"When I hear someone speak evil of me, I remain silent, for I fear that would I respond in kind, I would then hear abuses that are worse than the previous ones.'' Whenever we are verbally attacked and we respond in kind, the result, invariably, is worse verbal attack. The Talmud Bavli Tractate Megillah 18a teaches: "The best medicine of all is silence."
The Chofetz Chaim (R' I. Kagan, d 1933) taught: "Death and life are in the tongue's power ( Prov. 18:21). The tongue can cause harm in a way that the sword cannot. The sword can kill only through direct contact with its victim, while the tongue can bring about the ruination of someone who is miles away. Man was created with two eyes, two ears, two nostrils, but only one mouth, to indicate that he is obligated to limit his speech, for transgression through speech can occur quite easily, and with far-reaching consequences.''
As with so many of our chapters and techniques, walking with God throughout the day, will take time and we never master it. We are developing a personal relationship with the Divine. God is always ready for us. We have been learning how to get ready for God.
Chapter Ten: [final third], Mindfully Walking with God Throughout the Day
Developing a Conscious Contact with God
God Listening Throughout the Day
Walking Hand In Hand With God
Doing His Will
Developing True Shalom and Serenity
Root Of Shalom = Shlema = Wholeness = Integrated, You Are No Longer Fighting Against Yourself
So far, this book has only mentioned in passing Kabbalah and its spiritual texts, the books of Zohar (radiance). I purposely did not mention it in the chapter on meditation. However, some Kabbalistic ideas have been woven into this text. One is that we are delusional or seeing illusions when we thought we were in control of the world.
"Thou shalt have no other gods before Me. Thou shalt not make unto thee a graven image, nor any manner of likeness." (Exodus 20: 3). Judaism forbids idolatry. This prohibition hides behind it the most fundamental principle in Judaism, which states that everything we see is only a figment of our imagination. We really are clueless to what reality is because we see reality through our own experiences. We hardly know how our own minds tick, but we think we know what someone else thinks about us.
Shlomo stood near an open window in his house, wearing nothing but a tie around his neck.
Jacob passed by and saw Shlomo standing there. "Why are you standing there all naked?" he asked.
"Why can't I be naked?" replied Shlomo. "This is my house. There is no one else here."
"But why are you wearing a tie?" asked Jacob.
"Well, what if someone drops in to visit me?"
Two people can view the same situation differently. It happens in courtrooms every day. Walking mindfully with God changes your perspective on life. Perspective determines your thoughts and emotions and eventually your actions. Your actions then determine your reality of life. What is actually real for you?
Kabbalists say that there is no reality at all, but something called "His Essence," the "upper force." That force operates so that God is viewed as an image of a certain reality, which we call our individual worlds. The closer one comes to God and the upper force, the less ego distorts reality and our world is seen more clearly. On the Kabbalistic Sefirot tree diagram (a comprehensive discussion of which is beyond the scope of this text) the property of the upper force is altruism. Walking mindfully with God, you are living an altruistic and unselfish life. This helps you to see reality clearly.
If the last few paragraphs were a bit ethereal, let me give you a concrete example to bring things back down to earth. Imagine that you are having lunch with a friend. You discuss a number of different topics having to do with your mutual profession. You think you heard everything clearly, but you did not take notes and, since you are getting up in age, are a little hard of hearing (younger readers, please bear with me!). Your lunch companion offers to send you a summary of your conversation, with all points made, including references, by email. Frankly, these are all things that one in your profession should know, but you are now realizing some deficiencies in your knowledge, as things have changed since your business school days.
At no time does your friend attempt to make you feel foolish, but here is this long, involved email teaching you, chapter and verse, things that you don't know about your own vocation – and you don't like it one little bit! Instead of seeing a valuable lesson, you are looking through your egotistical low self-esteem glasses and see a put-down. You begin to think horrid thoughts about your colleague. You never thank him for the lunch meeting or the email and, worse yet, you harbor such strong resentment that you stop answering his calls and returning his email messages.
Now, if you were mindfully walking with God, you might have the negative thoughts about the person who sent you the email, and about the fact that you don't know as much as you thought you did, but you would ask God to remove the thought and you would embrace the idea of learning something from the email message. By asking God to remove a negative thought, you have changed your reality and, hence, your follow up actions. Being closer to God will bring you closer to your fellows as well. Living altruistically, doing good things while expecting nothing in return, you will view the world as a joyful place and see others in a positive light. You won't jump to the conclusion that others are harming you and you will not take destructive action as a result.
Note also how actions of resentment don't hurt the target of your resentment, they only hurt you. A grudge is acid eating away at its container. You might get headaches, chest pains, or feel generally rotten when you see the other person doing well. You need to get control of this character defect, the grudge, and you will become closer to God. You will feel how God operates inside of you like a Divine flame. You'll never be able to feel Him outside of you, only how He operates inside of you because, "By your acts we know you," says the Zohar.
One early winter morning, Rabbi Bloom was walking beside the canal when he saw a dog in the water struggling to stay afloat. Thinking nothing of his own safety, Rabbi Bloom jumped in and was able to drag the poor creature safely to shore.
A passer by saw this and said, "That was very brave of you. Are you a vet?"
Rabbi Bloom replied, "Of course I'm a vet. I'm a freezing cold as vell!"
As you get closer to God each day by mindfully walking with Him, you will gain the gift of spirituality and insight, but there is a catch. The Talmud Bavli Tractate Succah 52a tells us that our yetzer ha ra's inner voice will become louder, but now we have the awareness to ask God for help in negating it. So do not be surprised when, as you grow spiritually, you feel yourself being tugged backwards. While the death of Ego is a wondrous event, Ego does not want to die and it is going to put up a good fight.
Most people do not want to change. Those of us blessed to have reclaimed Judaism through Spiritual Renewal, including the steps of chesbon ha nefesh, tashlich, teshuvah, prayer, meditation, and now mindfully walking with God throughout the day, want to change and we have seen that the change is good. Isaiah 6:9-10 reminds us of what we were like before: "You will be ever hearing, but never understanding; you will be ever seeing, but never perceiving. This people's heart has become calloused; they hardly hear with their ears, and they have closed their eyes." And, Isaiah 1:3 says, "An ox knows its owner, and a donkey its master's manger, but
This chapter began with a quote from the V'Ahavtah prayer from Deuteronomy: "And you shall love the Lord your God...when you walk along the way – uv'lech't'cha va derech." I have seen no one fail who has sincerely followed this path, derech. In Mishna Pirkei Avot (2:2) we read: "Beautiful is the study of Torah with derech eretz, as involvement with both makes one forget sin." The term derech eretz (the way of the land) literally means behaving appropriately among others as one mindfully walks with God throughout the day.
"If others speak evil of you let the worst thing said seem unimportant in your eyes; but if you have spoken evil of others, let the least word of it seem important.
If you have done much good, let it seem little in your eyes, and say: 'Not of mine own have I done this, but of that good which has come to me through others.' However, let a small kindness done to you appear great."
(Talmud Tractate Bavli Derech Eretz Zuta).
Most importantly, do not give up this derech (path). God is with you. Talmud Bavli Tractate Makkot 24a teaches that the prophet Habakkuk reduced the entire Torah to one word, "emunah," which means faith. Take this step of walking mindfully with God throughout the day as you have the previous steps… one day at a time.
In a week, Baruch ha Shem, we will study the first third of the 11th Chapter of (001) The Handbook to Jewish Spiritual Renewal - Rabbi Arthur Segal. It is entitled: Daily Spiritual Growth.
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Parasha Pinchas: Numbers 25:10-30:01
Jewish Spiritual Renewal
Jewish Spirituality
Eco Judaism
Hilton Head Island, SC, Bluffton, SC, Savannah, GA
"Pinchas Interruptus"
Parasha Pinchas continues with the story that began at the end of the last portion. To review, we learned how the King of Moab, Balak, hired the sorcerer Balaam, a hit man for hire, to curse the Jews. Balaam failed in his mission. In the last few verses of Parasha Balak (Num. 25:1-9) we read how Balaam, not to be outgunned by God, convinces Balak to take one last stab at the Jews. They send their daughters into the Israelite camp. An orgy begins, which includes worshipping the idol Ba'al P'or. The Midrash teaches that this rite involves defecation in front of this idol and cleaning one's self with this idol's nose.
God brings a plague onto the Jews. Pinchas, a grandson of the recently deceased high priest Aaron, follows the Jew Zimri and the Midianitess Cozbi, into Zimri's tent. (These two sinners are not named until Parasha Pinchas.) The name Cozbi means "voluptuous." Pinchas spears them in their stomachs, which the Talmud explains are actually their genitals, while they were belly to belly." The plague stops.
God rewards Pinchas for his zealotry with a promise of high priesthood for himself and his sons. The Jews are commanded to smite the Midianites. A new census is taken of the tribes and of the Levites. Moses rules on an inheritance involving fatherless sisters who have no brothers. Moses officially picks Joshua to be his successor. More priestly sacrifices are enumerated including those for Shabbat and the major holidays.
The rabbis of the Talmud had trouble trying to be apologists for Pinchas's actions. The law in Talmud Bavli Tractate Sanhedrin is clear. Before someone is put to death for a crime he is given a trial. There must be two witnesses. These two witnesses must swear that not only did they see the crime, but also that they both warned the defendant that what he was about to do was illegal and punishable by death. They even had to state which of the four legal means of execution would apply to this particular crime. If these specific legalities were not followed, the judges had to acquit the defendant.
How did they explain Pinchas's actions and resulting reward? The rabbis of the Talmud say in Tractate Sanhedrin 82A that Pinchas remembered learning of a law that Moses heard from God, but had not yet taught the people. This law was, "He who has sexual relations with a heathen may be attacked by zealous people." This is why Pinchas skewered Zimri and Cozbi in their genitals while they were having sex. This is why he left them dead in this position. This would be proof that he had a God-given right to kill both of them. The Talmud teaches that the Hebrew word for spear is "romach." This word is numerically equal to 248, which is the number of positive mitzvoth in the Torah.
The Talmudic rabbis rule that this law is still in effect, but that a zealot must catch the two in the act of sexual intercourse and cannot punish the offenders when the act is over. This is called the law of Pinchas Interruptus. Now you are probably thinking to yourself that you have never heard of this law. You are correct – I made up the name. This is because the Talmudic rabbis decreed that if anyone asks about this law "we should not instruct him" about it or to follow it. This is why they teach that the Torah never mentions this law. It is part of the oral law, or Mishna, which they believe was also given to Moses when he was on Sinai. Unfortunately, either Zimri was not in chedar (Hebrew school) when this oral law was taught or he chose to ignore it.
The rabbis wanted to know why Moses didn't kill Zimri. They posit that maybe he forgot about the law that he taught Pinchas. Other rabbis argue that Moses knew that Zimri did idol worship to Ba'al P'or and that he would come to trial for this and be executed civilly. Regardless, the Midrash rabbis realize that Moses erred in allowing Pinchas to kill Zimri zealously without trial. They wrote, "Because Moshe did not kill Zimri, Moshe's burial place is not known." This is how God punished Moses for letting a zealot commit murder while on his watch.
The rabbis knew that they had to develop some wiggle room on this law. Keeping it hidden would not work. Therefore, they ruled that a zealot had the commandment to kill two fornicators caught in the act but that these lovers could defend themselves and kill the zealot. This would not be considered murder but rather self-defense. The lovers would be pardoned. This is because no judgment of a Beth Din (Jewish court) had been decreed upon them.
But then another rabbi asks, "Who is there that God would pardon, and yet we should kill him?" The rabbis come to an impasse as the Torah does state a punishment for sex with a heathen. It is "Karet." Karet is excision. It is carried out only by God. It means that one day God will cut the sinner's life short. But the rabbis say this punishment is for someone who has completed the sex act and did not get caught while doing it.
The rabbis then posit that forbidden sexual unions must be the gravest of sins. They state that sexual union involves the whole essence of man (women are not mentioned). They say this because a child may be born with great powers. So therefore a Jewish man could transmit his Jewish powers to a child of a non-Jewish woman, and hence create a non-Jewish powerful person. The rabbis go on to say, "Three partners produce a man: his mother, his father, and God who gives him a soul."
So if one has sex for pleasure in an illicit union, one is forcing God to watch. God is a jealous God, the rabbis remind themselves. The Torah says in Numbers 25:11 that Pinchas avenged God's jealousy with his zealotry. If Balaam in the previous parasha is the ultimate in evil, Pinchas is the ultimate party-pooper. There are no times today when kana'ut, zealous religious jealousy, is acceptable in a pluralistic society.
The Hebrew word for desire with an intense longing for physical pleasure regardless of its spiritual value is "tiva." Balaam sent the Moabite women to entice our men. Somehow there was a switch in the Torah, and they are now called Midianite women. Balaam was a Midianite. But so was Tzipporah, Moses' wife. The Midrash states that Zimri publicly defied Moses by having sex with Cozbi, saying to Moses that it was not fair that Moses could have sex with a Midianite when the rest of the Israelite men could not. The Talmud, in Tractate Sanhedrin 82A, says that Zimri was really Shlumiel ben Tzurishadia, the prince of Shimon, who offered his tribe's sacrifices to the Tabernacle (Num.7:36).
Tractate Bava Kama states that the Moabite daughters were forced by Balak to have sex with the Israelite men, but that the Midianite daughters of Balaam did so willingly. This is why God ordered that only the Midianites be slain and that the Moabite women be spared. Of course we must recall that Ruth - the maternal founder of the David kingship lineage - was a Moabitess. If Moses ordered that all of the Moabites be killed, how would King David and his scion, the Messiah, be born?
The actions of Pinchas lead to him and his children being granted the priesthood. The rabbis are concerned with this Torah statement as well. Why? God is contradicting Himself. God said that Aaron's descendants (who had not yet been born) would carry the Kohan name. Pinchas was already born. Pinchas was a Levite. He was only Aaron's grandson on his mother's side. Pinchas was originally left out of the Kohanim and spent 39 years as a Levite. He did, however, study Torah directly from Moses according to the Midrash. Pinchas was not one of the Levites who rebelled with Korach. The Talmud says he was content being a Levite. His maternal great uncle was Nachshon ben Aminadav. The Midrash says that Nachshon was the first to jump into the Sea of Reeds when Moses gave the command. The rabbis posit that this situation also was an example of an unwritten law that Moses already knew.
The rabbis of the Zohar remind us about the sons of Aaron, who would be in line for the priesthood. They were killed by God for offering "strange fire." These two sons were named Nadav and Avihu. Their souls jumped into Pinchas body so that he could be a Kohan legally without God having to change His immutable law. This also allows God to break His own law by allowing a man who has killed to become a high priest. Pinchas is no longer Pinchas, but really two other men. So this new law is not a new law but actually a continuation of the old law, the sages say. We will read of a third example of this later on in this parasha.
The rabbi known as the Ba'al ha Turim writes that Pinchas also received another reward. He received Elijah's soul. Traditionally we are taught that Elijah was not born of flesh and blood parents. The idea of God being a parent is not a foreign idea to Judaism. His soul came down from heaven and lived in Pinchas's body. It was Elijah's soul that made Pinchas into a zealot. Eventually Elijah's soul found its way into Elijah's body, but Elijah never died. His soul went back to heaven in a fiery chariot. We invite Elijah, who made Pinchas into a zealot, into our homes on Passover and also when we perform a Brit Milah (circumcision). During these occasions we remember Eliyahu HaNavi (Elijah the Prophet) as the loving helper of Israel. We forget that he too was a fiery zealot who confronted the evil monarchs of his generation.
There are some striking similarities between the story of the Golden Calf in Exodus and the worship of Ba'al P'or in Numbers. In Ex. 32:06 and Num. 25:02, the Jews brought offerings to the idol, and they ate. Moses both times let each man kill his brother (fellow tribe member) who sinned. Both times Moses tried to appease God by calling for some punishment. Moses was successful in this in Exodus but it was Pinchas who took action in Numbers and appeased God. This theme of Moses no longer being a capable leader, which was addressed in Parasha Chukat when he struck the rock, is continued here. It culminates with Moses naming Joshua as the new leader.
A close reading will reveal that Joshua will be a different kind of leader. He will not be allowed to rely on his own intuition in making decisions. He will have to be dependent on the priests and their divine dice, called the Urim and Thummim, for leadership. This parasha established firmly a specific grandson of Aaron as the high priest and sets up the priesthood for a major role in leadership. It also tells of more offerings to be made, which sets up the priesthood to be wealthy. This is all done under the backdrop of the story of instant death without trial by a priestly zealot in the case of one who misbehaves.
The third new law that Moses teaches has to do with inheritance. The daughters of Tzelofchad have no brothers and their father is dead. The way the Torah law was given originally; their inheritance would go to their male cousins or uncles. Moses reveals a new law, which was part of the oral law that he learned from God. This law now becomes part of the written Torah law. A Midrash states that Moses might have been a bit overconfident when he told the Israelites to bring all questions of law to him.
The Talmud written by rabbis who were Pharisees had a different agenda than the obvious pro-priest authors of this portion. They do not want to see zealots abound especially for political reasons. The Jews were an occupied people and saw the destruction the Romans heaped upon them after Bar Kochba's failed rebellion. Tractate Kiddushin 70B states, "If you see a Kohan who is arrogant, be assured that his lineage is genuine." Hoshea 4:04 writes, "Your nation is argumentative like a Kohan." Tractate Bava Batra 160B teaches, "Kohanim are bad-tempered." The Maharal says that they think that the "fire of holiness" is in them and their blood boils. The Talmud records how Kohanim would kill each other in the Temple courtyard while arguing over who would perform the Temple services. Certain services yielded better cuts of sacrificed meats.
Rabbi Mordecai Kaplan wrote in his Judaism as a Civilization: Toward a Reconstruction of American-Jewish Life: "A religion is as much a progressive unlearning of false ideas concerning God as it is the learning of the true ideas concerning God." Hadith of Tiridhi said, "one true scholar of religion is more annoying to Satan than a thousand of the faithful who perform only their ceremonial duties."
Zealotry did not stop with Pinchas. Until recently Jewish communities could perform the act of excommunication on those with whom they disagreed. Rabbis in Israel zealously call immigrants disease carriers and abominations. They compare liberal Jews to Amalek and Satan. They pray that our memory be wiped out. They pray to God that the head of the liberal Meretz party be "uprooted from the seed of Israel. Just as revenge was wrought on Haman, so will it be wrought on him."
Recently Rabbi Yosef of Shas protested the Israeli Supreme Court's decision finding Shas political leader Deri guilty of taking bribes. He called the justices goyem who were "led astray by Satan." Unfortunately, it appears that both Aryeh Dari and Rabbi Ovadia Yosef forgot about the Torah law forbidding the taking and giving of bribes. Perhaps they missed this lesson at their chedar.
Our rabbis wrote in Pirkei Avot (3:21) that if there is no Torah there is no proper behavior. But they also said that if there is no proper behavior there is no Torah. Our synagogues and our Jewish communities do not need zealots acting like Pinchas spearing us with their tongues, calling us names, and criticizing our actions. This type of behavior only serves to push one away from Judaism.
Rabbi Lawrence Hoffman in the Summer 2000 edition of Reform Judaism writes: "the needs of the Jewish community have fundamentally changed" in the past 100 years. At the turn of the last century our synagogues were like a "general store in a tiny farming community." By the 1950s our synagogues were organized as enterprises. "Dues were exchanged for programs and services." Jews joined but it occupied only a small corner of the congregants' lives.
Our synagogues in the twenty-first century need to be transformed into spiritual centers. The last 20 years have shown how society is fragmented and fragile. People feel alienated from each other. Our synagogues need to be places where all are welcome and are welcomed. Our synagogues really need to be a place of sanctuary where inner peace and tranquility can be found.
This God-centered place needs to teach people actively how to connect spiritually to God and to each other. Rabbi Hoffman continued: "A transformed synagogue reveals the profound mystery of the universe of which we are in integral part, connected to each other, to the cosmos, to eternity and to God."
Jewish Spiritual Renewal opens doors to all who seek to enter in peace and in search of God. We do not rebuke those who have married out of the faith. Nor do we call their children anything but Jews. We accept people on whatever spoke of the Judaic dharma wheel they wish to place themselves – as every spoke is equidistant to God's love. We will not allow zealots or chastisers into our midst who speak of knowing what God wants but act as if they have no clue.
I was positively struck by Newsweek magazine's July 17, 2000, edition. After 60 years, writer Tom Ross decided to legally take back his last name of Rosenberg. He had attended a temple for years where he was not harassed for his mixed marriage or for celebrating both Christmas and Hanukkah in his home. For 60 years he denied his family heritage and now he is learning to embrace it. In undergoing a true Jewish Spiritual Renewal he picked out his new Hebrew name. Mr. Rosenberg said the following to his children: "Every time I step into a temple, I'm reminded that Judaism has survived for 4,000 years. It survived because it is a positive religion. My parents, your grandparents, changed their name out of fear. I'm changing it back out of pride. I chose the name Tikvah because it means hope." The Hope of Israel, Ha Mickve Israel, rests with a loving, open compassionate way of being and not with hateful, exclusive, malevolent bigotry disguised as religious zealotry.
Shabbat Shalom,
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