Letter to the World from Jerusalem

by Eliezer ben Yisrael ( Stanley Goldfoot)

I am not a creature from another planet, as you seem to believe. I am a Jerusalemite-like yourselves, a man of flesh and blood. I am a citizen of my city, an integral part of my people.I have a few things to get off my chest. Because I am not a diplomat, I do not have to mince words. I do not have to please you or even persuade you. I owe you nothing. You did not build this city, you did not live in it, you did not defend it when they came to destroy it. And we will be damned if we will let you take it away.

There was a Jerusalem before there was a New York . When Berlin , Moscow , London , and Paris were miasmal forest and swamp, there was a thriving Jewish community here. It gave something to the world which you nations have rejected ever since you established yourselves- a humane moral code.Here the prophets walked, their words flashing like forked lightning. Here a people who wanted nothing more than to be left alone, fought off waves of heathen would-be conquerors, bled and died on the battlements, hurled themselves into the flames of their burning Temple rather than surrender, and when finally overwhelmed by sheer numbers and led away into captivity, swore that before they forgot Jerusalem, they would see their tongues cleave to their palates, their right arms wither.

For two pain-filled millennia, while we were your unwelcome guests, we prayed daily to return to this city. Three times a day we petitioned the Almighty: "Gather us from the four corners of the world, bring us upright to our land, return in mercy to Jerusalem, Thy city, and swell in it as Thou promised." On every Yom Kippur and Passover, we fervently voiced the hope that next year would find us in Jerusalem .Your inquisitions, pogroms, expulsions, the ghettos into which you jammed us, your forced baptisms, your quota systems, your genteel anti-Semitism, and the final unspeakable horror, the holocaust (and worse, your terrifying disinterest in it)- all these have not broken us. They may have sapped what little moral strength you still possessed, but they forged us into steel.

Do you think that you can break us now after all we have been through? Do you really believe that after Dachau and Auschwitz we are frightened by your threats of blockades and sanctions? We have been to Hell and back- a Hell of your making. What more could you possibly have in your arsenal that could scare us?

I have watched this city bombarded twice by nations calling themselves civilized. In 1948, while you looked on apathetically, I saw women and children blown to smithereens, after we agreed to your request to internationalize the city. It was a deadly combination that did the job- British officers, Arab gunners, and American-made cannon. And then the savage sacking of the Old City-the willful slaughter, the wanton destruction of every synagogue and religious school, the desecration of Jewish cemeteries, the sale by a ghoulish government of tombstones for building materials, for poultry runs, army camps, even latrines.

And you never said a word.You never breathed the slightest protest when the Jordanians shut off the holiest of our places, the Western Wall, in violation of the pledges they had made after the war- a war they waged, incidentally, against the decision of the UN. Not a murmur came from you whenever the legionnaires in their spiked helmets casually opened fire upon our citizens from behind the walls.

Your hearts bled when Berlin came under siege. You rushed your airlift "to save the gallant Berliners". But you did not send one ounce of food when Jews starved in besieged Jerusalem . You thundered against the wall which the East Germans ran through the middle of the German capital- but not one peep out of you about that other wall, the one that tore through the heart of Jerusalem . And when that same thing happened 20 years later, and the Arabs unleashed a savage, unprovoked bombardment of the Holy City again, did any of you do anything?

The only time you came to life was when the city was at last reunited. Then you wrung your hands and spoke loftily of "justice" and need for the "Christian" quality of turning the other cheek.The truth- and you know it deep inside your gut - you would prefer the city to be destroyed rather than have it governed by Jews. No matter how diplomatically you phrase it, the age old prejudices seep out of every word.

If our return to the city has tied your theology in knots, perhaps you had better reexamine your catechisms. After what we have been through, we are not passively going to accommodate ourselves to the twisted idea that we are to suffer eternal homelessness until we accept your savior.

For the first time since the year 70, there is now complete religious freedom for all in Jerusalem . For the first time since the Romans put a torch to the Temple, everyone has equal rights (You prefer to have some more equal than others.) We loathe the sword - but it was you who forced us to take it up. We crave peace, but we are not going back to the peace of 1948 as you would like us to.We are home.

It has a lovely sound for a nation you have willed to wander over the face of the globe. We are not leaving. We are redeeming the pledge made by our forefathers: Jerusalem is being rebuilt. "Next year" and the year after, and after, and after, until the end of time- "in Jerusalem "!Stanley Goldfoot
Founder Editor
The Times of Israel
August 1969

KI TISSA- ON DISILLUSIONMENT AND FORGIVENESS

by Rabbi Baruch Binyamin Hakohen Melman

How we tend to mock our leaders and strive to find fault! Those who are willing to be our leaders, giving up any semblance of privacy for the sake of the common weal, should be rather praised for their courage. The historyof the latter half of the twentieth century however, served to dispel a somewhat naive faith in government. The Torah sees the idea of government as intrinsically good!

Our tradition asks us to consider personal reign over our emotions to be the highest form of government possible. Conquering our evil inclinations towards self-serving anti-social tendencies is a much lauded Torah value. Beyond personal forms of government are responsible conceptualizations of larger social varieties. The Noahide laws adjure us to have police and courts of law, while Pirkei Avoth teaches that "were it not for the fear of government, people would eat each other alive."

And yet we also find in Pirkei Avoth a cautionary reminder that we not associate too closely with government! Kings of Israel were bidden to write their own sifrei Torah to keep by their side as a reminder to follow the laws of an even higher authority. So we should understand that responsible government is seen as a good, all the while the prophets railed against the excesses of despotic tyrants and fools.

The prophets strove to implement a healthy corrective, ensuring (in theory at least)a working system of checks and balances in ancient Israel. Israel was barely a nation when disillusion with its leadership set in. Constant carpings idealizing the good life in Egypt served to undermine Moses' authority. Finally in our parsha, Ki Tissa, the opportunity to act on a magnitude above and beyond complaint presented itself. We thus have proof that thoughts lead to words which in turn lead to actions.

The fact that the Golden Calf narrative is preceded by a warning to keep the Sabbath is instructive to understanding the source of the people's disillusionment. One could argue that it was rather fear for Moses' safety and thus fear of a leadership void which served as a catalyst for this episode. Nonetheless,were it not for a seed of disillusion planted by the mixed multitude that left Egypt with Israel (the eirev rav), those fears could not have been acted on with such passion.

Why not just put Aaron, the number two man, in charge? Why resort to following the very antithesis of the present leadership? The narrative on the Sabbath stresses a consciousness and respect for the number seven. Seven then becomes the ideal to which the leadership is held.

The very next chapter, the Golden Calf episode, commences its narrative with an unusual word in the first sentence (Ex 32:1)."Vayar ha'am ki voshesh Moshe laredet min hahar..." Voshesh is traditionally understood in its peshat, or plain meaning, as "was delayed." Thus it is normatively understood as, "And the people saw that Moses was delayed in coming down from the mountain..." On a deeper level, however,one could (mis)read the line as "b'shesh," instead of as "voshesh." So now it could be translated as, " And the people saw Moses come down from the mountain "with a SIX consciousness," whatever that may mean.

Here was this great leader preaching about "the great number seven," who himself is rather now seemingly enthralled with the number six! Or possibly, it may mean that here he was coming down from the mountain on a Friday (the sixth day), so how could he possibly prepare for shabbos adequately on the same day!? "Here we are being lectured to on the laws of the Sabbath, and our very own leadership seems to be disregarding its sanctity (not true in the least)."

What rank hypocrisy they might have felt in their leadership.How could they NOT be disillusioned! How could a Golden Calf NOT seem abetter leader in that very moment!? In other words, they expected better in their leadership. In our own lives, everything we do and say leaves an imprint on others who observe us. And no one observes us more than our children.

And to live a disconnect, to live life in a contrary manner to our teachings and our espoused values does more than cause disillusion. It causes psychic pain! In their anger and rage our children might rebel by acting out against ourvalue system- but not because they believe that the opposite way is better! They might act out against what we hold as sacred precisely to point out our own failings as role models.

Now it should not be inferred that Moses had in fact done anything wrong in this case! It is possible he was just misunderstood, or inadvertently caused misunderstanding. Rashi himself states that Moses said he would return on the fortieth day. The question is, when does the counting begin, on the very day it is announced (today) or on the day he actually leaves (tomorrow)?

A lack of clarity and forthrightness in communication can be deadly, particularly in a leadership context. Before he became Prime Minister of Israel, General Ariel Sharon in 1982 declared he would advance only forty kilometers into Lebanon. But is the distance to be measured from Rosh Haniqra or from Kiryat Shemona? The difference determines whether one enters Beirut or not. Indeed he went into political exile on account of the ramifications stemming from this confusion. Was it merely a lack of clarity or was it wilfull prevarication? Mortals may neverknow.

When Aaron was pressed into service to help make the Golden Calf, at its completion he cries out, "chag ladoshem machar", "tomorrow will be a festival for G*d." Now here Aaron himself may have been purposely misleading. He may have been communicating to the people in code so that his captors would not understand. Indeed, he may have actually meant,"tomorrow G*d will show His great compassion for us." G*d's compassion is eternal and never ending, always in the present moment.

Why then would he say"machar," meaning "tomorrow?" The answer is that it is a code within a code. Machar is reverse for Rachem! Rachem means "mercy." Aaron knows that people forced against their wills to do the wrong thing, while unfortunate,is *ultimately* forgiveable because of the absence of free will. Aaron and the people were considered "anusim," or those who were forced against their wills to violate their conscience (the Conversos in Spain come to mind). G*d, being the master of forgiveness, the compassionate loving ruler, in the end will grant atonement and forgiveness because the all important element of volition was missing.

G*d is the ruler over all in the ultimate sense, the Supreme Government. He speaks to us directly through the words of His Torah, with both clarity and compassion. May we be blessed to bring clarity to our goals, and communicate to others as clearly as possible those goals. And may we be forgiving of others who may at times disappoint us in their very human failings.
To err is human, to forgive, Divine.

Shabbat Shalom.

© 2000 - 2009 by Rabbi Baruch Binyamin Hakohen Melman

These words of Torah are written in the merit of my beloved father, Israel J. Melman, obm, Yisrael Yehoshua ben Harav Ya'aqov Hakohen Melman, z"l
http://seferchabibi.blogspot.com/2007/07/yahrzeit-of-my-father-27-tammuz.html
http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9506EEDC1630F93BA35754C0A9649C8B63
Chabibi stands for CHidushei Baruch Binyamin ben Yisrael Yehoshua
(a chidush, from the word chadash, means a new, original or fresh perspective)
Dedications are available.

PURIM AND EDEN

by Rabbi Baruch Binyamin Hakohen Melman

Purim has a secret to share. It is a Jewish holiday. But it's really about universal redemption and our shared humanity's struggle to remake itself in G*d's image and dwell in peace back in the garden.In many ways, Purim is the signpost and marker by which to guide humanity, as represented byIsrael, back to the Garden of Eden. Adam and Eve were originally banished from the Garden -not because of sin and disobedience, but rather due to their inability to face and accept their responsibility for their actions. They weren't exiled for eating the "goodly fruit" per se. Rather, they were exiled for denying responsibility. They were caught. But they played the victim. They couldn't own up to what they had done.

Indeed, it is arguable that the idea of a return of mankind to the Garden is not only a boon from humanity's point of view, but is Divinely desired as well. It is arguably G*d's deepest desire for mankind, G*d's children, to become independent, responsible adults. They would be worthy of enjoying the Garden of Delights, but not until they can prove capable of having rightfully earned the honor of returning.While Passover is clearly the epic narrative of G*d's redemption through intervention on an epic scale writ large, the Megillah, the Scroll of Esther, is quite oppositely indicative of the reverse transposition of mankind from being a humble receiver of salvation to an active initiator, whereby Divine intervention is noted only by its seeming absence.

The Haggadah's Passover redemption narrative is replete with Divine credit even as the Megillah, the Purim narrative, pointedly celebrates the risks and cunning of Esther who heroically saves her people. In the Garden of Eden, the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil beckons the curiosities of Eve. The snake, the haughty contender for ultimate authority in the Garden, arrogating to himself the rights of Divine suzerainty, is brought low and humbled, forever to crawl on his belly, much the same way that Haman met his comeuppance for attempting to usurp the royal prerogatives of palace and power.

Upon discovery of the misdeed, the Man blames the Woman who blames the Snake who lives in the Tree (an echo of Chad Gadya), resulting in the expulsion. It therefore makes sense that an atonement and reversal of the judgment would necessarily entail a conscious retracing of the process. The flow in the chain of disavowal of responsibility went from the Man (Adam) to the Woman (Eve- who risked certain death, or so she feared, by "touching" the King's - i.e., G*d's, Tree) to the cunning Snake in his abode in the branches of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil.

Similarly, atonement mandates a reversal of the process. Redemption in the Megillah of Esther follows a vector of newly assumed responsibility from the Man (Mordecai) who lectures the Woman (Esther) as to her responsibilities to her people (who then risks certain death *unless* touched by the golden sceptre), who then points out to the King Haman's true responsibility for her people's imminent misfortune. Haman even falls upon the Queen and her couch, thus in the end making himself responsible for his own downfall. Finally, he himself is hanged upon the branches of "the tree (haEitz)," thus neatly completing the process and chain of responsibility.

What demands our attention as to the text's ultimate universalism is the conscious echoing of the phraseology and the similarity in language between the number of Sarah's years (127) and the number of lands under the Persian Empire(127). Incredibly, in each case it follows the unusual step of placing a conjunctive link ("and") between each of the numbers comprising the ultimate tally. It does not read as "one hundred twenty seven," but rather somewhat awkwardly as "one hundred years and twenty years and seven years (Gen23:1)."

But what is even more fascinating is the reversal in the *order* of the numbers. The Megillah reverses the order of the Genesis narrative, reading now as "seven and twenty and a hundred lands (Esther 1:1)," much as the sin order and blame/responsibility order are reversed (snake to Adam/Adam to snake).Sarai, upon her name change to Sarah, is told by G*d that she will be the mother of "entire nations" (Gen17:15,16). While she is particularly and immediately the mother of the*Hebrew* nation, she will ultimately be the mother of entire (read "many") nations (as Chava/Eve is the "mother of life" (Gen 3:20)).

The birth of the Nation of Israel points to the ultimate redemption of humanity through the rediscovery of the ethical monotheistic imperative.The Purim narrative functions as a paradigm for mankind's struggle with evil. Ironically the story occurs in Persia, the seat of Zoroastrian faith,which teaches of the dualistic forces of light and darkness in the world. But the Jewish reading of history is a sense of the ultimate conquest of good over evil. Indeed, evil is ultimately subservient to good, as both are sourced in the Source of all goodness.Moreover, the Purim story is a blueprint not only for the Jews' redemption, but for all humanity who align themselves with goodness.

Its message is one of responsibility for one's own salvation. Inaction in the face of evil is the guarantee for evil to flourish. Perish or flourish. The choice is ours.The Edenic paradigm for mankind's return and redemption must be seen as the backdrop by which to make sense of the Purim story as well as current events. As the masks fall off, G*d's hidden presence is revealed. Ideologies and belief systems which deny the notion of a G*d who demands personal responsibility take on an aura of untenability. From out of a sense of volition we learn to take responsibility in life to repair the earth and the hearts of its inhabitants. To wait for others or to postpone action is the recipe for continued exile or worse. Yet the opposite holds forth the promise of a renewed encounter with that other tree in the Garden- the Tree of Life.

Good Purim!

© 2000 - 2009 by Rabbi Baruch Binyamin Hakohen Melman

These words of Torah are written in the merit of my beloved father, Israel J. Melman, obm, Yisrael Yehoshua ben Harav Ya'aqov Hakohen Melman, z"l

http://seferchabibi.blogspot.com/2007/07/yahrzeit-of-my-father-27-tammuz.html
http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9506EEDC1630F93BA35754C0A9649C8B63

Chabibi stands for CHidushei Baruch Binyamin ben Yisrael Yehoshua
(a chidush, from the word chadash, means a new, original or fresh perspective)
Dedications are available.

TITZAVEH: THE SECRET OF THE POMEGRANATE

by Rabbi Baruch Binyamin Hakohen Melman

In this week's parsha, Titzaveh, The Name is giving instructions asto how the kohanim are to dress when on duty in their role as caretakers ofthe Holy Tabernacle. In a sense, we are all kohanim, being that we are "a kingdom of priests and a holy nation- mamlechet kohanim vegoy qadosh."

Every garment serves a symbolic service or function. The text (Ex 28:2) sets the overall tone and standard for this sacred apparel. Above all, the verse says, the garments for Aaron and his sons should be both dignified and beautiful, "le'chavod u'le'tifaret." And to the degree that the priests are exemplars and role models of the sacred, we are meant to look to them for direction concerning all holy things.

Being that G*d is dressing (addressing) us today, we should ask what subconscious desires is He projecting on to us, as it were, by the clothes He chooses for us? As much as external clothing is said to reveal internal character, then G*d is showing us that we are beautiful inside. And G*d is also showing us that we are also dignified inside. After all, we are made in G*d's image. So we see that how G*d, our true parent, is asking us to dress ourselves, is a reflection of the way that G*d sees Himself. It is not only a statement that we are making about ourselves. It is even more a statement that we are making about G*d! It's about beauty and dignity.

One of the most fascinating of the sacred vestments worn by the High Priestis the robe. On the hem of the robe could be found pomegranates made of colored wool alternating with gold bells. Pomegranates contain within them exactly 613 seeds (I have counted), the number of mitzvot in the Torah. One thing we learn from this is that plain folk imbued with good deeds, though lacking in material wealth, are as precious to G*d, as gold and wealth are precious to people. We could learn from that analogy to reflect on our priorities.

Moreover, the Torah and the multitude of mitzvot within is G*d's special gift. So too, when we encounter another person, one made in the Divine image, we should look out for, be aware of, and show sensitivity to his special gifts, talents and concerns. We do violence to that person's sense of self and well-being by ignoring his individuality and uniqueness.

As every heart is a sacred Temple, so must we knock before we enter, just as the bells alerted G*d to the priest's presence (not that G*d needed it. We did.) History's first doorbell is recorded in marvelous detail by the text, as a prerequisite to a Divine encounter. " And Aaron shall wear this robe when he prepares the Divine service. The sound of the bells shall be heard when he enters the sanctuary and when he goes out, so that he not die (Ex 28:35)."

I can see why one should announce one's coming, but why one's going? In the same way that one defines the borders of a neighbor's sense of privacy by announcing one's entering, so too one is defining the borders by announcing one's leaving. The nature of sacred space (maqom qadosh) is defined by its notion of differentiation, much as the mundane is much noted for its quality of sameness. Indeed the halacha (the Jewish Way) instructs us to actively greet our guests and show them in, as well as accompany them along the way a short while after they leave.

Furthermore, can't G*d see our coming and going? Why would the Kohein Gadol (High Priest) have to announce himself? If we are instructed to show deference and honor to The Name, a being devoid of corporeal form, certainly mere mortals who lack corporeality and yet carry a Divine spark within, are deserving of a modicum of respect and honor, afforded by dint of their special provenance. This is the secret meaning of the pomegranate.

Lastly, what is the significance of the various colors of these woolen pomegranates? They are made of three colors: crimson, sky blue and dark red. These colors symbolize the various times of day- dawn (crimson), daytime(sky blue) and sunset (dark red), the changing colors of the sky as the sun (gold bell) moves across the heavens.

What this is saying to us is that G*d is near to us any time of day. The deepest meaning is that unlike a human king such as Ahasueros, the king of Persia in the upcoming Purim saga, who at his fancy could take your life for seeking him without anappointment, G*d will grant us an audience at any time. Any time of day or night is the right time to call out to G*d for help. To speak to G*d directly, unlike Ahasueros, Esther would not have to fast. To call out to G*d for help we do not risk death. Just the opposite!

The deepest meaning of our parsha is that G*d is our true king, and as sons and daughters of Divine royalty we are worthy to wear garments of blue today, not black, much as the High Priest and Mordecai wore blue in their day. And as we are all descended from "a kingdom of priests and a holynation," we should know that we are all worthy to wear garments of blue, for blue is the color of the sky, the color of the heavens, the color of the thread of the tallit. May our insides, then, be as heavenly as our outsides. And may we reflect G*d's Divine Light wherever we go.

Shabbat Shalom.

© 2000-2009 by Rabbi Baruch Melman

TERUMAH: WHO'S THEM?

by Rabbi Baruch Binyamin Hakohen Melman

Is G*d's holy presence reserved solely for Israel? Or may others who recognize G*d's Oneness and Uniqueness also maintain a connection to Him? Is the manifestation of G*d's Presence, the Shekhina, an exclusive club, or does G*d's love extend to all the righteous among the nations of the world? The answer is subtlely revealed depending on how we read the text.

EXODUS 25:8 says "v'asu li miqdash veShachanti betocham." Chazal, the sages of blessed memory teach that it means, "and they will make for Me a sanctuary and I shall dwell among them." Well it can also be read differently, with very different implications. Instead of reading asu in the third person plural, we can also read it in the second person plural imperative. Thus it can also be read as "and you (plural) will make for me a sanctuary and I shall dwell among them." If the you is plural, i.e., referring to the B'nei Yisrael, the Children of Israel, then the verse can only make sense if the word "them" refers to some other group. But to whom?

Whereas the first reading implies "them" to be the Children of Israel, the second reading implies another recipient of G*d's Indwelling Presence: the Righteous Among the Nations, the Tzadikei Umos HaOlam. This second reading allows us to celebrate a universalistic interpretation of G*d's mission vis a vis the chosen nation of Israel. The sanctuary, eventually to become the Beis HaMiqdash, is to serve as a locus and focus of holiness both for Israel and the world at small (it was once large in the imagination, but no longer/and Israel was once small in the imagination, but no longer).

The Temple offerings served to bring atonement not only to Israel but for all the world as well. This concept is pointedly evidenced by the seventy bullocks offered at the Festival of Sukkoth, the Feast of Tabernacles. Each of the atonement offerings corresponded to each of the proverbial seventy nations of the world, the Shivim Umos HaOlam. It has even been said that had the Romans known how our Holy Temple was for their benefit, they would have never destroyed it. But indeed the concept of a transnational deity was entirely foreign to their way of thinking.

Therefore, when we read about the construction of the mishkan, the holy tabernacle, we should be inspired to reflect upon how revolutionary was the Jewish idea, that the G*d of Israel transcends all borders, all nations, all races and creeds. As the G*d of Israel made His home among Israel, so that His word and message could be spread among all the earth, so too would His Temple, in the words of the prophet Isaiah, one day be a House of Prayer for all the nations - "Ki beisi Beis Tefillah, yikarei lechol he'amim."

Shabbat Shalom

© 2000-2009 by Rabbi Baruch Binyamin Hakohen Melman

These words of Torah are written in the merit of my beloved father, Israel J. Melman, obm, Yisrael Yehoshua ben Harav Ya'aqov Hakohen ben Meir Yisrael Hakohen Melman, z"l.
I was raised in the musar tradition of silence and meditative thoughtfulness, as were my father and grandfather before me, and was born on the first day chol hamoed Sukkos, which is also the yahrzeit of both Rebbe Nachman and the Vilna Gaon.

http://seferchabibi.blogspot.com/2007/07/yahrzeit-of-my-father-27-tammuz.html
http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9506EEDC1630F93BA35754C0A9649C8B63

Chabibi stands for CHidushei Baruch Binyamin ben Yisrael Yehoshua
(a chidush, from the word chadash, means a new, original or fresh perspective)
Dedications are available.

MISHPATIM: 24/7

by Rabbi Baruch Binyamin Hakohen Melman

It has been said that the value of the slavery experience of the Jewish people in Egypt, aside from the marked empathy for the stranger and the suffering of others, was to condition the people to a life of service. The word for slave in Hebrew, eved, is exactly the same word as servant. One would think there would be an entirely different word indicating the nuance between involuntary slavery and voluntary service. But in truth we were essentialy redeemed from slavery in Egypt. Redemption is a form of purchase. We transfered our loyalty from the human Pharaoh to the Divine Master of the Universe.

In Mishpatim we declare our willingness to serve G*d who redeemed us from slavery (avdut) and from the House of Bondage (beyt avadim). Na'aseh veNishma. We will do and we will study.
We do not wait to act until we have mastered the study. We act first, in faith in the goodness and the rightness of the request, even prior to fully understanding, knowing and comprehending.

And in which verse in the Torah do we as a people declare our fealty and loyalty to G*d and our willingness to observe the mitzvoth for all time? Exodus 24:7!

It reads: "He took the book of the Covenant and read it aloud to the people. They replied: we will do and obey (na'aseh venishma) all that G*d declared."

Now in every day colloquial English when we want to convey our readiness to be of service on a continual basis, at the drop of a hat, at any time, day or night, we say "24/7"- meaning 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Can you imagine that the same verse which indicates our readiness to "do and obey" would appear exactly at chapter and verse 24/7!

Shabbat Shalom!
Good Shabbos!

© 2000-2009 by Rabbi Baruch Binyamin Hakohen Melman
These words of Torah are written in the merit of my beloved father, Israel J. Melman, obm, Yisrael Yehoshua ben Harav Ya'aqov Hakohen ben Meir Yisrael Hakohen Melman, z"l
I was raised in the musar tradition of silence and meditative thoughtfulness, as were my father and grandfather before me.

I was born on the first day chol hamoed Sukkos, which is also the yahrzeit of both Rebbe Nachman and the Vilna Gaon.

http://seferchabibi.blogspot.com/2007/07/yahrzeit-of-my-father-27-tammuz.html
http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9506EEDC1630F93BA35754C0A9649C8B63

Chabibi stands for CHidushei Baruch Binyamin ben Yisrael Yehoshua(a chidush, from the word chadash, means a new, original or fresh perspective)
Dedications are available.

MOURNING A LOST YOUTH

This week's Dvar Torah is dedicated to the blessed memory of my good friend and colleague, Rabbi Aryeh Hirschfield, z"l, of Portland, Oregon, who died last week in Mexico.

by Rabbi Baruch Binyamin HaKohen Melman

How many endless ours we spend before the mirror, examining each new wrinkle, each new gray hair, each new sign of aging. Even as we gaze into the mirror new wrinkles are forming. In fact the very act of looking seems to affect the process, proof positive of the veracity of Heisenberg's Uncertainty Principle in everyday life, dictating the effect that the act of observation itself has on measurable reality. We are all observed. In fact today when you walk around any large city you are photographed several hundred times a day, without even knowing it consciously. But how does that knowledge on the subconscious level change us?

Even as Pharoah's daughter was pulling out Moses from the river's edge, she herself was being observed. And that very act of observation altered human history and destiny for all time. Peering out from her hidden fastness, Miriam quickly surmised the situation, and offered her mother's much needed services as wet nurse.

So all the while Moses was raised in the Pharaoh's palace, suddenly thrust into history as heir to the the throne of mastery of all the earth's riches, he was privy to a secret history as heir to the spiritual riches of the Abrahamic Covenant. Little Baby Moses floated ensconced in the protective walls of his mini-ark. Indeed, the word "teyva" is used both in Moses' salvation narrative as well as in Noah's (mankind's).

As Noah's epic journey proffered hope for a redeemed mankind, so too was Moses' journey a harbinger of redemption for the Jewish people suffering in the grip of bondage. Just as "teyva" suggests a rudderless vessel, guided solely by Providence, both Noah's and Moses' journeys were determined by a Divinely empowered wisdom.

Moses is found in the rushes. But the wording is curious:
It says: "(Gen2:6) vatiftach vatireyhu et *hayeled* vehinei *naar* bocheh....opening (the box) she saw the boy and behold the youth (naar) began to cry..."

What does this mean? How could Moses be both a child and a youth at one and the sametime? On one level, because of the use of the word "naar" it could suggest not Moses' crying, but that of Ishmael. Ishmael was the first to be called a "naar." Tradition teaches it was Ishmael who was the unnamed youth assigned to help provide hospitality to Abraham's three visitors (Gen 18:7).

More specifically, Ishmael is explicitlyreferenced as the "naar" in the Hagar banishment narrative (Gen 21:14-18). Interestingly, in this same narrative we see similarly the use of both "yeled" and "naar" (child and youth) to describe the same person (he was a naar in age, but still a yeled to his mother), the same juxtaposition as used concerning Moses.

Perhaps Ishmael was looking on from the great beyond. Perhaps it was Ishmael who now was crying, as he was naturally born from an Egyptian woman (Hagar), while Moses was about to be adopted by Pharaoh's daughter. Ishmael is perhaps wondering why *he* wasn't elected by history for this redemptive role?

While *his* life was spared *physically* by the suddenly appearing well of water, it was Moses, rather,who, nurtured by the foresight and awareness of Miriam, who herself is keenly associated with the wellsprings metaphor, was spared spiritually. Birth relates to the physical, as the adoptive relationship relates to the spiritual.

But on an even deeper level, it was Moses perhaps who was weeping; not Moses the child, but Moses the youth (vehinei naar bocheh). Moses the child,*knew* as a child, a pure and rarified existence as a Hebrew. Similarly, the*man* Moses knew a pure Hebraic identity as a Hebrew in his latter years. But throughout his entire youth (naar), his Hebrew identity needed remain hidden. For this his youth was crying. But while even his childhood was spent in hiding so as not to be murdered, his youth phase never allowed for any Hebrew expression whatsoever.

Similarly, our own soul yearns to be Jewish. Lacking any means of outward Jewish expression, it cries out so that we hear its pain. A Jewish soul is meant to find outward expression through its assignation to a Jewish body. Devoid of such expression, it remains in deep pain until we learn to manifest our deepest Jewish soul essence.

By attaching ourselves to the holiness which inheres in the Sabbath, through living a life immersed in the study and fulfillment of the Torah's many layers of precepts and meaning, in short, through becoming Torah, our soul gains the nourishment it needs to fulfill its earthly destiny. And while we may stare long stares in the mirror, longing for a possibly misspent youth, how much worse is a possibly misspent soul!

Shabbat Shalom. Good Shabbos!

© 2000-2009 by Rabbi Baruch Binyamin Hakohen Melman

These words of Torah are written in the merit of my beloved father, Israel J. Melman, obm, Yisrael Yehoshua ben Harav Ya'aqov Hakohen ben Meir Yisrael Hakohen Melman, z"l

I was raised in the musar tradition of silence and meditative thoughtfulness, as were my father and grandfather before me. I was born on the first day chol hamoed Sukkos, which is also the yahrzeit of both Rebbe Nachman and the Vilna Gaon.

http://seferchabibi.blogspot.com/2007/07/yahrzeit-of-my-father-27-tammuz.html
http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9506EEDC1630F93BA35754C0A9649C8B63

Chabibi stands for CHidushei Baruch Binyamin ben Yisrael Yehoshua
(a chidush, from the word chadash, means a new, original or fresh perspective)
Dedications are available.