Category: Torah Thoughts on the weekly portion

Parshat Terumah February 4 2011

Our home – our Temple

Our holy Rabbis bring down an enlightenment pertaining to our founding fathers and the Holy Temple. Abraham is called “The Mountain” (hahar), ascending above all who lived in his generation, climbing above much discomfort and many difficulties, rising above all that transpired as he was greatly tested in faith. It was to the mountain of Moriah that he brought his son- (Genesis:22:2)- “Take thy son, thy only son Yitzchak whom thou lovest, and get thee to the land of Moriah….” Yitzchak is called “The Field” (hasadeh) (Genisis 24:63)- “And Yitzchak went out to meditate in the field…” The Temple Mount is also known as the field purchased by King David from the Jebusites. The field is a place that is closer to the environs of town. Yaakov is known as “The House” (habayit) or Beit Yaakov, Beit Yisrael. He identified the Temple Mount as HaBayit, the home. It was Yaakov who raised the level of obedience in actualizing fear of heaven and love of heaven into pragmatics in his home where the entire house of Israel sprouted from.

The mountain, field and home are three icons for worship. The mountain is a place our ancient fathers retreated to, away from civilization to the far away cloisters as illustrated in our early prophets such as Jeremiah. The Tanaim and Amoraim who lived in the era shortly after our second Temple was destroyed were known to serve Hashem and roam the fields and forests as personified in the writer of the Zohar, Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai who lived alone with his son for years and years in a cave in a field. In this setting it was very difficult to be a connecting link to the community. In certain instances these settings were described as “wandering through the desert”. The desert, or midbar comes from the root word davar, meaning to speak. This alludes to words of prayer. The desert too is a place of isolation, where one is alone. It is a place of individual prayer and meditation.

What about the commandment to take a wife and have a family? How can one sit in the field all day? Therefore, our Rabbis bring down that the highest level of devotion is actually on the hearthstone of home in the domestic management of family dynamics where the people most attached to you emotionally are closest at hand, within earshot, under your nose. There is a term, ba’al habayit which means someone who is a substantial citizen, or better yet , “a homeowner”. This is the place where Hashem’s greatness can be most revealed as he helps to cope with the challenges of being a father, mother, husband, wife, sister, brother, grandfather, grandson, etc… where the material is transformed into spiritual work – turning the home into the Temple.

All things considered, our first two holy Temples were destroyed due to our sins and were considered like “The Mountain” and “The Field” being that our existence relies solely on “The House”, like Yaakov called the site of the holy Temple “HaBayit’. When a person is able to channel his worship of G-d into making his/her home a Temple and making it work- salvation will surely come! When this spark enters the psyche of how precious the home is to Hashem, one can surely overcome most of the tests and feel as if this life is the world to come in this world. Shir Hashirim (5) – ” I sleep but my heart is awake… Open up the door my beloved- how long can I stand outside our home!” Hashem asks. This indeed describes our situation today as Hashem is ready for us to build a home for Him.

The sitra Achra(the other side) has certainly grasped the significance of the Jewish home. They understand the power of the home, the Tabernacle of worship, the Temple as a place the Shechina resides. In the words of Mike Huckabee who spoke this week in Israel- “How can it be that the world is so concerned about a Jewish family adding on another room to their home in their historical Land- as if it will shake the world peace while they turn a blind eye as Iran builds bombs?!”

Shabbat Shalom Leah Goldsmith

Parshat Beshalach January 14, 2011

“And it came to pass that when Pharaoh had let the people go, that G-d led them not through the way of the land of the Pelishtim, although that was near, for G-d said, “Lest the people fear when they see war and want to return to Egypt.” (13: 16, 17)

“Then came Amaleq, and fought Yisrael in Refidim. And Moshe said to Yehoshua, “Choose us out men, and go out – fight with Amaleq ! “. (17: 8, 9)

Parshat Beshalach begins by clearly describing Am Yisrael as inexperienced in strategies of war, amateurs that vaguely remembered legends of the golden days of Shimon and Levi. Back in Egypt, Pharaoh used psychological tactics to enslave the people. It was his decree to hold ones tongue, to bite one’s tongue. All freedom of expression was suppressed by his ironbound security that did not enable even freedom of thought. That is how they became slaves.
The parsha ends with a climate so Cosmo politically different, a “perestroika” of advocates that indeed were armed and ready for war. Chazal tell us that only 50 days passed from the first passuk and its description of their utter ineptness in battle to the major change of the readiness to fight. What transpired in that short time was the greatest of miracles, the miracle of the splitting of the sea. At that moment of revelation of G-d’s wonders, when as if all that Hashem had done for them until now “wasn’t enough”, finally Am Yisrael were finally able to know Hashem’s manifestation and recognize their birth as new individuals, and as a new nation of champions. Up until that point they were slaves set free, forming thoughts. Now they knew their voice and used it to sing in prophecy. This was the new baby’s first cry. The great joy Am Yisrael expressed at Shirat HaYam brought about a change at sea, transforming these journeymen into advocates, vindicators of Hashem’s word in the world. Now they were ready to sound the call to arms!

When a person finds his voice and uses it to be an advocate in these crucial times, he is his assisting Israel in winning the ultimate battle of all time, the one that spreads truth and light to the world. Let us hear you!

Shabbat Shalom Leah Goldsmith

Parshat Bo January 7, 2011

“And Egypt imposed itself upon the people, to QUICKLY send them out of the land”.(Shemot 12:39)

“They shall inherit the Land for ever, they shall be the branch of my planting, the work of my hands, that I may be glorified… and I the Lord will HASTEN it (redemption) in it’s time”. (Isaiah 60:22)

Each year as we focus on the matzah at the Seder table, we have to observe the inner essence of what the matzah means- in its relevance to time. This is not normal bread but bread that was baked in haste. Chazal tell us that Hashem imposed the exodus on Bnei Yisrael in order to fulfill his promise to our Patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. As the redemption came closer with each plague, the mental, emotional and practical preparations to leave Egypt should have been in the making. Then why was the matzoh baked suddenly with the deliverance so promptly timed? They should have had bread and pastries in storage knowing that they are leaving soon.

We also know that the story of Egypt will repeat itself at the end of days.

Now we can also ask ourselves, how many of us are ready to grab something, anything from home and quick as the wind make provisions and get out of Egypt? We know that only one fifth of the Bnei Yisrael really did survive on the night of the 10th plague. Hashem controls the ebb and flow of time and He does this in His greatness through nature. There is a volume of time, a day, a year, a month, an era, an hour, a minute. Time passes along and we hardly feel progress – aside from in our very generation! The technological advances felt in only the last decade have far surpassed any other period in the history of the world. We had 2,000 years of exile in which most of it was spent in darkness, therefore called “The Dark Ages”. Only a Renaissance began 500 years ago, the industrial revolution a little over 150 years ago. These were the first signs, the first rays of light of the redemptive process. How many took the hint? HaRav Yosef Karo, the author of the Shulchan Aruch (1400’s) did not wait for El Al to take him to Israel on Aliyah. The students of the Grah (the Gaon of Vilna) who came to a desolate uncultivated wasteland in the early 1800’s did not wait for the Jewish Agency to sign them up as new immigrants. With the tide of Ethiopians, South Americans, Americans, Canadians and French immigrants, and the list goes on as the internet simultaneously gives us all the information we need to know about to live in the State of Israel- there is no reason to bake matzot. It doesn’t have to be done in a frantic moment. But then there are those who look at the matzah on the seder night and say plainly, “Next Year in Jerusalem!” They just don’t get it.

We know of the countless examples of doing mitzvoth in haste in the Tanach. “And Abraham hastened into the tent of Sarah and said, make QUICKLY the cakes…” for the messengers that would eventually proclaim that indeed his seed, the promise of the ultimate redemption would be coming soon. The time in their lives lagged on for so many years until they were actually withered with age but boom- they ran, they prepared and a child was born, Yitzchak! This is the secret of the redemption. Time lags on but there will come a day when you will have to run. Be ready. That’s what the matzah says to us.

Shabbat Shalom Leah Goldsmith

Vaera December 31, 2010

The Book of Berieshit closes with the climax of the Yosef saga, when he reveals himself to his family’s astonishment. It was really a case of not believing one’s eyes. But did Yosef really knock their socks off? How is it that not even one of the brothers did not sit up and take notice of the signs he gave them, in his quizlike ambience. His curiosity about the family and other personal undertones especially revealed a profound personal interest in them.

Chazal tell us that Yitzchak Avinu was blind and could not differentiate between his two sons. In the story of Yosef, a similar theme of sight impairment is obvious to us as they squint in the light of Yosef but just don’t get it… On the other hand, concerning Ya’akov Avinu, who the Divine Presence followed into exile , after 20 years he saw the Shechinah leaving Lavan’s house and “took the first boat” out of there. He knew the designated time had run out and in that instance didn’t waste a single second but simply packed up his family and ran like the wind without even saying goodbye! (do you think they made matzot?) This is recorded in the same passuk of Yosef’s birth- (Vayetzeh 30:25)- “And it came to pass when Rachel had born Yosef that Ya’akov said to Lavan, ” Send me away, that I may go to my own place and my own country…”.

Now as we enter the book of Shemot, listening to the background music of the beating of the drum and seeing the signs Hashem performed through Moshe Rabbeinu, Parshat Vaera has us wondering at the obvious symbols the plagues represent and how eventually Am Yisrael are signed sealed and delivered. The prognosis may have seemed, as Moshe Rabbeinu came to free them, their situations only worsened- their agony doubling in size. But there were open miracles happening at the same time, the evidence of Hashem’s Omnipotence and that the time in Egypt was running out. Didn’t they hear the alarm sounding as we know they raised a bitter cry! The bad omen that came down into Egypt’s consciousness however, did not prevent 4/5 of the Jewish people from remaining there and perishing along with the evil Egyptians.

Although the final Redemption doesn’t have a date, we can marvel at the signs of the times if we choose to see. Rabbi Pinchas Winston brings down the Midrash from Tanchumah that “all that happened concerning Yosef will happen to Tzion – (they have the same gematria- 345)- “So powerful was Yosef’s revelation and his brothers reaction that the rabbis use it as a metaphor of what it will be like on the final day of Judgement. All G-d will have to say is “I am G-d!” How many of us will fall back in shock when realizing how many times through the course of their lives G-d tried to help them to do the right thing, but they just didn’t pay attention.”

In this pasha Hashem says- “so you will KNOW that I am G-d”. Hashem has a profound personal interest in you. You only have to read His lips and then He is revealed. Now, more than any other time in history as we return to our Land and slowly slowly dawn becomes morning and the light is revealed, it is for us to see and KNOW what Hashem wants for us. For those that don’t take the signs, let this parsha be a reminder to them that yes, history DOES repeat itself. There may not even be time to bake matzot!

Shabbat Shalom Leah Goldsmith