Friday, July 1, 2011

RABBI ARTHUR SEGAL: IF YOU HAVE DONE MUCH GOOD, GIVE CREDIT TO THE DIVINE

 RABBI ARTHUR SEGAL: IF YOU HAVE DONE MUCH GOOD, GIVE CREDIT TO THE DIVINE
 
 
 IF THERE IS ONE VERSE OF TALMUD FOR ONE TO READ, TODAY'S CLASS IS IT.
 
 Jewish Spiritual Renewal: Derek Eretz Zuta + Rabbah :
 
Shabbat 07/09/11
 
(aka Derech Eretz )
 
The JEWISH SPIRITUAL RENEWAL class list is hosted by Shamash: The Jewish Network a service of Hebrew College/Yeshiva
 
Shalom my dear Chaverim, Talmidim, v' Rabbanim, friends, students and fellow rabbis: An oneg, joy-filled, Shabbat, Sabbath, this coming weekend... and Shavuah Tov to you for a good and peaceful week.  
 
We continue with our exploration into the Talmudic Tractates of Derek Eretz Zuta and Rabbah. (aka Derech Eretz Zuta, aka Derech Eretz Rabbah. As was mentioned, zuta is Aramaic for 'small', and rabbah is 'large').
 
Remember that Derek Eretz is not about Jewish ritual. It is about how we are to treat one another and what traits of character, middot, we are to try to develop. The lessons are universal and ecumenical.
 
For those new to the class, Baruch ha Ba! Welcome! You can access last week's class  at  
 
 
From here you will find links to preceding classes in this  series. So,  together we continue:
 
TALMUD BAVLI
 
TRACTATE DEREK
 
ERETZ ZUTA
 
(aka Derech Eretz)
 
Today we will complete CHAPTER 2 of Talmud Bavli Tractate Derek Eretz Zuta Verse   2:9
 
'' If you have done much good to someone, consider it as you have done very little. You must not say that you have done good  from what belongs to you, because there is One who has given every thing to you, and you are obliged to thank Heaven for it.
 
If, however, someone has done you a bit of good, consider it as if he has done you much good.
 
If, however, you have done any wrong to someone, even a little bit, consider it as if it is much wrong. Say: "Woe is me that I was the cause of the wrong." And make amends.
 
If others have done to you much wrong, considered it in your eyes as nothing.''
 
Many years ago, one of my Rabbinic teachers asked me: "Avrael , would you rather be happy or would you rather be right?''  He was not talking about major situations when we cannot stand idly by while our fellows' blood is being shed. He was taking about the day to day interactions that we have with our fellow humans, including co workers, family, et. al.
 
I used to want, no actually ''have to be'', right. Now, living in shalom is all important.
 
Trust me on this: if there is one verse of Talmud, to learn to live by, this verse is it.
 
We are not talking about being a door mat. Our sages nor God wish us to allow ourselves to be treated like a shmateh, a dish rag. But we were not put here on earth to live a life of full of angst and peccadilloes.
 
'' If you have done much good to someone, consider it as you have done very little. You must not say that you have done good  from what belongs to you, because there is One who has given every thing to you, and you are obliged to thank Heaven for it. ''
 
Why are we here on earth? From a spiritual and Jewish point of view, we are here to be of maximum service to God and our fellows. So when we do good for someone, or some charity or institution, even if it is 'much' good, we have to consider it as if we have done little. This comes from humility and ego deflation. It takes practice, and daily, if not 3,4 or 5 times daily prayer and meditation, but it is doable.
 
Everything we have is not just a gift from God, but a loan. It can be taken away, God forbid, at any moment as we discussed in our last class, and certainly leaves us upon death. It is ironic, but it is the opposite of Jewish spirituality, when we see big donors' name's plastered over the doorways of a synagogue. We do the hard work, but the outcomes are never in our hands. Outcomes are in God's universe. So, spiritually speaking, who's name should be above those doorways? God's name...and with extreme gratitude.
 
Spiritually, when anyone thanks us, we turn that thanks over to God, and further, we thank that person for allowing us of being of service to them.
 
''If, however, someone has done you a bit of good, consider it as if he has done you much good.'' This is a lesson not only humility but in gratitude. It is so easy in a consumerist society, to show thanks to those who give us a lot. A consumer oriented society places great value on ''stuff.'' So when someone gives us valuable ''stuff,'' we laud them. Try harder to give the same thanks and gratitude to the cashier and the 'bagger'  at our local food market. Think of all of the little things that are done for us each day with the same gratitude we would give to the occasional big thing done for us.
 
When we live this way, we also realize all the things we take for granted that other humans do for us, and that God does for us. As I teach in The Handbook to Jewish Spiritual Renewal: A Path of Transformation for the Modern Jew  we start  off each day thanking God for our first breath of the day, as well as restoring our souls. When we live life not acknowledging  such wonderful things being granted to us all day, we become ingrates. When we get a flat tire, instead of seeing it as an inconvenience, one thing wrong out of 999 things that went right, we awfulize it, and loose our shalom. 
 
This is why King David taught us to thank God at least 100 times a day, and why in proper prayer books there are a list of prayers of thanks to God from not only foods, but seeing a buddy we haven't  seen in a while, or seeing a rainbow, or seeing a beautiful animal, etc.
 
''If, however, you have done any wrong to someone, even a little bit, consider it as if it is much wrong. Say: 'Woe is me that I was the cause of the wrong.' And make amends.''  It is very easy, especially at our homes, to hurt another's feelings. In the world outside our homes, even doing acts with good intentions, can bring about harm to another. Shirking this and saying to ourselves, that ''it is his/her problem,'' is not spiritual. It is not Derek Eretz. We have an obligation, even for the most slightest harm we have caused, to apologize, and make amends, teshuvah.
 
''If others have done to you much wrong, considered it in your eyes as nothing.'' This is the last part of verse 2:9 of Derek Eretz Zuta. It isn't easy, and for many, it goes against their so-called human nature. But our jobs spiritually is to move from Homo Sapien, with this 'human nature,' to Homo Spiritus.  It means to learn to keep our yetzer ha ra, our ego, in check.
 
This does not mean that if someone crashes into our car and wrecks the rear end, we are to smile, and say: ''Please, would you be so kind and now crash into my front end?'' But it does mean that when we exchange insurance papers, and then have to deal with the other's auto insurance company, and body shops, and maybe even lawyers, for the next year, we do so calmly, without malice.
 
The sages are talking about interpersonal relationships. As we have learned, when others do lashon ha ra, gossip, about us, or decide they dislike us, the problem lies within them. They usually suffer from self esteem issues and make themselves feel better by knocking someone else. Or they think they see a defect of character  that they have, that they refuse to acknowledge and deal with, and paint us with their defects. Hence those that harm us with their tongues or poison pens, are spiritually ill, and need our prayers, not our retaliation.
 
So we learned to let flow off our backs, the childlike mean behaviors of others. Just because we are trying to live a life of spiritual renewal, doesn't mean everyone who we come across will treat us respectfully. As is quipped, just because you are  a vegetarian doesn't mean the bull won't charge at you.
 
When it comes to living a life surrounded by those who are 'bulls' who are not living a God-conscious existence, when we shed our skins of Velcro, and grow a skin of Teflon, our lives go smoother, and we live in freedom, with happiness and joyousness each day.
 
This last verse of Chapter Two sums up living life with others with love and without grudges or angst. Its some of the best advice about living in the entire 63 Tractates of Talmud.
 
Next week, Baruch ha Shem, we will continue with the first verse of chapter three of  Derek Eretz Zuta .
 
We discuss the aspects of this verse of living in peace, living in God's universe, living with humility and without resentments, and truly learning to love our fellows throughout the majority of chapters in  The Handbook to Jewish Spiritual Renewal: A Path of Transformation for the Modern Jew  as well as in most chapters of A Spiritual and Ethical Compendium to the Torah and Talmud  .
 
What are your ideas about avoiding strife?  How has learning that to truly love our fellows and letting things flow off your back, helped you in your daily relationships? How has understanding the spiritual and ethical teachings of Judaism helped you live a more joyous life?
 
Next class, Baruch ha Shem, we will continue with Derek Eretz Zuta, starting Chapter Three. Thank you for joining me.
 
 
Shalom:
 
Rabbi Arthur Segal www.jewishspiritualrenewal.org
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Jewish Renewal www.jewishrenewal.info
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If visiting SC's Low Country, contact us for a Shabbat meal, in our home by the sea, our beth yam.
 
Maker of Shalom (Oseh Shalom) help make us deserving of Shalom beyond all human comprehension!
 
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Posted by Rabbi Arthur Segal at 10:17 AM