F. NOW THINK!- SOME ??: Items calling for comment are emphasized- ponder them. For example: Are Jews NOW coming into Egypt (1:1)? How could the new king not "know" Yosef? Could FDR's New Deal be forgotten? Why do Moshe's parents remain anonymous (2:1)? Why are they named only later (6:2O)? Why does God call Moshe twice (3:4)? What is the role of the FIRSTBORN? Why repeat the names of the tribes, coming to Egypt (already listed, with their progeny, in Gen. 46:8ff)? Why were the Jews so prosperous? Why didn't Pharo just kill the Jews, along with their midwives? Why kill only males?- Did Pharo believe in only patrilineal descent? Contrast Yisro and Lavan's treatment of their Jewish sons-in-law (read In-laws, Outlaws). Why does God try to kill Moshe at the dotel? Who is circumcised there? Why does God change His mind, and let Moshe live on? Is Israel a "broad and good" land? (cf. the U.S. Midwest- "O' beautiful for spacious skies, for amber waves of grain", the Grand Canyon, the Alps, etc.). If not, what do "broad" and "good" mean? What would have happened, if Pharo agreed to Israel's 3 day retreat? How did Moshe argue Pharo's self-interest? Why is Moshe concerned with God's name? Why does God tell him several of His names? Why does God pick Moshe as the redeemer? Was Moshe "religious"? Why does he turn down God's request? How does Tzipora inspire Moshe to finally accept his destiny? Is she a model for those Jewish wives, born non-Jewish, e.g. Amram Blau's (cf. Rebbetzin Sora Freud of sick Neturei Karta, nee Pammy, in Reich's novel)?
G. SOME RESPONSES: Egypt is a model for all future Jewish exiles- they start out seemingly great, but end tragically (cf. USA Today). Hence the present tense- "These are the names of the children of Israel, who ARE COMING into Mitzrayim", the place of narrowing (matzar) of Jewish spirit and vision; also their "Egyptianization" (or Americanization) was, like their later redemption, a gradual continuous process. Per Tosafot Rosh, Jews are viewed as newcomers ("coming now"), w/o roots and rights, even after many generations of success, in an alien society (cf. Germany, D.A.R.). The new king must "know of" Yosef, a great Egyptian figure; but he ignores and represses his deeper knowledge of Yosef's integrity and dedication; he attributes selfish motives to Yosef, to justify anti-semitism (cf. "And Adam KNEW Chava, his wife", Gen. 4:1; "And the Lord saw the Children of Israel and the Lord KNEW", Ex. 2:25); so Germans did not "know" the Jews, who contributed so much to Germany (see "The Pity of It All- A History of Jews in Germany, 1743-1933", by Amos Elon, who writes that "the entirety of German Jewish history was a series of ups and downs, and a succession of unforeseeable contingencies, none of which seems to have been inevitable", despite the depth and persistence of the hatred of the Jews in Germany; he does not subscribe to the view that there was "an inexorable pattern in Germany history, preordained from Luther's days, to culminate in the Shoa”- see Richard Bernstein's review in IHT, 12/20/02); the non-Jewish Leipzig Synagogue Choir is a fine attempt to finally do so (listen to their tape of chazonut and yiddish songs).
Esther Goshen-Gottstein was born in Leipzig, where she lived until 10, when her family, like many German Jews, emigrated to England; luckily, her father had a Polish passport, and her mother was ill, which, gam zoo l'tova, prevented their expulsion to the camps by the Germans, At that time; her father sought shelter in the garden of the Polish consulate, where Zbigniew Brzezenski's father was consul; but she was little moved by her return there years later- she met no one whom she knew, and found both her home and her shul destroyed. See her remarkable, engrossing "Surviving Widowhood(Gefen)," which I finished an hour ago, where she writes: "We spent 24 hours in Leipzig in 1990. I was glad to see the back of it, and had no desire ever to return to this city (actually, I did return several years later, on an organized tour "In the Footsteps of Johann Sebastian Bach").
Chizkuni stresses the disgrace of Moshe's parents' marriage- Amram married his Auntie, Yocheved, a relationship vilified and forbidden after Sinai; the Torah covers up here, calling them just "a son and daughter of Levi". Later, when Moshe and Aharon begin their great mission to Pharo and the Jews, the Torah interrupts to spell out their disgrace- every leader must have skeletons in the closet; no Jewish leader, even Moshe or David, even the Rebbe or Rav Shach, should feel arrogant or godlike, or unable to identify with sinners (cf. leading Israeli pols). So Moshe's grave is hidden, that he and it not become objects of worship (cf. Uman). One must develop independence to lead; having questionable ancestors helps one be his own man (Michael F.)! Tho Yosef is more saintly, the ultimate Messiah comes from repentant sinners Yehudah and David. Rav Shlomo Riskin adds that a leader must show his people how one can repent, overcome personal and family downfalls, not let them overcome her (cf. Helen Keller and Clinton- read "Sex Lives of the U.S. Presidents" by Nigel Cawthorne- he claims that surely it is better to have a man with human failings in power; at least, he can understand the rest of us, only he must not write his sexual proclivities into his manifesto- in public, as in private, life there is a premium on discretion)! Some producers prefer to hire staff, who have had life crises, which deepen their insights into one’s self and life.
This revelation of Moshe's unsavory origins shows the Torah's Divine origin- if Moshe or any human author wrote it, Moshe's stained background would not appear. The Divine Author skips nothing, a model for would be censors (and lashon hara zealots, often trying to suppress their own sordid past- pointing out bad conduct, that it not be emulated, is not negative speech, but good education)- should children be allowed to read the Bible, so filled with murder, incest, etc.? Yet it has been little Jews' main text from time immemorial- early exposure to life's sordid realities may be the best inoculation against their reoccurrence- cf.: "It's good for man, that he bear the yoke in his youth" (Lam. 3:27; in "Larger Than Life", Vol. 1, Saul Deutsch quotes the Lubavitcher Rebbe, who urged that history be written fully and honestly, w/o covering up unsavory skeletons in the closet, e.g. the Rebbe’s non-observant brother, and the Baal Hatanya’s Christian son. God calls Israel His "firstborn"; God's model priest-people will finally be followed by all mankind; just like the first born opens the womb, enabling easier delivery of subsequent siblings, so Israel paves the rough road back to Eden, for other nations (Hirsch, 4:22). The first born is "the beginning of one's strength" (Gen. 49:3), continues his life work and links him to eternity. So Israel perpetuates God's name in the world. The Jew brings blessing to mankind, by multiplying awareness of God's pervasive reality (Rav Dovid Aaron). The firstborn were our religious leaders before the Levites.
The Torah AGAIN mentions Israel's tribal ancestors' names, families and their connection to Yaakov, in Exodus; they retained these identities, as they began to forge a nation (Hirsch). The Jewish nation is only as strong as every individual and family (vs. modern nation worshippers, e.g. Germany, USSR, Mapam Kibbutzim and China, who tried to weaken family loyalty and individuality, expressed by "names"- they only want a collective Babelian Name). Yossi Sared attributes Israel’s victories over the Arabs to our relatively low corruption. So the tale of the nation of Israel starts with that of one great Jew, its formal legal founder, Moshe. Rambam's grand finale to his laws of Chaunuka (M.T. 4:12-14) stresses that the purchase of shabbat candles take halachic precedence over that of Chanuka lights, tho the latter are more important, religiously, than wine for shabbat kiddush; why?- family peace, from a well-lit home, is far more important than national power, for Israel's ultimate peace mission (Rav D. Hartman's tape- $7).
Per Abarbanel, repeating Yaakov's sons' names explains why he stayed in Egypt- to strengthen his ll sons who came down WITH HIM, and Yosef, who could not leave (Dina too?). OHR HACHAYIM stresses that all 12 came "WITH YAAKOV"- they shared his sense of Divine mission in their exile, a necessary prelude and preparation for a greater Israel. Later generations just viewed Egypt as a land of great opportunity for wealth and power, forgetting their Divine destiny; they may have even enjoyed it (Monsey vs. Las Vegas?). Some Midrashim assume the Jews were not to leave Egypt (Boro Park, JoBurg?) before God's appointed time; wealthy influential Ephraimites (not enslaved) were killed by the Egyptians or Philistines during their premature (by 30 years) escape toward Israel, led by Nun, Yehoshua's dad, who claimed Divine Revelation! (see Yalkut 1:227, 2:376, 1077, Ps. 78:9f, Hosea 9:13, ICh.7:20f, Ex. Raba 20:11, San. 92a). ALUFEI YEHUDA compares Yaakov and his descendants to the sun, whose light obscures other stars. So other leaders sense their own inadequacy, in the presence of a true spiritual and/or intellectual giant. After he dies, run-of-the-mill scholars seem great. So, once Yaakov & Sons died, the children of Israel "multiplied and became very powerful"- they considered themselves giants in spiritual procreation. But they could not keep Jews focused on their Divine mission- cf. The Orthodox GA and the general communal GA.
Rebbe Meir of Premishlan (explaining David's critique of the evil Gadol Hador, Doag the Edomite- Ps. 52:5) warns against over-stressing the few faults of great leaders or the few merits of lowlife; one may learn more from the errors of great men, than from superficial self-serving good deeds of churls. So Meir'l explains Rebbe's words in San. 56a- one (e.g. Peres) who SAYS- talks about, stresses- that David sinned with Bat Sheva (2S12) is but IN ERROR (not to be condemned or vilified, only taught); David himself attributes the death of his firstborn to his sin; but why dwell upon it, rather than upon his overall awesome greatness? We all have our faults, and sometimes great men also have great faults. So we must gently, but firmly, correct Yael Dayan, so eager to label David homosexual, with the flimsiest of evidence- poor little Yael may simply be expressing her deepest wish, that her womanizer, wild warrior dad, of whom David is her symbol, had kept to his male friends, and not destroyed her home and soul (for a Jewish approach to homosexuality today, listen to Dr. David Luchins' brilliant Aish lecture, on a TOP audio cassette; Havita Ner Dovid's prediction that it may become permissible- Haaretz Magazine 12/28/01- is probably good reason to postpone her "Orthodox" ordination). The subject of ordaining homosexual and lesbian Conservative rabbis has re-emerged, likely to tear apart the Conservative Movement (see Haaretz, 12/25/02; one proposal was to ordain them, subject to an oath of celibacy, as in the Church, since the Torah does not condemn the homosexual person, only his/her sexual acts).
Moshe Dayan's other terrible error was that he endangered young Israeli soldiers, forced to fight hand-to-hand in the Old City, in 1967- he would not bomb the enemy, lest our enemies' museums and churches be damaged. Had he evacuated Jerusalem and Chevron's Moslem Quarters, and not returned control of the Temple Mount to the Wakf, many innocent Jews and Arabs, would not have died there later, from terrorist attacks- but Teddy Kollak, z”l, indeed kept the peace for 20 years- hindsight is always better than foresight.
Hard work and family devotion, amidst Egyptian hedonism, may have generated Jewish prosperity. Pharo could not declare open war on the popular and influential Jews, at first; he also may have wanted surface morality and decency to characterize Egypt- cf. USSR's constitution and courts (should Israel imprison debtors? Should the UK charge a $44 exit tax at the airport- Israel charges $13!). Moshe sees Divinity in the burning bush from afar, but must remain "down to earth", barefoot, and bring Divinity down to man. Per Rav Dov Kanotopsky, Moshe remains ambivalent about God's mission, "dying" from the tension (i.e. God's confrontation was about to kill him, 4:24), until Tziporah convinced him to commit himself; she learned the lesson of Jewish self-sacrifice from circumcision, which she performed when torn, conflicted Moshe was in no shape to do so. Once he committed himself to God's mission, Moshe's ambivalent tension disappears (i.e. "THEN GOD LET HIM GO"- 4:26); he then again functioned with strength. The anonymous circumcised son was either Gershom (Targum Yonaton) or Eliezer (Shmot Raba), whose birth is not mentioned in our portion. The Torah’s frequent lack of clarity, yielding alternative, even opposite, interpretations, stimulates Rabbinic creativity- God’s intention?!
Israel is NOT so broad, nor so rich, a land! Its difficulties thus render it GOOD (suitable) FOR ITS INHABITANTS (Ramban)- they cannot be lazy, if they want to eat, unlike Egyptians, whose land is automatically inundated by the Nile (cf. Tzahal). Varied personality types and cultures emerge from different natural environments, e.g. the plains man, the coastal man, and the mountain man; the Jew frequents all such regions, as he frequently traverses his small land; he thus acquires the multifaceted, balanced personality of model man- A truly BROAD LAND is one which BROADENS its inhabitants. Thus the Land of Israel is GOOD AND BROAD, just because it is HARD AND NARROW! (Rav J. Soloveichik). Moshe told Pharo that a rest for the Jews was in his interest- it would make them work better! Moshe begins his career as a dedicated, sensitive, self-sacrificing human being, both strong and kind; he fights injustice, then becomes a kind humble shepherd; David begins as a gentle shepherd, then fights wicked Goliath (cf. "Little House on the Prairie"). Their traits are prerequisites for their great future- transcendent Divine intimacy and resultant Jewish leadership. God need only say "Moshe!" once to get his attention! Calling twice expresses Divine love, before getting down to business, e.g. "Avraham, Avraham!".
H. MIDRASHIC HALACHA COMPENDIA: Midrashic halachic (religious law) compendia precede the Talmud. They may support R. Eleazer's opinion in Gittin 6Ob: "The major portion of the Torah is contained (explicitly and implicitly) in the written law; only the smaller portion is transmitted orally" (R. Yochanan and the "yeshiva world" say the opposite- see Hos. 8:l2, Ex. 34:27; read Chaim Grade's extraordinary novel about Misnagdic Lithuanian Jewry, and the Chazan Ish- "The Yeshiva"). "THE BOOK"- SIFRA- is a halachic exposition of the Biblical Code of Vayikra (Leviticus), traditionally a child's first text; its rulings follow R. Akiva's school (Rav D. Hoffman); works called "BOOKS"- SIFREI- expounded Numbers (per R. Yishmael's school) and Deuteronomy (per R. Akiba). Ashkenazim retained only R. Yishmael's Halachic Midrash on Shmot, the Mechilta; Sephardim also had a Mechilta of RASHBY, a disciple of R. Akiva; it is preserved in the Yemenite Midrash Hagadol, often quoted by Spanish commentators. R. Yishmael's Michilta begins with the first laws of Exodus in Ch. 12. Tho sparse until Ch. 12, Rashby's opens with the burning bush (Ch. 6)- a bird entering this tough, aggressive plant gets entangled, cannot emerge whole; so God speaks from it to show that He dwells among the Jews, trapped in Egypt, which enslaved all foreigners (Avraham left only by royal decree- Gen. l2:2O; was it an insult to leave such a self-styled "paradise"?- cf. USSR). R. Eliezer views the bush as a low-class plant- so God dwells among the Jews, even in their abject state.
LOST & FOUND: An intriguing 1974 Y.U. PHD study describes the rediscovery of Rashby's Mechilta, and its impact upon Ashkenazic Tora perspectives (as valid as new discoveries in science?). Dr. Tzvi Arie Yehuda explains the omission of Exodus' first chapters in the two Mechiltas, per their different outlooks. R. Akiba views Torah as a Divine Code Message to Moshe, basically self-contained, given at one moment; every letter and its crown flourish has meaning (Men. 29b; cf. Eruvin 22a). Rashby, his pupil, thus interprets Exodus from God's first revelation to Moshe, at the bush, elucidating all its messages. But R. Yishmael views the Torah as a gradually unfolding message of God (Zev. ll5b, cf. Git. 6Oa and early Reform theology- they rejected Louis Ginsburg for denying the Divine origin of Torah, and for being Orthoprax!), spoken in NORMAL HUMAN SPEECH (Y. Shab. l7a. Ned. 8d, 36c; B. San. 64b, Kerit. lla, 67b); thus each letter, or even each phrase, need NOT convey independent meaning. Torah is in the form, in which Moshe is to transmit it to Israel, not necessarily that in which he personally received it (see Mech. R.Y. Ex. l2:2, and hear "Torah as The Mind of God"- a tape by Rav N. Cardozo). Much of Torah's meaning may be handed down orally. So R. Yishmael's halachic midrash starts only with the first explicit laws commanded to Moshe. He also urged his students to both farm and learn Torah (as did Yissachar, per Hirsch), vs. Rashby's Kollel (Ber. 35, cf. Men. 99).
I. JEWISH 1/4 CONFRONTATIONS- PEYTON PLACE REVISITED: The impact of our tiny neighborhood, the Jewish Quarter of the Old City of Jerusalem, numbering only about 650 families, plus visiting yeshiva students, is worldwide; so many creative individuals, especially in the world of Torah, live here. Uninformed outsiders often view the 1/4 as an Edenic paradise, whose inhabitants do their holy work in peace, love, joy and harmony; yet, by definition, the dedication, passion, and convictions of those who have such impact, also arouse controversy, sometimes even violence, when they disagree with each other; we have all sorts of Jews here, from ardently secular to passionately haredi, from left wing supporters of Palestinian "rights" to self-government to Kahanists, who assume that God is always "on our side", and that the Arabs are demonic enemies of His Will (they are similar to anti-Zionist Satmar and Neteurei Karta Jews, and to Christian and Moslem extremists, l'havdil squared, in that they are sure that they know what God wants in history, at any given moment). This attitude borders upon false prophecy.
Unfortunately, many of the religious and political extremists do not recognize the value to all of us of democracy and tolerance, and employ violence against those with whom they disagree; our religious Zionist slogans on our windows, urging haredi yeshiva students to join Tzahal, and Tzahal's soldiers to join Yeshivot, were defaced by some demented soul, possibly also expressing his early childhood and sexual conflicts; he/she (to be egalitarian) covered them with huge swabs of black paint. An example of our conflicts: Aish Hatorah is a leading institutions here, bringing many Jews back to their faith; it is a true pleasure to see young men, once so assimilated, now studying day and night in their tasteful modern bet midrash, eventually forming beautiful Jewish-Israeli families; but they primarily get a Shachian 19th century Lithuanian misnagdic perspective (2007: they are now, thank God, more open and Zionist, having opened a Zionist Haredi Yeshiva), as opposed to modern religious Zionism, hassidic spirituality, and Rav Kook's teachings, featured in Isralight's co-ed programs (now mostly in the States). But Aish's very successful beginner's programs, e.g. Discovery and Fellowships, do include leading Carlebachian and Zionist teachers, e.g. Rabbis Kahan and Schiff, tho the Yeshiva stresses mind and logic more than heart and soul. Aish's wonderful and highly effective Fellowship Programs include Palestinian Arab speakers- students hear and challenge their views, both convincing them that they are being shown both sides, and making them more effective Jewish spokesmen for Israel's position.
On 12/27/93, Aish's Australian Program brought their speaker, Hanna Siniora, editor of a Palestinian paper, to their coordinators' apartment at 23 Habad St., Jewish 1/4. Ultra right-wing neighbors found out, and prevented him from entering the area, with shouts and threats; a female guest was punched in the stomach. I protested; the crowd then turned on me, an American, for trying to impose western democracy, which "tolerates evil", on their Holy Jewish Israel! Rabbanit Francis Saltzberg got death threats and obscene calls, when she protested the same group's turning a meeting for increased security in the Rova into a violent anti-Rabin protest. I stopped their children from setting fire to Arab stores. Two days later, a leaflet attacked me and urged everyone to boycott Aish's dinner- but the dinner was a great success, despite unpleasant and unnecessary separate seating; no protestors appeared- Rav A. Nebenzthal, the government appointed Ashkenazic Chief Rabbi of the 1/4, supported by some of the community, defended Rav Noach Weinberg of Aish, who invited PLO spokesmen as part of his strategy to combat them. Both followed Rav Shach. Some of Rav Noach's pupils may reflect his spirit in founding Common Denominator, a fine organization, dedicated to dialogue between religious and secular Jewish communities. Should citizens obey a government, which they deem destructive and dangerous?- Yes, for anarchy and civil war are even worse (Rav S. Riskin)! How much must a Yeshiva bow to neighbors feelings? But, despite, or partially because of, these tensions, the 1/4 is one of the world's most stimulating places to live, full of truly great people and families, many with many children. May such large religious families, as those of Prof. Robert Aumann, grow in Israel, and inspire secular Jews, gradually becoming extinct, to live naturally and bear many Jewish kids, tho they join Yael Dayan at the beach on Y.K.! Where there is life, there is hope!
Israel's Haredi protests against moving ancient Jewish graves, regardless of their validity, could awaken the world to the sanctity of every human being, including his/her life after death; but the accompanying violent disturbances of haredi youth render the net effect a profanation of both God's name and human dignity- the inevitable result of deep anger and frustration of haredi youth, not educated or allowed to take their part in the great modern world- not everyone can, or should, be a talmudic scholar! Famous Israeli sculptor Danny Kafri, who went from secular to haredi to secular, never hitherto taking the middle road of modern Zionist Orthodoxy (he is, to the best of my knowedge, now again returning to the religious path), claims that Israel's haredim usually only protest against alleged wrongs of outsiders, whom they disdain, rather than positively appreciating their contributions, helping them and loving all mankind. Perhaps we honor the dead more by moving them to a proper cemetery than leaving them near a highway, tho we provide technically correct separation.
In parashas Vayigash, I cited Yeshayahu Leibowitz, who claimed that Yechezkel's prophecy, that Efraim (the 10 lost tribes) and Judah would eventually be reunited, under the aegis of the prophet, will never come true; he quoted tosafot, that such prophecies are only ideal goals, which may never be realized by the people; as the 10 tribes are obviously lost, and will never return, per Rebbe Akiva (YF: other rabbis disagree with him), this prophecy simply cannot come true. Besides questioning his conclusion, I tried to find such a tosofot, and asked local scholars, with no results. I then put my inquiry on the mail-Jewish chat room, and received: From: "Harry Zelcer" : Y. Leibowitz is referring to Yevamot 50., the 3rd Tosefot. Best wishes. Heshey Zelcer. I checked out the tosfot (Tada, sharei navi omad, at the end of Ch. 4) and it indeed says what he says it says, but still may not be a universal view. Yev. 49b-50a: Concerning the verse, "the number of your days, I will fulfill", (Ex. 23:26, with the blessings awaiting Israel in Israel, if they follow God's Torah, implying that God will make no additions to that number), Tannaim are in disagreement. For it was taught: it refers to the years of the generations (the span of life allotted to every human being at his birth). If one is worthy, one is allowed to complete the full period; if unworthy, the number is reduced- so R. Akiva. But the sages said: If one is worthy, years are added to one's life (the meaning of "fulfill" is "addition" to the allotted lifespan); if unworthy, the years of his life are reduced.
They said to R. Akiva: "Behold, Scripture says (2K20:6): `And I will ADD to your days 15 years'. He replied: `The addition was made of his own (years, originally allotted to him, then curtailed). You may know (that this is so- that the years added were only those allocated to Hezehiah at his birth, and reduced at his illness), since the prophet (in the days of Jereboam, long before the death of Hezekiah) stood up and prophesied*: `Behold, a son shall be born to the House of David, Josiah by name,' while Manasseh had not yet been born (at the time of Hezekiah's illness. Manasseh was, in fact, born 3 years after his father's illness- 2K21:1; since the birth of his son Josiah was prophetically announced, long before the birth of his father Hezekiah, it is obvious that the years allotted to Hezekiah at his birth extended beyond the year of his illness, to include the year of Manassah's birth. Consequently, the original number must have been reduced at his illness- see 2K22, and, at his recovery, only that was added which was first reduced)! And the rabbis (how could they, in view of the argument advanced, maintain that NEW years were added to Hezekiah's life)- `Is it written FROM HEZEKIAH?- it is surely written: `to the House of David' (IK13:2); he (Josiah) might be born either from Hezekiah, or from any other person (of the house of David).
* at this point, Tosofot asks: "behold, if Hezekiah had not prayed for himself, he would have died and the prophecy would have been negated, but, therefore, the prophet does not prophecy but what should be, if he does not sin- if so, how can one prove from here that they added his own years to him?- even if they did not add of his own years and he lived all the years allotted to him, that which the prophecy would not have been fulfilled was due to sin, and if he had not sinned, and had married a woman in his first years, he would have fathered a child; the Ri notes that perhaps it was decreed upon the generations to give birth at that very time and juncture that they were born, and, in the "extra years", it was decreed upon him to give birth to Menasha. This is not simple, so do not despair if you do not follow it! Several folks asked me if, according to this view, a prophet, e.g. Ezekiel, whose prophecy is not realized, due to sin, is then called a false prophet, per Deut. 18:22: "When a prophet speaks in the name of God- if the thing will not be, and not occur, that is a thing which God has not spoken; the prophet spoke it presumptuously; you shall not fear him." I then looked up false prophets, at fabulous www.Jewishencyclopedia.com, where they indeed applied the verse only to some, soon-to-be-fulfilled, prophecies- here it is:
PROPHET, FALSE: By Solomon Schechter, S. Mendelsohn. Deuteronomy is the only book containing laws concerning the false prophet (xiii. 2-6 [A. V. 1-5], xviii. 20-22). He is designated there as "prophet, or a dreamer of dreams," and it is, in accordance with the former designation, that the Talmudic jurisprudence provides that the subject of the charge of false prophecy must be one who is a consecrated prophet of God. The commoner ("hedyot") who presumes to tempt people to idolatry is either a "mesit" or a "maddiach," according as his followers are individuals or communities (Sanh. vii. 10; 67a; see Abduction). And, in the same Scriptural dicta, the Talmud discovers provisions against the following classes of false prophets: (a) one who presumes to speak in God's name, what He has not commanded (xviii. 20); such a one was Zedekiah (the son of Chenaanah), who predicted, in the name of God, that Ahab would vanquish the Syrians at Ramoth-gilead (I Kings xxii. 11- cf. Rav Eliyahu’s assurances to the folks in Gush Katif that God would heed their prayers and not let them be evacuated); (b) one who pretends to have been charged with a message, which, in reality, God has entrusted to another (as an example of this class Hananiah, the son of Azur the prophet, is cited: see Captivity); (c) one who speaks in the name of other gods (Deut. xiii, 3 [A. V. 2], xviii. 20), whether ordering the observance of strictly Mosaic precepts, on pretense of a revelation to that effect from a strange deity (YF: cf. Jews for Jesus), or declaring that God ordains the worship of a strange deity (ditto), or that a strange deity ordains its own worship of itself (Sanh. xi. [x.] 5, 6; 89a). Whatever his motives, Pat Robertson did well to acknowledge his effrontery, in attributing Sharon’s illness to the recent evacuation of Gush Katif, as tho he was privy to God’s motives; may Rav Yosef emulate him, and retract his own irresponsible statements, that Katrina, destroying the poor masses of New Orleans, was His response to the U.S. encouraged evacuation, and that those who died in New Orleans were only blacks, who did not know Torah!- But many black soul folks are more attached to Tanach than many of Rav Ovadia’s pupils, and know it far better (besides likely inspiring the soul music and singing of Shlomo Carlebach).
Criteria: The criteria, by which a prophet is distinguished as false, are, in the view of rabbinical jurisprudence, partly expressed and partly implied in the Deuteronamic dicta: (1) One who has "spoken to turn you away from the Lord" (xiii. 6 [A. V. 5]). This may be designated as the religio-moral test, and implies that when the prophet willfully ceases to enforce the doctrines embodied in the law of God, he ceases to be a prophet to God. God's law is perpetual and immutable. Moses was its promulgator, and there can never be another Moses, with a different law (Deut. R. viii. 6; comp. Shab. 104a). Hence, who so professes to have received revelations, changing the Law, is a false prophet. Moreover, the passage implies that the prophet, who refrains from correcting the sinner, or from arousing the indifferent, is a false prophet. Thus Jeremiah argues (23:22): "If they had stood in My counsel, then they would have caused My people to hear My words, and to turn from their evil way, and from the evil of their doings" (comp. xxiii. 17).
(2) When the things predicted "follow not, nor come to pass" (Deut. xviii. 22). This test is applicable only when the alleged revelation has reference to the near future (e.g. that of Rav Eliyahu), as in the case of Zedekiah, who, in God's name, prophesied success to Ahab's arms, and in that of Micaiah, who predicted disaster from the impending war (I Kings xxii. 11 et seq.). Where his prediction concerns a distant period, the skeptic will say (Ezek. xii. 27): "The vision that he sees is for many days to come, and he prophesies of the times that are far off." But, even where the prophecy concerns the immediate future, this test is not always applicable. It is conclusive only when a prediction of prosperity fails, because then it is seen that the alleged revelation did not emanate from the All-Merciful (comp. Jer. xxviii. 9); but the failure of a prediction of disaster is not conclusive, the fulfillment of such predictions being always conditioned by the conduct of the people (Jer. xviii. 7, 8; xxvi. 19; Ezek. xviii. 21, xxxiii. 11; comp. Yer. Sanh. xi. 30b). Hirsch ignores our case, a true prophecy, which never comes true. Ramban, in The First Gate of The Book of Redemption, says that elements of the 10 tribes were mixed into the Kingdom of Judah, but that the 10 tribes, as such, still survived, from Ethiopia to the Far East, and would be redeemed and united at the end of days- cf. the findings and activity of Rav E. Avichayil.
Part 3 of our study of miracles (parts 1 and 2 are in our full Chanuka and Miketz studies). From so scholarly www.Jewishencyclopedia.com: NISSIM BEN MOSES OF MARSEILLES, By Joseph Jacobs, Isaac Broyd: Philosopher of the 13th and 14th centuries, author of a philosophical commentary on the Pentateuch, written about 1306, when the struggle between the Orthodox and the friends of philosophy was at its height. This, however, did not prevent Nissim from giving rationalistic explanations of the miracles, and of the Bibical narrations. Thus he explains that the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah was due to a volcanic eruption, like that which, in 1302, had devastated the island of Ischia. Nissim's commentary is still extant, in several manuscripts, in which it is variously entitled "Ma'aseh Nissim," "Sefer ha-Nissim," and "'Ikre ha-Dat." According to Schorr (in "He-chalutz," vii. 144), Nissim wrote also a philosophical homily on Ruth.
ELISHA- Miracles.(II Kings xiii. 20, 21; compare Ecclesiasticus [Sirach] xlviii. 13-15): The healing of the waters at Jericho (ib. ii. 19); the cursing of the little children at Beth-el, because they had mockingly called after him "Baldhead!", whereupon two she-bears fell upon the little ones and tore apart 42 of them (ib. ii. 23); the filling of the poor widow's vessels with oil (ib. iv. 4); the reviving of the Shunammite woman's son, whose birth he had predicted, as a reward for her hospitality to him (ib. iv. 8); the rendering innocuous of the wild gourds (ib. iv. 38); the feeding of a multitude on an insufficient quantity of food, much being left over, after their hunger had been satisfied (ib. iv. 42); the healing of Naaman, the Syrian captain, of leprosy (ib. v.); the punishing of Gehazi for covetousness; and the raising of the iron ax, which fell into the water (ib. vi. 1-7). After his death the very touch of his bones revived a man, buried by accident, in the prophet's sepulcher.
In Rabbinical Literature: Elisha having received a double portion of the prophetic spirit, is held to have worked twice as many miracles (16) as Elijah (Kimchi to II Kings ii. 14). While Elijah restored one person from death, Elisha restored two- the son of the Shunammite woman, and Naaman, who, being a leper, was considered as one dead (Hul. 7b; Sanh. 46a).
BUCZACZ, ABRAHAM DAVID B. ASHER ANSHEL: By Louis Ginzberg, A. Peiginsky- Galician Talmudist; born 1770 at Nadworna; died 1840 at Buczacz. Even as a boy he attracted, by his acuteness in Talmudic knowledge, the attention of the leading Talmudists, to such a degree that Tzebi Hirsch, author of "Netza' Sha'shu'im," chose him, at 10, as a son-in-law. At 20, he was ready to accept the office of rabbi at Goslowitz. The chief event of his life was the struggle awakened in him, by the opposition between the Talmud and the Cabala. Unacquainted with the tendencies and modes of life of the Chasidim, Buczacz did not believe in the miracles of their rabbis; his wife and friends had great difficulty in persuading him to take his sick son to a Chasidic rabbi, Levi Isaac of Berdychev. The latter, however, influenced him to take up the study of the Cabala; but in trying to reconcile these new views- so utterly antagonistic to those of the extreme Talmudists, which he himself had hitherto held- he nearly became insane. Levi Isaac helped him through this struggle, and won him over, to the great joy of the chasidim, who feared his wide Talmudic learning. Buczacz adopted the chasidic mode of living; but, in his decision of halakic questions, he was guided, not by cabalistic, but by purely Talmudic, principles. In 1813 he succeeded his late father-in-law as rabbi of Buczacz, and remained in office until his death. Buczacz is the author of the following works: (1) "Da'at Kedoshim," to the Shulchan 'Aruk, Yoreh De'ah, Lemberg, 1870; 2d ed., ib. 1879; (2) "Dibre Abot," commentary on Abot, ib. 1879; (3) "Eshel Abraham," annotations to Shulchan 'Aruk, Orach Chayyim, ib. 1885; (4) "Birkat David," cabalistic haggadic commentary on Genesis, Zolkiev (date 1766, given on title-page, wrong); (5) "Machazeh Abraham," commentary on the Pentateuch, and "Chozeh, David," on the other Biblical books, Lemberg, 1871; (6) "Amarot Tehorot," on the purification of Niddah and vessels, in Judeo-German, ib. 1878; (7) "Tefillah le-David," on benediction and prayer, ib. 1886; Kolomea, 1887; (8) "Tehillah le-David," on Psalms, ib. 1872. Bibliography: E. Z. Shmerler, Toledot ha-RABD, Lemberg, 1890.L. G. A. Pe. Copyright 2002 JewishEncyclopedia.com. All rights reserved.
* PITHY SAYINGS: According to my religious teaching, miracles are not the distinguishing marks of Truth, and do not provide the moral certainty about the divine mission of the prophets. For seducers and false prophets too can perform signs, whether through magic, secret arts, or perhaps a misuse of a gift, given to them for a good purpose: In response to Swiss clergyman Lavater's challenge that Mendelssohn defend his contention that Judaism is superior to Christianity. From “Great Jewish Quotations”. * "Blessed be God, the Lord, the Lord of Israel (with whom He has a special relationship, especially re miracles), Who alone does wondrous things (Ps. 72:18)". * "Wonderful are Your works, and that my soul knows" (Ps. 139:14). * Elijah's great work was not that he performed miracles, but that, when fire fell from heaven, the people did not speak of miracles, but all cried: "God is the Lord!" (Baruch of Meshbiz, in M. Buber). * Miracles are for those who have little faith (I. Friedman of Rhizin, in M. Buber) * At the very creation, the Holy One stipulated with the sea to divide, and the heavens to be silent, before Moshe, with the sun and the moon to stand still for Yehoshua, with the ravens to feed Elijah, with the fire not to harm Chananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, with the lions not to injure Daniel, with the sky to open for Ezekiel, and with the fish to vomit forth Yona (Jeremia B. Eleazer, Gen. Raba 5:5, Guide 2:29. YF: In a 1928 Jewish Forum, a professor showed how whales will indeed sometimes swallow mammals, then spew them forth, near land; Maharal's approach to miracles is that they constitute another, supernatural, order, superimposed upon, interfacing with, the natural order). * On these matters (miracles), everyone is welcome to his own opinion (Josephus, Antiquities, 2:16:5).
* The Torah is not in heaven; we pay no heed to a heavenly voice (or miracles, vis-a-vis legal decisions- Yehoshua ben Levi, Talmud, B.M. 59b). *If the people at Carmel had not proclaimed: "God is the Lord," Eliyahu could not have effected a miracle (Talmud Y., Taanit 3:4) * A miracle cannot prove what is impossible; it is useful to confirm only that which is possible (Guide, 3:24). * We pay no heed to one, who, by miracles and wonders, seeks to refute Moshe, whose prophecy was established, not by signs, but by revelation, which we witnessed with our own eyes and ears (Yad, Y'sodei Hatorah, 8:3). * If 1000 believing Chassidim were to gather around a block of wood, it too would work miracles (Mendel of Rimanov, Buber Tales, 2:9). * Miracles occur, but food is rarely provided by them (Nachum b. Yaakov, Shabbat 53b) * No one can share in the Torah of Moshe, unless he believes that all our affairs and events, concerning the masses or the individual, are miracles, attributing nothing to the natural order of the world (Ramban, Introd. To Torah). * God worked miracles only for the prophets (Shmuel b. Hofni, Shaalot uTshuvot Hagaonim, #99) * God performs wonders for the righteous, as He did for the prophets (Hai Gaon ibid- see Hananel and Hakotev, in Ein Yaakov to Hagiga 14b) * Miracles only appear as something new, because of man's ignorance (Spinoza, Theologico-political treatise, Ch. 6) * Miracles cannot be cited (as proofs- Yev. 121b) * In danger, one must not rely upon a miracle (Kid. 39b- cf. Iraq and Iran, today). Never depend on a miracle (Yannai Rabah, Shab. 32a).
J. THE EROTIC POETRY OF GREAT JEWS: I have cited, in these studies, erotic, even homo-erotic, poems by great, medieval teachers of Torah, over the last few months; what can I do- they wrote it! I was very baffled by their writing such stuff, tho other great scholars condemned it. Y.U. Prof. Alan Brill suggested that these rabbinic writings simply reflected contemporary cultural themes, and were sensitive to their appeal, but the poets would never dream of doing the acts described- their poems did not include sexual intercourse, unlike those of the corrupt, ancient Greek poets. In searching for info on Rabbi & Rebetzin, poet and poetess, Dunash Labrat, last week, I providentially found an article, expressing similar views, on this subject, in "A Cultural History of the Jews", by Tzvi Howard Adelman, (adelman@macam98.ac.il): Poetry and History: Hebrew Poetry in Muslim Spain, here edited a bit by me (# 10, in his wonderful series of 12 lectures on JUICE, the Jewish Agency's online site for virtual lectures, on Jewish themes). The same poems and authors which gripped me, and which I cited over the last few months, are the subject of Adelman's truly learned, discerning and entertaining article, a nice summation of T. Carmi's great work on Hebrew Poetry: Dana International, Israel's award winning trans-sexual pop-singer, announced that her entry at the Jerrusalem Eurovision Song Contest will be "Dror Yikra." Wearing a strapless dress, in the style of traditional Yemenite Jewish costume, heavily guarded by security agents, she noted that "This is a Yemenite song, and I am Yemenite. I remember singing it in synagogue when young. .. It is part of me." According to the JP (5/12/99), organizers of the contest noted that "Dror Yikra" was written by Rav Shlomo Shabazi, in the 16th century; it is a poem with no overt religious overtones (YF: Shabbat joy and rest are religious themes).
The director noted : "People are attributing all kinds of meanings to the words, that they would not, if Dana was not singing it." One of my now very famous professors of medieval Hebrew poetry once noted that there are three words that do not attract students to courses or lectures: medieval, Hebrew, and poetry- his field involves all three! Yet this news story, which no doubt will grow in Israel over the next few weeks, especially after the election, when new battles will be necessary to sustain life here at it its usual combative, bilious level, moves a discussion of medieval Hebrew poetry from the academy to the forefront of Jewish cultural wars. While Dana may be able to get an operation to change his sex, he and his promoters cannot so easily change the historical provenance of a major cultural artifact. Deror Yikra was one of the first Hebrew poems written in the rhyme and meter of Arabic verse. It was written in Cordova, Spain, in the mid 10TH century, by Dunash ibn Labrat (d. 990), born in Baghdad; he was a student of Saadia Gaon, and later lived in Fez. His poetic innovations gained him the position of court poet or Hebrew secretary to Hasdai ibn Shaprut (910-970 or 905-975), court physician and vizier for Abdurahman III (912-961), who established the Caliphate of Cordova, in 929. Shalem Shabazi was a great 17th century Yemenite Hebrew poet; however the time difference between the two is at least seven hundred years, a margin of error greater than most of recorded US history, a fact that highlights the long history of Hebrew poetry, a history that extends beyond both points of reference, in this controversy, by many centuries. Under the influence of Arab culture, Hebrew poets radically changed Hebrew poetry from the often obscure, usually very religious, style of piyyut, associated with cultural developments in Palestine, Babylonia, Ashkenazic lands, and Spain, up to the tenure of Menahem ibn Saruq, whom Dunash ibn Labrat replaced, as court poet.
Influenced by Muslims devotion to the Koran, Dunash marked a return to the purity of the language of the Bible, in Hebrew poetry, and an end to the language of the midrash. Influenced by secular Arabic poetry about love, wine, and war, Hebrew poets began to write on secular themes as well. Finally, influenced by the quantitative syllabification of the Arabs, Hebrew poets began to include precise rhythms in their poetry. Although the Hebrew poetry of Spain can be understood in translation, without commentaries, it is nevertheless stylized, in its own way. Since much of it reflects a conscious borrowing of themes, images, and forms from the Muslim poets, it is, therefore, important not to fall into the trap of viewing the motifs of these poems as accurate reflections of the lives of the Jews of Spain. Rather, they are accurate reflections of the kinds of images that Jews borrowed from the poetry of the Arabs. Thus, when Hebrew poets wrote about carousing all night, in gardens, around bonfires, and drinking wine, we cannot assume that this is what Jews did, only that this is what they read. The Jews borrowed these themes in their poems, because they wanted to match what Arabs did in Arabic, to show the strength and flexibility of (holier) Hebrew. This process reaches its fullest development in Hebrew poems about physical intimacy- usually just kissing- between young boys and old men, written in biblical Hebrew, by rabbis in Medieval Spain (Carmi, The Penguin Book of Hebrew Verse, pp. 298, 302, 344, 356, 361, 362, 363- erotic poems by Shmuel Hanagid, Yehuda Halevi, etc.) In this lecture, I will provide a thematic survey of medieval, Renaissance, and early modern Hebrew poetry, as a vehicle of Jewish cultural expression. I will pay little attention to the aesthetic and literary qualities, and stress the poems as vehicles of ideas.
As in the past, I will draw examples from Leviant's "Masterpieces" (where the poetry is not that well represented, and the translations are forced into rhyme) and T. Carmi's "Penguin Book of Hebrew Verse" (which uses prose translations to convey the ideas- I retranslate the Hebrew to provide different nuances, and in order not to run afoul of copyright regulations). In Carmi, each poet and poem is introduced (pages 77-143); the introductory materials (pages 7-75) are excellent. I describe the major poets in an early Juice course (Medieval Jewish History, Lesson 5).
Wine Poetry Among Jews: the Jews of Muslim Spain wrote the first wine poetry. It was a playful, seemingly secular, genre, with little obvious religious or ethical purpose. This imitation of the Arabic, like most subsequent drinking literature, usually had six basic themes: 1) the place where the wine was drunk. 2) the group of drinkers. 3) the time of the drinking. 4) a description of the wine. 5) an erotic image of the person serving the wine. 6) a description of the musicians playing in the background.
Dana International's contention, that the author of Deror Yikra may not have been as religiously devout as some of the singer's religious detractors, finds mixed support in the fact that the first Hebrew wine poem was written by Dunash (Carmi, p. 280). In this poem, the listener is encouraged not to sleep, but rather to spend the whole night up, amid all sorts of fragrant spices, in a garden of pomegranates, filled with fountains and musical instruments. However, after a call to drink by the bowl, the poem shifts to a call for offering a sacrifice of choice bulls and rams and calves, along with the anointing of oil and the lighting of incense. Now this could be a BBQ, sixties style, or it could be a reference to the Temple sacrificial cult, leading us to reconsider the beginning of the poem, and to ask whether it referred to natural bounty, or a specific religious setting. This impression is sustained in the next stanza as well. There, as part of a poetic dialogue, the listener reproaches his interlocutor, to ask how he could issue such an invitation, when the Holy House, the footstool of God, is in the hands of the uncircumcised ones. He further chastises him for neglecting the Torah, while Zion lies in desolation, adding nationalistic to religious themes. Shmuel Ha-Nagid, the Jewish vizier of Cordoba, also wrote some zesty wine poems.
At first one might be tempted to say that they are purely secular, focusing on the hedonistic aspects of life, with calls for drinking, often to excess, and good company. A careful examination, however, of each of the poems, usually reveals some connection with religious themes. In one, The Reward (Carmi, p. 296), the poet suggests dividing one's time evenly between serving God and carousing with wine. In another, Winter Wine Song (Met Av, Carmi, p. 296), the development of the vintage process traces the Jewish calendar from Av and Elul to Tishri, reaching its height at the time of the high holidays. In another, however (Carmi, p. 298) he connects wine with the theme of the love of men for young boys, "I would be a ransom for the fawn, who gets up at night with the sound of the harp and flute." Moses ibn Ezra connects wine with sexual lust (Carmi, p. 324), "Hug the breasts of the beautiful woman all night; kiss her image all day." But, even here, religious imagery from Temple sacrifice is added for almost hilarious consequences: "This is earthly delight- take your portion from it, as did the priests from the ram of installation . . . don't stop sucking your moist lips, until you have taken your portion- a breast and a thigh (cf. Leviticus 10:15; See also Leviant, pp. 175, 190-191.)
Love Poetry: Hebrew love poetry had a secular, hedonistic side to it, often as part of a wine song. These poems were a continuation of Arabic themes, not biblical motifs, despite the use of biblical terminology. The basic themes of secular love poetry include: 1) the lover is usually described as tall, with white skin and dark eyes and hair. 2) the lover is called by the names of biblical animals, such as deer, gazelle, or biblical personalities. 3) the love is kept a secret, especially from the family. 4) the love is described in terms of a stylized frustration- the poet is awake, cannot sleep, and has no appetite. 5) the lover can be a young man, or a woman. 6) a friend tries to convince the poet to give up the frustrating relationship. 7) the poet sees himself as a sacrifice, the object of his affection as an animal of prey; often parts of the woman's body, especially her eyes, are described as weapons. In short, people, happily in love, rarely write love poetry. These love poems are usually about frustrated love, and can lead to misogyny. Judah Ha-levi (Carmi, p. 343) captures the spirit of the victimization of the man by his unavailable, but radiant, object of affection: "Ophra washes her clothing in the water of my tears, and spreads them out to dry in her radiance. With my two eyes, she doesn't bother with water from the well; nor, with the beauty of her body, with the sun." He cries his eyes out over his lover, but all she can do is use his tears to do her laundry- an image that both elevates her, and condemns her, in the harshest terms(See also Carmi, pp. 342-346, Leviant, p. 200).
Religious Poetry: The Hebrew religious poetry of Muslim Spain borrowed many themes from secular love poetry; often the only difference was the choice of the object of desire. Solomon ibn Gabirol (Carmi, p. 314) wrote two religious poems, that follow all the contours of erotic poetry. The cause for confusion between the two genres is, as in Dunash's wine poem above, his description of the Temple cult with the double entendre, as a house of earthly assignation, as well: "The gate which was shut, arise and open it, and the gazelle that fled, send him to me! On the day that you (m) come to me to lie between my breasts, there you will cause your pleasant odor to linger". Carmi's translation includes explanations, not found in the Hebrew, that show the reader that the poem is a conversation between God and Israel (YF: cf. S. of S.) The Hebrew certainly allows for this, but not in uncertain terms. Similarly Gabirol's "He who lies on beds of gold," which Carmi translates as "Zion longing for the messiah," begins with a woman speaking to a man, not addressing him as "Lord," as the Carmi translation indicates: "He who dwells on beds of gold in my castle, when, O God, will you ready my bed for the redhead?" The text then finds the loved one sleeping in the morning, and an affirmation of their suitability for each other. The poem ends with "He who comes in my castle will find my hidden delights, the juice of my pomegranate, my myrrh and my cinnamon."
These expressions point to either an amorous tryst or Temple sacrifice. Zion Religious poetry, like love poetry, included the element of pining for a lost object, sometimes Zion, particularly the Temple and its cult- connected with both memories of the past, and messianic hopes for the future. Judah Halevi's odes to Zion represent some of the most important examples of this genre. These hopes for a return to Zion, wherever they appear, are often accompanied by polemical utterances, in coded language, against Muslims and Christians (Carmi, p 347; Leviant, pp. 204-207). "My heart is in the east, and I am in the distant west- how can I taste what I eat, and how can it be sweet? How can I fulfill by vows and oaths, as long as Zion is in the chains of Edom, and I am in the binds of the Arabs?" Contrary to Carmi's note about the author having vowed to leave Spain for the Land of Israel, the point of this verse is the poet's emphatic sense that he cannot function fully, as long as the Temple is destroyed. Like a frustrated lover, he cannot eat and sleep. Edom is a medieval Hebrew reference to Christianity, referring in particular to the Crusader Kingdom in Jerusalem. "It would be easy in my eyes to leave all the good of Spain, how dear it would be in my eyes to see the dust of the destroyed Temple." The poet prefers the salvific power of the ruined Temple to the good life in Spain. In his "Ode to Zion," he gives a graphic description of the Holy Land, almost a traveler's account, based on the biblical text, and the immediacy of God's presence there- especially where the Temple once stood.
The Dirge: The Hebrew dirge in Muslim Spain, despite antecedents in the Bible, was based on the Muslim genre. There are four aspects of the dirge: 1) the crying: the personalized pain of the poet over his loss, the negative image of the messenger, who brought the news of the death, the projection of personal feelings on the whole world, and all of nature. 2) the eulogy: praise of the dead, especially his generosity towards the poet. 3) the expression of wisdom about fate, the world, life, and death. 4) the consolation: usually the superficial notion that all life must endure death. One of the most beautiful poems of this type is Solomon ibn Gabirol's tribute to Yekutiel, his late patron (Carmi, p. 306; Leviant, p. 180). In it, all of nature shares his grief: "See how red the sun is at evening time, like it is dressed in a scarlet robe. It uncovers the corners of the north and the west, and it covers the south and the east with purple. It has left the earth naked, ... and the world becomes dark, as if it is covered in sackcloth, because of the death of Yekutiel."
Hebrew Poetry in Christian Spain: Whatever of a golden age happened in Islamic Spain, was over by the 11th century. At that time, with Christian successes in reconquering Spain, Jews began to enjoy a golden age of cultural creativity, in the Christian north. One of the outstanding cultural creations of this period was The Tahkemoni by Judah Al-Harizi (1170-1235), an epic containing both poetry and rhymed prose, makama, which, with its picaresque adventures, resembles a traveler's account, including accounts of Jerusalem, a history of Hebrew poetry, and much on the subject of women, usually hostile, if not violent. The 6th gate of the Tahkemoni formulates quite clearly the juxtaposition commonly found in medieval discussions between the good woman and the bad woman, the goddess and the whore. At the beginning of the chapter, the protagonist is promised the ideal woman. Instead he gets a very unattractive woman, whose disparagement is found in Carmi (p. 391). Here he draws together all sorts of biblical quotations, to present what is a literary tour de force, but less than satisfying, towards the end, where he beats her; but then she turns out to be his best friend, and long time fellow joker. His abuse of men is equally cutting: "He is afraid to urinate, less he be thirsty, and he is reluctant to move his bowels, less he be hungry." (See also Leviant, pp. 389-414). Al-Harizi is drawing on the medieval popular culture of the grotesque, exaggerated, mocking, and satirical uses of bodily processes, especially sexual and digestive. Similar developments are seen in the work of Todros Abulafia (1247-1295). He writes with even less restraint, fantasizing that he was a women, so he could kiss an Arab women, with whom he is infatuated. ".. because I am a male, I lost out” (Carmi, p. 410). I think that Carmi, though certainly not providing a Bawlderized version of one of Abulafia's poems, missed the point. The poem is about his request for fig from a friend: ". . . send a ripening fig, give a portion for seven of them, even for eight." Carmi then translates the next line as "And in return, here is my flatus," noting that the Hebrew word used, zemorah, also means vine-twig. In addition, zemorah also means penis, and fig, vagina. I think that this is a sexual, not a scatological reference; both, however, fit the category of the grotesque. The next line translates: "Henceforth I won't give it to strangers" could fit either way.
Hebrew Poetry in Italy: Hebrew poetry reached both new creative heights in the work of Immanuel of Rome (1261-1328), as well as what some Jews saw as new depths, in terms of taste and suitability, culminating in his work being explicitly banned in the Shulhan Arukh (Orakh Hayyim 307:16). A friend of Dante, familiar with the Divine Comedy, which he imitated, Immanuel was, for a while, a correspondent for the Roman Jewish community, until he went into exile. His Makhberot, collections of poetry and rhymed prose on many subjects, usually combining biblical and rabbinic idioms with intensive mockery, have not been fully translated. I first encountered Immanuel when my Hebrew was better than my taste, and found his use of religious terminology to describe a patient taking a laxative to be utterly hilarious: "Isolate yourself after you drink this mixture, and set aside all your work, until your body is purged, and do not trouble your thoughts with anything. Shut the doors of your house from all sides, because the wind will cause tekiah, teruah, and three shevarim. . ." Hence flatus is described, in beautiful Hebrew prose, as the sounds of the shofar blowing on the High Holidays. Immanuel's work is filled with misogynistic passages, as well as a few barbs at men. In mocking the miser, he says (Carmi, p. 425): "Though he has a penis, for fear of wearing it out, when he has sex, he uses somebody else's." Again showing Jewish poets writing in Hebrew drawing heavily upon popular usage of the grotesque, a usage that seems different than that of Arab countries. There the non-Jewish forbidden realms, popularized in the literature, included the love of young boys and the drinking of wine, whereas in the Christian countries, misogyny, sexuality, and scatological writings appear regularly.
In neither case, do these trends represent positivistic reporting about actual behavior, but almost mirror images of popular conceptions of the grotesque. One of the paradoxes of Italian Hebrew poetry is the fate of Leon Modena's Yom Zeh Mishkal (Carmi, p. 491), Song for the Minor Day of Atonement. This is the fast day at the end of every Hebrew month, initiated by the kabbalists. Modena (Yehudah Aryeh mi-Modena, 1571-1648) was a bitter opponent of Kabbalah, yet it was his poem that became the anthem for that day, leaving not only his words, but his name, spelled out in the acrostic that begins every other line. Heightening the paradox is the fact that, many years after his death, various rabbis tried to ban the poem, because of its alleged reference to Shabbetai Tzvi, the messianic pretender, whose movement was formed in the year 1666, many years after Modena's death. In the last stanza, notice how strongly it too expresses the hope to return to burnt sacrifices; the expression “hod roshenu“, translated simply as "Messiah," replaces the original “nezer roshenu,” which adds up to the numerical value of Shabbetai Tzvi (814), a fact invoked by opponents of Sabbatai Tzvi, after his death (what a coincidence? Later tampering with the poem?). Many of the rollicking, frivolous, witty and abusive qualities of Immanuel are also found in the poetry of the Frances brothers, Jacob (1615-1667) and Immanuel (1618-1710- YF: devoted brothers, anti-Zoharists, who fought, together with Yaakov Emden, the imposter, Shabatai Tzvi)
They, often re-writing each other's work, cover many of the conventional themes of wine, women (oversexed or undersexed), and misogyny. Carmi's translation of one such poem alters the meaning (p. 502). The Hebrew is called “Levad Shalosh Yetziot”, “There are Only Three Exits”, a poem in which he lords three moments of transition and subordination in the life of women over them: when she is born, in filth, when she gets married, and when she dies, which he viciously calls the most exalted of all (YF: cf. Ashes Chayil, who laughs at her last day). This poem is about all women, "great and small," and not just about the Gadabout, as the English title says. Reaching the 18th century, Ephraim Luzzatto expresses a new sense of self in his poetry, in which he writes about his land, his street, his house, and even his own name (Carmi, p. 504). Still in the tradition of Italian Hebrew literature, Luzzatto, moving from the politically incorrect to sexual harassment, describes a doctor, who becomes passionately in love with his female patient, and propositions her.
Hebrew Poetry in the East: Several poems from Hebrew poets from eastern Mediterranean countries have made an enduring impact on Jewish culture. With roots in both Spain and Italy, as well as in indigenous Jewish culture, these poems often reflect mystical traditions. Simon Labi (1492-1585), a Spanish North African writer, wrote a poem, now a popular song on Lag Baomer, which has been recorded, called Bar Yohai. Simon Bar Yohai was a first century rabbi who, with his young son, hid from the Romans in a cave for many years, during the first century. When the Zohar, the classic of Jewish mysticism, emerged in Christian Spain, in the 13th century, it was attributed to him. Carmi connected each stanza of this poem to a different one of the ten Sephirot, the mediating stages between God and humans. I do not think that this is the case. It seems that each stanza rather refers to a different moment in the mystical experience of Simon Bar Yohai, or of the Jewish people: acacia wood refers to the Temple, not to the seraphim; the Apple Tree, if referring to the Garden of Eden, is a reference borrowed from Christianity- rabbinic literature never identifies the tree of the Garden as an apple tree; the sword is the flaming sword, protecting the entrance to the Garden; the marble stones is from the talmudic story of the four men who entered Paradise, etc. Yedid Nefesh, which now adorns most prayerbooks, as well as many tape and record collections, was composed in Safed by the kabbalist Eliezer Azikri.
One of the most famous verses in this poem is: "e-li, mahmad libi, husha na, ve-al titalem," "my God, my heart's delight, have compassion, and do not disappear." From this emerged a popular Hebrew song, which garbles the words, "Ele hamda libi..."; it makes no sense whatsoever, with its masculine subject and feminine predicate. Concluding the presentation, and returning to the theme we discussed, earlier in the course, Israel Najra (c. 1555-1625), author of the Sabbath hymn “Y-ah Ribbon”, rabbi in various cities in the land of Israel, noted for acquiring his melodies in Arab taverns, composed a dirge for the fast of the Ninth of Av, on the theme of child sacrifice, based on a midrashic story (Carmi, p. 472). In his poem, a mother builds an alter to sacrifice her son, slaughters him, and removes his flesh, like a sacrificial offering, dismembering him into 12 parts. When the other Jews found her, they confronted her with a verse from the Akedah, "Here are the fire and the wood!" Significantly, it is in the land of Israel that the imperative to sacrifice emerges. The fact remains that a central theme in all periods of Hebrew poetry was the desire to offer sacrifices. Whether writing about drinking wine, or love, or prayer, the poets gave expression to the continued desire of Jews to offer sacrifices in Jerusalem- a desire not eliminated by the destruction of the Temple, one that continues to loom large in our own day.
In the meantime, during the long, and often culturally very productive, diaspora from the land of Israel, and from the Temple, Jews in all parts of the world continued literary, cultural, and religious traditions from Palestine, while at the same time, continually influenced by their neighbors, produced new works which reflected the environment they lived in, Christian or Islamic. So when Dana International steps up to the microphone at the end of the month, here are a couple of the cultural features of the first stanza of Deror Yikra. The first letter of each line of the stanza, and several others as well, spells out Dunash (not Shalem). The last word of each line of the first stanza rhyme, vat, vat, bat, bat. The Spanish Hebrew poetry scanned with the sheva [:] or vowels that combine with a sheva [-:] being short, and every other vowel long, so that this poem's basic meter would be short-long-long-long short-long-long-long. If, however, you look at various songbooks or even prayer books, you will see that this pattern has been broken by some of them. For example, while the last line of the first stanza in Dunash's text reads she-vu-nu-hu be-yom-sha-bat, in some places it reads she-vu ve-nu-hu be-yom-sha-bat. What does it mean? Following the biblical idea of proclaiming liberty, as found on the Liberty Bell, the shabbat is a day of freedom for both men and women. By the way, there is some evidence that Dunash's wife was also a Hebrew poet (YF: clear evidence, from the Geniza; see our study of Vayechi). The poem then moves to connect the Sabbath observers with God, and promises that their name will be preserved- and encourages them to observe the Sabbath. I hope this helps and permits those, who see the show, to pay more attention to the costumes.
Week 11: Doing these courses has become one of the highlights of my week. If students do file their nails or take phone calls during them, I don't see or hear it. Likewise, on my part I can deliver a lecture, without getting washed or dressed (appropriate for the erotic poems?). The questions, comments, and criticisms I receive are fascinating for me. And I enjoy the virtual office hours and the continued visits of students to Jerusalem. There was not too much comment about the lecture on medieval Hebrew poetry, perhaps because, for many, the issue of cultural borrowing is less troublesome, when the discussion does not involve matters such as the prayers, or perhaps people were more caught up with other matters, such as the elections here. In the last lecture I forgot to mention that fact that many bilingual editions of medieval Hebrew poetry have been published, making the material accessible for those with all levels of Hebrew skills. One of the best is by a former teacher, Raymond Scheindlin, "Wine, Women, and Death"; others include specific works devoted to Judah Halevi, Solomon ibn Gabirol, Samuel ibn Nagrela, and Judah al-harizi. Rav Yuval Sherlo, at Van Leer, portrayed unique difficulties of responding to halachic ?? on the web, e.g. the huge number of inquiries, and open exposure to the whole world of the responsa- all folks, everywhere, can comment and deliver criticism
Adelman adds: Two of the more thorough histories of Jewish literature are those by Meyer Waxman (YF: one of my literary heroes!); on most matters, The Encyclopaedia Judaica, now available on CD-ROM, is not only a reliable source of information but of further bibliography (up to date as of about 1970). For a comparison with the Arabic forms of this period, see James' Kritzeck's Anthology of Islamic Literature. In the course of this semester, at various times, I promised a few units, which I did not deliver, because of a lack of time. I will be pulling these, together with other related topics, into a coherent course, as coherent as I can deliver, next semester, on Juice. It will probably be called something like Jewish Social History; it will use cultural documents for social history. Although I have continually cast aspersions on the positivistic approach to reading these texts for historical data, nevertheless, I believe that they can be a source for understanding Jewish mentalities, discourse, and the development of ideas. Some of the topics I will cover involve gender, family, childhood, women, self, communal control, punishment, violence, the rodef and moser, death, chosen death, and attitudes towards non-Jews, particularly the seven nations (amamin) of Palestine, especially as reflected in current discourse- including two controversial books, Barukh Hagever and Hamoro Shel Mashiah. In addition, I will be working with several degree granting institutions, giving on-line courses for credit. YF: Adelman, my newest, truly great, literary discovery, somewhat reflects my own thoughts, feelings and style, in doing these studies, which reach a similar audience. I hope to cite his summation of modern Jewish poetry soon.
K. POTBOILER: FROM: Ha'aretz, By Batya Gur: The books reaching us from overseas, labored over by translators, editors and graphic artists, which Israeli consumers of culture apparently choose as an escape from the grimness around them, are becoming more and more obsessed with food. One day, when the archaeologists and socio-cultural historians of, say, the 31st century, try to analyze and interpret the cultural artifacts of the 21st century, evidence of the good life, the boundless affluence, the discriminating palate and the cultural refinement of this era will not be hard to see. This bounty, the province of the Western world, peers out everywhere, even as the threat of starvation looms over the Third World. In Israel, too, it is visible in every corner. For starters, it can be seen every day, at every hour of the day, on television - not only on cable TV, the dominion of the rich, but on the state channels (a sampling of whose programs will certainly be passed down to the coming generations, and serve as the basis for scholarly research, in the fourth millennium). Your typical mentally weary Israeli will slump down in front of the TV at home, watch a bit of news, followed by a little snatch of the latest talk show (the low-budget kind, that has become the hottest thing on Channel 1 and 2, and also Channel 10, the alternative station, that was supposed to be the great white hope for the local Israeli film industry) - and then find himself inundated by repeat broadcasts of Gidi Gov, showing some Arab chef how to make kugel, out of stale challah and apples. Zapping further, he will meet the king of the Israeli kitchen, Israel Aharoni, learning about Italian cuisine from an Italian family, that made aliyah years ago... And if he says goodbye to Aharoni, and moves on to the BBC, a channel purchased with the hope of watching some fine English dramas, he will find another famous chef, hosting famous celebrities, who actually cook. One day, when historical, cultural and social researchers of the future try to understand what Israeli society was like in the 21st century, they may stumble on poverty and unemployment statistics, and reflections on hungry children and the bankruptcy of socialism. They are sure to be stumped.
"Impossible," they will say, blaming the one-sided picture of the world, marketed by subversives, trying to turn people against the government. "Facts are facts," they will say, waving a copy of "Shamenet" (Cream), a bi-monthly magazine published by Haaretz, among its various special supplements. Because flipping through its elegant, glossy pages, it is impossible to miss the classy photography and sophisticated advertisements (for pricey watches, chocolate, imported espresso machines). The historian of the future, chancing upon an issue of "Shamenet" some day, and reading the interview with Israeli composer and conductor Noam Sheriff, about how he needs to run off to Switzerland to write music, will not understand why he is so "worried about the state of Israeli culture." What was there to worry about, the historian will wonder, as he reads about the art of nouvelle Israeli cuisine, and its high priest, Erez Komorovsky, who invented a new culinary language. Is that not culture of the highest degree? And if any more proof is needed of the link between food and culture, one can easily find it in the cornucopia of books, hot off the presses, that are not merely cookbooks, but honest to goodness literature - books about cooking AND life. YF: In Avot, we read: "The more flesh, the more worms (to consume the corpse in its grave)." Gourmet food, while momentarily quite pleasant, reflecting God's kindness, permeating His world, winds up in the same toilet, not worth large investments of time and money. In contrast to a life dedicated only to physical pleasure, we remember Ruth Mor, a proud, enthusiastic and inspiring Jerusalemite, a truly righteous convert to Judaism; her days were full of Torah and acts of kindness; she volunteered many hours, amidst a busy work schedule, to help this project, and was an ardent attendee at my classes at NCSY and other venues. May her descendants truly reflect her values.
L. RAV YEHUDA ASHLAG, REDISCOVERED: We constantly try to rediscover great Jews, who, tho so influential in their time, have been generally forgotten later, an evil proclaimed by Kohellet, e.g. holy rabbi Regina Jonas of Teirisenstadt. I generally lack interest in questionable, magical, kabbalistic literature. But Micha Odenheimer recently revived the memory of a great humanistic, philosophical, socialist teacher of kabbala, in a gripping and inspiring article in Haaretz Magazine, which had great impact on me- “Latter-day luminary”: Despite his powerful fusion of mysticism and social ideas, Rabbi Yehuda Ashlag, who died 50 years ago, barely registered on the radar screen of collective memory - until a few years ago, when a new wave began to wash over contemporary Jewish spirituality. Just ask Madonna, Demi Moore, Mick Jagger and the Duchess of York. One day in Jerusalem of the early 1950s, Shlomo Shoham (YF: our distinguished reader!), later an Israel Prize-winning author and criminologist, set out to look for kabbalist Rabbi Yehuda Ashlag. "It was Prof. Gershom Scholem who sent me to see him," Shoham told me. "Scholem disagreed with what he thought Ashlag was doing with kabbala, but he thought I would find him interesting - a curiosity." Ashlag at that time was trying to print "Hasulam" (literally, "The Ladder"), his Hebrew translation and commentary on "The Book of Zohar," (the ancient, seminal work on Jewish mysticism). Whenever he would raise a little money, from small donations, he would print parts of his "Hasulam." "I found him standing in a dilapidated building, almost a shack, which housed an old printing press. He couldn't afford to pay a typesetter and was doing the typesetting himself, letter by letter, standing over the printing press for hours at a time, despite the fact that he was in his late sixties. Ashlag was clearly a tzaddik (righteous man) - a humble man, with a radiant face. But he was an absolutely marginal figure and terribly impoverished. I later heard that he spent so many hours setting type that the lead, used in the printing, damaged his health.”
A few years later, on Yom Kippur evening in 1954, Ashlag passed away, less than two years after the publication of his monumental "Hasulam" commentary on the "Zohar." Tradition attributes the latter to the second-century Mishnaic sage, Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai, while modern scholars believe it was written or compiled in the 13th century. By all accounts it is the pivotal work of Jewish mysticism, a canonical opus whose acceptance as sacred is almost as widespread as that of the Talmud or the Torah itself (YF: it was completely rejected, as alien to Judaism, by the Yemenite Dor Deah movement, led by Grand Rabbi Yichye Kapach, following earlier great scholars). Loosely structured as a commentary on the Bible, the "Zohar" records the teachings of Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai and his disciples, who wander through second-century Palestine, while revealing the deepest secrets of creation, reincarnation (YF: a belief condemned by Saadya, Albo, etc.), and the redemptive pathways of the divine light. Written in idiosyncratic (YF: 13th century) Aramaic, the "Zohar" was poetic, enigmatic, elliptical and, at times, dreamlike; meditation on it formed the basis for much of the kabbala that followed its publication, including the intricate and authoritative teachings of Rabbi Isaac Luria (Ari), the 16th-century Safedian kabbalistic master. Like his earlier books - commentaries on the Lurianic kabbala - Ashlag's "Hasulam" articulated a precise, original and systematic interpretation of Judaism's mystical corpus. Ashlag's version of kabbala promised individual transformation, even personal redemption, for those who devoted themselves to its study and practice. Called "Hasulam" because it provided a step-by-step passageway between heaven and earth, like Jacob's biblical dream ladder, Ashlag believed that his commentary, by unlocking the secrets of the "Zohar," would enable adherents to attain successive levels of spiritual illumination, including, for a select few, transformation of their physical body itself, from a gross material into a vessel for divine light.
Dying in obscurity: But Ashlag himself was even more passionately committed to the far-reaching social vision, that emerged from his understanding of the kabbalistic tradition. He grasped humanity as a single entity, both physically and spiritually interdependent, and believed that only an economic system that recognized this could liberate humankind, and catalyze an era of collective enlightenment. In his diary, Israel's first prime minister, David Ben-Gurion, describes meeting Ashlag "numerous times," and being struck by the fact that "while I wanted to talk to him about kabbala, he wanted to talk to me about socialism and communism." Yet despite the powerful fusion of mysticism and social ideas that his work presented, Ashlag remained a fringe figure, his personality and ideas barely registering on the radar screen of Jewish collective memory. Too revolutionary for the ultra-Orthodox world, of which he always remained a part, too abstract and universalistic for the religious-nationalist world (cf. me), preoccupied in any event with the thought of Ashlag's close friend, Rabbi Abraham Isaac Kook, Ashlag was also largely dismissed by academic scholars, who took their cue from Gershom Scholem. Scholem, the predominant academic scholar of kabbala, until his death in 1982, believed that Ashlag's project was a misguided attempt to unify Luria's system with the "Zohar." Scholem was a scholar for whom historical context was a key to interpreting thought: He believed, for example, that Luria's kabbalistic thinking was, in large part, a response to the Jewish exile from Spain. As a Zionist thinker, Scholem was intoxicated by the power of history to unleash new spiritual forces. He was thus opposed to what he saw as Ashlag's effort to harmonize Luria and the "Zohar," though each had emerged from a different historical period.
What Scholem apparently did not understand, was the radical originality of Ashlag's own reading of the tradition, and the "Hasulam" commentary's success in marshaling both the poetics of the "Zohar" and the Lurianic processes, in support of his new interpretation of kabbala. Ashlag's kabbala survived, thanks to the efforts of two of his sons, Rabbi Baruch Shalom Ashlag and Rabbi Shlomo Benyamin Ashlag, and his disciple and brother-in-law, Rabbi Yehuda Brandwein, who served, for a number of years, as the chief rabbi of the Histadrut labor federation. All three devoted their lives to spreading his system, all three founded yeshivas where Ashlagian kabbala was taught, all three continued to publish and disseminate his works. And all three disciples, like their master, lived and died in relative obscurity, scrounging for funds to publish books of Ashlagian kabbala, teaching small groups of dedicated students, in the wee hours of the morning. A similar mystical personality was Israeli Rav Chaim Riomon, who traveled all over Israel, reading and distributing his religious Zionist poetry: cf. me and Johnny Appleseed.
Geography of spirituality: And then something changed. Over the last few years, Ashlagian kabbala has become a force that is increasingly hard to ignore, in the geography of contemporary Jewish spirituality. I first fully realized the scope of Ashlag's new prominence in the New Delhi airport, this September, when I came across an article in The Hindustan Times reporting that Madonna, the supreme icon of postmodern stardom, had paid a midnight visit to Ashlag's grave in Jerusalem, during her trip to Israel, this fall. Madonna is a student of Rabbi Philip Berg, founder of The Kabbala Center, which has numerous branches in Israel, Europe, the U.S. and South America. Berg, a student of Rabbi Yehuda Brandwein, traces his spiritual lineage to Ashlag, although his opponents argue that Berg has deviated from his master's path. They have a point: Ashlag vigorously opposed making money from the teaching of kabbala, while Berg's Kabbala Centers are managed like a modern corporation, and have helped him amass a substantial personal fortune. Ashlag was equally vehement in resisting the popular association of kabbala with magic. Although Jewish mysticism has, from its beginnings, included a magical component – already, in the Talmud, there are accounts of rabbis using divine names to create living beings, and the kabbalists' ability to levitate, travel long distances instantaneously and read thoughts is the common stuff of Jewish legend - many kabbalists have also condemned magic, as an abuse of holy power for personal gain. Ashlag saw an obsession with the miraculous as a distraction and impediment to the real challenge: the grueling and constant effort necessary for spiritual metamorphosis. He consistently refused to engage in activities, such as miraculous healing, blessings or dream interpretation, which, for other kabbalists, were part of their daily routine.
In contrast, Berg's Kabbala Centers sell "kabbala water," (healthier than dyed red thread?) posters of divine names and lucky red strings to be worn as bracelets, and also offer courses on subjects such as "kabbala and success," which harness kabbala's prestige to the goal of personal prosperity. Recently, Berg seems to have crossed another line, further separating him from Ashlag's legacy: the adoption of Christological symbols - he now calls the Zohar "the Holy Grail" - and rhetoric that veers uncomfortably close to classic anti-Semitism. In his introduction to the English translation of the "Zohar", and commentary on "Hasulam", written by his son, Rabbi Michael Berg (YF: a beautifully produced work; Michael’s continuing in his father’s footsteps may be good evidence of showman Berg’s basic integrity), the elder Berg cites Jewish suppression of the "Zohar" as the key cause of worldwide suffering, and of anti-Semitism: "These Jews were and continue to be the underlying cause of anti-Semitism. If the Holy Grail became widespread, there would be no further need of intermediaries. The Jews and all mankind would finally achieve that long sought-after goal of eliminating chaos. The primary factor that festers anti-Semitism is the denial by the Jew, albeit, the authorities, of the fruits of the Holy Grail. While this denial originates with the few leaders, nonetheless the blame of chaos is thrust upon the entire Jewish people, including the innocent ones." YF: Sounds crazy!
Radical social vision: Despite his increasingly bizarre divergence from Ashlag's ideas, there is no doubt that Berg is devoted to one of Ashlag's primary goals: the dissemination of kabbalistic texts and ideas. Furthermore, his coterie of celebrities - Madonna, Demi Moore, Mick Jagger and the latest, Sarah Ferguson, Duchess of York - have raised Ashlag's fame to an unprecedented level. The Kabbala Center, though, is not by any means the only vector through which Ashlagian kabbala is spreading. Groups studying Ashlag now meet regularly in dozens of cities and towns across Israel. In Petah Tikva, a nondescript building in the industrial area comes alive at 3 A.M. as 150 dedicated students arrive for a daily kabbala class, led by Rabbi Michael Laitman, a Russian immigrant, a close disciple of Rabbi Baruch Ashlag. The building is headquarters of the Bnei Baruch group, founded by Laitman, and its drab exterior opens into a sparkling new beit midrash (study hall) lined with hundreds of copies of Ashlag's books and a broadcasting studio, with state-of-the-art equipment, through which kabbala classes are beamed to an international audience - consisting of many non-Jews - in Hebrew, Russian, English and Italian. While they have no exact gauge, Bnei Baruch says that they have indications that several hundred thousand people worldwide view their internet broadcasts, or visit their extensive Web site on kabbala, monthly.
About 15 years ago, students of Jerusalem kabbalist Rabbi Mordechai Sheinberger, a disciple of Brandwein (YF: and a brother-in-law of his son), founded an Ashlagian commune near Mount Meron, called Or Ganuz, which combines kabbala study with efforts to realize their master's radical social vision. For the last several years, Or Ganuz has been providing kabbala instructors to largely secular audiences, in various locations throughout in the Carmel and Galilee. In Bnei Brak, one of Rabbi Ashlag's grandchildren, Rabbi Yehezkel Ashlag, has built a yeshiva together with Rabbi Akiva Orzel, a student of Yehezkel Ashlag's father, Rabbi Shlomo Binyamin. In the ultra-Orthodox community of Telshe Stone, and in the Old City of Jerusalem, there are Ashlag centers, VERY active and growing.
Suddenly, the academic world has begun to notice Ashlag as well. Ben-Gurion University (BGU) of the Negev commemorated the 50th anniversary of his death, by hosting the first ever-academic conference on Ashlag. The conference brought together top academics in the field of kabbala, such as H.U. Prof. Moshe Idel, with Ashlag disciples, including Laitman and members of the Ashlag family. The first doctorate on Ashlag's thought, written by Tony Lavie, was accepted by B.I.U. last year (Lavie previously published a book of dialogues with the late Prof. Yeshayahu Leibowitz), and a book of dialogues between Lavie and Rabbi Orzel is forthcoming. Several more doctorates are in the works. Prof. Avi Elkayam of BIU, cosponsoring the conference, sees the awakening of the academic world to Ashlag's importance, as the righting of a historic wrong. "It's clear already," says Elkayam, "that Scholem was shortsighted, in not perceiving Ashlag's originality. “There is a renewed interest in kabbala in the West, and much of it is based on Ashlag." Elkayam believes that the inner life of the religious public in Israel is at a crucial juncture today, and that Ashlag may have a key role to play. "Rabbi Abraham Isaac Kook, as interpreted through the prism of his son's philosophy, created a mysticism of land and settlement. But with the foundations on which Gush Emunim stands crumbling, Ashlag can provide an alternative - a kabbala whose focus is not on settlement, but on individual consciousness, and the mending of society and the world.
Ashlag can provide the basis for a concept of social justice, founded on a spiritual science of kabbala. Of course, we are only at the beginning. We have to be cautious. It takes a huge effort - four years studying from morning until night - to really understand Ashlag's kabbala. We - the whole academic world - are just at the very beginning, still infants, so to speak, re Ashlag”.
I encountered another great blend of Torah and modernity at the Israel Center- engrossing and harmonious master of Torah and Derech Eretz, Moshe Kranc, explored the life and times of his illustrious ancestor, Rav Yaakov Krantz, z”l, The Dubner Maggid, on his 200th yahrtzeit. Despite his misnagdic focus, and association with the Gra, Kranc also authored an intriguing book- “The Hasidic Masters’ Guide to management,” which I hope to explore, along with more on Ashlag, over the next few weeks. After Kranc, David Zucker discussed his book, “Voice of Weepers,” the commentary of the Dubner Maggid on “Lamentations”, Eicha. The large audience really appreciated their talks- I too (ME too would be bad grammar, tho it is the usual form of expression)! He told a Dubner tale, Onions for Gold, as an example of knowing what the other side values, in negotiation: The Maggid called upon a wealthy, erudite man, to raise money for charity. He intended to tell him a word of Torah, and receive a handsome donation. But the rich man responded with his own word of Torah! Then the Maggid delivered a parable: “Once a man’s boat was destroyed at sea, and he just managed to reach a nearby desert island, saving only a knapsack of food. The peaceful inhabitants did not value gold, plentiful, tho they had few edible plants. They had no onions, so he planted some of his- they loved them, and filled his knapsack with gold. After his rescue, he returned home rich, and told his friend the tale. The latter filled his sack with garlic, and traveled to the island- it was indeed well received by the natives, who rewarded the friend with their now most precious possession, onions!” “The same is true of us”, said Rav Yaakov to the rich man. When I provide you with words of Torah, you express your appreciation by giving me back words of Torah. But I do not need words of Torah from you. I need gold!
Kranc comments: To succeed in negotiations, you must understand what is precious to the other side. In many cases, you will be amazed to discover that they do not equally value what is precious to you. You must strip away your own assumptions and biases, and look at the issues thru your negotiating partner’s eyes. Only then can you arrive at the optimal “win-win” resolution, where each side comes away with what it wants most! (compare HLS Prof. Lon Fuller’s definition of a good, well-negotiated contract- when each side feels that it could have done a bit better!)
From: rymko
10. Make Kiddush on expensive champagne (Jewish translation: Rashi Wine)
9 Countdown to New Years reaches climax, when your shabbos clock shuts off all lights, and you go to sleep... at 8pm
8. Walk around reminding people that there is no shofar blowing, because you can't carry.
7. Find 3 righteous Jews around shul, to absolve you of last years' resolutions
6. Kiddush Club suddenly moves Haftorah reading to Friday, at midnight
5. For football fans, cholent should be served in a rose bowl
4. Be Dan L'Kav Zechus, that the music blasting from your orthodox roommates’ room is just one wild oneg
3. Sing Shir Hamalos to tune of "auld lang syne", then realize, halfway in, that you don't know how the tune goes
2. Rabbi surprises everyone when he doesn't mention connection between New Years & the new book of Shemos
1. Daven at Chabad
From Avi Feldblum’s mail-jewish list. From: Batya Medad ybmedad@netvision.net.il 1/10/07. All this correspondence on the thread of "ladies in the back-where there are less seats-buses" has finally enlightened me why, when there are crowds to get into buses and other treasures, the people who push into me the most are chareidi men. Yes, it's true, and apparently the
reason is that since they "don't look at females," they just consider me
invisible. That's why they push into me and the other women. I'm serious, and I wonder how many others who have been writing so enthusiastically on the topic actually travel on buses, especially here in Israel. Being "carless," (sans car,) I'm an expert. I'm also old enough to no longer be surprised when people get up and give me their seats. Lots of people graciously do. Females of all ages, "persuasions" and dress codes and most men, even some Arabs on Jerusalem
lines, like the 6. The only group which never has, unless my advanced
age caused some senility, happens to be chareidi males (YF: my wife has had fine responses from helpful haredi males, on the same Jerusalem buses!). That's a first person report from the front line. Batya Medad http://shilohmusings.blogspot.com/ http://me-ander.blogspot.com/
From: her other half- Bet Begin’s Yisrael Medad
Date: Wed, 10 Jan 2007, Subject: Bus customs. It is not unusual to ride a regular bus line in Jerusalem (say 18, 6, 4), and see a religious man or woman standing, while there is an empty seat nearby occupied by a person of the other gender. The self-imposed custom by some religious people of not sitting next to a person of the other gender is not limited to buses riding through Haredi territory. I have, on more than one occasion, got out of my seat for a woman, to find that the observant person next to me got up also, so as not to sit next
to a woman. What is bothersome, I feel, is when a man will sit on the aisle seat, and not permit a woman to sit next to him, not forcibly I hasten to add, but simply by sitting there, and keeping his face in a book. After I caught
on to what they were doing, I have found myself next to the window, but, if a woman is standing, will get out- that really forces the other observant fellow to stand, as now he has no excuse not to rise. Yisrael
From: Meir Shinnar chidekel@gmail.com Date: Wed, 10 Jan 2007. Subject: The bus situation. RE Sternglantz. Let me start by saying that I've never regarded the notion of separation of the genders (in any Orthodox Jewish context) as bigotry or sexism, or parallel to illegal segregation of the races. The separation of the sexes in Orthodoxy used to be event based - with a justification of the separation based on the particular event – e.g., davening requires a mechitza. There is also an attempt at separation to prevent immorality at some affairs - where that depended on the affair. The question of how far this second degree of separation is required is a matter of some dispute, but it, the separation, was not universal. However, what we are seeing the bus dispute and discussion around it is a completely separate matter - essentially an attempt to create as an ideal two separate worlds, where men don't have any contact with women - and even avoid seeing them - outside of the home. Some of the discussion focused on Mehadrin buses, where the norm is that the women on the bus are dressed modestly, and even there the issue is raised that you want to avoid even seeing the women. This, therefore, can not be attributed to the issue of the immodest dress of the general world. Instead, it’s a radical remaking of the community.
This attempt is, IMHO, without precedent in the halachic world as a norm for the entire community. It does raise serious issues of sexism and bigotry - especially, as formulated, the separation is normally at the expense of the women - and casts a cloud on those of us who wish to defend more classical halachic forms of separation, as not being bigoted
or sexist. Meir Shinnar
From: Samuel Groner: Perets Mett wrote "I have yet to be persuaded that any rov would seek to find a heter for men and women to be jammed together in the way that happens frequently on public transport." Interesting. OTOH, the Satmar rebbe zt'l, when once seeing the conditions of the NY subway during rush-hour, commented that he had no doubt that if this would have been in the times of Chazal, they would have banned such travel. SBA
We remember Rev. William (Zev) Lichtbroun (Tevet 24) at this time; he radiated warmth, piety & authentic tradition for we children at Kesher Zion Hebrew School, in Reading, Pa.
Your donations, and publicity of our cause, are most welcome.
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