Tuesday, March 29, 2016

A Thought on Parshas Shmini

"...V'his'kadish'tem v'heyisem kedoshim..." (11:44) "...and you should be sanctified and you will be holy..." ibn Shu'aib cites a midrash which we do not have in our sources, that the above verse refers to two familiar practices. "Make yourselves sanctified" refers to reciting the Sh'ma; "and you will become holy" refers to praying. He infers from this interpretation that Sh'ma and prayer must be very great commandments, and great concepts, to be singled out as the "means" for sanctifying ourselves. He then goes back to his analysis of the avodas ha'korbanos - the sacrificial rites, which he has addressed these past few parshios. He quotes our sages (Brachos 32b) who teach that prayers are even greater than sacrificial offerings. How so? ibn Shu'aib is convinced that prayer has to be more holy than an offering: "it is a G-dly matter when a person spills his soul before his Creator, confessing in His Presence that He is the Lord of all creation, which means serving Him with his purest spirit. That is the choicest of all services! The mind engages with deep inner focus, the faculty of speech is employed, the swaying of the physical self. Who would disagree: even someone lacking in Torah will agree and praise the person so immersed in serving HaShem through prayer. And although prayer can be said anywhere, anytime, from the fact that we schedule it in a designated holy place such as a House of Worship or a House of Study, it is clear that HaShem regards those places as His House (Bais Elokim) when we are there praying." This is ibn Shu'aib's first illustration of how prayer exceeds sacrifices, in that we employ our very selves in the service of prayer, as animate, conversant and transcendent human beings. His second illustration of prayer's primacy is that sacrifices must have exactitude and precision of place, of time, of species, of circumstance. Prayer, in contrast, is a universal remedy: regardless of place, time, person, situation, our prayers are acceptable as long as they are sincere. How do we know that sincerity is essential? ibn Shu'aib suggests that we begin our tefilla with "HaShem sefasai Tiftach u'pi yagid Tehilasecha" - Oh G-d, open my lips that my mouth may praise You." We close our tefilla with "yi'hi'yu l'ratzon imrei pi v'hegyon libi..." - May my words and internal efforts be acceptable. We can only expect our internal efforts to be acceptable if they are sincere and focused; if we are thinking about mundane matters, we cannot expect HaShem to credit us with having prayed. Hence, internal sincerity is essential for prayer. If sincerity is there, nothing much else matters. Tefilla is the "avodas ha'neshama sh'misbo'dedis im Elokeha" - the service of the soul as it bonds in solitude with its Lord. What do we get from engaging in that fusing of the soul, when we pray? "Prayer is the food of the soul - mazon ha'neshama.- writes ibn Shu'aib. We offer up our prayers, but as we fuse with the Higher realm, our souls imbibe that highest sanctity, which is how (per our verse and the midrash), we too will become holy. Good Shabbos. D Fox

Tuesday, March 22, 2016

A Thought on Parshas Tzav

A Thought On Parshas Tzav ibn Shu'aib returns again to his views on the korbanos (introduced last week). He cautions us, in closing, that the actual reasons for the sacrifices remain hidden from us, despite our efforts to frame them in a manner which we can relate to. He illustrates this point by pointing to some of the obscuring features of those offerings: they are replete with conditions and details about which we have little comprehension. A burnt offering (olah) must be a male animal. An individual sin offering (chatas) must be a female. A sin offering is brought before a burnt offering. A peace offering (sh'lamim) can be either female or male. All of these animals are incinerated and each type's fragrant smoke rises identically to the higher domain. The olah must be slaughtered in the north. The sh'lamim is slaughtered in the south. ibn Shu'aib writes that "without a doubt to anyone with understanding, there is some meaning in all of this. Alas, until the arrival of the Moreh Tzedek - the one who will guide us correctly - when the world will be filled with knowledge, these matters remain closed and sealed." He suggests that the "take away" lesson from this is that, more important than our understanding a mitzvah, is that we actually perform the act of doing the mitzvos. Even without a comprehension of the secrets of the sacrifices, we were commanded to bring them. We cannot bring them now, but we can offer up our words and our deeds as a means of serving HaShem. HaShem expects us to serve Him with sincerity, and our actions, when done with the motive of serving Him, whether or not we comprehend the reasons behind a given mitzvah, create a plume of sweet favor with which our avoda transcends this world. ibn Shu'aib closes with a verse in Shir HaShirim (4:16) - "...oori tzafon u'bo'ee teiman...yizlu b'samav, yavo Dodi l'gano v'yochal peri migadav.." "... awake from the north, come from the south, let the fragrance flow, and let my Beloved come to His Garden to eat His precious fruit..." Citing midrashim, ibn Shu'aib explains that this mystical verse refers to our cryptic sacrificial rites. "awake from the north" means bring the olah which is prepared in the north wing of the Temple. "come from the south" means bring the sh'lamim, prepared in the south wing of the Temple. "let the fragrance flow" means the ascent of the incense smoke. "let my Beloved come" refers to the Presence of Shechina. "to eat His precious fruit" means He will accept all of our offerings to Him. Good Shabbos. Purim Sameach. D Fox

Tuesday, March 15, 2016

A Thought on Parshas Vayikra

"...korbani lachmi..." "...My sacrificial food..." This week, our parsha introduces the avodas ha'korbanos, the sacrificial rites which were once a vital part of daily serving of HaShem. Many have explored the theology of human beings offering animals and other edible material, such as grain and oil, in their ritual worship of the One Above. Ibn Shu'aib examines some of the views presented by our great sages - the Rambam, the Ramban, Rabbi Yehuda haLevi, ibn Ezra and his own mentor, the Rashba. Each offered a framework, a model, for finding concepts to help interpret the role of sacrifice in our ritual. ibn Shu'aib poses his own perspective. He focuses on the challenging concept of offerings being "lechem" - food staples - 'for HaShem'. HaShem does not eat, does not need to eat, and does not need sacrifices as His "bread". What can we learn from this framing of our sacrifices as "His bread", asks ibn Shu'aib? He proposes a syllogism, a logical scaffold, to offer a parallel to the korbanos: Let's begin with our soul, our neshama. This transcendent or spiritual feature of our selves longs to exist within us. We cling to life with spiritual energy. Yet, when life ends, our spirit ascends, longing to return to its divine source above. But while we live, just as our physical self is sustained through food and drink, so too does our soul remain at ease within our physical structure. It remains within us as long as we feed our selves and properly hydrate. When we put an end to those life sustaining practices, physical life ends and then the soul leaves its bodily haven, returning to "tzror ha'chayim" - the source of life above. We do not fully grasp this symbiosis between physical life and the spirit but it is explicit in the Torah and in Torah thought. This creates a model for understanding the korbanos. The Shechina of HaShem, the Divine Presence which is sensed in this mortal existence on earth, is the counterpart - at a collective level - of the individual Jewish soul. It is that element of the Divine which is manifest below. The neshama is the Divine element manifest within each of us, and the Shechina is the Divine element which is (ideally) manifest throughout all of mundane reality. Neshama is the personal manifestation; Shechina is the collective Manifestation. Food somehow facilitates that the neshama remains within the individual. Korbanos somehow facilitate that the Shechina remains among the Jewish nation. The soul does not eat nor drink yet food and water are catalysts for its enduring residence within ourselves. The Shechina does not eat nor drink yet somehow, the korbanos are catalysts for It to remain in our midst, collectively. Our devotion and worship "keep" the Shechina Presence present. That is the reason for offerings to be depicted as "HaShem's bread." We do not fully understand how sacrifices help facilitate the Divine Presence remaining on earth, but we can see a parallel to the function of food, which facilitates the neshama remaining within us. Now that is food for thought. Soul food. Regards from Down Under. Good Shabbos. D Fox

Wednesday, March 09, 2016

A Thought on Parshas Pekudei

"...va'yivarech osam Moshe..." "...and Moshe blessed them..." (39:42) ibn Shu'aib explores deeper meanings and messages related to the construction of the Mishkan. He notes our sages midrashic derivation of how Moshe instituted a special prayer as the Mishkan became operational. We know this is Psalm 91, which we recite on Shabbos, Yom Tov, and generally after Shabbos. ibn Shu'aib explains the psalm and how it reflects the nature of the Mishkan HaShem. Moshe's prayer begins with the closing words of Psalm 90, with the request "vi'y'hi noam HaShem aleinu." Whereas this is usually translated as "May the pleasantness of G-d be upon us", ibn Shu'aib teaches that "noam" is not a common noun but instead is a proper noun, a synonym for the Shechina, the Divine Presence on earth. He supports this with the clause in Tehillim 27:4 "la'chazos b'Noam HaShem" which means to behold (chazon) or apprehend a sense of something, in this case, a sense of the Divine. So the verse should be recited as "vi'y'hi Noam-HaShem." It is a prayer pleading that we be connected to the Shechina in our lifetimes. The Shechina is the Noam-HaShem. He then cites a midrash which exposes three references by Moshe in the psalm to three Mikdashos, three worldly abodes of the Shechina. Moshe first prayed that the Mishkan be the place where the Shechina dwelled - HaMishkan l'hashkin Shechinaso. This is what "vi'y'hi Noam" refers to. When Moshe then says "u'ma'aseh yadeinu kon'ana aleinu" - may He establish the work of our hands over us - this is a reference to the First Bais HaMikdash. The words which follow are "u'ma'aseh yadeinu kon'aneihu" - and may our handiwork be actualized - and these words refer to the Second Bais HaMikdash. Moshe prays for the Mishkan which he has constructed, he prays for the Mikdash which will be constructed in the days of Solomon, and he prays for the Mikdash which will be rebuilt when the nation returns from the Persian exile. The rest of the prayer, which is the content of psalm 91, begins with "yosheiv ba'sai'ser" - whoever dwells in the shelter of the One Above - and is a supplication about the Third Mikdash yet to come. Whereas the word Mishkan usually refers to the term Shechina i.e. Shechina is that which dwells and Mishkan is where It dwells, ibn Shu'aib points out that the word can also mean a "collateral" or a pledge as in "mashkon." A mashkon is an object taken for safekeeping by a creditor to assure that a debtor will make good on repaying whatever he borrowed. We forfeited the prior "Mishkans" owing to our misdeeds and iniquities. However, we did not lose them completely. Rather, they were removed by HaShem who preserved them as a "mashkon." The Third Bais HaMikdash will never be removed or taken back because it will be given to us only when all of our sins have been atoned for and forgiven. When we will be free of the stains of past errors, the Shechnia will never leave us.The Noam-HaShem will stay with us forever. We have completed the writings of ibn Shu'aib on Sefer Shemos. May HaShem give us the merit and excitement to continue studying his Torah as we begin Sefer VaYikra. I hope to send my forthcoming Parsha Thought from Australia, where I am travel this week iyH. Good Shabbos. D Fox

Tuesday, March 01, 2016

A Thought on Parshas Vayakhel

"...for the work of the sacred labor to make the Mishkan..." "...l'meleches avodas ha'kodesh la'asos osa..." (36:3) This week ibn Shu'aib develops a theme which we introduced two weeks ago on Parshas Tetzaveh in his discussion of the process of the Divine Presence becoming known in this lower world. It follows that he would elaborate on this now: earlier on, that parsha had spoken about the instruction to build a Mishkan and then a Mikdash. This week's parsha discusses how the Mishkan was actually constructed. ibn Shu'aib bases his essay on a midrash on the verse in Shir haShirim 5:1: "...Ba'si l'Gani..." - I came into My Garden. The Shechina - when the Divine Presence can be sensed by mortal beings - was originally associated with the physical mundane world. This lower world, Earth, was the intended Abode of the Shechina. This is derived from the verse we cited in the Parsha Thought for Tetzaveh, "and they heard the Voice of HaShem going through the Garden of Eden (Bereishis 3:8)." That was the natural state of the Divine Presence being "accessible" or "apprehend-able" in our mortal existence. When Adam, the first man, challenged the Divine Word and questioned HaShem's Omnipresence, the Shechina was removed to the Second Firmament (rakia). When the generation of Enosh began constructing representational images which led to worship of idols, the Presence was removed to the Third level. When the generation of the Flood corrupted their ways with injustice, It was removed to the Fourth level. With the builders of the Tower, who blurred the roles of Heaven and Earth, It was removed to the Fifth level. With the oppression of humanity by Nimrod, It was removed to the Sixth level. The depravity and sodomy of Sodom led to the Shechina being removed to the Seventh level. With the descent of humanity to atheism, then to paganism, then to anarchistic corruption, then to blasphemous desecration, then to inhuman oppression, then to the overt institutionalization of immorality, the Shechina was in essence banished from Its original Abode among humanity. Humanity made Earth inhospitable to a manifest Holiness on this planet. But there were individuals who lived their lives in ways which remedied this tragedy: With the contribution of institutionalized kindness which Avraham Avinu introduced to civilization, the Shechina descended back to the Sixth rakia. Yitzchak's modeling of peaceful purity led to It's return to the Fifth. Yakov's civil avoda of unifying worldly and spiritual existence brought it to the Fourth. Dedication to the ideal of justice by Levi brought It to the Third. The focused devotion and service of Kahas brought It to the Second. Amram's unifying leadership and adherence to the traditions of his ancestors brought it to the First Firmament. When Moshe erected the Mishkan, the Shechina returned once again to Earth. The commandment to build the Mishkan was given expressly to Moshe who had demonstrated the capacity for a human being to commune with the Divine on Earth. What human beings can destroy, the Jewish people can restore. And now we understand the history of the Shechina on Earth. Good Shabbos. D Fox