In Jewish tradition…

In Jewish tradition, Moses is considered the greatest prophet who ever lived. The Bible tells us that as the Israelite's camped below, Moses ascended Mt. Sinai and received the word of G-d. We Jews call the act of G-d revealing the words to his people ‘the act of revelation’.

Now, according to Rabbi Ron Isaacs’s, Ask the Rabbi, with regard to ‘revelation’ (on Shavout) the most commonly asked questions are: What really happened? How do we know for sure that it was G-d who spoke to Moses? (and not his imagination) Even if G-d did in fact speak, how can we be sure that the Israelite's understood (correctly)? And: after these many years (3321 in 2009), how do we know that the words that we have today are the (exact) same words?

Briefly: Orthodox Jews generally believe that G-d revealed His will on the mount in written and verbal form. This (all) being later committed to writing [Talmud] by rabbis who were divinely inspired. How, he says, is still a mystery? But for the Orthodox, it remains fact that we received Torah directly from G-d.

Conservative Judaism, he relates (seemingly ex cathedra [to mix languages]) the ‘nature’ of G-d’s communication is understood in various ways. For some His communications with mortals at Sinai and in the era of the prophets were direct. Humans (then) wrote these down and the writings are included in the Bible reflecting different origins. Another Conservative position posits that Moses and other humans were divinely inspired with a specific message (&) wrote the Torah at various places and times. [This concept, however, originated with a (much) ‘later’ Christian scholar and was then accepted by others as ‘the’ way it happened ed.]

Reconstructionists generally believe that humans wrote the Torah, claiming no divinity for the product. The Reform position also maintains that the torah is G-d’s will as written by human beings! He completes his comments by saying that “we do not know, nor can anyone ever really know, exactly what Moses or the people at Sinai actually heard saw, or felt”. Many of the words (rabbi’s words) used in the Bible’s descriptions of revelation are figurative (duh). The Bible speaks of fire, smoke, the voice of a horn (shofar, perhaps?), and lightning to give us some idea as to what it was like to hear G-d’s voice. In the end, though, Rabbi Isaacs says, they could only refer to having experienced the greatness of the presence of G-d.

Nu?

Where does that leave us?

If we are members of a Conservative synagogue, it appears that we can “pick and choose” as we wish. But without the freedom – or rather: liberty – to do as the Reconstructionists and/or Reform(ed) do. But it ultimately comes back to ‘you’. You, yourself, must, of course, begin with a determination that you (ultimately and forever) believe in HaShem. If, indeed, you do believe that there is (A) G-d, that there always has been and always will be (A) G-d, then I venture to say that it really does not matter what you think about how we received the Torah and how the Prophets were able to write what they wrote. The fact is that we got it. And we have it. And it is immutable. And it matters not what you think – the Torah is there before you – it exists.

The real question is rather: what do you accept? Do you really want to follow the rabbis’ pilpul? If you find it hard – or impossible – to accept that there is a power greater than yourself, then perhaps you should not be going to synagogue at all. If mankind can conquer the universe, or if you think that perhaps on some distant planet that there is a super race of cockroaches that can travel through time and space and control a parallel universe; then maybe you should spend your time as a screen-writer and forget about the Torah and how we got it. For you, man devised all these various laws and was able to make extremely sophisticated connections between numbers and letters and devise a codex that encompassed over 5769 years of human (and only human) thinking, acting, creating, developing… but still cannot find a way for men to live together without wars, famine, and illness. Go on. Go back and think: What do you believe, what do you accept? Then, you can see that these first questions were non-sequitur.

musings & twisting paperclips

The glory of G-d is to conceal a thing. The glory of a king is to find it out,
The glory of a talmidah chachamah is a light.

Thoughts on: Chashmal, as encountered in [Ezekiel 1:27]

Chashmal
Rabbi Geoffrey W. Dennis
(It is) the mysterious substance or entity illuminating the heart of Ezekiel's chariot vision. The Talmud treats the word as a notaricon (a word that can be broken into multiple words), the division of which reveals two words, "words" and "quiet." Thus the heart of divinity is a matrix of silence and speech from which creation emanates (Chag. 14b).
According to Midrash Konen, chasmal is the fiery substance which makes up the pillars on which the world rests. Gematria yields several different equivalences: dimyon tzivonim, "image of colors," ki zohar aish "like a fiery splendor," neither of which are terribly edifying. But even these cryptic analyses can only approximate the truth. Those who truly comprehend the significance of chasmal place themselves in mortal danger (Chag. 13a). Midrash Konen attempts to resolves the confusion by designating chashmal another class of angelic being (2:25).
Article copyright 2004 Geoffrey Dennis.
There has been little commentary on this word/passage because of its great Spiritual depth and significance. It has entered the realm of Kabbalah and it was not even taught publicly but was only individually explained to the most highly qualified people. So if you do encounter a commentary, or explanation [“Trust me, I know…”], you should view it with considerable skepticism.
…ain’t Kilroy
What does ‘Amen’ mean? Some claim that it is made up (an acronym) of three Hebrew words El Melech Ne’eman, meaning: G_d is the Faithful King.
A Blessing upon seeing a friend after a lapse of 12 months (or more): “Blessed be G_d who revives the dead.”
HeShem’s Own Prayer (as conceived by Rabbi Zutra, in the name of Rav Yachanan): “May it be My will that My mercy overcome my anger, and My loving qualities override My strict traits; that I treat My children with the quality of mercy & that I always deal with them beyond the letter of the law.”
We know that it is a custom to recite the prayer known as Asher Yatzar after going to the bathroom – the idea is to remind us that even a routine like attending to the ‘call of nature’ is not only wondrous but should remindÁus that without being able to do so we would certainly die! Our body is, after all, only on loan to us (on loan to our soul, which is our ‘being’) and it really belongs to HaShem, as does our soul itself. This prayer also reminds me of the relationship to another prayer from our morning services: “Barukh atah HaShem Elokanu, Melekh HaOlmam she’asah le kol tzarkey.” – not to mention the passage from “Mighty Deeds”: “…Who provides the living with kindness, resurrects the dead with abundant mercy, supports those who fall and heals the sick… “. There is, indeed, a unity to our siddurim, and it is there to be found by those who seek it.

Torah Portion: Nasso Numbers 4:21 - 7:89

Full Kriyah
Triennial Year I
07 June 2008 Triennial Year II
06 June 2009 Triennial Year III
22 May 2010
1: 4:21-37 (17 p'sukim)
2: 4:38-49 (12 p'sukim)
3: 5:1-10 (10 p'sukim)
4: 5:11-6:27 (48 p'sukim)
5: 7:1-41 (41 p'sukim)
6: 7:42-71 (30 p'sukim)
7: 7:72-89 (18 p'sukim)
maf: 7:87-89 (3 p'sukim)
1: 4:21-24
2: 4:25-28
3: 4:29-33
4: 4:34-37
5: 4:38-49
6: 5:1-4
7: 5:5-10
maf: 5:8-10
1: 5:11-15
2: 5:16-26
3: 5:27-6:4
4: 6:5-8
5: 6:9-15
6: 6:16-21
7: 6:22-27
maf: 6:22-27
1: 7:1-11
2: 7:12-23
3: 7:24-35
4: 7:36-47
5: 7:48-59
6: 7:60-71
7: 7:72-89
maf: 7:87-89

Haftarah: Judges 13:2 - 13:25

Art is merkava,

Unauthorized Use, the Hubble pps, and more

Unauthorized Use Constitutes Theft
From Rabbi Avraham Twersky, sort of

A few weeks ago we prempted (as it were) this week’s Parshat [Nasso] (asn). This week we learn from Torah that: “And they shall confess their sins which they have perpetrated, and he shall make restitution for his sin”. Before we discuss this one little bit of learning, let’s go back to what we talked about before:


Theft, The Evil of
Last week we read in Parshat Kedoshim, “Do not steal…”
The Gemara says that, “One may not steal from another even if one only wants to annoy him (!), and really intends to return the stolen item”. If the victim has even one moment of aggravation it is not permitted. One who steals will ultimately lie, swear falsely and desecrate the Divine Name. It concludes with the comment that one chet (sin) leads to another.

And yet there is another sin which – if possible – is worse. That is: when you steal from yourself. Think of it in this manner; you are in business and there is a convention of your industry chiefs. It is a prime opportunity for you to “network” and to present a paper which will contribute to both the benefit of mankind and yourself. Instead, you sit at the bar for one last bit of “Dutch Courage” and miss several minutes of opportunity which will never again occur. You have stolen from yourself. And further- you arise early each morning, have your breakfast and take your coffee in the other room and turn on the TV instead of picking up your copy of the Chumash and learning this week’s Parshat. You have stolen from yourself again and this time you have stolen an opportunity to improve yourself (literally) ‘body-and-soul’!

Well, now I need to tell you about the amazing “pps” that I recently received entitled “Hubble”. This presented pictures from Deep Space taken by the remarkable bit of space-age hardware, the Hubble telescope. And as I sat in my garden this morning; temperature in the low 70’s, the sky a cerulean blue, the trees in bud, the birds singing… I thought back to those pictures that are from ‘places’ in space millions of light-years away… pictures of history, if you will and I thought: “HaShem, what wonders you have wrought, things beyond mankind’s wildest imagination.” And then I thought about our fleeting lifespan on this spacecraft ‘earth’. Why, do we steal from ourselves? Why don’t we learn when we study Torah? And R. Twersky relates what Chazal have told us: “A person does not ‘sin’ unless he is overtaken by a spirit of folly.” So: Are we just all a bunch of ‘nut cases’? And even if we are, we are accountable for our actions. We don’t have the liberty to live our lives hedonistically – according to the sundry whims that capture our mind. Our souls [and are we not a soul first and a person – a body – secondarily?] are on loan from HaShem and we have a (some) specific purpose and that is firstly to do His will and follow his commandments.

Take, for example, Kashrut. People have long tried to “justify” Kashrut as a set of laws given to us to protect us from ills (to protect our health), as the prohibition of eating pork. To avoid trichinosis, et. al. – and so, these people tell us that with modern health codes we don’t need to be concerned with following these ‘out-of-date’ rules or laws. This is an example of the “laws of ignorant opinions authoritatively stated,” [in politics and religion: the less a person know the more authoritatively s/he speaks…] but the truth is simply that these laws (kashrut) are filled with moral meanings; they are a code of ethics! We are told not to eat a limb torn from a living animal, not to drink the blood of the animal for the blood is “LIFE” itself, we are told that “I am Ad-nai, your G_d. Sanctify yourselves and be holy, for I am the L*rd that brought you out of Mitzraim to be your G_d.” So to follow kashrut is to follow the ethical teachings given us to know and understand that all of life is holy and when we sit down to a meal of meat or a meal of vegetables, we need to “discover” the hand of G_d, and learn anew the reverence of life. We have not stolen the life of the cow or chicken, we have (in at least one sense, given it gilgul – but we won’t go into that in this discussion) sacrificed it to expiate our sins and help us to grow. And perhaps to Sanctify yourselves and be holy.

As on Jew responded, when asked why he only ordered only salads when he ate “out” (in non-kosher) restaurants, “I’m Jewish, and each time that I eat a salad (and not something treif), I am reminded of who I am and what being Jewish means to me.”

Perhaps star-gazing too much has led me in a very round-about way of trying to say that we need to see HaShem everywhere and hear His voice in the bird song, and to try not to be a “nut case” for a few minutes; at least. Eh?

Shabbat Shalom

Chol HaMoed Laws

Celebration of Joyful Events...
This is the real stuff...

The Principle of "we may not intermingle one Joyous occasion with another" teaches us that we should not be celebrating simultaneously two major joyful occasions; simply because they would interfere or distract with or from one another.

Okay.

So: we may not get married on Chol HaMoed. It would distract from the festival (the festival was 'in place' before you set your wedding date). Or the festival may distract you from the joy and festivities of the wedding. It does not even matter if the woman was previously married or not.

AH.
But you are permitted to remay your divorcee on Chol HaMoed......since the joy is not at great as that of taking a new wife!!!!!

You had better check with your rabbi, or other local authority though because you may or you may not be able to serve a meal after the wedding (you can do that on the following day however. I guess the joy is not as great on the second date).

And what other prohibitions may be in place following this wedding, we will not even consider!

Now That's funny.

from

A Comprehensive review of the Laws of the Intermediate Days of the Festivals

.

Trying to see the forest for the 3's

Da’ Trees (as we say in Chicagoees)
As In: Ø
Over: A Tree

Which in Chicago gives you the tempature: 3 Below Zero



Actually… last week we looked at a certain aspects of 7’s. Nancy, in her studies has been learning about 10’s, and this time we will learn about: 3’s. Or rather: Gimmel; and the gematria of gimmel. We know that the letter [g] Gimmel is the third letter in the Hebrew Alef-Bet and has the numerical equivalent of three (3). So.

Alef, Beit & Gimmel – The Three Pillars, and they are explained thus:
a Alef stands for Torah study [as “I shall teach you wisdom.” _Job 33:33]
b Beit stands for the service of the Beit HaMikdash
g Gimmel. Gimmel represents the acts of kindness which form the basis of human society. For we certainly have learned that the world stands on three pillars: Torah, Divine Service & Acts of Kindness.
Three.

Now Gimmel has the gematria, as we have said, of three – a number alluding to the concept that two differing, or opposing factors (concepts, ideas, concerns…) must blend and form a third entity to become reconciled and thus a more perfect entity. The Maharal attempts to give us a better understanding by saying that as Alef represents and denotes the singularity – the “Oneness”, the ultimate perfection that only exists with HaShem, and the twosomeness or duality implicit in Beit implies diversity and multiplicity, or incompatibility, but it is gimmel that offers the opportunity and the

capacity to unite these differing ‘forces’ into a whole [shalam] complete and lasting unit.


This we see when we consider our three Patriarchs:
Avraham was known for his kindness. This indeed was his persona, as is shown in his receiving the (3) visitors/messengers at his tent – dcx.
Isaac showed us justice. Uncompromising justice – [yd:
But Jacob epitomized truth – tma.
These principles, demonstrated by our forefathers, could not, on their own, sustain the world. For a world built on kindness and justice alone would not stand. They would sooner or later – clash. And like a stool with only two legs it would fall. The third leg of the stool that gives the stability is that of truth – tma. For is it not “truth” that decides when to use kindness and when to ‘impose’ justice? Three concepts, three men of HaShem, three principles; a combination which gives beauty, meaning and permanence [another “3”]. And so the three Patriarchs complemented one another to establish the foundation of Israel – of Judaism. And as it is truth which joins and unites the differing concepts we should look at the three-letters which make up the word tma. Each of these letters has a firm base (graphically) and so visually it will stand on its own without falling. Moreover you have the first, the middle and the last letters of the Alef-Bet showing that the three letters unite the Alef-Bet in truth… in tma. And our Hebrew Alef-Bet is then one of truth.

Let’s consider another aspect here of joining the three into one. It takes three partners to do this: the father (giver), the mother (receiver) and HaShem who makes it happen.

Or, look at a different level, or plane; the spiritual. Man (people) has three different elements. There is the spn “animal” which is life; there is the xvr or “soul” that raises us above simple animal life; and there is hmsn the “transcendent soul” which embraces all of Israel and goes beyond this earthly life. [Once more the “3”]




And, of course, we have a) The Written Law – Torah, Prophets & Writings, b) The Oral Law – Talmud, Halachah & Aggadah, & c) The Emissaries [who took us from slavery to freedom – the Narrow Place to Sinai] – Moses, Aaron and Miriam. Then we also have our daily prayer cycle – evening, morning, afternoon. There are the Three-fold Sanctifications (of HaShem, by the Nation of Israel as well as by His angels – svdq svdq svdq. And our Jewish congregation itself is comprised of three: Kohan, Levi, Israel.

Perhaps the Zohar sums up that which may be call the ultimate threesome/triad (denoting “harmony” in musical terms)/ (?) asdvq dx larsyv atyyrva avh jyrb - consisting of The Holy One, Baruch Hu, Torah, and Israel – which are but One. It is said that The Torah is HaShem’s wisdom which Israel translates and converts into the human experience. We see that when we observe the three pilgrimages each year.

For this discussion; I an indebted to comments made by Rabbi Michael L. Munk in his book The Wisdom in the Hebrew Alphabet. I drew upon this well of knowledge and suggest that this book will make a great addition to your personal library.

Shalom

____26 Iyyar 5769 – 41st day in the Omer


I'm sorry, it seems that the blog-people do not allow for Hebrew lettering so some of the nonsense "words" in the text need to be converted to "Lashon Tov" font.

from the STSG-James... posting

10.5.09

The Magnificent 7

by Rabbi Yaakov Salomon
An incredible tapestry of 7's has been woven into the creation.
How many can you name?

In the beginning... G-d created 7's.
Oh sure, He created light and dark, the heavens and earth, too. But for reasons unknown to us, He seemed to have a special affinity for the number 7.
The fact that the Torah begins with a verse containing 7 words and 28 letters (divisible by 7) is hardly remarkable. But when placed within the context of the overwhelming number of associations in Judaism with '7', a fascinating tapestry begins to unfurl. Let's take a closer look at this phenomenon.
WHY "SHAVUOT?"
Every spring, Jews around the world celebrate the holiday of Shavuot --commemorating the most seminal event in the history of mankind, God's revelation at Mount Sinai.
Shavuot. Curious name for this holiday, no? Shavuot means "weeks," underscoring the 7-week period between Passover and Shavuot in which we count each day (and week) in anticipation and preparation for re-living the Sinai revelation. But why call it Shavuot -- "weeks"? Why not call the holiday "Torah," or "Sinai," or "Commandments," or "Tablets." Of what significance is "Weeks"?
Time contains many different entities. Nearly all of them are related to natural phenomena. Days, nights, months, seasons and years are all directly determined, in some way, by the constellations. There is one exception -- the week. The formulation of a week seems to be totally arbitrary. Who needs it? Let one day just follow the previous one. And why 7 days?
The concept of a week and its constitution of 7 days is one that is strictly G-d-invented and human-adopted. While we may quibble about creation -- how, when, by whom, why -- the world has consensually agreed to the concept of a week. The Beatles were wrong... there are only 7 days in a week. And whenever a week is completed it is yet another reminder to mankind (or should be) that G-d created the world in 7 days. (Only 6 days were required to manufacture the physical structures, but the process was not complete until the spiritual realm, Shabbat, was added.)
Call it the "week link."
WHY "7"?
Kabbalah teaches that 7 represents wholeness and completion. After 7 days, the world was complete. There are 6 directions in our world: north, south, east, west, up and down. Add to that the place where you are, and you have a total of 7 points of reference.
Shavuot, marking the emergence of the Jewish people into a nation, by virtue of their receiving and accepting the Torah, also marks a completion. Perhaps that is why the holiday is called Shavuot, "Weeks." We want to identify this holiday as a completion of the process of Jewish nationhood.
No one is certain why G-d chose the number "7" to signify completion. All we can do is speculate, observe and marvel.
In honor of our own completion of the 49 day period leading up to Shavuot, we present 49 allusions to the number "7" within Judaism. How many of these do you recognize? How many more can you add?
THE MAGNIFICENT SEVENS!
1. Shabbat is the 7th day of the week.
2. There are 7 weeks in the counting of the Omer before Shavuot. (Leviticus 23:15)
3. In Israel, there are 7 days of Passover and Sukkot. (Leviticus 23:6, 34)
4. Every 7th year, the land lays fallow during Shmita (Sabbatical year). (Leviticus 25:4)
5. After 7 cycles of Shmita, we have a Jubilee year (Yovel). (Leviticus 25:8)
6. When a close relative dies, we sit Shiva for 7 days.
7. On Sukkot we shake 7 species - 1 Lulav, 1 Esrog, 2 willows, and 3 myrtles.
8. Yitro, the first real convert to Judaism, had 7 different names, and 7 daughters (one who married Moses).
9. Moses was born and died on the same day - the 7th of Adar.
10. Our Sukkah huts are "visited" by 7 guests - Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, Aaron, Joseph and David.
11. The Menorah in the Temple had 7 branches.
12. Achashvarosh, King of Persia during the miracle of Purim, held a party for 7 days. (Esther 1:5)
13. There are 7 holidays in the Jewish year: Rosh Hashana, Yom Kippur, Sukkot, Chanukah, Purim, Passover, and Shavuot.
14. In addition to the 613 Commandments, the Sages added 7 more.
15. There are 7 Noachide Laws pertaining to all humanity.
16. At every Jewish wedding, 7 blessings are recited (Sheva Brachot).
17. Each Shabbat, 7 people are called to the Torah reading (Aliyot).
18. The first verse in the Torah contains 7 words (and 28 letters).
19. Our Matriarch Leah had 7 children - six sons and one daughter.
20. There were 7 days of preparation for the construction of the Tabernacle in the desert. (Leviticus 8:35)
21. Traditionally, the bride circles the groom 7 times under the Chuppah (wedding canopy).
22. We wind the Tefillin straps around the arm 7 times.
23. Moses was the 7th generation after Abraham.
24. Each plague in Egypt lasted 7 days.
25. In Pharaoh's dreams there were 7 cows and 7 stalks of grain. (Genesis 41)
26. The Biblical contamination period typically lasts 7 days. (Leviticus 13:4)
27. God created 7 levels of heaven. (Hence the expression, "I'm in 7th heaven!")
28. On Shabbat and holidays, we recite 7 blessings in the silent Amidah.
29. There are 7 special species of produce by which the Land of Israel is praised: wheat, barley, grapes, pomegranates, figs, olives, and dates. (Deut. 8:8)
30. The world has 7 continents.
31. The 7 weeks of the Omer correspond to the 7 "sefirot," the 7 behavior traits in which we serve God: kindness, strength, beauty, triumph, splendor, foundation, and kingship.
32. Noah sent the dove and the raven out of the Ark for 7 days to inspect the weather conditions. (Genesis 8:10)
33. 7 nations warred with Israel: Canaanites, Hittites, Hivites, Amorites, Perizzites, Jebusites, and Girgashites.
34. On Yom Kippur, the High Priest sprinkled the blood in the Temple 7 times. (Leviticus 16)
35. The Jewish New Year of Rosh Hashana occurs, surprisingly, in the 7th month -- Tishrei. (Leviticus 23:24)
36. The Jewish calendar, largely lunar, has a cycle of intercalation that contains 7 leap years during each 19-year period.
37. There are 7 notes on the musical scale.
38. A Kohen (priest) should participate in the burial of 7 relatives: father, mother, sister, brother, son, daughter, and spouse. (Leviticus 21:2)
39. We dance 7 circles (hakafot) on the holiday of Simchat Torah.
40. The smallest allowable dimension of a Sukkah is 7 cubits by 7 cubits.
41. The world has 7 seas.
42. Joshua led the Jewish People around the walls of Jericho 7 times before the walls fell. (Joshua 6:15)
43. Jacob worked for Laban for 7 years (twice) in order to marry his daughters. (Genesis 29:27)
44. The Holy Temple contained 7 gates of entry.
45. We recite 7 blessings every day before and after the "Shema" -- 3 in the morning and 4 at night.
46. The Talmud lists 7 female prophets: Sarah, Miriam, Deborah, Hannah, Avigail, Chuldah, and Esther.
47. A Jewish servant regains freedom after working for 7 years. (Exodus 21:2)
48. We conclude our Yom Kippur prayers by proclaiming7 times, "The Lord is God!"
49. A Jewish wedding is followed by 7 days of celebration (Sheva Brachot).

Rabbi Bechaye asks: Why are only six garments enumerated in this portion (Parashat Tetzaveh), when the High Priest actually wore eight garments? Because this parashah refers only to the garments in which Moses clothes him. The High Priest himself put on his trousers in private; and the tzitzit was a platelet of gold worn on his forehead. It was an accessory rather than an article of clothing, and so was not mentioned here. (Tze'enah Ur'enah)

If you have "problems" with this post, you can go to AISH.com and discuss it with Rabbi Saloman, you can add to this post, you can come to our Shabbos Torah Study Group session on Shabbos (of course), or you can simply ask yourself about the mathematical possibility of this type of occurrence. [I'm with Jethro (Gibbs)- I do not believe in coincidence. What say you?

Posted by James at 19:57

Oh Yes! Let's not forget Birkat HaCamah which we recently observed. The 28 YEAR cycle of the sun (7x4=28... and "4" is another interesting number to look at and consider...)