Thursday, February 20, 2014

A Thought on Parshas Vayakhel

"...Betzalel ben Uri ben Chur..." (35:30) "...Oholiav ben Achisamach..." (35:34) The Torah introduces the two master artisans who crafted the mishkan and its implements. Our verse identifies Betzalel and Ohaliav as the main craftsmen, chosen for their skills and wisdom by HaShem Himself! What is to be learned or derived from the fact that the Torah traces the lineage of Betzalel to two prior generations, whereas his associate Ohaliav is linked only to his father, one generation? The Panae'ach Raza focuses on that third generation which is present in mentioning Betzalel but absent in citing Oholiav. It is customary to list a father's name when mentioning a son, so this happens with regard to both of these men. The addition of a grandfather's name in the case of Betzalel is the exception to the custom, so therein must lie the hidden message of the passage, the Panae'ach Raza reasons. Betzalel ben Uri would have been sufficient. What is added by noting that his grandfather was Chur? The Panae'ach Raza reminds us that Chur was a great man, and a martyr. In fact, he was the one who had tried to stop the maaseh egel from occurring. He was killed in the process, dying al kidush HaShem. His murder enunciated the depravity and shame of that entire episode so early on in our history. The Panae'ach Raza then reminds us that the mishkan was given to us in order to atone for all that happened during that heinous incident. By choosing Chur's grandson to engage in the design and construction of the mishkan, HaShem was demonstrating that He had in fact and in deed accepted the repentance of the Jewish nation for the sordid events at the egel. This mishkan as a vehicle for atonement was further symbolized by appointing Chur's descendant to take a pivotal role in its construction. When we read "Betzalel ben Uri" designed the mishkan, we are being told that HaShem was giving us the ability to attain atonement via the mishkan. When we read that he was also "ben Chur" we are being told that Chur's name being associated with the mishkan did not insinuate that the taint of his murder lingered but rather that this sin too could be absolved through our dedicated avoda in the mishkan. Good Shabbos. D Fox

Wednesday, February 12, 2014

A Thought on Parshas Yisro

"...v'Har Sinai oshon kulo...va'yech'erad..." "...and all of Mt. Sinai was smoking...and shaking..." (19:18) "..v'kol ha'am ro'im es ha'kolos..." "...and all the nation saw the sounds..." (20:15) The scene at the foot of the mountain was awe inspiring and has never been replicated. As our nation prepared to receive HaShem's Torah, a majestic aura cloaked the peak where Moshe awaited the apocalyptic encounter with the Divine. The Torah says that HaShem's Presence was sensed, ka'ya'yochol, as "eish" (fire). Our first verse above declares that the entire mountain was smoking, and also shaking. The Panae'ach Raza ponders that phenomenon: our Sages (Yoma 21b) state that one feature of the "fire" linked to the Divine is that it does not generate smoke. There is a whole discussion about how an ingredient in the Temple incense was "ma'aleh oshon" - a smoke generating agent, and how the fires associated with a Heavenly source do not produce their own smoke. If so, how is it that when the Divine Presence was sensed as if hovering above Sinai, which the Torah depicts as a fiery spectacle, that the mountain below was "fully smoking"? He suggests that this quality of being "smoke free" was indeed a feature of the fire which descended in the Temple as part of our service to HaShem. We needed to contribute to the altar fire, and one thing we contributed was offering up ascending smoke in matching the descending smokeless flame from Above. However, at the scene of Matan Torah the parameters were very different. The fires from Above were not part of a ritual process which would in any way require a responsive service from us below. The function of the fire at Sinai was to imprint on us the magnitude of the event. It needed to be apprehended and perceived and experienced as a life-changing, universe-perfecting moment in cosmic time and in mortal consciousness. Every aspect of the event needed to exude alarm, shock and intensely focused attentiveness to what was unfolding. Therefore, this is why the Torah relates that even below the Supernal Cloud atop the mountain peak, the mountain itself generated smoke. The world itself, in its topographical form, was reaching up in an ascending response. This sobered the nation to heed the events which followed. This particular fire from Above did generate a blanket of smoke, which then ascended from down below. Now, a separate matter is understanding our second verse cited above. The Torah writes that we "saw the sounds" at Sinai, which presents a puzzle: there is a crossing of senses implied, in that we human beings hear sounds, and see only visible events. There are a number of well known interpretations about this. The Panae'ach Raza offers that one level of understanding this image of "seeing sounds" is that we all know that on a cold day, when someone speaks or breathes, we can see the air vaporizing as he expels sounds. In that sense, then, the resounding vibrations emanating from the peak of Sinai, filtering through the smoke which cloaked the mountain, resulted in that same phenomenon - pulsating and nearly palpable - as the smoke vibrated from the sound waves which were penetrating that fiery cloud. The mountain was fully smoking and the sounds could be "seen." The smoky air surrounding Sinai reverberated with each sound which descended from Shomayim. Thus, "Har Sinai was smoking and shaking", as the sounds reverberated visibly through the smoky haze. Good Shabbos. D Fox

Monday, February 10, 2014

A Thought on Parshas Tetzaveh

"...v'ateh tetzaveh..." "...and you shall instruct..." (27:20) "...ya'aroch oso Aharon u'banav..." "...Aharon and his sons will arrange it..." (27:21) You probably have noticed over the years, as did Rashi and so many of the great sages, that Moshe Rabbeinu's name is missing from this entire parsha. There are some standard and by now famous explanations for this. True to form, the Panae'ach Raza works with a midrashic approach which is not cited by Rashi. He notes that when HaShem first spoke to Moshe early on in the desert, He bid him to take charge of the Jewish people. HaShem told Moshe (4:14) to return to his "brother Aharon the Levite." From this, we can posit that the original plan was for Aharon to ascend to the role of Levi but for Moshe to rise to the emerging position of Kohen. From the time that Moshe, however, asked that HaShem designate his brother Aharon as the primary spokesman for the Divine, there seems to have been a reconfiguring of the plan. Moshe Rabbeinu remained a Levi. Aharon was given the role of Kohen, in fact, his role became that of Kohen Gadol. In guiding the nation, Moshe was the leader. In administering to the spiritual needs of the nation and in leading the Divine service, Aharon became the key figure. It is for this reason that, says the Panae'ach Raza, our parsha, which focuses on the tasks of the Kahuna, omits Moshe Rabbeinu's name. Once that role was wrested from him and vested in his brother, all of the laws pertaining to being a Kohen would not make mention of Moshe. The Panae'ach Raza then addresses the second verse above. Here the Torah instructs Aharon and his sons in the task of kindling the Temple lamps. However, in parshas Emor (24:3) the verse says "ya'aroch oso Aharon." The words are identical to our verse above, but only reference Aharon without adding "and his sons." Why the omission? The Panae'ach Raza suggests that indeed, per our verse here, the original plan was for either Aharon or his sons to take charge of kindling the menorah lamps. However, following the deaths of Aharon's sons Nadav and Avihu, Aharon intervened and would not permit his surviving sons to enter into that sacred place for this particular avoda. Perhaps it was a protective move in the way that a father wants to protect his children, or perhaps it was a means of safeguarding and accenting the great sanctity of that place and of that avoda which led Aharon to move into this role and disallow his own sons to venture there. The contrasting verses, though, are now clear: even though the lighting of the menorah does not require a Kohen Gadol and any of his sons might have performed that task, in practice it was Aharon alone who kindled the menorah in the mishkan.

A Thought on Parshas Terumah

"...shna'yim k'ruvim..." "...two cherub figures..." (25:18) The instructions for building a mishkan included constructing two golden winged figures which had human-like features.These k'ruvim have been given considerable attention by our Sages and by the commentaries. Many have derived both mystical and spiritual lessons from these figures. The Panae'ach Raza offers an interpretation too. He begins by noting that the Torah declares that there are two of them. Those familiar with Lashon HaKodesh - the Holy Language - will note that the verse does not say "shnei", which would mean "a pair of them" but rather it says "shna'yim" which would best translate as "k'ruvim, two." The use of the whole number "two" represents something about "two things", which the Panae'ach Raza suggests is the two central midos or attributes which we ascribe to HaShem in His dealings with this world. There is midas Rachamim - the quality of mercy, and midas Din, the quality of justice. In the mishkan, which was the center of the spiritual universe on earth, we acknowledged that both conditions can be part of HaShem's relating with us, and we accepted that the mida we experience depends on our behavior, mida k'neged mida. We can earn mercy or we can deserve din. Now one difficulty the Panae'ach Raza notes with this "two" reference, which he links with the "two" Divine attributes which operate in this world, is that we find later in history when the mishkan was replaced with the Bais HaMikdash inaugurated by Shlomo HaMelech, there were not two but four k'ruvim. This is hard to understand at three levels. Firstly, our verse says two, not four. Secondly, no one has permission to modify or add to the Torah's commandments, so how was King Solomon allowed to add two more images? Thirdly, if the meaning of "shna'yim" is in fact the parallel of the two Divine attributes, don't those two middos now get obscured with the adding on of two more figures? How can two become four? The Panae'ach Raza works this out, true to form. The spiritual objective of Shlomo HaMelech was well reasoned: it is true that we can bisect the Divine middos into a pair, with Din and Rachamim well differentiated. However, they only are well differentiated Above. In our experience below, however, we mortals are prone to clouding the Divine reality. That is, we puzzle over Tzadik - v'ra lo - a person can be pious yet may suffer greatly. In turn, we agitate over Rasha - v'tov lo - a person can be cruel yet may live gloriously. Then, again, we look at cases of Tzadik - v'tov lo - a pious person living well, and at Rasha - v'ra lo - a wicked person who suffers, and we think we understand what and why these realities are about. But the broader reality is that we do not have an accurate handle on much in this life. We have our perception and our reasoning, but when you get down to it, we do not see enough of the true picture to know who is pious and who is not; who deserves good and who does not; what is good and what is not and whether someone else's experience is good for them or is really punitive or bad for them. This broader reality, namely, that there is a much broader reality than we can fathom, was depicted in King Solomon's addition of two more k'ruvim. The world still operates on the attributes of Mercy and Justice and by symbolizing the four possible manifestations of Divine responses to mortal behavior - discernable Justice, discernable Mercy, and the two opposite circumstances where we cannot discern the congruence of each attribute with our perception of what should be happening - we accept that there are also times when Din and Rachamim seem to interface, and we submit to the Divine Justice of it all, for Justice too is driven by Divine Mercy. Good Shabbos. D Fox

A Thought on Parshas Mishpatim

"...ka'ma'aseh livnas ha'safir..." "...in the form of sapphire brickwork..." (24:10) This verse is an overtly fascinating one, for it describes in mystical terms a vision of Divine "imagery." That in itself, visions and images of Divinity being described in concrete terms, is spellbinding. The particular words here are even more alluring! What is this reference to "the form of sapphire brickwork"? For that matter, what in the world (or beyond this world) are sapphire bricks? Many great commentaries take different views of the image, and of the words themselves. Some do away with the "brick" image and change it into "clear", "pure", "white" or "lucid", in view of the root letters lamed bais nun implying those qualities. This makes the image more celestial, and heaven-like, in that we are merely being given a description of the blue-white transparency of the cosmic void, the prophetic medium or the ethereal hue of the sky and beyond. The Panae'ach Raza, true to form, draws on very different midrashic interpretations in clarifying the words and their intended meanings. Given the context of our verse relating how Moshe and those near him gazed above in prophetic contemplation of the greatest Mystery, we infer that whatever they envisioned was both the lowest discernable quality of the Divine realm yet also the highest manifestation of the mortal realm. The "place" in time and space which represented the "point of contact" between Heaven and earth was where, or how, transcendent human endeavor reaches its outer limits and nears the descending Supernal emanations which illumine the physical world in a numinous embrace. So, what is so precious to HaShem that He, in a mystical manner, created a "place" Above for this thing from below, so close to His sense-able Presence? The Panae'ach Raza writes that the word ma'aseh does not refer to a form (in the way which would imply a'asia, which is that which is formed) but rather it refers to exactly what it says - a maa'seh (my-sa in Yeshivish Hebrew) which is an event. What was the ma'aseh of "the brick"? While you hold your breath in suspense, the Panae'ach Raza now adds that "sapir" does not actually mean a sapphire. Check this out in your scholar's dictionary. Why is that translucent blue gemstone called a sapphire? Its not because it is a sapphire, but because the word sapphire means the same thing as "superior". The cognate Hebrew words abound, if you seek them. So now, what was "The Event, or Story, of the Superior Brick"? Consider this midrashic account: the Torah tells us how Egyptian task masters enslaved the Jewish men, particularly in demanding that they make, transport and build with bricks. There was a good Jewish woman, pregnant, who worried about her husband. She saw him laboring as a slave, wearying and weakening, and ran to try assisting him. Her own efforts overwhelmed her and she miscarried, losing her embryo which splattered onto one of those bricks. This bloodied brick was bourne aloft to the Heavenly zone where HaShem ka'va'yachol contemplated it constantly as a vivid reminder of our suffering and bondage, and considered this brick a symbol of the highest level of self-sacrifice in serving Him. So, our verse says that when Moshe and his close ones pondered the relationship between Heaven and earth, between Divine and mortal, between this mundane realm and the superior realm, they too envisioned that spendorous "Superior Brick" which represented Above the self-sacrifice which is the highest splendor (tiferes) of the Jewish people, and which is the symbol in Shomayim how much we will give up in order to fulfill His commandments and ways. The Panae'ach Raza closes with the painful thought that, alas, we can tragically forfeit having the representation of that superior brick. He suggests that at our nadir, our lowest point, when we lost the Bais HaMikdash, HaShem eventually rejected that ma'aseh. This is captured in the words of Aicha (2:1) which read "He cast down from Heaven to earth that tiferes of Yisroel and no longer remembered His base on that day of wrath." But each time any of us are moser nefesh for the sake of Toras HaShem, we offer up a mortal brick in contributing to the rebuilding of the Mikdash. Have you done anything today to help out in the building campaign? Good Shabbos D Fox