Tag Archive for Receiving the Torah

Torah is About Love and Fear

August 27, 2013 G-d and Us, Shavuot No comments

The scripture (Parshat Yitro 19:1-25) describes in detail the monumental event of the Jewish people receiving the Torah. But one may raise his eyebrow as to where our ancestors were camped when the revelation occurred. The literal translation of where they were standing was, under the mountain. We assumed the Torah is indicating they were near the mountain, but Rashi, the mainstream commentary on the Torah, seems to believe that G-d raised the mountain over the heads of the Israelites and threatened them ‘if you do not except the Torah I’m going to drop the mountain and kill you now!’

 

Presumably, this seems to be contradicting to what we were led to believe, so proudly,’NA’ASSE VE NISHMA’; meaning we will accept the Torah so blindly that we will do the commandments first, and receive the explanations later. All the other nations probed ‘what’s in it?’ and then rejected it; however, our ancestors embraced it. ‘Hey! We agreed on the conditions without even looking at the contract, so why is G- d forcing us for no reason? ‘

 

Rabbi Jay Shapiro, one of my mentors, quotes Rav Eliyahu Lapian’s parable and explanation on the contradiction. I think this parable is really cool. Back in the days, there was a king that was very popular and loved by all. He had an important meeting cross-country and the optimal form of transportation was the royal train. It was a three-day trip, with planned designated stops all throughout the country. Towards the end of his route to the meeting, the royal train pulls into this town. It seemed like the townspeople were hungrily ready for his arrival. Banners were hanging on the rafters of the train station with the words ‘WE LOVE YOU KING’; the band was playing his favorite song in between a presentation by the second grade choir of its prestigious school; the clowns were juggling; the hot dog stand was full.

 

All were waiting to see the Majesty King; the enthusiastic noise was getting more intense. After fifteen minutes, a guard emerges and made an announcement. ‘The King loves you all but he had a long day and he’s trying to get some sleep; he has a major conference tomorrow and he would appreciate some quiet.’ After he returned back to the train the crowd continued the noise. ‘WE LOVE YOU KING!’ they proclaimed showing more of their intense love. The band played louder; the juggler added another ball; more hotdogs and Marino’s ices were added. A little while later, a guard emerged from the train, this time slightly agitated and a bit more firm, ‘We ask you nicely, the King has a very important meeting tomorrow and needs his sleep. Please refrain from noise’. The guard disappeared back into the train presumably satisfied that his words made an impression. But that did not stop the crowd; they anticipated this day for a while and were eager to show their love and affection to the king.

 

Ten minutes later six guards appeared on the high platform next to the locomotive, carrying submachine guns (they had machine guns in those days? No, I actually altered the story a bit to bring home the point). The head goon with the dark sunglasses spoke up, ‘Whoever makes another sound will be shot’. As a result of these frightening words, one can hear a pin drop among the three thousand well-wishers.

 

Rav Lapian asks, ‘Do they still love their king?’ The answer is yes, but now they fear him as well as love him. If there would be no fear, the important mission would not have been accomplished properly, even though the right intentions were at heart.

 

In order for us to function as proper Jews and to adhere to his laws correctly, progressively and efficiently, one has to incorporate a little fear as well as the love that one dearly possesses for Him, or else there will be total chaos. A person may eat pig and say ‘I appreciate the food G d has giving me’. There is an expression, which is used frequently ‘I love G d in my heart and I’ll show it my way’. This is considered inappropriate; there has to be rules and they have to be followed. For example, if one violates Shabbat he will pay the consequences. Logically, it makes sense to have law and order, or religion will be a free for all.

 

This is what G-d wanted to show the Israelites by picking up the mountain and threatening them – that love and fear are part and parcel. This is also the lesson that G-d is trying to convey to us.  One needs both to be a proper Jew.

 

Shavuot- A Deeper Understanding

August 27, 2013 Shavuot No comments

          There are some pressing questions about the holiday of Shavuot and it would be wise to address and hopefully answer them.
          One of the famous statements we say/sing on Pesach in the passage of DAYENU is a very peculiar one. We say: “if we didn’t receive the Torah but just stood at Mount Sinai that would be enough”.

          Isn’t receiving the Torah the main reason the Jews, and for that matter the world, is in existence? So how would it be enough to not receive the Torah- that would be missing the whole point. It seems like a tease, close but no cigar. It’s as if someone is the best man at a wedding, but he’s not the groom!! Another puzzling problem is why do we put branches/flowers in the Synagogues?
           Another question: there is an argument in the Talmud as to how we should celebrate holidays in general. Many opine that it should be spent half for our physical enjoyment and the other half dedicated to G-d, pursuing spirituality. However, all seemingly agree that on Shavuot, the holiday should be spent entirely for us, for our physical enjoyment. This is most perplexing for out of all the holidays, the most spiritual should be Shavuot as we are commemorating the receiving of the Torah. It should be spent in a spiritual quest, after all we received the Torah, which is from Hashem. So why do indulge more in physical pleasures on Shavuot?
          In our quest to resolve these questions, some background is necessary. Many commentaries agree that before the sin of Adam, the tree’s branches tasted like the fruit itself. There was also another aspect of the tree; bread grew on it. Yes, that’s right, Adam would grab a croissant on his way to the other side of heaven!
          When the Jews reached Mount Sinai and were about to receive the Torah, they seemingly crossed one of the finish lines. It wasn’t the ultimate achievement for one more was yet to come, however it was still significant. The sin of Adam was atoned for and the outcome was that there would be no more death. In what way? It was decreed that the trees would taste like the fruit. No more hard work and food preparations, ” by the sweat of your brow” was null.
          For this reason we hang branches in the Shuls on the holiday to commemorate the high level we reached at that moment.
          In the time of the Temple, we ate special bread on Shavuot, bread that was different from any other time of the year. It was the only time that bread which was Chametz was eaten in the Temple. Symbolically, we want to bring back those precious moments where we reached that high level of before the sin of Adam, when the bread grew on the trees.
          Now we must address another question. Why should Shavuot be dedicated to our physical pleasure consisting of good foods, like chocolate cheesecake etc.?
          The answer lies in the fact that there is a constant fight raging in us humans. We are sort of in between the Angels and the animals. Well, are we animals or angels?  We know that when Moshe went up to receive the Torah on our behalf, the angels wanted to kill him. They asked, “what are you doing here?  the Torah is not for humans- it’s heavenly”.  He answered back, “can you make a bracha on a fruit and enjoy it? Can you smell and make a blessing on mints? Can you perform the commandment of honoring your parents? NO! Only man can perform these Torah commandments”.
          Torah is a guiding map of the world. The whole idea is to take the physical and elevate it to spiritual. The cheesecake, with the proper thought and  blessing of appreciation to G-d, should, not could, should be eaten!! WHY NOT!! WE ARE HERE TO ENJOY THE WORLD! The angels cannot enjoy it and the animals cannot appreciate it. We should not abstain from physical pleasures like some religions command. We should enjoy it as long as it’s in the proper guidelines of Jewish law.
    For this reason, Shavuot is for us. It’s using our hearts to direct our earthly pleasures. Incidentally, that’s also the meaning of NA’ASEH VEH NISHMA-we will do and then listen (comprehend). It should be done instinctively; all the pleasures should automatically be enjoyed, as we are human beings and that is part of our nature. Still, they must be done with G-d in mind. Thus, Shavuot is not really for us to simply gorge and indulge, rather it is for us to enjoy properly, thereby enjoying it spiritually as well. Enjoy!