A thought on פרשת תרומה

"...v'osisa es ha'mizbeach..."
"...and you shall make an altar..." (27:1)


This week and next, we learn about the instructions for constructing a Sacred Shrine which was a forerunner of the Bais HaMikdash. The Torah enumerates the materials to be used in designing the Mishkan and the implements and structures which would facilitate the avoda, the sacrificial mode of spiritual service.

We learn about the altars, a mizbeach covered with a layer of gold, and a mizbeach layered with copper. Ever wonder what these metals symbolized?

The Ralbag interprets: Gold as an element has a property which is not found in copper. Gold endures, and is quite impervious to decay and corrosion. Copper is more fragile and is effected by the pressures of time and matter. The gold altar is housed "within the kodesh." The copper altar is outside of that inner place, and a screen (mesech) cordons off the two locations.

The Ralbag sees in the two altars the two aspects of human existence. On the one hand, we are impermanent creatures, and are subject to the wear and tear of age and time. When a person's time has come, when mortal life is over, the physical self deteriorates, as life ends. The copper altar symbolizes that aspect of mortality, for copper also fades with time and with pressure. It is impermanent and over time is lost.

The Copper Altar is used for offering sacrifices. These too are impermanent beings, for when their life is over, their remains corrode and disappear.

Further inside where the space of the sacred chamber is deemed "kodesh" rests the Gold Altar. It is layered with this enduring and lasting metal in order to signify that whereas the altar facilitates the transformation of the offerings which are incinerated upon it, it is not all about bringing about finality. Whereas an offering may be burnt and finished, the altar is an object of relative permanence. This symbolizes another facet of man: whereas the body does come to an end, there is something which endures. The stronger part of man, the soul, remains after the mortal existence has ended. The gold remains stable even though the altar serves to dispatch its offerings into oblivion. This higher level of existence, the endurance of a person's sacred and eternal soul, is symbolized by this avoda ba'kodesh.

Extending this theme, the Ralbag then reminds us that there is actually a fundamental difference between the offerings brought upon these two altars. We have described the sacrifices which are brought on the Copper Altar. We understand how their "end of life" is a symbol for our own eventual end of life. However, the offerings brought on the Gold Altar were not sacrifices. This mizbeach was for incense. A special property of incense is that whereas it is a compound of fragrant spices, its scent is only released when incinerated. The ketores achieves its purpose only when it is vaporized, and its substance is negated. Once the spices are ignited and burnt, the smoke ascends and wafts its lingering scent far and near. This is an avoda for the Gold Altar: herein is symbolized that not only does an aspect of life endure after mortal life has ended, but that aspect - the fragrance which one has earned during their toil and avoda in olam ha'zeh is actualized only after life has ended.

The soul with its ascendance is the ultimate aim of life in this world. That is what lingers on, and travels beyond time, space and substance.

Wishing you a sweet Shabbos. Marbin b'simcha. D Fox

A thought on פרשת תרומה

A thought on פרשת משפטים

"...v'ovad'tem es HaShem Elokei'chem..."
"...and you shall serve HaShem your Lord..." (23:25)



This commandment instructs us to serve HaShem, closing with the promise that he will bless our bread and our water. The verse does not stipulate how we are to serve Him nor does it offer us a scope or context about what it means to "serve" Him.

The Ralbag analyzes this and explains that "service" (in the wording of our verse, we can also translate the word ovad'tem as "you shall work for") of HaShem does not mean servitude or servile labor, since we know that HaShem is Omnipotent and needs nothing done by us. He does not need our labor.

The word here does not mean "serving" in the consecrated avoda of the Bais HaMikdash since that sacred labor was done by Kohanim alone, whereas our verse is referring to the entire Jewish nation.

The Ralbag concludes that the "serving" here is of a very different form. We serve HaShem by turning to Him alone and asking that He take care of us and fulfill our needs. In the same way that a servant or slave works and labors, and turns in supplication to his master, begging for sustenance, so too does a Jew recognize that we are indentured to the One Above, and to Him alone can we turn when we are needy. Thus, as Chazal have said in other instances, the "service" of this verse is the "service of the heart", the investment we make in working on our prayers. This is why, he adds, the verse appears to make an association between "serving Him" and then His blessing our bread and our water. This teaches us that the work we are asked to do involves turning to Heaven with our prayers for sustenance, and this is the pact that HaShem promises: He will respond to such prayers accordingly. When we ask that He fill our needs, He will do so.

The Ralbag goes a step further. In some places in the Chumash, and in the TaNaCh, another word, a synonym, is used instead of avoda. Sometime the Torah refers to work as sherus (for an example of this see Devarim 18:5 - l'amod l'shares - to arise and to serve). Chazal have explained that this word refers to the task of singing which was to be done within the Mikdash. Whereas the overt form of "serving" there (the avoda) involved action, physical effort, the inner form of serving there involved avodas avoda or sherus of singing. Now, the Ralbag writes, it is no coincidence that sherus means singing and the word for song is shir. Since we have established that uttering prayers of thanksgiving and prayers of supplication are a deep form of avoda, meaning that prayer is actually synonymous with avoda in our verse, then it follows that singing, which is in its ideal form a lofty means of praying, is also synonymous and homonymous with that form of avoda called sherus.

It turns out then that, with these insights of the Ralbag, when we think about davening, we should view it as a means of working to show our service of HaShem. When we sing with praise and fervor, this is also a means of working to show our service of HaShem.

Wishing you a good Shabbos filled with the avoda of prayer and of singing. D Fox

A thought on פרשת יתרו

"...va'yishma Yisro...va'yisaper Moshe..."

"...and Yisro heard...and Moshe told..." (18:1,8)

The Torah recounts how Yisro, in far-away Midian, heard about all of the wonders and miracles which HaShem had displayed for our nation in Egypt. Yisro traveled to join up with Moshe and escort the people as they sought a campsite in the wilderness.

It seems important to clarify what Moshe explained to his father-in-law. The first verse says that Yisro had heard about the miraculous events, yet further on the Torah writes that Moshe told Yisro those events. Even though they both stood near the cliffs of Sinai, surely these words of Moshe were more than just "cliff notes" reviewing the news already heard.

The Ralbag has many observations here and I want to share two of them this week. He says that we learn from Yisro that "hearing is believing." It may have been accurate to say that Yisro heard about the events, but what propelled him to seek out our nation was that upon hearing about HaShem's wonderous acts, Yisro was convinced. He even proclaimed, "atoh yodati ki gadol HaShem" - "I now know that HaShem is great" (18:11). The Ralbag points out that if someone can be moved this profoundly upon hearing of HaShem's wonders, all the more so must one who experiences such Divine intervention focus and hold on to his awe, and propel himself along the path of firmer faith in HaShem. After all, reminds the Ralbag, in his opinion, HaShem makes His presence known in those ways in order to impress upon us that He is the Omnipotent Presence, and in order that we relate this to our children and they to their descendants for all time. This is the lesson of Yisro coming at this point. Whether you see it or hear about it, believe it and tell it over so that others come to believe and accept it as well.

The Ralbag adds that this is why the Yisro episode is introduced just prior to the saga of MatanTorah. Feeling, sensing, believing, knowing that HaShem is always near was a prerequisite for our being able to accept the Torah. Without attaining such a lofty level of clarity, who knows how people might have reacted to the events at Sinai? Maybe some would have been in shock. Maybe others would have been terrified. No one would have been able to appreciate what was taking place. It would have been like handing a precious gemstone to a child. He would either think it was pretty, edible, disposable or worthless.

The second lesson the Ralbag offers is an understanding of what Moshe needed to tell Yisro after all that Yisro had already grasped. It was more than just an eye-witness review. There was another reason for Moshe's detailed explanation. Whereas Yisro was deeply moved by all that he had heard, he was also deeply bothered. He had heard that many Egyptians had suffered. To top it off, the Jews had taken away Egyptian riches upon exiting Egypt. Where was the justice in this? How was that rationalized? How could HaShem sanction that?, Yisro asked.

This is what Moshe explained to him. There was a bigger story, a longer history, that Yisro had not known. There were the years of slavery. There was the genocide. There were the eventual warnings given Pharaoh, and his stubborn resistance. There were indeed Divinely ordained and severe punishments, and there was another side to these, which was the rescue of the Jewish people. The Egyptians began to understand who was right and what was appropriate. They even learned to admire the Jews, and to rethink their posture. The gifts were a partial demonstration of their contrition.

Hearing an event leaves some parts ambiguous and open to interpretation, or perception. Being given the chance to grasp the broader picture through the words of someone who was there and truly knew the reality, was the only way to put the ambiguous into accurate perspective. Thus, Yisro heard what he heard, and sought clarification from Moshe, who had seen the reality. Honest reporting.

Good Shabbos. D Fox

A thought on parshas B'shalach

"...mah titzak Elai..."
"...stop calling Me..." (14:15)

 

"ashira l'HaShem..."
"...I sing out to HaShem..." (15:1)

 

"...yarim Moshe yado..."
"...Moshe lifted his hand..." (17:11)

 

In years gone by, we have explored the interpretations of many great Rishonim on this striking verse. Moshe is calling out in fervent prayer to HaShem and is given the instruction to desist. Given that prayer is an essential tool in our communing with the One Above, this order seems puzzling. After all, later on in the parsha, Moshe exults over his being one who calls out to HaShem (the second verse cited above, familiar to us from Az Yashir.)  Not only that, in the battle with Amalek, Moshe guides the nation by leading  them (manually!) in turning to the Divine for protection and victory. Prayer seems to matter greatly!

 

The Ralbag offers an insight which helps us understand the message to us here.

 

It is absolutely certain that prayer is important and that this is our tool when facing strife,  when confused and when experiencing grace and compassion from Above. We pray, we are supposed to pray, and we need to pray. A function of prayer is that it creates a bond, a sense of deveikusbetween a person and HaShem. Deveikus is not just an album from the '70s. It is a catalyst for meriting a greater sense of Divine protection, hashgacha. So, the Ralbag explains, the Jewish person turns inward during key moments and exercises his or her ability to pray as a means of developing this spiritual connection. With that connection comes increased awareness of HaShem's glorious Presence in our lives. With that greater awareness can come more and more moments when we witness the direct oversight of HaShem in our experience.

 

But, prayer is a tool for attaining that bond. Moshe was being taught at this juncture that he had a constant and fluid deveikus with HaShem. He did not need to stop and focus inward nor engage in an act of reaching out with prayer. His devotion alone would marshal the Divine intervention on his own behalf and for the sake of his nation. This was HaShem's message  to His faithful servant Moshe. Life lived well can also be a prayer.

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As the saga at the Sea rolled to a close, Moshe enunciates this. "I sing out!" he cries. What  is "song" all about? Song, explains the Ralbag, is when you don't have the words. When a person seeks to extol HaShem,  there are moments when he must turn to music and metaphor. The way we live, the way we act can also, at times, be a prayerful metaphor. Moshe taught our people a lesson to parallel HaShem's message to him. There are times when the prayer-stance that we must take involves something other than words alone.

 

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What was the lesson of the upraised hand? Clearly, as Chazal have observed, the hand movements did not control the outcome of the battle. The Ralbag explains that Moshe was extending his earlier lesson. Moshe was our leader. We turned to him in times of plight. In the midst of the battle, however, Moshe's prayerful gesture was to direct our spiritual gaze to the heavens. The Torah says "ki Yad al Kes Kah"" - "the Hand is upon the throne of the Lord" (17:16). It is not the mortal hand, even that of Moshe himself, the exemplar of utter deveikus, which we Jews rely on. Even when our words are prayerful and are deeds declare our fealty to HaShem above, it is His response, not our catalytic actions, which is key. Prayer too is a metaphor, a means of forging a connection to facilitate the real connection. The connection which matters most is when HaShem kavayachol "clings" to us through vivid signs that His Presence feels close.

 

Wishing you a good Shabbos. D Fox