.
[3] See Eruvin 53b-54a. And
cf. HaRambam, Mishneh Torah: Hilkhot Talmud Torah 3:12.
[4] See, e.g., R. Hayim of
Volozhin’s Nefesh HaHayim 1:14.
[5] Leon R. Kass, The Beginning
of Wisdom (Chicago, IL, 2003), pg. 75.
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