Rebellion

I’m uploading an extra post this week because something in this week’s parsha really struck me as relevant and important. R. Zvi Hersch Kalischer pointed out that a wide range of disaffected factions were involved in Korach’s rebellion. They had nothing in common except for their opposition to Moses and Aaron. As the old saying goes, “the enemy of my enemy is my friend.” Any time we stop defining ourselves positively, by what we do and believe and are, and start defining ourselves negatively, but who we aren’t and what we don’t do or believe, we should take a minute to evaluate.

At the root of Korach’s rebellion lies bitterness, resentment, and pride. We need to be careful of finding these sentiments in ourselves. Korach’s pride is hurt by the fact that he is not chosen to lead, but it is the very quality of pride that makes him unfit for the role, as we know that Moshe Rabbeinu was the most humble man alive (Num 12:3). Afterall, Korach is not wrong about the whole people being holy, but his pride blinded him to the order that HaShem established for governing His Holy People.

There’s nothing wrong with wanting to be right, but we don’t have the privilage of being right until we lose the desire for someone else to be wrong. It’s not that our leaders are infallible, but we should think twice before we attack authorities simply for being authorities. The established order is the established order for a reason.

“For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Would you have no fear of him who is in authority? Then do what is good, and you will receive his approval,” Romans 13:3 (RSV) Likewise, Korach had nothing to fear from Moses and Aaron as long as he was doing what is good.

So let’s slow down, as Messianics especially. How often do we unite only because of a common enemy or enemies? Are we feeding our own ego? Do we have any kind of positive definition? Are we trying to accomplish something in the world, or are we only attacking Moses, the transmitter of the Torah, and Aaron its guardian? If we answer “yes,” we may be in danger of being part of the company of Korach.

Clean Hands and a Pure Heart

The topic for today is a commandment that is essentially d’rabbanan, “from the rabbis.” The practice of washing the hands before eating bread. Although there is some dispute about the origin of this practice, the most common explanation comes from BT Chullin 105a, that it is an extension of the requirement for priests to be ritually pure when they ate the firstfruits offerings.

The practice is to take up a two-handled pitcher (so that your hands don’t touch when you pass it from one hand to the other) in your dominant hand, fill it with water, pass it to the other, and pour the water over your dominant hand first, then switch back, and pour it over the other hand. We pour over each hand at least twice, although most hassidim pour three times. The second time we pour to get the impure water from the previous time off (Mishnah, Yadayim 2:2). We then rub our hands together, hold them at chest height, and make the blessing ending, “and commanded us regarding the washing of hands.” Afterwards, we dry our hands (BT Sotah 4b).

The way this commandment is connected to the Temple service and to the commandment to be holy (BT Berachot 53b), makes it one of the primary ways that we sanctify our regular mealtimes. By associating every ordinary meal with the holiness of the Temple we elevate this mundane event to the height of something sacred, a place where we encounter God in our daily lives.

Many object to this practice on the basis of Mark 7. However, we should read this passage closely. In the first place, verse two only says that some of Rabbeinu Yeshua’s disciples failed to wash. Apparently the Master himself did wash, and so did at least some of his disciples. This would have been a fairly new institution at the time, and so it may not have been universally observed yet. R. Yeshua also never says that we should not observe the ritual of netilat yadaim, but that it should not take priority over more important commandments (vv 9-13). This is a similar position to the one the Master takes on tithing mint, dill, and cumin (another Rabbinic institution) in Matthew 23:23. It is not an invalid practice, but it should not become a point of contention like the Pharisees in question in Mark 7 made it.

Remember

This week in reading the portion for the first day of Shavuot, which includes the Decalogue, I was struck by a commandment that I think a lot of us overlook. I know I tend to forget it, which is ironic, because the commandment is “Remember the day of the Sabbath to sanctify it.” (Exodus 20:8)

This has traditionally been understood in a number of ways, and lead to a number of practices. Probably the most frequently cited observance associated with this commandment is to recite Kiddush on the Sabbath eve, and Havdalla at the end of the Sabbath (Mishneh Torah, Shabbat, 29:1). This is to remember to set it apart from the week days. It makes it holy by separating the Sabbath from the mundane work days, creating a clear dividing line.

However, this also applies throughout the week. R. Israel of Modzhitz mentioned that throughout the week if he found a particularly special food or item of clothing he would set it aside for the following Sabbath. The sages also instituted the practice of reciting this commandment every day after morning prayers, so that we remember the Sabbath throughout the week. This gives us something to look forward to, a definite end goal. Rather than an endless cycle of the same mundane existence, the commandment to remember the Sabbath keeps us focused on an end that comes every week, a break, a chance to recouperate.

This is also a way of doing as Isaiah says, to “Declare the Sabbath a delight, the holy day of HaShem, honorable.” By eating special foods and looking forward to the Sabbath, keeping it a separate day of rest and delight, we fulfil this injunction (The Concise Book of Mitzvoth, Positive Commandments, 19).

Even more importantly, though, we can always remember the Sabbath to make it holy, even when we can’t keep the Sabbath the way we would like to. This is one way to understand what R. Yeshua told us in Luke 6, “‘Have you not read what David did when he was hungry, he and those who were with him: how he entered the house of God, and took and ate the bread of the Presence, which it is not lawful for any but the priests to eat, and also gave it to those with him?’ And he said to them, ‘The Son of man is lord of the sabbath.’” (Luke 6:3-5 RSV)

It is more important to sustain life by eating than to keep the Sabbath, however, we still remember the Sabbath and keep it holy in that way, trying to make it special in whatever way possible.

Rest in Peace?

I’m sure many of you heard that Dr. Kevorkian died Friday morning. For any readers who aren’t familiar, Dr. Kevorkian was the man who really brought the issue of assisted suicide for terminally ill patients to America. This should bring up a lot of important questions for us. We could talk about the nature of life and death, the ethics of assisted suicide, crime and punishment, or theodicy. There’s a lot more to talk about than I can ever hope to address, but I just want to talk about a couple of points.

The most obvious question may be about our attitude toward life and death. I mean, doesn’t Dr. Kevorkian have a point? People shouldn’t have to suffer through life, right? But in Judaism we value life above all else. Life is the supreme good on which society is based, the basic necessity. God’s injunction to us is “I call the heavens and the earth as witness against you today life and death, the blessing and curse, so choose life so that you may live, you and your descendants.” (Deuteronomy 30:19)

The choice is ours, but the Torah states the choice in absolute terms, “the life,” “the death,” “the blessing,” “the curse.” This choice is more important than we imagine. The Torah also tells us that the purpose of the Torah is so that we may live (Leviticus 18:5).

In a discussion of Genesis 1:1 the sages teach that the entire world was created for the sake of the Torah (cf. Rashi on Genesis 1:1). The world was created for the sake of moral dilemmas like the one that Dr. Kevorkian brought up. We should not ignore pain, or cause people to suffer, but we should also preserve life. The whole purpose of living is to be tested, to be tried, and to endure. So it is the height of irony to allow assisted suicide in order to avoid pain, since it was for this reason that we were born.

Without a basis in the preservation of life any society is on the rocks. At the risk of falling prey to the “slippery slope” fallacy, as soon as we start eroding the edges of our respect for life we are at risk of going too far. Even though assisted suicide is only providing the means for a patient in intense pain and terminally ill, if we allow it then euthanasia doesn’t seem so bad. If we allow euthanasia, then eugenics doesn’t seem so bad, and we’ve seen the bloody, genocidal history of eugenics.

The whole reason we live in groups and form societies is to better preserve life. By working together we are better able to protect our lives and provide for our sustainance and well-being. In Judaism this is taken beyond just not killing eachother and protecting eachother from the danger of physical harm. We are required to give charity for the sake of providing for our fellow man. It is the same value for life that inspires acts of charity that inspires us to reject the idea of assisted suicide. We do not value some lives more than others, all lives are valued equally, because they are all in the image of God. We do not want to preserve our own lives at the expense of others. We do not provide for our needs by depriving anyone else. We prefer that everyone just survive than that some should prosper while others starve. This is why we maintain a nearly Marxist ethic of “from each as he is able to each as he has need.”

From a Jewish perspective, even capital punishment has the objective of preserving life. According to the Mishna, executing a criminal serves the function of atoning for their sin, and so preserving their life in the world to come. Both the written Torah and the sages severly limit the cases in which a criminal can be executed, and make sure that only the most rigorous investigation with the highest degree of proof of guilt can lead to execution. In the case of murderers, capital punishment also serves the function of preventing them from killing again.

So if we say that assisted suicide is, in fact, wrong, why is it that Dr. Kevorkian just died at the age of 83? Why does someone so destructive to life get to live to a ripe, old age? Why does a good God allow that? Again, the “reason for which we live, and suffer, and die,” as Alon Paton put it, our raison d’être is to be given an opportunity to choose. It’s important for us to remember the words of Hebrews that it is appointed for man once to die, and after that comes judgment (Hebrews 9:27). Our concern, though, is less on what that justice looks like (i.e. is Hell eternal?) than that it exists. Justice will be done, and when we see it we will all have to agree that it is just.

That does not excuse us from doing our part here and now. We shouldn’t just wait for justice in the world to come, we should work for it every day. In the end, though, whether we succeed or fail we are guaranteed that there will be justice. Even if we give our all to secure justice in this life and it ends in failure, our efforts will be rewarded.

"The Proletarians have nothing to lose but their shackles. They have a world to win." - Karl Marx

A Sign Upon Your Arm

“And you shall bind them as a sign on your arm, and let them be frontlets between your eyes” Deuteronomy 6:8. This is the verse from which we derive the commandment of Tefillin.

In Hebrew both “between the eyes” and “on the arm” are very broad descriptions. Between the eyes can be anywhere from directly between the eyes to the top of the forehead, centered between the eyes, and on the arm can be anywhere from the hand to the bicep. So, according to Rambam, we know where to bind them based on an oral tradition. The head tefillin go on the head, just above the hair line, and the arm tefillin are bound on the bicep (Mishneh Torah). The sages also tell us to touch the tefillin and kiss our fingers when we mention the tefillin during the Shema (The Concise Book of Mitzvoth, Positive Commandments 9).

I’m not going to go into detail about how they are made or why they are made that way, since I doubt any of us have the ability to make them ourselves. The portions contained in the tefillin are the four portions that contain the commandment to wear tefillin (Exodus 13:1-10, 11-16. Deuteronomy 6:4-9, 11:13-21). Because of the sanctity of this commandment, we should treat them with the utmost respect. Our minds should stay focused on God and prayer, rather than ordinary things (The Concise Book of Mitzvoth, Positive Commandment 8-9). Even though the Scriptural commandment does not set a specific time for binding tefillin, because of the sanctity of thought and action that it requires, the sages ruled that a person has fulfilled the command if he wears them during morning prayers. It is, however, permitted to wear them throughout the day (The Concise Book of Mitzvoth, Positive Commandment 9)

Nearly every halachic source emphasizes the importance of wearing tefilling during the Shema, that we treat them with respect (we don’t wear them while dressed immodestly, or while in the presence of immodesty, or in a restroom, etc). cf BT Berachot 14; Hilchot Tefillin; The Concise Book of Mitzvoth, Positive Commandments 8-9; Orach Chaim, Siman 32.

R. Yeshua also mentions an important point regarding tefillin in Matthew 23:5. Indirectly, he tells us not to make our tefillin (also known as phylacteries) broad. Their purpose is not to be shown off. In Deuteronomy 6:8 we are told that their purpose is to be a “sign,” a marker of the covenant between God and Israel. We should not mistake this for a sign to people, it is a sign between God and Israel, and it is only important that God knows about our practice of tefillin.