According to statistics, the world's Jewish population stands at
just over 13 million. The population remains stable thanks to
Israel's natural growth, which offsets the continuing decrease
in Jews elsewhere.
Jews today represent only two out of every
1,000 people in the world, compared to a ratio
of 3.5 to 1,000 in 1970, 4.7 to 1,000 in 1945,
and 7.5 to 1,000 in 1938.
Here in Canada, the statistics confirm this decrease.
In 2001, Jews ranked 17th overall in
Canada in terms of the largest groups defined
on the basis of ethnic origins. In 2006, Jews
dropped to 25th. In Quebec they dropped from
10th place to 13th place and in Ontario from
15th place to 19th place.
At this rate, we should all but disappear by 2078.
So what’s happening?
Well for one thing, more Jews in the diaspora are dying than are being
born. And for another, assimilation and intermarriage have claimed
many Jewish identities.
The dominant reason why Jews are not maintaining their Jewish identity
is not that they are escaping their Jewishness but rather their indifference
to it in an open and welcoming country. Nowhere is this
more obvious than with the evolution of Chanukah into the “Jewish
Christmas”.
Ironically, Chanukah is the story of Jewish survival amid assimilation.
And yet, so many North American Jews celebrate it in the same manner
that Christians celebrate Christmas – gift giving, stockings,
Chanukah “bushes” and more. In doing some research for this article,
I came across a web site that sells an 8 foot tall inflatable snowman
that is holding a menorah in one hand and an Israeli flag in the other.
The web describes this character as “Hanukkah Harry” and goes on to
say “Finally… Show Your Jewish Pride To Your Family, Friends and
Neighbors during this 2008 Chanukah Season “The Festival of Lights”
and For Years To Come By decorating with a Jewish Holiday Lawn Inflatable.
Hanukkah-Harry is an Illuminated Lawn Inflatable so he'll
make a statement Day and Night, Indoor or Outdoor! Don’t Be Left
Out In The Cold this Chanukah Season…!”
Even The South Park album, “Mr. Hankey's Christmas Classics”, features
"Dreidel Dreidel Dreidel" with Stan, Cartman and the Broflofski
family, and Kyle's classic "The Lonely Jew On
Christmas."
Oh what would the Maccabees say?
The juxtaposition of Chanukah and Christmas
on the calendar has naturally led to a case of
mistaken identity – which has been exploited by
and fuelled by North American retailers anxious
to increase sales at this, their most lucrative
time of the year. I sense it is also the natural outcome
of intermarriage – where the converted
partner still has a family that celebrates Christmas.
The choice to participate in what they tell themselves is a “cultural”
and not a “religious” tradition, is legitimized by the advertising
explosion around them. They buy into the holiday. Literally.
But the way Chanukah is celebrated by those who participate in
“Christmas-Lite” has nothing at all to do with Chanukah. The people
guilty of this practice justify it with the question, “What harm does it
do?”
I think the statistics speak for themselves.
Tuesday, December 2, 2008
What's the harm?
According to statistics, the world's Jewish population stands at
just over 13 million. The population remains stable thanks to
Israel's natural growth, which offsets the continuing decrease
in Jews elsewhere.
Jews today represent only two out of every
1,000 people in the world, compared to a ratio
of 3.5 to 1,000 in 1970, 4.7 to 1,000 in 1945,
and 7.5 to 1,000 in 1938.
Here in Canada, the statistics confirm this decrease.
In 2001, Jews ranked 17th overall in
Canada in terms of the largest groups defined
on the basis of ethnic origins. In 2006, Jews
dropped to 25th. In Quebec they dropped from
10th place to 13th place and in Ontario from
15th place to 19th place.
At this rate, we should all but disappear by 2078.
So what’s happening?
Well for one thing, more Jews in the diaspora are dying than are being
born. And for another, assimilation and intermarriage have claimed
many Jewish identities.
The dominant reason why Jews are not maintaining their Jewish identity
is not that they are escaping their Jewishness but rather their indifference
to it in an open and welcoming country. Nowhere is this
more obvious than with the evolution of Chanukah into the “Jewish
Christmas”.
Ironically, Chanukah is the story of Jewish survival amid assimilation.
And yet, so many North American Jews celebrate it in the same manner
that Christians celebrate Christmas – gift giving, stockings,
Chanukah “bushes” and more. In doing some research for this article,
I came across a web site that sells an 8 foot tall inflatable snowman
that is holding a menorah in one hand and an Israeli flag in the other.
The web describes this character as “Hanukkah Harry” and goes on to
say “Finally… Show Your Jewish Pride To Your Family, Friends and
Neighbors during this 2008 Chanukah Season “The Festival of Lights”
and For Years To Come By decorating with a Jewish Holiday Lawn Inflatable.
Hanukkah-Harry is an Illuminated Lawn Inflatable so he'll
make a statement Day and Night, Indoor or Outdoor! Don’t Be Left
Out In The Cold this Chanukah Season…!”
Even The South Park album, “Mr. Hankey's Christmas Classics”, features
"Dreidel Dreidel Dreidel" with Stan, Cartman and the Broflofski
family, and Kyle's classic "The Lonely Jew On
Christmas."
Oh what would the Maccabees say?
The juxtaposition of Chanukah and Christmas
on the calendar has naturally led to a case of
mistaken identity – which has been exploited by
and fuelled by North American retailers anxious
to increase sales at this, their most lucrative
time of the year. I sense it is also the natural outcome
of intermarriage – where the converted
partner still has a family that celebrates Christmas.
The choice to participate in what they tell themselves is a “cultural”
and not a “religious” tradition, is legitimized by the advertising
explosion around them. They buy into the holiday. Literally.
But the way Chanukah is celebrated by those who participate in
“Christmas-Lite” has nothing at all to do with Chanukah. The people
guilty of this practice justify it with the question, “What harm does it
do?”
I think the statistics speak for themselves.
Judy Hazan
President
W
just over 13 million. The population remains stable thanks to
Israel's natural growth, which offsets the continuing decrease
in Jews elsewhere.
Jews today represent only two out of every
1,000 people in the world, compared to a ratio
of 3.5 to 1,000 in 1970, 4.7 to 1,000 in 1945,
and 7.5 to 1,000 in 1938.
Here in Canada, the statistics confirm this decrease.
In 2001, Jews ranked 17th overall in
Canada in terms of the largest groups defined
on the basis of ethnic origins. In 2006, Jews
dropped to 25th. In Quebec they dropped from
10th place to 13th place and in Ontario from
15th place to 19th place.
At this rate, we should all but disappear by 2078.
So what’s happening?
Well for one thing, more Jews in the diaspora are dying than are being
born. And for another, assimilation and intermarriage have claimed
many Jewish identities.
The dominant reason why Jews are not maintaining their Jewish identity
is not that they are escaping their Jewishness but rather their indifference
to it in an open and welcoming country. Nowhere is this
more obvious than with the evolution of Chanukah into the “Jewish
Christmas”.
Ironically, Chanukah is the story of Jewish survival amid assimilation.
And yet, so many North American Jews celebrate it in the same manner
that Christians celebrate Christmas – gift giving, stockings,
Chanukah “bushes” and more. In doing some research for this article,
I came across a web site that sells an 8 foot tall inflatable snowman
that is holding a menorah in one hand and an Israeli flag in the other.
The web describes this character as “Hanukkah Harry” and goes on to
say “Finally… Show Your Jewish Pride To Your Family, Friends and
Neighbors during this 2008 Chanukah Season “The Festival of Lights”
and For Years To Come By decorating with a Jewish Holiday Lawn Inflatable.
Hanukkah-Harry is an Illuminated Lawn Inflatable so he'll
make a statement Day and Night, Indoor or Outdoor! Don’t Be Left
Out In The Cold this Chanukah Season…!”
Even The South Park album, “Mr. Hankey's Christmas Classics”, features
"Dreidel Dreidel Dreidel" with Stan, Cartman and the Broflofski
family, and Kyle's classic "The Lonely Jew On
Christmas."
Oh what would the Maccabees say?
The juxtaposition of Chanukah and Christmas
on the calendar has naturally led to a case of
mistaken identity – which has been exploited by
and fuelled by North American retailers anxious
to increase sales at this, their most lucrative
time of the year. I sense it is also the natural outcome
of intermarriage – where the converted
partner still has a family that celebrates Christmas.
The choice to participate in what they tell themselves is a “cultural”
and not a “religious” tradition, is legitimized by the advertising
explosion around them. They buy into the holiday. Literally.
But the way Chanukah is celebrated by those who participate in
“Christmas-Lite” has nothing at all to do with Chanukah. The people
guilty of this practice justify it with the question, “What harm does it
do?”
I think the statistics speak for themselves.
Judy Hazan
President
W
Parsha Bereshit
PARASHAT BERESHIT:
Parashat Bereshit recounts not only the creation of humanity and the rest of the world, but also supplies our most basic ideas about the nature and mission of humanity. Humanity is created with special capabilities and commanded to develop and actualize them in specific ways. The whole world is fresh, totally unspoiled; all potentials await fulfillment. The infant world sparkles with innocence and energy, with the wonder of Creation.
But Creation is really not the only theme of our parasha. Creation is only the beginning; the genesis of the world shares the stage with the genesis and evolution of the relationship between God and humanity.
A BACKGROUND OF FAILURES:
Since we cannot take a detailed look at every event of the parasha, let’s just make brief mention of one important event we’re not going to look at this time: the sin of the Tree of Knowledge, which forever changes the way people live—and die. Already moving beyond the theme of Creation, we encounter God as commander (“Thou shalt not eat”) and humanity as servant. Without much delay, humanity creates something God had not created: failure. Blighting the beautifully ordered description of the construction of the cosmos, Adam and Eve’s sin is humanity’s first failure and God’s first disappointment (see Bereshit 6:6). This failure changes humanity and changes the world, as the “first family” is ejected from the garden and forced to struggle through life in the more difficult world outside. As this disappointment is the first of many disappointments for God, this failure is the first of many failures for humanity. We sometimes do not realize that many of the stories we read in the first few parshiot of the Torah are not about Creation, but about disappointment and failure and how they change the course of history by changing God’s plan for humanity.
IMAGES OF GOD:
The specific topic we’re going to look at this time is the theme of “tzelem Elochim,” the idea that humankind is created in the image of God. Our close look at this theme, and the conclusions we draw, should help us understand not only the events of our parasha, but also the development of the theme of all of Sefer Bereshit (Genesis).
“Tzelem Elochim” itself simply means an image or form of God. What is this usually understood to mean? In what way are humans God-like? Some interpretations by mefarshim (traditional commentators):
1) Like God, humans have intelligence (Rashi, Rashbam, Radak, Seforno).
2) Like God, humans have free will (Seforno).
3) As God is a “spiritual” Being, humans have a soul (Ibn Ezra, Radak, Ramban, Seforno).
4) As God rules over the universe, humans rule over the lower world (R. Sa’adya Gaon, Hizkuni).
5) Like God, humans have the faculty of judgment (Hizkuni).
6) Like God, humans have an inherent holiness and dignity (a more modern perspective).
One thing should be clear about tzelem Elochim which may not have been clear before: tzelem Elochim is not a *description* of humanity, it is a *goal* for humanity. We usually think of tzelem Elochim as a description of humanity’s basic nature, which entitles humanity to certain privileges and expresses certain capabilities. But the Torah implies that tzelem Elochim is more than simply a description, it is a mission, a command: humanity must *live up to* tzelem Elochim! People are created with the potential to reflect God by achieving the tzelem Elochim missions --- but each person must *become* a tzelem Elochim by actualizing this potential.
If tzelem Elochim is a mission, of course, it can be achieved or failed. How well humanity fares in achieving this mission is the major subtext of the Torah from the creation of Adam until the selection of Avraham in Parashat Lekh Lekha.
We will now follow the history of the tzelem Elochim idea through the first generations of humanity’s existence to see whether humanity lives up to the mission or not and whether the mission changes over time.
THE FIRST MURDER:
Our first look at how tzelem Elochim plays out in history brings us to the story of the first siblings, Cain and Abel. Abel offers to God a sacrifice of his finest animals; Cain offers his finest fruits. God is happy with Abel’s offering but unsatisfied with Cain’s. The Torah reports that Cain is deeply upset and angry at being rejected. Shortly thereafter, man creates again, as Cain invents murder by killing his brother Abel, whose offering had been accepted. Cain then attempts to hide the evidence but soon learns that God doesn’t miss much:
BERESHIT 4:3-9 --
It happened, after awhile, that Cain brought an offering to God from the fruits of the ground. Abel also brought from the firstborn of his sheep and from their fattest; God turned to Abel and his offering, but to Cain and his offering He did not turn. Cain became very angry, and his face fell . . . . It happened, when they were in the field, that Cain rose up to Abel his brother and killed him. God said to Cain, ‘Where is Abel, your brother? . . . Now, you are cursed from the ground . . . you shall be a wanderer and drifter in the land.’
Cain’s response to his pun:
BERESHIT 4:13-15 --
Cain said to God, ‘My sin is too great to bear! You have driven me today from the face of the land, and I will be hidden from Your face, a wanderer and drifter in the land; anyone who finds me will kill me!’ God said to him, ‘Therefore, anyone who kills Cain will suffer seven times’ vengeance.’ And God gave Cain a sign so that whoever found him would not kill him . . .
MURDER, A FAMILY TRADITION:
We will now look at the continuation of what we’ve been reading about Cain. If you’re not paying very careful attention, it seems like a collection of “random” events—the Torah appears to be reporting “trivia” about Cain’s post-punishment life. But there is much more here than there might seem at first. Our observations should shed light on the development of the tzelem Elochim theme.
BERESHIT 4:17-19--
Cain ‘knew’ his wife; she conceived and bore Hanokh . . . and to Hanokh was born Eerod; Eerod bore Mehuyael, Mehuyael bore Metushael, Metushael bore Lemekh. Lemekh took two wives, one named Ada and the other named Tzila . . . .
Cain has had children, and we hear about his descendants. A nice family story, but what is the Torah trying to tell us?
BERESHIT 4:23-24 --
Lemekh said to his wives, ‘Ada and Tzila, hear my voice; wives of Lemekh, hear my speech; for a man I have killed for my wound, and a child for my injury. For Cain will be avenged seven-fold, and Lemekh seventy-seven.’
Apparently—as all of the mefarshim explain—Lemekh has killed someone. As he recounts the murder to his wives, he implies that although he expects to suffer punishment, as his great-grandfather Cain suffered for murder, he prays that God will take seventy-fold revenge on anyone who kills him. He explicitly refers to the murder committed by his forebear Cain and to the protection extended by God to Cain.
What the Torah tells us next is absolutely crucial:
BERESHIT 4:25-5:1-3 --
Adam knew his wife again, and she bore a son; she called his name Shet, ‘For God has sent to me another child to replace Abel, for Cain killed him’ . . . This is the book of the descendants of Adam. When God created Adam, in the image of God He made him . . . Adam lived thirty and a hundred years, and bore in his image, like his form, and he called his name ‘Shet.’
Certainly, the order of this story—Cain’s murder of Abel, then Cain’s punishment, then Lemekh’s murder, then the birth of another son to Adam and Eve—is not at all random. What connections is the Torah trying to make?
Lemekh the murderer is a descendant of Cain, the first murderer. Not only is Lemekh a direct descendant of Cain, he even makes explicit reference to his great-grandfather’s murderous behavior and hopes that he will benefit from the same protection as (or greater protection than) Cain received, despite the punishment he expects. What the Torah may be hinting is that Cain and his family do not sufficiently value human life. Cain kills his brother Abel in frustration and jealousy; Lemekh kills an unnamed person in retaliation for a “wound and injury.” For Cain, murder is an acceptable solution to problems or frustrations, and he passes his values on to his children. Lemekh’s murder and his reference to Cain’s similar crime manifest the moral failure of this family. One generation’s failure to understand the value of human life plants murder in the heart of the next generation.
BEGINNING FROM THE BEGINNING AGAIN:
The Torah next tells us that Adam and Eve have another child “because Cain killed Abel.” Actually, Adam and Eve are replacing not only Abel, but both of their sons—Abel, because he is dead, and Cain, because his murder and his descendants’ similar action shows that his behavior was not a freak incident, but a deficiency in values. By having another child, Adam and Eve begin again, attempting to produce an individual who really understands the mission of humanity as achieving the status of tzelem Elochim. By murdering his brother, Cain fails this mission (as we will explain). Lemekh’s action shows that Cain has not learned from his mistake and has not successfully taught his children to respect human life.
This is why the Torah begins the story of humanity’s creation “anew” with the birth of Shet, telling the story as if Adam and Eve had had no children until now:
BERESHIT 5:1-3--
This is the book of the descendants of Adam. When God created Adam, in the image of God He made him . . . Adam lived thirty and a hundred years, and bore IN HIS IMAGE, LIKE HIS FORM, and he called his name ‘Shet.’
The Torah is trying to communicate that humanity is starting over, beginning from scratch. The first attempt, the one which produced a murderer and his victim, has come to a tragic close with another murder (Lemekh’s). Adam and Eve realize that they must start anew, and the Torah makes this explicit by placing the literary structure of a “beginning” at the birth of Shet. The real “descendants” of Adam are only those who maintain “his image . . . his form”, the image and form of tzelem Elochim.
But how has Cain failed as a tzelem Elochim? Has he not excelled as a conqueror of the earth, a tiller of the ground who brings fruits to God as an offering? Has he not “been fruitful and multiplied,” producing descendants to fill the earth? Have his descendants not exercised creativity like that of the Creator, inventing tools and instruments?
To find the answers to these questions we have to look at next week’s Parsha - Noah. Read it. And come back!
Parashat Bereshit recounts not only the creation of humanity and the rest of the world, but also supplies our most basic ideas about the nature and mission of humanity. Humanity is created with special capabilities and commanded to develop and actualize them in specific ways. The whole world is fresh, totally unspoiled; all potentials await fulfillment. The infant world sparkles with innocence and energy, with the wonder of Creation.
But Creation is really not the only theme of our parasha. Creation is only the beginning; the genesis of the world shares the stage with the genesis and evolution of the relationship between God and humanity.
A BACKGROUND OF FAILURES:
Since we cannot take a detailed look at every event of the parasha, let’s just make brief mention of one important event we’re not going to look at this time: the sin of the Tree of Knowledge, which forever changes the way people live—and die. Already moving beyond the theme of Creation, we encounter God as commander (“Thou shalt not eat”) and humanity as servant. Without much delay, humanity creates something God had not created: failure. Blighting the beautifully ordered description of the construction of the cosmos, Adam and Eve’s sin is humanity’s first failure and God’s first disappointment (see Bereshit 6:6). This failure changes humanity and changes the world, as the “first family” is ejected from the garden and forced to struggle through life in the more difficult world outside. As this disappointment is the first of many disappointments for God, this failure is the first of many failures for humanity. We sometimes do not realize that many of the stories we read in the first few parshiot of the Torah are not about Creation, but about disappointment and failure and how they change the course of history by changing God’s plan for humanity.
IMAGES OF GOD:
The specific topic we’re going to look at this time is the theme of “tzelem Elochim,” the idea that humankind is created in the image of God. Our close look at this theme, and the conclusions we draw, should help us understand not only the events of our parasha, but also the development of the theme of all of Sefer Bereshit (Genesis).
“Tzelem Elochim” itself simply means an image or form of God. What is this usually understood to mean? In what way are humans God-like? Some interpretations by mefarshim (traditional commentators):
1) Like God, humans have intelligence (Rashi, Rashbam, Radak, Seforno).
2) Like God, humans have free will (Seforno).
3) As God is a “spiritual” Being, humans have a soul (Ibn Ezra, Radak, Ramban, Seforno).
4) As God rules over the universe, humans rule over the lower world (R. Sa’adya Gaon, Hizkuni).
5) Like God, humans have the faculty of judgment (Hizkuni).
6) Like God, humans have an inherent holiness and dignity (a more modern perspective).
One thing should be clear about tzelem Elochim which may not have been clear before: tzelem Elochim is not a *description* of humanity, it is a *goal* for humanity. We usually think of tzelem Elochim as a description of humanity’s basic nature, which entitles humanity to certain privileges and expresses certain capabilities. But the Torah implies that tzelem Elochim is more than simply a description, it is a mission, a command: humanity must *live up to* tzelem Elochim! People are created with the potential to reflect God by achieving the tzelem Elochim missions --- but each person must *become* a tzelem Elochim by actualizing this potential.
If tzelem Elochim is a mission, of course, it can be achieved or failed. How well humanity fares in achieving this mission is the major subtext of the Torah from the creation of Adam until the selection of Avraham in Parashat Lekh Lekha.
We will now follow the history of the tzelem Elochim idea through the first generations of humanity’s existence to see whether humanity lives up to the mission or not and whether the mission changes over time.
THE FIRST MURDER:
Our first look at how tzelem Elochim plays out in history brings us to the story of the first siblings, Cain and Abel. Abel offers to God a sacrifice of his finest animals; Cain offers his finest fruits. God is happy with Abel’s offering but unsatisfied with Cain’s. The Torah reports that Cain is deeply upset and angry at being rejected. Shortly thereafter, man creates again, as Cain invents murder by killing his brother Abel, whose offering had been accepted. Cain then attempts to hide the evidence but soon learns that God doesn’t miss much:
BERESHIT 4:3-9 --
It happened, after awhile, that Cain brought an offering to God from the fruits of the ground. Abel also brought from the firstborn of his sheep and from their fattest; God turned to Abel and his offering, but to Cain and his offering He did not turn. Cain became very angry, and his face fell . . . . It happened, when they were in the field, that Cain rose up to Abel his brother and killed him. God said to Cain, ‘Where is Abel, your brother? . . . Now, you are cursed from the ground . . . you shall be a wanderer and drifter in the land.’
Cain’s response to his pun:
BERESHIT 4:13-15 --
Cain said to God, ‘My sin is too great to bear! You have driven me today from the face of the land, and I will be hidden from Your face, a wanderer and drifter in the land; anyone who finds me will kill me!’ God said to him, ‘Therefore, anyone who kills Cain will suffer seven times’ vengeance.’ And God gave Cain a sign so that whoever found him would not kill him . . .
MURDER, A FAMILY TRADITION:
We will now look at the continuation of what we’ve been reading about Cain. If you’re not paying very careful attention, it seems like a collection of “random” events—the Torah appears to be reporting “trivia” about Cain’s post-punishment life. But there is much more here than there might seem at first. Our observations should shed light on the development of the tzelem Elochim theme.
BERESHIT 4:17-19--
Cain ‘knew’ his wife; she conceived and bore Hanokh . . . and to Hanokh was born Eerod; Eerod bore Mehuyael, Mehuyael bore Metushael, Metushael bore Lemekh. Lemekh took two wives, one named Ada and the other named Tzila . . . .
Cain has had children, and we hear about his descendants. A nice family story, but what is the Torah trying to tell us?
BERESHIT 4:23-24 --
Lemekh said to his wives, ‘Ada and Tzila, hear my voice; wives of Lemekh, hear my speech; for a man I have killed for my wound, and a child for my injury. For Cain will be avenged seven-fold, and Lemekh seventy-seven.’
Apparently—as all of the mefarshim explain—Lemekh has killed someone. As he recounts the murder to his wives, he implies that although he expects to suffer punishment, as his great-grandfather Cain suffered for murder, he prays that God will take seventy-fold revenge on anyone who kills him. He explicitly refers to the murder committed by his forebear Cain and to the protection extended by God to Cain.
What the Torah tells us next is absolutely crucial:
BERESHIT 4:25-5:1-3 --
Adam knew his wife again, and she bore a son; she called his name Shet, ‘For God has sent to me another child to replace Abel, for Cain killed him’ . . . This is the book of the descendants of Adam. When God created Adam, in the image of God He made him . . . Adam lived thirty and a hundred years, and bore in his image, like his form, and he called his name ‘Shet.’
Certainly, the order of this story—Cain’s murder of Abel, then Cain’s punishment, then Lemekh’s murder, then the birth of another son to Adam and Eve—is not at all random. What connections is the Torah trying to make?
Lemekh the murderer is a descendant of Cain, the first murderer. Not only is Lemekh a direct descendant of Cain, he even makes explicit reference to his great-grandfather’s murderous behavior and hopes that he will benefit from the same protection as (or greater protection than) Cain received, despite the punishment he expects. What the Torah may be hinting is that Cain and his family do not sufficiently value human life. Cain kills his brother Abel in frustration and jealousy; Lemekh kills an unnamed person in retaliation for a “wound and injury.” For Cain, murder is an acceptable solution to problems or frustrations, and he passes his values on to his children. Lemekh’s murder and his reference to Cain’s similar crime manifest the moral failure of this family. One generation’s failure to understand the value of human life plants murder in the heart of the next generation.
BEGINNING FROM THE BEGINNING AGAIN:
The Torah next tells us that Adam and Eve have another child “because Cain killed Abel.” Actually, Adam and Eve are replacing not only Abel, but both of their sons—Abel, because he is dead, and Cain, because his murder and his descendants’ similar action shows that his behavior was not a freak incident, but a deficiency in values. By having another child, Adam and Eve begin again, attempting to produce an individual who really understands the mission of humanity as achieving the status of tzelem Elochim. By murdering his brother, Cain fails this mission (as we will explain). Lemekh’s action shows that Cain has not learned from his mistake and has not successfully taught his children to respect human life.
This is why the Torah begins the story of humanity’s creation “anew” with the birth of Shet, telling the story as if Adam and Eve had had no children until now:
BERESHIT 5:1-3--
This is the book of the descendants of Adam. When God created Adam, in the image of God He made him . . . Adam lived thirty and a hundred years, and bore IN HIS IMAGE, LIKE HIS FORM, and he called his name ‘Shet.’
The Torah is trying to communicate that humanity is starting over, beginning from scratch. The first attempt, the one which produced a murderer and his victim, has come to a tragic close with another murder (Lemekh’s). Adam and Eve realize that they must start anew, and the Torah makes this explicit by placing the literary structure of a “beginning” at the birth of Shet. The real “descendants” of Adam are only those who maintain “his image . . . his form”, the image and form of tzelem Elochim.
But how has Cain failed as a tzelem Elochim? Has he not excelled as a conqueror of the earth, a tiller of the ground who brings fruits to God as an offering? Has he not “been fruitful and multiplied,” producing descendants to fill the earth? Have his descendants not exercised creativity like that of the Creator, inventing tools and instruments?
To find the answers to these questions we have to look at next week’s Parsha - Noah. Read it. And come back!
Monday, December 1, 2008
Parsha Vayyetzay
Parshat Vayyetzay (and he went out) - Genesis 28:10 -32:3
Date Dec. 3, 2008
Story line (narrative) or main points (non-narrative) to include:
1. Jacob leaves Beer Sheva (actually flees his angry brother Esau) and journeys to Charan.
2. On the way he lies down and falls asleep at “the place” (later to become the site of the Holy Temple).
3. He dreams of a ladder connecting heaven and earth with angels ascending and descending upon it.
4. God appears to Jacob and promises him that the land upon which he is sleeping will be given to his descendents.
5. Jacob rises in the morning and raises the stone upon which he laid his head as an alter and a monument to God if God will give him food to eat and clothes to wear.
6. Jacob gets to Charan and falls in love with Rachel (Lavan’s younger daughter) as she is drawing water at the well. He asks his Uncle Lavan for her hand and Lavan agrees if Jacob will work for him for 7 years.
7. Jacob agrees but on the wedding night Lavan gives him his older daughter Leah instead – a deception that Jacob discovers only in the morning.
8. Jacob agrees to work for another 7 years for Rachel and he marries her too.
9. Leah gives birth to six sons -- Reuben, Shimon, Levi, Judah, Issachar and Zebulun -- and a daughter, Dinah, while Rachel remains barren. Rachel gives Jacob her handmaid, Bilhah, as a wife to bear children in her stead, and two more sons, Dan and Naphtali, are born. Leah does the same with her handmaid, Zilpah, who gives birth to Gad and Asher. Finally, Rachel's prayers are answered and she gives birth to Joseph.
10. Jacob has now been in Charan for fourteen years and wishes to return home, but Laban persuades him to remain, now offering him sheep in return for his labor. Jacob prospers, despite Laban's repeated attempts to swindle him. After six years, Jacob leaves Charan in stealth, fearing that Laban would prevent him from leaving with the family and property for which he labored. Laban pursues Jacob, but is warned by G-d in a dream not to harm him. Laban and Jacob make a pact on Mount Gal-Ed, attested to by a pile of stones, and Jacob proceeds to the Holy Land, where he is met by angels.
Big Ideas (most essential points, themes, etc)
1. The significance of the ladder – what does the ladder represent?
a. From the Zohar – the ladder is the bridge between heaven and earth and what is that bridge in reality? What connects us to heaven? Prayer. The prayer service has different sections. In the morning service there is the preliminary part of the prayers, then the Shema, then the Amidah. These are different stages, similar to the rungs of a ladder. During the service the person is climbing higher and higher, reaching ever closer to G-d. The highest stage is the Amidah prayer, in which you stand in the immediate presence of G-d, as in the throne room, and you speak directly to Him.
b. The ladder grounded on the earth – it illuminates the need to be of the earth, grounded in reality in order to reach heaven (you reach heaven by having your feet firmly planted on the ground, metaphorically speaking – you choose to be heavenly through your own common sense)
2. What is the significance of the angels ascending and descending? (Our sages explain that the angels going up the ladder were "angels of the land Israel" who had accompanied Jacob on his life journey up to that point. Now, as he prepared to leave the holy land and engage the alien world beyond its borders, a second group of angels came down the ladder, dispatched from heaven to escort him on his journeys.)
Another theme ties the angels into the idea of prayer: The angels going up the ladder in Jacob's dream represent the words of prayer. The words coming from our mouths and our hearts rise up to God. They carry with them a little bit of the radiance of our soul: our feelings of love and dedication.
The angels coming down the ladder are the messengers from God carrying Divine blessing to the person who is praying, to his or her family, to the community, to the Jewish people and the entire world.
3. Why does Jacob make a deal with God to build him a Holy Temple if God will give him food to eat and clothes to wear? (surely God knows that food is to eat and clothes are to wear, so why state it that way?) Jacob is saying that he only needs bread to eat. He does not need 57 kinds of potato chips. He does not scan the supermarket aisles for the latest flavour of soda. He simply wants bread, and only bread, if necessary, to eat. As long as he can eat enough to continue living in order to serve God and achieve his lofty, spiritual goals, he is satisfied. Jacob is not searching for the latest fashions in designer suits. He just wants some clothes to wear so that he can function in the world. Hence bread to eat and clothes to wear. No luxuries. Through this short phrase, Jacob defines his priorities of life. Appreciate food for its function – physical sustenance. Don’t spend your life running after possessions and clothing. Use and appreciate it for what it is, but don’t let it occupy an important place in your mind and in your value system.
4. After having the dream of the ladder Jacob made a declaration establishing the bond between the two worlds of heaven and earth. Metaphorically, one world is that of his own personal material success. The other is holiness. How can these two be joined?
Jacob said to God, "...of whatever You give me, I will give a tenth to You" (Genesis 28:22). By giving a proportion of his income to charity, Jacob was ensuring that all his wealth was tinged with holiness. Because every hundred pieces of silver he earned meant an extra ten pieces of silver would be used for a sacred purpose. Thus two worlds are joined: the material and the holy, like earth and heaven.
Through the ages Jews have tried to follow Jacob's example, giving a tenth of their income to charity. This practice has been a vital factor in the preservation of the Jewish ideal, learnt from Jacob's dream: to seek in every aspect of life, whether in prayer or at work in the office, to join earth and heaven.
(Interesting Footnote: In 1807, the Russian town of Zhlobin hosted an encounter between two great Chassidic communities. The occasion was the famous "Zhlobiner Wedding" in which a granddaughter of Rabbi Schneur Zalman of Liadi wed a grandson of Rabbi Levi Yitzchak of Berditchev.
At the wedding, Rabbi Schneur Zalman lifted his glass and proclaimed: "Lchaim! May the Almighty provide His people with all that they need, both materially and spiritually!"
"Shouldn't it be the other way around?" objected Rabbi Levi Yitzchak. "Shouldn't one put 'spiritual' before 'material'?"
"I'm only saying it as our forefather Jacob did," answered Rabbi Schneur Zalman. "First he asked (Genesis 28:20) that G-d should 'provide me with food to eat and clothes to wear,' and only then, in the following verse, did he pray that 'The L-rd shall be my G-d.'"
"Can you compare Jacob's material life with our material life?" challenged Rabbi Levi Yitzchak.
"Can you compare Jacob's spirituality with our spirituality?" countered Rabbi Schneur Zalman.
5. What is the significance of Charan? (we’re told that it was an evil place – full of wicked, evil people.)
From what we know from the text, Charan was a terrible place – full of liars, cheaters, criminals. A thoroughly materialistic place full of idol worshippers and immoral people. According to the Chasidic Masters, Jacob leaves behind the spiritual ideal of Be'er Sheva and journeys to Charan (literally, "Wrath"): a place of lies, deceptions, struggle and hardship; a place in which material concerns consume one's days and nights, sapping one's energy, confusing one's priorities, and all but obscuring the purpose for which one has come there in the first place.
Yet it is in Charan, in the employ of Laban the Deceiver, not in the Holy Land and its "tents of learning," that Jacob founds the nation of Israel. It is here that he marries and fathers eleven of the twelve sons who will become the twelve tribes of Israel. Had Jacob remained in the Holy Land, the life of this pious scholar who lived 3,500 years ago would have been of no significance to us today.
According to the teachings of the Rabbi Schneerson, the soul, too, achieves its enduring significance only upon its descent into "Charan." Only as a physical being, invested within a physical body and inhabiting a physical environment, can it fulfill the purpose of its creation, which is to build "a dwelling for God in the physical world."
Rabbi Schneerson wrote, “Jacob’s journey to Charan is the story of every soul’s descent to earth. But every soul is empowered, as a child of Jacob, to make this “descent for the purpose of ascent” to emerge from the Charan of material earth with its integrity intact and its memory true. Think back a moment to our study of the angels in Jacobs dream, ascending and descending. Sound familiar? Like the angels, our souls are ascending and descending from the baseness of Charan to the loftiness of heaven. In fact, look at where our spiritual ladder is grounded – right in the thick of the material world, surrounded by temptation and seductive choices. Indeed, not only does the soul return with its spiritual powers galvanized by the challenges of Charan, it is a wealthier soul, having learned to exploit the forces and resources of the physical world to further its spiritual ends. Isn’t this the struggle we all face?”
6. As we read in Chapter 28 Verse 18, Jacob... took the stone ... and set it as a monument; and he poured oil on its head. Monuments are built of stone. What is the oil all about? In order for the monument to be a house of God (as Jacob proclaimed, And this stone which I have set as a monument shall be the house of God), one requires oil.
Oil is extracted from the olive only when it is trod upon and crushed. Oil thus represents a person’s surrender and submission to God.
To walk away from his father’s house -- to walk away from fourteen years of in-depth Torah study to begin dealing with the material world, as Jacob did with his move to Charan, requires a great deal of oil. Only one who has totally surrendered his own will to that of God's is capable of such sacrifice.
7. The idea of “poetic justice” – Jacob stole his brother’s birthright and deceived his father Issac. Jacob suffered from the theft of years that Lavan stole from him and he was deceived by him.
8. The idea of going home – the full circle of Lech Lecha, of Vayyetzei. What good is to leave if you don’t come back changed? Or if you haven’t something to offer?
Connections to our lives
So there you have it – a very brief look at Parsha Veyyetzay – a Parsha that offers for us very important life and spiritual lessons.
1. We discover in this parsha the basic need to be grounded in reality – to be of this earth – to conquer its challenges and to emerge a better person, more deserving of spiritual ascent.
2. We learn that Charon is a place that surrounds us wherever we are and that it is our ability to make the right choices that will inevitably lead to our spiritual ascent.
3. We learn finally that our purpose here on earth is to make the world a place worthy of God – with all of our own human frailties and imperfections that we are charged with the task of building a house of God within our own souls.
Date Dec. 3, 2008
Story line (narrative) or main points (non-narrative) to include:
1. Jacob leaves Beer Sheva (actually flees his angry brother Esau) and journeys to Charan.
2. On the way he lies down and falls asleep at “the place” (later to become the site of the Holy Temple).
3. He dreams of a ladder connecting heaven and earth with angels ascending and descending upon it.
4. God appears to Jacob and promises him that the land upon which he is sleeping will be given to his descendents.
5. Jacob rises in the morning and raises the stone upon which he laid his head as an alter and a monument to God if God will give him food to eat and clothes to wear.
6. Jacob gets to Charan and falls in love with Rachel (Lavan’s younger daughter) as she is drawing water at the well. He asks his Uncle Lavan for her hand and Lavan agrees if Jacob will work for him for 7 years.
7. Jacob agrees but on the wedding night Lavan gives him his older daughter Leah instead – a deception that Jacob discovers only in the morning.
8. Jacob agrees to work for another 7 years for Rachel and he marries her too.
9. Leah gives birth to six sons -- Reuben, Shimon, Levi, Judah, Issachar and Zebulun -- and a daughter, Dinah, while Rachel remains barren. Rachel gives Jacob her handmaid, Bilhah, as a wife to bear children in her stead, and two more sons, Dan and Naphtali, are born. Leah does the same with her handmaid, Zilpah, who gives birth to Gad and Asher. Finally, Rachel's prayers are answered and she gives birth to Joseph.
10. Jacob has now been in Charan for fourteen years and wishes to return home, but Laban persuades him to remain, now offering him sheep in return for his labor. Jacob prospers, despite Laban's repeated attempts to swindle him. After six years, Jacob leaves Charan in stealth, fearing that Laban would prevent him from leaving with the family and property for which he labored. Laban pursues Jacob, but is warned by G-d in a dream not to harm him. Laban and Jacob make a pact on Mount Gal-Ed, attested to by a pile of stones, and Jacob proceeds to the Holy Land, where he is met by angels.
Big Ideas (most essential points, themes, etc)
1. The significance of the ladder – what does the ladder represent?
a. From the Zohar – the ladder is the bridge between heaven and earth and what is that bridge in reality? What connects us to heaven? Prayer. The prayer service has different sections. In the morning service there is the preliminary part of the prayers, then the Shema, then the Amidah. These are different stages, similar to the rungs of a ladder. During the service the person is climbing higher and higher, reaching ever closer to G-d. The highest stage is the Amidah prayer, in which you stand in the immediate presence of G-d, as in the throne room, and you speak directly to Him.
b. The ladder grounded on the earth – it illuminates the need to be of the earth, grounded in reality in order to reach heaven (you reach heaven by having your feet firmly planted on the ground, metaphorically speaking – you choose to be heavenly through your own common sense)
2. What is the significance of the angels ascending and descending? (Our sages explain that the angels going up the ladder were "angels of the land Israel" who had accompanied Jacob on his life journey up to that point. Now, as he prepared to leave the holy land and engage the alien world beyond its borders, a second group of angels came down the ladder, dispatched from heaven to escort him on his journeys.)
Another theme ties the angels into the idea of prayer: The angels going up the ladder in Jacob's dream represent the words of prayer. The words coming from our mouths and our hearts rise up to God. They carry with them a little bit of the radiance of our soul: our feelings of love and dedication.
The angels coming down the ladder are the messengers from God carrying Divine blessing to the person who is praying, to his or her family, to the community, to the Jewish people and the entire world.
3. Why does Jacob make a deal with God to build him a Holy Temple if God will give him food to eat and clothes to wear? (surely God knows that food is to eat and clothes are to wear, so why state it that way?) Jacob is saying that he only needs bread to eat. He does not need 57 kinds of potato chips. He does not scan the supermarket aisles for the latest flavour of soda. He simply wants bread, and only bread, if necessary, to eat. As long as he can eat enough to continue living in order to serve God and achieve his lofty, spiritual goals, he is satisfied. Jacob is not searching for the latest fashions in designer suits. He just wants some clothes to wear so that he can function in the world. Hence bread to eat and clothes to wear. No luxuries. Through this short phrase, Jacob defines his priorities of life. Appreciate food for its function – physical sustenance. Don’t spend your life running after possessions and clothing. Use and appreciate it for what it is, but don’t let it occupy an important place in your mind and in your value system.
4. After having the dream of the ladder Jacob made a declaration establishing the bond between the two worlds of heaven and earth. Metaphorically, one world is that of his own personal material success. The other is holiness. How can these two be joined?
Jacob said to God, "...of whatever You give me, I will give a tenth to You" (Genesis 28:22). By giving a proportion of his income to charity, Jacob was ensuring that all his wealth was tinged with holiness. Because every hundred pieces of silver he earned meant an extra ten pieces of silver would be used for a sacred purpose. Thus two worlds are joined: the material and the holy, like earth and heaven.
Through the ages Jews have tried to follow Jacob's example, giving a tenth of their income to charity. This practice has been a vital factor in the preservation of the Jewish ideal, learnt from Jacob's dream: to seek in every aspect of life, whether in prayer or at work in the office, to join earth and heaven.
(Interesting Footnote: In 1807, the Russian town of Zhlobin hosted an encounter between two great Chassidic communities. The occasion was the famous "Zhlobiner Wedding" in which a granddaughter of Rabbi Schneur Zalman of Liadi wed a grandson of Rabbi Levi Yitzchak of Berditchev.
At the wedding, Rabbi Schneur Zalman lifted his glass and proclaimed: "Lchaim! May the Almighty provide His people with all that they need, both materially and spiritually!"
"Shouldn't it be the other way around?" objected Rabbi Levi Yitzchak. "Shouldn't one put 'spiritual' before 'material'?"
"I'm only saying it as our forefather Jacob did," answered Rabbi Schneur Zalman. "First he asked (Genesis 28:20) that G-d should 'provide me with food to eat and clothes to wear,' and only then, in the following verse, did he pray that 'The L-rd shall be my G-d.'"
"Can you compare Jacob's material life with our material life?" challenged Rabbi Levi Yitzchak.
"Can you compare Jacob's spirituality with our spirituality?" countered Rabbi Schneur Zalman.
5. What is the significance of Charan? (we’re told that it was an evil place – full of wicked, evil people.)
From what we know from the text, Charan was a terrible place – full of liars, cheaters, criminals. A thoroughly materialistic place full of idol worshippers and immoral people. According to the Chasidic Masters, Jacob leaves behind the spiritual ideal of Be'er Sheva and journeys to Charan (literally, "Wrath"): a place of lies, deceptions, struggle and hardship; a place in which material concerns consume one's days and nights, sapping one's energy, confusing one's priorities, and all but obscuring the purpose for which one has come there in the first place.
Yet it is in Charan, in the employ of Laban the Deceiver, not in the Holy Land and its "tents of learning," that Jacob founds the nation of Israel. It is here that he marries and fathers eleven of the twelve sons who will become the twelve tribes of Israel. Had Jacob remained in the Holy Land, the life of this pious scholar who lived 3,500 years ago would have been of no significance to us today.
According to the teachings of the Rabbi Schneerson, the soul, too, achieves its enduring significance only upon its descent into "Charan." Only as a physical being, invested within a physical body and inhabiting a physical environment, can it fulfill the purpose of its creation, which is to build "a dwelling for God in the physical world."
Rabbi Schneerson wrote, “Jacob’s journey to Charan is the story of every soul’s descent to earth. But every soul is empowered, as a child of Jacob, to make this “descent for the purpose of ascent” to emerge from the Charan of material earth with its integrity intact and its memory true. Think back a moment to our study of the angels in Jacobs dream, ascending and descending. Sound familiar? Like the angels, our souls are ascending and descending from the baseness of Charan to the loftiness of heaven. In fact, look at where our spiritual ladder is grounded – right in the thick of the material world, surrounded by temptation and seductive choices. Indeed, not only does the soul return with its spiritual powers galvanized by the challenges of Charan, it is a wealthier soul, having learned to exploit the forces and resources of the physical world to further its spiritual ends. Isn’t this the struggle we all face?”
6. As we read in Chapter 28 Verse 18, Jacob... took the stone ... and set it as a monument; and he poured oil on its head. Monuments are built of stone. What is the oil all about? In order for the monument to be a house of God (as Jacob proclaimed, And this stone which I have set as a monument shall be the house of God), one requires oil.
Oil is extracted from the olive only when it is trod upon and crushed. Oil thus represents a person’s surrender and submission to God.
To walk away from his father’s house -- to walk away from fourteen years of in-depth Torah study to begin dealing with the material world, as Jacob did with his move to Charan, requires a great deal of oil. Only one who has totally surrendered his own will to that of God's is capable of such sacrifice.
7. The idea of “poetic justice” – Jacob stole his brother’s birthright and deceived his father Issac. Jacob suffered from the theft of years that Lavan stole from him and he was deceived by him.
8. The idea of going home – the full circle of Lech Lecha, of Vayyetzei. What good is to leave if you don’t come back changed? Or if you haven’t something to offer?
Connections to our lives
So there you have it – a very brief look at Parsha Veyyetzay – a Parsha that offers for us very important life and spiritual lessons.
1. We discover in this parsha the basic need to be grounded in reality – to be of this earth – to conquer its challenges and to emerge a better person, more deserving of spiritual ascent.
2. We learn that Charon is a place that surrounds us wherever we are and that it is our ability to make the right choices that will inevitably lead to our spiritual ascent.
3. We learn finally that our purpose here on earth is to make the world a place worthy of God – with all of our own human frailties and imperfections that we are charged with the task of building a house of God within our own souls.
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