The Fear of Heaven

I’ve been asked to explain headcoverings in Judaism. I’m going to do this in separate parts, because those for men and women have very different justifications and rules, even though we’ll find that they’re distantly related as far as reason goes.

I’m going to start with the more difficult, though generally less touchy, issue of the kippah. Now, this is clearly not a Biblical commandment and, contrary to common opinion, it doesn’t even fall under the umbrella of Rabbinic institution. This is simply a custom of Israel. The primary basis for the kippah in Jewish law is from Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chayim 2:6. A man should not walk more than four amot (about six feet) without his head covered. It is important to realise that Shulchan Aruch records what was current Jewish practice in the sixteenth century. It is not a record of traditions like the Mishnah. It is also not a direct commentary on the Bible or the Mishnah.

So if there is no commandment, how did we get this tradition? The generally accepted story is that it begins with the Biblical commandment that Priests should not uncover their heads when serving in the Temple (Lev. 21:10). From the priesthood there was a kind of trickle-down to any great men, as we see in the Talmud’s story of R. Nahman Ben Isaac (z”tzl). R. Nahman’s mother was told that her son would grow up to be a thief, so from an early age she always kept his head covered so that “the fear of heaven may be on you, and you may pray for mercy.” One day, while studying Torah, R. Nahman’s kippah blew off his head, and he immediately fell under temptation and went up and stole an apple from a stranger’s apple tree. Babylonian Talmud, Shabbat 156b

Be as skeptical as you like about the content of the story of R. Nahman, but it tells us both that by the time the Gemara was written (finished around 500 CE) it was not unusual for a sage to be wearing a kippah, and the purpose of wearing a kippah. Like R. Nahman’s mother said, the reason we cover our heads is so that the fear of heaven will be on us, and so that we may pray for mercy. The kippah, like the tzitzit, reminds us of God’s sovereignty over us and our duties to Him. To show submission, we ought to cover our heads whenever we pray, and we cover our heads all the time so that we can pray for mercy all the time.

Why should we accept this tradition? After all, it’s not in the Bible, or even the Mishnah, Talmud, or Tosefta. There is a story about a proselyte who comes to R. Hillel and asks him to teach him only the written Torah, without any traditions of Israel. R. Hillel agrees, and begins him with the Hebrew alphabet. The man goes home and memorizes the alphabet. Next day, he comes back and recites it for R. Hillel. The rabbi approves, and then tells him the alphabet backwards, and tells the man to learn it. The man is surprised and asks which way is correct. R. Hillel replies, you trusted me about the alphabet, so why don’t you trust me about the traditions? Babylonian Talmud, Shabbat 31a.

One more reason why we should keep this tradition, R. Yeshua tells us that the Scribes and Pharisees sit in Moses seat, and that we ought, therefore, to do as they tell us (Matt. 23:2-3). The rabbis are the spiritual descendants of the scribes and pharisees, and as such we still ought to follow their rulings. Besides, this is a good tradition. It shows our humility before God when we pray, and reminds us throughout our day that we are supposed to constantly be in a prayerful attitude.

Beyond a Fringe

Numbers 15:38-39 gives us the commandment of tzitziot (fringes). “Speak to the children of Israel and tell them to make fringes on the corners of their garments throughout their generations, and to put a blue thread in the fringes of the corners. And it will be a fringe for them, and they will look at it and remember all the commandments of HaShem and do them, and they will not go after their heart and after their eyes, after which they go astray.”

This applies in two ways: If you wear a garment with four corners (It has to be split at least 51% of the way to count as a “corner”), then it needs fringes. If you don’t regularly wear something like this, then you need to wear a special garment (Sometimes called a “small tallit” and sometimes called, simply, “tzitzit”). Though women are not required to fulfill this commandment, they are allowed to, and many righteous women in history have.

There are a lot more rules about tzitzit than I can cover here, so I will focus on two things.

1) How we tie: there are a few different traditions for tying tzitzit, and the important thing is not which tradition you use, but that you choose a tradition. This website can show you the three most common traditions with very easy-to-follow instructions. http://www.israelvisit.co.il/beged-ivri/techelet/tying0.htm. If you are just beginning to keep this commandment, it may be best to buy tzitziot that are already tied to make sure that they follow all of the laws and customs

2) Why do we keep this commandment? Numbers 15 points it out, actually. So that when we see them, we will remember and not go astray from the commandments. Sometimes when we’re torn between doing the right thing and doing the wrong thing, we need that little, extra push in the right direction. The Talmud (Menachot 44a) tells the story of a man who was about to use a prostitute, but as he undressed, his tzitzit slapped him in the face, reminding him not to. It’s not that they actually slap us in the face, but they remind us that there is right and there is wrong, and they push us to do what is right. Because of this, the sages consider this commandment to be equivalent to all of the other commandments combined (BT, Menachot 43b, and Rashi on Numbers 15:38-49.

We should remember that R. Yeshua warns against people who “lengthen” their tzitzit (Matt. 23:5). They should not become a point of pride, or something that we show off. If we take pride in them, then we have defeated the purpose of wearing them. Instead, we should be humbled by the fact that we need to constantly wear a reminder not to sin.

I may consider writing a full guide to tzitziot, how to tie them, how to put them on, how to wear them, etc. if anyone is interested. Comment and let me know.

Inclining After the Majority

“Do not follow the majority to do wrong, and do not respond to a dispute by inclining toward the majority to bend justice.” Exodus 23:2. Even though this law is specifically talking about court cases, it also applies to our daily lives. In BT, Sanhedrin 3b, the sages say that this implies that the decision of a court should go with the majority vote. If there is a tribunal of three judges, then if two of them vote “guilty,” the decision is “guilty.”

But, the Mishna encourages anyone who stands up against the majority because of what he believes is right. In Mishna, Eduyot 1:5-6, the sages point out that Jewish tradition always records the opinion of the minority. This is because the minority may be right.

This is all a little abstract, so let’s simplify. No matter how many people disagree, always stand firm by what you believe is right. In the words of Socrates, “where a man has once taken up his stand…there he is duty-bound to stay and face the danger, taking no heed of death, or anything else, before dishonor” (from Plato’s Apology). Rather than allowing the majority to shape our opinion the Torah here calls for us to stand up for what we believe is correct.

This is the sin that Pilate is guilty of, when he “washed his hands before the multitude.” (Matthew 27:24)

This verse teaches us one more, very important thing. R. Judah (ztz”l) argues that if we are commanded not to follow the majority to do wrong, the Torah implies that we should go after the majority to do good (Mishna, Sanhedrin 1:6). We shouldn’t become so wrapped up in going against the flow that we ignore the times when the majority is right. We also should be proactive and actually do good deeds, most especially when the majority is with us.

Out of Egypt

As people, we need crises. We may not like them when they’re going on, but they form us, and make us who we are. If I never go through the angst and frustration of adolescence, I will never become an adult. If a person never has a moment when he or she is afraid (s)he won’t be able to pay the bills, they may never learn to manage money. Without the Exodus, the Exiles, and the Holocaust, would our fathers have ever been galvanized into a single nation? Would they have stayed that way?

Today we can see this going on in Egypt. A defining crisis has come along that is bringing the Egyptian people together across the board. Muslims and Coptic Christians are working together to protest an oppressive government, and get freedom for themselves. I don’t think it’s premature to say that these protests will be the defining moment for an entire generation of Egyptians, giving them a sense of identity, of purpose.

But what does this mean to us? In every generation, the thing that brings us together is our crisis, but our generation of Messianics has had no crisis. We have no common cause. We have no reason to be.

Civil rights, world wars, depressions, and revolutions have irreversably altered the landscape of continents, cultures, and generations. Win or lose, these crises brought people together and gave them a common identity. For instance, I don’t know if any of you are interested in European football, but after a twenty-six game streak, Manchester United lost to the worst team in their league. This crushing defeat still serves to bring us Man. U. fans together, to identify, and sympathize.

If we cannot find a common cause to work for, it seems likely that we will cease to be. Sure, individuals may find a reason to be Messianic, but individuals aren’t enough in a way of life that really requires a community.

Since we have no obvious crisis to rally around, our only other option is to offer the best answers to the crises we are already facing in the world today. There are plenty that need satisfactory answers. We are in a world at war, a subject that Messianic leadership has remained silent about. We have a generation in a moral crisis, struggling to form its own identity in a dizzying world. We have economic catastrophe lurking viciously, biting at our heels, and the only responses we’ve gotten from the community are so absurd and apocalyptic that our generation can hardly be expected to accept them.

What is the word on the street about Egypt? Nothing earth-shaking. Messianics seem largely unconcerned, complacent. We could be standing up to support an oppressed Egyptian people. We could remember that God calls on us to defend the downtrodden because we were downtrodden. Anything is better than pretending it doesn’t matter to us. Who knows if we have come into the kingdom for such a time as this?

The Blood of Our Neighbor

When we talk about the Good Samaritan, we usually miss the whole point of the story. In normal conversation a “good Samaritan” is a person who does something they didn’t have to, some unexpected good deed. I don’t think that’s how it ought to be.

“You shall not stand upon the blood of your neighbor” Leviticus 19:16. This is an idiom that means to stand idly by while someone dies, or even suffers any kind of harm. If you can prevent someone from losing money, or from being hurt physically, both of those fall under this commandment (R. Israel Meir Kagan, ztz”l, The Concise Book of Mitzvoth, negative commandment 82). The Torah doesn’t view this as an additional good deed, but as something necessary.

When R. Yeshua tells the story of the Good Samaritan he is telling us about a commandment. No matter how good our excuse is, we have a duty to save lives. He doesn’t end with “This is a good idea,” but with “Go and do the same.” Luke 10:37

Any time we see a person in danger, even if it’s only in danger of being hurt, it is our duty to do whatever we can to help them, or prevent them from getting hurt. If we can warn them, we should warn them. If we can’t stop someone from getting hurt, we are should help them, and if someone is killed, we should do everything in our power to bring the responsible party to justice, and to take care of the remains of the deceased.

It might be pointed out that this even requires us to do things ahead of time to prevent loss of life. We may need to take safety precautions, learn first aid, or donate blood to make certain that we do not stand upon the blood of our neighbor.