Weekly Torah Portion - Va'Etchanan (Deut. 3:23 - 7:11)

Something very sweet and positive happened today. An Arab man from the city of Hebron gave a "LIKE" to a post on my Facebook page ("Jewish Inspiration") with a quote from the Mishnah (an ancient Jewish text). How amazing it is! It gives me strength and motivation to keep running this page. At the moment there are over 500 people who like the page. I hope to have more soon.

To write this blog today I came to a hotel lobby in East Jerusalem. I walked here all the way from the Hebrew University on Mt. Scopus, going through the Arab neighborhoods and the streets (Mt. Olive road and Nablus road), and feeling so free and happy that this is my city and I can walk here freely. The streets are so beautiful! Only recently I had the courage to come here, to walk here, and discover these areas. Up until not too long ago this part of the city was beyond the horizon to me, so to speak, a place you know exists, but to which you never go.The people on the streets here are mostly indifferent. I don't feel much hostility, and it is good. I'll keep coming here.

This week's Torah Portion is that of Va'Etchanan ("I implored"), Deuteronomy 3:23 - 7:11. In it, Moses begs to G-d to let him enter the Promised Land, but G-d refuses, and asks Moses not to pray to Him about this matter any more. He will only merit to see the land from afar, but not to get into it.
A few points to mention here:
First, seeing how the great Moshe wanted to enter the Land and couldn't, I feel so humbled. He couldn't, but I can. He would have given anything in the world just to merit to sit here, where I sit now, and see the hills of this Land with his own eyes, just like I do. It makes me feel grateful that I have the merit to live here, to walk here, to breathe the air here. It is something that generations of Jews could only dream about, and here I am, living their dream, almost taking it for granted sometimes. A point to remember on dark days.
Second, sometimes we want something so badly, we pray and pray and ask G-d to grant us what we want, but His answer is NO. We cry, we try to fight it, but nothing helps. No is no. It often happens with things in our lives that are our Promised Land, the things we want most in life, but can't get, often things we were supposed to have but lost due to our mistakes. If it happened to Moshe (Moses), it is OK that it should happen to any of us.
Third, Moshe was not buried by men, and no one knows his burial site, so we can't go there. One of the reasons for that is to make sure that Moshe will not turn into a "god". It comes to ensure that people will not start to worship him and pray to him and treat him like a god. For he is not. He was our savior, he still is, considering the fact that it is the Torah that he brought down to us that we keep learning for thousands of years now, on a daily basis. And this Torah is the basis for other faiths who sprang up from it. All thanks to him. So his influence is not just on us, but on almost every person in the world today. But still, G-d is one, and Moshe is just his emissary, not a second "god", G-d forbid.

In this portion is one of the verses that I like most. It was one of the (many) verses in the Bible that opened my eyes to the truth of the words of the Torah and the Prophets. Before I quote it, I will tell the background. Many years ago I was a student in Japan. I was secular back then, but like most Israelis I believed in G-d. I just didn't think the Bible was G-d's word. But G-d has different ways and many different emissaries to help open a person's eyes. When I was in Japan, and when I visited Korea, whenever I met new people and we introduced ourselves, they would say: "Oh, you're from Israel? Then you must be very smart!". The first time I heard it, it amused me. "If only they knew how many people I know back home who are not so smart...", I thought to myself wryly. The next times I heard it, it started annoying, even scaring me. Without even knowing me, just by hearing that I am Jewish, they made a definite conclusion that I must be very smart. It smelled of prejudice, and it could be dangerous. What else would they assume about me without knowing me? It started bothering me. I carried this tormenting question in my mind for a few days, and then on a certain Shabbat I went to the Synagogue in the city where I lived, to have a Shabbat meal with Israeli food. I took out a Bible on a whim from the book shelf, and opened it randomly, not knowing why I did this. Just like that. The book opened on this week's Portion, on the following verse, which helped change my life: "... For this is your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the nations, that, when they hear all these statutes, shall say: 'Surely, this great nation is a wise and understanding people'." (Deut. 4:6). I paused. I felt shivers down my spine and chills all over my body. Here I was, a student in a far away country in the other end of the earth, and everywhere I went, people concluded that I must be very intelligent without even knowing me, just by hearing that I was from Israel. And here this ancient text, black on white, written more than 3000 years ago, and the reality that this verse describes is my own reality. It was one of the 'cracks' in my shield that helped me realize that the Torah is true. The verse just prior to this one says that we should keep G-d's commandments, and this is a condition for our wisdom. And indeed, it is mainly through the mechanism of us clinging to our faith and observing the Mitzvot (commandments) that we were kept as a separate nation, with our tradition of loving and learning the Torah. This, and the blessing of G-d to Abraham ("you shall be a blessing to all nations"), are the source of this perceived wisdom.

When I visited Korea (no need to say South Korea, right? If I had visited North Korea I wouldn't be sitting here writing this blog today), I stayed at a special guest house (Kim's Family Guesthouse - recommended if you're ever in Seoul!). The woman who runs the place, Sunny, told me that in every household that respects itself in Korea there is a copy of the Talmud. I told her: "What? A copy of the Talmud?!" Being "secular" then, I don't think I ever even saw a copy of the Talmud, and here this Korean lady tells me that they have it in every household in her country. "Why?", I asked her in disbelief. Then she said that education is very important to Koreans, and since the way the Jews educate their children produces geniuses (her words), then Koreans want to replicate this method of education to make their children geniuses too. Needless to say, I was speechless. I didn't know what to say. I was shocked. Years later I realized that even though they think that what they have in their homes is the "Talmud", what they really have is a short introductory book (I would title it "Talmud 101"), written by a Jewish rabbi about the Talmud. That Rabbi had it translated to Korean, and they cling to it with reverence as if it is the real thing (the real Talmud is made of a few big volumes, it is a very big book). I find it very sweet and admirable. I'm sure that after reading it they know much more than any secular person here ever does, but not even a fraction of what a religious man here does. Still, it's something!

Throughout all this Portion, Moshe repeats the importance of us keeping the Mitzvot (commandments) for ever, not just the generation of the desert, but all generations into the future. There is such a big emphasis on it. It reminds me of another story: 

Last year I visited Norway. I still have friends there from my previous visit there in the fall of 2006. A friend of mine organized a few salon-talks for me. We gathered, every time in another home, with a different group of people, for a talk about Judaism and Israel. In each of these homes there was a lot of delicious-looking food served. Everyone was eating. And yet, even though I was hungry (I lost some weight there) I kept the Kosher laws and restricted myself only to what I could eat. It wasn't much. It wasn't easy, physically or socially, but I was determined to do it, and I did. 

One of the participants in one of the talks later came to Israel for the first time in her life. I met her here, in Jerusalem and we had a long, pleasant talk. She told me that when she saw how I was eating (or not eating, "like Daniel"), she realized that it's through such commandments that G-d kept the Jews as a separate nation, and that His covenant with us is still alive, that He has a plan for us, and that we don't need to go in the pathway of all the other nations. I was shocked and excited to hear it from her. Of course, I knew it myself all along, but it was quite emotional for me to hear someone who comes from a different faith say such things to me. She isn't the only one. Other people have told me so too after seeing me eating "like Daniel". But it was so nice to hear about it from her, and the way she said it! 

When I was in Norway someone asked me why I don't eat the food, is it because I think it's not clean or tasty? The answer was absolutely not! The food looked clean and the fresh, and most delicious. So why didn't I eat? Not because I didn't want to, believe me - I wanted to eat every bite of it! The only reason I didn't eat, is because G-d commanded me not to eat certain things! 

If it's not clear, think about Adam and Eve in Eden. Here there was a beautiful fruit (let's say an "apple"). A beautiful, red, fresh apple. There was nothing wrong with this apple. The only reason why Adam and Eve should have avoided eating it is not because it was bad, but because G-d told them not to eat it. That's it! The apple itself was probably great, but G-d said no, so no it is, and that's it! If only they had kept this one Mitzvah... 

When we keep Kosher, we fix on a daily basis a part of that original sin. When we keep the commandments, we show G-d that we cling to His word, and even though we're hungry in a beautiful foreign land, we will not eat that which He told us not to eat. Only that which we are allowed to it, we will. And the result of this is that people around us start opening their eyes and realizing that our covenant with G-d is a living one and that G-d has a plan for us. 

By the way, the nations of the world also have commandments they are supposed to keep, and the righteous gentiles keep them: these are 7 basic commandments, but in reality there are more than 50 commandments that the righteous gentiles keep. We will discuss them some other time. 

Thank you, and Shabbat Shalom!

Rev.

Torah Portion: Journeys through the stations in our lives...

I'm sitting now at the lobby of the Dan Hotel in the French Hill (what used to be the Hyatt Hotel years ago). On days that I work alone from home, I need to be out and feel that there are people around me, so I find these places. The whole city of Jerusalem is spread under me, as I sit here and write this blog today.

This week I got a call for help. Someone whom I vaguely know is hospitalized. He is a new immigrant from the US, hardly speaks any Hebrew, and doesn't have any relatives here. His acquaintance sent out a call for anyone who can, to go and visit him. He is an elderly man, I assume around 70 or more years of age, and he's been battling a disease for many years now. I went to the French Hospital where he is hospitalized, suggested to him that we should walk a bit together, just to get him out of bed and get some exercise, and then, as we were slowly walking through the hospital's corridors, he asked me if I wanted to learn Torah with him. I was surprised. It was a wonderful suggestion. In such a secular place without Torah, to learn Torah together - magnifique! In his room there was another religious man, and their room is the only room in the whole hospital with a Mezuzah (they glued it to the doorpost with sellotape). I read aloud the Torah text with my Hebrew accent, and he stopped me from time to time to comment about the different words and verses I was reading. The thoughts that I'm going to share with you today about the Torah Portion are mostly ideas that I heard from him. 

This week's Torah Portion, which will be read in synagogues around the world is that of Matot-Mas'ei (Numbers 30:2-36:13). I will focus  here mostly on Numbers 33: "These are the journeys of the Children of Israel, by which they went forth out of the land of Egypt by their hosts, under the hand of Moses and Aaron". The Torah starts here a very long list of all the places to which the Children of Israel went, and from where they then embarked on other journeys. In some of these places they stayed a day, and in others they stayed for many, many years. When you read this chapter superficially, it can be very boring - "And they journeyed from place X, and pitched by place Y; and they journeyed from place Y, and pitched by place Z", etc, for 42 journeys! Why would the Torah, in which every letter is important, and no word is there by coincidence, dedicate so much text just to repeat the journeys of Israel in the desert? After all, we've already heard about these journeys before! 

One of the messages that can be derived from this is that life is a journey. If you look at the map of these 42 journeys, you see that they were not a straight line, and were definitely not the shortest or most efficient way to get to the Promised Land. In a person's life there are many stops, and at each stop we experience things, some are good and some are bad, some are sweet and some are bitter. Sometimes the bitter experiences are actually good, because they serve us in meaningful ways, where as the sweet ones, if not understood as something from G-d, may end up harming us. The Hassidish rabbis/masters, such as the Baal Shem-Tov, said that there are 42 spiritual journeys in a person's life, that each of us makes in life: "The 42 journeys of the Children of Israel, described in this Portion, exist in fact in the life of every person, from his birth until his entrance to the upper Land of the Living. This is how the Torah tries to show to every person the desired, proper path - that is, each person must always be journeying, must always be in a constant motion of rising up and moving forward". And just as the Torah does, it is good to sometimes stop and take a look at the journeys we've done, to be reminded of things we've gone through, and to see how we grew thanks to them. 

We learn from this chapter in the Torah that it is not only the destination, the 'promised land', that is important. Many times it is the journey, the road to get to our final destination, which is important too. In every station in life, bitter or sweet, we get something, we learn something, and if we are spiritually minded, we can get the best of even the worst situations in life. I'm thinking of that man in the hospital. He's been battling this terrible disease for a long time, but his spirit is not broken. He uses his time to learn Torah, and when you visit him, you see that he is not bitter. He loves G-d and accepts peacefully that which G-d gives him, even if it's life of solitude, with no family, in a country in which few people know him, and especially his battle with the disease. He doesn't complain. He just accepts it graciously. 

Also, at any stage we are in life, even if it's very bitter, we can look around and think what we can do to make this world a better place, what we can do for other people. Even someone who is lacking some of the most essential things in life, like family or health, G-d forbid, must remember that this life is a journey, not the final destination, it's just a corridor leading us to the Next World, and what we'll do here in this world will determine our life in the next world. We will not be able to take with us money, or material possessions to the next world, of course. We will be able to take with us just the good deeds we did here, just our efforts to make this world a better place for us and for people all around us, and indeed all over the world. We will be judged on that, and if we are wealthy in good deeds, we will be OK up there, but if not, then maybe it will not be that easy for us up there... This is how I see things, and this is how our rabbis see things. 

In every moment of my life I live with the awareness that G-d is with me, supporting me, guiding me, teaching me, but also testing me. This world is like a school - we learn, and we are tested, then learn something new, and then tested again. And the tests are all moral, social and spiritual in nature. Sometimes we fail and fall, but the important thing is to get up, repent, and make sure not to repeat our mistakes again. Just move on, and make the best of every second of every day we are granted in this world. Best not in the sense of having fun, but in the sense of giving to others, volunteering, doing good in this world. This is a true source of real happiness. This, and trust in G-d and the awareness that He is always with us, around us, all of us, each and every one of us. This is the recipe for good, true happiness.

In the hospital room, as I was reading the names of the places that Israel journeyed, the hospitalized man stopped me from time to time, and here are some of his insights:

In verse 8-9 there is a mention of a place called Marah. For those who don't speak Hebrew, it is just another name, but for those of us who speak Hebrew (or learn the Torah in Hebrew, like him, these names have meaning). Marah in Hebrew means bitterness, and he said that the place was called so not because it was bitter, but because THEY (the People of Israel) were bitter. We can learn from this an important lesson: No matter where we are in life and what the external circumstances are, it is our frame of mind, our mindset, that determines the outcome of this "station" in our lives. If we are in a very beautiful place, but our mind is bitter and full of anxiety and pain, we will experience this beautiful place as bitter and painful. We all know people who have everything in life, but are depressed. On the other hand, if we are in bitter, painful situations in life, lacking important things, like family, etc., but we look at it in an optimistic way, seeing G-d everywhere, then this place will be sweeter and more positive for us. We all know people who have nothing in life, but are happy. 

This is just a small example of the meaning we can derive from every word in the Torah - our Sages (our great rabbis, commentators of the Torah) found meaning behind the names of the other places. 

The chapter ends with this statement from G-d: "unto you have I given the land to possess it". Now tell me, can anyone argue with Him? No one can. We've finally reached the Promised Land, after thousands of years in the bitter desert of exile. And we possess it. And our Prophets promised us that this time we will not be driven out of it. And we believe them, so we keep building and developing this land, which has been waiting for us for such a long time. So we're here, at the end of so many bitter journeys - but our journeys, bitter as they were, were not in vain. They were part of G-d's greater plan, which we do not fully understand. The important thing is that we're finally at our sweet, beautiful destination - not completely (the Temple needs to be built too) but almost there in full! Rabbi Harlap encourages us not to stay put, but rather to keep moving upward and forward in our spiritual growth. Especially now that we are in the Land of Israel, we have the moral obligation to keep growing, keep moving forward. The amount of Torah classes everywhere is dazzling, there is so much thirst here by people to know G-d, and even people who grew up in secular families, like me, find their way back to the Torah, to G-d, and to Torah driven life of keeping the commandments and doing acts of loving kindness. 

Thank you for joining me on this journey as I write here from time to time. 

Shabbat Shalom and Chodesh Tov (a blessed new month - tonight starts the Hebrew Month of Av)!

From Jerusalem with Love,

R. 

Kites of Peace

Very hot days in Israel right now. And in this heat, "gifts" of fire are sent our way by our neighbors in Gaza. Fire kites, fire balloons, which, primitive as they are, cause a lot of damage, physical and mental. Agricultural fields on the Jewish side of the border catch fire and burn, causing immense financial damage to the farmers. Small children, who are used to thinking of kites and balloons in an innocent way, are forced to rearrange their concepts to fit this insane reality. Of course, here in Jerusalem nothing of this is felt. The kites don't reach this part of the Land. So today, together with a few more people, I went south, to the Gaza border, not far from where I was born and raised. Thousands of people were there. The traffic jam leading to the area was very long.
We all went there for one purpose - to fly kites of peace and balloons of hope, and to support the local residents and the parents of the dead Israeli soldier, Hadar Goldin, whose body is still in the hands of Hamas, and Hamas would not give it back. Hadar's family do not ask for a 'prisoner release deal' with Hamas. They do not want our government to release terrorists from prison, like it did in the Gilad Schalit deal, because such deals bring about more kidnapping, more violence and more death. They ask instead that Israel put more pressure on the Hamas leaders in order for them to give back Hadar's body.

Many people were there today, giving talks about the current situation and about our need to keep our hope and strength. Among them were Hadar Goldin's family, local residents of the Jewish areas around Gaza, former judges and current politicians. It was quite an happening.
Very happily, I spotted in the crowd also two Arab men, Muslims, clad in their traditional Kafiyah and Galabiyah, who came to support us, to support Hadar's family and to support the local residents in the Jewish settlements around Gaza. It was moving to see them!

It was beautiful to see all these kites, colored blue-and-white (colors of our flag, colors of our prayer shawl, colors of spirituality and peace), flying up in the sky, and the kids and parents enjoying this activity. When we were there, no kites of fire were flown to us from Gaza. It reminds me of a famous phrase by the Lubavitcher Rabbi: "A little bit of light can drive away a lot of darkness". I want to believe that our little peaceful gesture, our peaceful kite flying today, caused a spiritual effect that prevented the black kites of fire from landing in our territory. But anyway, it didn't seem like the people who were there were afraid. They weren't. I wasn't either.
This week we will read in synagogues in Israel and around the world this verse from Jeremiah: "And they shall fight against you, but they shall not prevail against you, for I am with you, says the Lord, to deliver you". These words are said to Jeremiah, but I think many people in Israel live with this consciousness, that G-d is with us, and that even if other people fight us (from Gaza, or in the UN), they will not prevail, for G-d is with us. Later on it says there (Jeremiah 2): "Israel is the Lord's hallowed portion, His first-fruits of the increase. All that devour him shall be held guilty, evil shall come upon them, says the Lord". I'm thinking of the Hamas leaders, and feel this verse speaks about them these days. They do not fight us. They fight G-d, and their behavior shows that their destructive motivation is not pure. They are willing to burn their own area (one of their kites actually burned a power-supply station that gives electricity to Gaza), they are willing to suffer, they are willing to die, as long as we suffer and die. No gestures of peace are accepted. The hatred is so big. But I believe that the day will come in which they too will wake up and realize the truth that is there in G-d's words.

Here are a few pictures that I took today near Gaza (you can faintly see the Gaza Strip in the background, but the camera on my phone is not that good, so it doesn't show well).

Shabbat Shalom!
Revital