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Shalom my dear Chaverim, Talmidim, v' Rabbanim, friends, students and fellow rabbis:A oneg, joy-filled, Shabbat, Sabbath, this weekend and a health happy 2011!!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 Rabbi Arthur Segal: RABBI ARTHUR SEGAL: JEWISH SPIRITUAL RENEWAL: DEREK ERETZ ZUTA: SHUN WORLDLINESS or http://rabbiarthursegal.blogspot.com/2010/12/rabbi-arthur-segal-jewish-spiritual_6531.html .From there you will find links to preceding classes in this new series (new as of Simcha Torah, the holiday of rejoicing over the giving and receiving of the Torah, circa 3300 years ago at Sinai), October 2, 2010).So. together we continue:TALMUD BAVLI TRACTATE DEREK
ERETZ ZUTA.
(aka Derech Eretz)CHAPTER I.
Talmud Bavli Tractate Derek Eretz Zuta Verse 1:3 One shall always be like an air-bag which is open to receive the air, and as a deep excavation which preserves the water therein contained, and as a glazed jug that preserves the wine therein; as a sponge that absorbs everything. Be as the lower threshold that all tread upon, and as a nail in the wall that is within the reach of every one to hang his clothes on.
The Sages, Z"L, in the verse are trying to teach us humility that is needed to properly learn, and to be an active listener. Derek Eretz Zuta, being written circa 1500 to 2500 years ago, did not mean 'air bag' as an automotive safety device. Most likely they were referring to a dead animal's lung or bladder that would be filled with air and used as a bellows.
The rabbis are teaching us that before we can learn, before we can listen, we must rid ourselves of preconceived notions and prejudices, so that we can be empty to receive. The Hebrew word for receiving is Kabbalah. Further, in modern usage, an air bag is someone who is full of himself, and usually one that dominates a conversation spewing his 'air' while pontificating. And in English, to bellow, means to roar. As we mentioned last week, the Talmud teaches that even a jar with just one coin makes a lot of noise. We are know folks who know little, but because of their loud voices, or good charisma , teach nonsense that many folks unfortunately believe.
So we need to be open and empty to receive. Spiritually, if we want to change, we must let go, by opening our hands, of old worn out concepts that do not work for us, to receive in our open hands, the gifts of a new way of living, via Jewish Spiritual Renewal.
Even further, when we listen, actively listen, we are not to be thinking about what we will say in response when someone is talking to us. This is ego at work. The best thing to say, if we have to say anything, is ''if I understand you correctly, you are saying such and such.'' This lets the speaker know you have been listening, and further gives him a chance to correct you if you misheard him.
In learning also, we must be like a deep well, dug into bed rock, where what we learned (water) doesn't leak out in the earth, but remains. How we retain learned material when studying is based on the individual. Personally, I was not one to sit in lectures with 500 students, and listen to a professor speak for 2 hours, while I took notes. I always did best studying one-on-one, and ironically this is the traditional method of studying our Jewish and Hebrew texts, in preparation for the Rabbinate.
A glazed jug is one that is no longer a porous earthenware container. The glaze keeps the wine, a precious liquid, from being wasted. Note how the verse doesn't say 'water.' We are now at a level of learning beyond 'mere water.' The above large deep well, kept the water. Much of what we learn is water and is necessary. The wine, the valuable pearls of each lesson, more valued than water, needs to be kept in an accessible glazed jug, where we lose not one iota of a drop.
Lastly, we are told to be like a sponge and absorb everything. But if a sponge is squeezed, it loses everything. It becomes dry and devoid. So we need to absorb, but we need to also preserve. We have to separate what is air (very common teachings, such as what we would call common sense ), water ( what is many times alluded to as Torah, which has many rules, mitzvoth, in it, that we in a society, would have learned without it, such as ''not murdering''), and wine, (the precious teachings of our Sages, of blessed memory, in what we now call the Oral Torah, aka Talmud, Midrash, et. al.)
As a sponge, we absorb all. But we must go further in learning, we must also be like a sieve. [Talmud Bavli Tractate Pirkei Avot 5: 15]. We must learn how to separate the course wheat from the fine wheat germ, the finest part of the flour. We have to go through all of the above stages to be able to be an intelligent sieve. As we learned in my previous courses for Hebrew College Yeshiva's Shamash on-line classes, according to Rabbi Ibn Pakudah, of circa 900 years ago in Spain, in his Duties of the Heart, the greatest gift God gave mankind is our intellect. We are not to accept things on blind faith. This is true whether we sit in a pew listening to a rabbi's sermon, or watching some so- called news-entertainment TV station. We are not even supposed to accept the existence of God on blind faith. We have to learn to be a sieve when it comes to learning and discerning.
''One who is quick to understand and slow to forget--his is a good portion {ibid 5:12}.''Now, we have two more phrases to do a bit of pilpul with before we end this third verse of chapter one, and end this week's lesson. The sages tell us to ''be as the lower threshold that all tread upon.'' They are referring to a door frame, where today we would place a door mat before it. Are the rabbis telling us to be door mats, and literally have people step all over us?
We always have to read texts in their historical context. During the time Zuta was written, the lower threshold of a door, especially to a house of worship, was considered 'holy,' and people were to step over it and not touch it. This is still done today in Muslim Mosques and Hindu Temples. The rabbis are telling us NOT to be like a holy lower threshold, where people can not touch, but to be like an ordinary piece of wood as part of an entrance, that people MAY step on. In other words, the Rabbis are telling us, that because we have knowledge, to NOT act ''holier that thou.'' We are no different than anyone else, just because we have learned Torah and Talmud, and have become Rabbis. We are not like the Hebrew priests, inaccessible. We are regular people and need to have our doors of knowledge open to all who wish to come to us and learn.
In fact the Talmud, quoting Torah, reminds rabbis that the Torah is an inheritance to all of Israel, and in other places it says Torah was given to all humankind. And if we refuse to teach it, the Sages teach, we are stealing one's inheritance.
The final phrases of this verse is: we should be ''as a nail in the wall that is within the reach of every one to hang his clothes on.'' Note how Derek Eretz Zuta does not say 'cloak or hat'. Nor does it tell us to be a fancy armoire for others to hang their clothes. It tells us to be a simple, humble, not- fancy nail. Again, it is about accessibility. And we are to be in the reach of everyone. We are not to hide in an ivory tower, or be like the rabbis in the Coen's movie, "A Serious Man.'' The two rabbis Larry Gopnik consults are either obtuse, oblivious or obscure. His synagogue's senior rabbi is never available.
Larry Gopnik : Please? I need help! I've already talked to the other rabbis. Just tell him I need help.
[the secretary rises, goes to the door behind her, opens it, shuffles into the dimness where she speaks quietly with the aged rabbi, who is idle. She shuffles back, closes the door and sits down]
Rabbi Marshak's Secretary: The rabbi is busy.
Larry Gopnik : He didn't look busy!
Marshak's Secretary: He's thinking.We are to allow folks to ''hang their clothes'' on us, not just their hats. We are to help people with their live's dilemmas and conflicts. We are do help them deal with their 'dirty laundry,' and help them see themselves as beautiful and pure when naked, beloved by God. We are to help others see themselves without the trappings, the 'clothes', of society. And to help others see that in that pure form they are lovable and can love back.
We are to try to be of maximum service to our fellows and be available, and not aloof.
We discuss the aspects of this verse of Derek Eretz Zuta , of humility, learning, active listening, and being of service to others, through out 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 .
Next class, Baruch ha Shem, we will continue with Derek Eretz Zuta, with the fourth verse. Thank you for joining me.
For those who want a d'var Torah on Parasha Va'eira fromor http://www.jewishspiritualrenewal.net/index.html#Compendium2
please click on:or.Shabbat Shalom :Rabbi Arthur Segal www.jewishspiritualrenewal.org
Via Shamash Org on-line class service
Jewish Renewal www.jewishrenewal.info
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Hilton Head Island, SC, Bluffton, SC, Savannah, GAIf 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!Rabbi Marshak in "A Serious Man''
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Join Shamash's Groups on Facebook and LinkedIn.
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