Tazria 5774

Testing our Comfort with Contradictions

Shabbat HaChodesh

This Shabbat is the third of the four special Shabbatot leading up to Passover. The Haftarah for Shabbat HaChodesh is taken from the prophet Ezekiel.  In it he describes the sacrifices that will be offered at the dedication of the Third Temple. He also details some of the rules that will apply to people upon entering and leaving the Temple. The Haftorah describes the sacrifices that will be brought after the Third Temple is consecrated – an event the prophet Ezekiel says will occur on the first day of the Hebrew month of Nisan. And just as the additional reading from the Torah describes the Passover sacrifice, so too does the Haftorah – making it a fitting section to be read before Nisan, for that is the month in which Passover is celebrated

What is striking is that some of the sacrifices mentioned by the prophet Ezekiel seem to contradict those mentioned in the Torah. Thus, for example, the prophet states, “In the first month, on the first day of the month, you shall take a young bullock without blemish, and you shall offer it as a sin-offering in the sanctuary” (Chap. 45, verse 18). The Torah, however, states (in Numbers 28:11) that the special sacrifice to be offered on the first day of a new Hebrew month is a burnt-offering, not a sin-offering.

How can we explain this seeming contradiction?

The Talmud in Tractate Menahot (45a) discusses the apparent discrepancies, which were considered sufficiently troubling that the rabbis even considered not including the Book of Ezekiel in the Biblical canon. The Talmud there states, “Rabbi Yehudah said in the name of Rav: That man is to be remembered for good, and Hananiah son of Hezekiah is his name. Were it not for him, the Book of Ezekiel would have been suppressed, since its sayings contradicted the words of the Torah. What did he do? He took up with him three hundred barrels of oil [to serve for lighting] and remained there in the attic until he had explained away everything”. Those explanations obviously were persuasive, because in the end the Book of Ezekiel was included in the Biblical canon. But the Talmud also records the opinion of Rabbi Yochanan, who says that only at the End of Days, once the prophet Elijah comes to herald the onset of the Messiah, will we then be able to resolve the contradiction, for “This verse will be interpreted by Elijah in the future”.

While it would be hard not to admire the commitment of Hananiah, son of Hezekiah to explain the seeming contradictions in the Book of Ezekiel.  Imagine how many nights worth of light is contained in 1200 barrels of oil.  However, our tradition is far more comfortable with the position of Rabbi Yochanan. Not every mystery needs to be explained in our time, not every contradiction needs to be undone, not every question has an answer, not every answer holds.  Come Passover we will place a cup for Elijah on our tables as a reminder that there are unanswered questions.  It is only fitting that the month of Passover begins with a Haftarah that raises its own share of question.

Shabbat Shalom,

Rabbi Michael Siegel

Shmini 5774

Parashat Shmini

Over the years I have discovered that of all the mitzvot (commandments) and minhagim (customs) those associated with the laws of kashrut probably pose the greatest challenge to meaningful Jewish observance.  So many Jews were taught in their youth that the basis of our dietary laws were to be found in Biblical notions of hygiene and cleanliness and others were taught that they had to keep kosher to placate traditional parents and grandparents that the idea that there could be a spiritually satisfying message behind the prohibitions against eating certain kinds of creatures or mixing meat with dairy seemed ludicrous.

But as Conservative Jews we are known for promoting Jewish practice that while progressive is rooted in traditional but meaningful constructs.  I found the research of the late Professor Jacob Milgrom of Berkley (who once served as an assistant rabbi at Anshe Emet) helpful in this matter.  Professor Milgrom noticed that the only creatures which this week’s parasha allows us to eat are those creatures whose survival was not at the expense of other living creatures.  In other words the Biblical zoologist may have believed we are what we eat and assumed a connection exists between our character and what we consume.

Keeping in mind that the Biblical ideal was that human beings would be vegans but that this ideal was compromised after the flood story that resulted from humanity’s inability to restrain its blood lust, the dietary laws imply that if we eat predatory animals and consume blood we could further stoke the fires of that blood lust.  If we give up our vegan diet but limit our animal consumption to herbivores and domesticated creatures then perhaps we can keep our extreme behavior in check and achieve a greater respect for the sanctity of al living things.

It is a fascinating effort on the part of the Torah to concretize the value of life in our every day lives.

As Rabbi Bradley Shavit Artson writes, “For most animals, and for many people, eating is simply a response to a biological need, or at best an aesthetic pleasure….Kashrut offers an opportunity to harness the act of eating to contribute to who we are and what are our values.  Kashrut summons us to elevate eating from an animal response to an encounter with holiness, transforming our kitchens and our dining room tables into sacred altars, our meals into reminders of our deepest values as Jews.”

It is true that by keeping kosher we also contribute to the bonding of the community and strengthening of Jewish identity and can cultivate a greater respect for the needs of all living creatures, but for me these are but the valuable by-products of a system built around the central notion that the gift of life is the most sacred and central of all our values.

Shabbat Shalom,

Rabbi Matt Futterman
Senior Educator

Tzav 5774

Shabbat Zakhor | Tzav

Purim, which we will celebrate tomorrow night, is a holiday full of joy and delight for people of all ages. Whether it is dressing up in costume or enjoying a party, Purim is fun for people of all ages. What is particularly interesting is how one rabbi, Maimonides or the Rambam, identifies the joy that we should be focusing on during the Purim holiday.

In his masterful code of Jewish law, the Rambam writes about the four mitzvot of Purim. The first is the importance of reading the Megillah, the story related in the Book of Esther. The Rambam comments that hearing the  Megillah is so important that even in the time of the Temple, the priests would interrupt Temple services, effectively putting up a “Come Back Later” sign, in order to ensure that all of the priests heard the Megillah (Sefer Zemanim, Hilchot Megillah 1:1).

The second mitzvah is that one must have a great feast, a delicious celebration that includes partying with alcohol. That is why many people have celebratory seudot, or feasts, on the day of Purim.

The third mitzvah is that a person must send two types of food to one another, what we know as mishloach manot, meaning food-gifts for friends. While today people give each other small packages of snacks, the Rambam seems to describe these gifts as something like the earliest form of a “potluck”, where the food-gifts are supposed to supplement other people’s parties. (Hilchot Megillah 2:15)

But what is most fascinating is how he describes the fourth mitzvah, and that is matanot la’evyonim, or gifts to the poor. The Rambam emphasizes that it is better for a person to spend more time and money in giving gifts to the poor than the combined time, money, and energy spent on sending gift baskets to friends and on one’s festive meal. And he says so in powerful language:

"שאין שם שמחה גדולה ומפוארה אלא לשמח לב עניים ויתומים ואלמנות וגרים,

Since there is no greater and glorious joy than gladdening the hearts of the poor, orphans, widows, and strangers.”

Either the Rambam experientially believes that the most joyful experience for a person is to help those who are most vulnerable in our society - or he is declaratively telling us that we have to enjoy helping those most vulnerable on Purim than having a party or giving gifts to friends, because that must become a priority. Either way, it is a moving and challenging line for each and every one of us.

Here at Anshe Emet, we prioritize all of these mitzvot. On Purim evening and morning we will offer multiple Megillah readings. On Purim day, we will celebrate together with a massive Purim Carnival, one of the highlights of the year. In the morning of Purim, our students in the Religious School will share gifts with one another, and allocate tzedaka money that they have raised. Additionally, proceeds from the Carnival will go towards SHMUSY’s Tikkun Olam, the charity run by our youth that allocates money to nonprofit organizations.

May this Purim be one that involves hearing the story of the Megillah, may it be filled with festive celebration and partying, may it include family and friends showering gifts on one another, and may the combined joy of all these component parts only be surpassed by how we look out for those in our community and in our world who are most vulnerable.

Shabbat Shalom,

Rabbi David Russo

Vayikra 5774

Vayikra 5774

Pretty soon movie star Russell ("Gladiator") Crowe will star as the title character in the film version of the Biblical story "Noah".  And later in the year Christian ("Batman") Bale will play Moses in "Exodus".  Hollywood clearly assumes that these stories are compelling enough that people will still pay to see them even though they have been hearing them since childhood.

With this in mind one might ask why then did Jewish tradition not mandate that a child's education begin with one of these thrilling tales teaching instead that a child's introduction to Torah begin with the this week's parasha, the beginning of the book of Vayikra (Leviticus)?  Instead of engaging a child's imagination with stories of heroes we detail for the child how sacrifices were brought in ancient times.

What did our sages know that the moguls missed?  What were they thinking?

Probably not much more than the lovely sentiments found in the following sources.  According to Midrash Rabbah,"Surely it is because young children are pure and the sacrifices are pure; so let the pure come and engage in the study of the pure."

A later medieval work savors and concretizes the symbolic sweetness of this moment in the life of the child.  Rabbi Eleazar Ben Yehuda of Worms, writing in the 12th century, described a ceremony that took place when a child was first taken to his teacher's house on Shavuot wrapped in a tallit.

A tablet on which the letters of the Hebrew Aleph Bet were written would be covered with honey.  The teacher would recite the letters and the child would repeat them.  The teacher would then recite the opening verse of our parasha which the child would also repeat.  Finally the child would be told to lick the honey and taste the sweetness of Torah study.

Those who engage in any of the many opportunities for Torah study which we offer at Anshe Emet know that one is never too old to enjoy the sweet taste of Torah study on one's lips.

Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Matt Futterman
Senior Educator