Sorry, readers

I'm going to have to discontinue posting regularly for the foreseeable future. This semester is proving to be a heavy one and I just don't have time for the kind of research and work I like to put into this blog. I may start writing regularly again in December.

Render unto God

I’ve gotten into the habit of starting these halachic entries by quoting a verse. I have a difficulty with that, this week, though. The sages read the same verse in three different ways, and all are considered valid readings, because the grammar is ambiguous. In many cases the text is purposefully ambiguous to lead to multiple interpretations. I’m going to address as much of Exodus 20:20 as I can in this space, and we’ll see how far we get.

The most common reading of this verse is as follows, “You shall not make with Me gods of silver or gods of gold to worship them.” The word “images” is understood in this verse, making it “you shall not make with me images of gods…”

However, R. Huna explains that if we read the third word as “oti” (my sign/image) rather than “iti” (with me), it reads “You shall not make My image.” What, then, is God’s image? “And God created the man in his image, in the image of God He created him.”

From this reading we derrive the ruling that it is forbidden to make images of human beings, because we are made in the image of God. This is restricted to three-dimensional images like sculptures. If the image is flat or receeds (like an engraving), it does not violate this commandment (R. Israel Meir Kagan, SMK Negative commandment 144).

For this reason it is not permitted to make or to own a three dimensional image of a human being.

This commandment can inform our reading of Mark 12:14-17

And they came and said to him, "Teacher, we know that you are true, and care for no man; for you do not regard the position of men, but truly teach the way of God. Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not? Should we pay them, or should we not?" But knowing their hypocrisy, he said to them, "Why put me to the test? Bring me a coin, and let me look at it." And they brought one. And he said to them, "Whose likeness and inscription is this?" They said to him, "Caesar's." Jesus said to them, "Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's." And they were amazed at him. (RSV)

The Kingdom of Heaven

Elections are in the news again and, like always, they sound like the rest of the soap operas. Will he? Won't he? Can you believe what she said? Who he texted? In the middle of all of this it's important for us to remember where our citizenship is.

With school keeping me busy I'm not able to produce two blog posts like I usually do the first week of the month, today I just want to remind my readers that our Kingdom is not of the world, that we ought to obey civil authorities, but we do not need to become overly involved in the political processes of this world, because our duty and our loyalty belong with our God and our family.

Again, the kingdom of Heaven is like a net which was thrown into the sea and gathered fish of every kind; when it was full, men drew it ashore and sat down and sorted the good into vessels, but threw away the bad. So it will be at the close of the age.

Justice! Justice!

“Justice, justice shall you pursue in order to thrive and occupy the land that HaShem your God gave to you.” Deut. 16:20

Several important halachic points have been drawn from this verse. For instance, Midrash Rabba interprets it as meaning that judges and officers of the law must be above reproach, and cannot have any convictions themselves. However, there are two views that speak directly to us today.

R. Simcha Bunem points out that, in Hebrew, nouns, adjectives and adverbs can look the same. That is to say, “justice” might not look any difference than “justly.” So he reads this verse, “You shall pursue justice justly in order to thrive and occupy the land that HaShem your God gave to you.”

According to R. Bunem this means that we should only try to do good by good means. Rather than pursuing the right goal by whatever means possible, we should only puruse the right goals through the right means. Pursue justice with justice. Too many times I’ve caught myself thinking “It’s okay, something good came out of it.” What this verse teaches is that no, it’s not okay. If we do the wrong thing, even if something good comes of it, we are still wrong.

Abraham Joseph Heschel points to the word “pursue,” which indicates that we ought to do more than simply respect justice. We must actively pursue justice in our world. It is not enough to simply think of justice as the right way to do things, we must work to make justice a reality in the world, seeking to end injustice whenever we encounter it. R. Daniel David associates this with Isaiah 41:6, saying that no one can be righteous, that is why we should pursue justice (the words for “justice” and “righteousness” are the same in Hebrew). Since we cannot completely be righteous, we ought to pursue it, instead. R. Daniel David goes on to associate this verse with Matthew 5:6, “Blessed are they who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled.”

This verse teaches us to actively pursue justice in the world, but only by the proper means.

The Next Month

For the next month I'm going to be out of the country. I wasn't able to post yesterday because I've been getting ready for this trip, and I'm not sure how often I'll be posting in the next few weeks.
I'm going to try to continue posting on a regular basis, but I'm making no promises. Rest assured, as soon as I get back I'll resume uploading regular posts.

Change of Heart

In Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chayim 60 we are informed that to fulfill a commandment we are required to have a kind of intentionality called “kavanah.” According to this ruling if we do a commandment, like putting on tzitzit, for instance, without the conscious intention of fulfilling the commandment to put on tzitzit, then we have not actually fulfilled our obligation.

This idea is stated specifically regarding hearing a Shofar blown on Rosh HaShannah in Mishnah, Rosh HaShannah 3:7. If a person lives near a synagogue and hears the Shofar without intending to fulfill the mitzvah, then he is still obligated to listen to the Shofar.

The origin of this commandment is disputed, but most authorities trace it to the Scriptures, rather than to a rabbinical injunction. One of the verses cited in reference to kavanah is Isaiah 29:13, “This people draws near to me with its mouth, and honors me with its lips, but its heart is far from me, and their fear of me is a learned commandment ofmen.” This is especially true of prayer, as Isaiah points out here. God does not only desire our words, but also our hearts, and that we fear Him not because we were told to, but from within ourselves.

God does not desire just that we change our behavior. He desires that our nature and desires be changed.

Kavanah is especially important in ritual commandments, such as prayer. It is easy to lose focus and just do things by force of habit, whether it’s prayer at mealtime or even giving charity. But the Torah goes beyond addressing human behavior to addressing the human condition. Behaviour can only be changed in an enduring way when there is a change of heart.

Freedom

What does the 4^th of July mean to Messianics? A good number of us are American patriots. Many of us are disillusioned with American government, ideals, and cultural values. Do we celebrate? Do we abstain? What are we celebrating? What are we abstaining from?

If it is appropriate to celebrate anything at all, it is certainly appropriate to celebrate the freedom to observe our religious traditions without hinderance. In fact, on the Jewish calendar we have four celebrations of that very thing. Passover, Hanukkah, Purim, and Israeli independence day. So it seems like it would be ironic if we didn’t at least take a moment to remember that the United States has been one of the most friendly countries in history regarding free practice of religion, including Judaism. The ride has had its bumps and we haven’t always been universally accepted, but overall, we’ve been very well accepted.

At the same time, we can be too accepted. The modern American Jew is facing an assimilation problem like never before. This is especially true of Messianics. Where we are so accepted it is easy to forget that we are supposed to be distinct, a city set on a hill, a light to the nations, a kingdom of priests. It seems almost ungrateful to insist on remaining separate from a culture that has been so welcoming, but we should never forget that we have a higher calling. Anyone can blend in, but we can stand out. God desired for us to be outstanding, not average. “Hashem desired, for the sake of (his servant)’s righteousness to make the Torah great and glorious.” (Isaiah 42:21)

We have a long tradition of submitting to civil authorities as far as is reasonable, and I don’t think I need to cite the epistles or the Mishnah where is this made clear, or to retell the story of Esther. We should not forget, though, the advice of R. Shemayah, “Love work; despise lordliness; and do not become overly familiar with the government.” (Mishnah, Pirkei Avoth, 1:10) The sages repeatedly caution us about relying on governors, and the prophets repeatedly warn Israel not to rely on Egypt, because they will not support us in the end.

“So then you are no longer strangers and sojourners, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone,” Ephesians 2:19-20 (RSV). We are not primarily citizens of this country. We are primarily citizens of the Kingdom of Heaven. That is where our only loyalty lies. God does not demand our first loyalty, so that our second is for our country. God demands our only loyalty. The Messiah is not our first love, He is our only love.

We should remember that it is not the country or these western laws that make us free, but whom the Son has set free is free in deed! (John 8:36) The sages remind us that as soon as we came out of Egypt we made ourselves slaves to HaShem and His law. True freedom is not what we have here. True freedom is the freedom to dedicate ourselves entirely to serving God.

So when we celebrate the 4^th of July, we should keep in mind we should not celebrate the birth of a nation to which we owe no loyalty. We are not celebrating cultural values that are not ours. We celebrate that we have been welcomed guests, but only guests, with our eyes turned east, with the Temple in our hearts and God’s mercy on our faces.

Help a Brother Out

“When you see the donkey of a person who hates you lying under its burden, keep from leaving it to him, you shall surely release it with him.” Exodus 23:5

At first glance, this doesn’t seem to be very relevant to a country that stopped using donkeys as pack animals a hundred years ago and replaced them with cars and trucks and planes. However, there are a couple of very obvious applications we can get from this.

First of all, we have a general rule that no matter how we feel about a particular individual, we should still help them when they need it. I don’t have to like you, but I do have to give you a ride when your car breaks down. Along these lines the Master tells us, “For if you love those who love you, what reward have you? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? And if you salute only your brethren, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same?” Matthew 5:46-47 (RSV)

Secondly, and maybe more obviously, we are obligated to help others out in general. Following Rav Hillel’s principle of “the light and the heavy,” if we are required to help our enemies, how much more our friends? The example I mentioned before may be the most obvious parallel: what should we do when someone’s car breaks down? We give them a ride. We help them repair it.

The sages of the Mishnah point out (Mishnah, Baba Meisa 2:10) that this law does not require us to help someone who expects us to unload the donkey on our own, we are only required to work alongside them as they unload the donkey. We are also not oblidged to help if the load on the donkey was more than it would normally be able to carry, because it says “its load,” meaning “it’s normal load.” And this is perfectly true. However, the Master does not teach us to do simply what is required of us. He tells us, “If any one forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles.” Matthew 5:41 (RSV)

We should not do only what is required of us. Even if a person has overloaded their donkey, or let’s say their car, we are not required to help them, but R. Yeshua encourages us, as good Hassidim, to do it anyway.