In a week time, on March 3rd, 2009, the Jewish tradition celebrates the 7th of Adar 5769. It may be useful from time to time to recall what precise date we are or will be according to our socializing agendas. Judaism reminds the "petirat Moshe Rabbenu\פטירת משה רבנו = the death of Moses". By the way, it also the supposed date of his birth. It happens quite often that people would die, whatever age, but with a sort of chic to reach their birthday and pass away as if achieving a cycle. Moses is the matching personality between Judaism, Christianity and Islam. In the Jewish tradition it is also a day dedicated to the study of the Scriptures. Moses was born in an unknown place on Adar 7, 2368 (1393 BCE) and died on his 120th birthday, i.e. Adar 7, 2488 (1273 BCE) somewhere on Mount Nebo facing the Land of Canaan. He died on a leap year and in a month that includes of lot of events for the spiritual life of the Jews. On the 1st of Adar, God had sent the 9th plague to Pharaoh and over Egypt in the shape of a thick darkness. Adar is the month of the Feast of Purim and the providential rescue of the Jews by Queen Esther in Persia. The first gate was built in the walls of Jerusalem and the construction of the Second Temple was also achieved in this month (3 Adar 3412 = 349 BCE).In a few days, we shall joyfully commemorate Purim (March 10, 09 - 13/14 Adar 5769). The account appears like a fairy tale and still it is more real than any virtual scenario. It might thus be useful to stop some seconds on the meaning of the Vidui\וידוי of confession of sins in the Jewish tradition and much in use as a specific sacrament of the Orthodox and Catholic Churches (and some other denominations).Indeed, (saint) Krikor of Narek (Naregatsi), is one of the most famous Armenian writers and theologians who wrote in a very Biblical style. Apart his wonderful "Song of the Songs" that echoes the Jewish text and midrashim, his "best" is without contest "The Book of Lamentations", interestingly published in Marseille (France) in 1673. It is a long and very insightful, profound reflection about spiritual development from penance to quietness. It is worth saying that the great Western Roman Church theologian saint Thomas of Aquinas paraphrased many parts of his long poem. In Hebrew, the "Vidui\וידוי – confession" is at least pronounced three times a day. It aims to cure, heal through the way of speech and soul remittance in God's hands as said "HaShem beyadech afkid ruchi\ה' דידך אפקיד רוחי / Lord into Your hands, I entrust my spirit/soul/life – padita oti HaShem El Emet\פדית ה\אותי ה' אל אמת / You redeem me, Lord of Truth"(Psalm 31:6-7). The following verse is intriguing: "I detest those who rely on empty folly ("Havley-shav\הבלי שוא" = empty minds driven to destruction) and trust in the Lord. In the Oriental Church, the night prayers include a demand of pardon.Judaism has developed special activities into very proficient professions of excellence as a full part of the impact exerted by the Written and Oral Laws on the Hebrew way to secure social welfare, well-being and wellness. Jews love when people feel healthy and comfy. Thus, the rabbinic tradition strongly defended and found ways to correct or reach some sort of balance, soul and body equilibrium and equanimity. Quite a challenge! Yes, Jews love to be physicians (to heal), assist and defend all kinds of victims (lawyers, advocates, judges) for the sake of Justice and Rights and, finally writers, journalists, reporters to inform the world about true events. They combat ignorance by means of written or oral words. This would prove, even in any secular society or choice of lifestyle, how Jewish traditions have engraved the spirit of the children of Israel throughout the ages for the benefit of theirs and the possible enemies. True, suffering, diseases, social defects show that faith, teaching and learning of God's projects have proven to be gigantic, mammoth and prodigious instruments of screwing the mysteries of life defects and unease that can be remedied by permanent research. At this point, Judaism has no price of excellence, but the example of Moses, the model of the displaced person and loser but he was awkward to speak, totally given to God's most unbelievable projects, ready to sacrifice his life and death for the sake of his people and all the humans. When somebody is sick, we wish in Hebrew: "refuah shlemah\רפואה שלמה – full, complete recovering, healing". "What needs to be remedied? It is a divine decree that may be averted by man's repentance"(Talmud Rosh HaShanah 17b, cf. Isaiah 4:10). It may be irreverent and sacrilegious, somehow calumnious to refer to sin or to a divine defect that people have to face waves of terrible diseases that take decades or centuries to be cured at the price of extreme sufferings. Faithful and clerics of all denominations maybe tempted to cite some Scriptures. They might also be so terrified that they stay put, speechless. There is still a link between the Vidu\וידוי and diseases. Some heavily sick persons may have insights about the real value of our days. "Whatever Jeremiah spoke and prophesied evil, Isaiah came and healed, i.e. restored" (Pessikta Rabbati 29/30). This "repair" belongs to the heart of Jewishness, with a touch of joy beyond any oy's. In Hebrew "asham\אשם = guilt", and was a special offering of atonement" and is linked with the root "satam\סתם = to lie in wait for, to bear a grudge against, persecute". Thus "sina'h s'tunah\שנאה סתונה = a hidden hatred". The Vidui (confession) starts with the word "ashmanu\אשמנו – we have sinned" that means that we might have twisted against ourselves or others a sort of hidden and broken hatred that requires the repair of "restoration". R. Nachman of Breslov suggested a wonderful "Tikun klali\תיקון כללי – total repair" set of prayers that combines some Tehillim/Psalms. Because we are imaging God Himself as "icons" who have been shaped in His Image and Likeness. It is a miracle to see how people can still be alive, beyond any explanation or rationalization.Rabbi Suziyah was a famous rabbi. He felt he was called to a great achievement for God's love in this world. So he went to his mashgiach\משגיח (say, counseling rabbi) and told him how he had the wonderful project to help any soul to get rid of their sins. He asked his rabbi to get him (with God's permission, of course) to see everybody's sins in order to heal them and save the souls. Good enough. He got it! And then, R. Suziyah could not sleep anymore. He could see all the sins everywhere, all the way, night and days. He arrived worn out, totally dead beat at his rabbi and told him to stop such a crazy hell of a vision. The rabbi answered he got what he had asked… No way to cancel such spiritual gifts. R. Suziyah suddenly humbled himself and said he would ask God to get him to go down to hell with the sinners and take up their sins in order to raise again and help them be released, delivered of such pains. This is far more difficult and thus the job of any good spiritual counselor. This is the living accomplishment of the Mitzvot. Yiddish is a digging-in scrutinizing tongue that reveals and may suggest some speech or psycho-analytic ways of healing. Is it the "Mume-lush'n\מאמע-לשן – mom-tongue" or the "language of women"? It conveys with insightful acumen a lot of words borrowed to more than 25 languages; it is puzzling like Esperanto, but deeply humane and heart-melting. Yiddish faces and grasps the haunting demons of sins and sickness, folly, madness. "Leytzim\לצים – the clowns, crazy demons yakking up for all the evil they do", "sheydim, dibbukim\שדים-דיבוקים – devils, demons", "chitzoynim\חיצונים – outlaws or spirits of impurity", "tzedreyte ruches\צעדרעטע רוחות – foolishly twisted poltergeists". These words and their related phrases seemingly show more senselessness and delirium than wisdom and equanimity. And still, they do bring us close to more reason and We should be very cautious in our way to use and not to misuse or abuse any soul with faith and the way God runs our lives. A century ago, it was usual to find in the Eastern European prayer-books these few words: "al-tehi shoteh – do not (use this prayer-book) to mislead anyone to craziness or make the fool of these prayers". It needs a lot of words to explain something that can reduce us to automatons. And this is frightful.It is true that a lot of people are attracted by irrationality. All sorts of soothsayers, sorcerers, witches practice in the country as in most parts of the world. Jews have experienced how to fight and overcome any fear or hindrances. It is definitely present in a kind of unutterable capacity to pardon and to heal. Jesus of Nazareth has walked throughout the country "healing all torments and diseases", expelling demons and possessed souls and bodies. This is the language of "signs – simeia in Greek (Heb. "simanim"/nissim - סימנים\ניסים)" that indeed maybe considered as miracles. There might be a reason for this steadfast combat against fear, fright, anguish: making everything new is God's night and day action. And numerous people – who would even say – are just haunted by what seems sealed. But "making things new" means that the world only starts, today and tomorrow. This should be positively challenged without mocking the heritage given by our traditions. "A thousand may fall at your left side, ten thousand at your right, it shall not reach you. Because you took the Lord – my refuge, the Most High – as your haven, no harm will befall you, no disease touch your tent" (Tehillim/Psalm 91:7-10). We ask for "refuah shlemah\רפןאה שלמה – total recovering"; can we all, as a society, ask for "emunah shlemah\אמונה שלמה – total faith/confidence" and accept whatever response.
av Aleksandr [Winogradsky Frenkel]
February 24/11, 2009 – 30 deShvat 5769 - ל' דשבט תשס"ט
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Yom Kippur Katan and the joyful Forgiveness Sunday
Usually, on the eve of New Month Day (Rosh Chodesh\ראש חודש), the Jews celebrate a service called "Yom Kippur katan\יום כיפור קטן - minor day of Atonement". This is why on this Shabbat Mishpatim, we could proceed to the "mevarchin hachodesh\מברכין החודש = blessing of the month (Adar). Thus noew month will birth on Tuesday/yom 3- יום ג' at 17.39 pm., 0 chelek shkiyah (part of sunset) 24.2/30 Shvat 5769. Yom Kippur katan will then take place on the eve of the day, on 23.2/29 Shvat at the end of the day, Jerusalem time. Different things could be discussed with regards to this "Yom Kippur katan/minor Day of Atonement". It is basically a day of fast at the beginning of the New Moon that inaugurates a new month in the Jewish tradition. At the present, the Jewish calendar is only based on the lunar cycle, as already discussed in others blogs (Bessorot tovot\בשורות טובות). The sun shines over the whole earth during a period of 12-13 or less hours and illuminates all the planet. It remains visible and never "disappears", contrary to the moon. Indeed, the moon revolves around the earth in more than 29 days and only reflects the light of the sun on earth. This generates this impression of birth, growth and disappearance of the small planet. The constant reappearance of the moon became a sign, for the Jews, of God's fidelity and eternal faithfulness towards humankind and the Jews in their difficult journey through history. Yom Kippur\יום כיפור – Day of Atonement is a unique day on which God can pardon each person, provided that humans are able to ask for forgiveness, whether their repenting act will or not be accepted by the offended people. But there is more: Yom Kippur is a day of full brightness. It is white as a very clear and wonderfully shining in the sky of Jerusalem and in particular in the Middle-East. It is indeed a joyous feast, full of hope and reconciliation between people that may disagree, come to argue and fight, make war or are not able for a while – sometimes quite a long period – to understand each other or to hurt, injure each other for a lot of obvious or irrational reasons. The white clothes worn on Yom Kippur\יום כיפור denote that, after sorrow and sins, transgressions and misconducts, God's brightness enlightens and elucidates the dark aspects of our lives. White clothes also exemplify that the survivors come back from the great temptation of being cut from God's project and perilous wanderings. Drug-addicted, drunkards are truly submitted to some trips that space out their lives and conscience (Apocalypse 7:14). It is interesting that we live in a system of "self-reflection", as if every human being could not look at himself by his own capacities and, e.g. needs a mirror. We are in a process of mirroring. In Hebrew, a "face\פנים" is a plural: "panim\פנים" because we have two "faces", one is frontal and the other back-sided. It is thus impossible to see them totally and as a twofold whole. The sun is much bigger than the moon and was created at the same time according to the Scripture to bring light toward or against the "choshech\חושך-חשך – darkness". Paul of Tarsus has a very traditional saying: "At present we see indistinctly, as in a mirror… at present, I know partially; then in the end I shall know fully, as I am fully known (by God). So faith, hope, love remain, but the greatest of these is love" (1 Corinthians 13:12). On Yom Kippur, the scapegoat was sent into the Gey hinnom\גיי הינום – valley of the Gehenna (which slopes down from Jerusalem toward Bethlehem as a sacrifice for the sins). The sacrifice that used to be in the Temple for Rosh Chodesh / New Month was also a he-goat (Hullin 60b). The explanation is curious: the moon is a smaller planet and indeed, on that day, a goat was offered as prescribed for the pardon of the sins. Interestingly, it should be noted that on the Sunday of the Judgment, the Eastern Orthodox Church presents the reading of Matthew 25:31-46 in which lambs and goats are put to the right and the left of the Lord. And it happens that "the assistance to the others, fellowmen" is tested: who saw the Lord hungry, thirsty, naked, in jail,...?" It appears that no one could ascertain anything. This shows that the parable uses the goats who indeed were sacrificed in the Temple and the other sent into the wilderness, down toward Bethlehem, in order to ransom the sins of Israel and of all the nations. This universal pardoning offering is not very conscious at the present. Thus, the Orthodox Church just read this text and it is a connection to the "Kippur - atonement" process. As concerns new months, the Kabbalistic school of Safed developed a fast, only in the 16th century, that includes a normal confession of sins. To begins with, it was strangely accompanied by "flagellation". It is not permitted to fast on New Month Day because on that day, we do certify that God has renewed the presence of the moon. Thus, the fast was observed on the day before. Today the ritual mainly consists in the recitation of various penitential psalms and, redundantly the 13 Middot/Attributes of Love ("The Lord, the Lord, a merciful and gracious God, slow to anger and rich in kindness and fidelity, continuing His kindness for a thousand generations and forgiving wickedness and crime and sin" (Shemot/Ex. 34:6-7). A request is also pronounced asking for healing and renewal: "Hashivenu HaShem aleinu venashuvah\השיבינו ה' אלינו ונשובה – come back to us, Lord, and we shall be renewed, pardoned" / "chadesh yameinu kekedem\חדש ימינו כקדם = renew our days as in the days of old". This maybe the most challenging part of our slow-to-move and slow-to-believe spiritual life. We are slow, uncertain, unwilling to think that God does renew all things and human beings everyday. Then the proclamation: "HaShem Hu Elokeinu\ה' הוא אלהינו– The Lord is our God" which is said 7 times as in Yom Kippur (8 times) and by the time of our passing away.It is said: "One who recites the benediction of the moon at the proper time is like the one who is received in audience by the Shechinah\שכינה in person" (Sanhedrin 42a). Indeed, the reappearance of the moon each month is comparable to birthing in the human female cycle and the sign of fertility, of trust, confidence and fidelity; it is the emblem of Israel; the community does understand and praises God for all the benefits that are given to mankind, such as fruits in their respective seasons". It also allows some measure of "time and delays as historic events". Indeed, the appealing part of the minor Day of Atonement is that Israel dug out a new slant of Judaism: fidelity of God through the cyclic birth, fullness and disappearance of the moon that shows how anything can be explained, understood because God can hear any word of penance. The word can be charged with more or less "burden of sins". In Russian "kaius\каюсть = I repent" does not include the loving-kindness or the move that includes Greek metanoia = to revolve one4s conscience some Christian Churches (e.g.: Eastern Orthodox and Catholics). We as in Hebrew "teshuvah\תשובה = to revolve, answer, renew, i.a.). Judaism doesn't know or feign to ignore that in the Temple people did confess and that rabbis hear oral confessions without any sacramental consequence or capacity to pardon. But Maimonides gives a good example of some formula that is still found somehow in the pattern of the "Ma'avor Yabok\מעבור יבוק – Passing the Yabok (when passing away)": "Anna HaShem chatati\אנא ה' חטאתי, I have intentionally sinned, I have sinned out of lust and emotion, and I have sinned unintentionally. I have done and I regret it, and I am ashamed of my deeds, and I shall never return to such a deed." The Christian Orthodox texts are very similar to the lists of sins printed in italics and, as the Roman Latin rite starts by "sin by speech – dibbur\דיבור". Now, Judaism proposes to read a confession of sins at least three times a day. It is a very insightful series of verbs in the past tense, in alphabetical order. "Vidui\וידוי – confession" as a prayer for pardon (Yoma 87b) refers "to point out, make known, acknowledge" (Pessahim 87b) as a duty, on Yom Kippur, to be accomplished by the High Priest and any Jew. The text of the Vidui is very difficult to translate into any tongue. It starts by a statement that is also widely unknown, i.e. that Jews do recognize to be sinners: "Our God and God of our forefathers… we are not so brazen and stubborn as to say… that we are righteous and have not sinned (chatanu\חטאנו) – indeed we and our forefathers have sinned. How? In the alphabetic order are mentioned the following transgressions and faults: "ashamnu\אשמנו"… striking the left side of the chest with the right hand/fist (introduced for long centuries into the main Christian rites) - guilt, betrayal, robbery, slander, (mental and physical) perversion, wickedness, ill-mindedness, will, (mental and physical) violence, false accusation, evil, scorn, persecution, stubbornness, deceit, forgery, corruption, abomination, leading others astray. Confession also deals with awareness or absence of consciousness, if not of conscience. Human speech, ideas, thoughts, acts are shaken or twisted with much "parasitic ideas = Yiddish: tsiges\ציגעס" that are beyond reasonable or balanced control.This Sunday, after the "Evening prayer", in every Eastern Orthodox Church, the clergy and the faithful will beg for mutual pardon. The Greek tradition underscores that the Great Fast (Lent) of 40 days starts joyously fasting and praying during this period that leads to the "Kalo Passkha – Good Easter". TIn fact, the Byzantine tradition insists on a long service that is intense and profound. After the readings, the clergy and the faithful face each other, kneel down and ask for forgiveness to each person, whatever rank, age or situation. This follows the words said by Jesus and that are directly inherited from the Order of Yom HaKippurim. Thus: "Therefore, if you bring your offer to the altar and there recall that your brother has anything against you, leave your gift there at the altar and go first be reconciled with your brother" (Matthew 5:23-24), which is reminded all through the Liturgy: "Pardon and release of our sins (we ask to the Lord)". In a previous blog (Emunah), we saw that the essential Christian prayer "Our Father Who are in Heaven" follows the Kippur pattern: firstly, to pardon the others in order to receive God's forgiveness (Matthew 6:9-14). Greek is the only language in which the tenses do maintain that we ask to "pardon our trespasses/debts as we already have released and pardoned those who trespassed and have debts toward us". This is the authentic sequence as defined by the Order of Kippur, pardoning.This special service of Pardon Sunday is certainly rooted in Yom Kippur. It coincides this year with new month Adar that is dedicated to study of the Scriptures, the life and death of Moses. The Eastern Orthodox believers will focus on this atonement as paving the way to the Resurrection confessed by the Church.Peter-Kaipha had asked Jesus how many times one should pardon? Seven times? Jesus said: Not seven, but seventy-seven times (Matthew 18:21) which corresponds to the measure/middah\מידה (full measure in the Temple), but basically to the sign of Cain (Gen. 4:24) protecting his descent, i.e. all of us.We often go through very special days. Incredibly irrational, made of faults, defects, misunderstandings. It may seem at times that faith is reduced to neigh because we swim in huge difficulties. I have a daughter who has a terrible handicap. The point in her disability is that she commits actions that she really does not intend. It is very special and shows in specific diseases. I met that for years visiting the people ho have brain diseases. They may say something and at the same time, before being operated, they are aware they utter words that are in total opposition to whta they intend in reality. In the case of my daughter, several levels show simultaneously. On the one hand a total absence of guilt and awareness that curiously is connected to a genetic defect and thereafter a sort of awareness that does not allow her to repent or regret anything. Even if she would regret, the guilt will never surface. This is the point in our conscience. Are we aware or not? Is there any feeling of guilt and true repent or simply a mere social attitude? Why do people avoid meeting during such a service, when the service is celebrated to the full and does "oblige" to a real move of asking for forgiveness. It is very difficult to fake bowing and kneeling in front of each person - friends, strangers and enemies at times. I mention my daughter because, though deeply affected by such a disease, she has a real spiritual life as also do those who are operated of such severe illness as brain tumors. Pardon, I often write about this matter, is the point of real conscience, awareness of who God is and who we are. Our world pathetically need love and true sympathy, loving-kindness, not just phrases with ordinary hopes. Such diseases also interrogate for another reason: human nature and existence is both "perfect and though requires a remedy, a repair" as the Rabbi Nachman of Uman magnificently wrote and proposed his Tikkun HaKlali. This year, and this is just a simple matter because we have been rescued from generation to generation from the worst plagues and horrors, but this year humankind is in profound crisis. The word is not negative in Grek. It recalls that somehow we are "in the pangs of birth" as Paul of Tarsus stated. They correspond to the "chevley hamashiah = חבלי המשיח ". The messiah shows whipping and "flagellating". This can be somehow similar to Jesus' throwing away the objects sold by the merchants in the Temple. Pardoning is a terrible tremendous challenge. We come to a person and cannot know what the reaction may be. I do not speak of the usual "forgive me" word that is more social than really felt in-depths. If we were to understand what pardon means, the "at-one-ment" of humankind would really show in full grandeur, glory! But pardon is the "soul" of spiritual life. It makes every word of confession something like precious stones, from the "viduy\וידוי " or Jewish daily confession to those words prayed in privacy and full secret to a priest, because, as beautifully shown in the Oriental tradition - both bow down and kneel down in front of the Most to raise again and bring freshness and release to all bonds.There is a terrible and "terrific" challenge in pardon and atonement: it cannot be an obligation. We have no right, nor even spiritual power, to compel any soul or human being to ask for forgiveness or to pardon any of us. Pardon surpasses any human reflection and thoughts. It is immaterial, it is not substantiated and still is it a profound part of who we are. We may spend our lives expecting to be forgiven or we would pardon immediately any trespass committed against us. The point is not our responsibility which is totally engaged. But who could be conscious and even as conscious as God is. This is why forgiveness is a major sign of redemption and God knows how to don it to our limbs and souls.
av Aleksandr [Winogradsky Frenkel]
February 23/10, 2009 - 29 deShvat 5769 - כ"ט דשבט תשס"ט-
av Aleksandr [Winogradsky Frenkel]
February 23/10, 2009 - 29 deShvat 5769 - כ"ט דשבט תשס"ט-
Luchot: delays facing idolatry
A lot of things are read this Shabbat Mishpatim\משפטים; according to the rules defined by the Shulchan Aruch (140, 1), it is also admitted to read another reading portion: "Ki Tissa\כי תשא - When you take (a census of the Israelite people)" (Shemot 30:11-34:35). Forty days ago, the Israelites were on the move to Mount Sinai. We already discussed the problem of faith, confidence, spleen and regret for having abandoned Egypt, slavery and the local onions. Finally, they agreed to “nishma’ vena’aseh\נשמע ונעשה – to do and to listen” to God’s words and commandments. Thus, they launched big building works, firstly with the construction of the Mishkan\משכן (Dwelling of the Shechinah\שכינה – the Divine Presence). The Israelites helped Aaron and his sons to be correctly clothed for the sacrifices and ensure their priestly functions. This was more a sort of fashion and accessories design. In this additional portion, the pure and neat divine design mitzvot/commandments ordered by God turn to a twofold design process: God in person engraved the Ten Divrot (Ten Paroles) on two tablets and handed them down to Moses. But Aaron, harassed by wild crowds, voraciously hungry for “worshiping”, had collected all the gold rings the people had brought from Egypt to melt them into a deity around which they started to have festive meals. They invoked the metallic egel-עגל/calf after having offered to him burnt-offerings. This fake-god fashion design ordered by the priest Aaron shows how people can easily go wild or mad when they lose a strong and authentic direction toward God. In Egypt as in the Sumerian civilization, men and women could be covered with rings, bracelets, necklaces of gold, silver, whatsoever. We have the same and some males and females can be totally pierced with such accessories. Haircut, fashion, piercing may be a must for some people raving up in light-flashing discotheques, maybe with one idol for the night. Many non-pierced groups with visionary mentors would also rage together around sculptures made of wood, precious stones or metals.This is more an instinctive belly-call as shown in the reading portion: festive meals, gluttony, offerings that can turn to be today rhythmically correct by using wildlife protection incenses, soul music and a soupcon of religiosity.We are on the way to Purim (on March 9-10) and indeed the question to know whether we might or not feel the presence of the absence of God. The question is pending: can we play the fool with God’ actions, be He present (HaMakom\המקום = the Omnipresent) or “Hester panim\הסתר פנים – hiding (His) Face)”. This weekly portion includes 22 times the word Panim\פנים (Face) as referring to God. After Purim, the main question is to envision God as the Only Giver. He may be present, absent, speak or keep silent: “Ehyeh Asher Ehyeh\אהיה אשר אהיה – I shall be(come) the fulfillment of Who I am (becoming) as He stated to Moses (Ex. 3:14). But “egel\עגל – calf” has a lot of rabbinic backgrounds that are presuppose our desires for cults, absence of deity and slowness to seek God’s Face. It maybe hard at times to acknowledge we were shaped in His Image. “The day the Israelites made the golden calf in the desert was ominous to Israel” (Shabbat 1, 17). The Mishkan (Tabernacle) and the priestly clothes were God’s commandments. The gold rings boiled into a calf consisted in making a farce of what God had ordered. We face the same problem at the present. “Agal” means “to make round, circle” as the “agulah\עגולה = a round heap of debris”(Pessahim 8,36a) and “agalta\עגלתא” = “the head-star of the Ox (Taurus, Steer) (Berachot 58b) that still can be fixed by the “eglah\עגלה-א – red heifer” (Kiddushin 8a). In the meantime, Moses is urged by the living God to go down the mountain! Is there a kind of subtle divine jealousy? God had written His Words on the Tablets (Luchot\לוחות) and He had given them to Moses. And down the mount, Moses saw from afar this roaring knees-up with the calf of gold. The trustworthy Yehoshua accompanied Moses who shattered the Tablets. Is it possible? Two gods to be destroyed face to face. Because Moshe did break God Himself as he burst into fragments the Divine Luchot (tablets). And he ordered to burn the beast. On the one hand, God’s autograph was reduced to nil by the Prophet while the priest grilled up the last jewels brought from Egypt. They were gone with the wind, as the onions of the Nile. On the other hand, God could not accept to be beaten by molten deities. Again, He convokes Moses to the mount and gives him two new Tablets. Bringing them down to the Israelites, Moses could not see that his face was radiant “ki karen or panav alav\כי קרן עור פניו אליו” because he had spoken with God (Shemot 34:29.30). “Karen” has the same root as “keren\קרן – horn” or the trumpets that sound, echo and explode into rays, also with much light. He brought the two new Tablets, i.e. that God sparkles and mirrors His glory as Moses had approached Him. The fragments of the two Tablets were taken to the Land of Canaan in the Tabernacle. The word “luach\לוח” has multifold meanings. In Modern Hebrew, “luach haz’manim\לוח הזמנים = time-table, schedule”. There is an interesting saying: “The second Luchot/Tablets and the broken Luchot were both preserved in the ark, so don’t despise an old scholar when his memory forsakes him” (Berachot 9b, Bava Bathra 14a).Our memory may be affected by some troubles. It is very modern. Our daily life and various commitments exert a real pressure and often cause dramatic damages on our memories. Judaism is based on the fact that the Torah is the only genuine and reliable sign of the God’s Presence and Existence. Humans have destroyed documents. Moses shattered the Tablets. “Luach\לוח = agenda” and means that God was dating (it is indeed a love affair) in a very special way with the Israelites. It is difficult to line along with an agenda. Both sides cannot look at each other immediately. Then, Moses had disappeared for a very long time. So let’s go dating with the one we molt. It is much easier, “do-it-yourself”. And the calf might have the profile we want him to have. This is a major issue in our spiritual tendencies to bleat like sheep and goats flocking up with our pundits. This Tablet dating rendezvous that God progressively proposed to the Israelites is unique in history. The love affair may have been tragic at times. It still develops, beyond all ages, an unparalleled love and life affair. The “Luchot-לוחות/Tablets” were legible from both sides. It means that the Torah is open to all the universe as God truly is the “Melech Ha’olam\מלך העולם – King of the universe”. Except one letter in the Book of Jeremiah, the Torah has preciously been safeguarded over thousands of years. It is our privilege and mostly the responsibility of our generation that the children of Israel mass return to Eretz Israel. This is only a part of what the Jewish Traditions. From the date at Mount Sinai, the Jewish people were taught to abandoned everything and thus never to despair. This is a teaching shared for the sake of all human beings, without distinction. We lost the Land, our independence, the Temples. We have the Torah and how to be faithful to God’s Commandments. It is amazing that we still could not breed a “red heifer – parah adumah\פרה אדומה” also compared as a counter-poison to the golden calf. We live in a country where bank accounts are lodged in the weirdest tax havens of the world. Official services would only accept payments in cash to avoiding real bookkeeping. Nonetheless, the chetzi-shekel\חצי שקל (half-shekel) would allow the census of the adults and measure a collectivity, making each Jew a full partner to another one. At this point, there is more interrogations, if not confusion as simply shown, among many different examples, by the Gush Katif slogan (“a Jew does not expel a Jew”). I heard this year the tragic destiny of those people who produced fields, plants, work for Jews and Arabs. One mother came and witnessed this year at the Jerusalem Conference and it was really moving. When they had to pull out, my parishioners instinctively and spontaneously toured there to support them. It was not even a political move or reaction. It was a bit astounding to see Orthodox Christians and mixed couples - mostly from Soviet Union join rather religious Jews and claim that they also provided work for the local Arabs, today's Gazan assisted inhabitants. There are many organizations that try to help these settlers who are often in a difficult situation, unemployed and in a sort of Jobkatif\תעסוקטיף (a Facebook group). They do need prayers, food, societal support as any inhabitant of this land.We are called this year to look deep ito our actions and make no difference, try to help for the best of life and human dignity where we feel each of us can do best. It is a way to show more than sympathy and unify all blocks of our population. Some can help the Arabs, others would help the "Gushkatifnikim", others would provide what is missing in many ways and help correcting and healing the many wounds. This links us somehow with this additional reading portion.We have the Torah and we are born to recall and understand how and why God was destroyed in His writing and in the shape of a fake worthless golden calf. On the other hand, the Luchot/Tablets can hang around our necks, be engraved on rings: they are the legitimate mark of God’s Presence that can reach out to every Jew throughout the world and the betterment of ethics and maybe correct us in the many turbulences that affect our complex societal situation.The Christian Catholic Church shall enter into the time of Great Lent on coming Ash Wednesday for the Roman Latin Church; the Oriental Churches, in particular the Greek Melkite in Jerusalem, will start the Fast on Monday. The Eastern Orthodox Church will go on her way to the preparation of Great Lent: this week, we could eat all sorts of meals. From Sunday night, we shall abstain from meat on the first week and next week from dairy. In the end, we shall reach Easter on April 19 with some soups, onions and mushrooms. We love mushrooms in Israel and the production of mushrooms in the area of Jericho has been famous in the Middle-East for about 7,000 years. At the moment, it is "kosher" all throughout the year and "Great-Lenten" on several occasions during the Christian Orthodox year.This Sunday, for the Orthodox Church, is the "Last Judgment Sunday", something that is comparable to "Yom HaDin\יום הדין = the Day of Judgment". The reading is really a wonderful text: Matthew 25: 31-46. Jesus speak in a parable, i.e. a mashal\משל that traditionally includes open the way to many possibilities of various comments, explanations and interpretation. It should be noted, to begin with, that Easter, as Pesach, marks the first New Year period in the Jewish cycle. The second harvesting used to take place in Autumn and Rosh HaShanah followed by Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement) continue to introduce into the second and real change of year. It is envisioning a sort of "end of time" period that is very trendy or, to be more exact, a time of eschaton, i.e. a time that brings us closer to a progressive revelation. Jesus says that when God will show at the end (of history or something very close to that) he will come with his angels and separate the sheep from the goats and put these to His right and those to His left. In fatc, the judgment sounds "blind or deaf"! To the blessed that are called to His right, he says: I was hungry, thirsty, naked, in jail - you provided me with everything. The blessed sheep can't even believe their ears! It is impossible, because we did nothing and you reward us? But Jesus answers that each time they did it for the smallest among them, they did a good action. And suddenly he turns to those who were on His left and declared the same: you did not see me hungry, thirsty, naked, in jail and you, you never came to help me in any way. So go to the Gey Hinnom\גיי הינום, the Valley that slopes down from the Temple to Bethlehem because you are doomed to everlasting fire. The Eastern Orthodox Church has gotten that from the Early Church in Jerusalem that her praying service is deeply rooted in the Yom HaKippurim-יום הכיפורים/Day of Atonement order of service. This is immediately felt by Jews and Christians when they can share. Interestingly, Great Lent commences in Jerusalem and all Orthodox Churches of Byzantine tradition by the Service of Forgiveness-Pardon on Sunday nigth before the beginning of Great Lent. The Church has no second and real New Year corresponding to the Autumnal Jewish feasts. They live in the eschatological time or "kairos" of "Pentecost - of after the giving of the Holy Spirit". The first judgment does not only target the humans. It is a way God is handling His creation. And the sheep are compared with the "paschal lambs" while the goats are close to the Atonement day goats that wer cast into the valley in order to atone the sins of Israel and all the Nations. In the parable, it is not possible to determine "who is who" and when things happen or may or will happen by shifts or forever. This only belongs to God. The sheep go to eternal life and benediction and the goats to everlasting "dira'on/דראון " as suggested by the Hebrew version of Yitzchak Salkinson, eminent Bible scholar and Talmudist and a Presbyterian pastor born to a Belorussian family in the 19th century. The word is usually translated as "punishment" and lines with the Greek version. The Talmudic word reminds the "cyclical row, range, turn, growth of generation: "Do the present generations grow any better?" Jesus gives a comment in his parable; is it fixed? We often thought and the Church did affirm that judgments are definite and certain. Then, there would be no history, no times to pass and days to be renewed. It is a sort of mental security, but God never ascertains things to be without appeal. Nobody can state that he belongs to the sheep or to the goats; let's say humbly being goats and then sheep? This is often what is shown in the congregations. The problem is that "judgment and punishment" do not mean in the context what we need to fix in order to rely on certainties. "Din\דין " means "to put on this and that side and eventually vice versa". It also means "article of a mitzvah" and "a blessing freely granted by God". This is why it is so dangerous to conclusively ascertain that God saves and saved these and not those; then, why do we await His coming in glory? This is also why during times of hardships it is so important to keep all gates widely open to any possibility. We forget things, but we fix our minds. We want to get out of our realm and still come back to our roots. This is why, this year, in a quaking and stumbling around international context, the true question remains how we can get free and make our societies feel more and more freedom. Freedom and release do not depend on our forces, power, might, intelligence, beauty or spirit. Release comes when we do not expect. This is the terrible misunderstanding that underlines this parable. It is uncomfortable to think that what we consider as a judgment is indeed an opening apocalysis/revelation. Hebrew uses the word "hitgalut\התגלות " that implies a link with "return to revelation, get back from dispersion, envisioning". The Feast of Pesach/Passover and Easter/Resurrection confirm that God realized different actions that led the human beings to full unity - whatever their personal or group relationships to the related events (exodus from Egypt and freedom from bondage - and freedom from this nature to get to eternal life and resurrection of the dead). This unity is not fully perceivable. It has been a constant element of the history of all humankind everywhere and in all times. This time of cycles, that seemingly comes and comes again from generation to generation has a goal: to allow each generation and those who are alive to reach some divine pardon and free release. It may sound bizarre in the present. Suddenly we shall wake up and find the Paroles are at work. This Shabbat is also the Shabbat Mevarchin\שבת מברכין of the upcoming month of Adar. Rosh Chodesh/רה"ח - Adar will take place on next Tuesday and Wednesday: it recall for all generations that Moses was born and died on Adar 7th (March 3, 2009), a day of overtime study and connecting insights.
av Aleksandr [Winogradsky Frenkel]
February 20/7, 2009 - 26 deShvat 5769 - כ"ו דשבט תשס"ט
av Aleksandr [Winogradsky Frenkel]
February 20/7, 2009 - 26 deShvat 5769 - כ"ו דשבט תשס"ט
Monday, February 23, 2009
JPCA Jewish Affairs March 1, 2009 - 5 Adar 5769
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