Friday, September 26, 2008

unetaneh tokef

"let us ascribe holiness to this day"

This piyyut (prayer-poem) is attributed to Rabbi Amnon of Mainz, Germany, a medieval sage, and Torah scholar. The Bishop of Mainz offered Rabbi Amnon a ministerial position on the condition that Rabbi Amnon convert to Christianity.

Rabbi Amnon initially refused. The Bishop continued to insist. Rabbi Amnon finally asked for three days to consider the Bishop's offer. Upon returning home, Rabbi Amnon was distraught over his seeming willingness to accept the Bishop's offer and what he felt was a betrayal of God. When Rabbi Amnon returned to the Bishop, he said that his tongue should be cut out for not having refused immediately. The Bishop did not take up Rabbi Amnon on this offer but did torture Rabbi Amnon horribly and sent him home.

A few days later, it was Rosh HaShannah. Rabbi Amon asked to be carried to shul. He wanted to say the kedushah and sanctify God's Name. With his dying breath, he uttered the words that we now know as the unetaneh tokef.

Let us now relate the power of this day's holiness, for it is awesome and frightening. On it Your Kingship will be exalted; Your throne will be firmed with kindness and You will sit upon it in truth. It is true that You alone are the One Who judges, proves, knows, and bears witness; Who writes and seats, (counts and calculates); Who remembers all that was forgotten. You will open the Book of Chronicles - it will read itself, and everyone's signature is in it. The great shofar will be sounded and a still, thin sound will be heard. Angels will hasten, a trembling and terror will seize them - and they will say, 'Behold, it is the Day of Judgment, to muster the heavenly host for judgment!'- for they cannot be vindicated in Your eyes in judgment.

All mankind will pass before You like members of the flock. Like a shepherd pasturing his flock, making sheep pass under his staff, so shall You cause to pass, count, calculate, and consider the soul of all the living; and You shall apportion the fixed needs of all Your creatures and inscribe their verdict.

On Rosh Hashanah will be inscribed and on Yom Kippur will be sealed how many will pass from the earth and how many will be created; who will live and who will die; who will die at his predestined time and who before his time; who by water and who by fire, who by sword, who by beast, who by famine, who by thirst, who by storm, who by plague, who by strangulation, and who by stoning. Who will rest and who will wander, who will live in harmony and who will be harried, who will enjoy tranquillity and who will suffer, who will be impoverished and who will be enriched, who will be degraded and who will be exalted.

But REPENTANCE, PRAYER and CHARITY Remove the Evil of the Decree!

For Your Name signifies Your praise: hard to anger and easy to appease, for You do not wish the death of one deserving death, but that he repent from his way and live. Until the day of his death You await him; if he repents You will accept him immediately.

It is true that You are their Creator and You know their inclination, for they are flesh and blood. A man's origin is from dust and his destiny is back to dust, at risk of his life he earns his bread; he is likened to a broken shard, withering grass, a fading flower, a passing shade, a dissipating cloud, a blowing wind, flying dust, and a fleeting dream.Congregation aloud, then chazzan:
But You are the King, the Living and Enduring G-d.

There is no set span to Your years and there is no end to the length of Your days. It is impossible to estimate the angelic chariots of Your glory and to elucidate Your Name's inscrutability. Your Name is worthy of You and You are worthy of Your Name, and You have included Your Name in our name.

Monday, September 22, 2008

As a Driven Leaf by Milton Steinberg

This is a fictionalized biography of the Talmudic sage Rabbi Elisha ben Abuyah. He struggled mightily with reason and faith and ultimately turned apostate. There is some speculation that he also became an informer for the Romans against his own people and is called "the other" (acher) in the Talmud. The references to Elisha ben Abuyah are few and far between. And those that are there are cryptic with several different possible interpretations. Steinberg, a conservative rabbi, fashioned a remarkable work of fiction about this historical figure.

Steinberg freely admitted that he took liberties with the sources and did not strictly adhere to the information provided in the sources. Whereas it is documented that Elisha was born before the destruction of the Temple in 70 AD, in "As a Driven Leaf", Elisha is born sometime after that. Whereas Elisha was survived by 2 daughters, in the book, he and his wife were unable to conceive children. Whereas Elisha's father did send him to learn Torah, in the book, Elisha's father was an unbelieving Jew who got a Greek tutor for his son.

Given my harsh reaction to "The Red Tent" by Anita Diamant, I wonder why I am more willing to forgive Steinberg his liberties with the sources than Diamant. Curious....

In any event... the title for the book comes from Job 13:24-25 "Wherefore hidest thou thy face? Wilt thou harass a driven leaf?" Job was a man who also struggled with his faith and demanded of God to know why he was being afflicted even though he was righteous. Job's question is echoed by Elisha.

Elisha could not conceive of an almighty, all good, all knowing God who would allow the righteous to perish and the wicked to flourish. He wanted to reason his way to his faith rather than start with assumptions and try to bolster them. Given the circumstances of his life and the Jewish people at the time, his questioning God and faith and the Tradition was not tolerated. He was excommunicated. Forced to choose between unquestioning loyalty to a faith that no longer made sense to him and forbidden Greek wisdom in the hopes of establishing his faith as Euclid established the principles of geometry, Elisha chose the latter.

Faith vs. Reason is only one of the themes in this book. There is the struggle of the Jewish people against Rome in the 2nd century AD. Elisha feels that the cause of the Jewish people is hopeless and that the sooner they give up against Rome, the better, for everyone. Rabbi Akiba-of whom there is a tremendous amount of information and arguably the greatest sage of the Talmudic era-argued differently. Can any earthly power extinguish a people whose mission is to spread God's message of love, hope, mercy and justice to all humanity? Even all the nations united in unholy alliance have not the might to destroy this people. There were enemies before the Romans and there were enemies since. The threat of eliminating the Jewish people comes not from outside forces but from within. Before a people can be conquered, it must destroy itself first. Because of Elisha's supposed informant status with the Romans and helping the Romans to enact edicts designed to crush the Jewish people, he was seen as helping to destroy the Jewish people from within, and is therefore called acher (the other).

Elisha's homelife was not much better. He and his wife, Deborah were unable to conceive children. She had an aristocratic hauter even though her family had fallen on hard times recently. She was concerned with Elisha's doubts only to the extent that they threatened their financial security. She was constantly harping on the servants. Their marriage was not a happy one.

It is unknown whether Elisha repented of his actions. In the book, it is clear that Elisha felt remorse and guilt and felt that he had gone too far to be able to repent.

Despite his theological and marital troubles, Elisha was not entirely friendless. A pupil of his, Meir, who later became a renowned rabbi, remained loyal to him and did not let the ban of excommunication prevent him from learning from Elisha. Elisha moved to Antioch after he left Palestine and found his old childhood friend Papas, who introduced him to scholars and rhetoricians and plays and museums and libraries. In Antioch, Elisha found the freedom to pursue his intellectual quest and he delved into the Greek sciences and literature and philosophy, something that he could not do as a rabbi in Palestine.

"As a Driven Leaf" is a remarkable piece of fiction. It has some basis in recorded events but does not hold strictly to them. I recommend this work to all who are interested in the age of the Talmud, in the question of faith vs. reason, in the question of why bad things happen to good people, and in ancient Israel.

Friday, September 19, 2008

The Greatest Generation (?)

The rabbis of the Talmudic age called the 40 years of wandering in the wilderness a golden age in Israel's history. Look at the faith they had. Look at the miracles God did for them. Really? Weren't they called a stiff-necked people? Didn't they complain about lack of water, lack of food, boring manna, their inability to take the land? Didn't they worship the molten calf? This is a generation worth emulating?

Ah, how quick we are to point out their faults and not see our own. Sure, they had God's presence among them with the pillar cloud and fire. And yes, God provided them with their daily manna. Suppose you had to eat the same thing every day of the year not just for a week or a month but for forty years. I imagine it would get old very quick. When water is hard to come by, as it is in the wilderness, what else can we think about except water? When no water is in sight for miles and miles and our children look to us and ask for drink, what can we do? Who would not feel despair? When our leader is gone for forty days and we have no idea if he's coming back, what are we to do? Should we stay? Should we go? What's our sign?

The praise is due to the wilderness generation not because they failed. Every generation fails. Every generation could do better. The praise is due because they persevered. They kept going despite the hardships and doubt and fear. Because of that generation that came out of Egypt and received the Torah and taught it to their children, their children were blessed with being able to inherit the land. And each generation since owes a huge debt to those who stood at Sinai and experienced God's awesome power and glory.

Wednesday, September 17, 2008

Waiting for God

Waiting for God is a lot harder than it sounds. I'm reminded of Abraham and Sarah and Rebekah and Isaac. With Abraham and Sarah, God had promised that Abraham would be the father of many nations and that none but his own issue would be his heir. Yet Abraham had to wait till he was 100 before he became a father. In the meantime, his wife Sarah told him to have a son with her handmaid, Hagar. Look how that situation turned out.

And with Isaac and Rebekah, God had told Rebekah that two nations were in her womb and the older would serve the younger. Rebekah knew that Jacob had to get the blessing instead of Esau but she never discussed it with her husband and instead had Jacob lie to his father to get the blessing. I don't know if Rebekah ever saw her twin sons again after Jacob had to flee to Laban's house.

Throughout the Bible, people took matters into their own hands, despite the promises of God. We can sit here a few thousand years removed and say, "well, of course they should have just trusted in God and waited." Could you? Could I? I don't know. I'd like to think that I could, but I tell you, waiting for God is hard stuff. What else can we do but pray and ask for wisdom and patience.

Thursday, September 11, 2008

If not higher

This is a story I heard at Shabbat services last Friday. It's the rabbi's favorite story of the month of Elul.*

*Elul is the last month of the Jewish calendar before the New Year (Rosh HaShannah) begins on the first of Tishrei. The 10th of the month is the Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur). The first ten days of Tishrei are called the Days of Awe. We are in awe of the Awesome Creator and Judge of the universe Who holds people to account for their sins the past year and pronounces judgment-who shall live, who shall die, who shall be well, who shall be ill, who rich, who poor, etc., etc. We pray that God act in accordance with His great mercy and forgive us our sins. Now, having the context for the month when this story takes place, I give you, "If Not Higher."

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Once upon a time, in an Eastern European village lived a rabbi. He had been the leader of the small Jewish community there for many years and people came to him with all sorts of problems and he always had time for them. They said he was a holy man and spoke with God regularly, as Moses had. Now, every year, during the month of Elul, the last month of the year, the rabbi would disappear on the Sabbath. The people would wonder where he went. And some would say that he went up to heaven to plead with the Almighty to forgive the sins of the people before the coming Days of Awe (The New Year and the Day of Atonement when even the hosts of heaven were judged). But, as there is in ever community, there was a skeptic. And this skeptic thought, bah! He doesn't go to heaven. Nobody goes up to heaven and comes back. So one year the skeptic decided that he would follow the rabbi and see where the rabbi went every Sabbath during Elul.

On the first Thursday of the month of Elul, the skeptic followed the rabbi back to the rabbi's house after evening services. He hid under the bed and waited to see what would happen. Early the next morning, the rabbi got up, washed his face and hands, said his morning prayers, and then got dressed. But not in his normal rabbi clothes. He put on overalls and a heavy flannel shirt and work boots and a knit cap and gloves and a heavy jacket. And he took an axe from the wall and a long piece of rope from the closet. And he went out. And the skeptic followed at a distance so as not to be noticed. The rabbi did not go towards the synagogue but into the woods. He began chopping down small trees and then sectioning the trees into logs. He gathered the wood into a bundle and tied it with the rope. He worked all through the morning and into the afternoon pausing briefly to drink water and eat a small lunch. Then, with a heave, he pulled the rope onto his shoulder and began walking back towards the town. By now the sun had begun its descent. But he did not go to the center of town but to the poorest section on the outskirts. He went to a small hovel and knocked on the door. A timid voice belonging to an old woman asked, 'who is it?' The rabbi disguised his voice and in a deep, gruff tone said, 'it is I, Vassal, I have some firewood to sell you. Winter is coming and it will be very cold.' The woman said, you may come in, but I'm afraid I don't have any money to buy firewood. The rabbi entered and said, that is ok, I will sell it to you on credit. He then deposited a bundle of wood by the fireplace. The woman said, I am unable to get out of bed to light the fire. So the rabbi put some logs in the fireplace and lit the wood. He stood up and said, I will return next week with some more wood. He then left the hovel, and went back to his home and bathed and went to bed. And the next day, he was back at the woods and chopping and off to another poor person’s house delivering firewood.

And so from then on, every Elul, when the townspeople would wonder, where did the rabbi go on the Sabbath, and some would answer “he goes up to heaven” the former skeptic would answer, ‘yes, to heaven, if not even higher than that.’

Friday, September 5, 2008

Why so angry?

Let us say that God created us. Let us also say that God knows us intimately. He knows our thoughts. He knows our habits. He knows our likes and dislikes. He knows how we will act in every situation. He knows that have a sinful nature and that we will not always abide by His commands. Let us also say that He fashions our hearts. He knows that we will stumble and fall short of His Glory. He knows that we are fallible. Why then is He wroth when we act as He made us? Why does He express outrage and pronounce horrible curses upon us for our failure to fulfill every particular of His decrees? Why so harsh?

And I answer: We ought to know better. We were given the rules and the consequences. We were called by God not because we are special or better than any other people. We were called to spread His message of justice and righteousness of love and mercy of forgiveness and compassion. We are to be a light unto the nations. If we do not uphold our end of the deal, why should we expect God to deal kindly with us? Is not sin to be punished? Do we not learn from being chastised? As a man disciplines his son, so does God discipline us. The same root of discipline is in the word disciple. Are we His disciples? Let us act like it. Praise God for the opportunity to spread His Word and to bring Him glory.

The Red Tent by Anita Diamant

So I finally have my new car (woo hoo), a 2002 Honda Civic. Well, it's new to me anyway. And it has a tape deck! So I went to the liberry the other day and I got "The Red Tent" by Anita Diamant on Books on Tape. So I'm listening to this novel in the car as I drive from home to work and back and elsewhere.

"The Red Tent" is the story of Dinah, the daughter of Jacob and Leah. Gen 30:21 She gets very little mention in the book of Genesis and is best known for being abducted by Shechem. Was she raped? The Bible seems to indicate that Shechem lay forcefully with Dinah, but his actions afterwards are not consistent with a rapist. So, that's an ambiguity in the text. Anyway, when Dinah's brothers learn what happened to their sister, they lay siege to Shechem and take away their sister by force, thus avenging her honor. Gen. 34:1-31 After that, she disappears from the text, except for mention in a genealogy. Gen 46:15

What happened to her? What was her life like before she met Shechem? What is like being the only daughter among 11 brothers? Benjamin had not been born yet. What household duties did she have? What was her relationship with her mother and the other women in Jacob's family? What was her religion? "The Red Tent" attempts to answer this and many other questions.

So far I'm only on the 1st side of the 3rd cassette out of 8. So I'm not too far into the book (tapes). Diamant is an excellent story teller, no doubt. She has a wonderful way with words and brings each of her characters to life with stark clarity. The ancient pagan rituals and worship practices of the Canaanites are laid out in vivid detail.

One thing I noticed though is that Diamant takes certain liberties with the story from the Bible that don't jive with the Biblical account. For example, she says that the contract between Jacob and Laban for Rachel's hand is 7 months instead of 7 years. And she writes that Leah is the mother of seven sons and Bilhah the mother of only one. Actually, Leah bore six sons and Bilhah bore two. But, dont' take my word for it, look these facts up for yourself. Genesis 29:18-19; 30:20; 30:1-8.

I understand that the Bible can be frustratingly silent on certain details about people, especially women. But when information is given, why not use it? Those who advocate for women's commentaries and women's studies on the Bible and for novels about Biblical women (and I whole-heartedly agree with them) do themselves and other women a disservice when they do not accurately portray what is in the Bible. Who will take them seriously if they cannot get those details correct? Either it shows ignorance or lack of attention, and I'm not sure which is worse.

And this problem of not properly using what's in the Bible is not limited to stories written by and about women. I don't know if any of you are familiar with "Charlton Heston [may he rest in peace] Presents the Bible." His take on the stories in the Tanakh, or OT, weave a complicated mess not even Alexander the Great could have cut through.

But, I will continue to listen to the tapes because I find the story of Dinah interesting and also to find out (for my own perverse satisfaction-God forgive me) where else Diamant diverted from the Biblical text.

Tuesday, September 2, 2008

See

See, I set before you this day a blessing and a curse. Deut 11:26

In Hebrew, the word translated as "see" is "re-eh." It is in the second person singular. You, (singular) see. The phrase "before you", however, is in the second person plural. What does this teach us?

Individual and communal responsibility. A popular saying puts it this way: "All Israel is responsible for one another." Each person must do her part. Each person should feel as if the choice of blessing and curse was before her personally. And each person should also feel part of a larger whole. Any collective group-teams, armies, bands, communities-works best when all its separate parts are working together, each doing its part.

But how do we see an incorporeal thing? How do we see the choice of blessing or curse? How do we see what is promised but not yet come to pass? The curses are pronounced on Mount Ebal, the blessings on Mount Gerizim. The Israelites could see the mountains certainly, but not the actual words.

We hear words. Can we see words? And yet, how often do we say to one another, "I see what you're saying." Someone new to the English language might have a hard time understanding how we could say such a thing. You can't literally see the words that come out of a person's mouth.

What do we mean by see in this context then? Understanding, insight-notice the word 'sight'. When we see what someone says or means, we grasp what she is trying to convey.

We are to see (understand) that God has given us a choice. We can choose life and blessing or death and curse. It's up to us. Following the mitzvot (commandments) leads to life and blessing. Disobedience to God's laws leads to death and destruction. The choice seems obvious.

Yet, we all struggle daily with the choice of blessing and curse. Like Paul, and I daresay many others before and since, that which I desire to do, I don't and that which I don't want to do, I do. Would that I could see the right path and have the courage to follow it.