Prophecy 101:
Ego is a Non-Prophet Venture
This week we begin to read from the fourth of the five books of Moses. Although this book is referred to in English as the Book of Numbers, in Hebrew it is referred to as Bamidbar because of the opening verse; "And the Lord spoke to Moses in the wilderness (Bamidbar) of Sinai ..."
The Midrash, Jewish Oral Tradition, derives a somewhat puzzling insight from the fact that G-d spoke to Moses in the wilderness :
Unless one makes himself hefker (open and ownerless) like a wilderness he cannot acquire wisdom and Torah. (Bamidbar Rabbah 1:7)
In other words, to be receptive to the revelatory word of G-d you must be like the wilderness completely open and ownerless – in a state of humility and surrender. Moses heard the word of G-d not only in the physical location of the wilderness but also because was he was in a “wilderness” state of mind.
Edging G-d Out
The creative experience...
This week we celebrate the festival of Shavuot, commemorating a moment, thirty-two hundred years ago, when we all stood together, beneath a wind-swept mountain, deep in the Sinai desert. The power of that moment, was that, more than at any other time in our history as a people, we truly became one; one people, experiencing a desire to receive and to share, together.
There is a legend about Moses Mendelssohn, the grandfather of the well-known German composer, who was far from being handsome. Along with a rather short stature, he had a grotesque hunchback.
One day he visited a merchant in Hamburg who had a lovely daughter named Frumtje. Moses fell helplessly in love with her. But Frumtje was repulsed by his misshapen appearance.
When it came time for him to leave, Moses gathered his courage and climbed the stairs to her room to take one last opportunity to speak with her. She was a vision of heavenly beauty, but...
We were on our way back, heading south-east from Beirut back down towards Marja’oun when the shelling started, and our jeep driver was in a near-panic. He was not part of our regular unit; he was a reserve duty soldier doing a few weeks of reserve duty in Lebanon and had been assigned to me as a driver. We had just finished escorting a convoy of trucks up to a base on the outskirts of Beirut, and I was counting our blessings that the trip had been un-eventful; obviously I was getting ahead of myself. We had barely gotten out of Beirut when all hell broke loose and the artillery shells started flying literally just over our heads.
Logically, especially as my assumption was that they were trying to hit us from the hills above us, the smart thing to do would have been to pull over and take cover. But the driver panicked and hit the gas trying to...
Stand Up and Be Counted
How to let your self be loved.
“The LORD spoke to Moses in the Tent of Meeting in the Desert of Sinai on the first day of the second month of the second year after the Israelites came out of Egypt. He said: "Take a census of the whole community of Israel by their families and households, listing every man by name, one by one.”
~~ Numbers 1:1-2
Because of His [G-d's] love He counts them
~~Rabbi Shlomo ben Yitzchak (RASHI) (1040- 1105)
Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach, a Torah Scholar and song composer of the 20th century, would often do concerts in prisons. He would greet all the prisoners in their cells, even the most harden criminals, give them each a big loving hug and invite them to join him for his concert in the prison. One time after a concert, as he was on his way out from the prison, one of the prisoners, a tough looking guy, runs after...
The famous 19th century blood libel in Russia, which came to be known as the ‘Beilis Trial’, became much more than the trial of just one man. Judaism as a whole stood accused, and its faithful defenders were forced to fend off repeated attacks while world Jewry rallied to their support.
The judge challenged the defense. He said: “It says in your Talmud: You the people of Israel are called Adam, Man, yet the nations of the world are not called Adam.’ What then do you consider the nations of the world to be, if not men?” demanded the prosecution. “Would you call them animals? “
The rabbi who was acting as the defense attorney explained: “In Hebrew there are two terms for man: Ish and Adam. Israel is called Adam because this term appears only in singular; there is no plural form for Adam. The Jews are described as the singular form of man because they are more than a...
Bonding or Bondage
Why Serve the Divine?
“For unto Me the children of Israel are servants; they are My servants who I took out of the land of Egypt; I am the Lord G- d.” ~~ Leviticus 25:55
There is an Eastern teaching that proclaims, “Be here and now.” Torah however would say, “Serve G-d here and now.” Indeed, this is the fullest experience of life.
The Kabbalah teaches that G-d wants to be present in the here and now, and our job is to serve G-d in that desire. Therefore, to serve G-d means to infuse each moment with the presence of G-d. In other words, I must always ask myself, “How can I serve G- d right now?”
If right now I am with my friend, spouse or child, I should see this moment as an opportunity to show him/her love and thus serve G-d, who is the source of all love. It’s not my love. I didn’t invent love. I didn’t...
They were only in the army for eight months, having only recently completed their basic training, but on the books, they were paratroopers, members of the elite 202nd battalion, and this night, finally, was their time to be tested.
They were the youngest of the units sent in to clean out one of the toughest neighborhoods of Beirut, and they were supposed to be the back-up unit, there to re-enforce the more experienced combat veterans moving in ahead of them.
Sabra and Shatila, as yet two relatively unknown refugee camps in Lebanon, had become infested with units of the PLO, and the mission of the 202nd on this night was to take the battle to the enemy, rooting out terrorist enclaves and preventing further infiltrations into Israel against Israeli civilians in the North.
They weren’t supposed to be involved in any heavy fighting, as they were still too new to this deadly game; there were more experienced troops ahead of them who were...
Dating the Divine
Celebrating love
“These are the appointed holidays of G-d, holy convocations, which you are to proclaim in their appointed times.” — Lev. 23.4
Henny Youngman, the comedian, once said, "I tried being an atheist, but I gave it up. There were no holidays."
What is a holiday really about? Is it the same as a vacation?
A vacation is a time to vacate, but a holiday is a time to celebrate.
To vacate means to take off, get away from the everyday and clear yourself out from the tensions and challenges of the daily grind. Perhaps you'll suntan on a beach, play golf or catch a good concert.
A holiday, however, is a holy day. It is not an escape from everyday life to paradise. Rather, it is a time to infuse paradise into the everyday. This is the power of celebration. My guess is that the word celebrate connects to the word celestial. And from a Jewish perspective that would make sense,...
Many years ago, when I was in High School, my mother arranged for me to get a ride up to school once a week with one of the teachers who taught there. We lived in Manhattan, and as the Mesivta High School I attended was in Riverdale, having a ride that morning saved me a good hour I would have spent on public transportation. It also meant leaving our apartment at 7:30am instead of 6:30 for which I was understandably grateful.
In retrospect, I am not entirely certain the arrangement was purely practical, as the teacher would regularly engage me in a variety of Torah topics and philosophical and existential questions …
One morning as we were driving up the West Side Highway, a car barreled down an entrance ramp and slammed into the front of our car. After being thrown across the highway, the rebbe managed to get control of the car as the engine puttered off, and we...
CAN YOU REALLY LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOUR SELF?
After reading this essay, you'll never look at yourself — or others — the same way again.
The actor Kirk Douglas once told me that when people compliment him on a performance, they often tell him how great he was at losing himself in the part. "You just became Vincent Van Gogh! You were so wonderful." And he answers, "No, you lost yourself in the part. I can't afford to lose myself in the part. I have to pay attention to the director, to the cues. I have to hit the mark just right so the action is in the camera frame. I must stay aware that I am an actor acting a part."
So a good actor plays his part, but he doesn't get lost in his part. He can't even begin to think he is the character he is playing. On the other hand, it is not like he doesn't embrace that...
